Chapter 4, “The Counterpane,” is shorter – about 10 minutes – and it’s read by the first American to join the “Big Read” crew: Caleb Crain, who wrote the chapter entitled “The Early Literature of New York’s Moneyed Class” for Bryan’s and my Cambridge Companion to the Literature of New York City. For more about “The Counterpane,” see my post over at Patell and Waterman’s History of New York.

The illustration for today is appropriately layered, given the subject of the chapter. It’s a photo by Zen Sekizawa of a bed by Pae White courtesy of courtesy of the gallery neugerriemschneider in Berlin. The title of the object is California King (2006; 83 inches tall x 78 inches wide x 88 inches deep; material: Baltic birch plywood). Visit the site for a higher resolution image.

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