sshhh! This is a working library.

Literary Theory

Terry Eagleton

The classic introduction to literary theory and a capable and somewhat subversive argument for Marxism. more

Ideology

Terry Eagleton

The printing press as an agent of change

Elizabeth L. Eisenstein

A long academic work on the history of the advent of printing. The writing is scholarly (read: stuffy), but the subject is fascinating enough to make it worthwhile. more

The Subversive Copy Editor

Carol Fisher Saller

Carol Fisher Saller’s irreverent guide to copy editing has helpful advice for working with writers, as well as guidance for writers about working with their editor. Her expert (and often hilarious) responses to The Chicago Manual of Style Online’s Q&A are an excellent reminder that editing is as much art as science. more

The Ecocriticism Reader

Cheryll Glotfelty, Harold Fromm

An introductory collection in literary ecology, the movement that aims to do for environmentalism what gender and race studies did for civil rights. more

Linchpin

Seth Godin

Godin’s newest work argues that what the economy needs are artists—“people with a genius for finding a new answer, a new connection, or a new way of getting things done.” These people are linchpins—indispensable people that hold organizations together. A spirited yet pragmatic call to arms for workers everywhere. more

Standard Operating Procedure

Errol Morris, Philip Gourevitch

The book companion to Errol Morris’ movie of the same name. Where Morris tells the story with video and photography, Gourevitch communicates with words alone. The effect is less emotional or tactile than the film, but it’s indictment of the war is more strident. more

Content Strategy for the Web

Kristina Halvorson

The book on the new(ish) field of content strategy, or, how we’re going to save the web. Required reading for anyone interested in how words can reach their potential now that they are freed from the page. more

Designing Design

Kenya Hara

Detail in typography

Jost Hochuli

Fateless

Imre Kertesz

An autobiographical novel, in which Kertész addresses his childhood in Auschwitz and Buchenwald. Kertész’s writing is spare and damning, akin to the filmmaking of Michael Haneke. more

King Arthur Flour Whole Grain Baking

King Arthur Flour

A wonderfully written primer on cooking with whole grains, with excellent recipes as well as guidance on equipment and techniques. My favorite recipes are the tortillas (139), pizza dough (128), and pie crust (349). The pie crust is especially good with bright, tart apples—the nuttiness of the whole wheat flour contrasts with the apples beautifully. The cover is printed directly on the case, so the jacket can be discarded if (when) it becomes soiled. more

Unjustified texts

Robin Kinross

Modern typography

Robin Kinross

A rare object—a book on typography that is as beautifully written as it is designed. more

The Shock Doctrine

Naomi Klein

Klein expertly and devastatingly reveals the history behind a model of capitalism that first fed on disaster, then fomented it. (I tossed the jacket, on account of it being unbearably ugly.) more

My Bread

Jim Lahey, Rick Flaste

Lahey’s simple method for bread making (which trades kneading for time) is worth the hype. Once you get a feel for how the dough should come together, it’s foolproof and absolutely delicious. more

You Are Not a Gadget

Jaron Lanier

Lanier’s manifesto brings attention to the many ways in which human behavior is being mechanized by technology. One point stands out: that the internet as it is today is not biologically determined, but a result of decisions people made in the recent past. We needn’t accept it as it is; it is within our power to make it better. more

The Vintage Book of Amnesia

Jonathan Lethem

An eccentric collection of short pieces that touch on the subject of memory loss, from writers as varied as Martin Amis, Jorge Luis Borges, and Oliver Sacks. more

A History of Reading

Alberto Manguel

The Library at Night

Alberto Manguel

A series of meandering essays on the subject of the library. more