It was Tuesday night, warm, breezy and clear: post-dinner out with The Chef.I had to break out in a trot to keep up with him--the strides of a tall man are too much for me to keep pace with. He was through the doors before I could shout "slow down". I was led, surely quite knowingly, straight down the primrose path: that door opened into Barnes & Noble.
I followed The Chef around the many tables and shelves, up and down escalators, going whither he went, wherever his desire carried us, avoiding too closely anything that looked tempting to my eyes. I am in the waning days of MY GREAT CHALLENGE--this book fast, or intellectual famine--and did not wish to needlessly make things harder on myself.
Besides, I have been walking around with a large portion of the Daedalus Books catalogue swimming circles in my head. I unloaded some of my wish list a few days ago. Below, is Part the Second.
1-The Awful End of Prince William the Silent: The First Assassination of a Head of State with a Handgun by Lisa Jardine (HARPERCOLLINS)Call me morbid, if you must. The entire nature of the world and our future as human beings changed as a result of this single event.
2-American Cities: Historic Maps and Views by Paul E. Cohen & Henry G. Taliaferro (ASSOULINE)A big, expensive, interactive coffee table book. I have so many of these that, like my framed pieces of art, I have to routinely change them out in order to display them all. Still, there is always room for another, correct?
3-Charlotte Perriand: A Life of Creation by Charlotte Perriand (MONACELLI)A designer, she worked alongside legends (Le Corbusier, people!)and lived fascinatingly and singularly: this is her autobiography.
4-Jack the Ripper: Letters From Hell by Stewart P. Evans & Keith Skinner (SUTTON) In case you thought I was morbid with the assassination book.
5-Storm Warning The Origins of the Weather Forecast by Pauline Halford (SUTTON) I am fairly certain that reading this book will forever classify me as an utter geek yet I care not. Forecasting weather is still an imperfect science: we continuously whine about the erratic ability of our meteorologists. However, the leaps we have made in a couple hundred years is really impressive. This book tells the story of how far we have come, and why.
6-The Art of Burning Bridges A Life of John O'Hara by Geoffrey Wolff (KNOPF)Never the most popular man in literary--or life-circles, he is a mostly forgotten writer. In his day, he was brilliant, polarizing and famous. As I have stated before, I love literary biographies--especially when they are devoted to someone whose star was once bright but has since grown dim. Unfortunately, those are often the best writers.
7-Lighthouses of North America by Barry Pickthall (CHARTWELL) I break for lighthouses, really I do. If I see one on my travels, I must stop. While nothing short of towering reality can capture their beauty and history, a coffee table book is a good start.
8-D.H. Lawrence's Paintings by D.H. Lawrence. Keith Sagar, intro. (CHAUCER PRESS)D.H. Lawrence the artist, category visual, is given due notice and examination in this book. Finally.
9-Film Posters of the 60s The Essential Movies of the Decade by Tony Nourmand & Graham Marsh, ed. (TASCHEN) Films of the 60s as seen through promotional posters, full-size and in-color, published by Taschen. Enough said.
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