Customer Reviews

Structure of the Visual Book

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This volume, rather than just providing dry (or gluey) how-to instructions on how to MAKE a book, offers readers new ways to THINK about what a book IS, how to make a book expressive beyond the reader's expectations. Smith is clearly a deep thinker, but not without a sense of humor. He is able to rip apart the structure of the book by examining our preconceptions, and he is then able to assemble a new vision of what the word BOOK means, and he is THEN able to draw on his impressive skills to actually assemble the book that serves up that vision, or to show practitioners how that can be done.

Frankly, I was blown away, first by his ideas and then when I read the copyright date. I can only imagine where he's been going since the '70s!

As a letterpress printer, as a photographer and user of alternative processes and media, I strongly recommend this piece to people who need a little shaking up, or who simply want to be amused and entertained.

I recommended this book to another artist interested in working with the book form and when I came to amazon.com to send a direct link I couldn't believe there is only one review for this book. This is a classic in thinking conceptually about the structure and sequencing of a book, as well as thinking conceptually about what a "book" is as an artifact and an artform.

Although the text is a little intuitive for linear readers at times, anyone who wants to explore the book as an artform must take a look at Keith Smith's work.

I was pleasantly surprised. I expected a book full of bookmaking methods from a review I saw on another site but as another reviewer here points out, it strives to make the reader think first, and then, after understanding what they are trying to achieve, THEN make books. Inspirational.

This is a long, detailed how-to on the construction of books as visual art objects. I have no doubt the author is an intelligent man and knows what he's talking about. Unfortunately, despite my best efforts to comprehend his rationalization of artistic technique, the text was very hard to get. It works best if you read through it quickly and pretend you understand, in an artsy 'anything goes' sort of way, and then understanding comes in a fashion. The photographs were a great addition but might have benefited from color. Also, this is a personal preference, but many of the "books" were completely un-functional, ugly, and disturbing for my taste.

I am an aspiring writer and consider myself a pretty off-the-wall artistic soul, but I concede there are artists out there who are just plain weirder than myself. I also don't have a high tolerance for the narcissistic end of the avant-garde spectrum. Writers--and text!--exist for a reason. I want a book to be about something meaningful, not just an ego trip for the artist who expects people to puzzle out the mysteries of his "one of a kind" masterpiece. Most of the time when confronted with some of the glaring, distasteful monstrosities in the photographs, my thought was: dear god, what a waste of trees.

This was a great book if you want to read the history of Keith Smith. It was well written and very informative. I wanted a book on his stitches and how he created the individual stitch on each book. Recomend for anyone wanting information on his personal and perfessional life. He is a master in book/journal creation.

great book for those serious about artist bookmaking and have some prior knowledge of how things are put together.

If you do book binding of any kind, this book is a must guide and companion. I highly recommend it to beginners and experienced binders.

This book arrived in great shape (better than expected)and fast! I was so glad to find this book and so happy that I now own it. Thank you for the excellent service.