Considering that Banksy isn’t considered “part of the establishment” enough to warrant serious consideration from many “real art critics” I absolutely adore that author Steve Wright took the time and effort to examine his work seriously. Banksy may not be respected on a lot of fronts, but the whole thesis of the book is a great big “fuck you” to the art establishment - which echoes the sentiments in many of Banksy’s graffiti pieces. Wright brings together a solid understanding of the evolution of the Bristol’s graffiti scene with contemporary critiques of Banksy’s effects on it, anchored solidly with interviews with Banksy’s cohorts and research on Banksy himself to make a highly enjoyable and interesting little book. His writing style is casual enough that it’s easy to get into and reflects the “street” style of graffiti well, but treads a careful line towards an academic bent so that it can be taken seriously by those of us who are casual art critics. Art is for the populace afterall, so I really appreciate the fact that the book was so carefully put together. Of course, the real heart of the book is the collection of photographs which capture Banksy’s artwork, many of which no longer exist. Wright did a careful job of matching images to text as well, so that the flow of reading and visual consumption is relatively smooth throughout the book, and makes this an overall better constructed example of an art book than many other more serious texts! I haven’t gotten my hands on enough other Banksy books to see if the content here is replaceable or more elaborate in other sources, but this is an excellent start to my collection! ( )

Worthwhile for the Banksy images which I had not previously seen, on the whole this book is unmitigated dross. It is also open to charges of cashing in. The interviews with other Bristol street-art personalities (and I use the term advisedly) add very little perspective, and on the whole the work is riddled with spelling errors and poor editing. Not an edifying book. ( )