Everyday Matters | 
 enlarge | Author: Danny Gregory
Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press
Category: Book
List Price: $14.95
Buy New: $11.95
You Save: $3.00 (20%)
New (1) Used (11) Collectible (1) from $8.99
Rating:  37 reviews
Sales Rank: 524878
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 1
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 112
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.9
Dimensions (in): 7.9 x 6.3 x 0.7
ISBN: 156898443X
Dewey Decimal Number: 741.973
EAN: 9781568984438
ASIN: 156898443X
Publication Date: September 1, 2003
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
"Two years before I started drawing, my wife was run over by a subway train. Sounds really terrible, I know. But, well, this book is about how art and New York City saved my life."
When Danny Gregory's wife was severely injured, his life was changed in an instant. Searching about for meaning for what had happened to his little family, he began to create a richly illustrated journal of his life. Gregory as driven to record and comment on every aspect of his life, from dirty dishes to cathedrals, from hospital wards to life-drawing classes, from brunch with Hell's Angels to book shopping at the Strand.
This unique book chronicles his discovery of drawing, his wife's rehabilitation, his son's infancy, and the life of the city he loves. Funny, bittersweet, romantic, and perverse, Everyday Matters is an inspiration, an invitation to look for the beauty and significance in the details of our daily lives.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 32 more reviews...
It's polite to share November 18, 2008
Danny Gregory has gone through some rough stuff; his seemingly ideal life, in accordance with all the myths of what makes an 'ideal life', was going along according to script until suddenly everything changed... but then isn't conflict the very item necessary for excellent drama and mandatory for positive resolution? In this instance Gregory reached out for something to help him and when he brought his hand back there was a pen in it. He used it to draw and to communicate.
With that pen Danny Gregory has turned his troubles into a cottage industry of sketch journaling and has assisted many others to see and record their lives with a new eye-view towards the everyday, the minutia, the otherwise mundane... all of which sparkle and dance in this renewed sense of seeing.
This is not a brilliant work, it is a solid look into a man's solace... a total sharing of his moments. There is not a bit of polish or glitter. IT is as real as it gets and it is a joy to be able to share these moments with a man I have come to respect through his writing and drawing.
art journaling October 21, 2008
I found this book to be so very different from Dan Gregory's more recent publications. This is the first book he published, I believe. The drawings are marvelous and motivating. Once I read the story that accompanied his drawings, I enjoyed the book even more. It was a true journal and not just random drawings. The sketchbook may become a person's outlet in writing and drawing and well presented at the same time.
Unexpected Support September 15, 2008
I was not expecting anything when I started this book...frankly, I'm not sure I remember ordering it. In any event, the parallels between this graphic memoir and my own life make this book read more like an answered prayer than merely another memoir.
I take that last part back. It's not just that the author's experiences mirror my own life that makes this book notable. Rather, it's that Gregory manages to capture his own HUMANITY...without resorting to irony or the manufactured self-deprecation that seems to plague the modern memoir that makes this book so notable. I mean, finally!, someone has managed to write an HONEST memoir, one that does not require an attorney's Release of the Facts as a prologue.
"Everyday Matters" reads like a private journal, without the pretention that comes when the author knows other folks'll be reading it. Gregory's sketches are likewise uninhibited and imperfect; together, the text and illustrations create a personal, intimate environment for the reader that is inviting and judgment-free; none of the "You shouldn't have looked (though I knew you would, so I gave you my best side)" business that is the meta-text of so many memoirs, but instead offers a reassuring, "Well, that's me, hair and all...what do you think?"
A thoughtful, generous gift from Gregory to his readers.
loved this book March 10, 2008
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
A very enjoyable read and inspirational. I went out purchased a sketch pad and started drawing after finishing the book!
Trauma and how to cope January 27, 2008
This is a great book! I read it in an hour and a half. I enjoy knowing the process people take in order to deal with life's occasional hiccups that knock the world out from under you. It helps to know that you're not the only one sometimes. It's always a relief when the person works it out positively and thinks enough to want to share it with others. Thank you, Danny!
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