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Paperback Gods' Man: A Novel in Woodcuts Book

ISBN: 0486435008

ISBN13: 9780486435008

Gods' Man: A Novel in Woodcuts

(Book #1 in the Woodcuts Series)

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Format: Paperback

Condition: New

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Book Overview

The most important work of American artist and illustrator Lynd Ward, Gods' Man is a powerfully evocative novel, told entirely through woodcuts. Ward (1905-85), in employing the concept of the wordless pictorial narrative, acknowledged his predecessors the European artists Frans Masereel and Otto N ckel. Released the week of the 1929 stock market crash, Gods' Man was the first of six woodcut novels that Ward produced over the next eight years. It presents the artist's struggles in a world characterized by both innocence and corruptions and can be considered a forerunner of the contemporary graphic novel, popularized by artists such as Daniel Clowes.
Although best known for his "novels in woodcuts," Ward was also a successful illustrator of children's books. In 1953 he won the Caldecott Medal for The Biggest Bear, which he both wrote and illustrated. His illustrations also appeared in numerous books that received the Newbery Medal. Ward's final work was the acclaimed wordless novel The Silver Pony (1973).
Until now, Gods' Man has only been widely available in high-priced original editions. This top-quality, low-cost republication of Ward's masterpiece will be welcomed by collectors of his work as well as by readers new to his achievement.

Customer Reviews

5 customer ratings | 5 reviews

Rated 5 stars
it's all about the apostrophe

This is an amazing wordless novel that somehow speaks volumes. I would just like to point out a mistake that many reviewers have made concerning this classic. Ward used little words in this work at least we should get the title right. The title is "Gods' Man" not "God's Man", this simple placement of the apostrophe makes all the difference and adds another level for which we can read the work. This work can be "read" over...

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Rated 5 stars
Beautiful, if baffling

It is wonderful to have this book back in print after so many decades. This is a real achievement in visual storytelling, and helped blaze the trail for the modern graphic novel. The format is starkly simple: one woodcut image per page, black on white. Woodcut isn't a tonal process - grades of light and dark come from alternations of white and black, for which Ward favors fields of parallel lines. His vision tends towards...

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Rated 5 stars
A True classic

I first ran across Lynd Ward's art at a Flea Market in Birmingham where a vendor had framed several pieces from one of his books. The images were so powerful that I had to know who the artist was. Lynd Ward, along with Virgil Finlay, has become one of the two major influences on my own black and white art and this book is one of his best. The story is clearly told with hauntingly beautiful, bold woodcut illustrations. This...

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Rated 5 stars
Essential "Reading"

I discovered this book when I was 16. It is a tale told only in woodcuts, sublimely, by Lynd Ward. There is no wanting for the written word here. Each page is meticulously cafted to take you, step-by-step, through the story of an artist who makes a pact with "Evil" to gain fame and fortune, only to come to realize that those goals are not worthy of desire in the first place.I have given copies of this book away to people that...

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Rated 5 stars
A Spiritual Journey

A 1930 hard copy edition of God's Man has occupied a very special place in my family's heart and bookshelf for over 50 years. As a young child, I opened this book many times, sometimes moving quickly from woodcut to woodcut, pausing at my favorites and other times moving slowly through each one. Just last week my grown daughter came into my home office, excited about the concept of scanning pictures and ironing them on...

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