Research Catalog

Title

Faux real : genuine leather and 200 years of inspired fakes / Robert Kanigel.

Author

Kanigel, Robert.

Publication

Washington, D.C. : Joseph Henry Press, [2007], ©2007.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Holdings

Details

Description

vii, 288 pages; 24 cm

Summary

"Over the centuries, men and women have devoted enormous energy to making fake things seem real. As early as the 14th century, fabric was treated with special oils to make it resemble leather. In the 1870s came Leatherette, a new bookbinding material. The 20th century gave us Fabrikoid, Naugahyde, Corfam, and Ultrasuede. Each claims to transcend leather's limitations, to do better than nature itself - or at least to convince consumers that it has." "Perhaps more than any other natural material, leather stands for the authentic and the genuine; GENUINELEATHER, like a single German word, is how we think of it. Its animal roots etched in its pores and in the swirls of its grain, leather serves as cultural shorthand for the virtues of the real over the synthetic, the original over the copy, the luxurious over the shoddy and second-rate." "From formica, vinyl siding, and particle board to cubic zirconium, knockoff designer bags, and genetically altered food, inspired fakes of every description fly the polyester pennant of a brave new man-made world. Each represents an often passionate journey of scientific, technical, and entrepreneurial innovation. Faux Real explores this borderland of the almost-real, the ersatz, and the fake, illuminating a centuries-old culture war between the authentic and the imitative."--BOOK JACKET.

Alternative Title

FauxReal

Subject

• Leather, Artificial

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 250-273) and index.

ISBN

• 0309102367 (hardcover)
• 9780309102360 (hardcover)

LCCN

2006034859

OCLC

• ocm74029345
• 74029345
• SCSB-5331671

Owning Institutions

Columbia University Libraries