[MD] Review of 'The Truth About Art'.

[ARLO JAMES BENSINGER JR]

[Arlo]
"The book is printed on low-quality paper with dense text in double columns, which do not make for pleasant reading." Ouch.

[Dan]
If I had purchased a book "printed on low-quality paper with dense text in double columns" I would have promptly sent it back for a refund. Not only is this information the reader needs to know before they buy the book (there is no free preview available on Amazon as most books have) but it is something that can (probably) be remedied in the next edition. This is constructive criticism... something the author can use to improve his work.

[Arlo]
I didn't mean to imply this has no potential impact on the reader, only that I find it out of place in a book review (which should address content). I am unsure as to the control an author, especially an author going through a publisher, has over the hard formatting of her/his work. In this case, it may be that distribution and marketing (typically provided through the publisher) was a greater consideration than self-publishing to ensure desired font-size, etc. 

[Dan]
The point is, there are options out there so that an author does not have to settle for low quality, especially when his book is about reclaiming quality!

[Arlo]
It's a trade-off, I imagine, between wanting to reach the widest possible audience, through distribution, marketing and (importantly) placement on bookshelves in actual bookstores, and sacrificing control over font and typeface. Years ago, when I stumbled onto "Interview with the Vampire" (shortly after it was first available in paperback), I found the book was made pretty cheap, the ink even smudged my fingers, and the binding started to come apart pretty quickly. Nonetheless, it remains one of my favorite works of recent fiction, and any review I'd give of the book would focus on Rice's content, not the ink/glue-choice of the publisher.