The Word Made Flesh: Literary Tattoos from Bookworms Worldwide

Tattoos sometimes look neat on other people, but I’ve never wanted one for myself.  Add to that the fact I’m 100% too chicken to get a tattoo and there’s no chance of me ever getting inked.

But I’ve always liked looking at tattoos, wondering about the stories behind them, asking myself what could be so important that a person wanted to walk around with a reminder of it for the rest of their life.

Books + Tattoos?

An intriguing concept, to be sure.

The Word Made Flesh: Literary Tattoos from Bookworms Worldwide by Eva Talmadge and Justin Taylor shares photos and stories from dozens of people whose ink was inspired by a poet, a book, an author, etc.

Literary Tattoos doesn’t just share tattooed quotes, as one might think.  There are people who get book covers, images representing the story, and even an author’s face (!) imprinted on themselves.

Darn near fascinating is what this book is.  It’s the kind to be pored over multiple times.  I read Literary Tattoos straight through, but it’s the kind of book that can be picked up at random.  Each tattoo and accompanying story takes up no more than two pages.

If books were rated similar to movies, Literary Tattoos would be PG-13.  A couple pictures show a woman with no shirt, a hand over her breast, to showcase a tattoo directly underneath.  Another shows a woman with underwear slung low on her hips to show a tattoo running down her sides.

The majority of pictures feature tattoos in far more innocent places, though: arms, legs, back.

If you’d like a taste of what the book has to offer, visit TattooLit.com.

Are you inked?