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balletbookworm's review against another edition
5.0
Love this new addition to HMH's Best American series. Very pretty, nice paper.
Only issue, and likely will be hard to correct when converting newspaper-sized or web-page-sized graphics to print, is that the binding cuts through the middle of the graphic and makes it hard to read. Only a serious problem with one or two tho.
Only issue, and likely will be hard to correct when converting newspaper-sized or web-page-sized graphics to print, is that the binding cuts through the middle of the graphic and makes it hard to read. Only a serious problem with one or two tho.
mattycakesbooks's review against another edition
3.0
No surprise here: the best one was by Randall Munroe of xkcd. Runners up in terms of usefulness include the "When are Fruits in Season?" and "Every Cocktail."
A lot of these were incredibly beautiful and interesting, but were busier than I was able to really handle. The few that they put in for their simplicity were almost too simple. Regardless, a really cool book, especially if you work with infographics regularly. I make some for the organization I work for, and they are shit, so I can appreciate how much skill and talent goes into making decent infographics.
A lot of these were incredibly beautiful and interesting, but were busier than I was able to really handle. The few that they put in for their simplicity were almost too simple. Regardless, a really cool book, especially if you work with infographics regularly. I make some for the organization I work for, and they are shit, so I can appreciate how much skill and talent goes into making decent infographics.
michael5000's review against another edition
2.0
It's cool that people think harder about infographics than they used to. Still, I have yet to see an infographic collection that rises above the mostly-pretty-good, and there are always a generous handful of clunkers. The variable quality would be fine if there were an overall theme, but declaring this collection to be of "THE BEST" -- it's right there in the title -- sets us up for disappointment. What we've got here is (mostly) Good American Infographics, 2013.
dogtrax's review against another edition
5.0
A stunning book with so many layers of information and visual candy that it is hard to put down. Highly recommended ...
simazhi's review against another edition
4.0
Even though it's a bit dated some of the infographics still managed to surprise me, in 2021!
shighley's review against another edition
3.0
Hmmm. Some of the infographics are really interesting, entertaining, enlightening... but as with other forms of print, they can be misleading. I slogged my way through the introductions, which seemed somewhat interesting... but wordy. I don't know if this was the best format, because some of them were too hard to read and many of them disappeared into the gutter. The first page of the Titanic had print way too small to read.
I wonder if a book is the best place for these, although the idea of just putting the book out for students to look at would be an interesting experience. Even though I taught science for over two decades, I found some of the graphics confusing. The graphic on American education seemed very disjointed and biased to me. The infographics are only as unbiased as the statistics that are used to create them. I wouldn't consider Goodreads as a completely scientific source for readership. The ESPN graphic would look completely different in a slightly different time period. To fully appreciate Bear 71, you really need to go online
Some of my favorites: best picture winners, dog breeds, the SuperBowl halftime.
I wonder if a book is the best place for these, although the idea of just putting the book out for students to look at would be an interesting experience. Even though I taught science for over two decades, I found some of the graphics confusing. The graphic on American education seemed very disjointed and biased to me. The infographics are only as unbiased as the statistics that are used to create them. I wouldn't consider Goodreads as a completely scientific source for readership. The ESPN graphic would look completely different in a slightly different time period. To fully appreciate Bear 71, you really need to go online
Some of my favorites: best picture winners, dog breeds, the SuperBowl halftime.
collegecate's review against another edition
3.0
Good intro, some nice infographics. It's refreshing to realize even some of the best examples of the genre have problems. As a bonus, a nice overview of stuff people thought was important to represent graphically from 2012. Hopefully I can get this year's edition before 2015
graventy's review against another edition
2.0
Infographics are fun, even if I don't care about the data involved, and this actually contains quite a few great examples. The problem facing this book is that many of the included diagrams are too small to really use as sources of information.
epneuens's review against another edition
5.0
A beautiful and interesting book. It covers a vast array of topics and each infographic is beautifully set up and printed.
hamlette's review against another edition
4.0
*This review is part of the First Reads program.*
Many of the infographics in this book are excellent tools for teaching analysis in the English composition classroom, which is why I was excited to receive it.
Portions of the book I found especially useful are Byrne's introduction, "The Rules of Invention" by Hagland, Matthews-Ramo, and Pagels, "Understanding Social Media--with Bacon" by Smith, "A Better Food Label" by Bittman, Marsh, Dorfman, Werner, and Forss, "Sexism Visualized" by McGill, "American Education Gets a Grade" by Allan and Kiss Me I'm Polish, and "A Magnificent Horse Is Brought to Life" by Cuadra and Berkowitz.
I agree with other reviewers when they say the interactive chapter was not as accessible as it could have been, but I understand the impulse to include screen shots and URLs of digital infographics.
I intend to teach segments of this book, but I also think it's a great coffee table text or conversation starter.
Many of the infographics in this book are excellent tools for teaching analysis in the English composition classroom, which is why I was excited to receive it.
Portions of the book I found especially useful are Byrne's introduction, "The Rules of Invention" by Hagland, Matthews-Ramo, and Pagels, "Understanding Social Media--with Bacon" by Smith, "A Better Food Label" by Bittman, Marsh, Dorfman, Werner, and Forss, "Sexism Visualized" by McGill, "American Education Gets a Grade" by Allan and Kiss Me I'm Polish, and "A Magnificent Horse Is Brought to Life" by Cuadra and Berkowitz.
I agree with other reviewers when they say the interactive chapter was not as accessible as it could have been, but I understand the impulse to include screen shots and URLs of digital infographics.
I intend to teach segments of this book, but I also think it's a great coffee table text or conversation starter.