Sister Wendy's American Collection is excellent, but I enjoyed more her Grand Tour of Europe's Great Art book. Her selections for the American Collection (based on six different American museums that she toured) are overall slightly less interesting -- her observations seem a bit subdued in comparison. Still, Sister Wendy clearly loves what she has chosen to discuss.

While this book is titled American Collection, it does not mean that all the represented art are made by Americans. It just means a range of art from all over the world (including America itself) in the American museums she visited: Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York; Museum of Fine Arts, Boston; Art Institute of Chicago; Cleveland Museum of Art; Kimbell Art Museum, Fort Worth; and Los Angeles County Museum of Art. Of those, I've visited Chicago and Cleveland; so it was nice to revisit some of the pieces I've seen in those two museums. I hope to visit the rest eventually! ( )

Petite Sister Wendy, with her bucked teeth and British accent, is the most surprising art interpreter. She is inspirational when she talks about religious themes and shocking when she refers to violence and sex. ( )