O Rio De Janeiro is basically a huge volumne of pics (mostly black and white and presumably taken in Rio, Brazil) by Bruce Weber. Despite the cover which featured a guy staring lustily at a girl, who in turn, looked away from in and toward the reader, this book is really a book for gay men.

Homoerotic photographs abound, mostly of young men louging around in bikini briefs, either on bed, in apartments, on roof tops, during a soccer match, on the beach, and so on.

For gay men, this book is a delicious affair...and little else.

This book is great!
It was the first of the modern era of fashion photographers shooting senuality.

To call it HOMOEROTIC... is just to miss the point. It is SENSUAL, regardless of sex.

It is beautiful, with lots of beautiful imagery.

I will part with it for the right price... make a REAL offer.
( Still in GREAT shape.)

[ stevenbigler@hotmail.com ]

-SB

I have to say that I was a little disappointed when I received my copy of this book. I am a devoted Bruce Weber fan, but I found this book to lack any sense of cohension or purpose. It was a montage of photos - kinda like a "best of" without any of his best photos really included. I guess I expected it to be similar to "Bear Pond," "Chop Suey Club," or even the A&F catalogues. It was not. There are much better examples of his talent out there - don't lose any sleep if you miss a this one.

All you have to do to see a photograph by Bruce Weber is look in any glossy magazine or on any big city billboard or in the Abercrombie & Fitch catalogue. These are his works for advertising, but there is much more to Weber. "Hotel Room With a View" is one of the paperbound photography collections in the Smithsonian series and is, as usual with this series, superb. The fascinating, informative interview with Weber (uncredited interviewer!!) lets us know where, why, when he gets his inspiration and how he makes it happen. Alot of the pictures in this book are of celebrities like Brad Pitt, Chet Baker, Axl Rose, Harry Connick, but there are also a good number of examples of Weber's unknown models, animals and even a few color landscapes. There is also a brief bio and technical info for other photographers.

As a photographer who basically idolizes the work of Bruce Weber, I know I have a strong bias for anything he releases. Yet, this book is a great insight into the mind of Weber by having interviews at the begining of the book. These interviews with Weber came at the early part of his fame so it also shows a very realistic and down toearth Weber that is not so affected by fame like some other photographers. I strongly recommend this book for anyone who wants to know more than your basics about what Weber is about, or at least at that time was about.

I've read many yo yo books and they all taught me the same tricks. Here's a book which at long last has some new tricks. Some of the tricks are pretty hard, this book is definitely not for beginners. If you have read a couple other trick books and are ready to move on, you should read this book.

For the tricks in this book, I recommend a Yomega Fireball yo-yo. They sleep really well. If you are a beginner, you should read Awesome Yo-Yo tricks.

The book Bruce Weber's Inside Pro Football is basically a book that tells about football stars from 1991. There are profiles of people's favorite football stars like Jerry Rice, Barry Sanders, Bruce Smith and others. You will enjoy this book as you read the 1990 statistics and draftlists. You will also read interesting inside facts about most of the players. This is a great sports book to read.

I picked up this book because I had some familiarity with the subject matter having worked in that field of biochemistry in the late '60s. That is probably the main reason I read the whole thing and enjoyed it.
This is very much a scientific biography. It's an interesting story of the evolution a scientific idea (The Chemiosmotic Theory) and how that idea came to be accepted by the scientific community. The originator of the idea, the imaginative, ambitious, passionate Peter Mitchell, had to fight for many years to see his theory finally accepted.
I was disappointed, however, that the book did not paint a fuller picture of Mitchell who had many interests outside of science which are (frustratingly) alluded to - music, architecture, farming, family - but never explored. For example, the authors state that family life was very important to Mitchell but give no examples of how a highly motivated scientist/entrepreneur managed to fit it in. Nor is there any sense of what domestic life was like living in an isolated research institute/manor/farm. In my opinion, if these aspects of his life had been more developed, the book would appeal to a wider audience and the reader would come away with a fuller appreciation of the man.
Technically, it is rather a choppy book. Each chapter is divided into subchapters, which detracts from its cohesiveness. Repetition of some points also gives the sense that the book was pieced together.
However, I did read the whole thing and found it an interesting study of how 20th century science works - or works imperfectly.

This book is very precious, and, this will sound bitchy, but if you look at the author's photo, he is in fact a goofy-looking guy who few men would want to look like. So his own appearance belies his own advice.

As a teenager aching to learn practical knowledge of basic (okay, exceptional) grooming habits, this book offered me soup to nuts advice and suggestions on a grooming regimen. It did not offer occasional use "salon" tricks, but informed the reader in establishing good habits and an ongoing routine for above average grooming. It was very readable, and had lots of good photographic illustrations (some of it for "show," perhaps to inspire the reader -- "You too can look great like these professional models"). I'm sure some of the products and fashion beliefs are now dated, but ... I wish I still had my copy. Much of its text was timeless. Example: for shaving, he recommended that anyone considering using a straight razor invest in some lessons from a local, professional barber. Above all, Hix' writing style was never pedantic. It was no-nonsense, and let the reader decide what and what not to do, daily, monthly, and for life. I still practice some of the routines I learned from LOOKING GOOD. What does that tell you?

This book is very informative with information about personal hygeine for men.

This book does not really have many stories, it has lots of pictures! I think that the title is misleading.

And as some of his books, this book has lots of random pictures. Some are good, some are not. Quite a few are homoerotic. Among all the pictures, there are about two male frontal nudities.

This is just like a typical abercrombie and fitch magazine, and it has stories instead of clothes that they want to sell to you.

The pictures were all fairly nice. But what got to me, was the stories, "Prettest girl in town." the one about the three kdis going out and branding them self with a sword. They were touching in their betrail of human life and want. I couldent have dremt for more of a sadistic, masicistic beautiful book. I read it when i was in Backbone state park with friends, her boyfriend had bought her the book. We were sitting around the campfire reading it all i could thing was...thats what I want in life.

Black & white and a few color plates covering a broad range of material, from hollywood celebs to midwest farmers, from Soweto township to the youth of Vietnam, from a montage of clips from Court TV to Weber's trademark look at the All-American boy. Don't miss this one.

I am a huge Weber fan and I was really looking forward to recieving this new book. I was disappointed to find that this is not actually a book, but a magazine, complete with ads in the back. It is a European magazine filled with previously released Weber photos. If you are new to collecting Weber photography books, this may be a good introduction to his work outside of his famous advertising work. Just don't be expecting a "book" in the traditional sense. And don't be expecting new Bruce Weber photographs.

I think this would be a fine way for a novice photography collector to begin. The price is right, the images are terrific and the photographer is, arguably, one of the finest working today, both in advertising and in art.

Weber is, of course, known now as the man who brought Abercrombie and Fitch away from the canoe & rifle set and onto the college campus. He is almost single-handedly responsible for A&F's remarkable success. Take a look at any of their recent catalogues and you'll understand what I'm talking about.

This softbound large format "magazine" has examples of Weber's advertising photographs and his celebrity portraits (Matt Dillon in a playful mood; Robert DiNiro in a pensive mood, etc.) his informal family-style images (kids and ever-present dogs) and his landscapes (color and black & white). Obviously, since the book is not hard-covered, it is difficult to keep perfectly. But maybe that's the point. If you like the images in this portfolio, you can research more Weber on the web.

As I said before: a good place to start.

I was anxious to receive Roadside America, Weber's first widely-published new book in years. The book is actually an Italian pictorial magazine but it is very large and the printing is first rate. A lot of the pictures seem to be taken from his previous works making this a great way to catch a diverse sampling of Weber's photography. There are not many of his prized male nudes in this book. Still, owing to the sheer size of the pages, the pictures look striking in such proportions. One picture in particular of five men running naked on the beach, shown as the cover above, looks quite impressive as a two-page spread. There is another beautiful photo of Peter Johnson from The Chop Suey Club, where he is naked covered only by photos that Weber took of him.

For Weber fans, Roadside America is a worthwhile purchase. Expect a sampling of his photos - his dogs, celebrities, the American frontier, landscapes, and a few impressive nudes - presented in a unique 10x14 oversized magazine format.

To the editorial staff, I wrote the following review:

C.S. Lewis' needed to get a reality check., March 13, 2003
Reviewer: Holden from Massachusetts

No one is arguing whether it's ok to accept God's rewards. That's a moot point. C.S. Lewis'needed to get a reality check...

Please remove my review of this book as I feel there are a few
readers who have misunderstood my critique. Thank you.

I was very pleased to see Wilkinson address the topic of rewards from God. One of my Sunday School teachers asked me for a book on this very topic just before this book was published. At that time, I could find nothing on God's rewards for Christian service. Now, Wilkinson has given us his take on the topic.

To be honest, I wasn't grabbed by this book in the opening pages like I had been with the previous two in this series. However, from about page 30 on I really wanted to keep going.

The book is not, as some have suggested in other reviews, a claim that salvation is by works. Wilkinson makes very clear in this book that faith determines your eternal destination, works determines what you do once you get there. So many people think we'll just throw our crowns at Jesus' feet and then all be equal in heaven. Wilkinson shows this is not even close to what the Bible teaches.

He deals well with the passages that speak of rewards in heaven for our works on earth. I had never heard anyone discuss the possibility of suffering loss in heaven based on one's works. He explains the idea well and defends it ably, though the reader is not told what suffering loss in heaven is like.

The very best part of the book comes between pages 60-70. Every Christian should read those ten pages if they read nothing else this year. The whole point is that we are judged based on how we did compared to how we could have done. The section is excellent!

While this little book does not cover everything I wish it covered (nor does it say everything I wish it said), I am very thankful that Wilkinson has brought this topic back to the forefront. I hope several more authors will follow his lead on expounding this topic for us. I encourage you to read this book.

Isn't it just like MANY Christians to willingly admit that indeed the Scriptures teach MANY times about our rewards, yet we are ONLY supposed to submit to some altruistic notion of concentrating ONLY on the race!

However, it's interesting to note that these same people have no problem with earthly rewards, as his first work in this series (Prayer of Jabez) deals with. Let's just not deal with our eternal rewards! Thankfully Wilkinson provides necessary balance to a subject as wide as Christian rewards. It's not an "either/or" proposition....it's both! Understanding the author in the context of his writings, he clearly points out that attention to the race brings blessings/rewards both in this life and the eternal life. In "A Life God Rewards" he astutely points out that rewards which are eternal far outlast anything obtainable on this earth. Isn't that worth racing for? ...and yes, concentrating on?

I might have an occasional issue with Dr. Wilkinson's theology, but I still rate this book a "4". It is definitely worth the price of the book.

As with most of Bruce Weber's books, his style is the same from the beginning and had not changed a bit. Though I admire many of his good works (and in fact had purchased a lot of his expensive books), a good 70% of images in his books were the same type of images we discard at photo school developing labs and the same type of images our instructors at Photo 1 asked us to improve. Reasons: out of focus, bad composition, low quality grainy and muddy images. Well, it's the name that sells, you know. It takes a lot to be Bruce Weber. Honestly, his works for Abercrombie and Fitch were much better than the books. If I were to make a name like my idol, my works will sell, as well. And I am not kidding.

As a photographer who really looks up to and loves the work of Bruce Weber, I know I have a strong bias for anything he does. However, this book is a great look inside Weber's world and is godo with the interviews as well. My only problem is the price, ... there are probably better books for those that really get into Weber photography and are looking to maybe buy just one book, such as the out of print Chop Suey Club, etc., that even cover his work with Abercrombie and Fitch, and are cheaper at the same time. I would only recommend this book for someone who wants to know more than your basics about what Weber is about, and price is not an issue, otherwise go for it!