Istanbul: Memories and the City

New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2017 Alfred A. Knopf, New York. 2017. Hardcover. Stated First Deluxe Edition. Book is tight, square, and unmarked. Book Condition: As New. DJ: As New; NOT Price Clipped ($45.00). Red paper over boards with royal purple overlay on the spine with bright gilt lettering on the spine. Photographic endpapers. 558 pp tall 8vo. This is a large-format, deluxe, collectible edition of the author's beloved memoir about life in Istanbul, with more than 200 added illustrations and a new introduction. The author was born in Istanbul and lives in the family apartment building thus making his portrait of the city a a self-portrait, refracted by memory and the melancholy–or hüzün–that all Istanbullus share: the sadness that comes of living amid the ruins of a lost empire. With cinematic fluidity, Pamuk moves from the lives of his glamorous, unhappy parents to the gorgeous, decrepit mansions overlooking the Bosphorus; from the dawning of his self-consciousness to the writers and painters–both Turkish and foreign–who would shape his consciousness of his city. Like Joyce's Dublin and Borges' Buenos Aires, Pamuk's Istanbul is a triumphant encounter of place and sensibility, beautifully written and immensely moving. A clean very presentable copy. No International Shipping. Priority mailing will require additional postage.