The ongoing cleaning of my study had me visiting the local Liquor Control Board for boxes. Did a little better purging myself of books this year than in past years, owing in part to the online availability of titles I occasionally need access to, but because of their thoughtless design cannot stand having around.

Something that occurred to me this year was how much I loathe the 6" x 9" book format, and how much I like pocketbooks (6.75" x 4"), or those even smaller, like Judy’s edition of Francis Ponge’s Soap. Ponge’s book is one I often take with me in the event the person I am meeting is late, or I want to be early for. Why don’t they make more books that actually fit in a pocket?

If things are so dire in traditional book publishing, where is the collaboration between publisher and clothier? Here’s a marketing idea: a garment (coats, cargo pants, etc.) that come with a lifestyle-oriented book in a pocket dedicated to just that. That, to my mind, is more interesting than a writer’s idea of t-shirt design. Has anyone actually seen someone walking down Robson Street in those Doug Coupland-inspired vomitorium scrubs Roots is putting out?