Argento Books

If you are considering buying this book with the intention of a light read, don't waste your time or money. This book goes into depth on Argento's films. The symbolism, the soundtracks and scores, the actors used, the way art plays into the master's stories and so on -- everything is examined by various writers. Even Argento's television shows are looked at. And don't think it's all praise, either. The essays are honest, and each one brings something new to Argento's work.

FAB Press publishes some incredible books on film, and this is no exception. It's a labor of love, like all of FAB's books, and is meant for fans who take their directors/films seriously. Worth it at twice the price.

I use this book as my cookbook bible for Italian recipes. It is in Italian, and written for the Italian audience. Italian cooking in the US has generally evolved from regional recipes as they were brought to the US by immagrants, but adapted over the generations. For the original recipes as they are cooked now, by traditional cooks in Italy, this book is invaluable.
The index is highly categorized by types of course and main ingredients in those courses. For example the main dish category of Fish is subdivided into Anchovies, Eel, Herring, Cod, Hake, Sea Bass, etc. while another category Seafood includes Squid, Octopus, Clams, Cuttlefish, etc. In addition there is an Alphabetical index where all recipes are listed by title. So if you have the Italian name for a dish, but don't know what it is, you can still find it very easily! Navigating the over 1000 pages of recipes is very simple.
Interspersed throughout the book are fabulous full-page, color photos of individual dishes. Yum!
As in most Italian cooking, the recipes are not complex, and usually there are 5-10 ingredients. If you can read Italian, you will cook fabulously from this book!

Broken Minds is a soon to be published book. It should 'hit the streets' October 2005. Its sub title is "Hope for Healing When You Feel Like You're Losing It".
The book is about mood disorders, especially as one who has "been there", author Steve Bloem. It is co-authored by his wife Robyn Bloem. An aim of the authors is to help both the sufferer of mental illness and her/his caregivers, get out of the dark pit of depression. Stigma still surrounds depression and other forms of mental illness. The church of Jesus Christ is asked to deal with the taboo of suicide and also the pervasive pain that is inherent in maladies of the mind.
It is easy to read and chocked full of important truths for the reader. Kregel publications says it well, "A deeply personal, yet practical, book for Christians who are clinically depressed or have been diagnosed with a mental illness. Mental illness. Those words bring to mind frightening scenes of padded walls, white straightjackets, and screaming people. But mental illness is often much more subtle-and much more prevalent than we imagine. Unfortunately, people who are diagnosed as being mentally ill may not understand what is happening to them. And for Christians, some "helpful" leaders heap on guilt, saying that the problem is spiritual rather than physical in nature. This book takes Steve's personal story of major depression and weaves through it Robyn's insights and Steve's professional knowledge. The result is a tapestry of practical information- including definitions, treatment options, government services available, and interactions with the church and God-and a deep compassion for those who feel like their world is falling apart".

I have learned so much from reading this book.

I purchased it when it first came out (long ago kiddies) but since then have ordered an extra copy.

McDonagh is an excellent writer, very cerebral, very descriptive, and thorough.

She dissects each film bit by bit until you, the reader, have a COMPLETE understanding of Argento's films and the way he thinks.

This is SUCH a small price to pay for such excellent, in-depth research; it is like taking a film course for free, considering how inexpensive the book is.

Take my advice. If you love Argento (and not just because of the gore) read his films.

On the other hand, if you're the type who likes his films cause "the death scenes are cool" PULEAZE don't bother!

McDonagh provides an excellent introduction to Argento's films. I found it very helpful in writing my book on the Poe cinema. Her critiques are insightul and on the mark.

Maitland has written a very admirable study of one of the world's most interesting horror filmmakers. She even goes to the trouble of defending the more nonsensical moments of Arengto's films. For example, the scene in Suspiria where a murder victim stumbles across a room full of barbed wire makes no logical sense, but after you read Maitland explain how Argento works (kind of like surrealists, he uses a technique called "Automatic writing" which involves very little, if any, editing) you begin to understand that maybe Argento isn't neccesarily TRYING to make sense. At any rate she does a fine job of defending him, as well as delving into recurring themes. One of the better books on a director you will ever read.

This is a great book. If you're a fan of Dario Argento, the Italian maestro of horror, or if you're just a fan of well-made, artistically-minded horror films, you should read this book (and should take a closer look at the films of Dario Argento).

"Broken Mirrors/Broken Minds" is out of print, but you can buy a used copy through Amazon.com (as I did) for a cheaper price. But then you must prepare yourself for a whirl-wind.

This book discusses in intimate detail the films of the great Dario Argento. The introduction gives us some context of who he is (ex-film critic, master of the beautiful and profane), where he came from (an Italian movie-making family and the tutelage of spaghetti-western-maker Sergio Leone), what he does (makes a particular style of thriller called a giallo and often draws on the broken imagery of dreams for his most effective material).

Then we're off on a film-by-film analysis of Argento's career. We study the films he's made, the choices he's made within those films, and gain an appreciation, if we don't already have one, of why this Argento is such a unique, talented film-maker.

"Broken Mirrors/Broken Minds" often reads like the film school thesis which it is. Words and phrases like "diegetic," "filmic," and the old favorite "mise-en-scene" abound. But you shouldn't let that deter you, even if you aren't of the overly critical, or analytical stock. There is a lot of fascinating stuff in this book, and you're sure to walk away from it with a bigger, more profound appreciation for the films and career of one of the greats in the horror field, Dario Argento. And if you haven't seen all of Argento's films, or if it's been a while, reading this book is a great excuse to catch up on them.

What surprised me most about this book was that it was written by a woman. I didn't realize until I turned the last page of the book and read the "about the author" section that Maitland McDonagh has two X chromosomes. I guess I assumed because of the subject matter--the deliriously violent, at times arguably woman-unfriendly world of Dario Argento's deep red "filmic" nightmares--that a man must have written the book. But what a great perspective is given from the eyes and mind of a woman writing intelligently about horror films. You must go get this book.

PROFONDO ARGENTO is the second book I have ever bought from FAB Press. The first was ART OF DARKNESS: THE CINEMA OF DARIO ARGENTO which, to say the least, was a disappointment. A beautiful but empty pseudo-anyalis of the filmmaker's career, ART OF DARKNESS was about as stale and lifeless as any film book you'll ever encounter. It seems this problem has plagued a lot of the other tomes in the FAB Press line-up: BEYOND TERROR, their Lucio Fulci book, has also been cited as something of a waste. But PROFONDO, thankfully, trumps both of them and turns out to be one of the best, most invigorating studies of a cult filmmaker ever published.

The reason is simple: British author Alan Jones has spent the past twenty-five years or so working with Argento himself. He has been on the film sets of virtually all of the man's post-PHENOMENA films, and has access to rare behind-the-scenes info, opinions, and interviews that no one else would. Whereas Stephen Thrower felt merely content to sit in his room and type up 350 pages of heartless dross and call it a book, Jones actually has something to SHOW us. Simply put, any Argento fan cannot go without this book. Unless the director himself writes it, there will never be a better book about his career.

Features chapters dedicated to each of the man's movies up to NON HO SONNO (SLEEPLESS), interviews with cast and crew (and Argento himself), behind-the-scenes photos, color artwork, and brief sections on Argento contemporaries like Asia, Michele Soavi, etc. The only thing it doesn't have is information on the man's childhood, etc.

Despite the popularity of horror throughout the 70's, 80's and 90's and its acceptance by academia and critics as a valid form of cinematic expression, it is astonishing that there has been so few books about Italian director Dario Argento. The first serious study was by Maitland McDonagh in 1994's BROKEN MIRRORS, BROKEN MINDS. This was followed in 2003 by ART OF DARKNESS edited by Chris Gallant. If you're looking for books that explore the deeper themes of Argento's work then I would recommend both of these over Alan Jones' PROFONDO ARGENTO. Jones' effort is perfectly usable, but lacks the sophistication and thematic depth of the other two. The book also suffers from an irritating degree of sycophancy, which comes from Jones' well documented friendship with Argento. This is all very good, but why do we need to know about it? Far too much of this book is anecdotal, which detracts both from the enjoyment and any objective critical stance. In compensation though, as one would expect from FAB PRESS, the book is attractively illustrated. Many of the photos come from Jones' personal collection, and for this he should be commended. There is certainly enthusiasm here and one can tell that for Jones it was a labour of love, and on occasion the prose is exciting and imaginative.

As an introduction to Argento's cinema I would recommend PROFONDO ARGENTO as your first port of call (having made sure you have watched all the available films of course), compared to the other two major works on him, it is light, entertaining and readable. But be warned, in this book the story of Argento's cinema is also the story of Alan Jones, and I for one am certainly not interested in the latter.

If there is one valid complaint to be made about this book it is that there is too much information presented within its pages. Argento fans know there is no such thing as "too much information" when it comes to the master of Italian film, though.

Interviews, rare photos and lobby cards, film reviews and more are presented in this gorgeous book. If you are an Argento fan and haven't read this, you are truly missing out. There is something for even the most die-hard fanatic to learn.

All Argento fans can rejoice with the publication of Alan Jones' book Profondo Argento: The Man, The Myth And the Magic. Everything a fan(or newcomer)wanted to know about Dario Argento's work(films, reviews, interviews, articles, etc.) is practically here. It is extremely well researched, with lots of interviews and articles, and it is profusely illustrated with images, posters and people associated with Argento's work and world. The best thing is that the book is pretty much up to date, covering Argento's latest giallo "The Card Player." This book is definitely a work of love by a fan for the fans and I find myself always referring to it quite frequently. A true delight well worth for the price. I highly recommend it.

While portions of this excellent treatise on the ultra violent Italian filone known as the giallo are dry and, imo -best left for academia than print- what makes Koven's book special are the chapters on what elements constitute a giallo film.

From the amateur detectives to the killer(s), inventive set-pieces and everything in between, this portion of Koven's book makes my gialli viewing experiences all the more fun.

Mikel J. Koven's academic study of the Italian genre known as giallo is destined to become an important part of the discourse surrounding this much maligned culturally specific form. This book is the first of its kind, an English language study which takes a broad approach to the genre, and doesn't just centre in on a few exceptional directors and films. The first few chapters are the most interesting and add to the debate around popular European cinema and the possible reasons for its dismissal and marginalisation. Koven proposes the term 'vernacular cinema' rather than popular, and argues that giallo films were constructed formally and thematically for a working class rural audience. Therefore the language of these films is one that is formed by and recognisable too a certain type of audience in Italy. An audience which would have both a fascination and ambivalence toward the chic cosmopolitan modernity represented by these films. Koven further argues this was a distracted and unfocused audience, hence the giallo's reliance on punctuating dull narrative exposition with graphic and violent set pieces. I would suggest that it is in Koven's discussion of the reception and consumption of giallo that holds the greatest interest. The remainder of the book is a broad, but extremely well written exploration of the formal and thematic conventions of giallo, for die hard fans of these films this will seem familiar, but its very nice having it written down in academic terms for future reference. Koven's discussion of the set piece is also noteworthy, in that he suggests the set piece, which seems to continue long after its narrative justification, is very close to Pasolin's concept of poetic cinema. It is hard to argue for these films in the terms of art cinema, but Koven pulls it off. This is certainly not the last word on giallo within academic terms of reference, but it is an excellent starting point and will become a crucial book for students of popular European cinematic forms.