Goodbye Gutenberg: How a Bronx Teacher Defied 500 Years of Tradition and Launched an Astonishing Renaissance

Rating:
Summary: With "Enemies" like Me, Val Needs No More Friends...
Review:
Okay, I thought I'd be clever-and helpful? Most all the reviews seem positive-even fluff or puff? So would honest critique or Onions to balance the Orchids also help?

Why not, I thought. I'm (1) a fan of the book. I'm (2) working on a word-and-image book myself. I'm also (3) a good book reviewer-well, supposedly... (Full Disclosure: I was sent a copy of G,G as a publicity-sample because of-it was stated-my reviews on this site!)

So I asked, what are the demerits in G,G if any? Errors in content (misconceptions, omissions)? Errors in style? But (good news) I largely failed. Found no major flaws. Only, perhaps, incompletenesses. (So she didn't yet write the perfect "how-to" book, instead of the enthusiastic "aha" book. But is it fair to say she should have?)

"Look, it's Venus de Media, windsurfing in on a halfshell on a wing, a prayer, and a colorlaserprinter. With coloratura swirls of genteelly-hysterical enthusiasm....."

Well, no, wait just a mo-ment here!... A better analogy: "Look, from the mountaintop, Valerie shows us the whole new world on the other side, an emerging landscape of new word-and-image integration. (Colored forests and lakes, pictures grown in the fields of Print...) BUT where are the Footpaths down? Where the Pitfalls to avoid, the Potentialities to seek? Where is the map of specific trails, alternate routes to actually enter this New World?"

[I must be fair. A competent book reviewer MUST focus on (1) what the book ITSELF tried to do, and did it achieve it? (In Val's case, the What and Why of "designer writing" with color and images.) And NOT on (2) what did the book's REVIEWER want the book to do! (In my case, more on the details of How, short of a recipe.) Also PERHAPS on (3) what the book "SHOULD or COULD" have done, or done better, or tried to do-but objectively.

Okay, (1), problems in style, first. Others noted that the Introduction seems overlong, also too chronological-personal, and that the Body also repeats-and-repeats the main point(s). (Stories are good if personalizing, bad if lacking ideas. Repetition is good for dynamic emphasis, bad if just redundant.) [[Could professional editing have helped this common problem?]]

Then (2), problems in content, including omissions... Again I must be fair. Val wrote in her own personal style. Artists cannot do otherwise. In an interview she made it very clear. "I'm putting forth this book as a showcase of what is now possible. But everyone has his or her own individual design aesthetic. I like full-page bleeds, expressive typography, energetic colors, and emotional depth. I freely acknowledge that there are thousand other possible design aesthetics." Why ask her to create otherwise?

Still, I eagerly wanted to know, what other options do exist for other artists? 1. Color is the book's big variable. But verbalvisual Designer Writing can also use 2. Images of varied types (even pattern design, cartographic, etc.), also 3. Typography (font type and size), and all within 4. Page Design or layout and formatting beyond the CPPC or Continuous Prose in Paragraphed Columns so typical of Gutenberg Gray... [[Did we need more on these last three methods?]]

Plus not just how, but WHY or rationale in the first place. Val emphasizes (1) the Pragmatic (to reach reluctant readers), plus (2) the Pleasurable (to give all readers media delight.) But another may be (3) the Efficient (to help readers understand verbal content faster, via visual images). And another pleasurable, (4) the Aesthetic (to delight via verbal and visual co-equal and integrated). [[Should these latter two have been discussed more?]]

For instance. The early story of Val's train ride in to work and her reflections. And later, her recent story of her seeking publishers and the like after resigning teaching. Not that she SHOULD have done this, but I thought how both these messages COULD have been done in innovative Typography plus Page-Layout. Rescued from the lock-step of just CPPC or continuous prose in paragraphed columns and typical type? For instance, left-hand, formal narrative, in vanilla type ... then right-hand, her informal reflections-and in plaid-flavor type? Or "whatever," this is just for-instance. [[What other tools lie ahead? ]]

Plus, analysis of the barriers to Designer Writing-the better to surmount them?
The book notes (A) sheer unawareness. Also (B) institutional inertia. But what about (C) Creator-limitations? (To do visual, requires right-brain skills. But do many writers work more in left-brain modes?) Also, I imagine (D) Technical limitations. (Bad News: for me to learn Photoshop, Pagemaker, InDesign, etc., demands big resources! But Good News: less investment might work for some. I am now creating a word-&-image book of poetry with visuals. No color, alas. But type-fests and layout-picnics. And all with only Microsoft Word and a basic scanner. So...) [[ Still, should these last two barriers have been discussed a bit more? ]]

And thus my sweet-sour critique of G,G. So you see it largely failed. If this is all I can say against this good book, why not stop." (And I will, affirming my appreciation for G.G.)

Still, the word-image Revolution needs this "wake-up call" (nailed to the door of publishing houses?) But we also need the "ways on in," not rules, but possibilities clarified.

But, one step at a time. Perhaps "Val's second or next book" will lay out the routes in, not just the views of. (Perhaps she might edit an anthology, or collaborate with others-or leave it to others.) Take it as a compliment. Why should I hanker for the How-To, if Val's book hadn't affirmed so well the Why-Do it in the first place?



Rating:
Summary: Beautiful, Insightful, a Publishing Eye-Opener
Review: "Goodbye Gutenberg" is brilliant in concept and visually stunning. It is almost too beautiful to read - a veritable feast for the eyes - but too compelling not to. It is a graphic exploration of how art and typography historically have combined to excite, involve, and motivate the reader. It is also a sad reminder that most books today use only one or two plain fonts in block after unvarying block of black ink on white paper.

What makes this book an even greater marvel is that Kirschenbaum created it all on her home computer using four gigabytes of RAM. Astonishing! If she can do it, maybe other, upcoming writers will take up the challenge and create a publishing renascence.

The book is not only an artistic gem but also a cultural and literary treasure trove. It makes a wonderful gift ... but be sure you keep a copy for yourself.


Rating:
Summary: Reading in color.
Review: Reading Goodbye Gutenberg was a very different experience for me. I have long grown accustomed to the black and white print where the only changes on a page are the margins and font size. Kirschenbaum's book is certainly out of the mold and a call to consider what the future of book printing will be.

As I watch my children read now, I see their favorite books changing from colors and graphics to the same old bland print I have been reading from for years. As the change is made, I see them going from reading for pleasure as a first choice to music, movies and video games being a preferred relaxation activity. Can it be that the books changing to dull "imagery" are having a negative effect on their joy for reading? Both children read in the 98 percentile or higher level for their age group and long trips have always been taken while they read. This summer, the change occurred where reading wasn't the best way to pass the miles. I don't think this is simple coincidence, especially after reading this book.

While I do agree with one reviewer that the writing can be repetitious and, to some degree, condescending, I find the book overall to be fascinating and thought-provoking as to what the future of books will be.

Congratulations Valerie.

Rating:
Summary: Important Book for Educators
Review: Revolutionaries tend to overstate their case, but few have overstated their case as beautifully as stunningly as Valerie Kirschenbaum. "Goodbye Gutenberg" fervently argues that case for "designer writing" -- that is, for books that combine colored text, striking fonts, colorful images and illustrations, and imaginative layouts. The book cannot really described; you have to see it and experience it to fully appreciate it.

The most persuasive sections of the book deal with the pedagogical implications of designer writing. From her own experiences as a teacher in the Bronx, Kirschenbaum discovered that colored text, especially when accompanied by arresting images, can instill an interest for reading even in the listless, dysfunctional students of the inner city. Educators need to read this book, and take what it says seriously. Designer writing is not, of course, a panacea that will solve all the problems that beset the American education system; but school textbooks have long been a scandal and are badly in need of improvement. Designer writing might be just what is needed to enliven that part of the curriculum.

Ms. Kirschenbaum desires to extend designer writing beyond the confines of pedagogical materials to literature as a whole. She argues that designer books will eventually replace the drab black-and-white style of book developed under the auspices of Gutenberg's printing press. Kirschenbaum not only argues the point, but seeks to illustrate it as well. Each of the books 38 chapters adopts a different designer style, as if to show the many of the possibilities of the new genre. I am not as sanguine as the author that designer writing can replace or even seriously threaten the Gutenberg style. The biggest obstacle is that very few people have the talent design books like "Goodbye Gutenberg." Talent tends to be specialized. Most really gifted writers would not be capable of designing a book like this. Writing just takes too much out of them.

Rating:
Summary: Admire the Effort, Disagree with the Premise
Review: The layout of the book for the most part is lovely and it is obvious the amount of time and sheer hard work Kirschenbaum has placed into it. I applaud her independent spirit and energy in the writing and publication of this book. The world needs more people like the author who obviously cares about the next generation, and the treasure of books.

The author seeks to start a renaissance by sending books into a new direction through the enhancement of the colorization of words in the text and through design. She presents a history of book printing and how civilization settled with the Gutenberg style. She writes from a personal perspective on her own experiences being an urban teacher. Although the personal stories were touching, I felt she relied too heavily on them as she posed her argument. There was little scientific background to her argument. She tended to quote philosophers and writers of the past over and over, but many times the quotes were not adding to anything substantive in research, but instead had a flowery whim. The author also rehashed the same ideas chapter after chapter, repeating herself without adding anything new. I found myself eager to find substance in her data and research. And at times she could be a bit self-congratulatory.

There are plenty of books today where colorization of text and design are an integral part of the overall work- self-help books by SARK, coffee table books, design books, etc. It's not an incredible new idea, and those enhancements work for certain styles of reading. And of course the very old books, written by hand, by monks from the pre-Gutenberg age, were gorgeous in their detail, but those books had limited readership and many were intended as a visual celebration and appreciation to religion and worship.

I feel that too much color and design in any work can ruin the effectiveness of what the author wants to say. Less really is more. In fact, in Goodbye Gutenberg, beautiful as they were, at times I felt overwhelmed with too many graphics. I admit I found a haven and comfort when I reached white pages with black text.

The author suggests that there is a Gutenberg prejudice against text colorization and design because of the centuries of white pages and black text. And that somehow this new design renaissance will meet criticism because of this. I cannot follow here. Innovations in every form in our civilization have continued to change things over the centuries, but not if they didn't work. Maybe it's just that early on it was discovered that black text on white paper works best and wonderfully so. And again, there are plenty of books presently printed in color text and ones that have a large array of designs.

In novels though, one finds a comfort and simply beauty in black and white; adding more could diminish the author's intensity.

There is something so sublimely passionate when reading in black and white print. It cuts everything down to a point of deep and direct energy. It gets to be something absolutely specific; an element where there is nothing else but exactly what the author intends. It reaches a singular, glorious idea.

Kirschenbaum relayed how she would colorize words for her class while they read Edgar Allan Poe or Chaucer. On the printed material she gave her class to read from Poe's, The Black Cat, she had printed Poe's words of terror in the story with "a red, creepy font," with the appearance of little blood droplets falling off the words. She said she "wanted her students to literally see the somberness, the sickness even, of the narrator." Then later in the story, during happier portions, she said she would use a green or pink "friendlier font" to indicate to her students that the mood in the story had changed. She said her students overwhelmingly preferred the colorized versions that she presented to them. And why wouldn't they? It does the thinking for them. Worst than that, it dictates to the students what the interpretation of the material must be, the only one that apparently counts- the teacher's interpretation.
When small children are introduced to reading, with books like Green Eggs and Ham, the colorization of words is a helpful tool to learning to read. But there comes a point when one reaches the level of Poe's material, or Chaucer, where they have to learn to think for themselves. Critical thinking skills must come from within. When the words of a story are colorized to make thinking easier, the understanding of themes, main ideas, and the author's intent are then made third hand. The thought, beauty and elegance of the author's intentions become filtered through the mindset of another.

The Harry Potter books have captured the imagination of multitudes of children across the globe. It didn't require the colorization of text and lots of graphics to find a youthful readership. Kids ate up every word, and are hungry for more.

Kirschenbaum argues that the printed book must go in a new direction to survive. That with kids, books are at odds with video games, television and movies, and cannot compete because of their lack of color and graphics. In my own opinion, most television and movies marketed for teens are terrible. Books can be terrible too. But a book requires more effort, more thinking, and more imagination. I feel the colorization of words in certain cases can lend itself to a dumbing down, and lessens the opportunity to stimulate thought. It does the work for them.

I recently re-read Orwell's 1984. If the words were colorized or graphics added with the narrative text, it would have taken away from the true splendid ness of the work. To have an author, long since dead, talking to me in my head, about his ideas, his concerns, his story to tell, is magic in of itself.

I like that Kisrschenbaum strives to stimulate reading and artistic design, and has brought out an idea to contemplate. I admire her efforts. I just find trouble with the concept.



Rating:
Summary: More than just a beautiful book
Review: There is a good reason why people read more magazines than books - it is visually appetizing. While I may sit in a slightly different arena from most as a life-long bookworm, I see people of all ages resisting the written word. Least of all the things they want to read are things like newspapers and the classics.

In her freshman work, Valerie Kirschenbaum has brought a very unique point out - that in spite of the fact that we know have the opportunity to publish books of beauty that will `tempt the taste buds' of potential readers, we prefer to stick to the traditional black copy on white text. Even in advertising, we are taught that large bodies of text should be left in blocks, avoiding even reverse text (white copy on black).

Ms. Kirschenbaum has really done her research; she brings to life the history of bookmaking sharing the history of many of the world's ancient cultures, including the Greeks, Mayans, Chinese and Medieval Europeans, among others. She also shares the desire of many of the world's most enjoyed authors and poets who desired to see their texts illustrated or illuminated.

What made the difference? Why did we leave behind illustrated texts? The change came following the introduction of Gutenberg's printing press, on which the first English-language Bible was printed. However, although I don't think Ms. Kirschenbaum intends this, she almost comes across in an accusatory fashion that Gutenberg had some sort of mass conspiracy to remove beauty from the text. Of course, that is not really the case - it was the course of history that made printing in colour cost-prohibitive even until the latter part of the 20th Century.

Kirschenbaum is also critical of the male-dominated publishing business (which has been so for centuries), almost too severely.

In spite of these two main complaints, Ms. Kirschenbaum's passion to reach out to an ever-increasing population of non-readers is clearly felt. Her concept of a `designer writer' is much needed; however, I do see that if her more people write texts that are illustrated and illuminated - that is books for adults - they are more likely to be a combined effort between writers and graphic designers. It takes a truly talented person that can do both.

It is important to point out that a designer writer must be ready to be critiqued on two levels - first on the text itself, and second on their graphic design/art skills. Ms. Kirschenbaum has done a very good job on the design of the book, however, on some pages, the design, I feel, detracts from the text, or even makes it difficult to read. What Ms. Kirschenbaum has to stay is still the most important part of the book. Also, while her personally-design font, Booklady, is pleasant, it is a little difficult to read in large blocks.

In all, Ms. Kirschenbaum has taken a bold step and I commend her for sharing her personal faith and passions.


Rating:
Summary: One woman can make a difference!
Review: This book is an inspiration to me. The author, a teacher from the Bronx, has launched her own "Renaissance" in the world of print. Why has no one tried this before her? Her book is a beautiful and artistically presented masterpiece.

This is the most unique book on my bookshelf and one that I will treasure forever. The illustrations are amazing and the premise of the book is brilliant. Of course we learn better in color! Why shouldn't books try to compete against the fast paced multi-media we are constantly bombarded with? Books are the basis of an educated society and any approach that makes them come to life for readers is wonderful and welcome.

Thank you for "Goodbye Gutenberg" and for the experience of reading it.

Rating:
Summary: 'Much madness is divinest sense to a discerning eye'
Review: This hallowed quotation from the penulitmately creative writings of Emily Dickinson succinctly describes the passionate volume GOODBYE GUTENBERG: HELLO TO A NEW GENERATION OF READERS AND WRITERS, a zealot's call to revolution in creating books of significance for the 21st Century by the enormously gifted Valerie Kirschenbaum. Armed with a background armour of teaching students in midcity Bayard Rustin High School for Humanities in Manhattan, having struggled with the youthful products of the visual generation influenced by television, video games, music videos, wildly mad animation feature films - Kirschenbaum came upon the idea that kids got bored with the written word, the blocks of black and white monotonous words that failed to generate not only their attention but also their hunger to learn.

Valerie Kirschenbaum has created a book of enormous visual beauty matched only by the scholarly investigation of her premise that Gutenberg's invention of the press may well have made books more readily available through mass production, but the advent of the mechanical press all but destroyed the magical magnificence of illuminated manuscripts that are now relegated to museums. Kirschenbaum proposes the idea of utilizing our most sophisticated technology now widely available to everyone - the Computer with all of its abilities to extract creativity from the person at the keyboard - to make books in color, employ design, assimilate art, import images and treasures from the past, all with the endpoint of energizing students of all ages to rediscover the joy of reading.

Spend many hours with this fascinating book and find yourself not only completely absorbed in Kirschenbaum's 'novel' concept, but utterly mesmerized with the various areas of investigation she offers to support her discovery. Here, lavishly designed and richly colorful and cleverly written, are chapters addressing neuroscientific postulates about brain cell receptor sites that tie visual stimuli to emotional response, explorations of Egyptian and Mayan hieroglyphics, Greek and Roman scrolls, Sanskrit, Chinese, Islamic, and Hindu writings and visualizations of the Divine, analyses of fonts and the Male Domain of book production, the philosophies of Plato, Nietzsche, Descartes, Wittgenstein et al, the paintings of van Gogh, Rubens, Raphael, Michelangelo, the writings of Emily Dickinson, William Blake, Proust, Joyce, Dickens, and numerous other discoveries such as the life and art of Christine de Pisan!

While it is obvious that Kirschenbaum has thoroughly researched the material for her book, she still manages to write in a manner so communicative, so warmly personal, yet so infectiously passionate that it is not possible to avoid falling under her spell! She is a consummate Teacher, a richly imaginative designer, and a compassionate human being. And if it sounds as though this description of GOODBYE GUTENBERG covers more territory than you can believe, then just explore this wondrous volume for yourself: there is far more here for your absorption and continued pleasure than the space of a review permits telling. Toward the end of her book (written by the way in her own designed elegant font!), she shares this: "My journey has been, I am sure, full of errors and omissions. But I hope that younger, more gifted souls will forgive them and see in my pages the seeds of a beautiful new future." "..to write in the vernacular today is to choose not only the right words, but also the right colors and the right designs. Our vernacular is visual. Soon our books will be visual, too.

"From the stance of one committed to the arts, this book is a revelation. Read it for the discovery itself, for the sheer beauty of design and content, for the product of a successful dreamer. This book will be around for a long time as an aid to teachers, readers and other disciples of Valerie Kirschenbaum! Grady Harp



Rating:
Summary: History in the Making! (or should I say, designing!)
Review: Whoa. This book is too unbelievable for words! And of course, that's exactly what it's about -- words. But not just words in print. Words in pictures shown on every page. Remember that a picture truly paints a thousand words....Then why the heck don't we have pictures in our books?

Kirschenbaum is a genius in the design of this book. I'm really wondering what kind of equipment she had in her home to be able to design such incredible pages for a reader's lust. Yes, we as lust for pictures. So we have the word "imagery," which causes the words on the page to create pictures in our minds. But the thought that "serious" books can have color and pictures? ARE YOU KIDDING is the old attitude. As much as technology has improved things, we ARE that much in the dark ages when no one has produced this type of work to be revered by the highest of scholars!

I could not wait to turn the page -- every page -- in this book and see what she did next. As a new English teacher myself, I know that we teachers tell our high school students, when they must choose novels to read for class, that they must pick something that "is not a picture book." Why? Because no serious books (before this one) ever dared to throw in color, and certainly not pictures! No, no -- that's for baby books! Or so we thought. Until now....

I am an author of true crime, and I can only imagine how it would increase the suspense if only the pages were dripping with the color of blood as it's being described in print. Maybe a drawing of the offending shotgun.

The tests that Kirschenbaum tried with her students -- well, some people know that teachers like to borrow ideas from other teachers. Most teachers welcome sharing info because by doing so, we are improving learning for students beyond our own. I plan to try out the experiments, like the one on page 254, where she gave a reading selection in color to some students and black and white to others. I also teach a Communications class to sophomores, and we talk about design. This will be such a wonderful book.

I would like to know how she came up with this ingenius idea. She even has inspirational quotes like "If alone I must stand, then alone I stand," and others. People of all ages will want to read this book!

The pictures and drawings don't detract from the words, as scholars have apparently thought over the years. They don't detract from the "seriousness" of her topic of a new millennium for design. In fact, they emphasize the words and give them life. What more could any author want people to say about her work?

This is a must-read for everyone on the planet. She's tapping into a way to reach the so-called "illiterate," who simply get overwhelmed when they look at a sea of gray on the pages of most books. Thumbing through such a book, it's no wonder people just give up. There is no life in the words. Not so -- by a long shot -- with Ms. Kirschenbaum's book. Bravo!

Rating:
Summary: Beyond the "Wow!"
Review: _Goodbye Gutenberg: How a Bronx Teacher Defied 500 Years of Tradition and Launched an Astonishing Renaissance_, written and designed by Valerie Kirschenbaum, is one of the most beautiful and amazing books you will ever see. It provides a history of writing -- how words and images have been presented around the world for millennia -- and proposes a renaissance for the future.

After savoring hundreds of the color images in _Goodbye Gutenberg_, you may think, This is gorgeous, but what's the point? Ms. Kirschenbaum answers that question systematically, articulately, and passionately. Quite frankly, she is intent on revolution. In attempt to stem the decline in reading and literacy (recently documented in Reading at Risk, a National Endowment for the Arts survey), she hopes to eliminate the dichotomy that has developed between literature and art, between word and image.

She makes a strong case, showing how word and image were married in various civilizations dating back to ancient Egypt. The Chinese, for example, had poetry, painting, and calligraphy done by the same person. The Maya had one word, "ts'ib," that referred to painting, drawing, and writing; word and image were one. During the Middle Ages, manuscripts were painstakingly and elaborately illustrated and colored by hand. Of course, Ms. Kirschenbaum doesn't simply *tell* these fascinating tidbits; she shows examples of ancient writing and uses various colors and fonts to illuminate her own commentary.

Gutenberg's printing press changed everything. While movable type led to increased knowledge because book production became cost-effective, it also led to the decline of beauty in books. Except for children's books, cookbooks, and coffee table books, most books today consist of rectangles of black type on white pages. That form is so prevalent that it thrives unquestioned. Ms. Kirschenbaum points out, however, that technology has advanced to the point that color is accessible to us -- even for the *words* in novels, histories, biographies, and other non-fiction books. While this idea may seem alien to us, Ms. Kirschenbaum reports that Faulkner lamented the fact that _The Sound and the Fury_ could not use various colors of type to help readers wend their way through various streams of consciousness.

Another result of Gutenberg's press was the translation of literature into the vernacular: English, French, Spanish, and other "languages of the people" replaced Latin. Today's vernacular, Ms. Kirschenbaum contends, is color. Everything around us is color -- the world itself, television, movies, advertising. What besides reading matter tries to capture our attention in black and white? Not only is black ink on a white page monotonous, Ms. Kirschenbaum cites neuroscientists' findings that color and design activate areas of the brain that are shut down when a person reads in black and white.

Ms. Kirschenbaum has applied her theories with high school students in the Bronx. She found that when she colored and otherwise "designed" their literature assignments, students were more engaged; comprehension improved; discussion increased.

_Goodbye Gutenberg_ is extensively researched. Ms. Kirschenbaum confesses that her fourteen-page bibliography, conveniently divided into twenty-three categories, does not include all of her 1,000 sources. In addition to presenting the history of print from around the world, she garners support for her proposed renaissance from many disciplines, including education, psychology, neuroscience, literature and writing, art history, and graphic design.

_Goodbye Gutenberg_ is the ultimate example of "designer writing," the ultimate marriage of form and content. The medium is the message. The fact that Ms. Kirschenbaum, a high school English and social studies teacher, designed the whole book (requiring 300 *gigabytes* of storage space) on her home computer (with four gigabytes of RAM) substantiates her claim that such designer writing is both accessible and affordable to the general public.

Ms. Kirschenbaum designed her own font for her writing (Edgar Allan Poe also believed that writers should design their fonts and their layouts). "Booklady" is indeed a very readable font. I am amazed at how effortlessly and enjoyably I assimilated the information Ms. Kirschenbaum presents in _Goodbye Gutenberg_. Probably that is because the book was designed by the writer. The information, the organization, the illustrations, the voice, the font, the color -- all blend seamlessly to communicate her message. And that message is that all writing should be so accessible.