Bob Brown: The Readies (1930/2014)

“In 1930, Bob Brown predicted that the printed book was bound for obsolescence. The time has come, he insisted, to rid the reader of the cumbersome book. He invented a machine that would allow one to read books and any text extremely fast and in a hyper abbreviated form. He called these abbreviated texts, with em dashes replacing words: readies. He envisioned sending the condensed texts through wireless networks. The Readies, describes these eponymously named abbreviated texts and his plans for a reading machine, but since he printed only 150 copies, the volume is practically unknown outside of a small circle of scholars. With this new edition, Craig Saper hopes to introduce Bob Brown’s Roving Eye Press books to a new generation of readers.”

First published in 1930
Edited and with an Introduction by Craig Saper
Publisher Roving Eye Press, 2014
ISBN 9780692217238
xxxvi, 52 pages
via Kwisniewski

Readies.org, Related essay by Craig Saper (2011)
An essay by Abigail Thomas (2012, at P-DPA)
Publisher (provides free download)

PDF (13 MB)