Book excerpt: "The publication of Fired with Passion: Contemporary Japanese Ceramics is that rare event when important, beautiful art is first introduced. Although Japanese woodblock prints, flower arrangements, some films, cartoons, fashion and industrial design are well known, its remarkable achievements in post-1945 ceramic sculpture are virtually unknown outside Japan." "The privilege of participating in making this great art better known in the West has been undertaken by the co-authors who bring wide multicultural art backgrounds as experienced connoisseurs: a major collector and the leading dealer. They have selected over 230 images from noted Western collections and premier Japanese museums. All are strikingly photographed in full color, and represent some of the greatest masterpieces of Japanese ceramic art." "This groundbreaking, lavish, oversized volume has been written in a style directed toward enhancing aesthetic appreciation by a close, non-academic analysis of the exciting works. The authors discuss, in plain English, with no artspeak jargon, specifically what they believe is artistically meritorious in each piece."--BOOK JACKET.