Review: That Is Priceless by Steven Melchor

Filed in Review , Steve Melchor , The Quirky Lover Posted on April 5, 2011 @ 10:00 am 2 comments

Format read: netGalley
Number of pages: 192 pages
Release Date: April 12th 2011
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Formats available: paperback
Purchasing Info: Publisher’s Site,
Amazon, Goodreads, Book Depository

Book Blurb:

Thirty-two million Americans consider themselves artists, and nearly 100 million consider themselves art lovers. They—along with anyone else who enjoys a good laugh—will appreciate the edgy blend of art, comedy, and pop culture inside comedian Steve Melcher’s popular blog-turned-book, That Is Priceless: Art’s Greatest Masterpieces . . . Made Slightly Funnier.

It all started when Melcher stumbled upon a postcard in a museum gift shop for Peter Paul Rubens’s The Finding of Erichthonius. Inspiration struck, and Melcher scrambled for a Post-it note and scribbled down what he thought was a more appropriate title: Worst Secret Santa Gift Ever. And with that, That Is Priceless was born. More than 150 images are gathered inside the book’s full-color pages—from Courbet’s The Desperate Man reimagined as Johnny Depp Realizing He Left the Oven On to Degas’s Portrait of the Artist James Tissot retitled as Portrait of the Artist in Mom Jeans.

Part art history, part parody, and entirely laugh-out-loud funny, That Is Priceless gives musty old paintings a 21st-century pop culture face-lift, enlivening the artist’s canvas with playful comic irreverence

My Thoughts:

I love quirky humour, as you can tell by my handle here at Book Lovers Inc. So, that’s what brought That Is Priceless to my attention. I also enjoy museums, longs walks in the park…wait too much info. Anyway, with the premise of taking classic art and satirizing it, it seems like a win-win idea for someone like me.

But let me discuss my concerns first. I downloaded this book onto my Kobo (I’m still excited about my Christmas gift and want to use it every chance I get), but this book was not designed for such a format. Then I tried viewing it on Adobe Digital Editions, but still no go there. I eventually had to look at it on the netGalley site, so not very portable for me. The first two methods just made for dark pictures, that were hard to make out.
The other concern I have is about the type of pop culture references within the book. There’s a painting from 1459 which I would normally be in awe of at the thought that it has survived this long. Yet, Mr. Melchor has dubbed it “Jesus Obsessed with His iPad.” It is not the name that I balk at but simply the longevity of these items and ultimately, how long the book would be relevant.
Having said all this, most of Mr Melchor’s newly titled masterpieces had me laughing. I think this is a great book if you’re down in the dumps and need a pick me up. I would love to see an actual print version, as it looks like a well presented book, with nice pages and timeless art. It is freakish how the artwork chosen to associate with actors, singers etc., is spot on! It’s definitely something I think you need to see for yourself…

I give this book 3 1/2 our of 5 bookies.

***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.

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About Jackie


Jackie is a quirky mom, living in Ontario, Canada. She's a bookkeeper by day and a book lover by night. She also blogs at The Novel Nation and writes occasionally for Heroes and Heartbreakers.

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2 Comments

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  • marybelle April 6, 2011 at 2:36 am

    What a hoot!! I was amazed at your figure being so high for artists. I wonder how many of the 32 million are any good??

    marypres@gmail.com

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  • Jackie April 6, 2011 at 9:50 am

    @marybelle – That was the blurb from the publisher. It does sound high….maybe they're including experts in stick figure drawings among that number, lol. If so, I, too, am an "artist" :-p

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