Category Archives: Books

New Design Books: “The Most Beautiful Rooms In The World” (AD/Rizzoli)

September 13, 2020 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

An unrivaled survey of the most exciting contemporary interior design across the globe, curated by the editors of ten international editions of Architectural Digest.

Since 1920, Architectural Digest has celebrated design talents, innovative homes, and products–providing endless decoration, lifestyle, and travel inspiration. With ten global editions, the magazine is an authority renowned all over the world for publishing only the very best of today’s interior design.

In this new volume–spearheaded by AD France‘s editor in chief, Marie Kalt–the editors of Architectural Digest‘s international editions have teamed up to thoughtfully curate a collection of today’s most exceptional interiors around the globe. These diverse residential spaces span from the United States and China, to France, Italy, Germany, Russia, Spain, India, Mexico, and the Middle East, presenting each country’s unique “AD style manifesto” and the work of design luminaries such as Peter Marino, Martyn Lawrence Bullard, Jacques Grange, Joseph Dirand, and Bijoy Jain, to name a few. The featured projects range from Marc Jacobs’s New York townhouse to Tommy Hilfiger’s Connecticut abode and Seth Meyers’s Manhattan duplex; a sumptuous eighteenth-century Italian villa and a Moroccan palace; Pierre Bergé’s apartment and a hôtel particulier in Paris; a Majorca summer home; and a country house in Russia. Brimming with stunning images and rich international inspirations, this unparalleled compendium of global interiors is a must for every library of interior design.

Books, Culinary Arts, Food, Reviews

Culinary Books: “Fäviken – 4015 Days, Beginning to End” By Magnus Nilsson

September 12, 2020 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

Fäviken: 4015 Days, Beginning to End is a vital commentary on food culture today and includes illuminating essays on subjects as wide ranging as creativity; balancing familial responsibilities while running a restaurant; the hypocrisy of sustainability in restaurants; the search for lagom; social media; imitation vs. plagiarism; haute cuisine; the art of hospitality; and the importance of craft over innovation.

In 2019, Magnus Nilsson closed Fäviken, his one-of-a-kind restaurant in remote Sweden – a difficult decision, as it was close to his heart and at the height of its success. Here is the Fäviken story: how it became a world-class destination, how the industry it was a part of has changed, and why Magnus eventually elected to pursue new projects.

The book also includes a chronological list of every dish ever served at the restaurant and highlights 100 memorable recipes. The book’s stunning photography includes a mixture of archival photographs and newly shot images of the food, the restaurant, the staff, and the surrounding setting of Northern Sweden.

A textural cover made of blue cloth and red paper with a wood-grain effect references the shape and color of the Fäviken building.

Magnus Nilsson is the author of Fäviken (2012), The Nordic Cookbook (2015), Nordic: A Photographic Essay of Landscapes (2016), and The Nordic Baking Book (2018), all published with Phaidon.

New Interviews: Wendy Benchley On Legacy Of Peter Benchley’s “Jaws”

Video September 9, 2020 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

Wendy Benchley is a marine and environmental conservation advocate, and former councilwoman from New Jersey. Her husband Peter Benchley was the famed author of JAWS, the classic suspense novel of shark versus man, which was made into the blockbuster Steven Spielberg movie. The Jaws phenomenon changed popular culture and continues to inspire a growing interest in sharks and the oceans today. Today Wendy Benchley joins our producer Pat Stango to discuss the legacy of JAWS, how its story still resonates in the events of today, and why ocean conservation is something she still fights for.

Jaws is a 1974 novel by American writer Peter Benchley. It tells the story of a great white shark that preys upon a small resort town and the voyage of three men trying to kill it. The novel grew out of Benchley’s interest in shark attacks after he learned about the exploits of shark fisherman Frank Mundus in 1964.

Books, Interviews, Podcasts

Podcast Interview: “One Hundred Summers” Author Vanessa Branson

Audio September 6, 2020 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

Vanessa Branson is a champion of numerous cultural and ecological initiatives. A trustee for the charitable Virgin Unite organisation that was started by her brother Richard, she has now written a frank and highly entertaining memoir about her family, called ‘One Hundred Summers’.

Books, History, Interviews, Podcasts

Interviews: “Break It Up ” Author Richard Kreitner: America’s Imperfect Union

September 4, 2020 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

“Disunion—the possibility that it all might go to pieces—is a hidden thread through our entire history,” the journalist and historian Richard Kreitner writes in Break It Up: Secession, Division, and the Secret History of America’s Imperfect Union.

“Our refusal to recognize this, like patients who insist, against all evidence, that they are not ill, has been a major cause of our political dysfunction and social strife. Secession is the only kind of revolution we Americans have ever known and the only kind we’re ever likely to see.” On this episode of The World in Time, Lewis H. Lapham and Kreitner start at the beginning of the United States of America and trace this history of disunion up to the present. Lewis H. Lapham speaks with Richard Kreitner, author of “Break It Up: Secession, Division, and the Secret History of America’s Imperfect Union.”

Books, Pets, Videos

Best New Pet Books: “Good Dog – A Collection Of Portraits” (Rizzoli Video)

Video August 27, 2020 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

Whether a rescue or a show dog, a pedigree or a mutt, you can’t help falling in love with Randal Ford’s dog portraits, as each evokes the unparalleled bond we feel for our greatest companions.

“Good Dog” captures the warmth, humor, and unconditional love that is at the heart of every dog. From mutts beaming with charisma and charm to show dogs exuding grace and elegance, Ford’s 150 dog portraits bring out the dog lover in all of us.

This warm, tender, playful, and heartfelt collection of dog portraits gives us a beautiful look into the lives of our most cherished companions. About The Author: Randal Ford’s works have appeared on the cover of Time magazine, twenty different Texas Monthly covers, and the cover of Communication Arts, the advertising industry’s most prestigious publication. His works have been commissioned and collected across the globe.

Few photographers in the world have photographed as many animals in studio as Ford. His first book, The Animal Kingdom (Rizzoli), was named an Amazon.com Best Photography Book of 2018.

Publish Date: October 6, 2020

Publisher: Rizzoli

Top Artist Profile: Italian Illustrator Carlo Stanga

August 27, 2020 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

Born in Italy, Carlo has been always deeply passionate about drawing.

After graduating in Architecture at the Polytechnic of Milan, he chose to further his education attending art and design studies. He collaborated with the premier italian designer Bruno Munari, an amazing experience that influenced his way to see the world.

As an editorial and advertising illustrator, Carlo works with major italian magazines and newspapers and with international clients in Europe and in the U.S.

His distinctive style continually wins Italian Illustration awards and the work has been selected by The American Illustration Annual and won the Gold Medal Award in Creative Quarterly’s #15 contest and Awards of Excellence from Communication Arts.

In 2015 he wrote and illustrated I am Milan, followed by I am London and I am New York the first title of a new book collection, published by Moleskine, dedicated to the main cities of the world.

Carlo lives and works in Berlin.

Website

Books, Culinary Arts, Culture, Food, Travel

Top New Culinary Books: “Sushi Shokunin” – Andrea Fazzari -“Stunning Images”

August 24, 2020 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

In this stunning monograph, James Beard Award-winning photographer and author Andrea Fazzari profiles twenty of the most celebrated sushi masters on the Japanese food scene. Through a combination of striking photography and intimate essays, each chapter introduces readers to a new master and restaurant, capturing the aesthetics, philosophy, and level of dedication that illustrates their status as the world’s finest culinary shokunin.

In Japan, cooking often bears aesthetic value, and the making of sushi is exalted as one of the finest culinary crafts. In line with this ideal of food as art, the Japanese often employ the word shokunin, loosely defined as “artisan”, to refer to highly skilled sushi masters. Connoting excellence and devotion to one’s craft, this title is reserved for those who approach their work with an artistic eye and seemingly spiritual sense of purpose, or ikigai.

A must-have for sushi enthusiasts—and for anyone interested in fine food culture—Sushi Shokunin is the first book of its kind to the most revered sushi masters and restaurants. Fazzari invites readers to explore the rarefied world of top shokunin who view sushi making not only as a career, but also as a way of life.

Andrea Fazzari is a Tokyo-based James Beard Award-winning photographer and author specializing in travel and the culinary world. Her previous book was Tokyo New Wave. She was chosen as one of “30 Photographers to Watch” by Photo District News in 2004. Her editorial and advertising clients include Travel + Leisure, Departures, Saveur, Cathay Pacific Airlines, and Four Seasons Hotels.

Podcast Interviews: Australian Writer DBC Pierre – “Dopamine City”

Audio August 23, 2020 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

Georgina Godwin talks to DBC Pierre, who won the Booker prize with his debut novel ‘Vernon God Little’. He has gone on to write five more books, including his latest: dystopian satire ‘Meanwhile in Dopamine City’. It is a darkly funny, brilliantly clever and utterly terrifying vision of technology in our near future

DBC Pierre is an Australian writer who wrote the novel Vernon God Little. Pierre was born in South Australia in 1961, before moving to Mexico, where he was largely raised.

Books, Culture, History

Nostalgia: “Gas And Glamour” In Los Angeles

August 23, 2020 She Seeks Serene Leave a comment

“I love cars and I love Los Angeles for being a city of cars. Over the last decade or so, I have been intrigued by L. A.’s love affair with the automobile, tracing back to a time when cars themselves were objects of beauty.“

“Those cars are no longer on the streets today but the buildings from that era remain. As an architectural photographer, I wanted to capture L. A.’s car-culture-induced optimism and ambition reflected in polychromatic, starspangled coffee shops, gas stations, and car washes, that once lured the gaze of passing motorists.” (Ashok Sinha)

Ashok Sinha is an architectural and fine art photographer whose large-scale photographs capture a sense of place tied to both natural landscapes and built environments. His photographs have been published by editorial outlets such as The New York Times, Architectural Digest, Interior Design, and exhibited at The Museum of the City of New York, the International Center of Photography, and The Royal Photographic Society.

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