Customer Reviews

A Perfect World: Words and Paintings from Over 50 of America's Most Powerful People

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Perhaps the drawings in this book were art therapy for the participants; they certainly don't do anything for the viewer. Definitely not worth the trees it took to print, but if you're sent a review copy, the book does have that "can't-help-looking" effect of a car crash.

50+ untrained artists execute infantile drawings in pencil, crayon, and poster paints. The ideas for a perfect world are either predictable (Ingrid Newkirk, founder of PETA, covers a page with pro-vegan messages; Harold Bloom-in a particularly embarrassing scrawl-draws a girl reading) or so nebulous as to be incomprehensible without an essay (Alan Dershowitz fumbles through three pages without clarifying his painting). I have no doubt the contributors are well-intentioned, but the contributions themselves are surprisingly rote, praising family, ecology, industry, religion, and the like without any unique take on the individual's hopes or desires for the world. A book that drew its responses from grade schoolers might have better artwork or more surprising ideas.

But man, I can't stop looking at that Harold Bloom scribble.

Debra Trione has found a wonderful way to get the heart of each of the 50 people she interviewed. Each interview is personal and engaging. Trione's idea to have each person create a unique painting is simple, yet brilliant. She has taken each of the people she interviewed right back to the age that they last held a paintbrush. The paintings are childlike, yet honest, sincere and captivating representations of many different views of "A Perfect World."

This book is a wonderful journey into the dreams of some well-known Americans, helping us to see them pared down to a spinless core intent on drawing a picture of their vision. What would your dream be?

This book is simply marvelous! Not just because it gives a glimpse into the visions and hopes of contemporary leaders, but because it provokes introspection -- challenging us to word our own dream, and create our own vision. It is hard to reach a target unless we can see it. Envisioning our perfect world is our prerequisite step towards creating the perfect world.

A brilliant book full of wonderful insights by the worlds most interesting people. A must read!

The Author has written a first rate book. Her concept is unique and gives us a special view of powerful individuals who are in positions of importance and who have and will, in the future, inflence national policies that affect each of us. I am especially struck by the eloquence of their statements and by the difficulty most of them had with their artistic presentation....I advise the reader to read the Introduction before they rush into the individual interviews.Ms. Trione puts the entire concept in an interesting and somewhat unexpected perspective. I hope that we will have more of her books. Do not miss A Perfect World

Debra Trione has used an imaginative approach interviewing many of America's leaders. The result is an insightful compilation of their views on making our world a better place for mankind. It is an enjoyable book to read.