Only In America: Some Unexpected Scenery [Hardcover]

David Graham (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

The wonderful title aptly describes this book. The "unexpected scenery," drawn from around the country, includes oddities ranging from a shriner in a miniature car to a gas station consisting of a cowboy hat and boot. The carefully made and excellently reproduced color photographs are pervaded by a whimsical quality, both individually and as a collection. The result is a visual pleasure to page through, just as one enjoys spotting such attractions along the road during trips. Given the quality of production, the book is reasonably priced. Recommended for public and academic libraries, especially photography and popular culture collections.
- Raymond Bial, Parkland Coll. Lib., Champaign, Ill.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 97 pages
• Publisher: Knopf; 1st edition (September 15, 1991)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0394582152
• ISBN-13: 978-0394582153
• Product Dimensions: 10.1 x 9.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,210,112 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Only in America, how true!, December 21, 2003

By 

Robin Benson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Only In America: Some Unexpected Scenery (Hardcover)

Originally published in 1991 I bet many of the structures that David Graham photographed along the Nation's highways are no more. In fact this book could well have run into volume two, three or four, there just seems so much interesting stuff to photograph before it gets pulled down. Most of the eighty-one excellent color photos show some quirky aspect of the American scene including some old favorites that pop up regularly in similar books, these three are in California, the Cabazon dinosaurs, the bulldozer shaped building in Turlock and Randy's Donuts in Inglewood.

All the photos have captions which mostly explain the location and circumstance though the intriguing house (page fifty-two) on stilts with a half-track vehicle in front only gets 'Vienna, Virginia, 1986'. California seems a place where vernacular buildings and signage flourish and Jim Heimann's 'California Crazy' (ISBN 0811830187) has dozens of photos of past and present roadside fun and the new edition includes plenty from the rest of the country, too. Had it been build earlier, I'm sure David Graham would have visited Newark, Ohio, to photograph the head office of the Longaberger basket company, a 160 times larger than life basket, with two handles reaching into the sky, only in America!

***FOR AN INSIDE LOOK click 'customer images' under the cover.