Please Do Not Touch: And Other Things You Couldn't Do at Moss the Design Store That Changed Design

A cornucopia of wonders. This exquisitely produced book is filled with history, culture, design, autobiography, humor and a little leg-pulling too. My only regret is that I didn’t receive my copy in the depths of winter because this is a book to snuggle up with, to cure cabin fever, and to relish when no other responsibilities call.

Murray Moss and Franklin Getchell are hilarious. I loved the format of one speaking and then the other, highlighting their distinct and different perspectives at times. Also loved the photographs. The authors are intelligent, quick-witted and speak their own truths. The book made me want to make the authors my new best friends.

For so many years, Moss was a destination where I anticipated the expected as well as the unanticipated, design gems as well as the bizarre. My vision was stretched, the experience always fulfilling, challenging and delightful...well worth the trip 'south'. This book deepens that experience as it reveals the thought process behind that glorious store. Murray and Franklin not only bring me into their heads, but have provided the gift of laughing out loud in appreciation of their industry, emotional and practical honesty and wit. This book is for everyone: It's about creativity. It's about making magic...and the surprises inherent in evolving relationships. I pick it up and read a random page just for fun...and that it is!

The design of this book matches the content perfectly.

This engaging and enlightening memoir tells the story of MOSS gallery/shop in SoHo during the 1990s and early 2000s, as recalled by its two owners. The counterpoint of two parallel narratives, each very distinct, produces a vivid stereoscopic portrait of a time and place that embodied ferment and creativity in contemporary art and design. The voices of Moss and Getchell are incisive, funny, irreverent, and ultimately wise, as they address the challenges of curating and merchandising in a field they are re-inventing as they go along. This book left me with a lot to think about and a deeper appreciation of MOSS's contribution to the theory and practice of contemporary design.