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Arts & Photography

What We See When We Read

What We See When We Read

A San Francisco ChronicleÂ and Kirkus Best Book of the Year

A gorgeously unique, fully illustrated exploration into the phenomenology of readingâ€”how we visualize images from reading works of literature, from one of our very best book jacket designers, himself a passionate reader.

What do we see when we read? Did Tolstoy really describe Anna Karenina? Did Melville ever really tell us what, exactly, Ishmael looked like? The collection of fragmented images on a pageâ€”a graceful ear there, a stray curl, a hat positioned just soâ€”and other clues and signifiers helps us to create an image of a character. But in fact our sense that we know a character intimately has little to do with our ability to concretely picture our belovedâ€”or reviledâ€”literary figures. In this remarkable work of nonfiction, Knopf's Associate Art Director Peter Mendelsund combines his profession, as an award-winning designer; his first career, as a classically trained pianist; and his first love, literatureâ€”he considers himself first and foremost as a readerâ€”into what is sure to be one of the most provocative and unusual investigations into how we understand the act of reading.
Country USA
Brand Vintage
Manufacturer Vintage
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber 40495020
Color Black
ReleaseDate 2014-08-05
UnitCount 1
Format Illustrated
EANs 9780804171632

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