When I Knew

When I Knew Edited By Robert Trachtenberg
2005
Weight: 1.3 lbs
Method of Disposal: Leaving in a Lending Library

This book was more fun than I expected, particularly when it came to gay men, who were featured more than anyone.  The lesbian snippets were good but few.  It does not expand much past those worlds, which is okay.  It is a book about when each person realized they were gay with a capital G, after all. 

I loved the opening one.  "1969: My father was watching the evening news.  The announcer said that Judy Garland had died.  I fainted.  I was nine."  -Andre Freedman

Anyway, a fun book for your coffee table or for a quick read if you are interested!

Where the Action Was

Where the Action Was: Women War Correspondents in World War II by Penny Colman
2002
Weight: 1.3 lbs
Method of Disposal:  Giving Away

This book was fantastic.  The women featured were absolutely incredible, and their life stories were fascinating.  It is just a taste of the world of women correspondents in the time of WWII, and it makes me crave more fiercely.  Wow.

Lee Carson wrote of life during war that it, "narrows down to an existence divided between fighting to stay alive and sweating out being killed.  The longer in the combat world the more improbable that other world--of sweethearts, mothers, baths, beds--becomes.  Death, dirt, and fatigue are the familiar.  All else fades into a dream.  Even such strong emotions as fear and hate are eventually wiped out by battle."

Martha Gelhorn says, "War is a malignant disease, an idiocy, a prison, and the pain it causes is beyond our telling or imagining; but war was our condition and our history, the place we had to live."

Check out this book.  The women are amazing, as our their stories and photos.

Women

Women by Stefan May
2008
Weight: 1.6 lbs
Method of Disposal: Not Sure!

I remember liking this book, though I felt like I got it before 2008!  I guess that is not possible.  I adored and cherished Women by Susan Sontag and Annie Leibovitz when it first came out, and I think I was drawn to this one looking for more of that.  It was obvious immediately that it would never compare with Sontag and Leibovitz, but I thought it was still beautiful.  Women are just straight up gorgeous.  All of them are in some way or another.

I am far less impressed now.  Is it because I am older?  Are my tastes more refined or am I just less amused?  I realize now that these photos are all attempting to be "sexy."  The women do not have varied body shapes.  They are all beautiful in the movie star and catalog way.  Victoria Beckham and Angelina Jolie are featured so what did I expect? I read a review that claims that there is a lot of racial variety, but it is mostly white women.  There are some highly sexualized, deeply black women in stereotypical poses and shots.  It is very "African." I am almost embarrassed I ever liked this.

The problem is now what do I do with it?  I am not sure I can donate it to the AKF or Goodwill.  Maybe a Better World Books Box?  

Art Exodus

Vargas 20s-50s ISBN 3-89450-063-8
Nagel ISBN 0-912383-36-4
Essential History of Art ISBN 1-84084-952-5
New American Paintings Number 56 The Open Studios Press
The art of the X-Files ISBN 0-06-105113-6
European Photography 81 ISBN 0-8109-0855-7
The Photography Book ISBN 0714836346
Michelangelo ISBN 1405429844
Hopper ISBN 3-8228-05432
Renoir ISBN 3-8228-0568-8
Louvre ISBN 2.7118.0040.7
The Power of Feminist Art: The American Movement of the 1970s, History and Impact ISBN 0-8109-2659-8
The Watercolors of Winslow Homer ISBN 0-393-02047-9
The World of Leonardo 1452-1519 Time-Life Library of Art 1966
Postsecret ISBN 0-06-089919-0
The Art Institue of Chicago: Twentieth-Century Painting and Sculpture ISBN 0-86559-096-6
Van Gogh on Location ISBN 0-7858-0107-3
Masters of Art Card Catalog # 67-14758, 1967
The Holocaust Chronicle ISBN 0-7853-2963-3
Weight: 46.5 lbs
Method of Disposal: Offering them to Tracy and taking the ones she does not like do a donate your books drop in Edgewood.

This is a lot of very heavy books. 19 books weighing in at 46.5 lbs. I can almost imagine the disdain in Tracy’s eyes when she realizes, but I know she will want a couple of them and the rest can be donated. These books have been collected over the years and are special for many reasons, sometimes not obvious reasons.
The Holocaust Chronicle does not fit into the group of art books, but Tracy and I were at the Borders going out of business sale yesterday and when she glanced at it I informed her that I had it and would give it to her. I am not sure if she wants it or not, but I do know that she is deeply disturbed and moved by the Holocaust. That she has watched many movies and read many books about it.

Masters of Art is special because it is from 1967 and still has academic paperwork from the 70’s. One of the papers was apparently turned in late. The papers are handwritten, in cursive, by a C.K. Bell. The Watercolors of Winslow Homer has two long letters from my uncle and cousin to my grandfather. They are so nice and so loving, and yet I have somehow managed to end up with the book that no one wants back.

The book from the Art Institute of Chicago will be missed. I bought it the very first time I went to Chicago. I remember taking the taxi there, leaving the kids I was babysitting with their parents, and walking around, enthralled, for hours. I am not sure how I ever made myself leave. I bought this book hoping to carry a small piece of that feeling with me. For the record, after I left the museum I walked until I found a pizza place that served beer. It was the best pizza I have ever had. I could live in that day forever.

I always hate giving up my feminist books more than any of the others so I am sad to see the Feminist Art book go. I feel like I never got all I could from it, but I am still ready to release it.

On the cover of Van Gogh on Location, there is the famous Café Terrace painting, alongside of a photograph of the actual place. Intriguing, yes? Everyone has a Van Gogh book or two, but they are always beautiful and fun to look at.
The Louvre book came from the actual museum. It was printed in 1984 and is showing a lot of wear. It is a year older than I am. The Leonardo book was given to a Thomas at some point and was printed in 1966. Hopper, Renoir, and Michelangelo were handed over to me when someone else was disbanding their collection. Many of the art books came from my stepmother who graduated with an art major but does not like clutter.

Postsecret I bought full price my junior year of college. I was very intrigued and slightly let down by it. I know Tracy wants this one, and I am glad to hand it over, though also sad to see it go. I open it now to a Starbucks note that says, “I give decaf to customers who are rude to me!” and underneath it, “My sister and I explored each other sexually as children. As the older girl I feel guilty that I may have molested her.”

The giant book of photography is all in black and white. It is a Phaidon book so it is quite heavy and is packed full of pictures. The Essential History book is a bargain book. There are a lot of great paintings in it, but I think Tracy may already have it. I am fairly confident I have seen it on her shelves. The Nagel book is less than impressive. I kind of hate it, but we will see what she thinks. Vargas is full of beautiful women in all sorts of poses, in an array of undress. The text is written in French and in English. I added the X-files Art as a joke. I thought I had already rid myself of all my X-Files books, but I seem to find new ones every day. The art in this book is made by sculptors, painters, photographers, graphic artists, and others who were inspired by the television show. New American Paintings is an art journal. This one is from March of 2005. It was twenty dollars then and now it is free to a good home! The European Photography book is a full-color book of photographs from, you guessed it, 1981.
Goodbye books!

Women in Love

Women in Love: Portraits of Lesbian Mothers and Their Families
1998
Weight: 2.8 lbs
Method of Disposal: Donating

I bought this book from a bargain bookstore called Kudzu when I was in the 9th grade. I collected anything lesbian. It was like a treasure hunt. It so rarely came up, but when it did it did not matter what it was. It made me delirious to find myself in little pieces of everyday life. This book features pictures of lesbians with their kids alongside a short interview with the women.

It is a lovely book, but one I do not need anymore. I can also say that I can no longer find myself in it, which does not decrease its value but is just an observation. I have zero desire to have children, and it is not something I feel strongly about. I think lesbians should be able to adopt, parent, and all sorts of other things, but I do not invest much of my time in thinking about it in my everyday life.
Anywho, let me know if you are interested!

Outdoor Action Photographers

The Polar Bear Waltz and Other Moments of Epic Silliness: Classic Photographs from OUTSIDE Magazine’s “Parting Shot” Introduction by Hampton Sides
2002
Weight: 15 oz
Method of Disposal: Leaving somewhere



This is a book of fun photographs taken at just the right moment in just the right way. I bought it in 2002, while working at Waldenbooks. There is a plane that appears to be flying into a model dinosaur’s mouth. A cactus with rotting that makes a smiling face. A Dalmatian blends in with a beach landscape and, of course, two polar bears dancing. It’s kind of fun. I think I would enjoy finding it left behind somewhere, so that is what I am going to do. Leave it somewhere.

Star Light Star bright

Witness Iraq: A War Journal February-April 2003
2003
Weight: 3.3 lbs
Method of Disposal: Donate?



My brother went to war in Iraq when I was in my junior year of college, and I was devastated. I felt like I lived in a state of panic, and it was hard to discuss it with some of my anti-war peers. My roommate at the time actually got angry with me when I asked to watch my brother on the news one night, because it cut into her ER time. She grumbled something about him killing people for a living. I hadn’t seen my brother in a year, and he would be on television for just a few minutes.
There were plenty of supportive and caring people, more than there were people like my roommate, but it seemed like no one really understood what I was trying to tell them if they hadn’t been through it. I only knew one other person, my dearest Liz M, who had a brother deploy and come back.

When someone you love is at war you become hyper-aware of locations and casualties mentioned on the news. You notice when there are gaps in email and chat messages. You send hundreds of letters, and you may even find yourself wishing on every falling star you see, drinking every shot with a “return home safe” toast, and pleading with the universe every time the clock strikes 11:11.

If you are me, you lack any tools on how to deal with the situation. You might start to do absurd things like purchase random books you really don’t want or watch documentaries you know you shouldn’t. Witness Iraq was one of those purchases. I didn’t want to see it, much less own it, but I felt compelled. I couldn’t stop myself. It was an absurd attempt to get closer to someone who seemed impossibly far away. It would not be the first or last time I would try to buy understanding, time, and proximity with no success. I have trouble letting this book go, even though I can never bring myself to look through it now, because of all the pain it and others like it hold within their pages. It seems important to have a constant reminder of that fear and worry, but I really don’t know why. It cannot be healthy.
My brother is currently safe and sound, with his baby and his wife, in the country he grew up in. It is still such a relief, though I always feel a twinge of dread in my gut reminding me that it could happen again. I find myself, still, quite enamored with and dependent on eyelashes, ladybugs, wells, dandelions, and birthday candles.