Fiction_L Archives Stories using different type face Dates: 11/20/99,12:46 PM  through  12/3/99,1:44 PM  (24 postings) Search for: Select one or more indexes to search: 2011-current     2009-2010     2004-2008    1995-2003    (Matches from each index will be displayed separately in the results page.) Return to November 1999 thread menu   |   Fiction_L Archives Menu

FROM: "Anne Marquis" <[removed]@publib.edmonton.ab.ca>
REC'D: 11/20/99, 12:46 PM

We have a customer asking for examples of fiction stories that employ
different fonts or type faces in interesting ways to help convey the story.
Staff suggestions have included: Good Omens by Gaiman and Pratchett wherein
the voice of the devil is in caps and Agnes Nutter's prophecies are set
apart, Cambodia by Brian Fawcett where the bottom half of the page is given
to the "subtext" and possibly Nick Bantock's works although this may be too
graphical. I don't have a copy of Fax Me a Bagel by Sharon Kahn, but I
remember that she used email as a device--can anyone verify if the email was
in a different type face?

The Fiction Dictionary by Laurie Henry offers the following suggestions
under "typographical devices": Twyla by Pamela Walker, which includes a
newspaper cutting and copies of letters typed in a typing class and Double
or Nothing by Raymond Federman which includes pages of type typed in
recognizable shapes (as found in concrete poetry). We don't own either of
the last two items and are searching for more examples. Any help would be
appreciated.

Anne Marquis
Fiction Librarian
Information Services
Edmonton Public Library
7 Sir Winston Churchill Square
Edmonton, Alberta T5R 1B2
Canada

[removed]@publib.edmonton.ab.ca

FROM: "Patience Beer" <[removed]@metronet.lib.mi.us>
REC'D: 11/20/99, 1:42 PM

While not as graphically eclectic as the books you describe, POSSESSION by
A.S. Byatt uses different type faces to differentiate among the excerpts
of works by the fictional authors who are the main characters in the book.
Absolutely necessary to keep the story straight. I started this book with
the audio book version and had a terrible time figuring out what was what.
The print version made it much easier.

===========================================================================
Patience C. Beer PHONE: 248 625-2212
Head of Adult Services FAX: 248 625-8852
Independence Township Library
6495 Clarkston Road
Clarkston, MI 48346

E-Mail: [removed]@metronet.lib.mi.us

"A good library is a joyful place where the imagination roams free, and
life is actively enriched." John K. Hutchens

FROM: <[removed]@aol.com>
REC'D: 11/20/99, 3:23 PM

Stephen King often uses spurts of different typeface, or handwritten script, to move his story along.

Try Bag of Bones.

Karen Kramer
[removed]@aol.com

FROM: "Jaffe" <[removed]@suffolk.lib.ny.us>
REC'D: 11/20/99, 3:39 PM

Hi,

The Color of Water used two type faces, one for the mother's story and
another for author's.

Chocolat by Joanne Harris also uses 2 typefaces, one for Vivienne's story
and another for the Priest's.

Karen Jaffe
Comsewogue Public Library
Port Jefferson Station, NY

FROM: "Madeline Guzman" <[removed]@capaccess.org>
REC'D: 11/20/99, 5:40 PM

I hope my memory serves me well.

The two I can remember are:

Harvest by Tess Geritson (I think the story of the perpetrators of
the crime had their story told in Italic font).

Mortal Fear by Greg Iles (in which the e-mail messages were
in different font).

Hope I'm right! :-)

Madeline

Madeline T. [removed]@hotmail.com
Rockville, [removed]@capaccess.org
<A HREF="http://www.strictlyconcrete.com">http://www.strictlyconcrete.com<[removed]@erols.com

FROM: "Michalik" <[removed]@lynchburg.net>
REC'D: 11/20/99, 5:58 PM

I just read "Sophie's World" by Jostein Gaarner. It is basically the
history of philosophy in novel form. Two different typefaces are used here
as well.

Candice Michalik
Lynchburg Public Library
[removed]@lynchburg.net

----- Original Message -----
From: Anne Marquis <[removed]@publib.edmonton.ab.ca>
To: <[removed]@maillist.nslsilus.org>
Sent: Saturday, November 20, 1999 1:47 PM
Subject: Stories using different type face


> We have a customer asking for examples of fiction stories that employ
> different fonts or type faces in interesting ways to help convey the
story.
> Staff suggestions have included: Good Omens by Gaiman and Pratchett
wherein
> the voice of the devil is in caps and Agnes Nutter's prophecies are set
> apart, Cambodia by Brian Fawcett where the bottom half of the page is
given
> to the "subtext" and possibly Nick Bantock's works although this may be
too
> graphical. I don't have a copy of Fax Me a Bagel by Sharon Kahn, but I
> remember that she used email as a device--can anyone verify if the email
was
> in a different type face?
>
> The Fiction Dictionary by Laurie Henry offers the following suggestions
> under "typographical devices": Twyla by Pamela Walker, which includes a
> newspaper cutting and copies of letters typed in a typing class and Double
> or Nothing by Raymond Federman which includes pages of type typed in
> recognizable shapes (as found in concrete poetry). We don't own either of
> the last two items and are searching for more examples. Any help would be
> appreciated.
>
>
>
>
>
> Anne Marquis
> Fiction Librarian
> Information Services
> Edmonton Public Library
> 7 Sir Winston Churchill Square
> Edmonton, Alberta T5R 1B2
> Canada
>
> [removed]@publib.edmonton.ab.ca
>
>

FROM: "Shari Hetzke" <[removed]@nslsilus.ORG>
REC'D: 11/21/99, 11:55 AM

Two ya novels that fit this are
Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas
Making Up Megaboy by Virginia Walter

Shari Hetzke tel 847-506-2629
Secondary School Services Specialist fax 847-506-2655
Arlington Heights Memorial [removed]@nslsilus.org
500 North Dunton
Arlington Heights, IL 60004

FROM: "Dennis K. Lien" <[removed]@tc.umn.edu>
REC'D: 11/21/99, 12:38 PM

>Date: Sat, 20 Nov 1999 11:47:40 -0700
>From: Anne Marquis <[removed]@publib.edmonton.ab.ca>
>Subject: Stories using different type face
>
>We have a customer asking for examples of fiction stories that employ
>different fonts or type faces in interesting ways to help convey the story.
>Staff suggestions have included: Good Omens by Gaiman and Pratchett wherein
>the voice of the devil is in caps and Agnes Nutter's prophecies are set
>apart, <snip>

Not the voice of the devil, but of Death (personified). All of Pratchett's
"Discworld" series also feature Death SPEAKING IN ALL CAPS LIKE THIS; it's
a matter of Pratcheterian nuance whether or not Death in the Discworld
books is the "same" Death as in GOOD OMENS. Pratchett also has fun with
footnotes (does that count?) and sometimes has other characters speaking
with strange typefaces; in the latest, THE FIFTH ELEPHANT (so far only
out as a British hardcover), for instance, a micro-minaturized demon
who serves as the "works" of a minature camera speaks in a tiny, tiny
typeface.

Alfred Bester's THE DEMOLISHED MAN and THE STARS MY DESTINATION (early
to mid fifties sf novels) also have fun with typefaces, as does his
short story "The Pi Man" and probably others of his work I'm not
recalling. Several sf stories have had computers "speaking" in
weird typefaces, such as binary-coded obscenities in Robert
Silverberg's "Going Down Smooth." And aliens and telepaths sometimes
get their own typefaces, though no specific examples come to mind.

Pogo (the comic strip) had several characters with unique typeface
"voices," including Sarcophagus MacAbre (a buzzard) who spoke in
black-bordered speech balloons; Decon Mushrat (a pretentious hypocrite)
who spoke in a pseudo Olde Englishe typeface; and B.T. Bridgeport (a
circus man and tireless self-promoter) who spoke in a typeface full
of pointing hand symbols, exclamation points, and the like.

Dennis Lien / U of Minnesota Libraries // [removed]@tc.umn.edu

FROM: "Angela Hopkins" <[removed]@yahoo.com>
REC'D: 11/21/99, 1:06 PM

Hi,

There is a great little book by T. Davis Bunn entitled
"Tidings of Comfort and Joy". It has green print and
is great for the holidays.

Angie
__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Bid and sell for free at <A HREF="http://auctions.yahoo.com">http://auctions.yahoo.com</A>

FROM: "Donna El Tabib" <[removed]@boulder.lib.co.us>
REC'D: 11/21/99, 6:53 PM

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende uses the same typeface, but alternates between green and red ink.

Donna

Donna El Tabib
Boulder Public Library
Boulder, CO
[removed]@boulder.lib.co.us

FROM: "Merle MacNab" <[removed]@scfn.thpl.lib.fl.us>
REC'D: 11/22/99, 9:43 AM

Rita Mae Brown, in her Mrs. Murphy mysteries, "co-written" by her cat,
Sneaky Pie Brown, uses italics for when her animal characters are talking
to each other. (And some of their comments about human behavior are quite
amusing!!)

***************************************************************************
Merle O. MacNab, FTPS
Scottish Warrior Poet Princess

Timor Omnis Abesto - "Let Fear Be Far From All"
(MacNab Clan Motto)

FROM: "Beth Andersen" <[removed]@hotmail.com>
REC'D: 11/22/99, 11:22 AM

In a similar vein, I am currently reading for review a copy of Beth
Gutcheon's new novel, More Than You Know. Her device is to not use
quotation marks. It is not at all hard to follow and somehow it effectively
draws the reader more deeply into the minds of the characters.

Beth E. Andersen
Information Resources
Ann Arbor (MI) District Library

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at <A HREF="http://www.hotmail.com">http://www.hotmail.com</A>

FROM: "Beth Andersen" <[removed]@hotmail.com>
REC'D: 11/22/99, 11:24 AM

oops,

Let me correct myself. Beth Gutcheon's More Than You Know does indeed use 2
different font styles to tell parallel stories set many years apart. It
works.

It's Plainsong by Kent Haruf that doesn't use the quotation marks.

I really oughtta learn to read just one book at a time.

My apologies.

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at <A HREF="http://www.hotmail.com">http://www.hotmail.com</A>

FROM: "Beth Andersen" <[removed]@hotmail.com>
REC'D: 11/22/99, 11:25 AM

oops,

Let me correct myself. Beth Gutcheon's More Than You Know does indeed use 2
different font styles to tell parallel stories set many years apart. It
works.

It's Plainsong by Kent Haruf that doesn't use the quotation marks.

I really oughtta learn to read just one book at a time.

My apologies.

Beth E. Andersen
Information Resources
Ann Arbor (MI) District Library

______________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free Email at <A HREF="http://www.hotmail.com">http://www.hotmail.com</A>

FROM: "MILLS Kirby D" <[removed]@ci.eugene.or.us>
REC'D: 11/22/99, 1:49 PM

THE FAN by Bob Randall was a suspense novel composed entirely
of letters, notes, faxes, etc. with various letterheads
although the typeface is the same.

Donald Harington's supernatural novel SOME OTHER PLACE. THE
RIGHT PLACE used a different typeface for the "voice" of the
main character's ancestor and fairly late in the book, a
collection of his poems is presented as a "chapter" with a
different page design (the poem sequence also advances the
story).

Ed McBain was always a bit innovative in this area--his early
87th Precinct books would include information presented as
report forms, notes cobbled together with newspaper pieces,
etc.

-----Original Message-----
From: Anne Marquis [<A HREF="mailto:AMarquis@publib.edmonton.ab.ca">mailto:AMarquis@publib.edmonton.ab.ca</A>]
Sent: Saturday, November 20, 1999 10:48 AM
To: [removed]@maillist.nslsilus.org'
Subject: Stories using different type face


We have a customer asking for examples of fiction stories that employ
different fonts or type faces in interesting ways to help convey the story.
Staff suggestions have included: Good Omens by Gaiman and Pratchett wherein
the voice of the devil is in caps and Agnes Nutter's prophecies are set
apart, Cambodia by Brian Fawcett where the bottom half of the page is given
to the "subtext" and possibly Nick Bantock's works although this may be too
graphical. I don't have a copy of Fax Me a Bagel by Sharon Kahn, but I
remember that she used email as a device--can anyone verify if the email was
in a different type face?

The Fiction Dictionary by Laurie Henry offers the following suggestions
under "typographical devices": Twyla by Pamela Walker, which includes a
newspaper cutting and copies of letters typed in a typing class and Double
or Nothing by Raymond Federman which includes pages of type typed in
recognizable shapes (as found in concrete poetry). We don't own either of
the last two items and are searching for more examples. Any help would be
appreciated.

Anne Marquis
Fiction Librarian
Information Services
Edmonton Public Library
7 Sir Winston Churchill Square
Edmonton, Alberta T5R 1B2
Canada

[removed]@publib.edmonton.ab.ca

FROM: "Anne Kabel" <[removed]@metronet.lib.mi.us>
REC'D: 11/22/99, 2:45 PM

in A Prayer for Owen Meany, John Irving uses all capitals whenever Owen
speaks.

Anne Kabel
Adult Reading Librarian
Baldwin Public Library
300 W. Merrill
P.O. Box 3002
Birmingham MI 48012-3002
248- 647-1700

FROM: "Barbara Case" <[removed]@metronet.lib.mi.us>
REC'D: 11/22/99, 5:09 PM

A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving uses different type faces for
different characters. Also, The Mirror by Lynn Freed is done in sepia
tones to convey the time period around the turn of the century.

FROM: "L. M. Lockley" <[removed]@mail.win.org>
REC'D: 11/22/99, 5:51 PM

As I recall, William Goldman's "The Princess Bride" uses a different font
(italics, I think) when the author is relating his specific point of view
about the story and a regular font is used for the actual story. In the
older copies of the book I believe the author's comments were printed in
Red. Current printings just use italics but the 'comments' occur
throughout the text of the book.


Lucy M. Lockley Phone: 314/441-6454
St. Charles City-County Library Dist. Fax: 314/441-5898
McClay Branch
2760 McClay Road E-mail: [removed]@mail.win.org
St. Charles, MO 63303


Giles: "Demons after money! Whatever happened to the still beating
heart of a virgin? No one has any standards any more!"

/ \
/ \
[removed]@##########]==========================================================>
\\__ / /
\\______/ Touche!

FROM: "Lisa Colcord" <[removed]@ci.glendale.az.us>
REC'D: 11/22/99, 8:30 PM

Monster by Walter Dean Myers has one type for the protagonist's journal and another for the screenplay he is writing of his trial for murder. Excellent YA novel, by the way!

Lisa Colcord
Glendale Public Library
Glendale Arizona

<<< Shari Hetzke <[removed]@nslsilus.ORG> 11/21 10:39a >>>


Two ya novels that fit this are
Rats Saw God by Rob Thomas
Making Up Megaboy by Virginia Walter

Shari Hetzke tel 847-506-2629
Secondary School Services Specialist fax 847-506-2655
Arlington Heights Memorial Library [removed]@nslsilus.org
500 North Dunton
Arlington Heights, IL 60004

FROM: "Dennis K. Lien" <[removed]@tc.umn.edu>
REC'D: 11/23/99, 12:40 PM

>Date: Mon, 22 Nov 1999 17:54:55 -0600 (CST)
>From: "L. M. Lockley" <[removed]@mail.win.org>
>Subject: Re: Stories using different type face
>
>As I recall, William Goldman's "The Princess Bride" uses a different font
>(italics, I think) when the author is relating his specific point of view
>about the story and a regular font is used for the actual story. In the
>older copies of the book I believe the author's comments were printed in
>Red. Current printings just use italics but the 'comments' occur
>throughout the text of the book.
>
>
>Lucy M. Lockley Phone: 314/441-6454
>St. Charles City-County Library Dist. Fax: 314/441-5898
>McClay Branch
>2760 McClay Road E-mail: [removed]@mail.win.org
>St. Charles, MO 63303


A good example, and one I'm kicking myself for not remembering. (Besides,
it's a favorite book of mine and one I recently reread.) But I believe
the "red type" versions are not in the "older" editions per se but only
in the edition produced for the Quality Paperback Book Club, and these
are a bit hard to find--I once loaned out my then-significant-other's
copy to a person who failed to return it, and it took me several years
to find a QPBC copy to give her in replacement. (Though this was
before the days of the internet book dealer search engines.)

Of course, some editions of the Christian Bible have the words of
Jesus printed in red also.

I suspect the earliest "playing around with this stuff" book in English
may be Laurence Sterne's TRISTRAM SHANDY. I don't recall differences
in typefaces as such, but it does contain an all-black page to set off
some tragic death, a "marbled-looking" page to exemplify something
else I've forgotten, and like that.

Dennis Lien / U of Minnesota Libraries // [removed]@tc.umn.edu

FROM: "Anne Marquis" <[removed]@publib.edmonton.ab.ca>
REC'D: 11/23/99, 1:26 PM

Thanks to everyone who has responded. I think our customer now has a good
selection of examples to discuss.

Anne Marquis
Fiction Librarian
Information Services
Edmonton Public Library
7 Sir Winston Churchill Square
Edmonton, Alberta T5R 1B2
Canada

[removed]@publib.edmonton.ab.ca

FROM: "L. M. Lockley" <[removed]@mail.win.org>
REC'D: 11/23/99, 4:45 PM

Denise:

Now your making me want to dig through my look storage boxes to find out
if I still have that copy of "The Princess Bride" in paperback! It never
occurred to me that it might be worth something although it should have.


Lucy M. Lockley Phone: 314/441-6454
St. Charles City-County Library Dist. Fax: 314/441-5898
McClay Branch
2760 McClay Road E-mail: [removed]@mail.win.org
St. Charles, MO 63303


Giles: "Demons after money! Whatever happened to the still beating
heart of a virgin? No one has any standards any more!"

/ \
/ \
[removed]@##########]==========================================================>
\\__ / /
\\______/ Touche!

FROM: "Ridgefield Library Fiction Room" <[removed]@biblio.org>
REC'D: 11/24/99, 11:28 AM

Steve Kluger's "Last Days of Summer" includes letters, telegrams, newspaper
clippings, etc., all with their own type presentation. it is quite
effective, without being as cutesy as the Bantock books become.
Mary Rindfleisch
Adult Services/Reader's Advisory Librarian
Ridgefield Library
Ridgefield, CT
[removed]@biblio.org

FROM: "Karen Migaldi" <[removed]@nslsilus.ORG>
REC'D: 12/3/99, 1:44 PM

Anne,

Your patron might be interested in a non-fiction title which discusses the
relation between print and the story. The title is Textual Bodies: Modernism,
Postmodernism and Print by Michael Kaufmann.

Karen Migaldi
Crystal Lake Public Library

Anne Marquis wrote:

> We have a customer asking for examples of fiction stories that employ
> different fonts or type faces in interesting ways to help convey the story.
> Staff suggestions have included: Good Omens by Gaiman and Pratchett wherein
> the voice of the devil is in caps and Agnes Nutter's prophecies are set
> apart, Cambodia by Brian Fawcett where the bottom half of the page is given
> to the "subtext" and possibly Nick Bantock's works although this may be too
> graphical. I don't have a copy of Fax Me a Bagel by Sharon Kahn, but I
> remember that she used email as a device--can anyone verify if the email was
> in a different type face?
>
> The Fiction Dictionary by Laurie Henry offers the following suggestions
> under "typographical devices": Twyla by Pamela Walker, which includes a
> newspaper cutting and copies of letters typed in a typing class and Double
> or Nothing by Raymond Federman which includes pages of type typed in
> recognizable shapes (as found in concrete poetry). We don't own either of
> the last two items and are searching for more examples. Any help would be
> appreciated.
>
> Anne Marquis
> Fiction Librarian
> Information Services
> Edmonton Public Library
> 7 Sir Winston Churchill Square
> Edmonton, Alberta T5R 1B2
> Canada
>
> [removed]@publib.edmonton.ab.ca

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