BOOKS | 27
IT’S WORTH READING Matthew Perren recommends
PEREIRA MAINTAINS by Antonio Tabucchi This was first published under the more assertive title Declares Pereira. The change is entirely appropriate to this graceful, gripping book. Pereiera writes for a down-at-heel paper in Lisbon in 1938. Portugal suffers under a dictatorship. Across the border the Spanish Civil War rages. Pereira wants no trouble, just to be left alone with the memories of his deceased wife. All this changes with the arrival of an energetic young man who is not scared of the authorities in the least. Pereira’s awakening is beautifully conveyed and, whilst he spends much of the novel “maintaining” his opinions, by the end he has well and truly declared them.
TEACH US TO SIT STILL by Tim Parks Tim Parks tackles two difficult subjects here with elegance and wit. His problem? He has chronic pelvic pain. Everyone assumes it to be his prostate, but he has doubts. His explorations of the possible solutions are fascinating. And, coming from a position of extreme scepticism, he finally arrives at an unlikely solution: meditation. His descriptions of the process are clear-eyed and lacking in any spiritual mumbo jumbo whilst still managing to be enormously inspiring. I’m not sure who this book is aimed at but I strongly recommend that you read it.
BESPOKE: THE HANDBUILT BICYCLE This summer the Museum of Arts and Design in New York held an exhibition of the work of contemporary bicycle builders. This is the catalogue and it is stunning. From the classical beauty of Dario Pegoretti’s road bikes via the extraordinary and brilliantly innovative bikes built by Jeff Jones; to the striking, functional machines built by Mike Flanegan’s ANT workshop – this is bike porn of the highest order.
UNTITLED II: THE BEAUTIFUL RENAISSANCE
Street art came of age with Banksy and this book explores its new found maturity. Witty, sometimes shocking and often quite lovely this is about as far from tagging railway bridges as you could get. I’m particularly fond of the decrepit super- heroes stencilled onto the sides of derelict buildings in rural Norway and of the artist who puts knitwear on statues.
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86