In a small studio in Brooklyn, a group of poets and book lovers – driven by passion – have created and nurtured Ugly Duckling Presse. It’s a small publishing house that has remained faithful to print, against all odds. Can it survive in a publishing world gone digital? Saskia de Rothschild explores this community of artists committed to preserving the glorious past of book publishing, and carrying it forward into an uncertain future.
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Book Description
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com Review
I love books. Physical books. My apartment is full of them, including a beat-up, leather-bound copy of some of Shakespeare's works that was probably used in an elementary school classroom. "NO KISSING ALOUD" [sic] is scrawled on the edge in pencil. There's also a stack of signed first editions, and a motley assortment of tattered, dog-eared tomes that I consider to be some of my most prized possessions. Saskia de Rothschild's The Book Bind tells of a collective of dedicated poets, publishers, and laborers who see books as cultural artifacts and, as such, demonstrate what Saskia thinks is the ultimate passion for "real words" by continuing to print books by hand. Members "share the subversive wish to create permanence in a world overrun by impermanence." They also share a general distaste for the e-reader--a device, they believe, that is only valuable in so much as it provides easy access to "disposable texts" penned by [insert New York Times bestselling author here]. De Rothschild kindles (ahem) the e-reader debate. "When you read on a computer or so-called 'tablet,' you can't touch the words. I used to think that meant the words couldn't touch you." But what if they still can? Are words any less real or worthy whether they're on the printed page, a stone tablet, in e-ink, or on a napkin? This Single reminded me that you can't always judge a book by its cover. If that were true I might never have come across The Book Bind, which I read on one of my other prized possessions--a Kindle. --Erin Kodicek
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
34 of 35 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Verified Purchase
I found The Book Bind to be a compelling read for several reasons. It is a good look into the world of small presses--those publishers who are not members of the over glorified Big 6 and for whom publishing a book is a labor of love, not profit. In this case, the particular publisher appears from this essay to focus predominately on poetry which has never been big with mainstream publishers. I loved reading about the sense of community this group has and their almost militant passion for book publishing.
While I think this essay succeeds in shining a much needed light on the efforts of small presses and the work they publish, I don't quite buy into the whole e-book as evil deal as it's presented here. Technology has made e-books popular. I believe more people are reading and reading more thanks to devices such as the Kindle and I don't feel my Kindle books are anymore "disposable" than the books sitting on my many bookshelves--and my Kindle books don't take up any needed space in my home. And I certainly don't think the classics on my bookshelves are more valuable or meaningful than the ones on my Kindle. Literature is literature, no matter the delivery method.
I do love love love physical books, but I also love the technology that allows me to read more broadly than I ever have been able to before. And if Amazon makes money because of it, well, that's just fine with me. Truthfully, I think that e-books and physical books can both exist in this world, maybe even become friends someday. I will never believe, though, that a printed word is more valuable or permanent than a digital one. However, I do believe that poetry is the one genre that is best presented and read in physical form because it needs page for its form to be totally successful--line breaks, spaces between verses, etc., are critical and essential to poetry.. Formatting poetry to work in digital form is very difficult. Again, this is the rare exception for e-books.
I admire the group of people whose story is told in this, ahem, Kindle Single e-book. While small presses have for many years worked hard to publish independent writers whose work would never be published by the Big 6 publishers, I don't think that any one company has done more for independent authors than Amazon. The author seems to thumb his nose a bit at Amazon, but at the same time is careful not to bash the company. It was hard to tell if the author had an agenda or was just trying to stir a controversy that has been debated over and over. All I can say is e-books are here to stay. People aren't forced to buy and read them, but hey, they can if they want to, and I for one do.
Since I like slice of life stories that allow me to view something up close that I've never seen before and because I thought this was well written--and because I love anything that makes me think and question how I feel about something--I give this Kindle Single 4 stars. I certainly don't agree with everything in it, but I am SO glad that Amazon made it possible for this author to reach a broader audience, or any audience for that matter.
Overall, a good story about a group of people passionate about books that the author was given an opportunity to tell other book lovers about through that old demon called technology provided by that profit-making devil called Amazon.
While I think this essay succeeds in shining a much needed light on the efforts of small presses and the work they publish, I don't quite buy into the whole e-book as evil deal as it's presented here. Technology has made e-books popular. I believe more people are reading and reading more thanks to devices such as the Kindle and I don't feel my Kindle books are anymore "disposable" than the books sitting on my many bookshelves--and my Kindle books don't take up any needed space in my home. And I certainly don't think the classics on my bookshelves are more valuable or meaningful than the ones on my Kindle. Literature is literature, no matter the delivery method.
I do love love love physical books, but I also love the technology that allows me to read more broadly than I ever have been able to before. And if Amazon makes money because of it, well, that's just fine with me. Truthfully, I think that e-books and physical books can both exist in this world, maybe even become friends someday. I will never believe, though, that a printed word is more valuable or permanent than a digital one. However, I do believe that poetry is the one genre that is best presented and read in physical form because it needs page for its form to be totally successful--line breaks, spaces between verses, etc., are critical and essential to poetry.. Formatting poetry to work in digital form is very difficult. Again, this is the rare exception for e-books.
I admire the group of people whose story is told in this, ahem, Kindle Single e-book. While small presses have for many years worked hard to publish independent writers whose work would never be published by the Big 6 publishers, I don't think that any one company has done more for independent authors than Amazon. The author seems to thumb his nose a bit at Amazon, but at the same time is careful not to bash the company. It was hard to tell if the author had an agenda or was just trying to stir a controversy that has been debated over and over. All I can say is e-books are here to stay. People aren't forced to buy and read them, but hey, they can if they want to, and I for one do.
Since I like slice of life stories that allow me to view something up close that I've never seen before and because I thought this was well written--and because I love anything that makes me think and question how I feel about something--I give this Kindle Single 4 stars. I certainly don't agree with everything in it, but I am SO glad that Amazon made it possible for this author to reach a broader audience, or any audience for that matter.
Overall, a good story about a group of people passionate about books that the author was given an opportunity to tell other book lovers about through that old demon called technology provided by that profit-making devil called Amazon.
14 of 15 people found the following review helpful
This kindle single succeeds on so many fronts as it is a well-written, engaging story about a fascinating group of artists and poets. I will now have to be on the lookout for books printed by the Ugly Duckling Presse!
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Verified Purchase
A book about the wonder, joy, and art of printing as read on an e-reader. Irony aside, this nonfiction article will be enjoyed by any book lover or story lover.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
The Book Bind
An interesting take on the book publishing business. Although technology makes the world go around, it is nice to slow it down a bit and enjoy the process of creating something... Read more
Published 4 months ago by Dr. Helena M. Mariades
charming portrait of book making, and much more
Broaches several topics, all of which steer the reader back to the art and power of the tangible written word. Read more
Published 5 months ago by chris gaubatz
Book Bind Kindle Single
An interesting review of a small book binding business. Not fascinating, but then how exciting is book binding? Introduced some authors I've never heard of before (Russians).
Published 8 months ago by Sheryl
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You leave greasy finger marks on its surface but no smudges. You can only smudge real words.
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