Here are a few new book releases from this week that are worth checking out:
(Where possible, we have also tried to include a review/interview related to each of the new book releases …)
See a book here that you’d like to review for us?
Contact us, and we’ll talk about the possibility of a review.
The Pen: A Human History
Simon Garfield
( Crown )
Buy Now: [ BookShop ] [ Amazon ]
Book Description:
“A rich history” (Esquire UK) of writing, thought, and culture through the story of the pen and its integral role in shaping our lives into the twenty-first century—from New York Times bestselling author Simon Garfield
“A paean to the pen—glorious and golden.”—Emma Thompson, two-time Academy Award-winning actor and writer
The pen has been with us for millennia. Many beloved authors had their preferred instruments—Jane Austen and Dickens wrote their novels with hundreds of quills, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Graham Greene favored a Parker Duofold, Ernest Hemingway used both a Montblanc and a Montegrappa, and Stephen King calls his Waterman Hemisphere ‘the world’s finest word processor.’ It was the pen that signed the Magna Carta, the Declaration of Independence, and the agreements at the Yalta Conference. The history of the pen is the history of civilization; the technology of intellect itself. Within the mechanics of ink chambers, springs, and ballpoint tips lies the history of ideas—from the faintest notion to the wildest invention—and of the oldest tangible connection between an individual mind and anyone in the world who can read its creations.
In this expansive history, beloved author Simon Garfield delivers an enthralling look at society through the evolution of our favorite writing tool. Garfield takes readers on a trek across time and place, from the home of the calamus reed pens along the banks of the Nile in the fourth century BC; to the factory floor at Montblanc and Bic; to the Apple Pencils we use today. We meet the pioneers behind various iterations of the pen, such as Joseph Priestley, who was among the first to affix a steel tip to a quill in 1780; Bartholomew Folsch, who created the early reservoir pen in 1809; and Milton Reynolds, who introduced the world to the first (and very leaky) ballpoint pen.
Written with Garfield’s unique narrative flair and drawing on a wealth of historical research and original interviews, The Pen makes a case for why this most important instrument is an indelible marker of our shared culture and how it continues to shape the way we live in the digital age.
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C. Christopher Smith is the founding editor of The Englewood Review of Books. He is also author of a number of books, including most recently How the Body of Christ Talks: Recovering the Practice of Conversation in the Church (Brazos Press, 2019). Connect with him online at: C-Christopher-Smith.com
 Reading for the Common Good From ERB Editor Christopher Smith "This book will inspire, motivate and challenge anyone who cares a whit about the written word, the world of ideas, the shape of our communities and the life of the church." -Karen Swallow Prior Enter your email below to sign up for our weekly newsletter & download your FREE copy of this ebook! |
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