I got to this book by an interesting quote of Chomsky's. Here it is:

"Bertrand Russell, who by any standard is one of the leading intellectual figures of the twentieth century. He was one of the very few leading intellectuals who opposed World War I. He was vilified, and in fact ended up in jail, like his counterparts in Germany. From the 1950s, particularly in the United States, he was bitterly denounced and attacked as a crazy old man who was anti-American. Why? Because he was standing up for the principles that other intellectuals also accepted, but he was doing something about it.

"For example, Bertrand Russell and Albert Einstein, to take another leading intellectual, essentially agreed on things like nuclear weapons. They thought nuclear weapons might well destroy the species. They signed similar statements, I think even joint statements. But then they reacted differently. Einstein went back to his office in the Institute for Advanced Studies at Princeton and worked on unified field theories. Russell, on the other hand, went out in the streets. He was part of the demonstrations against nuclear weapons. He became quite active in opposing the Vietnam War early on, at a time when there was virtually no public opposition. He also tried to do something about that, including demonstrations and organizing a tribunal. So he was bitterly denounced.

"On the other hand, Einstein was a saintly figure. They essentially had the same positions, but Einstein didn't rattle too many cages. That's pretty common. Russell was viciously attacked in the New York Times and by Secretary of State Dean Rusk and others in the 196Os. He wasn't counted as a public intellectual, just a crazy old man. There's a good book on this called Bertrand Russell's America."

It would be cool is they removed the barcode sticker from the back of the book so that we could read it.

This is a weak survey of African-American "vernacular art". There are a few pieces of artwork shown for the various artists covered and a short bio. Nothing in depth in terms of the artwork shown or the information given. This is basically your standard collection of the usual suspects in folk art today. A little bit of Dial, Tolliver, Young, Burnside, Light, etc. And the pieces shown aren't that special. It's great they've got a couple of Mose Tolliver's, but they aren't that special in the overall spectrum of Mose's work. Since nothing is in-depth, I'm not really sure what the point of this book is as it adds nothing new to the field. It's great Ronald and June Shelp own all these pieces, but so what? Good for them, but the book adds nothing for the reader. A much better survey is Souls Grown Deep. Much more expensive, but well worth it.

Not your everyday book on Outsider Art. While most art books on this subject just showcase collectors' investments, Testimony includes critical studies on the ways collections have been organized and new historical information about the relationship between African American vernacular art and the Outsider movement. All of the essays address hard questions and give you something to think about. In a field noted for its ugly politics, collectors Ronald and June Shelp have been brave and responsible in supporting this kind of writing.