Structure of the Visual Book

If you do book binding of any kind, this book is a must guide and companion. I highly recommend it to beginners and experienced binders.

I was pleasantly surprised. I expected a book full of bookmaking methods from a review I saw on another site but as another reviewer here points out, it strives to make the reader think first, and then, after understanding what they are trying to achieve, THEN make books. Inspirational.

great book for those serious about artist bookmaking and have some prior knowledge of how things are put together.

This volume, rather than just providing dry (or gluey) how-to instructions on how to MAKE a book, offers readers new ways to THINK about what a book IS, how to make a book expressive beyond the reader's expectations. Smith is clearly a deep thinker, but not without a sense of humor. He is able to rip apart the structure of the book by examining our preconceptions, and he is then able to assemble a new vision of what the word BOOK means, and he is THEN able to draw on his impressive skills to actually assemble the book that serves up that vision, or to show practitioners how that can be done.Frankly, I was blown away, first by his ideas and then when I read the copyright date. I can only imagine where he's been going since the '70s!As a letterpress printer, as a photographer and user of alternative processes and media, I strongly recommend this piece to people who need a little shaking up, or who simply want to be amused and entertained.