Customer Reviews

Foreign Objects: Dream Drawings

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In David Reisman's wonderful new book, he continues a tradition of interpreting dreams but with his own original twist. For centuries ancient cultures and artists have seen the dream as a source for predicting the future or a way to unlock subconscious fears and desires. Reisman has set out to illustrate them through drawing and text with the neutral vision of a painter as he views a still life. He often uses the absurdity of odd juxtapositions that most of us witness in our own dreams. Famous people (Bob Dylan, George Bush, Jackson Pollock) play parts in the ordinary settings of Reisman's nocturnal wanderings. The dangerous situations that he dreams of are subverted by humor as a much needed escape. Maybe Reisman's dreams are not far from our own daily realities where we attempt to calm our anxieties with a healthy sense of humor.

I love this book! I keep it on display in my living room, so friends can discover it too. People say that nothing is as boring as another person's dreams, but David Reisman's drawings capture the flavor and content of his dreams in a way that's touching, truthful, and funny - sometimes all at once. Don't expect New Yorker-style cartoons with zippy punchlines - but do expect to smile a lot and laugh out loud.