Paolo Gioradano's debut novel has sold over a million copies around the world and earned him Italy's premier literary prize, the Premio Strega. Now, finally, we've earned our taste of his celebrated book here in the states. The Solitude of Prime Numbers is a book of striking beauty and disturbing content, including anorexia, cutting, loneliness and guilt. It's a coming-of-age story in the most awkward and lovely tradition, and its two protagonists are destined to win hearts here just as easily as they have abroad.
Giordano is a young author - only 27 - and his acclaim is all the more impressive given that he's a physicist by trade. He'll be here in conversation with his editor and now head of her own eponymous imprint, Pamela Dorman.
News of Note
Staff Picks
Light on Yoga
Written by David
By B.K.S. Iyengar (Schoken, $18.95)
Books on yoga come, and books on yoga go. Light on Yoga, though, was published in 1966 and is here to stay. B.K.S. Iyengar's seminal and comprehensive guide, with its focus on precise postural alignment, is in a class of its own. If you were to own just one book on yoga, this should be it.
If the Buddha Dated
Written by Adjua
By Charlotte Kasl (Penguin, $14.00)
This tiny, little thing is a powerhouse of deep love and gentle courage. I wept for days as I read so relieved to hear empowering advice that didn't vilify or constrain others, and so sad I had not realized sooner that love could work like this. Wise and simple, Kasl's guidance for romance encourages first becoming whole unto yourself and finding a partner from that place of strength--a potent alternative to the ubiquitous, fear-based approaches to romance. I can hardly think of any more appropriate application of Buddhism than the right-minded search for a life partner, and Kasl has presented that beautifully here.
Active Boundaries
Written by Dustin
By Michael Palmer (New Directions, $19.95)
Michael Palmer is a poet of excellent range and precision, but these collected essays and lectures feel more like my dream of pub chatter; they're erudite, impassioned, and unfailingly interesting, but also a bit rambling. His insights may be brilliant, but leave an audience with the suspicion that they have no use beyond this one night in this shadowed bar. Naturally, I loved each one.
Books on yoga come, and books on yoga go. Light on Yoga, though, was published in 1966 and is here to stay. B.K.S. Iyengar's seminal and comprehensive guide, with its focus on precise postural alignment, is in a class of its own. If you were to own just one book on yoga, this should be it.
This tiny, little thing is a powerhouse of deep love and gentle courage. I wept for days as I read so relieved to hear empowering advice that didn't vilify or constrain others, and so sad I had not realized sooner that love could work like this. Wise and simple, Kasl's guidance for romance encourages first becoming whole unto yourself and finding a partner from that place of strength--a potent alternative to the ubiquitous, fear-based approaches to romance. I can hardly think of any more appropriate application of Buddhism than the right-minded search for a life partner, and Kasl has presented that beautifully here.
Michael Palmer is a poet of excellent range and precision, but these collected essays and lectures feel more like my dream of pub chatter; they're erudite, impassioned, and unfailingly interesting, but also a bit rambling. His insights may be brilliant, but leave an audience with the suspicion that they have no use beyond this one night in this shadowed bar. Naturally, I loved each one.