While modern literary criticism was developing, the study of visual art - paintings, sculptures, drawings and prints - remained in critical prehistory. Art criticism's distance from its objects has scarcely been narrowed, in more recent years, by the influence of 'deconstructive' theory, which is again a meteoritical discipline, and one which undermines the very notion of an art work's intrinsic meaning and value. Engaging images opens with a concise resume of these issues, and argues that practical criticism remains not only viable but vital, and sadly lacking for visual art. Engaging Images: 'Practical Criticism' & Visual Art by Merlin James. Published by Menard Press in 1992. PP. 83. Paperback- condition: fair, dirty marking along the top of the front cover, creasing along the spine, some creasing and small stains on the back of the book, foxing along the top edge of the pages, as well as some in the back fold out pages, creasing to the fold out image pages at the back of the book,