Bedtime stories for artistic adults

Thoughts on Five Stories for Philip Guston, and the tactile, reassuring beauty of books

“You look like a kid reading his own bedtime story.”

I couldn’t argue with the observation.

Sitting in bed, with Five Stories for Philip Guston open on my lap, a hand holding each cover of the oversized seven-by-nine hardback — I did look like a kid.

Closer inspection clarifies the scene:

Each of the five stories — by Christopher Alessandri, Thessaly La For…