07.21.05
A Brief History of the Smile: Day 1
I started reading A Brief History of the Smile by Angus Trumble last night. I’m really enjoying it (of course, how can you read about smiles without smiling?). It’s facinating to hear about the different types of smiles, different views on the subject, different cultural ideas about smiling, different psychological ideas, even how dentistry influences it. Did you know that President Cleveland had most of his jaw removed during his second presidential term? Neither did I. But he did. They kept it secret. Isn’t that interesting? I love learning strange things like that and this book is full of them.
I really like the emphasis on smiles in visual art (paintings and sculpture, primarily) and literature. It shows interesting trends (like a strange Victorian facination with teeth). I’m only a little ways into the book, but I’m loving it and can’t wait to keep reading it!
Expect more posts about it in the future (unless I finish it tonight or something).
Katie