Fictitious Dishes by Dinah Fried

Books are so much  more than a stack of papers--or, these days, a digital information file.  They can entertain, inspire, and educate us.  A book can change the way that we think and view the world--and ourselves.  There are books that capture moments in time or times of your life, that show society at large or the inner workings of the individual psyche.  Books stay with you and become a part of you.

Because books can influence all aspects of our lives, I love when it is obvious how literary references seep into everyday life or unexpected places....like a diner table.

Artist Dinah Fried has frequently combined her passions for photography and literature, and I love her project Fictitious Dishes.  She conceptualizes meals from classic novels, and then creates and photographs them.  The diner dish shown above, for example, is inspired by J.D. Salinger's classic The Catcher in the Rye.  I love both the simplicity of the project and the intricacy of staying true to the visions of both the author and the readers.

I always teach my students that you can "read" things other than books and that they should use their critical thinking skills in all aspects of their lives.  These photos are well worth "reading" (but will only be fully appreciated if you have read the novels that inspired them).


To find out more about Dinah Fried and her artwork, visit her website.

Remembering Ray Bradbury

I meant to post the day that Ray Bradbury died. As soon as he heard, my husband called me at work to make sure that my sister and I were ok. (We work together, and also she loved Ray Bradbury more than anyone else I've ever met. In my social circles that is saying a lot. She is currently working on not just one but three Bradbury inspired quilts.)

When he died, I had two of his books siting on my bookshelf and was concurrently reading them. (My kids kept pulling them off the shelf, so I would pick up whichever short story collection I could find and keep going with it.)

Bradbury was the embodiment of an era. I'm sorry that I never had the chance to meet or even correspond with him. The writing that he left behind continues to help shape my outlook on the world. He left a legacy of creativity, nostalgia, and social critique that will continue to be not only relevant but necessary to society.

I'm looking forward to when my kids are old enough for me to give them their first paperback copy of a Bradbury.

Rest in peace Ray.

"Lady Susan" by Jane Austen

I may not be in Austen country anymore, but the obsession with Jane Austen's writing remains. Having read her major novels, I have moved on to her more obscure literary offerings.

"Lady Susan" is an epistolary novel, meaning that it is written as a series of letters. It is not the best of Austen's writing. The characters are not as easy to identify with as her others. There's no Mr. Darcy to catch your fancy, and in fact you're left feeling rather blaise about all the characters. The social structure is not as subtly nuanced as in "Sense and Sensibility" or "Emma". it is less mature in handling.

And yet.... There is something captivating about it. I'm not sure what it is that makes you want to keep reading, but you do want to keep reading. It is part of Austen's development as a writer, and shades of this story show up in her better known works.

[I'm afraid that not only can I not take credit for the picture, I don't even know who to give the credit to. I borrowed it from a friend's Facebook post.]