This collection brings together essays and short stories by Levi, many written for the Turin newspaper La Stampa. Some are brief imaginative tales, with strange inventions, animals and moral twists. Others are reflective pieces about language, science, memory and daily life. A few return to his wartime experience. The tone is lively and curious, often wry. The book gives a good picture of Levi as an everyday observer and storyteller, as well as a witness to history.