Frank Gehry: Outside in

Architectural maverick Gehry is both subject and inspiration for this visual feast by accomplished biographers Greenberg and Jordan (Chuck Close: Up Close). Mirroring the architect's vision of life and buildings as chaotic, the book's layout jumbles chapter headings, dramatic photographs and Gehry's own kinetic sketches with flair. Excellent textual accounts of the architect's childhood offer background to such career highlights as the Loyola Law School in Los Angeles, Prague's ""Fred and Ginger"" building and his spectacular Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain, especially when describing a beloved grandmother's influence and the struggling young architect's professional bravado. Instructive sidebars add interest, as do a bibliography, glossary, short list of buildings and brief visual overview of the three-dimensional computer-imaging program that made Bilbao's museum possible. Unfortunately, the penetrating analysis of the creative process that made the Close biography so compelling has been supplanted by flashy photographs and Geary's own narcissistic remarks; the volume may ultimately leave readers entertained rather than enlightened. Ages 8-12. (Sept.)