Luscious and lurid, a Charles Willeford paperback is a sure score whether found in a dusty attic or in an upscale Brooklyn flea market bin. Tonight, Thirty Days Gallery hosts a Willeford symposium. He was known for his crime novels, but wasn't afraid to delve into seedier territory. His 1988 autobiography, I was Looking for a Street, was recently re-released as a Picturebox paperback edition, emblazoned with both a Jonthan Lethem blurb and an introduction from Luc Sante. Resale rates must be skyrocketing; do we hear the Library of America calling?
Michael Foley, author of The Age of Absurdity: Why Modern Life Makes it Hard to be Happy, picks his top ten absurd classics. And if you're making must-read booklists, peruse our syllabi: Elif Batuman on Dangerous Friends, Sheila Heti on Secret Self-Help, and Louis Bury on Conceptual Poetry.
Perhaps you shouldn't judge a book by its cover, but it's fun to try; Fortune magazine was quick to nix a scathing Chris Ware cover they commissioned.
