Ten Playground Books
(The older I get, and the more reading I do, the more enthusiastic I become about books that seem to have been activated solely by the pleasure of the writer, that exist for that reason and that reason alone, and that seek to activate that same pleasure in me—“playground books,” as I think of them. They’re not without darkness or menace, these books—playgrounds can sometimes be dangerous, after all—but they’re dedicated above all else to exploration, fun, artistic play. Here are ten such books, listed alphabetically by author, with a playlist by Modified Toy Orchestra.)
The Musical Brain: And Other Stories by César Aira
A Field Guide to the Aliens of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Seasons 1-7, by Joshua Chapman by Zachary Auburn
Cosmicomics by Italo Calvino
The Crab Nebula by Éric Chevillard
The Thinking-About-Gladys Machine by Mario Levrero
Their Brilliant Careers: The Fantastic Lives of Sixteen Extraordinary Australian Writers by Ryan O’Neill
Inherited Disorders: Stories, Parables & Problems by Adam Ehrlich Sachs
Codex Seraphinianus by Luigi Serafini
The Neighborhood by Gonçalo M. Tavares
Grow a Pair: 9½ Fairy Tales About Sex by Joanna Walsh
— October 31, 2024