W
e often assume that talent is parsimoniously
apportioned, particularly when it comes to the visual
arts, which include interior decoration. The possession
of one great talent might seem to require exclusion of
another. Tastemakers
are not always noted
for their brains, nor are
thinkers known for their
good taste. This is pure
prejudice: that thinkers,
followers of the word,
are ascetic, living in
garrets by inclination as
much as from necessity,
and that decorators,
conversely, are emptyheaded traders in style.
Yet a good writer—a
thinker—must be visual,
must have the power to
make a reader see the
things words stand for.
Hence the raison d'etre
behind the wonderful
volume reviewed here: American Writers at Home, with
biographical essays by J.D. McClatchy and sumptuous
photographs, all taken seemingly in poetic natural light,
by Erica Lennard.
HYLAND
