Snowflakes in Photographs

Snowflakes in Photographs

Remarkable revelations of nature’s diversity, revealed in hundreds of snowflake images taken by American photographer W .A. Bentley during a 50-year period. Over 850 illustrations of snow crystals, with no two designs exactly alike, will inspire artists, designers, and craftspeople in search of extraordinary patterns for textiles, wallpaper, and other creative projects.

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #151288 in Books

Published on: 2000-09-18

Original language: English

Number of items: 1

Binding: Paperback

80 pages

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Customer Reviews

Beautiful book
I bought this book hoping the kids (8&5) would be intrigued by all the patterns of the snowflakes. They weren't, but the adults loved it!

The photography and the story of the how these snowflakes were captured on film is very interesting.

Candy-colored, Snowflake Biome
Bentley photographed the ephemeral and hidden: snowflakes. He did this on his own with limited education and equipment. His glass plates remind us of the awe, beauty and wonder of frozen water. The book reveals Bentley's efforts on his Vermont farm over his lifetime. His dedication and creativity help us grasp the complexity, simplicity and three-dimensional images of snow. Snow is the most unstable substance on earth - always changing, even while it is forming in the atmosphere, falling through the atmosphere, depositing on a ground surface (water, soil, fence, glass, trees), sublimating (going directly from a solid to a vapor), hoar frost depositing out of a saturated clear atmosphere at night to produce a fairly land in at sunrise, going through continuous metamorphism (melt-freeze, temperature gradient, equitemperature gradient) and finally melting to return to the liquid form of the hydrologic cycle.

Bentley's photographs enable us all to grasp snow from nursery to graduate school - the images all make sense - physically and mentally. Many images have been transformed into ornaments, framed photographs and other high end works of art.

Great book!
Snowflakes in Photographs

You can't imagine the variety of design in each individual snowflake until you these photographs. From simple to complex, these photos show how absolutely symmetrical and stunning these fragile crystals are.

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The Not So Big House: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live (Susanka)

The Not So Big House: A Blueprint for the Way We Really Live (Susanka)

Ten years ago, Sarah Susanka started a revolution in home design with a deceptively simple message: quality should always come before quantity. Now, the book that celebrated that bold declaration is back in a special anniversary edition. In this landmark home design book, America's superstar residential architect provides homeowners the guidance and language to get what they want: a house that is better not bigger and one that emphasizes comfort, beauty, and a high level of detail no matter how small it is. Featuring a new package and introduction by Susanka as well as 16 additional pages that explore three new Not So Big Houses, this 10th anniversary edition is very big news.

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #21825 in Books

Published on: 2008-09-23

Released on: 2008-09-23

Original language: English

Number of items: 1

Binding: Hardcover

240 pages

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
When describing a favorite room in the house, do you find yourself using terms such as "expansive," "formal," and "spacious"--a marble foyer or a formal dining room perhaps? Or do the words "cozy," "intimate," and "warm" come to mind--a cheery little breakfast nook or a window seat complete with plenty of pillows and a breathtaking view? More than likely, you--like thousands of other homeowners--are drawn to the more personal spaces in your home, where comfort, beauty, and efficiency meet. In The Not So Big House, respected architect Sarah Susanka and coauthor Kira Obolensky address our affinity for the "smaller, more personal spaces" and propose "clear, workable guidelines for creating homes that serve both our spiritual needs and our material requirements." The heart of the not-so-big house--which is not "just a small house ... [but] a smaller house," that uses "less space to give greater quality of life," and is designed to not only "accommodate the lifestyles of its occupants" but also to express "our values and our personalities," is discussed in chapter 1, entitled "Bigger Isn't Better." Susanka's urging for homeowners to get creative with their space as well as loads of ideas to encourage that creativity are covered in "Rethinking the House" and "Making Not So Big Work." Discussions of specific needs, such as a home for one and designing for kids, can be found in "Lifestyles of the Not So Rich and Famous," while "Dreams, Details, and Dollars" gets down to the nuts and bolts of the operation, looking at quality versus quantity, budgeting, and what "low end," "middle ground," and "high end" really mean in home design and construction. Lastly, the authors look at the home of the future, which involves simplifying, recycling, reducing waste, and using energy-efficient construction. With more than 200 color photographs, as well as floor plans and Susanka and Obolensky's intelligent and lively dialogue, The Not So Big House is perfect for homeowners ready to rethink their space. --Stefanie Hargreaves

From Library Journal
Architect Susanka believes that the large homes being built today place too much emphasis on square footage rather than on current lifestyles. Here she shows how homes can be designed to feature "adaptable spaces open to one another, designed for everyday use." She describes how to examine occupants' lifestyles, how to incorporate the kitchen as the focal point of the home, how to give the illusion of space, and how, with storage, lighting, and furniture arrangement, a smaller home can be comfortably livable. Photographs of contemporary homes as well as those by Frank Lloyd Wright and other modern architects illustrate Susanka's ideas and show the timelessness of the style she advocates. This thought-provoking book will be a good addition to architectural and interior design collections.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Fifty years after Life magazine commissioned Frank Lloyd Wright to build a dream house, a similar event is taking place--this time under the tutelage of a Twin Cities' architect. Having examined our homes and found most of them wanting, she argues for a not so big house, one that is comfortable, promotes quality over quantity, and expresses the owners' whims and preferences. That goal is not an easy one to achieve, considering that many Americans have succumbed to the Versailles complex--that is, bigger is better. Nonetheless, through a combination of eloquent thought and visual examples, Susanka succeeds. Her tips include building an "away" room, a retreat from a home's hubbub. Readers will find her chapter on building from scratch particularly enlightening, as are her unfortunately too abbreviated musings on future homes. Barbara Jacobs

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Customer Reviews

Not So Big House
I did learn a lot by reading the book but would have liked more diversified styles. My traditional, European style wasn't at all portrayed and too much modern for my tastes. She has a lot of good ideas but illustrations, pics, etc to show different tastes, would have helped a lot.

A Homeowner Classic
This book changed the way I look into houses. We live in our second townhouse and we cannot figure out what is missing or what is wrong with it . Somehow we just felt not as comfortable and attached as compared to the smaller and older house that we have sold. At first we were excited to have everything bigger - higher ceiling, more space, walk-in closets, etc., but we forgot something very important. A house needs to be homey and cozy. It should be something that you will feel relaxed when you come home from work, just short of cuddling you.

The book stresses that it is not the quantity that is important but quality. A house should be practical and useful and not just something to show. This is why a formal dining room is really not necessary. In time you will realize that it is one the most unused parts of the house; so true. It also says that the things that you want to have in your house should be useful or beautiful to you; if not, discard it. These are just a few of the many great ideas for a homeowner or future homeowner.

This is another book that I want to keep on my shelf - a real keeper.

Worth a Look for the Inspirational Possibilities
"The paradox we confront is that our productivity has given us the wealth to acquire whatever we desire materially, but we are finding that material alone is an insufficient vision. The qualities we long for have everything to do with taking time, building for the long term, crafting, and paying attention to who we are, what we care about, and how we affect the world." (page 192, @1998, Taunton Press)

Where most interior/home design books display lackluster writing, Susanka's text is engaging and informative. She asserts that home building rests upon three bases: quality, quantity, and cost. An increase in one, for example square footage (quantity), may mean a decrease in design details (quality). She also shows the reader how the cost of a home has much to do with the sizes of the roof and sides of the building, not just simple square footage as we are prone to assume.

Susanka clearly possesses an abundant passion for homes and home life. The homes pictured are inspirational, (if not inexpensive), in their artful fusion of contemporary space and light. Traditional design details constructed of wood, stone and glass evoke a sense of continuity and comfort. The work of Susanka and her fellow architects strikes a resonant chord with modern man and woman's material and spiritual desires. Even if you are not planning to build a home in the near future, this book is worth a look for the inspirational possibilities alone.

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The Dawn of the Color Photograph: Albert Kahn's Archives of the Planet

The Dawn of the Color Photograph: Albert Kahn's Archives of the Planet

In 1909 the French banker and philanthropist Albert Kahn launched a monumentally ambitious project: to produce a color photographic record of human life on Earth. An internationalist and pacifist, Kahn believed that he could use the new autochrome--the world's first portable, true-color photographic process--to create a global photographic archive that would promote cross-cultural understanding and peace. Over the next twenty years, he sent a group of photographers to more than fifty countries around the world, amassing more than 72,000 images. Until recently his collection was all but forgotten. Now, a century after he began his "Archives of the Planet" project, this book--richly illustrated in color throughout--and the BBC series it follows are bringing Kahn's dazzling early twentieth-century pictures to a wide audience for the first time, and putting color into what we usually think of as a monochrome world.

Kahn's photographers captured times, places, and people we simply do not expect to see in color photographs. They documented age-old cultures on the brink of being changed forever by war, modernization, and Westernization, recording the last years of Ireland's traditional Celtic villages and the late days of the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman empires. They photographed First World War soldiers in their trenches as well as the postwar celebrations in London. In the course of their travels, they also took the earliest color photographs in countries as varied as Vietnam and Brazil, Mongolia and Norway, Benin and the United States.

After being financially ruined in the Great Depression, Kahn was forced to bring his project to a premature end, but today his collection of early color photographs is recognized as one of the world's most important. The Dawn of the Color Photograph makes it easy to see why.

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #35186 in Books

Published on: 2008-10-13

Original language: English

Number of items: 1

Binding: Hardcover

336 pages

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Editorial Reviews

Review
You'll see priceless photographs of a world in transition, including haunting shots from the poverty-stricken farms of Ireland and the battlefield trenches of the First World War. The images are fascinating, both from a historical and an artistic perspective. And one of the great things about this book is that author David Okuefuna provides enough information to help you understand how the images were taken and also their historical context. . . . The pictures featured in this book are stunning and offer a unique view of world history and also the beginnings of color photography.
(Nicole Warburton Deseret Morning News )

The collection boasts what may be the earliest color photographs of the Taj Mahal and the Egyptian pyramids, as well as striking portraits of Kurdish women in northern Iraq, dancers from the Khmer ballet in Angkor, and itinerant Mongolian hunters on the steppes near the Russian border. But does the past change when we see it in color? In many instances, the vivid palette brings the images closer to our present moment, making the world--and the distance of history--frighteningly small.
(Nicole Rudick Bookforum )

The pictures [are] full of the fascination of all old photodocumentation, heightened by color more sensual than later color processes deliver without tweaking. Accompanied by a direct, nontechnical text and complementing a BBC-TV series, this is a world-history buff's delight.
(Ray Olson Booklist )

Autochrome technology was taken up by French philanthropist Albert Kahn, who sent photographers all over the world to record in color the panoply of human cultures, all in the interest of mutual understanding and peace. The results of Kahn's generosity are on display in The Dawn of the Color Photograph, and they amount to a massive collage of the early decades of the 20th century, a time.
(Dennis Drabelle Washington Post Book World )

This fascinating book includes mostly posed groups of farmers, workers and artisans from Western Europe, the Americas, the Far East, Africa and Indochina.
(Regan McMahon San Francisco Chronicle )

When the Lumière brothers invented colour photography in 1907, one of their countrymen immediately saw in it the possibility of promoting cross-cultural understanding. Albert Kahn, a banker and pacifist from Paris, dispatched photographers around the globe to document the people they found. For the next 20 years, they immortalized Germans, Montenegrins, Egyptians, Mongolians and every other manner of global citizen. This isn't a book about photography; it's a pictorial history of the colour-saturated world that existed before we all started wearing blue jeans and Nike T-shirts.
(The Globe and Mail )

Most of us would think that photos of a trip around the world made in 1908 couldn't possibly have been taken in colour, but they were. This book gives a fascinating look at some of the beautiful 72,000 colour images, which are accompanied in the archives by 4,000 black and white photographs and 120 hours of rare documentary film footage, all housed in the Musee Albert-Kahn in a Parisian suburbs.
(Nancy Tousley Calgary Herald )

Amazing, filled with color photographs shot from about 1909 to 1929. French banker Albert Kahn sent a team of photographers to shoot pictures in autochrome, the first portable color photographic process around the globe. Blue sails, red cloaks, yellow flowers: The hues are astonishing, and so are the glimpses of a vanished world.
(Sarah Bryan Miller St. Louis Post-Dispatch )

A beautifully illustrated book. . . . The Dawn of the Color Photograph is a handsome document full of lush and memorable images. Most of us still picture 1909 exclusively in black and white, so it's a revelation to peer back 100 years and see such eerily bright hues.
(Dushko Petrovich The Boston Globe )

The photographs, hundreds of which are compiled in the new book, are breathtaking. . . . [An] extraordinary volume. . . . Countless beautiful images of now-lost worlds to enthrall us and remind us where we came from.
(uel Laneri, Forbes.com )

To celebrate a century of the little-known collection, Princeton University Press has issued an impressive new monograph, The Dawn of the Color Photograph: Albert Kahn's Archives of the Planet. . . . The new book is the first widely available collection to reproduce Kahn's photographs from every region of the world.
(k Cohen, Nextbook.org )

Review
An astonishing, captivating, and extraordinary collection of early color photographs.
(Anthony W. Lee, Mount Holyoke College )

From the Inside Flap

"An astonishing, captivating, and extraordinary collection of early color photographs."--Anthony W. Lee, Mount Holyoke College

Praise for the television series: "Astonishing images."--Time Out

Praise for the television series: "A fascinating and vivid celebration of the earliest examples of colour photography."--Gareth McLean, Guardian

Praise for the television series: "A legacy of inestimable richness."--Benjamin Secher, Daily Telegraph

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Customer Reviews

A Color World Before Globalization
When color photography was created in 1907 by the Lumière brothers in France, philanthropist Albert Khan assigned photographers to travel the world documenting the many peoples they found, using the new technology. More than 72,000 pictures resulted, and "The Dawn of the Color Photograph" is a sampling of them. These don't just focus on the exotic cultures from the reaches of civilization, but Europeans, Americans, and the battlefields of WWI. Those exotic cultures are also well represented, when native dress was day to day wear, and not something worn for tourists. This is also well before globalization, so there are no modern distractions in the background, no Micky Mouse T-shirts, McDonalds, or Starbucks. This book is a supplement to a BBC TV program of the same name, but is extremely stand-alone. A prefect book for photography or history buffs and being a nice sweet spot for those that are both.

good overview
This book draws on the same material and uses many of the images contained in the BBC documentary on Kahn. It is well laid out, contains useful - but not exhaustive - commentary on the images selected. It is very well produced in terms of quality of paper, reproduction and binding

Valuble contribution to the photographic history
I have some books illustrated by old Autochrome color photographs, but this book ist well printed (not too brillant in the colors) and contains a lot of rare pictures throughout the world including World War I.

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Fabric Art Workshop: Exploring Techniques & Materials for Fabric Artists and Quilters

Fabric Art Workshop: Exploring Techniques & Materials for Fabric Artists and Quilters

A comprehensive source of all the newest and most popular fiber art techniques!

This technique-driven book explores a wide range of new possibilities and materials available to fabric and journal artists. Each unique technique is presented with an inspirational, full-page photo of a fabric journal page. How-to steps with photos explore all the possible results from applying the technique. The reader can create journal pages and/or quilt blocks, which can be sewn together to make one large journal quilt, matted and framed individually, displayed on a meditation screen, or used as book pages sewn into a traditional journal format.

• Full-page fabric journal block to introduce each technique
• Step-by-step photos for exploring and executing the technique
• Gallery showing ways to display and use the fabric journal blocks
• Great value. Like two years of classes rolled into one book.
• Beautiful "journal page" opens each of 28 technique chapters
• All techniques are easily mastered by anyone. No complex dying involved. All products are readily available at craft, fabric, and quilt shops.

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #8877 in Books

Published on: 2007-10-01

Original language: English

Number of items: 1

Binding: Paperback

128 pages

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author
Susan Stein owns a successful quilt and fiber arts shop in St. Paul, Minnesota called Colorful Quilts and Textiles. She stocks all the cutting edge products for quilters and fabric artists who love to go beyond basics into fabric painting, dyeing, fabric manipulation, and other fiber arts. Susan frequently focuses on contemporary quilts in collage style. She teaches monthly classes on the techniques that will be taught in this new book. In 2003, Susan was voted Minnesota Quilter of the Year. She has written two other quilting books and has researched and contributed to numerous CPi titles, including Baby Quilts, When Quilt Designers Think Small, and SINGER The New Quilting by Machine.

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Customer Reviews

Medium
The book was great in fine condition, almost new. The thing is I ordered two books in one day and got one in 3 days and the other in 2 weeks plus - don't understand. Of course I will keep the name of the one I got shortly.

I would have to say too long of time to ship.

Fabric arts gives ideas for many types of miixed media art
There are so many techniques included in this book, and although promoted as a fabric art book for fabric artists and quilters, it could also be used for many mixed media arts including paper arts and journaling etc.. I loved getting so many techniques and ideas in one book.

Worth getting
Just like the title said...Fabric art workshop. (Exploring techniques & materials) For anyone not able to actually go and take seminars/workshops this is a great book to have. The materials and tools list for each is fantastic. No guessing. Instructions are easy to understand. No over your head stuff. Susan Stein did a wonderful job on this book. So much so, I'd still like to take a class from her in person!

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What Matters: The World's Preeminent Photojournalists and Thinkers Depict Essential Issues of Our Time

What Matters: The World's Preeminent Photojournalists and Thinkers Depict Essential Issues of Our Time

For more than a century, photography has revealed truths, exposed lies, advanced the public discourse, and inspired people to demand change. Socially conscious pioneers with cameras transformed the world—and that legacy lives on in this eye-opening, thought-provoking, and (we hope) action-inducing book. Like Jacob Riis’s How the Other Half Lives, Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, and Jonathan Schell’s The Fate of the Earth before it, we believe that What Matters will fundamentally alter the way we see and understand the human race and our planet.
What Matters asks: What are the essential issues of our time? What are the pictures that will spark public outrage and spur reform? The answer appears in 18 powerful, page-turning stories by the foremost photojournalists of our age, edited by The New York Times best-selling author/editor David Elliot Cohen (A Day in the Life and America 24/7 series), and featuring trenchant commentary from well-recognized experts and thinkers in appropriate fields. Photographer Gary Braasch and climate-change guru Bill McKibben provide “A Global Warming Travelogue” that takes us from ice caves in Antarctica to smoke-spewing coal plants in Beijing. Brent Stirton and Peter A. Glick examine a “Thirsty World,” chronicling the daily search for clean water in non-developed countries. James Nachtwey and bestselling poverty expert Jeffrey D. Sachs look at the causes of, and cures for, global poverty in “The Bottom Billion.” Stephanie Sinclair and Judith Bruce present the preteen brides of Afghanistan, Nepal, and Ethiopia.
Sometimes the juxtaposition of photographs can be startling: “Shop ‘til We Drop,” Lauren Greenfield’s images of upscale consumer culture, starkly contrast with Shehzad Noorani’s “Children of the Black Dust”—child laborers in Bangladesh, their faces blackened with carbon dust from recycled batteries.
The combination of compelling photographs and insightful writing make this a highly relevant, widely discussed book bound to appeal to anyone concerned about the crucial issues shaping our world. What Matters is, in effect, a 336-page illustrated letter to the next American president about the issues that count. It will inspire readers to do their part—however small—to make a difference: to help, the volume includes extensive “What You Can Do” sections with a menu of web links and effective actions readers can take now. This year give What Matters.

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #35077 in Books

Published on: 2008-09-02

Format: Illustrated

Original language: English

Number of items: 1

Binding: Hardcover

336 pages

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Cohen, creator of the photojournalism book America 24/7, edits this socially conscious collection of haunting photographs and disappointing essays that focus on the unchecked ravages of genocide, global warming, AIDS, child labor, extreme poverty and compulsive consumerism. While the pictures—especially the chilling Images of Genocide and Stephanie Seymour's portraits of child brides—disquiet with their beauty and horror, the accompanying text from such luminaries as Jeffrey Sachs and Bill McKibben is unfortunately hollow and anodyne, particularly Cohen's introduction (do something... even something small... to help repair the world), but Omer Bartov's statement that Iconic photographs both record the deeds and potentially anesthetize us to them provides a powerful caveat for this collection. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
Hard to see, impossible to turn away - Issues and images combine in 'What Matters,' a powerful and passionate new book
"Great documentary photojournalism, squeezed out of mainstream newspapers and magazines in an age of shrinking column inches, has had a hard time gaining traction in other venues... But nobody has told the 18 photographers in What Matters: The World's Preeminent Photojournalists and Thinkers Depict Essential Issues of Our Time.  These are photo essays by some of today's best photojournalists following the great tradition begun over a hundred years ago with the exposés of New York tenement life by Jacob Riis. Through the doggedness of these photographers—who are clearly committed to stirring us out of complacency—all the power and passion of the medium is evident in this book... Some of the pieces will break your heart, some will anger you. All will make you think. To channel your thoughts and feelings into action, the book ends with an appendix "What You Can Do," offering hundreds of ways to be a part of the solution to these problems." - Chicago Tribune Book Review, http://www.chicagotribune.com/features/booksmags/chi-david-elliot-cohen-06sep06,0,5288041.story
"Must viewing."- San Francisco Chronicle, http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/09/17/DDGB12K49R.DTL

Photographs that Can Change the World
"David Elliot Cohen’s new book, What Matters, which hits bookshelves today, is a collection of photo essays that explore 18 distinct social issues that define our time. Shot by the world’s most renowned photojournalists, including James Nachtwey, who has contributed to V.F., the photographs explore topics ranging from genocide and global warming to oil addiction and consumerism, offering a raw view into the problems that plague our world. Each photo essay is accompanied by written commentary from an expert on the issue. Cohen hopes the book will inspire people to work toward resolving these problems. “Great photojournalism changed the world in the past, and it can do it again,” Cohen says. “I want people to see these images, get angry, and act on that anger. Compelling images by the world’s best photojournalists is the most persuasive language I have to achieve this.”
- vanityfair.com, http://www.vanityfair.com/online/politics/2008/09/what-matters.html "Changing the world might sound like a lofty goal for a photo book, but that’s what the new book, What Matters, The World’s Preeminent Photojournalists and Thinkers Depict Essential Issues of our Time edited by David Elliot Cohen (Sterling Publishing, $28, 2008), hopes to do. Citing the power of socially conscious photographers over the last 150 years, the beautiful collection of 18 photo-essays by some of today’s prominent photojournalists hopes to “inform pre-election debate and inspire direct action." Regardless of what side of the political fence you sit on, this collection of heartbreaking and powerful stories and images is guaranteed to get you thinking."
- Popular Photography,  http://flash.popphoto.com/blog/2008/08/book-review-wha.html

Those doubting the power of photojournalism to sway opinion and encourage action would do well to spend some time with this book. In 18 stories, each made up of photos by leading photojournalists and elucidated by short essays by public intellectuals and journalists, this book explores environmental devastation, war, disease, and the ravages of both poverty and great wealth. The photos are specific and personal in their subject matter and demonstrate how great photography can illuminate the universal by depicting the specific. Cohen has a goal beyond simply showcasing terrific photography. In his thoughtful introduction, he makes explicit his aim to connect the work compiled here with the great tradition of muckraking photography that helped to change conditions in New York tenements and to end child labor at the turn of the last century. A terrific concluding chapter directs readers to specific actions they can take if they are moved to do so by the book's images, and it's hard to imagine the reader who would not be moved. Highly recommended for public libraries and academic libraries supporting journalism and/or photography curricula. (a starred review in Library Journal generally means the book will be acquired by many libraries.)
- Library Journal, http://www.libraryjournal.com/article/CA6598644.html Powerful photos, insightful commentary fill the compelling 'What Matters.'
What Matters is about big questions and big problems that beg for big solutions.
- Florida Times Union (Jacksonville), http://www.jacksonville.com/tu-online/stories/092808/lif_337282446.shtml

About the Author

DAVID ELLIOT COHEN is co-creator of the renowned Day in the Life and America 24/7 series of photojournalism books. Four of these volumes were New York Times bestsellers. Several others were national and international bestsellers. A graduate of Yale University, Cohen has appeared on most major US news programs. His award-winning books have been featured on the covers of Time and Newsweek, in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and USA Today among many other periodicals worldwide. His pro bono books have benefited victims of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing, AIDs education programs in Africa and most recently, AIDS orphans in Uganda.

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Customer Reviews

Brilliantly done. Highly recommended.
When I saw this book on the shelves at the library, I was first intrigued by its bright blue spine. When I took it down, the cover photograph really took my breath away and I knew I HAD to see what this gorgeous book had to offer me. I can't tell you how happy I am that I took it home because, WOW, was this book phenomenal.

The book's description above really captures the essence of What Matters so definitely go back and read it if you haven't already. The book is a compilation of some of the most fantastic photojournalism I've ever seen, done by people who are genuinely concerned about these issues, and have put together a book that they hope will make a difference in some of these issues and inspire people to think about said issues, and even better, do something about them. The book flows excellently from pictures to text and back - it's put together similarly to Al Gore's An Inconvenient Truth (which I also loved). The photographs are, of course, magnificent, but the writing itself is also pretty fantastic. The way the authors (of both the written pieces and the photographs) made these issues come to life, made them so clearly EVERYONE'S problems and not "their" problems, the way they made them so personal with stories and pictures, it was just amazing. I am doing an awful job of describing what I loved about this book because I found it to be so important and really just a necessary read. It is hard sometimes for me to articulate my thoughts when I feel so strongly about something like I do this book - it has made me somewhat speechless.

But really, I'm shocked that I hadn't heard of What Matters before; I think it can easily be considered one of the best nonfiction of 2008, and I'd really, STRONGLY encourage everyone to go pick it up. I will totally be buying this one when it comes out in paperback (hopefully, it does), because it's definitely something I'd like to have in my collection to read again and share with others.

Please read What Matters. You will not be sorry that you did.

Too Much Death, Dying and Destruction
After reading a review of the book I was excited to order it. I thought it would be a thought-provoking photo-journalistic depiction of human nature, that would illustrate, or at least start people thinking about, what is truly important in our lives. I expected photos depicting wars, death and hardship. However, I didn't expect such an emphasis on the atrocities of humankind. Proportionately, there was far too much of the dark and dismal. And many, many of the photos, simply put, were of poor quality. The idea is great, but the book needs severe editing. And it needs more examples of what lifts us up, less of what tears us down.

A new text book
After reviewing this book, and giving it as a gift. It will now be used as a supplement reading for a college course.

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The Complete Oil Painter: The Essential Reference for Beginners to Professionals

The Complete Oil Painter: The Essential Reference for Beginners to Professionals

Oils are perhaps the most versatile of all paint mediums. Yet for many artists oil painting is either shrouded in mystique or considered very difficult. Filled with clear, step-by-step instructions and surefire strategies, The Complete Oil Painter is an essential, one-stop guide to becoming an expert in every aspect of this medium. Artists will discover everything they need to know about materials (pigments, supports, canvases); tools and equipment (palettes, brushes); paint application (wet-into-wet, alla-prima, glazing, impasto); form and color (light and dark, expression, color mixing); exploring themes (still life, portraiture, figure painting); and much more.

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #18473 in Books

Published on: 2004-01-01

Original language: English

Number of items: 1

Binding: Paperback

128 pages

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author
Brian Gorst studied at the Cheltenham School of Art in the UK and at the New York Academy of Art in New York City. He has published many articles on painting and painting techniques. He lives in Gloucestershire, England.

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Customer Reviews

Excellent for both the beginner & experienced painter
I'm a self-thought artist and began oil painting at age 6 until I reached my early teens. I never gave up drawing though. I work as a graphic artist and also have work experience in the field of cartoon animation. Now in my early 30's, I decided to give a go at oil again but there were a few things in my art that bothered me. I thought of taking painting lessons, I looked around at the various schools in my area and gave up on that idea since it appeared obvious to me that all that these schools were offering me was to teach me "how to draw" from scratch, regardless of my advanced drawing skills - Instead I bought this book; "The Complete Oil Painter" by Brian Gorst and ".Problem Solving for Oil Painters: Recognizing What's Gone Wrong and How to Make It Right" (also a good book) which was recommended to me. Honestly, I thought that the later (Problem solving) would prove to be most useful but to my big surprise it was The Complete Oil Painter by Gorst - As a self-thought artist, I was simply lacking technique and knowledge of the medium. I didn't know what a ground colour was or how to varnish a painting! This book solved a lot of problems and answered a lot of questions instantly and it saved me hundreds of dollars in un-necessary painting lessons

Very nice, not for professionals
As the first book I ever bought on painting with oil colours, I didn't know what to expect. Well, this book is really a great reference, covers everything - charecteristics of specific pigments, how to prime canvas and panels, which mediums do what.. and it has some very helpful demonstrations. What I was missing, is any word about glazing, which medium to use with oils (actuall ratio of distilled turpentine to linseed oil and so on), anything that someone that wants to be more of a pro would look for. But still, a great book.
Also, since the author uses water-soluble oils, it is a very good book for people that use those. He explains everything for those too.

Novice Painter
My instructor talked about this book in class and said it was a very helpful book to have. Being a novice, I took her advice and ordered one. It has been very helpful, with clear explanations concering color mixing and opaque and translucent color techniques. I can only recommend this book as a beginning oil painter, but have gotten great tips and my use of color combinations have greatly improved.

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Designing the High Line: Gansevoort Street to 30th Street

Designing the High Line: Gansevoort Street to 30th Street

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #384227 in Books

Published on: 2008

Binding: Paperback

160 pages

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Customer Reviews

Very interesting way to describe a poject of landscaping
Very interesting way to describe a poject of landscaping from the very beginning to the detailed plans. Nice design and short precise texts.

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A Book of Artrageous Projects

A Book of Artrageous Projects

This amazing collaboration with the venerable Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, comes with all the supplies needed for a hands-on artistic experience, like copper-colored foil, light sensitive paper, color pigments and a paint brush. It's guaranteed to put you in an art-doing mood.

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #47258 in Books

Brand: Klutz

Published on: 2000-09-01

Original language: English

Number of items: 1

Dimensions: 1.13 pounds

Binding: Spiral-bound

66 pages

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Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher
Winner of Canadian Toy Testing Council Children's Choice Award, DiscoverySchool.com Award of Excellence, Lion & Lamb Project Top 20 Toy of the Year, National Parenting Publications Honors Award, Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award, Parents' Choice Gold Award, Parent's Guide Children's Media Award

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Customer Reviews

Klutz books are the best!
These books are creative, educational, high quality, and fun! My children have several versions of Klutz books, and they are all wonderful. They provide a cure for boredom that both kids and adults can appreciate. This one goes beyond basic art!

Tons of Educational Information, World History and Art and Craft Instruction and Materials, Makes a Great Gift
Klutz publishes high quality art, craft and activities bound into a book that is actually a full kit, as they come with all the materials necessary to do what the book instructs. I have never been disappointed with a Klutz book/kit.

This book is a bit different than the typical craft books published by Klutz. It was developed in conjunction with the Metropolitan Museum of Art and has a lot of educational, world history and art history information in the book.

The book starts back in Ancient History with Ancient Egypt. The book teaches about art and writing (hieroglyphics) done by the Ancient Egyptians. Then the kit encourages the child-reader to make their own art, Egyptian style. The book progresses through various art methods and across thousands of years, introducing educational information then telling how to replicate that art or craft.

Another way this Klutz publication is different is that it has some pretty sophisticated art methods. There is a copper page to make a copper cover with metal embossing decoration using texture plates that is then made into a little handmade book. The book covers collage and includes some interesting images to cut out and collage with. The book tackles basic drawing principles and sketching in pencil, watercolor painting, and how to use one paintbrush to make different painted effects. Sun prints are here too, a more crafty leaning project. Boys especially might like the section on medieval history and knights with an activity to design their own coat of armor. Illumination is here with powdered paint that is to be mixed with egg whites to paint with. There is also a section for making a replica of stained glass (coloring in a paper) and a paper weaving project.

The book has MANY examples of real art going back thousands of years. The reference in the back of the book explains what each image is with a historical reference.

This is an ambitious book that teaches art and crafts linked to real world history events and showing examples of fine artworks. The book is inspirational. There are enough projects here to keep a child and a preteen occupied for many hours. It would be of interest to boys as well as girls. I can imagine that if a child does one of these projects for the first time they may be inspired to continue on learning more about some of the techniques(drawing, sketching, and watercolor painting).

The book is a low cost for the smattering of craft and art materials that come with it and for all the educational content that goes along with the instructions on how to do each art or craft.

If your child already owns many art and craft supplies, especially if they own some professional grade materials, makes a lot of art at home or is already taking professional art instruction, and if they already had lots of history educational instruction, this book may be too shallow or repetitive for them. However if the child has not yet tried all these arts and crafts or been exposed to all this world history information, the book is fantastic.

This makes a wonderful gift! The publisher states it is for ages 8 and up.

great art book for boys- and girls!
This book had a lot of really fun art ideas that my boys loved. It is very hands on, and you can mix in science with your art. My history buff loved the art history, and this book inspired much online investigation and a planned trip to our local art museum. It is a great way to introduce your child to real art- but is also fun and "crafty." My high-energy boys loved this book, and I can not recommend it enough.

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Charles Harper's Birds and Words

Charles Harper's Birds and Words

Reissue of the collectible Charley Harper classic, which pairs his beautiful paintings with poetic commentary.

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #33420 in Books

Published on: 2008-05-01

Original language: English

Number of items: 1

Binding: Hardcover

151 pages

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Customer Reviews

Charles Harper's Birds and Words
This is a delightful little book. Don't be misled by the wit and whimsey, (which is highly enjoyable) this book is full of excellent illustrations by an inventive artist.

A Treasure!
If you love Art, Birds, and Wit, this is something you should add to your collection! Charles Harper's minimalist technique gives you a whole new perspective on the beauty of birds in their natural surroundings. His ability to capture the Essence of a bird with just a few lines is truly amazing, and if that's not enough, he has accompanied each illustration with a few lines of clever prose that will leave you with a smile. Get one for yourself, and buy another to give.

Excellent in Word and Picture
After seeing a retrospective show of both Charlie and Edie Harper at the Cincinnati Museum of Art, I had to purchase this book. Charlie's bird silkscreens are illustrations, designs and fantastic artpieces all in one. His minimalist approach can teach any artist what to leave out in order to improve a painting. I can only imagine what it might have been like to have been a student of his. The works are rich and clean and the reproductions in this book are excellent quality. Also, make sure and notice the clever side-characters he puts in to help represent the environment that each bird lives in: snails, frogs, butterflies and flora... each exquisitely designed and can stand on their own as amazing.

A side note: I wish there were a similar volume of Edie's works, she is every bit as clever and talented an artist as Charlie and one can easily see the influence of each on the other.

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Cave Art

Cave Art

This new title presents an unparalleled selection of over 300 works made between 35,000 and 11,000 years ago, featuring the earliest known evidence of human creativity. The artworks range from spectacular cave paintings to small, delicate sculptures. CAVE ART explores the origins of human artistic endeavour from key sites such as Lascaux in France and Altamira in Spain, as well as less-known locations. The works featured in the book have been selected, sequenced, and described by one of the world's most respected experts on prehistoric art, Jean Clottes. The book includes examples of open-air rock art made after the last ice age at sites around the world, and includes a chronology, maps, a glossary, and a list of sites open to the public.

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #58558 in Books

Published on: 2008-06-10

Original language: English

Number of items: 1

Binding: Hardcover

352 pages

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author
Jean Clottes (b. 1933) is the pre-eminent expert on prehistoric art. A respected scholar, he has taught in many universities around the world, including Toulouse (France), Berkeley (United States), Gerona (Spain), and Neuchâtel (Switzerland). Clottes is currently involved in many international organizations. He is an expert at ICOMOS-UNESCO (International Committee on Monuments and Sites), a member of the High Council for Historical Monuments, and the president of IFRAO (International Federation of Rock Art Organizations).

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Customer Reviews

A Gorgeous Review of the Most Ancient Art
If you are interested in art history or just love looking at art, you'd certainly want to look at the earliest examples of art made by humans. You might conceivably buy enough air miles to see all the important works of western art, but many of the artworks shown in _Cave Art_ (Phaidon) by Jean Clottes you are never going to see, and the book's expansive and generous photographs are as close as you are going to get. You'd have to be an expert caver to get to some of the paintings shown here, and even so, many of them are in caves that are now closed to all but the most-degreed researchers. There are so many images here that one might think that there is a large store to draw from, but given that they range from 11,000 to 35,000 years old, it is amazing that the caves, always vulnerable to damage by water, time, and human activity, have preserved the treasures. Indeed, we may be getting a skewed, pinhole view of a larger artistic endeavor; if these artists were working during all those millennia on the outside, creating works on wood, sand, or hides, those works are long gone. The cave art was simply the best preserved, and sealed deep in the earth, it didn't start coming to light again until the nineteenth century.

Clottes is an authority to trust in displaying the most important examples of this art. An archaeologist with plenty of books and papers to his credit, he had a leading role in the study of the underwater Cosquer cave discovered in 1985 and the Chauvet Cave discovered in 1991. He summarizes the interpretations that have been put forward to explain these pictures, but it is safe to say that none of them clears the mysteries away. Why are there so few plants here, for instance? What do the abstract paintings here mean? There are dots at random, dots in groups, dots in designs that don't look like anything else, and there are stripes and wavy lines. This book is full mostly of photographs of cave paintings, but there are also some decorated objects; why should this portable art be far more varied, showing birds, snakes, or fawns that don't show up often on the walls, and also showing humans who seldom appear on the walls in comparison with the numbers of beasts? Where are all the people? Many of the paintings here are breathtaking in the way they use minimal lines to bring out a thoroughly realistic beast; many of them are simply primitive (and no less powerful for that). Clottes is not blind to defects in his appreciation of the artwork: ten simple, skillful lines show an animal that is obviously a weasel, but he calls the head "somewhat botched." Among the most easily recognizable forms here are hand stencils. The artist would place his hand on the wall and blow or spit a solution of pigment (hematite for red, charcoal for black) onto the hand and wall, leaving a fully familiar five finger imprint. Strangely, many of the fingers in such stencils are not complete, leading some to speculate that there were medical conditions, accidents, or even religious mutilations affecting the artists; a more likely guess seems to be that the hands were making some sort of hunting signal.

Having these handsome photographs displayed together makes it easy to admire the skill of the artists and the range of their interests. It also has to be a substitute for ever seeing some of the paintings first hand. Only a few of the caves are open to the public; there is a list here of caves you can visit. Some of the photographs here show the art intact where it is intact no longer; an aurochs drawn in the clay of the La Clotilde Cave in Spain was drawn over by some visitor after 1971. Well-meaning cleaners have cleaned off parts of the paintings. And sometimes just visiting them defaces them. The famous Lascaux Cave discovered in 1940 was open to visitors afterwards, but had to be closed in 1963 simply because the carbon dioxide breathed out by visitors was degrading the pigments. Even with the cave closed, the artwork which did just fine for so many millennia risks being attacked by mold. It is a treat to have a spectacular big book of photographs of the pristine artwork, the unity of themes illustrating what Clottes calls "the longest artistic tradition humankind has ever known." One page after another stimulates wonder at the ancientness of one of our specie's admirable traits, the artistic impulse.

Cave Art by by Jean Clottes
Excellent book, plenty of magnificent photograps, many of which have never been published before. The brief review of European prehistory is given for those interested in the subject. Highly recommended, I've read this book non-stop.

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Thom Filicia Style: Inspired Ideas for Creating Rooms You'll Love

Thom Filicia Style: Inspired Ideas for Creating Rooms You'll Love

"I'm a democratic design snob. I see it as my mission to help stamp out boring, unimaginative interiors. But I also love people, having fun, and what I do for a living. I think a fabulously styled place is achievable by everyone. Think of me as your decorating wingman."

Thom Filicia, whose one-of-a-kind makeover genius gained national attention through his starring roles on Queer Eye for the Straight Guy and Dress My Nest, offers the ultimate handbook for creating gorgeous interiors that showcase your unique personal style. Those who have witnessed Thom's remarkable makeovers on television already know about the much-anticipated reveal moment when the emotionally overwhelmed homeowners are struck speechless by the miracle he has created. The same miracle is now possible for your home, with the secrets and tips contained in Thom Filicia Style.

With his trademark wit and friendly voice, Thom deconstructs how he works his magic and provides pages of invaluable advice, inspiration, before-and-after photos, case studies, floor plans, and product information. His approach will help you elevate your personal aesthetic by strategizing the best ways to make the most out of every space. From his work on a Manhattan loft to a suburban family home, Thom brings a fresh and invigorating vision to the way we live -- a vision that can apply to homes and decorating budgets of any size.

Demystifying the decorating process one step at a time, Thom has filled this guide with everything you need to create the perfect interior. Thom Filicia Style is like having the designer himself on hand to take care of all the details.

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #5825 in Books

Published on: 2008-10-14

Original language: English

Number of items: 1

Binding: Hardcover

224 pages

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Editorial Reviews

Review
"I can't imagine anyone who has more fun at work than the dashing, devil-may-care decorator Thom Filicia -- and he brings that passion to the pages of Thom Filicia Style, the go-to guide to navigating the world of design. With indispensable information, expert tips, lush photos, and a wicked wit, he takes you on a no-nonsense journey whose destination is a confident new look for your home."-- Margaret Russell, editor in chief, Elle Decor

"Thom Filicia is a genius, effortlessly mixing materials and eras to create spaces that are both hypersophisticated and extremely livable. Somehow, he never loses sight of the human being amid all that fabulous furniture and fabric. So yeah, this book is drop-dead gorgeous, but it's also warm, friendly, and down-to-earth -- just like its author. Finally, a designer book that truly demystifies the process for us mere mortals."-- Sara Gray Miller, editor in chief, O at Home

"From apprenticing with legendary designer Albert Hadley to finding television celebrity, Thom has mastered his own brand of eclectic, organic, American-chic -- and is generously willing to help a broader audience experience, live with, and love design, too. His first book is not only a visual treat but also a friendly, easy-to-navigate guide crammed with useful tips, from 'every room needs a surprise' to 'lose the matchy matchy-ness.'"-- Cindy Allen, editor in chief, Interior Design

"Thom Filicia is like a superhero of style. He crusades against the scourge of bad taste by empowering regular citizens to look within themselves and embrace their inner decorator. His delicious new book spreads the gospel according to Thom: Don't Worry, Be Fabulous!"-- Mayer Rus, design editor, Los Angeles Times Magazine

"An insider who's invited everyone to the party, Thom has created a book that's part luscious page-turner, part hilarious autobiography, and crazily useful. I don't know if I want to keep it on the coffee table, bedside table, or in the design library, but I do know I want to keep it."-- Sara Ruffin Costello, creative director, Domino

"Thom is a total inspiration to me! The fact that he could think on his feet with such brilliance and accessible practicality on the groundbreaking Queer Eye for the Straight Guy was a revelation to me. To be able to see a diamond in the rough the way Thom does with forlorn rooms is sheer magic. Beyond that, Thom is about the nicest guy you will ever meet. He is brimming with enthusiasm and talent, with a fresh, elegant eye, and this book illustrates how far that goes. This book will be invaluable for anyone who cares about design and how it can actually empower your life."-- Wendy Goodman, design editor, New York

"In this spirited, droll, and informative romp through his career, work, and design philosophy, Thom Filicia shares with readers his inspirations and his pragmatic solutions for creating environments as suave and engaging as himself."-- Hamish Bowles, editor at large, Vogue Living

About the Author
Thom Filicia, since gaining fame as the quick-witted and charming interior designer on the Emmy-winning television hit Queer Eye for the Straight Guy, has emerged as one of today's most influential and respected interior designers. Host of the Style Network's top-rated show, Dress My Nest, Thom's projects and ideas have been featured everywhere -- from The Oprah Winfrey Show to The New York Times, from Elle Decor to W, and from House Beautiful to InStyle.

Before being catapulted into the national spotlight, Thom established himself as a major player in the design industry through his day-to-day work. After earning his B.A. in design from the prestigious School of Visual and Performing Arts at Syracuse University, he joined Parish-Hadley, one of the country's most distinguished interior design firms. He then worked for renowned designer Jeffrey Bilhuber before founding Thom Filicia, Inc., in 1998. He was named one of House & Garden's Top 50 Tastemakers, one of House Beautiful's Top 100 American Designers, and was nominated for an Emmy Award for Outstanding Art Direction for his work on Queer Eye. Thom's far-ranging commissions have included everything from designing the tents for the Olympus Fashion Week, to the W Hotels in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Atlanta, and to the United States VIP Suite at the World's Fair in Aichi, Japan.

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Customer Reviews

A Good D-I-Y Guide
Packed with lots of achievable ideas, this is best when used as a Do-It-Yourself guide. After just a few words of introduction by Albert Hadley, a bio complete with time line is given. Mr Filicia worked as an intern at the legendary interior design firm Parish-Hadley before going on to the office of Robert Metzger and then Jeffrey Bilhuber. He gained critical acclaim from the design magazines when opening his own office, but celebrity status came when he was one of the stars of the cable TV series "Queer Eye for the Straight Guy".

The projects, often accompanied with a floor plan to show the layout, tend to feature furniture of the hand-me-down variety combined with accessories that often appear more like props to make an interesting photo than to really contribute to the design of the room. Not a bad approach in decorating one's own home, to be sure. This is a good book for young marrieds looking to achieve some style on a budget. But for those wanting to learn the finer points of interior design, there are better books for study.

Different
I really liked this book. It has some fresh ideas and Thom Filicia is always rockin' the interiors he creates. The only thing I would change is to have even more photos.

Totally Thom
If you enjoy Thom Filicia's creative designs on "Queer" and "Dress My Nest", you will absolutely love this book. It's a book that you can look at over and over and it is filled with great ideas, fab pictures and great insight into Thom's life and design philosophy. Two enthusiastic thumbs up.

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David Busch's Nikon D60 Guide to Digital SLR Photography

David Busch's Nikon D60 Guide to Digital SLR Photography

Have you unpacked your new Nikon D60 digital SLR camera and want to get started right away taking great pictures? "David Busch’s Nikon D60 Guide to Digital SLR Photography" will show you how, when, and, most importantly, why to use all the cool features and functions of your camera to take eye-popping photographs. Introductory chapters will help you get comfortable with the basics of your camera before you dive right into exploring creative ways to apply the D60’s exposure modes, focus controls, and electronic flash options. More comprehensive than any of the pocket-sized camera guides, this book is chock full of hands-on tips for choosing lenses, flash units, and software products. Beautiful, full-color images illustrate where the essential buttons and dials are, so you’ll quickly learn how to use your Nikon D60, and use it well.

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #6624 in Books

Published on: 2008-06-10

Original language: English

Number of items: 1

Binding: Paperback

321 pages

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Editorial Reviews

About the Author
With more than a million books in print, David D. Busch is a best-selling author of books on digital photography and imaging technology, and the originator of popular series like "David Busch's Pro Secrets" and "David Busch's Quick Snap Guides." He has written eight hugely successful guidebooks for Nikon digital SLR models, and the most comprehensive manuals for dSLRs from Canon, Sony, and other vendors. His many other books devoted to digital photography include "David Busch's Digital Infrared Pro Secrets" and "Mastering Digital SLR Photography." As a roving photojournalist for more than 20 years, he has illustrated his books, magazine articles, and newspaper reports with award-winning images. Busch has operated his own commercial studio, suffocated in formal dress while shooting weddings-for-hire, and shot sports for a daily newspaper and upstate New York college. His photographs and articles have been published in magazines as diverse as "PhotoGraphic," "Popular Photography & Imaging," "The Rangefinder," "The Professional Photographer," and hundreds of other publications. He’s also reviewed digital cameras for CNet Networks and "Computer Shopper."

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Customer Reviews

users guide
i got this as a gift for my daughter. it's easier to read, use, and more informative, than the users manual. well worth it.

What a Relief!
I received a Nikon d60 as a gift a year ago. This is my first experience with a dSLR camera. I can shoot in the automatic mode with it quite easily, but if that was all i wanted to do with it, my little point and shoot camera was fine. I tried and tried to read the manual that came with the d60 but it was a frustrating, tear-my-hair-out kind of experience. I don't have a long attention span (apparently) and that manual was so dry and boring that it was hard to stay focused on it. I felt guilty that i had such a nice camera that was capable of doing so many things but I wasn't really learning to do any of it. Then i discovered David Busch. I really enjoyed his somewhat chatty, relaxed style of writing and the fact that he didn't expect me to know much about this type of camera already--but if one does have some knowledge, or is a natural techie (that would not be me), he does go pretty deep. I also like the real color photographs of the camera, rather than the simple black and white illustrations of it like the ones in the manual that comes with the camera. I haven't finished the book yet, but am amazed that i even have the desire to keep reading and even re-reading. Definitely worth the money. Thank you David!

This is the one!
As mentioned elsewhere, I am in the process of converting from film to digital photography and there are certain aspects which I have found quite daunting. Over the past few months I have studied several books and tutorial DVDs on the subject as that process of conversion continues. I have also attended courses run by Nikon (UK) and it was on the first of those I was introduced to this book. My fellow student insisted this was the best available on the subject and I have come to the conclusion he was right.

Of course, there are those whose expertise is already at a well advanced level who seem to delight in purchasing products such as this just to write a less than praiseworthy review. It's called showing off! Take it from someone who has studied the field, whatever you want or need to know about this camera, the answer really is found in this product.

Laid out in an easy-to-follow format with plenty of excellent illustrations this book begins at the BEGINNING by helping you set up your camera. Slowly, the author builds upon each item shown as we work our way through the book to learn all, there is to learn about the Nikon D300.

I always find it better to read a number of books on the same subject - if only because a different approach often helps to explain a difficult point in an alternative way. If, however, you can only afford one book on this subject, then "This" is the one to buy.

NM

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The Death of Superman

The Death of Superman

The bestselling edition that tells the staggering story of Superman's demise has been one of DC's best sellers since its release in January, 1992. THE DEATH OF SUPERMAN, the opening volume of the saga of Superman's death and rebirth, introduced the unstoppable death dealer known as Doomsday. Graphic novel format.

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #27888 in Books

Published on: 1993-04-14

Released on: 1993-04-14

Original language: English

Number of items: 1

Binding: Paperback

168 pages

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
The Death of Superman was a 1992 stunt that turned out to be DC's bestselling Superman comic ever. The massive 11-issue crossover among four different series (Superman, Superman: The Man of Steel, Action Comics, and Justice League of America) introduces an unstoppable alien named Doomsday who creates a path of destruction on his way to the heart of Metropolis and whom Superman must stop at any cost. It's of interest as a milestone of the Superman mythos (though of course the outcome didn't last), but casual fans might be underwhelmed by the unfamiliar villain and the unfamiliar Justice League (with Booster Gold, Blue Beetle, and other minor heroes rather than the traditional lineup), the drawn-out story (by Dan Jurgens, Jerry Ordway, Louise Simonson, and Roger Stern), and the ordinary art (by Jurgens, Jon Bogadanove, Tom Grummett, and Jackson Guice). --David Horiuchi

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Customer Reviews

A Hero Says Goodbye
"Doom!"

A controversial best-seller when it appeared in 1992, the ultimate sacrifice by the Man of Steel to save the world from an evil war machine, Doomsday, instantly became an iconic chapter in the history of DC Comics.

Developed by editor Mike Carlin, with the writing by a number of A-listers - including Dan Jurgens, Roger Stern and Louise Simonson - the emotional roller-coaster is tremendous and the final battle scene tears at the emotions, with Lois Lane, Jimmy Olson, Ice and Bloodwynd witnessing the final moments.

The trade paperback is the first of three volumes that collect all the material chronicling the death and return of Superman. The story line redefined the landscape for superheroes and will continue to have incredible importance into the future for editors/writers and fans.

Great Action
There are comics that make have revolutionary writing and make you think (this is not it) and then there are really exciting, thrilling, non-stop action comics (this is it!) so if you enjoy the latter you will enjoy this book. There are some people who complain about the politics that concern the making of this book and to that, who cares, it's just a fictious story. True, it is controversial to kill of the Man of Steel but the actual fight between Superman and Doomsday literally spans several issues so Superman's death did not result from a small battle. Contrary to what people say, I think the writers are wise not to give Doomsday any history or have him talk. Doing any of these two things will result in your opponent getting the upperhand. It is very exciting and emotional at the end and the artwork is pretty decent especially in the last or two issues.

Essential, but room for improvement
Superman fans are basically required to pick this up, as this story arc set the DC universe on its head. To cut it short, a mysterious creature named Doomsday appears, creates a path of destruction across the country (taking out several Justice League members along the way) before fighting Superman in a climactic battle at the steps of the Daily Planet, where both kill each other.

The art is pretty good overall, but that's an average - the final installment is masterfully done, but some of the middle chapters look rushed, as if they were scrambling to meet the deadline.

The plot is a point of contention for many comic fans - there's one camp that likes that a totally new, mysterious character was the one that did Superman in, and another camp that believes an established character, such as Brainiac or Lex Luthor, should have been the one to fell the Man of Steel. While I am okay with the concept of a new character getting the honor, the almost total absence of all the other villains throughout Death of Superman, World Without a Superman and Return of Superman left me wondering. Lex Luthor II makes a few token appearances, mostly in Return of Superman, but even then he doesn't do much other than argue a TV contract. Shouldn't he have been, I don't know, moving forward with his plan of world domination now that his only roadblock (Superman) is dead?

In short, this essential pickup is a good read, but it could have been better. It's entertaining for the first few reads, but it leaves us wanting more substance amidst the mindless destruction of Doomsday.

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The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America

The Ten-Cent Plague: The Great Comic-Book Scare and How It Changed America

In the years between World War II and the emergence of television as a mass medium, American popular culture as we know it was first created—in the pulpy, boldly illustrated pages of comic books. No sooner had this new culture emerged than it was beaten down by church groups, community bluestockings, and a McCarthyish Congress—only to resurface with a crooked smile on its face in Mad magazine.

The story of the rise and fall of those comic books has never been fully told—until The Ten-Cent Plague. David Hajdu’s remarkable new book vividly opens up the lost world of comic books, its creativity, irreverence, and suspicion of authority.

When we picture the 1950s, we hear the sound of early rock and roll. The Ten-Cent Plague shows how—years before music—comics brought on a clash between children and their parents, between prewar and postwar standards. Created by outsiders from the tenements, garish, shameless, and often shocking, comics spoke to young people and provided the guardians of mainstream culture with a big target. Parents, teachers, and complicit kids burned comics in public bonfires. Cities passed laws to outlaw comics. Congress took action with televised hearings that nearly destroyed the careers of hundreds of artists and writers.
The Ten-Cent Plague radically revises common notions of popular culture, the generation gap, and the divide between “high” and “low” art. As he did with the lives of Billy Strayhorn and Duke Ellington (in Lush Life) and Bob Dylan and his circle (in Positively 4th Street), Hajdu brings a place, a time, and a milieu unforgettably back to life.

Product Details

Amazon Sales Rank: #14909 in Books

Published on: 2008-03-18

Released on: 2008-03-18

Original language: English

Number of items: 1

Binding: Hardcover

448 pages

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review
Amazon Significant Seven, March 2008: I may be alone here, but when I read Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, a whole strata of American artists came to life for me. Ever since then I've been waiting for a book like David Hajdu's The Ten-Cent Plague to come along and show me the contours of this world. Anyone who remembers Positively 4th Street will recognize in this new book Hajdu's peerless ability to weave first-person recollections with an acute perspective of America at a pivotal moment in its cultural timeline. The rise of comics as a mode of expression, an outlet for entertainment, and, rather tragi-comically, as a target for censorship, couldn't be more compelling in anyone else's hands. In deft narrative strokes Hajdu creates a colorful, character-driven story of our first real--and lasting--counterculture (if the burgeoning popularity of graphic novels is any indication) and shows why we embrace it still.--Anne Bartholomew

From Publishers Weekly
Starred Review. After writing about the folk scene of the early 1960s in Positively 4th Street, Hajdu goes back a decade to examine the censorship debate over comic books, casting the controversy as a prelude to the cultural battle over rock music. Fredric Wertham's Seduction of the Innocent, the centerpiece of the movement, has been reduced in public memory to a joke—particularly the attack on Batman for its homoeroticism—but Hajdu brings a more nuanced telling of Wertham's background and shows how his arguments were preceded by others. Yet he comes down hard on the unsound research techniques and sweeping generalizations that led Wertham to conclude that nearly all comic books would inspire antisocial behavior in young readers. There are no real heroes here, only villains and victims; Hajdu turns to the writers and artists whose careers were ruined when censorship and other legal restrictions gutted the comics industry, and young kids who were coerced into participating in book burnings by overzealous parents and teachers. With such a meticulous setup, the history builds slowly but the main attraction—EC Comics publisher Bill Gaines's attempt to explain in a Senate committee hearing how an illustration of a man holding a severed head could be in good taste—holds all the dramatic power it has acquired as it's been told among fans over the past half-century. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Review
"This book tells an amazing story, with thrills and chills more extreme than the workings of a comic book's imagination." -- Janet Maslin, The New York Times, March 10, 2008

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Customer Reviews

Covers the bases on this particular subject
The author does a good job in explaining the message behind the title of the book. The "ten-cent plague" was a time between World War II and the mid-1950s where there was concern by those in authority that comic books with particular themes were filling the minds of teenage adolsecents with thoughts of violence and sex. Various steps were taken to put down the publication of these comics which died out around 1955.

This type of comic book changed America by putting into colorful pictures thoughts and actions that heretofore were relegated to the written book. Today, events such as Comic-Con are evidence that while these ancestors of the graphic novel were banned, their influences are felt today. With that said, we must ask ourselves the question not addressed in this book of whether we should just drop the age restrictions on reading material and let children read all things to their enjoyment. We would find that if we ask the author, he would desire some restictions on such activity. A good read nevertheless and I would recommend it to one who wants to delve into the crazy world of early 1950s comics.

The Rise and Fall of Comic Books
David Hajdu is a professor at the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York City. The research for this book began when he was at the University of Chicago, and he finished writing this book while teaching at the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University. The `Acknowledgments' thank the many who helped in various ways. In the mid-1940s the comic book was the most popular form of entertainment in America (p.5). Over 640 titles were produced each month, written primarily for kids. [My recollections is that young adults or highschool graduates also read them (p.70).] In the late 1940s they began to feature stories of "crime, vice, lust, and horror". [What, no crime for Superman and other heroes (p.6)?] Some comic books were a simplified form of the true crime stories found on TV today. There was no Official Censorship of these small businesses.

Were comic books "a leading cause of juvenile delinquency"? No, the economic system caused JD. In earlier times most kids went to work at age 14 (after grammar school) and had more parental supervision. The loss of small businesses led to more idleness and there was less parental supervision when both parents had to work (p.276). Chapter 1 notes the low esteem for comincs since the 1890s, and their popularity. Hans and Fritz, the Katzenjammer Kids, were popular for decades in spite of their pranks. Newspapers carried stories of crime and lust (p.15), just like today's tabloids. Around 1930 comic strips copied the styles of pulp magazines (p.17). Funny books were first given away with merchandise (p.21). Comic books were produced by an assembly line (pp.26-27). "Superman", the Champion of the Oppressed, was the first highly successful comic book (p.30). Commercial rivalry was one reason to slam comic books (pp.40-41).

Chapter 4 tells of the first reactions against comic books. Laws censoring publications go back to the 1880s. In 1948 the US Supreme Court ruled these laws unconstitutional because of their vagueness (p.90). This would not prevent future laws that were specific (p.97). Fredric Wertham said comic books corrupted the youth of America (p.100); his statistics proved it (p.101). Crimes were committed by children who read comic books (p.109). [The sole influence in their lives? No mention of the radio programs of that era.] Students began to collect and burn comic books like Superman, Wonder Woman, Batman, The Spirit, Captain Marvel, Archie (p.119). [What about TV programs?] That treatment for Gaines on page 273 overlooks the topic of who owns the company that distributes magazines. The censorship of comics resulted in a loss of sales (p.314). The small businesses were destroyed (p.315). Bill Gaines stayed in business by publishing `Mad' magazine which parodied society (p.324), [Hajdu doesn't mention the legal trouble for this magazine in 1965 which ended its independent publication.]

The other person looking at that piano concerto looks like Harry Truman (p.325). That "snarling and sweating" person looks like Joe McCarthy with Roy Cohn behind him. Marlon Brando as "Terry Malloy" from "On the Waterfront". The Smith Brothers use cough drops. Jackie Gleason as "The Poor Soul". Julius LaRosa with the detonator. Jack Webb as "Joe Friday", left hand at his shoulder holster. Groucho Marx with the duck holding the secret word. Did Jack Cole die because he owed a lot to the people who financed `Playboy' (p.328)? [There was no mention of "Sad Sack" or "Wonder Warthog" comics.] This book tells how the small business of comic book publishing was destroyed to benefit Big Corporations like television and their increased audiences. Hajdu didn't relate horror comics to the cycle of horror films in the 1930s-1940s. If you want horror, just read some of the original uncensored Grimm's Fairy Tales. The `Bibliography' lists about 100 books. Are any comic books on microfilm? They seem to be lost publications (p.296). The cartoon cover of this book is a turn-off to this serious subject.

An object lesson in fear-mongering, politics and censorship.
This book centers around comic books, but it doesn't have to. It could just as easily be about witchcraft, or Huckleberry Finn, or Communism, or any other group or topic that has found itself in the crosshairs of American politics at one time or another. Ultimately, this is a book about small groups in American society deciding what others should read, how they should behave, and what ideas they should have, and cunning politicians using the cause for their own advancement.

Here, Hadju does a wonderful job laying out the history and development of the comic book industry in early 20th century America. He then shows how, in the right (wrong) climate, it takes only a small spark to start a popular wave of fear and animosity towards a nearly random target. In this case, the cultural and political planets align against comic books in the 1950s. Hadju really brings to life the depth and vitriol of the anti-comics movement and how flimsy a foundation upon which it rested.

Anyone who values intellectual freedom should read this book. The distance in time and culture afforded by the passing of 50 years allows the reader to stand away from the hysteria of the day and see the campaign against comic books solely for the irrational, politically-driven censorship which they were. Having that experience as a reader may allow us to recognize similar hysteria when it strikes in our own lifetime. That's invaluable.

One theme central to all calls for American censorship is the rallying cry of censors, made clear by Hadju, that, "The framers of our Constitution, when they created freedom of speech, could not have intended to protect...(insert target here)." In this case, comic book creators were presented as unprotected by the First Amendment because of their status as corruptors of youth. But we must always remember that the only speech in need of legal protection is that speech which will be found objectionable or hateful to the majority of the population. No other speech will need the protection of law.

A well-written history and a great lesson in how easily our freedoms can be eroded. Highly recommended.

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