Shopping

Here's Oliver Sacks' iPod playlist, though he doesn't have an actual iPod. It was Wired magazine's idea, related to Sacks' new book, about music, and their interview of him, which you can read here. Although I must say it's either extremely shallow or brutally edited. Either way it contains no more than the germ of a few ideas. If I were Sacks I'd consider it pretty worthless as promotion. You'd need to know Sacks already to feel any desire to read the book because of it. Fortunately there are enough people around who do know him.

I looked for his book (in one shop only because I have some gift-certificates) but came away empty-handed. I did buy three books in a new Penguin Celebrations* reprint series: The Classical World by Robin Lane Fox; Freakonomics by Levitt and Dubner; and Jane Austen: A Life by Claire Tomalin. On a three-for-two deal, total price €22.00, or about $840.00. Good series, if a little limited. Good books at low prices was the Penguin founding philosophy of Allen Lane, and it's good to see it's still lurking under the corporate surface. Books at these prices -- less than €8 a pop! -- are perfect for reading and passing on, or simply giving as gifts for no particular reason. Which is how good writing gets spread around.

PS: the website given on the books' cover leads to this.

PPS: I also bought the new Joni Mitchell album previously alluded to. One hearing is not enough to judge, though the words "samey" and "jejune" have both popped unbidden into my head. I'll write about it later, perhaps. Particularly about the lyrics, which I don't think I need to read twice to form an opinion. It's on the Starbucks label, for lovers of irony. If you check out the link there, you'll see they have it down as #PRODUCT304.

PPPS: And some Energizer batteries, why not tell it all? I still have some gift-certs left, and my eye on a volume of essays and one story by Orhan Pamuk. Girl Thirteen picked out a camera she's going to buy with her savings, the Olympus FE-280.

I wish I had some savings. But I have children instead.