774-325-0503

June 22, 2014 10:52 AM

Call Me Ishmael: call a number and leave a voicemail about a book you've loved and a story you've lived. Later, that anonymous voicemail will be transcribed and made into a short video for everyone to see.
posted by SkylitDrawl (8 comments total)

Mod note: A few comments deleted; maybe let's start over without immediately derailing into 'things that suck'?
posted by LobsterMitten (staff) at 12:20 PM on June 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

Is this an art project or a content farm?
posted by vhsiv at 12:57 PM on June 22, 2014

Thank you.

I realised that I don't really have a story that I associate with any one particular book, but that books in general make up a huge part of my life. I taught myself to read and read everything around the house.

I can talk about a book or two and how that sparked something or other down the road, don't know about immediate incidences though!
posted by divabat at 1:31 PM on June 22, 2014

I liked the dictionary one; if that person ever reads this, you should explore beyond the Merriam-Webster universe: the American Heritage Dictionary defines heartache as "Emotional anguish; sorrow," which I think you'll like better.
posted by languagehat at 1:59 PM on June 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

..a content farm?

My book is The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain. I always liked the famous story about Tom Sawyer conning the other boys into whitewashing the fence for him, they even pay him for the privilege of doing his work.
posted by charlie don't surf at 4:02 PM on June 22, 2014 [3 favorites]

I liked the one for Just Kids. It made me realize that I've been stalking Patti Smith in my own way. I've read it several times over, and in fact had already started re-reading it ever so slowly a week or two ago. I just love that book. The way she details everything in her life that meant anything to her or to Robert. I've been trying to take notes on everything she references, all the music, books, poetry, movies, places, coffee shops, addresses, the childhood touchstones, like the many charms on Stephanie's bracelet. Her descriptions of jewelry that she and Robert made and the jewelry that she sold at Brentano's. The Persian necklace that he bought from her before they really knew each other. I don't live in NY and have no interest in stalking her physically, but I think I'm stalking her young self in the pages of that book. Horses was one of the few punk albums that I bought in the late 70s. I played it over and over. I can remember trying to dress like her for awhile, but I was much too zaftig to be able to pull it off at all. I was first in New York for about 6 months in the early 80s. And I fell in love with the city. NY is always an ever-shifting landscape. But there was still plenty of her NY in my NY that her book really takes me back to that time and place. I can remember going to Max's Kansas City and wondering at the time if she had been there too.
posted by marsha56 at 4:16 PM on June 22, 2014 [1 favorite]

I always liked the famous story about Tom Sawyer conning the other boys into whitewashing the fence for him [...]

I'm partial to Stone Soup, myself.
posted by Joe in Australia at 5:36 PM on June 22, 2014

I found this article but I still cannot understand why it is a Worcester, MA, number...
posted by Tandem Affinity at 5:58 PM on June 22, 2014