Figuring the Word

Drucker is undeniably THE authority on how the visual word gets displayed and used within the book form today. Thus this collection of interviews, essays, poetic reflections, etc is broad-reaching in its reflections both on others work and her own origins as a poet and printbook-maker. It is a book which makes her reflections palpable, personable and inspires and invites the reader to participate in the process of asking "where now?" concerning our next step in Figuring the Word withing the book's frame. A great pair to her much headier, scholarly book The Visible Word.

I really enjoyed these essays, which range from theory to personal reflection. When discussing specific projects that she has been involved with, it's fascinating they way you are drawn in to feel like you're seeing the behind-the-scenes of the creation process. The treatments of issues of theory were cogent, and well presented. I confess that I dog-eared many a page. The moments of personal reflection were at times almost too personal to bear...not what you might expect from a collection of essays, but welcome to this reader, nonetheless.