The printed word comes to life--warts and all--in J.P. Romney and Rebecca Romney's rollicking history, Printer's Error: Irreverent Stories from Book History.
J.P. Romney (The Monster on the Road) is a historical researcher and YA novelist, and Rebecca Romney is a rare-book dealer famous for her appearances on the History Channel's Pawn Stars. Together they make a whip-smart team, offering a fun, dynamic exercise in literary myth busting. Eleven chapters unfold episodically to reveal little-known facts about famous authors and print innovators who made the book what it is today. Johannes Gutenberg, William Shakespeare and Benjamin Franklin are a few prominent figures subjected to the authors' prying, ribald treatment. The overall result portrays a publishing legacy that's rife with whimsy, error, human folly and, from one century to the next, a degree of self-interest belying literature's noble image. With sharp, detailed prose--and a persistently uproarious sense of humor--the authors revel in the historical ironies of the book business, such as when Charles Dickens, trying to secure foreign copyright protections, was excoriated by capitalist Americans for being greedy. They adroitly draw parallels between 19th-century pirated books and the profusion of pirated material in the digital age.
As much fun as Printer's Error is to read, it uncovers darker aspects of society that shouldn't be forgotten. A chapter devoted to Mary Wollstonecraft serves as a reminder that the brilliant "mother of feminism" was vilified in her own time for perceived promiscuity. Complex, illuminating, yet always entertaining, Printer's Error is a treasure trove for bibliophiles. --Scott Neuffer, freelance journalist, poet and fiction author.