Austin Kleon

Pre-order Keep Going and get a FREE print!

If you pre-order the book before midnight EST April 1, my friends at Workman will send you a free 8″ x 10″ print of my blackout poem, “Overheard on the Titanic.” (“I mean yes we’re sinking / but the music is exceptional.”) Details here. Pre-order sale is now over! (If you want a mini 6″ x 6″ print, tear out the page in Keep Going.)

Here’s a closer look at the print:

Masquerade

One of my favorite little art books to show the kids is photographer Inge Morath’s Saul Steinberg Masquerade, a collection of portraits of people wearing Steinberg’s paper-bag masks. (More from the book here.)

Here’s a mask Owen and I made when he was pretty small out of a Trader Joe’s bag:

Steinberg also made these funny little single sheet masks with just a spot for your nose. I’ll make one sometimes if we’re goofing around:

My pal Wendy is a big Steinberg geek, too — here she is entertaining Jules with a napkin a year ago in San Francisco:

The other day I reminded Owen of the book’s existence, and the next morning he surprised me in the bathroom:

Never gets old.

5 good books I’ve read this winter

Why wait until the end of the year? Here are 5 really good books I’ve read so far this winter:

The Labyrinth
Saul Steinberg

First published in 1960. Out of print for years. Now beautifully reissued by NYRB. (Are they my favorite imprint? Maybe.) Incredible, 59-year-old drawings that look absolutely fresh. An American classic.

Bowlaway
Elizabeth McCracken

I don’t read as many novels as I probably should, and this is a novel novel. McCracken goes for it, doing in the book what, I think, only a novel can do. And damn, can she write a sentence. So many underlines. (Related post: “The religion of walking.”)

Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back)
Jeff Tweedy

I don’t really listen to audiobooks (they don’t fit into my commute-less life), but I got my hands on this one, and used it for company while shoveling snow. Except for the “aw shucks, can’t believe I’m writin’ a book” intro (come on, man), I found it really warm and smart. A bunch of good stuff about the creative process and parenting. (Related post: “On solitude and being who you are”)

Lost in the Cosmos: The Last Self-Help Book
Walker Percy

Seems like a love-it-or-hate-it book, but I tore through it. One of those books that came at just the right place and just the right time for me. (Related reading: “Walker Percy’s problems of re-entry”)

Werner Herzog: A Guide for the Perplexed
Werner Herzog with Paul Cronin

A  500-page interview arranged to cover Herzog’s career in chronological order. This book  took me forever to get through, not because it was a slog, but because it’s so dense with insane stories and poetic insights, I was constantly stopping to underline. (Related reading: “Werner Herzog on writing and reading”)

Okay, back to reading. Get more reading recommendations in my weekly newsletter, or browse the past decade of my favorite books.

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