SEVEN DREAMS OF ELMIRA

Seven Dreams Of Elmira ($20.00; Aug.; 64 pp.; photographs by Jean-Luc Laguardique; 1-58195-002-0): This quaint and curious little volume combines a number of striking photographs (black and white and color landscapes and portraits) that celebrate the West Indian island of Martinique with a terse prose poem written by that island’s most successful literary export: the Creole-born author of such lush, exuberant fictions as Texaco (1997) and Solibo Magnificent (1998). Chamoiseau’s tongue- in-cheek tale describes the drowsy state of nirvana enjoyed by the long-lived inhabitants of Gros-Morne, home of the Saint- Etienne distillery, where the world’s best rum is produced and the inexplicable appearances of an unknown and otherworldly beauty (the eponymous Elmira) seem to preside over, and bless its spiritous bounty. A minor but charming addition to Chamoiseau’s exotic and distinctive oeuvre.