I have long been a fan of Nick Bantock's Griffin and Sabine books, which are about a correspondence between the title characters that seems to defy physics. Bantock is a talented artist and the books are beautiful, artful renditions of his whimsical collages. And because it is a correspondence, the majority of the story is told through hand-written letters that you can physically pull out of envelopes affixed to the pages. They are gorgeous, delightful books and much credit goes to Chronicle Books for their high production standards. Chronicle is one of my favorite publishers for just this reason.
Based on my previous purchases of Bantock's books, Amazon recommended Journal: The Short Life and Mysterious Death of Amy Zoe Mason. Intrigued, I ordered it immediately. The "book," and I use that term loosely, is presented as an altered book (i.e. an old book that has been re-used as a journal) found in a table purchased by sisters Joyce and Kristine Atkinson (aka the "authors"). It's supposed to be an intriguing journal and mystery, where suspense builds around the questionable death of the journal's owner, Amy Zoe Mason. The "authors" are touted on the back cover as "artists with a mind for murder."
Hardly. Journal is certainly no Griffin and Sabine, the Atkinson sisters are no Nick Bantock, and Simon & Schuster should leave the intricate, visually interesting books to Chronicle. Not only does the rendering of the books "collages" in two-dimensions destroy what little interest they may have held (and frankly, I found them dull and ugly), the so-called "clues" that the reader will supposedly be compelled to scour the pages for are obvious and heavy-handed. There is no mystery here, just a book that is disappointing on all levels.
I've seen a lot of junk get published, but this is possibly the worst. Clearly the publisher was caught up in the excitement of being able to use its marketing machine to the fullest—and take advantage of all that new-fangled technology (website, MySpace page, etc.)—and visions of having its own Griffin and Sabine.
The state of publishing today truly saddens me.
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