Customer Reviews

The Secret Life of Cows

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For all of those who've ever wondered what cows were doing when not chewing their cud, this book offers the viewer entree into the very busy lives of these seemingly placid creatures. The photo-illustrations are perfectly executed, the text is very funny and more importantly you'll spend a lot of time smiling even after the book has been closed. I cannot think of Casino Cow without laughing.

Glen Wexler sees things a bit differently than the rest of us....and thank god for that. Glen's work has always been discribed as 'visionary.' As in, have you seen Glen's 'visionary' Van Halen Album cover? In "The Secret Life of Cows" he harnesses his 'visionary' powers to bring out only the very best in bovine humor. If you don't smile, laugh out loud or even snort milk out of your nose when you read this book, you better call 911, because you proably don't have a pulse. And if that wasn't enough to get you to part with ten-dollars-and-seventeen-cents, it turns out that Eric Idle fella is pretty funny, too...

Filled with an eclectic collection of cows posing in unimaginable situations interrupted with terse spots of text, this may be the ideal book for a potato brained one like myself. I first learned of Glen Wexler's book while flipping through a photography magazine offering a few nuggets of the book as appetizers. Impressed by the imagination and creativity shown in the sample photos, I determined to obtain my own copy of this remarkable book. Having dabbled in digital transformations myself for years, I wanted to see the work of a master. This book does not disappoint.

At book's end are several pages of text explaining how this book came to be. Glen Wexler has created album covers and been part of multimillion-dollar advertising campaigns. The Secret Life of Cows evolved from his work for Chick-fil-A's ads promoting the consumption of chicken, not cows. The amusing ads featuring cows spawned a calendar of fantastic cow images. These creations are the meat of this book.

Wexler and his production designer arranged to have some cow sculptures made to a one third scale. The cow sculptures were dressed in various costumes and tirelessly posed for thirty days of shooting. Special effects were also photographed to blend with the cow images. The final product came about after more than 600 hours of post-production editing and the collaboration of assistants.

The 94-page book contains 24 full page, full color plates of cows in poses that are superhuman, suave, athletic, adventurous and feisty. Preceding the plates of superhero cows are a few bonus photographs, a full page portrait shot of a handsome black and white cow, a full two-page spread of cows descending from a flying saucer above a corn field, one of a cow about to be launched over a castle wall via trebuchet (catapult), and a gripping depiction of eight cows posing in tandem in striking superhero outfits beneath a dark, ominous sky.

Each plate is replete with detail, color, clarity, cow-risma and is suitable for framing or just sharing. As one turns the pages, he/she is struck by the limitless imagination of the creator of these scenes. A cow in purple, full body costume, yellow boots and yellow cape, bellows forcefully enough to shatter the windows of the Keller Beef Bros. Building in front of which she stands. Shards of glass are frozen in midair in juxtaposition to the cow's wide-open mouth and corrugated steel building.
On another plate we see a nearly all white cow with Ð%" emblazoned on her side. She stands in a puddle of white that might be milk or part of the melting white cow.

I particularly like the depictions of the secret agent cows. It's quite uncommon to see cows dressed elegantly in tuxedos, typing on laptops, or flying through the air propelled by a rocket pack. A cow gambling in a fancy casino and wearing an obvious human mask is hysterically funny. Also delightful are the tuxedoed cow parachuting into a speed boat, and the two cows on a motorcycle (most likely a Cowasaki) with a sidecar racing away from the circus burger tractor trailer.

As surreal as the photographs are, the cows, backgrounds and props are melded seamlessly and appear as natural and uncontrived as such pictures can look.

In the last "chapter" the full size plates are reproduced in miniature with titles, many with funny penmanship. Titles like Decibell, Gristle Missile, Kowrate, Divine Bovine, Leatherneck, Cowborg, Cowmeleon, and Holstoy, can best be appreciated when associated with the target photograph.

Like cows? Like digital transformations? Like looking at the silly, the absurd, the impossible? If so, you're bound to enjoy Glen Wexler's "The Secret Life of Cows."

I have been a fan of the California Cheese commerical cows for years and this book was an "added-upon" appreciation for the beautiful cow. The book was so funny and I loved the imagination used to create the photos. A great talent! The new book "The Secret Life of Cows" sits with a place on honor on the coffee table in my living room to share with all that come to visit.

I know a little bit about photography, and have considered myself a purest in my enthusiasm for the "traditional" medium. But this book has opened my eyes, and shown me a new way of "seeing." I am impressed with not only the creative genius and technical expertise of Glen Wexler, but with how detailed, imaginative and outright funny his work is. It boggles my mind when I ponder how he came up with and then executed the ideas which he so skillfully depicts here; I can't help asking myself, How did he do this? I really enjoy this book, and think it makes a great gift. Each image is not only visionary, but a state-of-the-art result of what can happen when you cross a camera with a computer.

I bought this item as a gift so I can't say first hand how the item is. I can tell you that from purchasing this it should bring a smile to anyone's face. I didn't hear any negative reaction to the book just that it was cute and made for laughs. I would recommend this to anyone with a funny bone.

Bought this book as gift for a friend that I have been changing cow
cards with for at least 15 years. As dyed in the wool cow freaks we were both pleased with the humor and art work in this book. A must for your favorite cow freak.

Full-page color photos of cows are anything but your usual field grazers: they present an alternate form of cow reality and depict cows in strange circumstances indeed, from science lab neo-robots and in secret agent dress to cows dressed for construction work and various kinds of jobs. Any collection specializing in 'alternate reality' color photos will relish THE SECRET LIFE OF COWS, with its zany and oddball cow photos and the potentials of truly odd lifestyles.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch