Unbelievably bad writing. (Did the German publisher not discern, perhaps?) Comically high school-ish. (Actual sentence, verbatim: "A lot was going on in the the world in the late 1700s: scientific discoveries were being made left and right in the wake of the Scientific Revolution, the American Revolutionary War happened, as did the Anglo-French War as a result, and later the French Revolution." Where do we even being to catalog the problems here? And this is not an exception, but is representative of the style and level of thought.) I abandon reading at p. 32, skimming the rest and enjoying the charming pencil-sketch illustrations. ( )

The Pencil Perfect is a history of the pencil in the vain of The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance by Henry Petroski, but geared toward the mainstream reader and not as detailed. It's written by the owner of the only pencil specific shop in America and this is clearly a passion project. The research in the Pencil Perfect feels fresh and has been updated with the brand consolidation of the 90's and exciting developments in the pencil market of the 21st century. While Petroski's book is the definitive history of the object. The Pencil Perfect is a good companion history and a much needed update.

The Pencil Perfect is a beautifully designed book from a small press. There are some amazing illistrations throughout the book highlighting important moments in history. From the cover to the ink color choices is simple but utterly perfect and exemplifies the simplicity of the pencil. Written and edited in just three months there are some mistakes in the editing, and some of the science facts in the 1st chapter made me cringe as a geologist, but those are pretty small complaints. It is well written conversational history of one of my favorite things so i can't complain too much. ( )