News

Book T-Shirts or Literary T-Shirts?

book gifts book jerseys book shirt book shirts book-lovers t-shirt edgar allan poe gifts for readers literary t-shirt literary t-shirts novelist t-shirt book t-shirt poetry t-shirt poetry t-shirts t-shirts for readers shirts about books t-shirt t-shirts for book-lovers the writer t-shirt

At Novel-T, we like to think of our shirts as "literary t-shirts" or "literary t-shirt jerseys" or "literary jerseys." But there are many who prefer a simpler a name: "book t-shirts"--or even the super-succinct "book shirts." The appellation "book t-shirts" has its merits. It's simple in just the way that the best writing is: straightforward and succinct. There's no haughtiness there.   But some of our shirts are not "about books" so much as they're about authors.  Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn each appear in two books each. Still, we suppose they are book t-shirts. But our Poe shirts are...

Read more →


Hester Prynne T-Shirt: Hester Prynne the Puritan, Pearl Prynne the American, & Roger Chillingworth with the Wampanoag Indians

american literature hawthorne t-shirt hester prynne hester prynne t-shirt huck finn huckleberry finn literary t-shirts pearl pearl and sin roger chillingworth indians scarlet letter scarlet letter t-shirt sin thanksgiving twain and hawthorne

It's nearly Thanksgiving, and as our thoughts turn to pilgrims and American Indians, we also think of Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter.   It's true that Hester Prynne's story is in many ways a symbol of the problematic nature of a rigidly moralistic society--particularly as becomes subject to its own myriad hypocrisies, inspired by collective feelings of guilt and moral superiority.  But Prynne's story seems to us as also a richly nuanced and complicated fable of the birth of the United States, a kind of unruly bastard child born of romantic rule-breaking, manifested as defiant passions. (How much does that...

Read more →


Henry David Thoreau T-Shirt with Walden Cabin

henry david thoreau t-shirt henry david thoreau transcendentalism literary t-shirt thoreau jersey thoreau t-shirt thoreau tee transcendentalism t-shirt walden pond walden pond t-shirt walden t-shirt

One of our personal favorite Novel-T's is the Henry David Thoreau t-shirt jersey with a drawing of Thoreau's cabin from Walden Pond on it.  We hope simple, naturalistic design reflects well some of Thoreau's guiding principles, even as overhanging leaves cast their shadow against the bright sunlight on the cabin.    We heartily recommend a trip up to Walden, Mass, next time you have a little time on your hands.  On the opposite side of the pond from where Thoreau's cabin once stood, a conservation society has erected a close replica of the original. While some of the details inside...

Read more →


Dave Eggers T-Shirt, and an Introduction to the 826 Project

826 nyc dave eggers dave eggers literary t-shirt dave eggers t-shirt dave eggers ted talk dave eggers video donations eggers tee shirt hbwosg heartbreaking work of staggering genius heartbreaking work of staggering genius t-shirt literary t-shirt literary t-shirts stapler

Novel-T couldn't be prouder to offer our Dave Eggers t-shirt, officially licensed by Dave.  It features the illustration of a stapler that he drew for the introduction of A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius.  A dollar from each shirt, as from almost every shirt we sell*, is donated to 826 NYC, a non-profit after-school creative-writing tutoring program based in Brooklyn, which Dave helped found.  (Hence the 26 on the back of the Eggers shirt.) The 826 project started in San Francisco with 826 Valencia, then 826 NYC opened, and since then tons more have cropped up all over the country....

Read more →


The Kurt Vonnegut T-Shirt: You Are a *

kurt vonnegut t-shirt shape of stories vonnegut vonnegut t-shirt

Novel-T's Kurt Vonnegut t-shirt is a great way to celebrate one of America's great writers.   The front of the shirt features the shape that Vonnegut drew to describe, uhh, well, you know.  It's Vonnegut's own drawing. Check it out here. Speaking of Vonnegut and shapes, here's a video we love: Kurt Vonnegut on the Shapes of Stories

Read more →