Between the lines the story of an unusual tome

A commitment to books and beauty produces an international prizewinnner

COVERED IN DULL OLIVE GREEN SYNTHETIC RAFFIA, BOUND BY GRAY STRINGS, the almost square book seems modestly unadorned. And the stories in it about a simple man and his family's bookshop in the city of Xi'an are unlikely to stir readers that much. However, anyone carefully leafing through the pages of Order: The Story of Fangyuan Bookshop, is likely to be touched and amused by the ordinariness that is presented ingeniously through the airy and light interaction of text and image. The deft creativity of the designer of the flip-book presentation of the caricature faces of the man to the left of the strings that bind the book are something to marvel at.

The book, made by the bookshop owner, Lyu Chonghua, designed by Li Jin and published by Guangxi Fine Arts Publishing House, won the Gold Medal in the Most Beautiful Book in the World competition in Leipzig, Germany, in February.