Carte Italiane

"A Defense of Honesty in the Land of Corruption" is a translation of "Apologo sull'onestà nel paese dei corrotti", by Italo Calvino, published in "La Repubblica", March 15, 1980, and republished in "Romanzi e racconti, volume terzo, Racconti e apologhi sparsi", Meridiani, Mondadori, 2005. Composed in the affabulatory but essential style of his collection of traditional Italian fables, the piece presents in few words a stark portrait of contemporary Italy, where every good citizen proceeds with clear conscience and high moral certainty to pocket illicit gains and defraud the state.