Book description
The author of the irresistible Overheard series eavesdrops
across America, catching enticing slivers of conversations ranging
from the hilarious to the heartrending.
Imagine you're riding in a crowded elevator in New York City and
overhear two young women talking: "Her personality makes her
prettier." Or perhaps you're on the beach in Miami when the man
beside you confesses: "It would have been a completely different
life." Maybe you're lunching in Chicago when the lady at the next
table declares: "I don't have a cold. This is the way I look
without makeup!" If you're fascinated and intrigued, you're not
alone. With an unassuming camera and countless notepads, artist Judith
Henry has documented the hopes, fears, and real emotions that make
Americans tick.
Henry has been using overheard sentences and photographs in her art
since 1979. The author of Overheard at the Museum and
Overheard While Shopping has now traveled cross-country to
assemble Overheard in America, featuring more insights and
eye-openers by anonymous people from all walks of life. Henry has
always been a voyeur and an eavesdropper, hearing firsthand the
praises, complaints, joys, and heartaches of real-life people. In her
observations -- from Los Angeles to Chicago, from Miami to New York,
and places in-between -- she's heard Americans' daily quarrels and
hard-earned wisdom. On the beach or at restaurants, riding the train
or dancing at bars, Americans have unknowingly shared their most
beguiling and basic truths. Startlingly funny and starkly honest,
Overheard in America captures the wonderful essence of our
daily lives, offering a coolly unaltered portrait of America today.
Judith Henry's art has been exhibited
internationally in New York, Barcelona, Buenos Aires, and London,
among other places. She also designed works for the Museum of Modern
Art in New York. In 1997, her book, Anonymous True Stories, was
published. She also has authored Overheard at the Museum,
Overheard While Shopping, Overheard in Love, and
Overheard at the Bookstore. She lives in New York City.
