The Illustrated History of the Snowman

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Pub Date 01 Sep 2018 | Archive Date 18 Nov 2018

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Description

A thoroughly entertaining exploration, this book travels back in time to shed light on the snowman's enigmatic past -- from the present day, in which the snowman reigns as the King of Kitsch, to the Dark Ages, with the creation of the very first snowman. Eckstein's curiosity began playfully enough, but soon snowballed into a (mostly) earnest quest of chasing Frosty around the world, into museums and libraries, and seeking out the advice of leading historians and scholars. The result is a riveting history that reaches back through centuries and across cultures -- sweeping from fifteenth-century Italian snowballs to eighteenth-century Russian ice sculptures to the regrettable "white-trash years" (1975-2000). The snowman is not just part of our childhood memories, but is an integral part of our world culture, appearing -- much like a frozen Forrest Gump -- alongside dignitaries and celebrities during momentous events. Again and again, the snowman pops up in rare prints, paintings, early movies, advertising and, over the past century, in every art form imaginable. And the jolly snowman -- ostensibly as pure as the driven snow -- also harbors a dark past full of political intrigue, sex, and violence.

With over two hundred illustrations, The Illustrated History of the Snowman is a truly original winter classic -- smart, surprisingly enlightening, and quite simply the coolest book ever.




Bob Eckstein is an award-winning illustrator, writer, New Yorker cartoonist, snowman expert, and author of the New York Times bestselling Footnotes from the Greatest Bookstores (Clarkson Potter) and The History of the Snowman (Simon & Schuster). His cartoons, OpEds, and short stories appear regularly in the New York Times, New York Daily News, MAD magazine, Barron’s, Readers Digest, The Spectator, Prospect, Wall Street Journal, Playboy, among many others. He was a columnist for the Village Voice, New York Newsday, and Time Out New York. He has been interviewed in over 100 TV, radio and magazine spots including Good Morning America and People magazine.



A thoroughly entertaining exploration, this book travels back in time to shed light on the snowman's enigmatic past -- from the present day, in which the snowman reigns as the King of Kitsch, to...


Available Editions

EDITION Hardcover
ISBN 9781493036660
PRICE $29.95 (USD)

Average rating from 14 members


Featured Reviews

Ok, who has NOT built a snowman in your lifetime? Who has NOT enjoyed building one?
Who has those fond memories of innocence during wintertime as a kid building a snowman or snow angels?
This author seriously did a mean research on ALL *ok, I exaggerated a little .* snowmen all over the world and centuries . Heck, he did almost 200 pages!! As it was noted in the book, "Snowman is the single most recognized icon in the world."
Yeah, this man knows what he's talking about. Afterall, he an expert in snowmen.
I believe you'll enjoy the fascinating stories, quibs, photos and etc in this book. I know I did. Man, it was a perfect book to enjoy in this 94 degrees here in Colorado in September. I'm looking forward to winter now.
I received this ARC from Net Galley and Roman & Littlefield Globe Pequot in exchange for an honest review .

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Here is a compendium of all that is snowman. From advertising to movies and historical photographs, this book examines how the snowman has fascinated us over the centuries. The photographs are wonderful: they encompass the cute, the bad and the ugly snowmen. Who would have known the snowman was so widely depicted and utilized throughout so many representations. The author is also a snowman collector, many of the photographs depict pieces of her collection. This is a wonderful homage to our friend, the snowman.

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I Have always loved snowmen. I collect snowman figurines. I really enjoyed reading about their history. I loved looking at all of the photos of such a special snowy man.

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While the history portions were more topical than chronological, readers came away knowing snowmen were around in medieval times and possibly earlier. The strength of this book is in its images. I found the photos of snowmen in popular culture fascinating. A town in Maine broke its own record in building the largest snowman--well, actually a snow woman. The book features the snowman in books, movies, advertising, postcards, art, war, and more. It's a fascinating book that features snowmen from around the world. I received an advance electronic copy from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

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What a neat and quick book!
It covers the history of snowmen all the way to the Stone Age. As he says about that far back, absence of evidence does not mean absence. It only makes sense we’ve loved creating snowmen from the beginning of time.
The author points out that, unlike almost all other traditions, the snowman started as a very complicated and well thought out creation each time, and is now a simple fun addition to decoration. A de-evolution.
I had no idea the history of snowmen was so sorted. And wait until you learn about the very first drawn representation of a snowman, which is quite offensive.
Loved the collection of illustrations.

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This is such an interesting and cool book about who was the first to build a snowman. Lots of facts and fun pictures to go along with it.

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This book was quite a surprise. I had no idea that the snowman had such a lengthy and interesting history. From postcards, print ads, commercials, packaging, songs, movies and more, he is the lowest paid actor/model ever. Reading about his denigration (drinking, women, assaults) made me realize, I didn't know this poor guy at all. Seriously, there was so much information in this book that I had never known before, I read it quickly and found myself turning back more and more to double check information. The illustrations were amazing. The author's personal collection of Snowman memorabilia was quite extensive and showed various times in his history. If you are an arts and Photography buff, you would love this book. Learning about the development of the snowman in art, including sculpture, photography, lithograph and more was interesting. I could go on and on about what was contained in this book in just a bit over 200 pages, but I recommend you pick it up. BTW, this is not a children's book, they would be devastated to see some of the ways the snowman was used over the years. Now, if there was snow on the ground here, I would take my grandchildren outside today to make our own snowman. As one blurb says, "With over two hundred illustrations, The Illustrated History of the Snowman is a truly original winter classic -- smart, surprisingly enlightening, and quite simply the coolest book ever." I am glad I picked this one out. The publisher, Rowman & Littlefield - Globe Pequot, generously provided me with a copy of this book upon my request. The rating, ideas and opinions shared are my own.

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This story follows the journey of the snowman across centuries and cultures. Anyone interested in culture would enjoy reading about how the snowman has been shaped throughout history. The photographs and illustrations are beautiful and work together with the writing to build a masterpiece. Having the author who is so invested in snowmen (he has his own snowman collection) shows in this book and adds to the authenticity of the information.

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Very informative and great for the holiday season. I love that this book looks at the history of such a mundane-seeming object and gives it a whole new life!

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