I have to say that I have zero knowledge on design, but I can tell what looks good on the eye. First of all, the graphics within the book are excellent! I love that everything has a corresponding picture to it. Items gone at auction, magazines, records etc. The reader is never left to imagine what the subject of the article / write up, looks like.
I love the use of different colors for the pages that match the background or main color of the item displayed. I enjoy also the way you take elements from a release (title or logo), blow it up and place within the article, it looks really good. Love the bright colors and the fact that you made sure the text is easy to read, very important.
I though the audio analysis of FTD’s ‘Aloha from Hawaii’ was exceptional! I really enjoyed that one. The best of the best for me, is the review of the movie ‘ELVIS’. Rogier Van Luyken has delivered the best and most intelligent overview of this biopic. I have found that people in the Elvis world are too emotionally attached to the subject to be able to relax for 2 hours and 40 minutes and enjoy a great performance.
It makes me smile how people got upset because they're not included in the movie or they feel they should have been involved somehow. Then there are the ones that don't know the difference between a documentary and a biopic that complain about mistakes. Baz knows very well that ‘Trouble’, was recorded in '58-for example, but he needed it at that point to help the story and it's very effective. Rogier’s review is very thorough and pleasant to read. I particularly like what he says about the positive financial impact Elvis had on movie studios, something that has been forgotten. He really "got it" and does an amazing job illustrating it. Magnificent!
Alanna Nash's interview is interesting, even more when she moves on from the movie discussion. I thought ‘The Lost Session’ FTD release deserved more, but I'm being picky. It's great to read about the many books that have come out, there are so many that you need some sort of guide to decide the ones that are worth reading and your book helps immensely. Interesting interview with the Polish collector. How interesting would be talking to someone from Poland when Elvis was alive to hear what it was like back then.
These are some of the thing that stand out for me, on my first read. I hope you can find these comments of use to you, I know how important feedback is when we present a project that we invested a lot in. Before I go back to read the rest, let me thank you again for allowing me to share some of my thoughts in your book.
Giuseppe Castiglia, January 2023.
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