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Tiny Books Of Big Ideas Dig Into Local History, Subtraction Architecture, More

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Read This is a Scout column that details book selections by authorities, luminaries, institutions, and locals that share deep affections for the written word. Natalie Craig, circulation assistant at Emily Carr University Library, recently put together a beautiful display of “pocket reads” – tiny books that contain big ideas. Here are reviews of four of them.

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1. | Occasional Work and Seven Walks from the Office for Soft Architecture / Lisa Robertson (Toronto, ON: Coach House Books, 2006.) | Reviewed by Carly Diab | Lisa Robertson takes the reader on a series of poetic and informative tours to provide a sense of the history, memory and change in a collection of beautifully written essays. This edition stands at 15 cm, but is filled with evocative imagery, and descriptions of urban landscapes throughout their history of construction and reconstruction. The work is of local interest in that it describes various sites in the Greater Vancouver area including New Brighton Park, Ceperly Mansion in Burnaby, west coast shacks, and scaffolding on Vancouver’s infamous leaky condos. The book is recommended reading for anyone interested in local history, architecture or visual art.

2. | Walkups / Lance Blomgren (Montreal : Conundrum Press, 2009) | Reviewed by Natalie Craig | In the same vein as The Address Book, Lance Blomgren seeks to bring private lives to the foreground uncovering details that are usually hidden from strangers. He swiftly hops between stories from different Montreal apartments, revealing quirks of apartment life and exploring our relationship with architecture. The only apartment Blomgren revisits throughout the book is the Apt. d’Amour, a device that pulls the plot forward and suggests possible connections between apartment residents for the reader to ponder. Walkups is a poetic, humourous, and at times, unsettling read combining everyday moments with the surreal; encouraging readers to “imagine the things that go on when doors are closed.”

3. | Subtraction / Keller Easterling (Berlin: Sternberg Press, 2014) | Reviewed by Cybele Creery | Massive amounts of money, creativity, and time go into the erection of new buidlings. In “Subtraction” Architect and Yale Professor Keller Easterling examines the the flip side of this. Demolition of cities for a variety of reasons: to make way for the new, to eradicate, to improve, to grow. “While a subtraction economy exists, it is still perceived as something that does not exist – as something negative and therefore unknowable or to be avoided,” she states. This small volume gives thoughtful examples of how tearing down is as significant and expensive as building up, and how it’s an enormous act of creativity.

4. | The Address Book / Sophie Calle (Los Angeles : Siglio Press, 2012) | Reviewed by Natalie Craig
After finding an address book in the streets of Paris, artist Sophie Calle decides to meet with friends and acquaintances listed inside to hear their stories about Pierre D., the book’s owner. Her approach is almost scientific – setting parametres, tracking time-frames, gathering photographic evidence – yet she’s able to create an intimate portrait of Pierre and capture her growing connection with a complete stranger. Originally published as a series of 23 articles for the French newspaper Libération, The Address Book compiles her writing into a small red volume similar to a diary or sketchbook, a detail that only enhances the notion that you’re meddling in someone else’s business. Apparently Pierre seemed to think the same thing as he threatened to sue Calle for invasion of privacy after learning about the articles. He eventually agreed to have the full version republished after his death – and thank goodness because the work is an absorbing study of the human condition.

Scout Book Club, Vol. 10

We like consuming words on the page almost as much as we like consuming food on the plate. Welcome to the Scout Book Club: a brief and regular rundown of what we're reading, what's staring at us from the bookshelf begging to be read next, and what we've already read and recommend.

Scout Book Club, Vol. 9

We like consuming words on the page almost as much as we like consuming food on the plate. Welcome to the Scout Book Club: a brief and regular rundown of what we're reading, what's staring at us from the bookshelf begging to be read next, and what we've already read and recommend.

Scout Book Club, Vol. 8

We like consuming words on the page almost as much as we like consuming food on the plate. Welcome to the Scout Book Club: a brief and regular rundown of what we're reading, what's staring at us from the bookshelf begging to be read next, and what we've already read and recommend.

Scout Book Club, Vol. 7

We like consuming words on the page almost as much as we like consuming food on the plate. Welcome to the Scout Book Club: a brief and regular rundown of what we're reading, what's staring at us from the bookshelf begging to be read next, and what we've already read and recommend.