“I got the idea for the format of Bon Bon Mots about two years before I actually made the book,” says Julie Chen. “In my mind’s eye, I could clearly see a collection of intimate, confectionlike book-objects. They would be so appealing that the reader could not resist holding each one in his or her hand and reading the contents. This, I thought, would be the perfect way to present contents that might not be so pleasant after all.”

“Among the ‘sweets’ in the confection box are a phrasebook of social graces and a calendar recording each day’s guilt and worries. The texts mix sadness and sweetness in equal proportions.”