Good Magazine has created a super-cool interactive map of history's greatest journeys. Sure there's Lewis and Clark and De Soto. But there's also Kerouac's ON THE ROAD, Ken Kesey's ELECTRIC KOOL AID ACID TEST trip, and even the Voyage of the Pequod. (Via).
Flatsigned Celebrates Itself
In one of the most blatant displays of hubris in the annals of bookselling, the notorious Tim Miller of Flatsigned.com is celebrating his 10 year anniversary by issuing a press release for the ages.Here are some nuggets:on his business name- "Coined by legendary horror writer Stephen King, the term FlatSigned refers to the most desirable type of collectible book." Not.on how he got started-One of his friends told him "he could make money by getting books autographed and reselling them. At the time, the film version of John Grisham's novel "The Firm" was being filmed in Memphis, where Miller served...
Book Defense
Gary Frost, one of the most ardent "book" supporters out there, says this in his recent post, "drm sturm und draug":"A given book[s] content can be rendered on any number of devices and any screen based device can render a number of contents. With a paper book a given content is captive in a single reading device and there is little opportunity of transmission of the work from one device to another."It is this fact that allows people to have relationships with books. Its singular purpose allows a direct connection that is extremely hard to duplicate with an electronic device....
André Kertész: On Reading
Academie Française, Paris (man on ladder reading). 1929For 50 years photographer Andre Kertész took pictures of people reading. His seminal book On Reading presents a series of these photographs taken by Kertész in Hungary, France, and the United States. It was first published in 1971, in New York, by Grossman Publishers and has recently been reissued by W.W. Norton.New York (boy eating icecream on pile of newspapers), October 12, 1944On Reading captures "readers in every conceivable place—on rooftops, in public parks, on crowded streets, waiting in the wings of the school play—are caught in a deeply personal, yet universal, moment....
Sanctioned Forgery : Publisher Recruiting People to Sign Books For the Author
(click on image to enlarge and enjoy)Gawker is reporting that an unnamed publisher has placed an ad on Craigslist in Los Angeles recruiting individuals to ghost sign copies of a newly released book.They are looking for 14 forgers and will pay $25 per each 200 books signed. The applicant "will need to be able to copy the look and style of both author's signatures"As one comment on the Gawker post states "The fact this outfit was recruiting in West Hollywood suggests the ad was being pitched to junkies and pillheads proficient in forging prescriptions."and I was waiting to see how...