Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: The Last Dream-o-Rama by Bruce McCall ISBN: 0-609-60801-0 Publisher: Crown Pub. Date: 18 September, 2001 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.17 (6 reviews)
Rating: 2
Summary: McCall's Genius Wearing Thin
Comment: The brilliant satirist and illustrator who gave us a billion terrific and memorable laughs in the pages of National Lampoon and "Zany Afternoons" is now, it seems, on autopilot. Bruce McCall hasn't lost his edge in the technical department, but this anti-paean to the 1950s reads less like a parody of car advertisements and more like a screed against the Evil Consumption Tendencies Of Straitlaced Anti-Communist Americans And Their Depletion Of Natural Resources, Curse Them! It is not, in a word, funny. On the flip side, if you're not familiar with his brilliant "Zany Afternoons" and don't feel like being gouged by the vultures who are charging $250 + for a good-condition copy, then this is a fair sampling of McCall's stuff. To get a real glimpse into his rapier wit, check out http://www.jamesgoodmangallery.com/mccall/pages/exhibframez.html for a gallery of his pieces shown about four years ago in New York. If the taste and style of the '50s and '60s are not your cup of tea and you want to see some hilarious spoofs, check out James Lileks and "The Gallery of Regrettable Food." But don't waste your money on this latest, weak offering from McCall.
Rating: 5
Summary: Hilarious satire and superb drawings
Comment: Bruce McCall's "The Last Dream-O-Rama" is a wickedly clever satire of the 1950's dream car phenomena.
If you've seen McCall's "Bulgemobile" advertisements from the 1970's vintage National Lampoon magazine, you already know he's a gifted artist with a droll sense of humor about automotive excesses. He has a talent for writing that comes close to real advertisements but just pushes it a little bit further such as "Fireblast! Twice the car you'll ever need - and that goes double for the new four-door FunTop!"
In this colorful book, after some pages spoofing dream car shows ("It's un-American to miss the Cavalcade of Chrome"), the bulk of the book has delightful full-page drawings of outrageous concept cars. Each has a half page history on the facing page.
One is the "Silver Sabre Patriomatic Funfighter, 1957" which looks only slightly more like a jet airplane than Pontiac's actual Firebird dream cars. Another is the "Armageddon Mk1, 1958" for the fallout shelter crowd. And there are many, many more with great variety. A few may be too silly for some tastes, but they are all wonderfully drawn.
The book wraps up with "Name Your Own Dream Car - the Detroit Way" and finally "Dream Cars Around the World" with yet more drawings and descriptions.
This book is a satisfying satirical, or perhaps all too true, look into the fifties and a great value even if you're only going to look at the drawings.
Rating: 4
Summary: Not as zany as Zany.
Comment: I always looked for Bruce McCall's brilliant work in the National Lampoon and loved the reprinted work in 'Zany Afternoons' (I bought two copies, just in case) and it confirmed that here was an unusual humorist, as good with a paint brush or typewriter.
This latest book though I found a bit disappointing. The material does not really stretch to 128 pages, lots of these (especially the text ones) have far too much white space and the illustrations I found lacking in detail. In 'Zany Afternoons' there are three hilarious parodies of Detroit car brochures, 1934, 1946 and 1958 Bulgemobiles, all have paintings of fantasy cars with backgrounds full of detail, it is this detail that I found missing in so many of the paintings in 'Dream-O-Rama'
Still, the text is very funny and if you are new to Mr McCall's work try and get 'Zany Afternoons' and 'Sit!', he wrote the wonderful words to accompany the dog paintings of Thierry Poncelet.
 |
Title: All Meat Looks Like South America : The World of Bruce McCall by Bruce McCall ISBN: 0609608029 Publisher: Crown Pub. Date: 14 October, 2003 List Price(USD): $29.95 |
 |
Title: Bruce McCall's Zany Afternoons by Bruce McCall ISBN: 0394426835 Publisher: Knopf Pub. Date: November, 1982 List Price(USD): $25.00 |
 |
Title: Yesterday's Tomorrows: Past Visions of the American Future by Joseph J. Corn, Brian Horrigan, Katherine Chambers ISBN: 0801853990 Publisher: Johns Hopkins Univ Pr Pub. Date: May, 1996 List Price(USD): $27.95 |
 |
Title: Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right by Al Franken ISBN: 0525947647 Publisher: E P Dutton Pub. Date: 29 August, 2003 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
 |
Title:The Lord of the Rings - The Two Towers (Platinum Series Special Extended Edition) ASIN: B00009TB5G Publisher: New Line Home Video Pub. Date: 18 November, 2003 List Price(USD): $39.99 Comparison N/A, buy it from Amazon for $25.99 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
