1999; 82 pp. $15 ($19 postpaid). SimpleLife Design, PO Box 37, Philo, CA 95466. 707/895-3490, info@simplelife.com.
The prime attraction of this guide is the papers themselves. Seventeen species, all printed with colored and black-and-white inks that highlight, for instance, the softer tones of banana paper (5?15 percent banana, the rest, post-consumer waste), and the brighter tones of Continuum Kenaf (50 percent kenaf, 50 percent cotton rag), or the sharp clarity of Reincarnation Matte (a paper of 100 percent recycled, 50 percent post-consumer waste). If a green future is to come, it must be aesthetically pleasing, and this is the best access for paper consumers to find beauty in their quest to print books AND minimize harm to forests and soils. Short accurate vignettes of the fibers that might go mainstream (not the specialty paper fibers), suppliers, and the importance of chlorine-free paper round out this summary/swatch book.
