Book review: Shapton's "Artifacts" are not so "Important"

July 2, 11:30 AMSeattle Books ExaminerDanielle Dreger-Babbitt

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Earlier this spring, the New York Times ran a story about  Leanne Shapton's book Important Artifacts and Personal Property From the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry.  Her work of fiction is an auction catalog that lists the mementos and photos from the tree year relationship of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris.  I was excited to read this because I enjoy fiction in nontraditional formats and had never heard of anything like this.  It's like a picture book for adults.

Shapton is an illustrator and author based in New York City and is currently the art director of The New York Times Op-Ed page.  According to the article, this nontraditional story came to her after she noticed how the lot descriptions in some estate and auction catalogs gave insight to the lives of the former possessors.  According to the catalog, Lenore is a cake writer/editor at the Times and her boyfriend is a notable photographer.  It begins with an invitation to the Halloween Party the couple met at and ends with real estate listings for one-bedroom apartments in New York City and Los Angeles.  The artifacts in the catalog include things like hotel keys, love letters, gifts, a lot of photos, pajamas and bikinis.

While I find the concept of the book to be novel, the execution of the story is less fascinating.  Shapton begins the book with great enthusiasm and hooks the reader by turning mundane trinkets into the foundation of a relationship.  Unfortunately, by the second year of Lenore and Harold's relationship the book begins to slow down.  The artifacts aren't as exciting anymore.  Perhaps this is because the characters have settled into their relationship or because they are beginning to have problems.  I probably would have enjoyed the story more if the relationship would have lasted only two years.  By the third year I was bored.

What I don't really get is why there is even an auction in the first place?  Are they broke?  Dead?  Too classy to start a bonfire and burn all of the mementos of a failed relationship?  Some of the items like the old books seem worthy of an auction ($1000-$1500), but the photographs( $15-$20), lock of Lenore's hair ($20-$30), and breakfast menus ($10-$20) seem a bit excessive.  Would people at an auction actually by these things?

Important Artifacts and Personal Property From the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris, Including Books, Street Fashion, and Jewelry is slated to become a movie at some point with Natalie Portman and Brad Pitt.  I think it has the potential to be quite interesting given the material that Shapton has produced. 

And as a side note: the models that are Lenore and Harold and the photography is rather remarkable.  It made me wish they were in color.