Average customer rating:
- Old projects
- An Encyclopedia of Elegance
- The work of an artist
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Hugh Newell Jacobsen
Hugh Newell Jacobsen
Manufacturer: Rizzoli
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
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General
| Architects, A-Z
| Architecture
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Similar Items:
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Hugh Newell Jacobsen, Architect
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Axel Vervoordt: Timeless Interiors
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Houses of the Hamptons 1880-1930 (The Architecture of Leisure)
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Bertram Goodhue: His Life And Residential Architecture
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Tom Kundig: Houses
ASIN: 0847829219
Release Date: 2007-04-24 |
Book Description
With a style that is as subtle as it is elegant, Hugh Newell Jacobsen has designed buildings throughout the United States and abroad, published his work regularly in magazines such as Architectural Digest and Architectural Record, and been commissioned by clients such as Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Meryl Streep. Although eclectic in his work, Jacobsen has found most acclaim for his private houses. Infused with a rare sense of clarity and elegance, they are serene and classically proportioned, but at the same time distinctly modern. Drawing inspiration from vernacular architecture, his designs often recall the barns, detached kitchens, and smokehouses of early American architecture. This volume presents the architect's latest endeavors, including houses, university projects, a winery, and more. This third volume of Jacobsen's work is a definitive look at the architect's mature skill and refined taste. An introduction by Paul Goldberger explores Jacobsen's signature style.
Customer Reviews:
Old projects.......2007-08-23
There are some old buildings in here that are in his previous books. I wasd expecting all new work.
An Encyclopedia of Elegance.......2007-05-26
In this, the third monograph of Hugh Jacobsen's work, there is nothing more than the same old beautifully detailed, elegant, refined, clean, crisp, exquisite work by arguably the best living architect on the planet. If this seems to be hyperbole to you, buy this book. If you are trying to learn about architecture, buy this book. If you think you know all about architecture, buy this book. Architecture is about spaces that enrich one's life. This book is chock full of them.
The work of an artist.......2007-05-25
Fabulous photographs and succinct, detailed narrative will reward the reader of this new book of Jacobsen's recent work. This is the third publication to be presented to the public of the work of one of the greatest amercian architects of our time. The format, quality of photos, choice of works to be included, and general excellence as well as the work itself is stunning.
Average customer rating:
- Good Book with a Few Flaws
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Hugh Newell Jacobsen, Architect
Hugh Newell Jacobson
Manufacturer: Images Publishing Dist A/C
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
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General
| Architects, A-Z
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
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Architectural
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
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Similar Items:
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Hugh Newell Jacobsen
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The Distinctive Home: A Vision of Timeless Design (American Institute Architects)
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Robert A. M. Stern: Houses and Gardens
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Salmela Architect
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Cutler Anderson Architects
ASIN: 1920744134 |
Customer Reviews:
Good Book with a Few Flaws.......2004-03-15
This book chronicles the work of Hugh Newell Jacobson until 1988. This brilliant American architect is in my opinion very underrated, as this seems to be the only book dedicated exclusively to his work.
The many plans and photographs clearly illustrate the key elements of his design philosophy. Among these are his use of simple, often symmetric plan forms, steep angled roofs and pergolas that are expressed as roof windows whenever they occur in the interior. His mastery of lighting design and the consistency of his detailing is evident in many photographs.
The book is well printed on high quality paper. Unfortunately some of the pictures seem to be scans of photographs from earlier publications, and when these occur as full page photos they are not sharp.
One wonders why this book has not been updated with this 2003 edition. Quite a number of the projects are indicated as due for completion in 1988, yet I have seen photographs of several of them in their completed state in other publications. It is furthermore a pity that the projects are not dated; one has to go to the Chronology at the back of the book to find the dates. It would also have been nice if the pictures at the Chronology where printed with the projects' main texts as some of these pictures are vital to the understanding of some of the projects.
These criticisms aside, this book is highly recommended, especially at the reduced price.
Average customer rating:
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Hugh Newell Jacobsen, Architect: Recent Work/1988-1993
Hugh Newell Jacobsen
Manufacturer: American Institute of Architects Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 1558351191 |
Average customer rating:
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Hugh Newell Jacobsen (House Design)
Images
Manufacturer: Images Publishing Group Pty.Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
| Subjects
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Residential
| Building Types & Styles
| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
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General
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| Architecture
| Professional & Technical
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ASIN: 1864700904 |
Average customer rating:
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A guide to the architecture of Washington, D.C
Hugh Newell; American Institute of Architects. Washington-Metropolitan Chapter. Jacobsen
Manufacturer: Published for the Washington Metropolitan Chapter American Institute of Architects by F. A. Praeger
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000IZB4WU |
Average customer rating:
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Hugh Newell Jacobsen: Architect: Recent Work
Hennessey+Ingalls
Manufacturer: Hennessey & Ingalls
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Architecture
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General
| Architects, A-Z
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United States
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ASIN: 1564960765 |
Average customer rating:
- You can't please everybody!
- From a true novice
- Jlyn
- Quick & Clever: Watercolour Landscapes
- very helpful book one of the best
|
Quick & Clever: Watercolour Landscapes
Charles Evans
Manufacturer: David & Charles Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Instructional & How-To
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Landscape Painting
| Instructional & How-To
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Watercolor Painting
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Watercolor
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Still Life
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Quick & Clever Watercolor Pencils
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Sea and Sky in Watercolour (Step-by-Step Leisure Arts)
ASIN: 0715319329 |
Book Description
TV painter and personality Charles Evans brings his unique style to this new-look practical art book. Charles works fast and without fuss, and here he helps other artists to create great looking pictures in next to no time.
The informal and warm style that Charles brings to his long running UK regional TV series is brought to the book, where the creation of the paintings is accompanied by Charles' often amusing take on traditional 'art speak'. No reader will be confused by arty jargon as Charles simply does not use it!
His special style is reflected by the fresh approach to the look of the book. Making full use of the immediacy and detail available using digital photography; the design is light, bright and full of impact. The paintings, details and techniques have been captured exactly as Charles made them.
This is a step by step book, but one where the reader is carried along by Charles' infectious enthusiasm.
Customer Reviews:
You can't please everybody!.......2006-09-28
After reading the 15 reviews of this book (either 5-star or 1 star), I had to buy it to see what the fuss was all about. For me it was a refreshing philosophical change from my two years of tight tedious instruction at an expensive watercolor class. Sure, the short exercises about people, animals and cottages are really ugly, but the emphasis on minimal equipment (all British), limited palettes, and wet-on-wet looseness really resonated with me. The excellent step-by-step numbered photographs accompanying the numbered written remarks (including pigments) are carefully planned, especially for the later landscapes. Looked at closely, one can see how the pigments spread and blend with time. I've concluded that the people who hate this book are experienced painters who either already know all this or don't like loose wet watercoloring (or both). This is probably a book for lonely beginners or worried intermediates like me.
From a true novice.......2006-08-14
I know nothing about creating art. I've not taken one single class. I thought I could never draw or paint, other than "Dick and Jane" type cartoons. Charles Evans changed that. I have an Art show next week. I started at age 35.
Jlyn.......2006-03-07
An EXCELLENT book, I have been privileged to see Charles Evans work in person. He makes the complicated seem simple, no fussing no nonsense. I have watched his work on television, and it always makes me want to get my paints out!
I cannot understand why others cannot see that! His work is WONDERFUL! And the book is well worth the money!
Quick & Clever: Watercolour Landscapes.......2006-02-20
Obviously those who didn't like this book: 1)Don't know how to "step outside the box" and 2)Haven't seen the artist at work. For those who are intimidated by the thought of painting but have always wanted to, this book is excellent. It makes watercolor easy and enjoyable. Once going through the exercises you too can create beautiful paintings that you will want to show off!
very helpful book one of the best.......2005-08-24
the type of book i have been waiting for for ages. so helpful - i feel i can paint at last - one of the best on the market. fantastic!!!!!!!!!!!!
Average customer rating:
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Watercolour Landscapes (Quick and Clever)
Charles Evans
Manufacturer: David & Charles
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Instructional & How-To
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Watercolor
| Painting
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Still Life
| Painting
| Arts & Photography
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| Books
ASIN: 0715319310 |
Average customer rating:
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Quick and Clever Watercolour Landscapes
Charles Evans
Manufacturer: David & Charles
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K2IYJC |
Average customer rating:
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Jeff Wall: Figures & Places : Selected Works from 1978-2000 (Photography)
Jeff Wall
Manufacturer: Prestel Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Collections, Catalogues & Exhibitions
| Photography
| Arts & Photography
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General
| Photography
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General
| Photographers, A-Z
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Photo Essays
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Similar Items:
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Jeff Wall
ASIN: 3791326074 |
Book Description
This richly illustrated volume is a comprehensive survey of the work of Jeff Wall. It brings together photographs from the beginning of Wall's career in the 1970's to the present. The book includes the artist's best-known works, as well as recent, previously unpublished material, and an interview with the artist.
Average customer rating:
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Dinosaur Shaman: Nine Tales from the Xenozoic Age
Mark Schultz
Manufacturer: Kitchen Sink Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Comic Strips
| Comics & Graphic Novels
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General
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Similar Items:
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Cadillacs and Dinosaurs
ASIN: 087816118X |
Average customer rating:
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Pencil, Paper, Draw!: Dinosaurs (Pencil, Paper, Draw!)
Steve Harpster
Manufacturer: Sterling
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Cartooning
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Cartooning
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All 4-for-3 Deals
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ASIN: 140272974X |
Book Description
“Dinosaurs” and “Kids”: when those two words come together, you know you’ve got a winner. The popularity of these prehistoric beasts just never seems to fade. So children will be thrilled to create a green, spiky Ankylosaur, a fierce-looking Baryonyx, a birdlike Coelphysis, and many others.
Average customer rating:
- Best science book ever!
- Fun, informative, and accurate!
- Yes, There Was Life BEFORE The Dinosaurs
- very funny book
- Great Introduction to the Late Paleozoic
|
When Bugs Were Big, Plants Were Strange, and Tetrapods Stalked the Earth: A Cartoon Prehistory of Life before Dinosaurs
Hannah Bonner
Manufacturer: National Geographic Children's Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Nonfiction
| Dinosaurs
| Animals
| Children's Books
| Subjects
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General
| Ages 9-12
| Children's Books
| Subjects
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A Bug's Life
| Disney
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Bugs Before Time: Prehistoric Insects and Their Relatives
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The Complete Guide to Prehistoric Life
ASIN: 079226326X
Release Date: 2004-03-01 |
Customer Reviews:
Best science book ever!.......2006-12-17
This is the coolest science picture book I have found in a long time! Great sketches, quirky storyline and it's chuck full of facts that kids will grasp onto and learn from. I found myself learning stuff I never knew. Great book! RECOMMENDED
Fun, informative, and accurate!.......2006-11-05
As a sixth grade science teacher, I am always amazed that my students have the misconception that dinosaurs were the first organisms to be on earth. Indeed, there is a couple of billion year history before the dinosaurs. This book does a great job of at least showing what else was around with the dinosaurs.
The cartoon format draws children in and engages them in reading the informative, upbeat, and fun text that supports the fabulous illustrations. After reviewing this book at a science museum teacher workshop, I knew I needed a copy for my classroom library. Open the book and you'll be hooked, too!
If you are looking for a well-written non-fiction children's book, this is a great one (especially if you have a child interested in dinosaurs). If you're looking for a funny and engaging book with fun cartoons and easy-to-understand text, you've found it.
Yes, There Was Life BEFORE The Dinosaurs.......2005-02-18
The author does a great job explaining life before the dinosaurs. It can be difficult for kids to "get" the fact that there were big reptiles (and amphibians) before the Age of Dinosaurs, and some authors find it easier to just lump those beasts together with dinosaurs.
But not here. Ms. Bonner does a nice job detailing differences in reptiles and amphibians, and also does one of the best jobs I've seen in a children's book of explaining vegetation -- why it was different then, how it evolved, and how it turned into coal.
This book is a definite keeper for the 6 and up set -- my daughter, turning four soon, is a big dinosaur buff, and likes the cartoon pictures more than the science behind it. But when she's ready for a nice overview of the Permian period, I'll pull out "When Bugs Were Big."
very funny book.......2005-02-13
This book is delightfully drawn, and accurate about the facts it covers, but it's also very funny, with amusing cartoon images as illustration.
Great Introduction to the Late Paleozoic.......2004-04-19
This book was a present to my two kids, ages 6 and 8, but I've enjoyed it as much as they did. My kids love dinosaurs, and I've read dinosaur book after dinosaur book. This is the first book that showed me what was around before the dinosaurs. The author (and illustrator) do a great job of being entertaining and informative. The drawing and humor are fantastic, and there are lots of little details that show up in the second, third and fourth reading (always an advantage in favorite childrens books). I highly recommend "When Bugs Were Big" for both parents and children who want to learn more about what the world was like before.
Average customer rating:
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Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur: 4 Fully Animated Color Cartoons (VHS) (Kids Klassics)
Manufacturer: Kids Klassics Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 1555110053 |
Product Description
4 fully animated color cartoons
Daffy Duck and the Dinosaur
Yankee Doodle Daffy with Porky Pig
To Duck...Or not to duck with Elmer Fudd
Average customer rating:
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The Day of the Dinosaurs (A Cartoon History of the Earth)
Jacqui Bailey
Manufacturer: Kids Can Press, Ltd.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Similar Items:
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The Stick and Stone Age (A Cartoon History of the Earth)
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The Birth of the Earth (A Cartoon History of the Earth)
ASIN: 1553370732 |
Book Description
The Day of the Dinosaurs introduces more complex life-forms, including dinosaurs, winged reptiles, flowering plants and mammals. It also addresses the mass extinction that occurred 65 million years ago. The Day of the Dinosaurs is part of A Cartoon History of the Earth. Each book closes with a timeline, a comprehensive glossary and an index. Scientific consultants, chosen for their particular areas of expertise, have verified all the factual information. Combined with humorous dialogue and comic-strip illustrations, each book in the series is at once entertaining, engaging and -- educational!
Average customer rating:
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Dinosaur & Other Prehistoric Jokes & Riddles
Elvira Gamiello
Manufacturer: Kidsbooks.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Comic Strips
| Comics & Graphic Novels
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Comics & Graphic Novels
| Subjects
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ASIN: 0942025105 |
Average customer rating:
- Lots of fun and dinosaurs.
- Every one of them is good for a chuckle and a smile
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Dinosaur Cartoons
Charley Parker
Manufacturer: Arclight Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Comic Strips
| Comics & Graphic Novels
| Subjects
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General
| Comics & Graphic Novels
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Cats, Dogs & Animals
| Humor
| Entertainment
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General
| Humor
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General
| Dinosaurs
| Animals
| Biological Sciences
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| Subjects
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ASIN: 0966053214 |
Book Description
This collection of clever single-panel cartoons features dinosaurs in modern situations as well as in their more naturalistic settings. Their humor ranges from sophisticated to slapstick, often making light of evolution, dinosaur research, and extinction theories in both wordless and captioned cartoons. These bizarre renderings and laugh-out-loud situations are immediately appealing to children and adults.
Customer Reviews:
Lots of fun and dinosaurs........2005-11-12
If you liked the Far Side then you'll love these cartoons. Dinosaurs dealing with daily life, evolution, food and extinction.
Every one of them is good for a chuckle and a smile.......2003-07-17
Dinosaur Cartoons is a hilarious collection of over 100 dinosaur-themed cartoons drawn and captioned by Charley Parker. Every one of them is good for a chuckle and a smile every time. Delightful in its whimsy and its sassy drawings, Dinosaur Cartoons is a superb giftbook for dinosaur fans and paleontology enthusiasts of all ages!
Average customer rating:
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Dinosaur Command
Tim Hibsman
Manufacturer: True Arts Graphics & Printing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: CD-ROM
General
| Dinosaurs
| Animals
| Biological Sciences
| Science
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 1889858099 |
Book Description
Dinosaur Command is a CD-ROM cartoon book that takes a humorous look at dinosaurs. According to the experts, dinosaurs were roaming around the earth for over 300 million years. The same experts say humans evolved from apes over a period of 100 million years. Hmmm... If simple math prevails, dinosaurs could be three times smarter and much more evolved than humans. This book is simply a cartoon, scientific, research paper that sets forth the hypothesis that dinosaurs are not dumb and they are returning to earth to kick some human butt.
Average customer rating:
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A dinosaurian beastiary
Robert Huntoon
Manufacturer: Saint Heironymous Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
Drawing
| Art
| Arts & Music
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
ASIN: 0913718106 |
Average customer rating:
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Dinosaurs Across America
Manufacturer: Nantier Beall Minoustchine Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| United States
| History & Historical Fiction
| Children's Books
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General
| Ages 9-12
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General
| Comic Strips
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General
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ASIN: 156163509X |
Average customer rating:
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Strange Intelligence: Memoirs of Naval Secret Service (Classics of Espionage)
Hector C. Bywater , and
H. C. Ferraby
Manufacturer: Frank Cass & Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
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Journalists
| Professionals & Academics
| Biographies & Memoirs
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Intelligence & Espionage
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Naval
| Military
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Military Science
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General
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20th Century
| England
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Relations
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History of Technology
| Technology
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ASIN: 0714648582 |
Average customer rating:
- Carole Lombard
- Nobody did it better
- Good book for new Lombard fans ...
- Carole Lombard, the Hoosier Tornado
- Could have been so much more...
|
Carole Lombard, the Hoosier Tornado (Indiana Biography Series)
Wes D. Gehring
Manufacturer: Indiana Historical Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
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Midwest
| Regional U.S.
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Clark Gable: A Biography
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Carole Lombard - The Glamour Collection (Hands Across the Table/ Love Before Breakfast/ Man of the World/ The Princess Comes Across/ True Confession/ We're Not Dressing)
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Alice Faye: A Life Beyond the Silver Screen (Hollywood Legends Series)
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Leading Ladies: The 50 Most Unforgettable Actresses of the Studio Era
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ASIN: 0871951673 |
Customer Reviews:
Carole Lombard.......2006-07-11
This book read as if the author just accumulated facts from other writers and listed them in a sterile "here are the facts and only the facts" type of way. Not fun. Not very interesting. Very little insight into Carole Lombard.
Really a disappointment.
Nobody did it better.......2004-01-27
Reviewed for H-Indiana by Randy Roberts (rroberts@sla.purdue.edu), Department of History, Purdue University
Nobody did it better. She did not invent the type, the scatterbrained blond who spoke faster than she thought, but Carole Lombard made it her own. When I think of her my mind wanders first to My Man Godfrey (1936), a film that without Lombard would be forgotten today. Except for a few fine character performances, and a couple patches of nice writing, it is not really that good of a film. But her breathless charm, her inability to finish a sentence without gasping for air or mouth a sentence that seems to contain a period, carries the entire production. Five minutes into the film the viewer is hooked. How could William Powell, or anyone else, resist her? I cannot imagine another actress in the role without wincing, nor can I picture anyone but Lombard being able to carry Ernst Lubitsch's brilliant, sardonic, and poignant To Be or Not To Be (1942). The two films illuminate another vital aspect of Lombard: She brought out the best in her leading men. William Powell and, particularly, Jack Benny were never better. Although Lombard lacked the range of Barbara Stanwyck, she is like Stanwyck in the respect that their finest films are ageless, as fresh today as they were in the 1930s and 1940s.
Wes D. Gehring's Carole Lombard: The Hoosier Tornado is a brief, valuable examination of Lombard's life and films. Part of the recently inaugurated Indiana Biography Series, it reminds us that she was born Jane Alice Peters on October 6, 1908, in Fort Wayne, though Indiana only played the part of bookends in her life. Her mother relocated the family--sans husband--to California when the future star was still a young girl, and, of course, Lombard was returning from Indianapolis to Los Angeles after a war bond drive appearance when the plane she was in crashed west of Las Vegas. She died on January 17, 1942, three months after her thirty-third birthday. What was most important about her life, the films she dominated as an actress in the years between 1934 and 1942, had almost nothing to do with Indiana.
Gehring, a professor of film, does not take a fashionable academic approach to Lombard's career. Today, more than ever before, writing about movies is divided between two poles: the theoretically oriented and the biographically inclined. Gehring largely goes the biographical route. He traces Lombard's early career, her automobile accident that scarred her face (never very noticeable) and changed her conception of herself, her marriages to William Powell and Clark Gable, and her salty language and fine sense of humor. But most of his biography is devoted to her films, her relationships with cast members and directors. What emerges is the portrait of an actress caught between worlds. We use the word "Hollywood" with exquisite imprecision. Is it a place, an industry, a product, or a state of mind? It is all these things--and more. It is worlds inside worlds--worlds of agents and producers, directors and stars, the Cocoanut Grove circle and the Ronald Colman clique. Lombard maneuvered through these various worlds, attempting to define herself when everyone else (mostly powerful men) wanted to control her. It all makes for an interesting story--a Hollywood story about Hollywood.
Good book for new Lombard fans ..........2004-01-15
... but, as some reviewers have noted, it's not for the die-hard fan. That's because the book is basically a rehash of well-known anecdotes and draws heavily upon other biographies and articles. As for the lack of photos/thin volume, one must keep in mind that this was published by the Indiana Historical Society. It's very expensive to get the rights for photos, not to mention print them on high quality, glossy paper. Like another reader however, I give high marks just for getting a book on Lombard published - and that can be attributed to the Indiana Historical Society. I've published books and I have been pitching a biography of Carole Lombard for YEARS. I even have a complete outline and have chalked up years and years of research ... but publishers don't want to touch it. They just don't think she'd sell. There needs to be an angle, etc.
So this is the first book in a long time to be devoted solely to Lombard. In fact, it's been over 30 years since there has been any great interest in her. In the early and mid-70s there were a rash of books: Frederick Ott published 'The Films of Carole Lombard', Warren Harris published 'Gable and Lombard' - a poor film adaptation was made with Jill Clayburgh and James Brolin. Joe Morella published, 'Gable & Lombard & Powell & Harlow' and Leonard Maltin published 'Carole Lombard'. Then Larry Swindell published 'Screwball' - the only true biography of Lombard, which was also published during a time when so many of her peers were still around to be interviewed. Lyn Tornabene's bio of Clark Gable, 'Long Live the King' was published during this time and contains perhaps the best descriptions of Carole Lombard ever - sort of a bio within a bio. Several years ago, there was a glimmer of hope when Robert Matzen published a bio-bibliography of Carole Lombard. It was a rather dry read and suffered from odd print - but it was afterall, a bio-bibliography and so it was good in that respect. So, Gehring's book is really the first of its kind since Swindell's 'Screwball.'
I agree that Carole Lombard deserves so much more - and she should be able to stand alone (not just as the star-crossed, glamorous appendage of Clark Gable). I haven't given up hope yet! Although this book is not the best read, having it out there is very important and fans must keep in mind that the author was probably limited to the publishing house's resources. If you enjoy Lombard's movies and don't know much about her, this book is a good starting point.
Carole Lombard, the Hoosier Tornado.......2004-01-09
The book was poorly written. It started with her death, but shed no new light to what the average movie fan already knew. It seemed that the writer went on the internet, found some old articles and put them together and called it a book. I read it in one hour and just finished it simply because I started it.
Could have been so much more..........2003-12-31
I'm giving this 3 stars just for existing. Actually writing and publishing a book on Carole Lombard, a great comedienne unfortunately best remembered today for being the blonde half of "Gable and Lombard"(if you asked most people under 50 to identify her picture-or conversely, tell you what she looked like, they probably couldn't, unlike Bette Davis, Ginger Rogers or any number of other 1930's greats), gets the author points from me. Also commendable is the lack of breathless, over-the-top language "movie star" bios are so often filled with, being more "fan fiction" than fact. Too bad, then, that this book is so slim, as it's unlikely another publisher will put out anything else on her for some time; this one only made it into print on the basis of Lombard's being born in Indiana-and this is apparently one of a proposed series of "Hoosier"-film-related biographies to come. That said, while the author has done some research, there's not nearly enough here, either biographically or contexually and critically, to justify owning this for any but the most die-hard Lombard fans...of which I'm one. The photograph selection is particularly sparse and uninspired, criminal when writing about such a beautiful, photogenic woman as Lombard was.
There are almost NO candid shots, there's exactly ONE, often-printed "personal" photo of Lombard when she was 8 years old...many films are passed over, and there are a few glaring mistakes(note to Mr. Gehring: sir, any casual viewing of Carole's films will show that her famous scar (received in an auto accident in her teens, almost preempting her film career before it started) was on the LEFT, NOT the right side, of her face. What a weird error for a man to make who claims to have "lived surrounded" by Lombard memorabilia for years!). In sum, I'm disappointed that this book, which had the chance of being so much more, amounts to a long magazine article rather than a complete and definitive biography. The author does, however, have a deep affection for his subject, and does offer a few new insights-a few.
My recommendation for best-to-date stories and reflections on this great, great performer would be David Chierichetti's "Mitchell Leisen: Hollywood Director", an oral history of one of Carole's best directors, who also was an intimate friend of hers. Go for that one instead. if you must choose. And certainly check out "Nothing Sacred", "My Man Godfrey", "Hands Across the Table", and "To Be Or Not To Be", to name a few of her peerless films.
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