Buried deep within all the weirdness and perfection and magic of Eileen Myles’ Inferno is a line in which Myles casually mentions her fantasy totebag: “The bag I wanted was beyond reason — something to hold my poems, twice as big as the universe and it must be androgynous.” That does sound perfect! Too bad for all of us that it doesn’t exist. OR DOES IT??!
In a moment of inspiration, OR Books, who published Inferno, decided that fantasy could be a reality. According to Fernanda Diaz, OR’s publicity manager, “After a brilliant find by our production manager, Courtney, of a line in Inferno about Eileen’s perfect tote bag, we decided to actually make it, and include the line on the bag.” It is everything we might dream for it to be.
Aside from broadcasting a love of both practical carry-alls and Eileen Myles, this bag seems like it would be excellent for carrying more Eileen Myles books, sandwiches, umbrellas, knitting, secret lockpicking kits, maps to hidden treasure, your wallet, a dummy wallet in case you get mugged, slugs to sell in the subway, your laptop, your poetry notebooks, oranges or other citrus fruit, Triscuits, a pack of cards, chewing gum, ibuprofen, your diary, a hairbrush, and possibly a bunny or small dog if it’s very well-behaved. It’s twice as big as the universe; you can put pretty much anything you want in it.
The bags are available now at OR’s online store, and also made of 100% recycled cotton. (Also, they sell books there. So, you know, if that’s something you’re into.)
Ugh, this is so perfect. I highlighted that part in my copy of Inferno. I’d like to think that the makers were somehow miraculously unbelievably inconceivably aware of that fact. Somehow.
I sure do see that Jeanette Winterson reference!
i need this.
also, i am reading Inferno for the first time ever right now.
Me too!!!!
Yes definitely a bunny could fit in that tote with those other things. Good call.
oh my gaga. this is going to be mine.