Book Description
"Reading Jessica Shattuck's pitch perfect first novel is like spying on the children and grandchildren of John Cheever's Wapshots."—Los Angeles Times
This "richly appointed and generously portrayed" (Kirkus Reviews) debut novel tells the story of a WASPy, old-Boston family coming face to face with an America much larger than the one it was born in. Told from five perspectives, the novel spans an explosive week in the life of the Dunlaps, culminating in a series of events that will change their way of life forever.
Caroline Dunlap has written off the insular world of the Boston deb parties, golf club luaus, and WASP weddings that she grew up with. But when she reluctantly returns home after her college graduation, she finds that not everything is quite as predictable, or protected, as she had imagined. Her father, the eccentric, puritanical Jack Dunlap, is carrying on stoically after the breakup of his marriage, but he can't stop thinking of Rosita, the family housekeeper he fired almost six months ago. Caroline's little brother, Eliot, is working on a giant papier-mâché diorama of their town-or is he hatching a plan of larger proportions?
As the real reason for Rosita's departure is revealed, the novel culminates in a series of events that assault the fragile, sheltered, and arguably obsolete world of the Dunlaps.
Opening a window into a family's repressed desires and fears, The Hazards of Good Breeding is a startlingly perceptive comedy of manners that heralds a new writer of dazzling talent.
Customer Reviews:
Impressive.......2007-05-23
I enjoyed this book immensely- moving, funny, compelling and honest. Shattuck captures the essence of this subculture accurately and sympathetically, and her character portrayals and details are spot on (I should know- I went to boarding school in the town in which it takes place). Superb coming of age story of a priviledged, percocious, intelligent young woman and her unstable and very human family. Well done. I hope director Alexandra Kerry (John's daughter) does it justice as a film.
Snoozefest.......2004-09-04
This book was so boring, I forced myself to read half of it before I just could not go on. I did not care one ounce for the characters. I was hoping something horrible like a nuclear attack or that their town would catch leaprosy just to make it interesting. I figured out the "surprise" instantly. (I flipped through the last chapter just to see if I was correct.) BORING book.
In actuality it is 3.5........2004-06-26
Well I picked this up after hearing good things about it and reading a interview with the author. I was attracted to her personality and I went out and bought this book. I think my money was well spent, it wasnt a fantastic book. But for a debut novel this is very good and promising. The plot revolves around the troubles of the Dunlap family who live in a W.A.S.P.y town in Massachusettes. Jack and Faith Dunlap are recently divorced, and their daughter Caroline has just returned home from college then there is Carolines younger brother who is troubled by the leaving,not of his mother but of the familys maid,Rosie(who ends up being pregnant with Jack Dunlaps child). The book basically deals with issues each of them face and how they deal with them. Their are some very interesting characters besides the Dunlap family that come into the story and this book is worth your time. To tell the truth I had to read it twice to really appreciate it.
interesting males, boring as hell females.......2004-06-24
What is it with female writers? (myself being an exception). They must have never met an interesting person of the female persuasion. The little brother, Eliot, and the father are complex, interesting characters, while the typical "nervous breakdown" mother and daughter Caroline are mere satellites to the "men in their lives". It really makes me sick to see male writers like Jonathan Franzen come up with beautifully complex portraits of women (Denise in The Corrections, Renee in Strong Motion) while every book I have read recently by a female just trots out the same silly, self-deprecating, doormat-like, joyless, self-denying, anti-hedonistic neurotic cliches in depicting their female characters and their lives.
(3.5)Behind the façade of a family in transition.......2004-04-14
In The Hazards of Good Breeding, a pithy social commentary, it is the rigid social structure of their ancestors that defines the Dunlap's approach to the future, in a distinctly American fashion as the characters and plot are set into a story that recognizes the inherent humor of the human condition. During one fast moving week in Boston, the Dunlap family is on a collision course with a steadily evolving world. Against a background of American history and family tradition, where "all the comforts and grace of good fortune...lie in decaying abundance", the Dunlap's have failed to acknowledge the enormous changes that have touched their family, redefining roles and expectations.
The eldest Dunlap boys are grown, but the two remaining children are caught in the intimate family dynamic, post-college Caroline and pre-boarding school Eliot. Their confusion about their parent's activities leads each to precipitous actions, particularly Eliot.
Eliot is a sensitive, compassionate young man who misses his mother, who lives in New York, and his babysitter, who has been conspicuously absent for the last six months. Eliot's mother, Faith, crumbling beneath the weight of her failed 22-year marriage, leaves Eliot in the care of his distant, awkward father in their historical home. During this one fateful week, Jack has a moment of revelation, reflecting on the texture of a constantly changing world.
While Caroline Dunlap circles the men in her family, alternately serving in her mother's place and ruminating on her own future, a handsome filmmaker falls into her life to further complicate matters. Faith, the ex-wife, is reawakening after long months of emotional confusion, tentatively reaching out to her children, prompted by their needs and her motherly intuition. But the babysitter, Rosita, is the anomaly in this family dynamic, her absence a catalyst for Eliot's fantasies and Jack's mid-life angst.
In spite of the Dunlap's historical heritage, this family is like most others, one foot stuck in yesterday, yet drawn into the vortex of a rapidly changing future. Through a series of events, the family moves towards rapprochement, albeit in unexpected ways, as their world shifts subtly, reconfigured in a manner that provides for individual needs. It is these characters' very real confusion that renders them accessible, even familiar. In her quirky style, Shattuck looks upon the Dunlaps with kindness and compassion. Luan Gaines/2004.
Customer Reviews:
interesting Athena Academy romantic suspense .......2004-11-01
Air Force Captain Josie Lockworth knows that the military is only providing lip service to her dream to prove her mom's theory on stealth aircraft or why else would they embed a reporter with her on her test flights. Bad publicity would doom the funding, but to make matters worse in Josie's mind is that they stuck her with Shannon Connor, who she detested when they both attended the Athena Academy for the Advancement of Women.
To obtain the millions needed to develop her mom's dream into a reality, Josie has to survive Shannon and persuade test observer Diego Morel to fund her project. Josie and Diego are attracted to one another, but she prefers a professional relationship although he wants more. As they work in close proximity, Diego has doubts on the merit of Josie's dream and knows rejection means the end of his relationship with the woman he loves before it soars off the ground.
The latest Athena Academy romantic suspense is an interesting tale on what goes into aircraft testing starring an obsessive female pilot and a veteran knowing he may have to choose between the woman he loves and the right stuff for the military. The story line contains sold characters including the support cast, but except for the wonderful flying scenes the action is limited. Still military romance readers will appreciate the cross purpose pursuits of the likeable lead characters.
Harriet Klausner
Customer Reviews:
Super Reader.......2007-08-01
A somewhat manic finale to the Card Sharks trilogy, as it all comes to head, with important parts to play for different people all around the globe. We also see the continuing maturation of Billy Ray. There are crazy people galore in this, the Nur, Barnett, the Black Dog terrorists.
Hartmann, Croyd, and others must work to stop the Sharks and their deadly Black Trump virus, and Mark Meadows finally finds himself and rediscovers The Radical from so long ago.
Wonderful book.......1997-10-30
Ah! This book is one of my favorites. It has in it, the thing we Wild Cards fans have been waiting for for 14 books.....the return of....THE RADICAL!!!! Yay! Yes, Wild Cards fans, the Radical returns!!! Again, yay! But, alas, this is and probably will be the last Wild Cards book, due to the death of Roger Zelazny. (He died in 95, one has not bwwn published in 2 years...before, one was published every year..go figure...)
A good book , and part of a great SF series ,.......1996-11-10
This is the end of this Card cycle, providing closure
to the Puppetman And the deadly Black trump virus. Mark Meadows
once again becomes the Radical the ever changing sleeper
teams up with the every obnoxious Carnifix to battle a plot to
destory the wild cards with the Black trump as the newly formed Radical
works with Popenjay to save Vietnam.
`
Book Description
Astrology, witchcraft, magical healing, divination, ancient prophecies, ghosts, and fairies were taken very seriously by people at all social and economic levels in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century England. Helplessness in the face of disease and human disaster helped to perpetuate this belief in magic and the supernatural. As Keith Thomas shows, England during these years resembled in many ways today's "underdeveloped areas." The English population was exceedingly liable to pain, sickness, and premature death; many were illiterate; epidemics such as the bubonic plague plowed through English towns, at times cutting the number of London's inhabitants by a sixth; fire was a constant threat; the food supply was precarious; and for most diseases there was no effective medical remedy. In this fascinating and detailed book, Keith Thomas shows how magic, like the medieval Church, offered an explanation for misfortune and a means of redress in times of adversity. The supernatural thus had its own practical utility in daily life. Some forms of magic were challenged by the Protestant Reformation, but only with the increased search for scientific explanation of the universe did the English people begin to abandon their recourse to the supernatural. Science and technology have made us less vulnerable to some of the hazards which confronted the people of the past. Yet Religion and the Decline of Magic concludes that "if magic is defined as the employment of ineffective techniques to allay anxiety when effective ones are not available, then we must recognize that no society will ever be free from it."
Customer Reviews:
An indispensable text and wonderful experience.......2006-10-21
Other people have praised the contents of this book, as well they should. So allow me to add something that might sway prospective readers.
I read this book at the conclusion of a year-long tutorial on this period of English history. Having focused on economic, social, military, diplomatic and religious histories of the time, I could not have been better prepared to read this book. It was, hands, down, the most perfect book I could have picked up after all that.
However, I realize that my circumstances will likely differ from others. Some people won't dive into this book after having waded through multiple texts on the centuries in question. This book shouldn't be appealing to academics or (in my case) failed academics alone. So, to those curious who haven't specialized in this field or even had the happy luck to muck about in it, like I did, I will say two things.
One, I enthusiastically recommended this book to several college buddies, none of whom were history students. While they had some questions that needed a glance at an encyclopedia, all thoroughly enjoyed it. Based on their responses, I'd say anyone with any background or interest in/familiarity with anthropology, religion or early English literature will enjoy this book.
Two, I read this book right before meeting my stepfather-in-law, a Presbyterian minister, for the first time. And just based on asking him questions and bringing up the subject matter provided us with hours of fascinating conversation. If you know anyone well-schooled in religion who enjoys talking about its history (and is not offended by the suggestion that sometimes religion can err), this book will be great conversation fodder and a delightful present.
That being said, reading this book was a wonderful experience. It combined the rigors of excellent scholarship with the pleasures of dryly witty writing and engrossing primary-source material. (I cannot say enough about this. It's a misfortune of the rigors of historical research that many of the people with the stamina to endure it don't seem to possess a similar aptitude for writing. Thomas may not be as pithy and light as A.J.P. Taylor, but his prose is far above historical-text average, and what he lacks as a stylist is more than made up for by the funny, bizarre and vivid primary-source passages he quotes.)
Ten years ago, this book might have been more difficult for non-historians, non-theologians and non-anthropologists to pick up and just read for fun. Now, with Wikipedia and countless other online tools, references to English history that might otherwise have seemed cryptic or arcane are easily searched and can only add to the full experience of enjoying Mr. Thomas' work. It might feel like work for a little while, to constantly refer to an online encyclopedia to clarify points about Charles I or Oliver Cromwell, but that will pass. Don't be afraid to jump in! It's a challenging text at times, but it is well worth the effort.
Fascinating Book!.......2000-12-08
I first read this book as a history graduate student many years ago, and it still remains one of my favorite books of all time. Thomas set himself a daunting task--ascertaining the effect the change in religion from Catholicism with its beliefs in miracles, saints, transubstantiation to Protestantism with its adversion to miraculous beliefs had on the popular imagination.
Thomas tapped little used sources, the Church court records which included trials for witchcraft or magic to see if he could trace a decline in belief in magic. Thomas concluded that magical belief did decline from the 15th-17th centuries. In my opinion, he proved his case.
Anyone who has done historical research will stand in awe of Thomas' command of sources and his ability to synthesize. Anyone who is more than a little fed up with ahistorical screeds on witchcraft prosecutions a la Margaret Murray, will applaud Thomas's reasoned and credible explaination of the reasons behind witchcraft prosecutions. Basically, witchcraft prosecution in 16th century England filled the same function as it does in contemporary Africa--an attempt to control the uncontrollable.
Impossible to resist!.......2000-06-09
Keith Thomas's Religion and the Decline of Magic was the first of my books for summer reading, and I doubt that any novel that I choose will be half as entertaining or any text as informative. By the conclusion I felt that I was completing an odessey throughout the early modern era with a sympathy and understanding of a world far different then ours in some respects, yet, as Thomas succinctly points out in the conclusion, profoundly similar. No other history book has granted me a deeper sense of understanding about human drives for stability and for explaination in all things. This is a book that grants insight and understanding far beyond its proclaimed subject matter, with positive and sweeping consequences for the objective thinker.
Excellent!.......2000-05-23
This book covered most every aspect of religion and the Reformation. Beginning with the wonderful opening chapter that explains the environment of the current era and ending with the equally as powerful conclusion that ties the whole book together. You are exposed to astrologists, witches, cunning men, sorcerers and realize how they each worked against, and with, the Church. We see how the rising of Church of England ebolished the idea of "magic" and miricals, an important factor in the decline of Catholocism. I highly reccomend this as an advanced reader to anyone interested in how the "pagen" influence and Church power intermingaled in an age when community was giving way to individulism. Brilliant.
A Remarkable Achievement.......2000-01-04
Originally published in 1971, Keith Thomas's landmark book has lost none of its impact over the last 30 years. This book almost singlehadedly founded an entirely new school of historiography in the fields of astrology, magic, religion, and witchcraft. Before 1970, these subjects were largely the domain of storytellers and "new age" authors, who, making little claim to objectivity, would embellish their "histories" with fanciful and/or romantic myths. With this book, Keith Thomas rescued astrology and witchcraft from their terrible predicaments and elevated them into serious issues capable of being studied as history. It is no exaggeration to say that almost every major text published in this field after 1971 was profoundly influenced by Thomas's work. If you are planning to seriously investigate the topics of religion and magic, then this book is indispensable. Even if your investigative scope does not include England, this book is still required background reading.
The first chapter (The Environment) alone is worth the price of admission. In this astonishing piece, Thomas highlights the miserable condition of early modern life. After setting this background, Thomas goes on to discuss the "magic" of the Medieval Church, the various belief systems surrounding it, and the impact that the Reformation had upon the long standing "rituals" of the Catholic church. Becuase the Calvinists placed little trust in the Catholic rituals, many people "felt disarmed in the face of the devil." As a result, much of England and Europe began to fear the impact of astrology and witchcraft on everyday life. But as the quality of early-modern life was so bleak, many English men and women resorted to magical healing and astrology in order to seek refuge from their plight. So, on one hand, many feared astrology and magic, but those same people often sought solace in it as well.
After discussing in detail the significance and practice of astrology in early-modern England, Thomas then goes on to outline the history of the crime of witchcraft. The discussion of witchcraft is probably the highlight of the book. Never had any previous historian (and few since) so clearly outlined the form and function of witchcraft in English society. After a brief chapter on Ghosts and Fairies, Thomas finishes up by drawing connections between the various issues he discusses.
The book includes a comprehensive index as well as excellent bibliographical essays at the beginning of each chapter should anyone want to pursue any topic further. Simply put, this book is a masterpiece that has received few (if any) notable detractors. This book is required reading for anyone interested in this field, and highly recommended to everyone else.
Book Description
With charm and enthusiasm, Lydie Marshall invites readers to explore the savory splendor of her native France. In A Passion for My Provence (previously published as Chez Nous), Lydie combines anecdotes of her time spent in Provence--the land of olive oil and garlic--with recipes she has acquired from three generations of French friends and family. The book begins with a tour of Lydie's restored château in the olive capital, Nyons, ending at the birthplace of many fabulous meals--her inviting kitchen. But Lydie's inspirations come from beyond her copper-potted enclave; she gathers wild herbs in the surrounding hills, buys fresh produce and meats from the village market, and collects the traditional country recipes of her neighbors. These recipes, cleverly adapted for American kitchens, reflect the joyous bounty of France. With relaxed guidance and eminent authority, Lydie Marshall combines French flair, style, thrift, and taste with American efficiency and concern for diet. Sample Lydie's recipes, and you will taste the honest, satisfying, and delicious cooking of rural France.
Customer Reviews:
Another Excellent Culinary Evocation of Provence.......2004-04-06
On the shelves of most libraries and bookstores today, Italian themed cookbooks outnumber French themed cookbooks by about three (3) to one (1), as they do on my bookshelf. Of these Italian cookbooks, over half deal explicitly with a regional Italian cuisine, with Tuscany, Rome, and Emilia-Romagna leading the pack. Yet, the most common culinary region as book subject is Provence, in Southern France along the Rhone river. To many minds this is foodie central for the Mediterranean cuisine, being a location with a uniquely strong junction of olive, grape, and vegetable culture with the seafood of the Mediterranean. Not only are many books written specifically about Provence, but it is the spiritual center of inspiration for practically every major culinary writer in English, most prominently Julia Child, Richard Olney and James Beard, all of whom either maintained homes in Provence or visited the area on a regular basis.
Not only does Provence lead in pure numbers, I think it also leads in the quality of the writing and in the diversity of the cuisine. As evidence, I submit a book I reviewed earlier, `Patricia Wells At Home in Provence' and my current subject `A Passion for My Provence' by Lydie Marshall. The two books have very similar chapter headings and both deal with tarts, daubes, vegetable stews, and fish stews aplenty. Aioli and tapenade flows over their pages like water. Still, it was very surprising to me to find virtually no duplication in recipes in the two books. This is doubly surprising because when I reviewed two books on Roman cuisine, I easily found five different entree (not condiment) recipes occurring in the two books with identical Italian names and similar recipes.
Both authors conduct cooking classes in their homes in Provence. Ms. Marshall lives in an old chateau in Nyons, a small town on a small tributary of the Rhone in central Provence. Ms. Marshall is a native of France. Ms. Wells, a native American, spends most of her time in Paris, but she summers in northern Provence, where she and her husband have had a farmhouse for over twenty years.
All of this makes choosing between these two books very difficult, especially since I believe the sizes of each book is almost perfectly proportional to the list prices and the presence of color photos in the more expensive (Wells) but not in the less expensive. The absence of common recipes in these books can probably be explained by the fact that both books specifically advertise themselves as collections of home recipes. As the two homes are separated by quite a distance in a very provincial land, it is no surprise that the two writers have little but a general style of cooking in common.
Certain ingredients share the starring roles in both books. It would not be Provencal cooking without eggplant, onions, asparagus, tomatoes, cepes (porcini), monkfish, and chicken. Ms. Marshall has a great section on fowl of various types, but all recipes can be made with chicken if pheasant or guinea hen is not available. Ms. Marshall also surprises us by covering ingredients such as pumpkin that Ms. Wells does not even mention. Ms. Marshall also devotes a considerable amount of space to pissaladiere, `the Provencal version of pizza' which has its origins in Nice. The classic topping for pissaladiere is an anchovy and onion marmalade. The crust is quite thick, more like a Sicilian than a Neapolitan thin crust pizza. Ms. Marshall in fact makes her pissaladiere with potato dough. She devotes over twenty pages to pissaladiere and other recipes one can base on this dough. In contrast, Ms. Wells has recipes for pizza and fougasse (French foccacia), but nothing on pissaladiere.
On average, I find Ms. Marshall's instructions less detailed than Ms. Wells, but I find no resulting deficiency in the quality of her dishes. Ms. Wells, being a professional journalist who hobnobs with the likes of Joel Robuchon will certainly have more to say about ingredients and technique. But, Ms. Marshall even has her own Robuchon story in describing the great chef's solution to doing a salt baked fish where the salt coat comes off without excessive salt in the fish itself. Ms. Wells includes wines to match each dish and Ms. Marshall does not.
As both books are in paperback with a total list price below $40, I would buy both, especially if you are fond of French cooking. If your budget is tight, get the work by Ms. Marshall and wait for Ms. Wells soon to be published new book on Provencal cooking.
Highly recommended, especially for those on a budget.
Delicious and home cook friendly.......2004-01-30
This book is a gem. I feel this book more approachable than, say, "Mastering the Art of French Cooking" to today's health-conscious home cooks. I have tried breads (fougasse, pissaladiere) to vegetables to chicken dishes to desserts with excellent results. Try her tartes (pies) for a change from your usual pies; they are truely eye-opening. Besides, it is a joy to read.
Great Recipes, wonderful anecdotes.......1999-08-07
An absolutely delightful addition to the important segment of books regarding Provence and cooking. Easy to follow, delicious recipes are accompanied by entertaining anecdotes.
Book Description
How much can we use the environment without spoiling what we find so valuable about it? Determining the carrying capacity of parks and related areas is a perennial question whose urgency grows each year as the number of visits continues to increase. Parks and Carrying Capacity represents a comprehensive assessment of the issue, as it:
• offers a historical and conceptual treatment of
carrying capacity
• describes and illustrates research approaches for
assessing carrying capacity, including qualitative and quantitative
surveys, normative theory and methods, visual research approaches,
trade-off analysis, and simulation modeling
• examines management alternatives for limiting the environmental
and social impacts of visitor use
• considers the broader question of environmental management and
how the issue of carrying capacity can be applied more generally
• discusses how the theory and methods associated with managing
the carrying capacity of parks and protected areas might be extended
to other areas of environmental management
The book includes a series of case studies that describe research programsdesigned to support analysis and management of carrying capacity at eight diverse units of the U.S. National Park System, and an additional case study that explores how the foundational components of carrying capacity (formulating indicators and standards, monitoring, and adaptive management) are being applied in an increasing number of environmental and natural resources fields to address the growing urgency of sustainability.
Parks and Carrying Capacity is an important new work for faculty, graduate and undergraduate students, and researchers in outdoor recreation, park planning and management, and natural resource conservation and management, as well as for professional planners and managers involved with park and outdoor recreation related agencies and nongovernmental organizations.
Book Description
Proposes a novel scheme for the protection and management of America's national parks
Customer Reviews:
Reflections on keeping the riff-raff out, even in a democracy.......2006-02-25
This book is a thoughtful and serious rebuttal to the argument that wilderness preservation is an elitist (even undemocratic) concern. Backpacking, wilderness designations, restrictions on development, and the like all *look* elitist. Backpacking is a pursuit of the educated upper-middle class, which also dominates most environmental groups. The broader working and middle classes want roads, RV campsites, snowmobiles and off-road vehicles, as well as attractive hotels, restaurants, gift shops, swimming pools and other resort activities. Is there a defensible democratic argument for saying "no" to these things?
Sax insists that there is. The full argument is too nuanced to summarize here but here's a piece of it. Some people buy season tickets to cultural events because they know that a full season will expose them to things they already like (Mozart for example) as well as things they don't yet know about. People pay for librarians to recommend books we wouldn't otherwise find. Wilderness preservation in our national parks can play an analogous role, introducing motorized visitors to non-motorized things that they wouldn't otherwise experience. Done correctly, visits can force visitors to experience nature with an open-ended agenda. Visitors won't know in advance whether they'll like the experience, but they might know that they're willing to take a chance and trust the Park Service.
Sax makes many interesting points about national parks and wilderness along the way. Like most others writing in this genre, he is also very critical of the tourism-related development that characterizes most national parks. This book is not the place to go if you're looking for a history of the parks (or if you're looking for any factual material), but if you'd like thoughtful reflections on the parks in a series of essays, I strongly recommend it.
A timely reminder, even 20 years later.......2000-09-30
Joseph Sax does an eloquent job of retracing the history of national parks with an emphasis on the differences between what was intended and what has been implemented. He writes not only of how our reserved lands are viewed, but also about how different sectors of the population believe these lands should be used (or not). What is particularly effective are his discourses on the different populations and the feedback effect We have on shaping policy for reserve lands. This is a very interesting book that anyone who considers themselves to be an "advocate" of wilderness or of the idea of the outdoors, would do well to read.
Product Description
Flawless copy, brand new, pristine, never opened - 460 lots; many color illustrations of the furniture, decorative arts, Indian and Islamic works of art and jewelry offered in this sale.
Average customer rating:
- A Fashion Book For Rest Of Us
|
Surfers Soulies Skinheads and Skaters: Subcultural Style from the Forties to the Nineties
Amy de la Haye , and
Cathie Dingwall
Manufacturer: Overlook Hardcover
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Fashion Design
| Commercial
| Graphic Design
| Design & Decorative Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Textile & Costume
| Design & Decorative Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Fashion
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Commercial
| Fashion
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Popular Culture
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Social Sciences
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Beauty & Fashion
| Health, Mind & Body
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Interior Design
| Home & Garden
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Skins
-
Skinhead
ASIN: 0879516895 |
Customer Reviews:
A Fashion Book For Rest Of Us.......1999-04-30
This beautifully produced coffee-table book arose from a fashion exhibit held by the Victoria & Albert Museum in the early 1990s. I can't say enough about the layout, photography, and amazing color throughout the book. While the exhibit curators obviously labored mightily to put the exhibit together, the book manages to catalog it all in an enthralling way. A bit expensive for people like me, but you should definitely find a copy to browse through if nothing else.
Book Description
Practical, classroom-tested instruction is at the core of this new introduction to basic drawing skills, written by one of the country's leading illustrators- a teacher admired as much for her ability to inspire students as for her artistic talent. Centered on the art of drawing still-life objects with charcoal, Exploring The Basics of Drawing presents a logical, step-by-step approach that not only gets results but also inspires readers to learn and excel. Thorough coverage of the fundamental skills needed to learn to draw includes still-life drawing, basic shapes, and the key concepts of perspective, light, value, and space. At the heart of the book are drawing projects that show step-by-step progress toward a finished drawing, giving readers the practice they need to build their skills and their confidence.
Customer Reviews:
A first rate primer for learning the basics of observational drawing.......2005-10-10
I teach drawing at the college level and have seen a multitude of drawing books. All though many of them are very nice this is the first one I have ever been compelled to recommend. It may not have all the bells and whistles of costlier books but it explains the basics of observational drawing in a concise way that could be understood by beginning drawing students. The illustrations explain in a visual way what the author explains verbally and are easy to view and understand. This book would be the one to pick if you do not have an instructor and need to teach yourself. If you read the book and work from observation you will improve your drawing skills. I like the book so much I am selecting it for my students as the class text for Basic Drawing I.
If you are advanced drawing student and have the rudimentaries of drawing down then this may not be the book for you.
Average customer rating:
|
Exploring Metric Drafting: Basic Fundamentals
John R. Walker
Manufacturer: Goodheart-Willcox Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
| Books
General & Reference
| Technology
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0870062891 |
Customer Reviews:
This is a solution manual for another book........2004-04-03
This book is just the answer to quizzes, questions, and a portfolio of what correct drawings should look like. No instruction for self learning. This book is just an instructor's resource. (only relates to ISBN 159070181X)
As a solution manual, however, it looks emphatically able for its intended role. There seems to be a related Text book and supplemental Worksheets that goes with this solution manual.
Rating is based on: there is no clue as to what the related books or materials are titled, ISBN, etc. Some hint would be useful.
Average customer rating:
- Man as Athlete: Leni Captures the Olympic's Hellenic Spirit
- Your coffee table is naked without this book!
- "Olympia" shows the outstanding beauty of mankind!
|
Olympia
Leni Riefenstahl
Manufacturer: St Martins Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Photographers, A-Z
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Photo Essays
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Olympic Games
| Miscellaneous
| Sports
| Subjects
| Books
Photography
| Miscellaneous
| Sports
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Sports
| Subjects
| Books
Documentaries
| Movies
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
Look Inside Entertainment Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Look Inside Sports Books
| Trip
| Specialty Stores
| Books
ASIN: 0312113714 |
Amazon.com
Leni Riefenstahl was an incredibly gifted filmmaker, regardless of her politics. Fortunately, politics didn't obscure the perfection of the film "Olympia", made at the 1936 Berlin Olympics, from which these stark, beautiful black-and-white photographs were made. Riefenstahl pioneered innovative camera angles and techniques in order to create a strong vision of the Olympics. She presents athletes as artists -- practitioners of the art of sport. Through her lens, we view the epitome of the beauty of athleticism, the excitement of competition, and the zenith of human idealism. Very highly recommended.
Customer Reviews:
Man as Athlete: Leni Captures the Olympic's Hellenic Spirit.......2002-07-23
In the 1937 preface to the first edition of this book, Leni Riefenstahl remarked 'it is the timeless document of a great idea -- a hymn to beauty and competetive endeavour.' Sixty-five years later, the graceful images of athletes competing in the 1936 Berlin games has more than withstood the test of time and validated Riefenstahl's original estimation of this work's ground-breaking importance, not only as a document, but as an exercise in the aesthetics of the idealised beauty of the human body in movement.
Leni Riefenstahl was something of a Renaissance woman: Photographer, motion picture director, editor, dancer, skier, and all-around athlete, no one could have been a better match for documenting the 1936 Olympics on film, from which stills were culled to create this volume. True to the spirit of Ancient Greece, it is fitting that it was captured on silver nitrate by this gifted cinematographer christened Helene (her birth name, for which 'Leni' is a German nickname).
Actually, the term 'stills' does injustice to the photographs contained with -- so alive are they, capturing the essence of athleticism and motive power.
The beginning of the book is devoted to Ancient Greece, and documenting the ruins which monumentalise her greatness: The Parthenon, Myron's discus thrower, the gods, such as Apollo and Achilles. Riefenstahl has brought many of the famous statues of athletes alive, as she photographs naked men and women engaged in the ancient sports, such as the javelin throw, the shot put, eurythmics, dance and the discus throw. Her athletes epitomise the grace, sensuousness and taut, muscular efficiency of the male and female bodies.
Another striking sequence is of the young Greek torch bearer, who ignites the torch at Athens and delivers it on his long route through Thermopaylae, the Grecian shore, Delphi and Corinth. The poise and determination in the runner's body and eyes convey the Olympic spirit with the same glowing certitude as the eternal flame, which the runner holds aloft like a beacon in the night.
Once in Berlin, the bulk of this volume is dedicated to the athletes themselves. Leni's cameramen captured all the events, and some of the images are just astounding for their sense of motion and eloquent simplicity of composition. Among my favourites are: p. 60, the Flame from Greece, which shows a German youth standing before the crowd of athletes, holding the flame erect before lighting the stadium torch; p.62, Start of the 80 meter hurdles, as seen from the timekeeper's point-of-view, the lines demarcating the oval track's lanes sweep into a bird's eye view of the pensive hurdlers as they await the starter's gun; p. 68, Jesse Owens in the starting blocks, the great athlete is the very embodiment of concentration; pp. 98, 99, German Gisela Mauermayer, discus thrower, shows the female athlete in motion, and in joyous release on her way to the gold medal; p. 137, shadows of marathon runners, which convey the fleeting rush of the events; p. 247, finale, which shows the Berlin Olympicstadion encircled by pillars of searchlights just before the flame is extinguished.
'Olympia' is, to me, the greatest expression of graceful motion ever captured by a photographer. A tone poem for camera, these images better convey the concept of motion than 99% of the movies today, which are motion pictures in name only.
Your coffee table is naked without this book!.......2002-05-14
The glorious work of Leni Riefenstahl (admit it: love her or hate her, she is incredibly gifted as a photographic artist!!) is shown off on the printed pages of this impressive edition. Fans of her films will love it...sports fans will love it...anyone impressed by the beauty of the human form will love it. You must fall into at least one of those categories, eh? A treasure for your library!
"Olympia" shows the outstanding beauty of mankind!.......1999-02-11
I read "Olympia", so to speak, with greatest pleasure--for this is really a picture-book of the most exquisite kind and, like the best of them, one that can be enjoyed by adults as well as children. It is made of stills from the film "Olympia" directed by the German woman Helene (Leni) Riefenstahl, which is of course about the 1936 Berlin Olympiad. As well as being a filmaker, Leni was a dancer, mountaineer, skier, and actress, all of which gave her a great understanding of the primary subject-matter shown in "Olympia"--the art of the moving human body. Though this artist has been much slandered by many a critic, her film is a festival of beauty and nations, lauding the aesthetics, athletics, and daring of mankind no matter the race, religion, or creed. I have seen the film, and can attest that this book gives a fine and thorough overview thereof, doing justice not only to one of the finest films ever made, but also to art, life, and humanity
Average customer rating:
- Leni Captures the Olympics' Hellenic Spirit
|
Riefenstahl Olympia
Leni Riefenstahl
Manufacturer: Taschen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Collections, Catalogues & Exhibitions
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| How-to
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Subjects
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Direction & Production
| Movies
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
History & Criticism
| Movies
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
General
| World War II
| Military
| History
| Subjects
| Books
French
| Foreign Language Nonfiction
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
German
| Foreign Language Nonfiction
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Arts & Photography
| French
| Foreign Language Books
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Entertainment
| French
| Foreign Language Books
| Specialty Stores
| Books
History
| French
| Foreign Language Books
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Nonfiction
| French
| Foreign Language Books
| Specialty Stores
| Books
All French Books
| French
| Foreign Language Books
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Arts & Photography
| German
| Foreign Language Books
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Entertainment
| German
| Foreign Language Books
| Specialty Stores
| Books
History
| German
| Foreign Language Books
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Nonfiction
| German
| Foreign Language Books
| Specialty Stores
| Books
All German Books
| German
| Foreign Language Books
| Specialty Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
OLYMPIA -The LENI RIEFENSTAHL Archival Collection
ASIN: 382281945X |
Customer Reviews:
Leni Captures the Olympics' Hellenic Spirit.......2003-01-21
In the 1937 preface to the first edition of this book, Leni Riefenstahl remarked 'it is the timeless document of a great idea -- a hymn to beauty and competetive endeavour.' Sixty-five years later, the graceful images of athletes competing in the 1936 Berlin games has more than withstood the test of time and validated Riefenstahl's original estimation of this work's ground-breaking importance, not only as a document, but as an exercise in the aesthetics of the idealised beauty of the human body in movement.
Leni Riefenstahl was something of a Renaissance woman: Photographer, motion picture director, editor, dancer, skier, and all-around athlete, no one could have been a better match for documenting the 1936 Olympics on film, from which stills were culled to create this volume. True to the spirit of Ancient Greece, it is fitting that it was captured on silver nitrate by this gifted cinematographer christened Helene (her birth name, for which 'Leni' is a German nickname).
Actually, the term 'stills' does injustice to the photographs contained with -- so alive are they, capturing the essence of athleticism and motive power.
The beginning of the book is devoted to Ancient Greece, and documenting the ruins which monumentalise her greatness: The Parthenon, Myron's discus thrower, the gods, such as Apollo and Achilles. Riefenstahl has brought many of the famous statues of athletes alive, as she photographs naked men and women engaged in the ancient sports, such as the javelin throw, the shot put, eurythmics, dance and the discus throw. Her athletes epitomise the grace, sensuousness and taut, muscular efficiency of the male and female bodies.
Another striking sequence is of the young Greek torch bearer, who ignites the torch at Athens and delivers it on his long route through Thermopaylae, the Grecian shore, Delphi and Corinth. The poise and determination in the runner's body and eyes convey the Olympic spirit with the same glowing certitude as the eternal flame, which the runner holds aloft like a beacon in the night.
Once in Berlin, the bulk of this volume is dedicated to the athletes themselves. Leni's cameramen captured all the events, and some of the images are just astounding for their sense of motion and eloquent simplicity of composition. Among my favourites are: The Flame from Greece, which shows a German youth standing before the crowd of athletes, holding the flame erect before lighting the stadium torch; Start of the 80 meter hurdles, as seen from the timekeeper's point-of-view, the lines demarcating the oval track's lanes sweep into a bird's eye view of the pensive hurdlers as they await the starter's gun; Jesse Owens in the starting blocks, the great athlete is the very embodiment of concentration; German Gisela Mauermayer, discus thrower, shows the female athlete in motion, and in joyous release on her way to the gold medal; Shadows of marathon runners, which convey the fleeting rush of the events; Finale, which shows the Berlin Olympicstadion encircled by pillars of searchlights just before the flame is extinguished.
'Olympia' is, to me, the greatest expression of graceful motion ever captured by a photographer. A tone poem for camera, these images better convey the concept of motion than 99% of the movies today, which are motion pictures in name only.
This edition, by the German publisher Taschen, is truer to the original, both in graphics and in the accutance of the photography, than St. Martin's 1994 reprinting. Highest recommendation.
Book Description
The author relates the film's subsequent history against the background of the worsening political situation in Europe. The events leading up to World War II were to have a profound effect on the future of the film. Aside from the political issues, the book describes the fascinating story of the making of an epic film.
Average customer rating:
|
Olympia
Leni Riefenstahl
Manufacturer: St Martins Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OTF8FY |
Books:
- The Infinite Plan: A Novel
- The Loss of Leon Meed: A Novel
- The Lost Get-Back Boogie
- The Lucky Gourd Shop
- The Mixquiahuala Letters
- The Passionate Mistakes and Intricate Corruption of One Girl in America (Native Agents)
- The Peron Novel
- The Queen's Bastard: A Novel
- The Small Boat of Great Sorrows
- The Thich Nhat Hanh Collection: Peace is Every Step; Teachings on Love; The Stone Boy and Other Stories
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Why Men Love Bitches: From Doormat to Dreamgirl-A Woman's Guide to Holding Her Own in a Relationship
- The Shadow of the Wind: A Novel
- Protective and Damaging Effects of the Biobehavioral Stress Response: From Molecules to Man
- Superconductivity: Part 2
- The 45 Second Presentation That Will Change Your Life: The World's Best-Selling Network Marketing Gu
- The New Eighteenth-Century Style: Rediscovering a French Décor
- The Marine Aquarium Problem Solver: Practical & Expert Advice on Keeping Fish & Invertebrate
- Modern Vixens: World Of Winkytiki
- Sixteen Acres: Architecture and the Outrageous Struggle for the Future of Ground Zero
- The Man in My Basement: A Novel
The Hills at Home: A Novel
The Wife: A Novel
Prep: A Novel
Rise and Shine: A Novel
The Birth of Venus: A Novel
