{"product_id":"pitchers-of-american-life-ezra-shales-9781350386716","title":"Pitchers of American Life: Art Within Reach","description":"\u003cp\u003eGenerously illustrated, and richly woven with personal memoir, \u003ci\u003ePitchers of American Life\u003c\/i\u003e is a survey of pitchers, jugs, and drinking vessels, tracing their role as representative art and collective tool. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eToday, when many of our possessions are no longer tools that make us feel more human but less so, it is important to take stock of an everyday manufacture that does humanize us. The use and reuse of a communal tool can broaden our awareness of collective cultural dialogues, our sense of kinship, and our sense of the mystical sensation of coziness. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eEach of the 12 communal drinking vessels examined, from Ancestral Pueblo ceramic to Colonial Boston silver, and from a Victorian-era \"saloon\" jug to a Machine Age punchbowl, is interpreted as a prism of collective meaning, and negotiated as a distinct \"time capsule\". \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eReaders are encouraged to become archaeologists of their own everyday possessions, as Shales blends his interpretations with a personal excavation of his own family heirlooms of plastic and chipped earthenware.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Ezra Shales\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 1350386715\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9781350386716\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Bloomsbury Visual Arts\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 02\/19\/2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 288\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.00lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.69h x 7.44w x 1.00d","brand":"Ezra Shales","offers":[{"title":"Hardcover","offer_id":48089446088959,"sku":"9781350386716","price":100.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_417462b6-cfa6-4ca4-aa57-d0173d273d2b.jpg?v=1769110306","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/pitchers-of-american-life-ezra-shales-9781350386716","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}