Join contributors LUC SANTE, MATTHEW SHARPE, MIMI LIPSON, BEN GREENMAN, ANNIE NOCENTI, SHELLEY JACKSON, JASON GROTE and Editors JOSHUA GLENN and ROB WALKER as they read their stories from and celebrate the release of SIGNIFICANT OBJECTS: 100 EXTRAORDINARY STORIES ABOUT ORDINARY THINGS.
Can a great story transform a worthless trinket into a significant object? The Significant Objects project set out to answer that question once and for all, by recruiting a highly impressive crew of creative writers to invent stories about an unimpressive menagerie of items rescued from thrift stores and yard sales.
That secondhand flotsam definitely becomes more valuable: sold on eBay, objects originally picked up for a buck or so sold for thousands of dollars in total — making the project a sensation in the literary blogosphere along the way. But something else happened, too: The stories created were astonishing, a cavalcade of surprising responses to the challenge of manufacturing significance. Who would have believed that random junk could inspire so much imagination?
The founders of the Significant Objects project, that’s who. This book collects 100 of the finest tales from this unprecedented creative experiment; you’ll never look at a thrift-store curiosity the same way again. An object becomes valuable once it has a narrative attached. How to test that theory? Via eBay! Each narrated object was sold on eBay, and they reported that “$128.74 worth of thrift-store junk sold for $3,612.51.” This collection of tiny stories tells the tales of these “significant purchases.”
Buy Significant Objects or a $10 Strand gift card in order to attend this event. Both options admit one person. Please note that online orders require payment at the time of checkout to guarantee admission. The event will be located in the Strand's 3rd floor Rare Book Room at 828 Broadway and 12th Street.
Additional copies of the book (and previous books by the author, when applicable) will be available for purchase at the event.
WHAT:Significant Objects: Hosted by Joshua Glenn and Rob Walker WHO: Joshua Glenn, Rob Walker, Luc Sante, Matthew Sharpe, Mimi Lipson, Ben Greenman, Annie Nocenti, Shelley Jackson, Jason Grote, and others t.b.a. WHEN: July 10, 7:00PM – 8:00PM WHERE:The Strand Bookstore, 828 Broadway, New York City
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