Fairy godfather
Subtitle: Straparola, Venice, and the fairy tale tradition
By: Ruth B. Bottigheimer.
Publisher: University of Pennsylvania Press
Published: 2002
Place of publication: Philadelphia
Language: eng
Number of pages: 156
Subjects: Straparola, Giovanni Francesco, ca. 1480-1557?; Straparola, Giovanni Francesco, ca. 1480-1557? -- Homes and haunts -- Italy -- Venice.; Fairy tales in literature.; Magic in literature.; Fairy tales -- Italy -- History and criticism.; Venice (Italy) -- Intellectual life -- 16th century.
Description: "In a bold departure from conventional fairy tale scholarship, Ruth B. Bottigheimer asserts that city life and a single individual played a central role in the creation and transmission of many of these familiar tales.

According to her, a provincial boy, Zoan Francesco Straparola, went to Venice to seek his fortune and found it by inventing the modern fairy tale, including the long beloved "Puss in Boots," and by selling its many versions to the hopeful inhabitants of that colorful and commercially bustling city.".

"With literary sleuthing, Bottigheimer has reconstructed the actual composition of Straparola's collection of tales. Grounding her work in the social history of Renaissance Venice, Bottigheimer has created a possible biography for Straparola, a man about whom hardly anything is known. This is the first book-length study of Straparola in any language."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [141]-150) and index.
Table of contents: title: Machine generated contents note: INTRODUCTION I 1. RESTORATION AND RISE 5 2. RAGGED POVERTY AND THE PROMISE OF MAGIC 28 3. A POSSIBLE BIOGRAPHY FOR ZOAN FRANCESCO STRAPAROLA DA CARAVAGGIO 45 4. STRAPAROLA AT HIS DESK 82 5. STRAPAROLA'S LITTLE BOOKS AND THEIR LASTING LEGACY 120.