Customer Reviews

Skeleton Breath, Scorpion Blush (English and German Edition)

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This is a wonderful selection of some of the best of Don Van Vliet's paintings and poems, beautifully put together into a single book. The reproductions of the paintings are simply glorious - the detail and colours are exceptional.

A small note near the back of the book states: 'The poems have been assembled by Don Van Vliet especially for this edition'. It is probably fair to assume that these are Don's favourite poems, and I certainly wouldn't disagree with him.

The book features a poetic introduction from A.R.Penck entitled To Don Van Vliet, fortunately a different piece from his alarmingly self-indulgent For Don Van Vliet that appeared in Stand Up To Be Discontinued. Also included is a charcoal sketch by Don, what looks like a lino cut of Don by A. R. Penck, and a black and white snap of Don on the phone in 1985.

Highly recommended!

This one is not an easy find, mostly due to its current pricetag as an out of print survey of Van Vliet's paintings. If you do have some discretionary income, it's a good book to pick up. The book, dated 1987, is a collection of sixteen of Van Vliet's poems (most of which are lyrics from the Captain Beefheart albums "Trout Mask Replica", "Doc At The Radar Station" or "Ice Cream For Crow" -which makes the collection doubly valuable since the CD booklets to some of these do not include lyrics), sixteen of Van Vliet's paintings (with great titles like "Pig Erases Statue In Passing", "Rolled Roots Gnarled Like Rakers", and "Candle Powered Rodeo Ghosts" - there is also a drawing in the front of the book that doesn't seem to be referenced anywhere in the book - it looks like one of Van Vliet's), a painting and essay by A.R. Penck (the painting is of "Captain Beefheart" and the essay, presented in both German and English, is entitled "To Don Van Vliet"), and a photograph of Van Vliet in Cologne on the telephone - holding his almost trademark cigar (I haven't seen this photo reproduced elsewhere).

The entire book is printed in beautiful glossy paper which really evokes the colors and moods of the paintings - subconscious blotches intermixed with dream and/or nightmare shapes and imagery. Van Vliet has stated many times that his goal is to "turn himself inside out on canvas", and the paintings themselves suggest what this process must be like.

It's a thin book; it can be read in a single sitting; it's around 96 pages; it's not a coffee-table sized book: it's only about 9 1/2 inches high and 6 1/4 inches long; it's a paperback. Keep all of this in mind before shelling out (...) dollars for a copy. For diehard fans it will be worth every economic unit. To get an intimate glimpse of Van Vliet's art and poetry the investment is definitely worth it, especially considering that there is no readily available book dedicated to Van Vliet's art on the market at the time of this writing.