Narrated by Meryl Streep, and directed by Vivienne Roumani (a former librarian) Out of Print documents our ongoing transition from the printed age to the digital age.The film features interviews with many of the leading figures in the book universe from Jeff Bezos to Fred Bass, owner of The Strand bookstore. From authors like Scott Turow and the late Ray Bradbury to publishing leaders like Jane Friedman and academics like Robert Darnton.There will be a special screening of the film this month during the Tribeca Film Festival in New York City.Note: Click blue lines to play if play button not functioning properly.h/t Shelf...
Typography on Ice
Ice Typography is a series by Canadian artist Nicole Dextras that revels in impermanence.Dextras constructs provocative text out of ice, installs it on a wintry landscape and waits for Mother Nature to do her thing. For the "temperature determines how long it will take for them to change state from solid to liquid. This phase of transition becomes symbolic of the interconnectedness of language and culture to the land as they are affected by time and by a constant shifting and transforming nature."Dextras continues "The visual poetry in this series aims to subvert the authority of the English language and the...
The Smiths on the shelf
It seems like the taking of one art form and reimagining and repackaging it as another is all the rage these days. Christoph Gowan is probably the best known artist in this genre for his ongoing series The Record Book.Now thanks to Standard Designs in London I get to see how my favorite band looks in books. They have transformed the four studio albums released by The Smiths into shelf candy. Wow!and if you like some of the other influential bands of that time Standard Designs also serves up some Joy Division and New Order.Previously on Book Patrol: Christophe Gowans: One for The Record Books
Easter with Yeats
Easter, 1916. by W.B. Yeats. 4to, original bright green printed wrappers. Easter, 1916, the first publication of one of Yeats’ greatest poems, and the rarest of all of the poet’s publications.The Easter Rising and the Proclamation of the Irish Republic began on Monday, April 24, and lasted until April 30, 1916.Of the uprising Yeats wrote: The Dublin tragedy has been a great sorrow and anxiety. . . . I have little doubt there have been many miscarriages of justice. . . I had no idea that any public event could so deeply move me – and I am very despondent about the...
Goodreads gone….bad
viaNow that Amazon has swallowed up Goodreads it's safe to say most roads from the book social network universe now end in Seattle. With the exception of LibraryThing the rest are now wholly owned subsidiaries of the e-commerce giant.The only road left not ending in the Emerald City goes through Portland, Maine. Though Amazon, through their acquisition of ABE books in 2008, owns a minority interest, there is still plenty of independent light emanating from Tim Spalding and the LibraryThing crew.It was late in 2007 when I first started covering the then emerging book social network field. Being a bookseller, living in...