Light Years--The Zumtobel Story 2000-1950

Book Description

Light Years: The Zumtobel story 2000-1950 tells of the fascinating encounters which have shaped the firm, its rise to success, its projects and the company culture. Unearthing a wealth of historical, technical and creative details which all contribute to the development of state-of-the-art lighting systems, this publication presents intriguing artifacts including photographs, sketches, plans, technological and strategic papers. These chronicle the growth of this branch of technology, document the history of the company and attest to the numerous collaborations with renowned architects and designers. Interviews, conversations, and contributions from architects and designers including Ettore Sottsass, Nicholas Grimshaw, Peter Zumthor, Christian Bartenbach round off this captivating volume.

Parish-Hadley: Sixty Years of American Design

Average customer rating:

Too Important to Be Out of Print
Brilliant book for the serious student of interior design!
Brilliant book for the serious student of interior design!

Parish-Hadley: Sixty Years of American Design
Christopher Petkanas , and Albert Hadley
Manufacturer: Little Brown and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0316700320

Customer Reviews:

Too Important to Be Out of Print.......2004-12-31

I borrowed this remarkable book from the library, and it's a treasure. Many years ago Sister Parrish, the chintz-loving society decorator who helped Jackie redo the White House, teamed up with Albert Hadley, a polite genius of timeless, clean design and proportion.

The result of this union of opposites was a partnership made in decorating heaven. In fact, the "marriage" produced wonderful offspring: Marriette Himes Gomez and Mark Hampton both got their start here.

If you'd like to see how many of the top American names of the 20th century lived, Jackie, Nelson Rockefeller, Babe Paley, it's all here. And if you'd like in depth exposure to the design principles of two American masters, you couldn't ask for a better source.

What a shame this out of print book costs $250. If it were $50 I'd buy it in a one-click minute. Attention book publishers, you need to reissue this book for the design-starving masses.

Brilliant book for the serious student of interior design!.......1999-02-24

A beautiful book, certainly more valuable than a mere 'coffee table' book. If one is serious about interior design, seeing and understanding what these amazing people did to the art is imperative. The photographs show rooms that will stand the test of time and make you salivate over the treasures. What an incredible legacy they have, american design owes them beyond measure.

Brilliant book for the serious student of interior design!.......1999-02-24

The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Twelfth Annual Collection (Year's Best Fantasy and Horror)

Average customer rating:

A mix of diamonds and duds
Some Great Stories Make Up For the MANY Duds....
The current pulse of nonrealistic fiction.
Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, Fifth Annual
An outstanding entry in an excellent series

The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror: Twelfth Annual Collection (Year's Best Fantasy and Horror)

Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0312206860

Amazon.com

The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror annuals are always a treat; read this one and The Year's Best Science Fiction Sixteenth Annual Collection edited by Gardner Dozois and you'll have a fairly complete overview of speculative fiction from 1998 as well as hours of great reading.

Datlow and Windling, renowned for crossing genre boundaries, gather stories and poems from mainstream magazines, literary journals, and Internet zines. There are vampires, a Lovecraft homage, enchanted birds and animals, shapeshifters, adult fairy tales, ghosts, and even a hunted muse. The best are Byatt's sensuous, enchanting "Cold"--about an ice princess who marries a glass-blowing desert prince--and Straub's novella, "Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff" (which won the Stoker award for Best Long Fiction in 1999), a black comedy of revenge gone awry. The reference material includes each editor's review of the year's best novels, collections and anthologies, magazines, related nonfiction, children's books, and art. There's also a roundup of 1998's film, television, and dramatic offerings by Ed Bryant, a brief essay on comics by Seth Johnson, and obituaries by James Frenkel.

It's an invaluable source of introductions to authors you might not otherwise try, plus thought-provoking observations on fantasy in all its guises. You may not get to a convention this year, but if you've read Datlow and Windling, you'll know what a good one is like. --Nona Vero

Book Description

Over 250,000 words of the finest fantasy and horrorA. S. ByattCharles de LintKaren Joy FowlerNeil GaimanLisa GoldsteinStephen KingEllen KushnerPatricia A. McKillipSteven MillhauserMichael Marshall SmithPeter StraubJane YolenFor more than a decade, readers have looked to The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror to showcase the highest achievements of fantastic fiction. Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling continue their critically acclaimed and award-winning tradition with another stunning collection of stories. The fiction and poetry here is culled from an exhaustive survey of the field, nearly four dozen stories ranging from fairy tales to gothic horror, from magical realism to dark tales in the Grand Guignol style. Rounding out the volume are the editors' invaluable overviews of the year in fantastic fiction, and a long list of Honorable Mentions, making this volume a valubale reference source as well as the best reading available in fantasy and horror

Customer Reviews:

A mix of diamonds and duds.......2003-07-07

I was really impressed with some of the fiction in this book. I really loved the stories Travels with the Snow Queen and Quiting Loup. I also loved Twa Corbies. But some were a little bit to be desired. I really thought that the whole feminist fairy tale theme was a little bit hard to swallow and a tad annoying but overall a good read.

Some Great Stories Make Up For the MANY Duds...........2003-01-17

This is actually one of the better "Years Best" that I've read so far. Again, I skimmed right past Windling & Datlow's Summations- They go on waaayyyy too long, as usual. Also as usual, Fantasy Editor Terri Windling monopolizes the bulk of the book with her choices. Horror Editor Ellen Datlow does get some payback, though: One of her choices, Peter Straub's "Mr. Clubb and Mr. Cuff", runs in excess of 50 pages. The titular duo is memorable, but the story goes on too long, and the style it's written in is difficult to stick with. The end is worth it, though.

The book opens with Kelly Link's "Travels With the Snow Queen" which I couldn't even finish; I hated it. Link appears again towards the end of the book with "The Specialist's Hat", an absolutely chilling ghost story with a drop-dead scary ending. I couldn't move on to the next story until the next day, because I was turning Link's story over in my mind all night. It was absolutely one of the spookiest stories I've ever read. Sara Douglass offers up the REAL secret behind those Gargoyles on Church roofs in "The Evil Within", a far-fetched but fun Horror tale, and Lisa Goldstein's "The Fantasma of Q____" is an interesting victorian tale with an neat twist at the end. Stephen King's contribution is pretty good; Not his best, but the end makes it worthwhile. One of the book's better tales is Terry Lamsley's "Suburban Blight", where an abandoned building hides a terrifying secret. "Inside the Cackle Factory", by Dennis Etchison, tells us just what happens to all of those washed-up stars we never see on TV anymore. John Kessel's "Every Angel is Terrifying" is a realistic story of escaped killers that takes a mildly fantastic twist at the end; It's extremely well-written, and creepy as hell. As always, there's a Dracula story (Sort of)- It's Mark W. Tiedmann's "Psyche", and it's a keeper. Drac himself is only peripherally involved, but his influence permeates the entire story. Jane Yolen, Norman Partridge, and Michael Blumlein all contribute interesting stories as well. I couldn't get through Christopher Harman's "Jackdaw Jack"- It was just awful. There's another Charles De Lint Newford story, which is excellent as usual, and Terry Dowling's story, "Jenny Come To Play" is just a nasty read; Although they're nothing alike, it has the same feel as "The Silence of the Lambs". And as usual, Terri Windling monopolizes the end of the book with dud stories that I can't get through. Windling tends to favor feminist fantasy stories that are all too much alike; I was actually offended by Carol Ann Duffy's ode to man-hating, "Mrs. Beast"; The less I say about this trash the better. If a man had written such an anti-female story, he'd be finished.

As I said, there are some GREAT stories here, but they're outweighed by the duds, and when one of these stories are bad, they're BAD. I'll read the other two volumes of "Year's Best" that I own, but I'll pass on buying new ones. Windling & Datlow's selections leave a lot to be desired, and I wish they would get a little more daring.....

The current pulse of nonrealistic fiction........2002-06-28

In their twelfth annual survey, Datlow and Windling have assembled a rewarding collection of genre (and extra-genre) fiction from English language sources of all kinds from 1998, with a little poetry thrown in as well. In a format based on Dozois's science fiction anthologies, Datlow and Windling's series has become an annual "event" for lovers of nonrealistic short fiction. The editors are open to just about anything and everything, as long as it has significant fantasy or horror elements, but they are more likely to reprint material by women writers, or about female characters. As far as biases go, that's not a bad one to have: some of the best fantasists working today are women.

The editors look at mainstream magazines like "The New Yorker" and "Ms." -- both of which had strong stories chosen for this book. From "The New Yorker" they selected Stephen King's "That Feeling, You Can Only Say What It Is in French," which in 20 tightly-written pages gives the reader the entire life of a woman who may be getting precognitive flashes about the crash of the plane she and her husband are on, or who may simply be fantasizing the crash as a death wish. I knew this woman completely by the end of the story (whose title refers to déjà vu). The "Ms." story was Lisa Goldstein's "The Phantasma of Q-----," with a moment of magic realism passing so quickly it's hard to catch. It is a strength of this series that it covers work in mainstream, genre and academic/small press sources.

A number of British and Australian magazines, anthologies and collections provide selections, with two superior tales well worth reading. The best thing in the book (and saved for last) is the superb modern fairy tale by A. S. Byatt, "Cold" -- sitting in a warm library, I was shivering at the frozen world depicted. A beautifully textured story, the best I've read in several years. It came from Byatt's collection, "Fire and Ice." Christopher Harman's "Jackdaw Jack" (from Ghosts and Scholars, a UK little magazine) is the best shocker in the anthology. Its pieces fall into place like a well-wrought jigsaw, and the end left me numb.

Among the other stories is an unclassifiable gem by Ray Vukcevich, "By the Time We Get to Uranus" (from the anthology, Imagination Fully Dilated). In the story's surreal world, a person's body slowly develops an astronaut's suit from the feet up, and eventually the person floats off into space. When this happens to a man's wife, he's concerned that his suit isn't developing as fast as hers, as they can't leave together. A metaphor for what separates the sexes these days, the story works and then some.

The stories I detailed here are my favorites, but others will find others they like as much or better. Some motifs of the book are hispanic magic realism, foreign fantasy in translation, and stories that are just very strange. I'm not a fast reader, and this long book took me a year and a half to finish. The extensive prefaces (in roman numerals) run over 100 pages before you even get to "page 1." Windling first documents fantasy for 1998; Datlow then does the same for horror, after which we get essays on the media, comics and obituaries for 1998. The prefaces are meant to be references more than essays, and I do use them as a reference, but they are slow going just to read (and some of the info is duplicated by approaching the genres separately). The shortlist of "honorable mention" stories at the end is also useful as a reference.

All in all, a class act by two dedicated anthologists who deeply care about the state of the contemporary nonrealistic story.

Year's Best Fantasy and Horror, Fifth Annual.......2001-12-12

Standout stories here are Holdstock and Kilworth's chilling "The Ragthorn", Cherryh's "Gwydion and the Dragon" and McGrath's gruesome "The Smell". Also worth mentioning are stories by Koja and Kushner, among others. There's the usual useful overview of the industry, and the usual stock of cutesy (De Lint) and nonsensical stories and bad free verse, but this edition contains more truly good work than many of the others.

An outstanding entry in an excellent series.......2000-11-20

I am working my way back through all of the Datlow/Windling annuals, and although I love all of them, this collection is definitely outshines some of its colleagues (such as the third edition, which is the least thrilling of the ones I have read so far). Many of the stories will cling to your memory, and the scope of genres is commendable. The editors have found works form many different countries and languages and brought them all together into a very good volume. My favorite entries include "The Ragthorn" a truly frightening story about scholarship, information and resurrection; "Our Lady of the Harbour" Charles de Lint's Newford version of the little Mermaid; "Call Home" a truly scary story about a little girl and the man who doesn't molest her; "At the End of the Day" a disturbing and surreal narrative about endings; "The Poisoned Story" an upside down retelling of Cinderella in Puerto Rico by my compatriot Rosario Ferre; "The Peony Lantern" a Japanese ghost story and "The Witch of Wilton Falls" about human monsters and adapting to unusual circumstances. If you have read other Datlow/Windling anthologies and you want to buy other ones, get this one first. If you have never read these anthologies, this is a great place to start.

50 Years of the Gibson Les Paul: Half a Century of the Greatest Electric Guitars

Average customer rating:

Another must have for Gibson lovers
Good book, but I expected more
Great summary of a great line of guitars
The succinct history of a classic model of electronic guitar

50 Years of the Gibson Les Paul: Half a Century of the Greatest Electric Guitars
Tony Bacon
Manufacturer: Backbeat Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0879307110

Book Description

This exciting book documents the complete decade-by-decade story of one of the world's most important and influential electric guitars. The Gibson Les Paul turned 50 years old in 2002, and since its invention, its sweet, urgent sound has been used by a host of major rock players - from Eric Clapton in Cream to Steve Jones of The Sex Pistols, from Joe Walsh in The Eagles to Slash of Guns N'Roses. Unique color photographs feature a multitude of luscious Les Paul models and highlight great players in action with their Les Paul guitars. Meticulous listings for the collector document every model produced from 1952 to the present day. 50 Years of the Gibson Les Paul is a beautiful, detailed examination of six decades of great guitars and the fine musicians inspired to play them.

Customer Reviews:

Another must have for Gibson lovers.......2007-05-09

A great book on Gibsons and also for references.

Good book, but I expected more.......2006-11-24

After reading Tom Wheeler's incredible 50th anniv of the Fender Strat book, I wanted to complement it with a similar book about the Les Paul. This book wasn't it. Perhaps it's because the Les Paul (guitar) story isn't quite as riveting as the Fender story, and that's not meant as a swipe. The Fender story is about Leo Fender and a few others building an empire. The Les Paul story, however, is more "corporate". There's less personal drama.

Tony Bacon does a decent job with the facts at hand, but I'm done reading the book, and I'm left wanting more. It's not a bad book, it will remain in my music book library. But I'm on the hunt for more info on the Les Paul's history.

Great summary of a great line of guitars.......2005-10-01

I've always found it fascinating that the one man who did so much for rock and roll guitar isn't a rock and roller himself. But who cares if Les Paul is a jazz or country artist? He inspired a fantastic instrument, and this is a wonderful guide to those greatest electric guitars. Highly recommended.

The succinct history of a classic model of electronic guitar.......2002-07-08

50 Years Of The Gibson Les Paul by music author and guitar expert Tony Bacon is a superbly presented and succinct history of a classic model of electronic guitar invented by the legendary Les Paul and which was originally launched in 1952, going on to be favored by grand musicians throughout the last half century. Photographs enhance and illustrate this landmark presentation of the Gibson Les Paul's creation, and its prevalence in every decade to the modern day. A detailed, informative, highly readable and welcome presentation, 50 Years Of The Gibson Les Paul is especially recommended for the legions of Les Paul fans and electric guitar enthusiasts.

Sotheby's Art at Auction: The Year in Review 1995-96

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Sotheby's Art at Auction: The Year in Review 1995-96
George Plumptre , Ronald Varney , John Culme , Marcus Linell , Michel Strauss , and David Bennett
Manufacturer: Conran Octopus Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Board book

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ASIN: 1850297878

A Civil War: Army Vs. Navy a Year Inside College Football's Purest Rivalry

Average customer rating:

A worthwhile read!!!
A Great Topic
A great read about two fascinating schools.
What's right with sports
A fun journey

A Civil War: Army Vs. Navy a Year Inside College Football's Purest Rivalry
John Feinstein
Manufacturer: Back Bay Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Football (American) | Sports | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0316278246

Amazon.com

Fans of Yale-Harvard--or, for that matter, of Tennessee State-Grambling--may disagree with sports author John Feinstein's subtitle, but this look inside the Cadet-Midshipmen wars backs up the idea of the annual Army-Navy game as a purer expression of the ideal of college athletics than your basic Poulan Weed-Eater Bowl. Feinstein focuses on the defensive captains from each 1995 squad, young men whose football careers end with the final gun of the big game. In a year when the service academies are enjoying their biggest gridiron success in many seasons, Feinstein's ruminations on the game seem particularly timely.

Book Description

Customer Reviews:

A worthwhile read!!!.......2007-08-11

Whether you're a football fan or not, John Feinstein's story about the 1995 season and the history and tradition of the Army and Navy rivalry is a good one. After reading it, I could not help but feel a sense of pride and respect for all the fine men and women who serve our country. Having been to an Airforce/Army game, I can vouch for the excitement of watching the Black Knights play at West Point. During the game, I had a chance to chat with an Army football fan. I vividly remember him telling me that "If you think this is exciting, you should see this place during an Army/Navy game! Thanks to this book, I now have a better sense of understanding and newfound appreciation for the importance of this particular game. I will definitely be tuned in for this year's broadcasting of the event. As for this book, it is a definite must-read!

A Great Topic.......2006-09-05

Army-Navy is certainly an under-appreciated game. At least it has been by me. I love college football. Not only that, I have an uncle who went to West Point and another uncle who went to Annapolis and I *still* didn't care about this game!

It is because I just didn't know.

I am not a big John Feinstein fan in general. I like his writing best when he is just covering facts. If he tries to think, he gets in trouble. He is sometimes not a particularly sharp guy: "Tom Cruise in Top Gun was the greatest recruiter Air Force had. Come to Air Force, fly superfast jets, and hang out with Kelly McGillis when you're on the ground"

Then he further alienates those hands that fed him as he did the book with the moronic and trite "John Graves got the most oxymoronic assignment the army can offer: miltary intelligence"

Turn-offs, to be sure, but not material to the subject at hand. I also respect the chances Feinstein takes when he commits to following a team, knowing that at the end of the day (or the season) it's possible that nothing "magical" actually happens.

In this case, the magic is throughout, and the whole endeavor adds up to one big inspiration. I can't wait to see the Army-Navy game this fall.

A great read about two fascinating schools........2006-08-28

This book takes its place alongside John Feinsten's book about basketball in the Patriot League (The Last Amateurs) and two golfing books (A Good Walk Spoiled and The Majors). In all of them, he takes the reader through a season with the athletes, giving fascinating insights into "their world". Feinsten seems to have empathy for athletes that are not in big-time programs, and it shows in his writing.

I found the descriptions of life and academics in the academies to be fascinating. It is amazing how the regular students and the players live and practice, compared to students and athletes at most other colleges. And when they're done, they serve in the military for 4 or 5 more years. When you see what these players go through for the chance to play I-A football, it makes the argument for paying major college players - besides providing them a free education, meals, housing, and tutoring - seem lame.

What's right with sports .......2006-01-03

I picked up this book at a library sale, and I was prepared to dislike it because John Feinstein is such a pretentious boob. I've tried to fight my way through his tedious basketball books about Duke Univ., Bobby Knight, etc., and I figured this was more of the same. I realize that Feinstein has a special ability to get sports figures to share off-field stories about their histories, hopes and dreams. Most sports figures are self-absorbed fools, and they wouldn't be worth spending the day with. Feinstein somehow brings out the best of what they have to offer. Yet, usually the people are so despicable that you don't care anyway.

This book is different. The anecdotes shine because the people are really challenged in multiple arenas -- on the field, in the classroom, and perhaps someday in battle. The fate that they face gives this book a gravitas that's absent from Feinstein's books about guys with hoop dreams or golf visions.

Be warned, however, that the book is repetitive, as if Feinstein thinks that his readers are too stupid to remember something he wrote earlier in the book.

A fun journey.......2004-07-15

I really enjoyed reading this book. It was a magnificant journey through the 1995 season with 2 of the most prestigious football programs in the country. We get a first hand view of what it is like to go to a military school first of all, but to also play football while at that military school. We also get a glimpse of what it was like when the 2 programs were in their hayday and people actually wanted to play at these schools. There was once a time where they dominated and all of the great players went to the military academies. Today, with high salaries and mandatory service, it is unlikely for an all american to attend one of these schools. The cadets know that the end of their football career comes with the end of their college schooling, and that makes the losses hurt that much more. Follow the players through their push through the season against some of the nation's powerhouses. You won't be sorry.

Lao-Tzu's Taoteching: With Selected Commentaries of the Past 2000 Years

Average customer rating:

It makes you think!
'untying our tangles. . . softening our light . . .'
Finally! A Tao Te Ching with the appropriate commentaries
Indispensible
This is it !

Lao-Tzu's Taoteching: With Selected Commentaries of the Past 2000 Years
Lao-Tzu
Manufacturer: Mercury House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1562790854

Amazon.com

Red Pine (a.k.a. Bill Porter) offers a new perspective on the Chinese classic Taoteching. A competent translator and interpreter of Chinese religion, he renders his work with an eye for detail and a spiritualism cultivated during years of Zen monastery living. It's odd that many read translations of Chinese classics as bare-bones texts, whereas no Chinese would tackle such obscurity in the absence of a helping hand from previous pundits. Fortunately, it is no longer necessary to rely on mystical insight in order to understand the Taoteching. Instead, we can look to the 12 or so commentators that Red Pine resurrects from Chinese history. With its clarity and scholarly range, this version of the Taoteching works as both a readable text and a valuable resource of Taoist interpretation.

Book Description

Red Pine's translation of the most revered of Chinese texts corrects errors in previous interpretations, truly breathes new poetic life into the English version, and includes selected commentaries-judged by Chinese scholars to be essential to understanding the wisdom of Taoism. Pine incorporates the commentaries of emperors and prime ministers, Taoist monks and nuns, Buddhist priests, poets, scholars, and the country's most famous philosophers of the past 2,000 years. This marks the first time that non-Chinese speakers have been given access to such a range of wisdom explaining the deeper meaning of China's famous ancient classic. With its clarity and scholarly range, this version of the Taoteching works both as a readable text and a valuable resource of Taoist interpretation.

Lao-tzu, founder of Taoism, is supposed to have written the Taoteching around 600 BC in the Chungnan Mountain region, where Red Pine (Bill Porter) interviewed contemporary hermits as described in his book Road to Heaven: Encounters with Chinese Hermits. Bill Porter is also the translator of The Zen Works of Stonehouse, of Sung Po-jen's Guide to Capturing a Plum Blossom, and of The Collected Songs of Cold Mountain.

Customer Reviews:

It makes you think!.......2007-09-20

I liked this book. the commentaries are interesting and provide insight into the Tao. I would have liked more commentaries on how to apply them to daily life, but overall it's a good book. I would recommend it.

'untying our tangles. . . softening our light . . .'.......2006-05-08

The only language in which the Taoteching could have been written is Classical Chinese, a medium seemingly open enough to accomodate any translation without losing anything at all. But we should keep in mind, as the good book here says, ". . . the Tao in words is not the real Tao . . ." We could say that Classical Chinese could not really, in our day and age, be served up in literal translation, and we can be grateful to Red Pine, once again, that in this fabulous rendering, he does not begin with the words, but rather with the Tao.

Paul Reps once told me that we humans "are on the outside looking in". Like the space between the kanji strokes, as with the Chinese, thus with the Tao, and even the Truth. (Chapter 11: "Thirty spokes converge on a hub, but it's the emptiness that makes a wheel work . . ."
This translation does work. As in his other impressive translations (I especially love his moving early 1990's translation of Bodhidharma - recommended to all who wish to learn more of Ch'an or Zen) there breathes an immediacy which flows forth into the consciousness of our moment, resonant in these teachings. Relatively obscure in the West not half a century ago, they thus have been recognized for their pith, their eternal relevance, their vision.

Each Chapter in this well-bound, well-designed volume is accompanied by a series of commentaries or alternative translations from various sages in the Taoist tradition, a process which itself, once again, reveals the Tao, ever changing, always unchanged.

Chapter 19: "Get rid of wisdom and reason
and people will live a hundred times better
get rid of kindness and justice
and people once more will love and obey
get rid of cleverness and profit
and thieves will cease to exist
but these sayings are not enough
hence let this be added
wear the undyed and hold the uncarved
reduce self-interest and limit desires
get rid of learning and problems will vanish"

I've been reading this book since the early 1960's in various English renditions - this one is far and away my current favorite - a real delight!

Finally! A Tao Te Ching with the appropriate commentaries.......2005-07-25

In Asia, sacred texts like the Tao Te Ching are read with reference to the commentaries of its key historical luminaries. Only in the west is it read by itself, with no guidance. Finally, we have a TTC with key commentaries. Plus, the author has here given a translation that may come as close as possible to expressing the Chinese in English. It is concise, even pithy.
A number of other features make this volume unique and particularly valuable. Pine's extensive introduction covers an intriguing linguistic insight into the Chinese written character for Tao, Lao Tzu's historical background, the usual issues of authorship, etc., and some of the deeper understandings of the important themes of philosophical Taoism. Also, he has provided black and white photos of the famed Hanku Pass and the Loukuantai where tradition holds that Lao-tzu wrote the Tao Te Ching. The Chinese text is provided along side Pine's clear and unadorned translation. He utilizes the earlier but more recently discovered Mawangtui texts, and explains his preferences in choosing among textual variants. But most important for me, and for any student of the Tao Te Ching are his carefully selected commentaries which follow each verse. These show how the Chinese have traditionally understood the passages of the TTC in selected commentaries from the last 2000 years. Also, the book provides an extensive glossary of the Chinese terms and the commentators. Highly recommended!

Indispensible.......2004-08-21

For those interested in the Tao Te Ching, the red pine translation is indispensible. Though there's little way to check the historical or translational accuracy in the provided sources to each stanza, they remain an invaluble insight to the meaning of each, significantly helping to aid your understanding, and come to a conclusion on your own.

I recommend this book to anyone I feel may benefit from it's wisdom, and plan whole heartedly on sending a copy of it as a gift to every elected president of the united states that comes along, as the book was originally intended as a commentary itself towards the ruling class.

This is it !.......2004-01-30

This is the most helpful book on Taoism I have ever read. After years of reading different translations, overtly loose or too stiff interpretations, and inaccurate relativistic teachings by some Taoist "experts", I have never found a better translation and study book on the Tao concept. The commentaries are very insightful and very useful with several comments on each chapter to look through and compare. The whole book is very practical and nice to read. I'm fairly skeptical at heart (indeed, a skeptic), but there is plenty of wisdom here that is just plain obvious and helpful. If I could only choose one book on Taoism to have, THIS WOULD BE IT. I even bought a spare. I think that much of it.

Faces of Time: 75 Years of Time Magazine Cover Portraits

Average customer rating:

Wow!
Summary

Faces of Time: 75 Years of Time Magazine Cover Portraits
National Portrait Gallery (Smithsonian Institution)
Manufacturer: Bulfinch Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

Collections, Catalogues & Exhibitions | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0821224980

Customer Reviews:

Wow!.......2003-09-17

I bought this book for my classroom and wondered later why I picked it up. When I really looked through the book, I found some really great art focusing on important personas from the 20th Century. It is a really nice book to have. A keepsake.

Summary.......1999-12-12

'Celebrating Time's 75th anniversary, this book presents work commissioned for the magazine's cover by some of the century's best-known artists, ranging from Andrew Wyeth's portrait of Dwight Eisenhower to Andy Warhol's Michael Jackson.This book presents seventy-five artworks commissioned for the magazine's covers by some of the century's best-known artists, from Dwight Eisenhower by Andrew Wyeth to Michael Jackson by Andy Warhol. Faces of TIME accompanied an exhibition organized by the National Portrait Gallery, Washington, D. C. Among the outstanding covers reproduced are Roy Lichtenstein's dynamic 1968 image of Bobby Kennedy, Ben Shahn's Martin Luther King, Jr., and Gerald Scarfe's papier-mache caricatures of the Beatles. Jay Leno relates his feelings - and his mother's reaction - to being pictured on the cover of TIME. Frederick S. Voss provides a visual history of the magazine and shows how making it onto the cover of TIME has come to be the ultimate accolade.' - From The Publisher

Average customer rating:

A gem of its own class

One Day a Year: 1960 - 2000
Christa Wolf
Manufacturer: Europa Editions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1933372222

Book Description

"The rewards of reading Christa Wolf can be very considerable."- The Times Literary Supplement

In 1960, East German writer Christa Wolf received a phone call from a Moscow newspaper asking if she would describe her experiences on a single day, September 27, "as precisely as possible." She was intrigued by the request and has continued recording her thoughts and feelings on that day ever since. This book collects forty of these intimate essays, written between 1960 and 2000. Wolf, one of the most important authors of the twentieth century, writes about the demands and rewards of being a wife and mother and contemplates national and global events during the course of that one day a year.

Customer Reviews:

A gem of its own class.......2007-05-23

This book chronicles the social atmosphere of East Germany from 1960-2000 through the eyes of a writer, a wife and a mother, in the ordinary in-and-outs of daily life. Poignant, at times, funny & sarcastic, yet always genuine confession of a keen observer who articulates with grace; reminiscent of the american author Kathleen Norris.

Average customer rating:

"Patrriots" the Book
Good reference
Militia-Style Survivalist Manual in a Fiction Format
Excellent source of information
Great Read

Patriots: Surviving the Coming Collapse
James Wesley Rawles
Manufacturer: Huntington House Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Action & Adventure | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 156384155X

Book Description

A fast-paced novel that follows a group of Christian survivalists through a stock market crash, an economic collapse, and a second civil war. It is packed with useful information on how to survive a disaster.

Customer Reviews:

"Patrriots" the Book.......2007-07-22

"Patriots" is one of the best books of its type I have ever read. Though written in a novel format, it can readly serve as a primer or manual of preparedness in these uncertain times. The author sets a very plausible background for the cause of collapse that is as current as today's headlines. AS well, it develops into dire case at the end, almost worst case. Throughout the book, the author through his characters (most of the main ones anyway)show their Christian beliefs and the dispensing of charity. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to prepare for uncertain times, regardless of their nature, invasion, pandemic, storms, etc.

Good reference.......2007-06-23

This a good read on basic survival skills. The best parts of this
book are author's recommendations on "existing" products.

Dressed as a novel, it provides a good reference book on guns and other
survival tools and materials.

The story line is poorly developed; it looks like the author wanted
to squeeze in as many details about the survival "tools/materials" and
the actual story takes a back seat.

It is a good read and I recommend this book even if you are not Christian
or don't like guns.

It is a must read for Christians and gun enthusiasts.

Militia-Style Survivalist Manual in a Fiction Format.......2007-06-08

Patriots is a TEOWAWKI , militia-style survivalist novel packed with information. While Patriots does mention stockpiling food and the use of non-hybrid seeds this is not a book about self-sufficiency. The premise of the novel is that an economic depression spirals out of control. The economy completely collapses, money becomes worthless, the mail stops, the power grid and phone system shuts down and the government at all levels disappears. In the story this period is understatedly call the Crunch, but no depression in the history of the United States has been nearly so severe. Even church services appear to stop for several years.

With the United States in turmoil and collapse, the United Nations and at least some international banks have survived. Together they become the catalyst behind a provisional federal government that seeks to exert near dictatorial control over America. Frankly, I believe there is much more strength in the institutions of the United States than there ever was in the United Nations and so this plot scenario strained believability for me. However, when asked, James Rawles stated, "I made the scenario in the novel a near `worst case' in order to make it more interesting reading, and as an opportunity to show the need for planning and preparedness in a variety of areas..."

Using the Crunch as a literary device Rawles packs the novel with data about guns, medicine, fuels, equipment and tactics. The book has been described in several online reviews as a "survival manual fairly neatly dressed as fiction." Indeed it is much more entertaining than reading the facts in a reference book or manual. But this is also the greatest weakness. It is hard to pack facts into a novel without the author intruding into the story. Much of this story is told in the form of narration, as opposed to showing within the flow of the events. Characterization is weak. Both author intrusion and narration weaken the literary quality of the story but add to the amount of information Rawles packs into the book

Recommendation: The information is five-star, the literary quality is two star. Buy Patriots for the "survival manual," not the fiction story.

Excellent source of information.......2007-05-15

As other reviewers have mentioned, this book starts out kind of slow. It goes through the description of the how the economy came to be in such a bad shape and then describes how it fell. It was not something I personally cared for. However once you get past the details of how the U.S.A. economy crashed the book takes you on a winding path of survival and patriotism.

The book is a great source for anyone wanting to know more about preparing for any long term emergency. The author goes into detail about what equipment the characters have and where they got modifications to those pieces of equipment. He then goes on to give an appendix listing where most of the items can be purchased or services rendered.

All in all, I gave it 5 stars not only for the great source of information but the very entertaining fiction read.

Also if you enjoy this book you will most likely enjoy "Lights Out".[...]

Great Read.......2007-05-10

I cannot add anymore to this book than has already been added by others, all i can say is fantastic read.

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