Robert Polito recounts Thompson's relationship with his father, a disgraced Oklahoma sheriff, with the women he adored in life and murdered on the page, with alcohol, would-be censors, and Hollywood auteurs. Unrelenting and empathetic, casting light into the darker caverns of our collective psyche, Savage Art is an exemplary homage to an American original. A National Book Critics Circle Award winner. 57 photos.

This is the first time most of these cover paintings have been collected and reproduced in their original form. Uncensored genre art that splashed the covers of American news stand pulp magazines in the 1930s and 40s frequently expressed male violence. "Savage Art" showcases this popular period illustration - that prefigured and helped create the violent visual language in much of today's aboveground cinema ("Pulp Fiction", "Kill Bill"), comic books ("The Dark Knight Returns", "Sin City") and ultra-violent multi-million copy video games ("Grand Theft Auto", and "Metal Gear Solid"). Featuring the original disturbing paintings by Walter Baumhofer, Rafael de Soto, Jerome Rozen and other pulp illustrators, many shown here for the first time, this lavishly-produced full colour collection documents Depression era masculine aggression as depicted on the covers of popular literature.

'Our Savage Art' features the corrosive wit and substantial critiques that are the trademarks of William Logan's style. Opening with a defence of the critical eye, this collection features essays on Robert Lowell's correspondence, Elizabeth Bishop's unfinished poems, and the inflated reputation of Hart Crane.

A colourful introduction to an American artist best known today as a muralist with the Works Progress Administration.

"An original study of Gauguin's writings, unfolding their central role in his artistic practice and negotiation of colonial identity. As a French artist who lived in Polynesia, Paul Gauguin (1848-1903) occupies a crucial position in histories of European primitivism. This is the first book devoted to his wide-ranging literary output, which included journalism, travel writing, art criticism, and essays on aesthetics, religion, and politics. It analyzes his original manuscripts, some of which are richly illustrated, reinstating them as an integral component of his art. The seemingly haphazard, collage-like structure of Gauguin's manuscripts enabled him to evoke the "primitive" culture that he celebrated, while rejecting the style of establishment critics. Gauguin's writing was also a strategy for articulating a position on the margins of both the colonial and the indigenous communities in Polynesia; he sought to protect Polynesian society from "civilization" but remained implicated in the imperialist culture that he denounced. This critical analysis of his writings significantly enriches our understanding of the complexities of artistic encounters in the French colonial context."--Publisher's description.

There are innovators who blaze trails to show the way forward, and creative genius Bob Larkin is certainly one of them. His magazine and paperback covers are both legendary and iconic. From Conan to Star Wars, Doc Savage to The Hulk, there are few pop culture touchstones that artist Bob Larkin hasn't brought his unique and powerful style of illustration to. This full colour retrospective of over 100 paintings also includes an introduction by Joe Jusko and an afterword by Alex Ross.

"A little cement mixer learns that making mistakes isn't always a bad thing"--