Customer Reviews

An Orgy of Playboy's Eldon Dedini

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3 star:		(1)
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I knew Eldon.He was a master.He loved his work and it showed with the wonderful women etc he drew for his cartoons in Playboy.His watercolor work was superb.His jokes;on the button funny.He was simply the best at his occupation.I will miss him and his art,and so will readers of Playboy.

The book on the life, art, and personal observations of Eldon Dedini is excellent indeed. The cartoon photos are beautiful, and the explanation of the steps involved in creating the final cartoon is informative. I especially liked the DVD film of Eldon Dedini at the back of the book. It gave me a look into the person of Eldon Dedini, what made him tick and what kind of a person he was. I found the information on his family life most interesting. [...]

Um dos melhores livros que já vi até hoje. É magnifico poder compartilhar tantas obras do mestre Dedini. Um livro fantástico que não deve faltar na estante!

Eldon Dedini was PLAYBOY magazine's finest cartoonist--he had a dryer wit than Jack Cole and had a fine arts sensibility lacking in Gahan Wilson or Shel Silverstein. This collection (He died before it was completed) shows his best work for the magazine in lush, loving color reproduction.

Dedini was a bit of an odd duck for PLAYBOY. A superb illustrator, he fundamentally did not share Hefner's enthusiasm for Free Love, adultery or swinging, but depicted the lifestyle with amazing skill. Everything he drew was voluptuous. The women, of course, but also the metrosexual men, the satyr, even the cars and furniture. And he would slyly sneak his disapproval of the Playboy Philosophy in now and then (The rich couple coming out of Nero's nightclup to find their sporty convertible has been spray-painted with the word "REPENT", for one).

While no one could draw orgies better than Dedini, I think the cartoon that best sums him up comes near the end of the book. A rich, health-conscious couple in a fancy restaurant eyes a tray of sweets warily. The humble waiter clarifies their dilemma for them: "You're born. You die. Enjoy the interval." A beautiful, beautiful book!

Eldin Dedini is the Monterey Peninsula's most famous cartoonist. He published in the New Yorker and Playboy.
He belonged to a group of local cartoonists here in Carmel, like Bill Bates, Gus Arriola, Glen Bernardt and Hank Ketchum.
Except for Glen, they are all gone now.
But Eldon's work is so memorable, I had to get this collection.
We have another artist cartoonist here in Carmel, Shell Fisher, who is still very much alive and who is doing excellent work, just as good as Eldon did.
Maybe you have a book forthcoming with Fisher's work also?
I am looking forward to it!

I perused this in a bookstore recently. I had been very anxious to see it as I knew it was almost certainly a must-have. The artwork is indeed superb, the printing is excellent, and the humor is top-drawer. My complaint is the cheap shiny-cardboard cover they put on this. I think of books as investments, and nowadays the publishers increasingly cut corners on bindings, apparently thinking the consumer won't notice (and they are often correct, since so many books are sold online and the determination can not be made between a nice cloth cover and cheap cardboard). But the distinction is significant, in my mind. Go to your local used bookstore and see how these cheap covers hold up. Quite simply, they don't. After a few years the book looks like junk, scuffed and dented, if it holds the book together at all. Perpetrated only to save a few lousy dollars. It is a shameful compromise of historical material. This cover is more like a Dr. Suess book's cover than the cover you would want and expect on a nice art book and future collectable. It is very unfortunate, as Eldon deserves the absolute best, and this is not that.

Dedini was the master at his craft. He worked at Disney,Esquire,Playboy,New Yorker etc. He worked at his same drawing board in Carmel CA for 50yrs! His research books were stacked to the ceiling. I had the pleasure of meeting him several times in 2005. The book AN ORGY of PLAYBOYS ELDON DEDINI is a beautiful tribute!

Aside from the gorgeous cartoons, the book comes with a DVD documentary called 'Dedini - A life in Cartoons'

While the book gives the reader a great look at Eldon's work over the years (on very fancy paper I might add) the DVD tells you about the life of this great artist. It is funny to see how so many of the women in his cartoons look just like his wife (she features in the documentary too)

Considering I bought this thinking I'd just get the book, it was a great surprise to find that it came with a DVD, there is no mention of it in the listing.