Steve Martin’s novel An Object of Beauty “examines the glamour and the subterfuge of the fine art world in New York city,” as summarized by the publisher. But why did I buy the book? Why the cover, of course. There, I said it. I regularly judge books by their covers. I have since taking my first steps and wearing my first pair of glasses.

Now, let’s get back to this book. First, it’s a lovely white color. The jacket paper has a bit of tooth, gives it that canvas vibe. The title and author’s name pop–colorful and glossy–that gloss on matte feel is working for me. Hmmm … seems as though it could have been painted on. Perfect, the novel is about art. The title and author lettering are in beautiful proportion and offset with handwritten words “a novel.” 3B pencil for those words? I’m not as drawn to  the book look once I strip off its cover. Also it doesn’t have deckled edges, which I do gravitate toward. But, one could say that the book’s characters reside within a contemporary setting, so the deckles may feel a bit old fashioned in this context.

Am I over thinking things? Perhaps. But, this is the way I’m wired. I appreciate objects of beauty. Books notwithstanding. Ok, books are pretty much up there on the top tier. So thank you Anne Twomey for your art direction and Darren Booth for the hand lettering and papers.  Also, thank you Steve Martin for a pretty good read. While I’m at it, thanks for “The Jerk,”  “Wild and crazy guy,” and “It’s impossible. To put a Cadillac up your nose. It’s just impossible.”

I value my senses, so I’ll continue to consider the virtues of my book fetish and know/no I’m not alone. I’m exploring the fit and fate of the book in our current culture within my own artwork.  And now it seems that I fit squarely within one of Ann Mack’s 2011 trend predictions: “To balance our increasing immersion in the digital world, people will embrace face-to-face gatherings and digital downtime, and come to fetishize physical objects once considered humdrum.” You may say, “Duh, obvious,” or “Who cares. I predicted that years ago,” and not admit to seeing a smidgen of your “self” lumped in with the masses, but I predict you will. In the meantime, if you’re suffering from the weight of any hardbacks while you’re “clearing out” to “downsize your life” or to “go green,” I’m your go-to girl.