Books and culture

What I’ve been reading

John Quiggin2 Comments

Life on the Mississippi by Mark Twain. I’ve bought a lovely Folio edition of this, and have just got started on it. While I’m not a book fetishist, and am perfectly happy to do most of my reading on screen, the book does embody a great tradition of craft values, which will, I hope, never disappear.

2 thoughts on “What I’ve been reading”

  1. I have become a devotee of the Folio Society books. The feel is nice, the paper high quality and the books open without the spine of the book losing elasticity. And the fonts are a mile ahead of Times New Roman 10pt – they seem to be clearer and larger than paperbacks and those on computer screens.

    I’ve got a Folio version of ‘A Treasury of Mark Twain’ which is a delightful collection of famous short pieces.

    I like the ‘pictures’ in this book – actually etchings – which remind me of my youthful approach to evaluating a book – iff it had interesting pictures would I make the effort to read it.

  2. Have you look at Edward Tufte’s Graphics Press books?

    UQ Catalog entries

    Author Tufte, Edward R., 1942-
    Title Beautiful evidence / Edward R. Tufte.
    Publisher Cheshire, Conn. : Graphics Press, c2006.
    Location Call Number Status
    Phys Sci & Engin P93.5 .T837 2006 DUE 09-06-07
    Description 213 p. : ill. (some col.), maps (some col.) ; 28 cm.
    Contents Mapped pictures: images as evidence and explanation —
    Sparklines: intense, simple, word-sized graphics — Links and causal
    arrows: ambiguity in action — Words, numbers, images – together — The
    fundamental principles of analytical design — Corruption in evidence
    presentations: effects without causes, cherry picking, overreaching,
    chartjunk, and the rage to conclude — The cognitive style of
    PowerPoint: pitching out corrupts within — Sculptural pedestals:
    meaning, practice, depedestalization — Landscape sculptures.
    Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index.
    Subject Visual communication.
    ISBN 0961392177
    9780961392178

    Title The visual display of quantitative information / Edward R.
    Tufte.
    Publisher Cheshire, Conn. : Graphics Press, 1983.
    Location Call Number Status
    SS&H Quarto QA276.3 .T83 1983 AVAILABLE
    SS&H Quarto QA276.3 .T83 1983 AVAILABLE
    JKMRC QA276.3 .T83 1983 AVAILABLE
    Description 197p : ill ; 28cm.
    Bibliography Includes bibliographical references.
    Subject Statistics — Graphic methods.

Leave a comment