Initiated, co-edited, and designed by Adam Michaels, Inventory Books is an experimental paperback book imprint published by Princeton Architectural Press.
The first two volumes, Street Value: Shopping, Planning, and Politics at Fulton Malland Above the Pavement—The Farm! Architecture & Agriculture at P.F.1., were released in 2010, and build upon previous collaborations with the with the Center for Urban Pedagogy on a public exhibition about Brooklyn’s Fulton Street Mall; and the creation of Public Farm 1 (P.F.1), a working urban farm in the courtyard of P.S.1, with WorkAC, respectively.
Published in January 2012, the third and most recent title, The Electric Information Age Book: McLuhan/Agel/Fiore and the Experimental Paperback, explores a time span in mass-market publishing in the sixties and seventies when former backstage players—designers, graphic artists, editors, “coordinators,” and “producers”—stepped into the spotlight to create a set of exceptional paperback books.
“A new book series attempts to revitalize the printed word with innovative design… A mixture of wishful thinking and practical wisdom guides [the] launch of Inventory Books, a series exploring topics that combine social engagement and design.”
— Steve Heller, NDA 2011 Design Mind, “The Revenge of the Paperback Book,” The Atlantic (January 5, 2012)
“The Electric Information Age Book compellingly tells the story of an important, albeit short, era in publishing when the insiders were the ones breaking down the walls and changing the rules as they went.”
— Buzz Poole, “Digital-age perspective from the electric information age.” Salon.com (January 25, 2012)
