About the book: 2006 / Famous Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk explores the genius loci of Istanbul, intertwining his own memories with the cultural history of the city in which he lived for more than 50 years. The author shows readers Istanbul's monuments and lost paradise, narrow streets, Ottoman villas and canals, introduces the writers, artists, journalists and crazy historians who chronicled the city's century and a half of "modernization". In a beautiful and fascinating way, Pamuk transforms this unusual biography, which began as "a portrait of the artist in his youth" "and turned into a portrait of the artist in the city.