Ara Gallant

Wow. I was so excited to buy this book, solely due to the fact that I had been hearing about the legendary Ira Gallantz through my family for years because my father was his first cousin and they were extremely close. I purchased this book for my father, and although he wept from pride upon viewing it, a keener, less nostalgic evaluation would conclude that this book is both inaccurate and leaves much to be desired. In addition, there are typos in this book, as if there was no concern to simply proofread a book that, in actuality, has a very limited amount of text. There is no doubt that his career earned him endless posthumous praise. However, this book was a disappointment at best. I am not speaking as a novice. I have a B.A. in English (cum laude), but I don't think these credentials are necessary to recognize poorly written mediocrity. My impression of this book, however unfortunate, is that it was produced for the sole purpose of profit, not to pay the much-deserved homage to an extremely talented individual who forever changed the world of fashion and aestheticism in every possible sense. As a result of my disappointment, and as a result of my being an individual with a literary background who does, in fact, take pride in the meticulous nature that is essential in producing quality literary material, I have very seriously contemplated producing material that would pay Ira Gallantz the homage that he truly earned and truly deserved. A compilation of extraordinary photographs of which the author is in no way associated with creating and a limited amount of arbitrary quotations peppered between them does not a masterpiece, nor a book make. The previous review gave this book five stars? I'm not really sure how to comment on that description while still maintaining my professionalism.Sincerely,Jesse Lee Srebro

Beautiful book. we met Ara many years ago in Los Angeles. He was unique, for sure.The book was HARD COVER, not paperback, a bonus. Highly recommended!

The Best Book!

Ara Gallant was an inspiration to so many in the beauty and fashion industry. And yet, you don't hear much about his genius anymore. I'm so glad David Wills had the interest to immortalize ARA with this beautiful book. It is meant to be a coffee table book filled with photos and quotes by people that knew him, along with some of the stories of the glamourous life that ended so sadly.

David Wills has done a great job with this book, available through Amazon, as, the subject was my best friend for over 15 years. It captures the feeling of the 'glamorous life' of one of the most influential stylists of the 60's and 70's. Behind the scenes he invented whole looks and trends for upscale publications such as Vogue, etc. as well as influencing the commercial works of most of the biggest fashion photographers in NYC. at the time. Later, when he tried his hand at photography, he produced some of the most stunning and slightly shocking fashion photos of all time. Kudos, David--MB