Customer Reviews

Stewed Screwed and Tattooed

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Stewed, Screwed & Tattooed has long been the cheer of seafaring men. Yet a sailor's only memory of a wild night on shore may be the one that's embedded under his flesh for the rest of his life, a tattoo. Filled with intriguing illustrations from C.W. Eldridge's Tattoo Archive and the Triangle Museum, Stewed, Screwed, and Tattooed examines a multitude of topics, including tattooed women in the circus sideshows, military tattoos, social stigma & tattoos, prison tattoos, contemporary American tattoos, modern day tribal rituals, spiritual aspects of tattooing and tattoos as an alternative to implants for the woman who has experienced a mastectomy. Peppered with interviews, anecdotes, and the adventurous tattoo travels of Chinchilla and her partner Mr. G., this unique book presents an insightful look at a very personal, ancient art form.

Madame really shows the human side of the art of tattooing. The photos are excellent, with good examples of 'real' tattoos and not the typical drunken sailor jobs of the 1940s-50s which I was a part of. The "Celebration of a Scar" was an exceptional piece of work, and should be in all the medical books related to breast cancer surgery. As a 'old time'(retired) tattoo artist, I recommend this book to everyone.

Madame Chinchilla is a tattoo artist in Fort Bragg, CA (that's her on the cover). The book is a collection of brief illustrated articles on various tattoo topics--women, mascetomies and cover-up tattoos; tattoo guns; a story on the various reactions to her tattoos while on vacation; tattoo conventions, etc. Most of her stories are humorous in nature but there are a few truly sad ones.

The book is informative, has plenty of pictures, and is a fun read. My only complaint is that it isn't longer (87 pages) but I understand that a sequel is in the works. Another plus factor of the book is that it came autographed by Madame Chinchilla and included her business card!

The book is a good introduction to the world of tattoos, written by someone who has a sense of humor. I highly recommend the book and am looking forward to her next one.

Madame Chinchilla's Stewed, Screwed & Tattooed is a unique treatise on the history, practice, and art of tattooing, whether in the military, prisons, tribal rituals, or far-off lands. Enhanced with illustrations from the C.W. Eldridge Tattoo Archive and the Triangle Museum, Stewed, Screwed & Tattooed balances its unique history with fascinating vignettes ranging from the ethics of responsible tattooing, to dealing with modern-day social stigma attached to tattooing, to a variety of amazing and colorful tattooing anecdotes. Stewed, Screwed & Tattooed is very highly recommended reading, especially for anyone considering a tattoo of their own.

I fell in love with the title and was looking for a good general tattoo sourcebook , so I ordered this book sight unseen. I was disappointed in the amount of information given and felt htat the book was pricey for what was in it. Also, I did not like the fact that the photos did not have any captions or dates along with them. There were quite a few pictures of Chinchilla herself, showing the same tattoos over and over. It seemed a bit narcissistic to me. Though there was some very interesting information in this book, by the time I was finished, it was starting to get under the third layer of my skin.

Chinchilla's book is one of the most insightful, consise, documentations of tatto art, that I have ever read. Both Chinchilla and Mr. G are extremely knowledgable in the art and history of tattoo. Their tattoo museum is an experience in itself....if you ever find yourself in Ft. Bragg, Ca. don't miss the chance at this once in a lifetime experience. These folks are great, and so is the book......the world needs more archivists, like Chinchilla and Mr. G

I am currently writing a thesis about japanese tattooing traditional and modern and I bought Madame Chinchillas book as source material. I was disappointed not only with the level of inaccuracy (eg. many people in Japan have tattoos not just yakuza, they are certainly not all performed by hand, they are more often than not quietly accepted by society, she would have stayed in a "ryokan" not a "ryokin" with a "tatami" not a "tata-mi" floor, the significance of the designs extends much further than mere representations of emotions etc) but also with the level of grammatical error and superfluous use of language. Although the section on European tattoos may well have been accurate (I am no expert) I found the self-congratulatory tone and the poor english undermined my faith in the content.

This was a great find in our search for complete, accurate and authoritative information on the wonderful world of tattoos. Madame Chinchilla's book is well-written, well organized and a pleasure to read. It's a great way to discover the range and richness of this amazing form of body art-as well as the "colorful characters" who practice it.

Gregory M. Vogel, Segment Producer, "Tattoo!" ABC/Kane Productions

Stewed, screwed and tatooe