A Sketch Of The Life Of Brigadier General Francis Marion

Book Description

The year 1781 commenced under auspices more propitious than those of the last year. The British had exercised so much oppression and rapacity over all those who would not join them, and so much insolence over those who did, and were in the least suspected, that the people of South Carolina found there was no alternative but between a state of downright vassalage and warfare.

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Product Description

Whether it be the comical "Chocolate," the touching "Coyote and The Rose," or the terrifying "Please God, Not By His Hand Today," Carol Bryant's poetry is a moving collection that delves into issues we all confront within our relationships, our families, and ourselves, as we make choices for our lives. She explores what it means to be unhappy and how to turn your feelings around and smile again. Her heart-felt poetry is easy to read and down to earth as she explores and savors the everyday world of family, friends, love and work. Through her pain, tears, and laughter, she discovers a far greater good - courage to live an authentic life.

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Up Till Now (Detroit, Plymouth)
Steve Veresh
Manufacturer: Henry Ford Village Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000UV6DPA

Product Description

Local Detroit Author writes book about his life here.

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UP 'TIL NOW, A MEMOIR
Eugene McCarthy
Manufacturer: Harcourt
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OJOU58

Customer Reviews:

Too mental for me.......2007-03-17

Although I am a medical doctor and consider myself to be average in intelligence, this book put me to sleep. There is so much theory and scientific information that it put me, a physician, to sleep. There are some parts that deserve merit and some insights that are useful but you have to read a large amount of material that seems amazingly boring to get to it. I would not recommend this book. I have read 100 pages so far and it has been hard to continue reading more. I will make an effort to finish it and report to you later. Maybe there is a surprise somewhere ahead of these pages

Magnus Opus.......1999-03-02

Schnarch has completed a Herculean task of exploring in depth the role of intimacy and sexuality (and spirituality). The sexual crucible model clearly is the most sophisticated model available today for marriage and sex therapists. His novel approach propells the field beyond the behavioral and technique focus that most therapist wouldn't even do if they had too. I was impressed that he attempted to address spirituality and some of his concepts in the final chapter are interesting. However, he falls into a simple dichotomy in analyzing religion which basically is a good/bad split. He really doesn't understand the depth of thought behind some of the previous great thinkers and sees them only through 20th century glasses, where they are easy targets. Overall, I strongly recommend this book to therapists. It is truly groundbreaking.

A break through book about the dynamics of intimate relation.......1995-12-18

This book makes sense of the relationship between personal growth and intimacy with another. Schnarch describes how differentiation can be accelerated with the use of sexual intimacy. He gives the basis for a decision in favor of monogamy without one bit of moralism. A very exciting book

Average customer rating:

the best book

Great book for learning how to make deserts. Good recipes too!

Classic Patisserie

Pastries are great, instructions even greater

wonderful concept brought foward, but flawed

Dessert University: More Than 300 Spectacular Recipes and Essential Lessons from White House Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier
Roland Mesnier , and Lauren Chattman
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Desserts | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Professional | Professional Cooking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

All the Presidents' Pastries: Twenty-Five Years in the White House, A Memoir

White House Chef: Eleven Years, Two Presidents, One Kitchen

Grand Finales: The Art of the Plated Dessert (Grand Finales)

Sweet Seasons: Fabulous Restaurant Desserts Made Simple

The Advanced Professional Pastry Chef

ASIN: 0743223179

Amazon.com

Slightly older egg whites--the ones from supermarket eggs are already three to five days old by the time you buy them--whip up smoother and higher than fesh ones. This bit of information introduces the section called Magical Meringues in Roland Mesnier's Dessert University. For 25 years Roland Mesnier has been executive pastry chef at the White House. He's also a teacher who never forgets what it is to be a student. So he's ready, willing, and able to share what he has learned about producing desserts to die for.

There's a gentle, encouraging spirit that runs through this book, and it comes from the unique situation a White House pastry cehf finds himself in. On the one hand he has to prepare high-end restaurant-quality desserts for lunches and dinners that seat people by the hundreds. But the chief responsibility is to a single family and its guests, which makes the work more like a private chef who only has to satisfy one customer. So these are family recipes, in a sense, that can stand up to restaurant specs.

The book opens with a chapter on fruit desserts, a chapter that establishes a simple, user-friendly line. What follows are chapters on Puddings Custards and Souffles; Mousses and Bavarians; Frozen Desserts; Meringues; Crepes and Deloctable Fillings; Breakfast Pastries; Cookies; Tarts and Pies; Cakes; Chocolate Candy and Decorations; Sugar Decorations; and Syrups, Sauces, and Glazes.

At 540-plus pages this is a big, well-illustrated, cleanly written book with clear instructions and concise recipes. But it isn't intiomidating. Rather, it's welcoming. You'll feel as comfortable whipping up an Apple Sorget with Caramel sauce as you willbaking a Chocolate Butter Cake. And the best advice of all from this master? Practice, practice, practice. --Schuyler Ingle

Book Description

As Executive Pastry Chef at the White House for almost twenty-five years, Roland Mesnier has been responsible for creating thousands of elegant, delicious confections and dazzling desserts for hundreds of state dinners and family occasions. An accomplished teacher as well as a master chef, he now shares his expertise with home cooks in Dessert University.

This beautifully illustrated volume is a complete course in making the full spectrum of spectacular sweets -- from breakfast pastries, cookies, and pies to fresh-fruit desserts, frozen confections, and cakes. Recipes in each chapter are organized from the simplest to the most complex, and Chef Mesnier walks you through each step, pointing out common mistakes and offering insights on technique gained from his years as a professional. Most of these recipes need few special ingredients and almost no fancy equipment; nearly everything can be purchased at a well-stocked supermarket, department store, or kitchen supply store. Chef Mesnier includes tips on techniques, ingredients, and serving suggestions, and offers home cooks practical advice, such as how to fill and use a pastry bag and the best way to whip egg whites. A resource list is also included, so cooks can find the more unusual ingredients they need to make these delectable creations.

Mesnier starts off with his fresh-fruit desserts, including uniquely wonderful recipes such as Bananas in Raspberry Cream, Blueberry Fool, and Poached Peaches with Chestnut Mousse. He moves on to creamy custards, puddings, soufflés, mousses and Bavarians, ice creams, meringues, crêpes, and breakfast treats (including buttery brioche and croissant doughs). Chef Mesnier's cookie and bar recipes will fill your cookie jar with such treats as Chocolate Chip Cookies, Almond Crescents, Orange Butter Cookies, Brownies, and Florentine Squares. There are sweet and savory tarts, and cakes ranging from the simple (Lemon Pound Cake) to the unusual (Peanut Butter and Jelly Roulade Cake) to the sophisticated (Chocolate Champagne Mousse Cake). Ambitious home cooks can even try their hand at making chocolate candy and sugar decorations. A chapter on syrups, sauces, and other dessert components completes the book.

More than fifty black-and-white line drawings throughout illustrate Chef Mesnier's instructions for the more complicated recipes, and there are sixteen stunning color photographs of finished desserts.

Home cooks and professionals spend hundreds of dollars in formal cooking classes to learn what masters like Roland Mesnier have to teach. In Dessert University, Chef Mesnier has distilled the experience and expertise of an extraordinary career into one accessible, user-friendly volume. Whether you're a novice who has never picked up a rolling pin or an accomplished cook looking to hone and enhance your skills, this is truly a book you cannot do without.

Customer Reviews:

the best book .......2007-07-05

This is simply the best book on baking I have ever used! I bake a lot. At least one thing every day and I have never owned a book where every recipe I have tried has turned out beautifully until now. If your someone who likes to bake out of a box this book is not for you, but if you've wanted to try something different from your everday items this book is wonderful. Mesnier breaks everything down and teaches you the simplest way to do everything. If there's an easier way to do something, he's found it. It's not like other dessert books, where you've never even heard of half of the ingredients, or they're all super expensive items with long drawn out instructions. I'm now making things that I never in a million years thought I would be able to make. This is the book I turn to for any technique. In fact, I've taken ideas from other books and then put them together using the techniques in this book. Quite simply this is the best book ever!!!! I love it and I recommend it to everyone.

Great book for learning how to make deserts. Good recipes too!.......2007-04-11

I like the book. The best part is that Chef Mesnier has a brief introduction to each recipe. He gives instructions or advise which I found most helpful.
I have thousands, yes thousands, of recipes but few come with thoughtful comments about them. Chef Mesnier makes even difficult techniques seem possible for the average person.
In short, if you like to learn about making deserts get the book. If you are a professional chef who knows everything about cooking, this book is probably not for you.

Classic Patisserie .......2007-03-21

In Dessert University, Roland Mesnier, the White House Pastry Chef from the Carter Administration to the current Bush Administration, skillfully merges renowned expertise with effective teaching. Like the venerable, tenured professor of an esteemed academy of higher learning, Chef Mesnier has spent many years in many kitchens developing his extensive knowledge and creative interpretation of patisserie. His career parallels the evolution of a scholastic researcher continually refining his understanding while seeking new realms of discovery.

Chef Mesnier's personal love of learning is conveyed to others in his first opus. Dessert University is a varied collection of clear and reliable recipes. Most often they are prefaced by lively and personal commentary. By so doing, the reader senses the presence of the engaging teacher and master chef, ever ready to support and to nudge forward to new culinary challenges. Some recipes are accompanied by helpful sketches or stunning color photographs.

A quick glimpse into Chef Mesnier's classroom reveals a range of tantalizing options. There are basic dessert recipes for novice pastry students, such as Oatmeal Cookies or All-American Apple Pie. Chef Mesnier simultaneously offers multiple recipes for those students inclined to enlarge their pastry repertoire. A few, tempting samples are: gossamer Apple Butter Crepes with Marsala-Laced Vanilla Sauce, an ethereal Warm Strawberry soufflé, a delicate Quick Chocolate Mousse with Ginger, or a chapter on the intricacies of pulled and blown sugar artwork.

If research, complemented by a passion for teaching, epitomizes the highest values of scholarship, Dessert University has achieved the gold standard of excellence. Chef Mesnier does this without any Ivory Tower overtones that detract from his dual passions of learning and teaching. He warmly shares his pastry expertise within a clear and devoted mentorship style. Dessert University is certain to become a classic reference for any student of patisserie.

Pastries are great, instructions even greater.......2006-06-22

Pastries & dessert making isn't my greatest skill. So I bought this book hoping to find at least a handful of easy to make desserts. I was surprised to find most recipes quite easy to follow. I still have a long way to go making them look good, but at least my pastries taste good for a change.

wonderful concept brought foward, but flawed.......2006-04-26

This book appears to have been designed to provide value and economy for a wide audience and the author accomplishes this. The book is well designed and executed. It features good line drawings, interesting topics, and thorough instructions. For this, the book earns 5 stars.

From a professional point of view however, having been in the culinary field for over 20 years, I feel the title is a bit misleading. The term "dessert university" brings to mind a reader who has some prior knowledge of the culinary arts but upon reading this book, I see recipes for basic recipes like chocolate chip cookies, apple pie, and plain poached pears.
On the other hand, I see recipes for sophisticated cooks like peaches with chestnuts and figs with cantalope. Some of the recipes were just too bizarre. A good example is rum raisen ice cream with pears in red wine. My complaint?

There is too much going on in this book to present a clear point of view.

There are chapters for fruit, soft desserts, frozen desserts, cakes, cookies, and so on. For the experienced cook and baker, many of the recipes for these chapter headings are better found elsewhere, not that they are really needed here anyway.
The chapters that offered more information on meringues, crepes, chocolate work, and sugar work were the only advanced subjects that you would not find in a common bakery book.

Although this book is a great resource for people who want just one complete guide for baking, most of the consumers who really are interested and in need of instruction from a "dessert university" are likely to buy more than one book on the topic anyway.

But for my own opinion as someone in the business, I would of liked to see this book geared more for the truly advanced person in the field of culinary arts. I would of liked to see a chapter on the use of eggs with meriques and souffles together and also a chapter with molded desserts together (frozen and creme). I would want to see more ways to use crepes that was shown in the chapter.
Lastly, I would definitely want to see many more photos on the use of complicated processes like sugar work and chocolate decorations. For the reasons cited in the above paragraph, my personal rating for this book is 3 stars.

Dessert University: More Than 300 Spectacular Recipes and Essential Lessons From White House Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier

Average customer rating:

Dessert University: More Than 300 Spectacular Recipes and Essential Lessons From White House Pastry Chef Roland Mesnier
Roland Mesnier
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000N6B730

Amazon.com

"Slipcovers are to furniture what clothing is to the body," declares this creative, common-sense guide. "They camouflage, dress up or down, give character, and convey style." They can transform an ordinary item into something exciting that helps make a room work. Less pricey than new furniture or reupholstery, they can nevertheless be somewhat costly when custom-made--unless you learn to make them yourself. Simply Slipcovers is an excellent choice for this purpose. In keeping with Sunset's winning how-to series format (see also Simply Window Treatments and Simply Upholstery), the book offers a common-sense approach to choosing style, fabric, and trim, supplementing its extensive step-by-step instructions with good, clear photos and diagrams. In addition to actual construction information, the 20 projects explain measuring and cutting (with measuring diagrams and cutting layouts) and include loads of great tips on achieving a professional appearance. Besides cover-ups for futon, daybed, and ottoman, and both simple tailored and elaborately swagged sofa designs, projects feature various chair styles, from easy folding- and dining-chair disguises to skirted armchair and welted wing chair covers. Several projects also feature "designer details," ideas for finishing touches like contrasting borders, decorative bows and binding, or pleated swags. The "basics" section explains yardage calculations for many types of soft furnishings, cutting and fitting directions, general construction techniques, and an overview of essential equipment. Although some pieces require advanced sewing skills, many can be handled by the novice. --Amy Handy

Average customer rating:

Easy Upholstery
More than adequate for the do-it-yourselfer
Simply Upholstery
Great for beginners!
TOO BASIC

Simply Upholstery (Simply)
Sunset Books
Manufacturer: Sunset Publishing Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Upholstery & Fabrics | Interior Design | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0376011858

Amazon.com

More involved than constructing a slipcover, upholstering furniture means giving an item a new identity that it will wear like skin. Understanding the layers of fabric, trimming, padding, and webbing that give a chair or a sofa its curves and contours can seem like learning a new language. How do you handle the practicalities of repairing the old innards, calculating new yardage, cutting pieces to fit properly, and achieving smooth coverage, let alone the aesthetic considerations of determining the appropriate fabric and trim choices? Simply Upholstery takes the guesswork out of all these problems and more, in straightforward, thorough, step-by-step instructions, supplemented by excellent color diagrams. Since individual furniture pieces vary so widely in design and dimension, the general directions are geared toward solid basic technique that can be applied to many styles of sofas and chairs. To show the entire process in action, the final section offers detailed color photos tracking all 50 steps of reupholstering a traditional wing chair. Like other volumes in Sunset's winning how-to series format (see also Simply Window Treatments and Simply Slipcovers), this pragmatic, careful approach brings a somewhat complicated subject down to a level that even newcomers can understand. --Amy Handy

Customer Reviews:

Easy Upholstery.......2007-02-27

This is a great book! It takes you through the process of reupholstery with a step-by-step explanation of tools, terminology and process. Then it provides great pictures of each step. It would appeal to a technical or visual learning style.

More than adequate for the do-it-yourselfer.......2006-06-14

An avid do-it-yourselfer that loves to work on decorating projects around the house writes this review. I purchased this book after I finished my first upholstery project. About 3 years ago I got a bug to try my hand at upholstery and prompted stripped a loveseat down to its frame. I used only a few short guides from the Internet as my directions. Surprisingly it worked, but it was not the easiest way to learn to reupholster something. I purchased this book when I decided to reupholster a wing chair. This book has been invaluable.

The book is subdivided as follows:

PART ONE: Be Creative
Thinking Creatively
Upholstery Design
Choosing Fabric
Choosing Trim
Into the Workroom

PART TWO: Techniques
Analyzing Your Furniture
Tools and Terms
The Parts of the Cover
The Fabric Treatment
Measuring and Estimating
Stripping the Old Fabric
Repairing the Innards
Cutting the New Cover
Basic Construction Techniques
Putting on the Cover

PART THREE: The Process
Watching the Process Unfold

The book covers all the tools that you will need to get started. They also tell you how to replace the webbing and reattach the springs. They do a nice job of showing you how to determine yardage for the piece you are going to recover.

The book spends a lot of time on the recovering of a wing chair. Since I started with a loveseat and moved to a wingchair. In my experience the wing chair is much more difficult because it has more pieces and those pieces are curved. I feel that once you can recover a wingchair everything else is a piece of cake. My next project is an antique loveseat that needs to have its underlying structure reinforced. After reading this book twice, I feel comfortable that I can handle the task.

For those of you that are new to upholstery I will warn you about a couple of things:
1. It takes much longer than you anticipate.
2. The people that originally construct furniture seem to get paid by the staple, I know I pulled at least 1000 out of the first piece I reupholstered
3. Make certain the frame is sturdy before you consider recovering a piece of furniture
4. Consider a solid fabric for your first project so that you don't have to match any patterns
5. Save and tag the pieces as you remove them to use as a pattern
6. Pick up a few basic tools before you start: a tack puller, a web stretcher and a pneumatic nail gun.

If you have patience and time, you will enjoy the process.

Simply Upholstery.......2006-04-02

Even though I have not begun my upholstery project,
this book will be of great help to me. I recommend
it to anyone who is a bginner. Sandra R.

Great for beginners!.......2006-02-23

Written in easy to understand terms with lots of illustrations. This is a great book that explains how to reupholster several types of furniture pieces while teaching you the pro's tricks, so you get up to speed quickly!

TOO BASIC.......2005-03-23

This book is very basic and exactly as the title suggests -- simple. If you are looking for information as a do-it-yourselfer, this is not the book. You would be better off with UPHOLSTERY -- A Complete Course by David James.

Amazon.com

This small handbook is filled with easy-to-remember tips and ideas for the gardener. Divided into 11 main chapters such as "Know Your Garden," "Choosing Plants," "Before Planting," "Watering and Feeding," "Pruning," "Growing in Containers," and "Lawns," each chapter has subsections including advice, commonly asked questions, tips, and shortcuts. Illustrations and color photographs throughout make this a lively, useful guide for the beginning or would-be gardener. --Mark A. Hetts

Customer Reviews:

Gardening how-to in a nutshell........2004-06-15

This very affordable, essential reference for beginners covers all the basics of gardening in a broad range of topics, without ever turning too technical for the reader. The well-organized, thoroughly indexed and concise information is presented in handy tips, easy-to-remember answers to frequently asked questions, and step-by-step expert advice with detailed explanations that include topics like:
*Knowing your garden
*Choosing your plants
*Basic tools and equipment
*Planting, watering and feeding
*Wedding, pruning and protecting your plants
*Propagating plants and growing them in containers
*Taking care of your lawn
The key information and direct-to-the-point explanations contained in this handbook are accompanied with more than 250 full-color photos and illustrations, which perfectly depict the points being made and make this volume visually enjoyable. And with a binding perfectly suited for constant browsing and repeated check-ups, you are sure to come back to it again and again.
The one thing missing from this volume is a glossary for common terms, but overall, the nuggets of helpful information presented here are a great value for their price. This is a must-buy for beginners and would-be gardeners who want a simple and easy to follow guide with instructions that can be instantly absorbed.
--Reviewed by Maritza Volmar

Excellent Basic gardening Guide!.......2000-06-04

This book goes through all the basics of gardening from planting to sowing. Perfect for the beginner gardener learning the ropes. The colorful pictures are captivating and the explanations are very detailed and understandable. I book is an essential reference book for any gardener!

Average customer rating:
The Friendship Factor: Helping Our chldr Navigate Their Social World Why It Matters for Their Success H
Kenneth Rubin , and Andrea Thompson
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Interpersonal Relations | Relationships | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
Child Development | Babies & Toddlers | Parenting | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
General | Parenting | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
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Similar Items:

The Unwritten Rules of Friendship: Simple Strategies to Help Your Child Make Friends

The Sixth Sense II

Lost & Found: A Kid's Book for Living through Loss

Best Friends, Worst Enemies: Understanding the Social Lives of Children

Nobody Likes Me, Everybody Hates Me: The Top 25 Friendship Problems and How to Solve Them

ASIN: 0142001899
Release Date: 2003-04-29

Book Description

Based on twenty-five years of research on friendship, Dr. Kenneth H. Rubin reveals the importance of children's social development to their emotional and intellectual growth-and future success. In The Friendship Factor he uses vivid case studies to differentiate normal development from potential problems and real distress, exploring how to:

Â€ Distinguish between a solitary child and a lonely child
Â€ Encourage the development of "popularity-as-likability," not "dominance"
Â€ Help an easily angered child be less aggressive
Â€ Increase a child's social ability with specific skills and strategies

Book Description

In 1944 Picasso joined the French Communist Party, and he remained a loyal member to the end of his long life. This book examines for the first time Picasso's puzzling political commitment to a repressive organization that maintained an authoritarian hold on its artistic community. Gertje R. Utley offers new insights into the impact communism had on the artist's life and on his artistic production.

Customer Reviews:

Hostile account of great artist and communist.......2003-05-27

This beautifully-illustrated book studies Pablo Picasso's artistic and political work after he joined the French Communist Party in 1944. `An illustrious son of democratic Spain', he opposed Franco, aided the resistance in Paris and championed France's post-war cultural renaissance.

Utley details Picasso's creative efforts and depicts the care and constant reworking with which he conceived, executed and reproduced his designs in different media, whether murals, paintings, sculptures, posters, postcards, prints, brooches, key chains or pottery. She disposes of the well-travelled lie that Picasso admitted that his work was all a blague, a trick played on the public. In fact, as she shows, the alleged conversation was drawn from Il Libro Nero, a collection of fictitious interviews written by Giovanni Papini.

Utley shows how `a strategy elaborated at the highest levels of the American government' presented the art of the New York School as a living manifestation of democracy as opposed to communism. The US state promoted Abstract Expressionism, to make New York supersede Paris as the capital of Western art. It promoted the notion of the Nietzschean artist, the individualistic, introspective genius in his ivory tower, free from all social and political concerns, casting Picasso as the `anti-artist', compromised because committed.

Yet this is a deeply anti-communist account of a good communist. Utley sneers at what she calls the communists' `illusory goal of bridging the gap between art and the people', and at `the inadequacies of the artistic policies and aspirations of the French Communist party'. It is clearly beyond the comprehension of the author, an American academic based at New York University, that Picasso was a loyal and active Party member for the rest of his long life - which says more about the author's limits than the subject's!

Her stale caricature of `repressive Party' and `servile member' fails completely to explain how people of the calibre of Picasso and his friends Paul Robeson, Pablo Neruda, Louis Aragon and Paul Eluard could be Party members. Were they all dupes? Unlike, say, an American academic, who cannot imagine how anyone cannot trust the US state?

Picasso's Role in The Communist Betrayal of Liberalism.......2001-04-17

As a working politician over the past sixty years in the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, I experienced first-hand the sinister and underhanded role of Communists as putative allies and ultimate enemies. From the American Student Union in the 30's ("The Yanks are not Coming!) to the subversion of the McGovern campaign in 1972, American Communists, as disciplined and treacherous as their counterparts in Russia, sought violent Revolution as their doctrinaire goal under cover of a liberal "alliance" both here and more importantly in the unstable Fourth Republic. Gertje Utley's book, "Picasso, The Communist Years" shows bit by closely honed and researched bit, how Picasso lent his name and prestige to this debilitating process in France. With neither the background nor the political intellect to comprehend the logical consequences of his support for a repressive and hypocritical dictatorship, Picasso became the willing dupe of his Communist masters draining support for liberal political leaders and causes in France and elsewhere during the critical years of Communist dominance over the peoples of Eastern Europe. Utley connects Picasso's art and personality during this period with political views which were naive and egotistical in their origin and mischievous in their application. It is difficult to think of a greater challenge to an art historian than to attempt to describe the aberrational behavior of a great artist and the tangential effect of that behavior on his or her art. Utley's book is a readable and fascinating description of the macabre process by which Picasso was drawn into a realpolitik which aimed to destroy the very basis of his own artistic liberty.

Average customer rating:

if you are still curious about the history of management & marketing, particularly from a CEO's perspective...

Very good insight into the vacuum-sealed area of Apple

Beyond Self Pity there is Actual Value and Insight

Apple Made a Big Mistake

The Man Who Saved Apple

On the Firing Line: My 500 Days at Apple
Gil Amelio , and William L. Simon
Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Company Profiles | Biography & History | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Biographies | Business & Culture | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
Manager's Guides to Computing | Business & Culture | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
Macs | Hardware | Computers & Internet | Subjects | Books
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Apple: The Inside Story of Intrigue, Egomania, and Business Blunders

Odyssey: Pepsi to Apple : A Journey of Adventure, Ideas, and the Future

Apple Confidential 2.0: The Definitive History of the World's Most Colorful Company

Big Blues: The Unmaking of IBM

Marketing High Technology

ASIN: 0887309194

Amazon.com

It's hard to think of a company that has captured the public imagination as much as Apple Computer. The rise and fall of the business that single-handedly created the PC market and then let it slip away has been the fodder for several books, most notably Insanely Great by Steven Levy and more recently Jim Carlton's Apple: The Inside Story of Intrigue, Egomania, and Business Blunders. Now in On The Firing Line, former Apple CEO Gil Amelio tells his own story about his 500 days at Apple.

The book provides some insight into the significant events that occurred under Amelio's watch, such as Apple's failed in-house development of Copland, the search to license an operating system for the Macintosh, as well as details about those who would buy Apple including Sun Microsystems and Oracle. But the real focus of the book is Amelio's own frustrations in working with Apple's chaotic and undisciplined culture as well as Steve Jobs, the man who would eventually fire him. Although Amelio's account is at times overly self-serving, On the Firing Line is an interesting read that should interest most Macaholics.

Book Description

On the Firing Line: My 500 Days at Apple is Gil Amelio's gripping and fast-paced recollection of what happened during his seventeen months as the CEO of Apple. This is the revealing story of how a proven high-technology turnaround artist took on the biggest challenge of his careerand perhaps his life.

At once a frank revelation of the inner workings of Apple and a cautionary tale of business in today's changing marketplace, On the Firing Line is a must-read for Apple devotees and anyone interested in the politics of today's digital economy.

Customer Reviews:

if you are still curious about the history of management & marketing, particularly from a CEO's perspective..........2006-10-17

On the Firing Line: My 500 Days at Apple
by Gil Amelio

Towards the end of the nineties, I came across this book. I was attracted to it because I was partly fascinated by the author's earlier work, 'Profit from Experience: The National Semiconductor Story of Transformation Management' which I had read a few years earlier. The latter documented the author's success story at National Semiconductor. I had also reviewed this book on amazon website.

This book captured the author's unsuccessful attempt to turn around the world's most famous personal computing company, where he had spent some seventeen months earlier at the helm. He eventually got himself fired by Steve Jobs. In the book, he obviously conveyed a sense of disbelief that he had gotten himself into such a mess.

As I was reading this book at that time, I could not help recalling a similar kind of hard-hitting & compelling account of life as a CEO of Apple Computer almost a decade earlier i.e. towards the late eighties. I am referring to John Sculley's 'Odyssey: Pepsi to Apple : A Journey of Adventure, Ideas, and the Future.' In the book, John Sculley vividly described how, after working as an executive for Pepsi, developing winning strategies in the Cola Wars, & being promoted to president at age 38, he abandoned a "second-wave" company to join Apple, a "third-wave" firm epitomizing creativity, & innovation. He eventually got himself out-manoeuvred & then fired by Steve Jobs. What a coincidence?

Interestingly, the book also captured Steve Jobs' infamous challenge to John Sculley to take up the CEO job offer: `Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water, or do you want to change the world?'

Even up to today, what intrigues me most about the 'On the Firing Line' book is the author's failure (he practically faced an uphill task from Day I, despite the fact he is a PhD technologist by training!) in replicating his previous 'model of success' at National Semiconductor in the Apple setting? I can only deduce in broad terms, the 'clash of iconic personalities' & 'culture shock' as possible contributing factors.

I can only say this: if you are still curious about the history of management & marketing, particularly from a CEO's perspective within Silicon Valley, the above two books, namely 'On the Firing Line' & 'Odyssey' certainly offer some valuable lessons.

Both books had been very fascinating for me to read.

Very good insight into the vacuum-sealed area of Apple.......2006-01-04

Gil Amelio provides excellent advice on how to deal with the difficult, stubborn and bright people who run Apple. At the end of the book it becomes clear that "if you contend with an influential person, then you will fall into his power" (Old Testmnt., Sirach 8:1).

Dr. Amelio contended with Steve Jobs and challenged him in many ways. For example, back in the winter of 1995, Mac OS 7 was having problems and possible solutions were "two years" away (p. 151). Amelio immediately started the process of fixing OS 7 and contacted three outside sources: Bill Gates who promised to "put hundreds of people on the probject" (p. 152) even though Mr. Gates' technical solutions were "sophomoric at best" (153); Jean Louis Gassee who "scarmbled to the top of the Apple organization in France" but lacked the ability to create " a steady stream of new products" (p. 154); and Steve Wozniak who was concerned that "Apple was not putting enough energy into education" (p. 223). At the same time Apple engineers worked on "Copland" and "Gershwin".

The well-known result of the efforts of Amelio and others lead to the July 1997 release of OS 8.1 which sold 1.25 million copies in less than two weeks and became the best selling software of that time. However, the private result of Amelio's efforts to fix OS 7 by consulting outside sources was the humiliation of Mr. Jobs and his followers. Amelio writes, "To someone obsessed, when another person gets in the way, the solution is to roll right over him... I was in Steve's way and had to be eliminated" (p. 269).

"On the Firing Line" is a very good book, because "On the Firing Line" is fun to read, full of excellent advice for business people, discusses some of the major personalities in Silicon Valley, shows the brilliance of Mac engineers, gives examples of the "narrowness, passivity and lack of unity" within Apple (pp. 268, 276), and is a business person's review of "what the heck just happened?" after getting fired from a job without good reasons.

Beyond Self Pity there is Actual Value and Insight.......2005-04-21

I know he seems rather naive and in a serious mode of self pity, but Jobs is infamously known for getting under people's skin and turning them inside out. He can make you a true believer, a zealot, or fill you with such dour disposition that you'd even contemplate suicide. He's that powerful. And it looks like Gil is caught up in that distortion field to his determent, so cut him a break please.

Now I was there before and after Amelio was there, when things were in dire straits. My manager in a team meeting would ask "Common sense, and why is there none at Apple?" When in a rare moment, all of the QA divisions would say thumbs down to shipping the buggy OS, the infamous Dave Nagel would say ship it anyways. The local community college in Cupertino (who dearly love Macs) had actually put a purchase freeze on Macs. I recall Amelio relaying a story about him trying out the new Macs at his desk, and had it crash all the time; he understood there was a serious problem and tried to do something about it, but unfortunately there was Nagel and others. Some engineers' attitudes was the workaround for the bug was to "buy a new computer". Now Nagel is off to Palm to destroy drive that into the ground.

Other infamous people were Ike Nassi (a.k.a. Ike Nasty) who was known for gauging funding from the TCP/IP stack (OpenTransport) and spending on pet projects he was dazzled with. OpenTransport later became affectionately called BrokenTransport internally.

Gil has account for dealing with these two infamous characters and others, and it is rather enlightening. I only wish he had the minerals to fire their butts.

Apple Made a Big Mistake.......2003-08-25

After reading this book, I came to a conclusion that Apple made a big mistake by getting rid of Amelio. The truth is, they could be a lot further along than they are, even today, had they not have made the descision to oust him from his post after only a year and a half. The book is written very well, and is a book that you can get through, and understand easily. There were not many typos that I noticed in the book. This is a must read for Apple fans, Windows fans, and businessmen alike.

The Man Who Saved Apple.......2002-03-06

It is now clear why the best OS in the world didn't catch on. If the business fundamentals of a company are not sound, the company will lose marketshare and eventually...fail.

Here is a look into how Apple's loose corporate culture almost became it's undoing. This book proves that you can have all the talent in the world, but if there is no discipline and teamwork, it will all be for not. I had thought Gil's short tenure was due to incompetance....a stuffed shirt who was wrong for the job. I mean, Steve Jobs saved Apple...right?

Wrong. Gil was exactly what Apple needed. Apple had a rotten core of self-serving individuals. I find it incredible that Apple management would listen to Gil's order and then do nothing to act on them. His biggest failure was a failure not to kick their lazy butts out the door sooner! How can a business be run with everyone doing their own thing? And surprise...the sales people were only interested in achieving a certain quantity of sales even if it meant selling computers at such a low price that the company lost money on a per unit basis.

If you are into Apple and/or business turnaround stories, this is a great read. I could hardly put it down. Throw in Gil's encounters with Bill Gates and Steve Jobs and you really get keen insight into the whole computer industry and the personalities of the industries biggest movers and shakers.

It is ironic that today so many credit Apple's turnaround to Steve Jobs. If you still believe that then you really need to read this book.

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An Insider' s View

Organizational reality: Reports from the firing line
Peter J. Frost , Walter R. Nord , and Vance F. Mitchell
Manufacturer: Scott, Foresman
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0673166635

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An Insider' s View.......2001-07-14

I used the 1st edition of Organizational Reality in my Organizational Communications course at Purdue in the early 80' s. The latest edition was published in 1997. This book is a primer on organizational dynamics. It uses a theory into practice model by offering organizational theory and describing how they are put into practice in real organizations. This is done via anecdotes in the form of case studies, play excerpts, poems, and song lyrics from the mid 70' s to the mid 90' s. Unlike a typical textbook, which is heavy on theory, this book is heavy on anecdotes, which makes it more readable to a wider variety of readers than a typical text. As such, it is not a comprehensive text on the subject due to the lack of theoretical foundations. But it is a fine supplement to typical textbook and an fine stand alone text for undergraduate college students and high school seniors preparing to enter the work place or college class room. It gives both populations an insider' s view of the inner workings of organizations, revealing some unofficial rules of the game and "maps" to help outsiders get through the irrational, illogical maze of organizational structure, human and otherwise. After reading it as an undergrad and re-reading it as a professional I conclude it is a must-have for any educational institution that prides itself on preparing its students for the real world.

School, Family and Community Interaction: A View from the Firing Lines (The Milken Institute Series in Economics and Education)

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School, Family and Community Interaction: A View from the Firing Lines (The Milken Institute Series in Economics and Education)
Cheryl L. Fagnano
Manufacturer: Westview Pr (Short Disc)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Policy | Education | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

General | Parenting & Families | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0813323355

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Firing Line (Destroyer, No 41)
Murphy
Manufacturer: Pinnacle
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Men's Adventure | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1558174834

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In the Firing Line
Brian Mawhinney
Manufacturer: Harpercollins Pub Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Irish | Ethnic & National | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

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Firing Line: Ferdinand Marcos, President of the Philippines: A Discussion.

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Firing Line: Ferdinand Marcos, President of the Philippines: A Discussion.
William F. Jr. Buckley
Manufacturer: Southern Ed. Commun. Assoc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N47TMK

On the Military Firing Line in the Alcoholism Treatment Program: The Air Force Sergeant Who Beat Alcoholism and Taught Others to Do the Same

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On the Military Firing Line in the Alcoholism Treatment Program: The Air Force Sergeant Who Beat Alcoholism and Taught Others to Do the Same
Bill S. , and Glenn F., Ph.D. Chesnut
Manufacturer: iUniverse
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Alcoholism | Recovery | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Substance Abuse | Recovery | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Education & Training | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

General | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Psychoanalysis | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Psychotherapy, TA & NLP | Psychology & Counseling | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books

Book Description

An insightful, very readable book. The father of military alcoholism treatment tells about his own life and recovery from alcoholism, and describes how he set up the first officially sanctioned military treatment programs for alcoholics in the 1940s and 50s, when the Alcoholics Anonymous movement was first spreading across the United States. A survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor, he almost died after the war from his own out-of-control drinking. Using his own recovery as a guide, he persuaded the Air Force to appoint him full time to working with other alcoholics. The success story which he and psychiatrist Dr. Louis Jolyon West related in the American Journal of Psychiatry in 1956 was distributed all across the country by the National Council on Alcoholism.

If you think that you may have a problem with alcohol or drugs yourself, this book can save your life. The author describes in simple terms the processes which drive people to drink and use drugs, and the route to recovery. He talks about genetics, physical addiction, and the social and psychological pressures which produce subconscious conflicts and massive guilt in alcohol and drug abusers. For mental health professionals, he discusses the relationship between the twelve step program and basic psychiatric principles, and shows how the professionals and the A.A. and N.A. groups can work together to produce impressive recovery rates.

This A.A. old-timer (fifty-five years sober) also talks about his early mentor Mrs. Marty Mann, the first woman to gain long-term sobriety in A.A. He describes his conversations with Sister Ignatia and the good old-timers in Akron, Ohio, his work with the noted alcohol researcher E. M. Jellinek at the Yale School of Alcohol Studies, and the way early A.A. meetings were organized and conducted. His book is a lasting monument to those early years, when it was first discovered that alcoholics could be saved.

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The Destroyer Firing Line #41

Manufacturer: pinnacle
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: 0523407157

Firing Line (Mack Bolan : the Executioner, No 158)

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Firing Line (Mack Bolan : the Executioner, No 158)
Pendleton
Manufacturer: Gold Eagle
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Men's Adventure | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0373611587

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Memoirs: Sixty Years on the Firing Line

Manufacturer: Funk and Wagnalls
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000I8RBYM

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