Funny Weather: Art in an Emergency
£8.30£9.50 (-13%)
In this inspiring collection of essays, acclaimed writer and critic Olivia Laing makes a brilliant case for why art matters, especially in the turbulent political weather of the twenty-first century.
‘Never has a publication been more timely’ – Dazed
‘A brave writer whose books open up fundamental questions about life and art’ – Telegraph
Funny Weather brings together a career’s worth of Laing’s writing about art and culture, examining their roles in our political and emotional lives. She profiles Jean-Michel Basquiat and Georgia O’Keeffe, interviews Hilary Mantel and Ali Smith, writes love letters to David Bowie and Freddie Mercury, and explores loneliness and technology, women and alcohol, sex and the body. With characteristic originality and compassion, she celebrates art as a force of resistance and repair, an antidote to a frightening political time.
We’re often told art can’t change anything. In Funny Weather, Laing argues that it can. It changes how we see the world, it exposes inequality, and it offers fertile new ways of living.
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Additional information
| Publisher | Main Market edition (29 April 2021), Picador |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Paperback | 368 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 1529027659 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-1529027655 |
| Reading age | 18 years and up |
| Dimensions | 13 x 2.5 x 19.6 cm |
by Gjorgji Despodov
The most wonderful and DELICIOUSLY written book, each chapters draws a beautifully vivid portrait of an artist.
by HAT
The most wonderful and DELICIOUSLY written book, each chapters draws a beautifully vivid portrait of an artist.
by Amazon Customer
Bought for a partner. She had it already.
by Vikzwrites
Two disclaimers. I received this book from the publisher, via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review. More importantly, I am a major Olivia Laing fan girl. I love the way that Laing combines literary biography and personal memoir to create an exciting fresh art form. Funny Weather is a collection of previously published works, focusing on, the lives of certain artists and personal narratives outlining the role of art within the author’s life.
This is an essay collection. So, not every essay will be of interest. The more personal shine through more brightly than others. But, overall, this collection is well worth a read.
by E. A. Carslaw
It arrived with black marks on exterior of pages and on back as shown in images. Such a shame as the book is so beautiful and I’m very much enjoying the contents!
by E. A. Carslaw
One of the best books I’ve read this year. This is a collection of essays, largely about art, but also about writing and books. Laing explores what art can do for you in terms of how you look at and understand the world. The essays are written with an eye to understanding better the scary times we find ourselves living in now. They are political, but only in the broadest sense. They are, to me, more about how you find your humanity when faced with the overwhelming difficulty of life. She writes about some of my favourite people, Derek Jarman and Virginia Woolf to name but two and she introduced me to artists, creative minds and makers I had never heard of before but whose work I sought out after reading what she had to say because she writes about them with such compelling wonder.
by Mrs. K. A. Wheatley
Just arrived and the back is ripped
by Dave McVane
A collection of essays on art and culture, focusing mainly on avant garde and experimental artists and writers, although there are some essays on more mainstream figures. Laing is a wonderful writer: she has a strong, lucid style, and an intelligent take on most things. I enjoyed it particularly because it introduced me to stuff I didn’t know much about, and reminded me of things I’d forgotten!