Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West

Customer Reviews:

Every Weed Has a Reason.......2007-09-12

Comprehensive without being stuffy, Moore has written an engaging description of western medicinal plants that includes lists of their active ingredients, how they are used, and how to prepare them. His text is readable enough for the novice but does not skimp on informative details for the seasoned user of native plants.

So easy to understand!!!.......2007-03-10

Michael Moore makes it easy for the average reader to understand his works. His descriptions of plants and there uses are wonderful and to the point without being tedious to read. I'm a fan!

Informative and useful.......2005-10-27

Michael Moore is a delight to read. He offers much information on his website and in his books. Humor is injected freely into his text, but his viewpoint on many herbs is that of someone who really does use them and knows what he's talking about. It's clear that he's confident in his approach, knowledgable and, best of all, willing to share.

He tells four methods of collecting, followed by an intense listing of herbs and their actions. Each herb lists a great general reference guide - one of the more honest ones out there, making it a true favorite. On some of the herbs I would have liked the information to be a bit longer, but overall its an excellent job and a guide I'll keep returning to.

Usefull, Detailed, and Funny.......2003-09-07

An excellent book for beginners, experienced herbalists, and other medical professionals alike. This book, like Michael Moore's others are seldom available used because people keep them and use them-alot . They are usually the most worn from use on any herbalist's shelf- including mine.
Medicinal Plants of The Mountain West has lovely and useful illustrations to aid identification. More photos would help though.
The text is lucid, funny and very helpfull. Beginners will find step by step instuctions on harvesting with care and attention to protecting habitat, medicine making, clear and detailed information on judicious medicinal use, and plenty of food for thought on history, health and healing and how your own body works, as well as gentle and experienced guidance through the sometimes confusing state of herbal medicine in the market economy Western world. Unlike many other herbals, this book clearly and simply explains how and when to use herbs (and when not to use them) as herbs- not as "little"drug replacements.
Herbalists and other health care practioners will find an amazing amount of helpful clinical detail and creative approaches to therapeutics. Although this book that is often placed in the Field Guide section of the book store it is a concise yet articulate materia medica based in the authors extensive experience as a therapist, harvester, and medicine maker.

Doctors, pharmacists, nurses, and allied health professionals will find this book to be an oasis of sane , seasoned advice on how to use herbs and how to understand what your clients are taking. Amidst the onslaught off nearly useless books on botanical medicine written by journalists and pharmacists who couldn't tell a chickweed from an oak tree, and whose personal and professional experience practicing herbal medicine is usually less than Peter Rabbit's cup of chamomile tea, Michael Moore's books offer clinical experience grounded in Western science and traditional cultural use. His writing encourages cultural competence, treating Native and Latino plant medicine with care, and respect.
Many of us have been waiting along time for this second edition. Buy it, use it, share it

Simply outstanding for its time ..........2001-07-04

... but let's face it, that's over 20 years ago now. Back then you had to look _really_ hard to find anything with even a glimmer of a hint of tips on picking, or (gasp!) practical uses.
Michael's later books in the "Medicinal Plants of the" -series got steadily better, with the "Medicinal Plants of the Pacific West" being the crown of the trio, beating _all_ the other practical guides out there with a very wide margin.
Sure, buy this one, if you live in the Mountain West - as likely as not you won't find anything else as good on the plants in _your_ region.
Buy it, too, if you're a die-hard Michael Moore -fan. His writing was entertaining back then, too.

But if you don't live out there, or don't yet know Michael Moore's writings, go get the Pacific West book instead. And wait for the revision of this, his oldest book. It _should_ be out one of these years.

The EcoHerbalist's Fieldbook: Wildcrafting in the Mountain West

Average customer rating:

The EcoHerbalist's Fieldbook: Wildcrafting in the Mountain West
Gregory L. Tilford
Manufacturer: Mountain Weed Pub
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Herbal Remedies | Alternative Medicine | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0963863878

Average customer rating:

Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West
Michael Moore
Manufacturer: Museum of New Mexico Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000O8SLXG

Book Description

- Want the very best of Hong Kong in one glam little pocket/purse-sized companion? - Want a Cheongsam handmade to order in vintage 60's silk?

- Want bespoke suits and leather clothes? - Want your boobs cast in porcelain and exquisitely decorated? - Want to picnic on the South China Sea aboard the last batwing junk? - Want to eat modern Szechuan cuisine listening to live Peking Opera? - Want your own paint party in a contemporary art gallery? - Want to design your own bed linen or dinner service? - Want the very best secret shops and services?

- Want beautiful shoes handmade to order? Well now you can. Whether you have a few hours or a few days, LUXE is all you need. Succinct, smart and crammed with priceless information, LUXE chooses only the very best, so you choose only the very best. - Invaluable half-day shopping and activity itineraries for you to mix and match.

- Secret places to relax in, stunning places to dine, drink and dance.

- Shops you'd simply never find as a visitor.

- The latest beautiful spas and salons.

- Services you can't find in any other guide.

- And what's more, it's updated twice a year, so you're always in the know.

Customer Reviews:

a fantastic guide.......2006-02-25

The descriptions are concise and suggestions are tailored for the no nonsense luxe city traveler.

LUXE Hong Kong & Macau (Luxe City Guides)

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LUXE Hong Kong & Macau (Luxe City Guides)
LUXE Asia Limited
Manufacturer: LUXE City Guides
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Pamphlet
ASIN: 9628935518

Product Description

Want the very best of Hong Kong in one Glam littl pocket/purse-sized companion?
Want a cheongsam handmade to order in fabulous rich brocade or vintage 60's silk?
Want a picnic on an iconic 'Batwing' junk?
Want to jet off for adventure treks and deserted beaches in a fast pursuit craft?
Want to find HK's top private bars and clubs?
Want unique and bespoke jewellery direct from the designer's studios?
Want beautiful shoes handmade to order?
Want to find the finest shops, restaurants, spas, bars and services and avoid the rest?

Now you can with LUXE Hond Kong & Macau.

Average customer rating:

Lots of info, compact, snotty

Hong Kong and Macau (Luxe City Guides)
LUXE Asia Limited
Manufacturer: LUXE Asia Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Pamphlet

Hong Kong | Asia | Travel | Subjects | Books

Macau | Asia | Travel | Subjects | Books

Guidebooks | Reference & Tips | Travel | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 9628685821

Book Description

Want the very best of Hong Kong in one glam little pocktet/purse-sized companion?
Want a cheong sam handmade to order in fabulous vintage 60's silk?
Want a picnic on an iconic 'batwing' junk?
Want to find the best tailors in Hong Kong?
Want to jet off for adventure treks and deserted beaches in a fast pursuit craft?
Want to find HK's private bars and kitchens?
Want unique and bespoke jewellery direct from the designer's stuidos?
Want beautiful shoes handmade to order?
Want to find the finest shops, restaurants, shpas, bars and services and avoid the rest?

Customer Reviews:

Lots of info, compact, snotty.......2006-11-28

It's refreshing to read a very concise, opinionated survey of Hong Kong, but the guide's tone sometimes veers into off-putting cruelty and mistakes snobbery for edginess. Hence the repeated derogatory comments about people in Dacron (does paying $400 for a pair of Prada pants really make one superior, or just stupid?) and some obvious comments that are meant to be outre but aren't--would anyone disagree that HK's skyline is far more impressive than NYC's? Some of the "insider" travel tips (ie, having concierge make reservations at the China Club) are stuff that you could read in popular, non-luxe Web sites.

Overall, though, not a bad resource.

Book Description

This book assembles twenty years of work in dramatic color photographs, a magnificent mid-career survey of a remarkable sculptor who turns nature into art.

Customer Reviews:

Daring, natural-themed works.......2004-02-08

Steve Tobin's Natural History is a grand coffee table book flawlessly published and presented by Hudson Hills Press featuring the sculpture of Steve Tobin as showcased in the photography of George Erml and enhanced by the informative essays of Donald Kuspit. Indeed, Erml's brilliant full-color photography reveals the daring, natural-themed works from a mosaic of seeds to shoes filled with preserved natural items to three-dimensional renditions of human torsos, and so much more. Kuspit's insightful and deftly written essay series prefaces the visual display. A strongly recommended addition to academic and community library Artbook Collections, Steve Tobin's Natural History allows the original work of this master artist in a full, free, and unfettered reign.

Book Description

A remarkable and entertaining look at why people spend time, energy, and money on horses - and what they receive in return. Featuring 70 photographs.

Customer Reviews:

living with horsepower.......2003-02-16

This is the best book I have read in years It has so many good stories I cant rave enough about it. The only thing missing is an artical about my favorite horse of all times FURY I think the movie industry did him an injustice by his treatment after he was no longer usefull. Had it not been for Toni Ringo Helfer of The Gentle Jungle he wouldnt have been rescued and brought back to health I thank her with all my heart

A great book for the horse crazy - horse lover........2000-05-30

While I was reading this book there were many times that I read and re-read certain lines and even whole chapters just because the words made such perfect sense. I really enjoyed getting the views and experiences of so many top riders from all aspects of the equestrian world with the author putting it all into perspective. The last chapter about losing your friend and riding companion was so well written that even though I was reading it through tears I could feel the compassion and complete understanding of the author. This book goes on the top shelf of my library and I know I will be going back to it again!

Do You Really Know Horses?.......2000-03-04

Yeah, I thought I did. Being a copetetive showjumper can give you a "big head", but after reading LIVING WITH HORSEPOWER, I saw the horse in a new light. Witter's interviews with top horseman that everyone admires taught me that horses do have feelings,they love you, and they can put you in your place quickly. Reguardless of the size of the animal, and there more commonly spoken about "stupidity", I have come to realize through this book that horses can reason. I swear I can disagree with any scientist that horses CAN do these things. LIVING WITH HORSEPOWER, has truly taught me to think like a horse, and has made me become a better horsewoman. I would like to now thank Rebekah Ferran Witter for this new "life".

A must have for every horse owner!.......1999-07-25

Ms. Witter seems to have captured all that is truly equine, and then some. Being a "Saddlebred" person, I was thrilled with Ms. Witter's interviews with Tom Moore and Mrs. Crabtree who today are the icons of the Saddlebred world.

I could relate to every chapter in this book from horse communication, to detective work, to the chapter on loss. This book is a MUST have for anyone who rides or has horses in their lives! A fantastic read...A fine job!

Finally, a book that was right on target!.......1999-05-16

Growing up as an avid horse and animal lover, I fully related to the lessons shared in this book. I feel that I am more aware, and have a better understanding for the wonderful horse. I highly recommend this book for horse lovers all around.

Product Description

Features 300 tin sand pails, each of a different design, along with corollary sand shovels, sifters, molds, toys, and related sand ephemera produced from 1880-1950. Manufacturers and marks are cited for each, and a price key is included. 450 full-color photographs.

Book Description

A spectacularly illustrated reference.

Roses are valued for many reasons including beauty, symbolism, fragrance, and history. The Rose tells the fascinating story of this treasured flower accompanied by lively text and sumptuous full color illustrations. The book is divided into three sections: Roses of Nature, Roses of History and Roses by Design. Each section traces the links that tie the wild roses of nature to the earliest roses of civilization. It also explodes a few myths along the way and tells how the tireless efforts of horticulturists from many nations have brought into being the full-petalled beauties of today.

The captivating archival illustrations are from the Royal Horticultural Society's collection, home to one of the world's finest archives of horticultural art. This spectacular collection of roses of every description is certain to capture the hearts of gardeners and art lovers alike.

Customer Reviews:

Gorgeous book for the botanical art lover.......2005-04-19

This large coffee-table book features beautiful rose illustations, many never seen before, from the archives of the Royal Horticultural Society. The artists include John Lindley, Alfred Parsons, Mary Lawrence and of course probably the most famous rose artist of all time, Pierre Joseph Redoute. The author also includes an introduction to the history of rose cultivation, from 5000 years ago in China when species roses were grown and he discusses how these roses were used by present day hybridizers to create our modern-day roses. Many of these roses' history have been unknown but recent DNA analysis has helped solve the mysteries of their heritage. Highly informative or just beautiful to look at, this is a beautiful book.

Average customer rating:

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Roses

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Roses

Manufacturer: Timber Press, Incorporated
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Ornamental Plants | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Gardening | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0881922714

Book Description

Suitable for a broad range of rose enthusiasts, this is more than just a big picture book. It lists groupings, parentage, other names and varieties, and year and place of origin for more than 1100 garden roses. Classifications include wild, gallica, damask, alba, centifolia, Portland, bourbon, boursault, china, noisette, rugosa, tea, hybrid perpetual, polyantha, climbers and ramblers both old and modern, hybrid tea, floribunda, shrub, and miniature and dwarf roses.

Customer Reviews:

The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Roses.......2000-03-18

Very well thought out, informative with beautiful illustrations. The perfect complement to the Ultimate Rose Book.

Ahs Illustrated Encyclopedia of Gardening Roses

Average customer rating:

Ahs Illustrated Encyclopedia of Gardening Roses
Ahs
Manufacturer: AMERICAN HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000VFHX3Q

Classic Roses: An Illustrated Encyclopedia and Grower's Manual of Old Roses, Shrub Roses and Climbers

Average customer rating:

A great second or third rose book.
A great second or third rose book.
A Must Have For Your Library!!
Beales Chooses the Best; Forget the Rest
I never knew how many different kinds of roses there were

Classic Roses: An Illustrated Encyclopedia and Grower's Manual of Old Roses, Shrub Roses and Climbers
Peter Beales
Manufacturer: Henry Holt & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Ornamental Plants | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Gardening | Encyclopedias | Reference | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0805010025

Book Description

This is a landmark work by the world’s foremost authority on roses. Both a definitive history and an essential manual for all growers and lovers of roses, it contains a wealth of expert information on buying, propagating, feeding, and pruning old roses, shrub roses, and climbers. Superbly illustrated with more than 600 color photos.

Customer Reviews:

A great second or third rose book........2007-03-22

As its name implies, Classic Roses emphasizes older garden roses and species roses. Its organization by subgenus and section (e.g., "Synstylae") is useful to botanists, but more idiosyncratic for gardeners, especially as most modern roses have ancestors from many species. The book does cover Hybrid Teas and more recent introductions, even including over 50 of David Austin's "New English Roses." It is not as easy (i.e., a 2-step process via the index) to find specific cultivars as in the similar-sized and also excellent "American Rose Society Encyclopedia of Roses," but this book has slightly more cultural information on most varieties, as well as longer - and excellent - chapters on rose history, "Roses in the Landscape" and "The Cultivation of Roses." This book also has a very useful appendix of cultivars by height and narrowly defined (e.g., 4 different yellows) colors. To actually come up with my personal "Rose List" (a 1-page Excel sheet I bring to nurseries) I have primarily used the much smaller (200 page) but in its own way very useful "Peter Schneider on Roses" - which is limited to that rosarian 's favorite varieties - but of course one also has to have a reference tome or two.

A great second or third rose book........2005-11-21

As its name implies, Classic Roses emphasizes older garden roses and species roses. Its organization by subgenus and section (e.g., "Synstylae") is useful to botanists, but more idiosyncratic for gardeners, especially as most modern roses have ancestors from many species. The book does cover Hybrid Teas and more recent introductions, even including over 50 of David Austin's "New English Roses" up to and including `Scepter'd Isle' (1996). It is not as easy (i.e., a 2-step process via the index) to find specific cultivars as in the similar-sized and also excellent American Rose Society Encyclopedia of Roses, but this book has slightly more cultural information on most varieties, as well as longer - and excellent - chapters on rose history, "Roses in the Landscape" and "The Cultivation of Roses." This book also has a very useful appendix of cultivars by height and narrowly defined (e.g., 4 different yellows) colors. To actually come up with my personal "Rose List" (a 1-page Excel sheet I bring to nurseries) I have primarily used the much smaller (200 page) but in its own way very useful Peter Schneider on Roses - which is limited to that rosarian 's favorite varieties - but of course one also has to have a reference tome or two.

A Must Have For Your Library!!.......2002-08-19

I purchased this beauty along with Botanica's Roses, from Amazon. WOW was I delighted! Between the 2 I have almost every rose info I could imagine. It is well worth the money and a must have for every rosarian. I have 40 roses so far and found the info very useful in my continued purchases. (ex: I live in the NW and have wet weather...many roses dislike wet and don't open properly. The books reveal which are poor choices for my such climate. Now that is USEFUL information!)

Of course it goes without saying that the author knows his roses and the pictures are, well, drop-dead gorgeous (as are in the Botanica's Roses book.)

A 100% must have, along with Botanica's.

Beales Chooses the Best; Forget the Rest.......2001-08-21

This is not a coffee table book. Though the pages are high-quality paper, the photos excellent and plentiful, and the binding high-quality, the book is essentially a meaty reference. If there were a college course on roses, this might serve as a texbook.

Beales starts as most authors do by talking about rose history, culture and using roses in the garden. It is clear that Beales is not so interested in roses as show-bench trophy fodder but as vital elements of a user-friendly and colorful garden. This sentiment shows in his selection of cultivars.

The bulk of the book is descriptions of roses. Beales has developed the most complete shorthand available for expressing all the things you wish to about a rose: how well it does in the shade, which diseases it gets, when it blooms, how big and bushy the plant is. This means that his text entries can focus on the facets of the rose that make it unique in the garden. In other words, he manages to convey the same amount of information as would a book twice the heft of this very hefty tome.

The book does a commendable job covering all old rose classes, climbing roses, shrub roses, species, and near-species cultivars. It is the over-fat classes of Hybrid Perpetuals and Hybrid Teas, that have pricipally recieved the editorial hatchet. And since Beales considers only 2000 or so cultivars, this book is good for culling out the considerable amount of dross among roses - especially among hybrid teas.

If you know you will never use roses for any purpose than cutting or showing on a bench, this book will be of only peripheral use. But if you yearn to understand how roses can work in a garden setting, this is one of the best buys around.

I never knew how many different kinds of roses there were.......2000-12-30

Publishers, please bring "Classic Roses" by Peter Beales back into print! I bought a copy for a friend and now I can't bear to give it up. It has everything for the rosarian: thousands of enticing color photographs and descriptions (the author's own collection of roses numbers well over 2,000 species and varieties); extensive chapters on using roses in the landscape (even if your 'landscape' happens to be an apartment terrace), the care and cultivation of roses, the history of roses; and at the back of the encyclopediac text, there are extensive appendixes, indices, a glossary of terms, and suggestions for further reading.

Peter Beales is also a pleasure to read--very British; very knowledgeable; and it is very obvious that he loves his subject. I have only two minor suggestions for "Classic Roses" if it is once again revised: include U.S.A. climate zones for the roses; include photographs of all (not most) of the roses (I'll bet the author wanted to do this and the publishers wouldn't let him).

Amazon.com

Playwright David Mamet's three lectures at Columbia University are ostensibly about issues of dramatic structure, but as they unfold, and Mamet continually explores the relationship between dramatic structure and the lives we live, much broader concerns are revealed. Here, for example, is Mamet on political propaganda:

It is ... essential to the healthy political campaign that the issues be largely or perhaps totally symbolic--i.e., non-quantifiable. Peace With Honor, Communists in the State Department, Supply Side Economics, Recapture the Dream, Bring Back the Pride--these are the stuff of pageant. They are not social goals; they are, as Alfred Hitchcock told us, the MacGuffin.... The less specific the qualities of the MacGuffin are, the more interested the audience will be.... A loose abstraction allows audience members to project their own desires onto an essentially featureless goal.

Although occasionally academic, the overall tone of the lectures is consistent with Mamet's no-nonsense manner of speech. He has no time for obfuscation and little time for repetition, save when he must absolutely employ it for emphasis. He is passionate about good theater, and passionate about the truth. 3 Uses of the Knife makes an excellent companion piece to his True and False, which addressed similar philosophical matters in the form of advice on the actor's craft.

Book Description

What makes good drama? And why does drama matter in an age that is awash in information and entertainment? With bracing directness and aphoristic grace, the Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright of Glengarry Glen Ross delivers a thrillingly original treatise on his art.

To David Mamet, human beings are drama-creating animals who impose narrative structures on everything from today's weather to next year's elections. Mamet distinguishes true drama from its false variants, unravels the infamous "Second-Act Problem," amd considers the mysterious persistence of the soliloquy. Three Uses of the Knife is an inspired guide for any playwright or theatergoer that doubles as a trenchant work of moral and aesthetic philosophy.

Customer Reviews:

A contemporary poetic........2006-03-13

This book is a great essay about dramaturgy and politics that evolves some philosophical and psychological theories.

My Copy Is Torn To Shreds!.......2004-01-23

I bought this book when it first came out in hardcover. It was about triple the price that it is now on Amazon, and many people I knew thought I was insane to buy such a small book for a high price.

But to me -- it was all too worth it.

David Mamet is all at once a very clear writer and a very mysterious writer. Critics of this particular book mainly see fault in its "seeming" lack of clarity -- Mamet has the intellect of an academic but does not feel that he should write like a dry academic because ACADEMIC PAPERS ARE BORING -- right? At least, I think so.

Three Uses of The Knife -- I've read it about 30 times, I've underlined my favorite parts, and the dust jacket is falling to shreds. When I had Mamet sign it at a book reading he gave me this confused look because everyone had a brand-new book (it was South of the Northeast Kingdom) and I had this tattered one. I had to have that book signed because that book is really awesome and means a lot to me (it taught me alot).

Wether you love it or hate it you have to appriciate it. Mamet's genius is undeniable, and the confidence he enbues in his writing is unforgettable.

fundamentalist brainstorm.......2003-12-22

This reads like a weekend brainstorm into the dictaphone, or party-chatter with metropolitan friends. First glance - you've got the large font, wide-margins and generous line-spacing to pad these notes out into a book. Then you notice that nearly every paragraph includes several parenthetical thoughts (like I just had another way-outer to squeeze in here, okay?), plus quoted after-thoughts (sorry, couldn't find "the right words" just then, you know?) - and foreign phrases swept in from every part of the old country - like this gem: "This pronunciamento can be taken as a jejune promise". Footnoted brain-sprinkles complete the overall intellectual profile of this work.

The reader doesn't get any help to piece it all together. Eventually, you might suspect Mamet has something to say about the "three acts" of theatre (no other dramatic structures apparently exist). Mamet dips here and there into the function of drama, his bold thesis being that theatre is magic. Theatre, he declares, is a place of wonder, and no place for popular entertainment or politics. We are to walk out of theatres with "cleansing awe", knowing we are "sinful and worthless".

Mamet never considers any ideas apart from his own. He draws heavily on the Old Testament and a primer on Freud for back-up, but no theatre theorists ever get a mention - apart from Brecht, with a single word, namely: "problematic".

Most of "Three Uses" is actually nothing to do with theatre. It's an outpouring of quotables about statesmanship, the "Information Age", the psychology of the masses, the causes of gambling ... all argued with arrogant inconsistency: Mamet rails against "centralisation by the body politic", and then derides all manner of extremism; he argues against "avant garde nonsense" with absurd phrases like "In endorsing a blank canvas, or the Domino Theory, the individual becomes like a King Canute". For Mamet, "good art" is no more than The Bible, Shakespeare and Bach, plus an American work - "Death of a Salesman", of course. There are no surprises in the ideas, however much they're dressed to impress with showy associations and stiff fundamentalism. Too bad that the result is more like a freshman's freewheeling weblog on "life", than anything from the likes of Brook or Grotowski on "the theatre". American critics equating it with such works is no more than chauvinism.

One use of the knife Mamet forgot was editing. Then he might have been able to communicate something useful here - into 3 or 4 pages. But there's no holding back the primary process exhibitionist. You have to get out the knife and do the editing yourself.

Oh, yes, the knife. Nice title, and it's the substance of a few lines near the end, which Mamet cares - and seems only able - to explain by offering more curly metaphor: "the knife is the dramatist's bass line". Meaning? Dramatists are misanthropes who basically want to kill their audiences? Who knows, but the meandering content and grandiose style of this work sure suggests Mamet's fundamental contempt for the reader.

Premium content, distractingly poor typography........2003-09-01

I just got this book this morning and these are preliminary reactions.
First of all, the content rocks!
Mamet suggestivey points out how we dramatize our lives in our banal exchanges with each other about impersonal things like the weather. In doing so we endow our lives with significance. The insight reminds me of how charged the world once was when I was in love for the first time. I am sure that the access that this small volume gives to an interesting mind repay reading and reading. This is one of those books that makes you think and makes you feel clever for the thinking the thoughts it guides you to.
Unfortunately, I find the poor word-processed typography is distracting. One line has the the initial capital of a sentence squeezed up against the period of the preceding one. The next line has wide open spaces between the words. Paragraph after paragraph finishes with the dangling ends of hyphenated words. I would rather pay a dollar more for a clean view of a remarkable mind.
Surely a respected publishing company can do better than just feed the author's data file to a poorly automatic compositing application and then print the results unperused by human eye?

An artistic credo well worth reading.......2003-02-01

While Mamet's booklet is essentially an exposition of opinions with little or no discourse, it is extremely thought provoking and provides ample fuel for thinking about drama - and art in general - as lying at the edge of reason.

In a treatise that mirrors the three act structure he discusses, Mamet eloquently puts forth the idea that much of political drama, by instructing us what to think and feel, is mere melodrama and that "the theatre exists to deal with problems of the soul, with the mysteries of human life, not with its quotidian calamities." He assails avant-garde artists for taking "refuge in nonsense" and electing themselves "superior to reason," yet also criticizes the "hard-bitten rationalist who rails against religious tradition, against the historical niceties, against ritual large and small."

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Comparative Drama, published by Comparative Drama on March 22, 2000. The length of the article is 1549 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Three Uses of the Knife: On the Nature and Purpose of Drama.(Review) (book review)
Author: Richard W. Mitchell
Publication: Comparative Drama (Refereed)
Date: March 22, 2000
Publisher: Comparative Drama
Volume: 34 Issue: 1 Page: 115

Article Type: Book Review

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