In a previous post, I expressed rejoice that the first 13 issues of COLORS were to be republished in book form. I have since ordered the book online, have since received the book, have since read the book and have since been quite disappointed in the book.

In fact, I was disappointed as soon as I browsed the book's contents. One third of the book is a reproduction of COLORS issue 13: probably the least interesting issue produced under the editorship of Tibor Kalman. Issue 13 had no words but 80 pages of stock photography - more of an indulgence than an issue of an otherwise extrodinary magazine. The previous 12 issues of COLORS had a wealth of both words and pictures on such themes as the street, wealth, religion, AIDS, travel, and sport. Unfortunately, in this retrospective, each issue only gets scant attention. As well, some of the excepts of the magazine are so inexplicably reduced in size that the text is impossible to read. The remainder of the book are exerpts from Tibor's scrapbook. Some of these excerpts are facinating, such as the FBI's reports of Tibor during his 'Cuban phase' but most merely confirm and reconfirm that Kalman's strength came from his ideas - not from his skills in drawing or design.

Ignore this book. Buy Tibor Kalman: Perverse Optimist instead.