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All My Life for Sale

Read the full story of this art project, through which I acquired my Jesus Night Light (pictured on the front cover, no less). This may have at first appeared to me as performance art (a.k.a. art by wiseasses), but in reading the book, I find it an interesting form of memoir created by the mosaic of the mundane things a person owns. I was fascinated as he auctioned off his family's Christmas presents, the recounting of which informs the reader of his amazingly blended family.

Also touching was his honesty, as he reveals the secret of 'zine publishing (find a friend with a key to the university departmental office copier), and his father's failure to recognize his son's talent (giving him back one of his presents under the pretense of believing he'd "left it behind"). Equally stunning was his admission that he almost ran off to Las Vegas to get married (I thought that went out in the 1960s). For someone who's barely 30 years old, John is amazingly out of touch with modern times. Speaking as someone who's always been a bit out of step with the mainstream, I can appreciate his work. And you can, too, if only to read about my contributions to his project on pages 158 and 204.