Post #430676 by aquarj on Sun, Jan 25, 2009 10:29 PM

Just wanted to chime in on this one. I've been meaning to post about this book for quite a while, as I hadn't noticed this thread. So upon doing the search before posting, I'm delighted to see the thread already existed, because this is a great book and it's good to see folks from TC already dug it.

For me, Pop Surf Culture belongs with an elite short list of books that not only assault the reader with endless visuals that are each individually hard for the man on the street to track down otherwise, but also include thought provoking text that ties all the visuals in with cultural phenomena. Books like the BOT, Alan Hess' Googie, Jeff Berry's Sippin Safari, Amid Amidi's Cartoon Modern, the Birth of the Cool exhibition book, the cumulative body of books from Charles Phoenix so far, maybe Havana Before Castro (which I've still only ogled but not read), and so on. No intentional slights by omission in my quick list though! Anyway, each of these has the capability to transform the reader's awareness of a loose collection of artifacts and interests into a more cohesive picture.

Great job Brian and Domenic! Dumb Angel #4 set the bar high, and this one vaulted right over it!

-Randy