Fireflies

Argentinian writer and critic Sagasti (Maelstrom) presents a genre-defying collection of associative musings on art, music, philosophy, and literature, centered on the theme of flight. The book’s title is a metaphor encompassing the luminaries Sagasti weaves into this conversation—Kurt Vonnegut surviving the horrors of war to write Slaughterhouse-Five, haiku master Matsuo Basho making a pilgrimage through 17th-century Japan, Wittgenstein creating his masterwork, the Tractatus, while serving in the Austrian army during WWI. Addressing flight in a literal context, Sagasti chronicles the story of Brazilian priest Adelir de Carli, who died in 2008 after launching himself skyward in a chair strapped to a thousand helium balloons, and of author-aviator Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, shot down in 1944 by a German fighter pilot who never forgave himself for killing “the Little Prince” (conflating Saint-Exupéry with his most famous character). Sagasti displays a remarkable gift for identifying what makes an artist distinctive, such as how the skill of haiku writers “lies in discovering the reverse side of the word even while writing it correctly.” His meandering journey through the arts may not suit all tastes, but readers willing to approach it for what it is—essentially, a book-length prose poem—will be rewarded with a rich experience. (Jan.)