As the subject header suggests, I'm interested if anyone here has read or browsed through the new Fab Press PROFONDO ARGENTO book by Alan Jones. Jones knows his stuff but I'm not sure how keen I am to read reprints of his older articles. Having said that, the list of interviewees is enticing - are the interview contents that much longer than what was featured in the UK Argento doco?

There's room for this book to be great but I've read zero about it online since it was released. I own a lot of Fab Press books and note how the quality of the writing can vary as much as the design and reproduction will remain excellent. BEYOND TERROR is a major achievement by Stephen Thrower, the ART OF DARKNESS softcover was a mixed bag for me (I think I preferred Chris Gallant's writing from way back in the fanzine days to the tough academic slog I encountered in his lengthy 'thesis' on Argento's work throughout the front of A.O.D) and Troy Howarth's Bava book did not a great deal for me personally whilst perhaps being of interest to others. (Since I'm giving general ratings I'll add that FAB's books on Miike, LAST HOUSE, Pete Walker and Mary Millington, those being the others that I own, are all superlative). Anyway, PROFONDO ARGENTO is in a local store and the price tag is as imposing as the book's size. Anyone have any thoughts at all about this release?

Well, my opinion may be coloured somewhat by my unashamed obsession with all things Argento-related, but I found "Profondo Argento" to be an excellent read - and certainly much more than a collection of reprinted articles, or a fawning exercise in hagiography. I've only seen the Argento doc once, so can't really comment on how the content of the book expands upon that, but suffice to say there is a hell of a lot of personal background provided by Asia Argento which really surprised me with its frankness; Alan Jones had to juggle his personal friendship with the Argento family with a journalistic desire to get to the truth of this most unusual of father-daughter relationships, and I think he did a pretty good job. It goes without saying that the pictorial content is superlative, too. I'd read some of the set reports and "Starburst" reviews before, but the additional material makes the book an essential purchase for the devoted Argentophile. It's a cherished item on my Eurocult bookshelf, not least because it's signed by Argento himself. :D

If the hardback's price-tag is too rich for your blood at present, I think there's a more affordable paperback edition planned further down the line. Check out the FABPress website for details.

FABPress homepage

It is indeed an excellent book, although unsurprisingly, because the data was collected over the course of a number of years, the amount of detail can vary. Therefore, for example, only a couple of pages are devoted to the making of SUSPIRIA, whereas everything from OPERA onwards gets a full-blown set report. The interviews are all fascinating, although some are a lot more in-depth than others (I'm especially thinking of the material on Asia Argento, which is exhaustive).

I would definitely recommend picking up a copy of this book: it really is excellent. By the way, I spotted copies of both the paperback and hardback editions in my local Forbidden Planet a couple of weeks ago.

When I was in London's The Cinema Store last week, I noticed that they had several copies of this book signed by Argento himself.

Thanks everyone - you've convinced me and I'll grab a copy over the coming week.

Asia Argento always seems honest and intelligent in her interviews, so hearing her talk in the book described as above is quite enticing. (I liked the Jones set report from STENDAHL too).

Is anyone else concerned about the quality of FAB's soft cover big books? I never got around to picking up FEAR WITHOUT FRONTIERS because the damn thing looked like it was going to fall apart after half a read; I got the same feeling from the softcover edition of PROFONDO ARGENTO. I'm not throwing down $30 or $40 bucks for a collection of loose pages.

Don't know if they've changed their printers in recent times but I've never had any problems with my large Fab Press softcovers. (The three I have on my shelf are their Bava, AOD Argento and Deodato titles - I've also found their smaller volumes such as the Mary Millington book to be fine). Having said that, I don't own TEN YEARS OF TERROR, FEAR WITHOUT FRONTIERS or the Xavier Mendik-edited collection, and those are all more recent publications, so there's a chance (which I'm not anticipating, but I can't rule it out) that their binding quality has changed.

To be honest, the only Euro/horror/cult cinema (take your pick) book in my whole collection that has problems with binding is the Dark Side published BLOOD AND BLACK LACE giallo guide from Adrian Smith, which at this point damn well practically is just a collection of loose pages. The picture reproduction is outstanding but I'm not completely impressed with their printing of that book - the outer spine is completely black so good luck reading the title after you've slid it into your shelf, and page 136 is completely fricking blank! Ah well - happily enough, my copy also coincidentally has a signed flyer inside (with a memorable message) from US porn star Chloe, something which can take my mind off the crap binding if I ever choose to think about it too much.

No problems with FABPress bindings here, either - at least, so far. "Fear Without Frontiers" is with Santa's elvish helpers at the minute, so can't be tested to destruction, but I can report solid binding situation on "Beyond Terror", "Art of Darkness", "Ten Years of Terror" and the Bava/Deodato volumes. Mine is the hardback edition of "Profondo Argento", so I'm unable to comment on the paperback's quality (or lack thereof).

Then again, I've not had any probs with the "Blood and Black Lace" book, either - I suppose it might depend on whether the reader is a "spine-breaker" or not! My FAB tomes survive such treatment fine, but a thinner book like the B&BL edition might never have been designed for such rough handling...

But you'll never find a worse example of binding than this: my first copy of "Immoral Tales" was missing the entire chapter on Jose Larraz! :P

Richard and all,

I just yesterday received my copy of PROFONDO ARGENTO from amazon.com - amazon has a special on most books over $15.00 - they're going at 32% off - so I was able to pick this up for $27.17 & FREE :D shipping! yippee...

The softcover book seems to be of reasonable quality, the spine appears to be relatively good and should be able to withstand normal wear & tear.

Just thumbed through it, it looks so far like it's well worth the money.

Does anyone know anything about this SCARECROW movie guide that just was published?

Two of the pages pertaining to SUSPIRIA have already fallen out of my hardback copy of PROFONDO ARGENTO, unfortunately, and the binding of my paperback ART OF DARKNESS is beginning to crumble.

I have FEAR WITHOUT FRONTIER, the softcover, and report no problems with its bursting apart or losing pages.

It is an excellent book, by the way, and one I refer to quite often and with the same pleasure as KILLING FOR CULTURE, not a FAB Press book but a great British read,

Some people are harder on books than others. But when you pull the damn thing off the shelf at a bookstore and open it up at random and the binding CRACKS like the rigging of the Demeter... abandon ship!

I treat all my books and mags with excessive care. There's another poster in this very thread who refers to my book treatment procedure as a 'Mr Anthony special' simply as he's seen how I cover every softcover book or mag with transparent contact, have the hardcovers wrapped up in similar protective material library-style, and store my complete runs of VW, ETC and other mags chronologically in vertical magazine holders on the shelves in my study. This didn't stop the BLOOD AND BLACK LACE book from falling to bits within a week of me buying it. Many's the time I've thought that (a.) somebody should do another book length study of the giallo field, and (b.) that they really should use some better binding along with it.