NORMAN ROCKWELL: MY ADVENTURES AS AN ILLUSTRATOR

One of the country's favorite illustrators modestly recalls his life and makes an entertaining story of his long road to topranking SEP cover artist and acknowledged portrayal of widely appealing pictures. He is the first to admit his limitations, his failures in attempting other types of canvases, his unimpressive appearance (that Adam's apple always thwarting him in his ""dreams of glory""), and his worries over his own abilities. But his honest way with the course of his career is the sort of thing that should appeal to his admirers. Not a remarkable life -- a family never actually poor, boarding house life, the usual childhood escapades and always the facility with drawing; the art work in New York City, the difficulty in getting started as an illustrator in children's books, magazines; the fearfulness in submitting his work to the great George Horace Lorimer -- and the start of a long association; his two marriages and travels; his moving from the New York suburbs to New England -- this is the road which is dotted with many amusing incidents. The problems with his models, his tour of duty in the Navy in World War I, the agonies over his pictures and the frustrations they inflicted, his fling in ""society"", the response of his followers -- these add to a likable personal history as will the author's half tones and line cuts.