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July 14, 2012
A book written in disappearing ink
From the Los Angeles Times:
In Buenos Aires, small bookshop and publisher Eterna Cadencia has been wrestling with the question of the role of books in a digital age. These days, e-books seem more important, more interesting, than their print counterparts. How can print books take on a measure of urgency?
Eterna Cadencia’s answer seems, at first, counterintuitive: It printed a book with disappearing ink.
The book, "El Libro que No Puede Esperar" ("The Book That Can't Wait"), comes sealed in a plastic wrapper. Once the wrapper is removed and the book is cracked, the ink begins to age; it's got a lifespan of less than two months. Just months after being opened, "The Book That Can't Wait" is filled with nothing but blank pages.
That makes the book unputdownable in an entirely new way.
Who wants a book that will self-destruct in 60 days? Turns out, Argentine readers do. Eterna Cadencia sold out of its entire first disappearing-ink printing in a single day.
Habla español?
Blog de Eterna Cadencia está aquí.
[via Paul Biba]
July 14, 2012 at 04:31 PM | Permalink
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Comments
William Gibson did it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agrippa_(a_book_of_the_dead)
Of which there is a 'contest' of sorts to undo the undo.
http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2012/07/william-gibsons-agrippa-mystery-challenge/
Posted by: Rocketboy | Jul 15, 2012 9:54:30 PM
"-let's face it- inserting a factor of anxiety increases the joy of reading a book... how exactly?"
Harold Bloom explains it all for you:
Posted by: bookofjoe | Jul 15, 2012 9:35:41 AM
Of course it sold out - it's a novelty.
Other than that, for everyone who loves their books it is of course a sacrilege. Not only that, it's totally anti-environmental and -let's face it- inserting a factor of anxiety increases the joy of reading a book... how exactly?
Posted by: Gryzor | Jul 15, 2012 6:28:25 AM
Works great for those "secondary" ledgers that the IRS covets....
Posted by: 6.02*10^23 | Jul 15, 2012 3:03:52 AM
One would hope that the book is worth reading for its own sake rather than the novelty of its printing.
An intriguing idea - think of a sketch/writing/music tutorial where the instructions slowly go away leaving you with nothing but blank pages to fill in yourself...
Posted by: Scott | Jul 14, 2012 6:08:03 PM
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