Feeding the Fire: Spotlight on Books
This party seems to just be getting started, as Ann and I scramble to fill orders and begin to say goodbye to a ton of books. But there's still so much wonderful stuff left in the sale, that I thought I might spotlight just a few books, somewhat randomly...Like, this edition of Carnivale, a trade paperback novel with a great, rich cover design and those French flaps I love so much. A unique novel given a sumptuous treatment.
Or this crisp edition of Beerbohm's satires given to me by Eric Schaller, and now passing on because it's great but I'm never gonna read it again:
Here's another novel in the hardcover fiction sale section--one that probably few people have heard of, but that's quietly masterful. But I bought it because of the cover--and not just because of the cover, but because it had Brodart protection, and the book itself has a certain weight when you hold it. It's a narrow but long hardcover, and so it balances in your hand differently than most other books. I just love the color choices here, which are rich but muted enough that it's not like a carnival. Then, you open the book and you find that they've created an interior design that's clean and spacious while still controlled. One of the most readable books in our collection.
Another great interior, simple but perfect, from the signed limited section, the Edward Gorey-illustrated Light Metres...
Sometimes, cool stuff comes in very small packages, like this rare Ryden item in our limited editions section.
Er, disturbing and small packages, perhaps. That's about life-size, folks.
Sometimes there's a happy confluence between one of your favorite authors and one of your favorite imprints. In this case, I'm a big fan of Lovesey's contemporary detective series--and of Soho Crime's stylish editions, combined here in a handsome trade paperback also still available.
Other books, like this Manguel-edited (and classic) dark fantasy/magic realist anthology, seem more disturbed and disturbing the longer you look at the cover, and yet you can't deny how appropriate the image is...
Completely different in approach, and using typography, as one might expect, is The Mysteries of the Alphabet, in our coffee table book section. Inside, it's a bit like a Miro painting stripped of anything not essential, but with a kind of minimalist perfection.
Similarly minimalistic is another selection in coffee table books, even if it couldn't be more different in tone: photos of Nick Cave and his band on tour. A stark, simple approach so every page is just a frame for the photographs, no frills, but printed on really excellent quality paper, so that the materials do, in the best way, support the content.
Finally, something that manages to combine opulence and austerity at the same time. And something that until just a minute ago was NOT part of the sale because I'm an idiot and cut off coffee table books at "M". From the Tate Modern in London. Hardcover. Burgundy cloth-covered boards debossed with spider design and title stamped in silver on cover and spine; no dust jacket as issued. Sculpture and mixed-media works and text by Louise Bourgeois. Essays by Frances Morris, Marina Warner and Paul Hillyard. Includes a chronology and a bibliography. Designed by Anne Odling-Smee. Just gorgeous.
