Significant Objects: 100 Extraordinary Stories About Ordinary Things

by Joshua Glenn (Editor), Rob Walker (Editor)

Collects the results of a literary experiment in which a best-selling or popular author wrote a short fictional prose story about an object on eBay, raising its value; the profit from the object’s sale then went to charity. In the spirit of discovery that the book promotes, this product has two different jackets (pink or blue) pictured above. The customer will be shipped at random and will not be able to specify one jacket or the other. 100 EXTRAORDINARY STORIES ABOUT ORDINARY THINGS SIGNIFICANT A Literary and Economic Experiment Can a great story transform a worthless trinket into a significant object? The Significant Objects project set out to answer that question once and for all, by recruiting a highly impressive crew of creative writers to invent stories about an unimpressive menagerie of items rescued from thrift stores and yard sales. That secondhand flotsam definitely becomes more sold on eBay, objects originally picked up for a buck or so sold for thousands of dollars in total — making the project a sensation in the literary blogosphere along the way. But something else happened, The stories created were astonishing, a cavalcade of surprising responses to the challenge of manufacturing significance. Who would have believed that random junk could inspire so much imagination? The founders of the Significant Objects project, that’s who. This book collects 100 of the finest tales from this unprecedented creative experiment; you’ll never look at a thrift-store curiosity the same way again. FEATURING ORIGINAL STORIES Chris Adrian • Rob Agredo • Kurt Andersen • Rachel Axler • Rob Baedeker • Nicholson Baker • Rosecrans Baldwin • Matthew Battles • Charles Baxter • Kate Bernheimer • Susanna Breslin • Kevin Brockmeier • Matt Brown • Blake Butler • Meg Cabot • Tim Carvell • Patrick Cates • Dan Chaon • Susanna Daniel • Adam Davies • Kathryn Davis • Matthew De Abaitua • Stacey • D'Erasmo • Helen DeWitt • Doug Dorst • Mark Doty • Ben Ehrenreich • Mark Frauenfelder • Amy Fusselman • William Gibson • Myla Goldberg • Ben Greenman • Jason Grote • Jim Hanas • Jennifer Michael Hecht • Sheila Heti • Christine Hill • Dara Horn • Shelley Jackson • Heidi Julavits • Ben Katchor • Matt Klam • Wayne Koestenbaum • Josh Kramer • Kathryn Kuitenbrouwer • Neil LaBute • Victor LaValle • J. Robert Lennon • Jonathan Lethem • Todd Levin • Laura Lippman • Mimi Lipson • Robert Lopez • Joe Lyons • Sarah Manguso • Merrill Markoe • Tom McCarthy • Miranda Mellis • Lydia Millet • Maud Newton • Annie Nocenti • Stephen O’Connor • Stewart O’Nan • Jenny Offill • Gary Panter • Ed Park • James Parker • Benjamin Percy • Mark Jude Poirier • Padgett Powell • Bob Powers • Todd Pruzan • Dan Reines • Nathaniel Rich • Peter Rock • Lucinda Rosenfeld • Greg Rowland • Luc Sante • R.K. Scher • Toni Schlesinger • Matthew Sharpe • Jim Shepard • David Shields • Marisa Silver • Curtis Sittenfeld • Bruce Sterling • Scarlett Thomas • Jeff Turrentine • Deb Olin Unferth • Tom Vanderbilt • Matthew J. Wells • Joe Wenderoth • Margaret Wertheim • Colleen Werthmann • Colson Whitehead • Carl Wilson • Cintra Wilson • Sari Wilson • Douglas Wolk • John Wray Full color throughout

Genres: Short Stories, Nonfiction, Art, Essays, Business, Psychology, Humor

232 pages, Paperback

First published July 17, 2012

Reviews

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rec. by: MCL; concept
Rec. for: Craphounds

To seek beauty from the mundane is always a valid project... but Significant Objects tests the limits of that assertion with the goofiness of its gimmick: to create significance by making up a story about an utterly mundane object... and then to measure that increase in significance by the only medium we now understand: cash.

Specifically, Rob Walker and Joshua Glenn acquired objects from thrift stores and interested donors, commissioned Real Arthurs as varied as Colson Whitehead and Jenny Offill (as well as veteran science-fictioneers like William Gibson and Bruce Sterling) to write stories about them—and then sold the objects, with their made-up stories (clearly labeled as fiction, you understand—there was absolutely no subterfuge or fraud involved), on eBay.

Their experiment worked—every single object treated this way showed an increase in sale price, sometimes a dramatic one, after having a story attached.

Our hunger for narrative thus affirmed, Walker and Glenn proceeded to perform the experiment at least twice more. Their project to date is documented on the Significant Objects website.

This volume of Significant Objects summarizes 100 of the results, in an anthology that is both a collection of entertaining short fictions and a fascinating artifact in its own right.

There's a Portland connection, too—the advertising agency Wieden+Kennedy became involved—which makes this reading rather more timely, since Dan Wieden recently passed away.

The lure of Walker and Glenn's project was so strong, in fact, that I could not resist writing my own such story, based on an artifact that I acquired back in the 1990s from a neighbor in Los Angeles. I cannot measure any "increase in value"—I received the object itself for nothing, and it is not for sale—but otherwise, I think, it fits right in:

Item 101
Glass paperweight with LED underneath
NFS
Talisman ("Objects that have magical power, are lucky, or are alive")

NOMAI

We are Nomai. We watch over your world from the vastening deep between dimensions. And, while we have no circulatory systems to pump liquids through our crystalline matrices, we do have metaphors... and our hearts break to watch your strife.

We are Nomai, and we think as one. Our assessment is that you cannot go on as you have done. And so we devise a plan, and construct a device deep within ourselves—a device that will transform you profoundly, that will create within you the unity that we ourselves enjoy. The device is called Panhedron.

Our unity is threatened, albeit only briefly, when we observe that many—perhaps even most—of you would not consent to our gift, if you were to be made aware of it now, as fragmented as you are. But we reason among ourselves, and realize that you as you shall become will thank us for remaking you in... no, not in our image, but as a more perfect version of yourselves. We will recreate you in more subtle bodies, like unto crystals.

Once completed, our Panhedron travels through the vastening deep to penetrate your heavy atmosphere, settles in a body of liquid near one of your larger population centers, and begins its working. You could think of the device as conducting a global search and replace. It takes away the fierce liquids that cause such storms within you, and replaces them with new ones, fluids that might be called ouestrogen and eastrogen. The transformation happens quickly, over the course of a single night and day: your bodies become more uniform, all shining a deep golden brown, all taking on the same shape and size. You will never achieve our crystalline perfection, but your new flesh is as close as flesh can come.

We realize that this change will take time to work its effects on your societies, and so we... turn our attention to other things, resolutely ignoring your world for a span that seems interminable even to us, although it is no more than a hundred or so of your years. And then we return, eager to see the success of our project.

Only to find... strife. Conflict. Murders and slavery and war—all the same evils to which you were prey before. You, who have become perfection, have taken advantage of our absence to seize upon every slightest difference between your new selves. A subtle excess of radiance in the infrablue or ultra-red becomes an excuse for exaltation, or for discrimination. Your golden blood is spilled in the streets, as often as the redder stuff was spilled before.

We were wrong. We were wrong, and we admit it to ourselves, and we are humbled by our lack of understanding.

So we undo. It is easy enough to trigger Panhedron to reverse the changes it made, to leach the eastrogen and ouestrogen from your bodies and replace it with the old fluids. It is somewhat harder to drain the memories of this experiment from your minds, but our device is capable of that as well. And when it is done, our underwater crystal dissolves itself, as if it had never been.

By the time you read this, you will think it no more than fiction.

—10/6/2022

[Rosa · Rating 4 out of 5]

7/2/22
Top stories:
1). "Ziggy Heart," by Todd Levin. (A great little story. What sort of person would own a heart-shaped paperweight with Ziggy on it, that says "Have a lovely day!"? And what sort of person would that drive crazy?)
2). "Friday Mug," by Dan Reines. (Reminded me of the movie Up in the Air. The Great Recession. Times are tough, but we have our coworkers and alcohol to support us.)
3). "Mushroom Shaker," by Greg Rowland. (Simply hilarious.)
4). "Mickey Mouse Patch," by Padgett Powell. (I loved The Interrogative Mood. This is different, but equally great, though of course a bit shorter.)
5). "Shark and Seal Pens," by Susanna Daniel. (A bittersweet coming-of-age tragedy.)
6). "Fortune-Telling Device," by Rachel Axler. (A very funny, nostalgic comedy.)
Other good ones:
"Missouri Shot Glass," by Jonathan Lethem.
"Cow Vase," by Ed Park. (This one was also very funny. Like, laugh-out-loud funny.)
"Russian Figure," by Doug Dorst. (This item went for the highest final price: $193.50. For this story, it deserved it.)
Meg Cabot's story is good, of course. Curtis Sittenfeld's story is one of the saddest (and scariest) stories I've read: what if you married the wrong man, when you could have had the right one?
A lot of the stories seemed very similar to each other. I wonder why that was.

[Jennifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Non-fiction. I was intrigued by the premise of this book. The editors purchased 100 objects from thrift stores and yard sales for $128 total. They sent these objects to writers to create stories around the objects. They then sold the objects on Ebay to see if the stories increased the value of the items. With the stories, the objects sold for over $3600 total. Great concept. However, I was disappointed in many of the stories.

[Nina · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant collection of the very short form story. Plus bonus statistical analysis. Not every story succeeds but the collection is excellent in scope.

[Penni · Rating 3 out of 5]

I am terrible at rating nonfiction books. I am very star stingy, but I really liked this book, not because of the money involved or the stories give objects value angle, though that was interesting. I love challenging the imagination and watching what talented writers can do. It is almost a top chef for writers, which of course would be in print form.

[Child960801 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a series of super short stories that were written by 100 different writers. Each was given a picture of a small random object that they then wrote a story about and then the object was put up on Ebay with the story as the object description. Prices that the object were originally bought for and what they sold for are included.

[Stephanie · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book needed a librarian to organize it properly.

[Kathryn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some "stories" were 4, some were 1 (for my reading preferences, not objectively). Good book to have on the nightstand. Some stories were read multiple times because the first time I thought maybe I wasn't enjoying the read because I was too tired; then I'd reread the next night and (usually) found that my initial reaction was accurate. But I love the concept.

[Nate · Rating 2 out of 5]

A great and interesting experiment, just not very fun to read.

[Olivia · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting and cool study! A lot of the stories sorta missed the mark for me though. I liked the analytical part and the information about the study best.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love the idea behind this book and some of the stories were great. Other ones were not I’m not sure some of the deep more questionable content should have been included in the study

[Jessi · Rating 2 out of 5]

I love the concept of this book but there were more confusing stories than coherent ones. I like weird stories but the ones in this book were absolute stinkers.

[Candice Grizer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Bizarre concept, entertaining stories

[Charity · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a really interesting collection of stories all centered around objects that fill our lives. As part of an experiment each story was written by a different author, giving a great variety of literary tactics. Some stories were wonderful, some were inspiring, and some were just confusing. I would absolutely read more of these stories.

[Levi Pierpont · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: some passages would not be recommended by me. However, I thought many descriptions were hilarious. I only read about twenty entries.

[Becki Iverson · Rating 2 out of 5]

The best way I can describe my feelings about 'Significant Objects' is this: it's the thought that counts.

When I first learned of this book I was fascinated with the concept. Authors making real life junk items into something interesting by telling their stories? Cool! It also never hurts to read something so thoroughly illustrated.

However, upon reading, I realized that for the most part it's really just a pile of unfinished short stories. There are the occasional shining moments - I tend to bias towards Graywolf authors anyway, but I swear in comparison they were so much more lyrical! Ben Percy, Stacy d'Erasmo, Charles Baxter, Mark Doty, etc. - but for the most part the stories felt so unrealized.

I should also confess that I am not a huge fan of the short story - however, give me a memoir or essay collection and I'm all over it. I think this book would succeed much more if it were real people telling actual stories about these objects - then they would truly have meaning and so many of the flatter stories wouldn't have to feel like they're trying so hard to fit.

[Kimberly Ann · Rating 2 out of 5]

100 objects purchased for $128.74 sold on eBay for $3,612.51, with a net total of $3,483.77, which is a 2,700% mark-up.

All items listed included Fictionalized stories about the items by famous/popular authors.

Not only did I not understand most of the stories I read, but I didn't even care about the object. The stories for the most part made little or no connection to the object and were mostly nonsensical.

You have to wonder just what was everyone involved thinking.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Before I even read the first story I was hooked on the concept of this book. My only regret is that I didn't take more time to savor the stories. Reading one a day would have been a better pace, but I polished the whole thing off in just 2 sittings.

[Libraryassistant · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderful premise, stories adding intrinsic value to objects, even when people were told the stories were fiction. Some of the stories were quite imaginative. Too bad some were so crass and idiotic.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was pleasantly surprised. I don't like short stories, but I read this with great enjoyment, cover to cover.

[Isadora Wagner · Rating 3 out of 5]

An odd and fun collection of very short essays about things. Recommended reading alongside Bill Brown's "Thing Theory."

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a cool idea! Some work better then others...

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyable and interesting literary experiment resulting in a collection of entertaining short stories.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like the concept but I just hate short stories in general. Suffered through 100 of them and think I only hate them more as a result.

[Mimi Bear · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting concept. Thought it would have a bit more marketing insight.

[Keith]

not owned by library

[Bren]

This is the world's best toilet read. Will 100% purchase to keep in the bathroom.

[CraftyChara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Rosa recommended: