Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Jocks and Nerds are just two of the 12 ``male identities'' Martin and Koda ( Fashion and Surrealism ) identify as this century's ``persistent style modes''; the others: Worker, Rebel, Cowboy, Military Man, Hunter, Joe College, Sportsman, Businessman, Man About Town, Dandy. Illustrated with fashion shots from GQ , Esquire , L'Uomo Vogue and other magazines, the book also includes movie and publicity stills and candid photographs of the famous wearing their emblematic clothing--Eisenhower's jacket, Mark Spitz's red-white-and-blue swimsuit, Bogart's trenchcoat, Brando's T-shirt. There is plenty of frightful writing, for example, this description of cowboy dress: ``His spurs, essential for moving a recalcitrant horse, give him armadillo-like invulnerability.'' Other passages, however, buoy up otherwise tiresome lectures: ``Today's rolled chinos and blue jeans with the cuffs turned up still suggest the minor rebellion in protected circumstances associated with college life.'' (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved