general

My hope when buying this book was that I would find more indepth information about the creation of colors with insight coming from the people who assisted in its production. What I found was 1/3 of the book being redundant with Tibors book "Perverse Optimist." The last 1/3 of the book is a reproduction of issue 13 - an issue I already own - so that wasn't very helpful either.

I was almost completely dissapointed with this book until I reached the middle section - an archive of Tibor's sketches, doodles and thoughts that help readers like myself see exactly how he initiated ideas for Colors Magazine. THIS IS WHAT I WAS LOOKING FOR. This fairly extensive section of the book offers heaps of photos that document Tibor's professional and activist life from High School onward. The supporting text by Maira is heart warming, funny and enlightmening. This section alone justifies buying the book.

I was expecting more insight, more celebration, more highlights...and instead you have some very reduced page layouts (maybe 40% of the original) that can't be appreciated, Kalman's scribbles and comments, and the photography of Issue 13...What was the point???

I was disappointed with this books as soon as I browsed its contents. One third of the book is a reproduction of COLORS issue 13: probably the least interesting issue produced under the editorship of Tibor Kalman. Issue 13 had no words but 80 pages of stock photography - more of an indulgence than an issue of an otherwise extrodinary magazine. The previous 12 issues of COLORS had a wealth of both words and pictures on such themes as the street, wealth, religion, AIDS, travel, and sport. Unfortnately, in this retrospective, each issue only gets scant attention. As well, some of the excepts of the magazine are so inexplicably reduced in size that the text is impossible to read. The remainder of the book are exerpts from Tibor's scrapbook. Some of these excerpts are facinating, such as the FBI's reports of Tibor during his 'Cuban phase', but most merely confirm that that Kalman's strength came from his ideas and not from his skills in drawing or design.


Ignore this book. Buy Tibor Kalman: Perverse Optimist instead.