I’ve been thinking some about Mark Von Schlegel’s “Paperback Revolution” project, a selection of which appeared in the April issue of Artforum. I agree: the paperback revolution is not over. A publishing experiment like Publication Studio is an example of the continued use, or relevance, of the paperback. (One thing that makes PS so interesting is it also embraces a digital format as well, seeing no contradiction in promoting both.) Von Schlegel’s paperbacks, in turn, made me think of some precursors to the paperback as we know it: the Temple Classics series from the turn of the last century. My dear friends Peter and Meredith recently gifted me the Dante series, and I have been enjoying these editions greatly. They have also given me the reason to reread Dante, one of those projects often pondered rarely executed.
