Book Description
Whoever said Everything old is new again could have been talking about French Pompadour Style. The flamboyant, opulent, refined aestheticso characteristic of the eighteenth centuryhas enjoyed a spectacular revival in recent years. In The New Eighteenth-Century Style, journalist Michèle Lalande and photographer Gilles Trillard, both experts in the field of interior décor, survey 30 examples of this quintessential blending of exquisite detail and ostentatious affluence. From lush velvet upholstery to the emblematic use of turquoise with gold accents, these perfectly captured interiors beguile the reader with well-worn extravagance. In an era of shabby chic the more refined, more pristine accents of Pompadour may be just what the world of interior décor needsand this beautiful book provides an indispensable guide.
Customer Reviews:
Love that shabby chic French style!.......2007-06-01
An absolutely smashing book, full of details. After all, it is the details that make the room finishesd and unique. This is a classic look in my way of thinking, but then again, it is my style! A decorator by trade, I am always open to new concepts, and I found the book to offer many different perspectives on the same style, pages after pages of them. Excellent book layout and design, and wonderful photography.
Lovely book.......2007-04-04
I'm an artist & antique collector and not an interior designer by trade, so I am totally enjoying this book. I find it to be a lovely book full of great photography and many interesting details to spark one's imagination. Regardless of the fact that all the styles are not necessarily my own taste, the book as a whole is great fun to look at and I found it inspiring. Each time I looked at a room, I found some new little detail that I'd missed the first time around. It made me itch to re-vamp a room, stat, and I consider anything that inspires me or makes me feel creative money well spent.
Dangerous Liasons.......2007-02-09
This is a pretty, pretty book with lots of great stuff to look it, lots of interesting vignettes. It's French shabby, chippy _hit, uh, I mean chic. This was a great trend in the mid 1990's here in the USA before Rachel A. made shabby and chic a brand. Big style on a budget using detrius no one wanted. And it was cheap back then. Just took a can of white paint to chic up everything.
These French 18th century and 18th century inspired objets in this book, are not cheap. They are shabby and they are beautiful. The vignettes look like the Broadway stage set for the play Dangerous Liasons - decay, messy, artful, romantic, monochromatic and mad.
Like many decor books, the vignettes are impossible to see as life like - like does anyone really live in these vignettes. Still, they are beautiful to look at. The new 18th century style is a little like the new emperor's clothes. Smoke and mirrors to the highest degree of accomplishment. Get this book for the fun of it.
Fabulous Book! .......2006-11-18
If you're style is that of a Paris flea market, the bazaar in Bombay or a eclectic old shop somewhere in Eastern Europe, you'll love this book. Great photography; the individualism of each space comes through with color and texture. My new favorite. The highlight is more photos of the Stockholm attic apartment, which is a true style icon.
French Flea Market (if you like that look).......2006-11-02
More like Madame Pompadour is probably rolling over in her grave. I hope to goodness gracious that this isn't the new 18th century style. If you like 18th century style on a seriously tight budget then you may enjoy this book. It's full of pages of colorless 'schemes', seriously abused furniture and icy cold lighting. Was it all photographed in rooms with Northern exposure? The editors of Veranda will love this book. I am an interior designer who collects period 18th century furniture and art. I have truly studied 18th century furniture, decorative arts and customs for years and this is a popular look although I find it horribly depressing. On the positive side - the photography in this book is very well done. If you like French flea market 'junk' then you'll love this. I gave it a 4 vs. a 2 because the quality of the book is excellent and the photography is excellent but much of my disdain for this book is from this horrendous & prevalent style that I wish would go away.
Average customer rating:
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Transformations in Late Eighteenth Century Art
Robert Rosenblum
Manufacturer: Princeton University Press
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0691003025 |
Customer Reviews:
One of the best.......2001-10-09
Rosenblum's Transformations in Late Eighteenth Century Art is still one of th best and most inspiring books on the art of neoclassicism and early romaticism. Encompassing both pictorial arts and architecture, it points central themes in the arts of that time. It offers clues to further investigations as to the seminal character of the fundamental changes in the art and architecture of the late 18th century. And it is wonderfully wide in perspective and clear in its argument. It presents a number of focus in a period where one gets easily lost in either superficial statements or far too detailed information.
It is a great starting point for any research into its period.
Average customer rating:
- Nice overview of the technologies, but a little hard to read
- A Draftperson's Romance Book
- Good Material - Poor Printing
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Tools of the Imagination: Drawing Tools and Technologies from the Eighteenth Century to the Present
Manufacturer: Princeton Architectural Press
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 1568985991 |
Book Description
Covering 250 years of design tools and technologies, Tools of the Imagination: Drawing Tools and Technologies from the Eighteenth Century to the Present takes a revealing look at how architects have produced the drawings, models, renderings, and, now, animations that show us the promise of what might be built. The book includes a wide array of these tools as well as drawings, renderings, and sketches from well-known architects such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, and I. M. Pei. Along with the beautiful historical objects, the National Building Museum has collected wooden models by Frank Gehry and hand-drawn sketches by Tod Williams, showing that the tools of the imagination are still very much a part of architectural design.
Customer Reviews:
Nice overview of the technologies, but a little hard to read.......2007-07-12
Bought this book as a gift for my dad who has been a plumbing engineer for almost 30 years. As he flipped through the pages, he kept saying "oh, I remember this tool!" or "look at this, I haven't seen one of these in ages!" The book was well received and a definite must for all those engineering and drafting types because it gives them a chance to see how the technology has progressed.
As someone else mentioned in their review, the book looks nice, but the white on silver and silver on white isn't exactly practical. Can be very hard to read, especially with a glare on the page.
A Draftperson's Romance Book.......2007-03-29
From March 5 through October 10, 2005, the National Building Museum presented an exhibition entitled "Tools of the Imagination". The exhibition contained countless drafting tools and consequentially created documents whose days have since past.
In essence, this exhibition and accompanying book document the romance between a creator (i.e. architect) and their tools to generate their subsequent creations.
"Tools of Imagination" reads as a romance novel for any architect, designer or drafter who once either used or knew of these antiquated tools. Beautiful pictures of pocket cased sets (composed of rulers, compasses, and ink sets) contrast sharply against VIZ-generated renderings and Gehry's CATIA-sculpted buildings between the covers. The contrast lends itself to document the development and refinement of the tool while also documenting the evolution of the architect's method of designing.
While the preface and the introduction to "Tools of Imagination" succeed in relegating the subject of the book about the intrigue and history of the 'tool', a further consideration may have been given to the question of representation within architecture as put forth by John Beckmann's "Virtual Dimension: Architecture, Representation, and Crash Culture" (collection) and Robin Evan's "Translations from Drawing to Building and Other Essays".
By not tapping into this discussion of the relevance of the tool to the mode of representation, "Tools of the Imagination" situates itself as a well-done exhibition publication without furthering to the discussion of how modes of representation may be observed.Tools of the Imagination: Drawing Tools and Technologies from the Eighteenth Century to the Present
Good Material - Poor Printing.......2007-01-19
Very good overview of the subject and very well illustrated. But the printed text, silver on a white page and the reverse, is very nearly illegible. You may go blind trying to read it.
That said, if you collect drawing instruments, you got to have it.
Book Description
First published in 1768, this remarkable collection of sophisticated line drawings offers a fascinating treatise for model builders, naval historians, and maritime enthusiasts. Documenting merchant and naval ships from various countries, it features 70 illustrations that chart vessel dimensions, crew size, storage capabilities, and manner of rigging.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Resource.......2007-07-19
Fredric Henric af Chapman (September 9, 1721 in Gothenburg - August 19, 1808) was a Swedish naval ship architect, promoted to vice admiral in 1791, manager of the shipyard at Karlskrona between 1782-1793. Fredric Henric af Chapman might be the greatest naval architect of the eighteenth century.
At the age of 10, he already designed his first ship. At the age of 15, Chapman moved to Stockholm to learn the art of shipbuilding, during a visit to England in 1741 he was arrested when visiting a shipyard. Upon release, he was offered English service, which he declined. In 1744 he and another person established a shipyard in Gothenburg. Between 1752-56 he studied abroad. In 1757 he was commissioned as a junior shipwright by the Royal Swedish Navy and tasked with designing a couple of shallow draft vessels for the Finnish archipelago or coastal fleet. 1764 he was promoted to senior shipwright.
Chapman's great interest in the theoretical aspects of naval architecture and his desire to transform shipbuilding from a trade into a science led him to produce a large number of treatises and other publications, of which the best known internationally is Architectura Navalis Mercatoria. First published in 1768, Architectura Navalis Mercatoria eye-opening collection of sophisticated line drawings is a fascinating look at the maritime world of the 18th century, documenting merchant and naval ships from various countries. When first published, this work only included the line drawings. Later, Chapman added the additional sections related to the scientific design of ships.
Dover's edition of this work presents sophisticated lines drawings of over 70 ships. Other drawings and the companion text discusses tank testing of submerged bodies of various shapes, and the accompanying mathematics the author is using to explain some of his studies reach into calculus. The 70 different illustrations chart vessel dimensions, crew size, storage capabilities, and rigging. Additional drawing include line drawings of ships boats, three different methods for launching ships, and sail plans for various ship types.
As someone who has spent a lot of time lately studying Age of Sail ships, the Architectura Navalis Mercatoria contains the finest set of line drawings of ships of the 18th Century. You will find line drawings of galleys, merchant ships, privateers, and warships. Some of the drawings simply lay out a basic design for a type of ship (Katt, Hekboat, Frigate, etc...). Some of the plans are draughts of actual ships like the privateer Neptunas.
Although these plans can be found on the internet, this book will be an indispensable treatise for model builders, naval historians, and maritime enthusiasts. Anyone with a strong interest in shipbuilding in the 18th Century will love this book. I've often found myself spending hours looking over the various plans. I was worried about the size of this book when I orginally heard that Dover planned to publish.
Dover Books was kind enough to respond to my question with the following:
"Thank you for your patience. I have confirmed with our reprint editor that our edition of "Architectura Navalis Mercatoria: The Classic of Eighteenth-Century Naval Architecture" will be sized 9 3/8" x 12 1/4". He also indicated that the page size we're using is the largest size we can do with the printing equipment we normally use--beyond that size it not only gets much more expensive but becomes a problem as most bookstores don't have shelves bigger than that (some don't have shelves that size) and they won't order it if they can't store it. Also, we have a good source for the plates and they will be readable."
A great companion book to go with this book would be:
F.H. Chapman: The First Naval Architect and His Work
Comments on content.......2007-03-08
The description needs to be rewritten to clarify that this is simply a compilation of schematics with little other information.
Book Description
In this Pulitzer Prize-winning book, Rhys Isaac describes and analyzes the dramatic confrontationsprimarily religious and politicalthat transformed Virginia in the second half of the eighteenth century. Making use of the observational techniques of the cultural anthropologist, Isaac vividly recreates and painstakingly dissects a society in the turmoil of profound inner change.
Customer Reviews:
A riveting account of a double revolution in early America.......2007-08-14
Eighteenth-century Virginian gentry had established a society, complete with imported styles and articles of British dress and life, which set them a part from commoners, but, which never quite equaled life in England. Within 50 years, more egalitarian religious upsurges and a political revolution challenged the great-family society and altered its social functioning. Rhys Isaac's The Transformation of Virginia ,1740-1790, chronicles and analyzes the legal, religious, and cultural battles for societal control between members of the Virginian plantation elites and those popularizing forces that, in the end, dislodged many of the institutions--minus slavery--that reinforced exclusive dominance within in eighteenth-century Virginia.
The indispensable contribution of The Transformation of Virginia is its suggestion of a "double revolution in religious and political thought and feeling" (5). The work begins with a discussion of the gentry dominating all levels of society. Middlings and members of the lower class deferred to more elite members of society. The first part of the book introduces the reader to natural and physical structures of the elites' dominance. The great house, the county courthouse, and the church, served as emblems of plantation power. The great men conducted business at each of these brick structures that endorsed their control.
The Anglican Church reinforced for the deferential system and provided a hallowed venue to display the social hierarchy. Isaac calls upon the physical construction and layout of church structures as evidence of their support for the gentry's control. The rich talked business before church; they processed into and recessed out of church while others gazed from their seats; and they sat in special seating, while the Anglican liturgy "asserted the hierarchical nature of things" (64). The Anglican system gave local vestrymen power over clergy, who came from outside, and it empowered them to regulate parish life. Clashes between clergy and vestries and confrontations between Anglicans and Presbyterians over preachers' licenses led to legislatives battles and anticlericism in the 1740s and 1750s.
The New Light Separatist Baptists descended upon Virginia in the 1760s from New England. They brought with them an austere lifestyle, and offered commoners "a close, supportive, and orderly community" (164). When describing the beginnings of Baptist life in Virginia, Isaac employs terms like "respect," "equality," "fellowship," and "faith," in contrast to descriptions of Anglican Virginia with words like with "formal distance," "hierarchy," and "ranked". Not only were Baptist members "poor and unlearned," and in some cases slaves, but the ministers who started these groups were often "men of little learning". The Virginia Baptists and their leadership possessed similarities in class and education levels with post-Revolutionary Baptists and other denominations who would later use what Nathan O. Hatch's The Democratization of American Christianity terms "religious populism" to spread Christianity across America. Despite the gentry's attacks of being "poor and illiterate," the Baptists' effectiveness to draw to themselves all sections of society, including some gentry, threatened the traditional community structure. Isaac underscores that "the cohesive brotherhood of the Baptists must be understood as an explicit rejection of the formalism of traditional community organization" (166).
The rise of the Baptist popularity in Virginia coincided with a general crisis of British authority throughout the American colonies, particularly highlighted by colonial responses to the Stamp Act of 1765. The Methodist movement took hold in Virginia during the 1770s at the climax of patriot fervor. The religious and political movements shared similarities in gaining support: "the use of popular assemblies for arousing collective emotions and for intensifying the involvement of plain folk" (264). A major distinction, however, existed. "Where evangelism began as a rejection and inversion of customary practices, the patriot movement initially tended toward a revitalization of ancient forms of community" (265). During this revolutionary period, Virginian gentry, who had long viewed themselves as models of England, found themselves impelled to defy British authority by popular forces from within communities they once dominated.
Isaac's book is a brilliant account of how religious dissenters and political patriots changed the social landscape and structures within eighteenth-century colony Virginia. However, these promoters of religious equality and political liberty could not break the bonds Virginian slavery. Antislavery movements increased following the Revolution; yet, "republicanism worked to formalize a deep division by excluding the slaves to whom its membership and its promises did not extend" (321).
Despite the book's at times awkward and disjointed flow--the result of tying together collected essays published as a monograph--The Transformation of Virginia provides the scholar, undergraduate, and general reader a riveting display of changes that occurred during fifty crucial years in the life of the Commonwealth--and the nation.
Excellent Book.......2004-12-30
Rhys Isaac richly deserved his Pulitzer Prize for this excellent history of Colonial Virginia society. He shows how the coming of non-Anglican Protestant faiths (namely, Presbyterians and Baptists) to Virginia helped transform the society from one of deference to superiors to a society that began to see all white men as social equals (women, American Indians, and slaves would not receive this until much later). The book also provides excellent insight into the conditions that would lead some of the Founding Fathers to champion the doctrine of religious freedom.
Transformation of Virginia.......2002-02-12
I first encountered this book in graduate school, where it was assigned to our class. Many of us debated the merits of the book and concluded it really failed to deliver any type of lasting impression. Yet it won a Pulitzer Prize.
All through the book I kept waiting for Virginia to "transform" as the title indicates it did. While Isaac presnts a lot of detailed information, it never really deliverd a convincing argument. "Stillborn" is one term that comes to mind. In comparison to Edmund S. Morgan's "American Freedom American Slavery" (or vise versa) Isaac book misses the mark. Morgan's work shows a definite transformation in how Virginia became a principal player in the establishment of slavery.
Isaac's book is not a total waste, as it does cover a shorter period of time in greater detail than Morgan, but Morgan remains a master historian while Isaac has more work to do.
What I thought of this book.......2000-10-20
I read this book because it won the Pulitzer Prize for History in 1983. It is, I believe, the least intersting and most esoteric book I have ever read. It reminded me of my reading of Fin-de-Siecle Vienna, which won a Pulitzer Prize in 1981, and which I long wanted to read and then when I read it I found it a chore to read, and greatly welcomed the last page. The last chapter of Transformation made no sense for me at all, and reading this book's only significance is that I have read another Pulitzer Prize winner in history. I thought I should warn persons who might be overly influenced by the other 3 reviews and might think this would be a great book to read.
Tremendous.......2000-08-06
As you would expect from a book that captured the Pulitzer Prize in History, this is an outstanding book. The writing is clear and cogent. As the other reviewers stated, it brings Colonial Virginia to life for the reader. It's going a bit far to suggest that it explains Colonial "America," though, since each colony was disparate. The New England experience does not parallel that of Virginia at all, for example. The book's best contribution is the use of non-written sources to bring to life the world of the unliterate, both free and slave.
Book Description
This groundbreaking work established Neo-Palladianism as the national style, overthrowing Baroque trends and anointing Inigo Jones as the British Vitruvius. Its 300 illustrations include facades, ground plans, exterior elevations, and perspective views. Handsome and modestly priced, this new edition is an essential complement to any design library.
Customer Reviews:
An epoch-making book finally reprinted.......2007-08-25
It's been a long wait; as the previous reviewer pointed out, until recently any one interested in this greatest classic of English architecture would have needed to deplete his bank savings in order to get a copy. Fortunately Dover (who else?) finally issued this beautiful reprint of the complete three volumes of Vitruvius Britannicus. For anyone interested in 18th century architecture or the English country house, there can be no greater delight - the reader, as Mr. Campbell in his introduction says he hopes, is indeed 'agreeably entertained' with a rich array of elevations, floor plans, interiors and perspective views. All the greatest houses (Chatsworth, Blenheim, Castle Howard, Grimsthorpe, Drumlanrig, Houghton) are featured, as are many more modest ones, and some that were never actually built, were dramatically changed in later years, or were lost altogether (Lowther castle seems a particular painful specimen of the latter category, by the look of it). In addition, several public buildings (e.g. the Royal Hospital in Greenwich), as well as St. Paul's cathedral and, somewhat incongruously, St. Peter's in Rome, are portrayed. The plates allow detailed study of the composition, proportions and decoration of these masterworks.
As always, Dover also provides the full text of the original, which allows interesting insights into the social world of the early 1700s. The introduction, in which Campbell scolds Borromini for 'debauching mankind with his odd and chimerical beauties', and proudly proclaims Britain at least the equal of Italy in matters of architecture, is an entertainment in itself. The lists of subscribers show that no fashionable nobleman of the time could afford to go without his own copy.
The plates are clearly and beautifully reproduced, on lightly cream-colored paper, without blemishes. My only niggle concerns the two-page spreads, of Castle Howard and Blenheim for instance, where inevitably the centerpiece of the composition is lost in the center fold of the book. Otherwise this is as good as it gets.
A must for architecture buffs.......2007-07-06
Anyone interested in domestic architecture, especially 18th century British, must have this book. I once priced the original (published in the 1700's)--it goes for about $20,000! That makes this a pretty good deal.
Book Description
This lavishly illustrated book explores the interior decoration of Parisian mansions during the first half of the eighteenth century, the rococo period. Charting the rapid and sometimes dramatic changes in both the style and the imagery of the time, Katie Scott examines the relations between social status and the consumption and display of decoration in the grand houses of the nobility.
Customer Reviews:
Rather heavy on the pedantics, and too light on the aesthetics.......2007-09-24
This book reads like a pedantic Ph.D. dissertation, or rather like three such dissertations sewn together into one bookbinding.
Part I is an economic and technology history of eighteenth-century decorative-arts production. It is an unlikely reason why anyone would purchase this high-gloss, coffee-table-style, oversized book.
Part II is a sociology of the layout and design of the Parisian noble's hôtel. It seems unlikely that these sociological considerations applied exclusively to the rococo period and not also to the ancien régime society of the preceding baroque and succeeding neoclassical styles.
Part III sets forth the historical thesis that political change in the form of the decline of monarchial absolutism reduced the status of the rococo style from noble status to commercially common, and thus brought about its eclipse. I find this an unsatisfactory explanation for the ascendancy of the neoclassical style.
Overall I found the book a disappointment. It shows little appreciation for the aesthetics of the style, which is quite charming. It has remarkably little color photography, and certainly too many black-and-white photos for such a book with a $90 price tag and only 318 pages.
I refer readers interested in a better visual and aesthetic presentation of rococo interiors to Furniture: From Rococo to Art Deco (Evergreen Series). The latter has more than two and a third as many pages, at least a dozen times as many color photos including not just furniture but the room decorations as well, and about a fifth of the price.
Customer Reviews:
A Superb Read From the Drawing Room to the Frontier.......2001-07-10
Whether you are a casual reader or a serious garden historian, this book has something for you. It is the second of a trilogy of very fine books written on American gardening covering the 1600s, 1700s and 1800s.
While it is fascinating just to page through and you can start just about any place and enjoy yourself, it is truly indispensible if you are interested in historical gardens. This is THE bok for anyone trying to recreate a period garden to go with a house style and who wishes to know the proper design layout, plants, materials, colors and even what fruits vegetables were being grown.
It also contains nice, gossipy little tidbits of information about everyday life, when to plant, how to cultivate in the 18th century manner and lots of black and white illustrations from the period. Well footnoted, extensive glossary, lists of plants with latin names given to avoid confusion, just a top-notch piece of work.
All three books in this series are excellent. I found this one very helpful, as at the time it was reissued I was in charge of the [18th century] gardens at Fort Frederick State Park in Western Maryland.
Average customer rating:
- The Sublime & the Obscure
- Poetry
|
Le Désert de Retz: A Late Eighteenth-Century French Folly Garden · The Artful Landscape of Monsieur de Monville
Diana Ketcham
Manufacturer: The MIT Press
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Binding: Paperback
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Book Description
The Désert de Retz, the supreme surviving example of the folly garden, is one of the most amply and beautifully documented of France's historic gardens. Since 1990, when the Arion Press published the first book on this garden outside of Paris, the Désert de Retz has been transformed by an ongoing restoration. That limited, fine-press edition is long out of print and much sought after. This new edition reproduces in a smaller oblong format the material in the original book. Diana Ketcham's text has been expanded and updated to reflect recent scholarship and physical changes to the site. There are also new photographs that show the restored landscape and the complete restoration of the folly known as the Broken Column to its original state as a false ruin.
The 100 illustrations consist of views of the construction of the park (1774-1789); models from antiquity and analogues in contemporary gardens; facsimiles of the 26 engravings of the garden that appeared in Georges Le Rouge's Détails de nouveaux jardins a la mode: Jardins anglo-chinois, the most important illustrated book on gardens of the eighteenth century; and photographs of the buildings and grounds taken by the British photographer Michael Kenna. These beautiful photographs, together with Diana Ketcham's carefully researched text, capture the haunting atmosphere of the place during its transition from the romantic, overgrown state of benign neglect, which so intrigued the Surrealists, to the clearing and building that today preserve a balance between the encroachments of unruly vegetation and disintegration.
Customer Reviews:
The Sublime & the Obscure.......2006-02-19
Ms. Ketcham has given full breath to the story of Le Desert de Retz, the fanstastic late 18th C. creation of Monsieur de Monville. The place and the book don't quite occupy the space they should in general conciousness, but it's interesting to note by whom Msr de Monville was inspired (Piranesi and others) and who he inspired (Thomas Jefferson's UVA Library). Ms. Ketcham reviews each of the estate's main buildings and follies and creates a picture of how Le Desert came to be, how it nearly came to destruction, and how it was thankfully saved.
The broken column at Desert de Retz is for me, a must see in my lifetime, largely as a result of this book. Do not mistake this for a coffe table book, but do take it for a work of beauty and insight...The reproductions of the vintage etching are very good, and the contemporary photographs by Michael Kenna are excquisite. The vintage photographs from the late 19th & early 20th century are an added bonus. It's easy to see why the surrealists were inspired by Le Desert, my only complaint is that I would have liked to know a bit more about any surrealist adventures (if any) at Le Desert...
Poetry.......2003-09-05
Intrigued by the cover I bought the book sight unseen online and was very surprised to find it as beautiful inside. Diana has done a remarkable job getting the message across. This book is a pleasure to pick up at any given moment and just fantasize.
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- Touching Spirit Bear
- West of the Imagination
- Wonderful Life: The Burgess Shale and the Nature of History
- Working the Boundaries: Race, Space, and "Illegality" in Mexican Chicago
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