Customer Reviews

The Sneaker Book: Anatomy of an Industry and an Icon (Bazaar Book)

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"The Sneaker Book: Anatomy of an Industry and An Icon" is well-written and excellently researched. The badly-placed black-and-white sneaker photos and its academic tone, however, offer the book as an informative but slightly boring term paper on the sneaker industry. Casual readers will probably (and rightly) want more color and certainly more sneaker photographs, but these flaws do not seriously hamper the book.

On the whole, I liked this informative book. Mr. Vanderbilt does an admirable job of giving us an insider's perspective on the athletic footwear industry and how it has insinuated itself into popular culture. I also enjoyed the stories and comments in the sidebars which bolster his perspective.

That said, the major thing that mars this book was the decision to place the photos of the sneakers along the spine. In terms of design, it was a poor decision, and it detracts from the text instead of enhancing it. I found myself flattening the book out as much as I could so I could see the photos, but even with that, the whole illustrative purpose of the photos was lost. If this book is ever updated, I suggest that the photos be placed somewhere that the reader can see them in their entirety.

For a short book, Vanderbilt puts forth a lot of good information about athletic shoes, their history, and their meaning, especially among kids today. If you love sneakers, you'll love this book...