collections

THERE’S A MUSEUM FOR THAT

Posted on by vlaw759

Say “museum” and one immediately thinks fine arts, or maybe history or science. At least that’s my inclination. But when traveling abroad, I was drawn to the quirky side: museums of torture (Amsterdam), sex machines (Prague), and leprosy (Bergen, Norway)—all part of the tourist experience!

The Cancun Underwater Art Museum in Mexico requires snorkeling gear to visit.

On the domestic front, a few years ago I visited a depression era glass museum in Lancaster, Ohio. I thought that special, but it turns out there are 232 glass museums just in the United States and Canada! And as for my other “unusual museum” experiences? They are far from unique. Torture museums: at least 25, including 4 in North America. Sex museums: at least 33 (7 of them in North America), plus 2 virtual ones. Even leprosy has 8 museums across the globe.

What Makes a Museum?

Humans have been curating and displaying interesting collections for thousands of years.

Among the displays at the Icelandic Phallological Museum are specimens from elves and trolls. However, because elves and trolls are invisible, those display cases appear empty.

In Greek mythology, the Muses were sister goddesses who inspired science, literature, and the arts. The first museums (mouseion) were shrines to these divine sources of inspiration.

In the 6th century BCE, Princess Ennigaldi of the Neo-Babylonian Empire curated a collection of Mesopotamian artifacts with origins spanning 1,500 years. The Capitoline Museums in Rome have housed Roman art and antiquities since 1471. Alongside collections of Mauritian art and history, the Blue Penny Museum in Port Louis, Mauritius, showcases the Blue Penny and Red Penny, two of the rarest and most valuable stamps in the world.

Some museums exist entirely in the cyberworld. Rock harpist Deborah Henson-Conant proudly curates an online Burnt Food Museum, showcasing her own culinary disasters. Minecraft players have created several replicas of real-world museums in online servers, making them accessible to players around the globe.

Strangest Museums

Recently, The Wall Street Journal (8-28-25) featured an article about a jellyfish museum in Kyiv, Ukraine. And that led to an online search for off-beat museums around the world. Here is a non-comprehensive list of those I found. Feel free to explore any of these:

Baku Museum of Miniature Books
The Baku Museum of Miniature Books began as the personal collection of Zarifa Salahova and has grown to more than 6,500 tiny tomes in the heart of Azerbaijan.

And then I came across 1160 Unusual Museums in the United States – Atlas Obscura Discover 1160 unusual museums in the United States. · The Whale Museum · Karpeles Manuscript Library Mini Museum · The Lagoda · Dauer Museum of Classic Cars.

Clearly there are more weird museums that I can list here!

Bottom Line: If you’re interested in it, there’s no doubt a museum for it somewhere!

In Praise of Anthologies

Posted on by vlaw759
An anthology is a published collection of writings (such as poems or short stories) by different authors.
vintage short fiction david madden
[Photo credit: Goodreads]
One of the basic characteristics of anthologies is that the works included are relatively short. They are good for days when focusing for a long time may not be feasible, or when one wants a literary bite before bedtime.

 

By definition, because anthologies include works by different authors, they include different voices, styles, and maybe genres. If you don’t like one story, move on to the next.

 

When anthologies draw from previously published sources, the work has already been vetted for quality more than once. Indeed, many anthologies are published annually with titles like The Best X Short Stories of (Year).

 

Anthologies can be selected by format. Most recent anthologies are available both as physical books and ebooks.

 

Anthologies are often broad in scope.
100 Great Short Stories by Dover Publications
Great Short Short Stories, edited by Paul Negri
The World’s Greatest Short Stories, edited by James Daley
120 Great Short Stories, by Oldiees Publishing
Doubletakes: Pairs of Contemporary Short Stories, edited by T. C. Boyle et al.
40 Short Stories: A Portable Anthology, edited by Beverly Lawn

 

40 Short Stories: A Portable Anthology, edited by Beverly Lawn
[Photo credit: Amazon]
Some anthologies are mission driven. A couple of examples of these would be Drumvoices Revue (where my short story “Aunt Fan’s Private Journey” appeared), which celebrates diversity, and the Chrysalis Reader series, which describes itself as “original essays, poetry, and short stories illuminating the world of spirit.” One volume included my story “Solid Line.”

Sometimes they are focused by geographic region.
The Best American Short Stories, published annually by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
Great American Short Stories, edited by Wallace and Mary Stegner
The Anchor Book of New American Short Stories, published by Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group
100 Years of The Best American Short Stories, edited by Lorrie Moore and Heidi Pitlor
The Oxford Book of American Short Stories, Oxford University Press

 

[Photo credit: Amazon]
 
Themed anthologies are also popular and widely available.  Of course I will start with two mystery anthologies, the two volumes of Virginia Is For Mysteries. 
 

The Best American Humorous Short Stories, edited by Alexander Jessup
Sand in My Bra and Other Misadventures, edited by Jennifer L. Leo

 

Sand in My Bra and Other Misadventures, edited by Jennifer L. Leo
[Photo credit: Amazon]
The Best Werewolf Short Stories 1800-1849: A Classic Werewolf Anthology, edited by Andrew Barger
The Best Horror Short Stories 1800-1849: A Classic Horror Anthology, edited by Andrew Barger
The Year’s Best Science Fiction, published annually by St. Martin’s Press
The Mammoth Book of Erotica, edited by Maxim Jakubowski

 

The Best Werewolf Short Stories 1800-1849: A Classic Werewolf Anthology, edited by Andrew Barger
[Photo credit: Amazon]
Bottom line: Whatever your heart desires, there’s an anthology for you! All you need to do is look.

Collectors

Posted on by vlaw759

Not to be confused with The Collector movie

I’ve mentioned here and there that I collect things: dictionaries, carved wooden Santas, napkin rings, funky earrings, and mah jongg sets, among other things.collector, collection of dictionaries

I’m not alone here. Indeed, I’m not not even close to making it into the The Mammoth Book of Weird Records.

There are people out there collecting

  • love dolls
  • dolls dressed as nuns
  • aluminum can pull tabs
  • belly button fluff
  • airsick bags
  • banana labels
  • nail clippingscollector, collection, wooden Santa
  • already chewed Nicorette Gum
  • wooden toilet seats
  • cow hairballs
  • pictures of cement mixers
  • toothpaste tubes
  • vacuum cleaners
  • key chains
  • back scratchers
  • beds
  • empty pizza boxescollector, collection, napkin ring
  • clothing tags
  • Walmart receipts
  • husbands (or wives)
  • traffic cones
  • umbrella covers
  • teabag labels
  • autographed drumsticks
  • dildos

AND THE LIST GOES ON!collector, collection, earrings

Think about the sort of person who might collect these things. And why. Who is comforted by plenty? Who wants to be distinctive, not one of the masses? Who sees it as a mark of economic superiority? Or maybe there’s a family competition going on.

Are you a collector? What and why?

Food and Fiction

Posted on by vlaw759

I was sitting in my recliner, much as I am now, sipping iced decaff coffee and leafing through catalogues from discount booksellers. (My favorites among these are Edward R. Hamilton Bookseller and Daedalus Books.)

three catalogs from booksellers, bargain books and deadalus books
Catalogs from discount booksellers

After ordering more books than I have shelf-space for—about half cookbooks for a vegan kitchen and half books I think will be useful writing references, such as Funerals to Die For—my thoughts drifted, as they are wont to do. I’ve been collecting cookbooks since long before I started writing fiction. Over the years, I’ve donated and gifted hundreds of cookbooks and mysteries. Even bookcases in every room of the house except the bathroom weren’t enough!

As best I can remember, my first connection between fiction and food was the Rex Stout mystery series featuring Nero Wolf. I’ve had the The Nero Wolf Cook Book so long I can’t remember.

Cook books for Sherlock Holmes, Lord Peter Wimsey, and Nero Wolf
Cookbooks for Sherlock Holmes, Lord Peter Wimsey, and Nero Wolf

I became enamored with Sherlock Holmes in college. But Dorothy L. Sayers is probably my all-time favorite mystery writer. She didn’t make a big deal about food in her Lord Peter Wimsey/Harriet Vane books. Still, I had to have The Lord Peter Wimsey Cookbook.

Perhaps mystery writers are especially attracted to food. Think poison? These two books are especially appealing to me.

two books for mystery writers , A Taste of Murder and Cook With Malice Domestic
Mystery writers’ cookbooks

More than one mystery has taken up a food theme. Perhaps the best known is Diane Mott Davidson. She’s written 17 novels featuring Goldy Schulz, a small town caterer who solves mysteries on the sides. Goldy Schulz also has a cookbook, although I haven’t seen it.

Of course, food isn’t solely the purview of mystery writers. See for yourself.

books and food connection from Margaret Atwood and Deal Wells
Non-mystery writers and food

Book covers for "The Romance of Food" and "The Zane Grey Cookbook"

And as in all fan activities, Jane Austen leads the pack. I don’t have them, but look for The Jane Austen Cookbook, Cooking With Jane Austen, Jane Austen and Food, Tea with Jane Austen, Tea With the Bennets, Dinner With Mr. Darcy, What Jane Austen Ate and Charles Dickens Knew.

And the options are never-ending. Consider A Feast of Words, for Lovers of Food & Fiction by Anna Shapiro. It includes excerpts from 25 novels, from Jane Austen to Alice Munro. Shapiro comments on the food scenes and includes her own menus and recipes inspired by each work. Eat Memory: Great Writers at the Table, edited by Amanda Hesser comes from her work as the New York Times Magazine‘s food editor. In this book she presents 26 food memories from leading writers, and the recipes they involve.

If you are more into the words than the food, consider this slim volume: Food Tales: A Literary Menu of Mouthwatering Masterpieces. It presents 8 stories, including “A Vicomte’s Breakfast” by Alexandre Dumas, “The Luncheon” by W. Somerset Maugham, and “Tortillas and Beans” by John Steinbeck.

Once you start on writing and food, it’s a short step to food writers. One of my favorites is M.F.K. Fisher, How to Cook a Wolf. She wrote it in 1942, the point being to cooking during the WWII food rationing.

book spine of "How to Cook a Wolf" by M.F.K. Fisher
How to Cook a Wolf by M.F.K. Fisher

inscription from M.F.K Fisher's "How to Cook a Wolf," "There's a whining at the threshold, There's a scratching at the floor..."
From M.F.K. Fisher’s How to Cook a Wolf

But enough! There must be an end somewhere!

Your Links Between Food and Fiction

What are your favorite cookbooks?

Don’t collect cookbooks? Do you have a collection that’s taking up your house?