The Happy Reader - #7
The Happy Reader - #7
The inexhaustable curator HANS ULRICH OBRIST is one of the most important figures in contemporary art. Over two in-depth conversations at the Serpentine Gallery in London, he explains how at a young age his imagination was fired up by a medieval library in Switzerland, and how today his work is still energised by the ideas, images and stories he finds in books.
Also in this issue, VIRGINIA WOOLF’s remarkable novel MRS DALLOWAY inspires contributions from a stellar cast of writers, photographers, artists and crossword setters. These include thoughts on Big Ben by Will Self, memories of teenage reading by Michael Cunningham, regrets about men not wedded by Jean Hannah Edelstein and, of course, much, much more.
CONTENTS
PART 1
Bodies of water, summer news fragments, and rituals of reading with HANS ULRICH OBRIST.
To water
Snippets
The Interview: HANS ULRICH OBRIST by Emily King — An enlightening interview with art’s inspirational impresario
Hans’s summer reads
PART 2
The Book of the Season is Virginia Woolf’s MRS DALLOWAY with massive bells, aerial words, parties that happened and weddings that didn’t.
Introduction: Diving beneath the day by Seb Emina
City: On Big Ben by Will Self — London worships a clock
Dating: Ten men I should have married by Jean Hannah Edelstein — They were all ‘the one’
My first great book by Michael Cunningham — Before I became a reader, I acted like one
Rose, sweet pea, hydrangea and carnation
Messaging: What the clouds say by Harriet Alida Lye — Whatever happened to skywriting?
Plummy parties
Mystery: Which Wednesday was it? by Anne Fernald — There were four potential Wednesdays
Dalloway puzzle by Henry Eliot —A street haunting crossword
Psychology: Time is weird by Douwe Draaisma — Our experience of time is subject to change
Letters
The book for autumn