Colin Robinson of OR Books with author Yoko Ono
Over elderberry and cucumber water and views of the Empire State Building, OR Books toasted author Yoko Ono and her new work Acorn at the Refinery Hotel’s rooftop in New York City this week.
The work is Ono’s first book in almost 50 years. It is a collection of short thoughtful meditations designed to pick up and read here and there for inspirations. “It is short enough that you don’t have to think about reading a whole page,” Ono told party guests.
For example, “Wish Piece III” reads:
Whisper your dream to a cloud.
Ask the cloud to remember it.
At the party, publisher Colin Robinson thanked Ono for choosing to work with the small publisher and Ono explained that the publisher was a good match for her book.
She said that the book was written for the Internet era, a time which she said has changed how people absorb media. The meditations from the book were originally generated from an Internet project that Ono worked on in the 1990s. (This is the first time that they have been collected into book form.)
She said that nowadays people can’t read a book from beginning to end because they are so used to Internet communication. “That is not a tragedy,” she explained. “A book will change its form. Acorn has already changed that.”