Art Of Publishing, The

Description: 'All the books published by a certain publisher could be seen as links in a single chain' In this fascinating memoir and manifesto the author and publisher Roberto Calasso meditates on the art of book publishing. With his signature erudition and polemical flair, Calasso transcends Adelphi to look at the publishing industry as a whole, from the essential importance of graphics, jackets and cover flaps to the consequences of universal digitization. And he outlines what he describes as the 'most hazardous and ambitious' profile of what a publishing house can be: a book comprising many books, akin to that of other twentieth-century publishers, from Giulio Einaudi to Roger Straus, of whom the book offers brief portraits.

Review: Written with passion, intelligence and not without a certain flair for a story, it's a treat for any bibliophile, a manifesto/memoir that proves he's a master of the art form he's arguing for Independent What makes this slim text memorable is [Calasso's] sheer passion for books - not digital texts but physical objects, in which every part is designed to enhance the experience of reading. An important and timely book -- PD Smith Guardian





Author Biography: Born in Florence, Roberto Calasso lives in Milan, where he is publisher of Adelphi. He is the author of Tiepolo Pink, The Ruin of Kasch, The Marriage of Cadmus and Harmony, winner of the Prix Veillon and the Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger, Literature and the Gods, Ka and K.