Cheap Frills: Penguin redesigns the classics, again

If there is one thing Anthropologie is good at, it's selling clothes—and accessories, and bed linens, and jewelry, and other do-dads—that are mass-produced, overpriced "one of a kinds." In other words, they are items that are supposed to look like you (or grandma) made them. Except you (or grandma) didn't. The artsy folks at Anthropologie did. Cheaper, more charming, and more unique things can be purchased at your local vintage shop—or on eBay!

Now Anthropologie is selling 12 new embossed canvas-covered books of various classics by Penguin, including Alice in Wonderland, Great Expectations, and the Odyssey (which translator? Fagles? Lattimore? Tell me!). The books happen to jive quite well with Anthropologie's modern vintage aesthetic. They can be used easily as accessories with Anthropologie outfits. (Indeed, they are listed under "Accessories" online.) I suppose one could style the Odyssey with any of their featured "aquatic looks" of "seaside simplicity" such as "bubbling surf" and "rush of kelp." And if someone asks what you're wearing, you simply chime, "oh, a little something from the submerged series ... by anthropologie ... and homer."

Granted, I do rejoice when book design and clothing design mingle—but only as long as the books aren't treated just as acessories. I have seen and handled the new Penguin books, which appeared a few months ago in book stores (I found them at Barnes and Noble last winter), and they don't feel like books. For one, they are suspiciously light for hardbacks. Also, the paper quality isn't great, especially when you're paying 20 bones per novel. These amount to disposable versions of enduring novels. One would do better to tote an earlier printing of any of the classics, such as this one or this one, perhaps with a waterproof trench that can withstand Poseidon's blows. I think Aquascutum (Latin for "water shield") should do the trick.

Oh, and this just in: Urban Outfitters is selling the new Penguin classics, too! Along with these loud-covered, socially concious books. But of course. It's another store that mass-produces what it is to be "unique" and/or "cool."

P.S. Read more about the books at Penguin's blog here.

A Feather for Fitzgerald

On the left, the first edition of F. Scott Fitzgerald's debut novel This Side of Paradise, published by Scribner's in 1920. On the right, an ensemble from Oscar de la Renta's Fall Collection 2010 RTW.

As you might have guessed, the first edition and the outfit are astronomically expensive. So, instead of possessing either, we might as well ponder the book.

Here is a little something Fitzgerald wrote in 1937, on what it felt like to have his first novel meet ink and plate:

"Then the postman rang, and that day I quit work and ran along the streets, stopping automobiles to tell friends and acquaintances about it—my novel This Side of Paraise was accepted for publication. That week the postman rang and rang, and I paid off my terrible small debts, bought a suit, and woke up every morning with a world of ineffable toploftiness and promise.

-"Early Success" American Cavalcade (October 1937)

He had personal reasons to feel toplofty, too, for he's written the novel in great part to dazzle and win back the favor—and the hand—of Zelda Sayre, who said she would accept an engagement ring only once a publisher had accepted his manuscript. When Scribner's did just that in 1920, she agreed to marry him.