Tom of Finland: His Life and Times - Hardcover

Hooven, F. Valentine, III

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 031209325X ISBN 13: 9780312093259

Publisher: St Martins Pr, 1993

Synopsis

Traces the life of the gay artist whose erotic illustrations of men influenced many artists, including Robert Mapplethorpe, Bruce Weber, and Rainer Werner Fassbinder

About this title

Review:

Perhaps no one has had a greater influence on gay male fashion than illustrator-cartoonist Tom of Finland. In this volume his unusual and triumphant life story is told in words and pictures. The pictures, of course, steal the show, as Tom's bubble-bottomed macho men fight, love, and punish each other. There's still much to be said about Tom's impact on American and European gay culture, but this book provides a good starting point not only for Tom's fans who want to learn about the man behind the leather-clad images, but also for the uninitiated who've always wondered where the leather-cap-and-chaps look origintated. Sadly, with Tom's death the flow of testosterone-packed pictures has stopped, but volumes like this show that there is still life in his legend.

About the Author:

F. Valentine Hooven, III was born in Philadelphia and has spent much of his adult life in the theater, writing, designing, and acting regionally and in New York. Since leaving the theater in the mid-eighties, he has been a full-time freelance writer and illustrator. He lives in West Hollywood.

About this edition

• Publisher: St Martins Pr
• Publication date: 1993
• ISBN 10: 031209325X
• ISBN 13: 9780312093259
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 198