The Oxen of the Sun

Marc Saporta's "Composition No. 1", published by Visual Editions

2012-01-22T18:08:00.005-05:00

Visual Editions, the folks behind Jonathan Safran Foer's Tree of Codes and a wonderful reprint of Tristram Shandy recently published a new edition of one of the foundational works of hypertext: Marc Saporta's Composition No. 1.

Composition No. 1 was originally published in France in 1962, and has a very simple, trailblazing characteristic: the "book" consists of 150 unbound pages stacked inside a clamshell case.

Further, Composition No. 1 can be read in any order! It features a handful of disparate threads revolving around a small cast of characters as well as some great abstract scenes with nameless people ("the nurse", "the secretary", etc.). These nameless characters fit in nicely with the loose plot, as they provide certain malleable developments depending on the order they are read and the stories the modify. It's a very fascinating read, and one that requires the reader to create his or her own experience.

Visual Editions did a great job with their reprint, which includes text-based artwork on the reverse of every page. Take a look:

Currently reading:
Ulysses by James Joyce
Parallel Stories by Peter Nadas
The Flame Alphabet by Ben Marcus

Currently listening to:
Jozef van Wissem, "Ex Patris"

James Joyce: Finnegans Wake first edition (uncut, slipcased, out of series)

2012-01-16T21:04:00.006-05:00

While I was at home for the holiday, I tried to take some pictures of some my most treasured books so I could share them with you here. My apartment in Brooklyn has a small amount of "risk" to it (our upstairs neighbor is prone to causing leaks through our floor) and I've decided most of my really valuable books are safer up with my parents until I line up some renter's insurance.

This book, above all others, is without a doubt my most dear. It is a first edition of James Joyce's Finnegans Wake, which was originally published in 1939 in a signed, slipcased edition of only 425 copies. Most copies of this book were pulped due to obscenity charges, and a true first is unfathomably difficult to find. It was bequeathed to me by my grandfather, who was a Joyce scholar by hobby and who was instrumental to my full appreciation of Joyce's brilliance when I first encountered his books in my late teens.

(I'm currently amidst another run through Ulysses, this time guiding my fiancee through her first experience of the book. I've never had the opportunity to directly share Ulysses with anyone before and it's such a fun time.)

So, let's take a look at Finnegans. This book's pages are still uncut (which is always interesting to see), and is in very good condition considering its 75 years of existence.

(I see now my photos are a little limited in angles. Next time I'm in Massachusetts I'll see about getting some more pictures taken).

What's especially interesting is the numbering on this edition. This copy is actually unsigned, and marked "Out of Series". But, if you look closely, you can see it actually had a number (23?) and was erased. Considering copies of this book likely went to notable collectors and scholars at the time it was released, it's a mystery why one would want an unsigned copy and the numbering suppressed.

Perhaps the numbering is a way to link the original owner to the numbered edition (i.e., "copy 200 went to Jeff @ Oxen of the Sun blog"), and by keeping this book "out of series" the owner can no longer connected to such a scandalous book.

Fascinating. I dream of somebody digging through files to find out who the original owner was, but I imagine that would be years and years of research. If there are any Joyce scholars out there who might be able to pass on any clues, please send them my way.

Currently reading:
Ulysses, by James Joyce
Parallel Stories, by Peter Nadas
Men in Space, by Tom McCarthy

Currently listening to:
"Ravedeath 1972" by Tim Hecker

SHIRO: Wit, Wisdom & Recipes from a Sushi Pioneer (Chin Music Press)

2012-01-09T22:21:00.005-05:00

Happy New Year, everyone! Hope all your holidays were as enjoyable as mine--I was able to spend some time outside of the city with my parents in Massachusetts, and then some pleasant days off around the first of the year in Brooklyn. Some exciting books were gifted my way, some of which will likely be featured here later in the year.

The fine folks over at Chin Music in Seattle sent a book my way just before I left for the holiday. I always tell myself that I don't HAVE to cover whatever publishers may send me, but Chin Music still consistently wows me with their design and their impressively forward-thinking editorial decisions. So, to start the year off, I'm very happy to share with you a cookbook-memoir hybrid called Shiro: Wit, Wisdom & Recipes from a Sushi Pioneer.

Shiro tells the story of Sushi Chef Shiro Kashiba, who settled in Seattle (from Tokyo) in the mid 60s and pioneered the sushi boom in the Pacific Northwest. The ex-pat story at the core of Shiro is a fascinating, heartfelt read, and will remind readers how sincere and inspiring a cooking memoir can be. Towards the end of Shiro, the book shifts gears and slips into the realm of cookbooks, providing steps to create proper sushi and recipes for some of Shiro's dishes like "Halibut Karaage with Ponzu Sauce".

One of the best things about Shiro is the absence of any superiority in Kashiba's tone when discussing the basics of Japanese cuisine. There are small one-paragraph sections on things like green tea, the proper use of soy sauce, the best knives to use for certain types of fish. Some of these things are really basics of Japanese food (green tea, for instance), but Shiro presents each facet with equal amounts of enthusiasm and joy that it's clear his knowledge comes from a place of passion. Shiro doesn't just educate, he shares, and it seems he's thrilled to have the opportunity to do so.

And lastly, and most importantly, is the superb book design. Just as Shiro's story is a love-letter to all things sushi, Chin Music's design celebrates the Pacific Northwest and Japan in all its graphic beauty. The book is loaded with photographs from Shiro's life, but also features countless little illustrative marginalia from Chin Music's designers. Not only does this make a delightful read, but also connects the book's disparate elements into one cohesive experience. Really nicely done!

Currently reading:
Parallel Stories by Peter Nadas

Currently listening to:
Ford & Lopatin with Shannon Funchess and Tamaryn 12" split

2011: A year in review

2011-12-23T21:39:00.004-05:00

In closing out the year, I thought it would be timely to weigh in on 2011 as a whole and compile a best-of list of sorts. It's been an exciting year in books for me...not only have some of my favorite authors come out with long-awaited new novels, I've had the opportunity to dig into some really esoteric independent publishers and geographically broaden my scope of world literature. A publisher I'd slipped away from has bounced back with two exceptional novels two years in a row and re-secured my interest in their output for the foreseeable future. And lastly, the annual literary prize circuit has continued to keep me busy, despite my better judgment. It's been a splendid year, though, and I'm looking forward to what 2012 had to offer. What I love about the literature horizon is that in all, there is very little hype over forthcoming titles. I can tell you a number of albums that bands are planning for 2012, but can’t really do that sort of thing with booka (you'll see below that most of my top 5 were completely unknown to me in 2010). Instead of anticipating, we're left to explore.

So, here we go: my top five books of 2011 in no particular order:

John Sayles, A Moment in the Sun

This book was somewhat of a game-changer for me and my relationship with historical fiction. This is the first book of history that I got truly lost in—Sayles’s style tapped into the parts of me that loves Pynchon and Vollmann and managed to sneak past a deeply illuminating history lesson under the guise of an epic novel. Sayles delves deep into the Spanish-American war and the Wilmington race riots and has single-handedly opened my mind towards other historical writing. And a final nod goes to McSweeney's, who had previously wowed me with Adam Levin's The Instructions—let's see if they can go three-for-three with another monstrous novel in 2012. I highly recommend the book! Those interested in a more thorough discussion of A Moment in the Sun can read my full review here.

Edouard Levé, Suicide

Suicide might be the best book I’ve read all year, but due to its tough subject matter it is practically impossible to gift or recommend. Suicide is composed almost entirely of short and dense poetic lines that begin with the word you (similar in form to Joe Brianard’s I Remember). Fragmented memories and heartsick accusations are thrown at the reader with such relentlessness that it's difficult to extract oneself from Levé's "you". No, the book is not written in second person, but addressed to a nameless character who suddenly shot himself before an outing with his wife. As the narrator tries to understand this death, we as readers are pulled in to try to understand ourselves and learn what could possibly provoke such drastic measures. To add to the novel's dolor, Levé himself committed suicide days after handing in his manuscript. The weight of his actions is inescapable, and permeates confounding emotions through each page of this novel. It’s a stunning, heartbreaking work.

Carol Birch, Jamrach's Menagerie

Jamrach’s Menagerie was one of the best things to come out of this year’s Booker Prize lineup. I’ve gone through the 2011 Booker in much detail in earlier entries, so I’ll hold off on reposting those thoughts here—but if you like nineteenth-century adventure novels, this blends together H. Rider Haggard and the Whaleship Essex into one outstanding read.

Anders Nilsen, Big Questions

I just did a recent post here on Big Questions, which not only discussed Drawn & Quarterly’s new omnibus but the 15 issues Nilsen created leading up to the story’s conclusion. It’s hands-down the best graphic novel of the year, and I hope this book gets stocked in every bookstore. Big Questions has the potential to be a gateway book for so many readers who are looking to delve into comics. I recently wrote a detailed review for about.com, which can be read here.

Roberto Bolano, The Third Reich

I’m a huge Bolano fan, and I think The Third Reich ranks among his best novels, up with the likes of 2666. It’s a different sort of book for Bolano—The Third Reich doesn’t attempt to change the literary landscape like 2666 and The Savage Detectives, but instead is just an enthralling, pitch-perfect novel about a German couple vacationing on the coast of Spain. Take a look here if you want to read more.

What have been some of your favorites this year? What are you looking forward to reading next year, old books or new?

I hope you all have a wonderful holiday. My sincerest thanks to each of you for reading my blog—while I’d like to think I’d continue writing even without an audience, your interest in The Oxen of the Sun is most often what keeps me motivated.

Currently reading/packed for Christmas holiday:

In Memoriam A.H.H. by Alfred, Lord Tennyson
Men in Space by Tom McCarthy
Parallel Stories by Peter Nadas

Project Japan: Metabolism Talks (Rem Koolhaas and Taschen)

2011-11-28T17:52:00.001-05:00

Today we'll take a look at Project Japan: Metabolism Talks, an exciting but esoteric new tome published by German luxury-publisher Taschen. It's fascinating to see how Taschen has progressed in the past few years. In most cases, it seems they're trying to refocus their books onto a broader, more general audience, and rightfully so--if they intend to open a growing number of bookstores, they'll need their shelves full of books they can easily sell. Perhaps they've traded their former, out-of-this-world quality and daring mindset with accessibility, but there is something admiral about spreading the appeal of a beautiful folio to those who'd normally never encounter such a thing.

Lately, I've been grumbling about the lack of covet-able books from Taschen. The excitement I have towards my enormous Ingmar Bergman book is nowhere to be found when I peruse their new book on Pedro Almodovar. The beauty that was 2009's MOONFIRE is not nearly matched by their new collector's edition on Marilyn Monroe.

But, then they slip this book out onto shelves: Rem Koolhaas and Hans Ulrich Obrist's Project Japan: Metabolism Talks. This is a dense, beautifully produced softcover compiling oral histories of Japan's Metabolist movement. There is so much to learn in this book's 700 pages-- with a mild interest in architecture and a ever-expanding interest in Japanese culture, Project Japan is doubly exciting for me. The book points an incredibly detailed eye onto the small group of architects and designers who had hopes of re-imagining the post-war Japanese lifestyle. With architecture these days unfortunately focusing on designer names and locations (though I confess I dream of moving into Richard Meier's slick Prospect Park building) it's incredible to see an era when architecture and design moved so closely in step with a nation's societal developments.

While the design of this book is really quite nice, at $60 I can't imagine many people will snag this one, as it doesn't have the beautiful spreads that many have come to expect from a Taschen book. I hope I'm wrong, though: this book is a reminder that the edgy Taschen is still at work somewhere. I think this is the most daring, unexpected book they've done all year.

This copy is signed by Rem Koolhaas from a launch event in New York City. Take a look:

Currently reading:
Parallel Stories by Peter Nadas

Currently listening to:
M83, "Hurry Up, We're Dreaming"

A post-1Q84 reading season

2011-11-04T14:48:00.005-04:00

Apologies for the delay in posting--much of my motivation in October was consumed by Murakami's new book 1Q84. I'm fascinated watching the reviews trickle in; this is certainly a book that will have fans divided. Most reviews, mine included, have been tepid at best. You can read my thoughts here:

Jeff Alford on Haruki Murakami's 1Q84

Admittedly, finishing 1Q84 and the above review feels like I've hung up a big albatross of contemporary literature. This weekend's NYT Book Review puts it very well, though--despite 1Q84's many shortcomings, much of it will linger with its readers.

One thing I'd like to point out is a link one reader left in the comments section of an old Murakami-related blog post. Jonas from Germany (thanks so much!) pointed me towards the special edition of 1Q84 that I wrote about a while back. Here's an image, and additional details on the whole set can be seen at the embedded link:

It's a stunning piece, and completely sold out. Perhaps still not quite worth the price, but the designers did an exceptional job.

So, what's next? I'll feature soon a great new architecture book by Rem Koolhaas and the new unbound book from Visual Editions. Below is a sneak peek of my books-to-read stack, which will be reviewed at about.com in the next month or so. Stay tuned!

Currently reading:
The Angel Esmeralda by Don DeLillo

Currently listening to:
Irma Thomas, "Breakaway"

Julian Barnes wins the 2011 Man Booker Prize with "The Sense of an Ending"

2011-10-18T21:14:00.003-04:00

As you may have heard already, Julian Barnes won the 2011 Man Booker Prize for his excellent novel/novella The Sense of an Ending. After a bit of reflection, this is without a doubt who the winner should have been. Sure, it's not the most fun title on the shortlist (that would Jamrach's, and I still stand by all my support of the book), but really, The Sense of an Ending showcases the most literary mastery of the lot. It's a book where every word counts, where every sentence is a tightly wound around a simple and devastating core.

Here's a signed copy of the first UK edition of the book. Take a look at the black edges--a well-placed design element that perfectly matches the book's somber tone.

And here's a shot of Barnes's surprisingly modest signature:

Those of you who were able to snag a reasonably priced signed copy ($20 for this one) will be pleased to know that these are fetching close to $150 dollars on eBay. Timing is always tricky with this sort of thing--too late and you might miss the rush, but list it too soon and you might not get as much money as you could.

-----

...it's been a strange Booker year. A lot of bad attitude emerged, and much of it, in my opinion, is from a reasonable place. The question of "readability" has come up with the suspicion that Booker judges have leaned towards this concept in lieu of true literary merit. When the longlist was announced, I felt this year's picks were similar to this rush of "mature" alternative and genre fiction that we've all endured these past few years in television and film. This was the comics-and-True Blood longlist... but as a fan of such things, I met these selections with open arms. Were these picks especially readable? Sure. But, do they represent the acme of literature from the British Commonwealth?

Well, I don't know the answer to this. As a US reader, nearly all these titles were new to me. I've deeply enjoyed following this list, and I think there's something to be said for that... but are these the best of the best? I've no idea. Since I'm not directly tuned into British literature, this is what I've got to go on... if it weren't for the longlist, it's likely I wouldn't have heard of any of these novels. The list of authors I've discovered through Booker nominations is pretty exciting: Sebastian Barry, Tom McCarthy, Howard Jacobson, John Banville... the marketing behind these guys is fairly minimal here in the States, so I'm very grateful to have found them through the various longlists they've graced.

This week, a new prize was announced called the "Literature Prize" and it hopes to counter the Booker by awarding "quality and ambition" over readability. Perhaps a little petty, but I see this new prize as nothing but a good thing--this will only spread the word of more great books that US readers might miss.

I don't really care to see whatever glaring difference there is between future Booker Prize and Literature Prize winners, because, as an avid reader, I have winners of my own. Last year, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet took my prize, and this year (despite Barnes's best efforts) that award goes to Jamrach's Menagerie. Because, really, all these awards are a matter of opinion and I surely have a few myself.

If there's anything to be upset about, it's over whatever titles are excluded from the longlist. This is where the real introductions occur, and where readers like me find new books.

Congratulations to Julian Barnes and The Sense of an Ending. I hope readers out there pick this one. Barnes deserves it. But I really hope Booker interest in the US doesn't end with that--I want to see Jamrach's and The Sisters Brothers out there just as much.

Currently reading:
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

Currently listening to:
The Marshmallow Ghosts S/T LP

2011 Man Booker Prize announced tomorrow

2011-10-17T21:14:00.004-04:00

Hi everyone, a quick post to let you know that the Booker Prize will be announced tomorrow. Just for fun (and maybe some money if I'm right...), my bets are on Carol Birch and her excellent novel Jamrach's Menagerie:

Stay tuned tomorrow for a post on the winning title! It might be a bit later in the evening, but in that delay I imagine I'll be able to see whatever Booker buzz there is on the secondary market.

Currently reading:
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

Currently listening to:
"Kangaroo" by Big Star

Haruki Murakami, 1Q84 US Edition (designed by Chip Kidd)

2011-10-16T17:42:00.003-04:00

Although it'll be all over bookstores in a few weeks, I thought I'd give you an early peek of Murakami's new novel, 1Q84 (which I've decided to pronounce in my head as "Q-teen eighty-four"):

The book was originally published in Japan in three volumes, the first two released simultaneously and the third volume a year later. In an interesting move, UK publishers are trying to recreate that gap by releasing Books 1 and 2 in a single volume and Book 3 separately a week later... but here in the US we get all three volumes in one massive, 950 page collection. It's better this way, but very tough to read on a crowded subway train!

So far, the novel is a great time. I won't go too deep into plot details (and save it for a full review at about.com) but the story is split between two protagonists and deals with a hitwoman, a teenage sci-fi writer, a doom cult, and little lilliputian monsters (or something).

What I would like to focus on is Chip Kidd's excellent jacket design. The dustjacket is made from a very thin, nearly-transparent paper. The "1Q84" on the jacket is printed in color, but underneath, the year is written in white. On the spine of the jacket, only the "1" and "8" are printed, leaving the actual spine of the book to only have the "Q" and "4".

Sounds so simple, but it makes a great effect, and one that very successfully captures the twinning, mirrored themes of the novel. Here's what the jacket and boards look like when they don't line up straight:

And another shot with the jacket almost removed:

Lastly, there's some craziness with the page numbering. One side of every page-spread has the title and page numbers printed backwards! Take a look:

While very cool, I find the numbering just a little bit frustrating. The backwards and forwards numbers change sides inexplicably throughout the book, sometimes in the middle of a chapter. If there is some reasoning behind this switching, please let me know! I'm so curious...!

1Q84 hits bookshelves on the 25th. Murakami fans, I wish you happy reading! I'm very much enjoying the novel and I'm sure you will too.

Currently reading:
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

Currently listening to:
Something on WFMU

REVIEW: The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides (with early artwork)

2011-10-10T20:05:00.006-04:00

My review of Jeffrey Eugenides's The Marraige Plot is online and can be read here.

One perk of being a reviewer is seeing early artwork. Here's another look The Marriage Plot ARC:

This one's a bit more geometric than the cover art that's in bookstores. They did away with the Venn Diagram, and replaced it with a big "Winner of the Pulitzer Prize" note. Both look pretty sharp, though!

Currently reading:
1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

Currently listening to:
The Afghan Whigs in Basel, 02-03-1994

Tomas Tranströmer wins Nobel Prize for Literature

2011-10-06T08:08:00.003-04:00

Swedish poet Tomas Tranströmer won the Nobel Prize for Literature this morning. I'm not a poetry buff, so his work is entirely new to me, but I did find online a lovely cover to an old poetry collection that I thought I'd share. It's always interesting when these awards come out, as I'm always reminded how worldly and non-American the Nobel is. I'll try to check on Tranströmer next time I see a good opportunity.

Anyone read any of his work? Any advice on where to start?

Currently reading:
My Two Worlds by Sergio Chejfec (Open Letter)

Nobel Prize for Literature, announced tomorrow

2011-10-05T22:41:00.004-04:00

I don't know about you, but my bets are on Peter Nadas for the Nobel Prize tomorrow. There's something about the forthcoming translation of Parallel Stories that has me captivated. I'd previously read his short work A Lovely Tale of Photography (published in English by the outstanding Twisted Spoon Press), and although I've got nothing else to judge him by, the quiet hum I'm sensing over Parallel Stories gives me a hunch it might be Nadas's year. We'll see tomorrow--I'll update again with the winner in the evening! Stay tuned.

Currently reading:
The New Moscow Philosophy by Vyateslav Pyetsukh

Currently listening to:
"Alligator" by The National

Anders Nilsen and the evolution of BIG QUESTIONS

2011-09-19T18:45:00.005-04:00

If you're a fan of literary comics, chances are you've seen the work of Anders Nilsen around. In my opinion, Nilsen is somewhat of a rarity in the comics realm, as his work is much more focused on text and ideas than on traditional comic values like artwork and format. This lean towards text puts Nilsen in this amazing place for crossover appeal; at times his work feels like reading a philosopher's notebook, a trait that would surely appeal to fans of heavy lit.

I got into comics well after I fell for literature, and Nilsen's Big Questions made that happen. Soon after an obligatory first purchase of Watchmen, I discovered the now-defunct "Holy Consumption", a Chicago-based comics collective consisting of Anders Nilsen, Paul Hornschemeier, Jeffrey Brown, and the terribly underrated John Hankiewicz. Nilsen showed me how close comics can be to literature, and opened up many doors for me to explore in the genre.

I feel very lucky to have found Big Questions early enough to follow the story serially. Having started in 1999, its remarkable to see how Nilsen's story evolves over 12 years--what begins with fairly crude drawings of philosophizing birds grows into a dream-like story about a undetonated bomb, a crashed plane, and the relationship between man and nature. What's most incredible is that Nilsen's skill as an artist grows exponentially as Big Questions progresses. As you read through the series, you get to watch Nilsen turn from a cartoonist into an artist, and by the end of Big Questions, his pen and ink work is truly breathtaking.

An early page:

A later page:

I'll save my real review for about.com (Big Questions is on deck between the new Eugenides and Murakami novels), but I'd like to show you how this comic grew from a xeroxed zine into a stunning, limited edition hardcover.

Here are issues 1-4 (each bought for about $3 from The Holy Consumption):

And issues 5-8 (now with full-color covers):

And issues 9-15 (where the story and design really hits its stride):

At last, Drawn and Quarterly have compiled all the issues of Big Questions into a beautiful, 600+ page tome. They did two editions at once, a paperback and a signed, limited edition hardcover. Here's the hardcover:

I'll post my review of Big Questions once it goes live on about.com. I strongly encourage you to seek out Nilsen's work. I hope this book gets a huge reception. Nilsen deserves it.

(Also, thought I'd point you to Nilsen's "picture store" here. I've wanted an original work from Nilsen for ages and thought I'd tempt you as well.)

Currently reading:
The Marriage Plot by Jeffrey Eugenides
Twin Spica by Kou Yaginuma

Currently listening to:
The soundtrack to "Drive"

2011 Boooker Prize shortlist

2011-09-06T07:55:00.004-04:00

The Booker Prize shortlist has been announced! A very interesting list, including four of the six titles I predicted last night.

The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt
Snowdrops by A.D. Miller
Pigeon English by Stephen Kellman
Half Blood Blues by Esi Edugyan

I read the first fifty pages of Pigeon English in a Barnes & Noble while killing a bit of time before meeting friends, and I truly doubt this one will win. It seems Pigeon English is this year's Room, a creatively narrated story but not much more.

So thrilled to see Jamrach's up there! Whether or not it wins, I hope more people read this one.

Currently reading:
Snowdrops by A.D. Miller

Currently listening to:
This morning's New York 1 news loop

2011 shortlist prediction

2011-09-05T20:00:00.005-04:00

Tomorrow, the 2011 Booker Prize shortlist will be announced. I'll be back tomorrow evening with the list, but for now, I thought I'd feature my six selections:

The Stranger's Child by Alan Hollinghurst
On Canaan's Side by Sebastian Barry
The Sisters Brothers by Patrick DeWitt
Jamrach's Menagerie by Carol Birch
The Sense of an Ending by Julian Barnes
Snowdrops by A.D. Miller

The Barnes was one I was going to skip, but decided to go for it after finding a cheap signed copy on www.firsts-in-print.co.uk. It's a short, 150-page novel that's much more driven by Barnes's stellar prose than his cheeky dialogue (which I've grown a bit weary of). I just finished it this afternoon on a train back to Brooklyn from Springfield, MA... it's a lovely meditation of aging, relationships, and the reliability of memories.

Of the three I've read (Barnes, Hollinghurst, Birch), so far I might be leaning towards Jamrach's for how perfectly it renders ocean madness... I'll try to avoid spoiling anything, but the book achieves something great when its plot turns sour.

We'll see how things go tomorrow! Until then....

Currently reading:
Snowdrops by A.D. Miller

Currently listening to:
"In Tension EP" by Light Asylum

Hurricane Story by Jennifer Shaw (Broken Levee Books)

2011-08-27T11:43:00.005-04:00

A perfect book for a day like today. As New York braces itself for Irene, lets take a look a Hurricane Story, a photography book by Jennifer Shaw recently published by Broken Levee Books, an imprint of Chin Music Press. Readers of the blog will recall some previous posts on Chin Music--they're a wonderful press out of Seattle that focus their list on Japan and New Orleans. Although there are plenty of opportunities for Chin Music to dwell dolorously on the historically bad fates that these regions have recently endured, they manage to nurture these places with beautifully crafted, celebratory books that remind readers of all the good these places can offer.

Hurricane Story is composed entirely of Holga-shot toy photography that recreates the onslaught of Katrina and the birth of Shaw's son on August 29, 2005. Shaw's photography is hazy and deeply intriguing, and provides the kind of brief glimpses that make you want to see a wider scope with a heightened clarity.

I found myself reluctantly itching for more large-scale imagery, but then, if that happened her story would turn a bit more toward the likes of Jake and Dinos Chapman's "Hell":

By tightening her shots and limiting her canvas, Shaw makes Hurricane Story a much more personal book than a full-scale disaster chronicle. It's exactly what it should be: a very successful book of narrative photography, and one that will make viewers what to see what else she's capable of.

(This one I can very much relate to right now. Irene is on it's way--it's already looking a little dreary here in Brooklyn. We'll see what happens tomorrow...)

Currently reading:
There But For The by Ali Smith

Currently listening to:
"Tupelo", by Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds

William T. Vollmann's YOU BRIGHT AND RISEN ANGELS, UK 1st (with drawing)

2011-08-21T17:17:00.005-04:00

After a bit of delay, I thought I'd come back with one of my favorite novels, William T. Vollmann's You Bright and Risen Angels. It's Vollmann's first novel and one that very much sets the tone for the rest of his oeuvre, both his fiction and non-fiction. Angels is one of the most insane books I've ever read and one of the most difficult to describe. If you could trade the cheekiness of Thomas Pynchon with something more vicious and incendiary you'd have something close to what Vollmann's up to.

First published in 1987 by Andre Deutsch, You Bright and Risen Angels is sort of an alternate-history novel. Set in what feels like a poisoned version of Horatio Alger's USA, an enigmatic figure named Big George runs the country, fueled by electricity and over-saturated branding. A revolutionary faction forms against Big George, led by a man named Bug and his army of insects and terrorists.

And Vollmann makes it work. It's an amazingly captivating novel and if you're at all intrigued by the above I suggest you seek it out. I apologize in advance for being so tongue-tied on this one--if you read it you'll understand where I'm coming from.

A major theme of the novel is the tension between insects and "electricity"... which makes this signed UK 1st even more exciting. Take a look:

After lusting after a similarly drawn-in copy at the now-defunct Skyline Books in Manhattan, I found this one on eBay and snagged it on a very modest "Best Offer".

Thought I'd also share a peek at the coda of the novel, written in some sort of glyphic alphabet:

(On a side note, I've finished 2 of my 6 picks from the Booker longlist, Jamrach's Menagerie and The Stranger's Child. I'm waiting on two more from the UK and will be back with an update when they arrive.)

Currently reading:
There But For The by Ali Smith

Currently listening to:
Light Asylum, "In Tension"

Two UK 1sts by Amitav Ghosh, (Sea of Poppies, River of Smoke)

2011-08-02T22:50:00.000-04:00

As Booker longlisted titles trickle in through my mailbox, I thought I'd share a pair novels by the previously shortlisted Amitav Ghosh (whose most recent novel was not longlisted last week, despite all my finger-crossing).

I just finished his novel Sea of Poppies (which was on the 2008 Booker shortlist) and was completely floored. Sea of Poppies is set in India on the cusp of the Opium Wars and follows the journey of the Ibis, an old schooner with its sails set for Mauritius. The novel reads with the adventurous spirit of a classic high seas yarn but maintains the expansive control of a Victorian novel. I highly recommend it!

(Here are the Sea of Poppies endpapers:)

What's most exciting is that Sea of Poppies is the first of a trilogy. The second volume of the Ibis trilogy, River of Smoke, was just published, and I really hope it gets a wide readership despite its omission from the 2011 longlist.

Not only is Ghosh an incredible writer, the UK editions of his books are exceptionally well designed. The endpapers to River of Smoke are above, and the spines of volumes one and two together are below:

I'll be back in a bit with a new post once the handful of longlisted titles I've ordered are in-hand. Stay tuned...

Currently reading:
Erin Morgenstern, The Night Circus

Currently listening to:
John Maus, "We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourseles"

2011 Booker Prize longlist announced

2011-07-26T20:05:00.006-04:00

The Booker longlist was announced this morning, and it's looking like an interesting set of titles! There are many first novels on the list, as well as many novels that lean a bit towards the realm of mystery and genre fiction.

Here's this year's lineup:

Julian Barnes, The Sense of an Ending
Sebastian Barry, On Canaan's Side
Carol Birch, Jamrach's Menagerie
Patrick deWitt, The Sisters Brothers
Esi Edugyan, Half Blood Blues
Yvvette Edwards, A Cupboard Full of Coats
Alan Hollinghurst, The Stranger's Child
Stephen Kelman, Pigeon English
Patrick McGuinness, The Last Hundred Days
A.D. Miller, Snowdrops
Alison Pick, Far to Go
Jane Rogers, The Testament of Jessie Lamb
D.J. Taylor, Derby Day

Based on a quick run through of various synopses, I'm most intrigued by Jamrach's Menagerie, The Sisters Brothers, and Snowdrops. Reading up on Snowdrops reminds me of James Meek's excellent The People's Act of Love, and Jamrach's and The Sisters Brothers look to have just enough indulgent pulp to send them right to the top of my reading list. Sebastian Barry, Julian Barnes and Alan Hollinghurst represent the European literati I expect from the Booker list each year, but I might skip the Barnes this year due to his somewhat lukewarm collection Pulse.

I've ordered some new books and will update the blog when they arrive.

Currently reading:
J.G. Ballard, Millennium People

Currently listening to:
The Caretaker, "An Empty Bliss Beyond this World"

Thomas Pynchon, The Crying of Lot 49 (first edition, first printing)

2011-07-11T22:25:00.006-04:00

One of my favorite things about collecting books is cultivating a list of seemingly unattainable dream items. By placing certain items in one's mind but just out of one's reach forces a person to consider the piece's true value with a different sort of eye. Just as my interest in certain books wanes over time, there are books that have maintained a consistent rank over the past decade or so. Upon reflection, those books are not only valuable collector's items, but they've turned into something new: they represent personal growth and personal goals, and suddenly mean a lot more than you ever expected them to. This may be an overly material way of thinking about things, but... maybe you understand where I'm coming from.

Finally obtaining one of these is a strange feeling--I confess I discovered The Crying of Lot 49 in middle school through the band Radiohead, of all places. Their mail-order site for t-shirts and posters was named after W.A.S.T.E., Lot 49's underground postal service. I proceeded to read the book far too early to comprehend what was really going on, but have revisited it every couple of years and now rank it among my favorite novels (I'll save my analysis of the novel for a later date).

This is a first edition, first printing, features an un-price-clipped jacket and no library markings of any sort. I picked this up a few months ago on eBay, bidding in the final minutes on my fiance's blackberry outside of the grocery store.

Here are the endpapers:

and the publisher's details:

Currently reading:
Sea of Poppies, by Amitav Ghosh
The Sandman: A Game of You, by Neil Gaiman

Currently listening to:
Underworld, "Riverrun: Pizza for Eggs"

Introducing: The Burgundy Cord

2011-07-09T16:33:00.006-04:00

I'm excited to announce the launch of The Burgundy Cord, a new tumblr that is going to serve as the home page for the slowly growing music and art collective I'm a part of:

The Burgundy Cord

At the moment, The Burgundy Cord leans heavily on music projects, but as the months go on I hope to include more visual and literary products. Currently, the site features work by myself and three other artists (all of which were a part of a piano EP that I recently recorded, assembled, and posted about here. The lettered Art Edition has finally been completed and can be seen here).

Here's how it works: all the music featured on the site is free--there are mediafire links with every release that will lead you to a download page. Ideally the free nature of this music will prompt listeners to share what they like with other people who might be interested. We haven't yet worked with any writing, but I imagine those will be shared in a similar, free way. The things that we will be selling will all be handmade, limited editions and will hopefully appeal to collectors of all sorts.

I'm not going to spend much time on this blog featuring links to The Burgundy Cord, but I do hope some of you check out the page--you might find something you like.

Currently reading:
Sea of Poppies, by Amitav Ghosh

Currently listening to:
"The Lyre of Orpheus" by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

REVIEW: Between Parentheses by Roberto Bolano

2011-07-03T18:41:00.003-04:00

My review of Roberto Bolano's Between Parentheses was recently published on about.com-- thought I'd share it with you all. Between Parentheses is a collection of essays and book reviews that manage to illuminate a bit more about Bolano than they do his subjects... It's a fascinating read, but don't expect to find much in the way of scholarly discourse.

One of my favorite parts of the collection is how frustratingly quick Bolano mentions the various writers that have influenced him and those writers active in his literary circles. Although often lofty and overly superlative, Bolano's praise towards these authors creates an ethereal reading-list of sorts, one that I confess has sent me digging through shops for books by Horacio Castellanos Moya, Enrique Vila-Matas, and even Witold Gombrowicz.

You can read my review here:

Roberto Bolano: Between Parentheses

Those of you who have read Between Parentheses, let me know what you think in the comments.

Currently Reading:
The Spare Room, Helen Garner

Currently listening to:
"Dimples", by The Nighty Nite

Haruki Murakami, "Aeroplane, or, how he talked to himself as if reciting poetry" (Oundle Festival of Literature Press)

2011-06-27T16:35:00.004-04:00

On the heels of some frustrating book collecting news that I'll get to later, I thought I'd feature a beautiful little Murakami chapbook printed a few years ago by the people at the Oundle Festival of Literature in 2007. Reprinting Murakami's story "Aeroplane, or, how he talked to himself as if reciting poetry", the Oundle Press has crafted an exquisite product that not only will appeal to contemporary collectors but remind all sorts of people of the artistry behind bookbinding. I'm not 100% certain as to how these book's were distributed during the festival, but only 120 copies were made and they seem to have sold through in pre-publication. Although these initially retailed for 100GBP, they've gone up dramatically in price.

How did I, a young book collector in Brooklyn, get my hands on a copy? I simply had to ask. The people behind the scenes at the Oundle Festival of Literature were so exceptionally helpful and considerate--my email to them came a few months late (after all the books were reserved) but two months later I heard from them saying a reservation fell through and the book was mine if I wanted it.

Possibly because my experience with the Oundle Festival of Literature was such a memorable one, it frustrates me to see what's going on with the limited edition of Murakami's 1Q84. Plans had been laid out to produce a two-volume, leather bound set of the novel (possibly similar to my edition of After Dark) for something like 250GBP. It's expensive, but not insanely so--considering the Murakami market, a book like this would surely double in price (especially if the novel is as good as we all expect it to be). Aside from an edition of a story called Sleep (published by the Kat Ran Press and really only in private libraries now) Murakami's high-water mark is at just about $600 USD (around what a book like Aeroplane is selling for at the moment). For a living author, that's pretty exceptional. Considering how accessible a lot of these editions are (especially if you know that they're coming and how to get on waiting lists), I'm surprised more people aren't trying to snatch up these books as investments.

So, if it weren't for some recent changes, I would tip all you collectors towards the leather-bound 1Q84, despite its hefty price tag. As of about a week ago, those plans were all canceled.

Instead, Random House is offering a three-volume edition in a Perspex slipcase. The books will have an exposed, sewn binding with colored thread, and supposedly all the covers will flow together as one image. The last page of the last volume will be signed. All of this will be for the "modest" sum of 750GBP.

What! Has anyone ever paid over $1000 for a Murakami book!? Personally, I think this all sounds crazy. As beautiful as this piece may be, Murakami has no place in the realm of Taschen limited editions. And Perspex? You better make about 100 extra cases because those things are going to crack.

There will always be other titles, though. Let's hope that whoever produces those takes a cue from a book like Aeroplane and steers things away from the "book-as-art-piece" realm and makes something a little more traditional.

Currently reading:
The Sandman, by Neil Gaiman

Currently listening to:
The Hospital Ships, "Lonely Twin"

Happy Bloomsday!

2011-06-16T19:36:00.007-04:00

Happy Bloomsday from The Oxen of the Sun! For those of you who don't know, June 16th marks the day that Leopold Bloom plodded around Dublin in Joyce's Ulysses (the novel spans the entire day, sunrise to sunset). If you've even fallen into the pages of Ulysses, chances are today strikes a chord--although I'm not about to rush out to my nearest pub and stage a reading of "The Sirens", I'll revel quietly in how steadfast one of my favorite novels is.

[side note: the chapters in Ulysses are all modeled after episodes in Odysseus's journey. The "Oxen of the Sun" section is notoriously intimidating, as the narrative meanders stylistically through the genesis and evolution of the written English language and somewhat catalogues the history of books and literature.]

In a moment of immodesty, I'll admit my Joyce collection is one of the most impressive corners of my library--while I don't own a copy of the famous Matisse/Joyce double-signed illustrated edition, I have a number of rarities like the elusive "Haveth Childers Everywhere" and other similar below-the-radar publications.

Embarrassingly enough, I don't have any of my Joyce here in Brooklyn, and therefore can't share any with you! So, to back into Bloomsday with a tangentially related selection, I present to you the Grove Press Centenary Edition of the complete works of Samuel Beckett:

The box set includes all Beckett's novels and dramatic works, but it's the fourth volume where the rarities are compiled. There you'll find Beckett's essay on Proust and his writings on Joyce (previously collected in a rare volume called An Exagmination of James Joyce). A handsome set, and one I've been meaning to crack into again--the Brooklyn Academy of Music is putting on a performance of "Krapp's Last Tape" this fall; it's always been one of my favorites and deserves a re-read.

Currently reading:
The Book of Happenstance, Ingrid Winterbach

Currently listening to:
The Twilight Singers, "Live in Europe"

Multi-format Gekiga by Drawn & Quarterly

2011-05-25T21:18:00.004-04:00

I am consistently thrilled and impressed by the ever-growing wave of Japanese comics and literature that reach American audiences. Haruki Murakami is the likely catalyst to all of this, and I think American publishing owes a lot to to his peculiar blend of accessibility and intellect. Smaller publishers such as Vertical and Chin Music (who I've featured here in past posts) have managed to grow out of our national interest in Japanese literature and craft their own individual identities. It's wonderful to watch what these publishers focus on--Vertical, for instance, seems to be venturing away from their Tezuka-grade classics and are experimenting (successfully, I think) with niche manga like Lychee Light Club and 7 Billion Needles. Drawn and Quarterly, a Canadian comics press known primarily for their literary slant, have translated the astonishingly good work of Yoshihiro Tatsumi and are publishing some sharp-looking volumes of gekiga works by many of Tatsumi's contemporaries.

It's interesting to see how apprehensive Drawn & Quarterly seems to make their gekiga look the part of an ongoing series. At first, the collector in me found their different formats frustrating. To see how great Tatsumi's three short story collections look together made me want to see these various titles line up in a similar design. A Single Match came out a lot shinier than previous hardcover editions, and the latest title, Onward Towards Our Noble Deaths, is softcover with flaps and is to be read right to left.

But, really--syncing up the design for these books makes them no different than a DC Comics "archive" edition. Even if it is because of something as simple as budget reasons, changing the design with each new installment manages to expand the series while maintaining the integrity of each author.

Currently reading:
Between Parentheses by Roberto Bolano

Currently listening to:
John Maus, "We Must Become the Pitiless Censors of Ourselves"

A Moment in the Sun by John Sayles

2011-05-16T19:25:00.008-04:00

It feels a little premature to do a post on this, but I'm really excited about John Sayles's A Moment in the Sun and I wanted to share it with you all. I'm currently reading the novel for my next about.com review, so I guess we should consider this a preview.

Similar to Adam Levin's The Instructions, John Sayles's A Moment in the Sun is an enormous, 900+ page novel published by McSweeney's; it's another exciting and ambitious move by them and one that has once again cemented McSweeney's back on my radar as a publisher to watch. A Moment in the Sun is set in late 1890's America and follows a a sprawling cast of characters through the Spanish-American War, the Industrial Revolution, and the rising tensions of post-Civil War race relations. Think of it as Pynchon novel, but trade the zaniness for an astonishing level of research. Vollmann fans will eat this up as well. I'm about 600 pages in, and it's possibly the best historical fiction novel I've ever read.
And, the design is outstanding too! It has an old-world elegance that suits the novel so well. A detailed review will come by the end of the month. Stay tuned--

Currently reading:
A Moment in the Sun by John Sayles

Currently listening to:
The Twilight Singers, "Dynamite Steps"

Penguin Mini Modern Classics

2011-05-06T16:10:00.006-04:00

Well, it's been another long gap between posts. Hopefully I'll be able to make up for lost time with some exciting new updates. Admittedly, my mind has been elsewhere; two weekends ago my girlfriend and I got engaged! It's very exciting to get into the world of wedding-planning... but, for a moment, let's get back to the books.

Last February, Penguin UK announced a series of 50 "Mini Modern" Classics, housed in a long cardboard slipcase. If you're the type of collector who loves matching volumes and completing sets, be careful here... you might get into some trouble:

At the moment, these are available in the UK and Canada, and although Penguin would probably love for you to spend 150GBP on the full set, individual volumes can be cherry-picked through sites like The Book Depository and Amazon. It's interesting to see which titles are available and which are not--it seems like the buyer at the Book Depository has similar tastes to me, as all the spooky, pulpy titles were in stock (either that or I'm just a predictable consumer).

Each book retails for under $5.00 US! These volumes look great and are exactly what you should expect to get for your money. The covers and spines bend and crease easily, but that's what they should do with that kind of price point... because really, these are meant for your back pocket.

What first drew me to these is Lovecraft's "The Colour out of Space"--I'd been meaning to pick up a copy but couldn't get excited about all the ugly fantasy-art covers out there. And really, I think you'd be hard-pressed to find a more perfect edition of of that story--it's as if the whole series was designed in "Colour out of Space" gray.

I doubt these will ever be reprinted, so if you're interested in a few you should see what you can find online. It's a great way to read the lesser known stories by some of the best authors out there.

Currently reading:
A Moment in the Sun by John Sayles

Currently listening to:
"Clouds Taste Metallic" by The Flaming Lips (on orange vinyl!)

New Penguin series: Great Food

2011-04-04T16:30:00.005-04:00

This week in the UK, Penguin will release the first installment in another beautifully designed paperback set, this time aimed at book collectors and food aficionados. Similar to the "Great Ideas" series (and its multiple incarnations), "Great Food" is a collection of small paperbacks (around 100 pages or less), each adorned with some of the finest book design Penguin has to offer.

"Great Food" looks like a fun series with a much wider potential audience than the other Penguin sets. While those focused a lot more on classical, high-brow works, these look like anyone who likes to cook and read would find some enjoyment owning these. Shelve them with your cookbooks!

The artwork is done by none other than Coralie Bickford-Smith, who is becoming more and more of an asset at Penguin with every series she designs. A quick note: I've always loved when publishers allow a variation on their own iconic logos--how amazing is the fork-and-knife Penguin on these two?
There are twenty books in the set, they each retail for 6.99 GBP. If you're a US reader who wants to pick these up, don't fret: it seems like they will arrive stateside for $12.00 each in October. Also, don't forget to look at amazon.ca--there's some territory-distribution thing that allows a lot of UK books to be sold there; these will arrive next month at around $10CDN.

Currently reading:
Pulse by Julian Barnes

Currently listening to:
"Let Love In" by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds

Is this the cover to Murakami's 1Q84?

2011-03-30T23:23:00.004-04:00

Well, isn't this interesting: some cover art to Murakami's hotly anticipated 1Q84 has appeared on Amazon! I'm sure all of this is subject to change, as we've got about half a year before the book will be released. But, it doesn't hurt to get excited:

Looks to me like two layers-- perhaps along the lines of the UK edition of Tom McCarthy's C., with a transparent jacket and artwork printed directly on the boards. Also-- check out that page count! The book's almost 1000 pages, which surely collects all three separate volumes of the novel. Very much looking forward to this one.

Currently reading:
Pulse by Julian Barnes

Currently listening to:
Moon Duo, "Mazes"

The Perpetual Calendar, lettered edition

2011-03-27T19:21:00.003-04:00

It looks like we're getting close to finalizing the handmade, lettered edition of my piano EP "The Perpetual Calendar"! Above is a picture of Emily at work.

And a few shots of the whole run:

And, as a bonus to readers of the blog, here's a link to a free download of the whole EP! If you're interested in one of the lettered copies, please get in touch via the comments below.

Early Richard Powers firsts, with original press release

2011-03-27T18:00:00.006-04:00

Here are two first editions of Richard Powers's first two books, Three Farmers On Their Way To A Dance and Prisoner's Dilemma, published in the 80s by Beech Tree.

It's difficult to explain what sort of a writer Powers is; scientific-fiction would almost work if it didn't sound so much like sci-fi. His novels each grow from a deeply scientific base; they often deal in psychology and computer science but are written with such poeticism that Powers is able to pull readers through the analytics and lead them towards a natural and emotional core.

More people should read him--his novel The Echo Maker (about the devastating Capgras Syndrome, a brain disorder where you think your loved ones are impostors) widened his audience with the National Book Award, but I think he deserves a whole lot more.

One thing exciting about my copy of Three Farmers is that is still includes the original press release insert from 1985.

Having recently started reviewing books for about.com, I've been getting a lot of these press releases--it's good to see that some part of the industry hasn't changed over the past 25 years.

Currently reading:
The Paris Review, Issue 196

Currently listening to:
Kurt Vile, "Smoke Ring For My Halo"

Tristram Shandy by Visual Editions

2011-03-18T18:01:00.007-04:00

Once again, a big gap between posts. My apologies to those readers who would prefer a more frequently updated blog (I'm working on it!) I had a big month of reviews in February with About.com, so a lot of my time went there (click through to read some if you're interested).

I'd like to return to collectible books with one you all may have missed, Visual Editions' first publication:

Visual Editions have been the recipients of a world of well-deserved press with the publication of Jonathan Safran Foer's cut-out novel Tree of Codes. I think what makes Tree of Codes so remarkable is that it is was both written and visualized by its author. Foer's a madman for taking on such an ambitious project, and Visual Editions deserve all their praise for making Tree of Codes a reality. What I think a lot of people don't know is that Tree of Codes is the publisher's second publication, coming out after an equally incredible edition of Laurence Sterne's bonkers 18th-century novel The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy, Gentleman.

In terms of its form, Tristram Shandy is just about as crazy as its rambling, tangent-after-tangent narration. Sprinkled throughout the text are curlicues, hand-arrows, diagonal sentences, and even some pages that are completely blacked out. As you'll see, Visual Editions have taken all these things and turned them into an stunning, multicolored new edition:

There's a page pre-dog-eared, and a two-page spread splattered with "raindrops":

Really stunning stuff. Considering how rare Tree of Codes suddenly got, I highly recommend picking this up, and watching Visual Editions for anything else they might have up their sleeves.

Currently reading:
"You Are Here" by Jacques Tardi

Currently listening to:
Kurt Vile, "Smoke Ring For My Halo"

Introducing: The Perpetual Calendar

2011-02-14T18:04:00.005-05:00

I am very excited to share this with you all--although somewhat of a change of pace from the normal posts at The Oxen of the Sun, I hope readers of the blog enjoy this new project. In addition to my book endeavors, I've got an ever-evolving list of musical ventures with friends here in Brooklyn. Off and on over the past seven years or so, I've been working at a classical project of short piano pieces, and only last year did I see how these songs should finalized.

"The Perpetual Calendar" is a cycle of the first five pieces in what I hope will be a long-form, ongoing recording project. The title comes from the aria to Richard Powers's exquisite novel The Goldbug Variations, which very much influenced me. An excerpt:

What could be simpler? Four
scale-steps descend from Do.
Four such measures carry over
the course of four phrases, then home.

At first mere four-ale, the theme swells
to four seasons, four compass points, four winds,
forcing forth the four corners of a world
perfect for getting lost in

Now, to give this project a little bit of blog-relevance, I'm excited to announce that I'm in the process of assembling a limited, lettered edition of 26 handmade CDs (very much influenced by Black Sparrow Press). Each case is cloth bound, and features a unique found-photo collage like the image above.

Once the CDs are done, I will certainly let you all know. But, until then, here's a link to the music, where you can stream, download, and click through selected artwork. Hope you enjoy.

Jeff Alford, "The Perpetual Calendar i-v"

Jeff Alford: piano
Derek Piech: upright bass
Chris Kiehne: production, vocals on "Part III"
Emily Young: artwork
Mark DeWilde: lettering

Currently listening to:
Black Moth Super Rainbow, " The Autumn Kaleidoscope Got Changed"

Currently reading:
Ander Monson, Vanishing Point

Yves Klein: With the Void, Full Powers

2011-02-04T16:52:00.005-05:00

"With the Void, Full Powers" is a wonderful little monograph on the artist Yves Klein published last year by the Hirshhorn Museum and the Walker Art Center to coincide with a traveling exhibition of the same name. Yves Klein is an artist I'd always been intrigued by, but it was until I'd seen a piece of his in person that I was really won over. Last fall's contemporary and modern art auction at Phillips de Pury & Company featured a small blue flower growing from a craggy chunk of rock (the viewing hours at these auction houses are a great opportunity for casual art enthusiasts to see some important works in person). Klein's piece made quite an impression on me; there was so much control imbued in such a small, simple thing.

I feel this monograph has the same feel of strength through control and simplicity as the flower that was auctioned at Phillips. The book is dwarfed in comparison to the other monographs on my shelf (Taschen, specifically), but "With the Void, Full Powers" manages to make those other books look more swollen than they do luxurious--"With the Void" reminds consumers that a really special and well-made art book does not need to be enormous and hundreds of dollars to be a treasure.

The book design alone is pretty amazing. There isn't really a jacket, just a title band around the middle of the book. The boards run straight through to the edge of the page trim, all of which have been coated in that iconic Yves Klein blue.

Currently reading:
Swamplandia! by Karen Russell
The Drawing of the Three by Stephen King

Currently listening to:
Twilight Singers, "Dynamite Steps"

STACK 2: Hope Deferred, Great House, Newly Translated Classics

2011-01-17T15:32:00.003-05:00

As the bleakness of winter creeps in, let's take a look back at some Fall 2010 releases in an assortment of autumnal hues.

Hope Deferred: Narratives of Zimbabwean Lives (McSweeney's / Voice of Wintess, 2010)
Nicole Krauss, Great House (Norton ARC, 2010)
Gustave Flaubert, Madame Bovary, translated by Lydia Davis (Viking, 2010)
Boris Pasternak, Doctor Zhivago, translated by Pevear and Volokhonsky (Pantheon, 2010)

Currently Reading:
Doctor Zhivago by Boris Pasternak (trans. by Pevear and Volokhnosky)
The Dark Tower I: The Gunslinger by Stephen King

Currently listening to:
The Veils, "Troubles of the Brain"
Robyn Hitchcock, "A Bad Case of History (live)"

Wyndham Lewis - BLAST 1 and the Vorticist Movement (Black Sparrow reprint)

2011-01-16T09:39:00.006-05:00

Wyndham Lewis is an artistic and literary figure from the early 20th century and the co-founder of the Vorticist movement in England. I discovered BLAST through my love of Black Sparrow Press-- they've made a number of reprints of the Vorticist literary magazine in a large-format paperback. It's a fascinating journal and includes contributions from Ezra Pound and a pre-pen-named Ford Maddox Ford ("The Saddest Story" by Ford Maddox Heuffer).

First published in 1914, BLAST deals predominantly with shaking 19th-century Victorian ideals and pushing England towards a socially evolved future. The Vorticists take this attitude and inject it into both their literature and visual art. BLAST is the physical emblem of that injection; it combines wildly typographic manifestos and futurist paintings into a dizzying political art journal.

Custom Osamu Tezuka clamshell for "ADOLF"

2011-01-09T13:32:00.007-05:00

It's been a while! I remember last year I took an unexpected hiatus from the blog as well-- the lack of posts this December was not intended, but I'm looking forward to getting back into the routine of this blog. Things are stabilizing nicely in my life and I imagine I'll have a bit more time to focus on my books in 2011.

I've been making a big effort to keep myself busy with various projects during my days off from work, and am very excited to share with you the results of a recent craft project.

I've been having some aesthetic trouble with a few of the books in my collection. Readers of the blog may know that I am big fan of Osamu Tezuka's manga, and have collected much of his translated work. In the 80s, Tezuka published a 5-volume series called Adolf; it's a very mature (and very dark) World War II epic set in Japan. The story revolves around two childhood friends (both named Adolf) and how their heritage comes between them as the war unfolds. It's exquisitely written and highly recommend to any graphic novel fans... if you can find them.

For some reason, the complete run of Adolf is incredibly difficult to find at a reasonable price. The first volume in particular seems to have experienced a short print run, and although volumes 2-5 are fairly accessible it forces Tezuka fans to make a difficult decision: do you shell out for a copy of the rare volume one, or skip the prologue and begin with volume two?

I was lucky enough to snag the full run on eBay for an amazing price, but that feeling of pride from a book-hunting success was hushed when I finally received the books in the mail. I had my suspicions, but in person it was a lot worse: these books are some of the ugliest things I've ever seen.

So, I built myself a custom clamshell for the five volumes. I'd never tried any kind of book-binding project before, but I always wanted to. In person, you can see a number of blemishes, but I'm really proud of how it turned out!

Here is the case, closed:

Opened:

And lastly, what it looks like with the books removed:

Not bad for my first try! I've learned a lot for the next time I try to make a clamshell, so hopefully these will continue to get better. Maybe someday I'll be able to involve a letterpress, some detailing on the outside, and so on.

Happy New Year to everyone, and stay tuned for more!

Currently reading:
Doctor Zhivago, Boris Pasternak (trans. by Pevear and Volokhonsky)

Currently listening to:
"The Top" by The Cure

STACK 1: Spring Awakening, The Odyssey, Le Corbusier, The Paris Review

2010-11-29T20:20:00.008-05:00

I'm going to start a new semi-regular series on the blog that will be called "Stacks" (at least until I come up with a better name). These posts will be very short, and will simply feature an aesthetically-connected stack of books (selected by myself and my girlfriend, an Interior Designer). The idea of staging books is something that I've always thought was interesting -- I can't help but connect the themes of the books along with their designs/colors, which often creates peculiar literary webs.

Frank Wedekind, Spring Awakening (ARC from Faber & Faber)
Homer, The Odyssey (Penguin Hardback Classics)
Le Corbusier, Towards A New Architecture (Dover)
The Paris Review, Spring 2009

Currently Reading:
You Bright and Risen Angels, William T. Vollmann
Ayako, Osamu Tezuka

Currently listening to:
Saigon Rock & Soul, 1968-1974 (Sublime Frequencies)

Where We Know: New Orleans As Home (Chin Music Press)

2010-11-22T18:23:00.005-05:00

The folks at Chin Music Press were kind enough to send me a review copy of their beautiful new book Where We Know: New Orleans As Home. My love of New Orleans has unexpectedly seeped into this blog in past posts (Loujon Press books, specifically) and I'm always looking for an excuse to drift my mind back there. Many thanks to Chin Music for a stunning new window onto this incredible city.
What I'd like to focus on in this post is the wonderful design of the book. Chin Music has been the subject of previous entries--they've got one of the best understandings of how to make a paperback not feel like the "cheap" version of a better book. It's interesting in this case, as Where We Know is the second volume of a projected New Orleans trilogy, the first volume of which is an equally well-designed hardcover. You rarely see publishers change format/design in a series--this could be for any number of reasons (new designer, costs, who knows?)--but when the book is this well done it doesn't matter at all. In fact, I'm even more excited for the third volume. Will the format change again?
The book features about twenty true stories about how people interact with New Orleans as a home. The collection is a perfect balance of current and historical testimonials of the city: with pieces dating back to the mid-19th century, Where We Know puts today's post-Katrina sentiment into a surprisingly overlooked context.
It's difficult to explain why I think Chin Music's New Orleans books work so well. It's impossible to deal with this subject matter without tapping into the tragic, ethereal quality of the city. These stories hint at a place that won't be around forever, but Chin Music's created books that have an unquestionable permanence on your shelves due to their exquisite craftsmanship. It's a curious balance of subject and format, one that gives a feeling of reassurance for both the endurance of New Orleans and of publishing as an art form.

Currently Reading:
Madame Bovary (trans. Lydia Davis) by Gustave Flaubert

Currently listening to:
Bikini, "RIPJDS" EP

REVIEW: Adam Levin, The Instructions

2010-11-07T12:16:00.004-05:00

I'd like to direct you to one of the most enjoyable novels I've read in a long time: The Instructions by Adam Levin. Clocking in at over a thousand pages, The Instructions follows four days in the life of Gurion ben-Judah Maccabee, a scripture-writing 10-year-old boy who may or may not be the messiah.

The Instructions is a deeply engrossing and genuinely funny novel, and I encourage everyone who follows contemporary fiction to check it out. I've written a thorough review over at about.com, which you can read at the embedded link.

I'll admit that the "McSweeney's" aspect of this book made me very apprehensive; years ago I'd fallen out of touch with them and I didn't suspect I'd return. The Instructions not only is a great novel, but it's managed to rekindle my interest in McSweeney's as a publishing house. Not since William T. Vollmann's Rising Up and Rising Down have they gone so far out on a limb for something great, and it truly pays off.
The design of The Instructions is outstanding as well. The book is available in two other variant colors--one is bound in blue and the other in red. The printed boards and spine remind me of old Folio Society editions (and makes me want to post my John Buchan box set soon). I was also surprised that the book held up physically for four weeks of reading on the subway... McSweeney's has done everything right with this one.

Currently reading:
Luka and the Fire of Life, Salman Rushdie
Heavy Liquid, Paul Pope

Currently listening to:
Blue Water White Death
Group Inerane, Guitars from Agadez vol. 3

New Comics, Fall 2010

2010-10-26T17:22:00.008-04:00

This post will take a look at three new illustrated books that came out this October--nothing especially collectible, but highly recommended nonetheless.

Just this week, Charles Burns released his new book, the first of a three-part series called X'ed Out. It's really an outstanding work, simultaneously telling the story of a mopey art student and a completely insane hallucinatory re-imagining of Tintin. Fans of Tintin will remember a story called The Shooting Star, featuring an island of exploding eggs-turned-mushrooms... here's some of Burns's monsters making omelettes out of Herge's iconic eggs.

Also, Chris Ware's latest Acme Novelty Library is coming out next week. This installment revolves around a character named Jordan Lint, who's childhood, teens and twenties were previously serialized in Zadie Smith's Book of Other People and issues of the Virginia Quarterly Review. Acme Novelty Library #20 chronicles the entire life of Jordan Lint, from birth to death. Ware's ability to match his drawing style with Lint's mental capacity at certain ages (simplistic when he's a toddler, borderline ADD during Lint's teenage years) is stunningly well done. And the design is beautiful, too-- take a look at the gold cover and cloth binding.

Lastly, and a little change of pace: Nobuaki Tadano's 7 Billion Needles. Published by the wonderful people at Vertical, 7 Billion Needles follows high school loner Hikaru who hears voices in her headphones after a meteor crash. It's really well-written Japanese sci-fi, and I'm very much looking forward to the subsequent three volumes. Love the retro artwork too--Vertical's Peter Mendelsund is one of the best designers I've found.

All these should be available at your local bookstore if you're looking for some comics to pick up.

For Fans of Charles Burns: I recently attended a presentation of X'ed Out at The Strand, and heard that Burns is currently working on a portfolio of prints with Galerie Martel in France. It's going to be a set of four prints, all of strange knock-off "translations" of his fictional Tintin book covers. I've seen the pictures and they look fantastic--stay tuned for more scoop.

Currently reading:
The Insufferable Gaucho by Roberto Bolano

Currently listening to:
Admiral Fell Promises by Sun Kil Moon
"Not in Love" by Crystal Castles, featuring Robert Smith

Howard Jacobson wins the 2010 Man Booker Prize

2010-10-12T20:03:00.004-04:00

Congratulations to Howard Jacobson for winning the 2010 Man Booker Prize for his novel The Finkler Question! I haven't read it yet, but I'm very much looking forward to it--I really enjoyed Jacobson's The Act of Love from a few years back.

This copy of The Finkler Question is a signed UK first in new, unread condition, and just might find its way on eBay soon. I've got my eye on a 1st edition of The Crying of Lot 49 and might try "trade" the two...

UPDATE: Looks like it sold!

Currently reading:
The Instructions by Adam Levin

Currently listening to:
"King Night" by Salem

Puffin Designer Classics: THE SECRET GARDEN

2010-10-05T11:49:00.005-04:00

I'm very excited to share this one with you: to celebrate Puffin's 70th anniversary, six designers were asked to re-imagine a Puffin Classic and design a limited edition book for their title. Just like Penguin's Designer Classics from 5 years ago, these are limited to only 1000 copies worldwide and each are housed in a plexi slipcase.

Those of you who followed the Penguin Designer Classics when they were on the market know how fast they sold out and how much their value has increased. Paul Smith's Lady Chatterly's Lover was the most popular, with copies now listing at around $1000.00. Fortunately, the Puffin line was announced far enough in advance for collectors to jump on the opportunity to put orders in early. Amazon had a bunch at one point, and I was able to grab a few.

What's interesting about this series is how modest most of the designs are. In my opinion there's only one standout/must-have for collectors, and the rest are really more for fans of the artist or the story. That one standout, however, is astonishing:
Francis Hodgeson Burnett's The Secret Garden was designed by children's book author and illustrator Lauren Child of "Clarice Bean" fame. The book is printed in blank ink on green paper, and is bound in an incredible layered cut-out cardstock. The front cover of the book has three different illustrated layers, which can fan open and create a wonderful effect:

Instead of writing the book's title on the spine, the information is written on a yellow ribbon with a small key tied to the end. The key and ribbon are held lightly in place by a small (and hardly noticeable) dab of adhesive that is stuck to the base of the book and a tree-less portion of the front cover.

Lauren Child's edition of The Secret Garden is limited to 1000 numbered copies; this is #724. Unfortunately the book is officially sold out, but you might be able to track a few leftovers down on online vendors.

Currently reading:
The Instructions, Adam Levin

Currently listening to:
Dreamend, "Maybe We Are Making God Sad & Lonely (side B)"

REVIEW: Michael Cunningham, By Nightfall

2010-10-05T11:42:00.004-04:00

Just a quick post to say that my review of Michael Cunningham's new novel By Nightfall can be seen here. Hope you enjoy.

Currently Reading:
The Instructions by Adam Levin

Currently listening to:
Dreamend, "Maybe We're Making God Sad & Lonely (Side A)"

Philip Roth's NEMESIS, designed by Milton Glaser

2010-09-29T17:09:00.002-04:00

The next book I'm slated to review on about.com is the new Philip Roth book, Nemesis. As a big Roth fan, I was very excited when it arrived. I feel Milton Glaser did a fantastic job with the design, and I LOVE the book's spine. It's a little tough to see, but the publisher info comes first (centered at the top), leaving the title and author both for the base of the spine. So simple, yet so, so good.

(Unfortunately, this might be the best thing about the book... I'm under the impression that Nemesis is Roth's attempt at poisoning the Horatio Alger library, and by doing so he has ended up making a paranoid Americana book that just might actually be... boring? I've still got sixty pages to go, so fingers crossed that things get better.)

---

This is the 50th post at The Oxen of the Sun! I want to thank everyone for their continued support, and hope you all keep checking in. Occasionally I'll see that some readers were referred here from other blogs. For those readers who maintain a blog of your own, let me know! I'll add you to my blogroll and hopefully we'll each boost our readership.

Currently reading:
Nemesis by Philip Roth

Currently listening to:
Chris Kiehne, Pray for Daylight

REVIEW: Nicole Krauss, Great House

2010-09-28T12:57:00.004-04:00

My review of Nicole Krauss's exceptional new novel Great House was recently published on about.com. Those of you looking for some great contemporary literature should definitely check it out:

Nicole Krauss, Great House

Great House will hit bookstores in the middle of October.

Coming up we'll take a look at Milton Glaser's outstanding design for Philip Roth's forthcoming novel Nemesis. Stay tuned!

Currently reading:
Nemesis, by Philip Roth

Currently listening to:
Barking, by Underworld

Novotny's Pain, by Philip Roth

2010-09-20T15:50:00.004-04:00

Novotny's Pain is a 33 page short story by Philip Roth, published by Los Angeles bookdealers Sylvester & Orphanos in 1980. First appearing in The New Yorker in 1962, "Novotny's Pain" is the story of the recently-drafted Novotny whose mysterious back pain prevents him from being shipped out to Korea. It feels like the American sibling of The Death of Ivan Ilyich, as they both delve into grand themes of fate and responsibility to the world.

This is copy 209 of 330. There are 26 lettered copies, and four additional copies which were specifically made out to their recipient. The text looks beautiful printed on the book's thick, deckled Arches paper, and feels slightly raised if you were to run your hand along the pages. Similar to Roth's other elusive volume His Mistress's Voice, Novotny's Pain is a must-have for any serious collector.

Currently reading:
The Return, Roberto Bolano
By Nightfall, Michael Cunningham

Currently Listening to:
Black Moth Super Rainbow, Eating Us
The Go-Betweens, "Twin Layers of Lightning"

In the Belly of St. Paul, by Karl Hyde and John Warwicker (Tomato)

2010-09-09T19:26:00.009-04:00

One of my favorite recent acquisitions, In the Belly of St. Paul, is the second typographic publication by the UK-based design collective Tomato. Karl Hyde (of the electronic music group Underworld) has teamed with artist (and old musical partner) John Warwicker to create an incredible book that I'm very excited to share. Essentially the print version of a found-sound music collage, In the Belly of St. Paul is composed of overheard sound bites from the streets of London, all of which are rendered into an array of experimental fonts with a stunning eye (or ear) for design.
The book was published in 2002 in an edition of 500 numbered copies. Each copy is signed by Hyde and Warwicker, and includes an original photograph. At www.underworld-print.com, owners can register their print in an amazing pictorial registry. Here is where I think this book becomes really exceptional--flipping through the photo album, you'll see the location of each copy and see how wide-reaching and international the book actually is. For a project that deals with a city's infrastructure in physical and social ways, it's astonishing to see how connected we all are.

Currently reading:
Great House, Nicole Krauss

Currently listening to:
Black Moth Super Rainbow, Eating Us

2010 Booker Prize shortlist announced

2010-09-07T08:41:00.004-04:00

Wow, what a surprise. The Booker Prize shortlist was announced, and I'm shocked to see a book like Room made it over two exceptional titles like Skippy Dies and Jacob de Zoet. The list is as follows:

Peter Carey, Parrot and Olivier in America
Emma Donoghue, Room
Damon Galgut, In A Strange Room
Howard Jacobson, The Finkler Question
Andrea Levy, The Long Song
Tom McCarthy, C

It's fantastic that Tom McCarthy's on there-- C is a very difficult and truly mesmerizing read. But, Room? My less-than-positive review can be read here.

Currently reading:
Great House, Nicole Krauss

2010 Booker Prize predictions

2010-09-07T00:09:00.003-04:00

Hi everyone! With only a day left for shortlist predicitions, I thought I'd weigh in with a wager of my own. I've read four of my six projected short-listers; the last two are based on reviews I've read and a few other factors that might influence the judges in their decision.

Here goes:

David Mitchell: The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet
Tom McCarthy: C
Paul Murray: Skippy Dies
Rose Tremain: Trespass
Helen Dunmore: The Betrayal
Damon Galgut: In A Strange Room

I'll be sticking to these six for now, and will update tomorrow with the finalized list. For those interested, I have had two new reviews published on about.com, one for Tremain's Trespass and one for Emma Donoghue's Room (which I imagine will be left off tomorrow's shortlist). Take a peek at the embedded links.

Another update will come tomorrow: fingers crossed for Mitchell, McCarthy, and Murray-- I suspect the prize will eventually come between those three.

Currently reading:
Great House, Nicole Krauss

Currently listening to:
Calexico, "Feast of Wire"

REVIEW: Jonathan Franzen, Freedom

2010-09-04T12:04:00.004-04:00

My review of Jonathan Franzen's Freedom was recently published online and can be read here. As I continue to write reviews for about.com, I'll post links here for any interested reader. And, if compelled, we can discuss in the comments of each post.

We'll be back to some more collectible titles shortly. Coming soon will be another rare Philip Roth edition, as well as an experimental typography book by an amazing art collective called Tomato. Stay tuned!

Currently reading:
Trespass, by Rose Tremain

Currently listening to:
Can, "Delay 1968"

Skippy Dies (3-volume slipcased edition)

2010-08-26T11:55:00.007-04:00

Paul Murray's Skippy Dies was released in the UK last February to some great reviews. It caught my eye because of the unconventional packaging-- similar to FSG's edition of Roberto Bolano's 2666, Skippy Dies was offered both as a large hardcover and as a 3-volume, slipcased paperback edition:

I'm happy to report that I'll be writing book reviews periodically for about.com. My first review was for Skippy Dies and can be read here.

Skippy Dies was longlisted for the Booker Prize earlier this month and very much deserves it. Not sure if it'll win, but I imagine it will certainly make it to the shortlist. The book will be released in the US in the same dual-format at the end of August.

Currently listening to:
Wilco, Summerteeth

Currently reading:
C. by Tom McCarthy

Crucifix in a Deathhand, Charles Bukowski limited edition from the Loujon Press

2010-08-18T20:55:00.006-04:00

I recently was able to find a copy of Charles Bukowski's fifth book, Crucifix in a Deathhand, published in 1965 by the Loujon Press of New Orleans. Earlier this year, I featured another Loujon Press title, Henry Miller's Order and Chaos Chez Hans Reichel, which at the time floored me like no other book in my collection. And somehow, the Loujon Press has managed to wow me even more with Crucifix.
I think every book collector must encounter in their journey some acquisitions that force a certain degree of pause and reflection. This is that book for me; it's shown me that my "collecting"--which was once really nothing more than a hobby--has turned into something so much bigger and so much more special than I ever thought possible. It's a wonderful feeling to find the book that becomes the "nicest" book in one's collection. It's not the most valuable, sure, but just hold Crucifix in your hands and you can feel the unbridled passion for craft that the Loujon Press had.

These pictures will surely not do enough justice, but they'll have to do.

If you flip over the book, the wrappers open up to reveal a bound book inside--the black cover at the top of this post is actually the book's back cover. Similar to Order and Chaos, the preliminary pages feature the book's introductory notes printed on about ten pages of colored pages with roughly torn edges. The book begins with a facsimile of Bukowski's title poem--click above and you can read some.

The book also was originally packaged with a little paper wrapper, depicted it's original price tag of $7.50 and a great blurb (above).

As you can see, the book's typography is stunning as well.

Crucifix also includes a handful of etchings done by an artist named Noel Rockmore. They're pretty strange, but they fit the overall feel of the book perfectly.

Lastly, the book is signed and dated (3-19-65) by Bukowski on one of the final pages.

Hope you enjoyed taking a look at this! It's a real treat to be able to share it with you, hope you like it as much as I do.

WHERE TO FIND CRUCIFIX IN A DEATHHAND:

While there were 3100 copies of this book printed, the book is still pretty rare. I found this copy on eBay, and made a random there's-no-way-they'll-accept-it best offer. Keep an eye out and make an offer when you see one... you might be surprised by some sellers.

Currently reading:
Freedom, by Jonathan Franzen

Currently listening to:
Henry's Dream, by Nick Cave & the Bad Seeds

Albert Oehlen artist book from TASCHEN

2010-08-15T13:14:00.003-04:00

"Abb", seen above, is a strange little artist book by the German painter Albert Oehlen. Oehlen's one of my favorite painters--I find his work to be practically euphoric, but it takes a bit of unlocking to get beneath the seemingly stand-offish surface of his art. He's a manipulator who challenges his viewer's conception of what painting is all about--his pallet is consistently jarring, but somehow he manages to make his colors work together in unimaginable ways. His style is ever-changing, too: some pieces incorporate mirrors, some are done entirely in gray, and some look as if he created the work solely on MS Paint.

"Abb" was published in the mid-nineties by Taschen in a signed, limited edition format. There are only 170 copies of this edition of "Abb", all of which feature gilt-edges and a black clamshell case (this is number 162).
The book does not feature a limitation page; Oehlen simply signed the book inside the front cover. Inside the back cover is a stamp in German and English detailing the limitation and the numbering of the edition.
What I like so much about "Abb" is that it challenges the form of the art book similarly to the way Oehlen challenges the form of painting. The book features no text (aside from the limitation stamp) and includes what seem to be numerous images from the Taschen archives: iconic shots by Helmut Newton and various fetish photographers are reproduced with paintings super-imposed on top of them. The book doesn't tell you anything about who Oehlen is, but it manages to show you so much more than any essay or introduction could convey.

WHERE TO FIND ABB.:

I believe the book is still available from Taschen but the price has gone up quite a bit since it first came out. It's something that might need to be special-ordered, but certainly worth it if you're a fan of the artist.

Currently reading:
Freedom by Jonathan Franzen

Currently listening to:
Mark Kozelek, "The Finally"

Hawk Moon by Sam Shepard

2010-08-06T10:27:00.005-04:00

I'm very excited to share with you another rare edition from Black Sparrow Press: a signed and numbered copy of playwright Sam Shepard's first book of short stories from 1973, Hawk Moon. I first discovered Sam Shepard in the eleventh grade; I was heavily into the Velvet Underground and Shepard single-handedly sold me on all things theater-related when I read his play The Tooth of Crime for class. As I've grown older, I've become more and more fascinated with Shepard and his interplay between literature, theater, and film. Shepard is still quite prolific on the publishing front, but also finds time to act in major films and write screenplays. Two beautiful films by Wim Wenders were penned by Shepard: Paris, Texas and Don't Come Knocking (I recommend them both).

As you can see on the title page, Hawk Moon is "a book of short stories, poems and monologues." The book runs just under 100 pages, and includes around 50 individual pieces. Many of these are quick, one-page vignettes that manage to capture an entire scene or lifestyle without stepping into any character development. They all feel very cathartic, as if Shepard finally found an outlet to write without any constraints of form.

This edition of Hawk Moon is limited to only 200 signed and numbered copies. It's bound in blue boards with a thick, canvas-like spine (which sadly has worn into a rust color on the edges of my copy). This is copy #70.

Currently Reading:
Roberto Bolano, The Return
Black Jack Volume 12

Currently Listening to:
Robyn Hitchcock, Element of Light

"For You" - a libretto by Ian McEwan

2010-08-03T17:50:00.006-04:00

In 2008, Ian McEwan collaborated with a composer named Michael Berkeley for the opera "For You", which debuted with Music Theatre Wales in October of that year. (Twenty years earlier, Berekely and McEwan did an opera called "Or Shall We Die?" which I don't know much about--I'd seen it on many rare book sites, but I've yet to pick it up.) A few years ago I heard some buzz that McEwan's libretto was going to be released in a small, limited edition paperback and picked up a copy for around $15.00. As a McEwan fan, it's fascinating to see how he works in a different medium. Of course, the libretto is written in verse, which was a completely new side of McEwan that I hadn't encountered before. Plot-wise, it's much of the same--a sexual tangle between a composer, his wife, and his housekeeper. It's a story you've read before if you've read McEwan, but if you're a fan of that story "For You" is certainly worth a read.

Every copy of the paperback is numbered in an edition of 1000, and flatsigned by both McEwan and Berkeley.

Just announced: Puffin Designer Classics

2010-07-29T18:59:00.007-04:00

Very exciting news! Penguin has announced the follow-up to their sold-out run of limited edition Designer Classics they issued for their 65th anniversary (I featured FUEL's Crime and Punishment here); for their 70th birthday the series has been passed on to their Puffin imprint of children's books. Once again, these are limited to 1,000 numbered copies worldwide and are each selected and designed by an exciting artist/architect/designer. Thanks to some photos from the puffin site, I've got some details I can share with you here.

The Secret Garden, designed by Lauren Child
(Love the key on the end of the book's ribbon!)

Oliver Twist, designed by Sir Peter Blake

Little Women, designed by Orla Kiely

James and the Giant Peach, designed by Antony Gormley

Around the World in Eighty Days, by David Adjaye

Treasure Island, designed by Frank Gehry

These each retail for 100GBP, but if you run to amazon.co.uk you can grab some with a pretty outstanding discount. I'd highly recommend heading over there if any of these look of interest to you. The Penguin Series sold out quickly and are really quite collectible now-- Paul Smith's Lady Chatterly's Lover is around $750 these days! That Frank Gehry Treasure Island might be headed that way too...

Currently reading:
The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ (Philip Pullman)
A Study in Scarlet (Arthur Conan Doyle)

Currently listening to:
Gorillaz, live in Damascus

The 2010 Man Booker Prize Longlist announced

2010-07-27T21:39:00.005-04:00

Earlier today, the 2010 Man Booker Prize Longlist was announced. Each year, I try my best to follow the list and place a little "collector's bet" on certain titles that I think would make the shortlist or win the prize. For those of you who are uninitiated: the Man Booker Prize is essentially the European equivalent of the US Pulitzer. Each year, around mid-summer, the judge's panel announces a "longlist" of what they believe to be the fifteen-or-so best books of the year. The prize is open to writers from the Commonwealth and Ireland, and an incredible way for US readers to stay informed of titles overseas. September 7, this year's 13-title longlist will be narrowed down to a shortlist of six books (this is the time when books get new jackets printed touting their shortlistedness, something collectors like myself grudgingly avoid). Of these six, a winner is selected on October 12 and given 50,000GBP and international publishing acclaim.

Now, what does this mean for us? Lets say you think that the new David Mitchell book is going to surely take the prize. Spectre made 500 of those limited editions that I featured on the blog that listed originally for 50GBP. If it wins this year's prize, the book's value could potentially quadruple in value, proving to be a very sound investment.

So, research these books, and try to track down some signed firsts. Last year I was able to sell a signed, dated, and lined Wolf Hall (the 2009 winner, originally costing me $60.00) for around $350.00. In all, following the Booker is a great way to read some amazing books you've probably never heard of and possibly cushion your collector's allowance with a couple hundred dollars.

On to the longlist:

Parrot and Olivier in America by Peter Carey

Room by Emma Donoghue

The Betrayal by Helen Dunmore

In A Strange Room by Damon Galgut

The Finkler by Howard Jacobson

The Long Song by Andrea Levy

C. by Tom McCarthy

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell

February by Lisa Moore

Skippy Dies by Paul Murray

Trespass by Rose Tremain

The Slap by Christos Tsiolkas

The Stars in the Bright Sky by Alan Warner

While many of these authors are new to me, there are a few names here that have been perpetually longlisted and haven't seen a spot on the shortlist since I've been following. While perfectly excellent writers, I'm not holding my breath for Peter Carey or Howard Jacobson (sorry guys!).

There's one author here that I'm so incredibly thrilled to see, and that's Tom McCarthy. He wrote a stunning little book a few years back called Remainder, and I'm very excited to get C. when it arrives from amazon.co.uk in a few a weeks. I hope that McCarthy's inclusion here leads more people to his excellent oeuvre.

Finally, there's Skippy Dies. I can't wait for this one and I think that I finally tracked down a 1st edition from a bookstore in Australia (more on that if/when it gets here). If these books were judged based on art direction alone, Skippy Dies would be neck-and-neck with the slipcased Jacob De Zoet. Similar to FSG's 2666, Skippy Dies was published originally as three slipcased paperbacks, each with a different title. Take a look:

My initial thoughts are that Paul Murray, Tom McCarthy, and David Mitchell will all have a spot on the shortlist... and if not, they'll have a proud spot on my bookshelves. Happy reading.

Moby-Dick, or, The Whale (Arion Press facsimile edition)

2010-07-22T12:31:00.006-04:00

Tuesday morning concluded what I believe was my first real vacation in about four years--I spent a little over a week on Nantucket Island in Massachusetts with my family. My parents have a house in Madaket (a small village on the Western tip of the island) and we've been visiting fairly regularly since I was young. As with any time off, I always try to make the best of my open schedule and get through a massive book that's been on my bookshelf for ages. No matter how many classics were reaching out to me, only one made sense for this trip: Melville's Moby-Dick.

I've had a beautiful paperback copy of Moby-Dick sitting around untouched for about five years. It's a facsimile of a rare edition by the Arion Press from the 1979, designed by Andrew Hoyem with illustrations by Barry Moser.

The trim size, illustrations, and typeface all create a book that is exquisitely balanced; the entire design of this book is so celebratory and passionate that it truly contributes to a more pleasurable read.

Those of you who don't know the actual bulk of Moby-Dick, I'd say about half the book is made up of a crash-course in whaling. Any action of the book is chopped up with short chapters on harpooning, roping, cutting-in, and so on. All at once, you get a classic of American literature and instructions on how to scoop out a whale head.

These whaling lessons are at times a little dry, and Barry Moser's incredible boxwood engravings break up these pages in an exceptionally well-calculated way. Seeing the beauty that Moser was able to extract from what are essentially quite boring chapters really strengthens your appreciation of these historical sidesteps. There's quite a bit of artistry in the history of whaling and the nature that surrounds it, and it's something I fear other editions of Moby-Dick would not be able to show.

I spent two summers on Nantucket with my girlfriend in college. She spent her time at the Nantucket Historical Association while I worked at what I still believe is one of the best bookstores on the planet, Mitchell's Book Corner. During those years, Mitchell's was run by an incredible woman named Mimi Beman. She caught me at the genesis of my book love and helped me grow into who I am today. The passion that is in me now and the desire I have to share books with people all stem from Mimi's store and what she taught me. At the end of my last summer there, Mimi gave me a this copy of Moby-Dick. She didn't expect me to read it right away (as she knew there was always a time for these things) but she thought I should have it. Mimi died last Spring. I'll miss her very much--she is responsible for so much of my love of books, and it's an honor to have shared such wonderful summers with her on Nantucket.

"Sing out for every spout, though he spout ten times a second!"

Currently reading:
Zoetrope: All-Story (edited by PJ Harvey)

Currently listening to:
Woodsman, "Collages"

Dangling in the Tournefortia by Charles Bukowski, Black Sparrow limited edition

2010-07-17T10:19:00.004-04:00

This installment will feature another limited edition from the Black Sparrow Press: 1982's Dangling in the Tournefortia by Charles Bukowski. For lovers of Bukowski, Black Sparrow fandom goes hand-in-hand. They've published probably close to thirty of Bukowski's books over the years, and each of them were offered in the traditional Black Sparrow limitation format.

All at once, Black Sparrow would publish an open edition of paperbacks, a limited edition of around 500 hardcovers, and then an even tighter limited run of signed and numbered hardcovers, (usually between 100 and 300 copies). On top of all this, there's also a rare "lettered" edition, limited to only 26 copies. These lettered copies were all bound in a much more decorative cloth and each featured something like a drawing or a lithograph.

Cleaning out all my excess credit at powells.com, I was able to snag a signed and numbered copy of Dangling in the Tournefortia.

It's my first Black Sparrow Bukowski, and an exciting addition to my still-growing collection of their books. These Bukowski books are still quite difficult to get your hands on at a reasonable price--check eBay sometime and you'll see many titles that start at around $450.

WHERE TO FIND DANGLING IN THE TOURNEFORTIA:

As I mentioned, I found this at Powell's online. I strongly recommend any book lover to get on their "just arrived" rare book email list. In all honesty, I've only purchased a few books since I signed up years ago, but its a fascinating way to keep track of pricing (for instance, Powell's recently got a 1st edition of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest... who knew that ran for about $3000?). Also, keep in mind that if you see something you like you should probably pull the trigger on it quickly--these emails go out to a lot of people at once and I've seen many intriguing books sell the day they were announced to email subscribers.

Currently reading:
Moby Dick by Herman Melville

Currently listing to:
I am Kloot, "Sky at Night"
R.E.M., "Fables of the Reconstruction (remastered)"

Neil Gaiman drawing in a leather bound edition of "Seasons of Mists"

2010-07-06T10:00:00.006-04:00

Today, we're going to take a big step away from rare novels and take a quick look at a leather-bound first edition of Book IV of Neil Gaiman's epic Sandman comic. Supposedly, there are ten leather-bound first editions (one for each volume of the series) and I've only run into a few in my life. It seems they're quite rare; I was very surprised to find one behind the counter at a used bookstore on Smith Street in Brooklyn.

Seasons of Mists a very striking book, bound in a maroon leather with gold detailing on the spine. There's also a menacing key stamped to the front in gold (it's the key to Hell, if you're curious as to what it unlocks). Now, most exciting for any Sandman fan is that the book is signed by Gaiman with a drawing of the comic's titular character, Dream. Gaiman himself did not illustrate any of the Sandman issues, so it's fascinating to see how the author renders his own creations.

Currently reading:
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell
The Paris Review no. 193

Currently listening to:
The Samps 12"
"It All Falls Apart" by The Sight Below
"Paul's Tomb: A Triumph" by Frog Eyes

The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet by David Mitchell (signed and numbered slipcased edition)

2010-06-30T10:04:00.005-04:00

First off, apologies for yet another long hiatus from the blog. I'll spare you the details but I made some changes in my professional life that have required full attention these past few months. Currently between jobs, I've allowed myself some time off and have spent the past two weeks in glorious Brooklyn actually appreciating the summer here! It's my fourth summer since moving down here and I'm only now seeing some of the goodness to this season that I've missed all these years. I've spent many afternoons reading in Prospect Park, getting so unbelievably lost in one of the best books I've read in a long time, The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet.
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet is set in 1799 and follows the eponymous Dutch clerk who was sent to Dejima island in Japan to assist in correcting the East India Company's corrupt bookkeeping. While I'm only about 200 pages in (you can see by the ribbon in the photo above), this book is surely one of the richest, most absorbing historical fiction novels I've ever encountered. Mitchell balances his vast knowledge of the era with a masterful level of storytelling--it's a remarkable achievement.

Also remarkable is the production of this book. The copy you see in these photos is one 500 signed and numbered editions published by Sceptre simultaneously with the book's release in the UK last month (I had a pre-order in for it as early as March through amazon.co.uk).

Joe Wilson's design of this book is outstanding. I'm a huge fan of the design team Kai & Sunny (seriously, click through their portfolio, they did the covers for all of Mitchell's older titles in the UK) so I was a bit apprehensive when I heard they wouldn't be doing Jacob De Zoet. But, when you find out what kind of book this really is, that it doesn't have the glitzy showmanship of Mitchell's previous work, it's clear that Kai & Sunny would not be the best team for the job. So they went with Joe Wilson and Wilson completely nailed it. The design is somehow both subtle and ambitious at the same time, striking a confident balance between historical and modern. My favorite touch is the delicate use of a metallic blue. Carefully sprinkled across the cover, you'll find little rivets of reflective blue sparkles. They're sliced into the waves and the mountains, and speckled perfectly into the text on the cover. I tried to get a photo for you to see:

Also perfect are the book's endpapers and dyed-blue edges:

Unfortunately for you readers in the US, our local edition of this is nowhere near as beautiful. If you're interested in the book, I'd recommend ordering it from the UK. Mitchell's doing quite a bit of touring for this book, so a signed copy shouldn't be that hard to come by.

Currently reading:
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell

Oishinbo by Tetsu Kariya

Currently listening to:
Dance Yrself Clean by LCD Soundsystem
Death Control by Night Control

The Henry Miller Trilogy

2010-04-19T21:43:00.005-04:00

Here is a three-volume slipcased edition of "The Henry Miller Trilogy", purchased last year from the Faulkner House Bookstore in the French Quarter of New Orleans. It's a mixed set of different printings (two third printings and one sixth) and very lovingly chipped and worn. I consider it as kind of a companion piece to my Loujon Press Henry Miller, which can be seen here. This set's a great example of how a nice book collection doesn't have to always be mint condition first editions.

Currently reading:
Solar by Ian McEwan
Black Blizzard by Yoshihiro Tatsumi
The Silver Swan by Benjamin Black

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Currently listening to:
Andrew Graham's Good Word
Mark Kozalek: Lost Verses
Arthur Russell: Calling Out of Context

Ian McEwan's Solar (Waterstone's signed limited edition)

2010-03-24T09:18:00.005-04:00

Today I received my copy of Ian McEwan's Solar from Waterstone's in the UK. It's a signed, slipcased edition, limited to 1,000 copies worldwide. Aside from the gold lettering on the black cloth spine, the slipcase is the only portion of the book that features any sort of text. The front and back of the actual book are bound in printed, text-less boards, each with a different "extinguished" sun image. And finally, my favorite detail: the edges of the book are midnight black.

I think publisher's in the UK have got it right--go a little further with your big names and create a signed, limited edition for all the devoted collector's out there. I'm told that there's a leather-bound edition of Solar out there somewhere, limited to something small like 100 copies, but I can't even find an image of what that looks like. Looks like that will be quite a rare one...

To be honest, I don't know much about Solar yet. I've read it's about climate change and that it's not as heavy as his previous works. I'm just digging into John Banville's new one so it might be a bit before I get Solar... but I'm very much looking forward to it.

WHERE TO FIND SOLAR: Since this is a Waterstone's exclusive, it can be found here for 35GBP.

Currently reading:
The Infinities (John Banville)
Farewells to Plasma (Natasza Goerke)
Black Jack vol. 10 (Osamu Tezuka)

PIXIE MEAT, by Charles Burns, Gary Panter, and Tom De Haven

2010-03-16T09:53:00.008-04:00

I've recently been reading some of Charles Burns's old "defetctive" detective comics. Each of these vignettes are led by a masked wrestler-turned detective named El Borbah, who investigates everything from punk-rock robot clubs to experimental cryogenics to mysterious wish-bone cults (this from a wonderful story called "Bone Voyage"). They're beautifully weird stories--Burns's artistry is brilliantly eerie and will transport you into a bizarre world where somehow this weirdness makes sense.

In a way, there's a huge element of restraint involved in his work, something that I believe creeps up on you as you experience more of his material. For instance: a female character in his excellent novel Black Hole is revealed to have a tail--she's afflicted with the "Teen Plague" which is mutating high schoolers--and somehow we think to ourselves, "well, at least it's just a tail". Burns paces his work so well with quiet hints of monstrosity that it's hard not to think of all the creatures that are pent up inside of him, that someday it might all come out in a horror of "Dunwich" proportions.

But actually, nearly 20 years ago, Burns was involved in a no-holds-barred project that shows exactly what he is capable of while working without his traditional restrictions. I'm very excited to share with you a book called Pixie Meat, originally published in 1990 by Water Row Books in an edition of only 200 pieces.

This is a hand-assembled letterpress book featuring collaborative art by Burns and Gary Panter, as well as text by author Tom De Haven. I'm not too familiar with De Haven's other work (aside from the recent It's Superman, which featured cover artwork by Chris Ware) but as a fan of both Burns and Panter I've been lusting after this book for ages. It's incredible to see what the two artists can do while working together. Looking through these pages makes Burns' and Panter's solo work feel uncomfortably simple and stable. Panter's wacky monsters throw Burns's familiar grotesquery completely off-kilter, and vice versa; if you thought Burns and Panter were strange, Pixie Meat proves that you've only just seen a fraction of their madness. And really, it's an awe-inspiring feat.

The book is 12" x 15", hand-bound and packaged in a velcro-sealed black folder. every spread has a red cellophane sheet laid in to give the book more of a retro feel. It features an epic fold-out page and is signed by all three contributors on a bookplate in the back.

WHERE TO FIND PIXIE MEAT: Good luck finding one in person, as you can't even find much about Pixie Meat on the internet. It seems Water Row has a few copies left, and they're selling it for what I think is a high but very appropriate price. After months of online searching from my apartment in Brooklyn, I was able to track down a copy (through a Russian auction site or something) that was actually being sold in the small town I grew up in. My copy came from Main Street Records, a store in Western Massachusetts I used to visit in high school searching for old vinyl by The Cure.

Collectible Paperbacks

2010-03-04T08:40:00.010-05:00

With the book industry very obviously in check, I think that we're in the middle of an interesting trend in publishing with regards to how publishers work with the format of their books. Physical book sales are down and publishers are scrambling to hold on to those of us who still buy. And with sales down, we're seeing an increase in effort put towards book design. If we're going to pay $25 or higher for a book, it should look and feel like a special book---and we're seeing that more and more. Roberto Bolano's 2666 was stunning in its first formats--simultaneously published as a large hardcover and a slipcased 3-paperback set. Haruki Murakami's US hardcovers all feature wonderful jackets by the great Chip Kidd. UK publishers are frequently offering their books as signed, limited editions with collectors in mind. That most recent Michael Chabon book even had some kind of decoder ring attached to its jacket.

If I were one of those readers on the brink of buying a Kindle, this sort of stuff would probably keep me buying physical books... but I'm not on the brink of buying a Kindle. It hurts to say, but as a devoted book buyer I think there's a lot of greatness that can be taken away from the tricky position of the publishing industry has found itself in. While they're hustling for new buyers, us collectors are rewarded for our commitment.

What I find fascinating is the work some publishers are putting into their paperbacks. Many small presses have found that with a good design it's possible to make a relatively inexpensive paperback edition into that covetable tome that we buyers are looking for these days.

One of my favorite new publishers is Chin Music Press out of Seattle. After about four stunning hardcovers (including Todd Shimoda's Oh! which I highly recommend) they released Big In Japan by M. Thomas Gammarino. Big In Japan is the first in a new line of paperbacks that Chin Music calls their "Kami" editions--I'm told a few more Kami books are due out this quarter and I'm looking forward to seeing how they turn out. As you can see, Big In Japan is a beautiful little book; it's fairly light reading, but I'll shelve it proudly.

Let's also take a look at Peter Mendelsund's work on Osamu Tezuka's Black Jack, published by Vertical, Inc. When Vertical started printing Black Jack they were very clear that this was going to be a monumental undertaking, reprinting all 18 volumes of Tezuka's comics. While this may seem just as daunting for book-buyers (a $300 commitment over the course of three years) they've crafted each of these volumes into something so wonderful to hold that I actually rush out to the bookstore whenever a new volume is released (I've actually marked my calendar for Volume 10).

As a special offer to fans of the comic, Vertical worked with Diamond Distributors to create special limited-edition hardcovers of the first three volumes. Although these limited editions have their perks (a hardcover-only story per volume), as far as their design is concerned I wish they were printed in the original paperback format. Frankly, I think the paperbacks are far superior.

Lastly, to steer away from Japan, here is a line of adventure novels Coralie Bickford-Smith designed for Penguin UK. I've talked about a couple of her projects in previous posts, so I'll let the books speak for themselves here.

Why don't we see more well-designed paperbacks? I think publisher's need to re-think their understanding of format and shake this notion that the paperback is what happens when the hardcover sells out. Just as the thriller/mystery genre cranks out those pocket-sized mass market paperbacks, why can't literary presses work in the opposite direction and make a more elegant, shelf-worthy paperback like the the ones above? If hardcover book prices are creeping higher and higher, someone needs to reclaim that $16-$22 price range and create more softcover books we can all be proud to own.

Currently reading:
Point Omega (Delillo)
Adolf (Osamu Tezuka)

Larry Clark's TULSA (Art Edition by the Grove Press, 2000)

2010-02-19T21:31:00.008-05:00

This installment, we'll take a look at a rare Art Edition of Larry Clark's 1971 book Tulsa, published by the Grove Press in 2000 (Tulsa was originally published by Lustrum Press, a press founded by photographer Ralph Gibson). Tulsa is a devastating little book, featuring beautifully intimate photos depicting Clark's involvement with the amphetamine-shooting youth of Tulsa, OK. Clark's work is often quite graphic and unsettling but buried underneath the drugs and sex is some of the most honest photography I've ever come across. He's captured a very strange cross-section of growing up that is uncomfortably easy to identify with, regardless of how straight-laced or fractured our teenage years were.

This edition of Tulsa is a hardcover, slipcased edition. The book is limited to 250 copies worldwide, each signed and numbered by Clark. Tucked into the front endpapers is a previously unpublished 8 x 10 print, signed and numbered on the back. Recently back from the framers, this now hangs in our entryway.

WHERE TO FIND TULSA:

It's fairly easy to track down copies of Tulsa in used bookstores--I've run into a number of paperback versions while perusing through shops. This Art Edition, however, came from Powell's in Seattle. Earlier in the blog I mentioned that Powell's offers to buy books from people over the internet via an ISBN-input system. I decided early on when I started selling my old high school-era books to Powell's that I'd go the "store credit" route and save up for something very rare. It feels great to know this edition is made up of recycled Jack Kerouac and Nick Hornby books.

Currently Reading:
Big in Japan : A ghost story (M. Thomas Gammarino)
New Essays on the Crying of Lot 49 (Patrick O'Donnell, ed.)
Imperial (William T. Vollmann)

The library, re-opened

2010-02-08T17:17:00.005-05:00

And, at long last, this blog returns! I had a very busy last few months and found very little time for anything recreational. Hopefully I'll be able to build some momentum and return to posting with some regularity. The winter season has also very much affected the lighting for any pictures I've tried to take...

We're currently in the process of doing major bookshelf changes in our apartment. Two of our older pieces are currently up on craigslist--we've replaced one with this beauty from Ikea:

I'm normally not so keen on what Ikea has but I'm very happy with the "Granemo". It's always such fun to arrange a new shelf--this features a number of my large art books and collects about ten of my current favorite contemporary authors, their works bundled into sections across the shelves.

In about a month, we'll get a custom-built shelf/media cabinet that my girlfriend and I designed and commissioned with a local woodworker. I'm very much looking forward to that piece and will certainly post when it finally gets here!

Until next time--

currently reading:
The Crying of Lot 49 (Thomas Pynchon)
A Companion to The Crying of Lot 49 (J. Kerry Grant)
Imperial (William T. Vollmann)

Vladimir Nabokov, The Original of Laura (designed by Chip Kidd)

2009-11-19T20:31:00.005-05:00

Wow. I've never rushed home to the blog over a book like this. My copy of Nabokov's The Original of Laura came in the mail only 5 hours ago and I'm still overwhelmingly excited to share this one with you.

So, back-story: this book was originally written on a stack of index cards and was never meant to be released (I'm not positive, but I think someone told me Nabokov wrote most of his books on index cards...). Nabokov insisted that his son burn it when he died, but Dmitri Nabokov resisted. And now, many years later, it has made its way into bookshops.

I posted the amazing cover when I first saw it on amazon a few months ago. In the comments I was informed that it was done by none other than the great Chip Kidd! Should have got me thinking, but no... I was not expecting this.

The book is printed on heavy paper and each page is a photo of one of Nabokov's index cards. Below the card is a text-facsimile of the handwritten cards. Beautiful, and also explains the thickness of the book.

But wait, there's more:

Every index card is perforated! You can pull these all out and read them in a stack!

So subtle, so perfect. This book is a treasure. Thank you Mr. Kidd.

Coralie Bickford-Smith's Hardback Classics series for Penguin UK

2009-11-16T16:26:00.005-05:00

This week we'll take a look at another Penguin classics series. This one seems to be officially called the "Clothbound Classics"; the series collects ten 19th century novels, all bound in beautifully patterned cloth. The titles included are:

Madame Bovary
Great Expectations
Wuthering Heights
Sense and Sensibility
Cranford
Tess of the D'Urbervilles
Pride and Prejudice
Crime and Punishment
Jane Eyre
The Picture of Dorian Gray

Would you believe these were designed by the same artist who is responsible for "Ten Tales of the Supernatural" set that Penguin did last year, which was also the topic of my first blog post here? I'm stunned by Coralie Bickford-Smith's skill and versatility; she's able to adapt so keenly to her task at hand, whether its adventure novels or elegant Victorian ficiton. Another thing that I keep coming back to is the sequencing of the books and colors. The spine colors look so well against their neighbors that I can't imagine seeing this set in any other order.

If you liked these, take a look here: her site is finally live! And, warning, unless you want to max out your Christmas list this year stay away from the "clothbound series 2" link. Be still, my heart!

The 1967 Game Calendar by Joe Brainard and Kenward Elmslie

2009-11-02T19:14:00.002-05:00

A birthday gift this year from my girlfriend, the 1967 Game Calendar is one of the earlier printed collaborations between New York School artist Joe Brainard and poet Kenward Elmslie. Published in 1967 by the Boke Press, the 1967 Game Calendar is a 12 page collection of calendar-girl drawings by Brainard accompanied by loose quatrains by Elmslie.

More than anything else in my library (and really any book I've ever seen), I feel the 1967 Game Calendar captures everything perfect about the spirit of collaboration. It's a funny, simple book that makes you want to get together with friends or loved ones and start projects. The drive behind the Game Calendar seems not to sell copies but more to prove to the creators that they could make something together. Its artistic ambition is beautifully eclipsed by the friendship and love that went into creating it, and because of that they managed to make something that's hugely inspiring.

Brainard embodied the interconnectivity between poetry and art and seemed to settle very comfortably and confidently in the 60s as a sort of artistic accompanist. Brainard did book covers and illustrations for scores of poets and writers in New York, all while compiling a mixed-media ouvre of his own. His solo work ranged from collage and assemblage to comics and writing--his series of "I Remember" publications are some of the most honest and original books I've ever had the pleasure to read. I highly recommend checking out his work--there will certainly be more to come on this blog.

Hilary Mantel's Wolf Hall wins the 2009 Man Booker Prize

2009-10-06T17:01:00.006-04:00

As of just a few minutes ago, Wolf Hall has won the 2009 Man Booker Prize! Wolf Hall is a massive book and absolutely deserves the win more than any of the others I've read. It's the War and Peace of the Tudor Dynasty and one of the finest historical British epics I've ever encountered.

I'm curious to see how this book is received once Mantel receives her surge of new readers. This is not a book to just pick up and breeze through! It is a commitment; this book will fill up your reading schedule for at least a month. It'll be absolutely worth it if you've been craving a lengthy read, but if you've got a stack of books in your to-read pile you better just slide this one to the bottom.

Wolf Hall comes out next week to US audiences. Here are both of the covers, US on the left and UK on the right-- I think the UK edition is far superior, what do you think?

Queer Visitors from the Marvelous Land of Oz (Sunday Press)

2009-10-03T18:05:00.004-04:00

Back in 1904, L. Frank Baum created an Oz comic strip to promote his second book, The Marvelous Land of Oz. He teamed up with the illustrator Walt McDougal to create "Queer Visitors from the Marvelous Land of Oz", a strip that ran in newspapers for just under a year. Simultaneously, W.W. Denslow (the illustrator of Baum's first Oz book) created a similar strip called "The Scarecrow and the Tin Man", that ran at the same tame as "Queer Visitors". Both of these comics have been reprinted in a stunning new edition by the impeccable Sunday Press.
Sunday Press makes no compromises in terms of quality for their books--these are thick colorful pages, bound in cloth between printed boards and lavish endpapers. And, let's not forget the size of these! In an attempt to recreate the long-lost experience of reading these comics in the early 1900s, Sunday Press prints their books in the same size as the original newsprint pages on which these comics were first published. Queer Visitors is a massive 16 x 18 inches (which is actually just a bit smaller than their two Little Nemo editions). They've made their books a completely immersive experience and they are worth every penny.

So, let's talk about the actual comic--it's completely fascinating in form. "Queer Visitors" was the first comic strip ever to be based on a literary work and Baum and McDougal have managed to combine the two mediums in a very curious way. Each strip features a very dense block of text that sketches out the latest adventures of our Oz friends. And it's not just comic-style captions... this is a LOT of text, I'd say equal to 1-2 full pages of one of Baum's novels. The comic portion of the strip retells the chapter in roughly 8 frames, repeating a lot of the featured text. Similar to Winsor McCay's Little Nemo, the "plot" of each strip follows a delightfully simple formula--the visitors from Oz find themselves in a strange place, and as they try to deduce their location, madcap hilarity ensues. By the end of the strip, one of the visitors, the "Wogglebug" (I know, it even hurts to type that name, let alone say it out loud), figures out where the gang's landed and it's up to us to figure it out as well. Readers would write in their guesses and a winner would be selected each week.

WHERE TO FIND QUEER VISITORS FOR THE MARVELOUS LAND OF OZ: You can find the Sunday Press website right here. They have an online store, but their books are also distributed to places like Amazon and The Strand. Keep in mind that although not officially limited, these guys only print so many copies of their books and they won't be around forever.

Introducing: The Wandering Rocks

2009-09-28T18:17:00.003-04:00

Tonight I've launched a new blog called The Wandering Rocks.

The Wandering Rocks is an mp3 mix gallery that will exhibit semi-regularly with music and will feature artwork by Emily Young. Take a look here.

2009 Brooklyn Book Festival

2009-09-21T14:56:00.005-04:00

Two Sundays ago, the Brooklyn Book Festival took over the Court Street area for a whole day's worth of readings, vendors, and other festivities. This was the third year for the festival, and it's come quite a long way since its first. Borough Hall was packed! It's great to see something like this get such an amazing reception--perhaps next year they'll stretch the festival out to the whole weekend instead of just Sunday.

This year, the Book Fair teamed up with New York Comic-Con for a special comics-themed zone of Borough Hall. I think this is a step in the right direction, but it might need some tweaking if they plan to do something again next year. Some of my favorite publishers had booths, featuring new releases and signings, etc, but unfortunately most of the comics booths were made up of awkward self-published writers and artists who I found were all too easy to ignore.

For the other vendors, most of the usual suspects were there, with the exception of the mysteriously missing McSweeney's. McSweeney's and I have a complicated relationship, as I used to be quite a big fan of their publications but feel like they've been sliding for the past three or so years. They seemed to have steered away from printing contemporary literature and are focusing their efforts more on kids books and t-shirts. Maybe they'll have a booth at the Brooklyn T-Shirt festival instead...

Here's what I picked up at the festival:

Nog and The Drop Edge of Yonder by Rudolf Wolitzer (published by Three Dollar Radio)
Black Jack, Volume 7 by Osamu Tezuka (published by Vertical, Inc.)
The Halfway House by Guillermo Rosales (published by New Directions)
Oh! A Mystery of Mono No Aware by Todd Shimoda (published by Chin Music Press)
Do You Know What it Means to Miss New Orleans? (published by Chin Music Press)

I'm really looking forward to getting to these, but right now I'm in the middle of Wolf Hall from the Booker Shortlist and I don't see myself finishing it any time soon...

2009 Man Booker Prize shortlist announced

2009-09-08T12:49:00.004-04:00

Well, the shorlist was announced this morning. It's close to what I imagined, and includes a classic Booker-esque uspet with the inclusion of Adam Foulds's The Quickening Maze. I'm reading it now and while I wouldn't say it's a bad book, it's miles below the likes of Brooklyn and How to Paint a Dead Man. The 2009 Man Booker Prize shortlist is as follows:

Hilary Mantel, Wolf Hall
Sarah Waters, The Little Stranger
Simon Mawer, The Glass Room
Adam Foulds, The Quickening Maze
J.M. Coetzee, Summertime
A.S. Byatt, The Children's Book

I expect the judges will steer away from the Coetzee and the Byatt. At this point, although I have not read either of them, I'd throw my money on either The Glass Room or Wolf Hall. The winner is announced in early October and I'll update us all again then. Happy reading!

2009 Man Booker Prize, shortlist prediction

2009-09-07T23:16:00.002-04:00

At some point tomorrow, the shortlist for the 2009 Man Booker Prize will be announced. Aside from spending about two weeks with Pynchon's Inherent Vice, I've been slowly plugging away at the longlist since the day it was announced. I ordered a few books from sellers in the UK before the prices jumped too dramatically--Wolf Hall, The Glass Room, The Quickening Maze, and How to Paint A Dead Man.

Just for fun, here's my prediction for the shortlist... I'm basing it on what I've actually read and promising reviews of other titles I haven't made it to yet.

How To Paint a Dead Man
Wolf Hall
The Glass Room
Brooklyn
The Wilderness
The Children's Book

I just finished How To Paint a Dead Man and was completely floored by it. It's one of those books that I know I would not have discovered if it weren't for the Booker list and I'm very grateful for its placement there. Whatever happens to the book as far as the prize is concerned, I hope people keep it in mind--its a devastatingly beautiful book about art and death and in one thread even manages to utilize the 2nd person narrative with the most jaw-dropping precision.

I'll update tomorrow with the verdict. Happy Labor Day!

New Penguin Deluxe Classics featuring cover art by Jeffrey Brown, Tony Millionaire, and more!

2009-08-17T20:20:00.016-04:00

I don't think there's a series of books in my collection that makes me happier than the ongoing Penguin "Deluxe Classics" line. This series began about four years ago with a new edition of Candide featuring artwork by the great Chris Ware. Ware's work ran along the front, back, and spine of the book as well as the inside flaps...it's one of the nicest looking books you'll ever find in the "classics" section of your local bookshop. Ware's Candide was followed by a number of other reprints, including Daniel Clowes's take on Frankenstein, Charles Burns's cover for Upton Sinclair's The Jungle, and Anders Nilsen's artwork for a collection of fairy tales by Hans Christian Anderson.

The best part of this series, however, is this: while you may be lured in by the amazing cover artwork by some of today's most important comic and graphic artists, you also make a very important step towards reading some of these classics that you may have missed in your life. Let's face it--I would NEVER have picked up a copy of Candide if it weren't for Chris Ware's artwork. Now, I'm really happy that I've read Candide (it's pretty good!) and own a nice copy of it.

I was in the basement of the Strand this morning, thumbing through the reviewer's paperbacks when I found this, a new edition of Pride and Prejudice, illustrated by someone named Ruben Toledo. I searched for his name on Amazon and found he's done the covers for two more books in the Deluxe Classics series: Wuthering Heights and The Scarlet Letter.

These three books will be released at the end of this month. It's the first time the Deluxe Classics series has featured an artist more than once, and I think it's pretty successful. Toledo's work is just different enough with each of these titles to maintain the artistic variety the series has so strongly featured. Wuthering Heights is the weak link for me, though, as it reminds me a bit too much of Dame Darcy's Jane Eyre (though we could do some interesting Bronte sister theorizing):

Three more books will hit shelves towards the end of October: Moby Dick with cover art by Tony Millionaire, Huckleberry Finn with art by Lille Carre, and Ethan Frome with art by Jeffrey Brown. This batch is most exciting for me, as Jeffrey Brown's books (Clumsy, Unlikely) were some of the first comics I ever got into.

2009 Man Booker Prize Longlist

2009-07-29T14:30:00.008-04:00

Yesterday afternoon, the 2009 Man Booker Prize longlist was announced. For those of you who are not yet familiar with the prize, here goes: the Booker is awarded to the best fiction novel of the year and is geographically limited to citizens of the Commonwealth and the Republic of Ireland. It needs to be a work originally in English and cannot be self-published. Just no US authors! The Booker prize is first announced in longlist: this is the thirteen-or-so books that the judges narrowed their massive contestant pool down to. On September 8, these thirteen books will be further narrowed down to just six, and on October 6 the winner will be announced. Once a book gets to the shortlist, many publishers will tweak their book's dustjackets to advertise their potential to win. Sure, it all seems very commercial, but its a gas to watch these developments from the US. Chances are, 3/4 the longlist will be books you've never heard of! In my opinion there's no better way to keep informed of overseas authors as a US reader than to track the Booker list.

And now, for you collectors, the Booker is an amazing opportunity to make some quick investments and have a two-month literary gambling session. Your first step is to read some summaries and reviews and start to track down UK 1sts of the titles that interest you. Next, plan your eBay auctions as book interest picks up Last year, I was able to find a signed US 1st of Adiga's The White Tiger at McNally Jackson on Prince Street in Manhattan for around $22. I also found a copy of the rare hardback of Linda Grant's The Clothes on the Their Backs on abe.com or something closer to $50 (plus shipping). Grant's book was favored to win. As I wasn't a big fan of her book, I sold it on eBay for around $200 right before the winners were announced. The award ultimately went to The White Tiger, boosting the value of my signed first about ten times its list. I then sold that online--made a bit of money and evened out the cost of the rest of the '08 longlsit. I got to read some great books, including one of my favorites of 2008, Philip Hensher's The Northern Clemency.

So, you can do this to! The longlist is below:

A.S. Byatt: The Children's Book
J.M Coetzee: Summertime
Adam Foulds: The Quickening Maze
Sarah Hall: How to Paint a Dead Man
Samantha Harvey: The Wilderness
James Lever: Me Cheeta
Hilary Mantel: Wolf Hall
Simon Mawer: The Glass Room
Ed O'Loughlin: Not Untrue & Not Unkind
James Scudamore: Heliopolis
Colm Toibin: Brooklyn
William Trevor: Love and Summer
Sarah Waters: The Little Stranger

So far I've already read the Waters and the Toibin. Both were really lovely--The Little Stranger was a bit baggy in the middle but she did a splendid job presenting the fading era of the English Manor lifestyle. Brooklyn is just a great read in itself. It's a very delicate novel and perhaps not ambitious enough make it into the shortlist, but it certainly gets my recommendation.

I've got a great feeling about Wolf Hall and the Glass Room, and feeling a little uncertain about The Wilderness and Me Cheeta. A chimp "autobiography"? Really? Sounds more like something from Ricky Gervais's Monkey News than a Booker contender. We'll see how that goes!

Order and Chaos Chez Hans Reichel by Henry Miller and the Loujon Press

2009-07-27T19:44:00.005-04:00

As if I need another reason to love New Orleans! I recently discovered a rare Henry Miller book from the Loujon Press. Founded in the early 1960s by Louise "Gypsy Lou" Webb and her husband Jon, the Loujon Press was responsible for publishing some of the first works of Charles Bukowski. The couple printed a literary magazine called "The Outsider" from their apartment in the French Quarter, hand-pressing the magazine themselves. The Outsider ran for only five issues in four books (four and five were bound together). From what I gather, these were meticulously bound in a way that ensured they would be treasured. A listing I've found on www.abe.com says that the last issue included one of 500 "sealed-in-by-hand still life of flora, picked inside a mile of Geronimo's grave, and bound reverently by Gypsy Lou".

Reverently is right. Let's take a look.

This is a book by Henry Miller called Order and Chaos Chez Hans Reichel. This is the numbered "Cork" edition, originally priced at $14.00 in an edition of 1399 copies. There were a number of different editions done, including lettered copies, leather-bound copies, orange-stained cork slipcased editions, and so on. Flipping through the cork edition, I'm shocked that this was essentially the cheap, trade edition. The amount of detail and precision that went into this book surpasses any other book I've seen. The introduction is in a rainbow of heavy handmade colored paper. Each colored page is printed in different colored ink. There's a laid-in photograph over the front end-papers. The limitation page is printed on thinly sliced cork! After about ten of these vibrant pages, we reach the meat of the book--quintessential Miller presented in diary format, full of poems, songs, and other Miller-esque passions. I'll reprint the forward that Karl Shapiro wrote:

The magnum opus of Miller is a single anti-novel, not yet finished, which will run seven or ten or twelve novels. The rest of his books, uncountable, are footnotes, ornaments, offshoots, cartouches, belonging to the main book. His work will never be able to enter a canon; it will always defy the traditional; it is sabotage to all that still stands of the museum of culture. Yet it is the farthest thing from negation. What really shocks people about Miller is that he is happy. Happiness is obscene.

KARL SHAPIRO

WHERE TO FIND ORDER AND CHAOS CHEZ HANS REICHEL:

I moved apartments about two months ago and decided it was time to get rid of some old books. Over the course of a few years I'd managed to pick up a lot of titles that I discovered I wasn't especially into. So, instead of hauling them to the Strand to be cherry-picked, I found that www.powells.com has a new way to buy used books on the web. I HIGHLY recommend this. It's amazing how easy and lucrative the whole process is. You type in a book's ISBN and they'll offer a decent amount to your paypal account or a better amount in virtual credit. They send you a pre-paid shipping label, and when they receive your books the process the money due. I went the route for virtual credit and was able to get my hands on some really special pieces. I noticed they've got another copy of this gem up there right now.

Charles Burns rarities and the Buenaventura Press

2009-07-13T21:00:00.007-04:00

Charles Burns is an artist/graphic novelist who has a devastatingly small collection of widely available works. His opus Black Hole was released in 12 issues between 1993 and 2004 and is now available as a collection by Pantheon Books. Black Hole is the story of a group of teens in a small town who contract a strange STD they call "the bug" or "the teen plague". It causes these kids to mutate in very slight and troubling ways. What's incredible is Burns's ability to make you look past these startling mutations and see that deep down these are just kids in love, kids growing up. If you've not read Black Hole, I strongly urge you to do so. He manages to tap into the nightmare-side of your subconscious and shows you that its perfectly okay (and even healthy) to explore its depths.

Maybe you've already read Black Hole and think that's the extent of Charles Burns's works. Not so! His pre-Black Hole short stories have been anthologized by Fantagraphics and can be found at a number of book shops. Wikipedia tells me that a final volume of early stories called Bad Vibes is on its way as well.

Burns had an animated piece included in a french film called PEUR(S) DU NOIR. Check it out:

Peur(s) du noir Teaser

And finally, I'd like to point you towards the estimable Buenaventura Press. Buenaventura is responsible for the finest comics art publications I've ever encountered, namely the Kramer's Ergot anthologies. Not only does Buenaventura put out some flawless publications on their own, they manage to track down rare works from publishers around the world and sell them through their webshop. I've been able to pick up some obscure Charles Burns pieces through Buenaventura Press, including the limited edition, letter-pressed Swipe File.

These are still available, but won't be for long. I've wanted an original piece by Burns for a long time and Swipe File is a perfect compromise for those of us with a modest budget.

I was able to meet Charles Burns at the Buenaventura booth at the MoCCA fair last month. It was also great to talk with Alvin Buenaventura--he's hugely passionate about the work he does and I'm very eager to see what's to come from BP. Hearing that I was a big fan of Charles Burns, Alvin told me to ask Burns for some "free shit", like it was some sort of secret code word. Turns out Burns often prints a home-made mini-comic called "Free Shit" that he hands out to friends and fans at these fairs! Free Shit #14 is the little blue thing in the picture below:

Also included in these photos are Le Muscle Carabine #1 (which Burns did a cover for), Close Your Eyes (a collection of early work), Plague Boy (two staple-bound minis of early work), and Permagel (a collection of new and existing work finally printed in a high-quality format).

WHERE TO FIND THESE PIECES: Buenaventura Press is the place to go!

Imperial and The Humbling

2009-07-06T18:02:00.007-04:00

Somehow we're already well into July, which means we've made some progress through my recent post of summer releases. Living in New York certainly has its perks for the casual reader as the publishing world is all around us. Many great bookshops in Manhattan manage to get new books early and they can be yours if you know where to look. Although I'm not the biggest fan of the store, the first place to check for new releases is the basement of the Strand. It's packed to the gills with preview copies of many new titles; everything is half off the list price and often you'll find cute PR letters from the publishing house tucked into the book's flaps. Even though it’s not due out until the end of the month, I found a copy of Imperial down there.
The book looks to be just as amazing as I had hoped--a quick skim through the 10 or so pages of contents will make you dizzy with the scope of this tome. But, it's all very organized and seems to be actually quite a focused book. It's not like Vollmann's going to ramble aimlessly about how crazy life is down by the border--similar to the McSweeney's edition of Rising Up and Rising Down, Imperial follows a very calculated outline and while I'm only about 25 pages in at this point I am blown away with how good this one is.

Coincidentally, the same week I get one of the biggest books ever published I was able to get my hands on what might be the smallest new release: Philip Roth's The Humbling.
Just over 140 pages, I started this on the train home from work one day and it was done by the time I got in the next morning. I don't want to give anything away as far as the story is concerned, but Roth's done it again. You may already know The Humbling follows the breakdown of an old actor who "loses his magic", but Roth's actually composed the book into three acts and kind of follows a theatrical structure. Chock full of soliloquies, It's the closest thing we'll get to an actual play written by Roth. It's a powerful little book and fascinating in structure.

Vladimir Nabokov's The Original of Laura

2009-06-20T08:45:00.004-04:00

Quick follow-up to my post of upcoming releases:

Below is the cover of Nabokov's The Original of Laura according to Amazon.

I don't know who designed this but I can't imagine the stress they had to deal with the get this right. I think it works! I love the fading letters; we don't need to see the full name and title because we know exactly what it is and arguably have been waiting for this book for 30+ years. But what about those readers who don't know Nabokov? While I adore this cover, I can't imagine it does much for someone who is not familiar with the author or the work. What do you think?