THE BEST OF HELMUT NEWTON

THE BEST OF HELMUT NEWTON Edited by Zdenek Felix (Thunder's Mouth Press, $29.95) Newton's work is like much of the fashion he has photographed for Vogue: beautiful, fantastical, and not at all women-friendly. His composition is flawless, and his mostly nude models exquisite, but they seem less like Venuses than like object lessons of the female form. Elizabeth Taylor, pictured in a pool with a parrot, escapes such portrayal, but a sadistic-looking Princess Caroline of Monaco isn't so lucky. Ultimately, Newton's book is more like a high-toned Hustler than a best of. C -- Rebecca Ascher-Walsh