5 comments about Antique Maps.

1. This book may be informative but if you are looking for color antique maps, this book will certainly disappoint you.



2. A nice book! Well-writen and there is a lot of substance here. This is a very useful reference book, and although a bit weak in the maps of the 19th century (especially maps of America interest), it is overall worthwhile and a good source of old map information.



3. If you must own one book on Antique Maps, this is the one. Bannister & Moreland bring an insightful appreciation of the subject; both in general terms and for the specicivity of a collector. Filled with important details of the major cartographers ;it executes this with a brevity other resource authors should emulate. The information is crisp,readable, and informative without weighting down in anecdotal ephemera so common to works of this sort. Other resource and academic authorities should note the format when attempting a guide to their subject[s]. Highly reccomeneded. As an ex-retail map dealer it was my bible in aiding authentification and fair market value. An invaluable tool to the serious collector and professional; and a highly organized book on cartography for the general reading public.



4. This is a first class introduction to the subject of antique maps. I have over 700 books on the topic in my personal library and I often return to this book to brush up on a cartographer, region, or a particular map. Bannister is an internationally respected dealer and expert on the subject. Do not get distracted by cowardly comments and reviews by someone afraid to leave their name. I regularly recommend this book to those who want to read ONE book on antique maps.



5. This is a disgrace... don't waste your money

No comments about Matchbook: Indian Matchbox Labels.

5 comments about Patience and Fortitude: Wherein a Colorful Cast of Determined Book Collectors, Dealers, and Librarians Go About the Quixotic Task of Preserving a Legacy.

1. This is an engaging compilation of book talk topics. Anecdotes abound. The London Library celebrated its one hundred fiftieth anniversary in 1991. Its counterparts are the Library Company of Philadelphia, the New York Society Library, the Boston Athenaeum. It is not a club. There is silence maintained in the London Library reading room. Some writers do their writing there. Penelope Fitzgerald found Novalis's letters in the London Library.
   
   Umberto Eco has a personal library of thirty thousand volumes. The success of THE NAME OF THE ROSE enabled him to become a serious book collector. The books arts community located in western Massachusetts is described. The author uses the title 'Profiles in Bibliophagia' for one of the sections of his book.
   
   Antiquarian bookselling is more established in Europe than in the United States. The most prominent American bookseller of the twentieth century was Dr. A.S.W. Rosenbach of Philadelphia. The very best dealers are scholars. Emigre booksellers helped create some of the great research libraries in America.
   
   The Boston Public Library, a McKim structure, is the most notable building in Back Bay. Alfred Kazin and Richard Hofstadter began their friendship at the New York Public Library. Harold Bloom credits that library with starting his book passion. The library was a refuge for many immigrant scholars. Resident writers have included Joseph Lash, James Thomas Flexner, Nancy Milford, Edna St.Vincent Millay, Susan Brownmiller, Robert Caro. Nicholson Baker has written dismissively of the destruction of card catalogues and the replacement of them by various kinds of electronic access.
   
   Colleges and universities continue to be judged by the strength of their libraries. Harvard may be the only library that has kept up with inflation. Other schools are buying less than they used to. The author recounts how the library at York University, (Canada), was built. About one hundred thousand books were bought from a dealer of second-hand books in Boston. Works in French were obtained from a store going out of business. York University also bought books along with the the California system of higher education. The same librarian doubled the library collection at Boston College in ten years.
   
   Premier research institutions demand strong libraries. University libraries were able to enhance their collections under Title II, a federal program in effect from 1965 to 1982. Research universities have used book depositories for low-circulation books to avoid deaccessioning them. Cornell and the University of Michigan have joined forces to create the Making of America digital library.
   
   The author describes the Strand and Argosy book stores of New York City. Serendipity is a term originating in a piece by Horace Walpole. It is the name of a distinguished book store in Berkeley.
   
   Photographs ornament this excellent work.



2. If you love books than you will love Nicholas Basbanes. In this installment of Basbanes ode to all things printed and bound he delves into (among other things) the world of libraries, their noble traditions as well as a few shameful failings. Implicit in every page of this and all his books is a genuine love of his topic, and this mixed with his broad scholarship and pleasant narrative make him a joy to read.



3. I still have not been able to read A Gentle Madness, but from previous reviews, I can get the sense that there is a similar theme to this one.
   As for Patience and Fortitude--for any book lover, you immediately become overwhelmed by Basbanes' and his interviewees' passion for books. Moreover, the more you read about some of the great collections covered in this book, the more you want to see for yourself. For me, the most intriguing element of the book was the section on the long forgotten libraries of Mt Athos, some of which maintain extensive collections from Byzantium.
   I was equally interested to read how the major libraries of the world assemble collections, and attempt to maintain them, while filling the need for more computer savvy customers.
   I hope to read the other books by Basbanes, but if this is the standard for the others, I am sure they will be equally as enjoyable.



4. Perhaps being a librarian meant I was always going to cast a jaundiced eye on this book but "A Gentle Madness" was so good I had to take the bait. A history of the printed word, a class in comparative librarianship and one of the history of libraries, along with "famous book collectors I have rubbed elbows with" leave little new to cover. I don't really care what the author had for lunch when he dined with Umberto Ecco and there is a lot of "me" in this books. Of course, his own column leads him to all sorts of authors but I would have preferred an objective discourse without including his own (less that original) musings on ancient libraries and the problems of libraries in the 21st century. He speaks only to the very top level librarians at usually the top libraries in the world. There is no discussion of state university libraries who face regular budget cuts, the staff who wrestle with their directors' obsessive acquisitiveness or those who face the demand of diminishing funds to heat and light the buildings not to mention keep staff. He thinks it horrid to spend money on computers and not books, while forgetting that access to those books is through the computer. For all those readers who never thought about what libraries actually do or how many dollars are spent to do it, this is a must read. We who slave away behind the scenes won't find this topic new, but there are millions of people who probably gave little thought to rare books and their delights and who should read this as an introductory to the gentle madness.



5. I have not finished reading "Patience & Fortitude," although it is still on my wish list as a book I would "love to have." I *have* read enough to feel justified in making two comments here, one on a matter Basbanes discusses as the worst library disaster in American history, and a scandal which occured two years after he devoted the epilogue of this book to the Biblioteca Alexandrina, widely touted as "the new 'Library of Alexandria.'"
   
   Basbanes devotes a page and a half to discussing the diastrous fire at the Los Angeles Central Library in 1986, but he omits mention of the scandalous background which transformed a small fire into a major disaster.
   
   The Los Angeles Fire Department had issued numerous citations to the Library Department over a period of several years because of the reckless disregard for elementary fire safety in the building. Famously, bare electric light bulbs were within inches of one stack of books which was piled almost to the ceiling. I had occasion to see "behind the stacks" of the Science and Technology department one day, in the area where patent information was stored, and I was shocked: material was stacked on top of every bookcase in sight, and the place was packed with heaps of books and documents, many of which were destroyed in the 1986 fire.
   
   The Los Angeles City Council was well aware that the central library was a fire trap, but they refused to do anything to upgrade the library facility. Then-Mayor Tom Bradley preferred using City tax money to finance his jet-setting lifestyle of junket after junket to the Far East rather than spend money to bring the Central Library up to even the bare minimums of the Fire Code. The consensus among critics was that the City Council and the Mayor were waiting for the Central Library to burn down so that their campaign contributors could cash in on the building contracts which would be awarded after the inevitable fire.
   
   As it turned out, the fire was a huge windfall for the real estate developers and building contractors who bankrolled our last Mayor, for the City financed the new structure by selling off the air space above it to real estate developers who then applied the "space" they had purchased to erect skyscrapers around the new library to heights which would have been prohibited had the new library not been built. The result was a glut of office space, much of which went empty for a decade or more, and a skyline which no longer included either City Hall or the Central Library, formerly the tallest buildings in their neighborhoods by municipal ordinance. In 2004 it was revealed that the new skyline also made the neighborhood of the new Central Library the #1 target of al-Qaeda in Southern California, ahead of even Disneyland -- a fact which the City and the falsely so-called "Department of Homeland Security" kept secret from the residents and businesses of Los Angeles for three years.
   
   Basbanes was not writing a political diatribe, but I think he did the readers of this book a grave dis-service by allowing them to think that a lone arsonist was solely responsible for the disaster which was the 1986 fire. Tom Bradley and the City Council deserve the blame for creating the conditions which turned a small fire into a hectacomb of books which destroyed a gem of Art Deco architecture. Basbanes quotes Lawrence Clark Powell, former librarian of UCLA, to the effect that the building itself was insignificant. On the contrary, the interior was covered with murals and much statuary and other art graced the building -- much of it totally lost now.
   
   If such compelling information is omitted from the discussion of a library with which I am very familiar, I wonder how much crucial information has been left out of sections about libraries with which I am unfamiliar.
   
   Basbanes cannot be faulted for omitting mention of the scandal which has destroyed the reputation of the Biblioteca Alexandrina, to which he devotes the epilogue of "Patience & Fortitude" -- the events took place two years after the first edition of this book was published. One hopes that future editions will devote considerable space to the scandal.
   
   How unexpected the shocking story turned out is demonstrated by the fact that it happened less than a month after Umberto Eco, whom Basbanes interviewed, gave a speech at the BA. The timing was ironic, for the scandal hinged upon a book which Eco had discussed at length in "Foucault's Pendulum," which prompted him to lead the international crusade against the institution which had played host to him so recently.
   
   In December 2003, less than a month after Eco's speech there, the Biblioteca Alexandrina launched a prominent exhibit of "Monotheism," and the book which they choose to place alongside the Hebrew Talmud was not the Septuagint -- the Greek translation of the Hebrew scriptures, which had been written in Alexandria -- but "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion."
   
   For those unfamiliar with it, "The Protocols" is, as Eco had pointed out years earlier in "Foucault's Pendulum," an anti-Jewish Tsarist secret police forgery purportedly containing the details of a plot by "the Learned Elders of Zion" to conquer the world. The book fueled Russian pogroms and Nazi genocide of the Jews, and today it is used by neo-Nazi and radical Moslems alike to stoke hatred of the Jews. As an anti-Jewish book it is sold by neo-Nazi groups in the 21st century and is a best seller in Moslem countries, helped in no small part by the authority of the Biblioteca Alexandrina.
   
   What makes the display of the "The Protocols" such an outrage is that there is no longer any question that the book is a total fabrication. Not only was it a Russian forgery, but it was an almost word-for-word copy of a 19th century German plagiarism of a French novel satirizing Napoleon III and the Second Empire. Its roots may be traced to a novel by French Author Eugene Sue, who outlined a *Jesuit* plot to take over the world. The evidence of this is incontovertible -- today's text of "The Protocols of the Elders of Zion" is a "Jewified" version of 19th century French novels which originally made no mention of Jews, Zionists or otherwise.
   
   Nevertheless, the Biblioteca Alexandrina chose to display "The Protocols" next to the Talmud, and no amount of back-pedaling by director Yousef Ziedan changes the fact that more than $100 million of international funding was ultimately used to propagate a hateful anti-Jewish forgery as a legitimate "religious" text of Judaism (http://itre.cis.upenn.edu/~myl/languagelog/archives/000183.html).
   
   Basbanes ends the first edition of "Patience & Fortitude" on the hopeful note that, "the Biblioteca Alexandrina ... has the promise of genius." Sadly, it proved its moral bankruptcy less than two years after this book was published. Basbanes owes it to the world to write a revision of "Patience & Fortitude" describing how the high hopes which so many of us had for the "the new 'Library of Alexandria'" were utterly dashed.
   
   I give this book only four stars because I am know that Basbanes omitted information which I think he should have revealed, and I suspect that he did it more than once. If future editions fail to discuss the scandal at the Biblioteca Alexandrina my opinion of the book will plummet.

No comments about French Illuminated Manuscripts in the J. Paul Getty Museum.

4 comments about The Hours of Catherine of Cleves.

1. I am a re-creator of medieval illuminations for modern use. This reference contains some very interesting illustrations in the borders, scenes of people working, and charming little references to tools and such. I'm enjoying this book as a source of inspiration for my artwork.



2. considering this small book is printed at the orignal scale, the details are astonishing. the printing quality delievers the art work right to your hands. it is a superb full color reproduction. the introdution is an indepth study of the history of the two original copies and the process of reconstruction of the book. the related history, manuscript making of the time are well studied.
   
   however, the published book does not translate the Latin text in to any language i can understand. but, i guess, the text is just explaining what the picture is, which the editor always gave a longer explaination paragraph for every picture in the book, in modern eyes.
   
   this is one of the best reproduced manuscript available today.



3. One doesn't need to be Christian to fall in love with this book. Each tiny painting is rich in detail and imagination. There is not one careless or unnecessary brushstroke. The artists who produced this work did the very best in their power and each image glows with their intention. There is a wonderful awkwardness in many of the human figures, but the natural and imaginal worlds are depicted with loving fidelity. This is religious art that stands with miniatures from India and Persia as some of the greatest art ever created for an intimate scale.



4. First published in 1966, The Hours Of Catherine Of Cleves is a wonderfully beautiful work that reproduces a fifteenth-century illuminated manuscript featuring unforgettably beautiful Bible illustrations of scenes from the Old and New testaments. These artworks were originally created for Catherine of Cleves on the occasion of her marriage to the Duke of Guelders. Each page of this splendidly illustrated book is accompanied by the commentary of John Plummer, who offers insight and a descriptive vibrancy to the splendor of the illustrations. A treasure to read, view, and absorb, The Hours Of Catherine Of Cleves is recommended for Christian Studies and Christian Art History collections.

1 comments about The Lindisfarne Gospels.

1. The scope of this book is best described by the chapter titles: 1) Lindisfarne and Saint Cuthbert 2) The men who made the manuscript 3) The text of the Gospels 4) The script 5) How the manuscript was made 6) The great decorated pages 7) The smaller initials 8) Some comparisons (with contemporary works) 9) The later history of the manuscript

   The text is lively, including, for example, an old riddle describing the wax table used for sketches. The Anglo-Saxom instruments used in illuminations are shown in a photograph; you aren't expected to have detailed knowledge of medieval tools. The color plates of the Gospels are magnificant. The art shown for comparison includes not only other manuscripts but metalwork etc.

   This book is not only an introduction to the Lindisfarne Gospels but is a good starting point for illuminated manuscripts in general.

2 comments about Hollywood Homes: Postcard Views Of Early Stars' Estates.

1. This is a great book for any hollywood fan. I find it hard
   to put it down.



2. This is an excellent reference guide to the architecture of Golden Age Hollywood. The paper is quality -- glossy and heavy-weight -- and the color illustrations are superbly reproduced. It's lots of fun to look through, and what surprises is how modest some of the homes are, compared to the mega mansions of today. The price guide isn't very useful, however. In addition, I would have preferred more about the history of the house rather than the brief star bios. For example, I'd love to know if the house still stands--or even have comparison contemporary photographs of the house/site. There are also the inevitable typos. Perhaps the most obvious one is "Clarke Gable." And why no index for a relatively small book? Still, no book is perfect and this one is gorgeous--you won't regret your purchase if you're a fan of old Hollywood. Some of my favorites are the residences of Bette Davis, Claudette Colbert, Eleanor Powell, and William Powell.

5 comments about Bizarre: The Complete Reprint of John Willie's Bizarre, Vols. 1-26 (Specials).

1. Disappointing:- very bad quality reproductions of Wllies drawings and photographs,they are blured and lose much of the detail. Many amateur drawings clearly not by Willie.Only good pics. are on the cover.



2. Bizarre is clearly the basis for much similar modern writing - you can see its influence in many places today. However, it is of more than historical interest; a lot of it is enjoyable reading even today, and some of the bondage pictures - even in murky black and white - are magnificent. I have been inspired and encouraged by it to lace my corsets tighter and wear shoes with higher heels. Of course, after half a century some things have changed; we would no longer encourage teenage girls to smoke or countenance cruelty to horses for example. (We might not even want to encourage the caning of children, but in modern society ill-treating horses is probably considered a worse sin!) However, if this sort of thing appeals to you, buy these books.



3. .... I would suggest you pick this up any way you can. As Eric Kroll says in the intro to the books, John Willie was one of the pioneers in fetish photography and drawing. Now everything comes off well, but a lot does. Even more interesting though are the letters that Bizarre received over the limited time that it was in operation. A constant source of interesting ideas and points of view....



4. John Wille's magazine "Bizarre" is reprinted in two hardcover books that come in a slipcover package that measures 8" x5 1/2" x 4" thick. It's full of his drawings and photos of corsets, high heel fetish shoes, pin ups of the era and page after page of women in bondage and they are just loving it. Its sort of kinky stuff: tiny waisted women who love being tied up but the people who enjoy reading about such things will love these two volumes and will want to add it to their

   collection along with their DVD of Bettie Page and some pictures of Ashley Renee and Darla Crane.




5. This collection of two hardcovers is a real conversation piece. Both editions are full of B&W/color photos, illustrations, comics, advertisements, and cartoons. There is a heavy slant on bondage, restraint, and domination.

   This is a facinating look back into 1940's women's fashions and attitudes which were a step beyond the norm.

   The two editions are hardcover and come boxed.

   If you like this, I also recommend EXOTIQUE which is also published by Taschen.

5 comments about A Splendor of Letters: The Permanence of Books in an Impermanent World.

1. A Splendor Of Letters: The Permanence Of Books In An Impermanent World by Nicholas A. Basbanes is an absorbing contemplation of issues concerning books in contemporary society, ranging from the destruction of books and libraries in Sarajevo, Tibet, and Cambodia; to the matter of "discards" at various libraries; the many types of materials used to record information from ancient times down to the modern day; debates about preservation whether in regard to storing books on paper or keeping them in electronic format; and so much more. An amazing study of issues critical to bibliophiles worldwide today, A Splendor Of Letters is a seminal and impressive work which is most especially recommended to the attention of dedicated bibliophiles, cultural historians, and Library Science reference collections.



2. Nicholas Basbanes has enriched the lives of bibliophiles with his A Gentle Madness and Patience and Fortitude, the first two volumes in this trilogy devoted to books and the people who love them. He has now brought the trilogy to a close with A Splendor of Letters, which is just as fascinating as either of the first two volumes.

   A Splendor of Letters is a wide ranging look at many aspects of the book world. History is served through an examination of several attempts to destroy the written word, from Nazi Germany to Pol Pot's Cambodia; and with happier stories of archaeologists' rediscoveries of ancient libraries. More stories of book collectors of the sort that made A Gentle Madness so interesting are also provided, as is more material on the problems libraries and collections have when they run out of space and must determine what to do with the overflow, which was a major topic in Patience and Fortitude. The main thrust of A Splendor of Letters, however, is a defense of the book in its traditional form against those who would proclaim its death at the hands of technology.

   As with all of Mr. Basbanes' works (which also include Among the Gently Mad, A Primer for Book Collectors), the fascinating material is enhanced by the beauty of the writing. No book lover should pass this by.




3. Reading the works of Nicholas A. Basbanes is somewhat like attending a series of lectures by a master professor, one who loves his subject passionately and seems to know every aspect of it. In this volume, as in the preceding works of his trilogy, Mr. Basbanes takes you around the world and back in forth in time, yet the journey always has a constant purpose: to explore the many ways in which humankind has transmitted its thoughts in written form.

   A central theme of this work is the many assaults on the written word through the ages, and their ultimate triumph of survival. From the destruction of Carthage to the Nazi book-burnings and the more recent destruction of libraries in Tibet, Cambodia, Sarajevo, the written word has again and again been one of the prime targets for those who wish to subjugate a people. Yet for all that has been lost through violence and neglect, much has been preserved.

   Here Basbanes turns to threats to books of a different sort--libraries discarding little-used volumes because of space issues, or various electronic technologies that have been heralded as being the replacement for the codex, or bound book, as we have known it for centuries. Yet the book endures, and if enough people with the passion of Nicholas A. Basbanes are around, it should endure for countless years to come.

   This book and its two predecessors represents an educational, entertaining and thought-provoking distillation of a career spent learning about and celebrating the written word. Although "A Splendor of Letters" marks the completion of his trilogy, I hope this will not be the last word Mr. Basbanes has to share on the subject. And I'm sure many other readers feel the same way.--William C. Hall




4. I've truly enjoyed Mr. Basbanes books and this one is no exception. Mr. Basbanes is clearly in love with the written word, even as it happens to be found in between the covers of the book we've come to recognize. As Bookreporter.com remarked, this book can be somewhat disjointed, but it's one of the reasons I fell into reading it with such joy.

   This book isn't a scholarly work in the sense that it will bore the eyebrows off of you. To those persons I read sections, they found the material intriguing and interesting. Two of those persons are now on a waiting list at the local library to read it. (Which is quite astonishing when one considers that these persons aren't regular book readers, let alone a bibliophile as I am...)

   I certainly cannot bring any additional information to the excellent review by Bookreporter.com. As someone who loves reading, books, words, etc. I feel that those persons that own Basbanes' first books in the trilogy, this final book wouldn't be a waste of your time and money to add it to your collection.

   "A Splendor of Letters" is entertaining, informative and enlightening. I'm quite pleased it resides in my personal library.




5. Nicholas A. Basbanes has a love affair going with the printed word. Not just the book --- the printed word, be it chiseled on stone 2,000 years ago, scrawled on wallpaper, palm leaves or cloth, or even imprinted on a computer screen the day before yesterday.

   That is the main message delivered in this, the third of a trio of books he has written celebrating the triumphs, tragedies, perils and potentialities of print. A SPLENDOR OF LETTERS, a kind of miscellaneous grab bag of print-talk, was preceded by A GENTLE MADNESS (1995) and PATIENCE & FORTITUDE (2001). Truly, a man obsessed with his subject.

   A SPLENDOR OF LETTERS is a book full of fascinating bits of information on all sorts of subjects relating to the printed word. This is at once its main attraction and its principal drawback. Much of the information packed into these pages is interesting in itself, but the book has no single overarching theme, seemingly no real purpose except to display the author's enthusiasm and interest for his subject.

   Among the many topics touched upon in this bag of scholarly/literary potato chips are the disappearance of many important texts produced by ancient civilizations; the question of whether a modern copy of an ancient book can or should replace the original; the wanton destruction of valuable libraries in places like ancient Carthage, Nazi Germany, Sarajevo, Cambodia and Tibet; the morality of physically mutilating books in order to turn their valuable illustrations into objects of commerce; the morality of breaking up great library collections so their contents can be sold off for cash to meet current needs; the best means of preserving printed records for the longest time; and --- inevitably --- the already looming question of whether electronic books will make the familiar object we hold in our hands today a mere museum curiosity anytime soon.

   Basbanes tries hard to be objective about all of this. He has sought out people on all sides of every question he considers --- but his sympathies obviously seem in the end to lie with the preservationists and the physical book rather than with its electronic doppelganger.

   Every new development in the advancement of print has been greeted, he assures us, by people who saw it as the end of literature. He has resurrected a Medieval monk named Johannes Trithemius, who urged his fellow monks not to stop copying manuscripts by hand just because printing had been invented ("The written word on parchment will last a thousand years. The printed word is on paper. How long will it last? The most you can expect a book of paper to survive is two hundred years..."). And even so modest a modern forward step as the idea of equipping pencils with rubber erasers rang alarm bells among educators ("the easier errors may be corrected, the more errors will be made").

   Basbanes seems thoroughly at home rummaging around in the distant past to describe fascinating documentary finds in odd corners of Egypt, Pakistan and similar remote places. His tales of great modern-day book collectors are also interesting. And he devotes much of the latter part of his book to the computer-vs.-physical book controversy, reporting for instance that computer files are proving to be a terrible means of preserving data because the swift pace of technological advance in computerdom quickly makes obsolete whatever machines could read them when they were created. And he has uncovered a delightful quote from someone named W. T. Williams back in the 1980s --- that is, in computer terms, back in prehistoric times: "Man is the only computer yet designed which can be produced entirely by unskilled labor."

   A SPLENDOR OF LETTERS is informative and entertaining. The only problem with it is trying to answer the question: What, exactly, is it about?

   --- Reviewed by Robert Finn

5 comments about Baby Boomer Comics.

1. Comic book publishers are happily discovering a renewed interest in just about every title from the 1960s, and are repackaging those yellowing old comics in just about every format you can think of -- from expensive glossy hardcovers to inexpensive b&w omnibus editions.
   
   The publication of this book is not only evidence of that trend, but in fact evidence that BABY BOOMERS COMICS' author, Craig Shutt, had a lot to do with sparking the renaissance of the glorious old Silver Age comic books. Consider: When Shutt began writing his column for COMICS BUYERS GUIDE, back in the early 1990s, the comic book field was obsessed with "grim 'n' gritty" heroes-turned-villains, ridiculously overendowed "bad girls" and an almost complete lack of humor. Through his regular "Ask Mr. Silver Age" columns, Shutt was able to remind readers -- many of whom were born well after the 1960s -- that there used to be a lot of plain old goofy FUN in the comic books, whether it was the backward-thinking and -talking Bizarros, the cross-dressing Jimmy Olsen, Spider-Man's frequent costume catastrophes, and of course the trend for which the Silver Age is best known: talking gorillas. Shutt made it cool to love those old comic books all over again. Is it any coincidence that nowadays you can buy complete collections of those Pop Art and Go-Go Checked classics off Amazon or in any bookstore? I think not.
   
   With this book, Shutt proves once and for all (as if there was any doubt) that Silver Age comics were not only good, but good for you.



2. Sure, there are more expensive hardcover books on comics out there that treat the medium (and themselves) very seriously. But this book is a welcome relief from that pseudo-intellectualism. It's fun to read and enjoy the author's encyclopedic knowledge of the comics of our youth. Excellently illustrated. This one's a keeper - buy it.



3. Being a member of that tiny subset of us who were nurtured on the "funny books" of the sixties, this book was simply a delight. It's not really a scholarly treatise on this time in the development of this mass media, but it is a fond celebration with not a little influx of sardonic wit. I looked forward to each new smile chapter after chapter forced upon my visage.



4. I liked this book mainly due to the twists and turns of plots many years ago, that often puzzled me. I even sought out collector's copies of the comics he mentions in his book. Craig is easy to talk to, too, so go ahead and email him.>>>



5. This book is about the most fun you can have with 1960s comic books without actually sitting down and reading them. Mr. Silver Age has a sly-but-respectful style of relating the silliness and fun of some of our favorite superheroes from that time. It's a style that works even if you aren't familiar with the origial stories themselves.

   The book is lavishly produced with color reproductions of funnybook covers and appropriate comics panels on every page so you know exactly what the commentary is referring to. My only complaint with the book is that some of the reproductions are too tiny for this silver ager's eyes to see, but that just leaves more room for the copy!

   Lots of trivia spread throughout, fun quizzes, and wry observations from Mr. Silver Age Craig Shutt make this the most funnest book about the beloved comics of my youth I've read.

   Thanks to Krause and the Comics Buyers Guide for publishing this. When's Vol. 2 coming out?

   --your pal, Hoy