Everyday Matters (Hardcover)

by Danny Gregory (Author) "I only started drawing fairly recently, But I've found it has a power to change my life and the world around me so profoundly and..." (more)

Editorial Reviews

Review
"...a slow-food sketchbook of the soul of a husband and caregiver..." -- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, March 29, 2003

"The best real diary-a graphic memoir to be precise-found unlocked in bookstores now is Danny Gregory's 'Everyday Matters.'" -- The National Post (CA)

At times heartbreaking, but more often uplifting... a must for anyone searching to reconnect with a lost inner artist. -- Creative Loafing

Gregory's eloquent tone and obvious devotion to his family and art convey extraordinary poise and humility. -- Gotham Magazine

This poignant journal about life after the accident is nothing short of inspiring. -- The Greenwich Citizen

Product Description
"Two years before I started drawing, my wife was run over by a subway train. Sounds really terrible, I know. But, well, this book is about how art and New York City saved my life." When Danny Gregory's wife was severely injured, his life was changed in an instant. Searching about for meaning for what had happened to his little family, he began to create a richly illustrated journal of his life. Gregory as driven to record and comment on every aspect of his life, from dirty dishes to cathedrals, from hospital wards to life-drawing classes, from brunch with Hell's Angels to book shopping at the Strand. This unique book chronicles his discovery of drawing, his wife's rehabilitation, his son's infancy, and the life of the city he loves. Funny, bittersweet, romantic, and perverse, Everyday Matters is an inspiration, an invitation to look for the beauty and significance in the details of our daily lives.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 112 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press; 1 edition (September 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156898443X
• ISBN-13: 978-1568984438
• Product Dimensions: 7.9 x 6.3 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (42 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #363,947 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

40 of 40 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars real life journal, January 1, 2005

By	Lori R. Tan "arttulip" (ks) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

I loved this book. I collect books on how to keep an art journal and this is the first one that unleashed my drawing and writing about everyday life. The other books are so polished and beautiful it made me feel like my drawings and writing weren't quite good enough. I love how he includes partial drawings because my sketchbook is full of partial drawings, they caught a glimpse of something so they are worthy of keeping. I also love how his writing can be a simple or funny thought that occurred to him during a drawing, rather than always something deep and profound. A beautiful book that will go on my very special favorites shelf to be read again and again.

40 of 41 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A winner from so many perspectives, March 29, 2004

By	Dana Jenkins (Buffalo, New York United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

If you want to be inspired to draw, or to write, or to live more fully, or best of all to do all three simultaneously, (and if you only have 60 minutes to move closer to your goals)- Everyday Matters is a must read. It's real, charming, witty, whimsical, and teaches art and life lessons that can be applied BY ANYONE. For all those who say "but I can't draw" and even more for those who say "but what shall I draw" this has some answers to the first question and many to the second. It's hard for me to say whether Danny is a better artist, writer, or philosopher. Fortunately we get all three in this slim volume. I can't wait for his next book.

27 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Special, Intimate, Lovely, March 28, 2004

By	Jessica Poundstone "artist, writer, jewelry d... - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Everyday Matters is such a special, intimate, lovely book, it's hard to know where to begin singing its praises. To open the book is to steal a look inside the sketchbook (a.k.a. the heart and mind) of a man who has just realized that drawing might help him see everything more clearly -- including seeing his way into a whole new life, one in which his wife is in a wheelchair. And that man happens to live in and draw pictures of New York City, which he adores.

Besides the delights of Gregory's words and images -- which are sometimes funny, and other times poignant -- the book also serves as a nearly overwhelming incentive to pick up a pen and draw. And by drawing, to see objects again for the first time. If by publishing the book Gregory wished to remind people to look at the world around them with fresh, hungry, sensitive hearts and eyes, he has succeeded with this reader.