Beautiful (and blind) Miss Kitty

From the latest NYRB sale. Most looking forward to Cesare Pavese. I know his prose but not his poetry.

Hard to keep it to just 10 films but for the moment these are my choices.

Mathias Énard wrote this over 17 years ago when almost 1/2 of the current population of Gaza were not yet born.
- “Zone” translated Charlotte Mandell

Giaco with a strong recommendation. I concur.

Archipelago Book sale haul.

An inside account, anecdotal, but inspiring and informative. Richter's many descriptions of the elevation of 'chance' as in his Visionäre Porträts: painting in the twilight, his groping hand as it got darker and darker "the picture took shape before the inner rather than the outer eye."

“Nature is a deep imitator. And as man is the prince of organisms he is the master of adaptations. He is the artist of suggestions. He himself is his principal work of art, in the body, working in the flesh. What miracle! What triumph! Also, what a disaster! What tears are to be shed!” Saul Bellow

My beloved Oliver. Tall enough to steal blocks of cheese from the kitchen counter. It’s been over 6 years and I still choke up thinking of him.

Ooh, that’s Daisuke Kato next to him. I love that guy.

My book group, an approximate democracy, has chosen these books for next year’s discussions