The Story of Gardening (American Horticultural Society Practical Guides)

Book Description

A fascinating, definitive history of garden development and design. From the earliest documented gardens of ancient Mesopotamia to the eclectic landscapes of the 21st century, The Story of Gardening is an engaging tale of the development and design of the garden. Brimming with glorious full-color photographs, intriguing timelines that chart the histories and fashions of individual plants, and evocative narratives, Hobhouse draws on a lifetime of work to create an enlightening overview of designers and styles that have inspired her creations and forged her gardening philosophy.

Customer Reviews:

I love this book........2007-06-10

Hobhouse is one of my favourite gardening writers. This book is another fine example. Great photos and comprehensive research.

Gang Chen, author of Planting Design Illustrated

Landscape Narratives: Design Practices for Telling Stories

Average customer rating:

Landscape for Screenwriters
An intimate redfinitive of one's perception of space

Landscape Narratives: Design Practices for Telling Stories
Matthew Potteiger , and Jamie Purinton
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Landscape | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

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Opening Spaces

ASIN: 0471124869

Book Description

"Narratives . . . intersect with sites, accumulate as layers of history, organize sequences, and inhere in the very materials and processes of the landscape. In various ways, stories 'take place.'" âFrom Landscape Narratives

Narrative offers fascinating ways of knowing and shaping landscapes not typically acknowledged in conventional documentation, mapping, surveys, or even in the formal concerns of design. This book establishes a comprehensive framework for understanding the elements, processes, and forms of landscape narratives. Illustrating specific narrative practices that can be applied across a range of design projects, it bridges the gap between theory and practice by tracing the narratives of specific projects and places, including the restoration of New Jersey's Meadowlands and the road stories of Highway 61 in Mississippi.

Drawn from insights in literary theory, cultural geography, and visual art, Landscape Narratives traverses a broad range of disciplines and practices concerned with the social identity, history, and nature of place. Revealing exciting possibilities for preservation and heritage planning, public art, sustainable design, and other areas, Landscape Narratives is important reading for landscape architects, planners, and other designers involved in historic preservation, public art projects, and community and park design.

Customer Reviews:

Landscape for Screenwriters.......2000-06-10

"Landscape Narratives" is a source book for screenwriters searching for thematic ideas. As writer and director, it helps me to decode places as textual landscape of my stories. Inspired by the readings I have written several short films, mostly dealing with the way fictional characters react to landscapes. Chapter 4 discusses time-altering devices found in landscape: jump cut, flashback, fade etc. plot structuring techniques also used in film. It is a joy to reread this classic book as would a traveller journeying home.

An intimate redfinitive of one's perception of space.......1998-12-12

Potteiger and Purinton team up in what in essence is a cultural geographic survey of the American Landscape. The anthropologic influence of nature is explored. Chapters deal with broad topics such as restoration ecology and urban renewal, and each is seen through the an intensely personal lens. This is a bit of a breath of fresh air, given that similar books in this genre are more about the author's personal philosophy than the true impacts of man's manipulation of nature. Fortunately the Potteiger and Purinton's lens is filtered through the eyes of real characters, characters rich in personality and chalked full of lore.

The book targets the academic but is quite readable to the layman.

The World's Top Photographers: Landscape: And the Stories Behind Their Greatest Images (The World's Top Photographers)
Average customer rating:

beautiful book

Inspirational Images of the Natural World

Not only great photographers but great people

A Study in photo excellence

Simply the best!

The World's Top Photographers: Landscape: And the Stories Behind Their Greatest Images (The World's Top Photographers)
Terry Hope
Manufacturer: RotoVision
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The World's Top Photographers: Photojournalism: And the Stories Behind Their Greatest Images (World's Top Photographers)

Working the Light: A Photography Masterclass (Landscape Photography Mastercl)

ASIN: 2940361010

Book Description

The World's Top Photographers: Landscape is packed with shots of beautiful landscapes. The work of contributors such as Charlie Waite, Michael Busselle, Yann Arthus-Bertrand, Jim Brandenburg, and the late Galen Rowell graces the pages of magazines such as National Geographic and Geo, and is exhibited worldwide. In The World's Top Photographers: Landscape, they and other top photographers tell the stories behind some of their favorite images. With anecdotes, tips, and technical details, this book gives a fascinating insight into the creative processes behind the photographs. There is also a brief biography of each photographer, with a bibliography of his or her published work.

The book features stunning images of some of the world's most beautiful natural landscapes, from the Scottish Highlands to Monument Valley, and includes forests, mountains, oceans, deserts, and meadows.

Customer Reviews:

beautiful book.......2007-06-29

this really is a treasure of a book. looking through the photos, i feel inspired by the beauty of the earth. almost a spiritual experience.

Inspirational Images of the Natural World.......2007-03-17

This is a gorgeous collection of images from some of the leading landscape photographers in the world today, including some well-known photos by the late Galen Rowell. While no book can ever be a substitute for the actual experience of viewing the original prints, as I learned from a few visits to Galen and Barbara Rowell's gallery in Bishop, California, the reproduction quality here is quite high. And some of these images are simply stunning! One of my personal favorites is an image of desert geysers by Michael Fatali where the sun and moon are both present. What an unusual photograph! It was so refreshing to realize that I had never seen most of these photographs before, despite my frequent perusal of photo books. In keeping with the tradition of landscape photography, most of the work here was done in 4x5 or 8x10 format, though there is also a smattering of medium, panoramic, and 35mm formats. This is definitely not a how-to instructional book, but does serve as an excellent source of inspiration for any budding nature photographer. Sure, there are a few omissions of great landscape photographers today, most notably the large format work of Carr Clifton. Nonetheless, this is an outstanding overview of the best landscape work being done today, a small percentage of which is still in black-and-white. As anyone familiar with this art form already knows, the most important quality of a good nature photographer is an obsessional love of the land itself, a love at least strong enough to compel a person to drag themselves out of bed at the most unspeakable hours to be in a position to catch the first rays of dawn. It is interesting and instructive to read the various stories accompanying the photographs that describe the incredible lengths to which these photographers will go in an effort to capture their finest images. Their sheer persistence, patience, and resolve in trekking untold miles to a predetermined location, often in cold and inclement weather with several pounds of large format gear strapped to their backs, can make a rank amateur like myself feel shamefully lazy. If you think you may have an interest in landscape photography and the images in this book do not inspire you to hit the hiking trail, perhaps you should consider selling your camera on e-bay.

Not only great photographers but great people.......2007-01-08

I normally do not write reviews but here goes...I find this book very inspiring! Not only to see the works of these wonderful artists, but to gain insight into their craft. This is a great way to see and own these works considering the actual value of their prints. The best aspect of this experience is to see how an artist visualizes their subject which puts you right there with them, which is the best experience for any photographer in training.

I have had the great privilege not only to own some of these works, but to have actually photographed along side Michael Fatali. I have to say that his work goes well beyond what you can see in his images since much of what is recorded in the print was more emotion and spiritual than can be visible in an image. I am a firm believer that art does not stand alone but is always better understood and appreciated within the context of the creator. Therefore getting close to the artist, which a book like this provides, is a great way to help us understand the work in the context of those who created it. If you can get a hold of this book and you love photography or art in general it is a must have!

A Study in photo excellence.......2006-06-07

This is an incredible collection of photos from today's master photographers.If that isn't enought , Each artist also gives personal insite to their approach . My personal favorites are the photos by Burkett , Cramer and Fatali.

As one reviewer mentioned earlier , It also has the benefit of comparing the different approaches of the same subject taken by Dykinga and Fatali , One that is a great learning tool within itself since the Fatali photo is also a accident that turned out to be my favorite photo. It shows what is possible using double exposures.

If you are interested in photography and learning by other artist efforts , you will spend a lot of time reading this book. It is money well spent.

Simply the best!.......2005-05-10

Simply the best book in this area available. I will not go on to much as others have out very valid information across, but this has amazing photo's to inspire all that view them and so very interesting information also. One of your first purchases for all avid landscape photographers should be this book. Very well laid out with top notch printing. Highly recommended

The Greater Perfection: The Story of the Gardens at Les Quatre Vents

Average customer rating:

A wonderful book
Gorgeous book, gorgeous garden
A great accomplishment
What a pleasure!
Even More Amazing than the Huntington Gardens

The Greater Perfection: The Story of the Gardens at Les Quatre Vents
Francis H. Cabot
Manufacturer: Hortus Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Landscape | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Garden Design | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0393041891

Book Description

The story behind the creation of one of the world's most breathtaking public gardens. Les Quatre Vents in Charlevoix County, Quebec, has been acclaimed as the most aesthetically satisfying and horticulturally exciting landscape experience in North America. The garden seamlessly combines elements from the best gardening traditions with the original and the unexpected into a splendid composition that is nevertheless perfectly compatible with its natural surroundings. The Greater Perfection illustrates the delights, diversions, and surprises that await a visitor to these extraordinary gardens. The book chronicles the family origins of Les Quatre Vents as well as the story of its expansion during the last twenty-five years. Author Francis Cabot's account of the challenges of developing and enlarging Les Quatre Vents reveals the fascinating process behind the creation of a world-class garden that has become a mecca for horticultural enthusiasts from around the globe. Featuring photographs by five of today's leading garden photographers, this is one of the most beautiful books on gardens to appear in years. 382 color photographs, 25 black-and-white photographs.

Customer Reviews:

A wonderful book.......2004-03-04

I read LOTS of garden books, a this is one of the best
in a long time.

Gorgeous book, gorgeous garden.......2003-10-06

The joy of this book is that Francis Cabot writes marvelously about a landscape he has loved from childhood -- and, although his garden is rarified, he remains at heart a hands-on dirt gardener, spending hours dividing and transplanting perennials, weeding, replanting, mulling over how a planting could be improved, and all the other tasks that keep gardeners occupied through the growing season and beyond.

It seems to me that people who make great gardens rarely do it just for themselves, but because they can't help but share their passion with other garden lovers. Francis Cabot has created and nurtured a brilliant garden, and now in this very personal book, he lets us in on its joys and its challenges.

The photography is exquisite. A great gift for your favorite gardener.

A great accomplishment.......2003-07-16

This is one of the most beautiful and inspiring books about the creation and restoration a garden that I have ever seen. The Greater Perfection shows what someone with great taste, imagination, skill and yes, resources can accomplish. What is especially impressive for me as a gardening professional is that all this has been accomplished in a zone 3/4 garden in the Canadian Maritimes. A great book for browsing and reading. Absolutely stunning - the garden we wish we all had.

What a pleasure!.......2003-04-05

Join Mr. Cabot in a personal tour of his garden, as he brings the reader from place to place, stopping to admire his favorite things in each of his gardens. If you listen, he'll share some advice on how he solved some of his gardening problems, and introduce you to some friends that stop by. The book is quite pricey (I'll admit, I borrowed it), but the photos are so outstanding, and the writing so entertaining, it is definately worth the money. By the end, you'll feel as if you've made a new friend.

Even More Amazing than the Huntington Gardens.......2002-01-03

This is a man's true odyssey, making Ulysses look short on imagination. Mr. Cabot along with some of the most talented and imaginative landscapers around turned his place into a true dream of beautiful garden after garden. But his personality and what he loves really comes through. Lots of imagination went into different alles and infinite dream-like entries and exits. He worked with all the best people. Hobhouse is one of my favorites not to mention a few others. I could be very jealous but I am simply thrilled to be able to read it. It is long and full of superb photos and good writing. Makes other books that I love seem not quite as fabulous. Some of Cabot's friends look as though they would be a lot of fun at a cocktail party. Makes me want to buy a lot more land and keep going with determination to create a real series of outdoor Valhalas from France, Italy and England. Bravo, Mr. Cabot and all who helped!

Topographical Stories: Studies in Landscape and Architecture (Penn Studies in Landscape Architecture)

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Topographical Stories: Studies in Landscape and Architecture (Penn Studies in Landscape Architecture)
David Leatherbarrow
Manufacturer: University of Pennsylvania Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0812238095

Book Description

Landscape architecture and architecture are two fields that exist in close proximity to one another. Some have argued that the two are, in fact, one field. Others maintain that the disciplines are distinct. These designations are a subject of continual debate by theorists and practitioners alike.

Here, David Leatherbarrow offers an entirely new way of thinking of architecture and landscape architecture. Moving beyond partisan arguments, he shows how the two disciplines rely upon one another to form a single framework of cultural meaning. Leatherbarrow redefines landscape architecture and architecture as topographical arts, the shared task of which is to accommodate and express the patterns of our lives. Topography, in his view, incorporates terrain, built and unbuilt, but also traces of practical affairs, by means of which culture preserves and renews its typical situations and institutions.

This rigorous argument is supported by nearly 100 illustrations, as well as examples of topography from the sixteenth, eighteenth, and nineteenth centuries, through the heroic period of early modernism, to more recent offerings. A number of these studies revise existing accounts of decisive moments in the history of these disciplines, particularly the birth of the informal garden, the emergence of continuous space in the landscapes and architecture of the modern period, and the new significance of landform or earthwork in contemporary architecture. For readers not directly involved with either of these professions, this book shows how over the centuries our lives have been shaped and enriched by landscape and architecture.

Topographical Stories provides a new paradigm for theorizing and practicing landscape and architecture.

Landscape: The Story of 50 Favorite Photographs
Average customer rating:
Landscape: The Story of 50 Favorite Photographs
Charlie Waite
Manufacturer: Collins & Brown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Collections, Catalogues & Exhibitions | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1843401894

Book Description

From the splendor of Lake Titicaca in Bolivia to the ghost town of Kolmaskop in Namibia, from the golden autumn of France's Champagne region to the drama of America's Yosemite National Park, acclaimed photographer Charlie Waite (In My Mind's Eye) has shot the world's most remarkable landscapes. Through 50 of his best images, Waite provides a first-hand account of his travels with a camera, along with invaluable technical advice on capturing the unique beauty of diverse settings. Amateurs (and many professionals) will cherish his commentary.

Evangelist of Golf: The Story of Charles Blair MacDonald

Average customer rating:

Absorbing and enlightening
Great National Golf Links Coverage
Evangelist of Golf
what term describes "beyond must read"
what term describes "beyond must read"

Evangelist of Golf: The Story of Charles Blair MacDonald
George Bahto
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1886947201

Book Description

Charles Blair Macdonald may very well be one of the most influential persons in American golf history. In this visually stunning book, author George Bahto presents a compelling look into Macdonald’s, Seth Raynor’s, and Charles Banks’ work and includes an impressive array of rare vintage photographs, detailed course layouts, and sketches of many of their most highly regarded hole designs. In the tradition of recent architectural classics, The Evangelist of Golf joins Discovering Donald Ross: The Architect and His Golf Courses and The Life and Work of Dr. Alister MacKenzie to form a rare and beautiful triumvirate.

Customer Reviews:

Absorbing and enlightening.......2006-02-04

Not QUITE the usual coffee-table sized book, this rich volume taught me more about golf course architecture - really, the thought behind a thinking-player's course - than anything else I've read. Yes, it's a professional biography of one architect, with a lot about his protege, Seth Raynor, but MacDonald was the consummate perfectionist, studying the subject and contemplating his creations perhaps more deeply than anyone else.

The result of his research and reflection was a career marked by the quality rather than the quantity of his work. His courses are timeless, incorporating a similar "menu" of classic holes modified and improved to fit the local terrain and prevailing conditions.

Bahto's account of MacDonald's life and work is refreshingly frank and conversational. He makes no attempt to gloss over MacDonald's cranky arrogance, perhaps because such a temperament is so often linked to genuis. In my opinion this gives the text extra credibility, as do Bahto's wonderfully precise schematic diagrams of so many of MacDonald's creations.

My only complaint is that the quality of the photographs is very uneven and often poor. It's a shame that the publisher couldn't have waited a year or two and sent a professional to shoot the holes with a high-res camera in good light. I wouldn't have wanted to see calendar-style glossies, but I would have enjoyed higher contrast, less grainy photographs to match the clear and illuminating prose.

Despite this minor quibble I'm giving the book a top rating, for it illustrates the Purpose behind deliberate, elegant - yet always playful - golf course design at its highest level. If you can, give this to someone who loves golf and takes it seriously. It would be a wonderful way of showing them how much you appreciate their passion for the game.

Great National Golf Links Coverage.......2004-09-25

This is an awesome review of C.B. MacDonald but is mainly a book about the road to creating the National Golf Links.

Of course, there's a healthy dose of Raynor as well, but this makes complete sense. Whereas MacDonald would create the course designs and plans, Raynor would most often turn around and handle the course development.

I think the research and the writing behind this from Bahto is most excellent + no sugar coating. Simple honest unbiased delivery of what happened and how, but even more importantly you will "know" the National.

Picture wise, I thought the historical pics were very interesting. However, I thought it was rather difficult to match up any "pre" and "post" pics for any of the changes that took place to any of the holes being described. Furthermore, there were several recent color pics that were repeated in various sections. Unfortunately, I didn't think several of the pictures conveyed what the text was trying to explain at times. Few angles were used to show by pictures what was making each and every hole so special.

Other than that, I highly recommend this book for its content. Very well done overall. Above all, the description of each hole and how they work together to create a seamless golfing experience is the best I've read thus far. The supporting hole drawings help as well to complete the course visualizing. I just think I could visit the National tomorrow and would be as ready as possible to play it from a course management perspective. You just sense you'd know what to look out for and appreciate.

There's also a strong review of the Yale course and I think the Lido review, although brief, was most interesting. What a course the Lido must have been to play.

Excellent.

Evangelist of Golf.......2003-01-02

A wonderful work by Mr. Bahto. A must read for any serious golf architecture student. The photos and drawings are amazing. The chapter on National is worth the price of the book alone. Great read.

what term describes "beyond must read".......2002-12-31

The "Evangalist" should be sufficient to re-direct the path of contemporary golf course design from its current preoccupation with window dressing and waterfalls to the structural soundness and strategic integrity inherent in Macdonald/Raynor's work. Devotees of this book will require hospitalization the next time they hear the hot architect of the day say that he doesn't want to adapt old principles when there are "so many new strategies yet to be developed".

what term describes "beyond must read".......2002-12-31

The Place Within: Portraits of the American Landscape by Twenty Contemporary Writers

Average customer rating:

This book is why we haven't entered the 21st Century yet.
A wonderful collection of essays

The Place Within: Portraits of the American Landscape by Twenty Contemporary Writers

Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

United States | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Anthologies | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0393039994

Customer Reviews:

This book is why we haven't entered the 21st Century yet........1999-09-01

I read this book, and I must say that it is thinking like this that is the downfall of our society, both as we know it, as well as how we could know it. It is because of writings such as these that our poet-minded, philosophy-oriented culture has not become more technologically advanced in years of late. I wish that those who would write as well as those who would read this type of literature would spend their time doing something far more productive, like searching for answers to real problems, like disease and space travel, instead of puttering about discussing the imagination's status as a place vs. a space. Come on, people, get real. This book should be banned, with all other books of its kind. If that were to occur, I think our race (as people) could start to get somewhere.

A wonderful collection of essays.......1998-12-03

This book is one of the best essay collections I've ever come across. Noted writers contributed pieces about places important to them, and the result is an engaging work.

Planet Mars: Story of Another World (Springer Praxis Books / Popular Astronomy)

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Planet Mars: Story of Another World (Springer Praxis Books / Popular Astronomy)
François Forget , François Costard , and Philippe Lognonné
Manufacturer: Praxis
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Astronomy | Astronomy | Science | Subjects | Books

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Celestial Mechanics: The Waltz of the Planets (Springer Praxis Books / Popular Astronomy)
Distant Worlds: Milestones in Planetary Exploration
Praxis Manned Spaceflight Log 1961-2006 (Springer Praxis Books / Space Exploration)

ASIN: 0387489258

Book Description

Mars, like planet Earth, is a complex and vast world with a long history. The authors of this book give a new insight of Mars by adopting an original outline based on history rather than on subtopic (atmosphere, surface, interior). They focus on the past and present evolution of Mars and also incorporate all the recent results from the space missions of Mars Express, Spirit and Opportunity.

This book goes to the heart of current planetological research, and illustrates it with many beautiful images. The authors describe the magnificent scenery on Mars including Olympus Mons, more than 20,000 metres high and the solar system’s biggest volcano. At Mars’ poles, glaciers, formed from thousands of fine strata, are evidence of past climatic fluctuations. Drs Forget and Costard and Professor Lognonné introduce a new world and reveal the workings of the planet Mars. They answer the questions: How was Mars formed? Why has its evolution followed a different path to that of Earth? What do its river beds, volcanoes and glaciers tell us about its past? Could life have existed there? Does it exist there now? What processes ‘drive’ Mars today?

The five parts of the book trace the history of Mars. Part 1 examines its formation from the ashes of dead stars, more than 4·5 billion years ago. Part 2 travels through its early and turbulent youth and gradual, 3·5-billion-year long metamorphosis. Part 3 traces the creation of great planetary structures while Part 4 explores this active planet as it is today, with its dust storms, water features and atmosphere, and shows that Mars is subject to continual climatic change. Finally in Part 5, the story of the recent exploration of Mars and current research in laboratories and space agencies in preparation for the missions of the next twenty years is recounted.

An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter (New Directions Paperbook)

Average customer rating:

vivid and sublime
A Bold, Exciting Author from Argentina now in English Translations
Episode of Life

An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter (New Directions Paperbook)
Cesar Aira
Manufacturer: New Directions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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Amulet

ASIN: 0811216306

Book Description

An astounding novel from Argentina that is a meditation on the beautiful and the grotesque in nature, the art of landscape painting, and one experience in a man's life that became a lightning rod for inspiration.

An Episode in the Life of a Landscape Painter is the story of a moment in the life of the German artist Johan Moritz Rugendas (1802-1858). Greatly admired as a master landscape painter, he was advised by Alexander von Humboldt to travel West from Europe to record the spectacular landscapes of Chile, Argentina, and Mexico. Rugendas did in fact become one of the best of the nineteenth-century European painters to venture into Latin America. However this is not a biography of Rugendas. This work of fiction weaves an almost surreal history around the secret objective behind Rugendas' trips to America: to visit Argentina in order to achieve in art the "physiognomic totality" of von Humboldt's scientific vision of the whole. Rugendas is convinced that only in the mysterious vastness of the immense plains will he find true inspiration. A brief and dramatic visit to Mendosa gives him the chance to fulfill his dream. From there he travels straight out onto the pampas, praying for that impossible moment, which would come only at an immense price—an almost monstrously exorbitant price—that would ultimately challenge his drawing and force him to create a new way of making art. A strange episode that he could not avoid absorbing savagely into his own body interrupts the trip and irreversibly and explosively marks him for life.

Customer Reviews:

vivid and sublime.......2007-07-29

The author presents a seemingly mundane story which could be summarized in a short wikipedia article, except that the details are told in astoundingly precise prose. The writing is so confidently executed that it makes one doubt the emotional impact. But no worries. The book crescendos to incredible urgency towards later half. This short book left me stunned for weeks.

A Bold, Exciting Author from Argentina now in English Translations.......2007-06-13

César Aira, known to this reader first as a contributor to the commentary in the book 'ARGENTINA: THE GREAT ESTANCIAS', is surfacing in this country as a brilliant new voice in literature. Long famous in his native Argentina, his works are becoming available in English, in the case of AN EPISODE IN THE LIFE OF A LANDSCAPE PAINTER, through the fine translation by Chris Andrews. Aira is a writer of style, wit, immensely gifted descriptive prose, and a mind that pays homage to magical realism without mimicking it. He is an original!

In this short novel Aira blends history with fiction in his recounting the adventures of Johann Moritz Rugendas, a gifted draughtsman and painter who is making his second visit to South America to paint the landscapes of Chile and Argentina from 1831 to 1847. Trained and influenced by the German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt, whose scientific vision of 'physiognomic totality' (definition of physiognomy:'a theory based upon the idea that the study and judgment of a person's outer appearance, primarily the face, may give insights into their character or personality. The term physiognomy is also used to refer to the general appearance of a person, object, or terrain, without reference to its underlying or scientific characteristics') Aria wished to apply to painting. Rugendas is accompanied by a fellow German Robert Krause, a man whose paintings by Rugendas' standards were poor but whose demeanor made him the perfect friend and traveling companion. Together the travel through the Andes, longing for adventure such as Indian raids to paint, and eventually wander into the pampas of Argentina where they encounter life altering experiences: Rugendas is struck twice by lightning and dragged by his terrified horse, an accident which peels the skin from his face leaving him severely disfigured - but undaunted. The remainder of the 'episode' relates how Rugendas, now requiring massive doses of morphine to control his pain, encounters Indian raids that he and Krause sketch and paint.

In Aira's words 'An artist always learns something from the practice of his art, even in the most constraining circumstances, and in this case Rugendas discovered an aspect of the physiognomic procedure that had so far escaped his notice. Namely that it was based on repetition: fragments were reproduced identically, barely changing their location in the picture...the fragment's outline could be affected by perspective. As small and as large as the Taoist dragon....Repetitions: in other words, the history of art.' And just as Aira is able to address cerebral issues such as this and incorporate them into his character's mold, he is also able to write some of the most comical prose encountered in literature today. Aira's spectrum of writing skill, even in this small volume, is amazing. He is at once able to entertain with wildly inventive storylines while enhancing the reader's knowledge and wrapping it all in balanced comedic and dramatic terms. The next novel to be translated is HOW I BECAME A NUN - and we can only hope that the rest of his output is made available to us soon. Highly recommended author, highly recommended book! Grady Harp, June 07

Episode of Life.......2007-06-01

Recently a friend of mine went to Buenas Aires and returned with this short novel. I'd been doing a little study on Monet lately and this title caught my eye. What an amazing writer this Aira is. Of cours his writing is in Spanish but this English translation I beleive fully capture the fullness of thought process. It is a story without chapter breakdown and yet,though full of eclectic content, it flows like a memoir related story. I'm taking up a research of the characters in this story as well as the technical terms because it was so intriquing, historically and artistically.

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