Cindy Sherman’s magnificent retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art: talk about damning with faint praise

As Marilyn Monroe A masquerade ball: life for women as gothic Dear friends and readers, There is a wonderful exhibit, a full retrospective of Cindy Sherman’s career as a photographer on right now at the Museum of Modern Art. It takes you through all the phases of her career, from the 1950s/60s imitations, to the [...]

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“Decorated entirely by women, under their direction”: Women’s Building Library (Chicago, 1892-93)

Our books, dear Book Browser, are a comfort, a presence, a diary of our lives. What more can we say? (Carol Shields, Swann) Mary Cassat, Modern Women (mural) for Women’s Building Mary Cassatt, detail of mural as a painting Dear friends and readers, Some may remember that I reported on a lecture and book I [...]

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Maureen Corrignan’s Leave Me Alone, I’m Reading & Stevie Smith on the 12 Dancing Princesses

Woman reading, artist or photographer unknown Dear friends and readers, The title may be off-putting, but Corrigan’s book is an inspiriting book to read in the dark near-dawn hours of a spring into summer morning, one intended to keep the reader company in her journeys with others through books. Corrigan writes of reading as intense [...]

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Bob Dixon: “what picture of the world is presented to children through literature?”

From recent movie attempt to improve the Robinson Crusoe perspective: Crusoe (Aiden Quinn) and the Warrior (Ade Sapara) in Caleb Deschanel’s Crusoe Arthurian tales often show the process of rising slowly through violence and obedience in an aristocratic society — that’s what the boys are shown. Dear friends and readers, Another blog which is partly [...]

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“I did not think there were so many books in the world written by women …”

“La bibliothèque devient une aventure” (Umberto Eco quoted by Chantal Thomas, Souffrir) Dear friends and readers, Friday afternoon I went to hear two well-delivered (one was rousing) lectures in the Library of Congress, hosted by the Washington Area Print Group (put together by the indefatigible and generous-spirits Eleanor Shevlin and her colleague, Sabrina Baron) and [...]

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Graphic Novels: Audrey Niffenegger, Posy Simmonds among other treasures

Beth Hardiman, from Tamara Drewe Alexandra, from The Night Bookmobile Dear friends and readers, A couple of years ago now I became aware of how graphic novels have grown up; they are no longer fancied up comic books; the art and words can be as complex and moving as many a sheer verbal longer novel. [...]

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