The Works of Oliver Wendel Homes : Autocrat Of The Breakfast Table (Volume 1)

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Thoughts and the Times From 1850

Delightful

Glad to see this back in print ...

Astounding that this book is out of print....

A delightful essay on life, love, assorted topics

The Works of Oliver Wendel Homes : Autocrat Of The Breakfast Table (Volume 1)
Oliver Wendell Holmes
Manufacturer: Reprint Services Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Library Binding

Literary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0781231566

Book Description

An enduring American classic.

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I WAS JUST going to say, when I was interrupted, that one of the many ways of classifying minds is under the heads of arithmetical and algebraical intellects. All economical and practical wisdom is an extension or variation of the following arithmetical formula: 2 2=4. Every philosophical proposition has the more general character of the expression A B=C. We are mere operatives, empirics, and egotists, until we learn to think in letters instead of figures.

Customer Reviews:

Thoughts and the Times From 1850.......2004-04-16

An interesting range of thoughtful opinions, imbedded in a look at American life in the 1850s, by the father of a future Supreme Court Associate Justice. Part of the charm of this book is in the fact that at that time horses had been the only means of human-assisted transportation for the last few thousand years (with the exception of the new-fangled railroad which was changing the world). Electronics were not even imagined. Automobiles were 50 years into the future.

Delightful.......2002-05-19

Two oral practices flourished in antebellum America: the lecture (or sermon) and the conversation. Lectures, such as Emerson's "The American Scholar" and sermons, such as the abolitionist sermons of Henry Ward Beecher, are well-known examples of this era. But it was also known as the Golden Age of Conversation, and its greatest practitioner was generally agreed to be Oliver Wendell Holmes, Senior.

Holmes was considered an important American writer until the 1920s when he was excised from the American canon by the modernists. They depicted him as willfully provincial, and elitist. What those critics failed to understand was that the Autocrat is also a comic pose, and that Holmes is making sport of everyone, including elitists. Holmes' democratic view of conversation as an open, free-wheeling discourse where anyone could join the Autocrat at his table, as long as they enlivened the conversation, ran counter to the views of his more elitist friends in Boston's Saturday Club in Boston. Holmes loved to talk, and his love for talk made him a democrat, or perhaps a true republican.

His Autocrat is a many sided character: stern and foolish, admonitory and celebratory, a polymorph who will don any temporaty mask necessary to keep the conversation alive. Holmes' playful metaphorical imagination is also a revelation. His gift for translating complex ideas into homey metaphors, aphorisms, and similes is nothing short of miraculous. In the words of another seriously comic American whom I'm sure Holmes would have delighted in, the Autocrat "floats like a butterfly, stings like a bee."

The Autocrat of the Breakfast table begins "in media res," in the middle of a conversation, with the Autocrat attempting to set the rules for conversation at his table. They are generous rules, but even they are open to sabotage by his tablemates at the boarding house. He begins by banning "facts" from his table as impediments to conversation, (a condition that should prevail on today's too numerous current event talking head shows. But I, like the Autocrat, digress).

Here's how the Autocrat starts: "I was just going to say, when I was interrupted, that one of the many ways of classifying minds is under the head of arithmetical and algebraical intellects. All economical and practical wisdom is an extension of the following arithmetical formula: 2 + 2 = 4. Every philosophical proposition has the more general character of the expression a + b = c. We are mere operatives, empirics, and egoists, until we learn to think in letters instead of figures." "They all stared. There is a divinity student lately come among us to whom I commonly address remarks like this. "

In other words, as Gibian says in his marvelous OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES AND THE CULTURE OF CONVERSATION: [The Autocrat] only asks us to study his beliefs the way a pragmatist would study the doctrines of any religion: "I don't want you to believe anything I say; I only want you to to try to see what makes me believe it." How refreshing in this age of factoids and statisticoids recited with rancor and ideological certitude, to hear the Autocrat and his tablemates at the boarding house attempting to fashion a democracy through and by their conversation. Nowadays all we have are the unironic Autocrats, control freaks like John McLaughlin, Ted Koppel, Rush Limbaugh, and that guy on FOX whose name I have, pleasantly, forgotten.

Listening to the Autocrat you can almost hear American singing. It's not exactly Walt Whitman's America, but it's still America in the hopeful, experimental antebellum era, and thus a good antidote to the cold technocratic chatter and lukewarm public relations cant we are showered with in this hypermediated century.

Glad to see this back in print ..........2002-02-28

The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table is a demonstration of New England civility in the 1850s. I believe it went through more than 50 editions by the end of the nineteenth century, so it must have been very widely read at one time. The book is packed with amazing observations. Holmes takes the time to wonder why the sense of smell is the quickest path to memory. He rails against puns in a way that is better than punning. He points out human flaws and praises examples of good living. Trees come alive, through prosaic description and poetic flights. Would you like to go back to the 1850s and have a conversation with a Boston intellectual? Here's your chance. There are many old copies of this book sitting around, but it's nice that it's come back into print (again).... (it's also a quiet love story, by the way)

Astounding that this book is out of print...........2001-10-11

The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table is a demonstration of New England civility in the 1850s. I believe it went through more than 50 editions by the end of the nineteenth century, so it must have been very widely read at one time. The book is packed with amazing observations. Holmes takes the time to wonder why the sense of smell is the quickest path to memory. He rails against puns in a way that is better than punning. He points out human flaws and praises examples of good living. Trees come alive, through prosaic description and poetic flights. Would you like to go back to the 1850s and have a conversation with a Boston intellectual? Here's your chance. There are many old copies of this book sitting around, but it would be nice if it came back into print.... (it's also a quiet love story, by the way)

A delightful essay on life, love, assorted topics.......1998-12-23

The imaginary scene is a boarding house breakfast. Conversation is dominated by a lively gent who's seen it all. He holds forth on women, school, philosophy, rowing, interrupted from time to time with verses such as the Deacon's Masterpiece. It's witty, poignant, and rightfully a classic.

Amazon.com

Newton's Cannon is an alternate history set primarily in the court of Louis XIV. This might sound familiar to readers of Vonda McIntyre's Nebula-winning The Moon and the Sun. Keyes, like McIntyre, blends alchemy, history, and fantasy in his novel.

Keyes's characters are expertly drawn: Louis XIV, the aging King of France who seeks a return to international preeminence, young Ben Franklin of Boston, a printer's apprentice who yearns to master alchemy, and Adrienne de Montchevreuil, a lovely, impoverished noblewoman who secretly pursues mathematics, but attracts Louis's lustful attention. The many secondary characters are also believable personalities, and the plot is original and suspenseful. Keyes's writing is precise and witty. "It was, Adrienne reflected, impossible not to be impressed by the Grand Canal. More like a cruciform inland sea with banks of polished marble, it summed up many things about Versailles. It was monumental in proportion, insanely expensive, impossible to overlook, and entirely frivolous."

Though the ending of Newton's Cannon leaves much unresolved--setting up book two of The Age of Unreason, A Calculus of Angels--it's fine entertainment all by itself. --Nona Vero

Book Description

A dazzling quest whose outcome will raise humanity to unparalleled heights of glory--or ring down a curtain of endless night . . .

1681: When Sir Isaac Newton turns his restless mind to the ancient art of alchemy, he unleashes Philosopher's Mercury, a primal source of matter and a key to manipulating the four elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Now, as France and England battle for its control, Louis XIV calls for a new weapon--a mysterious device known only as Newton's Cannon.

Half a world away, a young apprentice named Benjamin Franklin stumbles across a dangerous secret. Pursued by a deadly enemy--half scientist, half sorcerer--Ben makes his fugitive way to England. Only Newton himself can help him now. But who will help Sir Isaac? For he was not the first to unleash the Philosopher's Mercury. Others were there before him. Creatures as scornful of science as they are of mankind. And burning to be rid of both . . .

Customer Reviews:

A tarty Ben Franklin, a crazy Isaac Newton, and weird angels........2007-09-27

An insane Isaac Newton and a fourteen-year-old Ben Franklin are the protagonists in this, the first volume of a trilogy with the highly apropos title THE AGE OF UNREASON. Keyes has a distinct voice as an alternative historian, very different from that king of alternative history, Harry Turtledove. The byzantine plot adroitly bounces back and forth between the adventures of young Ben in Boston and London and the decadent political and social manoeuvres of Louis XIV at Versailles, while doom looms in the form of a comet which has alchemically been summoned to destroy London. There are many marvelous inventions, especially weapons, as a decidedly alchemical version of contemporary science permeates this particular reality. Intriguingly, and not without some actual historical basis, Keyes' Franklin is a libidinous fellow who finds himself en boudoir with several of the older ladies. The bedroom scenes are generally handled with tenderness and taste. NEWTON'S CANNON is a fast, diverting read and a fine example of speculative fiction at its best. If you enjoy Harry Turtledove or even actual history such as the works of David McCullough or Stephen Ambrose, you'd likely enjoy Keyes' lean prose and strong plot.

An interesting premise.......2007-06-28

Gregory Keyes has really made a very interesting start with the first book in his "Age of Unreason" series. "Newton's Cannon" starts with young Benjamin Franklin stifled by his apprenticeship to his cruel brother. During his spare time he experiments with a new aether-technology, a cross between alchemy, science, and some supernatural elements (the exact workings of it is pretty vague). Soon Franklin becomes involved in a massive conspiracy in the European war between England and France. Meanwhile, Louis XIV has commissioned a new and terrible weapon to use against his British foes, but is being manipulated by forces no one but the eccentric Sir Isaac Newton understands.

I enjoyed the book, and look forward to continuing the series later on. I am not sure about the science involved, it seemed a bit fantastic to me. I am under the impression that while the type was researched and explored, it isn't real; hey, the book is located in the science fiction section for a reason I guess. The historical elements are also taken rather loosely, but it's alternate history, so I can forgive it.

Young Benjamin Franklin (about 14 years old here) is characterized more like a highly intelligent Tom Sawyer, always in some sort of trouble or mischief, though always well meaning. Sir Isaac Newton was the most interesting character in the book, though I thought criminally underused. The great Sun King, Louis XIV was pathetic and unlikable. Adrienne de Montchevreuil is supposed to be a fierce modern woman, but to me seemed too helpless and too willing to be used in everyone else's schemes and self pitying to be portrayed as strong.

The action was alright, though I thought it was kind of tame.

Despite these flaws, I liked it, and am really looking forward to continuing the series.

Tightly woven tale of alternative history.......2006-10-13

Young Ben Frankline is a printer's appretice trapped in seven years servitude to his older brother. Adrienne is a poor young noble woman highly educated in secret, and the object of the lust of the aging Louis XIV of France. Both are caught in a plot to use alchemy to change the tide of a war that could see the conquest of France by the English. Full of well drawn, deep characters (many of whom are drawn from real history or classic literature) and a fast paced story-line Newton's Cannon is a great start to a new fantasy/historical series.

A warning for those with kids. Fourteen-year-old Ben Franklin is a bit over-sexed with women twice his age. There is nothing explicit, but as a parent I want to know this kind of stuff. Everthing else about this novel is PG.

Enjoy!

A Near Miss.......2006-06-26

Newton's Cannon (1998) by J.Gregory Keyes - 355 pages - rating: 6.5/10

A young adventurous Benjamin Franklin must flee Boston to seek out Sir Isaac Newton and hopefully save London from imminent total destruction.

I love this author's writing style - interesting new ideas, exciting and smooth - BUT, he has completely BLUNDERED with respect to structure. For some utterly incomprehensible reason - perhaps forced upon him by an over zealous editor - the plotline is fractured - in the WORST possible manner - into two separate lines.

The author will literally end a chapter RIGHT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ACTION and start up the next chapter in the middle of the action in the second plot line. You will not only find yourself to be enormously FRUSTRATED by this interruption and destruction of an exciting moment but you will find it necessary to flip back to the end of the previous chapter to try to reconstruct where it was you were when you were interrupted the last time. The sad thing is the author does this at the end of EVERY CHAPTER. It drove me nuts.

I don't mind multiple plot lines. I've read several books written in this fashion. Most books written post 1985 are done in this way. The problem was that Keyes chose to switch plots at precisely the wrong time.

Why did I give this book a 6.5/10 instead of a 3/10 given this enormous annoyance ? Well the writing is very good and so is the plot but the bozo ruined it with this silly little trick of his.

Claus Kellermann
2006 June 25
Sci_Fi_Researcher@yahoo.com

What if Alchemy worked?.......2005-09-02

What if Newton - who was interested in such things - deduced the rules for it as here he did for physics? And what if this new science created new weapons for the wars of the 18th century?

That's the basic premise of the "The Age of Unreason" series. All four books are out now and my basic review is that the series has been excellent, and I highly recommend it!

Keyes has an excellent book here. In many ways, it is similar to "Celestial Matters," where Richard Garfinkle took the idea of "What if Aristotelian physics was real" and ran with it, creating an alternate world where that science ruled, creating an Earth - and a history - wildly different from our own.

Here, Keyes is asking "what if the alchemists were right?" - but unlike "Celestial Matters," the POD is close enough to the current events of the story that the world, while changed, is still recognizably our 18th century world. And because it is recognizably our world, Keyes gets to use real historical figures as his characters - Franklin, Newton, Louis XIV, etc. - and he does so very well.

He also seems to have a good grasp on the changes his POD would render to the world. The new alchemical miracle machines (such as ever-glowing lights, the aetherscreiber, and even a steam-engine of a sort) are just beginning to make their way into common use. There are groups (mostly religious) opposed to them as "magic," there are others - such as Franklin - fascinated by the new "science" and it's possibilities.

And it seems that along with the Philosopher's Mercury, "demons" may walk the Earth...

I loved the book. If it's got any real problem, it's that it's the first book of a series - and because of that Keyes is introducing almost too much stuff to us, stuff that will be useful in the rest of the series, but here make the book a little cluttered. We've got the primary story of Louis, Franklin, and the weapon (of which I will only say the primary creator of which - Fatio - chuckles when he thinks how appropriate it is to call it "Newton's own cannon"), but then we've also got a secret society of women - the "Korai" - playing their little power games with some of the main characters, "demons" running their own mysterious plans, and - heck - even a brief walk-on by Blackbeard the Pirate, of all people (well, "limp-on," actually). It's all just that close to being too much.

However, as I said, I loved the book and read it and all the rest of the books in the "Age of Unreason" series. This is Alternate History writ very large - and very strange...

Newton's Cannon (Book One of The Age of Unreason)

Average customer rating:

Newton's Cannon (Book One of The Age of Unreason)
J. Gregory Keyes
Manufacturer: Del Rey / The Ballantine Publishing Group
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

A Calculus of Angels: Book Two of the Age of Unreason

ASIN: 156865829X

Product Description

A dazzling quest whose outcome will raise humanity to unparalleled heights of glory--or ring down a curtain of endless night... 1681: When Sir Isaac Newton turns his restless mind to the ancient art of alchemy, he unleashes Philosopher's Mercury, a primal source of matter and a key to manipulating the four elements of Earth, Air, Fire, and Water. Now, as France and England battle for its control, Louis XIV calls for a new weapon--a mysterious device known only as Newton's Cannon. Half a world away, a young apprentice named Benjamin Franklin stumbles across a dangerous secret. Pursued by a deadly enemy--half scientist, half sorcerer--Ben makes his fugitive way to England. Only Newton himself can help him now. But who will help Sir Isaac? For he was not the first to unleash the Philosopher's Mercury. Others were there before him. Creatures as scornful of science as they are of mankind. And burning to be rid of both...

NEWTON'S CANNON - The Age of Unreason Book (1) One

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NEWTON'S CANNON - The Age of Unreason Book (1) One
J. Gregory Keyes
Manufacturer: Del Rey - Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NRV7NY

Book Description

If you know how to say "stop" in Klingonese and who the tallest Klingon is, this is the book for you!

Back again are fifty never-before-published puzzles devoted entirely to Star Trek®. Edited by top puzzle master John M. Samson, these crossword puzzles will challenge your knowledge of the everyday and the obscure related to every Star Trek series and movie. Grab a cup of raktajino, and solve them all.

Customer Reviews:

Star Trek Crosswords Book 2 - Too hard for me!.......2004-04-27

As a long time watcher of all the Star Trek shows and movies, I thought this would be great fun. Who knew that you would need to know the name of every Klingon battle cruiser that ever appeared in an episode or movie to be able to complete a puzzle? I love the shows and I love the movies but I think there must be only 100 people in the country who could complete one of these puzzle and unfortunately, I'm not one of them.

Star Trek Crosswords Book 2 - Fantastic and fascinating!.......2004-01-03

"50 enterprising new crosswords to challenge your Star Trek knowledge."

Being a dyed in the wool Star Trek fan, the first installment of the Star Trek Crosswords book was an easy choice just as this second installment was! Although crossword books aren't my normal fare, those that are replete with some of the most intriguing Star Trek trivia most certainly are.

Replete with well thought out and designed crossword puzzles using Star Trek trivia from all fives series and the movies, Star Trek Crosswords Book 2 will entertain you for hours as you find yourself delving deep into your own personal memory banks to come up with the words for these clever puzzles that are just as easily accessible to the casual Star Trek fans as they are to the die hard fans.

Fear not though, for if you do find yourself stumped, the answer keys to all fifty of these incredible crossword puzzles are in the back. For the more intrepid of fans, like me, the true stumpers can be solved via other great Star Trek "extras" such as the various series "Companions" or the latest editions of the "Star Trek Encyclopedias."

High praise and accolades go to John M. Samson the editor and Sam Bellotto Jr. and Raymond Hamel for their efforts in designing these fantastic crossword puzzles for this second Star Trek Crossword book!

I highly recommend this and the first Star Trek Crosswords book to any and all fans of Star Trek; casual or die hard, all will enjoy the opportunity to challenge themselves with these latest crosswords! {ssintrepid}

Book Description

Imagine savoring three delicious, satisfying meals every day without worrying about counting calories or calculating fat grams. Now you can enjoy hundreds of combinations of tempting, flavorful breakfasts, lunches, dinners--even desserts--all for only 1200 calories a day.

Every dinner contains no more than 400 calories per serving. Each breakfast and lunch contains only 350 calories per serving, and every delicious dessert contains just 100 calories per serving. All you have to do is select the meals you want to combine for any particular day.

Choose from such low-calorie offerings as:

Buttermilk pancakes with blueberry sauce, canadian bacon, and sliced oranges
Roast beef salad with blue cheese in pitas and fresh apple slices
Sliced turkey with mushroom gravy, whipped potatoes, peppered peas, and apricot halves
Raspberry-kissed pears in phyllo nests

Each low-calorie, low-fat recipe includes easy-tofollow instruction and fat grams per serving. Many recipes can be prepared in 15 minutes or less.

Customer Reviews:

This book is not bad.......2007-08-23

I like this book, its just what I needed but I wish the author could've provided pictures of the recipes, that would've made it more exciting. Overall, I would recommend this book.

If you have tons of time, money , effort OR are looking for fresh ideas, this is okay.......2007-03-09

I am home all day and have lots and lots of experience in cooking all kinds of foods ranging from easy to very difficult. While the recipes in this are not super difficult, this is not a cookbook for most of us.

Personally, I got this book to make dieting EASIER. I wanted a list of things I can throw together for 3 meals a day, and end up with about 1200 calories no matter which I picked from each meal choice. This book, doesn't do that.

For example, for breakfasts: individual fruit platters with hot popovers (huh?) or Fresh Banana-Oat Bread and vanilla yogurt with sliced fresh peaches. Geez! That is a lot of work for BREAKFAST!

Lunches: Curried Tuna and Pecans in Pita Halves with Ambrosia Fruits. Sure Or Wild Rice-Sausage Chowder with fresh tomato
I mean, I have all day, and I'm not making this for lunch. Dinner, maybe.

Dinner: Snapper on a bed of spinach-cheese sauce, basil baked tomatoes and gingered rice. I'm exhausted just thinking about it.

If you want NEW and FRESH recipe ideas, this really is a great book, so I gave it three stars. But for most regular joes, this is not a great book,recipes are too complicated and if it's too much effort to just eat every day, folks will drop their diet and eat pasta and chips instead.

Measurements.......2007-01-31

I too thought that this book would be a big help to one person on a diet or with a restricted diet. Maybe if the portion amounts, sizes (e.g., 1 cup or 3 oz.) were added it would be more helpful. As it is all the recipes say for four and so I guess you make the recipe and then measure the entire amount and divide by four to get the portion amounts. There are also no carbohydrates listed. I was disappointed.

Quick & Easy Recipes is very true........2007-01-17

These recipes for the most part have items you would already have at home. They are simple and very good. My husband and I have enjoyed everything we have cooked. To me, this is a must have if you are trying to either lose weight or just trying to stay healthy. I wish she had more that I could find.

Seems Good, but Isn't..........2007-01-15

I thought this cookbook was going to be great to help me eat 1200 calories a day. Unfortunately, the recipes in this book are so unusual for lunch and dinner that I didn't even attempt them. If you're cooking just for yourself, it's probably fine, but don't expect your family to like dappling in recipes such as rolled ham with cream cheese and sweet red poppy fruit-lettuce platter.

I'm glad that I bought the American Heart Association Low-Calorie Cookbook: More than 200 Delicious Recipes for Healthy Eating. You can still manage your 1200 calorie diet using this book and the recipes are much more down to earth than this cookbook. You can read my review on that cookbook to get a better idea of what you can make for a meer 300-400 calories a meal. PLUS DESSERT!!!

Average customer rating:

Palate pleasing & appetite satisfying

Great recipes and fun to read!

Bear Cookin': The Original Guide to Bear Comfort Foods

Manufacturer: Harrington Park Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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Appetizers | Meals | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1560234253

Customer Reviews:

Palate pleasing & appetite satisfying.......2003-11-15

The collaborative effort of P.J. Gray and Stanley Hunter, Bear Cookin': The Original Guide To Bear Comfort Foods is expertly organized into six major sections: Lip Smackin' Snackin'; Woofy Breakfast; Hearty Sides; Come-And-Get-It Entrees; Bear Meat; and Beyond The Honeypot. With easy-to-follow recipes ranging from Cheese on Rye Pizzas; Hobo Hash; and Cabin Fever Soup; to Spaghetti Carbonara; Husbear Burgers; and Banana Split Cake, Bear Cookin' is a wonderful compendium of palate pleasing, appetite satisfying, kitchen cook friendly recipes.

Great recipes and fun to read!.......2003-08-06

Very entertaining, with personal anecdotes and easy-to-follow recipes.

Customer Reviews:

I was drawn to it!.......2004-04-15

I was walking around the bookstore, and this book popped out at me! I'm not normally an art fan, but I'm big on pop culture, and I had to pick it up to look at it!

I found it a strange book, which I loved. It's just filled with ordinary and not so ordinary items that we may have used ourselves. (or not)

Example: Do you remember Squeez-its? I remember drinking those juices in elementary and junior high. What happened to them?

There were Japanese "blood type" condoms that are said to sell 2 million every year in Japan.

One very interesting item I found was "Doti," which is hardened termite excrement, believed to give strength because they are rich in minerals. Women in Zambia eat it during their pregnancy.

One very disturbing picture I found was of an Aryan doll that KKK members give to their children to play with. One good thing I read was that the membership is dwindling, from five million in 1920, to two thousand, five hundred in 1998. Not perfect, but getting better.

Basically, it's a good small coffee table book that will generate some interesting conversations. It's written in French and English. I think that it would be good for all cultures to read, in order to understand each other better.

Don't forget to look up the "edible cow pie!" Which is really chocolate, caramel, and pecans, which is destined to turn some heads.

Average customer rating:

yes, bizarre!

WOW..Funny,Bizarre ....BEST GIFT

GREAT CATALOG OF OBJECTS AS ARTIFACTS OF CULTURAL IDENTITY

1000 Extra/ordinary Objects

Manufacturer: Taschen
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Popular Culture | Social Sciences | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
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Shelf Life

The Contingent Object of Contemporary Art

The Evolution of Useful Things: How Everyday Artifacts-From Forks and Pins to Paper Clips and Zippers-Came to be as They are

Worldchanging: A User's Guide for the 21st Century

ASIN: 3822848069

Amazon.com

Dirt cupcake mix, as American as apple pie. Nipple lightener from Japan. Tick juice, indispensable in Venezuela for black magic love rituals. Sunglasses from Zimbabwe with shades cut from plastic juice bottles and no lenses. Korean disposable straw sandals made especially for mourners and corpses. Is this stuff cool or what? But wait--there's more. Flip through this book in search of international weirdness, and it's a pretty sure bet you'll wind up absorbing some sobering information about sex, death, destruction, poverty, and the arrogant ways of multinationals. Under the guise of an ultrahip consumer's guide to the world's nifty stuff--divided into sections labeled "Food," "Fashion," "Animals," "Body," "Soul" and "Leisure"--1000 Extra/Ordinary Objects is a subversive crusader for human rights and ecological awareness.

Sure, you can find out how to buy your very own Dom Perignon-flavored sorbet or a CD of "Music for Healthy Pets." But you'll also stumble upon objects like the cute little bright green Russian-made PFM-1 antipersonnel mine, "a favorite toy of generations of Afghan children" punished for their curiosity by a double whammy of liquid explosive and tiny blades. On other pages, seemingly innocuous objects--like the sweetly lumpy doll couples made of tree bark by Elliot Chitungu of Zimbabwe--turn out to have a bitter subtext. (Chitungu, who is gay, makes all his couples heterosexual; in his country, homosexuality is a criminal offense.) Other objects are examples of savvy recycling, like the paper made in Malawi from elephant dung and recycled cardboard.

With straightforward descriptions in both English and French, unblinking photographs of young people modeling even the most outré objects, and a Yellow Pages that includes information about little-known charitable organizations worldwide, this is a fun book with a heart of gold. --Cathy Curtis

Book Description

A humorous and educational guide to "everyday" stuff from all over the world Things, objects, stuff, trinkets, tools, materials, gadgets, the things we use, abuse, throw away, cherish, depend on: these are the things we own, simple objects for our everyday lives. They may or may not hold special meaning to us, but their importance, as objects of cultural identity, is unmistakable.

Produced by COLORS under the direction of Oliviero Toscani, famous for his controversial Benetton campaigns, 1000 Extra/Ordinary Objects is a humorous and educational guide to stuff from all over the world. Discover the wonderful absurdity of a priest's portable mass-in-a-briefcase kit, or the stunning difference between flyswatters from Zimbabwe and South Korea. Ogle at the juxtaposition of neoprene surfing shoes and bullfighting slippers; have a gander at a can of blowfish soup. You'll see that what is ordinary halfway across the world (or perhaps for your neighbors across the street) may be totally foreign to you.

In case you see something that you absolutely must have, check out the yellow pages section at the end of the book; here you can find out where to get it and even how much it costs, as well as lots of little tidbits of interesting information to make your journey complete. Next time you pick up your toothbrush or comb your hair, you may think twice about the things that you use every day - perhaps they're not so ordinary after all.

Customer Reviews:

yes, bizarre!.......2003-11-14

This is a wonderful collection of objects, truly an artistic selection of eye-popping, category-crossing, often beautiful things. Each object also has a very very nice description, laying out who made and why, and giving an idea of how it functions. You get battery-operated tongues - think of the uses you can put that to! - and scores of traditional objects such as funery slippers and straw hats or cow-tail medicinal brushes. It is a feast for the imagination, funny, and provocative.

Recommended for industrial designers and art lovers alike.

WOW..Funny,Bizarre ....BEST GIFT.......2001-11-25

Very entertaining and embarassingly funny.
Makes me want to shave all my body hair and buy some of the unusual hair pieces so popular in Japan.
Many unusual and creative if COMPLETELY USELESS INVENTIONS.
I find out that the women of Caracas absolutely love the "Urination Funnel", the art of urinating standing up using a paper cone,it is described as strange at first,but FUN. I truly live a very sheltered life as a woman in the USA, unable to access the simple pleasure of urinating standing up.
764 pages of pure COMICAL FACTS.

GREAT CATALOG OF OBJECTS AS ARTIFACTS OF CULTURAL IDENTITY.......2001-01-24

Objects: stuff, knick-knacks, toys, trinkets, tools, curios, gadgets. The things we use, abuse, collect, toss away, cherish, depend on or can't live without: these are the material goods that fill our lives. Those shown in 1000 EXTRA/ORDINARY OBJECTS may or may not hold special meaning to you, but their importance as objects of cultural identity is unmistakable.

Produced, under the direction of Oliviero Toscani, then design director of Colors magazine, 1000 EXTRA/ORDINARY OBJECTS truly illustrates Colors' motto that "diversity is good" and translates perfectly into a book that celebrates the intrinsic cultural differences in everyday objects.

Discover the efficiency of a priest's portable mass-in-a-briefcase and the wonderful practicality of a Venezuelan Urination Funnel for women. Ponder the juxtaposition of neoprene surfing shoes and bullfighting slippers; contemplate the multi-tasking inherent in English-language lessons printed on Japanese toilet paper; and the wishful thinking of Chinese Slimming Soap that promises to make you slender and fit. What could be a better combo than glue-on ... from Germany and the formidable Arabian Goat's Eye ...? Jaunting off on this global shopping trip, you'll see that objects completely foreign to you may be commonplace halfway across the world.

In case you see something that you absolutely must have, check out the Yellow Pages section at the end of the book. Here you can find out where to get it and how much it costs, and read fascinating tidbits of information to make your worldwide journey complete.

Next time you pick up your toothbrush or Ethiopian ear-cleaning spoon, you may think twice about the things that you use every day - perhaps they're not so ordinary after all.

Average customer rating:

Excellent Patterns

So many mittens, so little time!

More Than Magnificent

Finally...pattern mittens for the intermediate level knitter

Mostly Mittens: Traditional Knitting Patterns from Russia's Komi People
Charlene Schurch
Manufacturer: Lark Books (NC)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Fashion | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
General | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Knitting | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Textile Arts | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Latvian Mittens: Traditional Designs & Techniques

Folk Mittens: Techniques and Patterns for Handknitted Mittens (Folk Knitting series)

Sensational Knitted Socks

More Sensational Knitted Socks

Favorite Socks: 25 Timeless Designs from Interweave

ASIN: 1579900593

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Patterns.......2007-03-27

I was very fortunate to find a new copy of this in a knitting store, at regular price. The patterns and writeups are wonderful. I'm hoping that Lark Books puts this book back into print. Socks seem to be the popular small object to knit these days (witness Charlene Schurch's 2 socks books). However, mittens are equally quick, and fabulous ones like these always seem to create a stir when worn.

The patterns in this book are typical of the Komi people, and are quite a bit different than Latvian patterns. Charlene has included the use of handpainted fiber for backgrounds with solid for the reticulations and other pattern features. This lends a very contemporary look blended with the great folk patterns. All thumbs use a gore for better fit.

This book is well worth an interlibrary loan or, if one is lucky, a purchase.

So many mittens, so little time!.......2001-04-09

I received this book in the mail about a month ago, and the first thing I noticed was that these are absolutely beautiful mittens! I spent awhile just flipping slowly through the pages making mental notes of the ones I wanted to try. And there are so many! The second thing I noticed was great photography. All mittens are shown fairly close-up so that you can use the photos in conjunction with the charts. So many knitting books don't show enough detail of the actual knitted product, but this one is great in that respect. I would classify myself as an intermediate knitter; I've made mittens before, but simpler than the ones in this book. Charlene Schurch does a great job of explaining the construction techniques (how to work the thumb gore, etc.) so that I haven't had to worry that the mittens are too difficult for me. I am working on my first pair now, and they are turning out beautifully. All of my friends and family will be getting mittens from this book at some point -- if I can part with them.

More Than Magnificent.......2001-02-13

Don't let an initial scan of this book scare you off. The pattern charts and techniques are much easier to follow than one would think possible for such intricate looking mittens. The patterning flows with an inherent logic that my fingers understood long before my brain did, making the complicated looking charts in this book a breeze to follow. If you prefer "sore thumb" mittens for wearing comfort as I do, you will also find the author's thumb gore technique to be one of the most pleasing and satisfying gores you will ever knit. I am a big fan of Anna Zilboorg's "Magnificent Mittens," but I found the patterns in this book to be even more fun and soul-satisfying -- and that's saying a LOT.

Finally...pattern mittens for the intermediate level knitter.......2000-04-19

Finally, a patterned method mitten technique for the pattern-challenged! I attempted complex patterned mittens before, but couldn't figure out how to follow patterns when other knitting stuff such as gussets and other increases and decreases were happening. And this author gives a technique for using bands of plain color in between the mitten and the thumb that allow you to start the pattern fresh at the gusset. This way, you're not reading two pattern charts at once (which I find very confusing).

Also, this book gives detailed instructions on how to follow purely charted patterns for mittens, when other charted pattern books just left me to fend on my own.

This is the best mitten book I have. Now I can attempt those pattern mittens I saw in Tasha Tudor's Heirloom Crafts book. :-)

Book Description

Die Arbeitswelt befindet sich im Wandel. So gelten BÃ¼ro-Interieurs zunehmend auch als Visitenkarte des Unternehmens. Diese Funktion Ã¼bernimmt die BÃ¼roausstattung nicht nur gegenÃ¼ber Kunden und Besuchern, sondern auch innerhalb eines Unternehmens als Motivationsfaktor fÃ¼r die Mitarbeiter. Office Solutions mÃ¶chte Gestaltern, Entscheidern und Objekteinrichtern innovative LÃ¶sungen an die Hand geben, die ihnen als Inspirationsquelle fÃ¼r eigene Projekte dienen soll. Herausragende Beispiele geben Einblicke in die spezifischen GestaltungsmÃ¶glichkeiten unterschiedlicher BÃ¼rokonzepte. Anspruchsvolle redaktionelle BeitrÃ¤ge sowie zahlreiche hochwertige Fotografien und Planskizzen unterstÃ¼tzen dies. Die Publikation richtet sich an Entscheider aus dem Management, Beratungsfirmen, Objekteinrichter und -planer, Innenarchitekten sowie Designer und Design.

Customer Reviews:

Amazingly well written, frank and honest........2006-11-13

I think I heard of Joe Orton vaguely on a documentary about murders on TV so when I came across this book in a dollar bin, I had no idea who he was but bought it anyway because I thought it would be interesting to read a diary by a writer and a gay one at that.

And it was fascinating and quarter of the way through it I went to a local used book store and found a few of his plays and read those as well. Hilarious plays where I was actually laughing out loud. So I devoured this book. The sex stuff was at times a little to graphic for my liking but I got passed it, after all, it was usually with two consenting adults so no biggy.

I especially loved the way he would write scenes from what he witnessed in a shop or on the bus, some were really funny and all I could think of was if he lived he would had done such wonderful 'in your face' books and plays and even maybe movies. He wrote with such humor. And I especially liked the letters in the back section.

Now the reason for the 3 stars. I got to the Tangier part and really wished I had avoided that section. My rather high opinion of Joe Orton dropped dramatically and from then on I was feeling a bit ill really, even after the Tangier section, it just wasn't the same as he would keep referring to Tangier at later dates. (there wasn't much left to the diary but still. . .)

I never actually heard of this place before (Sorry on otherside of the world and not a place I would visit anyway) but now if I ever hear of Tangier in the future I will think of this book and what Orton and Halliwell did and all their other gay friends who were there and that's a real shame. I do wish I had avoided this section completely and it still leaves a bitter taste in my mouth.

Otherwise aside from 'that' section, I found it to be amazingly well written and fun to read the workings of his last play (What the butler saw) especially after reading the play first and watching it unfold through his diary.

From the Mind of a Genius.......2003-05-25

Not a book for everyone, I found it very interesting. I can't say I would recommend it for anyone but those who have an interest in the art of writing, and perhaps more specifically, the plays and short life of Joe Orton. A gay man in 1960's London, when it was not fashionable to "come out," Orton was always true to himself and to his desires (as awful as they were). He was a great playwright. He was not a great person. His diary, recorded over the last six months of his life, captures a slice of history when London was at its last zenith since the Renaissance. His short life involved hit plays of outrageous farce, work with the Beatles, and inumerous actors, producers, and directors. John Lahr does an outstanding job of editing the diaries of an interesting man who was butchered in his sleep by the one person he was nothing without. I highly recommend it, together with "Prick up Your Ears," the biography also by John Lahr.

Watchdog.......2003-01-16

I cannot agree with the previous reviewer's opinion regarding The Orton Diaries. Tangiers in the 1960's was a paedophile's paradise and please God, it no longer exists as such. Orton and Halliwell used young boys for their own gratification little thinking of the damage they were inflicting on them. Orton's diaries are full of his hedonistic pursuits and talented as a playwrite he may have been, for the sake of those children he abused, the publishers of The Orton Diaries, Methuen, should be banned from ever publishing further copies of his diary.

Fascinating minutae.......2000-01-27

Although I admire the principle of not excessively editing artists' diaries for publication, Lahr goes a little overboard in this one, leaving in every word from the last eight months of the diary's (and Orton's) life. So no one but a hardcore fan is really going to be interested in the endless meetings, correspondences and contract negotiations which provide the mundane background for the meat of the diaries: Orton's tempestuous relationship with Kenneth Halliwell, the lover who eventually kills him; and his promiscuous sex life. But for a fan, this diary IS fascinating, and knowing the end of Orton's life in advance does give even the most mundane details an eerie cast. For gay readers, the Tangier section gives a wonderfully intricate portrait of a lost gay refuge. For me, 4 stars -- for people who couldn't care less about Joe Orton, 2 stars.

The Orton Diaries - Including the correspondence of Edna Welthorpe and others

Average customer rating:

The Orton Diaries - Including the correspondence of Edna Welthorpe and others
Joe; Edited by Lahr, John Orton
Manufacturer: Harper & Row - Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000JZG23K

The Orton Diaries including the correspondence of Edna Welthorpe and others. Edited by John Lahr.

Average customer rating:

The Orton Diaries including the correspondence of Edna Welthorpe and others. Edited by John Lahr.
Joe. Orton
Manufacturer: Harper & Row c
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000KIRK78

Average customer rating:

The Orton diaries: Including the correspondence of Edna Welthorpe and others
Joe Orton
Manufacturer: Harper & Row
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Average customer rating:

The Orton Diaries including the correspondence of Edna Welthorpe and others
John (editor) Lahr
Manufacturer: Harper and Row
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000RA6UAW

Average customer rating:

The Orton diaries: Including the correspondence of Edna Welthorpe and others
Joe Orton
Manufacturer: Harper & Row
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B00071IXNS

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