The Books Oracle
by Giovanni Boccaccio
Ten young Florentines flee the Black Death of 1348, taking refuge in a villa where they pass ten days telling stories. Boccaccio's framed collection of one hundred tales ranges from bawdy comedy to tragic romance, from clerical satire to moral exempla. This fourteenth-century masterwork captures human nature in all its cunning, desire, and folly, establishing the framework for centuries of storytelling to come.
The Books Oracle — reading tracker and book recommendations drawn from your own shelf.