Philip Larkin's Letters to Monica, edited by Anthony Thwaite (Faber), make a remarkable human document that is, by turns, bad-tempered, self-lacerating, tender, sad and irresistibly funny.
Bananas, as we all know, have tender, silky flesh and are irresistibly sweet and slightly floral – so good that we eat them raw without a second thought.
There, within minutes, we were waited on by the owner's strapping son, Rico Currarini, and soon dipped our forks into fettuccini with succulent mussels, netted from the waters of La Spezia, and tender trofie — the region's signature pasta, shaped like mini-torches, irresistibly slippery with pesto (a Ligurian invention, by the way).
They have what to me is an irresistibly robust and nutty flavor, and a texture that can run from crunchy to tender.
The National Gallery has both versions of the picture, mounted on opposing walls and irresistibly proposing comparison: is the Louvre's early version, yellow with filth, more tender-hearted, sympathetic and natural than the National Gallery's newly cleaned vision of spotlit and sharply haloed figures with shellac complexions?
They are irresistibly momentous.
Irresistibly tempting nosh.
The tender sensuality of Venice sparks a formidable mystic fire in his painting Saint Jerome As A Scholar (c1600-14), wispe wisp of a white beard against velvety rose robes irresistibly recalls Tintoretto.
She is irresistibly optimistic.
