Altered States, Judges Pick Rawson Monroe

Thanks to all who entered Miss Prothero's 1st Altered Book Exhibition. This year's judges were Book Artist Alicia Bailey and Installation Artist Heather Doyle-Maier. The two met on Monday to take a look at the entries and to discuss each entry's merit. Because this was the store's first exhibition and because I had not been clear on parameters, I asked that the judges not eliminate anyone from the show. Instead, I asked Alicia and Heather to pick a Best of Show. We all agreed that "altered book" was an unwieldy art form and difficult to define. However, the judges used the following criteria to pick their Best of Show --

*The book, the original text, and the alteration had to have nearly equal emphasis.
*The piece should be a book derived object and not a completely new object.
*It should be sequential, contained, and have a sense of boundness.

With that in mind, our two judges picked Rawson Monroe's Dr. Seuss alteration as Best of Show. Monroe's work is simple, direct and primary. He's taken a childhood book about language and created a subtext by overlaying images from another language onto the pages. I am indebted to Mr. Monroe for his thoughtfulness and am happy to award him a $15 gift certificate from Miss Prothero's Books.

I've also decided to throw the door open to a People's Choice award. Votes will be taken through the month of October, and the winner will be announced at the end of the exhibition. If you come to the store to vote, look for the altered oatmeal box at the front desk.

Please remember that this show has an opening and a closing. The opening is this Friday evening (10/5) from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m. The closing is November 2 from 7 p.m. until 9 p.m.

As part of the closing, the bookstore will be building a Dia de los Muertos altar out of mass market paperbacks. If you have mass market paperbacks you'd like to contribute to the altar, please bring them in during the month of October. You are welcome to add something to the altar on the night of the closing. These additions could include pictures of a dead printer, publisher, author, binder or book artist. They might also include items a dead author, printer, publisher, author, binder or book artist might use should they decide to come back and pay us a visit.

Thanks again. I appreciate the support you've shown the bookstore.

Altered States in the Outer Limits, Our Monthly Newsletter

Altered States

Our altered book exhibit will open October 5. We’ve seen a few entries and hope there are a few more on the way. If you’re still busy altering, hurry up! The deadline is September 30 at 6 p.m. If you want to see some nicely recycled books...if you’ve always wanted to see what will happen when you fold, spindle and mutilate a book...the reception begins at 7 p.m. on the 5th.

And don’t miss out on a super First Friday in the art district. October 5 - 12 is Arts Week in Denver. That means the Santa Fe shops will be hopping during October’s art walk. In fact, the district will be busy all weekend long. There will be live music, a beer and wine garden and street performers. There will be Plein Aire painting in the alleys and the unveiling of the World’s largest vinyl print. For a list of city-wide events, visit the Denver Convention and Vistor's Bureau website.

One Book, One Denver

We applaud this year’s One Book, One Denver pick. Nick Arvin is a hometown hero, and his Articles of War is a wonderful read. If you’re following the Ken Burns documentary on World War II, this is the perfect companion. If you’ve been following the Iraq war, this book is a springboard to conversation. What are the stories of Iraq? Why don’t we hear them more often? Has technology changed what it means to be brave? What do we teach our young about war? Does it match the reality?

Miss Prothero is interested in hosting a One Book, One Denver discussion. Are you free October 20 at 2p.m.? Let us know.

We Want You!

Miss Prothero will have a live reading of Dylan Thomas’s A Child’s Christmas in Wales on December 7 at 6 p.m. We’ll continue reading Christmas-Posada-Solstice-Hanukkah-Ramadan stories until we close at 9 p.m. that evening. Call us at 303-572-2260 if you’d like to be a celebrity reader or if you have a story to nominate.

The Book Club Beat

The next Whodunit Club meeting is September 30 at 4:30 p.m. Walter Mosley’s A Red Death is under the magnifying glass. Dolores Johnson, local whodunit writer, will be leading the group on October 28 at 4:30 p.m. The book she’s chosen is Taking the Wrap, her second to last Mandy Dyer mystery. Miss P had paperback copies, but they’re all gone! If you get your copy from the library or find your own, give the store a call and we’ll let you know the stopping place. On November 18, the club will be treated to an original mystery dinner. Loyal club members will get first crack at the starring roles, but we’ll make provisions for kibitzers. If you’re not a loyal member and want to kibitz, give us a call.

The myth series reading group will start again on October 14 at 4 p.m. The subject of the discussion will be Jeanette Winterson’s Weight. This is a story of Atlas and Hercules, of choice and coercion. If you’d like to join us and need more information give the store a call at 303-572-2260.

Is it your turn to host the neighborhood book club? Why not host the group here? We may even clean the windows for you!

Ready for Halloween?

Miss Prothero is always ready. If simple is your idea of costuming, how about dressing up in one of Miss P’s Ts? You can have your favorite beverage in an evil uncle stein. Check out our full line of discriminating reader apparel at Miss P's Ts.

AND! If come to the store on October 30 or 31 dressed as Miss Prothero, we’ll give you candy and a free book! Don’t know what Miss Prothero looked like? Our current copy A Child’s Christmas in Wales has some interesting Edward Ardizzone illustrations. We also have a Dylan Thomas biography. It’s got pictures of the man and of the people he knew and loved.

Call for Mass Market Paperbacks

We’re hoping to build an altar out of mass market paperbacks for Day of the Dead. Have any to donate to the project? A mass market is a typical airport book. It’s about 6 3/4 inches tall and 4 1/4 inches wide. Call us if you want to add a few of yours to our altar.

Did You Bookmark Those Bookmarks?

Have you ever noticed Miss Prothero’s bookmarks? Each is part of a single story. We have just concluded the 2007 story series. We’re wondering if we should do a new story for 2008 or just forget bookmarks altogether. Do you use bookmarks? Are bookmarks just another piece of paper? Do you just dog ear your pages and cat tail your spines? So who needs bookmarks anyway? If we don’t hear from you, we may discontinue the bookmarks altogether.

Altered States, Part III

Monks did it. They scraped vellum. They altered, recycled and reused books. We haven't changed. We are always tearing apart and reassembling, always making something old new. That is the art of being human.

Today I watched Nancy Missbach practice her art. The book she chose to alter, recycle and reuse was Elementary Home Economics. I loved what emerged...the shape of a dress, the figure of girl dancing through her chores.

If you want to find out more about altered book, Nancy will be giving an informal talk on September 21 at Miss Prothero's. She's also teaching a class on the 23rd. That workshop will be held at Tangerine Book Arts. Check the previous post for times or give us a call at the store. Our phone number is 303-572-2260.

Altered States, Part II

A good neighbor asked that I put more information on the altered book show in the blog. I'm pasting the information from the official brochure here.
Give us a call at the store if you have questions (303) 572-2260.
No, you do not need to use any of our "alterable" books.

Don’t just recycle your old books!
Revise
and recreate them!

Miss Prothero’s Books and
Tangerine Book Arts are sponsoring an altered Book project.
Are you an artist, Book Lover or Poet?
Want to be part of the project?
Here’s how it works.
Come to Miss Prothero’s Books
at 1112 N. Santa Fe Drive, pick the Perfect tome from the “Alterable Book” shelf,
then fold, spindle, cut, paste, revise and recreate.
When you’re done with your Books, enter them into Miss P’s annual altered book exhibition.
An entry fee of $10 per book or $25 for 3 books will be charged.
Judging for this juried Exhibition will take place October 1, 2007.
Your entries must be at Miss Prothero’s by September 30 no later than 6 P.M.
The opening reception is October 5, 7 p.m. to 9 p.M.
The closing reception is November 2 from 7 p.m to 9 p.m.
Come to the November 2 reception prepared to celebrate the death of the exhibition.
Need a little push to get started?
Nancy Missbach of Tangerine Book Arts will give an informal talk on the altered book
at Miss Prothero’s Books on Friday, September 21, from 7 P.M. to 9 P.m. This talk is free and open to the public. Nancy will also teach an altered book workshop on September 23, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. The cost of the class is $50 plus a materials fee. The class will be held at
Tangerine Book Arts, 86 West 11th Avenue. There’s only space for 6, so sign up early!
For more information, call Miss Prothero’s Books at 303-572-2260
or Tangerine Book Arts at 303-623-1331.
Miss Prothero’s Books is open from 10 a.m. to 6 P.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 12 P.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday, 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, and 1 p.m. to 6 p.m. on Sunday.
Miss P’s is closed on Monday.
Sign UP!
(You may cut, paste and print the following as your official entry form.)

Name:

Address:



Email:

Phone:

Best way to contact?

_________# of Books I’m Entering


_________Yes, I’ll come to the talk on the 21st.


_________ Sign me up for the class on the 23rd.

Send the form with applicable fees to:
Miss Prothero’s Books
1112 Santa Fe Drive
Denver, CO 80204

You may also drop the form by during Miss P’s business hours.

Altered States

Miss Prothero's is hosting an altered book show in October. Never heard of such a thing? Come on, now! Everyone is doing it. I've seen designer hand bags made out of trade paperbacks, switch plates made from loose pages, lunch boxes made of condensed reader's digest editions. There's even an international society of altered book artists.

To get ready for the altered book show, book artist Nancy Missbach will be giving a talk on September 21 and teaching a class on 23rd. (Call the store at 303-572-2260 for details.) Nancy will also be altering a book of her own. (I promise to post pictures as soon as she gets started.)

And I'm getting in to the game. I've picked a copy of Edward George Earl Bulwer-Lytton's The Last of the Barons. If you've ever heard of the worst opening line ever written, then you've heard of Bulwer-Lytton.* That worst opening line is not from The Last of the Barons, but there are plenty of other stinkers spread liberally throughout this novel. When I looked at the book, I thought about the ego that wrote it. Bulwer-Lytton was not a man with a self-esteem problem. He probably looked at himself in the mirror every day and liked what he saw. Thinking like this led me to an idea about how I wanted to alter the book. I'd make Bulwer-Lytton paper dolls of the pages. (Who knows. Edward might have liked that.) I have to remove the pages to make the paper dolls and I'm not sure how I'm going to reattach them, but I'm having fun. Yes, I do feel a little sacrilegious cutting at the pages. I'll get over it.

*Here's the world's worst opening line for those of you who haven't been subjected to it --

It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents—except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which swept up the streets (for it is in London that our scene lies), rattling along the housetops, and fiercely agitating the scanty flame of the lamps that struggled against the darkness.