This week marks the start of a 2.5 week long International Book Fair of Buenos Aires at La Rural at Plaza Italia in Palermo. The fair - one of the five largest in the world - has literally millions of books for sale and attracts famous authors and book collectors from around the world.The fair features lectures by many prominent authors (this year's most famous is actually a Connecticut native - Annie Proulx. She is the author of such famous novels as The Shipping News and Brokeback Mountain. In addition to lectures, there are wandering performers, children's activities and workshops - all for an entry fee of $3.00 US.
Many embassies also have purchased booths, providing books from their country. The United States was prominently featured as were many European and South American countries. Buenos Aires is a very well-educated city and wherever you go, whether it's a park, a cafe, on the bus/subway or other public settings, everyone is reading newspapers or books. From my travels thoughout South America, I can easily state that portenos are the most well-read people on this continent.
After the fair, I had the "book bug" in me so I headed to El Ateneo, a bookstore just three blocks from my house. From the street, this looks like a normal Barnes & Noble or Borders, but those curious enough to venture inside will be astounded - this bookstore has been rated one of the best in the world. It is a renovated theater that opened in 1919 and was converted into a bookstore in 2000. The interior is incredibly ornate and features a beautiful Italian-painted cupola. My last photo of this post features a photo from this magnificent building.
On a side note, I was supposed to have gone to the book fair today with a friend of mine. He was going to meet me at my apartment at 1:00. Well this is Argentina after all, so i waited until 3:00 for him and decided just to go on my own since he never showed. At 5:00 this afternoon, he called me - from the hospital. He was admitted at 5:00 AM and diagnosed with dengue (see my posting below) after a blood test revealed extremely low white-blood cell counts and other symptoms of this disease that has spread throughout Argentina. Since there is no treatment, all he can do is stay in bed until the fever and aches/pains disappear after a few weeks and take Tylenol. Pretty scary stuff.
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