Photographers Arne Svenson and Ron Warren--co-authors of the popular Sock Monkeys--here turn their attention to those masses of slobbered-over yarn, remnants and stuffing that ordinarily go the way of all pet toy casualties and get discarded without a second glance. Before their lenses, once-plush cuddly creatures and formerly bouncy rubber toys are transformed into intriguing eyeless, armless, one-legged sculptures--snatched, from the jaws, so to speak, of oblivion. A headless bunny rabbit, mutated plastic rat, masticated rubber hotdog or donut--each is a beloved pet's dream companion, transfigured by the sharp teeth and powerful jaws of the overinfatuated animal. Svenson and Warren have photographed the chewed victims in a formal yet irreverent style appropriate to the perspective of the pet; the result is a humorous appraisal of beauty, devotion and contentment. With more than 130 full-color photographs, Chewed includes delightful, twisted and poignant short stories by a variety of contributors writing about their favorite chewed creature, including writer Augusten Burroughs; artists Roz Chast, Maira Kalman, Rick Meyerowitz and William Wegman; designers Isaac Mizrahi and Todd Oldham; and food-world personality Andrew Zimmern.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
Arne Svenson and Ron Warren's 2002 book, "Sock Monkeys," effectively elevated the status of a simple toy, showcasing 200 portraits of sock monkeys. Their new book aims to do the same thing for dog toys. (Rima Suqi The New York Times 2011-09-29)
Sometimes it's the eyes that go first. Other times, it's an arm or a leg, until the trusty companion has been rendered lovingly limbless. Regardless of how your canine goes in for the kill, one thing is for certain: The more eviscerated and bedraggled and fluffless the dog toy, the more precious it is to your pup.
Even though we don't recommend letting your dog's toy get this far gone (think choking hazard!), it does make for some aesthetically curious doggie handiwork. At least that's what photographer Arne Svenson thought when he compiled his whimsical new book, Chewed, which is packed with playful portraits and high-profile essays from the likes of Isaac Mizrahi, William Wegman, and Bizarre Foods host Andrew Zimmern. (Liz Ozaist Vetstreet 2011-09-22)
Tortured animals have never looked so cute as in Chewed, Arne Svenson and Ron Warren's photo book of pet playthings decapitated, amputated, and gouged by too much love. Featuring examples from notable pet owners ( including Augusten Burroughs, Roz Chast, and Todd Oldham-who reveals his dog's taste for plastic eyes ), the collection captures the fatal attraction between man's best friends and their favorite toys. (Editorial Staff OUT Magazine 2011-08-23)
Sometimes it's the eyes that go first. Other times, it's an arm or a leg, until the trusty companion has been rendered lovingly limbless. Regardless of how your canine goes in for the kill, one thing is for certain: The more eviscerated and bedraggled and fluffless the dog toy, the more precious it is to your pup.
Even though we don't recommend letting your dog's toy get this far gone (think choking hazard!), it does make for some aesthetically curious doggie handiwork. At least that's what photographer Arne Svenson thought when he compiled his whimsical new book, Chewed, which is packed with playful portraits and high-profile essays from the likes of Isaac Mizrahi, William Wegman, and Bizarre Foods host Andrew Zimmern. (Liz Ozaist Vetstreet 2011-09-22)
Tortured animals have never looked so cute as in Chewed, Arne Svenson and Ron Warren's photo book of pet playthings decapitated, amputated, and gouged by too much love. Featuring examples from notable pet owners ( including Augusten Burroughs, Roz Chast, and Todd Oldham-who reveals his dog's taste for plastic eyes ), the collection captures the fatal attraction between man's best friends and their favorite toys. (Editorial Staff OUT Magazine 2011-08-23)
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
By T.Jackson
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book is ingenious and beautifully photographed! I wish I had thought of it first! I have my copy and have given it as a gift as well!!
Brilliant and creative!!
Brilliant and creative!!
By C. Zimpher
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
What a clever and cute idea for a book. I have had dogs all my life and they all had many many stuffed toys.
Looking at the pictures in this book reminded me of these toys. After a dog has his way with a stuffed toy it is never the same. These pictures made me laugh and smile. Beautifully photographed and so very funny to look at.
If you own a dog, this book is for you.
Looking at the pictures in this book reminded me of these toys. After a dog has his way with a stuffed toy it is never the same. These pictures made me laugh and smile. Beautifully photographed and so very funny to look at.
If you own a dog, this book is for you.
By Daylight
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I laughed so hard looking through this brilliant book! Gorgeous full-page photography captures the tragicomic results of our furry friends' obsessions with the characters we give them to chew on. Ron Warren and Arne Svenson reveal the wabi-sabi in pet toys when documenting the humble beauty in these distressed objects of love. Short, humorous texts by accomplished writers triple the magic. I've already ordered copies as gifts for my dog and cat-loving friends. You've got to take this book "Chewed"in your hands and flip through it in person.
Format:Paperback
Cans: The Life's Work of an Optimistic DogAround my crazy dog infused home we have appreciated the joys of eviscerating storebought toys for centuries (in dog years). We have plied our talents on the expensive, the 'guaranteed' and the 'wolf-proof with similar results. We have been known to buy a garbage bag full of stuffed castoffs from the thrift store and scatter the whole lot of them in wanton free for alls (usually holiday themed). It wasn't until recently one of our more creative pooches really set his explorations into this media apart. JoJo begand working on cat food cans in an alarming manner and with such passion his efforts did not stay unnoticed. To be sure it took me a long time to figure out that these pieces should be saved. But finally, save them I did - until we had a whole collection which we then photographed similar to thisawesome book and have for sale here on amazon too. If you liked "Chewed" and who doesn't, then I think you will likewise enjoy "Cans: The Life's Work of an Optimistic Dog".
By Ken J. Siman
Format:Paperback
Me and my Aunt fancy this book. It's photographs of what happens when your favorite pooch or hound gets so carried away with a gift you've given it -- a toy or stuffed animal of some type, not a Milk Bone -- that it goes to town on the object, pretty as you please. The end result should be "ugly as homemade sin," like Governor Perry said, but in the hands of photographer Arne Svenson (sounds Swedish), they become easy on the eyes and something to behold. Plus there are funny and smart essays. My Aunt loves what Augusten Burroughs wrote because it's about Halloween, bunnies, and anthropomorphized features!
By Clemack
Format:Paperback
In their new book, Chewed, Arne Svenson and Ron Warren (Sock Monkeys) have once again brought us into a world benign and comforting and unassumed, which, through their enchantingly peculiar photographic eyes, becomes a phantasmagorical journey which sparks our imaginations into seeing a new and startling perspective on the mundane and humble objects that we call pet toys. A beloved pet and that beloved pet's beloved toy: a simple relationship. But that love becomes torn, ripped, dismembered and at times unrecognizable after being Chewed. The transmutation from the adorable to the monstrous is beautifully unsettling. Mr. Svenson and Mr. Warren in their astonishing photographs have created a world of fables our imaginations could never have conceived. What could the story be that so utterly mauled and maimed the object of such real affection? Their collaborators and contributors have delightful and anomalous answers to this quandary. Their varied narratives depict their unique insights and reflections on these poor creatures.
A particularly wonderful example is Andrew Zimmern's contribution, Squirrel: A Cautionary Tale. A decapitated squirrel, handless and footless, devotedly dismembered by an amiable pet, becomes food for thought as Mr. Zimmern, who will eat anything remotely bizarre, leads us down a rapturous chronicle of locavorism: the feeding, butchering, cooking and sumptuous eating of this precious little creature. Recipe for fried squirrel included!
These photographs and tales become parables and fables, and through the starkly beautiful photographs we travel on our own imaginative adventures with these cuddly tortured souls. This is a delightful book, much more profound and stimulating than the simple and strange concept of chewed pet toys.
A particularly wonderful example is Andrew Zimmern's contribution, Squirrel: A Cautionary Tale. A decapitated squirrel, handless and footless, devotedly dismembered by an amiable pet, becomes food for thought as Mr. Zimmern, who will eat anything remotely bizarre, leads us down a rapturous chronicle of locavorism: the feeding, butchering, cooking and sumptuous eating of this precious little creature. Recipe for fried squirrel included!
These photographs and tales become parables and fables, and through the starkly beautiful photographs we travel on our own imaginative adventures with these cuddly tortured souls. This is a delightful book, much more profound and stimulating than the simple and strange concept of chewed pet toys.
By BabyBear
Format:Paperback
Just got my copy of "Chewed" and LOVE it! The book is put together so brilliantly, it seems to actually have a plot. The stories of the chewed toys are personal and funny, written by some of my fav. Personalities like Todd Oldham, William Wegman and Isaac Mizrahi. I felt like I got to know the pets through the photos and stories.
This is a book I will be giving as a gift for years to come to all my dog owner friends!
This is a book I will be giving as a gift for years to come to all my dog owner friends!
Format:Paperback
What's not to love about this delightfully twisted, humorous and compelling book about well-worn toys? As the skin horse in The Velveteen Rabbit so sagely noted: "Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand". Svenson's toys tell the story of what happens to all of us. We get old and fall apart but become real in the process. And, if you aren't buying that, well, Roz Chast's duck is more interesting than any AA meeting in Manhattan.....
Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
run...don't walk!
This book breathes new life into everyday objects many of us have to resist throwing in the trash: one that is simultaneously comical and poetic. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Andrea Stern
5.0 out of 5 stars
Chewed
I think when everyone was a kid they had a favorite stuffed toy as a pet along with a favorite "real" one. I sure did. Mine was a brown bear named Sugar. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Bruce Mundt
5.0 out of 5 stars
I love chewing on CHEWED!
This is THE MOST fun book about dogs, about dog lovers, and about our crazy consumer culture, but most of all the photos are so gorgeous--the writing is really fun too. Read more
Published 21 months ago by Barbara Epler
4.0 out of 5 stars
Cute. And very funny.
I am not a pet owner but bought this book because I thought it was an cute and interesting concept but mostly because there was a story by Augusten Burroughs. Read more
Published 21 months ago by K. Hall
5.0 out of 5 stars
I Love These Chewed Up Toys!!
Well, Arne Svenson has done it again! This time, Arne Svenson has turned his talent and camera onto chewed up pet toys and has transformed them into a beautiful photography book, a... Read more
Published 21 months ago by E. Michelle Cromer
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