The Tablet of Destinies
  • Published: 20 February 2024
  • ISBN: 9780141998459
  • Imprint: Penguin Press
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 128
  • RRP: $24.99

The Tablet of Destinies

Formats & editions
Paperback
20 Feb 2024
Hardback
1 Nov 2022
EBook
26 Jul 2022
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An immersive and mesmerizing narrative that reimagines the Mesopotamian myth of the Great Flood

A long time ago, the gods grew tired of humans and decided to send a flood to destroy them. But Ea, the god of fresh underground water, didn't agree. He advised one of his devotees, Utnapishtim, to build a quadrangular boat to house humans and animals, and saved these living creatures from the Flood.

Rather than punish Utnapishtim for his disobedience, Enlil, King of the gods, granted the mortal eternal life and banished him to the island of Dilmun. Thousands of years later, when Sinbad the Sailor is shipwrecked and arrives on that very same island, the two begin a conversation about courage, loss, salvation and sacrifice.
  • Published: 20 February 2024
  • ISBN: 9780141998459
  • Imprint: Penguin Press
  • Format: Paperback
  • Pages: 128
  • RRP: $24.99
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About the author

Roberto Calasso

Born in Florence, Roberto Calasso lives in Milan, where he is publisher of Adelphi. He is the author of The Ruin of Kasch, The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony, which was the winner of the Prix Veillon and the Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger, Literature and the Gods, Ka and K.

Also by Roberto Calasso

The Book of All Books
K.
The Celestial Hunter
The Unnamable Present
The Ruin of Kasch
Ardor
The Art of the Publisher
See all

Praise for The Tablet of Destinies

A universe of blood, violence, and magic . . . A vigorous rendering of the remote past

Kirkus

The 11th volume of the late Italian writer and polymath's investigation of ancient religion interprets Mesopotamian mythology to tell the story of Utnapishtim, an eternal figure who saved life on Earth from a catastrophic flood sent by vengeful and murderous gods

The New York Times

Stimulating . . . Calasso's style calls to mind [Italo] Calvino's dreamlike fabulism . . . and Parks's translation is beautifully rendered and gripping, maintaining Calasso's dreamlike tone . . . Calasso vividly creates a world of gods and humankind that is unfamiliar, poetic, and memorable. This slim volume packs a potent and thought-provoking punch

Publishers Weekly