Norman Rockwell : A Life

Rating:
Summary: A difficult story very well told
Review: After reading Claridge's bio on Norman Rockwell, I had a far greater sense of what made the man tick. Claridge explains in great detail Rockwell's self-doubts, insecurities, goals, and personal needs. Rockwell's struggles between practicing "fine" arts and illustration lived with him his entire life, and Claridge gives insight behind the cause of those struggles. The book also succeeded in describing the art world Rockwell inhabited, his influences, and his family relationships. Claridge's Rockwell comes across as an extremely humane man, trying to be as nice as possible to all who crossed his path, while keeping a protective shield around him, so as not to interfere with his artistic productivity. As someone brought up in the television generation, I also appreciated Claridge explaining the important and influential role The Saturday Evening Post played within day-to-day middle class American life.

Rating:
Summary: Interesting subject let down by the writing style
Review: I opened this book greatly anticipating the read only to be disappointed by the author. I gave 2 stars for subject, 0 stars for the writing. She spent so much time exploring every relative from his distant past as well as someone only confused with a distant past relative that by the time she got down to Norman you had dug though many other Rockwells, which really didin't add to your knowledge of who Norman really was. Also the writing style took away from the subject matter. The style was so different than what you would expect to hear from Norman Rockwell himself. He was a "Regular Joe" and this is written so that you have to dig through the flowery phrasing to get to the meat of the idea. Instead of spending my time enjoying the story, I was working through the writing style. I expected a book on this subject to be a reflection of the man. It is too bad this author felt the need to impress with her turn of a phrase instead of letting her subject make the impression. I'm surprised an editor didn't red pencil a good part of the manuscript and give notes as to phrasing.

Rating:
Summary: a story about pure determinitaion and persistance
Review: This book gets a solid three stars for its interesting subject matter and honest approach in storytellng.

Norman Rockwell, unlike his 'perfect' scenes of life in America, did not live a perfect life. His story is filled whith many of the challenges and obstacles that all of us face in our everyday lives... Perhaps that's why his work comes across with such clarity and truthfulness.

Starting out as an ad illustrator at a young age, he moved up in status over the years until his work was considerd not only the best in modern commercial illustration but some even began calling it "Fine Art". How did he accomplish such a feat? Hard work. Everyday in the studio he would put in 10-12 hours... working hard to get the next five projects done because ten more are waiting and they are 6-12 months overdue. (Norman was a workaholic who had a hard time saying no to requests.)

If you like his artwork, or if you want to read a story about pure determinitaion and persistance (...of Cal Ripkin caliber), scan your eyes across a few hundred pages of this one. It was certainly worth the time I spent reading it.