Joan Acocella: A new translation of Boccaccio’s Decameron. In 1348, the Black Death, the most devastating epidemic in European history, swept across the continent. Giovanni Boccaccio (1313-75), at the beginning of his famous Decameron, describes its effects on his city, Florence. Many people just dropped dead in the street. Others died in their houses, often unattended by their . . .
Nov. 4, 2013 - The New Yorker