A gorgeously unique, fully illustrated exploration into the phenomenology of reading-how we visualize images from reading works of literature, from one of our very best book jacket designers, himself a passionate reader. A VINTAGE ORIGINAL.
PETER MENDELSUND is the associate art director of Alfred A. Knopf and a recovering classical pianist. His designs have been described by The Wall Street Journal as being "the most instantly recognizable and iconic book covers in contemporary fiction." He lives in New York.
A San Francisco Chronicle and Kirkus Best Book of the Year
“A playful, illustrated treatise on how words give rise to mental
images. . . . Mendelsund argues that reading is an act of
co-creation, and that our impressions of characters and places owe
as much to our own memory and experience as to the descriptive
powers of authors. . . . [What We See When We Read] explore[s] the
peculiar challenges of transforming words into images, and blend[s]
illustrations with philosophy, literary criticism and design
theory.” —Alexandra Alter, The New York Times
“Mendelsund, throughout this thought-provoking book, helps the lay
reader contemplate text in ways you hadn’t thought about
previously.” —Los Angeles Times
“A conversation piece, created to entice repeated thumb-throughs. .
. . [The author is] a highly regarded book-jacket designer. . . .
Reading is often considered (especially by those who don’t love to
do it) a passive activity. But Cambridge native Mendelsund . . .
makes a nice case that it is, in fact, a kind of active
collaboration. . . . What We See When We Read, itself a work of
conceptual design, unfolds the author’s ideas about what makes
reading a creative, visual act all its own on pages—some packed
with text, others just a line or two—that incorporate sketches,
clip art, images of classic book covers and more.” —The Boston
Globe
"A welcome and fascinating new book." —The New York Review of
Books
"Mendelsund combines his flair for the visual and literary to try
to explain what, exactly, happens in our brains when we read. It's
a fascinating reading experience in its own
right." —Refinery29
“The liveliest, most entertaining and best illustrated work of
phenomenology you'll pick up this year. An acclaimed book-jacket
designer and art director, Mendelsund investigates, through words
and pictures, what we see when we read text and where those images
come from. His breakdown of the reading and visualizing processes
yields many insights. . . . Playfully, he offers us a police
composite sketch of Anna, based on the description in Tolstoy's
novel.” —Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel
"Wow. . . . Mendelsund has changed the way I think about reading.
Like the Wizard of Oz tornado, Mendelsund's lucid, questing prose
and his surprising, joyful visuals collide to create a similar
weather system inside the reader. Not only are you carried off to
Oz, but you're aware at every moment of the cyclonic action of your
reader's mind and your reader's imagination. It's so smart, so
totally original, so beautiful. This is the perfect gift for anyone
who has ever blinked awake inside a book." —Karen Russell, author
of Swamplandia!
“[Mendelsund] produces a kaleidoscopic, immersive experience that
successfully combines text, graphics, illustrations, cover images
and more into a cohesive whole. It’s a book to be read, reread,
shown to perspective graphic designers and shared.” —Kirkus
Reviews
“[A] sort of epistemological exercise that, at its best, calls all
sorts of associations to mind. It summons a mental flood. . . .
Mendelsund is an adept memoirist; the personal material in this
book resonates. He notes that we can read novels quickly, as if
driving through them, or slowly, as if walking, and have distinct
experiences. . . . [He] keeps his tone light while thinking
deliberately about fundamental things.” —Dwight Garner, The New
York Times
“Mendelsund, one of the truly great book-cover designers, explores
what we see when we read, in a volume packed with stunning visuals.
It’s a fascinating and enlightening look at something we might not
actually realize we’re thinking about with every word we read.”
—Flavorwire
"A deconstruction of the visual experience of reading, a heady
mixture of philosophy and neuropsychology. . . . Peter Mendelsund
is astonishingly good at what he does." —The Rumpus
"Amazing. . . . Sparkling with verbal as well as visual wit and the
personable exhilaration of one of the best conversations you've
ever had, What We See When We Read opens one's eyes to that special
brand of blindness which makes the vividness of fiction possible.
It reads as if the ghost of Italo Calvino audited Vladimir
Nabokov's literature class and wrote his final paper with the help
of Alvin Lustig and the Radiolab guys." —Chris Ware, author of
Building Stories
“Quirky and fascinating. . . . Mendelsund draws our attention to
things we may not be fully conscious of when we immerse ourselves
in a narrative. . . . We See When We Read will make passionate
readers think about things they may largely take for granted when
absorbed in a book and spark further thoughts about what the
pleasurable experience of reading is all about.” —BookPage
“Intriguing. . . . A truly remarkable book.” —Coolhunting.com
“In this brilliant amalgam of philosophy, psychology, literary
theory and visual art, Knopf associate art director and cover
designer Mendelsund inquires about the complex process of reading.
. . . The book exemplifies the idea that reading is not a linear
process. Even if readers follow consecutive words, they incorporate
into reading memories, distractions, predispositions, desires and
expectations. . . . In 19 brief, zesty chapters, the author
considers such topics as the relationship of reading to time,
skill, visual acuity, fantasy, synesthesia and belief....
Mendelsund amply attains his goal to produce a quirky, fresh and
altogether delightful meditation on the miraculous act of reading.
—Kirkus (starred)
“A delightful treat for the avid reader. . . . [A] topsy-turvily
illustrated marvel. . . . [Mendelsund] maps the dreamscape of
reading to show us how the mirage dissolves under close scrutiny
but its memory still burns brilliant. What a tangible magic books
are!” —Shelf Awareness
“Offhandedly brilliant, witty, and fluent in the works of
Tolstoy, Melville, Joyce, and Woolf, Mendelsund guides us through
an intricate and enlivening analysis of why literature and
reading are essential to our understanding of ourselves, each
other, and the spinning world.” —Booklist
“This examination of how words on a page become pictures in our
brains is blowing my mind a little in the best possible way.”
—BookRiot
"This is not a book, this is a sacred text. It inspires, it expands
the mind, it proves that Mendelsund is a total freaking genius."
—Heidi Julavits, author of The Vanishers
"Brilliant. Peter Mendelsund has peered into our messy heads and
produced an illuminating, kaleidoscopic meditation on reading. Also
on seeing. And understanding." —Jim Gleick, bestselling author of
The Information
"Peter Mendelsund is to the art of book design what Walter
Murch is to the art of film-editing. That, of course, is the
highest praise imaginable." —Geoff Dyer, author of Another
Great Day at Sea
Praise for Peter Mendelsund's work:
"He's the exact visual correlative of what I think contemporary
literature should be, but usually isn't doing." —Tom McCarthy
"Peter Mendelsund pushes the visual and the verbal into unforeseen
alliances. These alliances feel inevitable, establishing exactly
the right balance between the timely and the timeless." —Jed
Perl
"When I first spoke with Peter, after he'd begun work on the jacket
for The Flame Alphabet, I was struck by how carefully he'd read the
book. . . . To have it from a designer is unnerving and, of course,
a piece of very good luck. When he asked me if there was anything I
had in mind for the jacket, I knew by that point that I did not
want to get in his way or even to put my voice in his head. I
wanted an original Mendelsund." —Ben Marcus
"Once in a while I'm presented with design that crosses the
barriers of cultural references and visual language—that feels
universal—that feels like the perfect start to the story; design
that I don't want to reader to forget, but to carry with them.
These designs are Peter Mendelsund's." —Jo Nesbø
"All of Peter's covers are funny, smart, and beautiful. And all of
them say something about the visual nature of reading, writing, and
perception. Each one is a poem. Look at them closely." —Jane
Mendelsohn
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