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Substack Reads: Inside the mind of a collector, and a bookseller’s pilgrimage

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Substack Reads: Inside the mind of a collector, and a bookseller’s pilgrimage

Apr 29, 2023
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Hello and welcome to Substack Reads, where we aim to serve up an eclectic menu of new writing from across Substack, from writers you never knew you needed to read.

This week, those writers are looking into why we obsess at all: from a pilgrimage to buy rare secondhand books, described in a nostalgic personal essay by writer Charlie Becker, to collecting midcentury-modern glassware, told by streetwear founder Bobby Hundreds in his new Substack, Monologue. 

Thanks again for your recommendations shared in the comments and on Substack Notes, several of which are featured in today’s edition. Keep telling us which writers you’re obsessing over.

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COLLECTIBLES

What lies behind our obsessions

Whether it’s midcentury-modern glassware, rare sneakers, Pokémon cards, or NFTs, many of us are one step away from becoming a collector nerd, writes streetwear-brand founder Bobby Hundreds

—

bobbyhundreds
in
MONOLOGUE

Bobby Hundreds’s friend Cambria sporting her glassware obsession, via Monologue

It wasn’t until Cambria saw a friend selling Fire King glassware that she caught the bug. Search up “Kimberly mugs” and you’ll find charming drinking cups in a rainbow of gradient hues like bright orange, green, and blue. The mugs are stackable and wrapped in a geometric diamond pattern. Although Kimberlys originated in the mid-20th century, you can still find plenty of affordable vintage pieces on eBay and in thrift shops. That’s exactly what snagged Cambria. Kimberly mugs led her to other pieces under the Fire King brand, which then bubbled up on her Explore page and introduced her to influencers in the space like Mid Mod Marion. She started researching and buying more and more midcentury-modern (MCM) glass until the day she realized she’d crossed the line.

“I was like, ‘What am I gonna do with all this stuff?’ ” she laughed. “It’s not like I can return it…” So then Cambria started to sell it. You can guess what happened next. The camera loves Cambria, so once she took to IG Live and hosted her own shows, selling vintage treasures like speckled Lucite candles and fairy lamps, she had an accidental business on her hands. Still, she wasn’t just in it for the money. She was quick to express, “This is my fun place. This is my escape.”

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MEMOIR

The truth about the cherry blossom

Journalist and novelist Justin Myers shares a piercing story of grief and a cherry blossom

—

Justin Myers
in
The truth about everything*
, recommended by Julia Raeside

Via The truth about everything*

‘It’s a cherry tree,’ they said, as we filed out to the gardens, feet crunching on the gravel path.

There was no blossom on the tree on the day they planted it. Its branches naked and fragile; the tree too young to know that one day it might be beautiful, and would be observed. Unaware of its role.

Rain sluiced down as we stood and waited. Crouched under our umbrellas, swathed in layers of misery—the cold, the rain, the loss—we listened to a man we didn’t know give a speech about someone we loved, before he unveiled a shiny plaque. Her name at the top, followed by beautiful, genuine words chosen by her colleagues. And still it rained. The ground became marshy, yet we hesitated to leave the tree by itself. Wouldn’t that be like turning your back on her, somehow? It hadn’t even been a year; there’d been no anniversary to ease us into this new phase where objects and ceremonies would become avatars for the person we missed. We didn’t know how to behave.

Inside, eventually, we talked about how the world was about to change, nibbled on snacks, clutching our champagne flutes with a palmar grasp. Then it was over, and we stepped out into the rain again. And all I could think about was the tree, in the gardens, on its own.

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SCANDAL

The AI scandal turning photography on itself

The problem with AI-generated photography isn’t the medium, it’s the message—one that rewards making misery look epic, says documentary photographer Dina Litovsky

—

Dina Litovsky
in
In the Flash

Via In the Flash

The intensity of reaction to [Michael Christopher] Brown’s work startled me. Photographers rarely turn on one of their own with such viciousness. The last time that happened was in 2016, when the iconic, too-big-to-fail Steve McCurry was ostracized for passing off severely Photoshopped images as photojournalism. In some of the photos, McCurry cloned out people for no other reason than aesthetics. A fierce debate about ethics, exploitation, and false narratives ensued.

Documentary photography established many rules in place to prevent another McCurryism from happening. When transferring assignment photos to National Geographic, I have to send my RAW files, from which the final photos are processed (according to my drafts) by the Nat Geo team and published. World Press Photo and Picture of the Year contests require RAW files for all winners, checking for any discrepancies and disqualifying about 20% of entries each year. But no safeguard could have prepared the industry for the AI Trojan Horse arriving on its doorstep.

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FOOD AND DRINK

Inheriting Dolly Mumma’s never-ending bowl of curry

Indian food expert Perzen Patel shares her wish to have a bowl of her grandmother’s curry that would never run out

—

Perzen Patel
in
Beyond Butter Chicken

Via Beyond Butter Chicken

In the morning, Mumma would send my grandfather to the market to buy a fresh coconut for her curry masala while she sat on the shared balcony of her apartment in Mumbai keeping a watch out for the fishmonger. Mumma would clap loudly when the fishmonger arrived and call her up to the apartment. She’d handpick the biggest prawns she could find, always sneaking in a few extra after the price was fixed, saying, “Arre, these extra ones are for my granddaughter. You know how much she loves eating your fish.”

Then Mumma would clean the prawns with salt and chickpea flour before marinating them in turmeric, red chilli powder, and salt. They’d sit on the counter covered, while her curry bubbled away on the stove, the aroma of the curry leaves filling the home. We’d arrive at Mumma’s house around 12.30, tired from rushing around the city at various extracurricular activities. Mumma would immediately push me directly to the basin to wash my hands and feet and “become free” from the outside clothes I had on. Meanwhile, she’d finish off the curry, slipping the marinated prawns into the pot and adding a generous squeeze of lemon juice.

As we all gathered around setting the table, Mumma would bring out her famous prawn curry, a glass bowl of kachubar—onion salad—balancing on the saucepan lid.

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A pilgrimage of a book sale

Every summer, Charlie Becker’s dad drove him and his sister in a rented cargo van from Houston to a parking lot in suburban Chicago, which became a holy site for booksellers for two weeks in June

—

Charlie Becker
in
Castles in the Sky
, recommended by Vicky

Via Castles in the Sky

As much as my Dad revered books, he was also a businessman. He was a master of rare-book arbitrage. Although there are garage sales and secondhand shops where we live in Houston, the likelihood of finding a 100-year-old book is slim. That’s because unlike his hometown, Chicago, Houston has a salty, hot climate that is hard on books. Air-conditioning only became mainstream around the 1950s, and Houston’s population didn’t explode until the 1980s, when my parents showed up with all the other transplants. When he moved here, my Dad opened his secondhand bookstore in a sleepy suburb of West Houston. He did well in sales but sometimes had trouble stocking valuable used books. That’s why we would drive across the country every year: to buy as many high-quality used books as possible. 

Every June in the week before Brandeis, the Becker household had “hurricane energy,” that subtly manic atmosphere that you might encounter in a grocery store days before a natural disaster is predicted to hit the area. After school would let out for the summer, my Dad would start making preparations like finding a van to rent. He would also start the weeks-long discussion with my Mom about whether she would come to Chicago with us or not. This discussion was like a prolonged chess match performed in the style of a tango, highly stylized and alternately furtive and heated. My Dad wanted us all to go, but my Mom resisted. She would end up coming with us about half the time. 

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ILLUSTRATION

Thrift-store style 

When Canadian illustrator and animator Livamoah found thrift-store buys with cutesy illustrations, she decided to redo them in her own style

—

Livamoah
in
Have Some Mo

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Coming soon

Congratulations to the following writers celebrating their books’ forthcoming publication:

With an illustrated story,

Adam Rex
announces pre-orders on his new picture book: 

PICTURE DAY
A Card from Your Aunt
Hey, you got a card from your aunt…
Read more
a month ago · 45 likes · 17 comments · Adam Rex

Personal finance writer

Ben Le Fort
offers details of his book deal with Penguin Random House:

Making of a Millionaire
I Got a Book Deal with a Major Publisher!
The plan was for summer 2022 to be all about rest and relaxation. Me my wife, our son, and our Cat drove 2,000 Km to spend all of July and August visiting family and friends in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The idea was I would work remotely 50% of the time, and the rest of the summer we would spend at the beach, traveling…
Read more
a month ago · 23 likes · 20 comments · Ben Le Fort

Phil Plait
of
Bad Astronomy Newsletter
is celebrating his publishing week with a discount to his newsletter:

Nidhi Chanani
shares news of her illustrated children’s book:

Everyday Love Art
One week away
SHARK PARTY releases next week! I hope to see you at my launch event at Bel and Bunna books on May 2nd! There will be treats and fun giveaways. I will be on the road for a few weeks with Shark Party events in California, Oregon, Texas, Arizona and my first trip to Georgia! I’m still hammering out details for my tour stops, so please check my…
Read more
a month ago · 3 likes · Nidhi Chanani

 And

Jessica DeFino
recommends new releases from beauty writers on Substack:

The Unpublishable
7 Brand New Beauty Recs! (They’re Books)
There exists a question every beauty editor must answer approximately 12 times a day: “What product do you recommend for [insert skin/hair/nail/identity issue here]?” My response is usually something like, “THICK: And Other Essays by Tressie McMillan-Cottom…
Read more
a month ago · 241 likes · 21 comments · Jessica DeFino

What’s happening in Notes

The Orwell Foundation
announced its lineup for this year’s festival:

 

Elisabeth Luard
is sharing her recipe for cherry blossom syrup:

Jo Thompson
is offering garden design “recipes”:

 

Inspired by the writers featured in Substack Reads? Writing on your own Substack is just a few clicks away.

Start a Substack

Substack Reads is a weekly roundup of writing, ideas, art, and audio from the world of Substack. Posts are recommended by staff and readers, and curated and edited from Substack’s U.K. outpost by Hannah Ray.

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Adrian
May 2

My favourite thing I’ve found on Substack is Dear Dante. Funniest thing online:

www.deardante.com

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1 reply
Pacifica Goddard
Writes I Can't Begin to Imagine...
Apr 29

I highly recommend this gorgeous long-form essay by the incomparable Amanda Palmer - a beautifully structured meditation on divorce (within the unusual setting of a Ted Talks conference) - a truly lyrical and moving piece: https://amandapalmer.substack.com/p/what-it-feels-like-to-get-divorcedand

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