[AJD] Disappointment: New JD Book

[Louis R Godena]

I saw Randy's new book in Borders last night.  Looks heavier than a sack of
buckwheat seed.  But,  what are these books really for?  To bring a little
joy in people's lives, especially around the holidays.  I imagine most of
the recipients are people only vaguely familiar with the details of tractor
history, and a book - any book - of this sort is welcome.  Now I don't know
Randy whats-his-name, and wouldn't know him from Osama, but, lighten up
guys.

And happy holidays!

Louis G

----- Original Message -----
From: John Boehm <rustyacres at yahoo.com>
To: Antique John Deere mailing list
<antique-johndeere at lists.antique-tractor.com>
Sent: Saturday, December 11, 2004 9:53 AM
Subject: Re: [AJD] Disappointment: New JD Book


> As Richard Hain, Green Magazine editor, wrote in one
> of his book reviews:
>
> "Being the author of a book on classic John Deere
> tractors is a simple one.
> 1. Learn how to take pretty pictures.
> 2. Find a couple of collectors who have large
> collections.
> 3. Read a bunch of books and magazines to try to come
> up with something to say about the tractors.
> 4. (Most important) Dont hire an editor who knows
> anything about tractors.
> 5. Send it all to Hong Kong to be printed.
> The hardest part may be coming up with an original
> title."
>
> Unfortunately, Richard is right and Motorbooks, the
> publisher of Leffingwell's books, is the worst of the
> bunch. I know Randy Leffingwell personally and agree
> that he is a great photographer. However, the
> seemingly endless recycling of the same material,
> along with many factual errors, has kept me from
> buying any of these "coffee table" books for a long
> time.
>
> John Boehm
> Woodland, CA
> Visit my web site at http://vintagetractors.com
>
>
>
>
> --- Dean Vinson <vinsond at voyager.net> wrote:
>
> > I periodically have to re-learn what a sucker I am
> > for new and
> > interesting-looking books.  Latest iteration was my
> > recent purchase of
> > John Deere: A History of the Tractor, by Randy
> > Leffingwell.  For quite a
> > few years I've thought his previous book, John Deere
> > Farm Tractors, was
> > about the best coffee-table type book on the antique
> > and classic green
> > tractors.  He's a great photographer and writer, and
> > a serious historian.
> >
> > So this big new book comes out, eleven years after
> > the other one, and I
> > figure it'll be great.  More and better, accumulated
> > wisdom of an
> > additional decade in the business, etc.  Huge
> > disappointment.  There's
> > certainly some new stuff, but way, way too much of
> > it is just recycled
> > from the original book, word for word or nearly so,
> > stretched out with
> > bigger type and wider line spacing, and dorked up
> > with artsy shadow
> > effects on some of the photos.
> >
> > I'll slowly make my way through it and try to pay
> > attention to the parts
> > that are actually different from the older book, and
> > see if there's
> > enough there to make it recommendable.  At first
> > pass, though, it looks
> > to me like it should have been published under
> > exactly the same title as
> > the original, perhaps labeled "Second Edition" or
> > some such.  Or maybe I
> > just need to get better at remembering to keep my
> > wallet shut.
> >
> > Dean Vinson  --  Dayton Ohio
> > <http://my.voyager.net/~vinsond/>
> >
> >
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