Rating: 
Summary: Awesome reference
Review: This is an extremely exhaustive book and well worth the price. As far as I know, there exists no more comprehensive book on how every muscle interconnects in the human body -- it is truly an encylopedia of the human anatomy.A few things keep me from giving it a 5 star review. 1: Goldfinger's illustrations are fair, but not masterful, particularly those of the human face. 2: Strangely, there are almost no fully rendered full-body illustrations or even any fully rendered "body part" illustrations -- almost all the good sketches are of isolated body parts alone. For example, there isn't any fully rendered muscular illustration that encompasses both the upper arm AND the lower arm(!) There ARE full body illustrations, but only in a more schematical form. 3: There are no "application" illustrations of the anatomy in case studies such as bending, posing, flexing, etc. Most of the examples are in prone positions. Granted, much of this information can be taken from any number of other anatomy books, particularly Richer's "Artistic Anatomy," which this book is largely based on and I also highly recommend. Nevertheless, as a reference guide to the human body, this book has no peer. If you truly want to understand how the muscles of the body interconnect, there is no better alternative. This book is obviously a labour of love.
Rating: 
Summary: the best anatomy reference available
Review: this text served me extremely well as i learned figure drawing and is the best anatomical reference i have ever seen, a genuine encyclopedia of anatomy. however, artists should be warned that the approach is analytical (anatomy is broken down into its elements) rather than illustrative (anatomy is presented as pictures of different poses). goldfinger (a sculptor) attempts to explain surface form structurally, from the inside out -- starting with individual bones, then joints, then all visible muscles, facial features (eye, mouth, nose, ear), fat pads, surface veins and arteries, skin folds and finally a gallery of "mass conceptions" of the head, hand and full figure as blocks, continuous planes, cylinders, ovoids and photographed models. (some internal musculature is omitted because it does not affect surface form, but there is extensive information and photo documentation on the facial expression of emotions, largely based on the classic research by ekman and friesen.) this "inside out" approach also determines the content of the 1 to 3 page descriptions of each bone and muscle. in the section on muscles, four diagrams show the skeletal muscle attachments, isolated muscle form, form within surrounding muscles, and surface appearance in lean models, usually from two different points of view. schematic diagrams analyze muscle form into its basic shapes, or show the mechanical effects of muscle contraction. the text is often heavy going but presents unusually detailed and clear explanations of muscle attachments, action, form and interaction with other muscles or joints. there is also much information not available anywhere else, and all sex differences in anatomy (for example in the abdominal musculature and hip bones) are described in the text. goldfinger's goal is to provide the artist with the information necessary to identify the bones and muscles contributing to surface form in any model, any physique or any pose, and i have never found it to fail that purpose. for a breezier and visually more attractive approach, simblet's book is preferable.
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