Someone on Facebook today brought up the wildly elaborate illustrations by the late Peter Aschwanden for
How to Keep Your Volkswagen Alive, comparing them favorably to the work of Robert Crumb.
I was happy to make the case for Aschwanden's equally astounding pieces for the visionary book-length essay,
The Velvet Monkey Wrench by John Muir.
I found my copy in the modern town of visionaries: Palo Alto. It was one of those book sales you dream of: a winding ranch home with books in every single room and all of them available for purchase. The friend I was visiting scored those little pocket-sized Golden nature guides by Herbert S. Zim. I was thrilled with this:
The book seemed a little eccentric, predicting sweeping changes in society and the economy. Actually, it foresaw the rise of the ATM by decades, having been first published in 1973. The book's come back in print, and you can get a peek inside at Aschwanden's work at amazon.com
here.
A new reprint has been available since 2000. Also, posters and t-shirts of Peter Aschwanden's work are always available
here.
