The Iron Whim: A Fragmented History of Typewriting
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.95 (996 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 0801445868 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 344 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2018-02-12 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Wershler-Henry casts a bemused eye on the odd history of early writing machines, important and unusual typewritten texts, the creation of On the Road, and the exploits of a typewriting cockroach named Archy, numerous monkeys, poets, and even a couple of vampires. Ballard, Jack Kerouac, Hunter S. Thompson, Northrop Frye, David Cronenberg, and David Letterman; the soundtrack ranges from the industrial clatter of a newsroom full of Underwoods to the more muted tapping and hum of the Selectric. Darren Wershler-Henry populates his book with figures as disparate as Bram Stoker, Mark Twain, Franz Kafka, Norman Mailer, Alger Hiss, William Burroughs, J. He gathers into his narrative typewriter-related rumors and anecdotes (Henry James became so accustomed to dictating his novels to a typist that he required the sound of a randomly operated typewriter even to begin to compose). G. And by broadening his focus to look at typewriting as a social system as well as the typewriter as a technological form, he exami
This 'fragmented history of typewriting' provides fascinating glimpses into the history, culture, and poetics of the typewriter, that instrument that controlled our writing for so many decades and for which nostalgia is currently at a high point. A must-read for students of contemporary literature, media studies, and anyone interested in the interconnections of modern life and technology."Johanna Drucker, Robertson Professor of Media Studies, University of Virginia . Wershler-Henry documents how the typewriter, once a dreaded totem of mechanization, has become an object of nostalgia, in a process that will surely repeat itself as technology advances. This book is necessary, intelligent, and fun."Craig Dworkin, University of Utah, author of Reading the Illegible"Who connects the typewriter with vampires, ghosts, sex, drugs, and money? Poet, theoris
Fragmented is right I heard an interview with the author on NPR which was fascinating. Unfortunately that did not carry over to his writing style. I found this book to be a bit like reading a stream-of-conciousness history of typewriting. It seemed that whatever entered the author's mind was then placed on a page with no logical progression. I also felt the book covered very odd things that had very little to do with typewriting, like an entire section devoted to rambling about EBay and random typing knick knacks. O. True to its name, this book is fragmented and whimsical! Did you know that in 1857, Dr. Samuel Ward Francis invented a "printing machine" that looked like an abbreviated piano keyboard attached to a huge daisy wheel? You can find it on p. 58 in the book.Did you know that in the early days of typewriting, it was the humans, not the machines, that were known as "typewriters"? Wershler-Henry devotes several chapters just to the concept of dictation and amanuensis (look it up).Did you know that the concept of double-spacing after a period in a sentence can. Not A History It's A Social Commentary This is an awful book! It is not a history, but a random haphazzard discussion of "the typewriter as discourse".I really wanted a good social history of the typewriter. I wanted to read about the science, economics, business, and politics that created it and vice versa. But this is a sort of stream-of-consciousness meandering of seemingly random thoughts about the typewriter, people who wrote about typewriters, people who used them in various ways.It makes little sense, seems highly contrived, an