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Category: books
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Featured Book of the Day: Fraktur mon Amour
Fraktur Mon Amour (Princeton Archetectural Press) showcases 333 Blackletter fonts collected by Judith Schalansky, accompanied by a CD of 150 fonts compatible with both PC or Mac. Four of the fonts were created just for this book! It’s beautiful black and hot pink, has won awards and looks like a prayerbook. Rock horns, everybody!
People tend to think of Blackletter font (also known as Fraktur or Gothic type) as something associated with hip hop or heavy metal album covers, gangs, street culture, tattoos, goth culture and even advertising. You know you’ve seen it! It’s the font usually used just for titles, ’cause a whole document with it can be harder to read. But this font pops up in lots o’ places, like these, for example:
But it wasn’t always like this. Blackletter font was popular in Europe during the Middle Ages though the Renaissance replaced most of it with Latin Antiqua. It was incorrectly associated with the Nazis, who actually banned its use in 1941 because it was falsely believed to be a Jewish invention. These days this font is embraced in many parts of both subculture and popular culture.
Each Blackletter font in Fraktur Mon Amour is presented on a full page along with its complete alphabet, date of origin, the name of its designer, and its original foundry. Like this:
Isn’t this hot? How could you not want this? It even has a black and pink ribbon bookmarker to keep your place in case you are deciding whether to use Duerers Minuskeln or Fette Deutsche Schrift to decorate your goth greeting card for your goth holiday party invitation. Come into the store today and take a look at this beauty.
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Today's Featured Book: L. Frank Baum's The Wizard of Oz, Illustrated by Graham Rawle
This is no ordinary reprint. This version of The Wizard of Oz is an artbook illustrated by Graham Rawle, author of Woman’s World (a novel created entirely from fragments of found text from 60s womens mags, now being made into a movie). The text is the same — hence it being almost 300 pages long! There’s illustrations on almost every page, and they’re crazy. Collage-y type of stuff with dolls and toys and beads and doll slippers and bottles and things cut out from other things — like he cut up magazines and newspapers and then went crazy at American Science and Surplus. Kids would love this but adults may love it more. Even some of the font is spicy with cursive and italics and who knows what else. There’s little graphic surprises on almost every page. A lot of work went into this thing!
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Today's Featured Book: Beautiful Mutants by Mark Mothersbaugh
Yes, that Mark Mothersbaugh — the lead singer of Devo. Beautiful Mutants is the show catalog for the 2007 exhibition of the same name at CSUF Grand Central Art Center Project Room in Santa Ana, CA. It has lots of old timey photos of interesting people (Carmen Miranda, the Del Rubio Triplets, various circus-y freak people, just to name a couple, even a few pugs! I’ve seen the artist with his pugs. Awesome!) halved and then resewn to show the same half as the opposite side. What do I mean? OK, so let’s say you took a picture of me. Oh, and let’s say I’m a sad-eyed perfumier in Brecksville, Ohio in like, the forties. In one hand I’m holding some flowers. And in the other hand I’m holding lace. So then you take the side where I’m just holding the flowers and make a replica of that side, except that you reverse it. Now both sides are facing each other, totally symmetrical. You cut away the side with the lace, and you attach the side with the reversed image of me holding the flowers. And voila! I look like a very mutilated version of myself. And my sad eyes are way too close together. Or way too far apart so I look freaky like Jackie O. Does this make any sense? Some of the photos in the book the eyes are so close together that it makes one eye, so it’s like a cycloptic magician or something. Crazy!
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Today's Featured Book: Concrete Inspection by Crispin Hellion Glover
Subtitle of Concrete Inspection by Crispin Hellion Glover: “A Manual of Information And Instructions For Inspectors With Standard And Typical Specifications.” Actually it’s a collage telling the story about the narrator’s mother (among other things). Even though it’s a black hardcover with copper engraving (I think maybe engraving is the right word), it feels very zine-ish ’cause of its cut-and-paste approach. Funny that the story would be about the narrator’s mother (and we realize you should never assume the narrator is the author), since when we call the publisher (Volcanic Eruptions) to place reorders, we’re pretty sure that we talk to Crisin’s mom. We’re not 100% sure on this one, but well, pretty sure. Maybe. Anyway, we have some of his other books too, here.
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Quimby’s Top Five Best Sellers For the Week of July 1st, 2008 – July 6th, 2008
1. Giant Robot #54 $4.99
2. Dwelling Portably 1980 – 89 by Bert Davis (Microcosm) $8.00
3. Aubade #4 Virginia Stories $2.00
4. Stop Smiling #35 $5.95
5. Juxtapoz #90 July 08 $4.99 -
Quimby’s Top Ten Best Sellers for the Week of Week of Feb 3rd, 2008 – Feb 9th, 2008
1. You Must Be This Happy To Enter by Elizabeth Crane (Akashic/Punk Planet) $14.95
2. Crap Hound #7 (Show & Tell) $12.00
3. Bust Feb/Mar 08 $4.99
4. Milk Teeth by Milk Morstad (Drawn + Quarterly) $12.95
5. Ugly Things #26 $7.95
6. Cabinet #28 Bones $12.99
7. Buffy the Vampire Slayer #11 by Joss Whedon (Dark Horse) $2.99
8. Believer #57 $8.00
9. Found Magazine #5 $5.00
10. Expect Resistance: A Field Manual by Crimethinc $11.95 -
Quimby’s Top Ten Best Sellers for the Week of Jan 27th, 2008 – Feb 2nd, 2008
1. Acme #18 by Chris Ware (D+Q) $17.95
2. Straight to Hell #66 by Billy Miller $6.00
3. Slingshot 2008 Planner Large Size (Slingshot Collective) $12.00
4. Bust Feb/Mar 08 $4.99
5. Ready Made #33 $4.99
6. Do Not Disturb My Waking Dream by Laura Park $3.00
7. Cabinet #28 Bones $12.99
8. I Shall Destroy All the Civilized Planets by Fletcher Hanks (Fantagraphics) $19.95
9. Grafuck #3 $24.95
10. Caboose #6 by Liz Mason $1.00 -
My Faves of 2007! By Liz!
Unmarketable: Brandalism Copyfighting Mocketing and the Erosion of Integrity by Anne Elizabeth Moore (New Press) $15.95 isbn 9781595581686
A witty and thoughtful look into the mutilation of the underground by them nasty corporate monsters.The Stolen Child by Keith Donohue (Anchor) $13.95 isbn 9781400096534
So this human little kid is taken by changelings to grow up in the forest. His place with his family is taken by a changeling, who spends most of his life trying to fool everybody he is human. Don’tcha just have those days where you feel like you have to convince everybody that you’re human? Such a drag.Ladyfriend #10: The Friendship Issue by Christa Donner $4.00
Chicago local Christa Donner anthologizes articles from different ladies and their friends about sisterhood, best friends gone bad, girl crushes, and more!Female Serial Killers: How and Why Women Become Monsters by Peter Vronsky (Berkley) $16.00 isbn 9780425213902
So many of them were nurses. What the fuck?Coffeeshop Crushes: Tales of Love and Lust in Coffee Establishments edited by Nicole J Georges and Jon Van Oast $3.00
Exactly what you want it to be: stories, comics, rants, interviews, all about barista love as servers, patrons and coffee admirers.Love Is a Mix Tape: Life and Loss, One Song at a Time by Rob Sheffield (Three Rivers Press) $13.00 isbn 9781400083039
I was all set to think this was some emostential thing about relationships gone bad, but um, it’s not. I mean, she dies. It’s not like a Craig Thompson graphic novel about heartbreak at Christian overnight camp or whatever. I actually cried at the end of this book.A Sunday Afternoon Hotdog Meal: A Guide to Chicago Featuring…Written and illustrated by 205 Second Through Sixth Grade Students, All of Whom Are Eager to Show You Around (826CHI) $12.00 isbn 9780979007392
The title pretty much says it all. Get hold of this book before you get to Chicago and plan your vacation with the help of the under ten set, ’cause they know where it’s at, if you know what I’m saying. The best parts are the licks of little kid logic, way more entertaining than any Not For Tourists Guide could ever be: “Bellas’s Pizza is a great place to go. Do you know why? It is about two or one blocks away from my house and sometimes it makes the air smell like many different kinds of food.” This book is even just a fun read if you’re already here.Soon I Will Be Invincible by Austin Grossman (Pantheon) $22.95 isbn 9780375424861
This is one of those secret life of superheroes tales, like Watchmen, Mystery Men, etc. etc. etc. I’m such a sucker for that shit. Can’t get enough of it. I like the special attention given to the origin of the evil genius-scientist character. You don’t even have to be a comics reader to enjoy this book of fiction. Although I don’t doubt the bigger comics geek you are the more you will enjoy it.Hand Job: Catalog of Type by Michael Perry (Princeton) $35.00 isbn 9781568986265
This book of handwritten font is perfect for people like me who have unreadable handwriting but want their zines to look all Cometbus-y and handwritten. It does not, however, come with a disc with the handwritten fonts to actually be able to use them. Ah shucks. It’s still pretty damn cool though.Caboose #6: The Health and Recreation Issue
This is zine is, well, by me. It’s my story of some crazy medical shit I went through and how I navigated my way thorugh the medical world. And then once I got better, I went back to doing my regular ridiculous activities: karaoke, go-go dancing, eating chicken and screaming “Arrr! Fuck yeah!” at Medieval Times, etc. You should totally, totally, totally buy this because I worked very hard on it and I think it’s a compelling and fun read. And because I’m cute. -
Elizabeth Crane reads from You Must Be This Happy to Enter at Quimby’s!
THE FIRST STOP ON A NATIONAL TOUR!
Join Elizabeth Crane for her hometown launch event, as she reads from her new book You Must Be This Happy to Enter.
Denial, god, dystopia, academia, and reality TV collide in acclaimed author Crane’s third story collection, and the latest installment from Akashic’s Punk Planet Books imprint.
“Crane has a distinctive and eccentric voice that is consistent and riveting.”
–New York Times Book Review“Crane is funny, even when her subject is pain . . . There’s an energy and immediacy to [her] stories that make them feel as if they could have been delivered in one beautiful, raw rant over a bottle of wine. A night reading them is well spent.”
–Entertainment WeeklyWhether breathlessly enthusiastic serenely calm, or really concentrating on their personal zombie issues, Crane’s happy cast explore the complexities behind personal satisfaction. You Must Be This Happy to Enter exists in a world very much like our own but infused with more joy and magic. It’s a place where the happy are jailed, the sincere cause confusion, and pop culture so seamlessly melds with real life that characters can walk right out of the television and come live with you.
Crane’s third collection, aims to convey something fresh in literature: utter sincerity. With a trademark mix of hyperreality, humor, and heartfelt emotion, You Must Be This Happy to Enter asks readers to connect with the loopy ways of her characters. Because even though they’re occasionally severed from reality, they still seem to know something you don’t about keeping upbeat in a strange and crumbling environment.
ELIZABETH CRANE is the author of two previous story collections, When the Messenger Is Hot and All This Heavenly Glory. Her work has been featured in numerous publications including the Chicago Reader and The Believer, as well as several anthologies, including McSweeney’s Future Dictionary of America and The Best Underground Fiction. A winner of the Chicago Public Library’s 21st Century Award, Crane teaches creative writing at Northwestern’s School of Continuing Studies, the School of the Art Institute, and the University of Chicago. She lives in Chicago.
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Eugene S. Robinson discusses FIGHT at Quimby's Bookstore
Friday, January 11th at 6:00 PM
Join Eugene S. Robinson as he reads and discusses his new book Fight: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Ass-Kicking but Were Afraid You’d Get Your Ass Kicked for Asking. Crushing your enemies, driving them before you, and hearing the lamentations of their women? It doesn’t get any better than this.”
–Eugene Robinson, ripping off John MiliusThat’s the sentiment that surges just below the surface of Eugene Robinson’s Fight – an engrossing, intimate look into the all–absorbing world of fighting. Robinson – a former body–builder, one–time bouncer, and lifelong fight connoisseur – takes readers on a no–holds–barred plunge into what fighting is all about, and what fighters live for. If George Plimpton had muscles and had been choked out one too many times––this is the book he could have written.
When Robinson and his fellow fighters mix it up, they live completely for the moment: absorbed in the feel of muscles slippery with sweat; the metallic tang of blood mingling with saliva in the mouth; the sweet, firm thud of taped knuckles impacting flesh. They fight because it feels good. They fight because they want to win. And even if they get their asses kicked, they fight because they love fighting.
Fight is part encyclopedia, part panegyric to fighting in all its forms and glory. Robinson’s narrative – told in his trademark tough–guy, stream–of–consciousness noir voice – punctuates this explanatory compendium of the fighting world. From wrestling, jiu–jitsu, boxing and muay thai to bar fighting, hand–to–hand combat, prison fighting and hockey fights, from the greatest movie fight scenes to how to throw the perfect left hook, Fight is a scene–by–scene tour of the bloody but beautiful underworld that is the art of fighting.
With his aficionado’s enthusiasm and fast–paced, addictive voice, Robinson’s Fight combines compelling text with beautiful photographs to create an illustrated book as edgy and interesting as it is gorgeous.
Eugene Robinson has written for GQ, The Wire, Grappling Magazine, LA Weekly, Vice Magazine, Hustler, and Decibel, among many others. He has also been Editor-in-Chief of Code and EQ. He grew up in New York City, where he first understood the surreal joy of a bloody nose obtained through fighting. The 6′ 1?, 235-pound Robinson has worked in magazine publishing, film, and television. He has studied boxing, Kenpo karate, Muay Thai (mixed martial arts), wrestling, and Brazilian jiu jitsu. Robinson is also the vocalist and front man for Oxbow, a rock group-cum-fight club whose most recent album, The Narcotic Story, will be released in 2007. He lives in the San Francisco area.
