Wordplay: Ambigrams and Reflections on the Art of Ambigrams [Hardcover]

John Langdon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1992

Wordplay is a book of ambigrams words that can be read from more then one point of view. But these are not just any words. They are carefully chosen to communicate principles of western physics and eastern philosophy, with some language history and good old puns, just for fun. It adds up to an entertaining experience in the visual treatment of words visual poetry almost and a thorough, if indirect, education in the ancient Chinese philosophy Taoism.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"...a terrific surprise...Wordplay isn't a book of graphic art as much as it is one of philosophic art...Wordplay is a tour de force... By showing us the magic of words with more than one point of view, Langdon's modest volume might get us all thinking about other points of view. other people's points of view." -- New Orleans Times-Picayune, April 26, 1992

"This is a lot of fun..." -- Los Angeles Times/Book Review, May 10, 1992

From the Inside Flap

"It would be interesting to know," Martin Gardner writes in his foreword, "when it was discovered that certain words are unchanged when inverted or reflected... It is easy to see that WOW is MOM upside down, but who would have guessed that an enormous variety of words and phrases with no symmetry when printed could be shaped so that they were the same when inverted or reflected?"

In this book John Langdon shows us how we can expand our understanding of terms and concepts by looking at ambigrams words that were designed to read upside down, back to front, or in the mirror as well as left to right. (Turn the title upside down.) He not only presents the reader with a number of strikingly beautiful and arresting ambigrams but also shows how the very shape of the letters can change our idea of the word itself and its meaning. He even disarmingly demonstrates how one goes about making an ambigram. The reader should be warned, however, that it is not quite as easy as it looks.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 172 pages
• Publisher: Harcourt; 1st edition (March 1992)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0151984549
• ISBN-13: 978-0151984541
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 8.1 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #647,125 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars AMBIGRAMS and Reflections on the Art of Ambigrams, June 25, 2000

By 

Richard Storek (Mill Valley, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Wordplay: Ambigrams and Reflections on the Art of Ambigrams (Hardcover)

Graphic thrills, wordplay and cosmic philosophy. This book is packed with the author's history of discovery of calligraphic possibilities, an reflections on similar structural themes. If you like Escher, you will enjoy Langdon.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars As if sketches in GEB were not amazing enough ...., March 17, 2004

By 

V. Kaul "vk" (MD) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Wordplay: Ambigrams and Reflections on the Art of Ambigrams (Hardcover)

Were you amazed by the sketches and diagrams by Scott Kim and Hofstadter in "Godel Escher Bach" ? If yes, this book will amaze you even further. And the "reflections" are no less philosophical!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A surprising book!, July 11, 2001

By 

Granada "Reader" (United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Wordplay: Ambigrams and Reflections on the Art of Ambigrams (Hardcover)

I definitely recommand it to any Graphic Designer, Artist, Art Student, or just Art Lover! It's a completely different way to look at things...