Fellow Balloon People:
I recently purchased Larry Moss' book, Twisting History--Lessons in Balloon Sculpting. The first thing I noticed was how well the book was put together physically--with spiral binding that allows the book to lie flat when open so that both hands are free for twisting. Some balloon books fail in this aspect. They may have excellent instructions and figures, but are put together as text books with perfect binding rather than as workbooks that lie flat. Thumbing through the table of contents gave me hopes for the book also because figures were arranged in logical groupings and orders and listed with page numbers for quick access. Based around a humorous "evolution" theme, the book follows the rise of the most basic animals such as poodles and parrots to more complicated figures such as monkeys, reindeer, and bats. There are also sections on plant life, the Dawn of Man (human figures and human-related models such as motorcycles, helicopters, etc.), and hats. I liked the way Larry dealt with the usual obligatory beginning information on basic twists and balloon inflating. He also includes valuable information on pumps, dealing with pops, where to get supplies, and information on how to be a part of this newsgroup/web site. Some balloon books are too basic, poorly illustrated, too complicated or confusing, poorly put together, have too few usable figures, or are simply boring. I found none of this in Larry's book and consider it to be one of the top 3 or 4 best books in my collection of 25 or so. There are more than 30 figures described in the book (including a one and a five balloon motorcycle). Many of the figures were basic ones I was already familiar with, but he includes some items that appeal to the more advanced modeler as well. The Bird in a Cage alone was worth the price of the book to me.