I spent Saturday drinking about ten thousand gallons of ice water and re-re-re-reading Alice In Wonderland. This time, though, I’m reading the Kusama edition, which I found last summer at a bookstore in Campbell specializing in vintage, out-of-print, and unusual editions of classic children’s books.
I already own a couple of copies of Alice In Wonderland, so I felt a little silly about how much I wanted this book, but every time I went into the store I picked it up and browsed through the pages, and it’s just the most gorgeous thing ever. The artist, Yayoi Kusama, has a condition that causes her to see spots everywhere she looks, and her surreal vision of the world is a perfect counterpoint to Carroll’s hallucinogenic storytelling. The book is created in collaboration with the Gagosian Gallery and bound in cloth, making it a crazy-good gift for a book (or art) lover.
You can pick it up here.
P.S. If you’re a fan of Kusama’s work, she also collaborated with Louis Vuitton on a collection of bags; they’re no longer available in retail stores, but you can find them on Gilt, at What Goes Around Comes Around, and on eBay.
