Mark Doty's prose has been hailed as "tempered and tough, sorrowing and serene" (The New York Times Book Review) and "achingly beautiful" (The Boston Globe). In Still Life with Oysters and Lemon he offers a stunning exploration of our attachment to ordinary things-how we invest objects with human store, and why.

Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize Diane Seuss’s brilliant follow-up to Four-Legged Girl, a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry Still life with stack of bills phone cord cig butt and freezer-burned Dreamsicle Still life with Easter Bunny twenty caged minks and rusty meat grinder Still life with whiskey wooden leg two potpies and a dead parakeet Still life with pork rinds pickled peppers and the Book of Revelation Still life with feeding tube oxygen half-eaten raspberry Zinger Still life with convenience store pecking order shotgun blast to the face —from “American Still Lives” Still Life with Two Dead Peacocks and a Girl takes its title from Rembrandt’s painting, a dark emblem of femininity, violence, and the viewer’s own troubled gaze. In Diane Seuss’s new collection, the notion of the still life is shattered and Rembrandt’s painting is presented across the book in pieces—details that hide more than they reveal until they’re assembled into a whole. With invention and irreverence, these poems escape gilded frames and overturn traditional representations of gender, class, and luxury. Instead, Seuss invites in the alienated, the washed-up, the ugly, and the freakish—the overlooked many of us who might more often stand in a Walmart parking lot than before the canvases of Pollock, O’Keeffe, and Rothko. Rendered with precision and profound empathy, this extraordinary gallery of lives in shards shows us that “our memories are local, acute, and unrelenting.”

A must-have reference book for today's artists and art students. Every artist needs to learn and master the still life. Written by a well-known artist and expert instructor, The Art of Still Life offers a comprehensive, contemporary approach to the subject that instructs artists on the foundation basics and advanced techniques they need for successful drawing and painting. In addition to Casey's stunning paintings, the work of over fifty past and present masters is included, so that the book will do double duty as a hardworking how-to manual and a visual treasure trove of some of the finest still life art throughout history and being created today.

In this, the only up-to-date critical work on still life painting in any language, Norman Bryson analyzes the origins, history and logic of still life, one of the most enduring forms of Western painting. The first essay is devoted to Roman wall-painting while in the second the author surveys a major segment in the history of still life, from seventeenth-century Spanish painting to Cubism. The third essay tackles the controversial field of seventeenth-century Dutch still life. Bryson concludes in the final essay that the persisting tendency to downgrade the genre of still life is profoundly rooted in the historical oppression of women. In Looking at the Overlooked, Norman Bryson is at his most brilliant. These superbly written essays will stimulate us to look at the entire tradition of still life with new and critical eyes.

Bill Buford's Heat meets Phoebe Damrosch's Service Included in this unique blend of personal narrative, food miscellany, and history In March of 2009, Erin Byers Murray ditched her pampered city girl lifestyle and convinced the rowdy and mostly male crew at Island Creek Oysters in Duxbury, Massachusetts, to let a completely unprepared, aquaculture-illiterate food and lifestyle writer work for them for a year to learn the business of oysters. The result is Shucked—part love letter, part memoir and part documentary about the world's most beloved bivalves. Providing an in-depth look at the work that goes into getting oysters from farm to table, Shucked shows Erin's fullcircle journey through the modern day oyster farming process and tells a dynamic story about the people who grow our food, and the cutting-edge community of weathered New England oyster farmers who are defying convention and looking ahead. The narrative also interweaves Erin's personal story—the tale of how a technology-obsessed workaholic learns to slow life down a little bit and starts to enjoy getting her hands dirty (and cold). This is a book for oyster lovers everywhere, but also a great read for locavores and foodies in general.

"Based on research in 13 North American archives (including the Penn Museum's Shotridge Collection), examination of hundreds of photographs, and extensive oral-history interviews with both Tlingit and non-Natives, Sharon Bohn Gmelch presents valuable insights on the reactions of Native subjects to being photographed and their own early use of photography. Today, these now historical images are being reclaimed from public archives by the Tlingit, contributing to a new sense of empowerment and pride in their rich heritage." "This is the first book to explore the photographic imagery of the Tlingit during a critical period of change, from the 1860s through the 1920s. It also provides the first full treatment of the Tlingit photography of Elbridge W. Merrill, a neglected figure in the history of ethnographic photography." "The author has included 129 rare photographic images, a map, bibliography, and index."--BOOK JACKET.

A new retrospective survey that reveals the complexities of this popular artist best known for his playful and colorful aesthetic

The significant merit and historical importance of vintage folk art fishing lures and tackle have remained largely "undiscovered" by the folk art community. This book will change that. Over 700 striking color photos and fascinating text presents vintage folk art fishing lures, predominantly from the first half of the 20th century, as small, exquisite, handcrafted treasures. Originally made only for catching fish, these lures were assembled from available materials and household supplies. Through their makers' vision and talent, miniature "sculptures" were created. Each lure is unique and personal. Detailed background, historical, and introductory sections complement photos conveying the limitless range of lure designs from primitives to elaborate folk art classics. Early folk artists including Bud Stewart, William Giles, and Burt Errett as well as contemporary artists Bob Baird, Aage Bjerring, Bill Grossman, C.B. Lewis, and C.E. Wilson are featured. First-ever detailed benchmarks to assess an individual folk art lure's quality, condition, authenticity, and value. This book is a treasure for fishermen and folk art collectors, displaying lures from both known and anonymous makers.

Laszlo traces the spectacular rise and spread of citrus across the globe, from southeast Asia in 4000 BC to modern Spain and Portugal, whose explorers inroduced the fruit to the Americas. This book explores the numerous roles that citrus has played in agriculture, horticulture, cooking, nutrition, religion, and art.