My First Dictionary

Book of cleverly corrupt definitions teaches big kids the facts of life

First time author Ross Horsley tackles the challenge of teaching young minds with a playfully disturbing dictionary. An innocent endeavor at first blush, “My First Dictionary” is actually filled with inappropriate definitions for its roster of simple words, accented by charming Norman Rockwell-esque illustrations that are actually taken from the 1977 book “The Giant Picture Dictionary for Boys and Girls.” For example, Horsley defines the …

Black & Grey Tattoo

Our interview with ink doyenne Marisa Kakoulas on her grayscale tattoo magnum opus

Originating on the streets and in prisons, tattooing’s shades-of-gray genre initially often told the stories of tribal affiliations and conquests or were homages to the deceased. Methods of inking spanned readily available tools and homemade machines could be as random as “a guitar string, cassette motor, Bic pen tube and India Ink,” explains Marisa Kakoulas, co-author of the heavyweight book on the subject “Black & …

See/Saw

A new book finds a common thread in 5,000 years of Japanese art

A concise book comparing contemporary Japanese art to renowned classics, “See/Saw: Connections Between Japanese Art Then and Now” guides readers through 5,000 years of art by showing how it shares one common trait—”the new is old, or the old is new.” Authors Ivan Vartanian and Kyoko Wada acknowledge that at first their pairings “may be jarring,” but maintain that despite the West’s moderate influence, typically …