The New Yorker, October 6, 1997 P. 128
SHOUTS & MURMURS parody of type notes found at the end of books... Most of the text of this book was set in Backslap Grotesque Italic Semi-Detached, a variant of Bangalore Torpedo Moribund adapted in 1867 from a matrice by the Danish chiseler Espy Sans, a character if ever there was one. In sharp contradiction to Bangalore's racy, almost louche taste and its weakness, for the cheating side of town, Backslap is a solid citizen and a joiner: A.A., A.A.A., AARP, Christmas Club. Its close cousin Mediocre Flyweight Ultra Bold is almost too sickly-sweet for words, a semi-invalid given to tiresome late-afternoon vaporings. That part of the text not set in Backslap or Bangalore--the lowercase d's, k's, and alternate z's, except after c--is Jiffy-Lube Piscataway Light Narrow, based on a sixteenth-century face closely resembling the late Edward G. Robinson. The wise will cross to the other side of the street when this burly dock- walloper of a font comes galumphing into view. A NOTE ON THE WRITER OF THE TYPE Contrary to what the publisher would like you to think, these Notes on the Type don't just write themselves. The above note, for example, was written by yours truly, a freelance typographic blurbist who's occasionally thrown work by a brother-in law in the production department... Let me ask you: Why are you even reading this? The book is over. Hanging around the back of the theatre after the movie to watch the credits roll, that would be understandable. Hanging around the back of a book where there's nothing to look at but a succession of Wank pages--that's pathetic... Maybe the insights of a ten-cents-a-word hack underwhelm you, but it has to be asked: who cares what typeface this book was set in except for a handful of ink-stained, pica-crazed designers with floppy metal rulers? Why are they so special, anyway?... Myself, I think they're missing a bet by not selling ads back here. Corns Treated At Home! Whiplash Lawyer Hates to Lose!.... A FINAL NOTE ON THE TYPE... Wouldn't it be more practical--not to mention smart marketing--to print favorite author recipes as tie-ins back here? Martha Stewart's Stock Split Pea Soup; Master of Horror Stephen King's Ghoulish Goulash. Tom Clancy's Hunt for Red Bell Peppers. Or, run classifieds. Have serifs, will travel. Burne wordsmith seeks assignment at next professional level, preferably nearer front of book. Content desirable but not necessary. No About the Type blocks, please.
