James Ward (10)

Ward is a pleasant writer with a quirky sense of humor and not too shy to insert the obscure reference. (He says foolscap is "the only traditional paper size to be name-checked in a Brian Eno song as far as I know.")* As with so many non-fiction books these days, this originated in a blog, but he's made the transition to book form less awkwardly than most. One trouble is, though, that the significant differences in common office supplies, or at least their names, in the UK and in the US can make the book hard to follow for American readers. Certainly I'd never heard of a "desk tidy" before; I'd never even heard the term "tidy" as a noun. Same with drawing pins, the biro (okay, I knew that one), and even Blu-Tack: in my life, the most common such product was white, and we called it "poster putty." So there's a significant amount of translation and understanding from.context to be done. Some differences in the familiar boggle the mind, though. Ward says that some of the desks at his primary school (i.e., elementary school) still had inkwells — in the 1980s.

With those differences in mind, this is a fun, discursive book that has a lot to teach anyone, breezily going through the surprising history of the graphite ("lead") pencil and of Liquid Paper (I knew the one-sentence outline, which I won't spoil for those who don't know, but Ward was able to fill in a lot of the story that I had never heard). It can be read quickly and with pleasure by anyone nerdy enough to be interested in its subject matter.

* I'm not too shy to show off, either. The song is Back in Judy's Jungle.… (mer)

A wonderfully whimsical look at the world of stationery that’s well worth a read whether or not you’re a stationery aficionado.

Each chapter focuses on one particular sphere of stationery: pens, paper, pencils and everything in between. What makes it so fun to read is the author’s passion and humorous way of describing the histories and coincidences that led to the discovery of so many of the things we use in the office and around our homes 365 days a year.

It’ll be a book that will hardly leave your hand until you turn the last page and it’s certainly worth every penny.… (mer)

Some people see stationary as a necessary evil, as long as the pen works and the end of it has not been chewed too much, then all is good. Then there are those who covert the clean piece of paper, the curl of wood from a freshly sharpened pencil, the cellophane covering the new pack of Post-It’s or the possibilities that a pristine cover of a Moleskine holds. If you are in the latter group; this book is for you. Each and every one of us uses stationary in some form or other, though that has fallen with the advent of smart phones and devices.

Ward has an obsession with stationary bordering on the unnatural, but that obsession has driven him to ask the questions that no one else would ask, such as: What are the 1000’s of uses for blue tack? How many pencils do Ikea supply each year? Who pays $43 for a pencil? Is there a risk when licking a gummed envelope? And where has the sellotape gone again?

He tells us just how the highlighter came into being, the evolution of the pen from quill to gel, Why the staples never fit your stapler and why one bank stopped chaining its pens to the desk. Sadly we seem to be losing the art of writing, as tapping things out on your phone seems to have more appeal. I have always liked stationary; as I look around me I have two of the black and yellow waspish coloured Staedtler pencils, one un branded pen, a Uni-ball pen (my favourite), a plastic eraser and one of those double pencil sharpeners that have a standard and a large hole. In all my years I have never used the large hole to sharpen a pencil…

This is a brilliantly quirky book about those things that we never really consider in any depth. Ward has uncovered the history behind the most mundane of objects and tells the stories of some of the characters who made the brands that we know and love today. Great stuff.… (mer)

We take stationery items for granted, pens, pencils, rulers and those little tools that help us in our everyday lives. However the stories behind the development of these implements are fascinating, the paperclip itself is a clever and stunningly simple design. Looking at the history of design, manufacture and marketing, Ward shows the evolution of a number of humble objects.

As a self-confessed stationery geek, I loved this book. As someone who reads and enjoys quirky biographies, I loved this book.… (mer)