Book of the Day > R. Crumb’s Dream Diary. Published by Elara Press. “For more than 40 years, legendary American artist Robert Crumb has documented his nightly dreams in a meticulously kept private journal. This material has stood as a guarded secret in a career defined by an impish compulsion to publically self-disclose. All of the artist's well-documented preoccupations are present and accounted for—rampant egomania, insatiable lust, profound self-disgust, the sad beauty of old America, the moral bankruptcy of new America and the fool's errand quest for spiritual enlightenment—but here they are entirely untamed, springing forth from forces beyond even his control. Published for the first time, the complete Dream Diaries offer readers a deep, dark look under the hood of one of America's most aggressively dynamic comedic voices.”

Book of the Day > Archigram: The Book. Published by Circa Press. “Throughout the 1960s and early 1970s, Archigram envisioned the future of architecture in ways that enthralled a generation. In an era defined by the space race, they developed a high-tech, lightweight, infrastructural approach that stretched far beyond known technologies or contemporary realities. They devised autonomous dwellings and focused on survival technology; they experimented with megastructures and modular construction systems; they explored mobility through the environment and the use of portable living capsules: all through the medium of an incredible series of drawings and models. This book catalogues Archigram’s activities over fourteen years, including 165 pages from all ten Archigram magazines. Warren Chalk (1927-88), Peter Cook, Dennis Crompton, Ron Herron (1930-94), David Greene and Michael Webb are the founder members of Archigram. Their theoretical work began in the 1960s as a cry against ‘the crap then going up in London’. Although they never built a building together, their influence over a generation of architects continues to be felt today. The group was awarded the RIBA Royal Gold Medal in 2002. Along with commentaries by the architects, there are contributions from critics Reyner Banham, Martin Pawley, Michael Sorkin and others, writing then and now. Designed and edited by Archigram member Dennis Crompton, Archigram: The Book has been 40 years in the making.”

Book of the Day > Roy DeCarava and Langston Hughes: The Sweet Flypaper of Life. Published by First Print Press. “The Sweet Flypaper of Life is a ‘poem’ about ordinary people, about teenagers around a jukebox, about children at an open fire hydrant, about riding the subway alone at night, about picket lines and artist work spaces. This renowned, life-affirming collaboration between artist Roy DeCarava and writer Langston Hughes honors in words and pictures what the authors saw, knew and felt deeply about life in their city.Hughes’ heart-warming description of Harlem in the late 1940s and early 1950s is seen through the eyes of one grandmother, Sister Mary Bradley. We experience the sights and sounds of Harlem through her learned and worldly eyes, expressed here through Hughes’ poetic prose. As she states, "I done got my feet caught in the sweet flypaper of life and I’ll be dogged if I want to get loose." DeCarava’s photographs lay open a world of sense and feeling that begins with his perception and vision. His ruminations go beyond the limit of simple observation and contend with deeper meanings to reveal these individuals as subjects worthy of art. As Hughes keenly observes, ‘We’ve had so many books about how bad life is, maybe it’s time to have one showing how good it is.’ First published in 1955, the book, widely considered a classic of photographic visual literature, was reprinted by public demand several times. This fourth printing, the Heritage Edition, is the first authorized English-language edition since 1983 and includes an afterword by Sherry Turner DeCarava tracing the history and ongoing importance of this book.”

Book of the Day > The Moon: From Inner Worlds to Outer Space. Published in accordance with the exhibition at the Louisiana Museum of Modern Art. “The moon has long furnished humankind with an artistic icon, an image of longing and object of scientific inquiry. Encompassing art, film, literature, architecture, design, natural history and historical objects, and published on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of the first manned landing (July 20, 1969), The Moonsurveys the iconography of the moon, from Romantic landscape paintings to space-age art. It takes the 1969 landing as a thematic fulcrum and a culmination of the deep-rooted cultural conceptions invested in the space race in the 1960s, from David Bowie to Disney.

The book also accounts for the science of the moon throughout the ages, from Galileo to NASA, addressing the many lunar myths that have existed throughout time. Also explored here is moonlight, an important theme in the Romantic nocturnal landscapes of Caspar David Friedrich, J.C. Dahl and Carl Julius von Leypold. Another powerful artistic genealogy is associated with science fiction, a genre that has on occasion influenced space programs: Jules Verne's From the Earth to the Moon (1865), for instance, famously inspired NASA's Apollo programs. Film pioneers such as Georges Méliès and Fritz Lang created cinematic lunar voyages, and in the 1930s, surrealist artists such as Joseph Cornell, Salvador Dalí and Max Ernst explored the moonlit landscape as psychological allegory. Later, during the Cold War, superpowers on both sides of the Iron Curtain worked closely with artists to orchestrate and interpret the space race: Robert Rauschenberg, for example, was one of eight artists invited by NASA to witness Apollo 11, while artists in the Soviet Union played a central role in building the cult of the cosmonaut. The Moon looks at all these lunar themes and myths, in a thrilling and inspirational gathering for anyone who has felt the moon's pull on their imagination.”

Book of the day & book signing today! (4-6 - please join us!) > Dewey Nicks: Polaroids of Women. Published by T. Adler Books. “American photographer Dewey Nicks roared into the 1990s magazine world by filling his shoots with fascinating people and a vibe of boundless energy and nonstop fun. Publications such as Vogue, Harper's Bazaar, W and Vanity Fair kept Nicks moving seamlessly between celebrity, fashion and advertising assignments, his portfolio amassing a who's who of iconic women, including Cindy Crawford, Natalie Portman, Sofia Coppola, Patricia Arquette, Shalom Harlow and Cher, to name only a few.

Nicks recently found a forgotten box buried deep in his archive with thousands of Polaroids from his 1990s photo sessions. These one-of-a-kind favorites saved from hundreds of shoots, both private and assigned, offer an intimate portrait into Nicks' life, friends and work. The immediacy of Polaroids combined with the natural fading of the physical print after decades in a shoebox makes each of these images singularly unique and tangibly genuine. Nicks was so smitten with this time capsule of images that he immediately shared them with his frequent collaborator, book designer and publisher Tom Adler, and this beautifully produced book was born.” Thanks to Margerum Wine.

Book of the Day >  A Final Companion To Books From The Simpsons. Published by Yellow Pages / Rollo. “French graphic designer Olivier Lebrun follows on his previous publications documenting the books that appear in the popular cartoon television series with this anthology of more than 330 images and titles. All have been captured with a black-and-white animation screenshot and catalogued in alphabetical order. Ostensibly the final instalment of this highly personal project by Lebrun, this new, updated edition reflects countless painstaking hours spent scanning episodes, plus the contributions of a large community of fans and readers who provided tips over the years.”

Book of the Day > Pittori di Cinema. Published by Lazy Dog Press. "In the wake of the Second World War, and above all, from the Sixties on, the Italian film industry began to commission artists to illustrate and promote its films. They were to sum up the entire movie plot in a single image, communicating at a glance all the emotion of a narrative. They were “cinema artists”. This 432-page volume addresses the work of twenty-nine artists, spanning the years between the Forties and the Nineties, with over 500 colour illustrations, including sketches, drafts and previously unpublished works from private collections, as well as works that were rejected or used in other ways. Maurizio Baroni, a passionate expert, author and collector, draws on his own large personal archive – now housed at Bologna Cineteca – to examine forty years of Italian cinema through playbills and posters. The works, divided by artist, are annotated by Andrea Mi and Luca Barcelona, whose critical essay skillfully analyses all aspects linked to illustration and lettering respectively, in relation to their message. The artists are introduced by Alessandra Cesselon, giving an overview of their work from the artistic point of view. The book is aimed at film-lovers and collectors, but also graphic designers and illustrators as well as students and professionals, as a historical record and an inspiration for future generations of communicators."

Book of the Day > Bruce Talamon: Soul, R&B, Funk Photographs 1972-1982. Published by Taschen. “Talamon saw it all during the golden age of soul, R&B, and funk. Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, this young African American photographer from Los Angeles found himself backstage with an all-access pass to the heart of the music scene. He caught his first big break landing a position as a staff photographer at SOUL Newspaper in LA in the early 1970s, just as soul, R&B, and funk were becoming part of the mainstream. He captured the rehearsals and sound checks, recording sessions and costume fittings, the quiet reflective moments and life on the road, and, of course, the wild photo shoots and memorable performances. These photographs define an era famed for its glamour, fabulous fashions, and utter devotion to the groove.

Including close to 300 photographs from 1972 to 1982, the extensive Talamon archives are presented in full detail for the first time. Whether you’re a diehard soul fan or a thrilled newcomer to the aesthetic magic of the 1970s, the collection exudes the infectious spirit of an exuberant age. Featuring icons such as Earth, Wind & Fire; Marvin Gaye; Diana Ross; Parliament-Funkadelic; Al Green; Gil Scott-Heron; James Brown; Barry White; Rick James; Aretha Franklin; the Jackson Five; Donna Summer; and Chaka Khan and many others; there are also several stops at the legendary Soul Trainstudios. Talamon documented a visual period in black music that lasted way past the midnight hour and will never come again.”

Book of the Day > Janet Delaney: Public Matters. Published by Mack Books. "Capturing the spirit of protest and parade, Public Matters brings together photographs made by Janet Delaney in Reagan-era San Francisco. At this turbulent time in the mid eighties, Delaney was living in the primarily Latino neighbourhood of the Mission District. She would spend the weekends photographing public gatherings, from the annual Cinco de Mayo parade, to the Peace, Jobs and Justice marches, which rallied against the U.S. invasion of Nicaragua. If political governance was regressing, the West Coast city was a place where, as Delaney remembers, ‘progressive ideas would always be upheld.’ Celebrating multiculturalism and collective struggles for social justice, Public Matters surfaces at a juncture when the message of building bridges is needed now more than ever.

In the vintage glow of her sun-drenched images, Delaney leads us in and out of crowds – among demonstrators, fair-goers, cross-dressers, union organisers, beauty pageants, dancers, salesmen, mothers, kids, and market punters – searching for as many intimate moments as she found collective voices. Fearlessly upbeat, her photographs nevertheless intimate a time when, as Delaney recollects, people ‘were reeling from the shift to a conservative government. The demands of the 1960s were addressed in the 70s: the end of the Vietnam war, women’s rights, environmental issues, gay rights, to name a few. Then when Reagan was elected all this came to a halt.’ And as soon as the streets were filled with placards – ‘babies are for loving, not for bombing’; ‘Hatred can never cure the disease of fear, only love can do that’ – Delaney was there, in the middle of the maelstrom, making pictures of public matters."

Book of the Day > Alex Prager: Silver Lake Drive. Published by Chronicle Books. "Photographer Alex Prager is an essential cultural figure: one of the truly original image makers of our time. Working fluidly between photography and film, she creates elaborate scenes that reference a wide range of influences, including Hollywood and experimental cinema, popular culture and street photography. These delicately staged compositions are famliar yet strange, utterly compelling, and unerringly memorable. Silver Lake Drive presents more than 120 images from her career to date: the early Polyester and Big Valley series; Prager's first collaborations with actor Bryce Dallas Howard; the tour-de-force of Face in the Crowd-- shot on a Hollywood sound stage with over 150 performers; and her 2016 commission for the Paris Opera, La Grande Sortie. Featuring an introduction by Michael Govan, Director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art; essays by Clare Grafik of the Photographers' Gallery and Michael Mansfield of the Ogunquit Museum of American Art; and an in-depth interview with the artist by Nathalie Herschdorfer of the Museum of Fine Arts, Le Locle, this deluxe hardcover volume is a must-have for those who follow Prager's career and an ideal inititation for new audiences everywhere."