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Doug Stockdale is based in California but travels extensively throughout Europe, especially Italy. His The Photobook is one of the most important, and possibly the most active, photobook review sites on the Internet, now in its third year.   

Writing about photographs is not easy, but Doug takes a straightforward approach and this proves highly effective.  He is a keen observer of Amerikana, being one of the few to spot and read into the "band-aid" on the young girl's forehead in the opening photo entitled "Memorial Day Parade, Lumberton, NJ", and his review points out an interesting connection with Frank's The Americans.  This comes as no surprise since Doug is well versed in the medium.  He is also a very active photographer, with several long-term projects underway.  Some nice work can be seen at his site called Singular Images.

Here is a shot of the books not included in les livres hors sélection at the PiY fair in France in September.Les livres hors sélection  This unofficial assortment is strewn pell-mell over the table, whereas the official selection of books was displayed in a more elegant way.  In the words of the organisers: "The presentation for the submitted books will be slightly different."  

Amerikana arrived just in time, the day before the fair.  Sadly, for this photo, it is almost wholly covered by what seems to be the largest book on the table, which has a white dog on the cover.

This is a picture taken by Andrew Phelps of the stack of books that may get reviewed on his Buffet.  Interesting to note how Amerikana is sitting by itself, out of focus, off the stack...The Stack

Amerikana (inside view)

Amerikana is now published and can be purchased online here. This is a nice-sized book at 24x30 cm., and features 48 photos in B&W and 1 in color, with various two-page spreads.  The duotone printing with selective lacquering gives a photo-quality finish.

The limited first edition print run consists of 500 signed & numbered copies, although only 300 of these will be made available to the general public.  

Shown on the left-hand page is the photo entitled Columbus Farmers' Market (2009) in which the sparkling smile of Nat King Cole on the cover of his "Unforgettable" 8-track tape stands out against the background of junk strewn all over the ground.  This seems to be a telling metaphor for today's technology-obsessed society in which everything quickly becomes obsolete.