Trafika Europe 11 - Swiss Delights

THE INFINITE BOOK (EXCERPTS) BY NOËLLE REVAZ TRANSLATED BY TESS LEWIS

1. On January 3 rd , the novelist Jenna Fortuni’s third book was published. It was difficult to determine the exact time of publication because the publisher, as was the custom, had kept it secret as long as possible. But all at once, mid-morning, the book sprang up by the thousands in the shop windows. It blossomed in pyramids next to supermarket registers. It filled display cases. Piles of the book were clustered in the Leisure and Recreation aisles. It was spotted in stores and, of course, could be seen adorning the bags of a growing number of shoppers on busses and other means of public transportation. The book was immediately recognizable by its ornate cover, dominated by reds. The surface was embossed in several layers of relief, over which you could run your fingers. One of these layers had a sheen of pewter or lead. The cover ’s actual background was smooth. In certain hollows, towards the right side, the reds had an orange cast. In other hollows, miniature lakes of silver gleamed like tiny mirrors in which you could see your eyes. The most evident motif was a snake with a square head, advancing horizontally over two

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