BOOKISH: Julia Alvarez, Apocalypse and the Politics of Pot

This week in bookish: Julia Alvarez comes to town, Penn opens an exhibit on the Mayan 2012 prediction and the library hosts a dope talk about the politics of pot

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BOOKISH: Julia Alvarez, Apocalypse and the Politics of Pot

POSTED: Thursday, May 3, 2012, 4:00 PM

Filed Under: Arts Books

Saturday, May 5

from Guggenheim to Google, the book fair lives on

Book fairs used to be about finding that rare edition, the leather-bound manuscript that will make all your bookish friends' jaws drop when they see it on your bookshelf. These days, it's not just the rarities that make for a good collection; the book itself in its bound physical form is becoming something of a vintage piece. As print moves to screen, we begin to lose the subtle aesthetic pleasures of the physical page, the art of bookbinding, the layout of the cover art. The third annual Crane Arts Book Fair seeks to preserve and celebrate the book. Featuring dozens of local, national and international contributors, the event exposes the state of contemporary publishing in all its various forms. Today's publishers are faced with the challenge of catering to a changing readership that consumes text in books, e-books, blogs, etc. While many publishers have lost some of the old school aesthetic of paper print, others embrace changing technology as a source for constant innovation. Many of the featured presses regularly tweet about the release of their latest chapbook or journal--physical publications quaint enough to appease the most extreme paper fetishists. With names like Hamburger Eyes, Miniature Garden, and Lay Flat, the fair's indie publishers are engaged in the preservation of the physical page, while also maintaining elaborate company tumblrs. From the nostalgics that get high off the musty smell of libraries to the coffee-table book buyer who loves a good matte finish, this is the book fair for both the tech skeptic and the tech enthusiast, the textual connoisseur and the collector of ephemera.

Noon-6 p.m., free, Philadelphia Photo Arts Center, 1400 N. American St. philaphotoarts.org

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