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Title: The Visual Miscellaneum: A Colorful Guide to the World's Most Consequential Trivia
ISBN: 0061748366
Author:
David Mccandless
Publicate Date: 2009-12-01
Publish: 2009-12-01
List Price: $26.99
Average Customer Rating: 4.0
Format: Paperback
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $16.56
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $14.95
Amazon Merchant Price: $17.81
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Pretty colors and the curse of tiny type
Page 128 of this book is devoted to the different types of graphics used in diagrams, forty are named with a little graphic of each (pie chart, bar chart; word cloud etc and one called 'Dunno what to call it' chart) and I thought it would have been useful to run this page at the front of the book so that readers could try and identify what type of graphic was used on each page.
The editorial is an interesting one and gets away from the Tufte format of reproducing existing material by creating all the graphics for this book and maybe this is one of its weaknesses. I found so many of these graphic pages just too unwieldy and confusing, sort of the opposite of what this type of material is supposed to do: visually present information with clarity and simplicity. Plenty of pages have data that has been crowbarred into something visual that really should have remained just as a list. Pages 132/133 is about Postmodernism, maybe the designers just gave up with this because the spread is just text as in any book.
Shame about the missing text that everyone has mentioned. More importantly to me (and a real editorial weakness) is the large amount of unreadable type, either white out of a black page, light colored panels or just too tiny. Heavy use of Batteries Not Included Bold Condensed and Prices Subject To Change Without Notice Roman do not encourage clarity. It means I just turn over the page to the next diagram.
There are some fascinating visual ideas here but because they were not created for anything other than this book they lack the creative rigor that would normally be required if they were to be used in print elsewhere.
***SEE SOME INSIDE PAGES by clicking 'customer images' under the cover.
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2: Inspiring
As a data visualization newbie I really liked this book. It is a great collection of information visualizations which are both elegant and interesting. It is more inspiring than teaching. And yes, it is also a little addictive: I found myself watching the same graphics over and over again.
The main complaint is to the publisher: some pages are missing labels. If you have this book, you definitely want to get the errata (see the author's page).
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3: A pick for trivia buffs and general lending libraries alike
The Visual Miscellaneum: A Colorful Guide to the World's Most Consequential Trivia offers a fine lighthearted sourcebook to trivia - everything from circles that show the reach of world religions and causes of death in the 20th century to dictator's wives and ailments you can't avoid. Visual maps, charts, and images are key to the fun presentation, a pick for trivia buffs and general lending libraries alike.
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4: disappointing
As others have stated, there are gross inaccuracies in some of the visualizations. Overall the book feels a lot like a student project, and not a professionally produced design book. Many of the visualizations/illustrations have an amateurish feel, and the design of the book itself is poorly executed. Graphics and text run right up to the page edges & deep into the binding. I got this hoping it would be inspirational to have around, but unfortunately it primarily offers cautionary examples of what not to do.
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5: Love this book
I Loved this book. As someone who loves random trivia, it was the perfect read. I loved the collection of information and imagery. I was amused with the list of actors that are better connectors than Kevin Bacon. (Who knew that Dennis Hopper was a way better connector?) The Rock Genre-ology chart was an interesting read and made me want to go to iTunes and pandora to explore. The Right vs Left comparison was fascinating. The Internet Virals was like an online walk down memory lane. This book is gorgeous. You will definitely enjoy flipping through it and then exploring more online.
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