C.P. Snow famously suggested that modern humanity had bifurcated itself into people who 'knew' either by way of science or by way of the humanities. Here comes Ross Talarico to heal that rift with exceptional skill, ambition and, to use a Coleridgean word, esemplastic knowledge-knowledge of which a person like me has too often been sadly deprived. Like many another, I predict, I find not only delight but also instruction in reading this long meditation/narration. - Sydney Lea