Yesterday I met my friend Cathy up in San Francisco to see an exhibit called Bookish at the back of a shop called Adobe Books in the Mission district. The front of the shop is chocked full of shelves of new and used books and a few comfy chairs for readers. On the way to the gallery space in the back, we passed a guy hunched over a typewriter, single-mindedly tapping away.
The exhibition space is small, but full of surprises. In the corner was a fake flame crackling on top of a pyre of books — which unfortunately had the wrong effect on me, as the noise was comforting, like a cozy fireplace to curl up beside to read a book. There were about half a dozen other works on display with the best being a small shelf with five “classical” books that viewers were invited to read. Turns out they each were hollowed out, and nestled in the removed space was a handwritten, very funny summary of, and running commentary on, the book’s plot. The artist is Jennie Ottinger. Below are images of 2 of the books — Anna Karenina, so you can see the structure (the tabs on the right help you to turn the pages). Below that you should be able to read part of the one we both particularly enjoyed, Faulkner’s As I Lay Dying.
