az-The House of Life (Common Reader Edition) - by Mario Praz, trans. Angus Davidson | David R Godine (October 15, 2009)

on display, bkcase w literary bio & cirticism & art, low shelves. attractive large paperbk, muted colors, little to tell wh it is: single quotatn ctr bkcvr.
confused ~ had just read that Common Reader closed: bankrupt 2006. maybe Godine bought some of their inventory? or no, listed here as the publisher & w a date = bought rights this one title? or to 'Cmmn Rdr Edtn' name?
concept of bk on first look reminds of another noticed recent yrs: Voyage Around My Room by Xavier De Maistre. writ during six week home arrest (for dueling!). appealing: someone's small world ~ "and over here we have my desk" ~ w all their personal associatns

"To your right is a young woman pretending to be a tour guide" (Nyr cartoon)

M Praz (1896 tse, H - 1982) among great scholar-critics .. studies of iconography, 17thC art. The House of Life as close to his autobiogr as anyth .. a quirky & magical book. A house tour, but Praz's Roman apt was a wunderkammer ..objets d'art, overflowing ephemera.. his erudition, curiosity, enthusiasm, amiability. .. disquistn on art & how objects we choose to surround us tell..

...km says reminds of book I gave her (& now ask to have again) SUNY press: Everyday Spirits 1993 cannot get it to come up on az by inputting title, even as advanced srch specifically for title (!); have to put author.
-Short essays dense with image and ideas explore such things as keys, ladders, hospitalilty, lullabies..
- Within two minutes of beginning the book, I knew I had acquired a jewel of literature.If this book were a typical example of the fruits of contemporary academic philosophy, I would hold great hope and respect for the field.
looking at now, this is very appealing:
are we most ourselves in sleep? not dream sleep. dreams tell us about waking life. y.
infant gaze takes in everything sees no thing. yes. infants "do not blink" ?!
Blink - wkp: Infants do not blink at the same rate of adults; in fact infants only blink at an average rate of one or two times in a minute.