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Booknews: The Way Big Things Work Sally Lodge -- 10/2/00 On page and on screen, David Macaulay explains some of the world's largest structures, in Building Big
Though PBS has also produced TV programs based on four of Macaulay's previous books, this project marks a departure from those earlier ventures. "In this case, I wrote the book after the TV series was filmed rather than before," he explained. "In fact, this project began without my involvement at all." Very much involved from the start were Larry Klein, executive producer of the Washington, D.C.- based Production Group Inc., and Paula Apsell, head of the Science Unit at WGBH in Boston, which produces the Nova series. "In 1994, Paula and I were standing next to one of England's vast Gothic cathedrals," Klein recalled. "She knew that I had produced a program based on David's Cathedral, so she said, 'You actually know how this building works, don't you?' And I acknowledged that I did. And then she suggested that David and I put together a program on some of the biggest things that people have ever built. Sometimes conversations unexpectedly turn into something, and this was one of those cases." After successfully applying for a grant from the National Science Foundation, Klein spent several years raising additional money for the project, co-produced by Production Group Inc. and WGBH-TV; the final price tag approached $7 million. (In addition to the TV series and book components, the venture entails a Web site, afterschool science education programs and curriculum-based activities for classrooms.) He, Macaulay and film crews then visited structures on four continents over a span of two years, exploring sites as high as the upper expanses of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge, 220 feet above the bay, and as deep as the Thames Tunnel, constructed more than 60 feet below this London river.
"Our trips were frequent enough and long enough to disrupt life completely," said Macaulay, the father of a three-year-old and a 19-month-old. Though the author did not write the scripts for the five TV shows, he did occasionally rewrite some sections as unexpected changes in settings or perspectives dictated. Primarily, he was cast in the role of narrator and sketchbook-toting host. "Learning my lines and drawing upside down were my contributions to the programs," he quipped. Klein's behind-the-scenes duties were quite encompassing. He served as executive producer of the series, whose five segments each had a different writer, director and producer; and was also the producer of Bridges, the series's inaugural installment. "This project was colossal and daunting," he observed, noting that one of his biggest challenges was balancing the various elements of the films to achieve the right mix. "We had to make sure that we understood how all the pieces would fit together, since we wanted to do a great variety of things in each program. We wanted to have David on-camera, drawing things the old-fashioned way, showing what's inside each structure. We also wanted to include reenactments; highly produced sections with helicopters and the like; and historical background based on archival material. Basically, we wanted to do everything that was both difficult and expensive." Building the Book After returning to his Rhode Island home and stashing away his suitcase, Macaulay, since January, has devoted himself to creating his book, which he considers a stand-alone entity. "To do a book replicating the films did not strike me as at all useful," he remarked. "I knew that the films would provide the big picture and that I was free to operate on a much smaller scale. In that sense, the book is my personality, which is nuts and bolts--that is, focusing on what the problem was that people were trying to solve here, and how did they went about it. When choosing the subjects to include in the book, I dropped some from the film and added others, and, in a way, began all over again. I had gathered materials in my travels. I had done sketches everywhere and had photos to work with. I thought I'd learn by osmosis, by reading the film scripts and actually visiting the places. But when it came time to write, I realized how little I had actually taken in. I really had to start researching from scratch." While working on Building Big, Macaulay was constantly reminded, he said, "of how very different the processes of creating a film and a book are. It's the difference between creating something that washes over a viewer and creating something that sits there, static, in front of a reader. There is a level of complexity that you must achieve when creating static pictures, since people will take time to read them. In a film, you pass by subjects quickly. You know that your viewers have already moved on when the image changes. But the author of a book d sn't decide when the page is turned." Macaulay maintains that he wants to recover from his exhausting schedule of the past months before embarking on another book project. Yet there d sn't seem to be down time ahead for the author, who will be involved in the filming of a program based on his 1983 book Mill that will air on PBS, and will next spring--for the first time in three years--again teach a course at the Rhode Island School of Design, his alma mater. "Beyond that, I don't have a clue," he said. "Well, that's not exactly true. I do have clues about what I might do next. But no book idea has grabbed me yet, which is what happens. I don't make the decision--the subject d s." Given this tireless author's past output, his readers will likely not have to wait too long for that next subject to emerge, inspiring Macaulay to reveal the way something else works. New Publisher Launches with 'Hitler's Table Talk' A book that records Adolf Hitler's intimate talk to his closest confidants during the key years of World War II is the first from a new publisher just launched in Manhattan: Enigma Books. The book, out of print for nearly 40 years, offers actual transcripts of Hitler talking, and thinking aloud, in the company of a handful of his trusted henchmen.
The book, Hitler's Table Talk: 1941-44: His Private Conversations, due out next month; according to Enigma publisher Robert L. Miller, it has already gone into a third printing before publication. This is, said Miller--a former v-p at the Berlitz Publishing division of Macmillan--the kind of book Enigma was set up to publish. He plans, he said, "significant works of 20th-century history for readers and scholars." Robert Stewart, formerly a senior editor at Atheneum and Scribner, has been named editorial director of the house. The next Enigma title, due out in November, is In Stalin's Secret Service by W.G. Krivitsky, who ran Soviet agents in Western Europe in the years leading up to WWII and defected to Britain in 1939. Two years after publishing this account, he was assassinated in Washington; his book, too, has been unavailable. --John F. Baker Wildcat Canyon Takes a New Direction Change and growth are at hand for Wildcat Canyon Press, the Berkeley, Calif., house best known as the publishers of the Girlfriends series, which has sold more than one million copies since the first title was released in 1995. Girlfriends co-author and Wildcat founding partner Tamara Traeder has purchased the share of the press formerly held by co-owner Julie Bennett, who left the company in March. Traeder will continue as publisher and editorial director of the press. The two women became partners in 1994 when Traeder, who had been publishing Jungian books as Pagemill Press, merged with Bennett at Wildcat Canyon. Collectively the presses operate as the Circulus Publishing Group Inc. Though dormant for several years, the Pagemill Press imprint will be at the center of a new publishing program focused exclusively on books for Christian readers and debuting in spring 2001. According to Carol Brown, formerly of Jossey-Bass, who joined Wildcat Canyon this past July as director of marketing and sales, the new list will be directed toward thoughtful religious seekers and practitioners within the Christian tradition. Six to eight new titles will be unveiled at the 2001 Christian Booksellers Association convention and the Religious Booksellers Trade Exhibit. Catering to an upscale religious market, Brown hopes to give Wildcat and Pagemill a much more public face than it has had in the past. "I feel our books are perfect for independents and we hope to do more work with BookSense as well as offering more co-op opportunities," Traeder told PW. This fall's catalogue is still heavily weighted with books focusing on women's issues, such as Life After Baby by Wynn McClenahan Burkett and Bountiful Women: Large Women's Secrets for Living the Life They Desire by Bonnie Bernell. An increase in the number of titles from an average of five books per year to 10-20 books is planned for the company as a whole. A new gift line, with stationery and other book-related tie-ins, will complement the mix. According to Traeder, "It's clear that we can benefit from a steadier cash flow, and the way to do that is to have books going out on a more regular basis." The current staff of 10 will not expand in proportion to the list, though additional freelancers are in the wings. Publishers Group West continues to distribute books for the Circulus group. --Barbara R ther New Owners, New Attitude At Woodford Press Under new ownership, Woodford Press of Emeryville, Calif., is exploring a variety of innovative programs and having some surprising successes. Woodford, which began as a sports program publisher in 1979, was perhaps best known for the yearbooks it produced for the San Francisco 49ers. During the 1980s and '90s, the press grew to include a backlist of nonfiction titles on sports, biography, music, art, and pop culture; most are large-format illustrated books. In 1998, veteran newspaper editor Dave Burgin, with business partner Dan Ross, purchased the company; they plan to continue publishing about 20 titles a year with a staff of 10. T. With Richard Defendorf as editor, the spring 2000 list has made a mark in local stores. Top among these is The Pan-Am Book, a $40 coffee-table book by San Francisco icon Barnaby Conrad III that has shipped more than 10,000 copies over the last few months. Another book, Hemingway's France by Barnaby's brother Winston Conrad, has also had a strong start. Perhaps most surprising and, according to Burgin most promising, is a new series based on the 19th-century chapbook idea--a small entertaining compendium on a given topic. The First Chapbook for Foodies, as well as the First Chapbook for Golfers, both priced at $14.95, have sold more than 6,200 copies in three months, with no advertising or promotion. Though new to books, Burgin is no stranger to writers and he plans to carry over his love of journalism by adding a new imprint, Journalists Press, in 2001. The imprint will be devoted to nonfiction titles by working journalists. Most recently, Bergen has hired Warren Bingham to act as dealmaker for the imprint and negotiate partnerships with sports teams, especially in the college market. A partnership with Andrews McMeel, which distributes Woodford's titles, helped produce the press's most successful title of the season in terms of sales, The Payne Stewart Story by Larry Guest. Released June 1,the book has sold nearly 40,000 copies even while competing with Stewart's widow's book on the same topic. --Barbara R ther | ||||||
Booknews: The Way Big Things Work
Oct 02, 2000
A version of this article appeared in the 10/02/2000 issue of Publishers Weekly under the headline:
