This is the second version of the Sunday Lunch book. In this 'extended remix' hardback version, the temporal space has been stretched out over 200 pages with each page representing one minute. The pixelated image of the Sunday lunch appears on the front cover with the higher resolution image on the back cover. There are two timelines within the book: the linear progression of the book, grounded in left to right reading, that represents the three and a quarter hours that it takes to make a Sunday lunch; and the method or instructions which is based on the conventional top to bottom reading of the page in the West.
The book is 2cm thick which makes it feel fairly substantial unlike the previous pamphlet-like versions. I like the fact that the book has a physical presence: I was attempting to show the temporal space of the recipe, of something that had substance and I think the width and weight of the book illustrates this. In terms of a practical application, I'm not sure the book succeeds - although it demystifies the cooking process with precise timings and instructions, the form is not totally practical and in many ways has become a book for looking rather than cooking which was my original critique of contemporary recipe books.
The book is set in one weight and one size of Akzidenz Grotesk with italic for the footers. There is no pagination as I felt that the time at the top of the page is the pagination and any other numbering system would distract. Looking at the book now, I wonder whether the footers are needed or, perhaps they may have worked better on the horizontal. My other thought is that the book might have benefited from extra pages after the title page, before the timetable starts, just to give a breathing space...
Blurb, who printed the book, have just announced new, grey endpapers - I think these would make the book a bit smarter, linking the grey type on the cover. I might live with the book for a while and then consider printing a revised version.