Bjork (Paperback)

~ Bjork (Author)
Key Phrases: Snow White, Gudrun Ensslin

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

An intimate look at one of the most creative artists at work today.
When it comes to making music, Björk needs no introduction. She has always been at the vanguard, exploding convention and leading her listeners down the uncharted paths of a haunting and harmonic trip through sound. Last year, she starred in Lars von Trier's acclaimed Dancer in the Dark, and took home the coveted Best Actress award at Cannes. A true artist whose work has consistently transcended creative and geographic borders, Björk turns every medium she touches to gold.
Her next project is a gorgeously produced, stunningly beautiful collection of photographs and text that is being published simultaneously around the world. Designed by Björk and m/m, the celebrated Paris design firm that has already collaborated Balenciaga, Visionaire, and Yohji Yamamoto, the book boasts contributions from the world's top photographers, fashion designers and video makers as well as original writing and artwork by Björk herself.
A breathtaking photographic odyssey through Björk's career, a stunning visual and literary companion to one of the most original performers of our time, Björk promises to be like no book you've ever seen. Coinciding with the release of her new album, Vespertine, and the supporting tour, this book is a must-have for Björk's admirers as well as anyone craving a touch of beauty for their bookshelf.

About the Author

Björk was born in Reykjavik, Iceland, earning domestic fame as a musician from an early age. She first took the international music scene by storm with The Sugarcubes in 1988, and went on to release four solo albums, Debut, Post, Homogenic, and most recently, SelmaSongs, her original soundtrack to the Lars von Trier film Dancer in the Dark, in which she also starred. She lives in New York.

Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Bloomsbury USA (September 20, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1582342261
• ISBN-13: 978-1582342269
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 8.1 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #723,693 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

47 of 50 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Save your money, December 14, 2001

By	Marc P. Raaphorst "vorpal20" (Toronto, Ontario Canada) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This book was probably the worst purchase that I've made in a long time. The story on the cover is beautiful and really captures the essence of Bjork. I was hoping for more of the same on the inside, but I was very dismayed to find that the book is mostly photographs with far too much whitespace (nearly half the pages in this book are blank). To add to the insult, there were photocopies of the CD album covers, which, when combined with the caption, spanned four pages. Any true Bjork fan surely owns all the albums and having photocopies of the album covers is such a filler.

To top it all off, a load of crud was yanked from the internet (including a very outdated survey) and thrown at the end of this book.

I was expecting so much more.

Bjork is amazing, talented, insightful, and beautiful. This book is not. You'd be better off going to any Bjork website. It'll have a lot more content than this book offers.

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars more impersonal thant Bjork's scrapbook, January 25, 2002

By	Carla Killetti "carla_k_killetti" (melbourne, australia) - See all my reviews

Bjork has a talent for choosing amazing people to work with such as musicians, photographers and designers, this book is a collection of those works. Packaged with unusual cover, typeface and paper it lends to Bjorks unique way of doing things, always looking for a different angle while bringing the best of the best together under her name.

Unfortunately the book doesn't live up to those standards. I would have liked to see a bit more work, the non-gloss paper makes it hard for the photos to stand out quite the way they should and there simply isn't enough of Bjork herself in there. It is, in the end a small collection of other peoples works.

The only time you hear from Bjork directly is as interviewer of David Attenborough, which itself talks about their reactions and thoughts to other things, not themselves. It feels like Bjork is hiding behind other peoples ideas and giving as little of herself as possible. Does she hope to lend her inspiration, but keep herself protected?

The photos are a mix of works, from the A. fantastical (unearthly, inhuman, godlike) to the B. typical (Bjork looking pretty and quirky), to the C. real (Bjork the real person you might meet in the street) In my mind theres too much of B. and not enough of A. and C. We don't find out what inspired these works, what is it about Bjork that made these photos unique and worth collecting into this book. The fashions in particular are something i would have liked to learn more about.

The idea to give each image its own page and put the artists name on the back of the page is a little frustrating, you can't help feel you're getting half of what could have been included in the book. Nor am i convinced they only picked the best of the bunch, many of my favourites have been left out, while others that have been published many times were included. Of course, there will always be disagreement of what should and should not have been kept, but perhaps if the collection had been larger then i would not have been as disappointed.

The text is all worth reading, yet again i wish for more from Bjork, it is her book after all, though she seems content to let others speak for her. Rankin's essay is a good read and the many stories are interesting. But i'd trade it all (as would any Bjork fan) for a peek into Bjork's scrapbook of ideas.

I'd hope this book was part of a growing series, Bjork is surely not done yet and many more things worth seeing are sure to come. This book certainly doesn't feel very comprehensive, i don't feel much closer to Bjork and her ideas, or the ideas of the many artists that contributed.

in short, worth having, but only just. The book falls short of what should have been a luscious adventure that filled the senses (the way her music does). ...

14 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars If Photos Will Satisfy You..., July 5, 2002

By	Dave (Cape Town, Western Cape South Africa) - See all my reviews

Even though I'm a huge Bjork fan, this book still dissapointed me. The book is a collection of some wonderful photographs of Bjork, including many intimate and beautiful ones. For readers (not lookers), there is nothing to be offered - the editors seem to have felt that they should throw some arbitrary text in the middle written by arbitrary authors - and they really shouldn't have. The centre articles offer no insight into Bjork's thoughts or life; they are simply a collection of why the authors think Bjork is special (and who needs to know that!). After the halfway point, some very strange and "arty" pictures are included to finish off. Buy this book only if you are interested in some wonderful photo's of Bjork and if you don't mind the relatively steep price for what you're getting.