Gloomy days like today lend themselves to ruminations and a little introspection. And to help me along, I've pulled Robert Dessaix's book (and so forth) off the shelf.
It's a selection of his short fiction, essays and journalism from the last decade, in which he muses on an astonishing array of subjects. His writing is superb, with every sentence sounding like an aphorism by Oscar Wilde or Montaigne.
I've been a fan of Robert's for all the ten years he presented the ABC show "Books And Writing" on Radio National, and read all his books, except his latest, The Pleasures of Leisure, advertised as a "witty but profound examination of what we as humans do with our spare time and why, despite technology, we never seem to have enough of it 'except in Italy'". Read the article "To the Seaside" as a teaser.
I shall read it as well. The only question is: should I order it now or wait until it turns up in my favourite op-shop?
