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I always visited a bookstore before I booked a flight to a new destination. I made my way through the aisles to the back corner of the store, where, next to the “spirituality” and “philosophy” shelves, I found the lonely “travel” section waiting for me. I ran my finger across the book spines until I arrived at my destination: Ireland. Conveniently, all the travel guides for Ireland were next to each other....

Roberto Calasso wrote about “singular books” (i libri unici) when recounting conversations he had with Roberto Bazlen in his 2013 L’impronta dell’editore.1 Two co-conspirators of what would blossom into the respected Italian publishing house Adelphi Edizioni, a young Calasso and an aging Bazlen dreamed to publish unique, singular books. Singular books are books in which “it is clear that something has happened to the author and has been put into writing,” Calasso writes reflecting on the conversations with Bazlen....