[Zagato_Olaf]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pat Braden I was up this a.m. working on some research for another thread on Abarth/Alfa questions, still in progress, but as I was looking and sorting through things I came across this Note Brevi, written my Pat in November of 2000, which addresses the list of Alfa books that, in his opinion, were necessary for various Alfisti, based on chosen focus, and the reasons he stated that supported his belief. This was originally contained within the Note Brevi that reviewed Simon Moore's Legendary 2.3 book and set the stage or acted as an introduction for the enormous and profound amount of research that was required to produce such a work. One last thought or disclaimer before I add the quoted material, this additional information is not to be interpreted or meant to diminish in any way the quality or enormity of the two-part list previously created or posted by Olaf, which I find very useful for evaluative and collection development purposes. This is simply a different approach to what Alfa books offer based on particular interest or focus. On a more personal note, while the Alfa Owner of this age, lacks the color of todays, it is much easier to read with dark printing, three columns, and a well spaced and easily defined font with less glare on the pages as well as a variation in format combined with Alfa history, racing, a technical crankshaft article, and a member's Alfa experience in Europe, etc. by notable and recognized Alfa authorities, something that is lacking in today's Alfa Owner, in my opinion. Once briefly, I owned all the important books published in the English language (and many in Italian) on Alfa. I gave up the idea of a 'complete' collection when I realized that most of the new books waiting for my purchase really added no new information to the books I already owned: I had 'hit the wall' of Alfa information. In fact, there are only a few essential books for the Alfa enthusiast: The d'Amico/Tabucchi two-volume catalog gives the data, Joe Benson's Buyer's Guide gives the prices and (immodestly) the Owner's Bible adds 'how to' tips. Armed with a good shop manual and these three books, the average owner is well equipped for Alfa ownership. For the studious, Griff Borgeson's Alfa Romeo Tradition is a graduate seminar in the personalities and politics behind the badge. For most, four books; for the student five. Which is an extremely small percentage of the possibilities. Alfa books range from the rare (Fusi) to the privately-distributed (several from the factory) to the pedestrian. Narrowly defined titles, such as Cherrett's Tipo A or Garceas's La Mia Alfa exist alongside general titles like the seminal Hull-Slater work. The model you own has its own bibliography, whether it's a 1900CSS Zagato (Marchiano) or a Giulietta (Anselmi, Wilson and several others). So much for quantity. The quality of alfa books ranges from thrown-together to superb. I can honestly say that the most informative Alfa books I use regularly are out of print: Fusi and Hull-Slater come to mind immediately. In the two Alfa books he has published, Simon Moore, has distinguished himself as the premiere Alfa Romeo scholar, and his books are the standards against which all other Alfa works must be judged. This is functionally unfair to the rest of us who write Alfa books, because Simon's view is loftier than any other writer extant. The competence of his research is humbling, and well worth a look just to see how it should be done.... Excerpted from: Braden, Pat. (November, 2002). Note Brevi: The Legendary 2.3, By Simon Moore. Alfa Owner, 43(11), 6.