Rob’s Word Shop
Rob’s Word Shop
$30.00
In stock
About the Book
“On Wednesday, May 5th, 2010, I opened Rob’s Word Shop, a storefront shop where individual letters and words were sold. My shop location was 308 Bowery (the south window at the Bowery Poetry Club), and my hours of operation were Tuesday through Thursday 11:00AM—2:00PM, from May 5 through May 27. The words and letters were either chosen by the individual customers or arrived at with my assistance. I would then hand-write or print the letter, word, or phrase. Single letters were sold for 50 cents and single words for one dollar. As the sole proprietor of the store, I invited people to stop by for a chat and shop for words. All of these chats were recorded as videos and can be viewed on YouTube.”
—Robert Fitterman
This special edition artist’s book contains ledgers and transcriptions documenting the exchanges that occurred at Rob’s Word Shop, followed by an essay by the store’s Records Manager, Lawrence Giffin, and a sampling of materials collected for the store’s archives.
Printed in an edition of seven-hundred and fifty copies of which the first seventy-five are signed and numbered.
240 pages, 15 full-color plates;
cloth-over-paper covers with foil-stamp;
sewn binding, and edge-painting;
plus letterpress inserts and hand-stamping.
Author
Robert Fitterman
Robert Fitterman is the author of 15 books of poetry including This Window Makes Me Feel (UDP, 2018), Nevermind (Wonder Books, 2016), Rob’s Word Shop (UDP, forthcoming, 2018), No Wait, Yep. Definitely Still Hate Myself (UDP, 2014), Holocaust Museum (Counterpath, 2013, and Veer [London] 2012), now we are friends (Truck Books, 2010), Rob the Plagiarist (Roof Books, 2009), war, the musical (Subpress, 2006), and Metropolis—a long poem in 4 separate volumes, and is the co-author of Notes on Conceptualisms (UDP, 2009). He has collaborated with several visual artists, including Serkan Ozkaya, Nayland Blake, Fia Backström, Tim Davis and Klaus Killisch, and is the founding member of the international artists and writers collective, Collective Task. He teaches at New York University and is a member of the writing faculty of the Milton Avery School of the Arts at Bard College.
Praise
In the News
Excerpt
Left apartment on bicycle at 10:30 AM for Rob’s Word Shop. Stopped at stationary store for envelopes and folders ($5.25). Arrived at Rob’s Word Shop promptly at 11:00 AM. First customer arrived at 12:30 PM. Served 6 customers continuously from 12:45 to 2:05 PM. Closed shop and left 308 Bowery at 2:15 PM. Arrived at apartment, on bicycle, at 2:30 PM. Total sales: $7.00. Below is a list of words sold:
Customer 3 tops
Customer 4 technicolor
Customer 5 better
Customer 6 unscripted; off the books (gratis)
Customer 7 Constraint-B
Customer 8 nachleben