#000437
Sandcastles: The Splendors of Enchantment
Joseph Allen; designed by Don and Debra McQuiston; photographs by Marshall Harrington
*Sandcastles: The Splendors of Enchantment* is exactly the delight its subtitle promises—a lavish photographic celebration of the most ephemeral of art forms. Built around Marshall Harrington's color photography and the design of Don and Debra McQuiston, with text by Joseph Allen, it captures elaborate sand structures at the height of their glory, hours before the tide erases them. Part of the pleasure is that tension: enormous craft and imagination poured into something everyone knows won't last the day. Published by Dolphin/Doubleday in 1981, it doubles as inspiration and light how-to for anyone who has ever knelt on a beach with a bucket and grander ambitions. It is not a weighty book, and doesn't pretend to be, but it is beautifully made and genuinely charming—a small hymn to play, patience, and the beauty of things that vanish.
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The authors
This is a designer's and photographer's book as much as a writer's. The text is by Joseph Allen; the striking look comes from Don and Debra McQuiston, a design team known for handsomely produced illustrated books, with color photography by Marshall Harrington. Their combined craft is what turns a beach pastime into a coffee-table subject.
The book
Published by Dolphin/Doubleday in 1981, Sandcastles: The Splendors of Enchantment documents sand sculpture in full flower—turreted castles, fantastical figures, and feats of engineering rendered in the least permanent of media. Across roughly 150 pages it mixes gorgeous photographs with enough practical lore to inspire readers to try their own, making it both a picture book and a gentle guide.
How it reads
The charm lies in the paradox at its heart: immense effort and artistry lavished on creations the tide will claim by evening. The book leans into that poignancy without overstating it, and its images do the persuading. It is unpretentious, warm, and a natural favorite with anyone who loves the beach.
For more context
It sits alongside the wider world of competitive sand-sculpting and the literature of ephemeral and land art.
Sources - Amazon listing - Goodreads
- Type
- Book
- Author / Maker
- Joseph Allen; designed by Don and Debra McQuiston; photographs by Marshall Harrington
- Publisher
- Dolphin / Doubleday
- Place of publication
- Garden City, New York
- Year
- 1981
- ISBN
- None
- Shelf
- Art
- Location
- Colorado