DRINK A LOT OF WHITE WINE

New York: Kunst Editions, 1998. LETTER "Z" OF 26 LETTERED BOXES (of a total of 36 made). 203 x 330 mm. (8 x 13").
A fine rosewood box handcrafted by Bruce, Mark, and Frank Ginsberg of C. W. C. in St. Louis, Missouri, and filled with drinking accoutrements (see below). ◆In mint condition.

In 1998 Dutch experimental novelist Arnon Grunberg created 36 boxes full of paraphernalia connected with the ritual of drinking, of which this is the last, copy "Z." The contents include approximately 300 cardboard coasters, illustrated by the author with wine glasses, beer mugs, pizza slices, and so on, each with a short snappy phrase in Dutch and English below the illustration. But that is not all. There is a collection of plain corks, provided by Grunberg's wine supplier in California's Napa Valley, along with the flamboyant signature of Grunberg himself on the inside of the box cover, where we find the "colophon." This informs us that our set, as one of 26 regular ones made, is to be used for "home, garden, and kitchen entertainment" (as opposed to the first 10 sets, numbered in Arabic numerals, which contain six signed coasters). Last but not least, there is a plain white cotton napkin "used by the author during dinner.".