A Token of My Affection
A Token of My Affection

Author: Barry Shank

Publisher: Columbia University Press

Published: 2004

Total Pages: 380

ISBN-13: 9780231118781

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For more than 150 years, greeting cards have tapped into and organized a shared language of love, affection, and kinship, becoming an integral part of American life and culture. Sumptuously illustrated, "A Token of My Affection" follows the evolution of the modern greeting card industry from a traditional printing and stationery business in the mid-nineteenth century to the multibillion-dollar industry it is today. Blending archival research in business history with a study of surviving artifacts and a literary analysis of a range of relevant texts and primary sources, Barry Shank demonstrates how greeting cards have affected and defined experiences of status, longing, desire, social connectedness, and love. Fascinating and surprising, "A Token of My Affection" shows what an industry devoted to emotional sincerity means for the lives of all Americans.

My Ideal Bookshelf
My Ideal Bookshelf

Author: Thessaly La Force

Publisher: Little, Brown

Published: 2012-11-13

Total Pages: 240

ISBN-13: 0316225002

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The books that we choose to keep -- let alone read -- can say a lot about who we are and how we see ourselves. In My Ideal Bookshelf, dozens of leading cultural figures share the books that matter to them most; books that define their dreams and ambitions and in many cases helped them find their way in the world. Contributors include Malcolm Gladwell, Thomas Keller, Michael Chabon, Alice Waters, James Patterson, Maira Kalman, Judd Apatow, Chuck Klosterman, Miranda July, Alex Ross, Nancy Pearl, David Chang, Patti Smith, Jennifer Egan, and Dave Eggers, among many others. With colorful and endearingly hand-rendered images of book spines by Jane Mount, and first-person commentary from all the contributors, this is a perfect gift for avid readers, writers, and all who have known the influence of a great book.