Customer Reviews

Engines of Ingenuity

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While Kit gained fame as the author and illustrator of two treasure-hunt books, he has always been a mixed-media artist at his core. This book--his first in over 15 years--centers around one utterly gorgeous handmade chariot, but offers paintings, photographs, and woodworking as well. The slight narrative offers suggestions on how inventors find their ideas--or, as the case may be, vice versa. It's cleverly written but brief. His ultra-detailed painting style and elaborate woodworking techniques are clearly evidenced here; there's a lot to see in these few pages.

Fans of Kit's puzzle books may interpret some of the Engine's more cryptic elements as clues, but to do that would be to sell the book short. Kit's a brilliant artist who deserves to be taken on the terms of his current work, not just the work he completed decades ago. However, this book is thought-provoking either way--and what more can an artist ask?

Having a few other Kit Williams books I expected the contents of this to be a little cryptic. Upon reading however I found it fairly unfulfilling and maybe a bit of an indulgence on the author's part to have it published? Especially after paying $20 for it. Don't get me wrong, the central subject of the book - a travelling cart in which the passenger's seat turns to always face South no matter the direction of the cart's travel - is interesting enough. There is a lovely model of the contraption which is beautifully photographed, and an associated story/myth as to the reason for its creation. However the book seems more of a extended article for a hobby engineering or woodworking magazine - just with an artistic slant to it. If I had designed and made this cart I would be very proud of it also and the story adds a nice touch - but I don't feel it deserves its own book. Unless you absolutely have to have every Kit Williams book or are interested in model contraptions I would say give it a miss (unless you can get it at a substantially reduced price). Overall disappointing.