Is there a "Rosebud" object in your past?
A long-vanished thing that lingers in your memory--whether you want it
to or not? As much as we may treasure the stuff we own, perhaps just as
significant are the objects we have, in one way or another, lost. What
is it about these bygone objects? Why do they continue to haunt us long
after they've vanished from our lives?
In Lost Objects, editors Joshua Glenn and Rob Walker have gathered
answers to those questions in the form of 50 true stories from a
dazzling roster of writers, artists, thinkers, and storytellers,
including Lucy Sante, Ben Katchor, Lydia Millet, Neil LaBute, Laura
Lippman, Geoff Manaugh, Paola Antonelli, Margaret Wertheim, and many
more. Each spins a unique narrative that tells a personal tale, and
dives into the meaning of objects that remain present to us emotionally,
even after they have physically disappeared.
To bring this collection of essays even more vividly to life, the
editors gathered a similarly impressive array of artists to illustrate
these meaningful things that have gone missing. Visual contributors
include Seth, Kate Bingaman-Burt, Oliver Munday, Lisa Congdon, Matt
Wuerker, Anita Kunz, Alex Eben Meyer, Gary Panter, and Kelli Anderson.
Glenn and Walker began Lost Objects following the success of
Significant Objects, a project-turned-book collecting fictional
stories inspired by thrift store finds. With Lost Objects, they have
shifted to nonfiction narratives in their continuing exploration of
objects and meaning.
Supplemented by additional analyses from the editors and an original
foreword from noted design writer Debbie Millman, the book combines
evocative storytelling, art, and design, rewarding deep readers and
visual thinkers alike. We have all lost something that was
meaningful--and that we'll never forget. While we may never recover this
Rosebud, Lost Objects will teach us something new about why it
mattered in the first place, and matters still.
