Book Description
From the acclaimed author of the national bestseller
Ahab's Wife comes an inspiring, brilliantly rendered novel of the awakening conscience of the South and of an entire nation.
Twenty-year-old Stella Silver, an idealistic white college student raised by her genteelaunts, is not prepared for the events of 1963 in her hometown of Birmingham, Alabama. At first, she keeps a safe distance, but the mounting tragedies send Stella reeling off her measured path. She plunges into the midst of the conflict, setting off a series of changes -- in herself, her relationships, and her future -- as dazzling and powerful as the civil rights movement itself.
This inspiring novel weaves together the lives of blacks and whites, racists and civil rights advocates, and the events of peaceful protest and violent repression to create both an intimate and epic tapestry of American social transformation. Filled with the humanity that is the hallmark of Naslund's fiction, rich in historical detail and evocative in the way the best fiction should be, this novel goes beyond tragedy to redemptive triumph.
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"E-Book extras: ONE: Promise of the Past: An Interview with Sena Jeter Naslund; TWO: The Facts behind the Fiction: Key Dates in the Civil Rights Movement; THREE: Reading Group Guide: Discussion Points. From the author of the critically acclaimed Ahab's Wife comes a stunning novel set in Birmingham, Alabama in the 1960s. A sweeping canvas and multi-dimensional, fully realized characters add up to a remarkable, brilliantly rendered, important new work. From the acclaimed author of the national bestseller Ahab's Wife comes an inspiring, brilliantly rendered new novel of the awakening conscience of the South and of an entire nation. Written with the same scope and emotional depth as her previous award-winning novel, Four Spirits is set in Sena Jeter Naslund's home city of Birmingham, Alabama, a city that in the 1960s was known as Bombingham. Naslund brings to life this tumultuous time, weaving together the lives of blacks and whites, civil rights advocates and racists, and the events of peaceful protest and violent repression, to create a tapestry of American social transformation.
Customer Reviews:
Required reading to understand the South.......2007-02-19
I read this during a period when I lived in Montgomery, Alabama (I'm from NJ), so I was interested to learn a little bit more about the events of 1963 in Birmingham-- otherwise I might not have picked up this large volume . The story takes on the whole year of the church bombing-- the death of Kennedy, the restaurant sit-ins, the violence-- the casual violence, like the murder of a black boy by eagle scouts, that has been lost from our national snapshot-memories. It's rare for a large book with many viewpoints to enthrall me as much as this one but despite its length, I finished in about two days. Though many characters' stories are woven into this tapestry-- and the short chapters make the long book read very fast-- it's easy to keep them straight, and to care about them all, and there is a central arc in the story of Stella, a young white woman whose coming of age coincides with the awakening of social conscience of a city. After I put this book down, I felt as though I'd traveled in time and lived in a year before I was born. How the author inhabited so many souls so convincingly-- black, white, young, old-- is masterful. The writing is sharp, often poetic, sometimes humorous or magical (the unfaithful school administrator who is taunted about death by the skeleton poster on the wall), and often transcendantly beautiful. The book is filled with vivid characters like Lee, a young Klan wife with an awakening conscience, Christine, a black night-school teacher whose anger leads to courage and then to love, Cat, crippled by a rare disease yet daring to teach nightschool in a black college and dream of handicapped access, Agnes, a middle-aged student in the school and her WWII veteran husband TJ, whose love is so pure they sleep "cuddled up. " The interconnections feel inveitable. The shifting points of view add perspective rather than interrupting the flow-- for example, a bomb scare at the integrated-teaching nightschool is depicted both from inside, from the point of view of a loving husband watching, and from the point of view of the husband and then the wife of the Klan couple responsible. The book doesn't soft-sell the violence and ugliness of many Southerners of the period but it also shows the immense courage and honour of many blacks and whites of the time. Darl, at one point Stella's fiance, is cold about Kennedy's assassination-- and comes to think of Kennedy as a hero, and to wish there were a float honoring those who died for civil rights, who were also honoring their country. Authentic (the author lived through these times), heartbreaking and inspiring, this book should be required reading for everyone who wants to understand the South, and America.
Stayed with me..........2007-01-31
I read this book months ago and it returns to me almost daily. The characters were complex and compelling yet human and natural. The story was comprehensive and multifaceted but clean and organized. Jeter Naslund's historical details are, by all accounts, very factual and well-researched. A fabulous read that I highly recommend.
Amazing writer, amazing reader.......2005-04-19
As wonderful a writer is, the reader Isabel Keating is astounding in her range of voices as she brings characters so alive. This was a very difficult audio to finish as after 12 tapes you just wanted it to go on and on.
Naslund extols uncommon courage during civil rights movement.......2005-03-13
"Four Spirits," Sena Jeter Naslund's majestic, reflective and somber recreation of a pivotal period during the civil rights movement, reminds us that once upon a time, unknown moral giants lived amongst us. While inspirational giants such as Martin Luther King, Jr., served as our national moral compass, anonymous men, women and children -- some of whom would become martyrs to the cause of racial justice -- transformed King's lofty rhetoric to concrete reality. Their individual acts of conscience placed them at enormous risk, yet they summoned, from the depths of their personal convictions, the courage to act on principled belief.
Naslund's novel interweaves the lives of the foot soldiers of the movement; she unflinchingly exposes their fears, ambivalences and doubts about personal valor, the efficacy of non-violence and the possibility of creating a society based on racial egalitarianism. Each character has an integrity and a wholeness, a core set of values, which make them not only understandable to us, but believable. "Four Spirits," therefore, is a work that is much greater than the sum of its parts. At its best, the novel is an evocation of the spirit of possibility that animated African-American and white men, women and children to sacrifice everything for an idea whose very nature exemplifies our national purpose. As the characters grapple with their own demons, ranging from profound personal loss to serious character weakness, Naslund effects a gripping narrative of a city, Birmingham, Alabama, locked in the grip of the greatest social movement for change in the twentieth century.
Stella, who survived a horrific childhood automobile accident that claimed the lives of her family, describes herself as "somebody who wanted to change...to live more fully." She longs for a "broader" scope for her life and discovers it in the movement. She befriends the wheelchair bound Cat Cartwright, who in turn finds the inner resolve to become a freedom fighter. These two college-aged white women become colleagues with the defiant Christine, a single-mother of three, who eagerly seizes the opportunity to teach citizenship classes in the evening at an African-American college experimenting with an integrated staff. Their leader, the charismatic Lionel Parish, unsuccessfully attempts to exorcise his sexual appetite while calmly exercising leadership under the most extreme circumstances. All share an unspoken idealism; each discovers the strength to resist evil non-violently.
"Four Spirits" is far from a flawless work. A talented writer, Naslund often permits her admiration of a neatly turned phrase to interfere with her narrative; the novel suffers tends to be overwritten. Some pivotal characters, such as the Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth, have important roles early on and then inexplicably disappear. Other characters, especially the nefarious Klansman Ryder Jones, are caricatures. The semi-illiterate Jones, for example, not only violently abuses his wife but is a bungling bomber. His evil is lessened by his abject stupidity. Naslund also permits one of her characters (a child during the movement) to reflect on the early 1960s as an adult. This unwelcomed change of tense disrupts the narrative and unfairly gives us access to only one character's subsequent evaluation of the period.
Nonetheless, "Four Spirits" demands attention. Its uncompromising perception of racism and its equally stirring remembrance of uncommon courage remind readers that the genuine giants of the civil rights movement were regular citizens, who, for reasons both personal and political, felt as if the entire history of the nation would pivot on their actions. Their linkage of thought and deed, of conscience and commitment, in Naslund's sure hands, are moving tributes to what the United States should be.
ought to be required reading for ALL Americans.......2005-01-19
I just finished reading Four Spirits last night, on - quite fittingly (and, incidentally) - Martin Luther King Jr. Day, 2005. It was NOT a difficult read, nor a slow one...perhaps four evenings? Unfamiliar with Ms. Naslund's writing until quite recently, I had finished Ahab's Wife, found it amazing, and quickly purchased Four Spirits, settled in for a good read before the winter fire, and immediately saw that I was headed for a powerful lesson in American history - one that I should have already been taught, having been raised in Montgomery, Alabama in the 60's. My childhood was comfortable and overly sheltered, though, and I was for a large part unaware of the large scale of atrocities that so many, many innocent people suffered for the name of justice and freedom. This fine novel, in delicate vignettes, guides the reader - quietly at first, then boldly into what is horrific and, as always with tragic history, certain and unstoppable in its events - through and past a series of happenings that are excruciating to read about (and this, from the safety of distance - god help the ones who truly suffered), shameful from this side to know, but necessary to understand so that this world can be changed into the better place it needs to be today. I for one am fuller for having read this book, and have shared with my teenaged sons some of the knowledge that I learned from its pages. Thank you, Ms. Naslund, for what turned out to be a fine, if at times difficult, education.
Average customer rating:
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Spirits of Vengeance #1 : Featuring Ghost Rider and Blaze (Midnight Sons - Marvel Comics)
Howard Mackie
Manufacturer: Marvel Comics
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: B000V7A7O6 |
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Spirits of Vengeance #6 : Featuring Ghost Rider and Blaze in "Last Rites" (Spirits of Venom - Marvel Comics)
Howard Mackie
Manufacturer: Marvel Comics
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ASIN: B000V7B7KY |
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Web of Spider-Man #96 : Guest Starring Ghost Rider in "Enemies A Hate Story" (Spirits of Venom - Marvel Comics)
Howard Mackie
Manufacturer: Marvel Comics
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: B000UIPMXC |
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Web of Spider-Man #95 : Guest Starring Ghost Rider in "Storm Shadows" (Spirits of Venom - Marvel Comics)
Howard Mackie
Manufacturer: Marvel Comics
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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- Buffy tries to have a happy birthday and everything changes
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Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Script Book, Season 2, Vol. 3
Manufacturer: Tandem Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding
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ASIN: 061363263X |
Customer Reviews:
Buffy tries to have a happy birthday and everything changes.......2003-11-01
"Buffy the Vampire Slayer: Script Book, Season Two, Volume 3" begins the Angelus story arc that dominated that spectaular sophomore season (episodes 13-17). Having a copy of the scripts in hands really puts the final touches on your enjoyment of these episodes and not just because you can find differences between what is in the final shooting script and what got aired on television, but also because you get to see the stage directions that Joss Whedon and the other writers have put in as well:
"Surprise," written by Marti Noxon, begins with Buffy having nightmares about Angel getting dusted and ends with her celebrating her birthday in a way that gives her vampire with a soul boyfriend a moment of true happiness that has horrible consequences. We discover these in "Innocence," written by Whedon, where Angeleus takes over the attempt to raise the Judge from Spike and Dru. "Phases," written by Rob DesHotel and Dean Batali, takes time out from the Angelus threat for Oz to discover that he has been transformed into a werewolf after being bit by his nephew. Then there is the comic relief of Marti Noxon's "Bewitched, Bothered & Bewildered," in which Cordelia breaks up with Xander--on Valentine's Day no less--and he responds by getting Amy the witch to work a love spell, with results pretty much the complete opposite of what he intended.
That distraction only heightens the pathos of "Passion," written by Ty King, in which Angelus kills Jenny Calendar and finally succeeds in convincing Buffy that the vampire she loves has to die. The conclusion of the Angelus story arc and Season 2 of "BtVS" turns out to be even more painful as the show becomes absolutely operatic.
Customer Reviews:
I Love This Book!.......2005-07-31
This is the best book of this genre I've read in ages! The story and characters make me want to be there!
ENJOY!
Wait a Minute!.......2001-07-21
I have to say say that I wasn't very happy with the review titled "Is This Really Wrede?". First, she/he was acting as though there was only one book in Shadows over Lyra. There are, in fact, two others. How did she/he like those?
Second, she/he writes that the main charater is a princess. She is not. There is no royal family. She comes from a noble but not very important family. I have doubts as to whether anyone who doesn't read a book well enough to tell whether the main character is or is not a princess should be writing a review of of it.
The best young adult fantasy ever.......2001-06-11
The world of Lyra is one of the greatest fantasy worlds ever created. Patricia C Wrede has brought about the most relistic and loveable characters ever in this book series. All three books in Shadows over Lyra are action packed, with humor and even romance around every bend. Daughter of Witches, the second book in the collection, is the most amaizing take on magic that I have ever read. I could not put it down. I also loved Shadow Magic and the Harp of Imach Thyssel. I higly recomend this book for anyone who love fantasy, regardless of how old they may be. Wrede is truely a master at her craft.
Worth the time to read.......2000-05-26
While I haven't read "Shadows Over Lyra", I have read the books that constitute the collection. While not "high" fantasy on the order of Tolkien, Rawn, or Martin, the books are well written entertainment and a pleasant way to spend a rainy afternoon. Written in a different style from Wrede's "Enchanted Forest" series, the stories are free of the pretentious nonsense that a lot of current fantasy wallows in.
I disagree with the first review.......1999-12-29
This book is a compliation of three Lyra novels, Shadow Magic, Daughter of Witches, and The Harp of Imach Thyssal. Reviewer #1 only describes the first novel, and completely leaves out the other three.
The first novel, and the best of the three, Shadow Magic, is the story of Alethia, who meets all four races of Lyra and leads them to victroy against the Shadowborn (evil).
The second novel is about a young woman bonded to an innkeeper who must battle evil and come to terms with her legacy (that she is a witch). "Magic is death in Drinn. And the three strangers who come to Ranira's inn are definitly magic. So why does she link her destiny to theirs?"
The third, is certaintly not Wrede's best work, but it is worth the read anyway. A bard finds the legendary harp of Imach Thyssel and must return it to its rightful owner before it comes into the hands of the evil Shadowborn. "Music to make the Shee weep and power to bring a dying man to life again-that's the magic of the harp. But the cost may be higher than Emereck the minstrel is willing to pay."
If you'll permit me one more comment... In the back of the compilation is a useful timeline of the history of Lyra, which helps the reader to understand the events leading to the novels. Wrede is one of the best authors I have ever encountered-and not just for her Enchanted Forest Chronicles. Please find the time to read this. You won't regret it. :)
Book Description
The struggle we have with food is universal. Yet many of the world's religions value the simple act of eating as a powerful means of self-discovery and spiritual transcendence. Eating with mindfulness brings us into the moment, helps us understand what it means to be alive, and connects us to the mystery and source of all living things. The power of mindfulness changes how we choose, prepare, and eat our food. It can offer us a kind of satisfaction that goes beyond our basic, physical needs. When we follow the mindful diet, we don't fill ourselves up; we are fulfilled.
Customer Reviews:
A deeply spiritual guide on understanding yourself.......2007-06-20
While I did not expect the book to live up to its deep-sounding title, it has been more than a pleasant surprise thus far.
The author is clearly a practicing spiritual scholar, and while he borrows many examples from such great sources as The Upanishads, Bhagavat Gita, writings of Vivekananda, and many others - his personal experience in all or nearly all that he writes is unmistakable.
This book is a very slow read for me - not because it is difficult, but because it is so enjoyable, and it is almost a meditation in and of itself. I re-read the pages and each time I understand something differently, depending on my state.
Nothing can replace an instructor when it comes to your growth, but this book comes close. There is a significant emphasis on awareness and observation, as one might expect in an esoteric title. I feel that taking the time to understand and implement the information in this book can not only address most eating imbalances, but greatly influence the overall direction of the readers' evolution.
THIS BOOK CHANGED MY LIFE!.......2004-02-01
My Donald Altman odyssey started with his book LIVING KINDNESS, which moved me deeply and helped me realize that I had never experienced much success being kind to myself. One of the ways I have punished myself is through my eating habits. I go on binges. I eat too much when I am unhappy, I try to lose weight to be happier. It's endless. I wanted to break that cycle and I discovered another of Altman's books, ART OF THE INNER MEAL. It was just as inspiring as Living Kindness, but it even more directly addressed my needs. I began to understand what my struggle with food issues was really all about. These two books together became a powerful antidote to my own unhealthy habits about food and made me aware, really for the first time, that I had spiritually polluted myself. Thank you, thank you, Mr. Altman! I am so grateful.
Amazon.com
Few cooks know their subject as personally as Maya Kaimal MacMillan who in Curried Favors focuses on the less familiar cooking of Southern India, particularly the province of Kerala, her family's original home. "Curry," she informs us, correctly refers to a range of dishes calling for differing blends of spices known as "masalas." Coconut, curry leaves, and mustard seeds are particularly key in the wet masalas often used by her aunt and others in Southern India. MacMillan offers intelligent substitutions, where necessary. Curried Favors provides detailed directions so you can comfortably try dishes such as Idli, Yogurt, Aviyals, Kichadis, and Pachadis as well as more familiar northern favorites such as Khormas and Biriyanis. Something of a mini-coffee table book, Curried Favors would be a good gift, thanks to its handsome presentation and MacMillan's conversational commentary.
Book Description
Published to critical acclaim, this engaging award-winning cookbook introduces the light, tropical cuisine of South India, combining more than 100 recipes with gorgeous photographs of the food and the region.
An abundance of coconut and seafood, as well as a host of exotic fruits and vegetables, including fresh hot chilies, distinguishes South Indian curries from those of the North. And southern cooking techniquespopping mustard seeds in oil, using legumes to add crunch to a dish, creating unique spice blendsexplode the myths that Indian cooking must be heavy, difficult to prepare, or made with hard-to-find ingredients.
In Curried Favors, Maya Kaimal MacMillan has fine-tuned her family's recipes to give us an inspired array of dishes, from appetizers to desserts. Although the book focuses on the traditional home cooking of southern India, it also includes such northern classics as Lamb Korma, Tandoori Chicken, and Spinach Paneer. Ideal for anyone who appreciates Indian food, this award-winning book is an excellent introduction for the novice, as well as an essential resource of lesser-known specialties for the more sophisticated cook.
60 full-color illustrations
Customer Reviews:
A welcome focus on the cuisine of SOUTHERN India.......2007-08-20
[Review written Jan 2005]
One of my favorite cuisines is Indian ... particularly Southern Indian, which is vastly under-represented in both the number of available cook books and restaurants here on Long Island in America (there are easily 10-15 restaurants and/or cook books focusing on Northern Indian cuisine for every 1 restaurant or book focusing on Southern Indian).
My chief nits about this book are as follows:
1) The Authoress focused almost exclusively on her own family's recipes, which at times left me (as a reader) wishing for more in-depth coverage and representation in areas of the cuisine that she glossed over or neglected entirely. Weighing in at a mere 180 pages, this book comes up a bit light in terms of both scope and depth. She could & should, for instance, have focused less on things like lamb & goat (which is decidedly Northern in emphasis) and focused more of her page count on classic 'southern' ingredients, like seafood based curries & yogurt products (most first time cooks will pull their hair out the first time they try to finish a curry with yogurt, only to have it 'break' on them - the authoress includes no helpful information on why that happens and how to avoid it). The authoress also could have spend more page count on techniques, tips & recipes for working with the (sub)tropical fruits & seasonings native to her region - like coconut, mango, chilies, etc.
2) The authoress, in some of her lamb recipes, makes a statement what ground lamb and ground beef are interchangeable. Erm, NO. Read that "no" again, just in case you missed it. Cows are considered sacred in most of India, and to suggest that the two meats are interchangeable, while certainly true from the perspective of Westerners, is a bit of a faux pas.
3) There's only 1 recipe for pork (vindaloo, in this case, which although excellent, is dangling all alone in this book, like a solitary pimple stuck in the middle of a white canvas)
These three nits are outweighed by one all important point - TASTE. Most of the recipes I've tried from this book (roughly 20% as of this writing) are all straight forward, well polished, unpretentious, and taste excellent. From me, that's fairly high praise.
Her book also lists ingredients in large print, in logical order. The cooking times are resonable, the instructions are clear and concise, and the binding is generous enough to allow the book to lay open on the counter without splitting or trying to squeeze itself closed. Some of the recipes (although not enough for my preference) even include helpful and exquisite photos - I'd expect nothing less from someone who specializes in food photography.
All in all, despite its shortcomings, this book is well above average, and is recommended by yours truly. It is also a winner of the "Julia Child Cookbook Award", which is a fairly well respected industry award for cookbooks.
Highly recommended
Presntation wins over information content.......2007-03-25
A good book. I am slightly disappointed - it isnt quite up to the standard of her previous volume in terms of recipes and information content, but the presentation is lovely, with gorgeous pictures. The northern Indian recipes she includes are mostly southernised, not often to their advantage. For these, there are better sources.
A Favorite.......2007-01-31
This cookbook is a wonderful introduction to Indian cooking which I am not aquainted with. The recipes are easy and delicious and add a new dimension to my culinary repertoire
Brought back memories of Kerala.......2007-01-25
After hosting 15 US exchange students at a university in Kerala, India, my husband and I became addicted to South Indian food. I spent more than two years looking for a good South Indian cookbook that I could follow easily and finally discovered Maya Macmillan's Curried Favors.
It is excellent. After trying the first recipe, I knew we had hit onto something special. While the food is not as hot, it is replete with delicious, spicy flavors and suits our palates just fine. There are times when I walk home from work "tasting in my mind" the mouth-watering recipe that I plan to make that night. I highly recommend this book.
Best and Easiest Indian cook book!!.......2006-12-15
If you're looking for a recipe book of Indian food that is both easy to follow and the food tastes great, stop looking and buy this one!
I've cooked at least 70% of the recipes in this book and they've all been amazing! Note that even though my husband is from Kerela and I'm from Punjab, both of us love the recipes. We've used the kabob recipes for summertime potlucks, and our friends still rave. The desserts are easy to follow and loved even by the aunties in my life!
Many of the recipes are easy enough to use on weekdays too.
I should have started by saying that we don't cook much. We're either too lazy or too tired by the end of the day to cook -- and Maya inspires us to change!
Book Description
Queen Victoria of Great Britain made a tremendous impact on
the world, so much so that the era of her reign was given her
name. Items from the Victorian period have a reputation for
beauty and elegance, which is why they are such popular
collectibles. This one-of-a-kind reference covers the beautiful
jewelry of the Victorian Age, from 1837 to 1901.
Gemologist C. Jeanenne Bell offers collectors this fascinating
all-color exploration of the illustrious age and the elegant
jewelry that it produced. Decade by decade, Bell reveals how
the fashion of the time influenced the style of jewelry, and
how innovations in manufacturing affected jewelry production.
Jewelry listings provide current marketplace values, and also
cover American and French jewelry styles from the time. Over
1,000 color pictures and illustrations convey the true beauty
of Victorian era jewelry.
Customer Reviews:
pretty dresses.......2006-08-19
It was intersting reading. More on style, than on collecting. Interesting if you like history. Lots to learn. And a true collector neds to learn alot.
A "must-have" for antique jewelry collectors.......2005-05-13
Gemologist C. Jeanenne Bell presents Collecting Victorian Jewelry: Identification And Price Guide, a full-color showcase of the distinctive jewelry of the Victorian era. Vintage photographs and artwork as well as close-up detailed of pieces, extensive price information, tips on discerning real pieces from imitation and general background information on gemstones and fashion of the time fill this lavish volume. A "must-have" for antique jewelry collectors, and recommended for anyone interested in seeing these wondrous works of art and adornment up close.
Average customer rating:
- Beautiful Book!
- Victorian well done
- Opened my eyes to a vast array of jewelry styles that I wasn't familiar with
- Secondary Victorian treasure pieces
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Victorian Jewelry: Unexplored Treasures
Ginny Redington Dawes , and
Corinne Davidov
Manufacturer: Abbeville Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
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Jewelry
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ASIN: 0789208687 |
Customer Reviews:
Beautiful Book!.......2007-06-11
This book is a must for anyone that collects or deals in Victorian Jewelry! Good information with exquisite photos of the finest examples of Victorian Jewelry.
Victorian well done.......2006-08-22
Victorian jewelry is one of my passions and I both collect and sell it. This book has fabulous illustrations, great information, and a bit of a different slant than other books on Victorian jewelry. I am so glad I did not miss this one, and bought copies for both my home and shop libraries. Worth twice the price!
Opened my eyes to a vast array of jewelry styles that I wasn't familiar with.......2006-07-07
This quite a different take on jewelry than most books, and accordingly very worthwhile. I got this book out of the library, read it cover-to-cover, and I am still buying a copy. The pictures are absolutely gorgeous and wonderfully detailed.
These are the common, cheaper, but still beautiful pieces that are normally overlooked. I think that people who like Art Nouveau, which concentrated more on design than the expense of the materials, would find them particularly interesting. In addition, Dawes take us through the various fads of the time period. The text explains many of the peculiarities behind the rise of such styles (e.g.: aluminum was once rare; aristocrats wore iron jewelry to show that they had supposedly patriotically donated their real jewels to the government, etc.)
A very worthwhile addition to a jewelry book collection.
Secondary Victorian treasure pieces.......2006-03-19
During her nearly sixty-four-year reign Queen Victoria produced a cultural and fashion following particularly notable in the jewelry world, where English and European Jewelers produced less expensive pieces mimicking the queen's, which were worn by the middle class of her times. These pieces were long ignored because of their low value and cheap materials - but today are prized for their workmanship, which VICTORIAN JEWELRY: UNEXPLORED TREASURES reveals in chapters of history following designs, materials, and lovely secondary pieces. Styles presented here have been selected from collections around the world and are displayed through specially commissioned color photos just for this book.
Book Description
A highly readable account of how jewelry and fashion influenced each other and how both were determined by living standards and economics of the Victorian years. Includes lovely examples of jeweled tiaras, brooches, necklaces, bracelets, earrings, lockets, and chains, all set with precious and semi-precious stones. 115 halftones, 66 line illustrations, 10 color plates.
Customer Reviews:
Fascinating Look at Victorian Jewellery.......2006-07-26
Lots of pictures (wish more were in colour, but understandable as to why they're not! The cost would be prohibitive) and information on Victorian jewellery. Recommended to anyone who is interested in that time period or just jewellery in general.
Product Description
Auction catalogueillustrated with black and white, and one color, photographs.
Average customer rating:
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Collecting Victorian jewellery
Mary Peter
Manufacturer: MacGibbon & Kee
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
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ASIN: 0261632132 |
Book Description
The Quilter's Companion -A practical guide to tools, designs, and techniques. 9" x 11", (229 mm x 280 mm) 256 pages, 300+photos/illustrations Hardcover w/jacket, $29.95, CAN $39.95 ISBN 1-58923-243-7 UPC 0 52944-01429 2 Category: Sewing/Quilting Carton Quantity: 12 English Language Distribution Rights: North American
Customer Reviews:
Covering contemporary and traditional quilting designs.......2004-01-13
The Quilter's Companion: The Complete Guide To Machine And Hand Quilting by quilting instructor and needlecraft expert Katharine Guerrier is a broad-ranging sourcebook covering contemporary and traditional quilting designs, techniques for cutting, stitching, and applique, sashing, borders, finishment, embellishings, tips on the display and care of quilts, and much more. Logically organized and accessibly presented, featuring gorgeous full-color photographs, The Quilter's Companion is a truly first-rate resource, introduction, and guide to the respected tradition and art form of quilt crafting. Also very highly recommended are Katharine Guerrier's two previous quilting books: Quilting Masterclass and The Encyclopedia Of Quilting And Patchwork Techniques.
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Drawing the nude: The body, figures, forms
Klaus Dunkelberg
Manufacturer: Van Nostrand Reinhold
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0442218850 |
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- Now you will know why Billy Strayhorn's music sounds so good
- An essential reading in jazz musicology
- Wonderful!
- A MASTERPIECE
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Something to Live For: The Music of Billy Strayhorn
Walter van de Leur
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Lush Life: A Biography of Billy Strayhorn
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Billy Strayhorn: An American Master
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The World of Duke Ellington
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The Duke Ellington Reader
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A Proper Introduction to Billy Strayhorn: Passion Flower
ASIN: 0195124480 |
Book Description
Something to Live For investigates and analyzes the entire oeuvre of Billy Strayhorn. Nearly seventy musical examples, drawn directly from his original autograph scores, provide insight into the development of his style, in his unique and often advanced harmonic language, and in his authoritative orchestral technique. The book traces the origin of Strayhorn's music, with its roots in European and American idioms, and uncovers hitherto unknown works that cast a new light on his development as a composer and orchestrator. Musicologist Walter van de Leur addresses the mythical, 30-year collaboration of Strayhorn and Ellington. Through ground breaking research on the surviving autograph scores of the two composers, Van de Leur redefines their unequalled musical partnership. The author argues that, as opposed to generally accepted views, Ellington and Strayhorn were not musical alter-egos who composed in a telepathic way. On the contrary, they were two distinctly individual composers who worked from different musical perspectives. This book details how those distinctions stem from the respective musical background of the two composers and how that affected their collaboration. According to the author, the differences between Ellington's and Strayhorn's music are clearly audible. Yet, because Ellington, the main interpreter of his collaborator's music, has played such a crucial role in our perception of Strayhorn's work, those differences have eluded most listeners. Something to Live For untangles Strayhorn from Ellington's shadow, identifies all of his contributions to the Ellington repertory, and points listeners to the most salient features that distinguish Strayhorn's musical style from Ellington's. Revelatory appendices, including a chronological listing of over five hundred different Strayhorn compositions and arrangements recorded by Ellington, a detailed listing of all of Strayhorn's compositions in manuscript and on record, complete the book. This book contains unique photographs as well as reproductions of autograph scores in Strayhorn's and Ellington's hand.
Customer Reviews:
Now you will know why Billy Strayhorn's music sounds so good.......2003-10-10
After reading this book you will have a technical understanding of why Billy Strayhorn's music sounds so good and why Strayhorn needs to be recognized as one of the giants of American popular music. After having spent over 10 years performing in depth research and examining over 3,000 manuscripts Walter Van De Leur seperates Billy Strayhorn from Duke Ellington and analyzes how their musical styles differ. The book provides the reader with a technical dissection of a number of Strayhorn's and Ellington's music and gives, from a musicologist's point of view, the uniqueness of Strayhorn's music. Anecdotes about Strayhorn and Ellington are infrequent and instead Van De Leur provides a scholarly examination of one of the most important of American composers. However, Van De Leur can be eloquent in his examination of Strayhorn's work and this belies the love he has for his subject. Analyzing Strayhorn's Day Dream Van De Leur writes " The introspective Day Dream is less radical in its harmonic and melodic design, although chromatic chord relations again play an important role...On beat three this flat supertonic for the target proper, which now functions as the delay for the dominant E7, for A. Turning this pattern into a sequence, Strayhorn again liberates the music from its tonal gravity..." That last sentence says it all, Billy Strayhorn liberated music from its tonal gravity!
An essential reading in jazz musicology.......2002-02-25
This book is a landmark is jazz scholarship. The way van de Leur mixes few biographical details, business forces, archival reserach and music analysis helps to better understand the art of Billy Strayhorn as a personal and individual composer and arranger. With a smooth literary style, van de Leur opens to us the gates of an unknown and underrated musical genius, and help us to distinguish the true from the false, the right authorship of compositions and arrangements and the way the Strayhorn musical style changed throught the years; more, it helps to distinguish him from Duke Ellington and to better understand Ellington, too. From;these pages, Strayhorn emerges as a major composer with a distinguished musical personality.
The four appendixes are one the most useful tools in jazz reseraches appeared in last years.
This book is a reference one for any jazz researcher or learned amateur. A masterpiece in scholarship, an enlightning effort in understanding a great musician and an enjoyable reading. A must.
Wonderful!.......2002-02-02
Ask the average person to name a song by Duke Ellington and if you get a response it's apt to be 'uh, A-Train'. Wrong, since it has long been known that Strayhorn wrote it. But who wrote which parts of 'Black, Brown and Beige'? Unknown generally until now; Strayhorn wrote Beige; Ellington wrote Black and Brown.
All true fans of Duke Ellington know of Billie Strayhorn, but few know anything of his real contributions across half of the Dukes career. This book has gone back to the original manuscripts and studied the handwriting to see who wrote what parts. The results of these studies and massive other research provide a true look at the work of Strayhorn. This is not a biography; 'Lush Life : A Biography of Billy Strayhorn' by David Hajdu is a wonderful companion to this book. This book is musically oriented and has some discussions way over my head; none the less its a welcome addition to my library and one that I read non-stop. There is lots of fine data in apendicies as well.
Superb! Thank you, thank you, Walter Van De Leur.
A MASTERPIECE.......2002-01-21
There are not enough stars that can adequately rate this book. Van de Leur has given us the first truly thorough analysis of a composer of jazz (although Strayhorn was much more than a jazz composer). You do need some musical knowledge to understand what he is talking about, but his discussion and analyses of Strayhorn's music are clear, concise and well-reasoned. The appendices alone are worth the price of the book, where he lists every scrap of music currently known of Strayhorn's, where it is, when it was recorded, and what was played (in many cases, Ellington only used parts of Strayhorn's arrangements of pop tunes). The sheer amount of work it took to complete this project is startling and awe-inspriring.
For years we wondered what Strayhorn's real role was in the Ellington organization. Now we know without any doubt. Bravo Walter!!!!
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