California Books

Voice of Youth Advocates Magazine October 2002 VOYA
Growing up in San Jose, California, Arturo Rodriguez and his brothers and sister endured an abusive father, their parents' unhappy marriage, and their father's absence after he returned to Mexico. Rodriguez coped as best he could, but his drinking and drug use, in the wrong place at the wrong times led to his incarceration in California's prison system for young offenders. Against all odds, he put his past behind him, married and had a family, and worked hard to overcome injustices and start a successful business. After his retirement Rodriguez began writing about his life and his family. This book is sequel to East Side Dreams (Dream House, 2001, published in Spanish as Sueños del Lado Este. In this second autobiographical book, he writes about childhood pranks and misdeeds, his mother's near fatal illness, his parent's divorce, the birth of his first child, and how his parents even eventually became friends.
The writing here is unpolished but sincere in true, and the reminiscences and descriptions are vivid and true to life. Neither how he grew to understand his father and other relatives whom he loved despite their flaws. His message for young readers is clear. It is possible to survived and overcome injustices and hardships. Rodriguez maintains a Web site at www EastSideDreams. com and invites readers to visit, view his picture alum, and perhaps send him an e-message. He will answer.-Sherry York Voice of Youth Advocates Magazine

The Midwest Book Review. May 7, 2002
East Side Dreams by Art Rodriguez is full of energy and the struggles that the author himself endured while growing up on the east side of San Jose, California in 1966.
I enjoyed reading this inspirational novel derived from the memories of a teenager who is now a mature and successful businessman.
East Side Dreams has been translated into Spanish to reach the Spanish speaking population in the United States.
As I read the troubling times of Art Rodriguez I couldn't relate to many of his predicaments, but I certainly felt compassion toward him and thanked God for my "normal" life. Mr. Rodriguez touches your heart as you read his passionate book of self-taught lessons.
As you read East Side Dreams, which captures the hopelessness of growing up with an unpleasant childhood, keep in mind that this life drove the author to his true passion-writing!
The author, Art Rodriguez has been honored by the New York Library System to be on the "2001 Books for Teenage List" for his book East Side Dreams. He was also given "The Mariposa Award-Best First Book" at the Latino Literary Hall of fame for this same book. Bravo! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and encourage young readers to read it, as there are plenty to learn from this book. It will bring tears to your eyes.

James A. Cox
Editor-in -Chief
The Midwest Book Review.

East Side Dreams is the debut book and memoir Art Rodriguez, of a Latino American who survived growing up on the rough side, at odds with a dictatorial father, and once an inmate of the California Youth Authority -- a prison system for young lawbreakers. Reflections on both happy and miserable times of his childhood, growing up, learning maturity and finally making a comfortable life for himself fill this heartfelt and revealing personal testimony. Highly recommended reading for young adults, East Side Dreams has justly earned the distinctions of being named the "Best First Book of the Latino Literary Hall of Fame", and has been honored as one of 200 Best Teenage Books in the United States by the New York Public Library System.

My son who is 21 came home with this book and said Mom you have got to read this book it is so good. So I said o.k. mejio let me read it! When I started to ready it it brought back so many memories (I grew up in the East Side of San Jose) and most of the things he was talking about I lived it. I laughed and cried and could not put down the book. This is a great book for all ages. After I got done reading it I gave it to my Father to read and he enjoyed it too.

Art Rodriguez takes us to jail with him so that we never need to go. He sits us next to him in his cell with nothing left to do but sit and remember. We try with him to connect the memories to being imprisoned, but there is no connection at all.

Although Art had an abusive father, he never once cites this as a reason for his violent behavior. He was a kid that made poor choices and got what he deserved. He blames no one but himself, and it is with this realization of responsibility that Art turns his life around. He went from street punk to a successful business man, a supportive father and an award winning author. He shows us that people can change and that bad mistakes are not the end of your life unless you allow them to be. Art Rodriguez is the silent roll model all troubled children are looking for.

This book is a great experience for audiences young and old. Buy it and read it.

This book should be required reading for every policy maker whose job involves food production. We're on the wrong track and heading for a cliff, and very few areas of the ocean are being properly managed. The book offers a wealth of data, is easily readable, and the conclusion is inescapable; we must learn to grow fish sustainably. The author knows this, and refers in a few places to the way to doing this, but is obviously unaware of the methods of truly sustainable aquaculture, namely aquaponics. Please, if you read this book, also look into tilapia and aquaponics, which CAN solve the problem of seafood depletion if we're smart enough to implement it in time. Unfortunately at this time there are no comprehensive books on the subject, but look it up the technique is being taught at UVI in St Croix by Dr James Rakocy.

Did you know that nets abandoned (or lost) by fishermen become 'ghost nets' that can perpetually go on fishing? Did you know that certain fisheries throw away (or discard) as much as 80% of the species they catch?

This is a book that anybody should (or must) read. The plundering of the oceans is being quietly executed at an alarming scale that we must be aware of the dangers of depriving future generations of the pleasures and benefits of fish eating.

The book is greatly executed and researched. Each of the major subjects of fishery is compartimentalised (if I'm allowed the expression) in compact chapters around 20 pages each so it's easy to read. Charles Clover is a journalist, so he certainly wants to appeal to the broadest audience possible and wants to pass his message in a clear, almost newspaper-like style.

However, if this is the main strength of the book it is also its main weakness. This journalistic style has boundaries, and I'll make clear what I'm saying by citing a few short passages. For instance, in chapter 8 Clover recounts a trip to Newfoundland, Canada, and tells us that, while driving, the radio is playing Tom Petty and Fleetwood Mac... Later on, he arrives at Harvey Templeman's cafeteria, who pushes across a cup of free coffee and helps Clover locate the person he is supposed to meet that day.

This is my point: does the reader have to know about Templeman's coffee or radio music in Newfoundland? Fortunately, these detours are short and only consume a few paragraphs, for Clover immediately dwelves into the subject matter... Yet pushing the journalistic style too far could alienate certain readers who are looking for more of a scientific discourse.

Clover makes frequent analogies between hunting in the Oceans and hunting on land. For instance, whenever the case of animal reserves is championed, nobody worries what the construction industry has to say... But whenever a fish marine reserve is planned, the fishing industry has to be consulted. Fishermen are 'stakeholders' but (as Bill Ballantine says in chapter 15) few consider that the real 'stakeholders' of the Sea are our children and their grandchildren.

Why do land-based industries abide to stringent pollution laws (risking legal action if these laws are not respected) while fishing vessels go about plundering the seas running a very remote risk of penalisation?

To continue with the land-sea analogy, we might say that, with current rates of overfishing, our seas are rapidly becoming marine 'deserts'.

Finally, if I must choose at least one major attribute of this book, I would say it is global in scope. Charles Clover can take the reader, seamlessly, from the waters of New Zealand to the Argentinean Antarctica; from the Lofoten archipelago to the high seas off Peru. Fishing, like almost everything these days, requires a global approach.

This is an excellent primer on fish mining. It's well researched and easy to read. The future of industrial fishing looks bleak, and Clover clearly explains why.

For those of you who are concerned about the state of our fisheries and declining fish populations worldwide, I would suggest a newly published book, "The End of the Line," by Charles Clover. As The Independent suggests, his book is "the maritime equivalent of Silent Spring." Clover takes the reader on an unbiased tour of many of the most important fisheries throughout the world from Africa to Iceland, offshore to nearshore. His appraisal and commentary of fishery management is candid and insightful. I highly recommend this book to anyone who finds themselves trying to contemplate the disequilibrium between fishery management and sustainability. The book ends with some positive examples of fishery management of which there are sadly too few, and he has some helpful tips for all of us to do our part to ensure fish stocks for the next generation.

"The End of the Line" is a well-written, highly informative book which addresses a serious global issue.

"Imagine what people would say if a band of hunters strung a mile of net between two immense all-terrain vehicles and dragged it at speed across the plains of Africa.... left behind is a strangely bedraggled landscape resembling a harrowed field... this efficient but highly unselective way of killing animals is known as trawling... it is practiced the world over every day, from the Barents Sea in the Arctic to the shores of Antarctica and from the tropical waters of the Indian Ocean and the central Pacific to the temperate waters off Cape Cod."

Overfishing is a serious problem that must be addressed. The statistics are staggering. As journalist Charles Clover shows in his global exploration of the destruction caused by overfishing, we have inflicted a crisis on the oceans in a single human lifetime greater than any yet caused by pollution.

This incredible book for me is a totally new
way of illustrating a fairy tale.
The description of this fantasy world using
postcards is innovative and very interesting.
I strongly suggest this book to all the
art lovers.

As an artist of middle age, I sometimes think of my art as good and my growth as complete... that is, until I look at work like this.

Suddenly I feel like a beginner again, with nothing to do but learn and get better at my art. Mr. Scheurer teaches this teacher how to teach better, just by the inspirational settings he creates and the drawings he does from deep in his imagination. There is a whole world residing in him that is too fanciful to describe. He is my new favorite artist.

Even though this book, at first glance, appears to be an art book, there is a very charming story woven into the "stamp" descriptions, as well. Each page features an illustration of a stamp from the imaginary realm of "Entropia" and a description of the event or history the stamp is commemorating. I read this book in two sittings, only because I had an appointment to keep that tore me away from such a beautiful book. Once finished, this book left me with a strong desire to read and see more of Christian Lorenz Scheurer's "Entropia".

Christian is one of my favorite artist. This new book is full of great stories and wonderful pictures! It's great for all ages.

Bought this book as a gift for a friend but then ended up keeping it for myself.
The fantastic story and beautiful illustrations felt like a mix between Nick Bartock's Griffin and Sabine and Miyazaki's Spirited Away.
This is most inspiring fantasy book I read this year!:)

Besides teaching math in a middle school, I also sponsor a math club. It can be tough finding useful, stimulating activities that are enticing to students, especially when the alternative is free time to socialize. I borrowed this book from a co-worker and found that it was a real hit---full of great ideas that are fun and easy to use. I liked it so much that I bought the book for myself, and a copy for still another teacher, too! At the end of the school year when parents start asking me what they can do with their child over the summer to strengthen math skills, you can bet that I'll be recommending this book.

I use this book to get the kids in my classroom hooked on liking math. Most of the time they end up asking "Is this math?" because they've always believed it was too hard or boring, but this book makes learning math fun because of its interactive activities. I would say it's a must have for teachers too.

I hate math. Memories of trying to understand long division in fourth grade can still make me squirm. Algebra was a lost year of my life - I had no idea what the teacher was talking about. Wouldn't you just guess I'd end up with a son who could add two digit numbers in his head before he started kindergarten? (I'm over 40 and I still can't do it very well) He even thought it was fun to do so.

You can probably guess that the normal elementary school math curriculum did not thrill him. Fortunately, early on, his kindergarten teacher lent me her copy of this book, and suggested that it might help him get started on understanding some higher math concepts, while still being age appropriate. The words "higher math" were not exactly music to the ears of a math phobe like me. But within a couple of weeks, after trying out a few games, I was hooked, and bought my own copy.

During the time he was in elementary school, I think we did at least 3/4 of the activities in the book, not because I thought he should, but because he wanted to. And, to my enormous surprise, so did I. The games and activities in this book are so intriguing that even I began to develop a sense of what it must feel like to really love math. (And, amazingly enough, I even got a little better at basic arithmetic.) Several of the games were so much fun, they became obsessions. We played them day after day.

My younger child, who recently finished kindergarten, doesn't remotely share her brother's love of numbers, but this year I dug out my old copy of the book to see if it might get her more interested. Sure enough, it worked. The games of logic and the games designed to develop rapid mental arithmetic skills that so fascinated her brother don't really interest her. In fact, most of the book is still way beyond her skill level. But I've found quite a few games that are appropriate for a child still struggling to add and subtract single digit numbers. (She says they're more fun than the math games they play at school). And there are several activities (Tangrams, and Color Designs, for instance) that take advantage of her love of art to help her understand math better. At the end of kindergarten, my daughter told me that her favorite school subject was math. I have no doubt that her exposure to Family Math games had a lot to do with that. And I have no doubt that we'll be using this book more and more over the next few years.

Fantastic! Family Math puts math and problem solving skills on the kitchen table. A far cry from homework, these games and activities involve common household materials like toothpicks and dried beans. They are easy to learn, quick to play, and cover a range of mathematical abilities and topics. Definitely enjoyable for both adults and children.
The book is organized into different math topics (like Logical Reasoning, Numbers and Operations, Probability and Statistics) and each activity clearly states the age level that it is for and its purpose.
FAMILY MATH ends with instructions for setting up a Family Math class to teach parents and teachers how to use the material.

This was recommended by our son's 1st grade teacher, we borrowed hers and then bought our own. It's a great family book that incorporates math into fun games. We have a 1st and 4th grader and it works great for both of them. The reviews and suggestions are appropriate and easy to use. The activities are age/level appropriate also, it's a great way to spend some time away from the t.v. and computer.

I have had this book for three years and it is by far the most valuable resource on fishing in California that I own. Locations by region, maps, directions, and discussion of some incredibly obscure spots I never knew existed. The first thing I do when planning a fishing trip with the fellas is open this book and start exploring the hundreds and hundreds of rivers and lakes Tom outlines in detail. We've taken 4 or 5 trips using this book and all have been great. Directions are concise, accessability, facilities and fees are discussed, lures, tackle, and techniques for various locales along with some very entertaining stories make this one of my favorite books in the library.

My title says it all. This is the Bible of California fishing. Thinking about fishing in California? Your first step should be this book. Along with my fly rod and some tackle, I keep a copy in my Jeep at all times. Just in case......

Great information about everything there is to know about fishing. The Foghorn Camping book complements it well.

This is a "must have" book. I always have the book in my truck when I leave on a fishing trip. It is well laid out and very informative and just about every fishing hole in the state. I've seen Tom several times and purchased his books at the local fishing expositions and he has signed every copy.

After reading the fishing suggestions for Big Bear Lake, I used a lure that was suggested for this lake, namely, a rooster tail, and hooked a beautiful two pound trout. I have always used a needlefish lure until now. You know what I'll use in the future! We plan to fish in the High Sierra's next year and this book will be my bible.

We hadn't been to SF in years, and not with kids. So although I knew the city a little, I can't tell you how great it was to have all the information in this book for traveling with kids. I also bought the Fodor's book--"50 things to do with kids in SF" but it wasn't nearly as helpful--just a (very good) 50 item list. The Frommer's book by contrast is a complete travel book with great restaurant choices, itineraries, how to find bathrooms (hard to do with the homeless problem), etc.

Thank you, thank you, thank you Frommers! We scheduled our 4-day trip based on this book. Some of the favorite book-recommended activities were the Farmers' Market, Alcatraz, and the walking tour of Chinatown. The restuarants did not disappoint, either. We did find that one of the italian places is suggested as "very family friendly" would have been too stressful with our toddler (it was an intimate, crowded, lovely place, but we would've surely disturbed other diners) but we flexed and placed an order "to go".

When we vacation other places, I will look for other Frommers with Kids books!

We've taken two recent trips to San Francisco with our kids (15, 11 and 2). This book proved to be invaluable! I carried it in my purse whenever we left the hotel.

The restaurant recommendations are fantastic! We were not disappointed with a single one we tried. We ventured into neighborhoods we might not otherwise have due to the detailed information in this book.

This resource is a must have for those travelling to San Francisco with kids!

We used this book like a San Francisco bible. It had great recomendations that were also enjoyable for the adults. We will keep this one for future trips!

We used only parts of this book for two full days in SF, and found those parts very helpful. We liked the suggested itineraries and the neighborhood walking tours. Would have liked to see more, and larger scaled, maps of the neighborhoods. Highly recommended.

I don't like to spend money on information that I can get for free. I found plenty of free information about geodesics on the web, but not enough.

I'm glad I spent the cash. This book filled in all the gaps.

It is not for people with weak math skills.

The book seems confusing at first, but if you keep reading and studying you will be rewarded with a deeper understanding of geodesics than you can imagine.

This book is a "must have" for anyone who wants to build their own dome, or just learn more about geodesics.

And yes, it's worth learning the math skills to understand this book.

To paraphrase Barbara Mandrell, geodesic domes were green when green wasn't cool. I read this book in college and was sorely tempted to steal it out of the university library because it had gone out of print and was just not available new or used anywhere else. I kicked myself later for not yielding to temptation when I went to check it out again and realized that someone else stole it before me! Seriously, give Kenner his rightful due, this is a classic in its field. What is my test for saying so? It has been thirty years since the book's first printing and has yet to see its equal. And there have been many many contenders. I could not recommend any one book higher for hobbyist or even professional reference to geodesic calculation and the practical design of geodesic domes. Though Hugh is no longer with us, five years gone as I am writing this, but the effects of his powerful intellect live on and continue to infect others with his inquisitive spirit by way of such seminal work.

The subject very well presented and in a way that is easy to understand. Gives the underlying math to be able to use our modern computers setting on our desk tops to go far beyond what one person could do 25 years ago.

Well, the time has come for the pirates to take a hike. UC Press is reprinting this book. The information I have indicates both hard and softcover bindings...It will be available this year (2003).

Geodesic Math and How To Use It is an extremely well written book, and with the NASA papers, forms the "canon of applied geodesic math." It is a great book, well written and useful.

Seemed over-technical at 1st, but after about a year has been my reference book on geodesics & making all kinds of geodesic domes... It lists chord factors (lengths of segments before applying radius of dome) on tables to 7 decimals for various domes @ the end of the book if you don't want do calculate w/formulas provided. If your familiar with trigonometry, it will let you jump around chapters that are of more interest.

This book was originally copyrighted in 1976, but not edited for this 2nd paperback 2003 Edition (glossy color cover). The author, Hugh Kenner (1923-2003), has compiled a very thorough book. Very well written & explained in orderly fashion with excellent general layout & (especially for the time) detailed diagrams plus cross page-references. IMO there is very little that I would change except for replacing current diagrams with modern CAD generated illustrations, that's about it.

Has 172 pages with several blank pages for notes (I note in the wide margins instead) & is 8.7 x 8.7 x 0.5 inches. Not a small book but not a big bulky one either. Makes for a lot of information handy to store just about anywhere...
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I found many formulas & shortcuts throughout the book. From Chapter 12 I plotted a 16 frequency (# of divisions making total # of triangles) icosahedron (the typical geodesic polyhedron shape) dome with 3880 chords or "struts". Even made them into arcs for a perfectly round sphere. Chapter 12 has "Using the Tables" with a simple symmetric triangle xyz-grid on a spreadsheet. Each chord calculated does not rely on another chord's result, so chance of error is greatly reduced. Chapter 14 "Truncations" has "Truncation by Rotation", which saves time on calculating the rest of the chords in dome, or moving chords by their symmetry.

This "still nicely" bound book after a lot of use covers tension & tensegrities, subdivisions, great circles, symmetry & breakdowns, choosing a polyhedron, spherical coordinate system, ellipses & superellipses, truncations, space frames & many kinds of angles - plus charts & other resources @ the end.

A free program on the web called Windome is useful to 8 decimals, but lacks input parameters like radius... So I use it to verify chord factors. From 2-16v involving about 12,240 chords plotting all verified (to 15 digits) on 1st try. Besides spreadsheets, formulas can be used in programming like "The R Project", formulas & programs are also written for old Hewlett-Packard HP-35, 21 & 45 series calculators & programs filed with the HP-65 library (circa mid-1970's). I guess it also goes to show Hewlett-Packard has a history in the PC & hardware programming business...

One thing - spherical coordinate symbols for Theta & Phi are switched, though referenced in correct order (check Mathworld). Easy to correct, just read "Phi symbol" as Theta & "Theta symbol" as Phi - references & formulas will be in order. This book was written in mid-1970's, guess more? people then used this as convention.
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There are many good free sources on the web for geodesic domes & math plotting through Cartesian x,y,z and/or spherical Theta, Phi coordinates using basic trigonometry. This book cost me $13.57 shipped free brand new & is WELL worth it, even after searching the web...


A final word of caution on building materials for domes in general: if you use wood make sure you take extra fireproofing precautions, unless it's a temporary frame. 2 domes here in town (on same lot) burnt down before fire department got to them - and they were right down the street! The intense heat from both fires left nothing except the slab & melted everything.

So, when they start to burn there is very little time to exit the structure. As energy efficient as they are, the same design allows for a very efficient combustion, especially with wood stud frames & panels. Other problems arise as well with ventilating interior wood frames to help prevent condensation.

There are many other materials that will not burn that could make up the panels (like from American Ingenuity, Inc.), or even a monolithic concrete pour over a temporary plastic covered geodesic wood frame. Another method that doesn't use geodesics is a "monolithic shotcreted airform dome" (from a company called Monolithic Dome Institute).

I knew nothing of rock n' roll life in the 70's before picking up this novel so not only was the book entertaining, it was educational. The book gave a raw, honest perspective of life in a band - the good, the bad, and the ugly. I would never have expected to be able to relate to characters that are so completely different from myself but I found myself understanding, sympathizing, and caring for the guys in the band. It was a sad moment when I turned the last page; leaving Daniel, Rob, Mick, Yogi, and Sam behind. I would snag the sequel in a second. Great read.
(Favorite quote: "It's turned black! And it's all your fault!" page 166)

I'm honored to be able to review "Getting in Tune." Roger and I spent many a night with our writing group editing each other's work. I never doubted he would be right here selling his book. Anyone that loves rock'n roll will enjoy making the journey from Creedly, California to Puente Harbor on the Olympic Penninsula with Daniel, Rob, Mick, Sam and Yogi--the Killjoys--in search of Pete Townsend's Universal Chord and the big break that will rocket them to fame. A great summer read, winter read, spring and fall. Congrates on a great accomplishment!

Getting In Tune is the kind of hands on, authentic rock'n'roll story that can only be written by someone who's lived the experience. You're taken not just to the front and center of the stage, but inside the head of a talented musician who seeks the transcendence that only music can provide. Trott gets all the details right as he chronicles the highs and lows of a 70s band on the verge of realistic success, and I was pleased that I found it was 4:00 one morning when I set it down; I was reading it all night. It's that kind of book. I look forward to his next outing.

This was a thoroughly enjoyable summer read for me as a fan of rock music of then and now, and it brought back so much about the 1970s scene. On the surface it's an easy, fun read but it also has some introspection about the author and the other characters. What a great first book from Trott--I'll be looking for more from him.

As a writer, I like this book because there's nothing fussy about the prose. It's clean, straightforward, and the characters are engaging right off the bat. Yes, they're recognizable types, but they feel true. Equally entertaining is how much Trott captures the details and mood of an era. Was cracking up all the way through. The water bed right at the beginning, the phone booths, the songs playing in the background. Hell, the word bodacious, the smell of the amp tubes and the wires and litter on the stage floors. This book captures the energy and drive and confusion of a particular culture. Even better, it recreates the high of loud, rocking music when everyone's locked in to the same groove.

I picked up "The Girl Who Remembered Snow" at a secondhand book sale and am glad I did. Charles Mathes is a talented writer and I found his second novel to be touching and engaging. It's written in literate prose, is filled with empathetic characters, has flashes of quirky humor and whimsy, and contains enough interesting plot twists to remind you this is a mystery, not only a bildungsroman.

Struggling professional magician Emma Passant is the girl who remembers snow. Her first real memory is of having her hand held in a snowstorm, although the grandfather who raised her chides her for speaking of it. When Emma's grandfather is murdered, she embarks on a journey of discovery, not only of who committed the crime, but who she is. Along the way, she meets a cast of colorful and wonderful characters, from Big Ed Garalachek, the Chevy King, to Tomoteo, her ten-year tour guide in the benighted island of San Marcos, to Bernal Zuberan, a courtly drug dealer. All of them offer her aid as she wends her way through a psychological terrain of uncertainty and a landscape that begins in San Francisco and ends in Paris.

This is the kind of novel you wish you could keep reading for a while longer!

My only quibble with this book is that the plot verges on something out of Ludlum or (yikes!) Sheldon. But the narrative is wonderful -- smooth and well-paced -- and the characters are interesting and well-drawn. In a field crowded with wooden and poorly-edited clunkers, this was a refreshing find. I hope Mr. Mathes gets noticed by the paperback majors soon -- he deserves it.

This book was incredible. I've read it three times, and every time I get caught up in the story and the characters. My mother read the book, and also loved it. Emma is so well created that I start to feel like I'm living her story, and experiencing what she experiences. I definitely recommend this to everyone!

i read this book in one sitting and couldn't turn the pages fast enough! emma as heroine is alive, spunky and full of zest--her inquisitiveness makes the story happen...a clever title which ties the entire story together!

Oh how I love a good mystery! The characters in this book are well developed and pleasurable to read about. Highly recommended!

Ample photos and interesting text...a fine book to own if one is interested in graffiti art in the LA area

By no exaggeration, this book is the best of its kind. It starts out with the history of gang writing then follows up with the evolution of the art including techniques, paint and cap types, run-ins with the law, etc. The pictures are as clear as can be, and the forever present artist commentary is the perfect compliment to the fantastic collection of pics. This is a must own for any fan of graffiti.

All I can say is get this book!!!!If you love that LA raw stuff.It's pretty well rounded,and gives you a whole look at what's going on past and present.If you have never been to LA.Here is your chance.Oh and it's focus is not on just one crew.Get this book first, on LA graff if you have to choose one.Plus an cd rom with photo's.You can't beat that.Good job Mr.Grody GOOD JOB!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I bought this book for my bf, because he loves graffiti art, and used to have his own crew many years ago. He loves to look at the pictures, and see the deeper meanings that a lot of artists present in their graffiti along with murals. Finding the artist's tags in the art is also fun. We both enjoy looking through this book, and plan to buy similar items in the future.

Fifty years ago, graffiti was something written in restrooms and was relatively private. Now graffiti is an art form. You can think of it as vandalism; if it is your wall, or a public wall, and it is supposed to stay clean and undecorated, any unwanted spray-painting, no matter how fancy, is vandalism. But even if it is vandalism (and sometimes the owner of the wall invites the decoration, or the painting is done on canvas for a gallery), there is no arguing that graffiti now is some sort of art. This is especially obvious if you examine the hundreds of pictures in _Graffiti L.A.: Street Styles and Art_ (Abrams) by Steve Grody. Grody loves the graffiti of Los Angeles, and booms, "Along with the myriad styles these artists have created, they have also evolved world-class graphic skills now comparable to the best aerosol work anywhere." It seems funny that anyone would be comparing "aerosol work" from any locales, but you don't have to know about the styles elsewhere to enjoy the astonishing colors and designs found here. Grody examines the ethical issues of this sort of work, but it is clear that such evaluation is secondary to the art itself. He includes interviews with many of the artists (they call themselves "writers"), examines techniques and styles, and shows an appreciation of how this peculiar form of art has redeemed many of its practitioners, and redeemed some blighted public spaces as well.

The spray can is the choice of the writers because it is easily concealed and is portable. On the wall's surface, its effects can be controlled, but it can also cover an area quickly. The furtiveness of making graffiti necessitates the use of the spray can, but writers use it even in gallery work. It is also used, when no concealment is needed, on a "permission wall", a surface donated by its owner for esthetic reasons to be the site of an elaborate piece. The writers quoted here have much to say about the work of others; it is clear that they have examined styles carefully and can give intelligent critiques of what they have seen, and that they admire the works of competent competitors. They know "bad can control" or excessive imitation when they see it. The writers are in danger of criminal prosecution if they are not working on permission walls, and are in physical danger if they are working on some surface that is elevated. There is little tangible reward to this type of artistry, which is mainly a means of self expression with little other benefit. Grody writes, "It is this creative passion in light of all the obstacles that gives the best work its pop pulp energy." There are numerous stories here about members who were at risk of descending into drug use or crimes worse than artistic vandalism, but were saved by joining a group of like-minded artists.

The descriptions here of classifications of the work, the social forces at play, and the lives of the writers are all good for putting the pictures here in context, but the pictures are the show in this big and glossy book. Not all the pictures could even get in here, as with the book there is a disk included of hundreds more, along with audio interviews. It is fun to try to make out the letters, which are clear in some of the examples shown here, but are often so stretched and stylized that even if you know the crew that has put its name up, it is hard to pick the letters out. The depiction of figures or portraits is sometimes hyper-realistic, but usually in a comic book style, and is (to my eyes) far less appealing than the letters shaped into abstractions of extraordinary complexity and color. Grody has a couple of pages to illustrate some basic techniques, like cuts, 3-D, or letter blends, but there is no need to acquire a technical eye to enjoy the shows of kinetic mural energy displayed here. There is still some moral ambiguity about some pieces and their execution, but one picture after another shows that this is a vibrant and valid form of folk art.