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Review
"A respectful look at an aspect of pop culture not normally treated in such un-sensational terms." Kirkus Review "Although academic, this book has much to recommend it for general collections ... DeMello's major interest is in describing the new community of tattooed people, both men and women, for whom new meanings are being forged from the meeting of skin and ink." Booklist "DeMello presents an anthropological study of tattooing and tattoo communities in North America. Both a researcher and a "tattooed person" who is married to a tattooist, she describes the rigid hierarchies within tattoo communities and engages in a broader analysis of tattoos as socio-economic indicators... An interesting, authentic account of tattoo communities." Library Journal "A fascinating book bursting with penetrating description. DeMello makes a very useful contribution to the literature on these increasingly salient voluntary communities of passion, interest, and identity." Gayle Rubin "The histories of tattoo traditions presented in this book are fascinating and rich. DeMello has many insights into tattoos' complexity of meaning, brought out in precise ethnographic and historical fashion."--Kathleen Stewart, author of A Space on the Side of the Road: Cultural Poetics in an "Other" America
Kathleen Stewart, author of A Space on the Side of the Road: Cultural Poetics in an "Other" America
"The histories of tattoo traditions presented in this book are fascinating and rich. DeMello has many insights into tattoos' complexity of meaning, brought out in precise ethnographic and historical fashion."
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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First Sentence
One of the central questions of my research involves community. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
One of the central questions of my research involves community. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I am beginning my masters research on the cultural aspects of body modification and have just read this as a begginnings to my more in depth research. I loved it!
Although focused on the American cultural history of tattooing it did touch upon European differences and, of course, tattooing's origins and fashions of other world cultures. As the previous reviewer said it did focus on patriotism but then so did tattooing's American history.
An excellent place to start on body modification theory-if you want pictures then look on google, if you want theory and discussion of where tattoing has come in the last 100 years this is a good place to start.
Although focused on the American cultural history of tattooing it did touch upon European differences and, of course, tattooing's origins and fashions of other world cultures. As the previous reviewer said it did focus on patriotism but then so did tattooing's American history.
An excellent place to start on body modification theory-if you want pictures then look on google, if you want theory and discussion of where tattoing has come in the last 100 years this is a good place to start.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This text-only-book is written as Margo's masters degree, and you can tell. It's obvious alot of the content is there for the faculty, and not for the random tattoo enthusiast. The first 50 or so pages (the whole book only has 200 in total) go into tedious discriptions of what a "community" is or isn't, and has very little to do with tattoos.
However when it finally gets started, it's full of interesting anecdotes and facts, although I had a feeling it was only scraping the top of the cream, and leaves a wanting for further explainations. It would also have been nice to have a picture or illustration here and there as examples, alas none is to be found.
It's written in an easy to understand way, though she does have a tendency to say things twice and to repeat herself ;)
Most anoying though is the thick layer of American patriotism speckled throughout the book. Other countries with long tattoo traditions are mentioned only in brief sub-sentences, and the writer tries really hard to assertain that tattooing is "as American as apple pie and mom"(?!) The extreme patriotism might feel a bit silly and arrogant for an un-american reader.
Overall it was an interesting read, but leaves the reader wanting more.
However when it finally gets started, it's full of interesting anecdotes and facts, although I had a feeling it was only scraping the top of the cream, and leaves a wanting for further explainations. It would also have been nice to have a picture or illustration here and there as examples, alas none is to be found.
It's written in an easy to understand way, though she does have a tendency to say things twice and to repeat herself ;)
Most anoying though is the thick layer of American patriotism speckled throughout the book. Other countries with long tattoo traditions are mentioned only in brief sub-sentences, and the writer tries really hard to assertain that tattooing is "as American as apple pie and mom"(?!) The extreme patriotism might feel a bit silly and arrogant for an un-american reader.
Overall it was an interesting read, but leaves the reader wanting more.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
7 reviews
15 of 19 people found the following review helpful
A bit too elitist
29 April 2001
Format:Paperback
Ms. DeMello spends too much time acting as her own apologist as she explains how she acquired "insider" status in the tattoo community while still remaining an impartial observer. One thing I found particularly objectionable in her book was her apparent opinion, insinuated several times, that only women with "the body beautiful" should get tattoos (much less display them in public -- horrors!) As a woman (liberated, one assumes), Ms. DeMello should know better. This is one book which is going to end up in a used bookstore rather than in my collection.
15 of 19 people found the following review helpful
not what I expected
9 Aug 2000
Format:Paperback
Tattoo books usually have a lot of pictures in them - at least the ones I've seen do. This book, while written very nicely, didn't have many pictures, and the ones it did have are grainy and in black-and-white. The history of the tattoo community is interesting, though I would have liked to see a bit more on how tattooing evolved from ancient times to now, instead of just from the 80's to now.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
I feel smarter for reading this.
9 Dec 2008
Format:Paperback
This book is an anthropological study of the modern sub-culture of tattoo fans. It briefly touches on the history of tattoos in western culture, with a focus on tattoos merging into popular/middle class culture from the 1980's onward. It is very informative, and a great read - it is not a good book for those merely seeking tattoo pictures. The one downside to this book is it is copywrite 2000, which means it is now outdated by 9 years. The community has grown and changed so much with the use of the internet. Current trends like the newest celebrity craze for tattoos, tattoo relatity TV programs, and the re-popularization of old-school tattoos are not covered.
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