The Table of Contents of Jane Smiley’s 13 Ways of Looking at a Novel: 1) Introduction 2) What is a novel? 3) Who is a novelist? 4) The origins of the novel 5) The psychology of the novel 6) Morality and the novel 7) The art of the novel 8) The novel and history 9) The circle of the novel 10) A novel of your own (I) 11) A novel of your own (II) 12) Good faith: a case history 13) Reading a hundred novels. A good list, possibly a nominee for Design Observer’s next book of Contents? Speaking of Design Observer and “13 ways,” see Michael Bierut’s post on “13 Ways of Looking at a Typeface,” from 2007. We get this little formula, of course, from Wallace Stevens’s haunting poem “13 Ways of Looking at a Blackbird,” where the specifically 13 ways of looking, an unlucky number, create a sense of unease as ominous as the sight of the blackbird itself. When you Google “13 ways,” Stevens’s poem is still the first result. Bierut’s post is close behind. Also there is an article titled “13 Ways to Promote Your Next Blog Post.” Number 8 on that list is “Followup posts.” Maybe I should do a followup post that lists all the different 13 ways we have of looking at something. Update: Mark Larson is already off to a good start.