The Word Made Flesh: Literary Tattoos from Bookworms Worldwide

A beautifully packaged full-color collection of literary tattoos and short personal essays, The Word Made Flesh is an intimate but anonymous confessional book of tattoo art, in the vein of thought-provoking anthologies like PostSecret and Not Quite What I Was Planning. Gorgeous photographs and candid commentary are collected by authors Eva Talmadge—whose short story "The Cranes" was cited as Notable Nonrequired Reading of 2008 in Dave Eggers’ Best American Nonrequired Reading 2009—and Justin Taylor, author of Everything Here Is the Best Thing Ever, and editor of the acclaimed short fiction anthology, The Apocalypse Reader.

A one-of-a-kind collection for bookworms and tattoo lovers alike:

• Bookish Tattoos: From Shakespeare to Sylvia Plath, David Foster Wallace to J. K. Rowling, see beloved words and characters brought to life as intricate body art.
• The Skin Project: Go inside Shelley Jackson’s famous literary experiment—a short story published one word at a time on the bodies of thousands of volunteers.
• Stunning Photography: Dozens of full-color photographs capture the artistry and personal meaning behind every piece of ink.
• For Fans Of PostSecret: This intimate and thought-provoking anthology collects anonymous, confessional stories, each one a permanent tribute to the power of a favorite book.

The Word Made Flesh: Literary Tattoos from Bookworms Worldwide is a guide to the emerging subculture of literary tattoos—a collection of more than 150 full-color photographs of human epidermis indelibly adorned with quotations and illustrations from Dickinson to Pynchon, from Shakespeare to Plath. With beloved lines of verse, literary portraits, and illustrations—and statements from the bearers on their tattoos' history and the personal significance of the chosen literary work—The Word Made Flesh is part collection of photographs and part literary anthology written on skin.