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craniect 's review for:
This Way Madness Lies
by Mike Jay
This collection of art and artifacts was made to accompany a gallery of similar images and installations. The focus of the book and presentation is "Bedlam,"the sanatorium and asylum properly named Bethlem Royal Hospital, based in London. The book also contains a history and explanation of mental asylums and mentions the major changes in care for the patients that have occurred over the centuries. Portions of the collections in the book contain spreads that focus on artists associated with various hospitals and their work.
The content in the book is informative, compiled by an author and historian. Usually, I dislike reading books that are compilations of artworks, due to the focus on images over written information. The layout of this book, at least in the edition that I own, leaves something to be desired, with important statements being broken apart mid-sentence by a two-page spread of images.
I unfortunately do not have access to the gallery the book references, so I am unsure about how well the two connect. I read this book because of a book club assignment, and I feel that it is somewhat successful as a stand-alone anthology of artwork and historical anecdote.
The content in the book is informative, compiled by an author and historian. Usually, I dislike reading books that are compilations of artworks, due to the focus on images over written information. The layout of this book, at least in the edition that I own, leaves something to be desired, with important statements being broken apart mid-sentence by a two-page spread of images.
I unfortunately do not have access to the gallery the book references, so I am unsure about how well the two connect. I read this book because of a book club assignment, and I feel that it is somewhat successful as a stand-alone anthology of artwork and historical anecdote.