The third instalment of Deborah Levy's autobiographical series. Real Estate forms the third part of Deborah Levy's “Living Autobiography”, following on from Things I Don't Want to Know and The Cost of Living. In it, Levy discusses different concepts of real estate, the things of value we own or even produce ourselves. The condensed timeline of the autobiography follows various trips around Europe, meetings with film producers, visits with friends, literary parties and so on. Some dramatic effect is added with the shenanigans of her best male friend, whose romantic life is up in the air. The autobiography's most central concern, one that is treated fairly lightly, is the author's impending sixtieth birthday. This is seen as a coming milestone, but not particularly meaningful. Levy sprinkles her book with quotes from favourite authors and ruminates on some feminist themes. It would have been nice if some of the book's intellectual ideas were expanded a bit, mainly because they were quite interesting, offering a diversion from the concentration on day-to-day minutiae. A pleasant enough ramble, a thoughtful meditation on ageing that is often fairly upbeat. Real Estate, by Deboarh Levy. Published by Penguin. $22.99 Review by Chris Saliba Comments are closed.
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