Animal Kingdom and End Species

Book Description

Ascent to where the view's as stunning as the architecture, hit a glam rooftop nightclub with its own pool, get in the right place for spotting the stars, shop for TV-show castoffs in Burbank or go for a hike in the largest park in the country—Fodor's Los Angeles 2006 offers all these experiences and more! Our local writers have traveled throughout the city, plus Orange County and Catalina Island to find the best hotels, restaurants, attractions and activities to prepare you for a journey of stunning variety. Before you leave for your trip be sure to pack your Fodor's guide to ensure you don't miss a thing.

The San Francisco Chronicle sums it up best —"Fodor's guides are saturated with information."

- We update our Los Angeles guide every year. You won't find a more accurate, current guidebook anywhere.
- Unlike other travel books, Fodor's guides rely heavily on local experts who know the territory best—so you know you're seeing the real Los Angeles.
- We give you the planning tools you need to tailor your trip. We give options for all budgets. You make the choices.

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With Fodor’s you get much more than a guidebook–we make it easy for you to customize your dream vacation.

Visit www.fodors.com to find up-to-date travel bargains, mini-guides to worldwide destinations, information on local festivals, dazzling drives, maps, vacation planning tips and much more!

And, for more insider secrets, visit “Travel Talk” and “Rants and Raves” online at www.fodors.com/forums to get advice from other travelers like you.

Customer Reviews:

A little known history.......2006-11-22

In her book, They Saw the Elephant: Women in the California Gold Rush, Jo Ann Levy weaves letters and journal entries into a picture of the lives of women during the California gold rush.
Coming by covered wagons or ships these women wrote about their journeys' across mountains, deserts, oceans, and jungles. The excitement of an adventure and the beauty of the land was not the whole story however; misery and death joined them on their journey. Inadequate provisions, brutal storms and sickness were common themes. And once these women reached the promise land of San Francisco, the streets were not paved in gold as they dreamed, but littered with trash.
The belief that there were only prostitutes or actresses was also not true; many women ran boarding houses or mined for gold. Some left after the gold ran out, but many women stayed in the cities that they helped create.
Though this book it is not organized in to one story, it is an insight into the women who came to California during the gold rush. You will be amazed by their bravery as they left their comfortable lives and uprooted their families for adventures unknown.

Very much worth your time to read!.......2006-06-06

This book is great!
A person wouldn't even need to be interested in history of the gold rush days to thoroughly enjoy reading this book. I don't have alot of free time to read, so when I pick a book it has to be worth my while. This certainly was. And it's an easy book for reading a few pages at a time, like I do just before going to bed. I love how it organizes the accounts and groups the stories into chapters of a particular theme. Fascinating!

A Fresh and Factual Look at Women in the West .......2005-10-25

In They Saw The Elephant, Jo Ann Levy has combined women's journals and letters with newspaper articles of the gold rush era into an articulate, shining gem of historical writing. Her purpose was to dispel many of the common assumptions and general characterizations made in earlier histories about the women who participated in the California gold rush. A number of the early twentieth century histories of this monumental American event imply there were few women in California, and that a majority of those women were of questionable social standing. Levy's placement of her chapter on prostitution is wisely situated in the second half of her work. She admits there is little written record concerning the lives of these women, particularly those of Chilean and Chinese descent who came to the gold fields. The author does not fill in the blanks with supposition or fiction. By the time the reader gets to the chapter on prostitution, it is already clear that women were contributing far more to the Gold Rush than physical pleasure for males.

The Oregon Trail opened in 1847. Levy includes some of the women's stories from this trek even if their final destination was not the gold fields. This is a plus. The reader understands that women had started emigrating west for reasons other than gold and the journals and letters used to demonstrate life on the trail were vivid.

The variety of women discussed in this book was a cross section of society at the time. I laughed out loud while reading about how some of the highbrow, educated women reacted to the primitive society of San Francisco. These women adapted, and most made a good living as boarding house keepers and cooks.
Levy does an excellent job showing us the ingenuity of the women who went west. Living aboard abandoned ships in the bay, renting out rooms in, and using wood and goods from those ships are details about day-to-day life often lost in the telling of the human experience of the gold rush.

Perhaps the strongest statement Levy makes in her book is found in the Postscript. Women who went west during the gold rush continued their lives long after the three- year bonanza. Most didn't stay in San Francisco. Most didn't even stay in California. Their toil was but another blip on the radar screen of their lives. They didn't crawl back east to their families as broken women. They had seen the elephant, but had no desire to own the circus.

Several of the accounts made me chuckle and realize how little life has changed. One letter describes how quickly houses were being built in San Francisco. It goes on to describe the shoddy workmanship including gaps in the walls large enough to see through. I live in the fastest growing metropolitan area in the country. Houses go up over night here, literally. We joke about housing developments growing as quickly as mushrooms in the forest. The only reason the cracks in the walls don't allow light in now is chicken wire and stucco. Little has changed in the last 150 years.

Women civilized the wild California gold rush society. Some used the money they had made from the miners and started churches, schools, and hospitals. Others became heavily involved in various societies. In general, they went west with their husbands, to support their husbands in search of a better life, and they brought their civilized mindset with them.

This is an excellent book, appropriate for all audiences. It flows well, and contains a great deal of authentic information

They Saw The Elephant.......2000-09-22

As a writer of both fiction and non-fiction, I found tremendous value in "They Saw The Elephant." For the general reader of non-fiction, this book reads like a novel! The stories of these valiant women grab the reader and never let go. You feel that you are with them, as they face the unknown perils and triumphs of the Gold Rush in California of the mid-19th Century. The words of these wonderful women have the special ring of Truth to them. I cannot overstate my admiration for the author and her work in presenting this important book.

One of the most amazing books I've ever read........1999-06-08

Well written, well researched, mesmerizing! There are not enough words to praise this book. It covers every aspect and type of life a woman could lead when she came West. It takes information from diaries and eyewitness accounts. It will make you realize that human feelings don't change. We can all relate to what these women felt. It doesn't read like a history book, it reads like a magnificent saga. I couldn't put it down.

They Saw the Elephant: Women in the California Gold Rush

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They Saw the Elephant: Women in the California Gold Rush
Jo Ann Levy
Manufacturer: Archon Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NP2QN6

Average customer rating:

THEY SAW THE ELEPHANT: Women in the California Gold Rush.
JoAnn. Levy
Manufacturer: Archon Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OOWH4O

Book Description

"John Maeda deconstructs the digital world with the earned authority of an M.I.T.-trained computer scientist and a card-carrying artist. Being ambidextrous with Eastern and Western cultures, he can see things most of us overlook. The result is a humor and expression that brings out the best in computers and art."--Nicholas Negroponte

John Maeda is one of the world's leading experimental graphic designers and is quickly becoming a digital culture icon. His early preoccupation with the intersection of computer programming and digital art has resulted in a fascinating, interactive, and stunningly beautiful collection of work. Maeda has pioneered many of the key expressive elements that are prevalent on the web today. Among his most well-known works are The Reactive Square, which features a simple black square on a computer screen that changes shape if one yells at it, and Time Paint, in which paint flies across the screen. He has created innovative, interactive calendars, digital services, and advertisements for companies such as Sony, Shiseido, and Absolut Vodka.

This is the first publication to present a complete overview of Maeda's work and philosophy. A glorious visual exploration of ideas and graphic form, Maeda @ Media takes you through Maeda's beginnings in early computerized printouts, to his reactive graphics on CD-ROM, to his dynamic experiments on the web, to his pedagogical approach to digital visual art, and finally to his overarching quest to understand the very nature of the relationship between technology and creativity. Six thematic chapters provide an overview of his entire career and research. But this is not just a catalog of older work: interspersed between each chapter is a new visual essay that has been created exclusively for this publication to underline each of the major themes.

Coming together in a massive 480 pages, printed in a dazzling array of color combinations on three different kinds of paper, the result is a manifesto, a finely crafted manual and inspiration sourcebook all in one.

With over 1000 illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

Very Inspirational ..........2004-01-31

I have some programming skills and a budding web designer. I was really impressed with this body of work, especially considering the time frame it covers. The value for me was that the reader gets an understanding of what the "artist" has rendered. You you have read any of Paul Rand's essays, you can identify the significance of this work. This book is not a quick read, but a meal of ideas to be savored. I am still savoring this book, and it is really one of the best books I have enjoyed.

Thanks!

An unispiring showcase of computer generated graphics.......2002-03-01

John maeda is not a designer. He wishes he was, and he makes every effort and spares nothing to achieve the recognition that he is more than just a mere computer technitian having a craze for graphic play.
But it is apparent from this oversized and bloated book that his real talent lies in programming, and the vast majority of the works desplayed (hundreds and hundreds of them, most of them repetative versions of several original ideas)are computer genertaed graphics with (mostly) no regard for composition , and lacking the most basic elements that any serious graphic designer pays attention to. Most of what we see are endless ,intricate textures produced by the click of a button. Where is the designer in this process? The potential of this kind of intricate imagery is clear, and there is no doubt that if Maeda would collaborate with a true designer, the results will be stunning. But they are not. seen one - seen them all.

Ugh........2001-09-25

I hate to be the one to go against the other reviews, but I had to with this one. I just didnt see why people liked the book. I found the designs to be very techy and old school...mostly examples of what computer design used to encompass. I wasnt inspired by any of the work in the this HUGE book. If you want cutting edge inspiration, look elsewhere.

Exquisite, and if it's a bit bloated we'll let that pass.......2001-01-31

I have nothing but respect for John Maeda.

He's one of those rare people who stands at the cusp of three or four disciplines - say graphic design, programming, information architecture, and fine art - and exerts a gentle gravitational attraction on the long-sundered fields. He's a true practitioner of what E.O. Wilson calls "consilience," and I find his work unfailingly beautiful.

"Maeda@Media" is a far more comprehensive introduction to and summary of his work than his earlier ""Design by Numbers." It is also an exquisitely produced volume, and if it is occasionally self-indulgent (spending 60-odd pages on a graphic that spells out "IT IS CUSTOMARY THAT THE SIDES OF A PAGE BE NEGLECTED IN FAVOR OF ITS FRONT AND BACK" on their edges) - well, I'll forgive that. It's a gorgeous tome.

Maeda is doing vital and inspiring work; this book should be a kick in the pants to all those of us who work in any of the disparate fields his work touches upon: only connect.

A Monument to Information Society.......2000-12-12

I have always been impressed with John Maeda's work: "Tap, Type, Write" is beautifully interactive, "Design By Numbers" is extremely innovative. Professor Maeda's newest endeavor, Maeda@Media is no different. It is a monument to Information Aesthetics and an icon for Information Society at large. The book itself, is painstakenly crafted with different types of papers. The images inside evoke a million poignant words. Professor Maeda's insights are invaluable. John Maeda uncovers a rare beauty in computing.

Screen: Essays on Graphic Design, New Media, and Visual Culture

Average customer rating:

Things we all were thinking.. only worded much better.
Digital Critic with Challenges and No Solutions
Burdensome
Cynical
Big thoughts come in small packages

Screen: Essays on Graphic Design, New Media, and Visual Culture
Jessica Helfand
Manufacturer: Princeton Architectural Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1568983107

Book Description

Designer and critic Jessica Helfand has emerged as a leading voice of a new generation of designers. Her essays--at once pithy, polemical, and precise--appear in places as diverse as Eye, Print, ID, The New Republic, and the LA Times. The essays collected here decode the technologies, trends, themes, and personalities that define design today, especially "the new media," and provide a road map of things to come. Her first two chapbooks--Paul Rand: American Modernist and Six (+2) Essays on Design and New Media--became instant classics. This new compilation brings together essays from the earlier publications along with more than twenty others on a variety of topics including avatars, "the cult of the scratchy," television, sex on the screen, and more. Designers, students, educators, visual literati, and everyone looking for an entertaining and insightful guide to the world of design today will not find a better or more approachable book on the subject.

Customer Reviews:

Things we all were thinking.. only worded much better........2003-06-07

Chances are you will find yourself saying (or just thinking) "Exactly! I've been saying that for years!" fairly often. Helfand expresses views on the design world that many designers have felt for some time, particularly in regards to new media and digital culture. These essays cover everything from the overflow of badly designed websites to eloquently phrased explanation of why designers are not information architects (unlike architecture, design won't kill you if it falls on your head). This is a must-read for designers of any medium, especially those in the video, web, and new media fields.

Digital Critic with Challenges and No Solutions.......2003-06-02

Design on the screen takes the shape of websites, animation, motion graphics, and oh yeah... television. Long before the Mac and Windows boxes on your desk moved points of light, the television was doing it. In Screen, Helfand continues her critical review of all that is visually projected at us through flat screen monitors and television sets. In this collection of essays and critiques, the overall feeling is cynical and embittered. Helfand directly challenges the designers of screen spaces and interfaces to take a stand and make decisions using technology as a secondary objective. Use the pixels, don't let them use you. It's a boastful book, one that'll make you wonder what more can be done.

Burdensome.......2003-04-05

Along with the self-aggrandizement in new media design, one has also to endure the academic collective of critical review for that very topic. After finishing Jessica Helfand's Screen Essays, my thoughts focused on abandoning the semiotic silliness, and just getting on with work. There will always be the ridiculous to rip apart, and the 1990's proved to be filled with perfect targets. However, it was also a wild time for experimentation. Do we really need to hear an opinion while the game is still being played out?

I just about threw the book into the ocean while reading "On Sound, Authenticity and Cultural Amnesia". A few comments from the book on the use of sound with visuals: "It interrupts interpretation. It brainwashes the audience.". I don't know, perhaps those of us with more emotional aspiration, or those that simply can't see visuals would take issue with this critique.

When it comes down to it, the market decides what is good use of form, and what is more or less useless. Try not to let an academician tell you what your customer needs or wants.

On a positive note, the writing is very good. I wonder if editors were in short supply during the late 1990's...

Cynical.......2001-12-15

She has a lot of good points and she definitely appreciates Paul Rand. I think one of the best things was she put a hole in the over-use of the acronym.
However, there was such a negative vibe on everything. It seemed nothing was good. There was definitely a lot of hostility/negativity in this book. Other than that, it was very insightful.

Big thoughts come in small packages.......2001-11-04

Although the amount of writing about design has grown remarkably over the last several years, only a small bit of it is actually any good. And while I think an increased amount of discourse is generally a positive thing, I think in design's case we've come to the proverbial fork in the road. On one side, there's the swaggering, portfolio-bloated, semi-literate design monographs of the last several years. On the other side, there's truly critical, topical, didactic design writing whose words aren't just there as dummy text. If this latter direction is the one in which our discourse wishes to travel, then we should all take a page out of Jessica Helfand's glorious new book, Screen. For literate designers who've come down with cabin fever over the last few years, Ms. Helfand's book is like taking a spin around the neighborhood, touching on topics from Victorian cultural history to Media Studies and everything in between. Meticulously considered and reconsidered - many of these essays were first published elsewhere - Screen reminds us that writing about a field as simultaneously aesthetic and analytic as design takes time and effort. In turn, our time and effort should be spent on these thoughtful essays, for they are a both a gift and a direction from one of the very best we have.

Creative Code: Ästhetik und Programmierung am MIT Media Lab

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Creative Code: Ästhetik und Programmierung am MIT Media Lab
John Maeda
Manufacturer: Birkhäuser Basel
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 3764371080

Book Description

Mit seinen unkonventionellen Thesen zum Umgang mit Computern im Bereich der Grafik hat der amerikanische Design- und Informatikprofessor John Maeda die Grafikwelt schokkiert. Er weist nach, dass nahezu alle zeitgenössischen Grafiker mit vorgefertigten Programmen arbeiten, durch die sie zu «abhängigen Anwendern vorgefertigter Industrienormen» werden. Somit bestimmen das Programm und seine Möglichkeiten das Endprodukt - und nicht mehr die Intuition und Absicht des Gestalters, der damit den zentralen Zugang zum schöpferischen Prozess verliert. Dagegen setzt Maeda seine Vorstellungen, dass, wer wirklich schöpferisch tätig sein will, wieder programmieren lernen muss: DNB = Design by Numbers heißt sein selbst entwickelter, interaktiver Grundkurs der Programmierung, der der individuellen Kreativität keine Programm(ier)grenzen setzt. Creative Code dokumentiert, dass DNB für eine breite Schicht von Anwendern erlern- und anwendbar ist und präsentiert von Maeda ausgewählte und kommentierte Arbeiten seiner Studenten.

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Maeda Media
John Maeda
Manufacturer: RIZZOLI @ INTERNATIONAL PUBLIC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000N67JI2

Amazon.com

Naturalist and bioacoustics researcher Katy Payne stood near an elephant cage at a zoo and felt a strange "throb and flutter" in the air. When she later realized that the feeling was very like that caused by the lowest notes of a pipe organ, she embarked on a journey of scientific and personal discovery that took her to Africa to study how the huge mammals communicate. For years, she lived close to the elephants she loved, getting to know individuals and describing their long-distance infrasound "conversations." After her fifth such expedition, one third of the elephant population she was studying was killed in a planned cull by the Zimbabwean government. Whether or not you accept Payne's hypothesis that elephants are extraordinarily intelligent and capable of communicating with each other and with other species (including humans), you will find her descriptions of the animals compelling and compassionate. Her grief at the loss of her elephant friends is palpable, and she uses it to utmost effect in decrying not only the ivory trade, but the way in which humans have decided to live on the planet. --Therese Littleton

Book Description

Scientific discovery is not always the result of a careful accumulation of data or a measured consideration of the facts. Sometimes it takes a leap of imagination. Katy Payne, a naturalist and conservationist, took just such a leap and made an amazing discovery about how elephants communicate. And that was only the beginning of her adventure.

In 1984, Katy Payne visited the elephants at Washington Park Zoo in Portland. Oregon. She had been studying whale songs for the last fifteen years, and she was curious about the ways that elephants -- the largest living land mammals -- communicated with each other.

What Payne observed in her first week seemed, at the time, to be little cause for scientific excitement. But on her flight home, she flushed back to a childhood experience of singing in the church choir. Suddenly she realized that she had felt, in the presence of the elephants, a deep throbbing in the air just like the lowest notes of the church organ. Payne and two colleagues were soon able to show that elephants are powerful infrasound -- sound pitched too low for the human ear to hear -- in communication. This "silent thunder" allows elephants to intract over long distances.

This brilliant, unorthodox, nonlinearless was the basis of her discovery of infrasonic communication among elephant and is typical of Payne's work as a naturalist. It also infuses this deeply felt and observed book with an extraordinary spirit, Payne and her colleagues went on to do important field research on elephant communication in Kenya, Namibia, and Zimbabwe. But in 1991 the peaceful rhythms of their work were violently interrupted by a cull -- a planned killing -- that destroyed five of the elephant families they were studying. This destruction convinced her that all life is sacred. Payne determined to challenge the philosophies that support culling.

Silent Thunder is a natural history rich in ponderings about the animal world and how humans participate in it. It is also a passionate story of Payne's own spiritual quest as she turns an observant eye on her own role in this world and honors the holistic perspective of her indigenous friends, who became her teachers in Zimbabwe, Payne's courage and empathy shine through on every page, giving this unique combination of scientific journal and personal memoir an unforgettable emotional power.

Customer Reviews:

Marvelous Bush Stories About Elephant Communication.......2006-07-10

Did you know that elephants communicate with sounds that are below the range of human hearing? Similar to whales, they can speak over long distance with each other using infrasound. I can't help but wonder if their infrasonic vocalizations are what contribute to the palpable energetic vibrations I felt, sitting amongst the clusters of elephants in Northern Kenya.

Katy Payne is one of the elephant researchers in Amboseli Park, Kenya, that helped to discover the infrasonic rumbles of elephant communication (along with Joyce Poole and Cynthia Moss) during the late 1980's and early 1990's. She is also an eloquent writer with a passion for the elephants she studied for many years.

In Silent Thunder: In the Presence of Elephants, she shares some facinating stories of what it's like to be in the bush with wild elephants...and one gripping story of an encounter with a lion. Her personal accounts hint of her strong intuitive gifts, where she touches on her precognitive dreams. She stops short of using direct language on some of these topics, which left me longing to hear more of what the real Katy Payne is all about. But I applaud her for bringing up spiritual topics at all. It's unusual for a scientific researcher to make personal revelations. I found it refreshing that she did.

Jaya Schillinger
Matriarch of Sacred Elephants.net Blog

silent thunder is the new star wars.......2005-10-06

silent thunder has been the best book ever it teaches you about elephants and it is a great read. i wish that i could on the book but i can't i only rented it but finished it in one day. the charecters are great and it is really nice but not many people read it.

A Wonderful Writer with Tremendous Talent.......2003-06-12

Katy Payne is a wonderful writer with a tremendous talent for integrating life with her research. This book is about elephants, about Katy, about the men and women and societies that she meets in a wonderful pilgrimage. You experience her joys, her sorrows, her love for elephants, her research breakthroughs and the distress of the wildlife situation, especially within Zimbabwe. Katy also has a beautiful talent for gracefully understanding how other societies function and for developing a culturally sensitive learning posture. This is a great book. For those reviewers who want "more pictures," there are thousands in this book that Katy brings to your mind when you READ it. I learned a tremendous amount about elephant behavior/communication, wildlife biology and the lifestyle of a wildlife biologist in this book. Wonderful, wonderful work! Thank you Katy!

something is missing.......2001-06-23

I have not read the book yet, but I am very disappointed that she has not photos! Having read Joye Poole's book that lots of tremendous photos and Cynthia Moss's book that at least some black & white photos, I thought this book would have some also. As a photographer and elephant lover, I expected them.

Happy.......2000-05-13

FANTASTIC book. Can't believe it's on sale when I bought it for full-price! Definitely the thing for anyone who likes non-fiction. It's totally poignant and fascinating - not an easy combination.

Average customer rating:

There is such beauty in this book
THE PHOTOS ALONE ARE WORTH IT!
Support this cause
Don't be fooled

In the Presence of Elephants
Peter S. Beagle , and Pat Derby
Manufacturer: Capra Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Animal Care & Pets | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Endangered Species | Conservation | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0884963969

Customer Reviews:

There is such beauty in this book.......2005-10-29

The photographs are stunning and the message clear and compelling. To the person who reviewed this and called Pat Derby and Ed Stewart hypocrits, you really missed the point. They have provided an amazing sanctuary for these animals and others. They do not promote keeping animals in capitivity, they simply are caring for those that are unfortunetly, already captive. They are providing a wonderful place for them to iive out their lives with the hopes that there will not be a need in the future to provide sanctuary for any others, though sadly, that seems to be only a dream.

THE PHOTOS ALONE ARE WORTH IT!.......2000-03-08

This is a sweet little book with wonderful photos of these elephants "71" and Mara growing up and finding contentment at PAWS in galt CA. The photos are so touching. It's more of a picture book...a documentary told in beautiful black and white photos...I loved it! the photos alone are worth the price!

Support this cause.......1999-05-14

In defense of this book, I am compelled to support the spirit of its purpose. Yes it is published by people with captive elephants, but the elephants in this book are now as free as they can be, at the home of PAWS, (Performing Animal Welfare Society) where "abandoned or abused performing animals and victims of the exotic animal trade can live in peace and contentment." They may be visited in person at their Galt, California sanctuary. Kudos to an organization that does not glorify the human entertainment of training wild animals to perform unnatural acts.

Don't be fooled.......1998-06-14

This is a book full of pictures of elephants, NOT a Peter S. Beagle book. He wrote a few paragraphs of an introduction, nothing else. In terms of the rest of the book, it is bland and hypocritical; the authors bemoan the fact of captive elephants, while keeping captive elephants. The pictures are poor quality as well.

Customer Reviews:

Handy Guide For Yo-Yo Enthusiasts !!.......2000-12-16

This compact 126 page guide to the collectible American Yo-Yo is handy to carry when you look for Yo-Yos. It contains an adequate history of the collectible, and nearly 250 large, full color photos. Photos of YO-Yo displays and packages are provided. The book covers from the 1920's to 1970's. Items are described and values provided. All Yo-Yos are shown in manufacturer sequence, with most major American makers being included. Novice collectors would find it especially useful

But still a great book.......2000-06-17

Seems this book has gotten some bad press because it's not as big or text-rich as Lucky's Guide.

Phooey!

Many of the photos (and it's mainly a photo book) are bigger and clearer here than in Lucky's book...and there are quite a few which aren't in Lucky's book.

If you liked Lucky's book, you'll enjoy this one too. If you're a collector of yo-yos or yo-yo history, you'll need both books.

Neither are as helpful as Bill Alton's CARE & OPERATION OF THE NOBLE DISK (the best yo-yo book on the market), but they have many more pictures.

*jeep!

It was a good start........1999-05-18

I agree with most of the other reviews here, not too great. I got this at the same time I got Lucky's Collectors Guide to 20th Century Yo-Yos and I have to say it is a pale shadow of luckys book. Chriss Cooks book can't have more than 40 or 50 yo-yos listed, in comparison Lucky's Collectors Guide has photos of over 1000 yo-yos, and thousands of prices, extensive history. Heck, its amost a half inch thicker and its 8-1/2x11 inchs Its huge. I think I would have liked this book a lot if I had not seen Lucky's Collectors Guide.

sfun 98ytrh9bw860vy6G59WOHW6T4HA-.......1999-05-02

Fmksjguah auh hsaiuhgaiuhg ajgoiahgdadh aoighaohg aogh[oadh[o hoaihgd[oahdg[o j[oaijiuj5u3-0ibn7w 8y533w9 69yw9w ewhtiuvbtsiud th ishvbiue utpnb iuvhrubnrtjhptb urapg [oiajdgoiajgd[

The only one, so the best one........1999-03-27

I agree with most of the criticisms aimed at this book. However, it is the only book of its type. This makes it the best you can get. It is, for better or worse, the best education you can get from the only book thus far on the subject. I would like to have seen more and better pictures, as well as an in depth history, but I have no regrets in buying this book. As for the prices being out of line, check eBay to see what people are actually paying. You will be lucky to find yo-yos as cheap as in the book! This book is, for now, the definitive book on yo-yo collecting.

Book Description

Failsafe instructions and practical wisdom for choosing the best plants for your garden type. Lois outlines the choices available, the unique characteristics and quirks of each variety, specific seeding and growing tips.

Book Description

In Dance, Modernity and Culture, Helen Thomas provides an original, interdisciplinary, approach to the study of dance. By examining the development of modern dance in the US during the inter-war period she develops a framework for analyzing dance from a sociological perspective.

In applying her approach to the works of St Denis, Ted Shawn, and Martha Graham, amongst others, she relates the emergence of modern dance to contemporaneous artistic developments, and locates dance within a wider social and economic context. Thus, she draws attention to the importance of popular culture in the development of modern dance, music and painting, and the crucial role women played in establishing dance as an art form. By way of exemplification, she looks at the work of Yvonne Rainer in order to demonstrate how this sociological approach might be applied to a post-modern work.

Dance, Modernity and Culture explores an area of art practice that has long been marginalized by sociologists of art. As an important contribution to dance scholarship this book will be essential reading for all those interested in the performing arts.

Book Description

Emily Skinner - vibrant, observant, eternally young-at-heart - emigrated from Britain to Australia in 1854. She keep a ship-board journal and later recorded her reminiscences of her life as a miner's wife. Here, published for the first time, is Emily's account of a voyage half-way around the word to marry her sweetheart and join him in the town of Beechworth and the surrounding goldfields of the Ovens and Buckland valleys.

This personable account speaks to every reader as a refreshing and energetic story of a pioneering life which was tough and rigorous but always embraced."

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