The good doctor battles an army of flies with a vacuum cleaner in his country house in this week’s Takimag column.

I have only ever met one man who truly loved flies. He was an entomologist and spoke of them with deep affection. (I also met a mosquito-man once, and he loved mosquitoes in the same way.) He wrote a book about flies with the most beautiful illustrations. They are, indeed, creatures of exquisite beauty when seen close up—unlike humans, who often improve with distance.