Postmark Paris: A Story in Stamps by Leslie Jonath

It's funny how similar themes seem to arise from books that one is reading. 

Recently I read Hit Man (here) by Lawrence Block in which the main character, a killer for hire, takes up his childhood passion for stamp collecting. 

Right now I am engrossed in Bloodhounds, the fourth Peter Diamond mystery by Peter Lovesey. It concerns the brazen theft of a valuable Penny Black postage stamp from a Bath museum. The Penny Black, featuring the profile of the reigning Queen Victoria, was the world's first adhesive postage stamp. It was issued in Great Britain in 1840.

And then, just Sunday past, I plucked off a shelf in the travel section of Robie Books, a pristine copy of a little book Postmark Paris: A Story in Stamps (2005) by Leslie Jonath. It is the author's tale of her experiences living in Paris for a year when she was nine years old.

The book is really written for children and is quite a delight. One page features text in which Ms. Jonath recalls a particular memory of the City of Light - attending school, riding the Metro, visiting the Tuilleries, attending a ballet at the Paris Opera House, viewing exhibits at the Louvre, and even rescuing her brother when he is grabbed by a monkey at the zoo!

On the opposite page is an image of a French postage stamp that in some way relates to that adventure. So when Leslie learns that the French for cock-a-doodle-do is cocorico, three stamps featuring colorful roosters accompany the text. 

It is in Paris that the young Leslie becomes enamored with the world of postage stamps and soon she befriends the owner of  the dimly lit shop in her neighborhood that sells les timbres, as well as old maps and dusty gray books. 

The stamps she buys are lovely and colorful and many depict the art and artists that we have come to know so well: Monet, Picasso, Renoir. 

I can imagine that the young Leslie had a wonderful time collecting these little masterpieces and hope that she is still finding her way in the world through les timbres.

Hit Man by Lawrence Block

I really couldn't help but like John Paul Keller who is introduced by Lawrence Block in Hit Man (1998). Known simply as Keller, he lives a bachelor's life in New York City. He eats breakfast at a little diner in his neighborhood. He sometimes visits the zoo. He works the crossword puzzle in The New York Times. 

Keller is such a low-key character it is difficult to remember that he is a professional assassin!  He is not vengeful or hateful, it's just that he has chosen an unusual career path. In each episode or chapter the reader learns a bit more about this somewhat complicated and wistful man. It is never explained in this first book how he came to be an assassin which makes him all the more mysterious.

His contacts for contracts are an unnamed fellow referred to as 'the old man' who lives in White Plains and his assistant Dot. It is Dot who calls Keller to send him on his travels about the country to "take care of things" for the latest client. He likes to picture himself living in some of the towns that he visits. But after the job is finished, he always returns to his apartment in the city to await another phone call.

Lawrence has Keller dispatch his victims in just a sentence or two so for a novel that is made up of episodes about killing there is very little of it that goes on. Mostly we learn how cleverly Keller sets up his victims and how he spends his days in your average motel, eating alone in your average restaurants, and not making himself too visible. 

Sometimes his plans go awry, but he thinks on his feet and somehow the jobs always get done  - just maybe not how he thought they would. 

At one point he begins therapy but that doesn't work out too well for him or the therapist. He and Dot, really his only friend, have pleasant conversations about life over glasses of iced tea or lemonade. At one point she convinces him that he needs to find a hobby and he throws himself into his childhood passion for stamp collecting.  The reader gets quite a lesson in philately pursuits as Keller becomes engrossed in this pastime.

There are three more episodic novels in the series: Hit List, Hit Parade, and Hit Me (that was published this year) and then a full-length novel, Hit and Run. My library has them all in e-book editions which is a hit with me...

I am keeping Keller on my list. I just hope I never end up on his!