Art History Books

This book shows great insite into the history of the firecracker and the intricate artwork involved with the packaging of them. The clarity of the illustrations are wonderful, its hard to believe some of the labels are as old as they are. I highly recommend this book to anyone who can remember the excitement of being able to "set off" these firecrackers on the 4th of July, without worrying about breaking the law. Those of you who were not as lucky to experience this thrill, will definitely find this book fun.

My husband was looking for a book on firecrackers and I tried the local book stores, i.e. Barnes and Nobles, Bookmart, Books a Million, but no luck. I browsed the internet and the reviews on firecracker reference materials were few and far between. Finally I came across this book on Amazon and took a chance it would please him.....he's quite picky about his reference library. This soft-cover book is GREAT! It is packed with beautiful, vibrant full color photos of the common labels all the way up to the very rare. The book layout is dotted with photos and the glossary is helpful to even the intermediate collector. The section "Interview with a Collector" gives a nice insightful look into the pursuit of fireworks labels. The history of firecrackers is also discussed, giving the collector a great back-story to the industry. No price guide, but that is fine with my husband, as it tends to date a book after a couple of years. This is an informative addition to the Hubby's library......he's happy and I'm glad.

Excellent beautifully illustrated book well worth the money. The illustrations and layout are extremely well done. This is easy reading that covers some terrtory not well documented anywhere else (Vietnam.) Some historical inaccuracies especially in the history of the manufacture of "Chinese" crackers in the 20th century. Overall an excellent job! Highly reccomended to anyone who has an interest in the subject, or who just likes the imagery of the old labels.

Bright, colorful pages packed with color illustrations and photos chart the art and history of the firecracker, from their construction and advancement to the making of labels and items promoting them. Beautiful drawings pack an illustrated history which invites leisure browsers as much as researchers, and which is very highly recommended for general library collections.

(As noted in the last pages of this book, firecrackers are now politically incorrect, suffering the wrath of do-gooders, safety mavens and law enforcement. For those of us old enough to remember a pre-"nanny state" summer, this book brings back wonderful memories. By the time I was old enough to get real cherry bombs, they were outlawed. But I could tell a few stories...)

I always wondered how even today, firecrackers in their millions could be produced. The answer, documented in his book, surprised me. This book reveals the fate of the companies whose names appeared on the labels I saw in the 1960s. Ever wonder what happened to Kwong Hing Tai? The authors reveal how the firecracker trade developed in China and made its way to the United States. Even some of today's importers are mentioned.

Technically speaking, the book is well printed and the illustrations are crisp and sharp, not bad for paper originals that may be most of 100 years old. Although not exhaustive, there is good reference for collectors. I'd recommend you to get a copy of this book while it is still available. I look forward to many hours of pleasure leafing through my copy.

I work with kids in K-6 and I bought this for them. The book is very cool and it has been fun seeing what the kids do with the different pages!

I grew up with these books, and am thrilled they are still in print. The Anti-Coloring books are a wonderful alternative to mindlessly coloring between the lines. And at 9 years old, my oldest is not even close to outgrowing this series. Highly recommended!!!

I remember having one of these books when I was a kid. And now, twenty years later, I have another one. I love it.

My son is 9 and absolutely loves this book. We've limited it to one activity a day so that he doesn't finish it too quickly (there are only about 35 or 40 in the book). I would recommend this book for any creative child - we will definately be buying more in this series.

Many times kids want to make something but don't know where to start. These books get the creative juices flowing. I loved them when I was a kid and now both of my kids love them.

A nicely researched and insightful biography of Florence Lawrence, one of the most shadowy yet important figures of early cinema. Many things about Florence's life and career will perhaps always remain vague, but Kelly Brown gives a worthy account of America's "first movie star." It is refreshing to know that Flo is finally getting the recognition she deserves. This book is a must for the true film buff.

This slender volume is fascinating because it finally paints a well-researched picture of the long forgotten Florence Lawrence. I've always been fascinated by her after seeing publicity stills of her from the mid-1900s. She appeared to be warm, charismatic and fascinating. Her greatest tragedy is that none of her films have been shown in eighty years. I have one of her shorts, "Flo's Discipline" which only lasts about twelve minutes but it gives you a hint of how dazzling she was before the cameras. While her cohort, Mary Pickford, went onto a spectacular career that included mind-boggling salaries and a world-famous Hollywood castle, Pickfair, poor Lawrence was living in a small, hotel room, being paid a few dollars a week as an extra at MGM. Her life would make a wonderful movie--and a cautionary tale about the pitfalls of how fleeting fame is, and how fickle is the public when it comes to remaining faithful to the flavor of the month.

Florence Lawrence was an enigma I had always wanted to know about, having been interested in silent films for many years. Information on her was scarce, save for some still photographs in silent movie history books. Kelly Brown really did her homework, in what must have been a difficult task, digging up information about a star whose heyday was almost 90 years ago! Congratulations, Kelly, on a job well done! I can't recommend this book highly enough!

I always enjoy a good biography, especially those of the nearly forgotten silent screen stars. This biography of Florence Lawrence was well researched and had many wonderful photos. The author did a good job with the resources available. Most of the films and people involved in silents are gone now, so the job is doubly difficult. Although pricey, this biography is well worth reading.

Florence Lawrence was "big" before there were movie stars. She was the original "Biograph Girl" before Mary Pickford was given that name by movie fans. After losing her job at Biograph, she was hired by Carl Laemmle's IMP company (later Universal). As a publicity stunt, Laemmle started a rumor that she was dead. Then she made a personal appearance in St. Louis and was mobbed by fans.

Unfortunately she was pretty much out of work in five years. Poor managemet by her husband Harry, as well as a painful injury forced her into bit parts. She was still acting in very small parts into 1938, when she gave up on life and committed suicide.

Kelly Brown has done an incredible research job. Using Florence's surviving correspondence, as well as trade magazine artices and advertisements, she has reconstructed Florence's life. The book has many footnotes noting sources, and there is a very detailed filmography. Instead of a book full of dry facts, Ms. Brown keeps Florence's story interesting. If you are interested in early cinema, or even important women actresses, you should definitely read this book.

I like how this book shows how Gehry's architecture progressed from his Senior Thesis Project to his recent works. It's interesting how simple his architecture once was, to how much more complex it is now. Buy this book, you will always enjoy it.

i did not have a good impression of gehry until i got this book. i got it because i had to know what this guy is thinking when he comes up with what i thought was "ugly" stuff (i now feel ashamed to admit that). now i see the beauty of his work.
my eyes have been opened. i now have a greater respect for what he is doing.
the photography is amazing...the book provides sketches and insight into what gehry is trying to do.
must have for architectural students/interns

This book represents all what Frank Gehry is. With beautiful photos and good texts, you can know all work of this that's one of the best architets of actuality. Frank Gehry's Complete Works must be bought and read, it's like a bible of desconstrutivism architetury. The price is wonderfull and the quality too. I love it.

This is a book to people who have a bad idea of gehry work, like i had, because is amazing how the author made an retrospective of gehry work with so much quality and quantity work. And remember, this book is really "cheap" because is very good. IN MY OPINION, JUST BUY IT!

Architecture is my first love although I am a Art History Major. So without any dobt I knew this publication would be right up my ally. To say the least I was not dissappointed. A brief, illustrated synopsis was given on all projects right up to the current "Music Experience" extravaganza. One point I found of particular interest was that in most of the Bios it gave the Budget that Gehry had to work in. It is a massive book and printed on top quality stock. One that will last a lifetime in my Library. It is a book worthy of any one interested in cutting edge design. Although alot of the projects are in Europe as they seem to be more accepting of his progressive designs the commissioned works in America are just as fine. I can only anticipate the "New Guggenheim"in New York.

Just read what everyone else has written...

She needs to climb out from those piles of ramie/cotton blends and update her book for us!

"If You Ask Me" collects 61 of Libby Gelman-Waxner's (aka Paul Rudnick) comedic movie columns from Premiere Magazine's first 5 years, 1988 until her 5th Anniversary column in 1993. Balancing roles as Assistant buyer in Junior's Activewear, East Side yenta, and "American's most beloved and irresponsible film critic", Libby lambasts movie cliches, aging movie stars, and directors who suffer from Auteur's Syndrome. She swoons over hunky actors and fixates on actresses' coiffures. She keeps us current on the movie-going adventures of her orthodontist husband Josh, perfect daughter Jennifer, tragically single friend Stacey Schiff, and cousin Andrew. Libby is laugh-out-loud funny.

Those who followed Libby's career until the demise of Premiere Magazine in spring 2007 can see how she became the critic we know and love and revisit some long-retired features like "The Libby Awards" and "Letters to Libby". It is amazing and hilarious how seriously some readers took her. Libby's first five years were more manic and plagued with run-on sentences than her later years. This book witnesses the point at which she hit her stride as a critic, about 2 ½ years in, with an article entitled "The Entertainment Factor". Before that, Libby was scattershot and not quite a reviewer.

Of course, Libby's foremost intention was always to entertain. But in those cases when more serious reviewers all got it wrong, which occur like clockwork twice a year, Libby set us straight. Those columns are among her best, and they earned her my respect as a critic. Libby's gossipy wit was also on hand to observe the cinematic transition from the 1980s to 1990s in her column "Making Nice". Her scrutiny of '80s Greed versus "'90s New Niceness", i.e. hypocrisy, is another example of incisive commentary in a deceptively shallow package.

"If You Ask Me" is a wonderfully entertaining volume that no movie buff should be without. Libby could get away with saying what other critics couldn't, because her comments were shrouded in humor. She got even better than this, so it's unfortunate that the other 14 years of Libby are not available as a book. The Introduction refers to this as "Volume 1", so I hope that Paul Rudnick has not completely forgotten about that implication and we can expect the rest of Libby soon. Although the movies are listed under the article titles in the table of contents, an index of movies would have been helpful, as would dates on the articles.

With the demise of Premiere magazine, the time has come to update this hysterical tome and bring every last one of Libby's incisive, razor-sharp observations together into one volume. Surely her devoted fanbase deserves that much...

If you ask me, Libby is the best thing - and sadly often the only thing - worth reading in Premiere. This book is a collection of some of her earlier columns.

I remember picking it up in a bookstore, and reading the part about "Rain Man" and laughing so much I was helplessly bent over and terrified that I would be thrown out or carted away by men in white coats. Luckily, I wasn't.

Hollywood badly needs someone to prick its enormous bubble of egotism, and Libby is always up to the job. Many movie stars are in desperate need of a reality check, a reminder that their hangnails aren't on the same level as say, world peace.

In addition to Libby, we meet her adorable children, Mitchell-Shawn and Jennifer, her friend the terminally single Stacy Schiff, her husband Josh (like Bill Clinton he can balance a budget, then jog over to pick up a bag of donuts), her mother, and her shrink - all of whom contribute columns.

Equally funny if not funnier than Dave Barry at his best, this book is a worthy addition to anyone with a slightly warped sense of humor's shelf.

You'll come for the hysterical observations, but you'll stay for the depth of thought. In reviewing Field of Dreams, for example, in between tart and hysterical observations about Kevin Costner's ambit, we get the incredible telling and onpoint observation that James Earl Jones' character seems oblivious to the fact that baseball was segregated in 1919. Whoa, Libby, you snuck that one in on us. Libby's humor is premised in her unabashed shallowness in movie tastes--she doesn't want to see Calcutta, she wants to see a cut up Patrick Swayze (one of the studs of her era)--and in her understanding of the Hollywood culture that movies reflect. In noting that the jobs women have in movies shift from art gallery director to caterers, she observes that these are great things for Hollywood wives of movie executives to do for "fulfillment" for a month or two, but not the way that the average woman in the real world will be pulling in the bread. Well, she makes that observation in a less heavy handed and much more hilarious way. Libby, forgive me, I lack your craft.

The most important thing about this book is that it is always fun and never self-important. Paul Rudnick, the man behind Libby, had fun with it, and so will you. In Libby fashion, I should note that my adorable mother, Mary Christine Motes, recommended this book to me. Thanks, Mum.

In The Wings is a wonderful book to own especially if you or the person you're buying the book for has had dance training. It's a wonderful look at everything you don't see before the performance. The morning warm up, ten-minute break, and exhausting rehearsals. My only gripe is that it's small! I was hoping this would be a coffee table book but it is in fact compact and very easy to take around.

The pictures and commentary are fabulous and give an in depth look into the goings on of the NYCB.

Highly recommended for the content and both black and white and color photographs. Only downer is the size, but that is easily looked past when you see what an amazing book this is.

I wish this book would have received more attention upon its release. It is a fabulous book of photographs and commentary from someone, a dancer, on the inside at New York City Ballet and is filled with images, wonderful images, that one would likely not otherwise see in any other ballet book. For the fan of NYCB it's a must have, but would be equally at home on the shelf of any ballet or photography fan. Mr. Froman has produced a keeper. Bravo!!!

This book is not another valentine to the New York City Ballet - it's far more authentic than that, and far more important. It's an often poignant look at what it's been like for this thoughtful, creatively gifted dancer to grow up in the company, with all the joys and disappointments that come with that surreal but privileged life.
I've always thought of Kyle Froman as a beautiful dancer, but as it turns out he's also a gifted photographer and an elegant writer as well. His photographs and his words have a penetrating honesty, and the book succeeds so brilliantly because it rings so true.

Rarely do I write in about purchases I've made, but In The Wings deserves mention. I bought this book for my daughter, a twelve-year old aspiring dancer, but when it arrived in the mail, I found myself completely immersed in it.
I don't consider myself a ballet buff. What I immediately identified with was the dancers' devotion to their art. I loved the fact that Froman didn't portray this world as sugary sweet. In page after page of gorgeous photography, he showed what it was like to devote yourself to something, what it takes from you, and what it gives back. Bravo, Kyle Froman

This book provides a great look behind-the-scenes at my favorite ballet company, New York City Ballet. Kyle's photos are super and his story of a day in the life of a dancer is revealing, funny and moving all at once.

I wrote about the book at my blog, Oberon's Grove.

This book is a great way to collect some of Tolkien's best works of art and to get a glimpse behind the scenes of one of the greatest literary figures of the 20th century. Highly recommended.

Lleno de ilustraciones color, y algunas en blanco y negro. Me gusta porque es lo que Tolkien imaginó para sus obras... eso es lo que lo hace más hermoso. Además demuestra que Tolkien era un alma muy sensible, amante de la naturaleza, y esto se refleja no solo en sus libros sino también en sus dibujos. Me gustaría que estos dibujos estén incluidos en sus obras, no solo los dibujos de otros artistas. Hermoso, hermoso, para todos los admiradores de Tolkien.

This book features many of Tolkien's ink, watercolor, pencil, and colored pencil works. The detailed descriptions of each drawing include history, explanations, and dates. Quite a few maps are included, as well as illustrations for The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. It is wonderful to see how Tolkien imagined Middle Earth and its inhabitants. The colors he used are very earthy and lovely.

My favorite drawing in this book is "End of the World" done in pencil and colored pencil on a sheet of notebook paper - you can actually see the lines of the paper. It is so simple; yet, the story it tells includes subtle intricacies and complexities similar to those in his writings. I also love the pencil and colored pencil drawing, "The Tree of Amalion," which obviously blooms with the flowers of Tolkien's imagination since they do not resemble traditional flowers. Finally, the hand drawn Christmas cards are beautiful mini-stories with dancing bears and penguins, and Father Christmas making deliveries.

This book is truly exquisite, full of details and surprises for those of us who didn't know Tolkien was an extremely talented artist. It is a worthwhile purchase in my opinion.

J.H. Sweet, author of The Fairy Chronicles

With the reissue of Tolkien's cover of "The Hobbit" and other original drawings that he did, it seems like an appropriate time to pick up this book. Why? Because for a really complete vision of Tolkien's work (Lord of the Rings, Hobbit, and all the rest) it's probably best to see it as he saw it.

This book contains all the artwork that Tolkien created (NOT all the artwork BASED on his works, just the stuff he did himself!). Some are miscellaneous sketches and doodles, some are watercolors, ink drawings, prints, pencil sketches, and combinations of all of the above. One doodle looks like multicolored snowflakes, some are landscapes or pictures of little houses, teddy bears, owls, and so on. Very cute and cool, especially the illustrations done for "Roverandum."

And many are Middle-Earth related -- different views of the Misty Mountains or the Elvenking's hall, the evolution of what the Shire looked like, different Laketowns, different "Doors of Durin," even drawings of the tattered pages of the Dwarf Book of Moria. Near the end, even Tolkien's design drawings for LOTR book covers are included. And, of course -- MAPS! Maps of Wilderland, as well as the famous map from "Hobbit."

The text accompanying these many pictures carefully dissects all of the drawings and their importance, as well as how they evolved. (It's a bit like looking at concept art) As well as going over only Tolkien's work, Wayne G. Hammond also examines influences on Tolkien's artwork. For example, there is a fairy-tale picture that influenced a "Hobbit" picture, and a scientific drawing of a golden eagle that influenced another "Hobbit" picture with Bilbo.

This is a must-read for fans of J.R.R. Tolkien, a great peek into a great mind. And it emphasizes that Tolkien was not just a brilliant writer, but a brilliant artist as well. Great stuff, definitely a must-see.

Any fan of Tolkien has seen how others imagine Middle earth, from the art of Alan Lee to the films by Peter Jackson there are countless examples. This book is a treasure in that it gives us a look into Tolkien's own view of what Middle Earth looked like. Before buying this book I had no idea that Tolkien was so accomplished an artist. There are more drawings and paintings of "The Hobbit" than "Lord of the Rings," but this is a must own book for any serious reader of Tolkien.

In a career spanning hundreds of movies from "Tolerable David" in 1930 up until literally his death in 1988, John Carradine blessed this world with his many florid theater, film, and television performances. His greatest role(in his opinion) was split between major parts in the classics "Stagecoach" and "The Grapes of Wrath", both directed by John Ford. He loved to work. He loved Shakespeare. He loved women. The book details his three marriages, his drunken parties with John Barrymore, and his jail time for late alimony payments. And here, for horror fans, is a detailed breakdown of every film, from "House of Dracula" to "Satan's Cheerleaders". The large hardcover tome is complete with a myriad of pictures and posters. John Carradine is truly part of American cinema legacy. He died in Milan, Italy, attending a special screening of "Stagecoach".

All the other big names of horror-movie-actors have been covered: Karloff, Lugosi, Chaney, Lee, Cushing, Price ... Here is finaly the first book about John Carradine and all his films (and not only the B-Movie-Horrorfilms !)It was time !

German: Endlich ein Buch über den grossen John Carradine. All seine Horrorfilm-Schauspielkollegen sind ausreichend gewürdigt worden, von Lugosi, Chaney und Karloff über Price, Lee und Cushing. Nun endlich gibt es ein Werk mit vollständiger Filmograhie (und nicht nur die Horror-B-Filme) über diesen Altmeister. Wie alles aus dem McFarland-Verlag teuer aber in jeder Beziehung in Topqualität !

Everyone recognizes his face, but few can name him. John Carradine was a memorable character actor who gave rich performances in big and small budget pictures. Finally, a book has been written about him that not only explores his life via anecdotes and interviews interspersed throughout, but his vein of work that stretched innumerable decades and genres. Author Tom Weaver has crafted a fun and lively chronological read, putting together little-known information and revealing asides to enhance our knowlegde of the work of an aspiring actor. Perhaps now, more people will seriously reappraise Carradine's work and give him the consideration he's due.

He's the actor everyone knew, but few knew anything about. Here - finally - is the definitive look at the horror icon's hundreds of films, and his surprising life, including the strained relationship with his sons. Best of all, it's by two of the brightest lights in the field.

John Carradine's career spanned six decades and films thatranged from acclaimed classics (The Grapes of Wrath) to undisputedstinkers (can anyone say anything positive about Billy The Kid Vs. Dracula?). In John Carradine: The Films, author Tom Weaver deftly documents each and every film of the multi-talented actor. Complete cast and credits listings, synopsis and author commentarty for each film are included, as are remembrances from various co-stars, directors, Carradine's sons and even Carradine himself.

Weaver's commentaries on the films spices up the usual dryness found in many "Films Of" books, due to their rather strict cast/crew/summary formula. An opinionated reviewer/critic, Weaver doesn't pull his punches in offering up his takes on Carradine's films. Whether or not you agree with his views, it's nice to hear definite opinions for a change in a book like this, instead of the oft-times "take-no-controversial-stand" approach which, while certainly objective, doesn't always make for the most fascinating or interesting reading.

And for regular readers of the author, not to fear...the classic puns are here in good abundance, and will not fail to make one groan and shake one's head on occasion.

Rounding out this tribute to the "thin" Dracula are recollections of Carradine from directors Joe Dante and Fred Olen Ray, and a mini-biography by Gregory Mank. Carradine's flamboyance, lust for life, and love of Shakespeare, as well as his regrets and resignation to the many poor roles he either chose or was forced to accept in order to "feed the family" are just a few of the many sides to the actor that are captured by Mank.

In all, Tom Weaver has assembled an extraordinarily fine and fitting tribute to a too-long overlooked personage of classic horror history. Par for the course for the author, John Carradine: The Films is thoroughly researched, hugely informative, frequently amusing, and most importantly: simply a must-have book.

By all means, buy this book! This is one of the most engrossing art books that I have come across. Each reproduction has crystalline clarity and the accompanying information makes for very interesting reading. You find yourself really interested in all the people depicted.
This is an excellent combination of art and text, without the book becoming a glorified textbook, but still being useful for research. I purchased the book mainly for the art and I am not disappointed! It's not one of those 'trick' art books that promise lush full color reproductions and actually consist of mostly black and white images. The only black and white included here depicts paintings that are lost. If you love J. S. Sargent's work, this is a great introduction to his earlier work and he only gets better!

i bought this book after seeing the sargent show at the met in new york. i have been studing it ever since. mr ormand, ms. kilmurray please hurry. you have brought the works of this great american master to life as no one has done before and i look forward in anticipation to vol 2.

i bought this book after seeing the sargent show at the met in new york. i have been studing it ever since. mr ormand, ms. kilmurray please hurry. you have brought the works of this great american master to life as no one has done before and i look forward in anticipation to vol 2.

This book is for Sargent lovers. His incredible talent oozes in these pages. I can't wait for Vol 2 of this beautiful production of Yale University Press. I got me a magnifying glass and have spent hours looking at the unbelievably grand flesh tones that Sargent commanded. You'll love reading the background data of these portrait commissions during Sargent's career. I would give it six stars if I could. See it to believe it.....if I could only paint like he did or anything barely close. One of my best of collection. Hurry up Yale and give us Vol 2.

This book is such a treasure, it is such a wonderful tribute to an American icon. The pictures are just amazing and the text highly informative. It is truly an amazing compelation of his early work. It is the first in a series of three and they are all consistantly good. If you are a fan of Sargent you will definitely what to possess all three. I highly recommend this book to anyone with an appreciation of great art from a one of the masters.

"Killing for Culture" is a fascinating look at the subject of death in film and other media. Of particular note is the history behind the "Snuff" film, an urban legend that has persisted for years of movies where someone on-camera is murdered, for real. Of course, not one single frame of a snuff film has ever been uncovered, but that hasn't stopped the legend from appearing, and re-appearing, over time.

In addition to the sections on snuff, other areas of the death genre are explored, from the "Mondo" films of the 1960s, to the present-day "Faces of Death" style gore feasts. It makes for a fascinating, if gruesome, study of the various death genres of film and video.

CREATION books has taken over the world of publishing books about cinema and this is the best one the have released. A very thourough, well researched and fascinating journey into the subterrainian world of the Mondo movie. David and David approach the subject with abject skill and make every word count even when describing films that would send the average person into a coma for years to come.

This book breaks the barriers and dispells the myths makig it an essential purchase for anyone interested in the darker regions of cinema.

Autopsies. Car crashes. Suicides. Executions. Horrible accidents. Human remains. Assassinations. Welcome to the horrifying and disturbing yet often weirdly fascinating world of death in film. Face it, most people are strangely attracted by images of violence and death - just like stopping and watching when an accident has happened.
KILLING FOR CULTURE concerns death in films. The book starts with the story of an obscure movie named SNUFF in 1976. Originally titled SLAUGHTER, this 1971 ultracheapo horror flick about a MANSON - style murder spree was considered unwatchable and remained unreleased for several years until movie producer Allan SHACKLETON got an idea: He shot a new ending, where an actress was seemingly "killed" on camera for real (though the basement special effects clearly proofed otherwise). Cleverly promoted with the slogan "shot in South America, where life is cheap" SNUFF turned out to be a huge success. This was how the concept of snuff movies (where people are killed for real) was introduced. Other feature films like EMMANUELLE IN AMERICA or LAST HOUSE ON DEAD END STREET further elaborated on this concept. The authors review the above mentioned films and many more in great detail and with much knowledge.
Further chapters revolve around the socalled "mondo" (shockumentary) film and how this genre evolved, starting with MONDO CANE in 1962. Writers KEREKES and SLATER show in a very detailed way, how mondo directors faked and re-enacted death footage, which was allegedly "real". I found this making - of approach particularly interesting. Many of the horrifying mondo films (like THE KILLING OF AMERICA and the infamous FACES OF DEATH series) are dealt with in lengthy reviews. Considering the subject matter one might expect that the book is written in an exploitative way. This clearly is not the case.
Further chapters concern films where real atrocity footage was used - like the US porn movie FORCED ENTRY about a posttraumatic stress disorder suffering Vietnam veteran rapist, whose "activities" are interspersed with actual combat newsreel footage. The last chapter details how tabloid papers and feminists are propagating the urban legend of snuff films.
The sheer amount of facts concerning real reel death the authors have crammed in the relatively small book is amazing:
Hospital documentaries like the 6 hour long NEAR DEATH. Nauseating underground films. The famous ZAPRUDER amateur film of the assassination of president John F. KENNEDY. Autopsy films like THE ACT OF SEEING WITH ONE'S OWN EYES. Driver education films depicting the daily carnage on the streets. Incidents where people committed suicide live in front a camera - like Pennsylvania state treasurer Budd R. DWYER, who blew his brains out with a .357 revolver during a press conference after being convicted of bribery. The GIMME SHELTER concert film, where a camera by accident caught some Hell's Angels stabbing a man. (Please note that these are only a few examples of what to find in this excellent book.)
The book is illustrated with dozens of highly interesting pictures (video covers, stills, posters, ad material, newspaper clips).
And, yes, the infamous Japanese GUINEA PIG series is covered as well. On a lighter note, the authors also review a hoax autopsy film of a Roswell alien (!)
As you can image this book is disturbing, sometimes revolting and could be offensive to some. Clearly it is only for the most devoted fan of extreme and obscure cinema/film and the most hardened horror buff. But for these groups it is absolutely indispensable. I can't praise it high enough.

A much-needed, carefully researched book that looks into the darkest of cinematic shadows. I especially like that they debunk the snuff film industry. Also commendable are the copious footnotes and the exhaustive index that lists movies by their alternate titles, directors, and years of production--very helpful when scouring the video stores for "Guinea Pig 2," "Man Behind the Sun," or even "Gimme Shelter." Certainly it gets into some stomach-churning descriptions, but I appreciate the dispassionate approach to a topic usually dealt with by pandering, slavering idiots. These Creation books, man I love 'em.

Killing for Culture is the first and most sought after of the Creation Cinema series. It covers all types of death in film looking at how it is portrayed and why. Nothing is left out from the real death seen in the Faces of Death video series to the elaborately staged "real" killings in fictional films to the wanton slaughtering of animals in the Mondo series. Yes, even "snuff" films are discussed in various sections first looking at their depiction in Hollywood films such as Hardcore (1979) and then speculating on their existence.

The chapters on snuff films is definitely the most interesting if for no other reason than this is probably one of the only available filmic studies of it. Kerekes and Slater share the opinion that while there probably ARE a small number of snuff films in existence, it's highly unlikely that there was ever any sort of underground market for that sort of thing. They define snuff not as a film of someone simply dying, but as a film made for the sadistic pleasure of the viewer. In that sense, TV news clips of plane crashes and such do not constitute snuff. Along the way, they examine some films rumored to have actual deaths onscreen. Films like Last House on Dead End Street (1977) and Snuff (1974) were made with the entire cast and crew using assumed names. Thus, they are sometimes seen as obscure films made by a bunch of psycho killers. Kerekes and Slater do a great job of finding out who actually made them and how they staged what many thought to be real murders.

There is a nice history of Mondo film and it looks at various cultural implications of Italian and, later, American film crews invading other countries, exploiting and terrorizing natives, and slaughtering animals senselessly. It will make you think twice before buying the new-to-DVD Mondo Caine series.

For anyone who has read a Creation Cinema book, this is not much different. There are many black and white stills of varying degrees of quality. The writing style is fairly sloppy. Kerekes and Slater are not cunning linguists in any respect. They are, however, good researchers and excellent film buffs. Their enthusiasm for these films are evident on every page. Their descriptions of the terrible plots, acting, and directing are quite funny, but it's always clear that as technically lacking as the films are, they still love them. As a fan of "bad" movies, I understand where they're coming from.

If you like films such as Thriller: A Cruel Picture, I Spit on Your Grave, Toolbox Murders, Nail Gun Massacre, etc., you'll find this book is an amazing resource. It's great that somebody is looking at these films in a somewhat academic way without forgetting that they are, above all, entertainment. This book has been out of print for a while now and as a result the price is fairly high (and getting higher). I recommend picking up a copy at any price before it's too late. Enjoy.