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A review by pedantichumbug
Book Parts by Adam Smyth, Dennis Duncan
informative
reflective
fast-paced
4.75
This is a very well-edited book that achieves to braid together the voices of more than 20 contributors, who all function like parts of a harmonious whole in terms of writing style, structure, and analytical/critical insight (with very few exceptions falling short of critical depth). It's not very common in academic publishing that we encounter such unison in edited multi-author volumes, but Book Parts manages that cohesion in a way that none of the chapters feel forced, out-of-place or slapdash.
Each writer in the volume employs a clear language, presents a wide array of examples on the topic in a limited space (every chapter is approx. 10 page long), and goes beyond merely compiling and describing facts. I especially enjoyed Helen Smith's chapter on "Acknowledgements and Dedications" where she creatively performs the conventions of the topic she writes on. In fact, the whole book is full of such self-reflexive moments. The editors' introductory chapter, for instance, is both an introduction to the book at hand and a chapter on "Introduction" as a book part. Every chapter features a title page that formally mimics what it talks about, which I thought was ingenious. These meta qualities resonate perfectly with the cover image Books on Books by Jonathan Wolstenholme.
Highly recommended to novices in bibliography like me.
Each writer in the volume employs a clear language, presents a wide array of examples on the topic in a limited space (every chapter is approx. 10 page long), and goes beyond merely compiling and describing facts. I especially enjoyed Helen Smith's chapter on "Acknowledgements and Dedications" where she creatively performs the conventions of the topic she writes on. In fact, the whole book is full of such self-reflexive moments. The editors' introductory chapter, for instance, is both an introduction to the book at hand and a chapter on "Introduction" as a book part. Every chapter features a title page that formally mimics what it talks about, which I thought was ingenious. These meta qualities resonate perfectly with the cover image Books on Books by Jonathan Wolstenholme.
Highly recommended to novices in bibliography like me.