These somnets, written by two established poets in a sort of literary give-and-take - or tug-of-war -, are composite, dreamlike, experimental compositions that test to the limit the self-generating power of the word, the capacity of a sound pattern to resonate, to reverberate within the compositional space until a similar sound is engendered. They are, above all, a celebration of expressive freedom, of the faculty to initiate a difficult journey whose itinerary is as proteiform as the poetic utterance it pursues, ever ready to move in a different direction, to follow the faintest trace, to turn at the slightest provocation.

Who minds sleeping under a mosquito net when it's royally draped over the bed in a lush Kenyan, open-walled hut, fashioned from tree trunks and shielded from the sun by a sumptuous thatched roof? This selection of the most-splendid getaway havens nestled throughout the African continent is sure to please even the most finicky would-be voyagers. Photos.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1875.

The author brings to life some of Italy's most amazing landscapes, such as Venice, Lake Como, Florence, the Amalfi Coast and the Aeolian Islands. She explores legendary hotels in which novels have been set, movies made and love stories consummated.