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A review by read_all_nite
My Ideal Bookshelf by Thessaly La Force, Thomas Keller, Nancy Pearl, Miranda July, Michael Chabon, Dave Eggers, Chuck Klosterman, Jonathan Lethem, Alice Waters, James Franco, Alex Ross, Patti Smith, David Chang, Maira Kalman, David Sedaris, Nico Muhly, Jennifer Egan, Thurston Moore, George Saunders, Rosanne Cash
2.0
I'm always looking for book recommendations, so when I picked this up at the local library, I thought I'd hit the jackpot. And I did, sort of. Great idea, this book, but it could have been much better executed.
The editor asked several creative people which books they would put on their ideal bookshelves. Some of these creatives are household names. Many of the bookshelves belong to people who are, apparently, hipster friends of the editor, maybe? Most of the contributors are conveniently located in east coast cities and several seem to write/illustrate for the New Yorker, where the Le Force is also an editor. God knows, that's not a bad thing! It just seems that she chose people who were incredibly easy for her to get a hold of and talk into writing a couple hundred words. She must be some sort of gourmand because there are a LOT Of chefs who have bookshelves in here. Mark Bittman has a very interesting, decidedly non-cookbook shelf. A few actors/directors--Judd Apatow make an appearance. Also, a legal scholar or two (I'm sure they're very creative somehow). The president of Harvard weighs in with her bookshelf, as well.
An illustrator was dispatched to paint the spines of recommended books, as if they were on a bookshelf. The creative people were pressed upon to write a brief essay on, at least most of the time, the role of books/reading in their lives. Or not. Some essays are just pointless exercises in narcissism. I'm imagining the editor saying, "just write about, you know, whatever." Fortunately, several of the essayists expound on the importance of at least a couple of the actual books they list on their shelf. In the introduction, the editor states that some bookshelves were not created for the content of the book at all. Some designers paid a lot of attention to the way the spines of the books would look in the illustration. You can't even read the titles of some of the books on the shelves because the bookcloth on the spine has simply worn away.
The contributors' bookshelf titles are all included after their microbiographies at the end of the book, but the editor simply didn't bother to include authors or years of publication. Or maybe she left that practical, helpful stuff out because it didn't look "designerly" to include it--too many changes from italics to regular type involved in giving a standard bibliography? Too many words cluttering up the page, maybe? I'm not sure why.
In spite of these editorial flaws, I still found some of the essays really thought-provoking (this means you, Malcolm Gladwell), and I found some books I'd never heard of on the shelves, and that I am definitely going to read. Also, I want to check out some of the works of the writers whose bookshelves were on display. They sound like interesting people. In sum, this is a very uneven book whose editor didn't do it any favors, but there are many pearls in the mud here.
The editor asked several creative people which books they would put on their ideal bookshelves. Some of these creatives are household names. Many of the bookshelves belong to people who are, apparently, hipster friends of the editor, maybe? Most of the contributors are conveniently located in east coast cities and several seem to write/illustrate for the New Yorker, where the Le Force is also an editor. God knows, that's not a bad thing! It just seems that she chose people who were incredibly easy for her to get a hold of and talk into writing a couple hundred words. She must be some sort of gourmand because there are a LOT Of chefs who have bookshelves in here. Mark Bittman has a very interesting, decidedly non-cookbook shelf. A few actors/directors--Judd Apatow make an appearance. Also, a legal scholar or two (I'm sure they're very creative somehow). The president of Harvard weighs in with her bookshelf, as well.
An illustrator was dispatched to paint the spines of recommended books, as if they were on a bookshelf. The creative people were pressed upon to write a brief essay on, at least most of the time, the role of books/reading in their lives. Or not. Some essays are just pointless exercises in narcissism. I'm imagining the editor saying, "just write about, you know, whatever." Fortunately, several of the essayists expound on the importance of at least a couple of the actual books they list on their shelf. In the introduction, the editor states that some bookshelves were not created for the content of the book at all. Some designers paid a lot of attention to the way the spines of the books would look in the illustration. You can't even read the titles of some of the books on the shelves because the bookcloth on the spine has simply worn away.
The contributors' bookshelf titles are all included after their microbiographies at the end of the book, but the editor simply didn't bother to include authors or years of publication. Or maybe she left that practical, helpful stuff out because it didn't look "designerly" to include it--too many changes from italics to regular type involved in giving a standard bibliography? Too many words cluttering up the page, maybe? I'm not sure why.
In spite of these editorial flaws, I still found some of the essays really thought-provoking (this means you, Malcolm Gladwell), and I found some books I'd never heard of on the shelves, and that I am definitely going to read. Also, I want to check out some of the works of the writers whose bookshelves were on display. They sound like interesting people. In sum, this is a very uneven book whose editor didn't do it any favors, but there are many pearls in the mud here.