It Hurts: New York Art from Warhol to Now, by Matthew Collings (21 Publishing, £19.95 in UK)

This book is as much photos as text - generally good photos too, by Ian MacMillan

This book is as much photos as text - generally good photos too, by Ian MacMillan. There is a rather magazine-ish tone about the whole, with heavy emphasis on fashionable (but not necessarily talented) figures such as David Salle, Peter Halley, Ross Bleckner, Alex Katz, Jenny Holzer, Jeff Koons, etc. There is even an interview with Clement Greenberg ("my favourite art critic"). In its way, this is a smooth, efficient, journalistic survey which makes little attempt to pry under the surface of Soho glitz and to look out for good, relatively unfashionable artists. Very much for the Here and Now.

Brian Fallon