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Comedy

Michael Showalter Reveals All in Our Interactive Interview

By Doug Levy on

Comedian Michael Showalter has done it all. He’s been a member of one of the most-loved comedy troupes of all time (The State); written, directed, and starred in movies like Wet Hot American Summer and The Baxter; released a hilarious album — and now he’s written a book too.

In our exclusive Interactive Interview — where you ask the questions — he talks about his literary inspirations, the possibility of sequels and reunions for some of his projects, and the bizarre rumor that he has a rivalry with fellow comedy sensation Eugene Mirman. Plus, he tells us his real name. … Read More

Daily Dose

Daily Dose Pick: Still Developing

By Tanja M. Laden on

Catalog-style, limited-edition publication Still Developing is a compendium of words and images that pays tribute to Polaroid’s continuing analog appeal in the digital age.

Based on a touring exhibition of professional and amateur Polaroid photography called Instant Gratification, the book is issued by ism: a community project — a nonprofit organization providing an online forum for creative photo-journals, juried essays, and a series of provocative Q&A’s, as well as real-life experiments that investigate endangered art forms. … Read More

Daily Dose

Daily Dose Pick: Photography as Fiction

By John Hood on

Erin. C. Garcia’s new book Photography as Fiction culls some of the most vivid imagery from the archives of LA’s J. Paul Getty Museum.

Garcia, assistant curator in the Department of Photographs at the Getty, has gone to great lengths to select some of the most robust and telling photographs in the museum’s collection. The results, which include offerings from Man Ray, Joel Peter Witkin, Thomas Eakins, and Alfred Stieglitz, run the gamut of the form’s more breathtaking representation of story. … Read More

Daily Dose

Daily Dose Pick: True Hip-Hop

By Russ Marshalek on

New York-based, self-taught photographer Mike Schreiber’s unique vision of hip-hop celebrities, from Nas and Biz Markie to Ol’ Dirty Bastard and Jay-Z, is collected for the first time in True Hip-Hop.

Schreiber captures his subjects with a real-life grit that becomes seemingly tangible. Most jaw-dropping is the strikingly candid proof sheet presenting a vulnerable young artist then known as Maya Arulpragasam, who would use Schreiber’s photos as she rose to fame as M.I.A. … Read More

Daily Dose

Daily Dose Pick: Winter’s Children

By Mindy Bond on

Photographer Jim Mangan liberates snowboarding from its commercial shackles in Winter’s Children, a collection of fine-art nudes shot in the back-country of Idaho’s Sawtooth Mountains.

A former sponsored snowboarder, Mangan became disenchanted with the sport and was looking for a creative way to revive his enthusiasm when he found seven snowboarders willing to take to the slopes on circa-1980s boards, wearing nothing more than boots and colorful wool blankets. Mangan’s grainy 35mm photographs celebrate snowboarding by recalling its origins and capturing its unbridled ecstasy and free-wheeling spirit. … Read More

Daily Dose

Daily Dose Pick: Nancy Spero

By Paul Laster on

A sweeping survey of one of the most influential female artists of the past 50 years, Christopher Lyon’s Nancy Spero: The Work packs a powerful social and visual punch.

A feminist art movement pioneer, Spero promoted the notion of woman-as-protagonist, exposed the horrors of the Vietnam War, gave birth to expressive text-and-image art, and investigated issues of pain and torture in her innovative works on paper and daring installations. Mining the past while addressing her time, Spero put history into art and women into history. … Read More

Daily Dose

Daily Dose Pick: This Is NPR

By Shana Nys Dambrot on

National Public Radio chronicles four decades of broadcasting independent-arts and political programming across America with a new book presenting the faces behind the radio dial.

A constant companion to daily commuters and fans of arts and culture journalism, NPR celebrates what it does best in This Is NPR: The First Forty Years, combining stellar graphic design, in-depth interviews, behind-the-scenes photos, and rare anecdotes from its best-loved voices. And if reading the radio is too strange, there’s also an audio version. … Read More

Daily Dose

Daily Dose Pick: McSweeney’s Issue 36

By Tanja M. Laden on

The extremely unconventional 36th issue of McSweeney’s quarterly magazine is a box-shaped head filled with short stories, art postcards, a “lost” work by Michael Chabon, and a tiny scroll.

A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius author Dave Eggers founded McSweeney’s independent publishing house as a forum for indie literary-fiction authors to articulate progressive ideas. Issue 36 is a “275-cubic-inch full-color head-crate” filled with booklets and other objects, ripe for the sifting. … Read More

Daily Dose

Daily Dose Pick: Alphabets: A Miscellany of Letters

By Shana Nys Dambrot on

The new book from preeminent alphabet historian David Sacks combines eye candy, font fetishism, and sociological etymology in a lavishly illustrated love letter to the modern A-to-Z.

Sacks examines the development of written language from the ancient to the digital world, from Medieval illuminations to advertisements, and from fine art to boxcar tagging. The result is an engaging, encyclopedic romp through our collective visual history that celebrates human creativity and cultural expression not only in the use of the written word, but in its very invention. … Read More

Daily Dose

Daily Dose Pick: Tim Flach’s Dogs

By Tanja M. Laden on

Tim Flach’s majestic dog portraits are captivating representations of man’s best friend, from the sporting, non-sporting, and hounds to the working, herding, and toy breeds.

Featuring profiles of dozens of canines, Dogs is a divine collection of images that spotlights the endearing characteristics of different pooches, elevating them to divine status. Whether it’s a troubled-looking Bloodhound or a demure Dalmatian, Flach’s subjects establish a direct connection with the viewer, dog-lover or otherwise. … Read More