Tilting at skyscrapers
John Silber may have retired as president of Boston University, but he is still offering acerbic commentary, as he does in "Architecture of the Absurd: How 'Genius' Disfigured a Practical Art," due out next month.
Silber admits in the introduction that he may seem an unlikely person to write a book about architecture. His credentials include his role - between the ages of 8 and 23 - assisting his father, who was an architect, and his involvement in the planning and construction of buildings at BU over 30 years.
The stinging rebuke Silber delivers in the thin volume is an expansion of a talk he gave to a convention of architects in 2003. He closes with a critique of the Stata Center at MIT, designed by Frank Gehry. Featured on the cover of the book, the building is, according to Silber, the "pièce de résistance of absurdity in architecture." Silber invokes a Mother Goose verse about a "crooked man" living in a "crooked house" to convey the depth of his contempt for the Stata Center, and suggests that a rereading of "The Emperor's New Clothes" may inspire an end to architecture of the absurd.
Designs for living
Cambridge architect Matthew Frederick uses a lighter touch in his new illustrated book, "101 Things I Learned in Architecture School." Frederick, who attended Boston Architectural College, invokes the pratfalls of Dick Van Dyke in a lesson about the right number of steps between floor levels and quotes Gertrude Stein regarding a room with a view ("I like to sit with my back turned to it").
Many of the lessons are germane to non-architects, including two in particular: "If you can't explain your ideas to your grandmother in terms that she understands, you don't know your subject well enough" and "Manage your ego."
Transforming Norman
The inaugural issue of The Mailer Review, a literary journal devoted to the author's life and work, will be heralded at the Norman Mailer Society's fifth annual conference, which begins in Provincetown on Thursday. The theme of the conference is "Mailer the Novelist," starting with "The Naked and the Dead" from 1948. The 84-year-old Mailer is scheduled to do a reading on Saturday evening. Details at normanmailersociety.com.
Conclave in Concord
The 15th annual Concord Festival of Authors will host a celebration of Bob Dylan as well as a 50th-birthday party for the Dr. Seuss book "The Cat in the Hat." Most of the 24 events taking place Oct. 17 to Nov. 4 are free, including readings by Augusten Burroughs and brother John Elder Robison, the author of a memoir about growing up with Asperger's syndrome. Also appearing are Tess Gerritsen, E. L. Doctorow, and John Hope Franklin. Details at concordfestival ofauthors.com.
Coming out
"Star Wars: A Pop-Up Guide to the Galaxy," by Matthew Reinhart (Orchard)
"World Without End," by Ken Follett (Dutton)
"Blonde Faith," by Walter Mosley (Little, Brown)
Pick of the week
Anita Silvey, professor of children's literature at Simmons College, recommends "The Arrival," by Shaun Tan (Scholastic): "One of Australia's premier artists explores the immigrant experience in a wordless graphic novel. Along with the protagonist, readers enter a new country - with everything appearing bizarre and surreal. It's one of those rare books that speak on different levels to readers ages 9 to 90."
Jan Gardner can be reached at JanLGardner@yahoo.com.
