Call Me By Your Name - André Aciman

My Crystal Goblet book would be Call Me By Your Name by André Aciman. 

Type Size

11pts

Text Block

Leading: 14pts

Line Length: 24p 

Height: 32 lines

Margins

Top: 5p

Bottom: 7p

Inside: 4p

Thumb: 4p

Page Size

8.28' x 5.58'

There is no colophon for this book but it seems to be an Old Style Serif type.

This novel tells the complex and sentimental story of a romance that develops between an adolescent and his father's summer houseguest taking place in a small town in Italy. This book is generally aimed towards young adults.

I find that this book would be the equivalent of a crystal goblet because throughout the reading experience, the type was unobtrusive, yet also made the text look alive. There is a lot of dialogue in this novel, and the way the designer decided to introduce dialogue was seamless and flowed well with the narration. It also felt as if the reader could hear their conversation in real life. To add, there are quite a few different uses of the italics in this novel, yet it doesn't make it hard for the reader to figure out the difference between the italics of a line in Italian - since the novel takes place in Italy- or the inner dialogue of the main protagonist. 

What I have learned from observing this book is that not only the right choice of type can enhance a reader's experience, but it's also the layout of the page, and the manner in which the dialogue is placed on the page that can make the text come to life and allow the reader to imagine vividly the world in which this story takes place. Moreover, the use of italics is also an important aspect in designing books and they don't always have only one function in the text.