Having recently seen the William Kentridge exhibit at the Museum of Modern Art, I was immediately drawn to this book. Kentridge recently directed the Metropolitan opera based on Gogol’s absurdist story “The Nose,” and this book contains 30 of Kentridge’s prints that resulted from contemplating the life of the Nose. Each print is accompanied by a page of notes, which range in subject from the technique behind making the prints to art history to Soviet history. The prints fit with the absurdist vision of the story, and it was a treat to read Kentridge’s comments, which were sometimes humorous as a bonus. ( )