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Confessions of a Name Dropper
Les Nichols
Manufacturer: Turner Publishing Company (KY)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1563115336 |
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- Excellent Introduction to Jung
- "Must" reading for all students of Jungian psychology.
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Jung: A Journey of Transformation Exploring His Life and Experiencing His Ideas
Vivianne Crowley
Manufacturer: Quest Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Jung, Carl
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ASIN: 0835607828 |
Book Description
This lively, entertaining text beckons the reader with simple explanations of Jung's major concepts and light-hearted exercises of self-discovery.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Introduction to Jung.......2006-08-16
This is one of the best introductions to the thought and life of Carl Jung. It covers all of his major psychological concepts in clear and concise language. The author has also included several "exercises" to help the reader in their own journey towards wholeness. For example, in one section, the reader answers a series of questions and then one is able to determine what "Psychological Type" they are. Several other exercises focus on Jung's method of active imagination and confronting one's own shadow. The book, then, is not just a dry academic presentation of Jung's psychology. Instead one becomes actively engaged with Jung's theories and through the exercises one can see how his ideas relate to our day to day life. In this sense, the author has made Jung much more enagaging and richer than many other standard "textbook" type introductions. The book is well illustrated with several photos of Jung and his world. I highy recommend this for anyone who is new to Jung and wants a good introduction to his thought. I have suggested this book to many of my friends and despite its brevity, it does an excellent job of capturing the heart of Jung's ideas on human nature.
"Must" reading for all students of Jungian psychology........2000-04-04
Carl Gustav Jung (1875-1961) is an amazing man whose personal researches and inquiries into the mystical traditions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Zen, Taoism, Protestant and Catholic Christianity, Gnosticism, mythology, and psychology, created a profound influence on succeeding generations of truth seekers is presented and surveyed in a single volume that does full and complete justice to the man and his thoughts. Jung: A Journey Of Transformation will enable the student of metaphysical, spiritual, and psychological insight to fully grasp this original thinker's manifold observations, insights, ideas, and findings. Highly recommended.
Customer Reviews:
A few things missing.......2006-11-05
This book describes very accurately the effects of early attachment trauma. There is also an excellent chapter on means of diagnosis.
James' most helpful chapter, however is on the treatment process, which notes that an effective treatment must address education, self-identity, relationship building, behavioral control and affect tolerance, all simultaneously.
Having said all that, the book does not adequately discuss the length of treatment required--which is not easy, or quick. It would be nice to know more about time frame for the average successful treatment, and indeed, the success rate with various types of treatment offered.
We'd also have liked more on the physical brain damage that can be caused by early attachment trauma. Which areas of the brain are generally effected? How permanent is the damage? Is it possible for children neurologically affected to develop strategies to overcome their neurological disabilities?
An updated edition, for example, might discuss the medical efficacy and practical long term effect of neuro-biofeedback treatments. If no such studies have been done, Dr. James might perhaps consider one.
Additionally, we missed suggestions on how to handle Committees on Special Education, which don't understand the problem, and frequently prefer to move kids from successful programs to "approved" facilities, just to save money in the short term.
And finally, discussing the ultimate costs of short term "solutions" would be helpful in future editions. A new chapter might explain to professionals (and politicians) that attachment disordered children are medically, psychologically and educationally best served by staying in programs that work for them to allow healing to progress without causing further trauma.
Despite these suggestions, however, we found this book very useful.
Honest.......2005-10-27
An excellent book for those looking to learn more about trauma and its relationship to attachment. James does a wonderful job of laying a foundation of understanding, and expanding it to helpful techniques for both parents and professionals.
Parenting RAD.......2003-09-22
Beverly provides helpful methods for parenting and understanding Reactive Attachment disordered children. Her suggestions often work. Parents and therapists who use this approach need to be very patient and understanding and focus on positive interaction with the child. Some Reactive Attachment Disordered children are very difficult and sometimes violent. Means of managing the chronic disturbing behavior and the violence are essential. This book is only partially helpful in this regard. If you have a very difficult child and are feeling desperate for help, this book is not for you. Beverly spends much of her energy in the book panning holding therapy and trying to prove that it promotes trauma bonds which she is never able to prove. Trauma bonds are temporary and tenuous. Further, Beverly is convinced that all holding therapy is abusive which is also a claim she does not prove. Many parents find non-intrusive holding therapy helpful. The book is a good one if you can ignore Beverly's agenda against holding therapies and the `prisoner of war' arguments she promotes.
Love and hard work.......1999-04-29
An honest and practical guide to the problems faced by traumatized kids who may never have had a stable, caring relationship in their lives. Contributors include not only therapists and other professionals, but also adoptive parents and kids with attachment-trauma problems themselves.
Unlike many other authors on this controversial topic, Beverley James, an expert on treating trauma in children, doesn't claim that there are any easy answers or any short-cuts to building relationships and trust. Although she demonstrates her awareness of how huge and exhausting the problems of such children can be, she doesn't scare-monger - she makes it clear that children with attachment-trauma problems are deeply damaged children, not budding serial killers.
It's all too easy for parents faced with incredibly challenging, frustrating and baffling children to opt in despair for violent and entirely unproven treatments like "holding therapy" which claim to effect a "miracle cure" by forcing the child into physical submission. James provides cogent arguments that these only abuse and traumatize the child further, echoing the distorted bonds which often form between a kinapper and victim - or a child and an abusive parent. Instead, she and her fellow contributors offer real alternatives.
This book will be indispensible for professionals, but it will also be an invaluable source of comfort and support for parents. James and her contributors don't offer any "quick fixes" - but they do provide solid, detailed advice, tangible caring, and a real sense of hope. Some of the most moving stories in the book come from people who have grown from deeply deprived and disturbed children into flourishing adults.
Customer Reviews:
I finally know how to cook chinese!!!.......2004-03-20
I am a terrible cook, but wanted to learn how to make some chinese dishes, thereby avoiding the costs of ordering from a Restaurant. This book was terrific. The recipes are simple and easy to follow, with picture guidelines for those of us who need it. I have several other chinese cook books gathering dust. This book is by far the best.
Average customer rating:
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Chinese Cooking Class Cookbook
Manufacturer: Publications International
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0881768081 |
Customer Reviews:
Great Cookbook!.......2005-12-04
I've used this in paperback form for over 12 years, and have not been disappointed with how tasty the recipes have turned out.
Easy, tasty recipes, and with some styling, they can look almost as nice as the pictures!
Great price (often under $2 at Amazon or even at garage sales etc), a pretty color photo of each dish...it just doesn't get better.
I've given these out as gifts to friends, who have been happy, can't beat that for a gift.
Great cookbook.......2005-08-17
I've used many recipes in this cookbook, and I have yet to find one that isn't incredibly tasty. There's a good glossary for many of the ingredients in the front, and I don't have any difficulty finding things in my market. When I want to try something new, I am confident I can open any page in this cookbook, pick a recipe, cook it and likely have my taste buds singing for a couple of days.
Some great recipes including seafood.......2005-02-17
We have enjoyed almost every recipe we have tried from this cookbook and I love the fact that it includes seafood. Lots of pictures. Try the crab stuffed shrimp...yum!
Product Description
From the Editors of Favorite Brand Name Recipes Magazine Cooking Class WPS 37502 No. 21, 'Round the World, recipes from Italy, China, Mexico, & more...
Average customer rating:
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Cooking Class - Chinese Cookbook (Cooking Class)
Katie Swallow
Manufacturer: Fairfax
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1853913588 |
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Samoyed Champions, 1988-2002
Jan Linzy
Manufacturer: Camino E E & Book Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Plastic Comb
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Samoyed (Kennel Club Dog Breed Series)
ASIN: 1558931295 |
Book Description
The fabulous techniques, found here with instructions, lavish photos, and projects open up endless creative possibilities. Combine the clay with lampworked and fused dichroic glass or enamel. Make exquisite jewelry, sculpture, and carvings. Try a new liquid gold for coating silver objects. Among the glittering, gorgeous projects: an African Mask Pin, Groovy Flower Earrings and Ring; and Puzzle Piece Bracelet.
Customer Reviews:
Creative Metal Clay Jewelry Review.......2007-08-31
An excellant book that is a great resource for new users and old hands of PMC. The inspiration I personally got from the book is awesome and has sent my creativity into a high.
The book is well written and illustrated perfectly.
Excellent book to inspire you to work with this magical material........2007-01-08
CeCe Wire has a winner here, projects that will guide you from initial forays with this material through to more advanced techniques, such as ring making and sulptural pieces. A good solid Introduction on tools and equipment. The instructions combine both lovely photos and sketches which are easy to follow, even projects that are a photo of the completed piece and written instructions only are achievable. Whilst some of the finished projects may not suit all tastes ( what book does!!), it is the idea and technique that is useful, it can be adapted to a design of your own making. One of my favourites is the Twig and Leaf Condiment Spoon, I have made a set of these and the awe factor from my guests is wonderful when they are used. Nice to go outside just jewelry. I recommend three books to my Silver Clay students, this is one of them, with Sherri Haab and Tim McCreight being the other two. Well worth adding to your bookshelf.
Best for Beginners, in my humble opinion.......2006-07-20
I first borrowed this book from the library, and now I have finally been able to order it. I have used two other books on this subject, but I think CeCe Wire's book is best suited for me. I am a beginner with this material, however, I want my finished projects to have a certain streamlined sophistication, and I feel that of all of the books I have read on this subject, this book suits my needs and goals best. Ms. Wire has a wonderful grasp on the technical aspects of working with metal clay. Her projects are great for beginners, well illustrated and explained, but the final results are professional and stylish. One does not need to invest in many additional tools or materials in order to finish her projects. I also find that her projects and gallery of finished pieces provide a great springboard to encourage the reader to envision and create their own great jewelry pieces. There is a non-jewelry piece in here, but that does not bother me at all. It encourages the reader to consider other uses for metal clay, and who says jewelry must only be worn on the body? Why not create decorative objects as "jewelry" for the home? If you do not have a kiln, do not worry. I fire my pieces on my gas stove or with a small butane torch purchased from my local home improvement store. Also, I hear that bead and jewelry stores that have PMC or Art Clay Silver classes or paint-your-own-ceramics studios are often willing to fire your pieces for a reasonable fee. So give this book a try, I hope you will be as pleased as I am!
I'm not that impressed with the projects.......2005-03-09
I just received this book today and I leafed through it and put it down. Normally with a book of this type (art instruction, projects etc) I'll just get lost in it and read it from cover to cover. I bought this book based on the reviews here and also that Ms. Wire is the head cheese at the PMC Guild, but if I had seen this book first in the store I probably wouldn't have purchased it. The jewelry projects are not my style at all, and the layout and photography isn't that exciting either.
A better book about PMC is The Art of Metal Clay by Sherri Haab. I love the projects in there and the pictures are totally inspirational.
Great Clear Photos.......2004-08-31
This book has wonderful photographs that are clear enough to see the details of the jewelry and steps involved in creating them. I highly recommend this book.
spacedust
pmcer.com
Average customer rating:
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The Art of Jewelry: Polymer Clay: Techniques, Projects, Inspiration (Lark Jewelry Book)
Katherine Duncan Aimone
Manufacturer: Lark Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Crafts & Hobbies
| Home & Garden
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Jewelry
| Crafts & Hobbies
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Similar Items:
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Making Polymer Clay Beads: Step-by-Step Techniques for Creating Beautiful Ornamental Beads
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Polymer Clay Creative Traditions: Techniques and Projects Inspired by the Fine and Decorative Arts
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The Art of Polymer Clay Creative Surface Effects: Techniques and Projects Featuring Transfers, Stamps, Stencils, Inks, Paints, Mediums, and More
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Faux Surfaces in Polymer Clay: 30 Techniques & Projects That Imitate Stones, Metals, Wood & More
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Polymer Clay Surface Design Recipes: 100 Mixed-Media Techniques Plus Project Ideas
ASIN: 1579906168 |
Book Description
Polymer Clay Inspirations gives readers all the tools they need to explore the endless artistic possibilities of polymer clay to create fashionable and great-looking wearable art, jewelry, and home accessories. Patricia Kimle provides an easy-to-follow guide that covers all the fundamentals of working with this extremely versatile medium, showing readers how to:
* Adapt ideas and inspiration from other artistic mediums including fabric and fine jewelry to polymer clay
* Create polymer clay pieces inspired by nature, such as semi-precious stones including mother of pearl, jade and turquoise
* Use polymer clay for projects including a desk accessories set, a bathroom set, a checkerboard set, and a memory book cover
* Develop their own unique style to create customized polymer clay projects
With all this and more, readers will want to get their hands on Polymer Clay Inspirations!
Customer Reviews:
A Great One for Your Polymer Clay Library!.......2006-06-04
I've been working with polymer clay for several years and like most people, I purchased many books in the first few years. I had not added any to my library for over two years, when I saw this one in early 2006. It has many original ideas and techniques and is easy to follow. It does not repeat what is in other books that I have. It has a short beginner's section, which I appreciate, because, after getting past the beginner stage, I no longer purchase books that devote the first 25% to beginner techniques. Patti Kimle's art work is original and impressive and I am grateful she shares some of her techniques with us.
Awesome.......2006-03-27
This book is great for beginners and experts alike. Lots of great inspirational ideas with step by step instructions.
Wow!!!.......2006-02-27
This book is a great inspiration to anyone intested in Poly clay! I was blown away by the pictures of the projects in this book.
The Fabric of Polymer Clay and Imagination.......2005-09-30
Here is one book that can answer the question " All you wanted to know in polymer, and didn't ask!"
Pat feeds not only the artist in us but the scientist as well.
From what finishes will work best, to seeing and making unique patterns from both fabric as well as from Mother Nature.
This book like a really good bottle of wine, improves with age. The more you savor it , the more fulfilling it is!
Inspirational and Instructional.......2005-07-05
Truly an inspirational book of polymer clay possibilities. Patricia Kimle provides detailed instructions for 20 projects in the book. Each project is explained with text, and photos of each project in progress. The information is well written. The techniques lend themselves well for use in making other projects. Ms. Kimle also explains her inspiration for each project, and encourages the reader to take another look at the world around them for polymer clay inspiration.
The blurb on the back of the book states that this book is great for complete beginners or experienced polymer clay artists, but I do not recommend this book for complete beginners. I think the minimum experience level with polymer clay for the projects in this book is advanced beginner. A complete beginner would do better to start with the Polymer Clay Techniques Book, by Sue Heaser.
I am frustrated by one omission in the book. There is no instruction for completing the inside of the Surprise Goose Egg Box. The instructions for the exterior of the egg box are detailed and complete. The finished box is then shown opened just a little, and might be lined (I can't really tell from the photo), but there is no explanation about lining the interior (use clay? fabric? paint?), or what the edges of the egg shell look like when the box is open (clay covered? fabric covered? painted?). Hopefully, there will be some sort of addendum, maybe on a web site, explaining how Ms. Kimle finished the interior of this project when she made it. Despite this omission, I do not regret purchasing this book, and I recommend it.
Average customer rating:
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Polymer Clay Beads: Techniques, Projects, Inspiration
Grant Diffendaffer
Manufacturer: Lark Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Beadwork
| Crafts & Hobbies
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Similar Items:
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The Art of Polymer Clay Creative Surface Effects: Techniques and Projects Featuring Transfers, Stamps, Stencils, Inks, Paints, Mediums, and More
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Encyclopedia of Polymer Clay Techniques: A Comprehensive Directory of Polymer Clay Techniques Covering a Panoramic Range of Exciting Applications
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Making Polymer Clay Beads: Step-by-Step Techniques for Creating Beautiful Ornamental Beads
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Polymer Clay Art: Projects and Techniques for Jewelry, Gifts, Figures, and Decorative Surfaces
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Polymer Pizzazz: 27 Great Polymer Clay Jewelry Pro (Best of Bead & Button Magazine)
ASIN: 1600590241 |
Book Description
Twenty different crafting methods—countless breathtaking beads, all made from easy to work with polymer clay! The varied techniques in this comprehensive skill-building book—many of which have never before been published—range from hand-formed tubes, spheres, wedges, teardrops, and baguettes to traditional mokume gane with fantastic layered effects. Add mica clay to create iridescent “ghost image” beads. Construct veneered pillow beads. Carve beads, press-mold them, or even use a cookie-cutter to get an array of fabulous shapes. Turn and form the bead on an extremely affordable craft lathe. Close-up photos show every step in the process, as well as the completed beads; some also appear as part of a finished piece of jewelry for inspiration.
Book Description
Create a stunning brooch inspired by the one in Rubens's famous portrait of Isabella Brandt, or duplicate Madame Moitessier's bracelet in the painting by Ingres. Part how-to crafts book and part museum tour, this gorgeous and practical volume is a book like no other-the only one that shows readers how to create their own versions of the exquisite jewelry seen in some of history's great paintings.
Parisian jewelry designer Cris Dupouy presents 35 works of art spanning the 7th century bc to the 20th century from museums around the world-and gives clear, step-by-step instructions to enable anyone to copy the look of the beautiful jeweled creations seen in these stunning artworks.
35 projects. 174 illustrations, 137 in full color, 158 pages, 81/4 x 93/4"
Customer Reviews:
Beautiful book, but..........2006-05-12
The author started with a great idea of finding inspiration in old paintings. The jewels are far from being perfect copies but their imperfection gives them an appealing style.
However, since this is a how-to book, it should at least introduce the polymer clay to the beginners. The author reduced the subject into a single paragraph. You have to guess where to obtain most of the material; don't look for a list of suppliers, there is none. This "je m'en fous" attitude may work for the French but the English-speaking reader expects a more thorough approach to details.
Beautiful Book.......2006-04-26
This book is just beautiful.Its an inspiration.I love the way they explain the lessons..and I can change them as I like with no problem.using my own inspiration.Its a all skills level book.on just doing that.Im ever so glad I was able to find it and get it.Its just a treasure.B.W.
Absolutely fabulous!!!.......2005-02-15
This book is a must have for those who like to have some inspiration for jewelry that's just a touch different from the trendy stuff you see all around. It's not available in Dutch unfortunately, but I still bought it and haven't regretted it for a single moment. I've had it ever since it came out and I've used it as a source of inspiration lots of times already. I use it for making pendants especially...and the result is always super!!!
The fun thing about it, is that the artist was inspired by art and when I'm in a museum nowadays, I often find myself looking closely at painted jewelry.
This book shows how you can make wonderful and stylish jewelry of very cheap materials. Also, the techniques used are not as difficult or as painstaking as many other polymer clay techniques like making canes for instance. It's a matter of preparing your clay, shaping it in combination with stones, glass, shells...etc...adding some colour with metal powders, baking, cooling, (painting), polishing, varnishing and attaching some findings...Ready!!! You can have a splendid result in one afternoon's work!
An Inspirational How-To Book!.......2003-05-12
I just completed two projects in this book and the pieces turned out beautifully! This is my first foray into the polymer clay medium and I can't wait to create more pieces.
I do not understand some of the previous reviewers' comments about the pieces being unsophisticated etc.... these are reproductions of ANTIQUE pieces which, by definition, didn't use modern "sleeker" methods of metallurgy etc... One reviewer also mentioned that painting with the model paints is a problem. Not so! My only conclusion is that the author of that review didn't try the techniques or didn't follow the directions for painting. The "Testor" brand paints I used worked great.
I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in recreating antique pieces. The projects are easy, fun, and a springboard to use one's own creativity.
Good for inspiration, but lacking in honor.......2002-11-27
As a beginning jeweler who has worked with polymer clay in the past, I was quite excited to read this book. Though it inspired me to create some new pieces, I found the projects offered to be a complete disgrace to the original artists.
Book Description
Step-by-step instructions on how to make beautiful, lasting items, from flowerots, candlesticks, and a lamp base wall plaques and a chalk board.
Average customer rating:
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Polymer Clay Inspirations
Manufacturer: NORTH LIGHT BOOKS (D
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GTGCW0 |
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Rare orchids everyone can grow
Jack Kramer
Manufacturer: DoubleDay
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
General
| Gardening & Horticulture
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ASIN: B0006BQSKY |
Book Description
For the increasing number of people who suffer from some major form of anxiety, help that promotes effective management of the condition without drugs.
According to a 1999 Surgeon General's report, "Anxiety disorders are the most common, or frequently occurring, mental disorders." Too often overworked doctors prescribe drugs to manage the condition for a short-term cure and send the patient on his way quickly. Psychologists Bob Montgomery and Laurel Morris strongly disagree with treating anxiety disorders with drugs. Their timely book provides a step-by-step plan to help anxious people learn to cope without resorting to medication, even for severe manifestations of anxiety such as obsessive-compulsive disorders and panic attacks.
In easy-to-understand terms, Montgomery and Morris define anxiety, describe the different forms it takes, and show how to manage anxiety in everyday life. They discuss general anxiety, agoraphobia, phobias in general, social phobias, and social anxiety, among other types.
Living with Anxiety discusses how and why to stop taking anxiety drugs and when drugs can help; it also recommends when to seek out a psychologist. It offers readers practical exercises and specific strategies for dealing with feelings, thoughts, and physical symptoms associated with anxiety attacks, and methods for strengthening social, sexual, and interpersonal skills that can be the source of anxiety.
Customer Reviews:
How to cope with anxiety without medication.......2001-12-14
Living With Anxiety provides an important plan on how to cope with anxiety without medication: an explanation which helps readers form basic understanding on anxiety, from its sources and manifestation to methods of control. Exercises and specific strategies are outlined.
Amazon.com's Best of 2001
David Hajdu (pronounced HAY-doo), the prizewinning author of the magisterial jazz biography Lush Life, now steam-cleans the legend of the lost folk generation in Positively 4th Street: The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Fariña, and Richard Fariña. What a ripping read! It's like an invitation to the wildest party Greenwich Village ever saw. You feel swept up in the coffeehouse culture that transformed ordinary suburban kids into ragged, radiant avatars of a traditional yet bewilderingly new music. Hajdu's sociomusical analysis is as scholarly as (though less arty than) Greil Marcus's work; he deftly sketches the sources and evolving styles of his ambitious, rather calculating subjects, proving in the process that genius is not individual--it's rooted in a time and place. Hajdu says Dylan heisted many early tunes (e.g., "Maggie's Farm" from Pete Seeger's "Down on Penny's Farm"): "Dylan [told] a radio interviewer that he felt as if his music had always existed and he just wrote it down ... [in fact], much of his early work had existed as other writers' melodies, chord structures, or thematic ideas." But Dylan and company made it all their own, and Hajdu vividly evokes the scenes they made.
Positively 4th Street is very much a group portrait. When something amazing happens, Hajdu puts you right there. The unknown Baez barefoot in the rain, bedazzling the Newport Jazz Festival and becoming immortal overnight. The irresistibly irresponsible Fariña talking his folk-star wife out of shooting him dead with his own pistol. The "little spastic gnome" Dylan transmogrified into greatness onstage, bashing Joan with the searing lyrics of "She Belongs to Me." A stoned Fariña advising Dylan to cynically hitch his wagon to Joan's rising star and "start a whole new genre. Poetry set to music, but not chamber music or beatnik jazz, man... poetry you can dance to."
The book is as delectably gossipy as Vanity Fair (one of Hajdu's employers). Richard married the exceedingly young beauty Mimi and helmed their career, but he might have dumped her for big sister Joan, whose madcap humor and verbal wit harmonized with his--except that he ineptly killed himself on a motorcycle first. Bob mumblingly courted both sisters, but when he cruelly taunted the insecure Joan, Mimi yanked his hair back until he cried. The account of Bob and Joan's musical-erotic passion is first-rate music history and uproarious soap opera. Hajdu's research is prodigious--even Fariña's close chum Thomas Pynchon granted interviews--and his anecdotes are often off-the-cuff funny: "[Rock manager Albert Grossman] was easy to deal with.... It wasn't till maybe two days after you would see Albert that you'd realize your underwear had been stolen." Full disclosure: Hajdu was one of my long-ago bosses at Entertainment Weekly, but that's certainly not why I heartily endorse this book. It's scholarship with a human face, akin to "poetry you can dance to." --Tim Appelo
Book Description
When twenty-five-year-old Bob Dylan wrecked his motorcycle near Woodstock in 1966 and dropped out of the public eye, he was already recognized as a genius, a youth idol with an acid wit and a barbwire throat; and Greenwich Village, where he first made his mark, was unquestionably the center of youth culture.
In Positively 4th Street, David Hajdu recounts the emergence of folk music from cult practice to popular and enduring art form as the story of a colorful foursome: not only Dylan but also his part-time lover Joan Baez -- the first voice of the new generation; her sister Mimi -- beautiful, haunted, and an artist in her own right; and Mimi's husband, Richard Fariña, a comic novelist (Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me) who invented the worldly-wise bohemian persona that Dylan adopted -- some say stole -- and made his own.
A national bestseller in hardcover, acclaimed as "one of the best books about music in America" (Jonathan Yardley, The Washington Post), Positively 4th Street is that rare book with a new story to tell about the 1960s -- about how the decade and all that it is now associated with were created in a fit of collective inspiration, with an energy and creativity that David Hajdu has captured on the page as if for the first time.
Customer Reviews:
Must Read.......2007-04-11
I was reading this book while filming a movie on Bob Dylan this summer-I lost the copy before I was finished but had to buy it again to see how it ends-really a fascinating insight on the whole West Village Folk music scene of the 1960's.
Bob and Joan and Mimi and Richard.......2007-03-26
My Hadju has very little sympathy for any of the characters in this narrative. In his view, Bob is a self-centered jerk, Joan is priggish, Mimi is callow and Richard is a self-promoting charlatan who probably needed medical intervention. Mr. Hadju's only sympathies lie with Mimi who is little and beautiful and sorely used. Oh please. What I found missing was any sense of forgiveness for just how young they were. Only Richard can be held accountable for his caddish behavior because he was older and should have known better. The others were all painfully young and their behavior, reprehensible, naive, touching and all should be interpreted through the highly charged haze of youth. I doubt that anyone's life could withstand this level of strutiny at the age of 22.
I am not a fan of Mr Hadju's writing style, but the book is packed with information.
Sure to become a classic.......2007-03-01
American folk in its both in its development and maturation held the same drama and pathos as any other American music that fused with social movement. The figures that Hajdu chose to focus on in his excellent book became very influential artists of the time, Dylan even attaining a cult-like status.
Like any biography of young people it is filled with betrayal, misunderstandings and bruised egos. As they are portrayed, Dylan and Farina were by far the larger and more fragile of the egos and they hint of the "me" generation's self-importance. The Baez sisters remained "truer" to folk, being less inclined to wed it to rock and other styles. The tragic death of Richard Farina is one of the many turning points in this book that treads lightly on nostalgia. The genius and fallibility of the four figures is portrayed distinctly and without foreshadowing what will become of them outside of this exciting time when music moved people to change the nation.
A disappontment.......2006-12-29
Positively 4th Street had received adulatory reviews. I looked forward to reading it, but was enormously disappointed. The book tells of the tangled relationships among four young people. Nobody comes out looking especially well. My experience has been that people in their twenties often do not behave commendably in their romantic lives. By focusing on these relationships, the book has the distasteful smell of dirty laundry.
Secondly, by presenting four interlocking biographies, the book implicitly equates the four lives covered. Unfortunately, there was an enormous difference in stature among Bob Dylan and Richard Farina and Joan and Mimi Baez. In order to make a go of his book the author must exaggerate the flaws of the mighty and minimize those of the lowly. This authorial imperative makes for an unfair book.
Finally, Mr. Hajdu has a fine magisterial voice - even when he does not know a thing about the subject at hand, like harmonica playing, for example. If he gets every fact wrong on that, how can he be trusted on other matters?
Hero worshipers, stay away.......2006-11-21
Though he is almost, but not quite, forgotten today, Richard Farina was once a hot property. He wrote a novel, "Been Down So Long It Looks Like Up to Me," that swept the college campuses; and he and his wife, Mimi Baez, recorded two albums, "Celebrations for a Grey Day" and "Reflections in a Crystal Wind" that were both artistic and commercial successes.
Farina was ambitious for much more. He wanted to be bigger than Bob Dylan. He wanted Dylan's fame, Dylan's sales, Dylan's girlfriend, Dylan's respect and a motorcycle like Dylan's.
David Hajdu's meticulously detailed "Positively 4th Street" tells a tale that might just as well have been called "Grabbing for the Brass Ring."
Nobody ever came closer more times without getting it than Farina.
It all started with Carolyn Hester. When the "folk revival" began in Boston in the 1950s, the beautiful Hester was an early coffee house star. If anyone was going to break out to national fame, Hester would have seemed the favorite.
But bursting out of the pack of unknowns to surpass her came Joan Baez, with a bell-like voice and, in Hajdu's interpretation, lots of luck.
Farina, a charming schemer, was on another track but he latched onto Hester, moving from first meeting to marriage in 18 days.
From then on, "Positively 4th Street" is an appalling and almost Byzantine account of the ambitious and the unscrupulous climbing over each other's backs for the brass ring.
Baez caught it first. She helped Dylan, who treacherously overtopped her. Farina made his bid, dumping Hester and pursuing Baez.
But he and Dylan were both also angling for Joan's beautiful young sister Mimi. The sisters are supposed to be the models for the story in the Lovin' Spoonful song "DId You Ever Have to Make Up Your Mind?" but Hajdu debunks that and some other rock and roll myths, notably the one about Dylan being booed off the stage at the Newport Folk Festival for playing a Stratocaster.
A witty writer, Hajdu never seems to be caught off balance in all this confusion. A typical example of his waspish reporting is this line about Farina and his friend Alfredo Dopico: "Richard and Alfredo were largely redundant: of Cuban ancestry, about the same age and size, strong-featured, impetuous, and volatile, they were both treacherously fond of beautiful women, marijuana, and Richard Farina."
In this crowd, Hajdu sees more clay feet than a shoeshine boy at the Congressional barber shop, but he never confuses that with the impact of the music on the rest of us.
It doesn't hurt, for dramatic purposes, that Farina wrote more than once about death on a motorcycle and with almost perfect timing got killed on one the day of the booksigning party for "Been Down So Long." (Meticulously, Hajdu clears up the misconception that it was on the book's release day; that was two days earlier.)
Only Mimi Farina comes out of this book as an appealing human being.
Hero worshipers should stay away. Music lovers will be fascinated.
Average customer rating:
- This work prompted me to revisit some of the folk &
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Positively 4th Street: The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Farina and Richard Farina
David Hajdu
Manufacturer: Farrar, Straus, and Giroux
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Country & Folk
| Composers & Musicians
| Arts & Literature
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Dylan, Bob
| ( D )
| People, A-Z
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
History & Criticism
| Music
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
Folk & Traditional
| Musical Genres
| Music
| Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0374701431 |
Customer Reviews:
This work prompted me to revisit some of the folk &.......2003-12-04
folk-rock music of my youth. Dylan's work has endured of course & Don't Think Twice & Blowin in the Wind has spoken to every generation since.
From the book I got the the impression that Bob Dylan is somewhat limited intellectually. He spouts nonsense & speaks thru his lyrics & is truly a musical genius. He speaks against wealth privledge & the establishement but embraces it. He is exempt. He cannot string two sentences together & apparently was a lousy interview. In the end he has alienated all his old friends from his folk days, while continuing to gather more fans.
Joan Baez story goes beyond the anti-war protest she is known for & delves into her music & relationship with Dylan. It was (a least to her) more than just a affair. She really did love him & furthered his career at the expense of her own. A totally amoral character he discarded her as he eventually does to all his relationship while denying his past, simply a boring Jewish middle class kid form Minnesota.
Mr. Hajda also covers at length Mimi (Joan's younger sister) & Richard Farina. His life was a shooting star, a brief career with much promise. Mimi was along for the ride marrying him at 17. His potential brillance was cut short needlessly & stupidly.
The reader does a good job of imitating Dylan but other attempts not so good. Recommended reading for a good feel for the folk, night club, beat scene of the late 50's & early 60's.
Average customer rating:
- Fragments of Memory: From Kolin to Jerusalem
- A Courageous, Sensitive, Powerful True Life Story
- Powerful Memories
- Great book on the Holocaust
- Vivid Remembrances & Brave Recollections.
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Fragments of Memory: From Kolin to Jerusalem
Hana Greenfield
Manufacturer: Gefen Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Church History
| Christianity
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Religion & Spirituality
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 9652293792
Release Date: 2006-10-30 |
Book Description
In this powerfully moving account, the author, whose family lived in Kolin, Czechoslovakia, for many generations, shares episodes of her life during and after the Holocaust. Introduction by Vaclav Havel, President of Czech Republic. "The Diary of Anne Frank is now a part of the reading list. I would recommend Hana Greenfield's "Fragments of Memory" as a better book for young people because where Anne Frank's narrative stops, Greenfield's takes the reader into the heart of darkness and shows what life was in the death camps through the eyes of a teenager.
Journal of Czech and Slovak History Ruth David
Customer Reviews:
Fragments of Memory: From Kolin to Jerusalem.......2007-08-06
This collection of stories written by Greenfield over a period of years, and collected from various publications, is divided into three sections: "A World Disintegrates," "Pieces of the Shattered Puzzle," and "The Need To Remember." Greenfield, who lives in Israel, was born in Kolin, Czechoslovkia, from where she was deported first to Terezin, then to Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen, and finally to a slave labor camp in Germany from which she was liberated. As memories struck her over the years, she wrote about them. The brief vignettes that precede the Bialystock episode are so poignant--the parting from friends: "Alice," a friend known only because their normal world had fallen apart, and Vera in "Saying Goodbye" whose letter reflects her intuition that they will never meet again; and "Pen Pals," when Michael, a first love whose arrival in Terezin she waits for anxiously, only to find soon after his family arrives, he will die from a burst appendix; and her friend, the fragile Esti, for whom she finds extra food in Terezin, but who dies in Auschwitz. Greenfield's description of Auschwitz as "The Gate to Hell" in unforgettable as is her story of her last day in Bergen-Belsen when, on the day her group is destined for the gas, she wants to be loved before saying goodbye and climbs up to a top shelf where five men are sleeping and makes love with the young doctor who was kind to her when she first arrived. The most heartbreaking is the story of the 1,196 children from the Bialystock ghetto who were being nursed back to health and nourished in the Terezin ghetto, since they were going to be sent to Palestine in trade for German prisoners. They are accompanied by the camp's doctors and nurses, including the author's own mother, for the trip--except that the mufti of Jerusalem told Hitler he didn't want them growing up to populate Palestine, and Himmler had them all gassed. Greenfeld has the talent to catch the affecting, telling and heart-breaking moments in each of her true stories. This previously published but now revised, slender paperback (most stories are only 2 1/2 pages) is one of the most significant books on the Holocaust I have read. Illustrated with drawings from Terezin and photographs.
A Courageous, Sensitive, Powerful True Life Story.......2007-06-20
Sometimes in life, people are placed in circumstances and situations that should never happen to anyone. Hana Greenfield lived through such tragic events during World War II. With great courage and faith, she survived forced imprisonment at Terezin, Auschwitz and Bergen-Belsen concentration camps. This book contains true stories of her life during these very difficult and trying times. Most importantly, the author sheds light on how difficult it is for a survivor to live with these memories. In 1946, after making her way to England to live with an uncle, she was told to try to forget it, to not talk about it, to put it behind her. The author formulated plans to leave Europe and eventually settled in Israel. World War II had robbed her of her parents and their love, it destroyed her family and the only home she ever knew. Her new goal was to move to Israel and start a new life. Fortunately, the author succeeded in achieving her goal ... As a caveat, the book is very sad in many ways and it is not suitable reading for those who can not deal with the subject of murder and the evil actions perpetrated on innocent people by the Nazis.
Overtime, rather than forget, the author's memories surfaced. She wrote down the incidents and experiences, initially as short stories then later they were expanded to become this book. They are true survival stories in every sense of the word. While the book is a mere 167 pages - the contents and information contained within it are huge and leave the reader stunned, almost in disbelief. One of the most unthinkable atrocities ever perpetrated on children occurred in Oct. 1943 on the Jewish holiday of Yom Kippur. Initially, in August 1943, hundreds of children ages 4 - 12 were brought to the Terezin concentration camp. They were deloused and asked to shower which they refused, when they evidently smelled gas. They refused to be washed or exchange their wet ragged clothes for dry ones. The children spoke only Polish and Yiddish and were from the Bialystok Ghetto. The author's mother was part of an assigned group who helped care for the children. At some point, the author managed to exchange a few words with her mother during this ordeal. Only much later did Hana Greenfield learn the horrible truth of what happened to these children and that her mother, too, suffered the same fate as the children. The inmates of the camp did not know the purpose of the new buildings at the time. The truth came out: a deal had been struck between Adolf Eichmann and the Mufti of Jerusalem, who had convinced Eichmann the children must not live because they would become adults who would likely move to Palestine and increase the Jewish population.
The true events described in this book are told as "fragments of memory" by the author and the stories flow one chapter after the other. At times it is difficult reading because of the subject matter. The author begins telling her story as new laws were being enforced around 1942 which limited the freedom of Jewish people. She was a normal teenager with high hopes and aspirations which were cut short and changed forever. The time she spent at Auschwitz is described with intimate details that brings tears to this reader's eyes. There are actual photographs of people, some of whom did not survive, which gives more depth and breadth to the true stories. There are many superbly done drawings by artists, most of whom were themselves prisoners in one of the camps mentioned in the book. As time progressed, the author assimilated the harsh treatment and suffering she experienced while a prisoner and was able to create something good from it. She is a member of the board of the Terezin Ghetto Museum and teaches Czech children about tolerance. She educates them about the events of the Holocaust. Hana Greenfield was the first to research what happened to the children of Bialystok ... and to discover the truth. She presented her findings in 1988 at a conference at Oxford University. This book is highly recommended for those who desire to read a courageous survival story. Erika Borsos [pepper flower]
Powerful Memories.......2004-12-14
"Fragments of Memory" was a surprising used bookstore find. An avid reader of Holocaust accounts and literature, I had never heard of Hanah Greenfeld's book. It is a short account of her time during the Holocaust, when she survived the concentration camp and daily saw the true atrocities that human beings are capable of.
This book is aptly named. It is a short collection of recollections that fluctuate in time and place as Greenfeld recalls what she experienced and witnessed. Her stories are poignant with emotion, pain and sympathy. I've used this as a supplement to teach my students about the Holocaust.
Hana Greenfeld's stories will stay with you long after you have finished. Her recollections are evidence to the role memory plays in all of our lives...lest we forget.
Great book on the Holocaust.......2001-11-29
I was fortunate enough to meet Mrs. Greenfield this past summer (summer 2001) when my youth trip visited the Czech Republic. Mrs. Greenfield gave a lecture and at the end of which the offer was given for this book to be purchased. I did so and also got an autographed copy. This is a great book on the Holocaust, and not just a children's book. It's short, but it's brevity suggests something about the author and her experiences. It is especially touching if you have been to the places described, such as Terezin or Auschwitz - you can feel what the author is describing. I suggest this book to anyone who wants to teach their children about the Holocaust or who wants to learn a little more about an important subject. This is a must have in anyone's library.
Vivid Remembrances & Brave Recollections........2001-01-23
Ms.Greenfield bravely recalls a time of horror. How shocking that human nature includes the potential for such mass sadism. Ms.Greenfield's book serves as a reminder that we must be vigilant to prevent such perversion of power even on the smallest scale. This book should be required reading!
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- Diary of Desert Storm's Combat Gynecologist
- Don't Tread on Me: The Selected Letters of S. J. Perelman
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- Famous cavalry leaders;: Through the ages with the heroes of sabre, spur, and saddle; with faithful accounts of their forced marches, dashing raids, and glorious charges,
- Grandpa's Gone: The Adventures of Daniel Buchwalter in the Western Army, 1862-1865
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