z m o l b l o g

Probabil ÅŸtiÅ£i mai mult, mai puÅ£in sau deloc de blog-ul Cartea din geantă - proiect iniÅ£iat de Jen ÅŸi Ionuca - îşi propune să surprindă persoane care citesc pe stradă, metrou, etc. Ei bine ÅŸi americanii au ÅŸi ei varianta lor pentru acest proiect însă mult mai inflacărată, mai aprope de cititori. Sonya Worthy ÅŸi-a propus să viziteze 48 de oraÅŸe “lower states” ale SUA pornind din San Francisco ÅŸi să observe ce citesc oamenii dar ÅŸi ce părere au ei despre ceea ce citesc în scurte (foto-)interviuri . Jurnalul acestei călătorii îl găsiÅ£i pe două bloguri: Dogeared (întrega călătorie) ÅŸi People Reading (San Francisco).

Dogeared - A literary tour of the lower 48

The Rocky Mountains, Statue of Liberty, amber waves of grain, sprinklers on the grass, strip malls and chain stores may define our country’s physical landscape, but it’s the media we consume that defines who we are as people.

It’s the magazines, newspapers, movies, video games, music and TV shows that fill our minds like the grade school health class motto–”you are what you eat.”

While it’s more likely that what comes across our iPods and TV sets defines us as a country, it’s the books we read that interest me most–hand-held how-to, history, fantasy, memoir, magna comics… that go anywhere and everywhere. A substitute brain that lasts for over a hundred pages and turns the reader’s mind into the author’s thoughts.

In September of 2006 I began interviewing people reading books, on public transportation, in coffee shops and parks in San Francisco, where I’ve lived for the past five years. This project has been extremely satisfying. I have made new friends, broadened my horizons, and, when I sit down at my computer to work on my novel, I feel as though writing is a worthwhile. People love to read.

I will post on this blog during a six week period, from mid July through the end of August, and attempt to encompass a diverse sample of our country. Please write me at sonya.worthy@gmail.com if you have advice or suggestions, if I’ve made a mistake or you have something to add. Also, please comment if you have something to share with other readers. Comments are set up so that you don’t need to log in or create an account–it’s easy.

About People Reading

 

This blog is my exploration of literary San Francisco and daily affirmation that people still read.

While the Golden Gate Bridge and our hilly streets define our city’s physical landscape, I believe that the books we read are markers of our mental landscapes–the character of San Francisco.

Pictures are taken the day of the posting in San Francisco, unless I say otherwise. I get rejected about 20% of the time and I respect the privacy of people who do not want to be on this site.

Cell phones, iPods, and sudoku may continue to occupy the BART platforms, but books are everywhere, too. San Francisco, not surprisingly, is a very well read city.

I don’t pretend to be well read myself–this blog is more of an attempt to live vicariously through others–though I do read and I’m very interested in why we read what we do and what makes a good book good. Right now I’m reading Deep Economy, by Bill McKibben.

Comments are set up so that you don’t need to log in or create an account–it’s easy. Please let me know if I’ve made a mistake or if you have something to add. You can also email me directly at sonya.worthy@gmail.com.

Tags: Blogosfera, Carte, Imi place, Random

This entry was posted on Sunday, November 11th, 2007 at 7:13 pm and is filed under Random. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.