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A Book of Books review by Craig Stark, BookThink
"Abelardo Morell's photographs are living proof that books
are much more than carriers of information, that they are precious
artifacts in their own right, with stories quite apart from their
texts to tell. A dazzling performance, arriving, as it happens,
in the nick of time. Nicely done."
- Nicholas A. Basbanes,
author of A Gentle Madness and Patience & Fortitude
"In a superb display of talent, renowned photographer Morell
provides a magical experience for the bibliophile and soothing engagement
for photography enthusiasts. Morell transforms everyday objects-book
spines, pages, illustrations, typeface, and shelves-into memorable
conduits of our long connection with reading and the book. This
invigorating work reaffirms the importance of books and serves as
a reminder of their fragile but enduring presence in our history
and psyche. Nicholson Baker, author of the controversial Double
Fold: Libraries and the Assault on Paper, contributes a fitting
preface; an engaging and beautifully written piece, it reveals the
writer's sincere love for books. However, the stars of the volume
are, undeniably, the books on which Morell focuses his camera. If
they could talk, those books would thank him for rediscovering them
and adding, through his genius, such grace and sentiment to the
essence of their existence on the pages of yet another book."
- Edward K. Owusu-Ansah, Library Journal
"At least in a figurative sense, this book...is a bibliophile's
dream. The 52 well-reproduced photographs are paeans to the materiality
of bookness, as imagined from every possible tangent -- books on
shelves, books stacked in piles, book spines, book edges, book pages,
open books, big books and small books. The notion of photographing
books may sound adolescent, but Abelardo Morell has made a career
of taking childlike ideas and rendering them in sophisticated, reflexive
fashion. He doesn't disappoint here. Whether the image is simple,
like one that shows the spine of a book titled 'Thought, 5, 1930-31,'
or complex, like ' A Tale of Two Cities,' in which Dickens' famous
beginning is blurred by type bleeding through from the reverse side
of the page, Morell manages to make pictures seem symbolically rich
as words. His photographs of illustrated books are especially dense
and suggestive; the camera stares into the fold of adjacent pages,
reflecting and refracting the printed pictures so that they become
something else: new pictures."
- Andy Grundberg, The New York Times
"Although we may have been taught not to judge a book by its cover,
photographer Abelardo Morell reverses the old saying and delightfully
shows us how to relish a book by its look. This inventive and clever
photographic ode to the printed word captures all the powerful possibilities
contained on the page. A Book of Books gives us images that range
from formal studies of shape and texture to the joyously whimsical.
Most luminous are the sculptural renditions, fluid
pages curving over their spines like majestic mountains in the distance.
The abstract pattern of a dictionary takes on the enigmatic characteristics
of crop circles, while a water-damaged book shows itself as a twisted
organic form. An aging book slowly decays in a stark image of paper
so fragile it has practically turned to dust. Library stacks seen
from above become a labyrinth through Morell’s lens. Includes a
lovely preface by Nicholson Baker. Perfect for any book enthusiast."
- J.P. Cohen, Amazon.com |
