late saturday night

even when i know i should be frugal, i can’t resist buying a new book or two. i’d been feeling the urge to wander a bookstore all week, and friday night, i ended up at bookpeople – essentially the only good bookstore in austin, as far as i can tell. wandering the fiction section, i paused in front of a paperback with an arresting cover. it had caught my attention before: a woodcut-looking image of a young girl, two braids, upturned eyes, looking mildly horrified, as if straining to see the word ’stories’ plopped in the middle of her forehead. promo quotes from salman rushdie (front cover) and yann martel (back) caught my interest. the book, the girl on the fridge by etgar keret. so far, it’s fabulous: incredibly short stories, infected with a magical realism that recalls murakami and marquez. delightful.