In the Bag

In the Bag by Samuele Mazza — a collection of pictures of high-concept purses — is a visual feast and a textual disaster. Bag the essays, however, and you'll enjoy the pocketbook theater contained in these pages: a pink ''Mama purse'' with a clear plastic umbilical cord attached to a cloth embryo, a ''Pirate Chest'' handbag made of wire fencing that's as elegantly fashioned as a chandelier, and a telephone-inspired design in which the receiver serves as a handle. Cristina Morozzi, the only contributor of substance, draws analogies between purse design and architecture (comparing see-through bags to glass houses), confirming that In the Bag is a subject bursting with metaphoric possibilities. B