The Child and I headed to Portland, Oregon for a "two-day vacation" that was mostly oriented around books. We visited independent bookstores, independent publishers, an independent library, and Wordstock, a festival that celebrated the small and independent of the book world.
Our first stop was Publication Studio, an independent publisher that binds their books on site and on demand. We chatted with the two people who were binding books for an upcoming event, dropped off a copy of Les Sar'zine #2 (in which TWT is published) for their reading pleasure, ended up getting to bind a couple of books, and bought a book from their store.
It was everything that we could have hoped for—easy, organic, and carefree.
TWT bought a copy of Berlin Childhood Circa 1900 by Walter Benjamin, translated and with commentary and afterword by Carl Skoggard. One of the workers wrapped it up and stamped it and handed it to me with well-wishes. We wandered off into the warmth and sunshine of an early autumn Portland afternoon.
Berlin Childhood is going to be a fun read. Walter Benjamin's The Arcades Project is one of my "go to" books when I just want to read a few snippets that will ignite and inspire thoughts about our modern (or postmodern (or post-postmodern)) predicament. A quick glance through the pages of Berlin Childhood reveal a book of longer passages that almost have a dreamlike quality. I'm looking forward to entering the dream.
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Matthew Stadler, one of the founders/owners of Publication Studio, has been in the independent publishing business before, as one of the founders/owners of Clear Cut Press (before it ceased operation).
Visit the Publication Studio website.
Read about Clear Cut Press.
2 comments:
Dear TWT
Just enjoyed reading online version of your Two Melvilles. (I was always a bit sweet on Queegueeg. What a way to start a book.)
Carl Skoggard
Carl:
Thanks for stopping the Work Table and for reading My Two Melvilles. I hear that Queequeg is easy on the eyes but I think that may just be for Ishmael.
I'll post about Benjamin's Berlin Childhood as I delve in and wade around. I'm especially looking forward to your insights into Benjamin's work in the commentary and afterword, which was one of the reasons I felt compelled to get a copy. I'm always interested in someone else's impression of an author, especially someone like yourself who has spent a good amount of time with him or her. (Even if it is quite posthumously.)
Troy.
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