"During the last 50 years, the conception and production of the book has evolved into an art form that exceeds all former standards for the book as object. Book arts have become a mature medium, and California artists and printers are leaders in the fine arts of the book," - Roberto G. Trujillo, head of Stanford Library's Department of Special Collections.Currently on view at the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University is the exhibit, The Art of the Book in California: Five Contemporary Presses. Featuring nearly 50 books the exhibit highlights some of the amazing book art and fine press work...
25 cent e-books: Unbridled success or just the nature of the Internet?
The numbers are in from Unbridled Books catchy 25 e-books for 25c promotion.For those who missed this one it was a partnership between Unbridled Books and the ABA (American Booksellers Association) in which independent bookstores across the country that where set up for e-book commerce could offer a range of books from the publisher for 25 cents each.During the three day event 145 independent bookstores sold a total of 15,807 e-books (this number does not include the e-books sold at Powells or other large shops that do not use the ABA e-commerce platform). Though acknowledging that the model is indeed...
The Knowledge Taxis of Cairo
Egyptians on the whole are not big readers. So what's a bookstore to do to try and help shift the cultural attitudes toward books and get people reading? Last year the ALEF Bookstores in Cairo came up with a brilliant idea. Since the streets of Cairo are in an almost continuous state of gridlock why not put books in the back of taxis so people can pass the time reading.The initiative, called “Taxi of Knowledge,” launched with 50 cabs, each carrying 5 books. Here's how it works:All the books for the program have been donated.The bookstore lends each taxi driver 5...
James Joyce: Then and Now
First Edition of Ulysses by James Joyce. Published by Shakespeare and Company in 1922The beginning of Ulysses as it appeared on Twitter June, 16, 2011. In honor of Bloomsday, the novel is being tweeted in 140 character increments @11yssesThis is not the first time the paths of Twitter and Ulysses crossed. In 2007, before Twitter was a household name, the folks at Booktwo.org tweeted the entire novel. It took 257 days! See more at our piece from Dec. '07, The Twitter Edition of James Joyce's Ulysses. Leopold Bloom The portrait of Leopold Bloom above is from Ulysses "Seen". A new...
Book App Review: The Waste Land
Welcome to Book Patrol's inaugural Book App Review. Here we will sample and review apps created exclusively for books or book-related themes.We kick off the series with a look at T.S. Eliot's The Waste Land for the iPad, a joint production of Faber & Faber and Touch Press.What is arguably the greatest poem of the 20th Century is now infused with the bells and whistles of what will or already has become one of the greatest technologies of the young 21st Century.Think of it as a Wikipedia entry on interactive steroids and then some. Not only do you get the...