Bomb: Interviews - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0872862615 ISBN 13: 9780872862616

Publisher: City Lights Publishers, 1992

About this title

Reviews

Conceived at the outset of the 1980s as a cutting-edge arts magazine with a heavy slant toward the downtown Manhattan scene, Bomb is eclectic in its focus, an eclecticism that is reflected in this 10th anniversary collection. Eschewing the participation of journalists in the interview process, Bomb publisher Sussler and her editors conceived of "interviews between peers, writers and artists, about what it is to make art." The result is wildly uneven, as befits the magazine's risk-taking nature. For example, the dialogue between visual artists Richard Prince and Barbara Kruger is a pretentious nullity (particularly disappointing because Kruger's art is so astute and verbal), but the discussion of photography between Duane Michals and David Seidner is scintillating, especially when they touch on the ontology of their chosen medium. The give-and-take between painters Georgia Marsh and David Salle is refreshingly funny, and Kathy Bates and Michael O'Keefe are amusingly candid about the tribulations of film acting. The best moments in the book occur when a subject offers an unforced confession, as in Salman Rushdie's self-definition, "I suppose I am a lapsed Muslim." Illustrations not seen by PW.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

As an alternative magazine in America, Bomb offers a forum for those doing new, innovative work in theater, cinema, and art. This collection of interviews, published to mark the magazine's tenth anniversary, features some of its more noteworthy interviews with writers and artists--from Salman Rushdie and Al Pacino to Martin Amis and Kathy Acker--commenting on art and their relationship with it. Overall, the selections give readers a behind-the-scenes look at what has been happening on the contemporary art scene in the last ten years. Of particular interest are Duane Michal's thoughts on photography's place in the art world and Rushdie's views on Muslims in India. However, despite these thought-provoking pieces, this book is not recommended for library acquisition. It has a limited appeal and current periodicals covering similar material are readily available.
- Nancy R. Ives, SUNY at Geneseo
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Edition details

• Publisher: City Lights Publishers
• Publication date: 1992
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0872862615
• ISBN 13: 9780872862616
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 228
• Editor: Sussler Betsy