Ode To Public Benches | Escape Into Meaning
Vložit
- čas přidán 14. 08. 2022
- MY BOOK IS OUT NOW! GET IT HERE: bit.ly/3qJEbHT
BOOK FAQS:
Will the book be sold internationally? Yes, Escape Into Meaning should available for shipping to most places around the world where English-language books are sold. Amazon is your best bet, but local retailers can also order books from abroad (may just take a bit longer). I don’t have a full list of where it’s available, and I don’t control this in any way, so I’m sorry if you can’t get the hardcover where you live.
Will the book be translated into other languages? Escape Into Meaning is only available in English for now. Translated versions usually don’t happen unless there are significant sales. If this book gets translated, that means something went really right, but we won’t know that for some time. If there are going to be translations, I will let you know as soon as I do.
Is there an audiobook, and do you read it? Yes, there is an audiobook, and yes I read it (which was such a thrill to do). It is available on Audible here: adbl.co/3birfo9 And it’s also available from other platforms, all of which you can find at the Simon & Schuster master link: bit.ly/3cGnr0f
Will you be doing live events for Escape Into Meaning? Yes! I will be doing 2 in-person events. One at The Strand in NYC. Tickets here: bit.ly/3OOAOJf And I will be doing another at The Grove Barnes & Noble in Los Angeles. Tickets here: bit.ly/3cSjPIG
These will be the only live events I’ll be doing. I’m sorry if you don’t live near these cities - but I will be doing a livestream event that will be available for everyone. When I have the link and details for that, I will share it with you.
I will update this as more questions come in. Thanks!
ISBN 978-1-9821-6395-2 - Zábava
BOOK FAQS:
*Will the book be sold internationally?* Yes, Escape Into Meaning should available for shipping to most places around the world where English-language books are sold. Amazon is your best bet, but local retailers can also order books from abroad (may just take a bit longer). I don’t have a full list of where it’s available, and I don’t control this in any way, so I’m sorry if you can’t get the hardcover where you live.
*Will the book be translated into other languages?* Escape Into Meaning is only available in English for now. Translated versions usually don’t happen unless there are significant sales. If this book gets translated, that means something went really right, but we won’t know that for some time. If there are going to be translations, I will let you know as soon as I do.
*Is there an audiobook, and do you read it?* Yes, there is an audiobook, and yes I read it (which was such a thrill to do). It is available on Audible here: adbl.co/3birfo9 And it’s also available from other platforms, all of which you can find at the Simon & Schuster master link: bit.ly/3cGnr0f
*Will you be doing live events for Escape Into Meaning?* Yes! I will be doing 2 in-person events. One at The Strand in NYC. Tickets here: bit.ly/3OOAOJf And I will be doing another at The Grove Barnes & Noble in Los Angeles. Tickets here: bit.ly/3cSjPIG
These will be the only live events I’ll be doing. I’m sorry if you don’t live near these cities - but I will be doing a livestream event that will be available for everyone. When I have the link and details for that, I will share it with you.
I will update this as more questions come in. Thanks!
Thanks for the FAQ! Are there any plans for a softcover version? I would buy it on the spot!
I brought the hardcover here in Brazil on Amazon. And with free shipping.
Will be a challenge for me to read in English.
Hi Nerdwriter! There's a French Graphic called, "Park Bench" by Christophe Chaboute. I'd really like it if you'd give that Comic a Read as it deals with alot of Similar subject matter that you've mentioned in your essay.
I get the same feeling from bike trails in rural areas. It's something that only exists to make peoples' lives better, it's purely a public good
niche nonsense fits the content of this video
As a landscape architect, this is exciting to hear being described so accurately. Its a spot on description outside the technical language generally used within the built environment and I'm so happy people like yourself have identified public benches as a crucial part of the urban realm.
you seem to love what you're doing, that's pretty cool man
A little late to this video but I’m a landscape architect too! I’m actually weighting my thesis now about reimagining the landscape bench! Love this stuff
25 years ago, when I was an art school grad student, one of my instructors' favorite subjects was park benches. He travelled the US and Europe to photograph benches at those hours when no one was even around to use them. The photos were lonely, solitary, contemplative spaces. His act of capturing these places reminded me that not all art has to be full of symbols, meanings. It could also be a place to rest.
It is a rest within meaning though. I'm struggling to explain it, but sitting on a bench vs eating some delicious pancakes are two things you could do to "rest", you do them without constant thoughts, with empty head, but the bench still feels different from the pancakes. It's less active, it's contemplative even if nothing goes through your head. There are different kinds of "rest".
I don't listen to audiobooks, I am a physical-copy-of-the-book person. But its your book with your voice that I am excited to listen to!
Yes! He has an amazing voice.
Same here!
Being a huge Jim Jarmusch fan, I can not describe how joyfull it was to hear these thoughts about such an ordinary thing like this. That was absolutely beautiful.
It's easy to overlook how powerful public benches can be. I can't wait to find out what other meanings I can discover and escape into through your book!
Beautifully written Evan!
Just a quick shoutout to this channel. My favorite Nerdwriter essays are on art and "The Canvas" is a treasure trove of similar high-quality and thought-provoking content that I accidentally found a few months ago. Bravo to both The Canvas and Nerdwriter!
This reminds me of A Pattern Language, a book about town architecture, and of Strong Towns, a book about how to encourage towns to grow at a human scale. Both have given me a perspective that helps articulate why we feel so impoverished.
Wow, I never knew I could be this excited for a bench, a video about bench that feels poetic.
I am usually amazed by the location some benches have. They are designed to let you pause while enjoying a beautiful city corner or a immersive landscape.
Honor to the people that select those places
You know what? You perfectly described your channel. This channel is the bench.
Totally resonate with this. There's something beautiful about becoming invisible and just, well, being in the moment.
The commodification of the public space has meant that the poor, especially the poor urban youth, have few places to congregate than the park bench. Make a bit too much noise and the cops get called, sending you home. And then we wonder why daily screen times are so high.
This made me think of forest gump and how for the entirety of the film he tells his story to strangers sitting on a public bench, waiting for the bus.
Working in NYC, I've never taken the time to sit on a bench, always hurrying to the next destination.
Think I'll take the time today to sit down for a while and take a break.
I love this excerpt about bench. This is well-thought.
Nerdwriter is the best video essayist on the platform, always
Hey I like your cool videos.
I’ve been living in NYC for the last few months, and you’ve put my exact thoughts on the city into words. Amazing.
As a bench fan (I run tours of them) and also being neurodivergent, I loved the bit about the invisibility cloak. Obviously, I've associated benches with accessibility but maybe not with the sort of solitude (whilst still being embraced by the city) that I sometimes need when it's all too much input. Thanks for this!
MOOD, I am exactly the same
I rarely look at the eyes of people I'm talking too, but I enjoy people watching when 'invisible'
This video just made me wanna buy the audiobook!
The way you interpret your own writing gives more dinamism and a bigger dimension on what you mean.
Always loved that on your videos!
I'm Brazilian, so since there is no Portuguese version (yet!), I guess this audiobook shall be a good way to train my English as well.
That was nice, thank you. Anything that can make me re-examine the things and world “I know” is greatly appreciated. Even the most mundane and inanimate objects can take on deeper meanings with proper context.
This really articulates the kinds of feelings i have when wandering the city on psychedelics
I too like public benches... when they are not being fucked with by asshole city planers who ether remove them outright or replace them with hostile architecture.
I like this vid, it emphasized a small unnoticed object to seem as important as the people who sit on them
Reminds me of Vivian Gornick’s observations on the city and its pulse. Loved it, congratulations!
I'm going to NYC for the first time next month and can't wait to sit down at a bench, eat a slice and people watch.
Great video I've loved parks and benches. Thanks for bringing them to life
This is so beautifully written!
This is an excellent video. I say this as a compliment: It feels like a John Green "Thoughts from Places" vlogbrothers video.
Pre-ordered the audible version so excited!
Wow! A whole ad video, just for us! Yaaay!
Maybe you can get trampled in NYC, but generally speaking walkable cities are good for small businesses because it's easy for things to catch one's interest and make them wanna go inside and buy something.
@Nerdwriter, Some of my FAVORITE videos are yours!!
Your essays on Sherlock, Lord of the Rings, The Prestige etc. are my all time!! Please keep up more videos like these!
Thank you. I’m looking forward to getting my copy
I preordered the Audiobook. Excited!
gorgeous little feuilleton piece
Wow. This spoke to me at such profound level. Going to order the book right now!
I‘m so hyped for your book, just 10 minutes before watching this video I told my wife about „the nerdwriter“ - she is not into English CZcams.
Best wishes from northern Germany!
Really excited to read your book.
this made me cry
One of your best videos.
Going to buy this book for sure.
yep I'm definately gooing to order this book now. These essays are even better in a written form!
Makes me feel like I’m listening to a moving RadioLab podcast. Man I love it
this is the best advertisement to a bench i’ve ever seen
Thanks for giving us a preview of your book.
I loved the excerpt. It is so well written😊! made me feel inspired
I honestly love public benches. I memorize a lot anywhere where I might be coming more often, or even just might spend some time. I know a bunch of fantastic benches in my city and sit on several specific ones either for just myself, for example to eat breakfast, or to sit down on with a date.
I sit on a park bench almost every day. I feed the birds. I watch the people. I feel recharged. I go home, smiling.
People watching is why I like getting to the airport super early. All of us are there for the same reason, yet we act differently within that limited, constrained space, we exist differently. We live differently.
I always love it when I catch the eye of another people watcher. Most often it's just a fleeting glance, perhaps tinged with embarrassment at being caught. Sometimes, an acknowledging nod is exchanged, and we return to our separate people watching.
In rare cases, the look goes longer. We observe each other as we observe each other, the layers of meta-observation rapidly snowballing. Then we start observing ourselves, as observers. In such situations I've sometimes struck up conversations, about people watching, of course, the exchange of perspectives literally allowing me to see our little shared world through different eyes, with different thoughts.
The observer's observation, observed.
this was beautiful! i really hope you touch on WHY public benches are on the decline, and the anti-homeless measures city governments take to ensure that people can't even rest on them if they need to.
I'm really looking forward to your book, Evan. Just got finished listening to your episode of The Create Unknown and plan on relistening at some point! It was so engaging and insightful, I took away more than I thought I would from a pod lol
Regular public bench installations my beloved
That was lovely ✨
I just bought your book… I’ve been watching your videos since, well my first video was “Lord Of The Rings: How Music Elevates Story” you made that video 6 years ago. Since then I haven’t missed an episode. Along with studying great essayists like Jim Harrison, Virginia Woolf, Lee Abbot, and Edward Abbey, I believe I’ve been studying what you have done here. Which is great, you have influenced me to understand art and become an artist myself. I can’t thank you enough. I’m excited for this book! Thank you for putting your art out here for us to consume. It’s worth, to me, more than you will ever know.
just preordered on audible! you hooked me!
Will definitely read the book ! This reminds me so much of Bertrand Russell’s essays 😊
Nice poem!
It made me think something I never tought before
Anonymity and people-watching are the reasons why benches have such an important role in the life of Assassins.
- Altair
This is amazing
Love that sly mask at 1:30
Loved it!
Wow! I really like this video, something surreal about it.
Okay this finally makes me want to buy the book
I had a hard time imagining your writing to work in a long book form but if it's more of those essays it's a different story
I'm looking forward to getting my hands on it!
Congrats on the release, about to be published author Evan Puschak!
Sending you all the love from Germany!
~You continue to amaze!
One of my favourite, if not my actual number 1 song is Something for Kates “Feeding the birds and hoping for something in return”. It works well with this logic of this video
I'm a little iffy on this. It may apply to certain cities around the world, but in towns it feels a bit different, especially if you're sat on your own.
I think it comes down to city culture, because towns are much smaller and more confined, you're a bit more aware of the people who are in your surroundings. Plus, people tend to be nosier in towns. If you're one guy, sat on a bench on your own, watching people, I think you stand out a lot more than you think you do, so somebody's more likely to question what you're doing. Cities are way more vast and full of people, so usually people tend to walk onwards and keep their head down. People on benches are things you already expect, so eye contact isn't that necessary, plus they could be a lot further away.
Can't wait
This past Thursday I was sitting on a bench in Columbus Circle in NYC with my younger sister eating quickly before the meter ran out where we were parked. It dawned o
Ahhhhhhhhh so excited for the book. Pre-ordering on Audible
Very nice!
Beautiful
“Mostly I’m just trying to make it through the conversation without embarrassing myself” this whole section hit home
This is very cool. Also, there is a whole Instagram culture around bench photos.
You know, it's truly astonishing that at no point has any city attempted to make their benches coin operated
well they are making them inoperable
also there was art piece dedicated to that with a coin operated bench
As Mr. Puschak stated in this essay, cities want to attract people without looking greedy (paraphrased).
Great! Great! Great!👏🏽👏🏽
Almost like someone should make videos of these essays!
The background music is very peaceful? Can you please share which music is it? Or this is something custom made?
Will all the essays from escape into meaning be turned into videos? I can't resist watching them, but at the same time I'd like to discover the rest of them by reading the book.
Really wish this book was available on Audible UK, but it's only on the US version... Audible UK and US accounts are completely separate. The book isn't even listed on Simon & Schuster UK...
Talks of people watching, shows benches facing the ocean or a vast nothing.
Anyway, ever been to Rotterdam? Many great places to people watch and actually a City that allows you to randomly pause in the middle of a street without getting trampled.
ugh too relatable
Nice!
amen!
Hollow Knight really captured the majesty of public benches
Brilliant
Giving me The Anthropocene Reviewed vibes and I loved that book
This essay in the book was near great, but for one omission. Mr. Puschak mentioned Forrest Gump without naming Forrest Gump. As I read the essay, I kept hoping for even a passing nod to Paul Simon's song "Old Friends/Bookends," which speaks of the "old men, sat on their park bench like bookends." But alas, it never came. "Ode To Public Benches " was nice nonetheless.
I've tried people watching at restaurants and festivals, but they always tend to reciprocate, often by locking eyes. People watching from public benches sounds like a good idea.
Nice.
There are many ways to view the hustle and bustle of city life. When it's dominated by a rush that revolves around "work," and something like a bench provides the only respite from a "stampede," I feel something is *wrong* with that way of life.
Preordered for myself and a friend last week. This is such a tease! Cannot wait.
I never realized how underrated public benches are...
Life is a bench !
Sublime.
Thanks, Evan! 🪑
Can recommend watching while sitting on a public bench.
Now I want to sit on a bench! 😄
Tomorrow, baby.
Tomorrow.
This is beautiful. Inspiring me to write a piece music to capture that special moment of stepping away. Song title “A Place to Be”?