[.ca] American Pitbull (ISBN 3882439149)

An excellent photo essay, with some limitations:
As the owner of an American Pitbull Terrier, I am always happy to read positive material about this wonderful and widely misunderstood breed. I had the opportunity to listen to go to a book signing, reading, and Q & A session for this book with both the photographer and the author of the essays of this book, and I was quite pleased with the philosophy of these two men regarding the breed. The photography in this book is wonderful and very true-to-life. Most of these photos represent the dogs in unstaged situations. Some of the pictures are a bit shocking at first glance, especially if you are a conservative-minded, suburban, or upper-class urban pit bull owner (and there are many of them). The people pictured in this book are not conservative. They basically look like bikers, rappers, and rural country folk. But people should not make judgments on people's appearance. Just because someone looks like a biker and has lots of tatoos and piercings doesn't mean that they abuse their dog, or fight them, or don't love their dog. To think that is just as bad as hating pitbulls because they look "mean" (which quite honestly, they sometimes do). In the interviews in this books, most of these people's viewpoints on their dogs were quite positive and you could tell they had true affection for their dogs. The book really focuses on a certain sub-culture of pit bull owners, one that I am not familiar with. I saw nothing to indicate that these dogs were abused in any way. Dogs in the country often live outside in dog houses. Having these dogs tied on a lead is not inhumane. The one issue I have with the book is it's emphasis on breeding these dogs. I do not feel that some of the breeders they interviewed are responsible breeders looking to better the breed. They interviewed one breeder who says that he always in-breeds father/daughter because that way he keeps the dogs looking the way he wants. I am not a dog breeder, but I cannot believe that this could be good for the betterment of the breed. There was also the guy who breeds pitbulls for rappers and he breeds to they have the biggest heads possible, and he said he "hates" the "skinny" headed dogs. He says his buyers want their dog to represent themselves, as strong and tough. I don't think this is a good reason to get a pitbull. But it is a photo essay, and it was true, because these people are out there and it is happening. At the talk I went to, they mentioned that they are working on a film based on the book, which should be interesting. He also mentioned that they type of people who have pitbulls and live on Park Avenue usually weren't open to having their dogs photographed for the book. But the photographs of the dogs are beautiful (there are some truly magnificent pits pictured), and it is a thorough photo investigation into one subset of the pitbull-loving population.

Another case of lousy PR:
I saw the reviews for this book in a much-loved magazine, and they were fairly negative. However, being a very passionate Pit Bull owner, I bought it anyway, and then promptly returned it. This book shows a one-sided view of pit bulls and their owners. If one were to take the stance that a picture is worth a thousand words, then this book is filled with words and phrases such as "white trash", "back-yard breeder", "thug-life", "machismo", "lack of substance", "low socio-economic standing", "animal neglect", "miseducated" and worse. The dogs are mostly displayed as status-symbols for people with too little self-identity. Some of the kennel scenarios are atrocious: can you really tell me that a person with twenty or more dogs can give each pet the individual attention, cleaning, and proper preventative healthcare it so richly deserves? I am a veterinary technician and well aware of the rising costs of routine care of pets, and I don't believe for a second that all the dogs is book were so loved as the author claims. Love is not about having the biggest, scariest, gamest looking dog because you are too much of a coward to be yourself, by yourself. Love is about responsibility, dedication, and that intangible bond which can only be seen the expressions on the faces of people and their pets, an expression which is sadly lacking in this book. If Mr. Joseph wanted to really do the breed justice, he would have a few hundred more pages, revealing the dogs to be therapy workers, search and rescue volunteers, agility and obedience champions, playful house pets, assistance dogs, drug/bomb sniffing dogs, and above all, LOVED dogs. That would have shown the true spectrum of the American Pitbull, in all its sadness and its glory, and that would have been a fitting tribute. As it stands, Mr. Joseph's photographic essay has simply left the responsible representatives of this breed with more work to do as we now combat yet another example of poor public relations.

RAD BOOK / COOL PICS:
People tend to criticize what they don't understand. Joseph's book shows how all kinds of people dig the Pit Bulls, and how they live with and love their dogs.

Great Book / Great Photos:
Well done, and very well worth the price. This is not just a book of photographs of Pit Bulls, this is really much more than that. Marc Joseph (the photographer) did justice to this breed, and to their people. The interviews, and the main text are great, too.

Disappointment: Could have been much better:
I can see that like the pitbulls themselves this book has been cause for contraversy. I also live with a multitude of pitbull/pitbull mixes (5 to be exact.) I have also undertaken initiating a pitbull rescue locally, as I can not keep any more! I know I am not alone in my passion for this breed. I have worked as an animal control officer and as an officer at the local SPCA so I have had the opportunity to meet many dogs especially pitbulls. I find that this book very accuratley depicts the existance of many pitbulls. This is not bad PR, this is real life. I may be mistaken but my understanding was that this book was a pictoral autobiography of sorts. If you do not like the way some pitbull owners think, act, or the manner in which they care for or breed their dogs...fine. But that does not change the FACT that they own and care for pitbulls. Nobody seems to write the National Geographic when they print 'real life' photos that we may find disagreeable. To me the book was a beautiful photo-essay depicting what real life looks like to a pitbull. Like it or leave its real. If that reality does not sit well with you, do not complain when others expose it. However... in its thoroughness this book gets a failing grade. Where was the pictures of drug-detection dogs working American borders, were are the search and rescue pitbulls, were are the photo's of pitbulls doing therapy work? Where are all the photos of pitbulls, 800 on average in the Los Angeles area alone PER WEEK, dying in North American shelters. Many pitbulls are family pets, yet with the exception of the two dogs breeding in a living room with a child watching TV, this aspect was not depicted. Where are all the photos of people spending all their extra pennies and sanity engrossed in rescuing this breed. Pitbull rescue is a challenge, it is not like chihuahua rescue. Its hard to find good homes, and its hard to raise money for pitbulls. While the author/photographers that put this book together may have acuratlly depicted the lives of many pitbulls they forgot about what might be a larger minority of pitbulls that live as family pets. To find pitbulls not living on chains in yards, but as actual integrated family pets may seem challenging, BUT it is not impossible. And its not just on Park Avenue that pitbulls are treated differently than chain restrained medallions of machismo. I can think of a large handful here in the middle of nowhere Canada if the authors are having a problem finding family pits to photograph. In sum I found this book dissapointing in that it failed to depecit the full pallet of pitbull reality. It only depicted beautiful photos of pitbulls that belong to backyard breeders and conformation and weight pull enthusiasts. My home is not THE only home in which pitbulls can be found lounging on the sofa or under the bedsheets. My home is not the only home that does not keep its "pets" on chains. My home is not the only home that would eagerly show off its perfect-pet-pitbull ambassador in such a publication. So while the photo quality was superb, and the ability of the photographers to capture the existence and essence of many pitbulls was also superb. I feel that there were eqally hundreds of photos missing that belonged in a book that seemed to want to give a photographic pitbull autobiography. Pitbulls are surprisingly loved by many people that do not need tattoos, or gold rings, or trophies, or tee-shirts (that show two pitbulls fighting with the slogan 'til death do us part,) or large scale breeding facilties to prove it. Some people who love the breed engage in work that tangibly effects our world in a positive way such as police, search and rescue, and therapy dogs. Others just like to compete in obedience or agility or snuggle with their pits while watching Saturday morning cartoons. Others love them so much that they open up their homes and wallets in an effort to save them from death sentences in overcrowded shelters. I think that the authors did a huge disservice by failing to depict the latter group of pitbulls and pitbull lovers. I think that if they really loved the breed they would not have left inspirational pitbull lovers like Tia Maria Torres Cardello and Kristine Crawford to the back pages of his book, reference to them but mere mentions of web addresses. Tia runs a large sadly needed rescue outside of L.A. that helps deal with the overpopulation of pitbulls in that area. She also has outreach programs like 'Pets in the Hood' and low cost spay/neuter/vaccine programs. Kristine and her pitbulls were hand picked by the American government to search for remains after the Columbia shuttle tragedy. To me they are just as important to the 'American Pitbull' as Frank Rocca or Louis Colby. Actually to me they are more important because, they show their love for the breed in more meaningful ways than any gold ring, trophy, or tattoo could. The true 'American Pitbull' has many faces, and unfortunatley the producers of this book failed to capture them all. They did not seem to really try.