Arbitrary Stupid Goal

Locations
Call Number: 921 Shopsin, Tamara
On Shelf At: Downtown Library

Location & Checkout Length	Call Number	Checkout Length	Item Status
Downtown 2nd Floor 4-week checkout	921 Shopsin, Tamara	4-week checkout	On Shelf

A Symphony -- Wide World -- Wolfs Lair -- A 7-Day Pillbox -- Hole 18 -- Things -- My Jewels -- Gateway Drug -- A Gift -- Whoop Whoop -- Laydee -- Order of the Universe -- The Small Pond -- The Top Floor -- Buckets of Gravy -- Raw chicken Chunks -- Bullet-Proof Case -- Shangri-La -- The ASG.
"'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 "--Provided by publisher.

REVIEWS & SUMMARIES

Booklist Review
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Summary / Annotation
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Author Notes

COMMUNITY REVIEWS

‍ submitted by georgeh on September 27, 2018, 4:15pm I got an email from the AADL that Arbitrary Stupid Goal was ready to be picked up. I didn’t remember reserving it. I couldn’t even remember hearing about this book.

I’m glad that me-from-the-past gave me this surprise homework assignment.

After reading the first pages, I realized I had reserved it after seeing those same pages on Kottke.org. Like Jason, I tore through the book.

I don’t have any particular fondness for Shopsin’s. Outside of Ken’s recent passing, I had never heard of it. As an outsider, the book still drew me in. I wanted to know everything about Shopsin’s, starting with the menu.

Arbitrary Stupid Goal is part memoir of her father’s restaurant, part eulogy to family friend Willoughby, and part exploration of life. It reads a bit like the real-life counterpart to one of the Bob’s Burgers kids. Underneath it all is a love letter to New York City and Greenwich Village.