Customer Reviews

Your Action World: Winners Are Losers with a New Attitude

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Brilliant...like a month's worth of dreams captured in color. It must've been very expensive to print, and it shows. Usually after buying books of this nature, I read through them once and put them down for...well, years, sometimes. But this one has kept my attention for the month since it arrived; I find myself looking to it at least once a day for inspiration.

David Byrne's mind is fascinating. Hopefully, it will be preserved in a space-jar or something for future generations.

"Your Action World" by David Byrne is the latest in contempory art's attack on Corporate America. It is biting, bold, original, and everything that art should be. . .on the surface. But then I ask myself, Would I buy this book if it wasn't by David Byrne? Would I have even found this book if not for the fact that I know and recognize David Byrne as an artist that I respect and admire? No. Which leads me to make the connection between David Byrne and the corporation. Through successful marketing I have been sold on David Byrne and will now fork over my hard-earned cash for his product. This book attacks the very system that has made it possible for Byrne to publish this book. And it's clear that I'm not buying this book for it's content, but rather, for a bit of Byrne. The cover, at first glance, is virtually indecipherable save the picture of doll David Byrne that we have come to know and love so well over the past couple of years and the big name DAVID BYRNE. But it's not his fault. It's the downfall of all commercially produced and sold art that wants to attack Corporate America. Sure, we all hate capitalism, but how do we attack it without giving into it? We can stand on the street corner and pass out our art, but soon we will be dying in the gutter without so much as a dime to buy one of those lame plastic paintbrushes. But enough ranting. It's a great book. I just tell myself that it's not hypocrisy; it's irony. If that's the case, then I'm quite the fool and I would give it five stars. And I'd rather David Byrne had my money than some other "corporations."

Books used to have beginnings, middles and ends. They don't anymore, only most people who make them do not realise this. David Byrne does. Your Action World is the hinted genius of the album liner grown to the point where the album itself is redundant - a natural progression that the death of vinyl and its generously proportioned sleeve only hastened. If you enjoy reading the care labels on children's stuffed toys and understand that yellow and orange make not orange, but McDonalds, obtain this book.

As I flipped through this book, I couldn't help gasping aloud over and over again. I don't want to spoil it for you, but pay close attention to the way it opens -- Byrne has reorchestrated the way the book is read to make it more experiential and less mediated through text than a traditional book, or even a traditional photo essay. This is essentially a critique of commercial photography and commercial art, and one of the most seamless works I have seen in quite a while. It's a great deal like experiencing television in print.

People who buy this book should realize that what they are buying is a visual essay with sub-titles...not a piece of lengthy literature. That is not to imply that this book isn't any good. It's actually very thought provoking for people who actually think! The book is loaded with photos and illustrations juxtaposed with BRIEF TEXT. The goal of the book is to offer a surreal opinion about the moral and emotional motivations in our society. It's also poking a very accusing finger at the advertising world.

If you're the kind of person who can solve this equation 5 + X =10, then chances are you have the mental abilities to fill in the blanks and produce the message that Byrne is trying to communicate. But if you're the kind of person who needs the message spelled out to you, then chances are you won't enjoy this book. Simply stated, this book is like looking at a piece of art..."some imagination required."

Fabulously created from the mind of David Byrne, I agree with several others about this being surreal and very dream like! Anyone familiar with David Byrne's career both solo and with the Talking Heads will appreciate the nature of this book...there's no mistaken it comes from David Byrne...the photography is terrific and the messages are timeless-This would be a great gift and make a super "coffee table book" a real conversation starter!

I really can't say much about this book... I laughed. I went "Wow!" a few times. My aunt thinks it's pretty. David Byrne is, like, so cool...and stuff. I'll never be that cool.

There's not much to be said for the American imagination if it finds books such as this "challenging". I think "elliptical" would be a better defintion than "surreal". David Byrne has fashioned an interesting book that will not take up too much of anyone's time, which I suspect may be part of its 'raison d'etre'. It's bright, colourful, and printed on heavy stock - so heavy you may find it separating from the spine of the cover. All the dots are there, you just have to do the connecting.