Nonsuch Book

more of books do furnish a room by leslie geddes-brown

Was very excited about this book even before I saw it up close and personal. Now that I own it, my enthusiasm for it is not a bit diminished. This is not a design book in the conventional sense. Bibliophiles are accustomed to interior designers who purge your collection from view in order to achieve their design. Where knickknacks displace your grandfather's Dickens collection. But Geddes-Brown reveals a love for the book in her introduction that set me immediately at ease.

"So while many authors treat books with disdain (and disapprove of books furnishing a room), the jumble of volumes by a writer's desk, the way books are used to prop up uneven desk legs or signal dangerous holes in a carpet, are far better than treating them with a conservator's cotton gloves. Books are there to be read - and to furnish a room."

 

The author asserts that books belong in every room of a house. The manner in which you choose to organize them may reveal as much of your nature as the titles themselves. Look, for instance, at the photo above to see how a minimalist might display their books. They may reside in plain view as you see on the top deck (that is unless the well-hidden blinds are pulled down) or rest behind doors as you see below. Whatever your style, you will probably find it depicted in at least one of the gorgeous photos in this book. The prevailing theme is that the books are the furniture, the anchors, the means by which we personalize our spaces whether you collect rare incunabula or paperback bodice rippers.

 

The assumption is that the book is a focal point of your decor. Even it's image creeps into spaces that do not hold actual books as seen in this photo of some tempting wallpaper - "Bibliotheque" by Brunschwig et Fils. So if books in the bathroom seems a reasonable idea...

 

Or the stairwell in your home calls out for books ...

 

Or you can think of no finer way to welcome people into your home ...

 

Well then, you may want this book. A lot. Books Do Furnish a Room by Leslie Geddes-Brown is written and delivered with the most engaging images just for bibliophiles. The gentle madness. The need to make room for our papery friends. Justified within the pages here in a no-excuses, indulgent voice that already seems to understand your bookish needs. A design friend not foe.

sunday salon: the san francisco panorama

 

Sunday newspapers have been elevated to ritual among many of us print junkies, but the disappearing sections (my well-loved Washington Post Book World for example), the disappearing newspapers for that matter have left many of us scratching our heads a bit. Is this the inevitable replacement of one form of information sharing with another? Are the print versions of these publications at risk of slipping away because they ceased to re-invent themselves as readership sensibilities morphed into visually oriented, short byte appetites? Are they just too expensive to produce compared with the relatively small cost and green benefits of digital versions?

Along comes the fine folks at McSweeney's (Dave Egger's small literary magazine turned independent publisher that embraces whimsy, well-chosen words, fine design and nuttiness) to say that this need not be. There is room for both print and internet publications, but the newspaper must do what the internet cannot if it wants a seat at the table. To illustrate their point, next month they are publishing a one-shot deal newspaper, The San Francisco Panorama. A "huge and luxurious broadsheet," the Panorama has brought together the work of the best designers, writers and artists of all kinds. Just check this out if you are skeptical. An "omg moment" as my middle schooler would say.

 

It will be delivered automatically to McSweeney's subscribers, available in bookstores around the country, and may be purchased directly from the publisher. First week of December. Now some of you may be saying that this looks fantastic but is not a practical answer to the issue at hand - the disappearance of print media. It is not intended as an example of what might be published on a daily basis though. It is an over-the-top illustration of what newspapers might be. Of the types of things they can do that the internet cannot. Print is not disappearing. It is being given a grand opportunity to re-invent itself, to return itself to art form. Or at least that is my belief. How do you weigh in on the topic?

Today I will finally be picking up Susan Hill's Howard's End Is On the Landing. And doing a little blog housekeeping. Have not really kept well-updated of late. The stuff of life dictates the schedule. What will you be reading in the Sunday Salon today?

bookish friends for the wee ones

 

This week was action-packed at work: my usual duties plus the Julie Andrews author visit; Family Reading Night where we welcome hundreds in for books, dinner, and literacy based fun; and yesterday I took two teams to a US geography tournament at the Smithsonian Museum of American History. Can't quite get my head out of wee one mode so I have decided to share a little wee one knowledge just in case you have started holiday shopping with a young person in mind. Because, of course, books make wonderful presents. These gift suggestions reflect not only my own personal tastes but also my experience working with children. If they won't read it then what's the point, right?

The image above is the cover image of Jerry Pinkney's The Lion and the Mouse. Drop. Dead. Gorgeous. A nearly wordless re-telling of Aesop's fable of the same name, this book is set in the African Serengeti. The landscapes and the animals are captured in watercolors that practically leap from the page, that appear somehow illuminated by the color choices and dimension achieved. Each child that has picked up this book to tell me the story has succeeded beautifully. The story is that well-conveyed in images alone. The trick is getting the book out of their hands when their storytelling task is done. Can you say Caldecott? Ideal for ages 4-6 or anyone that appreciates superior illustration.

 

 

A beautiful selection for the fairy tale lover. "In exquisite three-dimensional scenes, Jane Ray retells and illuminates the story of Snow White, creating a gift book worthy of a fairy tale. Once there was a beautiful girl with skin as white as snow, lips as red as blood, and hair as dark as the winter branches. In six intricate spreads, delicate paper layers let children peer in the palace window at the wicked queen with her mirror, watch Snow White run to the house of the seven dwarves, and gaze as the prince wakes her in her coffin. As the familiar text unfolds on flaps evoking stage curtains, the scenes play out in dioramas of rare depth and beauty." (from the publisher)

 

David Carter is a genius of pop-up books but White Noise, the last installment in his color series, is not just entertainment for the young reader. It is book sculpture. Irresistible! 

 

Do you know that over half of a frog's bones are in its feet, and they use their feet like hands? Pick up Frogs by Nic Bishop and you will tune into this and a whole lot more info about the popular amphibian. The close-up, amazing photography of frogs from all over the world will appeal to the nonfiction lover on your list.

  

For older readers, The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate by Jacqueline Kelly is about a turn-of-the-century young lady who dreams of living in a tower of books, spurns the conventional expectations of young womanhood, and embraces the natural world as young scientist - with a little magic thrown in. My second choice for the 9-12 year old group is Kate DiCamillo's new novel, The Magician's Elephant. This author knows children well, and her stories draw them in to magical scapes without a trace of pandering or excess sentiment. And kids love that. This new story of an orphan boy who seeks to know if his sister is still alive delivers the reader to a fortune teller for help who offers an unusual answer that an elephant will deliver him where he needs to go.

Wow. This is a lot longer than I intended. And I could go on and on. But these are the standouts of late. Great books for small hands.

julie andrews is supercalifragilisticexpialidocious in dc

 

Have you ever been a bit anxious about meeting an author or other famous person you admire because you wonder how they can ever measure up to the ideal in your head? When I found out that Julie Andrews and her daughter, Emma Walton Hamilton, would be visiting our school to read and chat with our kids, I was over the moon. But could this woman be as charming, gracious and commanding a presence in the flesh as she is in my imagination? Well, in a word, yes. 

Look at this photo above. This was taken when they were watching some of the kids perform a very enthusiastic version of "Do-Re-Mi." How many times this woman must have heard this song but her and Emma's reaction was so joyous and nurturing that those children looking down from the stage at them will never forget that moment. Trust me. I heard all about it today. Over and over again. How about this photo of a few of the kids at work? 

 

The reading of select poems from the new book, Julie Andrews' Collection of Poems, Songs, and Lullabies, was a fantastic hit with the kids (and the adults). This mother-daughter pair is perfectly in-sync with one another. This is not just a reading. This is performance art. And even the youngest sensibilities get that. This is also a beautiful treasury. The array of poems from various authors including our two guests is wonderfully complemented by the watercolor illustrations by James McMullan. The cd in the back was a big hit with the kids too. They liked it before the visit yesterday, and they LOVED it today. Think Christmas. Especially for language-loving families.

 

So I suppose it is time to wind up the gushing. Did I mention how wonderful they were answering the children's questions? She thinks she prefers writing to acting - her own words versus someone else's. How lovely they were to everyone they encountered? Sigh. It was just magical. 

Then this. On the way out, she noticed a cockroach book on the library shelf that is a total gross-out favorite with the boys at my school. She stooped and looked for a minute but did not pick it up. She walked a few steps and then stopped, turned and looked at me and said that cockroaches are one thing of which she is terribly afraid. She shared how she was once making a movie with her husband, and screaming at the sight of one was quite easy for her, perhaps her best acting ever. We all laughed and appreciated the fact that someone else might have said "Blake Edwards" instead of just my husband, "Victor/Victoria" instead of just a movie. Now, of course, I need to see the movie again. And to obtain quite a few more titles from the Julie Andrews Collection for the students at my school. They are demanding them. Loudly. They are a little smitten right now. As we all are. Sigh.

Photos by Rebecca Roth courtesy of the Convention Center Community Association, CCCA

diary of the book lover

Friend Molly sent me this slideshow link a while back, and I promptly lost it somewhere on my desktop. Hopeless.  But I have found it now. Loved the red books best. Visit here to enjoy the images in larger sizes.

sunday salon: nabokov in a specimen box, naughty reading, and mary poppins

Favorite book design blog, The Casual Optimist, tipped me off to these Nabokov re-designs this week. They look like actual specimen boxes, don't they? Have to hold one to sort out how this type of dimension is achieved. It fascinates me. Check out the slide show of all cover designs at Design Observer. Here's another:

 

And another:

Art director John Gall says of the project: 

"Nabokov was a passionate butterfly collector, a theme that has cropped up on some of his past covers. My idea was also a play on this concept. Each cover consists of a photograph of a specimen box, the kind used by collectors like Nabokov to display insects. Each box would be filled with paper, ephemera, and insect pins, selected to somehow evoke the book’s content. And to make it more interesting… I thought it would be fun to ask a group of talented designers to help create the boxes."

Believe that the release date is any time now (smart given the release of the new Nabokov novel) but have inquired with the publisher for a little clarity on that. Seemingly available from the usual supect online purveyors but these images correspond with much older publication dates. Confusing. Please weigh in if you know more?

Another conversation starter from Simon at Savidge Reads this week when he posted about Wetlands by Charlotte Roche:

It is a book that made me think about what constitutes a graphic, open and supposedly feminist coming of age story (though if this is what girls are going through around the world heaven help us) or a book designed to sell on how shocking and explicit it is.

Where do you weigh in on this? What is your comfort level for erotica in a read?

Finally, Julie Andrews is coming to my school this week to read with the kids. Beyond excited. Will let you know how it goes.

And those are my random thoughts for the week. Am currently reading all over the place. Dipping into short stories by Lydia Davis and James Lasdun. Still enjoying Beg, Borrow and Steal. And pondering what to write about oh-so-wonderful new John Irving. What are you reading in the Sunday Salon today?

 

woolf in winter: an invitation

 

"I have sometimes dreamt, at least, that when the Day of Judgment dawns and the great conquerors and lawyers and statesmen come to receive their rewards—their crowns, their laurels, their names carved indelibly on imperishable marble—the Almighty will turn to Peter and will say, not without a certain envy when He sees us coming with our books under our arms, “Look, these need no reward. We have nothing to give them here. They have loved reading.” Virginia Woolf

Reading Virginia Woolf. In the heart of winter. With friends who are both coming to this modernist master for the first time and those who will be enjoying the consuming stream-of-consciousness prose as repeat readers. Four of us would love for you to join us as we spend January and February reading through four Woolf novels - Mrs. Dalloway, To the Lighthouse, Orlando and The Waves. The hosting-posting schedule is as follows:

Sarah ~ Mrs Dalloway (Jan 15) 

"Heralded as Woolf's greatest work of fiction, "Mrs. Dalloway" is not only a thorough rendering of a vivid human life, it is the outline on paper of human consciousness. In this vivid portrait of a single day in a woman's life, Clarissa Dalloway readies her house for friends and neighbors as she is is flooded with remembrances of faraway times."

Emily ~ To the Lighthouse (Jan 29) 

"The most autobiographical of Virginia Woolf's novels. It is based on her own early experiences, and while it touches on childhood and children's perceptions and desires, it is at its most trenchant when exploring adult relationships, marriage and the changing class-structure in the period spanning the Great War."

Frances ~ Orlando (Feb 12) 

"Originally published in 1928, this classic story by Virginia Woolf was modelled on her friend Vita Sackville-West's personality. Orlando chooses her own sexual identity as she lives through three centuries as both a man and a woman."

Claire ~ The Waves (Feb 26)

"Conveys the rhythms of life in synchrony with the cycle of nature and the passage of time. This book presents a searching exploration of individual and collective identity, and the observations and emotions of life, from the simplicity and surging optimism of youth to the vacancy and despair of middle-age."

Please join us? For one or for all four novels makes no difference. Claire, Sarah, Emily and I would love to read with you, would love your insights for what promises to be some great conversation. Look out for posts from all in the next few days. And just say "yes." 

book lust: books do furnish a room by leslie geddes-brown

 

Before one more person calls me a book temptress (a title I secretly love), please click on over to Cornflower, and blame her for today's offering. My copy is already on its way to me. Home design book. Practical AND aesthetically pleasing ways to store those paginated loves of your life. Just look at these images. I feel a home improvement project coming on.

 

 

 

short story sunday: "love and honor and pity and pride and compassion and sacrifice" by nam le

 

Other friends were more forthright: "I'm sick of ethnic lit," one said. "It's full of descriptions of exotic food." Or: "You can't tell if the language is spare because the author intended it that way, or because he didn't have the vocab." 

I was told about a friend of a friend, a Harvard graduate from Washington, D.C., who had posed in traditional Nigerian garb for his book-jacket photo. I pictured myself standing in a rice paddy, wearing a straw conical hat. Then I pictured my father in the same field, wearing his threadbare fatigues, young and hard-eyed. 

"It's a license to bore," my friend said. We were drunk and walking our bikes because both of us, separately, had punctured our tires on the way to the party. 

 "The characters are always flat, generic. As long as a Chinese writer writes about Chinese people, or a Peruvian writer about Peruvians, or a Russian writer about Russians ..." he said, as though reciting children's doggerel, then stopped, losing his train of thought. His mouth turned up into a doubtful grin. I could tell he was angry about something. 

 "You could totally exploit the Vietnamese thing. But instead, you choose to write about lesbian vampires and Colombian assassins, and Hiroshima orphans — and New York painters with hemorrhoids." 

All the best of 2009 lists started popping up recently, and although I usually eschew the whole list-making thing, it did set me thinking about my best reads this year. My top four came to mind instantly, but then I had to pause. Unlike many bloggers, I do not keep spreadsheets or review every book I read so I do not really have a reliable record upon which to look back. So I headed to the shelves. And there it was, loved but inexplicably forgotten - The Boat by Nam Le.

This collection of seven short stories is masterful in both its range of subject matter and the author's ability to adapt his prose to that specific subject. As if the words originate not from an individual authorial voice but from the story itself. Each piece in the book seems to warrant a new style of expression. The author's approach is hinted at in the shiniest short story in the book, "Love and Honor and Pity and Pride and Compassion and Sacrifice" in which a Vietnamese student at the Iowa Writer's Workshop is urged by his friends to mine his personal experience as refugee for writing material.

The clever thing about having this particular story open the collection is that has some obvious autobiographical elements (the author and protagonist share a first name, same background as Vietnamese emigre turned lawyer turned writing student), and so it provides a novel framework upon which Le can introduce his own philosophy about the craft. 

As protagonist Nam wrestles with whether or not to exploit his background for material, his father arrives for a visit, and the quiet conflicts between the two highlight the choice in front of Nam as a writer. Does he embrace the static as exemplified by his father's love of the proverb or does he create something new? The humor shown in the quote above quietly slips away as the relationship between father and son rises to the fore as they seek to define both personal relationship and the ties that bind them to their birth home. Personal story and story about the craft of writing merge in a dramatic and satisfying ending.

The six remaining stories are set in Iowa City, the slums of Colombia, Manhattan, coastal Australia, Hiroshima, Iran and the South China Sea with characters as far afield as these locales. All memorable. Great emotional impact without sentimentality. Filtered through the individual. Lending credence to the belief that great literature often represents the voice of one rather than many. Delivered with such confidence as to propel a reader through the whole book in one fluid, easy movement. Loved it.

Check out the book's site for more details.

day at the bookstore

 

As much as I love the kids I teach, this is the best school day of the year for me - book fair day. Fundraising for my library programs gets me a seat in my favorite book store, Politics and Prose, for the whole day as I share our school's story with patrons who can present a coupon at the register so that 20% of their purchase goes to our school book purchases. Sweet. So I am currently residing right outside of the children's department in the best remainder section anywhere. The morning rush is ebbing a bit so I am going remainder shopping. Great books for just a little money. Wish you were here. Back in a little while to show you what I am taking home.

Update: The Haul

 

An hour later, for a comparatively tiny double digit sum:

• Three Evelyn Waugh novels: The Loved One, Scoop, and A Handful of Dust. Have read two of these but own none of them until now. Consider Mr. Waugh the lord and master of devastating satire. Love that splendid prose and the wicked humor.
• Two Irene Nemirovsky novels: David Golder and Le Bal. Have never read the author but have recently gathered some of her work. May read all at once - one after the other.
• Wintry Peacock by D.H. Lawrence. A Hesperus edition. The blurb excerpt drew me in. " 'Mon cher Alfred' - it might have been a bit of torn newspaper. So I followed the script: the trite phrases of a letter from a French-speaking girl to an English soldier. 'I think of you always, always. Do you think sometimes of me?' And then I vaguely realised that I was reading a man's private correspondence."
• Vox by Nicholson Baker. Baker does erotic fiction. I don't read chick lit people so I have to indulge some vices. 
• NYRB edition of The Unknown Masterpiece by Honore de Balzac. A "fable of modern art," inspiration to the likes of Cezanne, Henry James, Picasso, Jacques Rivette. 
• Claudine's House by Colette. With a foreward by Doris Lessing. Hesperus edition. Portrayal of childhood bathed in familial warmth and the natural beauty of the French countryside. Thinking comfort read through holiday season. Good read after I engage in one on one combat with some other disturbed suburban mom in a Toys R Us holiday buying spree over a piece of over-packaged plastic. Must rethink my consumerism. I say with my new bag of books next to me.
• Look At Me by Anita Brookner. Love story about a librarian. With brilliant writing. Enough said.
• Hyde Park Gate News by Virginia Woolf, Vanessa Bell with Thoby Stephen. Their childhood newspapers about life in their home. 
• Inner Workings: Literary Essays 2000-2006 by J.M. Coetzee.
• Three Paul Auster novels at a steal: The Brooklyn Follies, Man in the Dark, and Travels in the Scriptorium.
• Creationists: Selected Essays 1993-2006 by E.L. Doctorow. A consideration of creativity in its many forms.

See anything you might recommend?