Funnily enough as a youth you could NOT pay me to read a book. But now that I am a little wiser and a lot older, I found that I absolutely love to read. Books are a passport to new worlds, ideas and other cliches. A little history.
The word : BOOK
Comes from the Old English word. boc "book, writing, written document," traditionally from P.Gmc. *bokiz "beech" (cf. Ger. Buch "book" Buche "beech;" see beech), the notion being of beechwood tablets on which runes were inscribed, but it may be from the tree itself (people still carve initials in them). The O.E. originally meant any written document. Latin and Sanskrit also have words for "writing" that are based on tree names ("birch" and "ash," respectively). Meaning "libretto of an opera" is from 1768. A betting book is from 1856.
We have come a long way since those Sumerian Days of the original E-reader Tablet. 2400–2200 BC
or have we? ( Nope, no such thing as an original idea...sorry)
But I digress. Books are fascinating. And the Men, Women and Children that write them are just as interesting. There are many odd facts and info about various authors that i had not known, such as:
What all-time-great novel didn't even sell out its first printing of about 3,000 copies? Believe it or not, "Moby-Dick" (1851). The downward spiral continued for Herman Melville with "Pierre" (1852), which was lambasted by critics for being allegedly crazy, sick, perverted, etc. That odd novel focuses on a seemingly incestuous relationship, and also features the title character writing a badly received book -- reflecting Melville's bitterness at the response to "Moby-Dick." But I think "Pierre" is a masterpiece in its way.
"One fish, two fish, red state, blue state!" Theodor Seuss Geisel (aka Dr. Seuss) was a children's author extraordinaire, but were you aware that he was also briefly a political cartoonist? He drew for the left-leaning PM daily newspaper from 1941 to 1943 -- a two-year period that came after Geisel (1904-1991) started writing children's books, but before he created iconic works such as "One Fish Two Fish Red Fish Blue Fish" and "The Cat in the Hat." Some say Geisel's cartoon "Uncle Sam" was a prototype for the hatted cat's physical appearance. Both have certainly made some mischief.
(Read the whole story ---David Hastor---Huffington Post)
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dave-astor/famous-author-facts_b_886301.html#s299920&title=All_for_One
Which brings me to the gist of this post that I found the most interesting ( probably to no one else) --namely, writers and their tools: typewriters, laptops, pads. pencils, etc.
The link between writer and typewriter is often an intimate one that lasts for decades.
Here are some favorite brands of typewriter used by authors, past and present.
http://site.xavier.edu/polt/typewriters/typers.html
PHILIP K DICK Typewriter and favorite mugs. Courtesy of the Philip K Dick Trust
Agatha Christie: Remington Portable No. 2, Remington portable no. 5
Lewis Caroll Hammond No. 1
Ralph Ellison Olivetti Studio 44
Ian Fleming Royale Portables
Matt Groening Hermes Rocket ( perhaps the character Hermes from Futurama was named after his fav typewriter)
A Picture is worth a thousand words. However, a Thousand words can paint one heck of a picture.
