Product Description

An homage to Ed Roth, the creator of the iconic Rat Fink and a pioneer of hot-rod culture, this complete retrospective of Ed Roth’s life and work contains appreciations by fellow artists as well as never-before-seen photographs of Roth’s studio and the creations born there.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #966765 in Books
• Published on: 2003-08
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 160 pages

Customer Reviews

Big Daddy Lives!
This is a great, must-have book that provides the definitive overview of Big Daddy's art and more general contribution to pop culture. Unlike "Ed Big Daddy Roth: His Life, Times, Cars, and Art" by Pat Ganahl (which is also great), this book focuses more on Roth's art rather than his car creations (although there are quite a few photos of the cars too). The book is divided into chapters focusing on different aspects of his art like the Rat Fink model kits he designed for Revell, t-shirt art, comic book art, vintage decals, etc. Each Chapter is written by a different author (including many lowbrow artists like Robert Williams, Dave "DB" Burke, and the Pizz) who discuss how Big Daddy influenced their childhood and artistic career as well as his overall impact on pop culture. While the claim made by the book that Roth was the greatest artist of the 20th century may be a bit of an overstatement, his influence on boys (mostly) who grew up during the 60's and 70's can hardly be overstated.

There's also plenty of interesting biographical info here including how Big Daddy's appropriation of outlaw symbols in the late 6o's, like the maltese cross and swastika, resulted in a commercial backlash against him (not unlike The Ramones who did the same thing and suffered similar criticism).

In short, this is a must own book whether you're a fan of hot rod culture, lowbrow art or pop culture in general. The book cover done up to look like the box from an old Revell Rat Fink model kit is a nice touch by the publisher, Last Gasp.

Most cool!!!!!!!!!

Get This!
This the Big Daddy book to buy if you're trying to decide between this or the Pat Ganahl one. It has a much nicer design (more in keeping with Roth's own original aesthetic), there are more photos (pretty much all color) plus there are a variety of viewpoints from many people who were close to Roth. All aspects of his career are covered; cars, t-shirts, toys, etc. An outstanding book and loving tribute to a legend!

Lost for words...
This book first off is GREAT. I wasn't sure what to expect when i first ordered, but once i got it, i was very impressed and blown away. This not only goes over the history of Ed Roth, but also has a great deal of his work shown in it. From old custom Hot Rods, to his Kustom Cars, to the different Rat finks (surf fink, race fink ,etc) this book is a blessing.

The only thing i would say that it lacked on is that fact it didn't go into great detail on his Kustom Cars that he created in his lifetime. I was expecting to be a great deal more, but since i was more into his art and collabrated art, no harm no foul in my eyes.

If you like Big Daddy Ed Roth in the least, this book is perfect!
joshua
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