Synaesthesia Press ~ Arizona

Enemies/Friends
By Tim O'Brien.

Excerpted from his award-winning book, The Things They Carried. Illustrated by Fritz Scholder. Publisher Jim Camp puts the dos-à-dos structure to perfect use with this slim but powerful volume. Drawing on his experience as a soldier in Viet Nam, O'Brien has penned two concise vignettes that, juxtaposed, depict the complex and strained relationship between war buddies. In one, the high tension of the larger conflict takes its toll in a minor dispute between two men that quickly escalates, but finds a surprising resolution. In the second, a promise made in sound mind and body, by the same two characters, is tested by a profound war injury. These tales have the concision and impact of poetry. Scholder's images are likewise powerful in their simplicity. The back-to-back pamphlets of the dos-à-dos binding structurally convey the yin and yang of the relationship. The book functions as a two-sided mirror which reflects different aspects of one relationship which, when taken together, more accurately represent the whole. Letterpress printed from handset Bodoni Book and Nubian types on Somerset text paper. Original gouache images were transferred to and printed from zinc plates. Pages are formed of French-folded sheets for opacity. The numbered edition of 99 copies is bound in Larroque Mouchette, a handmade French paper, and signed by both author and artist. The Things They Carried was chosen as one of the dozen best books of the year by The New York Time Book Review and won the Heartland Award from the Chicago Tribune. (6 x 7.25 inches.) A thought-provoking and thoughtfully composed edition.
$125