Portable Magic

A history of one of humankinds most resilient and influential technologies over the past millenniumthe book. Revelatory and entertaining in equal measure Portable Magic will charm and challenge literature lovers of all kinds as it illuminates the transformative power and eternal appeal of the written word.Stephen King once said that books are a uniquely portable magic. Here Emma Smith takes listeners on a literary adventure that spans centuries and circles the globe to uncover the reasons behind our obsession with this captivating object.From disrupting the Western myth that the Gutenberg Press was the original printing project to the decorative gift books that radicalized women to join the anti-slavery movement to paperbacks being weaponized during World War II to a book made entirely of plastic-wrapped slices of American cheese Portable Magic explores how when and why books became so iconic. Its not just the content within a book that compels; its the physical material itself what Smith calls bookhood: the smell the feel of the pages the margins to scribble in the illustrations on the jacket its solid heft. Every book is designed to influence our reading experienceto enchant enrage delight and disturb usand our longstanding love affair with books in turn has had direct momentous consequences across time.