EunoiaChristian Bök
Coach House Press, 2009
The word eunoia, which literally means beautiful thinking, is the shortest word in English that contains all five vowels. Directly inspired by the Oulipo (lOuvroir de Littrature Potentielle), a French writers group interested in experimenting with different forms of literary constraint, Eunoia is a five-chapter book in which each chapter is a univocal lipogram. The first chapter has A as its only vowel, the second chapter E, etc. Each vowel takes on a distinct personality: the I is egotistical and romantic, the O jocular and obscene, the E elegiac and epic (including a retelling of the Iliad!). Stunning in its implications and masterful in its execution, Eunoia has developed a cult following, garnering extensive praise and winning the Griffin Poetry Prize. The original edition was never released in the U.S., but it has already been a bestseller in Canada and the U.K. (published by Canongate Books), where it was listed as one of the Times top ten books of 2008. This edition features several new but related poems by Christian Bök and an expanded afterword.
Soliloquy
Kenneth Goldsmith
Granary Books, 2001
Soliloquy is a written record of every word (good, bad and indifferent), spoken by New York artist Kenneth Goldsmith during one week. The work originated as a gallery installation in 1997. As Gordon Tipper wrote in zingmagazine, "confronted with the clutter of 'real' speech... we realize that we all sound a bit like George Bush."
A dictionary of philosophyA.R. Lacey
Routledge, 1996
First published in 1976, the Dictionary of Philosophy has established itself as the best available text of its kind, explaining often unfamiliar, complicated and diverse terminology. Providing an illuminating and informed introduction to central philosophical issues, concepts and perspectives in the core fields of metaphysics, epistemology and philosophical logic, the Dictionary takes the most commonly-used terms and notions and clarifies what they mean to the philosopher and what sort of problems the philosopher finds associated with them. Thoroughly revised and updated the bibliographies supply core reading lists and each entry uses extensive cross referencing to related themes and concepts to provide greater access, control and comprehension. The Dictionary will also provide those working in proximate fields with an understanding of areas of overlapping interest, concepts of common applicability and the full range and diversity of philosophical analysis and insight.
Michaël Borremans: Paintingswith an essay by Jeffrey Grove
Hatje Cantz Verlag, 2009
Bathing his subjects in an austere light, and rendering them with strong, confident brushwork, Michael Borremans executes paintings that seduce and hold at bay, keeping the history of art in dialogue while committing wholly to the iconography of our time. The protagonists of these works, derived from pictures in magazines or scientific books, are captured while engaging in activities whose exact nature seems both mundane and mysterious ("they're just sitting there breathing," Borremans told an interviewer), but the artist manages to freight these protagonists, and the air around them, with great emotional tension. Similarly, his apparently sober palette of beiges, browns and greys sometimes gives way to a small flourish of brighter color--a white bow or a ruddy-cheeked face--that breaks into and energizes the whole image. Such sleights of hand, by which paint discreetly but completely incarnates mood, are the crux of Borremans' art, and are what makes him one of the finest contemporary painters in Europe, an heir to the suspended enigmas of Manet and Velazquez and the indoor atmospherics of Chardin and Vermeer. This volume, with its engaging essay by Jeffrey Grove and abundance of color plates, is the first to present all of Borremans' paintings, and thus constitutes the standard survey of his significant accomplishments. Trained in photography and graphic design, the Belgian artist Michael Borremans (born 1963) turned to painting at the age of 30. He has had solo shows--of paintings and films--at the Cleveland Museum of Art, the David Zwirner gallery in New York, La Maison Rouge in Paris, Gallery Koyanagi in Tokyo and the Kestner Gesellschaft in Hanover.
