Scrapbooks: An American History

by Jessica Helfand

Combining pictures, words, and a wealth of personal ephemera, scrapbook makers preserve on the pages of their books a moment, a day, or a lifetime. Highly subjective and rich in emotional content, the... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0300126352
• ISBN13: 9780300126358
• Release Date: November 2008
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Length: 190 Pages
• Weight: 2.93 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 12.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

a beautiful book

Helfand is a wonderful, imaginative writer. She brings such understanding to the portraits she creates of the scrapbookers, and she is so articulate that she helps you see things better. Plus I like the way she is able to put this art form in the ongoing context of design. A great book. A. Rome

Such a lovely book!

This beautiful and evocative book is a delightful study of a very personal art form. The scrapbooks reproduced here, along with the author's charming and insightful commentary, provide a view of our cultural landscape from a vantage point not often staked out. An absolutely lovely book to be pored over, cherished, and shared with others.

A Literary Treasure

Jessica Helfand's book is nothing less than a living, breathing slice of American history: a beautiful, funny, exciting living collage of who we are, where we came from and what we're all capable of being -- flawed, human, deep and joyously alive. On a design level, it's a visual feast. On a literary level, it's full of stories of the famous and the anonymous, each one riveting. Botton line: the scrapbooks she has unearthed, and their fascinating minutiae, make up nothing short of the perfect archaeological find for anyone interested in/fascinated by our collective national heritage; you could literally spend the next twenty years, if you wanted to -- and I think I will -- poring over each and every one of the things in these scrapbooks, and marvelling in the stories they tell. As for the flap over the author's apparent intent/attitude concerning scrapbooks in general: isn't it completely irrelevant? Judge the book not by its author, whoever she is. Check out the book. It's a marvel. It's a museum between two covers. It's a journey through time. It's a hoot. It's a gem.

Scrapbooking for EVERYONE!

Scrapbooks: An American History Scrapbooks: An American History by Jessica Helfan is a book for all lovers of ephmera and Americana. It is neither high brow nor low brow. It captures the passion and history of peoples love of memory. The images are beautiful and the text is accessible. What is most intriguing, and almost voyeuristic, is to see a persons life progress though the years, the places they have been, the events they witnessed and the people they loved. To sit with the book is to take a trip through time. I LOVE THIS BOOK. Eric Baker

Jessica's book on scrapbooks: An Ameican History

The reason I love this book is because finally Jessica put in words what I could never do....tell the story of peoples collected memories. Beautiful photos ! If you have a drawer in your house, or a relatives house that is filled with old pictures or a saved collection of anything -you will not be able to put this book down. If only I had thought of writing the book first ! I highly recommend buying a few copies to remind people of the love of collecting warm memories. I curled up with a cozy blanket and read it for hours- and then I gave it to my Mom and she read it for hours. We all are information over loaded...but reading this book was equivalent to sipping rich hot chocolate from your favorite mug on a cold winters night. Lee