A miscellany of sorts, preeminent author and critic Nicholas Delbanco's Curiouser and Curiouser attests to a lifelong interest in music and the visual arts as well as both "mere" and "sheer" literature. With essays ranging from the restoration of his father-in-law's famed Stradivarius cello-known throughout the world as "The Countess of Stanlein"-to a reimagining of H. A. and Margaret Rey's lives and the creation of their most beloved character,...