Bibliograph

Portable magic, a history of books and their readers, Emma Smith

Type

Label

Portable magic, a history of books and their readers, Emma Smith

Language

eng

Bibliography note

Includes bibliographical references and index

Index

index present

Literary Form

non fiction

Main title

Portable magic

Nature of contents

bibliography

Oclc number

1319345983

Responsibility statement

Emma Smith

Sub title

a history of books and their readers

Summary

"A history of one of humankind's most resilient and influential technologies over the past millennium -- the book. Revelatory and entertaining in equal measure, <i>Portable Magic</i> will charm and challenge literature lovers of all kinds as it illuminates the transformative power and eternal appeal of the written word. Stephen King once said that books are a uniquely portable magic. Here, Emma Smith takes readers on a literary adventure that spans centuries and circles the globe to uncover the reasons behind our obsession with this captivating object. From disrupting the Western myth that the Gutenberg Press was the original printing project, to the decorative gift books that radicalized women to join the anti-slavery movement, to paperbacks being weaponized during World War II, to a book made entirely of plastic-wrapped slices of American cheese, Portable Magic explores how, when, and why books became so iconic. It's not just the content within a book that compels; it's the physical material itself, what Smith calls "bookhood": the smell, the feel of the pages, the margins to scribble in, the illustrations on the jacket, its solid heft. Every book is designed to influence our reading experience -- to enchant, enrage, delight, and disturb us -- and our longstanding love affair with books in turn has had direct, momentous consequences across time."--, Amazon.com

Table Of Contents

Introduction: Magic books -- Beginnings: East, West and Gutenberg -- Queen Victoria in the trenches -- Christmas, gift books and abolition -- Shelfies: Anne, Marilyn and Madame de Pompadour -- Silent Spring and the making of a classic -- The Titanic and book traffic -- Religions of the book -- 10 May 1933: burning books -- Library books, camp, and malicious damage -- Censored books: '237 goddams, 58 bastards, 31 Chrissakes, and 1 fart' -- Mein Kampf : freedom to publish? -- Talismanic books -- Skin in the game: book-binding and African-American poetry -- Choose Your Own Adventure: readers' work -- The empire writes back -- What is a book? -- Epilogue: Books and transformation

Classification