[The auction for this Significant Object, with story by Charles Ardai, has ended. Original price: $1. Final price: $20.50. ] The telegram arrived too late. The morning mail had brought the box, wrapped in a double thickness of brown paper … Continue reading
[The auction for this Significant Object, with story by Stephanie Reents, has ended. Original price: 50 cents. Final price: $33.00. ] 1. The transparency of glass is cruel. 2. When the beige palm of the sky descends, there is no … Continue reading
[The auction for this Significant Object, with story by Ben Katchor, has ended. Original price: 50 cents. Final price: $42.] This beautiful, but slightly worn, example of early 20th century porcelain “bookware” was manufactured and distributed free-of-charge along with newly … Continue reading
Aggregate cost of objects, sold so far: $82.39 Aggregate sales, post-Significance: $1,968.69. Coming up this week: Object Nos. 68 through 72 (of 100), with Significance added by Stephanie Reents, William Gibson, and others. Posting soon: Ben Katchor. Still on auction: … Continue reading
It occurs to me that you could set a table with the 16-odd items of dishware that our participating authors have so brilliantly and entertainingly significated. Here’s what such a table might look like. PLATES & SAUCERS The narrator of … Continue reading
[The auction for this Significant Object, with story by Matthew Klam, has ended. Original price: $1.99. Final price: $15.75. ] I acquired this object at a flea market in the parking lot of a bilingual high school. Its little hands … Continue reading
[The auction for this Significant Object, with story by Cintra Wilson, has ended. Original price: $2. Final price: $14.90.] Dearest Friend in Christ, As only you know, this is the trophy treasure I have won in great personal championship at … Continue reading
Think you can write a great 500-word story in which the item pictured above (a BBQ Sauce Jar) features significantly? You’ll get an opportunity to do so, soon. A well-known online magazine is going to judge a Significant Objects fiction … Continue reading
[The auction for this Significant Object, with story by Laura Lippman, has ended. Original price: $2. Final price: $45.01.] Her husband saved everything. He had a box, for example, of cigarette lighters, useless plugs taken from every car he had … Continue reading
[The auction for this Significant Object, with story by Margot Livesey, has ended. Original price: 10 cents. Final price: $33.77.] Lydia felt the unfamiliar weight even as she stepped over the threshold of Stacy’s flat, and when, in the hall, … Continue reading
[The auction for this Significant Object, with story by J. Robert Lennon, has ended. Original price: $1.99. Final price: $21.50.] The day after the day I turned seventeen, three weeks after the recital in which I received the award for … Continue reading
Aggregate cost of objects, sold so far: $77.07 Aggregate sales, post-Significance: $1,851.45 Coming up this week: Object Nos. 63 through 67 (of 100), with Significance added by Margot Livesey, Matthew Klam, and others. Posting soon: J. Robert Lennon Still on … Continue reading
Yesterday we published our 62nd story, and closed our 57th auction. I mention this because maybe you’ve been thinking the number of Significant Objects will be infinite, that this experiment will continue indefinitely. Neither of these is the case. There … Continue reading
[The auction for this Significant Object, with story by David Shields, has ended. Original price: 33 cents. Final price: $21.50.] The Mute World War II Airman ROYAL AIR FORCE (RAF) MEDICAL CHIEF All war pilots will inevitably break down in … Continue reading
Will our particular usage of the phrase “significant object” outlive the SO project? Might people browsing thrift stores, yard sales, and flea markets in the future pick up certain items and muse, “Hmmm… looks like a significant object.” And if … Continue reading
[The auction for this Significant Object, with story by Myla Goldberg, has closed. Original price: 50 cents. Final price: $36. ] This is not a toy. Only the young or the hopelessly commonsensical dip it into liquid soap, content with bubbles. Curl … Continue reading
[The auction for this Significant Object, with story by Stephen Elliott, has ended. Original price: $1.99. Final price: $4.24.] I bought these Hawaiian utensils, a wooden spoon and fork, while living in Alaska in the mid-eighties with my first wife. … Continue reading
Out of curiosity, we recently went through our list of published stories so far to see which 10 objects have sold for the most money to date. We long ago proved that this experiment works — the stories we’ve published … Continue reading
