The Bottom Line
Pros
- Beautiful photos that avoid the gory side of bullfighting
- Well-presented hardback book
Cons
- Both the pictures and the text gloss over the darker side to bullfighting
Description
- Los Toros by Michael Crouser.
- 123 black and white photos of bullfighting around the world.
- Foreword text by Mario Vargas Llosa.
Guide Review - Los Toros by Michael Crouser
The photography is beautiful, this is indisputable. Over 100 images, depicting bullfighting from every viewpoint imaginable. There are action shots as well as pictures from before the fight; images of the bulls, the fighters and the audience.
Los Toros is a bullfighting book for bullfighting fans. It is a one-sided portrayal of the romantic side of bullfighting. Few bulls are depicted with any injuries and when they are, the pictures are tastefully done, of a book about the killing of an animal could be called 'tasteful'.
Though it is not the place of this book to debate the pros and cons of bullfighting, one feels that by leaving out the more negative aspects, the book is not telling the whole truth.
The text that accompanies the images glosses over the realities of bullfighting to an almost laughable extent. It says that the bullfighter exposes himself 'with little but a red cloth in one's hand'. Yes, a red cloth and a great big sword.
