mmm...umberto

I've had a crush on Umberto Eco for years, an infatuation that was only heightened by seeing his effusive charm in person at a reading in New York. I came across his new book, The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana, in a bookstore the other day and it's a gorgeous illustrated novel about "a rare-book dealer who loses his 'autobiographical' memory - he doesn't know his own name or recognise his wife - but still has his 'semantic' memory and so is able to quote from every book he has ever read." The crush deepens. The Telegraph has an excellent interview here. (Via Bookslut)