CliffsNotes Investing in Your RRSP

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Contributing to a Registered Retirement Savings Plan (RRSP) is the most valuable step you can take in financial planning for your future. Don't let the funny abbreviations scare you off. An RRSP helps you save tons of money on your taxes right now, and creates a nest egg that will keep you living in style long after retirement. Pick up CliffsNotes Investing in Your RRSP and start maximizing your contributions now. You'll find: basic definitions of RRSPs and their advantages for your income; how and where to make your first RRSP investment; comparison tables showing a variety of retirement investments; and what happens to your RRSP after you retire.

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This digital document is an article from American Review of Canadian Studies, published by Thomson Gale on December 22, 2005. The length of the article is 4806 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Title: Book review essay; In peace and war: 1699-2003.(The Rule of the Admirals: Law, Custom, and Naval Government in Newfoundland, 1699-1832)(The Halifax Explosion and the Royal Canadian Navy: Inquiry and Intrigue)(Canada's Army: Waging the War and Keeping the Peace)(Who Killed the Canadian Military?)(Book review)
Author: Robin Higham
Publication: American Review of Canadian Studies (Magazine/Journal)
Date: December 22, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 35 Issue: 4 Page: 715(12)

Article Type: Book review

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CSC 2003 award winners announced.(CIC Bulletin ICC)(awards for those who make contributions in inorganic chemistry or electrochemistry): An article from: Canadian Chemical News

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CSC 2003 award winners announced.(CIC Bulletin ICC)(awards for those who make contributions in inorganic chemistry or electrochemistry): An article from: Canadian Chemical News

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This digital document is an article from Canadian Chemical News, published by Chemical Institute of Canada on July 1, 2003. The length of the article is 4626 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Title: CSC 2003 award winners announced.(CIC Bulletin ICC)(awards for those who make contributions in inorganic chemistry or electrochemistry)
Publication: Canadian Chemical News (Magazine/Journal)
Date: July 1, 2003
Publisher: Chemical Institute of Canada
Volume: 55 Issue: 7 Page: 30(10)

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Morin, S.F., Vernon, K., Harcourt, J.J. et al. (2003). Why HIV infections have increased among men who have sex with men and what to do about it: findings ... The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality

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Morin, S.F., Vernon, K., Harcourt, J.J. et al. (2003). Why HIV infections have increased among men who have sex with men and what to do about it: findings ... The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality
Alexander McKay
Manufacturer: SIECCAN, The Sex Information and Education Council of Canada
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Binding: Digital
ASIN: B000825V8Q
Release Date: 2005-07-31

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This digital document is an article from The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality, published by SIECCAN, The Sex Information and Education Council of Canada on June 22, 2003. The length of the article is 580 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

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Title: Morin, S.F., Vernon, K., Harcourt, J.J. et al. (2003). Why HIV infections have increased among men who have sex with men and what to do about it: findings from California focus groups.(Sex Research Update)
Author: Alexander McKay
Publication: The Canadian Journal of Human Sexuality (Refereed)
Date: June 22, 2003
Publisher: SIECCAN, The Sex Information and Education Council of Canada
Volume: 12 Issue: 2 Page: 124(1)

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Who's Who in Canadian Business 2003 (Who's Who in Canadian Business)

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Who's Who in Canadian Business 2003 (Who's Who in Canadian Business)

Manufacturer: University of Toronto Press
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ASIN: 0802088708

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Who's Who in Canadian Business 2003 (Who's Who in Canadian Business)

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Grantscape Online

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ASIN: 0834220121

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Georgia on My Mind, Rockin' Chair, Skylark, Lazybones, and of course the incomparable Star Dust--who else could have composed these classic American songs but Hoagy Carmichael? He remains, for millions, the voice of heartland America, eternal counterpoint to the urban sensibility of Cole Porter and George Gershwin. Now, trumpeter and historian Richard M. Sudhalter has penned the first book-length biography of the man Alec Wilder hailed as "the most talented, inventive, sophisticated and jazz-oriented of all the great songwriters--the greatest of the great craftsmen." Stardust Melody follows Carmichael from his roaring-twenties Indiana youth to bandstands and recording studios across the nation, playing piano and singing alongside jazz greats Jack Teagarden, Benny Goodman, Tommy and Jimmy Dorsey, and close friends Bix Beiderbecke and Louis Armstrong. It illuminates his peak Hollywood years, starring in such films as To Have and Have Not and The Best Years of Our Lives, and on radio, records and TV. With compassionate insight Sudhalter depicts Hoagy's triumphs and tragedies, and his mounting despair as rock-and-roll drowns out and lays waste to the last days of a brilliant career. With an insider's clarity Sudhalter explores the songs themselves, still fresh and appealing while reminding us of our innocent American yesterdays. Drawing on Carmichael's private papers and on interviews with family, friends and colleagues, he reveals that "The Old Music Master" was almost as gifted a wordsmith as a shaper of melodies. In all, Stardust Melody offers a richly textured portrait of one of our greatest musical figures, an inspiring American icon.

Customer Reviews:

Sudhalter does it again.......2002-09-19

We owe Richard Sudhalter for preserving the often-forgotten history of America's early jazz pioneers and composers. His subjects are white musicians, but he doesn't write about them with a nasty political agenda. He just doesn't want their contributions to be forgotten. Along the way, he pays warm tribute to the black musicians who led the musical revolution. Unfortunately, politically-charged reviewers refuse to see this.
I especially love this Sudhalter work. Sadly, Hoagy is becoming a forgotten genius of American song. Duke Ellington once called him America's greatest songwriter, and Sudhalter goes a long way in providing the evidence to such a claim. I especially enjoyed the focus on Hoagy's home state of Indiana, which was an amazing hotbed for jazz in the 1920s. One should take this book and drive around Bloomington, Indiana, and find all of the haunts described in rich detail by Sudhalter. Then go to Indianapolis, and Richmond, Indiana. Sudhalter really did us all a huge favor in providing such a wonderful document.

Who really wrote Star Dust?.......2002-08-19

Hoagy Carmichael's college roommate, Hank Wells, claimed all his life that Hoagy, consciously or subcon- scioujsly, stole Star Dust from him. People in his home- town of Lake Bluff, Ill., said that this "broke his heart." Wells visited back and forth with the parents of a friend of mine, and she personally heard him tell this story. He played piano at her wedding..
I have read Hoagy's own words about Star Dust quoted in a book and they are cryptic. He does indeed imply that the song came out of nowhere into his mind.
Two facts: (a) What if a man wrote one great song that was unusual and never wrote another? Why is that?
(b) Why could one man write such a great song and then
never equal or exceed it in his long writing career. Why?
Only one set of facts fits that scenario. Hank Wells, heartbroken, never wrote again. Hoagy couldn't write anything so good on his own.

CCarf

Accurate, well written.......2002-07-07

My father, Bud Dant, is prominently featured in this book, as a man who helped Hoagy write down Stardust and I grew up hearing about the stories and now here they all are in a book...not just a book, but what I know is an extremely accurate and real account of Hoagy's life...the writing is terrific and Richard's obvious love of the music and times shows in his accounts...I know for a fact he researched this material exhaustively...it shows! It pretty much dwarfs all other books on Hoagy.

AN EXTRAORDINARILY TALENTED SONGSMITH.......2002-04-26

Whatta life! From poverty to great wealth based on musical talent of creating songs as well as a wonderful actor. He had many highlights writing songs and acting but after rock & roll took over the musical scene his talents went for nothing as no youth were interested.

Book Description

This pop culture history takes 12 legendary songs and, with a staggering wealth of detail and unprecedented understanding, provides an extended history of each. The circumstances under which each was written and first performed are explained and their musical and lyric content are explored. Those who were responsible for making these songs famous and performers who have left their unique marks on them are also identified. Variations in style, classic and obscure versions, brilliantly original interpretations, and ghastly travesties in the performance lifetime of each song are discussed. Also included are revelations of facts, such as Herman Hupfeld, who wrote "As Time Goes By," had a much bigger hit with "When Yuba Plays the Rhumba on the Tuba"; Billy Strayhorn wrote about "a week in Paris" in "Lush Life" when he was a teenager and had never been to any city larger than Pittsburgh; and the first-ever public performance of "I Got Rhythm," sung by Ethel Merman, featured Benny Goodman, Gene Krupa, Jimmy Dorsey, and Glenn Miller.

Customer Reviews:

A Classic About Classics........2007-06-04

I don't have time to write a full-length review, and I bought and read this book some time ago. Suffice it to say that it's a treasured part of my library and should be much more widely read. These songs are deathless little works of art, no less fine for being popular and having their roots in the quirky, funky realities of American life. Friedwald gets it.

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You Gotta Love a Book whose First Line is "Lucy holds a saxophone."
music lover's delight
More Fine Work From Friedwald
Great subject, very disappointing book
Hits and Misses

Stardust Melodies
Will Friedwald
Manufacturer: Pantheon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0375420894
Release Date: 2002-04-23

Book Description

In Stardust Melodies, Will Friedwald takes each of these legendary songs apart and puts it together again, with a staggering wealth of detail and unprecedented understanding.

Each chapter gives us an extended history of one song—the circumstances under which it was written and first performed—and then explores its musical and lyric content. Drawing on his vast knowledge of records and the careers of performing artists, Friedwald tells us who was responsible for making these songs famous and discusses in depth the performers who have left their unique marks on them. He writes about variations in performance style, about both classic and obscure versions of the songs, about brilliantly original interpretations and ghastly travesties. And then there’s the completely unexpected, like Stan Freberg’s politically correct “Elderly Man River.”

This is a book for all lovers of American song to explore, argue with, and savor.

Customer Reviews:

You Gotta Love a Book whose First Line is "Lucy holds a saxophone.".......2007-09-04

Will Friedland is a great raconteur, and his prose flows like a jazz solo, going off on tangents, quoting from other tunes, but all of it illuminating his central themes. If you are interested in music, you can't help but turn the pages with delight, as you discover new gems, and see new facets on the ones you've liked all along. If you aren't a musician, the discussion of the musical form, the chords, and what key this or that performer plays it in, and what is therefore their high and low notes, could become dry indeed. That is the reaction I am only too familiar with any time I broach such subjects with L-7's. Still, if you are someone who truly enjoys music, but is not a musician, you could still enjoy this book; you would just have to skim over certain parts, as if it was written in a foreign language. Others might find the whole thing dreadfully boring--overkill, even. But those sorts of people should be avoided at all costs.

Friedland has a great understanding of the role of jazz, slightly elevated, but still connected to popular music; at least it was in the days of the songs whose praises he sings here. What makes these tunes so great are not only the popular performances, but that they provide such a rich platform for improvisation. Jazz inspired the song writers, and the songs inspired countless variations and jazz choruses. The chapter on "I Got Rhythm" is a case in point. The song inspired countless others, based on its chords and bridge, from "Straighten Up and Fly Right" to "The Flintstones." Sometimes the vocalist is also a jazz musician, as in Louis Armstrong's version of "Stardust" where he sings and plays, or even, it could be argued, when Ella scats, giving many a horn player a run for his money. Will Friedland understands this interplay very well, and gives both musical forms their due.

The choice of songs and song writers is pretty solid, but of course, there are always songs that you feel should have been squeezed in. No "Stella by Starlight"? And Jerome Kern could have been better represented by "All the Things You Are" or "The Song Is You." But he already covered "The Song Is You" in his excellent book about Frank Sinatra by that title. "Body and Soul," by Johnny Green, is of course a foregone conclusion. "Night and Day" by Cole Porter is a good choice, but Mr. Porter wrote so many excellent songs that settling on just one is difficult. "St. Louis Blues" is another foregone conclusion, and great that a blues is included. Not only is it a blues, but it also has a rhumba section--an early example of fusion? "My Funny Valentine" is a good choice for Rodgers and Hart, but what about "Have You Met Miss Jones?"?

Of course, if you don't like his choices, then you are free to write your own book--but you would be hard pressed to pull together so much data, anecdotes, cultural observations, and emotions, and put them into a book that manages to encapsulate the whole era of the Great American Songbook in only 12 chapters. Bravo, Will Friedland!

Stardust
My Stardust Melody: The Songs of Hoagy Carmichael
Stardust (RVG Remastered)
Stardust Melody
The Essential Louis Armstrong
Stardust
De-Lovely
Classic Sinatra
No One Cares
Point of No Return

music lover's delight.......2004-12-09

Well written, without being pedantic, Stardust Melodies packs an awful lot of information. It has plenty of interesting vignettes. Guaranteed to make you go out searching for more versions of these classic songs. I liked it, and I am going to read more of Friedwald's writing.

More Fine Work From Friedwald.......2003-10-31

If you're an aficionado of the Great American Songbook, this is a must-buy. If you've read Friedwald's "The Song is You," you should already have this fine follow-up.

"Stardust Melodies" covers the origins and musical structure of some well-chosen standards. On the latter score, don't be intimidated if you don't read music; the analyses cover only a few pages and, frankly, it would be educational to read them while listening to the songs themselves.

Major recordings of the songs are then analyzed in the knowledgeable but witty and accessible style that endears Friedwald to his readers, and no one who has read any of his previous books will be disappointed. Perfect? No: the lack of discographies is a particularly glaring lapse, as noted by several reviewers. And, as others have also noted, Friedwald does have a blind spot when it comes to many more contemporary artists, but at least he wears his prejudices on his sleeve - he bluntly states, for instance, that he refuses to even listen to Johnnie Ray's recording of "As Time Goes By" (which happens to be excellent and, for Ray, quite restrained - WF might even like it!). This doesn't help his overall credibility with some readers, but for others Will's dislikes are part of the fun in reading him.

And that's the bottom line: this is a fun and informative book, not dry, stuffy or academic, reflecting the depth, variety and vitality of American pop. As the man said, Who could ask for anything more?

Great subject, very disappointing book.......2003-08-13

What a great idea for a book, but unfortunately Mr. Friedwald lets it get away from him. It's not just that he can't resist his childish bashing of all music post-Sinatra. Mr. Friedwald's inability to appreciate the songwriting of the Beatles and Bob Dylan -- to name only the most obvious examples -- suggests a stunted development as a listener and a critic. But what really disappoints is the book's failure to work even on its own terms. A biography of a song? That would be wonderful -- but instead Friedwald gives us little more than an extended discography. This gives the book some value as a research tool, but it doesn't make for interesting or enlightening reading. And then there are all the missed opportunities. For instance, we learn that Hoagy Carmichael wrote an original set of lyrics for "Stardust" which were later replaced. Well, wouldn't a book like this one be the perfect place to reprint them? Mr. Friedwald doesn't seem to think so. Or take his chapter on "Mack the Knife." Many musicians are familiar with the fact that when Kurt Weill wrote the melody he was trying to write in the style of an American pop hit. And so he based the melody, and to some extent the chord changes, on a song which was then very popular but which has now been forgotten: "The Sheik of Araby." If you listen to "Sheik" and then to "Mack" -- you'll hear the similarities and you'll also see how Weill's imagination made the melody so much more haunting and beautiful. You'd think a book like Friedwald's would be the perfect place to tell this story of how "Mack the Knife" came into being. But there's not even a mention of it! I suppose Friedwald didn't know the story. Well he should have done some research! He doesn't do his subject justice. I guess he was too busy fuming about those miserable Beatles... By the way, if you want to read a really satisfying account of "the biography of a song," check out the book WHITE CHRISTMAS by Jody Rosen. It does what Friedwald's book fails to do.

Hits and Misses.......2003-03-11

Will Friedwald probably deserves a medal for taking on this project, a 400-page analysis and performance history of twelve oft-recorded American lullabyes. Even some of us who swear by the Great American Songbook might opt for "I Can't Get No Satisfaction" if the alternative is listening to several hundred different versions of "Stardust" (as lovely as it is). Granted, a song biography has more going for it than, say, a performance history of Shakespeare's most popular plays, but still it's not exactly a compelling page turner.

Friedwald writes with hipness, esprit and engaging good humor, and he delivers provocative opinions, fascinating information, and a wealth of trivia. But the price of admission may be judged a bit excessive by some readers, mainly because the book contains no index, lists, or even discographies that would insure its value as a reference tool.

Every reader will no doubt find much to quibble about with a book such as this (admittedly no small part of its appeal). Frankly, I'm surprised the author makes no mention of the 1947 Lionel Hampton All-Star Concert recording of "Stardust" (with extraordinary solos by Charlie Shavers and Slam Stewart along with Hamp's introduction of the "Pretty Baby" motif, which Friedwald attributes to a later recording). And although a Paul Desmond version is mentioned, the Brubeck Quartet performance on the indispensable "Jazz at Oberlin" album (which evokes without stating the melody) is not. Finally, I'm surprised the author appears to accept "C" (as does Zinsser in his book) as the current standard key for the song. Any real musician I've known has balked at lowering the tune down half a step from the traditional Db, and for good reason: such a simplification drastically alters the character and feel of the piece, making stardust little more than prosaic morning dust.

No doubt no reader will be completely satisfied with the song selections--including this one. How can you possibly leave out as durable, beautiful, ingenious a tune as "All the Things You Are," especially given its many permutations? Which is simply to say that some of us would have preferred shorter chapters, more songs, and an index.

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Romantic Serenade From the Stardust Voices (The World's Most Beautiful Melodies)

Manufacturer: Reader's Digest
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
ASIN: B000GFJW0I

Product Description

Side A 1) I'll see you in my dreams 2) Dancing in the dark 3) Let me call you sweetheart 4) Harbor lights 5) Unforgettaable 6) Everybody love somebody 7) When I fall in love 8) The more I see you 9 Speak low 10) When a man loves a woman Side B 1) (They long to be) Close to you 2) The nearness of you 3 3) September in the Rain 4) Mood Indigo 5) Lean 6) Stars fell on Alabama 7) When you wish upon a star 8) Come saturday morning 9) For all we know 10) The long and winding road

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Stardust Melody (Scal No 254)
Mary Haskell
Manufacturer: Jove Pubns
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0425079791

Stardust Moods - The World's Most Beautiful Melodies - The Romantic Strings (Audio Cassette)

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Stardust Moods - The World's Most Beautiful Melodies - The Romantic Strings (Audio Cassette)
Reader's Digest
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
ASIN: B000X3IL7I

Product Description

Audio Cassette. 20 tracks.

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Stardust Melody
Alan Avery
Manufacturer: New Playwrights' Network
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0863193889

Stardust Melody The Life and Music of Hoagy Carmichael

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Stardust Melody The Life and Music of Hoagy Carmichael
Sudhalter Richard M.
Manufacturer: Oxford UP
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UIJMI8

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Stardust Melody: The Life and Music of Hoagy Carmichael
Richard M. Sudhalter
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKLBA4

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Stardust Melody: The Life and Music of Hoagy Carmichael
Richard M. Sudhalter
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OKSUUS

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I couldn't put it down

A really good book

"Yes, but is it Art?"

Gripping, non-judgemental, true-life narrative.

Confessions of an Igloo Dweller
James Houston
Manufacturer: McClelland & Stewart
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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White Dawn: An Eskimo Sage: An Eskimo Saga

ASIN: 0771042868
Release Date: 1996-08-24

Book Description

These memoirs of James Houston’s life in the Canadian Arctic from 1948 to 1962 present a colorful and compelling adventure story of real people living through a time of great change. It is extraordinarily rich material about a fascinating, distant world.

Houston, a young Canadian artist, was on a painting trip to Moose Factory at the south end of Hudson Bay in 1948. A bush pilot friend burst into his room with the news that a medical emergency meant that he could get a free flight into the heart of the eastern Arctic. When they arrived, Houston found himself surrounded by smiling Inuit – short, strong, utterly confident people who wore sealskins and spoke no English. By the time the medical plane was about to leave, Houston had decided to stay.

It was a decision that changed his life. For more than a dozen years he spent his time being educated by those kindly, patient people who became his friends. He slept in their igloos, ate raw fish and seal meat, wore skin clothing, traveled by dog team, hunted walrus, and learned how to build a snowhouse. While doing so, he helped change the North.

Impressed by the natural artistic skills of the people, he encouraged the development of outlets in the South for their work, and helped establish co-ops in the North for Inuit carvers and print-makers. Since that time, after trapping as a way of gaining income began to disappear, Inuit art has brought millions of dollars to its creators, and has affected art galleries around the world.

In the one hundred short chapters that make up this book, James Houston tells about his fascinating and often hilarious adventures in a very different culture. He tells of raising a family in the Arctic (his sons bursting into tears on being told they were not really Inuit), and of the failure to introduce soccer to a people who refused to look on other humans as opponents. He tells about great characters – Inuit and kallunait – who populated the Arctic in these long-lost days when, as a Government go-between, he found himself grappling with Northern customs that broke Southern laws.

A remarkable, modestly told story by a truly remarkable man.

Customer Reviews:

I couldn't put it down.......1999-12-03

This book was a delight to read. Mr. Houston's admiration for the Inuit culture is evident on every page. Many of the passages and stories are thought provoking and educational. I especially enjoyed his descriptions of bewilderment turned to enlightenment by such unassuming teachers.

A really good book.......1999-09-09

Really enjoyable. This man's interraelationship with a disappearing culture and the hurdles he faced in the Arctic wilderness are tangible and detailed. Mostly this book is about a youth (his own) - lost but still remembered. I read Joseph Conrad's Youth at the same time and the themes were quite similar.

"Yes, but is it Art?".......1997-08-15

First this is a book about art. If you have ever wondered how those most beautiful Eskimo sculptures and prints have found their way to your local gallery; this book tells you how.

Mr. Houston was the first artist to recognize and search out the Inuit artforms and to deliver them to the art markets "outside". In every detail, name by name, you can read about the Inuit art culture from the very first stone figures and bone scluptures, to the latest prints.

Second this is a book about Arctic. Adventure on a epic scale. Mr. Houstons' honeymoon was one of the very few trips from east to west across Baffin Island by sled. Mr and Mrs. Houston spent years in the Arctic living in the Inuit way; both their sons spoke Inuktitut in preference to English and preferred raw seal meat to... well that was all there was to eat.

Sadly there are in this book no prints of the Inuit art, nor photos of the artists, nor any example of the art described in the text. For all the journeys by sled, boat, plane, and on foot there are no suitable maps. For a book about a culture that is so completely linked to geography, there are no maps for the reader to follow nor plates for the art lover to love.

The most astonsihing event of the book occurs on page 9. A very young Mr. Houston steps off of a plane in the Hudson's Bay Arctic, looks around, and flatly refuses to live any place else; He stays for 15 years.

You can add Mr. Houston to the list with Barry Lopez, William Vollmann , Farley Mowat, and John McPhee; thoes writers that get the Arctic Expericence

Gripping, non-judgemental, true-life narrative........1997-06-12

This is one of the finest first-person, historical narratives I've read for many years. Mr. Houston provides a unique, non-judgemental series of observations and first-hand stories about the Inuit and his own experiences living among them and working with them and, most importantly, learning from them. He is very honest in relating his own foibles and potentially life-threatening mistakes. His style is very easy to read and personal and I could not put this book down after starting it. Mr. Houston lived a highly privileged and unique life among a pre-literate but very evolved group during a crucial turning point for their culture. This is a rare and wonderful narrative.

Confessions of an Igloo Dweller Memories of the Old Arctic

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Confessions of an Igloo Dweller Memories of the Old Arctic
Houston James
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UCM4MK

Confessions of an Igloo Dweller: The Story of the Man Who Brought Inuit Art to the Outside World

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A great book by a humble man.

Confessions of an Igloo Dweller: The Story of the Man Who Brought Inuit Art to the Outside World
James A. Houston
Manufacturer: Diane Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0788157973

Customer Reviews:

A great book by a humble man........2003-12-03

James Houston's involving acccount of his time with the Cape Dorset Inuit people is both informative and moving. It is set in the time when 'modern' lifestyle was just taking hold; some Inuit were living in permanent settlements while others were still living exclusively on the land. Houston modestly tells of his efforts to bring Inuit sculpture to southern galleries and sales and to have Inuit 'handicrafts', as refered to at the time, become recognised as one of the world's essential aborigional art forms.

The book is full of detailed observations of Inuit society and the tremendous skills these unassuming people possessed that allowed them to thrive in what must be the world's harshest climate. The constant battle with the elements is etched most deeply in Houston's account of the race to get his wife, suffering from acute appendicitis, to the 'outside'where she could have a life-saving operation.

I most enjoyed Huston's portraits of the gentle hunters he met, from whom he bought wonderful sculptures, some of which now have prominant position in the world's major galleries and museums.

A great book for art lovers, anthropologists and observers of the human race.

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Confessions of an Igloo Dweller
James Houston
Manufacturer: Houghton Mifflin & Co. c1995
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000ONKKLW

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CONFESSIONS OF AN IGLOO DWELLER: Memories of the Old Arctic
James Houston
Manufacturer: HM
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000TWV1TI

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