Book Description
The Collected Stories of Colette beings together in one volume for the first time in any language the comprehensive collection of short stories by the novelist known worldwide as Colette, and now acknowledged, with Proust, as the most original French narrative writer of the first half of our century. of the one hundred stories gathered here, thirty-one appear for the first time in English and another twenty-nine have been newly translated for this volume.
Customer Reviews:
superb.......2003-08-11
Her short stories are superb! Much much better than any of her novels. If you like short stories, try reading John O'hara (A completely different vein, but excellent also).
A full life.......2003-05-28
The Collected Stories of Colette by Sidonie-Gabrielle Colette, ed., and with an introduction by, Robert Phelps. Highly recommended.
According to the introduction, this collection represents 100 stories taken from a dozen volumes published during Colette's lifetime. They are categorised as "Early Stories," Backstage at the Music Hall," "Varieties of Human Nature," and "Love." Some, like the Clouk/Chéri stories, appear to be fiction, while many, like "The Rainy Moon" and "Bella-Vista," seem to be taken straight from Colette's varied life and acquaintances.
Whether writing fiction or chronicling fact, whether writing in the third-person omniscient or in the first person, Colette herself is always a character-rarely as an influencer, that is, one whose actions or choices drive the plot. Colette's preferred role is as observer-and it is one for which she is well suited.
An inveterate sensualist and a former music-hall performer, Colette integrates her characters (real and fictional) with everything around them-their clothes (costumes), their abodes, dressing rooms, and haunts (sets), and their neighborhoods and towns (theatres). Much of Colette's writing, no matter how mundane the surface subject, is about art-the art of living and, notably, the art of loving. In "My Goddaughter," the subject tells her godmother how she injured herself with scissors and a curling iron and recounts her mother's reaction. "She said that I had ruined her daughter for her! She said, 'What have you done with my beautiful hair which I tended so patiently? . . . And that cheek, who gave you permission to spoil it! . . . I've taken years, I've spent my days and nights, trembling over this masterpiece. . . ."
Colette is attuned to everything, every sense, every nuance. "A faint fragrance did indeed bring to my nostrils the memory of various scents which are at their strongest in autumn." ("Gibriche") ". . . set in a bracelet, which slithered between her fingers like a cold and supple snake." ("The Bracelet") " . . . the supper of rare fruits, an[d]of ice water sparkling in the thin glasses, as intoxicating as champagne . . ." ("Florie") "Peroxided hair, light-colored eyes, white teeth, something about her of an appetizing but slightly vulgar young washerwoman." ("Gitanette")
Colette does not pretend to be an objective observer of human behaviour; she does not hesitate to express to the reader her weariness with certain individuals or situations, and her stories of her vain, pretentious, overbearing friend Valentine reveal her jaded and waning affection. She knows this woman so well that she sees her almost as Valentine sees herself-a drama queen acting out stories, roles, and games without depth of feeling for them. "What Must We Look Like?" becomes Valentine's driving philosophy, to which Colette responds with "a mild, a kindly pity." In "The Hard Worker," Colette says, "I can see she does not hate him, but I cannot see she loves him either." What Colette sees-and does not see-is to be respected.
Some stories, such as "The Sick Child," are vivid and imaginative and reveal Colette's amazing ability to think and dream like a gifted child. "The Advice," with its mundane beginning and premise and twisted, horrifying ending would enhance any collection of gothic or mystery tales. Other stories, like "Gibriche," several of the other music-hall stories, and "Bella-Vista," tackle topics that even today remain controversial. "Bella-Vista," in which Colette's moods seem to wane with every familiarity achieved with her hostesses, offers an ending that is heavily foreshadowed throughout but is surprising and gruesome nonetheless.
Most of the stories, whether fiction or nonfiction, seem to come from life in one way or another. The quantity of stories and the quality of the collection reveal the incredible scope of experience of Colette, the dry, often weary yet obsessive observer, interpreter, and chronicler of human nature. As Judith Thurman says in her introduction to Colette's work, The Pure and the Impure, "This great ode to emptiness was written by a woman who felt full." As well she should.
Diane L. Schirf, 27 May 2003.
If you love Colette, these are absolute gems.......2001-05-02
Ok. You've read the Claudine novels, and Cheri and the Return of Cheri. Now what? There are other novels (The Vagabond, Gigi, My Mother's House) but there are these short stories that are "must-reads."
Colette was one of France's most distinguished writers. Though not a writer of massive books like Victor Hugo or Proust, or of psychological novels like Zola or Flaubert, she caught that French essence of individuality and quirkiness and the golden age of La Belle Epoque before World War One changed France forever. Her books are pure joy as are these short stories. If you have NOT read Colette, you are in for a treat. (And don't neglect Claudine or Cheri. )
Perfect Intro to a forgotten female author's best work.......1999-07-14
If you're looking for a refreshing deviation from the mean of women writers, then Colette is it. Her stories offer a pleasurable clearing of the literary palate.
Perfect Intro to a forgotten female author's best work.......1999-07-14
If you're looking for a refreshing deviation from the mean of women writers, then Colette is it. Her stories offer a pleasurable clearing of the literary palate.
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The Rug Merchant
Phillip Lopate
Manufacturer: Viking Adult
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0670814342 |
Book Description
A sparkling debut novel about an unlikely May-December romance between an Iranian immigrant and an American college student.
Unabridged CDs - 5 CDs, 6 hours
Customer Reviews:
An unenjoyable Persian carpet ride.......2007-09-03
A fortyish rug merchant, having spent three long, lonely years in America while his miscarriage-prone wife remained in Iran to care for his mother and locate his stock, learns that his wife has moved on without him. When he meets a young American girl (19 years old and described as "half his age") his sad world transforms.
Although the wordplay involving the American-idiomatically-challenged immigrant is really good, the point of the story is unclear. In fact, it seems that there is no point. Among the incomprehensible: discussions of three suicides and/or attempted suicides; two incidences of a certain type of intimate contact; an incident involving an overheard appropriate or inappropriate conversation between a father and young daughter in a bathroom stall; the pure state of the young love interest, as well as her desire to become otherwise with with the help of a fatherly foreigner (one with revulsion for his own mother, whose existence only inconveniences him in the form of phone calls and letters); a bitter, hate-spewing African man; and the ending.
Except for the great cross lingual conversational issues between the American teenager and her Iranian boyfriend, the story just plain senseless. House of Sand and Fog by Albert Dubus is a better read.
Loved it.......2007-09-03
I adored the Kite Runner and Thousand Splendid Suns, and now I'm trying to plod my way through Reading Lolita in Tehran, and I just needed something more...captivating. Well, I found this book to be a page-turner, and finished it in just two days. The writer does her job well, inasmuch as I felt I was there with Ushman and Stella, seeing what they were seeing, smelling what they were smelling. I really enjoyed the symbolism of the kilim and Ushman's dreams. This book enchanted me, however briefly, and broke my heart, too. It is romantic and exotic without being trashy or preachy. I loved Khaled Hosseini's books and loved this one, too. This is a small book and would pack well into a purse.
Lack of character development dulled the story.......2007-08-23
The Rug Merchant is not a book that draws the reader in. There are only a handful of characters in the book that have any dialogue exchange at all. The nineteen year old character Stella's dialogue was distractingly contrived in several places. Other than Ushman, the few characters who are in the book are boringly undeveloped and lacking in complexity. Since the characters were so simplified, I was unable to take an interest in them individually and thus had a hard time plodding on to the end of the book (but I did finish it, just to get it over with).
The story had potential to be a good read, but I don't think the author was up to the task of turning a decent short story into a compelling novel.
Nothing more than a desk, a chair, and a small stack of rugs.......2007-07-29
This is the story of Ushman, an immigrant Iranian rug merchant who owns a small establishment ideally located on Madison Avenue in Manhattan. His wife is still in Iran, looking after his ailing mother and regularly sending him high quality rugs for his wealthy customers. Ushman dreams of the day his wife will join him in America, although he realizes that his mother's illness makes this not immediately possible.
The cultural differences are very evident, and when Ushman's long distance relationship deteriorates, he becomes lost and confused. It isn't long before loneliness overcomes him, and we learn that he feels insecure in seeking out the company of American women. His subsequent encounters with three women of completely different backgrounds make up the major part of the story, and we learn more about his character through his interaction with these women.
The female characters could have been better developed, and we don't really get into them as much as we do Ushman. Instead, the author prefers to dwell in great detail on the emotional turmoil and uncertainty that Ushman brings to new relationships, personal or professional. By the end you'll realize that this is a short story stretched into a novel, but then again, one woman's padding may well be another's evocative narrative.
Amanda Richards, July 29, 2007
A Near Miss.......2007-05-26
Take a heart-broken Iranian immigrant, an unfulfilled, wealthy woman of "a certain age," and a bright but aimless college student. Mullin's willingness to examine their thoughts and feelings in this character-driven novel is admirable, and at points she succeed quite nicely in conveying the alienation and empathy found within complex relationships. That being said, ultimately a writer's job is to tell a good story. Mullins deserves credit for daring to write about the inner lives of her characters. No proverbial car chases, missing babies or serial killers here. But as this leaves us with only the characters themselves to consider, this book might have benefitted from a slightly less tentative rendering. Mullin invents a great cast but doesn't give them quite enough to "say." With a bit more courage and color, this could have been a great book; hopefully this talented author will try again.
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- Plays you won't feel you've read before
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Rug Merchants of Chaos and Other Plays
Ronald Ribman
Manufacturer: Theatre Communications Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
United States | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1559360496 |
Customer Reviews:
Plays you won't feel you've read before.......2002-07-28
Murder reenactment directors, eccentric Euopean socialites, scam artists marooned on a crumbling cargo ship- these are the people who populate Ribman's enjoyable although rather odd plays. In all three plays, he succeeds in creating interesting characters you care about; however, at times he seems to be so involved in his characters eccentricities and quirks that he forgets about plot development. Overall, though, a very funny, enjoyable read.
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The Rug Merchant.
Phillip LOPATE
Manufacturer: see notes for publisher info
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000P7O8B0 |
Customer Reviews:
yovrum, you haven't bought this yet?.......2003-03-13
The Turks and the Turkish cultural lobby deny that Armenians wove rugs. This is part of their overall efforts to deny the existence of Armenians in Armenia. They argue that Armenians only sold rugs. One of the chief pieces of physical evidence against the lobby is the "Gohar rug" pictured on the cover of the book, which bears an inscribed Armenian dedication and date approximate to 1701.
Any person who knows about Caucasian and Anatolian rugs knows better than the Turkish claims - Armenians made many, maybe most, of the best rugs, whether they were made for individual use in the village, for export sale, or even for palaces. This book shows some plates of late inscribed rugs, many of which resemble rugs that are presently on the market here. The introductory articles by Ms. der Manuelian and Mr. Eiland are worth the price of the book....
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The Rug Merchant
Meg Mullins
Manufacturer: Penguin Audio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000VYVZOK |
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The Rug Merchant
Erich Valentin
Manufacturer: Penguin Highbridge (Aud)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
General | Romance | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0786564121 |
Book Description
Ethan Daniels is a typical bachelor who suffers from one, infallible truth: dealing with the opposite sex can be complicated. One night, he bumps into a mysterious woman who will change his life... and maybe even the world.
Book Description
Written in an intimate, personal style, Finding Our Way Home draws on powerful insights from psychology, Christian spirituality, and theology to explore the human longing for home, a spiritual place as much as a physical place where we are at peace with ourselves and with God. Mark McMinn considers the different aspects of home as a spiritual metaphor¾the environment we grew up in as well as the challenges of living well within our present realities. In doing so, he addresses the yearning for a spiritual center, a deeper relationship with God, and peace in our lives.
Customer Reviews:
Finding Our Way Home.......2005-08-19
Findng Our Way Home touched my heart. I appreciated the author's honesty and could identify with the emotions expressed. A personal pull toward home, toward God, is experienced by most of us. Reading this book has given me greater understanding of myself and greater compassion for others.
Book Description
This collection of nearly 100 dishes is true to the culinary traditions of Laos, from Young Banana Tree Soup and Catfish Salad to Nam Lao (mixed ingredients in a rice paper wrap). Accompanying the recipes are vignettes about the food and culture of Laos and an extensive glossary.
Customer Reviews:
A Review from LAN-XANG.com.......2001-02-13
It is unfortunate that this book should be subtitled "Lao/Thai Recipes," implying that there is a general commonality between Lao and Thai (Central Thai/Siamese) cuisine, which there is not. To be sure, there are certain individual dishes that can be characterized as Lao/Siamese because they are featured in both cuisines and their origins are obscure--they probably date back many centuries if not millennia. The Siamese Tom Yum Kung for example is none other than a substitution of shrimp for chicken (or catfish) in Lao chicken (or catfish) soup (a recipe appears in Taste of Laos, p. 45), while the Siamese Ho Mok is simply Lao Mok (a recipe on p. 90) with the addition of coconut milk and curry powder.
As for examples of common desserts, both the Lao and Siamese eat mango with sweetened sticky rice (p. 119), custard in a pumpkin (p. 118), and rice and banana steamed in banana leaves (Khao Tom, p. 121). The Siamese, however, eat prepared sweets in greater frequency and quantity than the Lao, who generally prefer fresh fruit. Partly for this reason, the Siamese dessert repertory exceeds that of the Lao in terms of its variety and development.
The greater Siamese affinity for sweets is one difference in eating preferences between them and the Lao. There are quite a few. The Siamese have a predilection for heavy spices (namely curries) and herbs (particularly "Thai" basil) and rich dishes--many based on coconut milk/cream, with the result that Siamese dishes are often very fragrant, oily, and liquid. This is incompatible with the Lao palate. In general, the Lao eschew the use of coconut in savory dishes, and the curries so popular in Siam never made an impression on Lao cuisine, despite more than a century (late 18th--late19th century) of Siamese political domination. Which is also one reason why traditional French food, with its heavy dishes and creamy sauces, based on flour, cream and butter (not to mention it's complex batterie de cuisine), never took hold, despite half a century of French rule.
The Lao palate is accustomed to grilled or steamed foods--with relatively simple flavorings, and fresh, uncooked vegetables. Lao cuisine, which is very healthful, uses a relatively small variety of herbs and spices, with a particular and distinctive emphasis on garlic and galanga (not ginger, as has been asserted elsewhere).
Hence the author's suggestions that the Lao eat curries is nonsense.
Having said that the Lao like their food simple and light, lean and green, besides differences in taste, there is a more practical reason that the Lao do not eat Siamese food, despite living next door to the homeland of one of the most popular Asian cuisines in North America.
Daovone mentions the Lao preference for sticky rice--which admittedly is an issue of taste, and by now everyone should know (of course they don't) that the Lao are the one people in the entire world who eat sticky rice as a staple. All traditional Lao foods then were developed by people who knew that the dish would be accompanied by sticky rice, which is eaten out of a woven basket, with fingers. Hence to keep the fingers clean and rice out of the various dishes, the dishes could not be wet or oily.
Siamese food, because of the ubiquitous coconut milk and oily curries, is too soupy for sticky rice. Though if you're using a spoon, it is perfect for regular white rice, which absorbs the broth and picks up the flavor.
Most of the rural Lao population, which is most of the country's population, still eat sticky rice exclusively. The urban population eats both sticky rice and white rice, depending on the dishes they are to accompany. Lao dishes would call for sticky rice, while foreign dishes, such as Chinese-style stir fries (which are popular), or Thai curry dishes (which are not popular) would be accompanied by regular white rice.
While the Lao use their fingers to eat sticky rice (the consistency of the rice makes it impossible to do it any other way), they would never use their fingers, as the Siamese and Indians traditionally do, to eat white rice. Neither, however, do they use chopsticks as their Chinese and Vietnamese neighbors (some) do. Chopsticks are reserved for noodles. For white rice, the Lao use spoons.
At times, it seems the author can't decide whether she's writing a Lao cookbook or a Siamese one. Why is Tam Mak Hung (Green Papaya Salad) called Som Tum in the Siamese manner? While this offense is one in name only, the author gives a recipe for Phad Thai, but describes it as "Koa Mee[Khua My] or Pad Thai," as though they were one and the same thing. In truth, they are quite different--the most obvious differences being that Khua My generally calls for beef (rather than the shrimp or chicken typically found in Pad Thai), dark soy sauce (rather than fish sauce) and caramelized sugar (rather than sugar added directly to the noodles).
Taste of Laos is written by a cook--and proprietor of a Lao/Thai restaurant, not a gastronome or sociologist, and hence everything said about Lao cuisine or culture must be taken with plenty of salt, or padaek, for which unfortunately there is no recipe or discussion, except by food guru and one-time ambassador to Laos Alan Davidson in the book's preface.
Neither is there a discussion of Lao cooking methods or equipment. The author's instructions for steaming sticky rice are not likely to lead to good results, because they are very vague and steaming sticky rice requires a little more effort than making white rice. To make the process easier, the Lao invented a special steaming basket and pot, but there is no mention of this apparatus in the cookbook. Nor is there a mention of the deep Lao-style mortar and pestle that is required for a proper Green Papaya Salad (Tam Mak Hung in Lao/ Som Tum in Siamese). The Lao mortar and pestle is indispensable in the Lao kitchen, and can be had for $10 at most Lao, Thai or Vietnamese grocery stores.
Throughout the book, Daovone tries to suggest that Lao and Siamese eat the same food, which is not true. I have already mentioned how much Siamese food the Lao eat. How much Lao food the Siamese eat is another question. Let it suffice to say that there are a lot more Isan (Lao) restaurants in Bangkok than there are Siamese restaurants in Isan (the ethnic Lao region of Thailand), and that "Som Tum" and "Larb" have become standards on Thai menus everywhere
The author's assertion that the Lao have ever been vegetarian ("In the past, most Lao became vegetarians purely for religious reasons.") is ridiculous. Buddhism has rarely exerted a didactic influence on the Lao, and certainly never in this regard. Historical records show that monks themselves in particular consumed all kinds of meats, sweets and delicacies with gusto.
Taste of Laos should have more accurately been subtitled, "Lao and Thai Recipes," because it contains both Lao and Thai recipes from the proprietor of the popular Dara Restaurant in Berkeley, which as a disclaimer I have to say that I have never been to. As one of only three cookbooks in the English language devoted to Lao cuisine, it is obviously of great worth. It is, however, far from comprehensive and not representative of what most Lao people eat. It is probably not an exaggeration to say that in Laos, the cuisine of Vietnam is twenty times as popular as that of Siam/Central Thailand. Light and fresh Southern Vietnamese cuisine, which presumably descended from the people known as Cham, is much more in tune with the Lao palate.
Daovone would have done better justice by including those Vietnamese and Vietnamese-inspired dishes that are so popular in Laos. Though since Dara is a Lao/Thai restaurant, I can understand why Vietnamese recipes have been excluded. Nevertheless, I was disappointed to not find even one Khao Poun dish, and even more disappointed that there is no recipe for Lao Sausage (Sai Oua).
That Daovone is from Xieng Khouang (famous for its Plain of Jars) contributes to the book's value. Lao cuisine often has many regional variations, and Taste of Laos has recorded permanently the Xieng Khouang variations of certain dishes. Also, though Daovone neglects many classic Lao dishes, she introduces a number of new dishes and new sauces, many of which are her own creation. The Vientiane Mango Fool (p.123), for example, is nothing I have ever even heard of, and the Catfish Salad ("Laap Pa Duk," p. 57) is nothing like your typical Goy/Laap.
This book is a keeper. Don't be put off by its ugly cover or the unorthodox Romanization of Lao dish names; get a copy of this cookbook. Who knows when you might find yourself far from a Lao grocery store and having to make your own Sour Pork Sausages (Som Mou, p.30)?
Taste of Laos: Lao/Thai Recipes from Dara Restaurant by Daovone Xayavong ($15.95) is publish
First Laos Cookbook - much that is new.......2000-08-26
As an voracious eater of Asian food who has also travelled extensively not only in Thailand but also in Laos, I found "Taste of Laos" a delight. The 8 pages of glossary alone are worth the price of the book. The author's vingettes are very engaging and the recipes authenic Lao. I don't know of any Thai cookbooks that include traditional Lao dishes such as ant egg soup or 'Nam Lao, fresh ingredients rolled in translucent rice paper wrapers. Alan Davidson's foreword as well as the Author's "A Word About Lao Food" were very informative. All in all I would say that "Taste of Laos" is a much appreciated addition on my book shelf. I rather doubt the reader from Greenwich Village could have written this book sitting in his (or her) NY kitchen.
Taste of Greenwich Village - nothing new here.......2000-08-07
As an avid fan of far eastern food and having travelled extensively in Thailand I was keen to get an early copy of this new book. Sadly, I wasted my time and money. A rehash of well known favourites with few new ideas this book could have been written in a library or my kitchen rather than the Dara restaurant. If you are a devotee of eastern food then stay well away, there are far better texts!
Book Description
Few can resist the appeal of the teddy bear—including collectors. In Miller’s invaluable guide to this favorite toy, Sue Pearson gives practical advice on how to look at bears from the collector’s point of view. A maker-by-maker directory shows key developments and highlights identifying features, and each bear comes complete with price. The inclusion of artists’ bears from the present-day ensures there is something for every pocket. Now new in paperback, and updated, with all prices revised.
Book Description
If the words “classic Christmas” make images of Christmas cactus, fruitcake, and roast turkey dance in your head, then
Classic Crafts and Recipes for the Holidays will make all of your yuletide dreams come true.
Arranged in ten chapters with such names as “Cranberries,” “Nuts,” “Citrus,” “Leaves,” and “Pinecones,” this festive compendium of holiday ideas and recipes is certain to show you how to make every Christmas one to remember. In “Winter Berries,” berries are used to make wreaths, garlands, and centerpieces. In its own chapter, fruitcake has been reinterpreted so it will never run the risk of being left uneaten. “Leaves” shows how to make keepsake gifts out of embossed leaves and cards, and throughout the book there are clever packaging and wrapping ideas to suit every taste and budget.
From now on, when you think of a classic Christmas, you’ll think of
Classic Crafts and Recipes for the Holidays.
Customer Reviews:
A Very Beautiful Book.......2005-08-12
The photographs in this book are absolutely stunning. You could set it on your coffee table for guests to look through, and even if they don't know a Meyer lemon from a tangelo, they'll take great pleasure in looking through this book (they'll learn something, too). Everything is lovingly laid out, photographed and eloquently described. Buy the hardcover edition, because you'll want to keep it for a long time.
A great Holiday Treasure - and gift.......2001-12-10
Martha's Holiday book this really touched my heart. My mom has always grown Amaryllis and Christmas Cactus, chapters 4 & 5 really were a delightful surprise. I now know the Christmas Cactus the I have is called "White Christmas". When I told my mom about the charts, she was so interested in the book (she lives in Ohio and we live in Fl.) that I am immediately sending her one for Christmas. My son is a personal chef - so we all love to cook and I love to decorate. The pictures are great as usual, but I think I like the charts about the topic in each chapter. They are beautiful and informative. It was great to see the different types of pine cones and citrus. The best part is that even if you don't use these ideas during the holidays - the things you have learned will be useful all year and will be great to share with friends and family.
Some items may have been in Martha Stewart Living - that's great that the special ideas have been put in this holiday book to keep and treasure. (I don't keep every magazine - I will treasure this book).Thanks again to Martha!!!!
Lots of reprints from the magazine.......2001-09-21
You know this going in, but there arent' as many really neat "new" things as the last books. More biscotti, and a lot of good uses for the endless bags of cranberries in the back of my freezer. I'll start on those for Christmas about November 1, I think. If you like Martha, this is the fifth in the series, but there wasn't anything besides the cranberry stuff that really "grabbed" me. Still, it's great to continue your collection.
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The Invention of Chic: Therese Bonney and Paris Moderne
Lisa Schlansker Kolosek , and
M. Therese Bonney
Manufacturer: Thames & Hudson
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Binding: Hardcover
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Art Deco Furniture: The French Designers
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Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann: The Designer's Archives
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Hiroshi Sugimoto
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Axel Vervoordt: Timeless Interiors
ASIN: 0500510962 |
Book Description
After graduating from the Sorbonne in 1921 until the outbreak of World War II, American Thérèse Bonney pursued a prolific career as a photojournalist. She founded the first American illustrated press service in Europe, whose specialty was modern French design and architecture. The Bonney Service did business with some twenty countries, but her homeland was always the chief focus of Bonney's tremendous energies. In America, she declared,"our offices, our cars, our clothes reflect modern life, but our furniture and our homes are of the past." She made it her mission to change that.
Housed at the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum, Bonney's amazing and little-known archive comprehensively documents the modern movement in Paris between the wars. She photographed architecture and interiors, applied arts, and fashion in private residences, annual salons, and public exhibitions. René Herbst, Jean Dunand, René Prou, Paul Poiret, Jacques-Emile Ruhlmann, Pierre Chareau, Eileen Gray, Jean Puiforcat...her captions record the glory days of Art Deco and Moderne.
Bonney also recorded the changing face of Paris as the city embraced the modernist aesthetic. She turned her lens on shop fronts and window displays, advertising and graphic arts, theaters, restaurants, nightclubs, and bars. The international public was hungry to glimpse the glamour and finery of Paris, and Bonney's photographs delivered haute couture, jewelry, beauty salons, and chic department stores. 180 duotone photographs and illustrations.
Average customer rating:
- categorized well, but some photos too small
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In Search of the Lost Record: British Album Cover Art of 50's to 80's
Matsui Takumi
Manufacturer: Graphic-Sha Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
European
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ASIN: 4766112687 |
Customer Reviews:
categorized well, but some photos too small.......2002-10-10
This book has a neat premise...categorizing LP covers by themes and by designers by showing them in full color. The downside is that many of the photos are one inch square...hard to take in all the design efforts that went into the cover art, which is what this book is all about. Another minor complaint is that some of these covers have extensive ring wear, obviously from being a part of the author's own LP collection and not from the original films used to produce the covers (Hipgnosis still has ALL their transparencies, yet I guess it was easier or cheaper to not contact them and ask permission to use the originals). Plus there were a LOT of LP covers left out that, in my opinion, should have been included. But hey, I am not the author.
Still I gave this book 4 stars as there are relatively few other books out there that attempt to do what this one does.
Average customer rating:
- Dame Wendy Richard MBE please!
- Miss Brahms . . . Are You Free?
- An Interesting and Informative Autobiography
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Wendy Richard... No 'S': My Life Story
Wendy Richard
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster UK
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Entertainers
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Television Performers
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Women
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ASIN: 0743218701 |
Book Description
Oh all right then, just for a minute...
That was the first the public heard of Wendy Richard, when Mike Sarne's Come Outside succeeded in tempting his girl out of the dance hall, and also to the top of the 1962 pop charts. It wasn't long before her name and face were as well known as her voice.
Despite the Cockney accent, Wendy's roots were in the Northeast. She was born in Middlesbrough, the only child of parents who made their living in the licensed trade. By the time she was five, the family had moved down to London, where her father was the landlord of the Shepherd Tavern in Mayfair. The local prostitutes knew Wendy by name and the likes of Elizabeth Taylor, Michael Wilding and Anthony Armstrong Jones were frequent visitors to the pub. Here Wendy's lifelong love of London was born.
Her father's death, when Wendy was 11, marked the end of a happy childhood. In order for her mother to carry on working, Wendy was sent to a boarding school and dreamed of a more glamorous life. With her mother's help, and the money earned from full-time work in, ironically enough, the ladies fashion department of a large department store, Wendy began attending the Italia Conti Stage Academy. Soon the parts started coming and appearances in Dixon of Dock Green, The Newcomers, Dad's Army led to her first famous role -- as Shirley Brahms in Are You Being Served? Wendy recounts tales of the enduring friendships formed on Dad's Army, the camaraderie of the cast of Are You Being Served? and of happy stints doing panto with colleagues who would become like a family.
But, life beyond the cameras was no barrel of laughs. Wendy's three failed marriages included one who betrayed Wendy to the tabloids. She turned more and more to work and this paid off when she landed the role in EastEnders as Pauline Fowler. As one of the two remaining original cast members, Wendy is frank about life with her alter ego; about the warmth of her relationship with her television son, Mark, Todd Carty; about the occasional tensions of being constantly in the spotlight; and about the lighter side of life in Albert Square.
She speaks movingly of her real-life fight against cancer in 1996 which overshadowed her otherwise now happy life, with her partner John and beloved cairn terrier, Shirley Brahms II. Following a further health scare, her happiness was made complete by the announcement of the award of the MBE for Wendy Richard's services to television drama, celebrating 40 years as a working actress...and counting!
Customer Reviews:
Dame Wendy Richard MBE please!.......2006-06-02
Wendy Richard is one of Britain's beloved maternal figures better known for Pauline than Miss Brahms. This autobiography shows us her life up close and personal. She is one of those people who deserves more from life. If she was a mother, I bet she would have been a fantastic mother to any child. Unfortunately, she has had three marriages all ending in divorce for one reason or another. She now has love with John Burns but I think she could get married again. She has fought for her career and life and I think she is a wonderful role model. She is honest and candid and is aware of hurting others. When she thought about turning down an M.B.E. (Member of the Order of the British Empire), I wanted to reach in and slap on the television set. Of course, she deserves it. So what if she's a Conservative Monarchist and the Prime Minister is Labour. It doesn't matter, she has provided both great comic and dramatic moments. She has also had another bout of breast cancer since then and she has come through. God Bless you, Wendy.
Miss Brahms . . . Are You Free?.......2005-07-18
Roger Miller sang "England Swings(like a pendulum do. . . " back in the sixties . . . and Roger hit on something "special" about England . . . "it swings"! . . .
England gave us Shakespeare . . . Hayley Mills . . . The Beatles . . . and Ms Wendy Richard MBE!!! . . .
Wendy has been a "presence" in British theater and television since the sixties . . . and continues even today in a long-running role as Pauline on "The Eastenders" on the BBC and on Public Television in America.
But i remember (and still watch) Wendy as "Shirley Brahms" in "Are You Being Served?" . . . one of the all time great "classic comedies" which began it's run in 1972 . . and which continues to be aired and enjoyed here in "the States" over Public Television. Wendy will always "be" Miss Brahms!
In this book, Wendy recounts her most intersting life . . . from childhood to adult "fame" . . . and it is obvious that "fame" to Wendy is not what it seems to so many of us. She is quite normal . . quite "human" . . . and quiye unimpressed with ther artifice of "fame" . . . She is proud of her success as an actress . . prouder still of her care and concern for animals . . . and happy that her "work" and "talent" and "person' has brought so much joy and pleasure and delight to so many who have watched her on "the tele" . . . so many who look upon her as a person they "know" though never actually met.
Wendy can make you laugh hysterically . . . smile gleefully . .and even "cry" with sympathetic recognition . .. in her filmed work and art . . . but she can accomplish these same effects by recounting her real actual life as well . . and she does this in this volume. (There is a photograph of Wendy, as a child, standing outside a pub which her parents operated . . . and then, she stands outside that very same pub as a full grown successful adult . . . after reading this book, this photograph is so telling . . . and one wonders what thoughts must have ran through Wendy's recollections as she stood there for this most recent photo . . .
One thing becomes perfectly clear: Wendy Richard is a Londoner . . she loves "her city" . . and is faithful to it. (And now she's "Wendy Richard MBE"! :)
This book is a great read . . and you'll meet a great person when you begin reading it: Miss Wendy Richard (no "S")!
An Interesting and Informative Autobiography.......2002-04-24
Whether one is familiar with her as Miss Brahms on Are You Being Served? or as Pauline on Eastenders, fans of either show are sure to enjoy this lively and very personal memoir of (and by) actress Wendy Richard.
From her early years as the only child of somewhat nomadic parents in the licensing trade through to her courageous (and successful) battle in 1996 with breast cancer and her recent MBE award, Wendy is very frank and upfront in chronicling both her personal life and her career. She tells of her deep love for her parents and how the tragic loss of her father while she was still a child resulted in hardship for her and her mother. Following the deterioration and death of her mother around 1973, Wendy embarked on a series of disastrous relationships (three of which were marriages) that spanned a period of more than twenty years, and Wendy takes us through it all.
As an interesting touch, Wendy chronicles the story of Pauline (the character whom she has portrayed on the soap opera Eastenders since 1985) at the same time as she chronicles her own life story. Pauline has been a huge part of Wendy's life and she seems to feel a real attachment to the character. I am not a soap fan and have never seen Eastenders; nevertheless, Wendy's own life reads so much like a soap opera itself that the parallel story is somewhat appropriate, and I rather enjoyed her account of it.
The book contains 24 pages of photos (colour and b/w). There are a few stills from AYBS?, but most of the photos are from Wendy's own collection--photos of her parents, of her as a child, of friends and fellow cast members, of her precious pooch named Shirley (Wendy is a committed animal lover!), and of her at various functions and events.
In conclusion, I thoroughly enjoyed this autobiography--so much so that I had trouble putting it down. Wendy comes across as a very down-to-earth and caring person, and one can practically hear that distinctive (and delightful) "Cockney" accent as one reads! When I finished the book, I felt, quite honestly, like I'd just finished a lovely letter from a dear friend. Very highly recommended to fans of AYBS? or of Eastenders.
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