The Ceramics Reader

Andrew Livingstone and Kevin Petrie have pulled together a comprehensive collection of writing on the practice of ceramics in many and varied contexts. It is a great addition to the shelf of anyone with an interest in fired clay and a must for the serious student of Ceramics. I have been using it in seminar with my students. It has given rise to much lively discussion and has enhanced their understanding of the broader conversation that they are joining.

very useful

Outstanding.

This book has a lot of interesting articles, and a few with limited appeal. There are virtually no pictures, so for some articles it is necessary to have Google to hand to understand what is written. It is tough going to get through it, and I still haven't finished. Worthy, academic, comprehensive, but not very readable. Good luck to you if you aim to get to the end.

Essential reading for historians of ceramics, revelatory insights. Much research still needs to be done, this book is a guide to what has been accomplished and the shape of future work in the field. I found it inspiring.

A lot of great material in this, GET IT!!!!

meets expectations

Many of these essays have been presented at a conference, where a Powerpoint Presentation accompanied it. Transcribed here verbatim, they lack the images which the artists, scholars and critics make their cases. This results in almost meaningless examples where the speaker relies on the ability of their audience to see their examples. This is the weakest component of an otherwise wide ranging collection of essays.