Hal Buell (–2024)

The Pulitzer Prize-winning photographs from 1942 to present day, with very nice annotations explaining the circumstances of the photographs and the technical details.This is a powerful series of photographs; probably more than half were familiar to me, but it was still illuminating to read the author's notes on the photos, interviews with the participants when possible, and information about the cameras used and the techniques.Many of these photographs have achieved iconographic status today, and should be familiar to any reasonably well-informed American.… (més)

The reader's reaction to this book is almost certainly going to depend on one's opinion of George W. Bush. As someone who doesn't like him, I found it extremely funny, someone who likes him, or perhaps is a neutral may find it unfair.

The subtitle on the cover : "Presidential photo-ops gone awry" is rather misleading. Unlike the books of Bushisms, which take him to task for his actual misstatements, these are mostly ordinary pictures. Some catch Bush with an odd expression on his face, or clowning around. Only a few, like the shot of Bush dropping his dog Barney, can be considered photo-ops gone awry.

The text writers, Sean and Chris Kelly have attached unrelated, but sometimes extremely witty captions to the photos. The one of Bush with the Dalai Lama is priceless, and the reason I bought the book.

At the end, in the interest of fairness, the real occasions of the the photos is given.… (més)