Banksy. Myths & Legends: A Collection of the Unbelievable and the Incredible

by Marc Leverton

No single living artist has created as many myths, rumours and legends as Banksy. In his home-town of Bristol almost everyone seems to have a Banksy story. Many of the tales in this book are from Bristol, some are from further a field. What they share is that they are all told with the wide eyed wonder which Banksy inspires. Collated between 2009 and 2011 some of these stories are quite old and have been told so many times they have become the stuff of legend, others are more questionable and best described as myths. Some are laugh out loud absurd and some are simply gossip. You be the judge. For me these stories illustrate the incredible audacity, originality and sheer bloody mindedness of Banksy. Obviously he will be best remembered for his art and exposing the hypocrisy and dumbness of our modern lives. The myths will be viewed as a distraction to some or part of the appeal for others. One thing is certain, the art and the myths are both larger than life and stick two fingers up at conformity. This book is a celebration of that anarchic, rebellious spirit.

Genres: Art, Nonfiction, Biography

96 pages, Paperback

First published September 30, 2011

Reviews

[Tassa DeSalada · Rating 5 out of 5]

My husband bought this book for me as a souvenir from our trip to England for the Monty Python reunion. Having returned to a whirlwind life of our kids in America, I barely had time to place this book in a coveted 'books to be read' space on one of our bookshelves. Years later, my then seven year old daughter brought it to me to read to her as a sleepytime story. You can imagine my delight at this fantastic opportunity to share one of my favorite artists of all time with my ready and willing daughter. Yay!! She must have soaked up my enthusiasm because she loved this book as much as I did. It's a page-by-page, picture-by-picture presentation of some of Banksy's works of art. Ps, I skipped a couple pages that weren't appropriate for her age. But it's a great way to learn about Banksy's art, and it's also the best souvenir I brought back from London.

[James Payne · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was dumb.

[Jennifer Bacall · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book describes itself thus:
The truth
The whole truth
And everything but the truth

Part of the fun of the Banksy story is that there is as much myth as there is truth to it. No one, well at least very few people know the answers to the artist's identity some saying that there isn't even a single artist but a conglomeration of artists. This book plays with the notion that we don't know which parts of the Banksy story are true. Oftentimes to the extent that we don't even know for sure which pieces he is responsible for. It's a thin but fun volume.

[Lizzie · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got this as a birthday present back in July and just got round to reading it. I quite liked it, but didn't get a huge amount from it. If you want a quick read, and I mean REALLY quick (twenty mins at most), this could be great for you. Passes the time!

[Suzie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a pretty decent quite well printed very small book (size and price-wise) on Banksy. I would consider it a 'stocking stuffer.' It is not the book I'd recommend if you want a really substantial book on Banksy.

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny, and probably captures a sense of what this guy is about. Best, a number of his works are pictured, although not in any way a compilation of his works. It certainly captures the sense of myth which follows him around.

[Cate Meredith · Rating 3 out of 5]

The book - really more of a pamphlet - is good but extremely short. It is a tiny pocket sized book with maybe 500 words in all. I am not tickled to have spent $10 on basically a blog post.

[Sarah Street · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is too tiny to do Banksy any justice. But, it makes for a good coffee table delight, I suppose.

[Greta · Rating 3 out of 5]

charming little book that tells
"the truth
the whole truth
and everything but the truth"

very enjoyable, funny and entertaining

[Caitlin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not a lot of meat on these bones. Some interesting photos and anecdotes, for sure! But you won't necessarily find many hard-hitting insights about the elusive artist.

[Kerry.Mzw · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was probably the time this book was written, but recent discovery reveals that some information contained was opinion rather than factual, with certain level of bias.

[b bb bbbb bbbbbbbb · Rating 2 out of 5]

A short, sorta-interesting read.

[kai · Rating 3 out of 5]

interesting rumors and such. main reason for buying it, though, was to support the independent bookstore ✨

[Leila Mota · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love street art and I do love Banksy. This little book was bought in a museum's shop. To be more precise, it was at MOCO (Modern, Contemporary & Street Art), in Amsterdam, after visiting an exhibition of Banksy's and Warhol's pieces. It was amazing. The book reminds me of moments of pleasure and of my appreciation of this kind of art. Delightful.

[Mr. Grr · Rating 3 out of 5]

What can I say, I'm in love with Banksy. I am obsessed with art books. This is not one of those however. This was a collection of legends and rumors of the mysterious Banksy. Wasn't expecting much given its pocket size, but could be a rather interestinf coffee table piece.

[Lynn · Rating 1 out of 5]

banksy is overrated

[Manuel Carvajal · Rating 3 out of 5]

Concrete and full of Stories which May or May Not be true.

[ROS]

This is a very short book but full of interesting topics about Banksy's works. It consists on short facts, some of them are true while others are not really proved. If you like Bansky, you will enjoy this book as an easy-reading.

[Mckinley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Shows his work; and describes myths about the artist. Wanted to look at his work again after seeing "Exit through the Gift Shop" which is brilliant (as Brits say).

See: Wall and Piece by Banksy

[Ana Teresa Queiroga · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, but a bit too short in my opinion. It would be nice to have more context on the mentioned artworks.

[Mary Mav · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.75/Picked it up at random at Brusselles because I need material for an Art History paper in Erasmus. I study the artist on my own since I was 14 so I was glad i read a book about his work, almost two years after reading Planet Banksy. For fans of graffiti or just people who have a sense of irony in their humour or they opose to modern society this is a book for yoou