Lenore Doolan, a food writer for the New York Times, meets Harold Morris, a photographer, at a halloween party in 2002. He is dressed as Harry Houdini. In Leanne Shapton's marvellously inventive and invented auction catalogue, the 325 lots up for auction are what remain from the relationship between Lenore and Harold (who aren't real people, but might as well be). Through photographs of the couple's personal effects-the usual auction items (jewellery, fine art, and rare furniture) and the seemingly worthless (pyjamas, Post-it notes, worn paperbacks)-the story of a failed love affair vividly and cleverly emerges. From first meeting to final separation, the progress and rituals of intimacy are revealed through the couple's accumulated relics and memorabilia. And a love story, in all its tenderness and struggle, emerges from the evidence that has been left behind, laid out for us to appraise and appreciate. In Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris Leanne Shapton invites us to contemplate what is truly valuable, and to consider the art we make of our private lives.

The film rights to Important Artifacts have been bought by Paramount Pictures and will be made into a feature film starring Brad Pitt and Natalie Portman. For fans of Woody Allen, Dave Eggers, Miranda July and Nicole Krauss. Important Artifacts is entirely original in its layout and approach to examining a relationship through a series of inanimate objects.

About the Author
Leanne Shapton is an illustrator, writer and publisher who was born in Toronto and now lives in New York. She is the art director of the New York Times op-ed page and co-founder of J&L Books, a nonprofit publishing company specializing in new photography, art and fiction. She is the author of Was She Pretty?

Reviews
Absolutely brilliant ...You look at the photographs and you get it immediately: this is a world of first editions, Dr Hauschka Rose Cream, Smythson diaries ... vintage clothing - but also of letters, scribbled-in paperbacks, postcards, takeaway menus, home-made presents ... Get it for your girlfriends - it's *the* perfect Christmas present' India Knight 'The task is daunting: How to render the dissolution of a romantic relationship in a new way? Leanne Shapton succeeds against all the odds with this wildly romantic and erudite book' Dave Eggers 'The biggest word-of-mouth sensation of the year' Independent



Book Information
ISBN 9781408804728
Author Leanne Shapton
Format Paperback
Page Count 144
Imprint Bloomsbury Publishing PLC
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing PLC