Category: Book Review

The True Gospel Preached Here by Bruce West My rating: 5 of 5 stars Lots of people stumbled onto Margaret’s Grocery by accident, taking the cutoff from Highway 61 into Vicksburg, Miss. It was an incredible site and its maker, the Rev. H.D. Dennis, was just as incredible (and voluble). Bruce West not only stopped, he developed a continuing relationship with Dennis and his wife, the site’s eponymous Margaret. The book documents the evolution of the environment, from his early encounter to its decay after the couple had died. West’s photos and text gives the site, and the couple, their

Even if you are not a totem pole fancier, it’s wonderful to see Hall and Glascock retrieve model totem poles from souvenirial obscurity. Besides showing numerous examples of great work, the book names the artists, tracks the evolution of the genre both artistically and socially, and identifies tribal and regional styles. And they don’t scoff at the souvenirs either, reflecting a sensibility forged by decades of engagement with regional, folk, self-taught and popular-craft art.

Illuminating Fashion: Dress in the Art of Medieval France and the Netherlands, 1325-1515 by Anne van Buren My rating: 5 of 5 stars I can’t say I could explain the difference between a houpeland and a cotehardie, but now I roughly know what they are. This culmination of a lfe’s work is a truly amazing book, tracing the evolution of late medieval high fashion over two centuries. Van Buren systematically analyzed the clothing In every image she could firmly date for her period. The illustrations are beautiful and the text’s illuminations bring a new dimension to pictures that might sometimes

American Ruins by Camilo José Vergara My rating: 5 of 5 stars Ruin porn with redeeming social value. Vergara doesn’t just exploit decayed and collapsing buildings for their sad beauty. He gets to know them, and sometimes their denizens and neighbors, complementing his lovely photos with engaging, and often depressing, stories. View all my reviews