Archive for the 'Books' Category

Signs of Life is one of those quintessentially eccentric English books. It’s a collection of amusing signs – but the signs were created, not discovered.

The authors (Dave Askwith and Alex Normanton) created fake signs and attached them to plausible locations before photographing them.

Part of the appeal of this book is the skill with which the signs have been made. If you live in England, you’ll probably recognise the originals that inspired them.

There’s a certain deadpan humour in the way that outrageous messages are presented in straight corporate typefaces. I can just imagine the double-take as train passengers read a fake sign before realising that it can’t be genuine.

Yet sometimes the authors “over-egg the custard”. There’s a photo of a half walnut glued above a sign that announces “Magic Walnut. Penalty for improper use – gypsy curse.” Perhaps it would have been more plausible if it said “Magic Walnut. Penalty for improper use £50.” or even “Emergency Walnut” instead of “Magic Walnut”.

I intended to give it as a christmas present, but after looking through it I decided not to. Of the featured signs, more than necessary were vulgar and crude. No doubt there are customers for whom that’s a feature, but for me it was a bug.

It’s an amusing little book, though not one that’s going to hold much interest after the first couple of browse-throughs. I have a hunch that it won’t be republished once the current stock sells. I got mine over-the-counter from Waterstones in December 2005 for £4.99.