[AJD] Disappointment: New JD Book-HOBBY BOOKS IN GENERAL

Merle W. Johnson wjohnson at bigriver.net
Sat Dec 11 18:17:58 PST 2004


Greg
Have to agree with you.  I picked up John Deere Tractor Data Book by Lorry Dunning.  Thought it would be handy but all Tractors with the same letter or number are not the same altho treated that way in the book.  Absolutely useless.
Merle

greg at theoldtractorcompany.com wrote:

> I agree with John and Richard. In fact I am exactly like John, I rarely purchase any of these books anymore as they are basically a rehash of existing work. At times they do stray into new realms but they can even get documented facts wrong. The trouble with this careless journalism is that once it's printed, it's treated as The Word. Less knowledgeable collectors take it as gospel and erroneous info is perpetuated. No one's perfect but
> extra care should have been taken by the editors.
> When these books first started to come out I bought each and every one, in fact I used to sell them in our store. But as the avalanche of similar titles continued I disengaged and no longer even attempt to sell or recommend titles, simply too many in my opinion.
> My own personal experience writing a book through Motorbooks and following Richard's inputs is as follows:
> Richard wrote-
> "Being the author of a book on classic John Deere
> > tractors is a simple one.
> > 1. Learn how to take pretty pictures. DIDN'T HAVE TO, HAD MY WIFE DO IT
> > 2. Find a couple of collectors who have large
> > collections. DID THIS, FOUND WHEN WRITING BOOK SEVERAL MONTHS LATER THAT THE PICTURES BORE NO RESEMBLANCE TO WHAT I WAS WRITING. THREW THEM ALL OUT AND STARTED OVER
> > 3. Read a bunch of books and magazines to try to come
> > up with something to say about the tractors. NO PROBLEM HERE, I RARELY HAVE A PROBLEM FINDING SOMETHING TO SAY AND AM AN AVID READER
> > 4. (Most important) Dont hire an editor who knows
> > anything about tractors. CAN'T REALLY SAY. MY EDITOR DID DO A REASONABLE IMPRESSION OF A MAN ON THE EDGE, BROKEN DOWN AND CRYING WHILE PLEADING FOR ME TO FINISH THE BOOK. (LITERALLY)NO IDEA WHAT HE KNEW ABOUT COLLECTIBLES, LIKELY NOTHING
> > 5. Send it all to Hong Kong to be printed. BEING A MOTORSPORTS BOOK, I CAN'T SAY WHERE IT WAS PRINTED.
> > The hardest part may be coming up with an original
> > title." DIDN'T HAVE TO, EDITOR CAME UP WITH IT
>
> !!!!I can tell you that writing that book was the single hardest thing I have ever had to do. If and when I ever write another one, my plan of attack is to have it about 80% done before approaching the publisher. Whole lot less stress that way!!!
>
> Greg
>
> Greg Stephen
> The Old Tractor Company
> Stephen Equipment Company
> Box 709
> 7460 E Hiway 86
> Franktown, CO 80116
> 303-663-5246
> 303-468-0377 FAX<<--A GREAT WAY TO REACH ME!
>
> ------------------------------------------------
> On Sat, 11 Dec 2004 06:53:29 -0800 (PST), John Boehm <rustyacres at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
> > 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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> > >
> >
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