The narrator of “Numero Zero” is a 50-ish sad sack, Colonna, who dropped out of college and has flitted from job to job: tutor, hack journalist, proofreader, copy editor, slush-pile reader, even ghostwriter of detective fiction for a pseudonymous author - that is, he’s too unimportant even to be the real fake. (Eco boasts 30,000 volumes at his Milan apartment, 20,000 more at a country home outside Urbino.) I imagine the gray-bearded 83-year-old professor chortling away as he typed in some book-lined sanctuary. Still, it’s hard not to be charmed by the zest of the author. This witty and wry novel - Eco’s sixth since his best-selling fiction debut, “The Name of the Rose” - also contains a few flimsy elements and peculiar digressions. By contrast, his new conspiracy thriller is a fleet volume, slim in pages but plump in satire about modern Italy. Note that my skin is not red or irritated! Thanks Eco Collective for another amazing product, and the instructions for use made it super easy for a beginner to follow.Umberto Eco’s early novels gained a reputation as intellectual entertainments, dense with esoterica and dotted with Latin, of a heft you’d rather not drop on your toe. My skin is smooth and I’m happy! Photos taken after first strip was pulled and right after showering. I would normally pay around $100 or more to have my legs sugared at a studio/salon, so I think this is cost effective/worth the price. I have extremely sensitive skin and this left my skin feeling great! I had some slight redness and little bumps for a few minutes, but that calmed down pretty quickly. It washed off super easily in the shower when I was done. I was surprised at how little pain I experienced-sugar wax doesn’t rip the skin like normal wax, so it’s a much more tolerable and pleasant experience. I used the strip method with strips of brown paper bag and a butter knife applicator, but am going to try the ball method next time since that’s what my salon lady does. I did both legs in about an hour, and used about 4oz of wax. Don’t skip the exfoliation step before you start. I finally tried Marimar’s sugar wax that I bought months ago-it’s amazing! This was my first time doing any type of waxing, and it went very well.

Numero zero by umberto eco