Picked up these titles at St. Marks (stmarksbookshop.com) this past weekend, during vacation book-buying spree: 

Naming Infinity: A True Story of Religious Mysticism and Mathematical Creativity by Loren Graham and Jean-Michel Kantor (Belkap-Harvard). Glancing through the book on the shelf didn’t prove particularly enlightening, nor does the writing seem afire with prose stye, but anybook that is about exiled monks and their mystical practice of Name Worshipping, combined with a mathematical exploration of the nature of infinity is a book for me to at least look at more closely.  I like monks and I once thought about writing a short story based on a father’s explaining infinity to his 8-year-old son. 

The Invisible Dragon: Essay on Beauty by Dave Hickey. I’ve always meant to read Elaine Scarry’s On Beauty and Being Just, which really has nothing to do with why I bought this book. Malcolm Jones introduced me to Dave Hickey with his suggestion to read Air Guitar– which I haven’t yet, but it does occupy a prominent spot on my shelf. Maybe I’ll get to them both at the same time. I like an introduction that includes the line “he faced the real possibility of being shot by both sides in the culture war.”

And finally from McNally Jackson Booksellers (mcnallyjackson.com), where I also always find something interesting: Peter Kral’s Working Knowledge. I adore books like this, very short essays with no binding principles or particular forward motion. Instead, all around motion–your sight must dance along at the edges, careening from love to pigeons to suitcases and night and the wind. And this one on “Running for the Train”: “It is always humiliating to run for a train, we are fated to miss it: we will never again take it. When, on the other hand, we do manage to catch it, it is not a simple stroke of luck. With an innocent expression, we step into a compartment and place our suitcases on the luggage rack, attempting to conceal the lingering panic in our breathing from those present; and yet we know that winning the race straight away will bring us greater luck on our journey. Even compared to those worthy souls who took their seats on time.” I quite agree.

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