The Making of Stanley Kubrick's '2001: A Space Odyssey': VA Hardcover – 18 Nov. 2015

Honestly was not expecting too much from mainstream version of this book.Cannot say if there is anything missing from the limited edition.There's not a mass of books available about 2001,this is a welcome addition.Plenty of pictures,concept art,props i've not seen before.Unusual format of slip off sleeve and fold out horizontal foldout from vertical pages.The spines not attached tocentre of the book so it sits flat for reading.There is enough to read,rather than just a coffee table book to let your friends flick through.If you are a fan for this price you should buy it.I love it.

Amazing book, both in contents and in form. Although the 2OO1 afficionado will already know some of the points discussed in the book, there are still plenty of information gems in there, with lots of interviews with the cast and crew. The concept art and photographs are just breathaking! Don't be put off by the strange aspect-ratio of the book, or by the numerous fold-lines: it's 2OO1, and it really couldn't have taken another form. This is how it was meant to be enjoyed, and it's pure pleaure to see and handle this masterpiece of a book. My thanks go out to the team at Taschen for giving us this beautiful book.I should point out, though, that the first copy I got was missing some pages, probably due to a binding error, but Amazon quickly replaced it with a pristine volume.

As others have said, the binding of this book is very silly. It is obviously meant to reference the monolith, but there are 2 snags even to this. Firstly, it is not in the proportions 1:4:9, instead it is 1:4:8.4. This may seem a small discrepancy, but if you are going to compromise the whole layout of the book for a gimmick, you should at least get it right. Secondly, the thing does not remotely look like the monolith, because 3 of its sides consist of the ends of pages, and one of its sides has embossed designs. This could have been remedied by having a plain black slip case, but instead it has a coloured sleeve. The book itself is only attached to the cover by the back page, and not at all along the spine. How long this will last remains to be seen. If it is meant to enable the book to open flat, then it fails. As others have also said, there are many pull-out pages to compensate for the design, and many illustrations are a double page spread, with the inevitable guttering. This is very annoying, but is not remotely as bad as some reviewers have suggested. Some guttering is worse than others, but certainly does not ruin the book, and should not deter you from obtaining a copy..The book itself is fabulous, with an extraordinary number of superb illustrations and detailed and intelligent text. Given the detailed and exhaustive nature of the work, the lack of an index is a major omission. However, a comprehensive account which any enthusiast will be thrilled with and it is an essential on the shelves of those enthusiasts. That is assuming they have shelf space high enough to take it, which they probably don't.

Thank you Taschen Publishing! An amazing tome, I am thoroughly impressed, by this important book.The book is shaped as the black monolith, this constrains the outlay of photographs inside, with many disappearing into the 'gutter'.However, this is the most impressive book, a perfect corresponding volume to the film.There is so much information, set-photos, drawings, etc. Oh, yes, the price is so reasonable too!!

As a 2001 fan I loved this book...but be careful how you handle it as it has a rather unusual construction.Why? No reason that I can see. Downside is spreads are over two pages and you loose some of the photospread in the gutter...but, hey, it’s brilliant!

Contrived presentation of amazing material is also let down by being printed on uncoated paper stock so all the colours are muted whereas they would've popped otherwise. The insanity of formatting this book the way they have is perfectly illustrated by the US one-sheet poster being spread over two pages so the "1" of "2001" is entirely lost in the gutter. The Parisian designers, M/M have to take 50% of the blame for this but the other half can be laid firmly at the feet of the product manager in charge. I've commissioned print and designed for print and can recall with stomach-churning immediacy the feeling of seeing something wrong that you can't do anything about when it comes back from the printer, 10,000 having rolled off the presses by that point. There must've been sackings after this landed on the Taschen desks fully bound and finished.Having said all that, for £25 you'd have to be mad not to buy this - There's just so much in it that anyone with even a passing interest in Kubrick's masterpiece would say it was good value. Just a shame that the format prevents this from being the final word on this work of art.

A completely satisfying book, in content, research,illustration and aesthetic design- Taschen produce the most beautiful,worthwhile books- Kubrick himself would feel honoured- the whole book is a tribute to his artistic genius and relentless hard work, while at the same time paying great attention to all his many collaborators- technical or otherwise. If you love 2001 you will certainly love this book..