One of The New Yorker's "Books We Loved in 2017" “Arbitrary Stupid Goal is a completely riveting world―when I looked up from its pages regular life seemed boring and safe and modern like one big iPhone. This book captures not just a lost New York but a whole lost way of life.” ―Miranda July
In Arbitrary Stupid Goal, Tamara Shopsin takes the reader on a pointillist time-travel trip to the Greenwich Village of her bohemian 1970s childhood, a funky, tight-knit small town in the big city, long before Sex and the City tours and luxury condos. The center of Tamara’s universe is Shopsin’s, her family’s legendary greasy spoon, aka “The Store,” run by her inimitable dad, Kenny―a loquacious, contrary, huge-hearted man who, aside from dishing up New York’s best egg salad on rye, is Village sheriff, philosopher, and fixer all at once. All comers find a place at Shopsin’s table and feast on Kenny’s tall tales and trenchant advice along with the incomparable chili con carne. 
Filled with clever illustrations and witty, nostalgic photographs and graphics, and told in a sly, elliptical narrative that is both hilarious and endearing, Arbitrary Stupid Goal is an offbeat memory-book mosaic about the secrets of living an unconventional life, which is becoming a forgotten art.

Arbitrary Stupid Goal

Biographies & Memoirs

Shopsin, Tamara

Arts & Literature

A WIRED Pick for the 7 Books You Need to Read This Winter and one of Vox's 11 Titles Not to Miss From the incomparable New York Times and New Yorker illustrator Tamara Shopsin, a debut novel about a NYC printer repair technician who comes of age alongside the Apple computer--featuring original artistic designs by the author. LaserWriter II is a coming-of-age tale set in the legendary 90s indie NYC Mac repair shop TekServe--a voyage back in time to when the internet was new, when New York City was gritty, and when Apple made off-beat computers for weirdos. Our guide is Claire, a 19-year-old who barely speaks to her bohemian co-workers, but knows when it's time to snap on an antistatic bracelet. Tamara Shopsin brings us a classically New York novel that couldn't feel more timely. Interweaving the history of digital technology with a tale both touchingly human and delightfully technical, Shopsin brings an idiosyncratic cast of characters to life with a light touch, a sharp eye, and an unmistakable voice. Filled with pixelated philosophy and lots of printers, LaserWriter II is, at its heart, a parable about an apple.

LaserWriter II: A Novel

Humor & Entertainment

Humor

A colours book with no colours - instead, die-cuts to peek through and find them yourself This introduction to colours integrates the reader's surroundings into carefully considered die-cut silhouettes, providing children the space to visually experiment. Readers will gaze around the room through a cockerel-shaped hole in search of something red, through a sun-shaped hole for something yellow, through squiggly worms for something pink. Designed for the youngest readers, this sturdy board book features 12 die-cuts made to flip and carry on a colour-seeking mission. Inspired by the Whitney Museum's approach to looking at art, these books provide a new way to look at the world.

FIND COLOURS

Fulford, Jason

PHAIDON FRANCE

These Colours Are Bananas What colour is an apple? A dog? Grass? Young readers will be amazed by the range of possibilitiesWhat colour is a banana? It can be at least 25 different shades, according to this artful swatchbook of versatile subjects. An inversion of the way we typically look at colour, this book challenges readers' predispositions towards using a particular crayon for a particular object. 11 items are each presented alongside a grid of color ranges: the "apple" page features yellows, greens, and reds

THESE COLORS ARE BANANAS

In Arbitrary Stupid Goal, Tamara Shopsin takes the reader on a pointillist time-travel trip to the Greenwich Village of her bohemian 1970s childhood, a funky, tight-knit small town in the big city, long before Sex and the City tours and luxury condos. The center of Tamara’s universe is Shopsin’s, her family’s legendary greasy spoon, aka “The Store,” run by her inimitable dad, Kenny―a loquacious, contrary, huge-hearted man who, aside from dishing up New York’s best egg salad on rye, is Village sheriff, philosopher, and fixer all at once. All comers find a place at Shopsin’s table and feast on Kenny’s tall tales and trenchant advice along with the incomparable chili con carne. 
Filled with clever illustrations and witty, nostalgic photographs and graphics, and told in a sly, elliptical narrative that is both hilarious and endearing, Arbitrary Stupid Goal is an offbeat memory-book mosaic about the secrets of living an unconventional life, which is becoming a forgotten art.

Picador

A WIRED Pick for the 7 Books You Need to Read This Winter and one of Vox’s 11 Titles Not to Miss\nFrom the incomparable New York Times and New Yorker illustrator Tamara Shopsin comes a debut novel about a New York City printer repair technician who grows up alongside the Apple computer―featuring original designs by the author.\nLaserWriter II is a coming-of-age tale set in the legendary nineties indie Mac repair shop Tekserve―a voyage back in time to when the internet was new, when New York City was gritty, and when Apple made offbeat computers for weirdos. Our guide is Claire, a nineteen-year-old who barely speaks to her bohemian coworkers but knows when it’s time to snap on an antistatic bracelet.\nInterweaving the history of digital technology with a tale both touchingly human and delightfully technical, Shopsin brings an idiosyncratic cast of characters to life with a light touch, a sharp eye, and an unmistakable voice. Filled with pixelated philosophy and lots of printers, LaserWriter II is, at its heart, a parable about an apple.

LaserWriter II

Picador Paper

An extraordinarily moving memoir from an iconoclastic new talent—an artist, cook, and New York Times illustrator whose adventures at home and abroad revealed the importance of living life with your eyes wide open. An extraordinarily moving memoir from an iconoclastic new talent—an artist, cook, and illustrator whose adventures at home and abroad reveal the importance of living life with your eyes wide open. Best known for her witty illustrations, and as a cook beside her mischievous father in her family’s legendary Manhattan restaurant, in Mumbai New York Scranton, Tamara Shopsin offers a brilliantly inventive, spare, and elegant chronicle of a year in her life characterized by impermanence. In a refreshingly original voice alternating between tender and brazen, Shopsin recounts a trip to the Far East with her sidekick husband and the harrowing adventure that unfolds when she comes home. Entire worlds, deep relationships, and indelible experiences are portrayed in Shopsin’s deceptively simple and sparse language and drawings. Blending humor, love, suspense—and featuring photographs by Jason Fulford—Mumbai New York Scranton inspires a kaleidoscope of emotions. Shopsin’s surprising and affecting tale will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Mumbai New York Scranton: A Memoir

Professionals & Academics

Scribner

"An extraordinarily moving memoir from an iconoclastic new talent--an artist, cook, and New York Times illustrator whose adventures at home and abroad revealed the importance of living life with your eyes wide open. Best known for her witty, sparse illustrations, and as a cook beside her mischievous father in her family's iconic Manhattan restaurant, in Mumbai New York Scranton, Tamara Shopsin chronicles a year in her life when impermanence was the theme. Told in a refreshingly original voice that alternates between tender and brazen, Shopsin recounts her trip to the Far East with her sidekick husband and the harrowing adventure that unfolds after returning home. Blending humor, love, and suspense--and featuring photographs by Jason Fulford--Mumbai New York Scranton reveals and inspires a kaleidoscope of emotions. Shopsin's surprising and affecting tale is guaranteed to keep you on the edge of your seat"--From publisher's website.

Aimed at children ages five and up, this clever and surprising picture book by artists and collaborators, Jason Fulford and Tamara Shopsin, takes young viewers on a whimsical journey while teaching them associative thinking and visual language, as well as colors, shapes and numbers. Through a simple narrative and a rhythmic sequence of photographs, the book generates multiple meanings, making the experience of reading the book interactive—parent and child must ask questions and come up with their own answers, drawing on the child's imagination. Each spread presents a new relationship that changes and shifts as the book unfolds, with the last picture relating again to the first, forming a circle. Through playful and inspired sequencing, everyday scenes are transformed into a game of pairs, enjoyable for adults and children alike.

This Equals That

Arts & Photography

Photography & Video

Aperture

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Shopsin, Tamara. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Shopsin, Tamara

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Shopsin, Tamara. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Arbitrary Stupid Goal

LaserWriter II: A Novel

FIND COLOURS

THESE COLORS ARE BANANAS

Arbitrary Stupid Goal

LaserWriter II

Mumbai New York Scranton: A Memoir

Mumbai New York Scranton: A Memoir

This Equals That