Of all the books Vice has put together so far, this has gotta be their most ambitious: a huge (336 pages) oversized (13"x10.5" or so) hardcover collection of (you guessed it!) the most provocative, disgusting and sometimes just beautiful pictures from the mag's existence. Hope you got a sturdy coffee table.
Full color, with a combination of glossy and matte paper stocks. The book is divided into six sections: The Magazine (a history of photography in Vice), The Photographers (with brief bios and interviews for each), Photojournalism (aka "the realness"), Fashion (aka "the fakeness"), Music (self-explanatory) and The Photos, which is just that - pictures that speak for themselves with little explanation. If you ever wanted to see a barely conscious Ed Templeton bleeding all over after falling off a halfpipe in France and cracking his head, the effects of Toxic Shock Syndrome, a monkey on stilts, or boobs (plenty of boobs)... believe it or not, the Vice Photo Book has you covered. Recommended.

reviewed by Larri Byrd