Notable Books Asia: 2009

Considering that books are such a large part of my job, I shouldn’t find questions like “Is this book any good?” complicated.  I won’t lie to you: if I don’t like a book, I’ll tell you (sorry, capitalism).  Ultimately it’s more important to find out whether or not you like a book for yourself.  You’d think a bookseller would tell you that there are no  bad books, but unfortunately, I have my standards. The best way to tell if a book is worth it?  Start reading.

That said, I would like to break with all my usual feelings about “best-of” lists and provide for you…a best-of list.  Word on the street is that it’s going to be one cold winter, and you know that you can’t spend that much time on Facebook…
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welcome our fuzzy overlords

Did I say something in that last post about snow lions?

This Friday and Saturday, November 20-21, the Asian Art Museum Store is honored to host a trunk show featuring work from the Tibet Artisan Initiative and Dropenling Handicraft Center.

There is much more to be seen: supple leatherwork, traditional weavings, painted wood, jewelry, dolls and yaks, all of it fascinating work produced by artisans in Tibet in order to keep the folkways alive…but as you can see, I only have eyes for the felted wool cats.  Will someone please help me make up my mind?  Tiger or snow lion?

thank you for your support

In San Francisco, we’re used to hearing certain turns of phrase, perhaps to a point of weariness.  “Local-sustainable-organic” gets bandied about so much that a candle I just purchased advertises the appeal on its (post-consumerist) packaging.  But as fickle as we are, every action has an equal and opposite reaction, and sometimes we simply tire of plotting out our every civic-minded detail.

But there’s one point on which I won’t budge, especially given the alarming content of this article in the Guardian UK.

Many people forget that the Museum Store is also an independent bookstore.  We sell everything from postcards on up to Qing-era architectural carvings, with a lot of curious objects in between.  I’ll likely be writing about felted wool Tibetan Snow Lions and our squishy Ganesha later this week, but a goodly amount of our square footage is given over to bookshelves which I painstakingly try to keep in OCD/Library of Congress-style order.
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Fidelity in Revenge

Mase Chudayu Masa-aki takes aim

What great tale that comes to us through the fogged lens of history has not been inflated, top-heavy with embellishment? The Chushingura—the “Treasury of Loyal Retainers”—is perhaps the most famous of samurai narratives and requires no exaggeration.
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Sneaking a Peek…

Big, mysterious boxes are showing up with greater frequency in the Museum Store’s underground lair (stockroom just doesn’t have the right ring to it, no?). I tend to take special notice if there’s a publisher’s name on the box, but I was assured that a recent shipment held something truly special.

I was not disappointed:

floaties

These shiny glass balls are Japanese floats, used to keep nets aloft in the ocean. I grew up with a few in my backyard as a kid and have always wondered where they went (um, dog + kids + glass = ? ).

I’m not immune from a love of old things from Japan, so I’m likely going to be bringing some home.

While I don’t want to totally ruin the surprise–our visual merchandiser and buyers change the aesthetic of the Museum Store to compliment special exhibitions–just know that things around here are going to be good.

I can hardly wait for the handmade Japanese swords to get here! And yes, this exhibition is making me even geekier than normal.