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The Customized Body |  | Authors: Ted Polhemus, Housk Randall
Publisher: Serpent's Tail
Category: Book
List Price: $35.00
Buy Used: $1.34
as of 7/31/2010 15:36 MDT details
You Save: $33.66 (96%)
New (10) Used (18) from $1.34
Seller: your_online_bookstore
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 690392
Media: Paperback
Edition: 2nd
Pages: 120
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.4
Dimensions (in): 10.4 x 10.3 x 0.2
ISBN: 1852426772
Dewey Decimal Number: 391.65
EAN: 9781852426774
ASIN: 1852426772
Publication Date: October 1, 2000
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Weirdest book of the month must be The Customized Body crammed with photographs of people whose bodies have been variously tattooed, pierced and otherwise decoratively mutilated. Keep it on your coffee table for when there’s an awkward lull in the conversation.—Cosmopolitan
"This comprehensive book is a grand tour of the world of body adornment, from the ephemera of hairstyles and clothing to the more permanent statements made by cosmetic surgery and tattooing."—Skin Two
Ted Polhemus is an American social anthropologist who lives in London. His books include Style Surfing: What to Wear in the Third Millennium and Fashion and Anti-Fashion.
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| Customer Reviews:
Showing reviews 1-5 of 7
 One of the best... July 7, 1999
William Errickson, Jr. (Raleigh, NC United States)
18 out of 19 found this review helpful
...of many recent books on body modification and the attendant culture. Probably the best follow-up to "RE/Search 12: Modern Primitives" in its respectful and knowledgeable approach. Exquisite black and white photos of beautifully adorned men and women, revealing themselves in every way: their desire for freedom and transformation, their sometimes troubled histories, their quest for new identities or for exploring their old ones. I used to work in an independent bookstore whose owner would get upset with me when I stocked books like this. Let some people live in a world of banality and the everyday; the rest, rejoice!
Anthropological look at custom body from makeup to piercing. June 21, 1999
5 out of 5 found this review helpful
I really enjoyed the anthroplogical perspective of this book. There are chapters on tatooing, piercing, body painting, weight lifting, cosmetic surgery... All ways to customize what God (or your genes) gave you. Very readable and full of corresponding photos.
A chronicle of bodies by design rather than by chance April 4, 2001
Vargr (Indianapolis, IN USA)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book does an excellent job of documenting the ways in which people are remaking their bodies to their own specifications rather than those of their birth. The text is well-written, and the photos are technically and artistically pleasing. As a body art enthusiast and a fan of Housk Randall-Goddard, I highly recommend this one.
Human pinstriping, wallpaper and remodelling January 3, 2003
Rae Schwarz (Seattle, WA United States)
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
A fantastic collaboration between Ted Polhemus (frequent contributor to the UK publication bodyart) and Housk Randall (photographer extraordinaire). What do you define as body art? This book covers tattooing, piercing, scarification, branding, hair dressing (head and pubic) and shaving, finger and toe nails, body building, plastic surgery and gender identity. The catalog is extensive but still retains a warm, intimate feeling. The portraits are sepia tone, showing many variations on what it is to be individual.Good for the beginner as this volume will provide an excellent overview of body art. Valuable for the collector due to the quality of the portraits and breadth of body art depicted, supported by the personal and intelligent commentary.
Lots of pictures, a mixture of personal opinions and facts July 23, 2001
Sheena Estel Galpin (Moscow, Russia)
7 out of 7 found this review helpful
It contains mainly information on bodypainting, tattooing, scarification, bodypiercing, gender transformation, masks and other forms of appearance manipulation. it has big clear pictures and personal comments from each person photographed. It's a very nice book to look through it doesnt have a large focus on writing as I wanted. It includes a mixture of personal opinion and actual facts. My main reason in buying the book was because I am interested in body piercing and I was disapointed that that only 12 pages were specifically focused on the subject. It does not give the "why you should not do it" lecture but looks at it in an anthropological view point. Looks at at reasons why people do it, how they feel when pierced and the non western tribes, eg Amazon. I find it disapointing that All pictures are in black and white. I was also disapointed that a lot of the book contains material on costumes, different hair and shoe styles which do not interest me at all. Even so for a person who is interested in them I would think that it is a book that they would enjoy.
Showing reviews 1-5 of 7
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