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It's getting gusty in here

Julius Knipl, Real Estate Photographer: The Beauty Supply District

Ben Katchor constructs a fragmented view of metropolis life in his
108-page glance at industry, product placement and obsession.

Knipl gives the reader a glimpse into the rise and fall of obscure
storefronts, the oddball goods and products they sell, and urban-dwellers
who love them. Ornamental Avenue, the Beauty Supply District, the Misspent
Youth Center and Burger Pyre are among the locations visited by Knipl during
his day-to-day business.

Katchor opens with the tale of a publisher who overestimates the
marketability of a prestigious avenue composed of unusual and absurd establish-
ments. The publisher stocks a warehouse with postcard sets that memorialize
Ornamental Avenue. The postcards display photographs (presumably shot by
Knipl) of places
like the Munici-
pal Birthmark
Registry, the
Heating Pad
Institute and the
National Rectal
Thermometer
Observatory. In
Knipl's world
these places are
not bizarre.
While these
places might
arouse the
curiosity of the
reader, they are
of no interest to
the publisher's
customers. "I
oversetimated
the picturesque
quality of the
location," the
publisher says.

This sets