Book Description
Scott Pilgrim's life is totally sweet. He's 23 years old, he's in a rock band, he's "between jobs," and he's dating a cute high school girl. Nothing could possibly go wrong, unless a seriously mind-blowing, dangerously fashionable, rollerblading delivery girl named Ramona Flowers starts cruising through his dreams and sailing by him at parties. Will Scott's awesome life get turned upside-down? Will he have to face Ramona's seven evil ex-boyfriends in battle? The short answer is yes. The long answer is Scott Pilgrim, Volume 1: Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life.
Customer Reviews:
The Most Believable Unbelievable Characterization.......2007-01-24
Alternate Title:
Scott Pilgrim: the Heretofore Unknown Best Fighter in the Province - If You're the Reader, at Least
Scott Pilgrim is a slacker and a moocher, and an absolutely shameless one at that. He's perhaps one of the most useless people in print comics, with nothing going for him, and worst of all, he doesn't hardly care.
Somehow Mr. O'Malley makes Scott into a lovable - and most astoundingly, *believable* - character, and chronicles well the hazy and nonlinear lives of aimless twenty-somethings. It's so hazy at times, it has taken me several read-throughs to finally understand what was going on. Don't think this a flaw, though, and just immerse yourself in this quaint, quirky world, and enjoy the surrealism.
Mr. O'Malley's art matches the mood of the series well, for both the linework and the wordwork bear a considerable influence from wacky, slice-of-life manga like Azumanga Daioh. Thankfully, however, this work stays away from the cliche stories and mediocre art of most English-language "faux" manga.
One of the things I like most of all is how it picks apart the hipster and local music scenes. The band _Crash and the Boys_ and their set was a great exaggeration of the "opening band that's too much better", and the Scott's abysmal band, _The Sex Bob-ombs_, reminded me of playing in garage bands during my high school days. The look, pride, and sensitivity of Matthew Patel is hilarious, and it's fun to see this uppity hipster get put down.
I must say that the fight scene at the end is very sudden and out of place with both the mood and action of the rest of the book. As a scene itself, though, is well done, and the surreal break it provides itself is a great exercise in humor.
I think what I like best about this comic is the dialogue and the art. The dialogue is believable, and the art is just... awesome. Hey, I'm not an art major or anything. ;-P
I definitely recommend this. Buy one for every collegian/twenty-something/whoever on your list.
Genius!.......2006-12-12
I don't read comics. I read a few, select graphic novels. I read about this online and was very impressed. The art is perfect. The story is great.
My only warning is this: much of the humor only makes sense if you understand video games and the punk/emo culture. If you don't know anything about either of those topics, I wouldn't read this book.
Waffle........2006-09-16
I don't say this about many books, but I was hooked after the first chapter. The art looks like it was drawn with a felt-tip pen. The language will not expand your vocabulary. Get past that. Regardless of what he used to draw it, I think the art looks great, and the dialouge is simple because the dialouge is not between Gods, it's people aged 17-25 or so living in Toronto. Natural-sounding dialouge: it's a good thing.
I thought it was amusing. I liked it, and I recommend it to someone who wants something entertaining to read.
Rating: Totally Sweet.......2006-08-18
I really wish that I had read Scott Pilgrim sooner. I first heard about the book back in March or April, though I thought that Pilgrim was the author. When I learned what Scott Pilgrim really was, I couldn't believe how much I didn't want to read it. For those of you who don't know yet, Scott Pilgrim is a faux-manga series about a 23-year-old Canadian slacker who must defeat a girl's seven evil ex-boyfriends before he can date her. I came up with nearly every excuse I could think of to avoid reading this book. The plot sounded dumb, the visuals were influenced by manga, it was black and white. However, I couldn't help but notice how much praise it got from both comic reviewers and mainstream publications. Not only that, but two of my friends like it, and one of them doesn't read any other comics. Eventually, I decided that I should just give it a try, and I was barely 5 pages into Scott Pilgrim's Precious Little Life before I realized that all of the hype was completely true.
Scott Pilgrim is 23 years old and has no direction in life. He is "between jobs", is in a crappy band (with an awesome name), and as the series starts, he has just started dating a 17-year-old high school girl named Knives Chau. He lives with his gay roommate Wallace, whom he always introduces as being totally awesome and gay. Most of the things in the apartment belong to Wallace, and the two share a bed, but that is because they are too poor to afford a second. Based on how you look at life, Scott is either completely awesome or a total loser.
His time with Knives is just ok; the only things she can ever talk about is the high school drama she is immersed in and how her mother wants her to find a nice Chinese boy. All they ever do is get pizza or listen to Scott's band, Sex Bob-omb, practice.
However, when Scott meets Ramona Flowers, an American girl now working for Amazon.ca, his whole life is thrown into a tailspin. Suddenly, he can't get her out of his mind, and when he accidentally creeps her out at a party, he orders some CDs from Amazon (using Wallace's credit card) just so she can deliver them to him. Eventually, he gets her to go out with him, and he invites her to a Sex Bob-omb concert. Now, all this time, things have been fairly normal. Nothing too out-of-the-ordinary has occurred. But when Ramona's ex-boyfriend from high school shows up, things get bizarre, and yet the characters don't seem to notice at all. Matthew Patel, who dated Ramona for a week and a half, challenges Scott to a fight during the concert, and without missing a beat, Scott and his friends enter a melee.
Scott Pilgrim is hilarious. Before things even get weird, the dialogue and bizarre, though somewhat believable, situations keep the reader in stitches. But when outlandish events occur, the humor is ratcheted up a notch. It is helped by the fact that Scott and his friends act as if a manga-style brawl with Ramona's "evil" ex-boyfriend is as normal as going to work (though for Scott, I guess it is more normal than work). Other sources of humor include ratings when new characters are introduced, such as Scott's rating of awesome, his sister Stacey's rating of T for Teen (a video game reference), and Wallace's rating of 7.5/10. There is also the room break-down, giving us a detailed look at what belongs to Scott and what belongs to Wallace, Scott's terrible physical description of Ramona's hair, and the fact that sometimes the characters seem to be addressing the reader (Scott says that an anecdote is better for another volume). The book also introduced the term "attack hug" into my lexicon. There are also great references to comic books and video games. Scott wears an X patch on his jacket reminiscent of the X-Men, all the bands are video game references, and a discussion of dreams leads Scott to think about Super Mario Bros. 2.
I can't stress enough how great this book is. If you have any reservations, especially the ones that I mentioned above, ignore them at all costs. Scott Pilgrim is like nothing you've read before, and will definitely keep you entertained.
A Real Review.......2006-06-17
I'm not the type to flame on people who love something I hate, so I'll just leave it at that,I hated it.
I wouldn't be writting a review if someone before me had posted a review and not a love letter.
A review should consider whether or not the art in question will appeal to anyone who consumes it or just your friends, this one is definately the latter.
Basically it's an emo/indie story full of emo/indie kids doing emo/indie things.
If you can draw a circle you can draw this book.
If you can write dialogue such as, "cool." and "yeah!", you can write this book.
There's nothing more to it, if you're into that you'll love it, if not, save your money.
Better yet, spend you're money on some Paul Pope or Brian Wood, lots of indie cred, but backed up with brilliant art and intelligent writing.
Book Description
llyson Brown, the Girl Gatsby, is a woman of wealth, hostess of fabled parties, patron of the arts-especially of poets. Until she is found floating in her own swimming pool, shot to death. Poet and fledgling detective Talba Wallis gets an urgent call from the sister she barely knows: Janessa, a close friend to Girl Gatsby. But this call isn't an invitation to an elegant literary salon. Janessa wants off the hook as the principal murder suspect. Investigating, Talba and her irascible boss, Eddie, find the reality behind the Gatsby glamour. Allyson was a widely hated con artist who neglected her children, failed to pay her bills, and lied to everyone. The one person she loved may have ushered her to her death. The case takes Talba and Eddie from literary parties to Gulf Coast bait shops, from biker bars to abandoned wharves, and finally, to the story of another Gatsby, which may yield answers . . . or greater mysteries. Louisiana Lament is Talba's journey through the not-so-genteel Southern literary scene, where backbiting and petty jealousies abound, and mint juleps are served with canaps of carnage.
Customer Reviews:
Another New Orleans Hit!.......2004-07-27
Julie Smith does it again, with another fabulous tale set in the Big Easy.
The Only Lament is it Ends.......2004-07-08
Julie Smith is one of those writers you can ALWAYS count on for an enjoyable read. Her writing is like a comfortable sweater--you can't wait to put it on, you enjoy wearing it, and you hate to take it off.
This, the third Talba Wallis mystery, is the best so far, and probably the best book Smith has done since the brilliant KINDNESS OF STRANGERS. The earlier Wallis books were enjoyable, but with this one Smith has really hit her stride; Talba comes through even stronger than Smith's more famous Skip Langdon.
The mystery itself is interesting, with more twists and turns than most, and it also provides a sly look inside the backbiting New Orleans literary scene. Smith's trademark wit is evident from beginning to end...the only drawback to reading one of her books is that it indeed must end...and then we have to wait for another year for the next one.
Write faster, Julie!!!
great private detective tale.......2004-06-30
By day, she is Talba Wallis, ace private detective and junior partner in the E.V. Anthony Investigations Agency; by night, she is the Baroness de Pontalba. Dining Hurricane Carol, Talba receives a call from her hysterical half-sister Janessa, whom she met only once. Janessa wants Talba to meet her at her employer's house. When she arrives there, Talba sees a dead woman in the swimming pool with a head wound and Janessa holding the gun.
Janessa swears she did not kill Allyson Browser, the "Gatsby Girl" who loved to throw parties and a socialite with the literary greats of New Orleans. Earlier in the evening Janessa witnessed a fight between Allyson and her son Austin over money. Austin has disappeared and so has Rashid, Allyson's other employee who Janessa has a crush on. The police believe Janessa is the best suspect, forcing Talba to mobilize her troops to clear her sister's name and find out who the real killer is before her sibling is arrested.
Julie Smith is brilliant at creating characters that are easy to identify with so that readers become absorbed in the storyline, following the antics of the quirky cast. Like many of Ms. Smith's victims, Allyson is not a nice person so there are many suspects who had a motive to kill her. Guessing who it is makes for fun and exciting reading.
Harriet Klausner
Customer Reviews:
A very good investment for players and storytellers alike.......2001-03-29
This book does a very good job of fleshing out (no pun intended)redaps. Redcaps are proud of their hack-and-slash reputation, and the book keeps this viewpoint well.
Most of the book has the mentor-to-student point of view, which allows it to discuss things the other kiths would never know about them. It also (finally!) gives the Seelie side of things, and redefines how the two courts get along under the 2nd ed. rules. The merits and flaws are well explained, and the treasures suit this kith well. There are a few changes from the main book, but most of them are easily explainable (are you REALLY gonna ask a redcap what kind of dreams created them?) and allow for better roleplaying.
My only complaint is that one of the side legends was missing information (cutting off in mid-sentence was a big clue). But overall, it's a very good resource, and a book I highly recommend.
A must have for Changeling Players!!.......2000-10-13
The long awaited release has finally arrived! This book covers the nooks and crannies that every player of the Changeling: The Dreaming has been waiting for! A must have for gamers and collectors alike!!
Book Description
Written by two experienced lesbian therapists and parents, this second completely revised edition of The Lesbian Parenting Book has been updated to reflect the contemporary cultural and political landscape, as well as current trends in parenting. Drawing on the real-life experiences of lesbian families and the latest information from family specialists, the authors present detailed, chapter-by-chapter information on each stage of parenthood and child development. New material includes information on circumcision, Internet safety, legal hoops for noncustodial parents, the facts about late-in-life pregnancies, moms working inside and outside of the home, and more. An essential text for every lesbian who is involved in—or considering—raising a family.
Customer Reviews:
Not exactly what I expected.......2002-03-14
I was very excited to get this book, but was slightly disappointed upon reading it. I was hoping it would focus more on problems and solutions unique to lesbian parents. While it did touch on these subjects, it focused more on basic parenting skills. The ideas were very good, just a little broader than i had expected.
I love the Lesbian People.......2001-06-30
I love the Lesbian people. This is one of the greatest books I have ever read that helps us raise our children in a difficult, homophobic world. Highly recommended.
The Dr. Spock For Lesbian Families!.......1997-08-28
One of the best and most comprehensive books I have ever read concerning lesbian parenting. This book addresses child development and provides a common sense guide to raising kids, all with a lesbian twist. In addition to the usual parenting issues, the book also addresses concerns specific to lesbian headed households, including homophobia from outsiders, how to deal with school issues, and more. I recommend this book to anyone who has children whether they are lesbian or not. This book has much to offer in the way of advice to all parents who are committed to raising healthy, happy, and tolerant children
Customer Reviews:
Might be OK if you don't have other allergies.......2005-12-20
Many of the recipes in this book use dairy ingredients, so if you are looking for a gluten-free and dairy-free book (for a GFCF diet, for example), this is not a good choice. Some also use soy flour, another common allergen.
Note that this book is from the United Kingdom, but the author does include American equivalent measurements and terms.
Book Description
A "collectors" place is now in the kitchen! Readers will experience an enjoyable visual view of the kitchen, with this full-color, generously illustrated book highlighting postwar collectible kitchen gadgets, plastic house wares, accessories, and much more.
This impressive identification and price guide features more than 1,200 color photographs of vintage advertisements and magazine covers. For collectors who want to value their collection, it also contains listings and prices for 2,200 kitchen and food preparation items, such as utensils, mixers, pans, molds, juicers, shredders, slicers, can openers, and more. Dealers, decorators, designers, and historians alike will appreciate all this rich and entertaining guide has to offer.
* Over 1,200 color photographs of vintage advertisements and magazine covers offer an enjoyable visual view of kitchen collectibles * Includes listings and prices for 2,200 postwar gadgets
Customer Reviews:
Spiffy Kitchen Collectibles - fun to read and own.......2007-10-01
I have enjoyed this book very much. It is very informative. I own lots of kitchen collectibles, but was not sure of their use. Now I know. This book has covered a wide range of items and every page is bright and colourful. I'm sure others will enjoy this book as much as I do. It sure takes you back to the "Good Old Days". A great book to browse through and add to your collection.
Anne.......2006-11-10
This book is great. There are so many kitchen items featured that it is amazing. It has been really helpful for me.
Warning--this is the same as the Warmans Kitschy Kitchen Collectibles Field Guide.......2006-06-09
I just recieved Spiffy Kitchen Collectibles and was quite disappointed to find out that it is exactly the same graphics and photographs as contained in the Warmans Kitschy Kitchen Collectibles Field Guide, just in larger format. I saw they were by the same author, but didn't think they'd be exactly the same inside!
A Fabulous Book!.......2003-10-14
Excuse the enthusiasm, but Spiffy Kitchen Collectibles is an amazing book. It's accurate, informative and beautiful. And on top of that, it's a hoot. Filled with more than 1,000 full-color pictures of kitchen gadgets of all kinds, the book is part identification guide, part price guide and part stroll down memory lane. Covering Post World War II kitchen ware, the book includes hundreds of period magazine advertisements, helping to put the collectibles in context. Visually, it's brilliant. Some of the pictures are small but that's only because there are so many included. You don't have to be a collector to enjoy this book. But if you are, you'll find the book handier than an Ecko egg beater. Buy it. Read it. Enjoy.
Customer Reviews:
Swedish Weaving.......2000-06-13
I have been looking for patterns for Swedish Weaving on Monk's cloth. This book features beautiful patterns with detailed instructions on how to weave their patterns. It starts with beginners patterns and ends with advanced patterns. My 12 year old daughter has never tried this before and was able to follow the pattern instructions given and enjoys this now.
I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys this craft!
Customer Reviews:
perhaps only worth it for the comedy relief.......2007-10-11
honestly. save your money. the absolute worst window book i have ever seen. we passed it around at work (interior design ofc) for laughs. really really bad. there really are no other words.
Average customer rating:
- With more than 500 decorating ideas...
|
Home Fashions: Curtains, Bedspreads, Valances, Swags, Pillows & Accessories
Mehmet Demir
Manufacturer: Randall International
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Decorating
| Interior Design
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Interior Design
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
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Home Fashions: Curtains, Draperies, Bedspreads, Valances, Swags, Pillows, Accessories
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The Encyclopedia of Window Fashions
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The Home Furnishings Workbook
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Dream Windows: An Inspriational Guide to Draperies and Soft Furnishings
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The New Curtain Book: Master Classes with Today's Top Designers
ASIN: 9759735628 |
Customer Reviews:
With more than 500 decorating ideas..........2003-10-17
As you turn the pages of this book you will find ideas, both simple and dramatic, for incorporating draperies, shades, swags and cascades, blinds, valances and tiebacks into your home. With each window treatment you create, Home Fashions will help you in making it a spirited representation of your individuality. Along with a variety of window décor, this book also features beautiful ideas for specific rooms including kitchens, bathrooms and bedrooms. And Home Fashions will show how easy it is for tiebacks and accessories to become a detailed representation of who you are.
Book Description
A sumptuously extravagant book which examines design that appeals to the senses through luxury, profusion and excess
After a decade in which minimalism has held sway over the design industry, many designers are now rejecting the limitations of pared-down modernism in favor of a more rich and vibrant “maximal” aesthetic.
This book celebrates the qualities of maximalism, or “enriched modernism” -- its role in creating fantasy, a sense of luxury, the multi-sensory appeal -- and teaches designers how to apply it by bringing together a selection of projects from around the world that typify maximalism in graphic design -- whether through use of materials, print processes, layout and composition or sheer extravagance of purpose.
The book is not just about expensive projects for luxury brands (although of course these feature): it is about examples of print that appeal to any one of the senses in a powerful and unusual way. These include packaging, magazines, brochures, books, identity jobs and other forms of print work.
An essential resource for designers, delivering the newest trend and the means to create the style.
Customer Reviews:
Inspiring.......2007-03-12
This book is very very interesting to say the least. I think it belongs in every designers library. While the examples in the book aren't very practical (if you freelance or work for a normal ad agency this stuff wont fly), they are inspiring, and very beautiful (most of them).
minimalist is out.......2007-03-08
a non-artist can accidentally make a minimalist design look good. there's no way you can make something with this "maximalist" style look good accidentally. this book is an example of good art. a nice addition to your collection. remember, you get better with every piece of art you appreciate.
Awesome.......2006-11-07
This is one of the best book of my personal library.
I think maximalism is what the next graphic design approach is all about. I think it comes to fix the "form & function" ideal - I think it has been misunderstood, too focused on the function, the designs was been to much "Bauhaus", art deco, minimalistic. Our architeture nowadays is an easy way to identify this minimal and "too much function" ideal.
It was good then, but now everyone is tired of the boredom (at least I am). "Life is much more colorful and fun"
I just wish the book were more extensive.
Now I am very curious to check of the other books from the author, especially Poster-Art and Mag-Art.
***Wonderful designed book. From the copper & golden cover to the layout, everything comes together nicely. Another great hit from Wilson Harvey.
Have fun.
Visually Enthralling, Lacking Instructional info........2006-03-21
Aesthetically, this book is one of the best I've seen. The cover is one of a kind and is an inspiration in and of itself. The meaning of the term Maximalism is definitely apparent in the book, but I was hoping for a little more educational information in regards to techniques, software, etc. The layout of the text is also somewhat confusing at times in relation to which piece they are referring. Overall, this book gets a 4 simply for the inspirational imagery within its contents.
Maximalism.......2006-03-08
this is the Shizznit!!! had great times with it. in and out the bathroom.
Average customer rating:
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Conversations With Stanley Kauffmann (Literary Conversations Series)
Manufacturer: University Press of Mississippi
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
History & Criticism
| Theater
| Performing Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Performing Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Entertainers
| Arts & Literature
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
History & Criticism
| Movies
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Classics
| United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| History & Criticism
| United States
| World Literature
| Literature & Fiction
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1578065658 |
Book Description
This collection of interviews with Stanley Kauffmann (b. 1916) provides a virtual history of the journalistic practice of criticism in twentieth-century America. His creative life spans eight decades, and since 1958, he has been a film and drama critic for the New Republic, the New York Times, and Saturday Review. He also has been an actor, stage manager, playwright, novelist, and editor.
Along with Dwight Macdonald, Andrew Sarris, and John Simon, he is one of the potent, influential critics included in the New York school of twentieth-century American criticism.
In this collection of interviews conducted by Charlie Rose, Dick Cavett, and others he speaks both of the role of theater and film criticism in American culture and of the crisis he perceives within it. With wit and erudition Kauffmann discusses many subjects---film directors who emerged during his long tenure at The New Republic (e.g., Martin Scorsese and Federico Fellini), actors who performed on both stage and screen, novels and their film adaptations, and the fractious relationship between Hollywood and the independent film movement.
The precision and concise phrasing of Kauffman's writing chime also in his brilliant conversation as he speaks of sex, taste, realism, the rise of film festival culture, and government subsidy of the arts. The volume ends with a conversation from 1998 in celebration of Kauffmann's forty-year tenure at the New Republic, where he continues to publish film reviews every week.
The collection reveals this critic's sense of cultural mission by showing how Kauffmann applies to drama and film the same high standards he applies to fiction, poetry, music, and theater. Conversations with Stanley Kauffmann reveals that this love of the arts is expressed in his finely honed gift for cogent, witty, wise commentary.
Books:
- Seize the Night (A Dark-Hunter Novel, Book 7)
- Serpent: A Novel from the NUMA Files (Numa Files Series)
- Shopaholic Abroad
- Sin Killer : The Berrybender Narrative, Book 1
- So Long, See You Tomorrow
- Taiko: An Epic Novel of War and Glory in Feudal Japan
- Terror on Tuesday (Lois Meade Mysteries)
- The Art of the Story: An International Anthology of Contemporary Short Stories
- The Berlin Stories: The Last of Mr. Norris and Goodbye to Berlin (New Directions Book)
- The Blood of the Lamb: A Novel
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World
- Schmucks!: Our Favorite Fakes, Frauds, Lowlifes, Liars, the Armed and Dangerous, and Good Guys Gone
- Learning With A Visual Brain In An Auditory World
- New Trends in Kramers' Reaction Rate Theory
- Leonardo Da Vinci: The Complete Paintings And Drawings
- Professional Learning Communities at Work: Best Practices for Enhancing Student Achievement
- The Alaskan Bootlegger's Bible
- Historic Architectural Trimwork: Authentic Measured Drawings for Mantels, Moldings, Doorways, Arches
- Kesling Modern Structures: Popularizing Modern Living in Southern California 1934-1962
- Slow Emergencies: A Novel
Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 2: Scott Pilgrim Versus The World
Scott Pilgrim, Vol. 3: Scott Pilgrim & the Infinite Sadness
Lost At Sea
Demo: The Collected Edition
Scott Pilgrim, Vol 4: Scott Pilgrim Gets It Together
