Taking 1792--the year that Goya went deaf--as her starting point, Julia Blackburn chronicles the painter's fruitful last 35 years in captivating, imaginative detail. Her book is informed by her travels and research, her own family history and her keen intellect. Blackburn has explored similar topics, people and places in this same mesmerizing fashion in her previous books, most memorably in The Book of Color (Seychelles and the Indian Ocean), The Emperor's Last Island (St. Helena) and Daisy Bates in the Desert (Australian outback).  (SPN171, $13.95)