Tattoo Nation: Portraits of Celebrity Body Art is a tribute to stars and their tattoos. Rolling Stone has compiled 70 color and 30 duotone photographs of today's favorite faces and their personal body art.
Award-winning music biographer David Ritz pens the introductory tribute to the artistry with some background regarding his own tattoos.
Tattoo Nation is peppered with short celebrity interviews. Ozzy Osbourne discusses his favorite tatts as well as the ones he regrets. Aerosmith's Steven Tyler explains the significance of his "Mama Kin." There is also a chat with tattoo artist Paul Booth.
Many of those featured in this book offer quick quotes regarding their own tattoos. This is a true coffee-table book: light on text and heavy on photography. The editors limited membership in this book to the IN crowd. Therefore, only the tattoos of a select special group are featured.
Both Publisher's Weekly and reviewers at Amazon.com comment on the books excessive testosterone representation. There are few women between the pages. What's more disappointing is the incredible lack of originality some celebrities show in their choices.
Tattoo Nation is a light tribute to tattoo artistry. The book doesn't go into depth regarding the craft. Further exploration into this permanent form of self-expression would have been fascinating. Of course, that would have meant featuring other musicians and those who aren't as "cool" right now. As is stands (or sits on your table), Tattoo Nation provokes conversation as a glimpse into tattoos in today's rock-and-roll scene.
