Customer Reviews:
Genius vs Genius.......2007-03-10
Here's a look at a splendid historic period in a splendid city revealed to us through the lives of two artistic geniuses, Gian Lorenzo Bernini and Francesco Borromini. Jake Morrissey gives us a smooth ride through the rough roads of 18th Century Rome, a world dominated and manipulated by various popes and cardinals but given lasting meaning, in the end, by the artists of the period, primarily Bernini and Borromini. Morrissey knows how to spin the story without getting bogged down in architectural minutiae while giving plenty details to set the mood and the understanding of the story. I have never been able to decide which of the two I most prefer, one visit to Rome it's Bernini and on another it's Borromini and Morrissey's book didn't help me change that but certainly helped me to admire them both more than I already did. It is a book that would immeasurably enhance anyone's visit to Rome bringing another dimension to the appreciation of the extraordinary buildings left as a legacy by these two men.
One of those "one can't put the book down" nonfiction reads.......2007-02-16
One of those "one can't put the book down" nonfiction reads.
History and intrigue.......2006-01-31
The tantrums, the egos, the "in your face, Pope" attitude and the rest of the drama that surrounds the building of Rome. Interesting read for those who are interested in history, drama and intrigue.
Writing about great architecture in an BLAND way.......2005-04-12
Having read alot of books on art and architecture history..specifically holding a degree in art history and being an architect myself...I can say with some certainty that this book doesn't quite cut it for me.
Essentially this book is a simple biography of both Borromini and Bernini. The Borromini vs. Bernini saga is a great one, and although the author does an adequate job of covering all the basics, I felt the story telling was lacking, dull, and frankly boring. I got the impression the author spent alot more effort creating the Bernini passages than the Borromini ones.
Futhermore the book doesn't even touch on Baroque architecture, what is it? What defines the style? Why did Bernini and Borromini design buildings to look like they did? Perhaps the author assumes all readers are born with an inate knowledge of the evolution of architecture from the high renaissance into the Baroque. Without a basic understanding of Baroque architecture its tough for a novice to appreciate why Bernini/Borromini buildings were/are so special.
Yet I managed to read the text in a few days. With all that said, it just doesn't compare to the better writing of an author like Ross King. (who writes books of a comparable nature).
I'm always torn with these sorts of books because they speak, in great detail, about works of art and architecture yet lack pictures. This book does include some photographs, but these types of books need more than a photograph or two.
The real problem here though is the author's choice of words doesn't do justice to the subject matter.
Its an average book, at a average price, bottom line, a great story told in an average way.
2 1/2 stars really but I'll give it 3 for trying.
If you want to read a good biography of Borromini read Anthony Blunt's version. And by all means check out the architecture when in Roma.
Treat Yourself.......2005-03-13
If you love art and architecture, and even if you don't, you will thoroughly enjoy this book. Jake Morrissey introduces Bernini and Boromini as if they all shared a past life together. The story he tells is so rich in detail and so fascinating in bringing the genius of these two artists to life, that I felt as though I knew them just as well. This book pulled me into the world of 16th century Italy on page one and left me wanting to book a flight to Rome to see where this riveting story unfolded. I am rarely enchanted by books of art history, but this book bears that genius. Buy this book and treat yourself to wonderful experience. Then buy Mr. Morrissey's mystery novel "A Weekend in Blenheim" and treat yourself again.
Book Description
-50 fabric manipulating techniques.
Customer Reviews:
Less than Expected.......2006-11-03
While this book is great for people with absolutly no textile experiance, it was too basic for me. The pictures may spark your creativity but the techniques are simplistic and can be found by searching free on the net. Unless you are a beginer don't bother.
Buyer beware.......2005-04-08
Be warned: This book is an amalgamation of 'Colour and Design on Fabric' and 'Fabric Artistry' from the Singer Design series. I didn't discover this until it arrived here in New Zealand by which time it was too late and it wasn't worth the postage to send it all the way back to the US for a refund.
Wonderful creative inspiration!.......2004-04-05
I'm always looking for books to inspire me to creative something unique whether it is utilizing sewing or painting techniques. This book does both and more. I love the galleries provided in each chapter! Few books have inspired me to make notes of my ideas while I am reading, but this one did. On my first "run thru", I noted 8 different ideas and outfits to make. Now I've got to go get started! Great book!
Great Resource with Many Techniques A MUST read.......2003-09-25
I found this book to be a great resource and it has great color images and specific easy to follow instructions that can be used by both intermediate or beginner alike. Great gallery shots of award winning designers. I am an aspiring couture artist and have found that most books don't cover or illustrate high fashion techniques or projects and this one is the answer to my prayers!!! A must read
Worthwhile "Encyclopedia" of Techniques.......2002-06-13
There isn't anything earth-shattering in this book, but it is a good "all-in-one-place" resource for a variety of fiber arts techniques. Topics covered include: making wool felt, pinweaving, devore (FiberEtch), beading, needlelace, machine openwork, quilting and trapunto, various dyeing methods, and many others. The instructions are basic but clear and well-illustrated with photographs. Not a place to look for indepth instructions for any technique, but if you are looking for an overview, you'll really like this one. It's a great jumping off place to play with several techniques and see which ones you'd like to explore further. Those with more experience may find a new idea or two, but will probably be most interested in the fabulous galleries (one at the beginning of each of the books two sections - "Texture & Depth" and "Color & Design") of projects (mostly wearable art) by the contributors. These galleries are well worth a look; there's plenty of inspiration to be found.
Average customer rating:
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Exploring Textiles
Marleen Morgans
Manufacturer: Hodder Arnold H&S
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 Diet & Nutrition
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ASIN: 0340428260 |
Book Description
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.
Average customer rating:
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Textiles (Exploring Technology)
Susie O'Reilly
Manufacturer: Hodder Wayland
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Crafts & Hobbies
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ASIN: 0750200405 |
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Exploring Felting
Joan Fisher
Manufacturer: Kangaroo Press Pty.Ltd ,Australia
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Textile Arts
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ASIN: 0864178573 |
Average customer rating:
- An inspiring addition to personal improvement
- Believing in Ourselves: A Celebration of Women
- Publisher Comments
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Believing In Ourselves A Celebration Of Women
Manufacturer: Andrews McMeel Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0740722204 |
Book Description
Believing in Ourselves is a book of beautiful photos and compelling essays profiling 35 women who have succeeded in achieving extraordinary personal goals or overcoming significant hardships in their lives. The women profiled are a diverse group, and the details of their success stories vary widely. Yet the stories all share the same fascinating plot twist: Even when faced with major obstacles along the way, each woman made a choice to become the person she wanted to be. These are stories of women who refused to allow their fates to be dictated to them."Womanhood is something you claim and seize, not something you grow into. It's about seizing the opportunity to realize your potential, striving to be the best, and making sacrifices," says Claudia Edwards, executive director of a Fortune 500 foundation, whose high school economics teacher had correctly predicted she'd be "pushing a baby carriage six months after graduation." Stories like Claudia's sound a clarion call for women to triumph over their own challenging times and to fulfill their own visions of themselves. This remarkable book will inspire women of all walks of life.
Customer Reviews:
An inspiring addition to personal improvement.......2003-04-14
The collaborative effort of author Nancy Carson and photographer Jennifer Jones, Believing In Ourselves: A Celebration Of Women showcases the wisdom and inspiration of thirty-five ordinary but nonetheless remarkable women drawn from all over North America. Black-and-white photographs enhance each of the women and their exemplary encouragements placing pinnacle importance upon women having faith in themselves to achieve their goals, dreams, and aspirations. Believing In Ourselves is a very highly recommended and inspiring addition to personal improvement and Women's Studies reading lists.
Believing in Ourselves: A Celebration of Women.......2002-04-08
A perfect gift for your close friends, your sisters, your mothers, this inspiring collection of stories about the triumphs of real women in their everyday lives, written by Nancy Carson and accompanied by lovely photography from Jennifer Jones, is a reminder of the heroines we encounter daily but don't always recognize as such. These are women who have made their way through extraordinary difficulties and built successful lives for themselves - success defined as they see it, not in the narrow confines only of career and money -often helped along the way by other women. Their life stories, beuatifully presented, serve as a reminder to all of us that: 1) we are each the architect of our own life story, and 2)we don't have to do it all alone. Of course, in Ms. Carson's skillful hands, even a less amazing life would probably provide inspiration to others.
Put this book on your own table or next to your bed, to read on a sunny morning, or when the darkness looms and all seems hopeless: at least one of these women will "speak" to you and help you find a way to go forward.
Publisher Comments.......2002-04-03
Believing In Ourselves
From a housing project in the Bronx to the U.S. Court of Appeals, from life on welfare to working as a top industrial engineer . . . the stories of these amazing women inspire dreams.
Believing in Ourselves: A Celebration of Women (Andrews McMeel Publishing,..., April 2002) introduces the reader to 35 amazing, inspiring, and unstoppable women from all over North America and from all walks of life. Many of these women have overcome significant obstacles in their lives. Others have succeeded in fulfilling unusual personal goals. Each of them will amaze and inspire you with their courage and fortitude.
Strengthened by hardship and made generous by their experiences, they offer up their stories to guide and encourage others. In this new book you will learn about:
--Mary-Lisa Orth, Tucson, Ariz., who struggled out of welfare to become a top industrial engineer - while raising four children on her own.
--Beth Bakke-Stenehjem, Bismarck, N.D., who gave life and hope to a friend and coworker through the gift of one of her kidneys.
--Sonia Sotomayor, New York, N.Y., who went from a housing project in the Bronx to sitting on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
--Sinthea Brown, Seattle, Wash., who overcame drug addiction and poverty to become a counselor to the homeless in her community.
Believing in Ourselves celebrates the gifts of women who pursued goals that people told them were impossible. They proved themselves by taking the hard road instead of the easy road. Their journeys have instilled each of them with self-awareness, inner peace, and a sense of satisfaction.
About the Author and Photographer
Nancy Carson, a freelance writer from Alexandria, Va., writes regularly about everything from educational technology to family caregiving, but her favorite form is the personal essay. She travels widely and is often in Manhattan, the home of her artist daughter.
The pages of Believing in Ourselves are enhanced by the graceful black-and-white photography of Jennifer Jones of Tucson, Ariz. She attended the New England School of Photography in Boston, Mass. Her photographs have appeared in a number of newspapers and magazines.
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Erica Sakurazawa: Nothing But Loving You
Erica Sakurazawa
Manufacturer: TokyoPop
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1591823242 |
Average customer rating:
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Happy Days 1880-1892
H.L. Mencken
Manufacturer: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000G0F5N6 |
Customer Reviews:
Mencken on his nonage.......2000-01-11
H.L. Mencken temporarily resigned from his job as a newspaper columnist before the Second World War, deeming his political opinions too controversial for print. In the ensuing interregnal period, he focused his attention on writing a series of memoirs, which later turned into a three volume autobiography, of which Happy Days is the first part. In its pages, he relates his early fascination with police officers, food, literature and pedagogues, subjects that forever interested him. He also, astonishingly, recounts successful athletic exploits (astonishing because he grew into a rotund and stumpy man, who considered sports "nonsensical"). Readers familiar with Mencken's caustic columns will enjoy learning how his strong opinions were formed. Readers unfamiliar with him should still find this book highly palatable, for it is colorfully written, interfusing "the language of the free lunch counter" with latin phrases and searing adjectives. This memoir is as well-written as later newspaper columnist Russell Baker's "Growing Up," but is a hell of a lot funnier.
Average customer rating:
- Excellent Book
- A photo is worth 1,000 words;the words are worth it, too
- A modern classic, in my view.
- Should be listed under "Religious Fiction"
- Be ready for hike when start to read this book!
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Sojourn in the Wilderness: A Seven Month Journey on the Appalachian Trial
Kenneth Wadness
Manufacturer: Shalom Images
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Nature Writing
| Outdoors & Nature
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Travel
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General
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ASIN: 0967601908 |
Book Description
Sojourn in the Wilderness is a pictorial documentary of Ken Wadness's thru-hike of the entire Appalachian Trail from Maine to Georgia. This large 9x12 hardcover book contains over 190 high quality, glossy photographs of life on the Appalachian Trail and scenic images of the beautiful Appalachian countryside. In the 230 pages, Ken retells his journey with colorful stories of life as a long distance hiker, some local history and, at times, walking by faith.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Book.......2002-03-23
I highly recommend this book! As a person preparing for this "walk in the woods" I found this book to be uplifting. It has beautiful illustrations and makes your feet itch to hit the trail. There are a lot of references to God, and those that are not comfortable with this should steer clear. I found it personally to be a nice touch. For those who want the experience of the trail without hiking it, this is a great book.
A photo is worth 1,000 words;the words are worth it, too.......2000-01-19
This book makes even a non hiker want to take to the trail. Although the diety is frequently mentioned, it is not a sermon, merely Mr. Wadness's perspective on the beauty he sees. Put this book on a coffee table, and allow others to browse the trail.
A modern classic, in my view........1999-09-22
Exceptional photography documents one trek on the Appalachian Trail. At least the equal of National Geographic's book. Wadness has a passion for photographs that are technically accurate and artistically beautiful.
The narrative conveys more than a "walk in the woods." It relates a unified drama. A remarkable cast of characters! The details should be left to the enjoyment of the reader.
On a literary and religious level, "Sojourn in the Wilderness" relates to the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, as the title of the book suggests. Wadness found himself composing poetry at peak moments on the trail.
This true-life story demonstrates how one person adapted to the rigors of the trail by faith. How anyone with limited experience could carry a 70-80 pound pack on a rocky trail for seven months is a miracle.
I'm buying additional copies as gifts for friends.
Should be listed under "Religious Fiction".......1999-03-01
Great photos and a pretty good feel of what it might be like to hike the trail from end-to-end, although getting picked up to go home for a week for somebody's wedding kind of blows the non-stop trek claim. My main problem was the author's constant sniveling to god. Any book about a thru-hiker is as much (or more) about the hiker as it is about the trail and their daily trials and tribulations. I had hoped to cheer the person who could accomplish this feat as a man (or woman) who stood and walked tall with pride at their success. Wadness rarely gets off his knees, and giving all the credit to his god would make his part in such a trek meaningless. God could even get a blind man with no legs through the trail, so it's no big deal, right? Christians will have no problem with this. Atheists may feel more pity than pride for him.
Be ready for hike when start to read this book!.......1998-11-12
Great book! I played audio wilderness tapes while reading it. It was awesome! It felt as if I was really there. I think my feet even starting hurting at one point. The pictures are beautiful and added greatly to the book. It's a must read for all, even if you have never owned a pair of hiking boots!
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- The Ghosts of Berlin: Confronting German History in the Urban Landscape
- The Harvard Design School Guide to Shopping / Harvard Design School Project on the City 2
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- The Houses of McKim, Mead & White
- The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Feng Shui: The Complete Guide to the Art and Practice of Feng Shui (Illustrated Encyclopedia)
- The Lighthouse Encyclopedia: The Definitive Reference
- The Log Home Book: Design, Past & Present
- The Most Beautiful House in the World
- The New American House 2: Innovations in Residential Design and Construction: 30 Case Studies (New American Architecture)
- The New American House 2: Innovations in Residential Design and Construction: 30 Case Studies (New American Architecture)
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Bernini (Penguin Art and Architecture)
Borromini
Bernini
Art and Architecture in Italy 1600-1750, Vol. 1: Early Baroque (Yale University Press Pelican History of Art)
The Families Who Made Rome: A History and a Guide
