| The Americans |  | Creators: Robert Frank, Jack Kerouac
Publisher: Steidl/National Gallery of Art, Washington
Category: Book
List Price: $39.95
Buy New: $19.99
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Seller: Doyle's Books
Rating:  46 reviews
Sales Rank: 14,200
Media: Hardcover
Edition: Revised
Pages: 180
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.7
Dimensions (in): 8.5 x 7.4 x 0.8
ISBN: 386521584X
Dewey Decimal Number: 973.9
EAN: 9783865215840
ASIN: 386521584X
Publication Date: May 15, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Brilliant Photographic Journey by Robert Frank, with intro by Jack Kerouac!
Amazon.com Review
Armed with a camera and a fresh cache of film and bankrolled by a Guggenheim Foundation grant, Robert Frank crisscrossed the United States during 1955 and 1956. The photographs he brought back form a portrait of the country at the time and hint at its future. He saw the hope of the future in the faces of a couple at city hall in Reno, Nevada, and the despair of the present in a grimy roofscape. He saw the roiling racial tension, glamour, and beauty, and, perhaps because Frank himself was on the road, he was particularly attuned to Americans' love for cars. Funeral-goers lean against a shiny sedan, lovers kiss on a beach blanket in front of their parked car, young boys perch in the back seat at a drive-in movie. A sports car under a drop cloth is framed by two California palm trees; on the next page, a blanket is draped over a car accident victim's body in Arizona. Robert Frank's Americans reappear 40 years after they were initially published in this exquisite volume by Scalo. Each photograph (there are more than 80 of them) stands alone on a page, while the caption information is included at the back of the book, allowing viewers an unfettered look at the images. Jack Kerouac's original introduction, commissioned when the photographer showed the writer his work while sitting on a sidewalk one night outside of a party, provides the only accompanying text. Kerouac's words add narrative dimension to Frank's imagery while in turn the photographs themselves perfectly illustrate the writer's own work.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 46
 Terrific Package April 30, 2010
Jeff Winke (Milwaukee, WI USA)
Somethings just go together. Peanutbutter and jelly. Knotty pine paneling in a fishing-lake bar. Bouffants on R&B singers. And Jack Kerouac's introduction to 83 stark b/w photos ("lugubrious" Jack might say) shot by Robert Frank in 1955 / 1956 as he traveled the lower 48, funded by a Guggenheim Foundation grant. The book: The Americans is a terrific arty, documentary commentary on mid-20th-century America.
I would have said the book is worth having for the Kerouac introduction alone--because it is so good....so....so Kerouac--until I reverently turned the pages, which is what one should do when viewing a collection of photos, drawings, or art and was delighted to remain in the desperate, yearnful, plain-is-the-new-god mood that Kerouac had expertly created in his introduction. Frank's photos capture the everyday in all of its beauty. Many of the photos look like rejects from the envelope of prints eagerly picked up from the 1950's or 1960's photo lab where you have spinster Aunt Millie asking why did you waste film on this--they're not even looking at the camera, or it's a bunch of people at a funeral, or it's a road at night.
Get this book.
A timeless accomplishment February 13, 2010
US Citizen (New York, NY)
What can I say that hasn't already been said about "The Americans"? The coffin / jukebox quote and the page with the nanny are just the beginning. I recently reviewed Sawdust Mountain by Eirik Johnson Eirik Johnson: Sawdust Mountain and as I reviewed that I realized that many of today's best photographers owe a debt to Robert Frank. Buy this book and you'll see Franks' artistic descendants all over the place.
A Book Worth Having February 12, 2010
Booklover (USA)
Robert Frank's book "The Americans" presents a stunningly visual portrayal of the 1950's culture and the times we lived in. Frank's photographs brought back strong memories of people and places I remember. I saw his anniversary exhibit in New York and felt the book really captured his photographs. These are strong pictures, ones you'll remember. I recommend this book to all--not just photography lovers, but to anyone who wants to see a slice of American life gone by.
America Post WWII November 17, 2009
Roger W. Brown Jr. (San Diego, Ca United States)
This collection of photos didn't attract much attention when first published. Some believed race issues were a problem. Don't think so. I graduated from college during this period. The photos then would have been ordinary scenes in black and white during a period when most photos were color. The collection captures the time nicely. One of the photos is misidentified as to place. Several others have explanations different from my assessment. It isn't about the narrative and black and white makes the subjects stand out. There is a newspaper stand in one of the photos. Who is on the cover of Look?
America in the 1950s October 29, 2009
D. Wollrich
Robert Frank's pictures of America in the 1950s are comparable in depth and perceptiveness to Dorothea Lange's pictures of the 1930s. They are in black and white and call you back to look at them again and again. Composition is excellent. I had not heard of Robert Frank until recently. His photographic work, however, is excellent.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 46
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