The Art of The End - A Visual Celebration of the Book Endpaper Edited by Bob Staake and Kristen Held Were it not for the endpapers, a hardcover book would literally fall apart. Adhered to the inside of the front and back covers, the endpapers are then glued to the first and last pages within the book working almost as a pair of hinges allowing a reader to open and close their murder mystery, trendy novel or children's picture book -- over and over again. Like a washing machine, the endpaper is firmly grounded in utility, in purpose, with the resigned understanding that in the big scheme of things, nobody really notices them -- unless they suddenly stop working. They do their job, they're always there, they're dependable. But if there's a group that looks beyond the endpaper's role as nothing more than a pedestrian binding agent, it's the illustrators and designers of books. These bibliophiles see deep into the eyes of the endpaper and recognize its soul, its complexity, its potential as a canvas for creative expression and unrestrained embellishment, an extra-wide piece of pulpy real estate just dying to be showered with affection, paint and pixels and then run through a printing press. If these visually enlightened people aren't the least bit ashamed to judge a book by its cover, then they're equally willing to judge them by their endpapers, so when they're hired to personally create a set of endpapers, well, it's a little like sending an octopus with a shoe fetish into a Macy's with a no-limit VISA card. Illustrators and designers may love creating book covers, interior illustrations and lavish two-page spreads, but what many of them enjoy most is taking on the endpapers. In most cases, the endpapers are indeed the last thing an illustrator or designer tackles on their book, if only because it is the visual tone of the interior page imagery that dictates or overtly suggests the endpaper's appropriate graphic treatment. Maybe the art from the book will be modified and repeated in a hip "wallpapered" pattern. Perhaps an expansive new illustration will be created touching on numerous scenes within the book. Or could the endpapers in some way suggest a completely new world hinted at within the book, but not yet revealed -- except right here and now on the endpapers? And how illustrators and designers of books choose to embellish endpapers in so many diverse ways makes them a veritable showcase for visual experimentation, risk taking and untethered creativity. Indeed, editors and publishers can be very particular when it comes to the images that will adorn a book's cover and interior spreads, but when it comes to the endpapers, they are more apt to allow an illustrator or designer to get a little crazy, try something unexpected, shoot for the moon. Filled with over 240 examples of uncommon vintage and contemporary endpapers, the book is intended first and foremost as a beautifully designed visual feast, but the engaging text and captions also provide history, facts and light analysis of each endpaper example. The Art of The End celebrates the endpaper as an underappreciated art form, but more importantly as an uncommon venue for publishers to preserve an intrinsic tradition and tactile component of their creative product -- one that can't be found on tv, radio, or the internet -- only when a reader opens a printed book. For this reason alone, The Art of The End should be published.