Body & Soul: The Black Male Book [Paperback]

Duane Thomas (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 15, 1998

Black men have always created their own style vocabulary, and this stunning collection of photographs is an unprecedented visual tribute to black male beauty and style--as photographed by such top photographers as Marc Baptiste, David LaChapelle, Michel Comte, Thierry Le Gouès, Walter Chin, Greg Gorman and Bob Frame. At once sensual and inspirational, Body & Soul is a candid, provocative look at some of the most talked-about black men on today's cultural scene--from music artists and athletes to models and actors.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Duane Thomas is a partner in a design studio specializing in creating advertising for fashion and beauty companies. He is a contributing magazine art director who has worked for Vogue, Elle, Essence, In Style, Details, and Esquire. He is also founder and art director of Noir, a New York-based style magazine for African-Americans.

Product Details

• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: Universe; 1 edition (July 15, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0789301296
• ISBN-13: 978-0789301291
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 0.5 x 10.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,103,063 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Don't Judge a Book by Its Cover--or Its Title, August 13, 2005

By 

Earl R. Sutton "earlsutton" (Detroit, MI, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Body & Soul: The Black Male Book (Paperback)

D'Angelo, the cover man, is not to be found inside. The title is much too broad; a more accurate title would be, "Fashion Styles of Some Rich & Famous Black Males." As for bodies, they are mostly clothes hangers here; the amount of skin on the cover is misleading. The contents rate as PG because of a couple behinds and a few covered crotches; there is no full, frontal nudity whatsoever. I don't know how anybody gets any soul out of this book, unless they see it in the eyes of some portraits or glean it from scattered quotes of fashion magazine staffers, usually a phrase or single sentence each, as the quotes, along with some other one-sentence observations by the author, are the only text. Therefore, the cover and title are cheap, bookselling tricks, but the book price is not cheap. A used copy, however, IS cheap, as buyers turn into sellers. Although a book about men of color, I am surprised that black & white plates out-number color 3:1, as I count about 90 b&w and 31 color photo's. I am a fan, too, of some of the people featured, but, to me, this is no reason to gush about the book as a whole. Although I could ooh and ah about some of the photo's, there are a like number of dogs and mediocre shots. What could form a pop-culture chapter itself is the number of celebrities who must have paid a lot for elaborate fantasy scenes shot by highly-paid photographers. I would not feel good about seeing this sort of arrogance if I shelled out a lot for their books, CD's, magazines, ticket prices, etc., the profits of which finance such folly. The author sees Black male fashion from a mainly GQ-type perspective, which may be right in-step in certain parts of Manhattan, but, from here in 'da hood, its seems like he's in an ivory tower. He has a new book coming out, with a similar cover and title, of which I will be suspicious. Except for a few unkwnowns, I expect that everyone involved is highly paid--subjects, photographers, fashion industry, etc.--and I wonder if people paid to be in this book, either in the form of their likeness(es) or their work; it would explain a lot.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A BEAUTIFUL TRIBUTE TO THE BROTHERS!!!, April 30, 1999

By 

Lorrie Irby - See all my reviews

This review is from: Body & Soul : The Black Male Book (Hardcover)

This book is chock-full of gorgeous, sexy Black men in every imaginable shade and pose, with commentary on what makes the brothers so appealing to the begin with. You can check out the average, everyday man and the usual photos of celebrities (is that cover photo of D'Angelo the bomb or what???). My only complaint is that they didn't have to use the same models over and over: they could have used more variety (why wasn't Q-Tip from Tribe in there?? What about TC Carson or Larenz Tate, or Chris Tucker??? Maybe there will be a book 3.). Otherwise, if you want to get inspired by some FINE men, this book will fit the bill quite nicely!!! DELICIOUS!!!

12 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hai-Chi Mama!, October 16, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Body & Soul: The Black Male Book (Paperback)

Ladies, get your credit cards out (or borrow a friend's), get your car to the mall (or catch the bus), buy this book now (do what you must)! I am not even kidding you for one second. This is a beautiful book. This book will make you proud to be (check one): 1. Black 2. An admirer of black beauty 3. Female 4. Male 5. Visually adept. All I got to say is Gary Dourdan, my dear, God Blessed You. God Bless You. All the other fine young specimens and the infinitely talented stylists, editors and photographers, "y'all GO"! (Specifically, GO directly back to the drawing board and do this again...serially,pleeeeeease!) Love... me.