num_pages: 181
description: Alternate cover edition can be found here. In "The Watcher," a member of the Communist Party is assigned to a polling place in Turin's Hospital for Incurables, where he observes the rejects of humanity and a grotesque parody of the democratic process. "Smog" anticipates a preoccupation with pollution so lunatic that it casts a pall even over the hero's affair with a beautiful woman. "The Argentine Ant" is a piece of sustained horror with farcical undertones, illustrating man's defeat before an enemy too small to be overcome.
language: English
title: The Watcher and Other Stories
titlecomplete: The Watcher and Other Stories
genres: 20th Century, Short Stories, Short Story Collection, Literary Fiction, Literature, Italian Literature, Collections, Italy, European Literature, Fiction
ratings_count: 566
publisher: Houghton Mifflin