Tattoos of Indochina: Magic, Devotion and Protection, by Michael McCabe.
Those Schiffer folks have been publishing some pretty nifty tattoo books lately, and this one is no exception. It kinda covers some of the same travelogue/interview/ethnography/modern-whatsit ground as, say, the Schiffer Japanese one-point book, or those photobooks of West Coast tattoo tours. Not as much anthropological detail as more academic books, and not as much flash as a Maarten Hesselt van Dinter book.

I'm fascinated by these kinds of tattoos, because the protection/magic thing is, in some respects, very far removed from the appeal of tattooing for someone, y'know, more like myself. But yet the aesthetic of these tattoos (or of authentically tribal ones, or even of prison ones) is something that really appeals to me. Not necessarily a lot of mind-blowing creativity or astonishing technical skill, but that's not the purpose, either of this book or of these tattoos. And besides, there are plenty of other tattoo books for that. Recommended to anthropology and tattoo fans.  ¶ 11:27 AM