Chasing Rainbows: Collecting American Indian Trade & Camp Blankets

Rating:
Summary: You say you want a revolution
Review: A quick read of the reviews for this book reveal a Barry Friedman cult is already in full bloom. Tally yet another convert in me. I am delighted this singular volume found a home at the very prestigious Bulfinch Press. Bulfinch is the exclusive home of Ansel Adams and boasts multiple titles by the likes of Herb Ritts, Andy Warhol, Keith Haring and Robert Mappelthorpe. What's a collector/dealer of commercially manufactured Indian blankets doing in exalted company like this? Bulfinch decided he belongs and indeed he does. Friedman's artistry is in his words. He has an absolute mastery of his subject and a sense of humor that is quirky and completely audacious. One senses he KNOWS text like his is never found in books like this and somehow induced an editor to became a co-conspirator. A magnificently illustrated collecting book written with spirit and wit is just not done and certainly not by the likes of a high-toned publishing house like Bulfinch Press. Until now, that is. This is more than a book - it's a gorgeous act of rebellion!

Rating:
Summary: BE AN INDIAN GIVER
Review: For those of you sick of experts who take themselves and their subjects so seriously that they totally forget to keep their readers awake, this breathtakingly beautiful book is the antidote. I saw this book on a friend's coffee table and started reading it, loved it, bought my own copy, then bought copies for friends and might even start giving it to total strangers just so they can partake in the Barry Friedman Experience! I never thought a book on Indian blankets would be the funniest book I've read in years, but that's precisely the case. It'll also teach you everything you could ever want to know about Indian blankets if you can stop laughing long enough to concentrate. I don't know what the author's next book might be, but whatever he's selling I am buying!!!!!

Rating:
Summary: Chasing Rainbows
Review: I have never read a "coffee table book" cover to cover until I found Chasing Rainbows by Barry Friedman. This delightful, informative book pulls you in from the very beginning with humor and knowledge that prevents you from putting it down. I read it cover to cover in one sitting, an afternoon of sheer pleasure and factual understanding of the history and beauty of American Indian trade and camp blankets. I highly recommend this book for the pure joy of reading and understanding the history of a little known subject.

Rating:
Summary: I've read CR twice so I'm actually giving it 10 stars
Review: I own a massive library of books on every imaginable collecting subject and none has given me more joy than "Chasing Rainbows". Barry Friedman has intertwined his vast knowledge of Indian blankets, American history, the antiques business and garnished the result with a unique sense of humor and breathtaking photos to create a book that is an absolute gem. This is a great book from a very gifted man.

Rating:
Summary: Tremendous!
Review: I received this book as an early Christmas gift and now I'm buying a dozen copies to give to friends and family. This is the most beautiful and interesting collecting book I've ever read. The author is remarkably funny while delivering all the information on the subject anyone could possibly absorb. Just a fantastic effort.

Rating:
Summary: BUY THIS BOOK! GENIUS AT WORK!
Review: It's time a female voice chimed in on this amazing book. There is almost no point comparing previous works on Indian blankets with Barry Friedman's "Chasing Rainbows: Collecting American Indian Trade & Camp Blankets" because there is no comparison. This book trumps the competition on every level. If anything, it's almost too beautiful for its own good. The pictures of the blankets are so dazzling that I fear people will just see it as a colorful adornment for a coffee table and neglect to read the text.

That would be a tragedy, because I wholeheartedly agree with the Amazon reviewer from San Francisco who proclaimed this the best book he has ever read on any collectible subject. I have NEVER read a book on antiques or collectibles written by an author with Friedman's combination of knowledge, enthusiasm and remarkable comic sensibility.

This is not to say he doesn't take his subject seriously. It's doubtful anyone takes it more seriously. The previous books on the subject read like Cliff's Notes compared to Friedman's penetrating portrait. So while I repeat that there is no comparison with earlier stabs at this topic, the differences must be mentioned to understand why this book is the new gold standard.

Robert W. Kapoun's worthy "Language Of The Robe: American Indian Trade Blankets" came out in 1992 and has been the reference in the field until now, but in the wake of Friedman's effort it is offically dethroned. Virtually all of the blankets Kapoun listed as manufacturer unknown in his book are conclusively identified here and Friedman offers histories of blanket manufacturers Kapoun doesn't even know existed.

The Kapoun blanket collection obviously was acquired by the glass artist Dale Chihuly and the result was the book "Chihuly's Pendletons". Chihuly also acquired Charles Lohrman, the writer that co-authored Kapoun's book. Chihuly's unfortunate introduction reveals he knows less than nothing about Indian blankets and Lohrman takes over from there with a rehash of the Kapoun text that is so abbreviated you'd think it was commissioned by Reader's Digest. The book consists of photos of 60 or so blankets (some misidentified and most already seen in Kapoun, but photographed much more beautifully by Chihuly) along with some exceptional historic photos of Native Americans wearing trade blankets. This is followed, inevitably, by a section that is the real reason for this book: a cavalcade of Chihuly glass vessels called Blanket Cylinders which the glassmeister states were inspired by the blankets. Chihuly may well have a genuine passion for the blankets, but he is overreaching here. Assuredly, glass photos are no doubt lusted after by his legions of fans, but their presence here makes the blankets appear to be nothing more than colorful excuses for yet another Chihuly glass book. While Chihuly may clearly see the historic link between his glass and Indian blankets, blanket collectors will find his book a self-serving contrivance.

Neither Chihuly or Kapoun bother with cotton Indian style blankets, but the subject is handled amiably in Jerry and Kathy Brownstein's "Beacon Blankets Make Warm Friends", a study of the leading maker of cotton camp blankets. Many vintage Beacon blanket catalogs are reproduced in their entirety (although in pictures so small that magnification is definitely recommended). Some attractive Beacon blankets are shown, but picture quality is fair at best. The Brownsteins know their subject, but they also attempt to be a price guide and their prices are often ridiculously low.

So that's the competition and brings me full circle to our Mr. Friedman, who is the real deal as both as a blanket expert and a writer. One senses he would be compelling writing about any subject. His is a unique voice that can be completely serious one moment and then instantly launch into inspired silliness a la Bill Murray the next. He mentions in his Author's Note that he is a professional comedy writer by trade and obviously his humor even extends to his book jacket photo. He states he's been immersed in the Indian blanket hunt for more than thirty years, but he appears to be 25 in his photo. Vanity may well be an issue here. Whatever his age, I don't think he will outlast the shelf life of this book. Young or old, Barry Friedman has produced a classic.