If you’re out to customize any of the new clothes, jackets or backpacks you may have received over the holidays, or embellish your older apparel, Desire Books’ new line of embroidered );…
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With a background in sculpture, drawing and design, any number of lines on NY-based artist Anne Fischer’s CV are worth a closer look. Her Cantos: The Rings of Hell…
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For those who have nothing left to pick over at the local bookstore’s summer display, theNewerYork looks to shake things up in the mainstream literary world by hosting alternatives to the “triumvirate” of poetry, short stories…
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Questo poster contiene tutti i cocktail citati nei più celebri film e libri con tanto di suddivisione degli ingredienti. In vendita su Pop Chart Lab.
Originally published to great admiration in 1900, L. Frank Baum’s “The Wonderful Wizard of Oz” has since secured itself as one of the most recognizable children’s classics of all time. While the beloved story has stood the test of time HarperCollins teamed with Austin-based artist Michael Sieben to update…
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L’artiste Evan Robertson a pensé une série d’illustrations éditées en posters se basant sur des citations célèbres de grands noms de la littérature. Reprenant des propos connus de Poe, Hemingway, Sartre ou encore Salinger, le résultat très réussi est à découvrir dans la suite de l’article.
The complete, interactive history of a literary legend
Charles Dickens is like the Madonna of the literary world. Two centuries later, the progressive British novelist remains as relevant and legendary today as he was at the height of his career. Marking the bicentennial of his birth this year is a series of events around London, dubbed Dickens 2012, and a new book by Dickens’ great-great-great-granddaughter Lucinda Dickens Hawksley.
“Charles Dickens” is an interactive reference guide to the notable author’s entire life, shedding light on his early years and his first work of fiction—a play called “Miznar, the Sultan of India” that he penned at age nine—and working through to the end of his life, when he passed away while finishing “The Mystery of Edwin Drood” at 58-years-old. The book is packed with printed materials pulled from Dickens’ personal archive, which are tucked away between the pages in fold-out inserts. Family photographs, manuscripts proofed by Dickens, marriage certificates and more make up the assortment of rarely or never-before-seen documents included in the comprehensive tome.
The book also delves into Dickens’ role as a social commentator, which undoubtedly grew from his upbringing. Much of his work, like “Olivier Twist” or “Nicholas Nickleby” for example, reflected his interest in and understanding of the cultural injustices of his time, although he tried to keep his own past experiences hidden. His father went to debtors’ prison and as a child Dickens had to work as a laborer at a blacking factory—a time that had a huge impact on his writing and overall outlook on life. In an unfinished autobiography, he wrote, “I do not write resentfully or angrily: for I know all these things have worked together to make me what I am: but I never afterwards forgot, I never shall forget, I never can forget, that my mother was warm for my being sent back.”
The ultimate Dickens compendium covering his career as a prolific writer and budding actor, “Charles Dickens” offers a fresh perspective on the complexity of his character. The book is brimming with illustrations and photographs that reveal the essence of his life during the Victorian Era, allowing for a full grasp of the events that inspired much of his literary works.
“Charles Dickens” sells online from Amazon and Carlton Books.
Secret phone charger for the literary aficionado
The dummy book motif has appeared on accessories from handbags to desktop boxes, only partially satisfying true literary geeks because, after all, they’re only just replicating the covers. Book Chargers by Rich Neeley Designs, on the other hand, are made from actual vintage books outfitted with an impressively subtle power source for an iPhone or iPod. The USB-compatible hook-up tucks neatly behind the book’s binding, and the dock itself is discreet enough to go unnoticed at quick glance.
Neeley and his wife, Brenna, travel around Southern California on what they call “book hunting” excursions. They’ve picked up tomes like a 1977 edition of “Alice in Wonderland”, a manual called “Modern Dentistry” dating back to 1975, and a cloth-bound copy of Louisa May Alcott’s “Eight Cousins” from 1914 for the antique bases they then refurbish to keep your modern technology fully juiced. The selection of books also includes contemporary releases bound in throwback past-edition covers, with titles spanning “The Picture of Dorian Gray”, “Huckleberry Finn” and more.
Rich Neeley Book Chargers sell through the designer’s Etsy shop, with prices ranging from $48-$55 per book.
A classic anthology from the masterful mind of John Cage
Best known as an avant-garde composer, John Cage spent his entire life writing, a fact often overshadowed by his achievements in music. “A Year from Monday,” an anthology of lectures and poems originally published in ’67, proves that genius is never bound to medium; his written work gives a glimpse into his creative mind.
Much of “A Year” is in the form of a ‘literary mosaic,’ Cage’s method of essentially compiling diary entries into a somewhat cohesive, visually-striking composition. Every fragment serves as a single thought or anecdote, sometimes referring to others but more often not. What results is a clear train of thought, laid out on a beautifully constructed page, allowing the reader to follow his ideas not as something he is telling you, but as an ideology that he is guiding you to find for yourself.
Perhaps most valuable to fans of Cage’s music, his lecture to the Julliard class of ’52 serves as a manifesto of his understanding of sound. The piece, metrically arranged in columns to time to David Tudor’s piano playing, uses Buddhist anecdotes to attempt to explain his profound understanding of everything musical.
Pick it up on Amazon to curl up with some brain food.
Book of cleverly corrupt definitions teaches big kids the facts of life
First time author Ross Horsley tackles the challenge of teaching young minds with a playfully disturbing dictionary. An innocent endeavor at first blush, “My First Dictionary” is actually filled with inappropriate definitions for its roster of simple words, accented by charming Norman Rockwell-esque illustrations that are actually taken from the 1977 book “The Giant Picture Dictionary for Boys and Girls.”
For example, Horsley defines the word abandon as, “Father is trying to abandon us” and pocketbook as “a small bag used for carrying money and xanax.” Even though it is wildly inappropriate for kids we cant stop reading it ourselves.
“My First Dictionary” sells from Harper Collins and Amazon.
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