Category Archives: USA

Word on the Street

Posted on July 18, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

This week, Philadelphia had another visit by the LA-based street artist known as WRDSMTH. His wheatpaste artwork is as always heartwarming and a welcome surprise.

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Philly: Come for the history, stay for the food

Posted on July 16, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

For decades, many of us in the Philadelphia area have been baffled by the inability of anyone to make good use of the old Bourse building in the heart of the historic district. The beautiful 19th century Beaux Arts landmark … Continue reading →

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Bookstore Tourism: Charleston S.C. (update)

Posted on July 12, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

Back in January, I posted a story about a funky, traveling bookstore in Charleston, South Carolina called The Itinerant Literate. Now the bookmobile launched in 2016 by Christen Thompson and Julia Turner will have a permanent home in a bricks and … Continue reading →

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Hi, Art Lovers

Posted on July 8, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

Whenever I visit Washington D.C., I try and make time to stop in at the always amazing Hirshhorn Museum of Art and Sculpture Garden on the Mall. This branch of the Smithsonian Institution offers superb contemporary art and is often … Continue reading →

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Is It Mold ?

Posted on July 6, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

As a seller of collectible, antiquarian, and secondhand books, I get some very interesting queries about old books. The most common questions revolve around the value of specific titles, but I also hear from folks concerned about damage, stains, foxing, … Continue reading →

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Off The Map

Posted on July 5, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

Off The Map is a wonderful collage series created by London-based Hungarian artist Zsofia Schweger. The component images all are derived from discarded old maps and found postcards that the artist collected while she was a student in the United States.

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Somethings may be beyond satire

Posted on July 2, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

This week’s issue of the New Yorker features a post-modernist satirical short story by the award-winning author George Saunders. “Little St.Don” is told in a series of semi-comic vignettes that aim to capture our living nightmare. I’m a big fan of Saunder’s … Continue reading →

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There was only one catch

Posted on June 27, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

California-based, award-winning photographer David Fokos has an ongoing exhibition at San Diego International Airport called The Book Pages Project. This terrific show is an appreciation of “real” books in their actual physical form—paper pages, fonts, ink, layout—and the powerful contribution books have … Continue reading →

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RIP Donald Hall

Posted on June 26, 2018 by Brian D. Butler

Affirmation Donald Hall, 1928 – 2018 To grow old is to lose everything. Aging, everybody knows it. Even when we are young, we glimpse it sometimes, and nod our heads when a grandfather dies. Then we row for years on the midsummer pond, … Continue reading →

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Bible Stories

Posted on June 21, 2018 by Brian D. Butler
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