http://briancassidy.net/blog Fri, 13 Jun 2008 15:04:53 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Playing with layout again. As you were. http://briancassidy.net/blog/dont-panic/ Know what these are? I found them tucked into a couple of books that were part of a larger archive I've been cataloging. Go ahead, click on them. I'll wait. Back? Any guesses? They're stamped, postmarked and mailed envelopes from Paul Bowles. Only problem? They're empty. And ... http://briancassidy.net/blog/disappointment/ This swank bookmark-slash-order-form [click for larger scans] which I found in a book led me to this informative site about Paul Elder's Books: For seventy years, Paul Elder's bookstores were a fixture in downtown San Francisco. There was not a single bookstore but a series of six, plus short-lived forays ... http://briancassidy.net/blog/paul-elder/ That's Larry McMurty's simple advice to booksellers from this profile. He continues: Junk is a major problem, it tends to creep in. The taste of the bookseller is important. We sell only our kind of books, a general humanities selection, all in very good condition." http://briancassidy.net/blog/have-the-right-books/ I apologize in advance for this tasteless spoof from Cracked. More or less NSFW. http://briancassidy.net/blog/the-40-most-inappropriate-childrens-book-covers/ Hostage-taker demands: $100,000 in cash, a getaway car and a copy of The Widow's Son, a 1985 novel about secret societies in an 18th century Parisian prison. From Time. http://briancassidy.net/blog/oh-yeah-and-a-book-too/ In a box of books I bought the other week, I found one of the strangest little items I've encountered in quite a while. It's a promotional booklet used by Johnson & Johnson to advertise their 1953 marketing program for drug stores and pharmacists. And the flier stars...monkeys, ... http://briancassidy.net/blog/and-he-wants-to-grow-up-to-be-a-druggist/ Not really book related, but just great and hilarious pieces of writing... Tom Waits Interviews Tom Waits: Q: You've always enjoyed the connection between fashion and history...talk to us about that. A: Ok let's take the two piece bathing suit, produced in 1947 by a French fashion designer. The sight of the first ... http://briancassidy.net/blog/semi-off-topic-rock-n-roll-writers/ I've never seen a bookplate that so prominently included a portrait of the owner before. The good (hirsute) doctor even stamped the title page of the book: "Private Library / O.V. Lawson M.D. / Seattle, Wash." Guess he REALLY wanted people to know it was HIS book. Found in ... http://briancassidy.net/blog/unusual-bookplate/ Beautiful, unusual, and compelling book images: another blog that long-ago should have hit the blogroll. Now remedied. http://briancassidy.net/blog/blog-bibliodyssey/ ...But I certainly didn't expect it to shorten my life. http://briancassidy.net/blog/i-knew-my-mfa-in-poetry-would-never-lead-to-riches/ Well, he is: John might look like a man possessed when he is watching football but, in reality, he is yet another Portsmouth curiosity. It is rather bewildering to find him going about his day job - he is an antiquarian book dealer in the pretty market town of Petersfield. "People look ... http://briancassidy.net/blog/does-this-man-look-like-an-antiquarian-book-dealer-to-you/ First, if you're going to be in or around the Monterey area before June 1st, our spring sale is going on. 20% off almost everything in the shop (sorry, in-store sales only). And in other news, fellow bookseller Michael Lieberman of Wessel and Lieberman has invited me to be a ... http://briancassidy.net/blog/two-announcements/ Today's Globe and Mail has an even-handed review of the new Sony reader, discovering much to praise, but still finding the technology wanting: Advancements in book technology include binding, glue and typography, an artistic/technical undertaking that computer manufacturers are just beginning to glimpse. Page and type sizes have subtleties most makers ... http://briancassidy.net/blog/e-book-readers/ When "a large advance induces a good writer to extend a successful series beyond its natural span." From: 7 Reasons Why Scifi Book Series Outstay Their Welcomes. [via] http://briancassidy.net/blog/the-frank-herbert-syndrome/