Under the Jaguar Sun

) the stories are ordered as follows: "Il nome, il naso"; "Sotto il sole giaguaro"; and "Un re in ascolto". The story "Sotto il sole giaguaro" was originally published as "Sapore sapere" ("learning to taste") in the June 1982 edition of "FMR", an Italian magazine.

In the 1992 English translation by William Weaver, the works are arranged by length, beginning with "Under the Jaguar Sun" followed by "A King Listens" and "The Name, The Nose."

Under the Jaguar Sun

This short story involves a couple on vacation in Mexico, experiencing difficulties in their relationship. Mexico is presented as a country characterised by its bloody history, both in the indigenous past and in its colonised period, which includes the present.

A King Listens

This short story focuses on the sense of hearing. It is designed to be read in different ways, as it is written in the second-person. In the story, a palace becomes a giant ear and a King is obsessed by fears of rebellion which send him toward a state of restless aural surveillance. This paranoia only seems to halt when he hears the sincere love song of a woman. The story was made into an opera by the composer Luciano Berio.

The Name, The Nose

This short story is from the perspective of three different characters: a French sensualist, a prehistoric entity on the verge of becoming human, and a drug-addled musician. They are united in their quest of a captivating female scent, which is revealed in the last instance to be death.

Bibliography

*Calvino, Italo. "Sotto il sole giaguaro." Milano: Garzanti, 1986.
*—. "Under the Jaguar Sun." Translated by William Weaver. London: Vintage, 1993.