Tom Waits

Mahurin has been photographing musician Tom Waits for more than 35 years, and in this superb collection, he displays his previously unpublished illustrations, paintings, and photographs of Waits. Fans will recognize the black-and-white image of a lumbering Waits with a hat in his hands that adorned the cover of Mule Variations, as well as his images of Waits in his trademark sport coat and fedora. Mahurin intersperses throughout illustrated interpretations of songs such as “Filipino Box Spring Hog,” depicted by an inferno-red painting of a man basting a hog in a fire pit, and “Martha” (a black-and-white drawing of a table set with two coffee cups and roses circling above). Photos capture a contemplative Waits leaning back in his chair with a manual typewriter at his desk; a maniacal, cigar-chomping Waits with an eye patch brandishing a sword; and Waits cracking a whip in a moving horse carriage. The book appropriately concludes with two images: a color shot of a grinning Waits behind the wheel of a car driving off, and a black-and-white photo of him at the piano, head bowed as if he’s finishing a song. This is an absolute must for Waits fans. [em](Oct.) [/em]