Hello,

The Impatient Reader is my ultra-short writing about art and other things. For most posts, the word count is included in the title, so you know what you’re getting into.

Some people find the notion of impatient reading to be distasteful, and I understand. When I tell people the name of the blog, depending on their expression, I sometimes quickly add, “I have read Bleak House!” But I also tend to impatiently skim past whole sections of online articles, and I assume I’m not alone in that. And in addition to Dickens (and George Eliot and Lawrence Sterne and Donna Tartt, etc.), I also love the short writing of Montaigne, Kalil Gibran, James Baldwin, E.M. Forster, Benjamin Franklin, and many, many others. So this is really not so much about impatience, but about making every word count.

In 2024 I wrote the MFAH 100, a personal tribute to my childhood museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, in honor of their 100th anniversary. I wrote 100 words on 100 works in 100 days. It was published as a book by the museum, and there are still a few copies of the paperback available here.

My current project is The American 250, featuring objects made by Americans, located in America, in honor of the country’s 250th anniversary. 250 words on 250 objects from January 1 to December 31, 2026. Subscribe for free, and get weekday emails featuring a wonderful, weird, beautiful and/or interesting American object this year!

I’ve been writing about art in Houston for more than 25 years. I founded Glasstire, the online journal of visual art in Texas, back in 2001. ​ More about me, and older work, here.

Please feel free to get in touch:
Rainey Knudson, P.O. Box 66281, Houston, Texas 77266, USA
Email: rainey [at] raineyknudson.com

It’s a beautiful old universe, and I feel lucky to be a part of it. Thanks for reading.

Rainey