Vernon T. Boes
It's somewhere around 3:30 in the morning. Rain is beating on my window. I'm lying in bed wondering which ancient rain god decided to hook his or her wagon to the day of the Bookbuilders West Book Show. In the last fifteen years it must have rained at least a dozen times. Before drifting off back to sleep I agree the gods must be crazy and they also have a somewhat twisted sense of humor. Later that morning at work there's an edge of excitement in the air of the design department mixed with the smell of slightly burned bagels. We don't always dress like this. Someone points out how many of us are wearing all black. Uh-oh, could this be an omen? It's still pouring rain. Maybe we should leave early and drive very slowly.
I am the chosen one to deliver my people to the Marriott. I will drive the mid- sized rental, not too plush, but comfortable enough for the one person who always ends up snoring in the backseat on the return trip. The other chosen driver, Mary, will take the van delivering seven more Brooks/Cole people to the promised land. Things have taken on Biblical tones. I guess that leaves 39 more days and nights for the rain.
Once we're on the 280, the Mercury is right at home in the diamond lane humming along at 65 in all it's auto-pilot glory. As we pass the linear accelerator the topic of conversation turns to pinpointing exactly where the Airport Marriott is located. We all agree it's somewhere right off the freeway by the airport. We're a sharp group. After a while we see airplanes, the Grosvenor, and other familiar sights. Fortunately, we take the right off ramp. The Marriott proudly stands tall against the grey sky, another familiar sight. In the car next to me at a stoplight CSN&Y sing, "We have all been here before."
Once inside the hotel, we easily locate the Book Show. Already decisions must be made. Who wants to carry around calendars all night or offer to walk our collective stack back out to the car? Or maybe there will be some left after the ceremonies. We spot a mountain of calendars in back of the desk. We carefully return our selections to the countertop and head for the books.
The room is wonderfully laid out. Round tables make for easy viewing and comfortable mingling. A nice display of upright covers runs along the edge of the room. Above all else, it is a bright room. A clean, well-lit place. Very nice. And what's this? A program listing the entries by category? Thank you, thank you, thank you!
I remember a friend's motto: Life is uncertain, eat dessert first, so I head straight for the Children's books, a/k/a Juvenile Trade. I'm always impressed by the variety of styles and quality of illustrations, as well as the different formats found in this category. Klutz Press continues to be a seemingly never ending stream of innovative ideas. Such fun and creativity. There are also a number of books that are educational in tone. Meet the Wild Southwest, Super Nifty Crafts, and Amazing and Incredible Counting Stories are very nicely done. The beautiful, restful paintings of Between Earth and Sky, the illustration and typography of Just Dessert and The Loyal Cat are just a few of the delights in this category.
I wind my way into the Trade/Scholarly Image-Driven books. Here the subject matter varies as greatly as the illustration styles in the Children's category. These are lovely books. After spending ten minutes devouring the pages of Rocky Mountain National Park I suggest to a friend that if someone is looking to buy me something for Christmas, this would be nice.
There are so many wonderful books ranging from the classy, deco design of Bullocks Wilshire to the charming Fay's Friends, the address book with all the dogs. I love that dog alphabet. There's the grace and beauty of Pergamon with its hundreds of lovely photos of headless statues, the very playful Nuevo Latino, and the beautiful photo documentary of Poles Apart. The Botanical Gardens at the Huntington, Walker Evans, there are too many to name. Where else but in this category would I find myself hovering over a page spread featuring gorgeous photographs, layout, and typography only to realize I'm enjoying a moment with a recipe for calves brains!
As the room fills with people I'm enjoying the round tables more and more. They provide ample walking areas between the tables and plenty of elbow room. Once in a while I find myself in a synchronized dance with a person across the table from me. In unison, we silently stand before our selection. We pick it up, look at the front cover, look at the back cover, and set it back down again. Gently we open the book and turn the pages. Soon we're turning clusters of pages at a time and before reaching the end of the book we close the cover and pause for a moment. We lift our eyes, scanning the room to cleanse our eyes. We then return our gaze back to the table at the next book and shuffle step to the left. Eventually our dance is interrupted by a newcomer going the wrong direction. Maybe next year there will be arrows to help choreograph all of our movements.
I soon find myself in the Trade/Scholarly Text-Driven category. This is truly where one can rest and enjoy the grace and beauty of fine typography and layout. Some of the encyclopedias for gardening and computer-related books seem out of place on these tables but overall it's a consistent collection. The Alaskan Heritage Seafood Cookbook is clean and well-organized. Life Prayers is so lovely. So many titles utilize 1/color spot illustrations so very well that I find the transition to the Instructional/Educational books jarring to my senses.
Maybe it's just the nature of the beast that keeps the books in the Instructional/Educational category over-illustrated and repetitious. Despite this burden a number of books such as Communicate!, Media Impact, and Infants, Children, and Adolescents provide refreshing, clean designs that handle the extra cargo very nicely. The book Vis-à-Vis: Beginning French is very well done. It's littered with illustrations, photographs, and various elements but is very well organized in its presentation.
By now the well-lit room is well-packed. I've seen many new faces and run into a lot of friends I talk with often but only see once or twice a year. In a sense this is my tribe. I refrain from breaking into a celebratory dance and make my way out into the hall to get a look at the books from Boston and American Association of University Presses. Out in the hallway it's very crowded. I feel like a salmon heading upstream. Hopefully, my jaw won't get too extended. Some of the same books I just looked at inside are found on the University Press table. It's comforting. The print quality and composition are first class. On the Bookbuilders of Boston table is a terrific book Manhole Covers and a children's book Fairy Wings. Two more books for my gift list. Suddenly I'm being swept away in the current. There's food being served just beyond the floodgates. This year's feast turns out to be an extravaganza, complete with complimentary wine, floorshow, and emcee Bill Ralph. The Who's on First skit could have been cut but, hey, this was a night that will be talked about for quite some time. I mean, CMYK? We've got some talent here folks! Applause for all involved.
The electronic delivery of credits helped keep the awards presentation portion of the evening moving along and overall, the food was fine although we're still arguing whether the dessert was a Raspberry Princess Cake or Raspberry Process Cake. By evening's end we are all satisfied. A huge and wonderful job was done by all.
It's somewhere around 10:30 at night. I'm back on auto pilot, this time heading south on 101. Rain is beating on the windshield. We're returning home, tired and victorious from the hunt. I know within the hour we'll get to know a little bit more than we'd like to know about someone in the backseat's sleeping habits.