garrodot's review against another edition
5.0
One of my favorite curiosities, fascinating precisely because it is such an enigma, meets a dedicated journalist looking to dig deep into its story. Such a fascinating quick read that expands to encompass the history of museums themselves and was over all too soon.
readingrealgood's review against another edition
3.0
There's a mention of 'Corona' meaning 'crown' buried in the final note of this short book. Nice timing: I've just come across this during the Coronavirus pandemic...
eraofkara's review against another edition
3.0
Side note (not that there's a main note): I read this book at the same time as Pastoralia by George Saunders, sometimes swapping back and forth - a few chapters with one, a few chapters with the other.
I do not recommend this, as it completely screwed with my sense of true/false/up/down. And both books do enough of that as it is.
I do not recommend this, as it completely screwed with my sense of true/false/up/down. And both books do enough of that as it is.
kickpleat's review against another edition
4.0
Such a fun read and a story so well told! I've always wanted to go to the Museum of Jurassic Technology in Los Angeles, but it was either closed or it didn't fit in our schedules. Next time in LA I'm making it a priority. Art, wackiness, weirdness, joy!
mrsthrift's review against another edition
5.0
Good nonfiction teaches us something about the world. Great nonfiction teaches us something about ourselves. This book is great. I was so tapped into my own sense of wonder and curiosity while reading it. It's just awesome.
I picked this up because it was on Frank Chimero's reading list ( http://frankchimero.com/library/ ) and because I have a long-standing fascination with the Museum of Jurassic Technology dating back 10 full years. It is the best thing in Los Angeles. Also the MJT started my love affair with beekeeping. David Wilson's "Tell the Bees" exhibit gets credit for the two hives of honey bees in my backyard.
The book is a scant 109 pages long, but includes another 60 pages of footnotes which fill out the material in a satisfactory way. The book tells the history of museums ( Wunderkammern, too), David Wilson, creator of the MJT, his family, the museum, the story of the exhibits and a history of a European/American sense of wonder. I'm so glad I read it.
I picked this up because it was on Frank Chimero's reading list ( http://frankchimero.com/library/ ) and because I have a long-standing fascination with the Museum of Jurassic Technology dating back 10 full years. It is the best thing in Los Angeles. Also the MJT started my love affair with beekeeping. David Wilson's "Tell the Bees" exhibit gets credit for the two hives of honey bees in my backyard.
The book is a scant 109 pages long, but includes another 60 pages of footnotes which fill out the material in a satisfactory way. The book tells the history of museums ( Wunderkammern, too), David Wilson, creator of the MJT, his family, the museum, the story of the exhibits and a history of a European/American sense of wonder. I'm so glad I read it.
superdilettante's review against another edition
4.0
To review this book, I quote Michael Pollan, in The Botany of Desire.
"by the grace of [cannabis-induced] forgetting, we temporarily shelve our inherited ways of looking and see things as if for the first time, so that even something as ordinary as ice cream becomes ICE CREAM!
There is another word for this extremist noticing--this sense of first sight unencumbered by knowingness, by the already-been-there's and seen-thats of the adult mind--and that word, of course, is WONDER."
"by the grace of [cannabis-induced] forgetting, we temporarily shelve our inherited ways of looking and see things as if for the first time, so that even something as ordinary as ice cream becomes ICE CREAM!
There is another word for this extremist noticing--this sense of first sight unencumbered by knowingness, by the already-been-there's and seen-thats of the adult mind--and that word, of course, is WONDER."
starson's review against another edition
5.0
Weschler's narrative is a cabinet of wonder in its own right. He has crafted a book that somehow captures the wonder, bewilderment, and incredulity of David Wilson's life's work. Where does truth end and fiction begin? Can we ever know? Do we want to know? This book is an experience...LOVED IT!!
anibenfrad's review against another edition
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
3.5
I’ve been to the MJD and reading this book is a very similar experience. Well-written and conversational but the subject matter is hard to wrap your head around. Definitely read the notes in the back!
forkdora's review against another edition
4.0
In Part 1 of Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder, Lawrence Weschler takes us on a tour (for lack of a better word) of the Museum of Jurassic Technology (MJT). His narrative is extremely erratic with no clear order that I could identify. He jumps from one topic to the next without going into depth on a thing. One moment he is talking about a display, the next he is describing the museum’s proprietor then onto another display and then back to some half-hearted fact-finding he had done on the first display. By the end of the section I was left feeling that I hadn’t learned a thing and actually had more questions than I had before starting the book. I couldn’t even tell you what described in the museum was real, part real or entirely fake. I believe my feelings upon completion of this book were probably exactly what Weschler felt on leaving the museum on every visit – intrigued, but completely confused.
Part II examines the history of ‘wonder cabinets’, where museums like the MJT got their start. In Part 1 I thought it was the author’s intention to leave me completely baffled, but Part II had the same effect. The history is greatly glossed over with no real rhyme or reason to its order, sometimes having artifacts relate back to the MJT and sometimes not. I don’t know if it’s because I read this particular section on an empty stomach, but I believe the best detailed section of this book is when Weschler describes his lunch at an Indian restaurant down the street from the MJT. Although this book left me wanting much more, there is one thing I do know for sure – If I ever make it out to the MJT I am having lunch at the India Sweets and Spices Mart.
Part II examines the history of ‘wonder cabinets’, where museums like the MJT got their start. In Part 1 I thought it was the author’s intention to leave me completely baffled, but Part II had the same effect. The history is greatly glossed over with no real rhyme or reason to its order, sometimes having artifacts relate back to the MJT and sometimes not. I don’t know if it’s because I read this particular section on an empty stomach, but I believe the best detailed section of this book is when Weschler describes his lunch at an Indian restaurant down the street from the MJT. Although this book left me wanting much more, there is one thing I do know for sure – If I ever make it out to the MJT I am having lunch at the India Sweets and Spices Mart.