Alphabetical Sydney

One of the things I love about working in a small Independent Bookshop is that we often get special moments with authors and illustrators.

On Thursday, the author of Alphabetical Sydney, Hilary Bell, happened to be in the area, happened to see that I had done a display of her book in our front window, so she popped in to say 'hi' and 'thank you'. We had a quick chat about how well the book was selling (very well!) & how I changed which page the book in the window was open on every few days.

A few minutes later, Hilary came running back into the shop with a card in her hand which she gave to me, saying, "I had one of these left in the car, it's for our book launch on Saturday, would you like to come?"

As you will see from the photos below, my answer was "yes". 

Display case of the illustrator, Antonia Pesenti's work (with my invitation card in front).

Antonia came up with the early idea of creating a Sydney alphabet collage book when she moved back to Australia with her husband and small children. 

She mentioned it to her friend, Hilary, who is a playwright by trade. 
Hilary jumped at the chance to create the rhyming text to match Antonia's beautiful, iconic images.

"The alphabet provided a structure that would allow us to roam freely around the city, highlighting its features both mundane and wondrous. We wanted to evoke a Sydney that was personal, somewhat nostalgic, and a far cry from the tourist-guide version. There are a couple of icons we couldn’t go past – the Harbour Bridge, Taronga Zoo – but we were keen to communicate a personal, specific view of the urban fabric that incorporated more than Bondi and The Rocks. We were struck by how strong the presence of nature is in the city: after a few letters we had to actively resist animals, birds and flowers and refocus on the built fabric of the city. 

We were also keen to show the city’s eclecticism – jasmine, ibises and delicatessens aren’t native, but what would Sydney be without them? We wanted to incorporate the west and south, buildings and roads, the beautiful and beautifully ugly – they all contribute to our sense of the city. Thus, L for Lawn Bowls and P for Parramatta Road."

Extract from NewSouth Publishing website (for the full article click here).

This post is part of Saturday Snapshot and AusReading Month.

Cooked by Michael Pollan

This week for Book Beginnings on Fridays and The Friday 56 I've selected Cooked by Michael Pollan.


Beginning:
"The divine scent of wood smoke and roasting pig finds you as soon as you make the turn onto South Lee Street, the main artery threading this faded little town, even though the GPS says its source is still half a mile away."

Mmmmmmmm a salivating start!



Page 56:"Cooking, according to the hypothesis, is not merely a metaphor for the creation of culture, as Levi-Strauss proposed; it is its evolutionary prerequisite and biological foundation."

I'm also curious how decisions are made about book covers.

I understand that different countries have different covers if a different publishing house gets the rights for the book.

The US cover provides consistency between Pollan's backlist - they all feature the white cover with a piece of food artistically arranged in the middle.

I'm not sure why we have a different cover in Australia.

Do eggs speak more to us culturally than pasta?
Are Allen Lane planning on re-releasing Pollan's backlist with new covers to match Cooked?
Why does the Australian cover give such prominence to the 'New York Times No 1 Bestseller' tag, but the US one doesn't mention it all?

I wonder....