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Strange Bright Blooms
A History of Cut Flowers
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Format: Hardback
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See moreA fragrant, unpredictable ramble through the world of cut flowers.
Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and
still learning, it may not be perfect - your
feedback is welcome!
Description
Virginia Woolf's novel famously begins: 'Mrs Dalloway said she would buy the flowers herself.' Of course she would: why would anyone surrender the best part of the day to someone else? Flowers grace our lives at moments of celebration and despair. 'We eat, drink, sing, dance, and flirt with them,' writes Kakuzo Okakura. Flowers brighten our homes, our parties, and our rituals with incomparable notes of natural beauty, but the 'nature' in these displays is tamed and conscribed.
Strange Bright Blooms analyses the transplanted nature of cut flowersβour relationship with them and the careful curation of their very existence.
It is a picaresque, unpredictable ramble through the world of flowers, encompassing paintings, murals, fashion, and public art, glass flowers, pressed flowers, flowery church hats, weaponised flowers, deconstructed flowers, flower power... and much more.
Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?
Strange Bright Blooms is an intriguing exploration of how flowers interact with human culture, transcending their beauty to address themes of art, politics, and societal issues. Through various historical and contemporary references, the book illustrates how blooms serve as symbols in contexts from warfare to peaceful revolutions. It offers a fresh perspective on flowers, emphasising their profound impact beyond mere decoration.
Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9781789144017
Publisher: Reaktion Books
Format: Hardback
Date Published: 16 August 2021
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Reaktion Books
Illustration: 110 illustrations, 90 in colour
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Width: 190.0mm
Height: 250.0mm
Weight: 250g
Pages: 352
About the Author
Randy Malamud, Regents' Professor of English at Georgia State University, has written eleven books including Reading Zoos: Representations of Animals and Captivity, The Importance of Elsewhere: The Globalist Humanist Tourist, and Email.
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