Goodbye Gutenberg

Book excerpt: This book takes you on a journey where no writer has ever taken you before. Author Valerie Kirschenbaum not only dreams of a Renaissance "the likes of which the world has never seen", she gives you the actual blueprint. In warm and intimate prose, she shows you how and why we will experience this Renaissance in our lifetime. Responding to the recent National Endowment for the Arts survey, which documented a precipitous, 20-year decline in America's reading habits, she presents an electrifying new solution for captivating a generation of readers reared on television, movies and music videos. With 860 gorgeous, full colour images from ancient Egypt, Greece, Rome, Maya, India, China, Japan, Tibet, and medieval Europe (many never seen by an American audience), Kirschenbaum provides what world renowned graphic designer Milton Glaser described as "the visual history of the universe and its relationship to writing." She combines the breathtaking beauty of illuminated manuscripts with today's latest technologies to create a scintillating multisensory experience.