Book worming!

When people asks me who is my favorite author (like once every 5 years or so), I'm usually very quick in replying: "Well, Umberto Eco of course!". Then, I get a blank stare from my questioner, at least until I mention that he's the author of The Name of the Rose, which movie version had Sean Connery on the cast ... As far as I can tell, his popularity in North America isn't as good as it is in Europe ... or maybe I just happen to know about him because I was introduced to his novels by my dad ... With only 5 novels on track record, it is no real surprise (really) that most people will have not heard of him, unless you are an Italian medievalist, a semiotician, or a philosopher. Anyhow, I finished his last (really his last apparently) novel The Mysterious Flame of Queen Loana Saturday night with mixed feelings. I did enjoy the usual display of erudition, which is so typical of Mr Eco work (Dan Brown's an amateur in comparison!) ... but I failed to really found myself spellbound by the story as I had in past readings (e.g Foucault's Pendulum). Yet, it was a welcome change of scenery in this times of interrupted sleep and diaper changing duties ...