One of the great works of Italian literature, Giovanni Boccaccio’s The Decameron has become a defining work of the Western intellectual tradition. With a refined focus on the “Ninth Day,” the threshold before the final recounting of Boccaccio’s highest virtues, a new collection of scholarly works edited together by Marchesi and Barsella weaves together myriad perspectives, from literary to political to visual arts, to break down the chapter in its entirety, providing a holistic account of a seminal moment in the text, both in itself and its relationship to the broader work. The Decameron Ninth Day Perspective (University of Toronto Press), provides a refined perspective on the liminal penultimate day in Boccaccio’s epic, reopening scholarship on The Decameron moving forward.
