The Traces
An Essay

i stumbled upon this book in one of my favorite bookstores and just felt this odd... need? for it. and that feeling was so, so right. This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever had the honor of reading—Staid writes with unflinching honesty & a touch of melancholy that echo in my bones. It i......more

For a while I was a bit confused by how the various references (Anne Carson, John Berger, and of course Italo Calvino) intersected with the author's own narrative, until I realized that Desire (from Carson's _Eros the Bittersweet_) was the thing tying it all together. Carson talks about there being......more

I was initially hesitant to read this book, as it draws from Italo Calvino's "Invisible Cities," which I had not particularly enjoyed on my first encounter with it. However, once I began reading The Traces, I found it impossible to put down. This book is part travel memoir, part meditation on happin......more

Where do I start with this! Okay, well, first of all, anything that makes me want to retry Invisible Cities must be doing something right because Calvino’s text is…rich ! to say the least. So essentially this is an intellectualized re-telling of the author’s younger self on a study abroad in Italy,......more

The Traces is a trusty accomplice to have with you during the collapse of our culture. It is a wonderful wander through philosophy in the guise of a road movie (to Florence as a teenager) which is propelled by a maybe-love story. It is the first book that could be put in the category of philosophy th......more