Marcovaldo is an unskilled laborer working for the faceless firm "Sbav." He is a man of simple desires but deep observational skills. He lives in a gray, industrial northern Italian city during the height of the post-WWII economic boom.
By filtering a grey, smog-choked city through the changing seasons, Calvino highlights how modern urban planning alienates humanity from the rhythms of the earth. The Protagonist: An Untimely Day Laborer Italo Calvino Marcovaldo Pdf