As befits its title, Alastair Sooke's introduction to pop art is a colourful little book that should appeal to aficionados and casual admirers alike ... a well-researched and authoritative introduction to the movement ... a hugely engaging read.

A great introduction to what reveals itself to be a shifting and elusive 'movement'

A clear and lively outline of the history of pop art ... full of interesting facts and anecdotes that make the book (unlike so much art criticism) ... a pleasure to read.

Sooke is an immensely engaging character. He has none of the weighty self-regard that often afflicts art experts and critics; rather he approaches his subjects with a questioning, open, exploratory attitude

A brilliant account . . . So poetically precise in its evocations of the cut-outs . . . so tender in its sympathy

A cleverly crafted book that is far more than the obvious sum of its parts… [A] truly delightful book.

[An] extraordinary book.

A beautifully illustrated, wry, emphatic and deeply moving triumph.

A poignant meditation on creativity and grief.

Subtle and absorbing book.

The book sounds like a haphazard collection of anecdotes, but is in fact a richly satisfying whole tied together by the autobiographical component. This is a book to be read slowly and savoured for the quality of Blackburn’s vision and her subtle, unadorned yet poetic prose.

[A] wonderfully eccentric biography.

Charming and unusual book.

Strange, engrossing…superbly illustrated.

Craske remains as private a man as before…but Blackburn’s eloquent appreciation of his work and her sympathy with his sorrows make this remarkable book the best tribute he could have received.

Her most glittering book to date.

This is biography with a difference.

Compelling and beautifully written.

My favourite book of the year.

It is hard to tell whether this is a simple or a complicated book: its power lies in its being both.

I don’t know of many books that give a better sense of the frustrations and excitement of research.

The energy is infectious, but the tone is melancholic.

Blackburn captures the understated artist John Craske with elegance and precision.

A vibrant account of the life of Norfolk fisherman John Craske […] another maverick choice of subject by this always compelling writer.

Outsider art requires outsider biography, and Blackburn, an expert in finding new forms to fit odd lives, has managed her task magnificently.

Beautifully delicate.

Richly satisfying.

A gorgeous, dreamy quest, for a man named John Craske.

The book has an understated charm and is a beautifully rendered portrait of an artist’s life and landscape.

This tender biography is gossipy and philosophical by turns.

Executed with undeniable skill and the sense of an intimate acquaintance with life on the open seas.

Unusually moving.