If on a winter's night a traveler Steaminess Rating

Exactly how steamy is this story?

R

Don't let the philosophical discussions and bookish nerdery fool you. There's quite a lot of sex in this book, and it gets increasingly aggressive as the story unfolds. Check out the concluding scenes of Without fear of wind or vertigo (8.65) and On a carpet of leaves illuminated by the moon (16.19) for the steamiest. Calvino seems particularly obsessed with the idea that getting the reader's attention always requires a male protagonist to take a strong sexual interest in a woman or girl. Today's music video producers might actually agree with him on that one.