Bookburger

artburger review: Taking Things Seriously

We know about hanging on to seemingly worthless junk. We've got geegaws, bric-a-brac, and all kinds of flotsam and jetsam clogging the shelves and closets of bookburger hq. We always thought we were just packrats. This lovely little book from Princeton Architectural Press helped us understand that, in fact, our inexplicable attachment to a dirty white plush duck and the rhinestone horseshoe ring given to us by a boy named Seth in eighth grade is just part of the “human drive and capacity to invest inanimate objects with meaning.” Our tschotschkes are no different from the ones so gorgeously shot for this book, the treasured objects of writers, artists, and other deep types.  Pick up a copy of Taking Things Seriously, place it on your shelf with your favorite geegaws, and you'll be armed with great arguments when your mom, significant other, or roommate tries to get you to "declutter."

artburger review-- Mingering Mike: The Amazing Career of an Imaginary Soul Superstar

Sure, we're all rock stars in our own minds--but, as documented in Dori Hadar's amazing new book published by the hepcats at Princeton Architectural Press,  Mingering Mike took it a few steps further. 
A lonely teen back in 1960s and 1970s Washington DC, he created a completely imaginary career for himself as a soul singer. He designed incredibly elaborate record jackets and actually constructed fake vinyl records out of cardboard.  He made up song titles, song lyrics, bandmembers...Hadar, a DJ by night and criminal investigator by day, came across Mingering Mike's hand-drawn discs while digging through crates of records at a DC flea market. The story of how he pursued clues and eventually found the man behind the self-created myth is really compelling. Plus, this is a beauty of a book, reproducing Mike's cover art and liner notes in all their obsessive glory.

Since we at the burger are kinda obsessive ourselves, and because we too are very invested in our imaginary careers,  we love Mingering Mike. Go grab yourself a copy...it's hitting shelves tomorrow!

artburger: two we love

In our opinion, some publishing houses are just a bit cooler than the rest. We have a short list of faves, and Princeton Architectural Press is definitely on there….over in our artburger division, our workers are often found poring over the latest PAPress release. The bookmakers there always use great paper stock to reproduce artwork, and they have amazing and original taste. Plus the commentary is always challenging and interesting without being jargon-y or pretentious. Here are two of our recent favorites…great for gifting, if you’re into that kind of thing at this time of year.

Ilf & Petrov’s American Road Trip: The 1935 Travelogue of Two Soviet Writers by Ilia Ilf and Eugeny Petrov
Unlike other reviews we’ve seen, we’re NOT going to compare this fascinating book to a certain megahit mockumentary featuring bad suits and male-on-male nude wrestling. The book lets us see the U.S. of 1930s through the wry commentary of two popular satiric writers from Soviet newspaper Pravda. They’re critical, bemused, and admiring in about equal measure, and the photos shot with their Leica camera are incredibly moving. Thanks to PAPress for unearthing this long-forgotten reportage on a long-gone America.

A Year in Japan by Kate T. Williamson
We dabble in watercolors ourselves, so it was with wonder and a fair amount of envy that we paged through this illustrated journal of the author’s post-collegiate year in the Far East. Glimpses of scenery and quirks of Japanese culture (when you buy a piece of fruit, it comes coddled in packaging fit for a newborn baby) are given loving treatment in bold, bright paintings and thoughtful annotations. It’s just an object of pure pleasure for anybody who’s into Japan or beautiful things.

artburger report: Siberia is sad and beautiful

The staff of Artburger (a subsidiary of bookburger) is very tired. We stayed up way late reading Siberia, a graphic memoir sent to us by Soft Skull Press. Nikolai Maslov tells a heart-wrenching story of his adolesence in a Siberian village, his time in the Soviet military, and his struggle to become an artist. We just couldn't put it down. It gives a rare glimpse into world you never hear much about. Think your town is a boring place where  certain people drink too much? Get this book--it'll put it all into perspective. Maslov's quest to make something of his life, and the story (revealed in an afterword) about how he his work ultimately came to light and ended up being talked about in places like this blog is inspiring. Hooray for the cool cats at Soft Skull Press who published the book in the U.S!