We're very pleased to have writer, curator, artist, and critic Adrian Dannatt as our guest for the final interview of One Great Reader, Series 3. We've been fans of his insider view of all things art-world since coming across his column for The Art Newspaper in the early 2000s. His tone is that of an endlessly curious, self-effacing bon vivant; gossipy, knowing, literate, and with a touch of theatric English flourish. In other words, good fun. We're glad interviewer Wes Del Val discovered him too, and we hope you enjoy Adrian's generous outpouring of recollections, reconsiderations, and recommendations as much as we do.

This also marks our 45th One Great Reader interview overall (what a year!), and we look forward to taking a moment to collect what we've done so far, and doing some very fun things with it. Stay tuned!

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Collage is an art form usually made by cutting up books & magazines, but we like it anyway. :) Belgian artist Katrien De Blauwer makes collage with directness and simplicity, turning disparate moments into small monuments of tenderness, strength, and sophistication. We think good books do that too, so it's no wonder we find so much to like in Katrien's conversation with interviewer Wes Del Val for this week's installment of One Great Reader. Click to read more...

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Fashion can be over-serious, mysterious, and pretentious. It can also be wildly creative, groundbreaking, and fun. Fashion writers can walk both paths as well, and GQ magazine writer Rachel Tashjian excels at channeling the latter, her deep (and illusion-free) knowledge of the industry gets filtered through an enthusiasm that almost audibly crackles with energy. Interviewer Wes Del Wal finds that energy contagious in this week's installment of One Great Reader, which overflows with recommendations of colorful things to read and people to learn about. Click to read more...

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For some people, a book is just words, delivered on pages. For people like Brussels-based designer Julie Peeters (and for us, needless to say), a book is also everything else that makes a book; from its paper, binding and printing quality, to its feel in the hand, beauty for the eye, and conceptual originality. In this week's One Great Reader, interviewer Wes Del Val asks Peeters to share the books that have educated her own vision and trained her exacting eye. Click to read more...

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There remains a lingering mystique over the bohemian L.A. of the 1970s, even though so many of its bright dreams ended in all-too-human disillusionment or tragedy. But it's probably that combination of limelight & darkness that creates the period's fascination. It's a contrast especially well served by writer Lili Anolik, who among other feats many readers are thankful for, brought Eve Babitz back to public attention. In this week's installment of One Great Reader with Wes Del Val, Lili shares her surprising childhood reading experiences and tells us why Bennington in the 1980's was sexy (in a literary way). Click to read more...

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Q: What do graphic designer Barney Bubbles, Sex Pistols founder Malcolm Maclaren, and iconic magazine The Face have in common?

A: All three have benefited enormously from the hard work of Paul Gorman, who has written comprehensive books on all three (and many more besides).

We love Paul's work, which covers that glamorous and entertainingly seedy intersection where rock, fashion, and commerce meet, and we can't help but recognize him as our kind of person when he says "Second-hand books have been my life-blood since my early teens". Amen to that, Paul (plus, we didn't think anyone but us read The Oldie. Bravo to that.) Interviewer Wes Del Val brings us possibly our longest One Great Reader to date, & it's pure fun the whole way. Click to read more...

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Creating a 'canon' for something as wiley and loose as American writing is a task that takes a combination of both critical acumen and an open mind (not to mention an appetite for work that will never be done). For 25 years, Geoffrey O'Brien tackled that task at the Library of America, an incredibly ambitious project started in 1982 (and continuing to this day) with the aim of creating uniform hardcover editions of American classics. From Melville and Whitman to Baldwin, Didion and Brainard, their growing list is a fascinating collection of history, fiction, poetry, journalism and belles-lettres, all bound handsomely and built to last. It makes sense that doing that kind of editorial work for a quarter-century means ending up with good stories to tell and good recommendations to make, and we're pleased that Geoffrey has shared both in this week's installment of One Great Reader with interviewer Wes Del Val. Click to read more...

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Ever wonder what kind of prize you receive when you reach 25 years of exhibiting at the Frankfurt Book Fair? (Hint, the prize is chocolaty.) This and many other behind-the-scenes mysteries are revealed by Sharon Helgason Gallagher, co-founder of the extraordinary art-book distributor D.A.P., as she talks shop (as well as Hegel and pinball) with Wes Del Val, in this week's very "inside" installment of One Great Reader. Click to read more...

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Josiah Wolfson is the proprietor of Aeon Books in New York City. It's a small shop in a Lower East Side basement, but it has a big heart and a strong point of view. It takes a lot of vision paired with a special kind of mad bravery to open any small business, (especially a used bookshop) in catastrophically expensive New York, but Josiah is a native, so we're guessing the city has taught him how to be tough, smart, and magical at the same time. All things any good bookstore needs to be. Josiah shares a peek behind the curtain with interviewer Wes Del Val in this week's installment of One Great Reader. Click to read more...

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What's the right book to send to an art dealer in jail? How could you trick Andy Warhol into giving you a drawing instead of just signing your book? What's the best walking route for hitting a lot of great bookshops in New York in one afternoon? Writer, critic, and curator Bob Nickas knows a lot of things that are fun to know, and he shares them generously with interviewer Wes Del Val in this week's extraordinary installment of One Great Reader. Click to read more...

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