Livia Satriano
Livia Satriano is a curator and author who researches the music and visual world, with a passion for the past and all that is hidden and forgotten. She is also the founder of Libri Belli, a personal account of the most inspiring Italian book covers sourced from second-hand bookshops and flea markets. She leaves no cover unturned, from eye-candy book covers to the most obscure non-fiction and handbooks.
If you could recommend 3 books to anyone, what would they be?
Nadja by André Breton
Nadja was a real-life figure known to Breton, and this book recounts her story and their random encounter and exchange. Nadja is the beginning of the Russian word for "hope" — she embodies a reality, a sweet memory, something that could have been and never was and for this is maybe even more precious.
Nadja is a novel, but it's also an incredibly visual book, made of precise descriptions, vivid sensations, and a hypertext with the illustrations Nadja created and photographs of the places Breton mentions. Full of random occurrences, coincidences, premonitions, between the real and the unreal. Nadja is a book to be read as if you're diving into a personal diary and an existential journey — a journey to discover who we are, through the other. It's not a coincidence that the first words of the book by Breton himself are "Who am I?". If it's true that "all stories are love stories" like someone else later said, to me Nadja is one of the most powerful love stories ever.
We are also what we collect — the incredible amounts of objects and things we accumulate and are surrounded by during our existence. Whether we like it or not, the objects that we choose in our lives shape and define us, and they also survive us. How many ways could there be to tell a love story and its conclusion?
Through a novel, a movie, a poem, the words of a song... Leanne Shapton conceives and tells of a love story by choosing the most unexpected of them all: an imaginary and yet hyper-realistic auction catalog, including photographs of all the objects and related captions. Starting from a handwritten note with the email address on a cocktail napkin exchanged at their first encounter at a party, it leads to all the books the couple shared, the gifts and the clothes they wore during their relationship. It's up to the reader to connect the dots, making this one of the most original and poetic books I've ever read. A must read (or I'd rather say a must-see) book.
I Misteri d'Italia by Dino Buzzati
I couldn't make this list without mentioning at least one book of one of my favourite Italian writers: the eclectic genius of Dino Buzzati. He was an all-round artist: a writer, a novelist, a reporter and also a talented illustrator and painter.
I'd like to recommend his work as a short story writer (I'm sure there are some English translations out there) and this book I Misteri d'Italia (Mysteries of Italy), which I'm particularly fond of. It's a collection of his articles for the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera for which in 1965 he investigated paranormal phenomena and the inexplicable in Italy. The book is a compelling collection of mediums, mystics, spiritualists and folk healers — a curious journey into an unknown 1960s Italy recounted with his unique style and eye for details. The mesmerizing portrait on the cover is one of Buzzati's drawings.
What are you reading now?
I'm an avid non-fiction reader, and I like to occasionally read several books at once, so sometimes I accumulate a collection of books on my bedside table and I might read them at least a couple at the same time — one of them usually non-fiction, and the other a novel. I just finished reading Man Ray's memoir Self Portrait and I must say I already miss it! I miss that 1920s Paris atmosphere, plus hearing the artists speak from their own voice about their story and their process is always fascinating. Now I've just started reading But What If We're Wrong? by Chuck Klosterman. I absolutely loved the idea behind this book, and was so curious to start. I'm sure I won't be disappointed. Oh and the amazing book cover by Paul Sahre deserves a mention too.
What is your favourite bookstore or library?
Obsessed as I am with old books, my favourite bookstores are of course flea markets and second-hand bookshops, but the list would be too long. I want to mention a truly special spot that I recently discovered and it immediately became one of my favourite places ever: Il Museo del Louvre (Louvre Museum, believe it or not, this is its actual name) in Rome — a bookshop and gallery and above all a personal collection.
Filled with old Italian books and postcards, magazines, art posters and black and white photographs, this place is a true wunderkammer of Italian paper memorabilia from the 20th century, but I won't tell you more about the extraordinary story of Giuseppe, its owner. He is the one you should go and talk to next time you're in Rome!
