Book Description
From one of our most admired cultural critics (“A marvelous, canny writer”––Terry Castle, London Review of Books), thirty-one essays on some of the most influential artists of our time––writers, dancers, choreographers, sculptors––and two saints of all time, Joan of Arc and Mary Magdalene. Among the people discussed: Italo Svevo, Stefan Zweig, Simone de Beauvoir, Marguerite Yourcenar, Joseph Roth, Vaslav Nijinsky, Lincoln Kirstein, Jerome Robbins, Martha Graham, Bob Fosse, H. L. Mencken, Dorothy Parker, Susan Sontag, and Philip Roth.
What unites the book is Acocella’s interest in the making of art and in the courage, perseverance, and, sometimes, dumb luck that it requires.
Here is Acocella on Primo Levi, a chemist who, after the Nazis failed to kill him, wrote Survival in Auschwitz, the noblest of the camp memoirs, and followed it with twelve more books . . . Hilary Mantel, the aspiring young lawyer stuck on a couch with a chronic and debilitating illness, who asked herself, “What can one do on a couch?” (well, one could write) and went on to become one of England’s premier novelists . . . M. F. K. Fisher, who, numb with grief over her husband’s suicide, dictated to her sister the witty and classic How to Cook a Wolf . . . Marguerite Yourcenar, the victim of a ten-year writer’s block, who found in an old trunk a draft of a forgotten novel and finished the book: Memoirs of Hadrian . . . George Balanchine, who, after losing his family at age nine, survived the Russian Revolution, escaped from the Soviet Union at twenty, was for five years house choreographer for Diaghilev’s Ballets Russes, came to the United States with the promise that he could set up a ballet company, and had to wait another fifteen years before being able to establish his extraordinary New York City Ballet . . . And Acocella on Mary Magdalene and Joan of Arc reminds us that saints in the service of their visions–like artists in the creation of their art–draw power from the very blows of fortune that might be expected to defeat them.
Customer Reviews:
Wonderful discovery.......2007-08-09
I have greatly enjoyed this selection of essays. Ms. Acocella brings forth what it takes to be an artist in this modern world. Not only that, but she rescues some obscure artists and makes the reader know more about them by providing a glimpse into their lives and work. Ms. Acocella's writing is fluent and makes for easy and entertaining reading as well.
Artistic Essays That Count.......2007-04-10
The essays on modern dance in America are particularly outstanding. Ms. Acocella writes with passion and knowledge. Many of her observations are succint yet sympathetic. They inform the book with a compassion for the individual artist's struggle to define his or her art; something not readily available in much of what passes for criticism these days. Her essay on Marguerite Yourcenar, the French writer who lived in Maine for much of her life, literally jumped off the page for me. No one who reads this book will be disappoited.
An inpiration to all creative people.......2007-03-22
Twenty-eight Artists and Two Saints: Essays.
This book is an inspiration to all creative people who have struggled with themselves and consequently their work. Better than any creative-self-help book, this brilliantly accomplished collection of essays, gives wonderful insights with amusing anecdotes into the live of artists. It is a study in problems that all artists face, whether they are writers, dancers, artists or saints.
About writing this book, the author says:" My concern is the pain that comes with the art-making, interfering with it, and how the artist deals with this......What allows the genius to flower is not neurosis, but its opposite, "ego strength", meaning amongst other things, ordinary Sunday- school virtues, such as tenacity, and above all the ability to survive disappointment."
Amongst the artists she discusses are; Stefan Zweig, Primo Levi, Vaslav Nijinsky, Bob Fosse, Susan Sontag, Louise Bourgeois, Philip Roth, and Joan of Arc -an eclectic selection of gifted and talented people, who through their work, and our contact with them, have contributed in some way, to inspiring our lives.
The creative life sympathetically examined .......2007-02-18
I have read a number of the essays in this collection and found them to be informative, insightful and at times, eye- opening. Acocella often chooses subjects who are not that well known , and who she feels have been neglected. Two of the novelists she writes about here, Joseph Roth and Hilary Mantel were little known to an American audience. But the essays I have read and very much enjoyed are those she has written on Stefan Zweig, and Saul Bellow. I also read with great interest her critical review of a biography on James Joyce's daughter, Lucia, one which Acocella feels makes exaggerated claims for Lucia's influence on her father's work. Another outstanding essay here is the one on Primo Levi who Acocella clearly believes is one of the great moral heroes of the century. Acocella has a real feeling for the struggles involved in the literary and artistic, the creative life. She often reveals a special kind of sympathy with her subject. And this is one of the things which makes her writing, to me anyway, so likeable. One feels the writer herself is a very understanding and considerate person, one whose own creative effort is diligent, caring, and intuitively wise.
I have not read all this collection but from what I have and know of the work of this writer I would recommend it strongly.
Book Description
No play in the modern theatre has so captured the imagination and heart of the American public as Tennessee Williams's The Glass Menagerie. Menagerie was Williams's first popular success and launched the brilliant, if somewhat controversial, career of our pre-eminent lyric playwright. Since its premiere in Chicago in 1944, with the legendary Laurette Taylor in the role of Amanda, the play has been the bravura piece for great actresses from Jessica Tandy to Joanne Woodward, and is studied and performed in classrooms and theatres around the world. The Glass Menagerie (in the reading text the author preferred) is now available only in its New Directions Paperbook edition. A new introduction by prominent Williams scholar Robert Bray, editor of The Tennessee Williams Annual Review, reappraises the play more than half a century after it won the New York Drama Critics Circle Award: "More than fifty years after telling his story of a family whose lives form a triangle of quiet desperation, Williams's mellifluous voice still resonates deeply and universally." This edition of The Glass Menagerie also includes Williams's essay on the impact of sudden fame on a struggling writer, "The Catastrophe of Success," as well as a short section of Williams's own "Production Notes." The cover features the classic line drawing by Alvin Lustig, originally done for the 1949 New Directions edition.
Customer Reviews:
Illusion and Escape.......2007-08-23
"Glass Menagerie" provides a surreal tale of the Wingfield family and their diverse struggles with fantasy and reality. Set in St. Louis during the Great Depression, the play revolves around Amanda and her adult children, Tom and Laura, struggling to make ends meet in a St. Louis tenement. Although each cannot grip the realities of the modern world, they seek escape in different ways. Amanda deludes herself into thinking she is still a Southern debutante with many gentleman callers. Laura escapes into her fantasy world ruled by delicate glass animals, her "glass menagerie." Tom, constantly accosted and criticized by Amanda, seeks escape through movies and booze.
Doubtless, the theme of abandonment looms large throughout the play. The presence of their father, although only his picture is seen, plays on all their emotions. Unfortunately for them, he "fell in love with long distances" and abandoned them at an early age. This instills fear in Amanda that Tom would follow the same path and she tries to control his every action. Indeed, her smothering of Tom and her incessant accusations of selfishness lend her an unsympathetic aura.
Williams uses unusual cues and images for a play, as he forsakes the illusion of reality. Indeed, the novel is almost a dream-like existence, as it is contrived from the deep memories of Tom. Although reality may not have a firm hand, the theme of control and a yearn to escape is a biting reality that many people face today. Indeed, Tom seeks to escape the "coffin" of his existence, as he attempts to break away from the iron hand of his mother. Unfortunately for him, this also means abandoning his sister Laura if he chooses this path.
Although it is a short novel and quick read, "Glass Menagerie" provides a powerful message that is applicable today. It has not been lost in a time warp. This, and the fact that it is one of the first plays of Williams, should put this on a short list of "must read" classic American plays.
Glass Menagerie.......2007-06-12
When I first bought the book, the name sounded really interesting, but I didn't understand what "menagerie." After I flipped a few pages, I notice
how dysfunctional, yet almost normal, family the book portrayed. In a way, many people can relate the situation with their personal life.
During the 1940's and after the World War II, many people were in desperation trying to find jobs and create a better life. However, as a result of this mindset, some did not succeed and ended up living in a life of disaster. Such calamity resulted in not only financial misfortune, but also social and mental failure. Everyone seemed to scramble to quickly find a great life, but little did they know, the truth of the reality was that not everyone could succeed at the same time. As a result, many hoped for too much, plunging in a world of delusion. Avoiding reality, several other were just assuming fortunes would find them, creating self-fulfilling prophecies.
In Glass Menagerie, Tennessee Williams wants to depict exactly that tragedy resulted from constant escapades to fantasy by employing Amanda as the typical woman who just lost her grip on reality. Amanda has lost control ever since her husband had left her, destroying the family. Unable to cope with that reality, she just drifted onto another world. She refused to believe that fact and tried to impose her ideals onto her daughter, Laura. Amanda has always boasted that she was the most popular girl attracting all the find young men. She lived a life of glamour, while everyone stared enviously at her success. However, success took a u-turn and even a crash into the wilderness of failure. Amanda was distraught, devastated by the fact that her husband had left her and her family was filled with shame and quirk. Unable to get a grip of reality, she loses her control and drifts into a fantasy, where everything seems to work out perfectly. She puts too much emphasis on being popular and attracting all the rich suitors. She superimposes all her ideals onto her daughter, Laura, so she could be just like her mother. Unintentionally, she forces her daughter to achieve exactly what she has. Despite Amanda's genuine push, she actually forces Laura off the edge, but she changes and matures into a woman, more open to the world around her. Although Laura grown to be less inclusive and more open to the world, the family has broken apart as a result of Tom's escape. Ultimately, as a result of Amanda's fantasy world, the family has been torn apart into bits and pieces, revealing the notion that the escape to fantasy would only ruin one's life.
Tennessee Williams argues that fantasy is only a false depiction of the world in its most rudimentary image, which causes one to lose control of the complications of reality, inevitably resulting in a disaster.
hits all the right notes.......2007-06-12
3 things make this play stand out as truly spectacular: 1. the stellar plot, 2. the engaging and interesting characters, 3. it's ability to move the reader with its sadness and despair without asking for it. this play is truly a mus read for anyone who loves American literature.
In the story, Tom is a young man given the burden of caring for his mother and sister, Laura. Working at a dead-end job in a warehouse, Tom longs for the day he can be like his father and desert the family, to go on the quest for his own dreams and ambitions. he often writes literature during work and attends the movies every night as a way to escape from his otherwise monotomous life. Tom refuses to accept reality for what it is, and instead dwells in his own wishes, having no regard for his family. Laura, a shy girl who is crippled at the leg, does not interact with anyone outside of her family.
now, i must resist the temptation to say anymore, because i do not want to give away the ending, thus keeping any of you from reading this spectacular play. Set during the Great Depression, Williams oes an excellent job of placing the plot in historical context, because it was a time during which people were depressed and wanted to get out of "the hole", such as Tom. There are many symbols to be found throughout this play, such as the glass menagerie and the unicorn, which makes the play that much more engaging and interesting to read, as you try to decipher them. Williams' tone and style are also very appropriate with each changing character, giving the reader a better view of the characters. All while Williams achieves his rhetorical brilliance in the play, there is an underlying message of the dangers of dwelling in memory and fantasy rather than accept reality and deal with the present. I must recommend this book to anyone who is literate.
A sad story that preaches family unity and self sacrifice.......2007-06-12
This story is a must read! Despite the boring title, it's a true eye opener that questions your ethics and provokes you to contemplate on the troubles of society. Throughout the book, the characters struggle to come to terms of their reality.
One of the main characters is Laura, who is handicapped and is constantly nervous about what society thinks about her and her condition. Her poor understanding of who she is as a person and the exaggerated difference believes she has between others prevents her from ever being fully comfortable around others and even herself .Although Laura believes that society has shunned her from the acceptance that she deserves, Laura has actually shunned herself from the possibility of retaining friendships because of the paranoid thoughts in her own mind. Amanda and the pressure she places on Tom is also a large issue in the play which ultimately leads to Tom's tragic abandonment of the family at the end of the story. Because of her dependency on Tom's paycheck, she placed a huge burden on Tom who soon comes to the conclusion that if he would ever want to achieve his dreams, he would have to completely abandon his family. So, read the book and watch the predicaments unravel in the Wingfield family from Amanda's refusal to accept reality of Tom's dreams , Tom's desperate plea to be free from his obligations as breadwinner of the family, and Laura's personal struggle with being comfortable with her disability. Will Laura ever break out of her shell and lead the normal life she deserves? Read the book and contemplate on the effects of a judgmental society and the dangers of holding on to the past being ignorant of the present.
more than just readable material.......2007-06-12
This book focuses on the individual struggles of the three main characters of the book, but I personally enjoy the story of Tom and Laura who have to cope with problems that many can relate to.
Tom is a young man who has great dreams. This is not hard to imagine because many of us or many of the people we know dream of pursuing great goals in life. This is how we are programmed, what we are taught. But as a young man with a father who has abandoned the family, he must decide between pursuing his dreams or staying home and supporting his mother and sister. Such an interesting situation made me want to sit down and read to see what choice he would make.
Laura is the typical shy girl. However, because she is so self conscious about her crippled legs, she has grown to isolated herself so much that her mother has to worry whether or not she will marry since she refuses to talk to even other women. Instead, she turns to a glass collection for friends and company. Pretty crazy. Now when his hermit of a lady suddenly is forced to meet and converse with a normal human being outside of the household, the conclusion is waiting for you to read and find out. It is not your typical type of ending but it is nonetheless something that was satisfying and compatible.
The play is filled with symbols, which is a real good plus because it make the book all the more interesting to read and dig through. You will notice things like the glass collection, the fire escape, and the unicorn all representing something more than what they are. These are what makes the play more than just a browse through a story--it is more like an adventure or a mystery waiting to be torn apart.
Average customer rating:
- Calculations are only as good as your numbers
- Pants on fire?
- Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
- Very Interesting
- History as Science Fiction
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History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
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ASIN: 2913621058 |
Book Description
Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.
Customer Reviews:
Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03
Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.
Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19
Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09
There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.
For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.
Very Interesting.......2007-03-07
It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.
History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10
Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.
I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.
Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.
Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.
I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.
This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.
Book Description
Paris in the '70s was running at full tilt -- a new order was coming into view amid hedonism, ambition, and outrageous decadence. This was a fashion revolution, the beginning of fashion as rock-star spectacle, and the world went wild for it. Alicia Drake writes about the dramatic collision and rivalry between two titanic geniuses, Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld, whose clashes sparked that tumultuous decade. Americans came to Paris in droves - from Andy Warhol and Jerry Hall to Bianca Jagger and Jessica Lange -- to be part of this irresistible moment. Others came just to catch sight of Karl Lagerfeld strutting around the cafs in his high heels and furs. Drake vividly captures the stunning highs and heartbreaking lows, the glorious achievements and dramas of an era when style reigned in the most glamorous of cities.
Customer Reviews:
Imposible to put down, a must read for fashion lovers.......2007-08-09
A wonderfully writen and very entertaining book. Excelent read for those lovers of fashion, of Paris, of glamour and most of all of human conduct.
Portrait of an exciting carefree era left behind. Forgive my english!
The Beautiful Fall.......2007-07-04
Alicia Drake's "The Beautiful Fall" was the most fascinating and informative book about the last fifty years of the world of haute couture I have read to date. In essence it was the joint biography of Yves Saint Laurent and Karl Lagerfeld, but it also created a vivid picture of the Parisian fashion scene during the period.
The book was meticulously researched and filled with marvellous anecdotes and characters, including Antonio Lopez, Paloma Picasso, and Loulou de la Falaise, to name just a few.
Especially interesting was the inimitable Pierre Berge, the business brain behind Yves Saint Laurent.
I originally found out about this book in a newspaper article about the court case in France over its contents. Karl Lagerfeld sued the author, but in my opinion, it was Yves Saint Laurent whose image was tarnished. Saint Laurent was portrayed as a self-centred, immature man who became increasingly reclusive with time. Lagerfeld, on the other hand, was portrayed as a survivor thanks to his own creativity, hard work and business acumen.
This book inspired me to research Saint Laurent's collections, and I'm sorry to say that my doubts about his reputation as a "genius" were confirmed. The archives on his own website revealed that his talent did not measure up to the hype. The relentless repetition of similar designs from season to season did not equate to great creativity or fashion intelligence. If anything, Saint Laurent could be credited with creating the "Ugly Betty" look: dull suits with pussycat bow blouses, "bridesmaid" style evening dresses and safari suits.
I had to conclude that had it not been for the amazing support and business leadership of Pierre Berge, Yves Saint Laurent would have become just one of the many forgotten couturiers who featured in the history of haute couture, after his brief stint at Christian Dior.
A Tremendous Book.......2007-05-23
I used to write about fashion (I was the first person -- god help me! -- to put fashion in US magazine so many years ago), so I picked up Ms. Drake's book with a great deal of anticipation.
I loved it, sat down and read it in practically one day. It is all here -- the talent, the heartbreak, the excess, the bitchy jealous (oh -- the bitchy jealousy), and the beauty of fashion that only the French can evoke.
Say what you will, YSL was/is the master. And Ms. Drake has written a tremendous book. I would give it ten stars if I could, she knows from whence she writes, and I look forward to more of her work.
Stunning Evocation of Stars and Decade.......2007-05-23
Fashion is not a particular interest of mine; but after I heard Alicia Drake talk at the LA Times Festival of Books, I bought her bio and dove in. The Beautiful Fall is the most exciting book I've read in the last six months at least. It's a page turner, a rhapsody of sensory indulgence. Her evocations of the clothes demonstrate why she's a sought-after fashion journalist--I could see these collections, feel the fabrics, hear the pulsating music at the runway show, smell the truckloads of flowers YSL had sent from Paris to his country manor in Normandie.
You don't have to know much about fashion to be captivated by her ying-yang portrayal of YSL and Lagerfeld. The book bristles with details, the entourages sauntering off the page and into an array of dazzling parties that are so characteristic of the 70s zeitgeist.
The rivalries, the sumptuous locales, the music and drugs and personalities--it's all here. If you want an escape from the quotidian--read this book.
Must-read for anyone even remotely interested in fashion.......2007-04-08
I have been a fashion writer for about 10 years and this is absolutely one of the best fashion biographies I've read since perhaps DV by Mrs. Vreeland. The Beautiful Fall is beautifully written--a richly detailed account of Paris in the 50's through 80's packed with fashion and Parisian history, insight, and delicious gossip and scandal. You'll feel like you're there at the party and front row at shows that took place long before the televised mania over fashion began in America in the early '90s. Fabulous photos, as well.
Book Description
Two years before he died, St. Thomas Aquinas - probably the greatest teacher the Church has ever known - was asked by his assistant, Brother Reginald, to write a simple summary of the Faith of the Catholic Church for those who lacked the time or the stamina to tackle his massive Summa Theologica.
In response, the great saint quickly set down - in language that non-scholars can understand - his peerless insights into the major topics of theology: the Trinity, Divine Providence, the Incarnation of Christ, the Last Judgment, and much more.
Here, then, is not only St. Thomas's concise statement of the key elements of his thought, but a handy reference source for the essential truths of the Catholic Faith.
Customer Reviews:
The Lord Thy God is a Jealous God.......2007-06-19
Not to say a mean and vindictive old coward. The Blessed Saint Thomas Aquinas said, "that the saints may enjoy their beatitude and the grace of God more abundantly they are permitted to see the punishment of the damned in hell." Is that the famous Christian charity? Or is it a kind of sadism? Aquinas also said that all heretics deserve to die, which equates to advocating the murder of billions of people. Is that charity or loving-kindness? No wonder religion is itself dying out.
STA's short summa.......2007-03-23
This book is a wonderful way for non intellectuals to read St. Thomas Aquinas! It has all of his inspirational and theological genius in concise and easy to read sections. A must read for all Catholics and highly recommended to non-Catholics interested in learning about the foundations of Christianity.
Understanding Aquinas clarifies other historical issues.......2005-08-03
I need not restate the lenghty and obvious praises of previous reviewers, they did an excellent job of summing up the work on the intellectual level.
I did however find in this work answers to many of the questions so many people ask regarding judicial, political and historical issues these days and yes even a few to fill the gaps left in a lifetime of research into the basic philosophies of other great and important historical figures.
I believe that if one really wants to understand our own country and it's founding fathers and mothers and their philosophies and where their belief systems came from a study of this work would be an essential addition to many others that they used to formulate their ideals and ideologies.
Many passages from Aquinas will stay with me for the rest of my days but the two I have chosen below will be kept readily avqailable for future consideration and contemplation.
"God alone can create. Consequently the rational soul is produced by God alone."
And, "A man's happiness or beautitude consist in the vision whereby he sees God in his essence."
One could spend a lifetime just pondering and trying to live up to just these two and it would not be in vain.
This is a book journey that every American should take. It is not the most easily understandable work, unless you take the time to really read it, not just skim it's pages.
One must begin with a committment and determination to stay engaged at all times or a great deal of it's wisdom will pass before the minds eye unnoticed.
An excellent work.
Massive Summary of Christian Truths.......2004-11-17
I am a begginer, 22 years old, in the field of christianity. I've been a believer for 4 years now, but up until recently I am developing interest in a more profound study of Christian Faith.
This book looks quite tempting to read on... but, from my perspective, its surely not an easy read; its dense and surely profound. To be sincere, its too philosophycal for my taste and lacks more day-to-day ilustrations that could make the reading more pleasant and easy to remember.
I don't under estimate the scope and richness of St.Thomas, but for begginers I recomend trying C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity.
God Bless!
God as the supreme good of the universe .......2004-09-04
Summa Theologica is the masterwork of an indefatigable outstanding man of.letters who, having what is reputed to be the most prodigious mind of his time, pursued the mind of God (mens Dei) as his philosophical goal. The seventh son of a wealthy family, he could have opted instead to follow (rather lamely it must be said) a militar career as his brothers did, or to take hold of a bishopric in a rich countryside in northern Italy, supported by his family wealth and pedigree, being closely akin to the most important men of his time (he was nephew to Frederick II, privy to Saint Louis, king of France, and many others potestates of his epoch). But he decided instead to be a humble Dominican friar , sloughing of all the perquisites of wealth, to be totally devoted to settling down the most intricate points in the Catholic doctrine, to be equaled only by Saint Augustine in doctrinal preeminence, his rulings being adopted as authoritative enough to be perused by popes and religious scholars inside and outside the Church for the next centuries. His access to the 500 volume library of the University of Paris, where he silently studied for many years and where he got the nickname "the Dumb Ox", due both to his body constitution as to his enormous appetite for intelectually heavy cargoes, was instrumental to his reading of ALL that had to be read at the time, being his mastering of the Greek language a plus he had against Saint Augustine, who never got familiar enough with that language, and got always a second hand view of the texts written by the founders of philosophy.
The importance Plato had for Saint Augustine, Aristotle had for Thomas Aquinas, who respectfully called him "The Philosophus" (sic) or the "Commentator" (sic). The Summa Theologica is an attempt by Aquinas to solve the most troublesome points in doctrine, a monumental task tried before by many, who attempted to conciliate the Greek Church cannons to the Roman Church rulings, to the then powerful philosophical Arabic influence, being the Arabic philosophers the first who rescued Aristotle from the ashes of Augustianism, to the efforts of Albertus Magnus - who was Aquinas' master and first tried to evolve science from Alchemy, etcetera.
Using primarily an Aristotelian toolbox and terminology, but always faithfull to the Holy Scripture - and thus entangled in a rather wry explanation of the existence of things trough creationism - being the Bible authoritative enough to him as the own word of God, Aquinas establishes a rather apt hierarchical order in the world between all being (ens) and creatures (creaturae), some of them only possesed of material substance, some immaterial (angelus), and some with intermediate properties, being both material and immaterial (man). To him, the soulless (sine animae) material being was always oriented to the soulful material being and then to the immaterial as its superior, e.g., stone to plants, plants to irrational animals and the latter to the rational ones, that is, to human beings, who by means of his intelect could reach na understanding of God trough His output (effects), that is, the created world.
Being both material and immaterial, homo naturaliter orientatur ist ad superiorem in the hierarchical order (ordo) that is, to the angels, who were the supreme creatures of God. But what is God? According to Aquinas, there is no possible answer to this question and we only know (trough his effects) that He exists (quid est) , but never know what He is (qui est), being the final contemplation of God the Supreme Good (sumum bonum) and the final goal of man. His explanation of good (bonum) as created by God and evil (malum) as a deprivation of good instead of its antipodal opposite, thus making man responsible for his acts via liber arbitrium, and thus quenching Manicheism - who affirmed that God created the immaterial beings and goodness in them, and the Devil the material ones and evil - is magistral and is worthy the effort of reading a so difficult and voluminous book. His explanation of God as an « ens » composed of three coeternal persons under in just one substance and living out of time (per se subexistente, a tempori non mensuratur) gives the reader sheer ecstasy in getting contact with one of the most prodigious philosophers of all times, no matter what the reader's creed. The sheer independence (but not indiference) of God as regarding human beings, because God loves himself preeminently (quia Dominus seipsum amat et hominis non careabat) is also notewhorthy.
To sum it up, what you have in your hand is the work of the most genial man of his time, who sent rippling waves of influence troughout the world as no other philosopher did for many centuries to come. I hope you enjoy the reading as much as I did.
Book Description
An icon (from the Greek word "eikon," "image") is a wooden panel painting of a holy person or scene from Orthodox Christianity, the religion of the Byzantine Empire that is practiced today mainly in Greece and Russia. It was believed that these works acted as intermediaries between worshipers
and the holy personages they depicted. Their pictorial language is stylized and primarily symbolic, rather than literal and narrative. Indeed, every attitude, pose, and color depicted in an icon has a precise meaning, and their painters--usually monks--followed prescribed models from iconographic
manuals.
The goal of this book is to catalogue the vast heritage of images according to iconographic type and subject, from the most ancient at the Monastery of Saint Catherine in the Sinai to those from Greece, Constantinople, and Russia. Chapters focus on the role of icons in the Orthodox liturgy and on
common iconic subjects, including the fathers and saints of the Eastern Church and the life of Jesus and his followers. As with other volumes in the Guide to Imagery series, this book includes a wealth of color illustrations in which details are called out for discussion.
Customer Reviews:
Survey course.......2007-07-14
The Getty Museum's reputation for quality is upheld in this small format handbook. Chock full of reproductions, it includes obscure images.
The color quality shows egg tempera's true and intense hues on feel good low gloss paper.
Copy is like a short survey course-informative and addictive. This is a good reference book.
AWESOME Value........2007-06-13
Good things: For the price, this book has a way more bang for the buck than most icon books. Look at the number of pages, and each of them has an icon. The paper is very nice, glossy and heavy. The icons are explained in depth, with indications of the meaings of each part, and a short history of the icon.
Nitpicks: I wish the book were a little larger, but then again I say that about all icon books. Also, I seriously wish someone would include Ethopian and Coptic and other Church icons in some of these books, especially one this size and this thorough. There were tons of the standard Byzantine/Greek/Russian icons, some of them redundant, which could have had some Syrian/Ethopian/Coptic/Arabic etc icons in there too. But these nitpicks aren't reason to not buy the book, or even deduct a star.
Icons and Saint Of Eastern Orthodox Church.......2007-05-12
This is one of the best description of life sourrounding the main icon that I have seen. Usually the main icon is known but the small icons are seldom known or identified. This is my second copy that I've purchased for a friend who writes icons. My original copy is been held in captivity my another icon writer. Who knows, I may need to buy a third copy.
Beautiful and informative book.......2007-02-13
I was very happily surprised by the depth of information in this book. Literally every major detail of every icon is explained. The reader will see elaborate icons rendered for the royal doors of churches, as well as the standard portrait-sized images.
The book offers a wealth of knowledge to the student of art as well as to those who want to know more about the spiritual significance of icons.
An enjoyable and edifying history.
A great value!.......2007-01-04
I bought this book because I am interested in icons and wanted more than the few images that are usually featured in books about icons. Well, this volume has HUNDREDS, all arranged by saints and persons of the church. It's a great value for the price. The images are clear and colorful and printed on glossy paper. There is a minimum of words in this book, which I liked because I wanted the images, but there is enough explanation to understand the context and the creation of the image. The book is a small and chunky paperback, and I can predict that I might break the spine if I use the book overmuch, but I recommend this book anyway because of the wealth of images. I am very happy with this book.
Average customer rating:
- The perfect gift for one who has lost a dog
- Great Book any time!
- Wonderful book for dog lovers
- A perfect gift!
- The Dog Chapel
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The Dog Chapel: Welcome All Creeds, All Breeds. No Dogmas Allowed
Stephen Huneck
Manufacturer: Harry N. Abrams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Sally Goes to the Vet
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For Every Dog an Angel
ASIN: 0810934884 |
Amazon.com
In gloriously exuberant woodcuts and sweetly charming text, artist and author Stephen Huneck tells the story of The Dog Chapel, the real-life, complete-with-a-steeple chapel he built on a hill in Vermont to celebrate the love and friendship we enjoy from our canine friends. After an introduction in which he explains how he came to build the dog chapel, Huneck provides photos of its serene, doggy-friendly interior--including pews carved with dog images for the humans, and comfy mats and doggy doors for four-legged visitors. The heart of the book offers witty illustrations and touching "bites" of wisdom for dog lovers of all ages: "To bring your dog joy, put on your jacket and grab a leash!" and "You can trust a dog with your life... but not with your lunch." At the back of the book a tear-out frame is included, and readers are invited to send their dog photo and messages to the chapel for inclusion in its Remembrance Wall. Huneck dedicates the book to his beloved, now departed black Lab Sally, the "star" of three previous books in which she ventured to the beach, to the mountains, and to a farm. --Judy Fireman
Book Description
I wanted to build a chapel, a place that celebrated the spiritual bond we have with our dogs, a place that would be open to all dogs and to people of any faith or belief system.-Stephen Huneck
With The Dog Chapel, Stephen Huneck, author and artist of Abrams' beloved children's books about Sally, the black Lab, presents a warm and heartfelt offering to adult dog lovers everywhere. In joyful celebration of the bond between humans and their canine companions, The Dog Chapel gives readers a touching introduction to Huneck, his renowned woodcuts and sculpture, and his greatest artistic achievement: the chapel he built for dogs in St. Johnsbury, Vermont. Magical and transforming, Huneck's book, like the chapel itself, is testimonial to the love, humor, loyalty, and solace dogs bring to our lives every day.
Featured in The New York Times and USA Today, on Oprah and the Today show, the Dog Chapel draws visitors, with their dogs, from all over the world. The Dog Chapel includes a preface by Huneck, many color photographs of the chapel, and more than 30 woodcuts. It also includes a pull-out frame that can be sent to the chapel-along with a photo of a beloved dog-where it will take an honored place on the "Remembrance Wall."
Customer Reviews:
The perfect gift for one who has lost a dog.......2007-09-15
This is a beautiful book, well written, and full of wonderful pictures. The authors account of how the book came to be is touching. For anyone who has had to put their dog to sleep, a gift of this book would be of great comfort. There is even a memorial picture frame in the back of the book in which you can send a photo of your dog up to the chapel.
Great Book any time!.......2007-09-14
This is a great book anytime, but when you lose a pet, it is the BEST!
We gift it to all our friends that are grieving.
You should do the same.
Wonderful book for dog lovers.......2007-03-24
I enjoyed this book and hope to one day travel to the dog chapel and put my dog's picture there. It sounds like such a lovely place where dogs as well as people are welcome.
A perfect gift!.......2007-03-17
This is a warm and wonderful book and a perfect gift to give to anyone who has lost a beloved dog. After receiving my first copy, I immediately orderd 4 more for close friends.
The Dog Chapel.......2007-02-22
I found this to be a very touching book, especially if you want to give it to someone who has recently lost a pet.
Customer Reviews:
Great overview to plan your trip.......2007-06-04
Context: I'm not an academic or a scholar; I'm a regular guy who likes visiting museums when I travel and I wanted to do a little researach before I left. This book worked well for my daughter and I to determine which parts of the museum deserved the most time (on a short trip) and to get a better understanding of the works. I'm not qualified to evaluate it from an academic perspective, but as a layman it was exactly what we needed.
"Beautiful book".......2005-10-04
I sent this book to my mother after we toured the Hermitage this summer. She loved it. Lots of narrative, which she may not take time to read, but the pictures are great.
Fine photography.......2002-09-06
Outstanding photography
I sent this book as a gift to my brother, who is a printer. He thought that pains had been taken with the photography to produce such fine prints. He compared it to another book of Restoration painters that he had once bought at the Guggenheim, having been thrilled with the original exhibition, but said that the Restoration photography had been careless and therefore did not print well, whereas the Hermitage collection exhibited outstanding photography. I didn't buy books that were available in St. Petersburg at the Hermitage because they didn't look good, but these were both beautiful and plentiful. I can't comment on the accompanying text, as I didn't read it.
A BEAUTIFUL TOUR OF THE HERMITAGE GALLERY!.......2000-08-31
I had very high expectations from "Paintings" when I ordered it, and they were all met! The volume contains beautiful fine quality, mainly full-page reproductions from the famous collection. "Paintings" is a beautifully designed, very substantial size volume which also offers Colin Eisler's very informative yet not imposing style of writing with which she guides us through the many periods of western art and the history behind Catherine the Great's collection. I, a Russian, can only appreciate the thoroughness with which the Hermitage collection is compiled in the "Paintings." I bought it along with "Paintings in the Louvre," both volumes are of the same format as if in the same series and will always be our priceless source for admiring some of the world's most treasured canvases.
Customer Reviews:
The First Female Apostle: Myth and Legacy.......2007-03-23
It was Pope Gregory who began the notion that Mary Magdalene was a fallen woman and the story stuck even after Vatican 2 in 1969. This is a pre-Da Vinci code take on the historical Mary Magdalene. There have been many edits to the Bible, to church history, to the lives of key figures from the earliest origins of Christianity ... and in sorting out fact from fiction ... one must seek to understand the context of teachings first before just blindly believing anything presented to them. Mary Magdalene became an icon of the fallen dangerous women and was used to subjugate women in many levels of church politics. Her history is one of the most controversial topics in the church .... and well worth exploring to understand the intention behind her image.
Back in print.......2006-09-12
Ignore my rating as I have only just begun reading this book but I did not want to alter the overall rating given to date. I have posted this 'review' simply to let it be known on Amazon that the book is back in print and is now published by PIMLICO with the ISBN 1-8459-5004-6.
The best on the Magdalene.......2005-01-30
It's a silly shame that this wonderful book is out-of-print when the Code Mania would sell it like hotcakes. It is, without a competitor, the best all-around book on Mary Magdalene. Buy Karen L. King's translation of the Gospel of Mary if you want an intense but engaging lesson in theology, Jane Schaberg's *The Resurrection of Mary Magdalene* if you want a solid feminist critique, or Margaret Starbird's *The Woman with the Alabaster Jar* if you are looking for New Age speculation, but it's Haskins who pulls it all together.
Tracing the idea of Mary Magdalene from the Biblical (and "heretical") sources to present-day manifestations in film and novel, she provides a survey of the changing role of women and sexuality in Occidental culture, generously illustrated with depictions of the Magdalene. She shows how the "shamed prostitute" myth got its start, examines the claims of connection between Mary and France, and provides a very funny account of the Church supported habit of "relic snatching" that accounts for Mary's "relics" moving here and there from this monastery to that church.
All in all, it is a heavy but interesting read, with no polemic axe to grind. Start here.
deserves 6 stars!.......2002-10-27
This is THE MOST AMAZING book on Mary Magdalen. Susan Haskins goes through the image/personna of the magdalen from the Biblical roots to our pop-culture. The primary references are excellent, it is well put together, it is PERFECT!
An outstanding ýone-stopý resource on Mary Magdalene!.......1999-07-15
Haskins does an excellent job in bringing us virtually every relevant piece of useful information about Mary Magdalene. It's all discussed here -- Mary Magdalene in Scripture, non-canonical Christian literature, artwork, history, myths, and legends. An important work about an important historical and spiritual figure.
Book Description
The first guidebook to the lesser-known museums and treasures of Saint Petersburg.
Customer Reviews:
A Most Wonderful Book For St. Petersburg Visitors.......2006-07-27
I happened on this wonderful book by reading all the reviews written by one of its reviewers. It is small, light weight and so very easy to use. The pictures are beautiful. We went to St. Petersburg last December with the book in hand. Each night we decided where to go the next day. Planning is important because each museum is usually closed at least one day a week. Unfortunately the museums were so interesting, that we often stayed way longer than we planned to. We never would have gone to some of the museums had we not had this little book. We especially liked the maps showing the ocation of each museum in relation to the others. Because of this book, we will return to St. Petersburg in the off season and enjoy many more of its amazing little museums -- after all what better way is there to spend a cold December day?
Discovering St. Petersburg's 40 Unknown Treasures.......2004-09-02
As the founder of a company devoted to business and cultural travel to Russia, it pains me that so many tourists come to St. Petersburg for a day or two and only visit the Hermitage, Peterhof, and a ballet. Russia is like a Fabergé egg-a beautiful exterior with a hard-to-open but spectacular hidden interior. Among the little known gems in St. Petersburg are the Museum of Theatrical and Musical Arts, the Nabokov Museum (former residence of Vladimir Nabokov), the Russian Ethnographic Museum, the Rimskii-Korsakov Memorial Apartment-Museum, the History of Religion Museum (formerly the "Anti-Religion Museum), the recently-opened Museum of Toys, and the Museum of Russian Vodka. All these treasures and more are fondly catalogued in Cathy Giangrande's Saint Petersburg: Museums Palaces and Historic Collections (Museums).
To appreciate this book a traveler needs to understand the unintentional irony of the chapter titled "Also well worth a visit are ..." listing the Hermitage Museum, one of the world's premier cultural treasures (and the most popular tourist site in Russia). It makes a great companion to such guides as DK Eyewitness's St. Petersburg guidebook (far more sights and coverage of the Hermitage, but without lengthy descriptions of lesser-known museums).
Its small size makes this a "laptray book", but for the visitor in body or spirit to St. Petersburg is just as enthralling as a five pound coffee table book. One-to-four pages are devoted to each of the over 40 lesser known attractions in St. Petersburg. Each listing had a clear address, directions, phone and web site (if available).
Books like this will help St. Petersburg, and Russia, become one of the world's premier tourist destinations in the next 10 years. There are literally thousands of such treasures throughout Russia as these listed here, but few people know about them. Truly, this book will help anyone interested in truly discovering Russia.
An outstanding guidebook to St. Petersburg.......2003-09-01
I began reading Cathy Giandrande's little guide to St. Petersburg with a great deal of skepticism. As I kept exploring the book, all my doubts quickly disappeared. That alone came to me as a surprise. Unlike most Russians who still suffer from a mild identity disorder, Petersburgers have a strong sense of local patriotism and know what they are and what their city is about. From time to time, their patriotism mutates into a peculiar kind of city chauvinism. It is taken for granted that no temporary visitor, be he or she from Moscow or Paris, can know the city or truly appreciate it. I am no different. As a Petersburger, I would never think that an outsider, least a foreigner, least someone from a culture many Russians perceive as hostile and extremely russophobic, would be able to put together a concise guide to the lesser known museums and landmarks of the city and do it in such a low key, friendly and unbiased manner, that the final work is a joy to read and is more useful from any practical standpoint of city exploration than many far weightier and thicker "serious" guides.
Cathy Giangrande's St. Petersburg is a guide to the city museums and lesser-known landmarks. If the author "missed" any museums, then I have a feeling, that she excluded them deliberately because they are so obscure (like the Museum of Armed Forces Medical Academy) that almost no locals are aware of their existence. On the other hand, the guidebook contains information on some really obscure museums, such as the new private museum of toys.
The book is a journey of exploration and is a pleasure to read "as is" from cover to cover. Alternately, it can be used as a helpful reference manual.
The guidebook has its own share of minor irritants, such as the occasional misspelling of French and English words transliterated backwards, but they are not very significant.
The book is beautifully printed on high quality paper and is richly illustrated with color photographs. It contains a helpful map or rather an outline plan of the central part of the city, a schematic plan of St. Petersburg region, and a well-designed plan of St.Petersburg "Metro" (or the city's subway system). All museum and landmark entries include detailed address and contact information, and indicate the nearest subway or suburban train station.
Among all foreign languages guides and books on St. Petersburg, that I ever came across, this one is the only work that is worth translating into Russian. Even locals would find this book a great aid in exploring their own city.
A masterpiece among specialty city guides.......2003-08-14
I began reading Cathy Giandrande's little guide to St. Petersburg with a great deal of skepticism. As I kept exploring the book, all my doubts quickly disappeared. That alone came to me as a surprise. Unlike most Russians who still suffer from a mild identity disorder, Petersburgers have a strong sense of local patriotism and know what they are and what their city is about. From time to time, their patriotism mutates into a peculiar kind of city chauvinism. It is taken for granted that no temporary visitor, be he or she from Moscow or Paris, can know the city or truly appreciate it. I am no different. As a Petersburger, I would never think that an outsider, least a foreigner, least someone from a culture many Russians perceive as hostile and extremely russophobic, would be able to put together a concise guide to the lesser known museums and landmarks of the city and do it in such a low key, friendly and unbiased manner, that the final work is a joy to read and is more useful from any practical standpoint of city exploration than many far weightier and thicker "serious" guides.
Cathy Giangrande's St. Petersburg is a guide to the city museums and lesser-known landmarks. If the author "missed" any museums, then I have a feeling, that she excluded them deliberately because they are so obscure (like the Museum of Armed Forces Medical Academy) that almost no locals are aware of their existence. On the other hand, the guidebook contains information on some really obscure museums, such as the new private museum of toys.
The book is a journey of exploration and is a pleasure to read "as is" from cover to cover. Alternately, it can be used as a helpful reference manual.
The guidebook has its own share of minor irritants, such as the occasional misspelling of French and English words transliterated backwards, but they are not very significant.
The book is beautifully printed on high quality paper and is richly illustrated with color photographs. It contains a helpful map or rather an outline plan of the central part of the city, a schematic plan of St. Petersburg region, and a well-designed plan of St.Petersburg "Metro" (or the city's subway system). All museum and landmark entries include detailed address and contact information, and indicate the nearest subway or suburban train station.
Among all foreign languages guides and books on St. Petersburg, that I ever came across, this one is the only work that is worth translating into Russian. Even locals would find this book a great aid in exploring their own city.
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