Rob Walker's Blog, page 43

At Fictionaut, stories about a music box…

So far we've had six stories contributed to our Fictionaut group, all about this music box. Fictionaut community feedback hasn't really anointed a clear champion — maybe you'd like to weigh in?

The stories (click the title to read) are:

"In Small Packages," by Sabra Wineteer
"Mercy," by Jennifer Howard
"Music Box" by Marcy Dermansky
"Valley Rugstore," by Nicholas Rombes
"Birthday Music," by Lynn Chakoian
"The Gift" by Sari Cunningham

I really enjoy reading multiple stories about the same...

Balancing Bird Thing

Object No. 14 of 50 — Significant Objects v2

[Bid on this Significant Object, with story by Joe Wenderoth, here. Significant Objects will donate the proceeds of this auction to 826 National.]

Up for your consideration is this Antique Icelandic Menstruating Judgment Bird. Early Icelandic Judges used these birds to determine the outcome of all serious arguments. It was also used domestically—with considerably less ceremony—to resolve smaller household arguments. It works like this: in an outdoor ...

"Women & Infants" Glass

Object No. TK of 50 — Significant Objects v2

[Bid on this Significant Object, with story by Jeff Turrentine, here. Significant Objects will donate the proceeds of this auction to 826 National.]

TASTING NOTES

All wines were stored at 55 degrees and decanted for one hour before being poured into the same glass (pictured) — which, as regular readers know, is the only glass I ever use.

Marques de Riscal 2004 Rioja Reserva ($29)
Explosive cherry notes, which gently yield to black pepper, vanilla and...

Hippie Bear Ornament

Object No. TK of 50 — Significant Objects v2

[Bid on this Significant Object, with story by Mimi Lipson, here. Significant Objects will donate the proceeds of this auction to 826 National.]

She's Jewish, so why does she insist on giving me Christmas gifts? For that matter, why is she giving me a hippie bear Christmas tree ornament? I'm not a hippie. She's certainly not a hippie. There is no hippie of our mutual acquaintance to whom this could be a fond or winking allusion. But it's a long...

Just Married Cup

[Bid on this Significant Object, with story by Barbara Bogaev, here. Significant Objects will donate the proceeds of this auction to 826 National.]

He's close to death, but he's giving my mom a look as if he's about to leap over the hospital bed rail and throttle her. I think, this is going to be his last earthly act, he's going to strangle his wife of 55 years in front of his whole family, as we look on, holding plastic cups of ice chips and getting stiff in our middle-aged children's...

Duck Nutcracker

Object No. TK of 50

[Bid on this Significant Object, with story by Wayne Koestenbaum, here. Significant Objects will donate the proceeds of this auction to 826 National.]

Gloria Swanson owned a duck nutcracker. Guests, including Jean Harlow and Franchot Tone, cracked nuts at Gloria's cocktail parties.

After Gloria died, John Travolta inherited the contraption. He brought it out as a conversation piece when Roland Barthes came calling.

Then the duck nutcracker fell out of favor.

I found it at a...

Unappealing objects

We've discussed the intrinsic appeal of some Significant Objects – but what about those objects that lacked such appeal? Things inexplicable, but not in a way that doesn't necessarily make you want to know more. Sometimes objects like the now-notorious Scottish Doll did not appeal to our writers, and were not chosen for Significance-making. But in a few cases, we actually auctioned  objects that (to me at leas) bordered on trash. Or outright repulsiveness.

Original price: $4

For instance: the...

Bowling Bag Salt Shaker

Object No. 9 of 50

[Bid on this Significant Object, with story by Lydia Millet, here. Significant Objects will donate the proceeds of this auction to 826 National.]

I've always wanted to be good at a bar game. Pool would be my first choice, but no hope there. Darts was an option, once, but the first time I tried to get real instruction, in a pub in a dreary English town called Wokingham, I bloodied the ear of a man. It was the ear of the man I was seeing at the time, a small-time drug dealer...

New writers, and our Fictionaut group

I don't believe we ever formally noted that the recent Hammer Bottle Opener + Alexander Chapman Story was our first Significant Object by one of the finalists from our earlier contest with Slate. (The auction ended yesterday, and it went for an impressive $40.06.) We have a few more in the works, and we're really pleased about that. As much as we enjoy publishing writers whose work we already know and love, we also enjoy discovering voices that are new to us, and (probably) to you.

Getting...

Portable Hairdryer

Object No. 8 of 50

[Bid on this Significant Object, with story by Douglas Wolk, here. Significant Objects will donate the proceeds of this auction to 826 National.]

…In the final year of his career, however, Sanangelo became increasingly unreliable and obsessed with challenging both his listeners and himself, feeling that his work had become "too easy." He made it a point of pride to never miss a gig, but his audiences (and the pickup musicians who fluttered in and out of the band after Conroy ...