Wreck This Journal
A book review by C.K. Kochis
I have always been a sucker for journal books. I prefer the type with blank pages so I can freely wing it and allow the voice inside to express herself without the confinements of lines. The more outside of the normal, the better. I say, “Stretch the boundaries of the box!” Wait. What box? Who’s box? Who established the rules?
Wreck This Journal, created by Keri Smith, arrived in my mailbox several weeks ago as a gift from a wonderful friend. As I flipped through the pages, it was obvious Keri’s subtitle “to create is to destroy” is the intention (and message) she set. The instructions are clear, you are to get this book dirty; spit, drip, tear, step on and fold the pages; let your inner child run with scissors; ignore the internal critic; reach beyond your civilized manners and wreck that book!
I am looking forward to savoring each and every page with the enthusiasm of my four year old grandson. It will get dirty. I may will wreck a page or two (which goes against everything this book-lover would consider doing to her precious books). This is going to be fun. And creative.
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For anyone who's ever had trouble starting, keeping, or finishing a journal or sketchbook comes this expanded edition of Wreck This Journal, a subversive illustrated book that challenges readers to muster up their best mistake- and mess-making abilities to fill the pages of the book—or destroy them.