In Which I Win 50 Sad Chairs

Amazingly, I won a contest. I got a great little art photography book by Renaissance Man Bill Keaggy, "50 Sad Chairs" (Pittsfield, MA: Blue Q, 2007) after trawling through his website, admiring his collection of found bookmarks . Keaggy is the author of "Milk, Eggs, Vodka: The Lost Grocery Lists of America" and has many interesting projects to check out on his mosaic of a website. His photos of rocks shaped like shoes is mesmerizing and hilarious. I think I had a similar collection when I was a young naturalist. He also generously gives out free copies of his books to his email subscribers, so you may want to emulate me and check it out.

"50 Sad Chairs" is a gem. It documents three years of color portraits of the abandoned chairs of St. Louis, Missouri, and these studies of kicked-to-the-curb keister-holders, whether upholstered and plastic, discarded from offices or homes, may look defeated at first, but the author's snappy captions show their spunk. This book would make a great gift for anyone interested in photography or design or anyone who enjoys a good relationship with their furniture. Snap one up from Keaggy's website, or if you're feeling lucky, join his email list and win one like I did. This book's a keeper, so don't look for it on the shelves at OSB, grab one for yourself.