Customer Reviews

David Levinthal: Small Wonders (American Scene)

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This book was intended to be a critical, artistic examination of the traditional American society of the 50's and 60's as viewed from children's playsets of that period. Ironically, it has become immensely popular among toyset collectors who either ignore, or disagree with, the critical introduction.
It is the marvelously posed and photographed Marx playsets that steal the show (Roman, western, Civil War, circus, jungle, WW2, space, etc.) The social comentary has been totally eclipsed by the pure nostalgia value. I know that is why I bought it....

If you recall with fondness the great old Louis Marx & Co. playsets of the 1950's & '60s then this book is a must. David Levinthal's color photographs are superb, bringing life to these little plastic people and animals at their eye-level, much as we saw and remember them when we were kids.

The color photographic layouts of various playsets are divided into three chapters. "Our World" contains great shots of the Marx Dollhouse, Skyscraper, Schoolhouse, Boyscouts, Jetport, Service Station, and "The Untouchables" playsets. The "World of War" chapter highlights the various Marx WWII, Civil War, Revolutionary War, Alamo, Frontier and Western playsets. "Other Worlds" concludes the book with images from the "Ben-Hur," Robin Hood, Jungle and Circus playsets. This is one of the most imaginative coffee-table photography books I've seen in ages.

Now comes my only negative comment which robbed this otherwise superb book of one star. David Corey's introduction leaves a lot to be desired. While it provides some historical information on Louis Marx and his company there really isn't enough info to satisfy the knowledge-seeking reader. The overblow and pretentious text contrasts sharply with Levinthal's photos injecting cynasism and misplaced intellectualism with photographs of a child's world where that kind of drivel has no place.

Corey's self-serving intro is a bit bizarre to say the least. He writes, "The service-station attendant in my playset was in some ways as tragic as Oedipus, as confined by time, place and action to his inescapable destiny, while I, like the Athenian spectator - or better still, the demiurge - could contemplate the conditions of..." What the heck is he talking about? This book celebrates children's playsets for crying out loud! Buy the book for the pictures and enjoy the great memories it brings back.

If you're reading this, you likely know Levinthal's formidable talent. It's on display here, of course, but the book's design, assembly instructions superimposed next to, behind and even over the photos, distracts from his work. Self-consciously clever, the design so irritated me it was a genuinely unpleasant experience to look through this book--hardly the reaction one expects from Levinthal. Look for another introduction to his work. I am.

The only flaw with Small Wonder is that the text is about toys, which gives toy collectors the idea that Levinthal is an illustrator of books on toys. If you bought this book just to compliment your toy collection, you need to go through the book again, ignoring the text, and really look at the photographs.

I would have given Small Wonder 5 stars, were it not for David Corey's text. However, the book only grants around 25 pages to Corey's text, out of the 160 total, and it is still well worth buying. I've had the book for a few months, and I still pick it up to see a certain few photos over and over.