As I opened this weeks reading, the introduction to Bookishness, the first thing that came to mind was the TV show Blackish. It was about an upper middle class Black family, that felt distanced from the Black culture that the parents had grown up in due to living in a higher income neighborhood. Similarly, the term “bookish” made me think about the distance that’s grown between reading and books. The -ish ending means ‘somewhat’, as if an e-reader is somewhat a book. And it is, I suppose. Dr. Pressman begins the introduction by talking about her “Mac BookBook”, which was a laptop case designed to look like a book. This case is more than just a fun, quirky design, but an ironic expression of how we’ve changed our approach to reading. Pressman writes, “My Mac BookBook displays the book to be a powerful form of residual media actively shaping digital culture.” Residual media– the leftovers from the media of the past– is still effecting the culture that started to leave it behind. But why? We’ve already established how many aspects of the internet were named after physical objects for familiarity, such as the window, desktop, and page. But this is about artistry and expression, not association or functionality.

Pressman puts is plainly: “Bookishness is about maintaining a nearness to books.” Despite using harsh words like “residual media” earlier, there would be no book themed art without people wanting book themed objects. It’s not like people completely stopped reading, although I’m sure there was a dip in overall interest in books with the rise of internet accessibility throughout the 2000s. E-books and audiobooks were not only cheaper than books, they didn’t need to be carried and they didn’t take up space. But e-books are not books. They are electronic books, and they are their own thing. The only similarity between the two is that they feature words to be read. They share the same primary function, yes, but they aren’t the same. So if bookishness is about maintaining a nearness to books, it’s also about mourning the loss of books. Bookishness emerged as a desire for a way to relieve the nostalgia for the book. The book may be obsolete, but that doesn’t not mean it has no value.

We don’t yet live in a world without physical books. I don’t think we ever will, if bookishness is any consolation. There will always be a desire for the physical object. When I see book art, such as sculptures or papercraft, I think of the second life that the object has been blessed with. I think of how much more you can do with the book, what unintended things you could create with it. People don’t want to lose that.