My Adventures as an Illustrator: The Definitive Edition

I have always admired Norman Rockwell's work, so I was delighted to see his autobiography listed. It is a long book, but I read it very quickly. My only complaint is that due to its size and weight, I could not read it in bed! I did use my book pillow to read it in the living room, however. It is a superb book and well worth reading. The illustrations are great! It is well worth the price.

Packed with stunning images of his paintings. Well written, entertaining and full of fascinating insights into the artist’s life.

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I was pleasantly surprised and delighted by this book. I had vacillated for ages about buying it as I already owned a fairly good volume about Rockwell's life and work and was unsure if I needed this one, especially since this autobiographical work had been rather slated for what it left out about his personal life when it first came out.However this turned out to be a delight. The book itself is beautifully presented, printed on heavy paper and full of illustrations that are well reproduced, which makes it a joy to view and handle. There is also a lot of it - at 5cm thick and 535 pages it won't fit through the letter box - and I had expected it to be a book I dipped into every so often. Instead I found it so absorbing that I found it difficult to put down.I had expected this to be rather anodyne and was surprised by the depth it contained. The man it revealed was an obsessive, driven and dedicated artist who was thoughtful, insecure, shrewd and surprisingly waspish. (Not what I expected.) Considering he worked non-stop, seven days a week there is far more about his work than his private life but the foreword and afterword by his relatives give more insight into this.As a painter myself I revelled in the details of his philosophy and working methods, was pleased by his honesty about his struggles and it really raised my opinion of him and his work. (Like many I had tended to see his work as superficial kitsch.)I was especially pleased with the illustrations which amplify the text so little known sketches, studies and paintings are placed to alongside what he was talking about. (Don't expect to see all his best known work here, you will need one of the many other good books available for that.)I can honestly say that this definitive edition is worthy of the title. It is a pleasure to own, a great read and has entirely altered my view of Rockwell as a painter and as a person. Worth every penny.

efficace dans l'envoi, digne de confiance.