Book = P, E, or X. The paper book. The electronic book. And the next book, defined as x, undetermined. In this course, we'll quickly bring ourselves to speed on a history of the book as a "text delivery mechanism," creation, publication and distribution. We'll consider moments and integrations that variously redefined the text landscape—from cave art to scrolls to illuminated manuscripts to pamphlets to large press to graffiti and the "underground" and small press. As of the third or fourth class, we'll come to our own period, and the Renaissance in the longform essay, ebooks, audio books, graphic novels and text/image. From there, we'll go on to look at the burgeoning forms of electronic literature, including the blog, social media, the text/video documentary, media hybrids, and games. Our guests, working at the forefront of narrative arts, will bring working-today experience to our academic investigations. Creative making is a major component of this course, and students, through in class exercises and assignments, will investigate the subject matter by advancing and applying ideas for their own. A semester-end capstone project will encourage fresh iterations and creative risk-taking. Readings will include writings from Rene Ricard, Hilton Als, Edwidge Danticat, James Baldwin, George Pitts, Carlo McCormick, Arthur Danto, Marjane Satrapi, Emily Flake, Mira Jacob, Amiri Baraka, Kathy Acker, Andrew Salkey, Siri Hustvedt, Gerder Lerner, Sara Ruddick and others.