X-Ray #8 (1 Viewer)

[cirerita]

quite a collector's item. opening bid seems reasonable. the cheapest one on Abe right now goes for $150, so this is a good chance to get this one if the price keeps this low.

http://cgi.ebay.com/X-ray-8-Rare-Un...022938397QQcategoryZ29223QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

 

[nymark]

I think I mentioned this before, but I want to recommend adding as many issues of Johnny Brewton's X-Ray to your library as you can. #8 is a particularly tasty issue and the opening bid, as cirerita points out, is very, very reasonable.

 

[Jason]

Yes, all of the X-Ray material is great.

 

[mjp]

I prefer the older book-form X Ray's to the loose broadside boxes, but yeah, it's always an adventure to dig through one of those.

Sometimes I feel about X Ray though the way Bukowski felt about the Webb books; that the presentation can overwhelm the actual writing (or art or whatever else is in X Ray at the moment).

They certainly became valuable/expensive on the secondary market though. Letterpress may be a growth industry. What next, blacksmithing and chimney sweeping on the rise? ;)

 

[zoom man]

Sometimes I feel about X Ray though the way Bukowski felt about the Webb books; that the presentation can overwhelm the actual writing (or art or whatever else is in X Ray at the moment).

Yeah,
I've got # 9 and #10....
Wouldn't really want any more
(Nor these actually).
They come across to me as just being too clever,
And what fun is it having something I'm afraid to touch?

 

[nymark]

Sometimes I feel about X Ray though the way Bukowski felt about the Webb books; that the presentation can overwhelm the actual writing (or art or whatever else is in X Ray at the moment).

Have you ever heard of a publication called McSweeney's? Edited by brainiac and do-gooder Dave Eggers, each issue is completely redesigned. No two look alike (save for the first three). This is the most severe case yet of the design getting in the way of the content. Is it art or literature? That depends on whether you are a graphic designer or a writer.

 

[hoochmonkey9]

I was just about to say that...the last issue is made to look like the contents of your mailbox (the physical one, not email).
I too have mixed feelings about these publications...on the one hand I think they're clever and great to look at, on the other, does the form overpower the writing. Or are we meant to take each for what it's worth and appreciate it as an entire work of art? I dunno...

 

[mjp]

Have you ever heard of a publication called McSweeney's? Edited by brainiac and do-gooder Dave Eggers, each issue is completely redesigned. No two look alike (save for the first three). This is the most severe case yet of the design getting in the way of the content. Is it art or literature? That depends on whether you are a graphic designer or a writer.

mcsweeneys.net -- what is it? It is everything and nothing. I really have no idea what they do, based on that site (those sites), but anyone who is still going to the trouble of putting out a printed lit mag here in the twenty-first century is okay by me.

The idea of design over content is rampant, but it's just a trend, and the pendulum will swing back eventually, when people get hungry for some meat to go with all the cranberries and ice cream.

 

[zoom man]

mcsweeneys.net -- what is it? It is everything and nothing. I really have no idea what they do, based on that site (those sites)

Exactly, my feelings too.
What a pretentious web site-> did you see their 'recommendations' list
:mad: cough cough.

I respect what they do,
But egads it's too ________ what, smarmy (?) for me.
Like I like some snippets (ideally in print, not live) of Dennis Miller,
But taking him in as a whole,
He is just too pompous.
I like the drier wit of Stephen, or Steve somebody.....
mcsweeneys to me looks like something dennis would be at the helm of
And I don't like it.
There, I'll shut up now :cool:

 

[chronic]

HEY! I like McSweeney's! Yes, they have gotten kinda artsty-fartsy of late but they publish some excellent writing and art. Also, as a publisher they've put out some remarkable books. What other publisher would have been brave enough to publish Wm. Vollmann's* enormous seven-volume "Rising Up and Rising Down?" And "The Berlin Years" portfolio by Marcel Dzama is just a beautiful thing. Their books are top quality in terms of printing and binding (and often in terms of design and layout as well) but the prices are reasonable. I really like the fact that they publish books with the main concern not being "will it make us a lot of money?" but "does this deserve to be published?" I wish more publishers had these standards.

* Anyone who hasn't read Vollmann should pick-up a copy of either "Whores for Gloria" or "The Rainbow Stories." Not that they're very similar, but I think most readers who like Bukowski might find these books to their liking as well.

 

[nymark]

Ya know, my initial posting gave the wrong impression. I actually support McSweeney's, despite my digs about them. I agree that they have become a bit full of themselves, but the truth is that I have every issue going back to #1 and will continue to buy it. I agree with chronic that along with the arrogance comes a heaping helping of creativity and daring.