Andy Grundberg is a former photography critic of The New York Times whose interpretations and critical views have helped shape the contemporary understanding of photography's complex roles in art and in the media. Significantly expanded to include his writings to date, this book brings into focus the major debates in photography that have arisen over the last thirty-five years.
Useless to a working photographer and effective as a tranquilizer, I'd avoid this book unless assigned to read it as part of a pretentious art history class. The issues that Grundberg addresses (nature of the real, representation vs. reality, the postmodern, etc) feel dated and besides the point-- maybe in the aftermath of September 11th and the Bush years, the art world has more important things to address. The book perks up briefly during his discussion of new directions in documentary photography in the early 1980s, but other than that, it's a snoozefest start to finish. Boring!