Confession #1 of a first time blogger: I wrote my previous blog, As Flies to Whatless Boys by Robert Antoni, before making it to the very end of Antoni’s book. A note for the future? Finish reading the darn book before jumping on a blog to talk about it. That being said, it’s clearer to me now the connection between the book and the website. IT’S THE BOOK’S APPENDIX! Indeed, this is an interesting way to combine print and digital; a step up from attaching a CD to the book’s back cover. However, I stand by what was said in my previous blog regarding the layout, the absence of contextual information and the separation of the content in the list of links. Additionally, the connection between the two spaces (print and digital) can be made stronger by intentionally directing readers to the website. Perhaps, throughout the book in a seamless kind of way. Having to go back to into chapters to search for the asterisk which corresponds with an item in the appendix is a little “un-seamless”.
PS – Mr. Robot, do dis mean dat in order to totally get it, ah mus’ have a computa infront me when ah reading yuh book?
I can understand where you are coming from here Jamal, but I still contend that one should not have to get to the end of the book to understand that there is a complementary digital site. I am 100% with you on your first post, yet I also think there’s a certain magic to how Antoni presents his book with the digital content. It brings the physical book together with the digital materials seamlessly, beautifully, and poetically that really elevates both the book and the media than they would be, left in our hands.