Norbiton: Outro

By: Peggy Nelson
September 30, 2021

And so we have come to the arbitrary end-station of Toby Ferris’ published Anatomy of Norbiton. Much like Norbiton itself, though, this boundary is only ever provisional and subject to future redrawing and reinterpretation. And as its instantiation of place exists most completely (outside of the central inhabitant’s head) in written form, it is not inappropriate that the station so-designated was Typographical:

NORBITON: IDEAL CITY is a place not so much of stones, of paving and brick and architecture, as it is of letters, of characters, of chiselled marks; in short, a place of words.

We hope you have enjoyed this well-lived exploration of Life, Examined; masquerading in plain sight as Life, Failed (The). And just as there is no memory palace that is not also created at its moment of recall, there is no city that is not built anew by the lived curlicues and interactions that participate in its daily construction.

TRISTAM SHANDY, CHAPTER XL

We encourage you to navigate over to the Anatomy to experience its full web-utopian realization; and to check out Toby Ferris’ other work as well, including Short Life in a Strange World, a weird and wonderful art-historical picaresque of seeking, as he terms it, “the Complete Brueghel-Object” through museums and mishaps and time and life.

We will cross-post any new entries to the Anatomy as they are walked, and written, into view.

Cross-post is a series of occasional other voices, featuring posts from selected blogs and other writings across the web: Toby Ferris graciously allowed the Anatomy of Norbiton to be cross-posted here in its entirety.

Anatomy of Norbiton on HILOBROW

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Anatomy of Norbiton
Short Life in a Strange World by Toby Ferris
Toby Ferris on Twitter
On the Paintings of Pieter Bruegel by Toby Ferris
Anna Keen portfolio

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