The Fine Print: An Amazing Gift for Those Who Love Books

If you're an avid reader, have we got a book for you!

Whether you use a Kindle or read the old fashioned way, the just-released Oxford Companion to the Book is an exhaustive compendium of all things pertaining to books from ancient to modern times.

Avid readers especially will delight in exploring more than 5000 short entries and 40 thoughtful essays written by some 400 scholars and experts.

At a generous 1,408 pages and $275, The Oxford Companion to the Book isn't for the faint of heart.  Its two volumes are gracefully slipcased.

Richly illustrated with reproductions, diagrams, maps, and examples of various typographical features, this is a monumental reference work that the egghead in all of us will consume and cherish for years to come.

Buy it now at Amazon

The Fine Print: Louis Vuitton Suddenly Affordable

While it still will cost you to put a genuine Vuitton in your closet, you can display the new Louis Vuitton: Art, Fashion and Architecture on your coffee table for a mere $53.55, available at Amazon.com.

This hefty 400-page volume comprises the breadth of the great fashion house's collaborations over the past 30 years with artists, architects, designers, and photographers, such as Jun Aoki, Shigeru Ban, Zaha Hadid, David LaChapelle, Jean Larivière, Annie Leibovitz, Takashi Murakami, Richard Prince, Inez Van Lamsweerde, and Vinoodh Matadin.
From early collaborations such as Jacques-Henri Lartigue's Eiffel Tower-shaped suitcase back in 1978 the volume's glossy pages come stuffed with an unending stream of high profile partnerships.

There's a streamlined carbon fiber suitcase from Philippe Starck, conceptual art scarves from Sol LeWitt, and David la Chapelle’s Lil’ Kim tattooed with the LV monogram from 1999.

Vuitton's Murakamified store in Tokyo

Other work from the likes of Olafur Eliasson, with his unearthly tubular light installation from 2006; Vincent Dubourg and his aluminum encased travel trunk; and Vanessa Beecroft's 2005 body installation at the Petit Palais in Paris shows Vuitton’s creative outreach stretching beyond the realms of most other fashion houses.

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We also recommend:
Dior by Farid Chenoune

Tom Ford by Tom Ford

Ralph Lauren by Ralph Lauren, introduction by Audrey Hepburn

Yves Saint Laurent: 40 Years of Creation by Yves St. Laurent

Avedon Fashion 1944-2000 by Carol Squiers

Paris 1962: Yves Saint Laurent and Dior, Christian Dior, The Early Collections by Jerry Schatzberg

Didn't Get a Reservation at elBulli Again?

Situated on a remote beach on the northeast coast of Spain, elBulli is famous for being the ultimate pilgrimage site for foodies, and a reservation that is nearly impossible to obtain. Each year elBulli is open for just six months, and receives more than 2 million requests for only 8,000 seats.

A Day at elBulli: An Insight into the Ideas, Methods and Creativity of Ferran Adria reveals for the first time the creative process, innovative philosophy and extraordinary techniques of the multi-award-winning restaurant, elBulli, and its legendary head chef, Ferran Adria. Renowned for his spectacular ever-changing 30-course tasting menu, Adria's pioneering culinary techniques have been applauded - and imitated - by top chefs around the globe for the past decade.

If you weren't one of the lucky few to get in this year (reservations were booked a year in advance), you can now experience the restaurant at home and at your leisure. This generously-illustrated 600-page ''day in the life'' features over 800 photographs, menus, recipes and diagrams, and presents a guided tour through a full working day at elBulli. The book documents the activities of each hour of the day, from dawn at 6.15 am to switching off the lights at 2.00 am.

The book is both fascinating and engrossing, brimming over with seemingly endless detail and sharp insight. We highly recommend it.

Thirty dishes are highlighted, representing a full elBulli menu. Adria shows you how he creates the restaurant's innovative cuisines over his winter break at his laboratory in Barcelona. Sample recipes include Samphire Tempura with Saffron and Oyster Cream, Steamed Brioche with Rose-Scented Mozzarella, and Coulant/Souffle of Granadilla with Cardamom Toffee.

An enormous undertaking, this monumental tome, complete with more than 1,000 photographs, chronicles one day at revolutionary eatery elBulli in northern Spain, arguably one of today's most influential restaurants. Adria, the culinary genius behind this success, along with restaurant manager Soler and brother and fellow chef Albert give the reader a firsthand look at day-to-day activities and the innovation for which elBulli is known. Lavish photographs are the main attraction in this work... A glance behind the scenes at a pivotal time and place in culinary evolution, this book will delight serious foodies, and its stunning package guarantees it will grace many a coffee table.

– Publishers Weekly

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