Customer Reviews
The hand of man -- just picture it - By: Robin Benson, 19 Oct 2008 
If you have MacLean's previous book: 'Designs on the land' you'll enjoy this latest collection of looking down on the American landscape. Though the book doesn't have as many photos as 'Designs' it does have the advantage of presenting them in a much larger format.
Each of the nine chapters (Atmosphere, Way of life, Automobile dependency, Electricity generation, Deserts, Water use, Sea-level rise, Waste & recycling & lastly Urbanism) starts on a spread with a short essay by MacLean & a US map showing the photo locations.
Many of the photos focus on the southwest states because it is here that the greatest population migration is taking place, land aplenty & cheap but unfortunately the whole area has a declining water table because of demand & made even more problematical with agriculture using nearly two thirds of what is available. There are some great photos showing communities in the desert stretching off into the distance, who's going to build apartment blocks when there is plenty of land for individual houses? This sprawl, of course, means that energy, water systems & roads are a drain on local government finances & everyone has to have a car.
As in alll his books MacLean presents the perfect image, pin-sharp & full of detail but with Over there is more because the book is beautifully designed & printed (with a 175 screen) on quality paper. I was particularly impressed with the binding, at least half of the photos are two pages wide (almost eighteen inches) & they alll line up across the gutter.
'Over' is one of those books you can open at any page & be grabbed by what you see. The look of the land was never more seductive.
