I do not know whether it is the mysterious flame of Queen Loana that is burning in my crumpled-parchment lobes, whether some elixir is attempting to wash the browned pages of my paper memory, still marred by the many stains that render illegible that part of the text that still eludes me, or whether it is I who am trying to drive my nerves to the point of unbearable exertion. If I could tremble in this state, I would be trembling, I feel as storm-tossed in here as if I were bobbing out there on a squalling sea. But I also feel on the verge of orgasm, as my brain’s corpora cavernosa swell with blood, as something gets ready to explode-or blossom.

Now, as on that day in the foyer, I am finally about to see Lila, who will descend still modest and mischievous in her black smock, lovely as the sun, white as the moon, nimble and unaware of being the center, the navel of the world. I will see her lovely face, her well-drawn nose, that glimpse of her two front teeth between her lips, she an angora rabbit, Matù the cat mewing and rippling his soft fur, a dove, an ermine, a squirrel. She will descend like the first frost, and will see me, and will gently extend her hand, not in invitation but simply to keep me from fleeing once again.

I will finally learn how to perform forevermore the final scene of my Cyrano, I will see what I have looked for all my life, from Paola to Sibilla, and I will be reunited. I will be at peace.

Careful. This time I must not ask her "Does Vanzetti live here?" I must finally seize the Opportunity.

But a faint, mouse-colored fumifugium is spreading from the top of the stairs, veiling the entrance. I feel a cold gust, I look up. Why is the sun turning black?

Sources of Citations and Illustrations

____________________

p. 23, drawing by the author

p. 60, Dante, Inferno, Canto XXXI

p. 61, Giovanni Pascoli, "Il bacio del morto" ("The Dead Man’s Kiss"), from Myricae, Livorno: Raffaello Giusti, 1891

p. 61, Giovanni Pascoli, "Nebbia" ("Fog"), from Canti di Castelvecchio (Songs of Castelvecchio), Bologna: Zanichelli, 1903

p. 61, Giovanni Pascoli, "Voci misteriose" ("Mysterious Voices"), from Poesie varie (Selected Poems), Bologna: Zanichelli, 1928

p. 62, Vittorio Sereni, "L’alibi e il beneficio" ("The Alibi and the Benefit"), from Gli strumenti umani (The Human Instruments), Turin: Einaudi, 1965. Reproduced by kind permission of the estate of Vittorio Sereni.

p. 67, lyrics by Giancarlo Testoni, "In cerca di te" ("Searching for You"), Metron, 1945. Reproduced by kind permission of IDM Music, Ltd. All rights reserved.

pp. 70-71, cover and two panels from Il tesoro di Clarabella (original title: Race for Riches), Milan: Mondadori, 1936, © Disney Enterprises, Inc.

p. 91, Giovanni Pascoli, "Nella nebbia" ("In the Fog"), Primi Poemetti (Early Poems), Bologna: Zanichelli, 1905

p. 93, La escala de la vida (The Stair of Life), nineteenth-century Catalan print (author’s collection)

p. 95, prints from Zur Geschichte der Kostüme (The History of Costume), Munich: Braun and Schneider, 1861 (author’s collection)

p. 97, cover of La filotea (The Filotea), by Giuseppe Riva, Bergamo: Istituto Italiano d’Arti Grafiche, 1886 (author’s collection)

p. 100, Imagerie d’Épinal, Pellerin (author’s collection)

p. 102, cover of sheet music for "Vorrei volare" (original title: "It’s in the Air"), Milan: Carisch, 1940 (author’s collection). Reproduced by kind permission of IDM Music, Ltd. All rights reserved.

p. 104, Renée Vivien, "À la femme aimée" ("To the Beloved Woman"), from Poèmes I (Po e m s I ), Paris: Lemerre, 1923

p. 105 (clockwise): Alex Pozeruriski, Après la danse (After the Dance), magazine illustration for La gazette du Bon Ton, c. 1915 (in Patricia Frantz Kery, Art Deco Graphics, New York: Abrams, 1986) Janine Aghion, The Essence of the Mode in the Day, book illustration, 1920 (in Patricia Frantz Kery, Art Deco Graphics, New York: Abrams, 1986) Julius Engelhard, Mode Ball, poster, 1928 (in Patricia Frantz Kery, Art Deco Graphics, New York: Abrams, 1986) Anonymous, Candee, advertisement and poster, 1929 (in Patricia Frantz Kery, Art Deco Graphics, New York: Abrams, 1986)

p. 106 (clockwise): George Barbier, Schéhérazade, magazine illustration for Modes et Manières d’Aujourd’hui, 1914 (in Patricia Frantz Kery, Art Deco Graphics, New York: Abrams, 1986) Charles Martin, De la pomme aux lèvres (From Apple to Lips), magazine illustration for La gazette du Bon Ton, c. 1915 (in Patricia Frantz Kery, Art Deco Graphics , New York: Abrams, 1986) Georges Lepape, Vo g u e magazine cover, Mar. 15, 1927 (in Patricia Frantz Kery, Art Deco Graphics, New York: Abrams, 1986). Reproduced by kind permission of Condé Nast Publications Inc. George Barbier, Incantation, book illustration for Falbalas et Fanfreluches, 1923 (in Patricia Frantz Kery, Art Deco Graphics, New York: Abrams, 1986)

p. 109, illustration from Il nuovissimo Melzi, Milan: Vallardi, 1905 (author’s collection)

p. 113, illustration by Alphonse de Neuville for Vingt mille lieues sous les mers (20,000 Leagues under the Sea), by Jules Verne, Paris: Hetzel, 1869

p. 114, cover of Il conte di Monte-Cristo (original title: Le comte de Monte-Cristo; English title: The Count of Monte Cristo), by Alexandre Dumas, Milan: Sonzogno, 1927, © RCS (author’s collection)

p. 115, illustration by Charles Clérice for Les ravageurs de la mer (The Ravagers of the Sea), by Louis Jacolliot, Paris: Librairie

Illustrée, 1894-95 (author’s collection)

p. 121, tin of Talmone Cocoa

p. 122, tin of Brioschi Effervescent Powders (author’s collection)

p. 124, cigarette packets, from Michael Thibodeau and Jana Martin’s Smoke Gets in Your Eyes, New York: Abbeville Press, 2000. Copyright © 2000 by Abbeville Press, Inc. Photography by Elliot Morgan/Blink Studio.

p. 125, barber’s calendarette, Sprazzi e bagliori (Flashes and Sparkles), 1929 (author’s collection)

p. 126, barber’s calendarettes, from Ermanno Detti’s Le carte povere (Poor Papers), Florence: La Nuova Italia, 1989

p. 130 (left to right, top to bottom): Cover of Nick Carter: Il gran poliziotto Americano (Nick Carter: The Great American Detective), Milan: Casa Editrice Americana, 1908 Cover of Cuore , by Edmondo de Amicis, Milan: Fratelli Treves, 1878 Cover by Domenico Natoli of Curti Bo e la piccola tigre bionda (Curti Bo and the Little Blond Tiger), by Augusto de Angelis, Milan: 1943, © RCS Cover by Trancredi Scarpelli of I promessi sposi (The Betrothed), by Alessandro Manzoni, Florence: Nerbini, no date Cover of New Nick Carter Weekly, Italian edition, Milan: Casa Editrice Americana, no date Cover by Leo Fontan of L’aiguille creuse (The Hollow Needle), Paris: Éditions Pierre Lafitte, 1909 Cover of Il treno della morte (The Death Train), by Carolina Invernizio, Turin, 1905 (author’s collection) Cover of Il consiglio dei quattro (original title: The Council of Justice), by Edgar Wallace, Milan: Mondadori, 1933 (author’s collection) Cover of Vidocq: L’uomo dalle cento facce (Vidocq: The Man of a Hundred Faces), by Marc Mario and Louis Launay, Milan: La Milano, 1911