Watermark is Joseph Brodsky's curious, quirky, and brilliant account of his enthrallment by the physical and metaphysical life of the city of Venice. A mosaic of forty-eight short chapters, each recalling a specific episode from one of his many visits, the narrative meanders, dallies, picks up speed, turns back reflectively on itself, as if to mimic and honor the amphibious spirit of the enchanting city it portrays. Confessional, at times self-mocking, this meditation on the relation between water and land, light and dark, present and past, stone and flesh, desire and fulfillment, couples evocations of Venice's architectural and atmospheric character with flashes of autobiographical disclo-sure. Funny, frank, immensely knowledgeable, yet never satisfied with what he knows and remembers, Brodsky is impelled as much by wonder and delight in what he sees as by personal experience of time's encroachments.