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The Best Books on Writing, NYC, Animals, and More: A Collaboration with the New York Public Library
By: Maria Popova

A celebration of timelessly wonderful reads in an elaborate diorama of papercraft book sculptures.

As an enormous lover and patron of public libraries, I was beyond delighted when the fine folks at the New York Public Library asked me to curate a selection of books for their bookstore and gave me free range to do whatever I wished. My original thought was to do a single reading list around a

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specific theme, much like I had been doing for the TED bookstore. But my chronic maximalism soon kicked in the single reading list swelled into four reading lists (wisdom on writing, great reads about New York City, heart- and brain-stirring books on pets and animals, and timeless treats for young readers) and the simple tabletop display became an elaborate installation in the bookstores main window. Thats when I reached out to the impossibly talented Kelli Anderson, with whom Id previously collaborated on the Curators Code and The Reconstructionists projects, and invited her to bestow her singular gift for disruptive wonder upon the library. Kelli, with her own brand of idealistic maximalism, decided to turn the reading lists into a magnificent papercraft wonderland featuring oversized threedimensional sculptures of each of the books amidst an intricate paper cityscape of the Manhattan skyline.

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labors of love

Yes, it is just as incredibly time-consuming as it sounds Kelli and her team spent countless hours cutting and hand-gluing each of the letters onto the books, engineering the physics of the suspension, and masterminding the minutest detail of this enormous labor of love. The ever-talented Debbie Millman provided the hand-lettering and Jacob Krupnick of Wild Combination (the team behind Girl Walk // All Day) photographed the process and filmed this beautiful timelapse of the assembly:

And the end result, up close and personal:

Here are the four reading lists, along with my original text that appears in the library bookshop window, followed by some production photos to give you an idea of the incredible love and energy Kelli and her team poured into bringing this to life.

must-reads

HOW TO FIND YOUR PURPOSE AND DO WHAT YOU LOVE

FAIL SAFE: COURAGE AND THE CREATIVE LIFE

FAMOUS WRITERS ON WRITING

Why I Write (public library) by George Orwell: Literary legend Eric Arthur Blair, better known as George Orwell, remains best remembered for authoring the cult-classics Animal Farm and 1984, but he was also a formidable, masterful essayist. Among his finest nonfiction feats is this 1946 masterpiece, in which Orwell traces how the painful experiences of his childhood steered him towards writing and lays out what he believes to be the four universal motives for writing, most of which resonate with just about any domain of creative work. Sample it with the fantastic title essay on the four universal motives for writing.

HOW TO STAY SANE

CULTURAL ICONS ON THE MEANING OF LIFE

ALBERT EINSTEIN ON THE SECRET TO LEARNING ANYTHING

The Elements of Style (public library) illustrated by Maira Kalman: For anyone who thinks grammar cant be fun, here comes beloved artist Maira Kalman, whose colorful whimsy breathes new life into Strunk and Whites indispensable 1959 style guide to create an instant classic in its own right. More here.

THE BEST BOOKS OF 2012

THE DAILY ROUTINES OF FAMOUS WRITERS

5 ESSENTIAL BOOKS ON FEAR AND THE CREATIVE PROCESS

Bird by Bird: Some Instructions on Writing and Life (public library) by Anne Lamott: This 1994 classic is as much a practical guide to the writers life as it is a profound treasure-trove of wisdom on the life of the heart and mind, brimming with insight on everything from overcoming self-doubt to navigating the osmotic balance of intuition and analytical thought. More here.

10 TIPS ON WRITING FROM DAVID OGILVY

9 BOOKS TO HELP YOU READ MORE AND WRITE BETTER

The Wisdom of the Heart (public library) by Henry Miller: On how one orients himself to the moment depends the failure or fruitfulness of it, Miller writes in the title essay of the anthology, and indeed his singular orientation to life permeates this sublime collection of his short stories, profiles, and literary criticism. Sample it with his meditation on the art of living.
JOHN CLEESE ON THE 5 FACTORS TO MAKE YOUR LIFE MORE CREATIVE

JOAN DIDION ON KEEPING A NOTEBOOK

100 IDEAS THAT CHANGED GRAPHIC DESIGN

7 MUST-READ BOOKS ON THE ART & SCIENCE OF HAPPINESS

Reflections: Essays, Aphorisms, Autobiographical Writings (public library) by Walter Benjamin: The more circumspectly you delay writing down an idea, the more maturely developed it will be on surrendering itself, legendary German literary critic, philosopher, and essayist Walter Benjamin advises in his indispensable dictum The Writers Technique in Thirteen Theses, one of the many gems in this compendium of his essays, aphorisms and autobiographical writings.

RICHARD DAWKINS ON EVIDENCE IN SCIENCE, LIFE AND LOVE: A LETTER TO HIS 10-YEAR-OLD DAUGHTER

CREATIVE CARTOGRAPHY: 7 MUST-READ BOOKS ON MAPS

CARL SAGAN ON SCIENCE AND SPIRITUALITY

Zen in the Art of Writing (public library): Here, our beloved Bradbury shares not only his wisdom and experience in writing, but also his contagious excitement for the craft. Blending practical how-tos on everything from negotiating with editors to finding your voice with snippets and glimpses of the authors own career, the book is at once a manual and a manifesto, imbued with equal parts edification and enthusiasm. More here.

JOHN STEINBECK ON FALLING IN LOVE: A

1958 LETTER

7 OBSCURE CHILDRENS BOOKS BY FAMOUS AUTHORS OF ADULT LITERATURE

WHY WE LOVE: 5 BOOKS ON THE PSYCHOLOGY OF LOVE

Writers On Writing (public library): This remarkable collection of 46 timeless essays from The New York Times features contributions from such literary icons as Saul Bellow, Ann Patchett, Joyce Carol Oates, and John Updike, spanning the entire spectrum from the playful to the profound, the practical to the philosophical. Sample it with Mary Gordon on the joy of notebooks and writing by hand as creative catalyst.

7 MUST-READ BOOKS ON MUSIC, EMOTION & THE BRAIN

BERTRAND RUSSELL'S 10 COMMANDMENTS OF TEA CHING

About Writing: Seven Essays, Four Letters, and Five Interviews (public library) by Samuel Delany: Talented writing makes things happen in the readers mind vividly, forcefully that good writing, which stops with clarity and logic, doesnt, argues celebrated author and literary critic Samuel Delany who, for a fascinating factlet, penned the controversial 1972 womens liberation issue of Wonder Woman in this synthesis of his most valuable insights from thirty-five years of teaching creative writing. Sample this volume with Delanys wisdom on talented writing vs. good writing.

5 TIMELESS COMMENCEMENT SPEECHES TO TEA CH YOU TO DEFINE YOUR OWN SUCCESS

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Why We Write (public library) edited by Meredith Maran: Twenty acclaimed authors including Jennifer Egan, James Fray, and Michael Lewis pop the hood of the literary machine to probe the internal engine of writing. Sample this volume with some fantastic contributions by Susan Orlean, Mary Karr, and Isabel Allende.

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As Consciousness Is Harnessed to Flesh: Journals and Notebooks, 19641980 (public library) edited by Sontags son, David Rieff: An intimate glimpse of the inner life of a woman celebrated as one of the twentieth centurys most remarkable intellectuals, yet one who felt as deeply and intensely as she thought. Oscillating between conviction and insecurity in the most beautifully imperfect and human way possible, Sontag details everything from her formidable media diet of literature and film to her intense love affairs and infatuations to her meditations on societys values and vices, revealing in the process her immeasurable insight on writing. It has given us Sontags wisdom on writing, boredom, censorship, and aphorisms, her radical vision for remixing education, her insight on why lists appeal to us, her illustrated wisdom on art, and her bulletpointed bodily self-portrait.

Lost Cat: A True Story of Love, Desperation, and GPS Technology (public library) by Caroline Paul, illustrated by Wendy MacNaughton: From firefighterturned-writer Caroline Paul and illustrator extraordinaire Wendy MacNaughton comes a tender, imaginative memoir infused with equal parts humor and humanity. Though about a cat, this heartwarming and heartbreaking tale is really about what it means to be human about the osmosis of hollowing loneliness and profound attachment, the oscillation between boundless affection and paralyzing fear of abandonment, the unfair promise of loss implicit to every possibility of love. Devour a taste of this impossibly lovely treasure here, and hear an interview with Wendy and Caroline on the delicate balance of combining a creative collaboration with a romantic relationship here.

The Big New Yorker Book of Dogs (public library): Dogs are not about something else. Dogs are about dogs, Malcolm Gladwell writes in the introduction to this magnificent compendium of canine-themed gems fiction, poetry, feature articles, humor, cartoons, cover art, manuscript drafts culled from the New Yorker magazine archives, also one of the best art books of 2012. What unites the contributing titans among them E. B. White, Maira Kalman, John Updike, Jonathan Lethem, and Roald Dahl is a trifecta of love for dogs, for literature, and for this dog-loving literary city. Sample it with ample visuals and excerpts here.

Old Possums Book of Practical Cats (public library) by T. S. Eliot, illustrated by Edward Gorey: In the 1930s, legendary poet T. S. Eliot penned a handful of marvelous verses about feline psychology and social order in a series of letters to his godchildren. The poems, first collected and published in 1939, eventually became the basis for the famed Broadway musical Cats. But nowhere do they shine with more whimsical charisma than in this special 1982 edition illustrated by the great Edward Gorey. Peek inside a rare signed original edition here.

Wild Ones: A Sometimes Dismaying, Weirdly Reassuring Story About Looking at People Looking at Animals in America (public library) by Jon Mooallem: Maybe you have to believe in the value of everything to believe in the value of anything,

writes Jim Mooallem as he treks across mountains and wildlife reserves to trace the fates of three endangered species a bear, a butterfly, and a bird. This isnt the typical story designed to make us better by making us feel bad, to scare us into behaving, into environmental empathy; Mooallems is not the self-

righteous tone of capital-K knowing characteristic of environmental writing but the scientists disposition of not-knowing, the poets penchant for, as T. S. Eliot famously put it, negative capability. Dive inside here.

Whats a Dog For?: The Surprising History, Science, Philosophy, and Politics of Mans Best Friend (public library) by John Homans : If you resist too much the power of the big primary-color emotions that surround the dog, youre missing the experience, writes John Homans in his remarkable chronicle of the domestic

dogs journey across thousands of years and straight into our hearts, written with equal parts warmth and scientific rigor. Sample the soul-stirring goodness here.

Creature (public library) by Andrew Zuckerman: With his signature style of crisp yet tender portraits, Zuckerman captures the spirit of Earths diverse creatures, from panthers to fruit bats to bald eagles, making them appear familiar and fresh at the same time, and altogether breathtaking. Peek inside here.

The Genius of Dogs: How Dogs Are Smarter than You Think (public library) by

Brian Hare and Vanessa Woods : This absorbing survey of radical research on canine cognition explores such fascinating questions as how the selfdomestication of dogs gave them a new kind of social intelligence and what the minds of dogs reveal about our own. What emerges, in fact, is a necessary

revision of our narrow definition of what genius itself means, not just canine but human as well. Get a taste here.

The Animal Fair (public library) by Alice and Martin Provensen: Alice and Martin

Provensen began their collaboration when they got married in 1944 and went on to produce a wealth of vibrant illustrated stories of curiosity and kindness. This is one of their most delightful gems, originally published in 1952 a collection of 22 original stories and poems by the Provensens, from a lively journey to the

farmyard, zoo, and forest to humorous advice on how to sleep through the winter and how to recognize a wolf in the forest. Peek inside this vintage gem here.

Animal Wise: The Thoughts and Emotions of Our Fellow Creatures (public library) by Virginia Morell: Most people who have observed animals even briefly wouldnt question their emotional lives and their thriving inner worlds. While anthropomorphic animal tales have populated storytelling for as long as humanity has existed, science writer Virginia Morell takes us on an

unprecedented tour of laboratories around the world and explores the work of pioneering animal cognition researchers to reveal the scientific basis for our

basic intuition about what goes on in the hearts and minds of our fellow beings, from the laughter of rats to the intellectual curiosity of dolphins.

What Pete Ate from A to Z (public library) by Maira Kalman: In this heart-

warming and utterly refreshing take on the traditional alphabet book, the inimitable Maira Kalman one of New Yorks living creative treasures

unleashes her signature wordplay and expressive visual whimsy on the story of the charmingly shaggy, omnivorous, and hopelessly lovable Pete, based on Kalmans own beloved pup.

Here Is New York (public library) by E. B. White: In the sweltering summer of 1948, E. B. White sat down in a hotel room and penned what endures as the

most heartening love letter to New York a roaming essay full of wit, wisdom, and immutable affection for the city as an icon, a friend, an intricate ecosystem of triumphs and tragedies, a canvas for the vibrancy of life. A poem compresses much in a small space and adds music, thus heightening its meaning, he writes.

The city is like poetry: it compresses all life, all races and breeds, into a small island and adds music and the accompaniment of internal engines. Sample this gem with Literary Jukebox.

New York Diaries: 1609 to 2009 (public library): This dimensional mosaic portrait of the city, one of the best history books of 2012, draws on the private journals of the writers, artists, thinkers, and tourists, both famous and not, who dwelled in Gothams grid over the past four hundred years. Culled from the archives of libraries, museums, and private collections, these engrossing entries invite us into the private worlds of such luminaries as Charles Dickens, Jack Kerouac, Simone de Beauvoir, and Mark Twain, leaving us with an ever-deeper

appreciation of our shared existence in this glorious city. Sample some of the entries here.

Mapping Manhattan: A Love (And Sometimes Hate) Story in Maps by 75 New Yorkers (public library) edited by Becky Cooper: A tender cartographic love letter to this timeless city of multiple dimensions, parallel realities, and

perpendicular views, featuring 75 hand-drawn memory maps from both strangers and famous New Yorkers alike, including cosmic sage Neil deGrasse Tyson, artist-philosopher Yoko Ono, wire-walked Philippe Petit, author Malcolm Gladwell, and chef David Chang. See some of the hand-drawn cartographic goodness, including my own addition, here.

This Is New York (public library) by Miroslav a ek: Though this lovely 1960

gem, the first American city in Saeks legendary This Is series, was originally designed with a child-reader in mind, the vibrant vintage illustrations leap off

the pages to enchant children and grown-ups in equal measure, New Yorkers and visitors, admirers of big bustling streets and lovers of quiet little corners.

Changing New York (public library) by Berenice Abbott: Between 1935 and 1939, pioneering photographer Berenice Abbott made 307 black-and-white prints of New York City that endure as some of the most iconic images of Gothams changing face. In advance of the 1939 Worlds Fair, 200 of them were gathered

in this collection, along with a selection of variant images, line drawings, period maps, and background essays a lavish time-capsule of urban design

organized in eight geographical sections, documenting the social, architectural, and cultural history of the city. See some of her extraordinary photographs here.

All the Buildings in New York (That Ive Drawn So Far) (public library) by James Gulliver Hancock: When Australian illustrator James Gulliver Hancock moved to New York City, he set out to own his new home in a unique way: by drawing every single building in town. Collected here are the best of these drawings a charmingly illustrated tour of Gothams cityscape and architecture, from icons to oddities, spanning the entire urban spectrum in between. Peek inside here.

Manhattan 45 (public library) by Jan Morris : Jan Morris paints a remarkably dynamic portrait of the city as it was on June 25, 1945 the day 14,000 American servicemen and women, the first contingent returning from the

victory over Nazi Germany, sailed into New York aboard the British liner Queen Mary reconstructed in 1987, when the book was originally published. From

the novelty of stockings to the technological marvel of high-rise elevators to the class-equalizing power of a heat wave, she blends the mesmerism of time-travel with the absorbing voyeurism of travel writing, transporting us to a city at once curiously foreign and comfortably familiar. Sample it with this lovely abstract depicting Gothams heat wave as the ultimate class equalizer (plus a curious biographical detail about Morris, who was born James and became Jan).

Paris versus New York: A Tally of Two Cities (public library) by Vahram

Muratyan: Graphic designer Vahram Muratyan, a self-described lover of Paris wandering through New York, chronicles the peculiarities and contradictions of the two cities through a friendly visual match of minimalist illustrated parallel portraits vibrant visual dichotomies and likenesses, from beverages

to beards, hands to houses, that capture the intricacies of cultural difference with equal parts humor and affection. This gem was one of the best art books of 2012 peek inside it and chuckle here.

Mannahatta: A Natural History of New York City (public library) by Eric Sanderson: Landscape ecologist Eric Sanderson spent more than a decade

trying to reconstruct what Henry Hudson saw on that fateful day of September 12, 1609, when he first set foot on the island that would become Manhattan. His is a masterful feat of a kind of analog augmented reality using an 18thcentury map geographically overlaid upon the layout of modern-day Manhattan and troves of historic documents and scientific data, Sanderson takes us on a lavishly illustrated tour of the wild forests of Times Square, the sunny meadows of Harlem, and the soggy swamps of Soho.

Central Park: An Anthology (public library) edited by Andrew Blauner: Twenty of the New Yorks most celebrated authors including Adam Gopnik, Mark Helprin, Colson Whitehead, and Francine Prose pay homage to one particular, and particularly beloved, part of the city, inviting us on a literary

walk through the park with some of the most intensely interesting companions imaginable. Sample the absorbing tales here.

People (public library) by Blexbolex: Celebrated French illustrator Blexbolex

captures the human condition in its diversity, richness and paradoxes from mothers and fathers to dancers and warriors to hypnotists and genies. His

signature softly textured, pastel-colored, minimalist illustrations are paired in a way that gives you pause and, over the course of the book, reveals his subtle yet

thought-provoking visual moral commentary on the relationships between the characters depicted in each pairing. One of the best childrens and picture books of 2011 see for yourself with a peek inside.

Advice to Little Girls by Mark Twain (public library) by Mark Twain, illustrated

by Vladimir Radunsky: In 1865, when he was only 30, Mark Twain penned a little-known and lovely childrens story, in which he challenged kids to digest

the intelligent humor that had captivated his adult audiences and mischievously encouraged girls to think independently rather than blindly obey social mores. Nearly a century and a half later, beloved Russian childrens illustrator Vladimir Radunsky brings Twains irreverent gem to life, envisioned in the style of the

Victorian scrapbooks that children of that era used for doodling and collecting various curious ephemera. Sample this treasure, a pet project of mine two years in the making, here.

You Are Stardust (public library) by Elin Kelsey, illustrated by Soyeon Kim: With its whimsical 3D paper dioramas and enchanting verses, this exquisite

picture-book sets out to inspire in kids the kind of cosmic awe that would spark in them a profound sense of connection with the natural world. Underpinning

the narrative is a bold sense of optimism a refreshing antidote to the fearappeal strategy plaguing most environmental messages today. Peek inside here.

Big Questions from Little People & Simple Answers from Great Minds (public

library) edited by Gemma Elwin Harris : The questions children ask are often so simple, so basic, that they turn unwittingly yet profoundly philosophical. To explore this fertile intersection of simplicity and expansiveness, Gemma Elwin Harris asked thousands of primary school children to send in their most restless questions, then invited some of todays most prominent scientists, philosophers, and writers Mary Roach, Noam Chomsky, Philip Pullman, Richard Dawkins, Alain de Botton, and many more to answer them. The result is a compendium of fascinating explanations of deceptively simple dreams work, and was among the best childrens books of 2012 as well as

everyday phenomena, from what were made of to why we fall in love to how among readers overall favorites. Read some of the wonderful questions and answers here.

Life Doesnt Frighten Me (public library) by Maya Angelou, illustrated by Jean-

Michel Basquiat: In this infinitely inspired intersection of greatness, Angelous simple, strong words are paired with drawings by legendary artist Jean-Michel Basquiat, whose signature style of child-like fancy and colorful emotional and hear Angelou herself reading from the book, here. intensity offers a perfect match for Angelous courageous verses. Peek inside,

Drawing from the City (public library) by Tejubehan: For nearly two decades, art and literature through a commune of artists, writers, and designers

Indian independent publisher Tara Books has been giving voice to marginalized collaborating on beautifully crafted books celebrating Indian folk art traditions. Here, self-taught artist Tejubehan weaves a partly autobiographical, partly

escapist, whimsically illustrated tale of a woman trapped between unimaginable the best childrens books of 2012 see for yourself with a peek inside.

poverty and a wildly imaginative inner world in a patriarchal society. Also one of

And Tango Makes Three (public library) by Justin Richardson and Peter

Parnell, illustrated by Henry Cole: This is the heartening, tenderly illustrated true story of Roy and Silo, two male chinstrap penguins at the Central Park Zoo, and only baby-girl with two daddies. Peek inside here.

who fell in love in 1998 and started a family, raising little Tango the zoos first

My Brothers Book (public library) by Maurice Sendak: Half a century after world, illustrated in vibrant, dreamsome watercolors and written in verse

Where The Wild Things Are comes this bittersweet posthumous farewell to the inspired by some of Sendaks lifelong influences: Shakespeare, Blake, Keats, and the music of Mozart. Though on the surface about the beloved authors own brother Jack, who died 18 years prior to the books publication, the story is also about the love of Sendaks life and his partner of fifty years, Eugene Glynn. One of the loveliest books of all time see for yourself.

To Do: A Book of Alphabets and Birthdays (public library) by Gertrude Stein,

illustrated by Giselle Potter: In 1940, the grand dame of experimental literature penned a manuscript for an alphabet book that was rejected by publisher after publisher as being too complex for children. In 1957, more than a decade after than half a century later, came this first illustrated version true to Steins

Steins death, Yale University Press published a text-only version. In 2011, more original vision, with exquisite artwork by New Yorker illustrator Giselle Potter. Peek inside here.

Why We Have Day and Night. (public library) by Edward Gorey: Edward Gorey,

mid-century illustrator of the macabre and fanciful, has influenced generations

of creators, from Nine Inch Nails to Tim Burton. Long after his death, Gorey still manages to charm us with his signature style of darkly delightful illustrations that illuminate young readers on the mystery of why we have night and light in one of the best childrens and picture books of 2011. Take a peek here.

Read more about the nitty-gritty of it on Kellis blog. Meanwhile, heres a behind-the-scenes glimpse of the magic:

If youre in New York, stop by the NYPL bookstore sometime to see the installation in its analog glory, and join me in supporting the library here. (Youre also always welcome to support Brain Pickings here.)

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Bedroom via Kitchen: What Food Preferences Reveal about You and Your Romantic Partner
By: Maria Popova

You can learn a lot about a person from the way he or she eats.
The shared meal, Michael Pollan noted in his altogether fascinating exploration of how cooking civilized us, is where we learn the art

of conversation and acquire the habits of civilization. But, beyond the mere mythology of aphrodisiacs and anti-aphrodisiacs, the careful observation of our relationship with

food during those shared occasions can also reveal our rawest nature, most unfiltered

preferences, and least civilized psychological tendencies. So argues Mimi Sheraton in The Seducers Cookbook (public library) her charming 1962 guide to the lost art of where she presents this curious culinary

seduction, illustrated by MAD s Paul Coker anatomy of romantic and sexual archetypes:

You can learn a lot about a person from the way he or she eats about the extent of his physical appetites and the way they are satisfied. There are those who will try anything offered to them, no matter how new or exotic, while others refuse to accept any but the most familiar fare obviously not the adventurous type to new experiences. Sheraton argues that dietary preferences reveal a great deal about how good a dancer someone is in the intricate dance between abandon and restraint, so essential in intimate relationships:

Women who are diet-conscious should, when some tempting morsel is presented, throw caution to the wind and eat without a thought for tomorrow. An air of abandon must prevail sometimes, and if not at the table, then probably not in bed either; while a man who appears to be turning into one of Circes swine after dinner may display the same propensities when satisfying his other physical urge.

The act of ordering itself, Sheraton counsels, is remarkably revealing of a persons overall authenticity:

While ordering in restaurants, you should be able to tell a great deal about someones tastes, sensitivities and pretensions. A man or woman who is completely honest and without airs, and already knows good food, will recognize it whether it be a hot dog at Nedicks or a pt en croute at Pavillon. Beware of anyone who seems to recognize good food only when served in a currently fashionable restaurant. Such a person may be given to passing fads and is not to be trusted. Sheraton goes on to offer a kind of gastronomic phrenology of personality types based on dietary preferences:

If a woman consistently orders sickeningly sweet, overelaborate whipped-cream desserts, she may be given to equally sticky goodbyes, and a man who overeats on one course and then has to pass up the rest of the meal doesnt know how to pace himself and could be a problem later in the evening. And should you find yourself with a girl who orders a pastrami sandwich on whole-wheat toast with lettuce and Russian dressing (a meal I actually heard someone order in a New York delicatessen), youd best be off before the waiter returns with the check. The rest of The Seducers Cookbook similarly oscillates between the delightfully outlandish and the surprisingly insightful, and remains an absolute treat from cover to cover. Sample more of it here and complement it with unbeknownst gastronome Alexandre Dumas on the three types of appetite.

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Frida Kahlos Politics

By: Maria Popova

I am only a cell in the complex revolutionary mechanism of the peoples for peace in the new nations united in blood to me.
Though Mexican painter and reconstructionist Frida Kahlo was born on July 6, 1907, she insisted on listing July 7, 1910, as her birth so that her life would parallel the birth of modern Mexico. But how, exactly, did the iconic artist arrive at her strong political convictions? The Diary of Frida Kahlo: An date the start of the Mexican revolution

Intimate Self-Portrait (public library) the same magnificent volume that gave us her

passionate hand-written love letters to Diego Rivera and her poignant meditation on how we are all connected in our pain offers a fascinating glimpse of the evolution of Kahlos political beliefs, which were heavily inspired by Marxist ideology but still reflective of the underlying ethos of her art, a

profound celebration of our shared existence and the connectedness of the universe. 1st. Im convinced of my disagreement with the counterrevolution imperialism fascism religions stupidity capitalism and the whole gamut of bourgeois tricks I wish to cooperate with the Revolution in transforming the world into a class-less one so that we can

attain a better rhythm for the oppressed classes 2nd. a timely moment to clarify who are the allies of the Revolution Read Lenin Stalin Learn that I am nothing but a small damned part of a revolutionary movement. Always revolutionary, never dead, never useless From a handful of pages dated 19501951, which follow a lapse in her diary

after seven grueling surgeries on her spinal column, and open with her gratitude for Doctor Farill, the surgeon whom Kahlo believes saved her, she offers this meditation on the urgency she feels to find a political utility for her art:

A despair which no words can describe. Im still eager to live. Ive started to paint again. A little picture to give to Dr Farill on which Im working with all my love. I feel uneasy about my painting. Above all I want to transform it into something useful for the Communist revolutionary movement, since up to now I have only painted the earnest portrayal of myself, but Im very far from work that could serve the Party. I have to fight with all my strength to contribute the few positive things my health allows me to the revolution. The only true reason to live for.

Frida Kahlo, reconstructionist A five-page entry dated November 4, 1952, marks a turning point for Kahlos work as she begins to see her painting not merely as the subjective, inwardturned reflection on her inner world but as a Marxist interpretation of reality, which she terms Revolutionary Realism: Today Im in better company than for 20 years) I am a self and a Communist. I know I have read methodically that the main origins are wrapped in ancient roots. I have read the History of my country and of nearly all nations. I know their class struggles and their economic conflicts. I understand quite clearly the dialectical materialism of Marx, Engels, Lenin, Stalin and Mao Tse. I love them as pillars of the new Communist world. Since Trotsky came to Mexico I have understood his error. I was never a Trotskyist. But in those days 1940 my only alliance was with Diego (personally) Political fervor. But one has to make allowances for the fact that I had been sick since I was six years old and for really very short periods of my life have I enjoyed truly good

HEALTH and I was of no use to the Party. Now in 1953. After 22 surgical interventions I feel better and now and then I will be able to help my Communist Party. Although Im not a worker, but a craftswoman And an unconditional ally of the Communist revolutionary movement. For the first time in my life my painting is trying to help in the line set down by the Party: REVOLUTIONARY REALISM Before it was my earliest experience I am only a cell in the complex revolutionary mechanism of the peoples for peace in the new nations, Soviets Chinese Czechoslovakians Poles united in blood to me. And to the Mexican Indian. Among those great multitudes of Asian people there will always be the faces of my own Mexicans with dark skin and beautiful form, with limitless grace. The black people would also be freed, so beautiful and so brave. (Mexicans and negroes are subjugated for now by capitalist countries above all North America U.S. and England.) xxxxxxxxxxxx
Illustration by Lisa Congdon for The Reconstructionists project

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How Much Edna St. Vincent Millay Loved Her Mother

By: Maria Popova

Almost all people love their mothers, but I have never met anybody in my life, I think, who loved his mother as much as I love you.
Edna St. Vincent Millay is one of the most extraordinary creative icons of the twentieth century beloved poet, eloquent lover of music, delinquent schoolgirl, writer of passionate love letters and playfully lewd selfportraits, literary gateway drug for children, the recipient of the 1923 Pulitzer Prize for

Poetry, only the third woman to win the award. the rare relationship she shared with her mother, Cora B. Millay, whom Edna loved profoundly enough to make any daughter jealous of this deep bond and whom she

But one of Millays most exceptional qualities is

frequently addressed with terms borrowed from the vocabulary of romance dear, dearest, sweetheart, and even the nature, of romantic passion.

my Best Beloved to imbue this great platonic union with the intensity, if not

In a letter from June 15, 1921, found in the altogether wonderful The Letters of Edna St. Vincent Millay (public library), 29-year-old Edna who customarily signed her letters to her loved ones as Vincent, an oft-discussed preference in the context of her open bisexuality writes to her mother and two sisters from Paris:

I am always button-holing somebody and saying, Someday you must meet my mother. I do love you very much, my mother. *** It is nearly six months since I saw you. A long time. Mother, do you know, almost all people love their mothers, but I have never met anybody in my life, I think, who loved his mother as much as I love you. I dont believe there ever was anybody who did, quite so much, and quite in so many wonderful ways. I was telling somebody yesterday that the reason I am a poet is entirely because you wanted me to be and intended I should be, even from the very first. You brought me up in the tradition of poetry, and everything I did you encouraged. I can not remember once in my life when you were not interested in what I was working on, or even suggested that I should put it aside for something else. Some parents of children that are different have so much to reproach themselves with. But not you, Great Spirit. I hope you will write me as soon as you get this. If you only knew what it means to me to get letters from any of you three over there. Because no matter how interesting it all is, and how beautiful, and how happy I am, an dhow much work I get done, I am nevertheless away from home home being somewhere near where you are, mother dear. If I didnt keep calling you mother, anybody reading this would think I was writing to my sweetheart. And he would be quite right.

The following month, on July 23, Edna sends another loving letter to Cora: Dearest Mother, You do write the sweetest and most wonderful letters! They

are so lovely that very often I read parts of them aloud to people, just as literature. It was delicious what you told me about the turtle, you are so gentle and kind to everything, dear and all the things you write about birds and animals I love. Thanks for the little flower. I never saw one like it, either. [] And, sweetheart, how would you like, in place of the birthday present I did not send you from the 10th of June, sometime in the late fall or winter, depending on how much money I can make between now and then, to come over here, and play around with your eldest daughter a while in Europe? We could go to Italy and Switzerland and to England and Scotland, and, if there are not too many riots and street fights there at the time, mavourneen, we would go to Ireland! and then, my Best Beloved, you and I will just have ourselves a little honey-moon. With all the love of my heart, Vincent Millay adds a charmingly self-aware postscript: P.S. Do you suppose, when you & I are dead, dear, they will publish the Love Letters of Edna St. Vincent Millay & her Mother? As an aside, as fantastic as The Letters of Edna St. Vincent Millay may be in its is long out of print, or that it bears one of the most hideous covers ever designed, belying the spirit of such a beautiful woman and beautiful poet to a degree bordering on travesty. Please oh please, dear overlords of publishing, wont you consider reprinting this gem and having someone like Chip Kidd, Jessica Hische, or Coralie Bickford-Smith design a fittingly glorious cover?

entirety, it is hard to decide whats more tragic that this magnificent volume

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