Book Description
A provocative and dynamic force in American culture since the early twentieth century, movies have presented several generations of American writers with a new, fascinating, and challenging subject. How writers rose to the challenge, and in the process created an extraordinary body of work-passionate, contentious, restlessly curious-makes for a dazzling and constantly entertaining volume. "I have focused," writes editor Phillip Lopate, "on film criticism as an art in itself-the magnet for strong, elegant, eloquent, enjoyable writing."
American Movie Critics is an anthology of unparalleled scope that charts the rise of movies as art, industry, and mass entertainment. Beginning in the silent era-with poets Vachel Lindsay and Carl Sandburg hailing the new medium and Edmund Wilson paying tribute to Chaplin's Gold Rush-the collection traces the rapid evolution of the medium in an age of tumultuous political and social changes. Here are the great movie critics who forged a forceful vernacular idiom for talking about the new art: Otis Ferguson in the 1930s finding in James Cagney "the dignity of the genuine worn as easily as his skin"; James Agee in the 1940s on American war films and the advent of Italian neo-realism; Manny Farber, Pauline Kael, Andrew Sarris, Molly Haskell, Vincent Canby, and others from what Lopate calls "the golden age of movie criticism" from the 1950s through the '70s, a period when enthusiasms ran high, and arguments over style and content often took on a larger-than-life quality. Here too are the finest film reviewers on the contemporary scene, including Richard Schickel, Roger Ebert, and Manohla Dargis.
Joining the full-time film writers are many distinguished American authors weighing in on a range of cinematic experiences, including Ralph Ellison, Susan Sontag, James Baldwin, Brendan Gill, and John Ashbery. Together they define an often underappreciated genre of American writing, a tradition filled with the "energy, passion, and analytical juice" that for Lopate mark the best in movie criticism.
Phillip Lopate, editor, is an essayist, novelist, and poet, whose books include Bachelorhood; Against Joie de Vivre; Portrait of My Body; and Waterfront: A Journey Around Manhattan. He has edited The Art of the Personal Essay and, for The Library of America, Writing New York: A Literary Anthology. His selected film criticism appeared in Totally Tenderly Tragically, and he currently serves on the selection committee of the New York Film Festival.
The proceeds from the sale of this book will be used to support the mission of The Library of America, a nonprofit organization created in 1979 to preserve America's literary heritage by publishing and keeping permanently in print authoritative editions of America's best and most significant writing.
Customer Reviews:
Great book, but where's the index?.......2007-01-28
I was surprised not to find an index in this otherwise excellent book.
Screen Tests.......2006-10-25
I wanted a book that would cover a wide array of reviews and struck gold with this one. Though now that I think of it, maybe I should have held out for one that included non-American writers in it. I'm such a dunce, I didn't see until too late that, on the title page, clearly marked, it reads, "A special publication of the Library of America." No wonder it's so America-centric, but I picked up the book and opened it by happenstance to Penelope Gilliatt's scintillating review of Fassbinder's Petra Von Kant, and naturally I took the book to be more international in scope than it actually is. In what universe do people think of Gilliatt as a US writer? It doesn't really matter because what remains deserves four stars.
Lopate doesn't go just for the simple nobrainer essays by each of the authors, but he actually spends time thinking of new ways to showcase their skills. Thus for James Agee we don't get the old Silent Clowns piece, or the one onm MONSIEUR VERDOUX nor Val Lewton. He goes for the unfamiliar nearly every time, which is nice. (The only exception I can see offhand is Molly Haskell on "The Woman's Film," but that's nice in a quite different way since Haskell's essay is so lengthy and comprehensive hat it is only occasionally reprinted anywhere, despite its historical significance.
Bell Hooks and John Ashbery have certainly written better work elsewhere. But it is nice to see James Harvey and Stuart Klawans, both so underrated, here given pride of place. And having Libby Gelman-Waxner in a book of this kind is certainly a victory for gay incursion into the canon. James Baldwin on LADY SINGS THE BLUES and Paul Schrader's "Notes on Film Noir" would alone make a great book, and there are literally dozens of others of equal quality. Gee, that Renata Adler could sure bite back, couldn't she? I don't remember her as so aerbic as she is here about Richard Brooks' film of IN COLD BLOOD. Talk about cold blooded, she's the kind of writer about whom I used to think, admiringly, "She's so New York," when I meant, acidic.
Fast and reasonable.......2006-07-06
I was surprised, first of all, that the book was available. It had been published the day before. I was also surprised at how fast it came--only about 3 days. And, of course, the price was terrific!
Gift for a grandchild.......2006-07-05
The book was selected as a gjft because it seemed to be an excellent choice for a grandchild (age 19) who is very interested in all aspects of film.
Movies are our(US) great cultural form.......2006-06-06
A popular entertainment that sometimes aspires to...and occasionally achieves the status of art. Criticism has always been a stressed and intricate exercise, something that few reviewers manage to excel at ...and those who do may come to regret it.(Just ask a few of Ammie's top reviewers)
The problem is, (stated in AMC) "the job of the American film critic is complicated by the fact that virtually all Americans regard themselves as astute judges of movies." This is because we've all seen so many films in theaters and on TV, but moreover it's really because reviewing combines an activity that almost everybody does...watching movies. And with an activity that almost everybody thinks they can do...writing. The truth is that almost nobody has seen as many movies of such widely varying quality as film critics have, and writing turns out to be harder than it looks..
The movies have been a prime subject for successive generations of American writers who, in response, have produced an extraordinary body of work--writing known for its craft, passion, restless curiosity, sparkling wit and, often, defiance of accepted conventions. Edited by renowned essayist Phillip Lopate is joined on the panel by film critics Richard Schickel, Kenneth Turan and Manohla Dargis....for a roundtable discussion of film criticism as a vibrant art form.
The daunting task of how do we give constructive criticism without appearing phony or cushioning the criticism to a point where the buyer does not take it seriously? Its not easy. Being critical takes time and practice...that is, if you want your criticism to be presented in a positive way and used effectively.
All of this and more are discussed within the binding of AMC.
Average customer rating:
- Good gift
- Not just cute little babies....
- Sickie bag, Please!
- Until Now
- Let's not take this computer-enhanced art too seriously!
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Until Now
Anne Geddes
Manufacturer: Andrews McMeel Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
 Geddes, Anne
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ASIN: 0740735411 |
Amazon.com
Sleeping angels. Flower fairies. Woodland nymphs and watermelon seeds. Anne Geddes's magical world is populated by hundreds of beautiful, chubby babies and gorgeous children dressed as peapods, pansies, peonies, and pearls. Geddes fans will be thrilled by Until Now, a lush, coffee-table-sized, 10-year retrospective of Geddes's work, including 1991's crowd-pleasing "Cabbage Kids," featured on calendars and coffee mugs everywhere, as well as many previously uncollected shots from Geddes's New Zealand studio.
It's not all costumes, though--the 1997 portrait of Caleb, 3 weeks old, is a beautiful, unretouched close-up of the sweetly sleeping newborn, belly-button still poking out and skin peeling. A portrait only a mother could love? Hardly. Caleb's perfect little sleeping face would evoke maternal feelings from a stone. Particularly fun and often touching are Geddes's notes at the back of the book. For example, of "Rebecca," she writes, "How do you get a 14-month-old to sit still? Show her the jelly bean, and then put it down her trousers." The resulting photograph is of a lovely, mop-headed, tummy-grabbing toddler peering intently at her own navel. Incorporating both rich color and black-and-white photographs, Until Now will delight parents, grandparents, and baby-lovers of all sizes. --Rebecca A. Staffel
Book Description
Anne Geddes' photographs of babies have charmed countless fans for many years. In Until Now, Geddes takes us behind the scenes to find out what she was thinking when she captured these images, her 113 most-favorite photographs. Her text also provides a background to each photograph and helps readers understand how this artist and her subjects work together.Consider, for example, Geddes' comments about the shot she captured in 1991, which she titled "Rebecca": "She didn't want to hold the tulips, and she didn't want to sit on the chair-there were too many other things to be done. How do you get a 14-month-old to sit still' Show her the jelly bean, and then put it down her trousers."From signature photos of newborns to touching interactions between parent and child to enthusiastic poses from older children, this gift-size hardcover edition of Until Now gathers together Geddes' most revealing and compelling work. Whether she's posing babies in the garden or in the studio, Anne Geddes' deep affection for babies and children is obvious in the award-winning images she creates.
Customer Reviews:
Good gift.......2007-05-07
I bought it for a friend recently- somehow I expected the book to be a little bigger- still a good gift for all the pregnant women in your life :)
Not just cute little babies...........2007-01-19
I assumed that all Anne Geddes books were full of adorable pictures of uncomfortable-looking babies. I bought this book online as a gift for my Grandma for Christmas. I wrapped the book before looking through it, and was more than shocked on Christmas morning when my Grandma was flipping through her brand new book and saw a lot more than babies!! While the photography is stunning, please be warned that nude adults are included in this particular collection. I was also disappointed that the pictures were rather small. Overall, the pictures were beautiful but the book was not quite what I expected.
Sickie bag, Please!.......2006-06-26
I was recently presented with a copy of this--compendium of cultural toxic waste--by a friend with dark sense of humor. I had confessed to her that, after lapsing into unconsciousness after a bender compounded of too much Maker's Mark and not enough food, I had had odd and disturbing nightmares studded with grotesque images of infants. By the following weekend, she left a copy of this monstrosity on the cocktail cabinet. After shaking up a suitable quantity of Manhattans, we fell to thumbing through this glossy bit of schlock. The inevitable debate arose: Does this stuff really reflect some vision of Geddes', or is this a very well put-over joke? I thought I had the better end of this argument by suggesting that anyone who collaborates with Celine Dion must have an immense sense of humor, but I was reminded that listeners to the latter are often a really humorless lot. That stymied me. And Geddes' objectification of infants, I was reminded, has the hallmarks of kitsch and sentimentality, but with an edge of--fetishization. These images are no more genuine, no more reflective of the (rare) bit of beauty that one can glean from a squirming screechling, than a grainy Linda Lovelace flick. Either Geddes is a master ironist, or a very, very disturbed photographer. For a case of the creepies, only Wegman and his harem of porno-Weimaraners can do more psychic damage.
So as a gift to someone whose tastes are so utterly debased that they can't see the creepy humor in this, as a gift to someone who can, or as an evil prank on someone who is likely to have colorful nightmares, this thing is a winner.
Until Now.......2006-03-23
Anne Geddes takes such beautiful pictures of babies! This price for such a big book is a GREAT value for the money. You won't be disappointed!
Let's not take this computer-enhanced art too seriously!.......2004-10-29
This is a beautiful and creative book if you like to look at tiny babies. That's about it.
I never knew people had such strange reactions to Anne Geddes' art before reading these reviews. The artist takes photographs largely in Australia and then has them digitally placed in flowers or butterfly suits and what-not in Auckland, New Zealand(she doesn't actually contort the babies). Perhaps some people out there aren't familiar with this technology. Also, the crazy charge that the art contained in the book will make women have uncontrollable urges to produce babies, well, that must be a personal issue I suggest taking up with a therapist. The world population is actually growing slower than expected - global population figures are being scaled back as modernization and education spread. Bottom line: Relax and enjoy the five-star computer-enhanced digital photography, find more important things to complain about and get therapy if you need it!
Average customer rating:
- Sooo not what I thought it would be
- "...A great romantic story that will tug at the hearts of readers."
- love at first sight
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Now Until Forever
Karen White-Owens
Manufacturer: Kensington
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0758218788 |
Customer Reviews:
Sooo not what I thought it would be.......2006-12-27
I purchased the book thinking it was an interracial romance but boy was I wrong.
So I sent it back without reading it once I realized I had been duped by the cover so needless to say I won't make another book purchase from this author ever again.
Noone wants to read a storyline with a vague description about the hero just because the author was too worried about her bottom line verses her building a good following of readers.
I'll stick with the followings authors Bridget Midway/Crystal Bright, Marilyn Lee, J.M. Jeffries, L.A. Banks, Dyanne Davis,J.J. Murray,Stephanie Burke,Octavia Butler,K.R. Wilson,Rosylyn Hardy Holcomb,Dominiqua Douglas and Adrienne Kama just to name a few of my favorite authors when it comes to strong women and men that aren't afraid of interracial genres.
"...A great romantic story that will tug at the hearts of readers.".......2006-12-20
"Now Until Forever is a great romantic story that will tug at the hearts of readers."
"Ryan Mitchell became a widow after the death of her husband Galen. It's been three years now and she is beginning to put her life back together again."
"Ryan is hired as a set designer at One Leaf Studios owned by Keir Southhall. He is recently divorced and the father of two children, Adam and Emily. Immediately an attraction develops between the two. They agree to take their relationship slow, but before long Ryan's career becomes a concern as well as falling for a man who has a ready made family."
"An incident occurs that causes Ryan to question if her relationship with Keir is causing problems for his children.
Past hurts, jealousy and mean spirits come to play in this terrific story that realistically portrays the upside and downside of finding new love."
"Karen White-Owens does an excellent job illustrating that the road to love and happiness may not be a straight path, sometimes there are twist and turns along the way."
love at first sight .......2006-12-09
In Los Angeles, One Leaf Studio Executive Keir Southall feels like a teen in heat when he first sees the woman walk by. He never felt his gut as tight as when he sees her smile for the first time. Keir wants that smile aimed at him. He learns she is a recently widowed highly regarded costume and set designer Ryan Mitchell, who just came under their studio's contract. Keir introduces himself to Mrs. Ryan Mitchell, who feels the same deep attraction that has the executive thinking raging hormones.
Once he learns she is a widow, he wants an office romance with her, but she fears such a relationship will devastate her career as she will be labeled as a unprofessional whore. Still they cannot help but flirt with one another while their magnetic pull ignites into passion and ultimately love. However, his son from his former wife gets into a fight over Ryan's relationship with his dad leading to her reconsidering their relationship as she does not want the young man hurt.
Readers can feel from the onset the attraction from a distance between the lead couple even before they actually meet; that pull seems so real that the audience will believe in love at first sight and root for Keir and Ryan to find a way to be together. The support cast serves as deterrents to the relationship. Fans of contemporary romances will want to read this charmer as the feelings between Keir and Ryan are incredible, something to behold.
Harriet Klausner
Book Description
This whimsically illustrated pop-up book introduces younger children to a very important subject: science. Eleven imaginative, full-color pop-up spreads tell kids the story of how all physical reality came into existence, starting at the beginning of time with what scientists call the Big Bang—a cosmic explosion that got the universe started. Illustrations and easy text that follows portray the formation of the solar system and the gradual changes on the planet Earth that made it hospitable to life forms. Succeeding illustrations show the evolution of sea creatures, dinosaurs, and other prehistoric animals, culminating with the origin and development of human beings. Kids will be fascinated by the ingenious pop-up illustrations as they discover the story of literally everything that exists.
Customer Reviews:
Oz.......2007-07-23
This is one of the best books I have ever bought my son who is three years old - and he has a lot of books. It's entertaining and full of surprises!!!
The Story of Everything: From the Big Bang Until Now.......2007-05-13
This is a cute and informative way to show people how life has progressed on our planet and how the planet itself is developing within the universe. It reminds me of Larry Gonick's books on science.
Average customer rating:
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The Noisy Oscillator: The First Hundred Years, from Einstein Until Now
Moshe Gitterman
Manufacturer: World Scientific Publishing Company
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This book contains comprehensive descriptions of stochastic processes described by underdamped and overdamped oscillator equations with additive and multiplicative random forcing. The latter is associated with random frequency or random damping. The coverage includes descriptions of various new phenomena discovered in the last hundred years since the explanation of Brownian motion by Einstein, Smoluchovski and Langevin, such as the shift of stable points, noise-enhanced stability, stochastic resonance, resonant activation, and stabilization of metastable states. In addition to many applications in physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, economics and sociology, these discoveries have clarified the deep relationship between determinism and stochasticity, which turns out to be complimentary rather than contradictory, with noise playing both constructive and destructive roles.
Book Description
Over the past seven years, Upper Playground has emerged as one of the top independent clothing labels, Upper Playground's line draws inspiration from contemporary art, street graphics and design. Their T-Shirts, "Hoodies", shoes and accessories are found in top boutiques around the world. Working in tandem with the commercial end of the clothing label's business, Upper Playground's affiliated gallery, Fifty24SF has shown work by some of the most talented and provocative artists of our time. Up Until Now showcases this unique collection of 86 artists that have contributed their work to Upper Playgrounds apparel or have exhibited at Upper Playground's Fifty24SF Gallery.
Product Description
10 Natural Treatments You Havent Heard Of Until Now (ISBN: 1892264056) is a book inspired by Dr. William Wong. Dr. Wong is a Classical Naturopath with a new approach aiding in the recovery from the following diseases: Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia, Mid and Lower Back Pain, Fibrocystic Breast Disease, Erectile Dysfunction, Systemic Yeast Infections, Osteoporosis, Longevity and Anti-Aging, Circulation Disorders. Included in the book is a Brain Improving Recipe. Currently, Dr. Wong is working with those suffering from chronic debilitating conditions, helping them to regain their strength and ability. There are 55 illustrations and photographs in the 160 page 6 X 9 book.
Customer Reviews:
Self Empowerment -- Taking Care of Yourself!.......2004-08-06
Here's what so many doctors don't know, or won't reveal! Dr. Wong educates and entertains as he empowers the reader with some effective, safe, do-it-yourself ways to care for your own health. And its fascinating to understand how this all works, as he has done extensive and leading-edge research into health and how to achieve and maintain it, and generously shares it with the layperson. Great book for everyone's home library.
Book Description
If you're like most people, you probably never think much about your skin. You probably take for granted that it holds you together, makes you look like you, and always erupts in zits at the most embarrassing times. Is there more? A great deal more, which you can begin to explore in this book with the answers to questions people often ask about the body's most complex organ, the skin.
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