The book is informative, has plenty of pictures, and is a fun read. My only complaint is that it isn't longer (87 pages) but I understand that a sequel is in the works. Another plus factor of the book is that it came autographed by Madame Chinchilla and included her business card!

The book is a good introduction to the world of tattoos, written by someone who has a sense of humor. I highly recommend the book and am looking forward to her next one.


The 'Other Side' of Tattooing   August 3, 2000
 16 out of 18 found this review helpful

Madame really shows the human side of the art of tattooing. The photos are excellent, with good examples of 'real' tattoos and not the typical drunken sailor jobs of the 1940s-50s which I was a part of. The "Celebration of a Scar" was an exceptional piece of work, and should be in all the medical books related to breast cancer surgery. As a 'old time'(retired) tattoo artist, I recommend this book to everyone.


Disappointing   May 15, 2000
 25 out of 39 found this review helpful

I am currently writing a thesis about japanese tattooing traditional and modern and I bought Madame Chinchillas book as source material. I was disappointed not only with the level of inaccuracy (eg. many people in Japan have tattoos not just yakuza, they are certainly not all performed by hand, they are more often than not quietly accepted by society, she would have stayed in a "ryokan" not a "ryokin" with a "tatami" not a "tata-mi" floor, the significance of the designs extends much further than mere representations of emotions etc) but also with the level of grammatical error and superfluous use of language. Although the section on European tattoos may well have been accurate (I am no expert) I found the self-congratulatory tone and the poor english undermined my faith in the content.


Folksy book written from the heart of a woman tattooist !   April 20, 1999
 13 out of 13 found this review helpful

Stewed, Screwed & Tattooed has long been the cheer of seafaring men. Yet a sailor's only memory of a wild night on shore may be the one that's embedded under his flesh for the rest of his life, a tattoo. Filled with intriguing illustrations from C.W. Eldridge's Tattoo Archive and the Triangle Museum, Stewed, Screwed, and Tattooed examines a multitude of topics, including tattooed women in the circus sideshows, military tattoos, social stigma & tattoos, prison tattoos, contemporary American tattoos, modern day tribal rituals, spiritual aspects of tattooing and tattoos as an alternative to implants for the woman who has experienced a mastectomy. Peppered with interviews, anecdotes, and the adventurous tattoo travels of Chinchilla and her partner Mr. G., this unique book presents an insightful look at a very personal, ancient art form.