Our trip through LaFeltrinelli bookshops continues. Each single shelf is impregnat- ed with a smell recalling the past, over- looking the future and fed by the present. And poetry, music and cinema are perfect roommates of a house that welcomes every day thousands of people and offers
the chance to alienate oneself from the most arduous commitments, in order to dedicate space to reading or to an exhibit. The directors of these fervid cultural spots are their “guardians”, who address us inevitably towards the best books or notes to listen to on a mild afternoon.
RED, a colour that immediately char- acterises the Feltrinelli world, but also represents its evolution at the same time. The Feltrinelli red acquires new shades, which change direction towards the construction of a bookshop looking like a cornerstone and being surrounded by a world made of conviviality and culture of food, where the simple act of purchasing a book can turn into an experience.
The RED of Florence is about to celebrate its second anniversary. It overlooks one of the most important Florentine squares, Piazza della Repubblica, and as such, it welcomes, gathers, groups together. Its food service offers great vitality suggesting new and refined menus. And if you fancy a rich breakfast in the morning or “savour” reading a good book in the afternoon, the coffee bar is always open. Francesca Sulis, young woman, manages the shop with great enthusiasm: “Man- aging a place like this, which is new and in continuous evolution, is undoubtedly challenging, but the incitement it offers and the lovely staff I can rely on wins”.
I suggest a film and a bookth
of the greatest photographers of our times thanks to a fortuitous discovery of a box full of negatives. Vivian makes her living by babysitting. She walks around with a Rolleiflex around her neck. She collects negatives she will never develop; she takes pictures she will never show. She doesn’t care that others see what she’s able to do, she just obsessively wants to record her surrounding environ- ment.
And this hiding in seclusion compares the figure of Vivian Maier to William Sidis, whose real and heart breaking story is artfully told by Morten Brask in his book “The perfect life of William Sidis”. Little Billy was a child prodigy with one of the highest IQ’s ever obtained. He perfectly spoke Latin and Greek at the age of 4, and presented his theory about the fourth dimension at the age of 11. However, Si- dis’ life is the one of a man sentenced by his own exceptional nature to live on the margins of society, which praises him but at the same time refuses him. His choice for solitude will be the only way to pursue the freedom he wanted so much. I was in Sardinia, August 15 to be precise. One of those days in which you always try to come up with something. My father, who is into photography, suggested to go and see exhibition of Vivian Maier in Nuoro. “Vivian who?” some will ask. To find out, go and see the beautiful documen- tary “Finding Vivian Maier”, which tells about how one came to attention of one
