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Taking Things Seriously: 75 Objects with Unexpected Significance
by Joshua Glenn

Taking Things Seriously: 75 Objects with Unexpected Significance Cover

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

We all have something in our lives that while not obviously valuable, is displayed as though it were a precious and irreplaceable artifact. Inquire about the object's provenance and you'll likely be treated to a lively anecdote about how it came into your host's possession. Keep digging, and you might even crack the code of what the thing really means.

Taking Things Seriously is a wonder cabinet of seventy-five unlikely thingamajigs that have been invested with significance and transformed into totems, talismans, charms, relics, and fetishes: scraps of movie posters scavenged from the streets of New York by Low Life author Luc Sante; the World War I helmet that inoculated social critic Thomas Frank against jingoism; the trash-picked, robot-shaped hairdo machine described by its owner as a chick magnet; the bagel burned by actor Christopher Walken, moonlighting as a short-order cook. The owners of these objects convey their excitement in short, often poignant essays that invite readers to participate in the enjoyable act of interpreting things. You'll never look at the bric-a-brac on your shelves the same way again.

Book News Annotation:

"Just as we are collectors of things, things are collectors of meaning." So says Glenn (a Boston-based writer/editor) in introducing narratives about 75 pictured objects that might even intrigue Marxists decrying commodity fetishism. The items he and Hayes (a New York-based graphic designer) have selected as having special significance for their owners include petrified foods, antique toys, and relics of obsolete technology. Annotation ©2008 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Synopsis:

'Taking Things Seriously' is a wonder cabinet of seventy-five unlikely thingamajigs that have been invested with significance and transformed into totems, talismans, charms, relics, and fetishes: scraps of movie posters scavenged from the streets of New York by Low Life author Luc Sante; the World War I helmet that inoculated social critic Thomas Frank against jingoism; the trash-picked, robot-shaped hairdo machine described by its owner as a chick magnet; the bagel burned by actor Christopher Walken while moonlighting as a short-order cook. The owners of these objects convey their excitement in short, often poignant essays that invite readers to participate in the enjoyable act of interpreting things.
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Average customer rating based on 1 comment:
Emma Peabody, December 15, 2007 (view all comments by Emma Peabody)
I liked the idea behind this collection of photos and tiny essays, but the execution exceeded my expectations! (That's on its way to a tongue twister!)

The essays are funny, wise, and touching without being sappy. And they avoid being drenched in irony as so much nostalgia is these days.

Beautiful little tributes. You will not be disappointed!
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Product Details

ISBN:
9781568986906
Subtitle:
75 Objects with Unexpected Significance
Author:
Glenn, Joshua
Author:
Glenn, Joshua A.
Author:
Ayes, Carol A.
Author:
Glenn, Joshua
Author:
Hayes, Carol
Publisher:
Princeton Architectural Press
Subject:
Design - General
Subject:
Popular Culture - General
Subject:
Values
Subject:
Meaning (psychology)
Publication Date:
October 2007
Binding:
Paperback
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
174
Dimensions:
702x564x65 69
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