Winehouse: that kiss between the pages of “Killing Yourself to Live”

Destiny is sometimes strange, mocking. And it spreads warning signs here and there. The Lello di Porto library, these days, exhibits the last of its purchases: the personal collection of books belonging to Amy Winehouse, the great English singer who disappeared in 2011 at 27 years old (Here the review at the last biopic dedicated to her). It is about 200 volumes that are now accompanied by the collection of rare editions and manuscripts already exposed in the rooms of the ancient libraryopened in 1906 by the brothers José and António Lello, one of the places most visited by tourists a Oport to Portugalthanks to the fascinating architecture of Francisco Xavier Esteves, who conceived an original neo -Gothic dough and Art Nouveau, with a deceased facade, colored windows, Arabesque ceilings and an amazing crimson scale inside. The Amy Winehouse collection allows you to understand what the artist read: He collects his personal books, from JD Salinger’s “The Young Holden”, read at the age of 12, up to the copy of “The little shop of the horrors”, a musical he played When he attended the Susi Earnshaw Theater School in London.

“We have not bought the collection for its historical value, but for what it represents – explained Aurora Pedro Pinto, current administrator of the library – that is, an artist who in the books found refuge, inspiration and a voice beyond music . We reaffirm our mission to demonstrate, in an unexpected and unusual way, the power that the books have to define us and accompany us“And many of those books show traces of intense use, with coffee stains, candle wax and even signs of splashes of water, perhaps the result of its habit of reading in the bathtub. Among all, the copy of “Killing Yourself to Live”, essay by Chuck Klosterman dedicated to the places where some of the greatest legends of rock and in whose pages Amy Winehouse have left a kiss with the red lipstick stands out. Just she who would have tragically taken part in the Club of 27 (here an in -depth analysis thanks to the testimony of the best friend of Winehouse), or all those icons of music that At 27 they cut the red thread with life.