Satchmo: The Wonderful World and Art of Louis Armstrong [Hardcover]

Steven Brower (Author), Hilton Als (Foreword)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

The wonderful, if typo-strewn, “official book” of the Louis Armstrong House and Archives (Louis Armstrong: The Offstage Story of Satchmo, 2003) afforded glimpses of the collages of photos, clippings, and adhesive tape that the great jazzman composed on hundreds of boxes of reel-to-reel recording tape. Now Brower exposes this homemade artwork much more generously, mounting at 7-by-7-inch full scale well more than 100 collages as well as other photos and pages of Armstrong’s typed and handwritten personal recollections. Designer as well as author, Brower presents the pictorial material immaculately. As writer and documentalist, though, he is less able. His traversal of Armstrong’s life is sound but marred by much poor wording. Though nearly blooper free—alas, Paul VI is called Pius XII both times a pope appears—picture captions are often too meager or absent. The mercifully few descriptions of Armstrong’s music are nonsensical gush, and the reference notes are, to put it kindly, unorthodox. Louis lovers will forgive all this, however, and hail the book’s revelation of another attractive facet of one of America’s most prodigious talents. --Ray Olson

About the Author

Steven Brower is a seasoned writer and designer, and creator of the award-winning book Woody Guthrie Artworks. He currently teaches design at the School of Visual Arts in New York City and Kean University in Union, New Jersey. Hilton Als is a staff writer for the New Yorker. He is the author of The Women, and was the recipient of the George Jean Nathan Award for Dramatic Criticism in 2002-03.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Abrams; 1 edition (March 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 081099528X
• ISBN-13: 978-0810995284
• Product Dimensions: 10.5 x 9.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #596,379 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Steven Brower is an award-winning former Creative Director for PRINT, a former art director at the New York Times and currently for The Nation, co-author and designer of Woody Guthrie Artworks (Rizzoli, 2005), and author and designer of Satchmo: The Wonderful Art and World of Louis Armstrong (Abrams, 2009). In addition his writings on design and pop culture have appeared in several publications. He is the director of the "Get Your Masters with the Masters" MFA program for working professionals and educators at Marywood University in Scranton, PA.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fabulous!, March 27, 2009

By 

L. Wei (PA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Satchmo: The Wonderful World and Art of Louis Armstrong (Hardcover)

This is one of the most beautifully designed books I've seen. Steven Brower showcased Armstrong's lively collages with simple yet elegant organization. Brower's writing was brief, yet so concise and articulate.

Own it, and you'd enjoy it at all times!

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Satchmo: The Wonderful World and Art of Louis Armstrong, June 2, 2009

By 

Mary C. Horton "Constant Reader" (Boulder, CO USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Satchmo: The Wonderful World and Art of Louis Armstrong (Hardcover)

Purchased as a gift for a discerning fan of both art and Satchmo. The recipient thought it was unique and beautifully done.