Bookshelf: This week it's Editor of Oyster Magazine, the lovely Zac Bayly

This is the bookshelf of the editor of my favourite fashion magazine Oyster Magazine. Zac Bayly has sent us his top five most inspirational tomes all the way from Australia! Oh, the beauty of the internet. As well as editing the good ship Oyster, Zac has written for other fashion powerhouses such as Dazed & Confused, Candy, Wonderland_, Love, and has even interviewed the likes of Thom Yorke – yikes! And he’s only 24 years old! Let’s see which books have inpspired him along the way…

Campbell, Reece, Meyers, et. al: Biology

I’m taking some time off at the moment, staying with my parents in Queensland for a couple of weeks. I found my old biology text book today while I was looking for something in the garage. It was kind of like my bible in high school. I thought I was going to study medicine and live like Frasier Crane. One day, when I was driving to university, I looked out the window, up at the heavens, and asked, “Am I really meant to be doing this?” And then I totalled my car. I took that as a sign and moved to Sydney and started an internship at Oyster.

Kafka: Metamorphosis & Other Stories

Metamorphosis is the best short story I’ve ever read — also the most terrifying. Turning into a cockroach is my greatest fear — that and stepping on a lobster at the beach. We had giant cockroaches at my house, when I was young (everyone does in Queensland), and they would fly up at me as I walked down the hall. I cried once when I stepped on one. Life’s tough when you’re afraid of one of the most common creatures in the world.

Aldous Huxley: Crome Yellow

This is one of my favourite books. Actually, I’m lying — I like Brave New World better, if only for the description of Linda’s grand entrance: “There was a gasp, a murmur of astonishment and horror; a young girl screamed… Bloated, sagging, and among those firm, youthful bodies, those undistorted faces, a strange and terrifying monster of middleagedness, Linda advanced into the room, coquettishly smiling her broken and discoloured smile, and rolling as she walked, with what was meant to be a voluptuous undulation, her enormous haunches.” Genius!

Dazed & Confused Voll II #68

I found this in a box today — it was the first magazine I ever bought! I was absolutely obsessed with the story by Brett Lloyd and Nicola Formichetti, the one featuring Josh Beech and Ash Stymest playing around in their underwear and jewellery. It made me want to cover myself in tattoos, but then I realized how much they cost and thought, “Next life.”

Oyster #103: The Hang Out In Real Life Issue

This is the first issue of Oyster that I edited. I really love it. Nabil did such a great job of the Frank Ocean and Iggy Azalea covers. Tim Barber, Michael Hauptman and Rene Vaile’s shoots are fantastic. And Max Blagg and JAMetatone’s stories are insanely good. It’s out now — go buy it!