The Courtship of Sea Creatures by Jean-Pierre Otte/ Marjolijn de Jager, trans. In this beautifully written, sensual novel, author Jean-Pierre Otte turns his attention to the intimate lives of the creatures he finds at the seashore. His interest is very precise: the sexuality of sea creatures, from crabs to shrimp and even seaweed. His viewpoint is ironic, witty, poetic, and wise, as he describes sea urchins in congregations of "indifferent promiscuity", melancholy lobsters who must mate in "armor", and mussels who dream "in the heart of wet and oblong darkness". In observing the abundant, primitive forms of life around him, he writes, "When filled with wonder, one always opens up again to the universe and at the same time to one's universe." CL, ISBN: 0807614866 $20.00 (Can: $30.00)