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About the Author
Steven Heller is the cofounder and the cochair of the MFA Designer as Author program at the School of Visual Arts. He writes the Visuals column for the New York Times Book Review and the Graphic Content blog for T-Style; is editor of AIGA Voice; and is a contributor to Design Observer. He is the author, coauthor, and/or editor of more than 120 books on design and popular culture, including the forthcoming New Ornamental Type (Thames and Hudson). More information can be found at his homepage.
 
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Take Two Mah Jongg Tablets and . . .

by Steven Heller
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Mah Jongg is a beautifully designed game associated with the Far East and East Bronx, which is where my grandmother played it for decades. Pentagram's Abbott Miller never played it, but he recently designed an exhibition about Mah Jongg, "Project Mah Jongg," and its Jewish American influences at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York. And he edited and designed an issue of 2wice titled Mah Jongg: Crak Bam Dot, devoted to the artifacts in the exhibition along with extra content by fashion designer Isaac Mizrahi, who sketched mah jongg-inspired ensembles; Maira Kalman, who illustrated a “mah jongg murder mystery”; Bruce McCall, who created “Miami Mah Jongg,” juxtaposing ancient Chinese figures patiently tutoring a group of Jewish women; and Christoph Neimann, who designed new tile iconography combining the visual language of mah jongg with symbols of Jewish life. Essays are also included by Jennifer 8. Lee, on the popularity of Chinese food with American Jews; Wendy Goodman, on the designer Tony Duquette; Paul Shaw, on ethnic typefaces; and Daniel Cappello, on the Chinese-American actress Anna May Wong. For more about the mah jongg exhibit go here.
 
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Reader Comments
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It is a beautiful book. It is a great cocktail table book! You can buy this book at http://www.WhereTheWindsBlow.com I will be going to this exhibit in June and cannot wait to see these artifacts in person!
By fscher  May 19, 2010 
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