EIJI TSUBURAYA: MASTER OF MONSTERS by August Ragone

[tylerpistol]

[tylerpistol]

I just received my copy in the mail today. Guess Amazon.ca WAS already shipping it!

I've just gotta say, this book looks amazing. It's loaded with gorgeous black and white and colour pics of all things Tsuburaya. I've got other books by Chronicle, and they're always top quality, but this is the best I've seen yet. It actually looks textbook-grade.

Great work, August! I look forward to sitting down and giving the book a thorough read.

[August]

[tylerpistol]

[August]

[MechaMinya]

[August]

[crazygoji]

[armandv]

[August]

For those who always damn California for all of the events that happen out here, in this case I have to say, "Dammit! I hate Canada! Everything happens in Canada!"

But seriously, I can tell you that "Eiji Tsuburaya" will be in shops on the West Coast shortly, and I am scheduled to do a in-store signing at the Borders Books at the Stonestown Galleria in San Francisco in a couple of weeks (the first weekend in November). Stay tuned for more details.

For now, here's a Canadian review from Tooth and Dagger.com

[i]G33K!
By: Chris Eng

Let’s face it—we’d all destroy Vancouver if we could.

If we were a couple hundred feet tall and could neatly snap the Top of Vancouver revolving restaurant off the Harbour Centre and toss it so it landed point down on BC Place, puncturing and deflating the dome in a cloud of dust and debris, we’d do it. If we could pick up the Lion’s Gate bridge and swing it like a baseball bat against the side of the North Shore mountains, sweeping the pricey and tacky homes into the sea en masse, we wouldn’t even think twice. But we can’t. And while that’s sad, our destructive impotence is no doubt at least part of the reason we love Godzilla movies so much, and much of the reason why, if more of us knew who he was, we would be insanely jealous of Eiji Tsuburaya.

Eiji Tsuburaya got to destroy Tokyo dozens of times. He destroyed Moscow, New York, Paris and Beijing at least once each, and left countless South Sea islands utterly barren. He coordinated attacks from outer space and crushed Earth’s meagre defense forces. Of course, that’s all child’s play when you’re the chief special effects artist for Japanese cinema during the rise of the daikaiju (or “giant monsterâ€

[ryuuseipro]

If there's a signing in Richmond, Virginia (or somewhere in the East Coast), let me know!

[August]

I will let you know (John was one of the people I asked to contribute a Sidebar to my book)!

BTW, Issue 73 of Rue Morgue magazine, on stands November 1st, features a review of "Eiji Tsuburaya: Master of Monsters."

http://www.horror-movies.ca/horror_9655.html

[MechaMinya]

[August]

I will submit them to my publicist (Steve Ryfle suggested a couple as well), but it's really up to Chronicle Books and the individual bookstore managers. Thanks for the tips!

[crazygoji]

Woohoo!!!!

Amazon has done an about face and sent an email that the book has shipped. It is now scheduled to arrive 11/2. Can't wait.

[Reaper G]

[armandv]

[ryuuseipro]

[August]

This coming Sunday, November 4th, author August Ragone will be appearing at an in-store signing for the release of his first book, , from 2:00 pm until 4:00 pm at Border's Books in the Stonestown Galleria (233 Winston Drive, San Francisco, CA 94132). Former "Creature Features" host, author , will be joining him to sign copies of his latest book, "I Was a TV Horror Host."

is marching into better retailers near you as you read this from the world-renown . "Who is Eiji Tsuburaya," you might ask? Tsuburaya (1901-1970) was one of the technical pioneers of Japanese Cinema in the Silent Era, who went on to create the visual effects for GODZILLA and ULTRAMAN. This official 208-page, heavily-illustrated (200 images), coffeetable hardcover, is the first fully-authorized book of its kind published outside of Japan, and is the first biography of this important figure of Japanese Cinema ever written in any language other than Japanese!

Already available in Canada, , is receiving positive reviews: "The difference between this book and other coffee table volumes that have covered daikaiju before, though, is the staggeringly researched detail that Ragone has put into the text itself. This is not just a picture book to flip through, nod approvingly at and stick on the shelf; this is a record easily in scale with the monsters Tsuburaya created—a critical and historical look at the creation and output of an industry that spanned (and has continued to span) the decades." -

Tim Lucas, publisher and editor of the award-winning magazine had this to say about the author, "There is so much writing in English on Japanese cinema that can't be accepted at face value--not because the writers are careless, but because the differences in culture and language are just too intricate. When I see August Ragone's name on a piece of writing, it gives me permission to place my faith in it completely. Among Japanese fantasy film historians, he's the best working in English."

More signings to be announced in the near future -- stay tuned! If you live outside of the San Francisco Bay Area and can't make it, you can also pre-order your own copy today from !

[KaijuZoo]

[crazygoji]

[August]

[August]

[armandv]

[August]