Book Bombs and Andre Agasssi

I read about a great project called book bombs where artists create artistic books and then leave them in public places, sometimes for others to alter.  There were books on handmade paper left on telephone poles, at bus stops, in cars, on trees, everywhere.  These artists make historical and social statements with their work which is often mixed media and collaborative.  Very cool.

Also, recommended to me were the memoirs of Andre Agassi.  He begins by saying he has just dropped off his kids to school, and the book ends with him leaving to get them from school.  This is a very novel approach, no pun intended.

Timelines

An idea:  use photos and some fold out poster board for presentations to create a time-line.  Tell your life story around the time-line.  ID the people int he photos, and try to ID the place, the occasion, purpose for the photos.  Also, try to find some postcards or memorabilia that corresponds wtih the day.  For inspiration, take a peak at Nicholas Bantock's Sabine books.    Also, I like to use 3-D accordion folders.  Each pocket can represent a year, or period in your life.  Think how James Joyce organized Dubliners;  the stories are arranged in the order of early childhood, adolescence, school life, professional life, public life, and married life.  It is not a long book, but Joyce's work Dubliners is a great study for memoir writers.  He is very autobiographical, even in his novels, so try out Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man to study tone and form.