Got Ink?

January 15, 2016
Issue #391

If someone asked me to name my favorite books, four or five would immediately come to mind. So beloved are they, it wouldn’t surprise me if each title was etched on my heart, a permanent but hidden tattoo. Because I love books, they are a common topic of conversation, especially when I am trying to get to know someone better. What do they like to read? What books are etched deep within their being? It wasn’t until I met Jonathan Manfredonia, a book lover who has a goal to read all the classic “must-read” books written in or translated into English, that I encountered someone who dares to wear evidence of his most treasured titles for all to see. 
 
It started with a tattoo of an American traditional-style pin-up librarian reading a book, and a scroll honoring words by American journalist Russell Baker. Three years and about 13 hours of needlework later, the "sleeve" has become a permanent display of Jonathan’s love of reading. Each image was inspired by a favorite book and artfully transferred by Chris Spriggs of Rage City Tattoo in Spokane, Washington. It is a little like an I Spy game. In addition to the words Just one more chapter, careful observers can find

• three figs from The Bell Jar,
• an umbrella from The Unbearable Lightness of Being,
• an onion from The Brothers Karamazov,
• a pocketknife from Huckleberry Finn,
• a pitcher of molasses from To Kill a Mockingbird, and
• a green lightbulb from The Great Gatsby.

Whether our favorites are embossed on our hearts or on our sleeves, it is our deeply felt passion for literacy that will ignite a fire in the young readers in our lives. Many of them will discover, by spending a year with us, that books can make us laugh and cry. They can expand our thinking, teach us new things, and give us the world.

If I was brave enough, I might tattoo the pocket watch from The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo on my arm. How about you? What would your ink be?

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