Captain, He Bought Eggs: Stories From a Firefighter [Hardcover]

Carmine Speranza (Author), Beth Reynolds (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2001

A collection of true stories with black and white photographs about Chief Carmine Speranza's first 10 years on the line as a Stamford, CT firefighter in the 1970s. This is a fine art, hard cover, coffee table book.

The paper is 100lb patina with varnished photographs.

30 stories and 35 images.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Beth Reynolds has been making photo-documentaries combining words and images for over 8 years. This is her second book. She holds and MFA in photography and is a former newspaper photographer. She currently runs her own publishing company while teaching photography at the College level.

Chief Carmine Speranza is the former Chief Fire Marshal of Stamford, Connecticut. He spent 24 years dedicating himself to his community. He is passionate about firefighting. This is his first book.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Photo Documentary Pr Inc (October 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0967328411
• ISBN-13: 978-0967328416
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 8.9 x 0.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,079,902 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Top notch photodocumentary, December 2, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Captain, He Bought Eggs: Stories From a Firefighter (Hardcover)

If you want to pay a tribute to firefighters, buy this book for the fire station in your neighborhood or for the local library. If you just want a great story and beautiful photography, buy this book for yourself. Frankly, as much as I feel for the families and friends of the firefighters killed in NYC, I've never felt like I knew any of those men and women. Television has done its best to convey the enormity of the tragedy but have left me with a rather two-dimensional image of most firefighters; I know they're heroic but I don't know much more than that. With this book, I feel like I've met a flesh-and-blood fireman.
I'm not sure whether to call this book a documentary with pictures or a book of photographs with text. The photographs could stand on their own as fine art but are the perfect accompaniment with the stories of the life a retired fire chief from Connecticut. There are stories of fires fought, to be sure. But, the best stories are about how Chief Speranza discovered as a child that he wanted to be a firefighter or about what firefighters do when they aren't saving lives or about the friendships that form between men and women who work so closely together. After reading this book, I think I know more about what its like to be a firefighter than I've learned in the last 3 months of non-stop television reporting.
I am a photographer and I bought this book for the beautiful photography but I would recommend it not only to camera lovers but to anyone interested in firefighters, great documentaries, or personal histories. A great read from start to end.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best Collaboration Since Green Eggs and Ham, March 2, 2002

By 

Marissa Williams (Florida, USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Captain, He Bought Eggs: Stories From a Firefighter (Hardcover)

Photojournalist Beth Reynolds depicts the life of Carmine Speranza through breathe-taking photographs that ignite the fire inside of you to become a firefighter. The book represents the life and love of Speranza probably better than he could explain it himself. This nationally recognized book is sweeping the nation, and capturing the hearts of all.

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent book, January 15, 2003

By 

Linda Hoffmann (Cascade, Iowa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Captain, He Bought Eggs: Stories From a Firefighter (Hardcover)

Bought this for our son who is interested in being a firefighter as his father is and his grandfather was. Great story and even though I thought the pictures would be better they were still good. Wish there were more.