Margins
Swimming Studies book cover
Swimming Studies
2012
First Published
3.97
Average Rating
331
Number of Pages
"Swimming Studies" is a brilliantly original, meditative memoir that explores the worlds of competitive and recreational swimming. From her training for the Olympic trials as a teenager to enjoying pools and beaches around the world as an adult, Leanne Shapton offers a fascinating glimpse into the private, often solitary, realm of swimming. Her spare and elegant writing reveals an intimate narrative of suburban adolescence, spent underwater in a discipline that continues to inspire Shapton's work as an artist and author. Her illustrations throughout the book offer an intuitive perspective on the landscapes and imagery of the sport. Shapton's emphasis is on the smaller moments of athletic pursuit rather than its triumphs. For the accomplished athlete, aspiring amateur, or habitual practicer, this remarkable work of written and visual sketches propels the reader through a beautifully personal and universally appealing exercise in reflection.
Avg Rating
3.97
Number of Ratings
2,518
5 STARS
32%
4 STARS
41%
3 STARS
21%
2 STARS
5%
1 STARS
1%
goodreads

Author

Leanne Shapton
Author · 9 books

Leanne Shapton is an illustrator, author and publisher based in New York City. She is the co-founder, with photographer Jason Fulford, of J&L Books, an internationally-distributed not-for-profit imprint specializing in art and photography books. Shapton grew up in Mississauga, Ontario, and attended McGill Univesity and Pratt Institute. After interning at SNL, Harper's Magazine and for illustator James McMullan, she began her career at the National Post where she edited and art-directed the daily Avenue page, an award-winning double-page feature covering news and cultural trends. She went on to art direct Saturday Night, the National Post's weekly news magazine. In 2003, Shapton published her first book of drawings, titled Toronto. From 2006 to 2008 Shapton contributed a regular travel column to Elle magazine, consisting of writing, photography and illustration. From 2008 to 2009, Shapton was the art director of The New York Times Op-Ed page. Leanne Shapton published Was She Pretty? in November 2008 and Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris including Books, Street Fashion and Jewelry, in February 2009, with Sarah Crichton Books / Farrar, Straus & Giroux. She published The Native Trees of Canada with Drawn & Quarterly in November 2010. Shapton recently contributed a regular column to T: The New York Times Style Magazine's blog The Moment. In 2011 She posted an illustrated series titled "A Month Of..." to The New York Times opinion page website. Currently Shapton contributes a food and culture column to Flare Magazine. In 2012 Shapton published Swimming Studies with Blue Rider Press. It won the 2012 National Book Critic's Circle Award for autobiography, and was long listed for the William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2012. Sunday Night Movies, a book of paintings from movies, is forthcoming from Drawn & Quarterly, fall 2013. Shapton is currently working on Women In Clothes, a collaboration with Sheila Heti and Heidi Julavits, about how women dress, with Blue Rider Press. Source: Leanne Shapton Bio.

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