Storie naturali (The Sixth Day and Other Tales, originally published under the pseudonym Damiano Malabaila) appeared from Einaudi in 1966. Levi used a pseudonym partly from modesty — he was known as a Holocaust witness and worried that fiction would seem frivolous — and partly to signal that these stories belonged to a different register than his testimonial work.
The stories are science fiction of a particular kind: not space opera or technological extrapolation but moral fables using scientific premises to explore ethical questions. “The Versifier” imagines a machine that writes poetry (raising questions about creativity and authenticity). “Retirement Fund” imagines a device that captures and replays sensory experiences (raising questions about memory and simulation). “The Sixth Day” imagines a committee of engineers designing the human being (raising questions about purpose and design).
Levi’s science fiction is distinctive because it combines genuine scientific knowledge (the stories’ premises are technically plausible) with moral seriousness (each story poses an ethical question that the narrative explores without resolving). The influence of Swift, Voltaire, and Borges is visible — these are philosophical tales in the eighteenth-century tradition, updated with twentieth-century science. Their relationship to Levi’s testimonial work is indirect but real: they explore, through fiction, the same questions about human nature that Auschwitz posed with brutal directness.
Collecting The Sixth Day
First edition (Einaudi, Turin, 1966): As Storie naturali, cloth with dust jacket.
First English edition (Michael Joseph, London, 1990): As The Sixth Day and Other Tales.
Market values:
- Einaudi first (1966): $100–$300
- English first (1990): $25–$60
Projected values (2026–2036): Moderate appreciation.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is The Sixth Day? A collection of science fiction stories — published in Italian as Storie naturali (1966) under the pseudonym Damiano Malabaila — in which Levi explores the implications of technology, genetics, and human ambition through fables and thought experiments. The stories are witty, inventive, and often unsettling, revealing a side of Levi that readers of the Holocaust memoirs may not expect.
Why did Levi publish under a pseudonym? Levi published Storie naturali (1966) under the name Damiano Malabaila because he feared readers would not accept science fiction from the author of If This Is a Man. The pseudonym was transparent — reviewers quickly identified him — but the gesture reveals Levi’s anxiety about being confined to the role of Holocaust witness.