Blue Ribbons and Burlesque: A Book of Country Fairs

Rating:
Summary: A highly evocative collection of historical country photos.
Review: These black and white photos, along with the recollections of the author, conjure up an intriguing look back at country fairs - something that goes well beyond the simple nostalgia that one might expect from such a collection. The photos are touching and powerful, and reveal elements of both the human and animal condition in regards to such fairs. Things like the burlesque shows may be a thing of the past, and these photos perhaps show why as Fish looks at both the girls on show and those who watched them with a detached and objective eye. A fine book altogether - especially for those interested in photo-realism or historical archives. The images speak on a number of levels...which is, in the end, the measure of a good photograph.

Rating:
Summary: Beautifully prepared
Review: This book is easy to read and has glorious photos of bygone county fairs. An excellent selection for those interested in the history and feeling of the old fairs.

Rating:
Summary: "A world of interesting details..." (Yankee Magazine, 9/98)
Review: This splendid review just came in from Yankee Magazine, just in time for fair season: "...warm elegiac book about Vermont country fairs--a book, I confess, that caught me by surprise...its insight, its attention to detail, its reverence for this ritual of late summer and early fall..." (Sept., 1998)

Rating:
Summary: Great pictures, great prose
Review: Though these state fairs were slightly before my time, yet I found the book fascinating. Fish's photographs and prose are a joy. Highly recommended