The Principles of Uncertainty
by Maira Kalman
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Book Summary Information
Author: Maira KalmanEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2007-10-18
ISBN: 159420134X
Number of pages: 336
Publisher: Penguin Press HC, The
Book Reviews of The Principles of Uncertainty
Book Review: This is a great book. I am certain.
Summary: 5 Stars
I was in a bookstore when this book called to me from shelf. I didn't know who Maira Kalman was at the time. I just knew I had to pick it up. I cracked it open and was sucked in by the artwork and the hand-written pages. Her writing is very plain, observational, and very honest. Her artwork is simple, but beautiful. It's fun. Nobody is remaking the wheel or building a better mousetrap here. Do you like Dodo Birds? Ever think about it? How about pretty pictures? I still don't who Maira Kalman is, but I can say without a doubt that this is a book worth reading. It'll be one of the most pleasant 90 minutes you've had in a while.
Summary of The Principles of Uncertainty
Maira Kalman paints her highly personal worldview in an inimitable combination of image and text.The Principles of Uncertainty is an irresistible invitation to experience life through the psyche of Maira Kalman, one of this country's most beloved artists. The result is a book that is part personal narrative, part documentary, part travelogue, part chapbook, and all Kalman. Her brilliant, whimsical paintings, ideas, and images-which initially appear random-ultimately form an intricately interconnected worldview, an idiosyncratic inner monologue. Kalman contends with some existential questions-What is identity? What is happiness? Why do we fight wars? And then, of course, death, love, and candy (not necessarily in that order).
The tremendous success of Kalman's 2005 illustrated edition of Strunk and White's The Elements of Style established her as an original, inspirational voice, and the quirky, hilarious, heartbreaking style of The Principles of Uncertainty reveals Maira Kalman for what she truly is: a national treasure.
Amazon Best of the Month, Octhober 2007: In 2005 Maira Kalman brought a fresh vision to Strunk and White's The Elements of Style, filling the pages of the reference classic with her whimsical illustrations. And much like its multi-talented creator--who has illustrated children's books and New Yorker covers and collaborated on fashion projects with Kate Spade and Isaac Mizrahi--her new book, The Principles of Uncertainty, defies easy classification. Is it philosophy? Art? Memoir? Travel? Sociology? The answer is All of the Above (and more). This charming collection of text, paintings, and photography presents a "profusely illustrated" year in a life, with illustrated musings that range from a young Nabokov "sitting innocently and elegantly in a red chair" to two stuffed rabbits in the window at Paris's Deyrolles taxidermy to Kitty Carlisle Hart at home in her "pearly pink palace." Delightful, inspiring, and often very moving, this little charmer is a a book you might find nestled on Wes Anderson's coffee table. --Brad Thomas Parsons
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