Friday, August 7, 2009

Rodrigo Corral/Ben Wiseman/Mark Stutzman: Fordlandia

Truly one of my favorite covers right now, and very unique in the bookstore. The spine, which I think is a dark pink, features the the title printed vertically with the car on top of the F. The illustration is, amazingly, an original by Mark Stutzman. Mark also illustrated the art printed on the case of Stephen King's Lisey's Story, the Elvis stamp, and the Annie Get Your Gun Broadway poster:

http://www.liljas-library.com/img/other/lisey_mark.jpg
http://museumofglass.org/blogs/docents/wp-content/uploads/articles_10.jpg
http://www.spotnyc.com/docs/key_annie.php

The book itself sounds fascinating:
In 1927, Henry Ford, the richest man in the world, bought a tract of land twice the size of Delaware in the Brazilian Amazon. His intention was to grow rubber, but the project rapidly evolved into a more ambitious bid to export America itself, along with its golf courses, ice-cream shops, bandstands, indoor plumbing, and Model Ts rolling down broad streets. (new from Henry Holt)

Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Alain de Botton


Two books of essays published by Vintage. Their simple beauty speaks for itself. I love the way the cloud is framed in Art of Travel, with a man-made cloud-like ornament superimposed on the natural cloud. Designer names to come.