Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

"Instant photography at the push of a button!" During the 1960s and '70s, Polaroid was the coolest technology company on earth. Like Apple, it was an innovation machine that cranked out one must-have product after another. Led by its own visionary genius founder, Edwin Land, Polaroid grew from a 1937 garage start-up into a billion-dollar pop-culture phenomenon. Instant tells the remarkable tale of Land's one-of-a-kind invention-from Polaroid's first instant camera to hit the market in 1948, to its meteoric rise in popularity and adoption by artists such as Ansel Adams, Andy Warhol, and Chuck Close, to the company's dramatic decline into bankruptcy in the late '90s and its unlikely resurrection in the digital age. Instant is both an inspiring tale of American ingenuity and a cautionary business tale about the perils of companies that lose their creative edge.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• 1 Light and Vision (p. 7)
• 2 Development (p. 25)
• 3 Seeing It Now (p. 39)
• 4 Meet the Swinger (and everything else) (p. 53)
• 5 Ultimate Expression (p. 87)
• 6 Fade In, Fade Out (p. 111)
• 7 "Our Brilliance" (p. 123)
• 8 Going Dark (p. 135)
• 9 Re-vision (p. 159)
• Bibliography (p. 177)
• Acknowledgments (p. 185)
• Image Credits (p. 188)
• Index (p. 189)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Library Journal Review

Remember Polaroid pictures? Bonanos (senior editor, New York magazine; Gods, Heroes, and Philosophers: A Celebration of All Things Greek) here tells the story of their creator, Edwin Land, and how he built a multibillion-dollar business from those instant photographs. Holder of over 500 patents, Land was the Steve Jobs of his day. A quick and interesting read, this work traces the history of the company, which began in 1932 by manufacturing polarizing film for car headlights and sunglasses. By the mid-1940s, photography was its main business. Unfortunately, things ended badly, with two bankruptcies, the final one in 2009. The company is now trying to reinvent itself, including manufacturing a new line of film that can be used by the famous cameras. The book includes some photos, though not nearly enough. The volume is enhanced by a helpful index and footnotes, but not so many as to be distracting. VERDICT A well-written book that will bring back fond memories of instant photography for many readers. Recommended.-Susan Hurst, Miami Univ. of Ohio Libs., Oxford (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publishers Weekly Review

Bonanos, a senior editor at New York magazine, offers up a concise and in-depth cultural history of Polaroid and its brilliant and charismatic leader, Edwin Land. Amidst its carefully constructed narrative of Polaroid's rise, demise, and renaissance (Lady Gaga is currently the company's creative director), Bonanos lays out the effect Polaroid has had on the cultural fabric of the United States, from brand identity and advertising copy, to hip hop lyrics and the sexual revolution. The history begins with Polaroid's wartime beginnings in polarizing technology and synthetically produced quinine. Instant photography was something of a side-business to begin with, but it soon took over the company's entire operation. But this is truly Land's story. Long before a turtle-necked Steve Jobs gave highly anticipated keynote speeches to reveal revolutionary new products, Land was penning stylized investor letters and predicting the smart phone. Indeed, these moments of cultural and technological premonition are among the book's most fascinating. Bonanos can be excessively reverential and heavy-handed, but Land and Polaroid's story are remarkable nonetheless. Photos. (Oct.) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.