Nicky Epstein Knitting in Tuscany: Fabulous Design, Luscious Yarns, Shopping Secrets, Food & Wine, Travel Notes. By Nicky Epstein. July 2009. 112p. illus. Sterling/Nicky Epstein, $19.95 (9781933027753). 746.43.
A
lthough design comes first in the subtitle, that’s not the real draw of this book for knitters. Only a few will be inspired to take on projects like a felted Etruscan jug, a rooster pillow, or an oversize vest with a Roman lad on the front. What is fabulous, however, is following popular designer-author Epstein as she knits her way through northern Italy. The handsomely designed book, filled with lovely photos, is divided by region (Florence, Chianti, Siena and environs, and Montepulciano) and offers suggestions about where to stay, what to eat, which sights to see, and, most importantly, where to find great knit shops. The personal tone of the narrative makes readers feel like they’re (almost) along for the ride. All of the knitwear projects are shown with the Italian sights that inspired them; for instance, the “Carrara Marble Cardigan” is faced by a stunning building made of the stone. Those who cook as well as knit will enjoy a few simple recipes. Perhaps the knitters’ travel book of the year. —Ilene Cooper hibition essentials and information on IRS reporting, grants, and legal contracts. On the more nuanced side, she addresses the isolation of solitary creation and need for community building via collectives, support groups, and, of course, the Internet. A wealth of reproduced art and profiles of artists complete this inspiring, useful, and, given the rise in do-it-yourself careers, timely resource. —Whitney Scott
Conquest of the Useless: Reflections from the Making of Fitzcarraldo. By Werner Herzog. July 2009. 320p. Ecco, $24.99 (9780061575532). 791.43.
Considered one of the finest filmmakers in the world, Herzog is certainly among the most perfectionist. In his idiosyncratic anti-journal on the making of Fitzcarraldo, he employs a style that is less straightforward account than stream-of-consciousness attempt to convey the film’s quixotic nature. Based on an earlytwentieth-century Peruvian rubber baron, Fitzcarraldo’s protagonist attempts to build an opera house in jungle-bound Iquitos, Peru, and the film’s major set piece involves pulling a steamship over a steep hill. Herzog recalls the production’s physical hardships and the tense relationship he had with temperamental leading man Klaus Kinski. Mick Jagger, supposed to be in the film but eventually a dropout because of scheduling conflicts, also enters the story, as do ongoing financial difficulties and health-related issues that affected the crew as shooting fell ever further behind schedule. Herzog’s stylistic approach captures the desperate, dreamlike atmosphere of the shoot, such that his fans and film buffs in general will appreciate all the sacrifices that went into making this particular movie. —June Sawyers
Dames, Dolls & Gun Molls: The Art of Robert A. Maguire. By Jim Silke. June 2009. 112p. illus. Dark Horse, paper, $24.95 (9781595822727). 741.6.
Like day by night, the pinup’s heyday was
16 Booklist June 1 & 15, 2009
adJe1.indd 16
followed by pulp paperback covers. The cute bombshells that painters like Elvgren and Vargas made every GI’s dream were succeeded (but not displaced—whew!) in the 1950s by the tough beauties Maguire made his forte. Although the women Maguire painted to grace the covers of novels with titles like Violence in Velvet and Private Eyeful were surely luscious, they looked street-real; they weren’t remote glamourpusses. They were often, if not in trouble, pure trouble all by themselves, and their vulnerability on the one hand and availability, not to say inevitability, on the other, were qualities Maguire made nearly palpable; given the intent to grab male eyes, the more palpable the better. Silke, no slouch at painting sirens himself, writes with an acolyte’s rapt enthusiasm about Maguire’s distinctions, but he never gushes, probably because that would consume page-acreage that is much better devoted to scores of brilliantly reproduced color paintings, finished book covers, details, and sketches as well as black-and-white reference photos. Commercial idealist illustration as close to fine art as it gets. —Ray Olson
Eve Arnold’s People. Ed. by Brigitte Lardinois. 2009. 176p. illus. Thames & Hudson, $40 (9780500543719). 779.2092.
One of the first women in the photojournalists’ collective Magnum, Arnold was in her late thirties when she launched her career. She retired a half-century later and receives this tribute in her ninety-eighth year. She became famous for exceptionally personalizing, on-the-wing portraits of everyone from Queen Elizabeth II to an old woman glimpsed in a darkened doorway. Arnold wasn’t merely lucky, as erstwhile subjects Anjelica Huston and Isabella Rossellini attest, as do eight of her colleagues quoted in editor Lardinois’ commentary. With subjects who expected her—basically, the famous ones—she took time for them to become inured to her presence, all the while studying them so that when she photographed she would have a feeling for their most characteristic gestures and expressions. She became so adept at
portraying Marilyn Monroe that her pictures of her are some of the most individuating, hence most iconic, of that quintessential movie star. For the humbler people she lensed in groundbreaking assignments to Afghanistan in 1969, South Africa in 1973, and China in 1979, she depended on a developed photographer’s intuition that was virtually nonpareil. —Ray Olson
How the Beatles Destroyed Rock ’n’ Roll: An Alternative History of American Popular Music. By Elijah Wald. June 2009. 352p. illus. Oxford, $24.95 (9780195341546). 781.640973.
Wald contends that the Beatles, when they became a studio-bound band, split listening music away from dancing music, creating a bifurcation in pop music as a whole that limits cross-pollination and separates white and black music makers because the latter rarely achieve the financial security to stop playing live for dance-oriented fans. Adamant that he is writing history, not criticism, Wald avoids qualitative assessment as he chronicles popular music from the early 1900s to rap, making frequent comparisons between Paul Whiteman’s band and the Beatles. Whiteman, though largely dismissed by critics today, was nearly as popular in his time as were the Beatles in theirs, but for Whiteman the technology to allow his band to stay active without live appearances didn’t exist. Wald’s quarrel isn’t with the Beatles as much as with mainstream media and music-biz publicity that lionize certain musical influences so that the past looks simpler than it was and pop-music history is skewed toward particular artists and styles whose importance is fundamentally more mythic than real. And that’s just Wald’s main argument. Engrossing stuff. —Mike Tribby
The Rough Guide to Anime. By Simon Richmond. June 2009. 292p. illus. Rough Guides, paper, $18.99 (9781858282053). 791.43.
Richmond on Japanese animation will be useful to both new fans and regular viewers, despite a few flaws. The first chapter’s history of anime is informative and interesting, and in chapter 2, Richmond presents the 50 greatest anime by his lights, which will probably stir up controversy among fans about what was selected and what left out. The guide bogs down in the middle, where the chapter on how anime are created fails to give the level of detail devout fans will want. Nor will such fans find any surprises thereafter, though those without prior knowledge will learn more about understanding anime. The guide is packed with Web-site citations, summaries and critiques of anime new and old, and even anime travel sites for fans planning to visit Japan. Minor typos and a tendency to repeatedly mention the same titles keep this from being a terrific book, but it’s still a strong read for its potential audience. —Snow Wildsmith YA/S: Plenty of history, cultural significance, and viewing recommendations for those moving beyond basic fandom. SW.
Adult 6/3/2009 9:37:35 AM
