Breezing past the poetry section of my tiny local indie, en route to the register, I was quite literally stopped in my tracks by this NYRB edition of Rex Warner’s Men and Gods, with its cover and illustrations by Edward Gorey. Petite and hard-bound with illustrated boards in what I can only call ‘Loeb green,’ it begged to take up permanent residence in my bag. And so off it went with me to the register. I’d love to tell you a whole big story about how much personal resonance this one has for me — and given that my favorite childhood library book was an oversized, grey cloth-bound volume of Greek myths and that I have an ongoing obsession with Loeb Library editions, I could do it — but I won’t. It’s not clear to me whether this is a direct reprint of an older edition or whether it’s an NYRB repackaging of the author’s and illustrator’s previous work. But I’m left wondering if that big book I checked out over and over wasn’t Rex Warner’s work, and whether it wasn’t perhaps also illustrated by Gorey, who I can’t say has ever had any special appeal for me. I do really like the notion that it could be a portable edition of my childhood favorite, but I’ve no doubt this book would have leapt off that shelf at me regardless. The big orange cats, the hand-lettering, that fantastic green — and you should see the snake on the back. It’s a pretty irresistible little package. I’m having trouble refraining from looking up the two other Goreys on the NYRB list.