April 6th, 2010 / 3:16 am
Snippets
Snippets
Roxane Gay—
I have a strange aversion to hardcover books so I really enjoyed this article about how paperbacks influenced popular literature. It really shows how publishing does evolve. Perhaps e-books are the new paperbacks.
Argh…I love hardbacks! To each his/her own…
Argh…I love hardbacks! To each his/her own…
Eh. I don’t know.
The reason paperbacks were so successful was the economics of the endeavor. With such a steep start up cost for e-books/e-readers, I don’t see it playing out the same way, especially since even though $9.99 is cheaper than a new book, it’s still average or even higher a price than most used books.
Eh. I don’t know.
The reason paperbacks were so successful was the economics of the endeavor. With such a steep start up cost for e-books/e-readers, I don’t see it playing out the same way, especially since even though $9.99 is cheaper than a new book, it’s still average or even higher a price than most used books.
Hear, hear! I think paperbacks are just friendlier. If/when I start my own publishing house, it will be only paperbacks.
Hear, hear! I think paperbacks are just friendlier. If/when I start my own publishing house, it will be only paperbacks.
I love both! Books, books, books. . .
I love both! Books, books, books. . .
i seem to own almost exclusively paperbacks. i think that’s because of price & heft. so for me, a press that publishes first-run in paperback is attractive to me.
i seem to own almost exclusively paperbacks. i think that’s because of price & heft. so for me, a press that publishes first-run in paperback is attractive to me.
hardcovers make for the most satisfying bargains. frequently you find $25 books marked down to like $6.
hardcovers make for the most satisfying bargains. frequently you find $25 books marked down to like $6.
i prefer pb but on occasion will not be able to wait and will buy a book in hc before its pb release date. generally though, pb are less cumbersome. i like to recline while i read shit. also, how is it that almost across the board pb have nicer looking covers than their hc counterparts?
i prefer pb but on occasion will not be able to wait and will buy a book in hc before its pb release date. generally though, pb are less cumbersome. i like to recline while i read shit. also, how is it that almost across the board pb have nicer looking covers than their hc counterparts?
e-books are perfect for poetry. but novels, technology-wise, work best as a PB (as i guess we’re now calling them?). hardcovers are sweet for reference-y stuff.
/PaperBack Jams? i loves me some PBJs…
e-books are perfect for poetry. but novels, technology-wise, work best as a PB (as i guess we’re now calling them?). hardcovers are sweet for reference-y stuff.
/PaperBack Jams? i loves me some PBJs…
I like how hardbacks look on a bookshelf but I prefer to carry, hold, and read paperbacks. Sometimes I will buy a hardback of a paperback that I own just to have a ‘nicer’ copy for the shelf (this only happens if the hardback is cheap). I also like limited edition small press hardbacks, like the Jelly Horse hardback that existed for a super small amount of time.
I like how hardbacks look on a bookshelf but I prefer to carry, hold, and read paperbacks. Sometimes I will buy a hardback of a paperback that I own just to have a ‘nicer’ copy for the shelf (this only happens if the hardback is cheap). I also like limited edition small press hardbacks, like the Jelly Horse hardback that existed for a super small amount of time.
This happens all the time at Half-Price Books. They’re usually British editions. At least for the writers I read.
This happens all the time at Half-Price Books. They’re usually British editions. At least for the writers I read.
I hate hardcovers, too, especially giant history books. Too hard to curl up and read with. I prefer to get those on my nook. Or wait until they come out in paperback.
I hate hardcovers, too, especially giant history books. Too hard to curl up and read with. I prefer to get those on my nook. Or wait until they come out in paperback.
e-books wont’ be the new paperback until e-readers cost 20 bucks.
e-books wont’ be the new paperback until e-readers cost 20 bucks.
My biggest problem with hardbacks is the book jackets. They are so unwieldy. I really liked Adderall Diaries which had the bookjacket imprinted on the book itself.
Well there is that.
My biggest problem with hardbacks is the book jackets. They are so unwieldy. I really liked Adderall Diaries which had the bookjacket imprinted on the book itself.
Well there is that.
The jackets slide right off!
The jackets slide right off!
Yeah. I always remove dustjackets straight away.
Yeah. I always remove dustjackets straight away.
Ha. That’s what I was trying to say, but you did it better.
Ha. That’s what I was trying to say, but you did it better.
the cover flaps double as bookmarks!
the cover flaps double as bookmarks!
Until they start falling apart from such use.
Until they start falling apart from such use.
As a Penguin Books (the imprint, not the company) editor – meaning I do paperbacks – I think of Allen Lane and his cigarette analogy all the time. (I also smoke) And I couldn’t agree more with that philosophy. I only rarely buy hardcovers – they’re so unwieldy on the subway when I need one hand to hold on to something. They also take up far less space on my precious shelf space.
So thanks for posting.
There are exceptions – the must-buy-immediately list: Amis, DeLillo, Houellebecq, Denis Johnson, Richard Price…
As a Penguin Books (the imprint, not the company) editor – meaning I do paperbacks – I think of Allen Lane and his cigarette analogy all the time. (I also smoke) And I couldn’t agree more with that philosophy. I only rarely buy hardcovers – they’re so unwieldy on the subway when I need one hand to hold on to something. They also take up far less space on my precious shelf space.
So thanks for posting.
There are exceptions – the must-buy-immediately list: Amis, DeLillo, Houellebecq, Denis Johnson, Richard Price…
i like laying a book flat on a desk or table whenever possible. hardcover works great for that. is desk-reading going out of style, i wonder?
i like laying a book flat on a desk or table whenever possible. hardcover works great for that. is desk-reading going out of style, i wonder?
Dust covers are wastful and ugly.
Dust covers are wastful and ugly.
finish the book before they have a chance to fall apart
finish the book before they have a chance to fall apart
sometimes. many paperbacks are as well.
sometimes. many paperbacks are as well.
what i hate are those paperback covers that have this cellophane sort of covering that comes unglued at the edges and starts to crinkle. whose idea was that?
what i hate are those paperback covers that have this cellophane sort of covering that comes unglued at the edges and starts to crinkle. whose idea was that?
These are the best dust covers I’ve seen in forever. And they’re not even for sale:
http://vimeo.com/9418259
These are the best dust covers I’ve seen in forever. And they’re not even for sale:
http://vimeo.com/9418259
I didn’t know for the longest time that “Death Comes for the Archbishop” was a book by Willa Cather. Isn’t it a drink?
I didn’t know for the longest time that “Death Comes for the Archbishop” was a book by Willa Cather. Isn’t it a drink?
I like paperbacks, particularly for larger books which would be too heavy to carry around easily otherwise. Things like the Riverside Chaucer, or those ‘Complete Poems’ books from the 60s and 70s you can always find in the charity shops. One of my favourites from the charity shops is a collection of James Joyce’s works (all of his short stories, Portrait of the Artist, maybe some poems, and excerpts from Ulysses and Finnegans Wake) which has a really nice, minimal cover design. My paperback Crime and Punishment is pretty lovely, too, as well as a massive copy of the Arden Shakespeare I bought the other week for my next term at uni. I suppose this won’t particularly interest anyone, but I enjoyed writing and thinking about it, so I’ll leave it.
Anyway, yeah, my only real issue with paperbacks is getting creases in the spine, or dogearing the corners. If the book already looks well-worn I don’t care too much, but when it’s pristine I like to keep it that way. Might be slightly obsessive, I guess. Where possible, I tend to read with the pages opened just enough to be readable without damaging the spine. Dogearing seems to be inevitable from the moment you put the book into any sort of bag, which is something I’ve had to work to come to terms with over years of traumas and heartbreaks. I feel a little more free with really big (700+ page) paperbacks, since it really isn’t possible to open them without marking the spine in some way.
Has anyone else come across those hardback Penguin cover designs by Coralie Bickford-Smith? They’re brilliant. The design is actually impressed into the cover itself rather than printed on a sleeve.
I like paperbacks, particularly for larger books which would be too heavy to carry around easily otherwise. Things like the Riverside Chaucer, or those ‘Complete Poems’ books from the 60s and 70s you can always find in the charity shops. One of my favourites from the charity shops is a collection of James Joyce’s works (all of his short stories, Portrait of the Artist, maybe some poems, and excerpts from Ulysses and Finnegans Wake) which has a really nice, minimal cover design. My paperback Crime and Punishment is pretty lovely, too, as well as a massive copy of the Arden Shakespeare I bought the other week for my next term at uni. I suppose this won’t particularly interest anyone, but I enjoyed writing and thinking about it, so I’ll leave it.
Anyway, yeah, my only real issue with paperbacks is getting creases in the spine, or dogearing the corners. If the book already looks well-worn I don’t care too much, but when it’s pristine I like to keep it that way. Might be slightly obsessive, I guess. Where possible, I tend to read with the pages opened just enough to be readable without damaging the spine. Dogearing seems to be inevitable from the moment you put the book into any sort of bag, which is something I’ve had to work to come to terms with over years of traumas and heartbreaks. I feel a little more free with really big (700+ page) paperbacks, since it really isn’t possible to open them without marking the spine in some way.
Has anyone else come across those hardback Penguin cover designs by Coralie Bickford-Smith? They’re brilliant. The design is actually impressed into the cover itself rather than printed on a sleeve.
They are heavy. They don’t bend. They are uncomfortable to hold in a single hand. They are annoying on buses, trains, airplanes and pretty much every other place I regularly read.
They are heavy. They don’t bend. They are uncomfortable to hold in a single hand. They are annoying on buses, trains, airplanes and pretty much every other place I regularly read.
Those are the worst. I have a bunch of those that I got at a library sale, and they just suck. Maybe those were invented for libraries, come to think of it? So if people spilled stuff on the books, you could just wipe it off?
Those are the worst. I have a bunch of those that I got at a library sale, and they just suck. Maybe those were invented for libraries, come to think of it? So if people spilled stuff on the books, you could just wipe it off?
I don’t know–I don’t own a desk. I’m pretty much the laziest person in the world, though, so even if I had one, sitting up straight at a desk would be too much effort for me. I prefer to read lying down on the couch or bed.
I don’t know–I don’t own a desk. I’m pretty much the laziest person in the world, though, so even if I had one, sitting up straight at a desk would be too much effort for me. I prefer to read lying down on the couch or bed.