Thu, March 8, 2007
Magnets Are Magic!—7:46 PM
Issue #22 of McSweeney's Quarterly Concern arrived in yesterday's mail and it is... awesome!
The McSwys folks have always been at the vanguard of publishing and bookbinding norms (sometimes to their own detriment), but this time they've outdone themselves!
The book presents itself as a thick and sturdy hardcover tome, but it is actually three separate smaller paperback books which attach by magnets into the hardcover spine. You can pop 'em out, read 'em, then pop 'em back in – and even change the order. It's the durability and shelf appeal of hardcover, and the flexible portability of paperback! This is the future of publishing! All books will be published this way within five years – there's absolutely no downside. (Except maybe the books erase your hard drive if you put them in your carry-on alongside your laptop. Somebody test this out!)
