Five books to read over the holidays - Monocolumn | Monocle

Monocolumn

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24 December 2012

The Unpublished

By David Ogilvy

Written by the founder of New York-based ad agency Ogilvy and Mather Unpublished is an epistolary exploration of the late David Ogilvy’s distinguished career. Twenty-five years after its original publication (compiled as a 75th birthday present from his adoring family), the book tells the tale of a man who found his calling in copywriting aged 38 after stints as a salesman, farmer and cook. After founding his agency in 1948 Ogilvy went on to spearhead iconic campaigns for brands such as Guinness, Rolls-Royce and Dove.
Published by Profile Books

The Big Screen

By David Thomson

Subtitled 'The story of the movies and what they did to us', prolific London-born film critic David Thomson’s book examines our relationship with the silver screen and how it continues to capture our imagination. Since the early 20th century motion pictures and their stars, stories and style have pervaded everyday life as well as offering an escape from it. Whether or not art imitates life, Thomson takes us on a cinematographic journey that forces us to acknowledge that the relationship is a reciprocal one.
Published by Allen Lane

Scrapbooks 1969-1985

By Walter Pfeiffer

This new volume from Swiss publisher Edition Patrick Frey is a delightful anthology of the scrapbooks of influential photographer and cultural icon Walter Pfeiffer. Pasted images, scribblings and photographs create a florid kaleidoscope of fruits, post cards, naked young men and much more. In retrospect, Pfeiffer’s scrapbooks capture the personalised and extroverted mood of contemporary photography. The images are, however, just what the title suggests – scrapbooks – and they make for fresh and inspiring coffee-table flicking.
Published by Editions Patrick Frey

Drawing from the City

By Teju Behan

The latest offering from specialist Indian publisher Tara Books is a printed delight. Beautifully hand crafted, Drawing from the City tells a moving personal story from the illustrator Teju Behan, an illiterate woman who, through the encouragement and nurturing of the publisher, has devised an exquisite series of black and white, pen-and-ink drawings. The intricately printed plates tell of Teju Behan’s own family, their migration from village to the big city, of unimaginable poverty and of the role of women in India. The book is a visual treat, with pages hand-bound and printed by some of the craftsmen and villagers whose world is depicted.
Published by Tara Books

The Master and Margarita

By Mikhail Bulgakov

Bulgakov’s masterpiece makes for a wonderful gift in any format. The Russian literary classic that tells the fanciful tale of the Devil’s visit to Moscow through a talking black cat is superb and important reading. The Folio Society’s sturdily bound new edition is a fitting tribute to one of the greats of the 20th century. Peter Stuart’s cover and illustration also perfectly evoke something of the modernity and intrigue of 1930s Soviet Russia. The publisher says it decided to make this imprint after popular request, proving that Bulgakov’s wry, sardonic style is very much in demand.
Published by The Folio Society

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