>> Peter Mendelsund has a lot on his plate. Between his day job as associate art director of Alfred A. Knopf and art director of Pantheon Books, he somehow managed to find time to write two books. “What We See When We Read,” his most recent book, investigates the process of visualizing the things we read. In the interest of full disclosure, I purchased the book from iTunes and read it on my phone. In this version, there are a few animations that show vague outlines of literary characters materializing in front of you. While this adds something to the experience, it is a very little something when compared to the price and the amount of information you receive in the book. The art is beautiful, and the points that Mendelsund makes are fascinating, but the information he provides can be learned in a half an hour of Wikipedia. And if you want a taste of his art style, just search his name on Google and admire his book covers. While not a bad purchase by any means, it is not worth $16.
