INSIDE: Seeing Beneath the Surface

by Adkins Jan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 14, 1975

Seeing things ""in section,"" which Adkins describes as another way of looking inside with your special ""third eye,"" is the organizing concept here. Otherwise there's not much connection among Adkins' informal mini-essays which range from what pencils are made of, how feather pens used to work and the merits and demerits of ballpoints, to the layout of an airliner or ocean liner and the view inside a wall or under a city street. Adkins' tendency to be cute (about the DC-9: "". . . and we can charge tickets on a credit card""), to sound off (""humans have little talent for satisfaction"") or just to ramble begins to cloy here, without the integrity of a Toolchest or How a House Happens to keep him on track.; and despite the comparison of how an engineer and a cook see the inside of an apple pie his approach here is neither aesthetic nor really technical. In the end this is more a sales talk for the inner eye than a lesson in how to use it, and only a bare introduction to the concept of visualizing ""in section."" However with Adkins' usual handsome draftsmanship to make it all concrete, that's probably enough.

Pub Date: Nov. 14, 1975

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: 32

Publisher: Walker

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 1, 1975

Categories: NONFICTION