Aug. 6, 2009
BOOK REVIEW: 'Tattoo Machine': Everything You've Wanted to Know About Tattooing -- and Some Things You Don't
By David M. Kinchen
Huntingtonnews.net Book Critic
Jeff Johnson is co-owner of the Sea Tramp Tattoo Company, Portland, Oregon's oldest tattoo shop. With eighteen years of experience in the art, he's well qualified to write about the creative aspects of body art and he does so with gusto and lively prose in "Tattoo Machine: Tall Tales, True Stories, and My Life in Ink" (Spiegel & Grau, a Random House division, 272 pages, $25.00).
He channels his inner Dr. Hunter S. Thompson in this very readable debut book recounting his good, bad and ugly experiences in an art that touches on many sub-cultures. Nearly one in four American adults has at least one tattoo, according to the American Dermatological Association, yet little has been written about what goes on behind the scenes -- until now.
Many more people have wondered what it would be like to visit a tattoo establishment and, after reading "Tattoo Machine," more than a few may decide to take the plunge. Johnson writes that "Every tattoo has a story. Every cover-up has two."
Clients have been known to intimidate the tattoo artist, he writes, leading to errors that include misspellings and misdrawings. All tattoos hurt and well-equipped shops have places for clients to throw up without disrupting the decor. Responsible tattoo shops make sure the needles are sterilized, but there are many that don't follow elementary sanitary procedures, he says.
Johnson has inked gang members, ex-cons and sociopaths, professional athletes, nervous college women, age-defying moms -- and grandmothers, in a particularly hilarious case that he writes about. Personal names are the most frequently requested tattoos -- and the most frequently covered up with peacocks, roses and panthers.
Johnson relates his experience with a gangster whose gun-toting posse rattles him into misspelling their boss's tat. There's a punk woman who lures him into a trap and a possible -- or probable -- serial killer who wants tattoos of the names and Social Security numbers of his victims displayed for all the world to see.
The clients are one story; the tattoo artists are another. No surprise that artists are ruggedly individualistic, like Johnson himself. Some artists are dependable, pitching in to do the maintenance of a well-run shop. Others take off for days at a time and show up as if nothing had happened. Presumably, the artists at Sea Tramp are as dependable as Portland's weather.
If you've ever wondered about what it would be like to get a tattoo -- or, if you're like me and rather read about it than go through the experience -- "Tattoo Machine" is the go-to book. Be forewarned: Johnson's prose is not for the squeamish, with plenty of F-bombs dropping throughout. This is to be expected from a Gonzo tattoo artist and writer.
Publisher's website: www.spiegelandgrau.com
Sea Tramp website: http://seatramptattoocompany.com
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BOOK REVIEW: 'Tattoo Machine': Everything You've Wanted to Know About Tattooing -- and Some Things You Don't
By David M. Kinchen
Huntingtonnews.net Book Critic
Jeff Johnson is co-owner of the Sea Tramp Tattoo Company, Portland, Oregon's oldest tattoo shop. With eighteen years of experience in the art, he's well qualified to write about the creative aspects of body art and he does so with gusto and lively prose in "Tattoo Machine: Tall Tales, True Stories, and My Life in Ink" (Spiegel & Grau, a Random House division, 272 pages, $25.00).
He channels his inner Dr. Hunter S. Thompson in this very readable debut book recounting his good, bad and ugly experiences in an art that touches on many sub-cultures. Nearly one in four American adults has at least one tattoo, according to the American Dermatological Association, yet little has been written about what goes on behind the scenes -- until now.
Many more people have wondered what it would be like to visit a tattoo establishment and, after reading "Tattoo Machine," more than a few may decide to take the plunge. Johnson writes that "Every tattoo has a story. Every cover-up has two."
Clients have been known to intimidate the tattoo artist, he writes, leading to errors that include misspellings and misdrawings. All tattoos hurt and well-equipped shops have places for clients to throw up without disrupting the decor. Responsible tattoo shops make sure the needles are sterilized, but there are many that don't follow elementary sanitary procedures, he says.
Johnson has inked gang members, ex-cons and sociopaths, professional athletes, nervous college women, age-defying moms -- and grandmothers, in a particularly hilarious case that he writes about. Personal names are the most frequently requested tattoos -- and the most frequently covered up with peacocks, roses and panthers.
Johnson relates his experience with a gangster whose gun-toting posse rattles him into misspelling their boss's tat. There's a punk woman who lures him into a trap and a possible -- or probable -- serial killer who wants tattoos of the names and Social Security numbers of his victims displayed for all the world to see.
The clients are one story; the tattoo artists are another. No surprise that artists are ruggedly individualistic, like Johnson himself. Some artists are dependable, pitching in to do the maintenance of a well-run shop. Others take off for days at a time and show up as if nothing had happened. Presumably, the artists at Sea Tramp are as dependable as Portland's weather.
If you've ever wondered about what it would be like to get a tattoo -- or, if you're like me and rather read about it than go through the experience -- "Tattoo Machine" is the go-to book. Be forewarned: Johnson's prose is not for the squeamish, with plenty of F-bombs dropping throughout. This is to be expected from a Gonzo tattoo artist and writer.
Publisher's website: www.spiegelandgrau.com
Sea Tramp website: http://seatramptattoocompany.com
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Make HNN Your Homepage (IE Users Only)
