Aug 19, 2017
The name is Bari. Signor Bari, the eminent tenor. Five hundred thousand people crowded the great piazza when the great artist appeared on the balcony of St. Peter’s Rome. - (p. 31)
This is a great aside in the book. One of a few times when the author just drops in apropos-of-nothing mentions of sui generis characters who never again appear in the book. It seems like Joe mentions them, though it is not clear. Simple, fanciful, ephemeral descriptions. Like someone you met in a dream and remembered only once thereafter. Perhaps they are just momentary flights of fancy by the author, but I like imagining these characters. Bari is pictured here in an illustration from De Selby’s Golden Hours.