For everyone who's ever thought of turning their blog into a book, Jennifer McMackon of Simpleposie sets the bar pretty high. Simpleposie: essays and pictures is a well-structured, well-edited little pocket tome, with a mixture of selections from the blog, newly commissioned essays by some of her regular contributors and lots of art images. The contributors are Cedric Caspesyan, Megan Morgan, Jamie Tolagson, Lisa Neighbour, Will Murray, Gabrielle Moser, Carlo Cesta, David Kramer, Lee Goreas, Andrew James Paterson, Christoper Brayshaw, and Jennifer. There is also a recalcitrant, cranky interview with me and Lorna in which we do our utmost not to talk about a crisis in art criticism (and fail, thank's to J.'s characteristic persistence).
Usually when people talk to me about the tactility of print I get a bit eye-rolly. But this book transcends the blog/print dichotomy. Rather than trying to archive or fix the blog activity to the page, Jennifer's book functions like a humble souvenir, an oblique reminder of years worth of fleeting dialogue that has passed by in online-time. But it is also a solid publication, and (me and Lorna's interview notwithstanding) has some very relevant, well researched, well thought-out and well-edited writing that compliments rather than replaces the more slap-dash kind of communication that happens online. Of course, the discourse over at Simpleposie is always pretty top-notch, thanks to Jennifer's rigorous moderation, but this book is evidence that her blog skills are commensurate with her skills as an editor/publisher.
You can buy the book on the blog (scroll down, on the left).
|
|
For everyone who's ever thought of turning their blog into a book, Jennifer McMackon of Simpleposie sets the bar pretty high. Simpleposie: essays and pictures is a well-structured, well-edited little pocket tome, with a mixture of selections from the blog, newly commissioned essays by some of her regular contributors and lots of art images. The contributors are Cedric Caspesyan, Megan Morgan, Jamie Tolagson, Lisa Neighbour, Will Murray, Gabrielle Moser, Carlo Cesta, David Kramer, Lee Goreas, Andrew James Paterson, Christoper Brayshaw, and Jennifer. There is also a recalcitrant, cranky interview with me and Lorna in which we do our utmost not to talk about a crisis in art criticism (and fail, thank's to J.'s characteristic persistence).
Usually when people talk to me about the tactility of print I get a bit eye-rolly. But this book transcends the blog/print dichotomy. Rather than trying to archive or fix the blog activity to the page, Jennifer's book functions like a humble souvenir, an oblique reminder of years worth of fleeting dialogue that has passed by in online-time. But it is also a solid publication, and (me and Lorna's interview notwithstanding) has some very relevant, well researched, well thought-out and well-edited writing that compliments rather than replaces the more slap-dash kind of communication that happens online. Of course, the discourse over at Simpleposie is always pretty top-notch, thanks to Jennifer's rigorous moderation, but this book is evidence that her blog skills are commensurate with her skills as an editor/publisher.
You can buy the book on the blog (scroll down, on the left).
- sally mckay 11-22-2010 2:10 pm