Synopses & Reviews
For skeptics, art lovers, and the millions of us who visit art galleries every yearandmdash;and are confusedandmdash;What Are You Looking At? by former director of Londonandrsquo;s Tate Gallery Will Gompertz is a wonderfully lively, accessible narrative history of Modern Art, from Impressionism to the present day.
What is modern art? Who started it? Why do we either love it or loathe it? And why is it such big money? Join BBC Arts Editor Will Gompertz on a dazzling tour that will change the way you look at modern art forever. From Monet's water lilies to Van Gogh's sunflowers, from Warhol's soup cans to Hirst's pickled shark, hear the stories behind the masterpieces, meet the artists as they really were, and discover the real point of modern art.
You will learn: not all conceptual art is bollocks; Picasso is king (but Candeacute;zanne is better); Pollock is no drip; Dali painted with his moustache; a urinal changed the course of art; why your 5-year-old really couldn't do it. Refreshing, irreverent and always straightforward, What Are You Looking At? cuts through the pretentious art speak and asks all the basic questions that you were too afraid to ask. Your next trip to the art gallery is going to be a little less intimidating and a lot more interesting.
With his offbeat humor, down-to-earth storytelling, and flair for odd details that spark insights, Will Gompertz is the perfect tour guide for modern art. His book doesnandrsquo;t tell us if a work of art is good; it gives us the knowledge to decide for ourselves.
Review
andldquo;This is a smart, funny, accessible book that does for typography what Lynne Trussandrsquo;s best-selling Eats, Shoots and Leaves did for punctuation: made it noticeable for people who had no idea they were interested in such things.andrdquo;
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"Garfield takes readers on a rollicking tour of the world of typography."
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"Garfield's engaging history of letter design will be eye candy...[Just My Type is] stuffed with fascinating bits of information...lively, richly illustrated "
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"Whether you're a graphic designer or a layperson with no background in this area, reading what Garfield has to say will change the way you perceive the written word forever. It might even lead you to make more discerning choices the next time you have a desktop publishing project in front of you. The take-away from Garfield's book is simple: Contrary to reports of its premature death, print is very much alive."
Review
"Just My Type, is informative, delightful - and essential reading for word geeks everywhere."
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"Charming and informative"
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"You'll find a lot to like in this book....[it] informs as it entertains."
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"Charming."
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"Deliriously clever and entertaining."
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"Packed with lively anecdotes"
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"Well-researched."
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andldquo;Garfieldandrsquo;s romping history (with multitype text) is zestfully informative.andrdquo;
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"Deft and downright fun."
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"A lively, informative survey of 560 years of typefaces and font choices that will probably make you select a font that is much more you."
Review
"Here is a wonderful update for those whose fondness for matters typographical predates the digital age, as well as those whose eyes need awakening to this particular enchantment. Garfield has a light touch and moves effortlessly among various aspects of typography past and present, not only from design perspectives but from accessible social, historical, and legal angles as well. Throughout, Garfield offers "fontbreaks" in which he focuses on the provenance of a particular typeface. An added pleasure: the book's own text switches fonts to briefly reflect the typeface under discussion. "Highly recommended to all, whether or not you feel predisposed to like this kind of thing! Eye-opening and mind-expanding!"
Review
A andldquo;lively romp through the history of fonts. Garfieldandrsquo;s evocative prose [andhellip;] entices us to see letters instead of just reading them.andrdquo;
Review
"A thoroughly entertaining, well-informed tour of typefaces...[Just My Type] offers an informed and pleasing answer, and a lively companion to books such as Robert Bringhurst's essential Elements of Typographic Style (1992) and John Lewis's classic Typography: Design and Practice."
Review
"Whether you're a hardcore typophile or a type-tyro, there's something here for you: be it the eye-opening revelations of Eric Gill's utter and complete perversity, or the creation of the typeface that helped Mr. Obama gain entrance to the White House."
Review
"There is even a photograph of a quick brown fox literally jumping over a lazy dog. What a clever, clever book."
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"Did I love this book? My daughter's middle name is Bodoni. Enough said."
Review
"With wit, grace and intelligence, Simon Garfield tells the fascinating stories behind the letters that we encounter every day on our street corners, our bookstore shelves, and our computer screens." -Michael Bierut, Partner, Pentagram Design, New York, and author of Seventy-Nine Short Essays on Design
Review
"Simon Garfield reveals an invisible world behind the printed word... the lives of the designers and the letters they've created have never been more clearly detailed with so much flair."
Review
“You don’t need to be a grammar nerd to enjoy this one… Who knew grammar could be so much fun?” -
Newsweek “Witty and instructive… Truss is an entertaining, well-read scold in a culture that could use more scolding.” -USA Today
“Truss is William Safire crossed with John Cleese’s Basil Fawlty.” -Entertainment Weekly
“Witty, smart, passionate, it gives long-overdue attention to ‘the traffic signals of language.’” --John Rechy, Los Angeles Times Book Review “Best Books of 2004: Nonfiction”
“Truss’s scholarship is impressive and never dry.” -Edmund Morris, The New York Times
“[Truss is] a reformer with the soul of a stand-up comedian.” -Boston Globe
“ This book changed my life in small, perfect ways like learning how to make better coffee or fold an omelet. It’s the perfect gift of anyone who cares about grammar and a gentle introduction for those who don’t care enough.” -Boston Sunday Globe
“Lynne Truss makes [punctuation] a joy to contemplate.” -Elle Magazine
“A witty look at the amusing foibles of punctuation.” -Reader’s Digest
“Lynne Truss has done the English-speaking world a huge service.” -The Christian Science Monitor
“Witty and playful.” -Time Out New York
Review
Eats, Shoots and Leaves “makes correct usage so cool that you have to admire Ms. Truss.”
—Janet Maslin, The New York Times
“Witty, smart, passionate.”
—Los Angeles Times Book Review, Best Books Of 2004: Nonfiction
“This book changed my life in small, perfect ways like learning how to make better coffee or fold an omelet. It’s the perfect gift for anyone who cares about grammar and a gentle introduction for those who don’t care enough.”
—The Boston Sunday Globe
Review
andldquo;This is a smart, funny, accessible book that does for typography what Lynne Trussandrsquo;s best-selling Eats, Shoots and Leaves did for punctuation: made it noticeable for people who had no idea they were interested in such things.andrdquo;
Review
andquot;Whether you're a graphic designer or a layperson with no background in this area, reading what Garfield has to say will change the way you perceive the written word forever.andrdquo;
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andldquo;A deliriously clever and entertaining bookandrdquo;
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andldquo;Informative, delightful andmdash; and essential reading for word geeks everywhere.andrdquo;
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andldquo;Lively [andhellip;] intriguing [andhellip;] a cheeky book about the human side and our reaction to fonts.andrdquo;
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andldquo;Highly entertaining andhellip; Garfield takes readers on a rollicking tour of the world of typography, from book jackets to road signs, TV shows to computers.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Reading Simon Garfieldandrsquo;s
Just My Type can transform your daily life into an endless quest for knowledge of the typefaces in which signs, books, magazines, newspapers, etc. are set.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Garfieldandrsquo;s romping history (with multitype text) is zestfully informative.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Funny and fascinating, irreverent and playful yet endlessly illuminating, the book is an absolute treat for the type-nerd, design history geek, and general lover of intelligent writing with humor.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;A thoroughly entertaining, well-informed tour of typefacesandrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Garfield has a light touch and moves effortlessly among various aspects of typography past and present [andhellip;] Highly recommended to all, whether or not you feel predisposed to like this kind of thing! Eye-opening and mind-expanding!andrdquo;
Review
A andldquo;lively romp through the history of fonts. Garfieldandrsquo;s evocative prose [andhellip;] entices us to see letters instead of just reading them.andrdquo;
Review
Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 “Gompertz has an uncanny knack for making difficult art (and ideas) easy…A lively, witty account of the major moments and movements of the past 150 years.”
–Associated Press
“An insightful love letter to modern art and an irreverent rejection of the notion that its pleasures are reserved for a chosen few… Each [chapter] hums with engaging history and entertaining anecdotes, cheeky asides and accessible, illuminating criticism.”
–NPR
“Gompertz is determined to dispel the layman's fear of the modern art world and those who inhabit it. What Are You Looking At?, which comes out this week, does a very good job of this—replacing isolating esotericism with witty and chatty commentary.”
–Interview
“A deeply enlightening and buoyant history of modern art and beyond.”
–Booklist (starred review)
“[A] highly lucid, lively, and buoyantly composed history…while his tone is breezy and conversational, [Gompertz] astutely and often wittily describes the core of every movement and its key artists.”
–Publishers Weekly
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Synopsis
The perfect gift for the art lover in your life. In the tradition of Eats, Shoots & Leaves, Will Gompertz teaches art history with a sense of humor Every year, millions of museum and gallery visitors ponder the modern art on display and secretly ask themselves, Is this art? A former director at London's Tate Gallery and now the BBC arts editor, Will Gompertz made it his mission to bring modern art's exciting history alive for everyone, explaining why an unmade bed or a pickled shark can be art--and why a five-year-old couldn't really do it. Rich with extraordinary tales and anecdotes, What Are You Looking At? entertains as it arms readers with the knowledge to truly understand and enjoy what it is they're looking at.
Synopsis
A hugely entertaining and revealing guide to the history of type that asks, What does your favorite font say about you?
Fonts surround us every day, on street signs and buildings, on movie posters and books, and on just about every product we buy. But where do fonts come from, and why do we need so many? Who is responsible for the staid practicality of Times New Roman, the cool anonymity of Arial, or the irritating levity of Comic Sans (and the movement to ban it)?
Typefaces are now 560 years old, but we barely knew their names until about twenty years ago when the pull-down font menus on our first computers made us all the gods of type. Beginning in the early days of Gutenberg and ending with the most adventurous digital fonts, Simon Garfield explores the rich history and subtle powers of type. He goes on to investigate a range of modern mysteries, including how Helvetica took over the world, what inspires the seeming ubiquitous use of Trajan on bad movie posters, and exactly why the all-type cover of Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus was so effective. It also examines why the "T" in the Beatles logo is longer than the other letters and how Gotham helped Barack Obama into the White House. A must-have book for the design conscious, Just My Type's cheeky irreverence will also charm everyone who loved Eats, Shoots & Leaves and Schott's Original Miscellany.
Synopsis
We all know the basics of punctuation. Or do we? A look at most neighborhood signage tells a different story. Through sloppy usage and low standards on the internet, in email, and now text messages, we have made proper punctuation an endangered species. In Eats, Shoots and Leaves, former editor Lynne Truss dares to say, in her delightfully urbane, witty, and very English way, that it is time to look at our commas and semicolons and see them as the wonderful and necessary things they are. This is a book for people who love punctuation and get upset when it is mishandled. From the invention of the question mark in the time of Charlemagne to George Orwell shunning the semicolon, this lively history makes a powerful case for the preservation of a system of printing conventions that is much too subtle to be mucked about with.
Synopsis
The spirited and scholarly #1 New York Times bestseller combines boisterous history with grammar how-to’s to show how important punctuation is in our world—period. In Eats, Shoots & Leaves, former editor Lynne Truss, gravely concerned about our current grammatical state, boldly defends proper punctuation. She proclaims, in her delightfully urbane, witty, and very English way, that it is time to look at our commas and semicolons and see them as the wonderful and necessary things they are. Using examples from literature, history, neighborhood signage, and her own imagination, Truss shows how meaning is shaped by commas and apostrophes, and the hilarious consequences of punctuation gone awry. Featuring a foreword by Frank McCourt, and interspersed with a lively history of punctuation from the invention of the question mark in the time of Charlemagne to George Orwell shunning the semicolon, Eats, Shoots & Leaves makes a powerful case for the preservation of proper punctuation.
Synopsis
A delightfully inquisitive tour that explores the rich history and the subtle powers of fonts.
Fonts surround us every day, on street signs and buildings, on movie posters and books, and on just about every product that we buy. But where do fonts come from and why do we need so many? Who is behind the businesslike subtlety of Times New Roman, the cool detachment of Arial, or the maddening lightness of Comic Sans (and the movement to ban it)? Simon Garfield embarks on a mission to answer these questions and more, and reveal what may be the very best and worst fonts in the world.
Typefaces are now 560 years old, but we barely knew their names until about twenty years ago, when the pull-down font menus on our first computers made us all the gods of type. Beginning in the early days of Gutenberg and ending with the most adventurous digital fonts, Garfield unravels our age old obsession with the way our words look. Just My Type investigates a range of modern mysteries, including how Helvetica took over the world, what inspires the seemingly ubiquitous use of Trajan on bad movie posters, and what makes a font look presidential, male or female, American, British, German, or Jewish. From the typeface of Beatlemania to the graphic vision of the Obama campaign, fonts can signal a musical revolution or the rise of an American president. This book is a must-read for the design conscious that will forever change the way you look at the printed word.
Synopsis
In the tradition of
Eats, Shoots and Leaves, art history with a sense of humor
Every year, millions of museum and gallery visitors ponder the modern art on display and secretly ask themselves, "Is this art?" A former director at London's Tate Gallery and now the BBC arts editor, Will Gompertz made it his mission to bring modern art's exciting history alive for everyone, explaining why an unmade bed or a pickled shark can be artand why a five-year-old couldn't really do it. Rich with extraordinary tales and anecdotes, What Are You Looking At? entertains as it arms readers with the knowledge to truly understand and enjoy what it is theyre looking at.
About the Author
Lynne Truss is a writer and journalist who started out as a literary editor with a blue pencil and then got sidetracked. The author of three novels and numerous radio comedy dramas, she spent six years as the television critic of The Times of London, followed by four (rather peculiar) years as a sports columnist for the same newspaper. She won Columnist of the Year for her work for Women’s Journal. Lynne Truss also hosted Cutting a Dash, a popular BBC Radio 4 series about punctuation. She now reviews books for the Sunday Times of London and is a familiar voice on BBC Radio 4. She lives in Brighton, England.
Table of Contents
Eats Shoots and Leaves Foreword by Frank McCourt
Publisher's Note
Preface
IntroductionThe Seventh Sense
The Tractable Apostrophe
That'll Do, Comma
Airs and Graces
Cutting a Dash
A Little Used Punctuation Mark
Merely Conventional Signs
Bibliography