One of The New Yorker's "Books We Loved in 2017" “Arbitrary Stupid Goal is a completely riveting world―when I looked up from its pages regular life seemed boring and safe and modern like one big iPhone. This book captures not just a lost New York but a whole lost way of life.” ―Miranda July
In Arbitrary Stupid Goal, Tamara Shopsin takes the reader on a pointillist time-travel trip to the Greenwich Village of her bohemian 1970s childhood, a funky, tight-knit small town in the big city, long before Sex and the City tours and luxury condos. The center of Tamara’s universe is Shopsin’s, her family’s legendary greasy spoon, aka “The Store,” run by her inimitable dad, Kenny―a loquacious, contrary, huge-hearted man who, aside from dishing up New York’s best egg salad on rye, is Village sheriff, philosopher, and fixer all at once. All comers find a place at Shopsin’s table and feast on Kenny’s tall tales and trenchant advice along with the incomparable chili con carne. 
Filled with clever illustrations and witty, nostalgic photographs and graphics, and told in a sly, elliptical narrative that is both hilarious and endearing, Arbitrary Stupid Goal is an offbeat memory-book mosaic about the secrets of living an unconventional life, which is becoming a forgotten art.

Arbitrary Stupid Goal

Biographies & Memoirs

Shopsin, Tamara

Arts & Literature

A WIRED Pick for the 7 Books You Need to Read This Winter and one of Vox's 11 Titles Not to Miss From the incomparable New York Times and New Yorker illustrator Tamara Shopsin, a debut novel about a NYC printer repair technician who comes of age alongside the Apple computer--featuring original artistic designs by the author. LaserWriter II is a coming-of-age tale set in the legendary 90s indie NYC Mac repair shop TekServe--a voyage back in time to when the internet was new, when New York City was gritty, and when Apple made off-beat computers for weirdos. Our guide is Claire, a 19-year-old who barely speaks to her bohemian co-workers, but knows when it's time to snap on an antistatic bracelet. Tamara Shopsin brings us a classically New York novel that couldn't feel more timely. Interweaving the history of digital technology with a tale both touchingly human and delightfully technical, Shopsin brings an idiosyncratic cast of characters to life with a light touch, a sharp eye, and an unmistakable voice. Filled with pixelated philosophy and lots of printers, LaserWriter II is, at its heart, a parable about an apple.

LaserWriter II: A Novel

Humor & Entertainment

Humor

A colours book with no colours - instead, die-cuts to peek through and find them yourself This introduction to colours integrates the reader's surroundings into carefully considered die-cut silhouettes, providing children the space to visually experiment. Readers will gaze around the room through a cockerel-shaped hole in search of something red, through a sun-shaped hole for something yellow, through squiggly worms for something pink. Designed for the youngest readers, this sturdy board book features 12 die-cuts made to flip and carry on a colour-seeking mission. Inspired by the Whitney Museum's approach to looking at art, these books provide a new way to look at the world.

FIND COLOURS

Fulford, Jason

PHAIDON FRANCE

These Colours Are Bananas What colour is an apple? A dog? Grass? Young readers will be amazed by the range of possibilitiesWhat colour is a banana? It can be at least 25 different shades, according to this artful swatchbook of versatile subjects. An inversion of the way we typically look at colour, this book challenges readers' predispositions towards using a particular crayon for a particular object. 11 items are each presented alongside a grid of color ranges: the "apple" page features yellows, greens, and reds

These colors are bananas

Children's Books

Early Learning

A colors book with no colors ? instead, die-cuts to peek through and find them yourself
This introduction to colors integrates the reader's surroundings into carefully considered die-cut silhouettes, providing children the space to visually experiment. Readers will gaze around the room through a rooster-shaped hole in search of something red, through a sun-shaped hole for something yellow, through squiggly worms for something pink. Designed for the youngest readers, this sturdy board book features 12 die-cuts made to flip and carry on a color-seeking mission. Inspired by the Whitney Museum's approach to looking at art, these books provide a new way to look at the world.

Find Colors: Published in association with the Whitney Museum of American Art

Arts, Music & Photography

Phaidon Press

What color is an apple? A dog? Grass? Young readers will be amazed by the range of possibilities
What color is a banana? It can be at least 25 different shades, according to this artful swatchbook of versatile subjects. An inversion of the way we typically look at color, this book challenges readers' predispositions towards using a particular crayon for a particular object. 11 items are each presented alongside a grid of color ranges: the "apple" page features yellows, greens, and reds; the "egg" page a range of greens to grays; even "grass" is surprising, with suggestions of pink. The read-along text is playful and philosophical, poetic and factual… all towards expanding readers' assumptions. Inspired by the Whitney Museum's approach to looking at art, these books provide a new way to look at the world.
Created for ages 2-4 years

These Colors Are Bananas: Published in association with the Whitney Museum of American Art

Dig through the leaf pile in this collage-inspired book with see-through pages
Readers explore the concept of layering and collage with this interactive exercise in composition. Each clear acetate page features a single element in the leaf pile, though some are not leaves at all! As readers turn the pages, the leaf pile is deconstructed piece by piece on the right side, and reconstructed on the left. Younger readers will enjoy the seek-and-find aspect of the hidden objects, while older readers might experiment by adding their own images between the pages. A key at the back provides the names of each kind of leaf shown. Inspired by the Whitney Museum's approach to looking at art, these books provide a new way to look at the world.
Colors are brighter than they appear - printed in pure Pantones.
Ages 2-4

A Pile of Leaves: Published in collaboration with the Whitney Museum of American Art

Science, Nature & How It Works

View artworks from the Whitney Museum's esteemed collection in a whole new way - an interactive invitation to explore and discover
Unfold pages, lift flaps, gaze into mirrors, and interact with art like never before. Inspired by the many ways that art can be viewed and experienced, this book encourages children to spend time with a curated selection of fine art from the Whitney collection - and to dig deeper and consider all angles. Each artwork is showcased with a novelty mechanism and caption, for curious hands and wondering eyes.

Art This Way

In Arbitrary Stupid Goal, Tamara Shopsin takes the reader on a pointillist time-travel trip to the Greenwich Village of her bohemian 1970s childhood, a funky, tight-knit small town in the big city, long before Sex and the City tours and luxury condos. The center of Tamara’s universe is Shopsin’s, her family’s legendary greasy spoon, aka “The Store,” run by her inimitable dad, Kenny―a loquacious, contrary, huge-hearted man who, aside from dishing up New York’s best egg salad on rye, is Village sheriff, philosopher, and fixer all at once. All comers find a place at Shopsin’s table and feast on Kenny’s tall tales and trenchant advice along with the incomparable chili con carne. 
Filled with clever illustrations and witty, nostalgic photographs and graphics, and told in a sly, elliptical narrative that is both hilarious and endearing, Arbitrary Stupid Goal is an offbeat memory-book mosaic about the secrets of living an unconventional life, which is becoming a forgotten art.

Picador

A WIRED Pick for the 7 Books You Need to Read This Winter and one of Vox’s 11 Titles Not to Miss\nFrom the incomparable New York Times and New Yorker illustrator Tamara Shopsin comes a debut novel about a New York City printer repair technician who grows up alongside the Apple computer―featuring original designs by the author.\nLaserWriter II is a coming-of-age tale set in the legendary nineties indie Mac repair shop Tekserve―a voyage back in time to when the internet was new, when New York City was gritty, and when Apple made offbeat computers for weirdos. Our guide is Claire, a nineteen-year-old who barely speaks to her bohemian coworkers but knows when it’s time to snap on an antistatic bracelet.\nInterweaving the history of digital technology with a tale both touchingly human and delightfully technical, Shopsin brings an idiosyncratic cast of characters to life with a light touch, a sharp eye, and an unmistakable voice. Filled with pixelated philosophy and lots of printers, LaserWriter II is, at its heart, a parable about an apple.

LaserWriter II

Picador Paper

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Shopsin, Tamara. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Shopsin, Tamara

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Shopsin, Tamara. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Arbitrary Stupid Goal

LaserWriter II: A Novel

FIND COLOURS

These colors are bananas

Find Colors: Published in association with the Whitney Museum of American Art

These Colors Are Bananas: Published in association with the Whitney Museum of American Art

A Pile of Leaves: Published in collaboration with the Whitney Museum of American Art

Art This Way

Arbitrary Stupid Goal

LaserWriter II