Treasury of Fantastic and Mythological Creatures: 1,087 Renderings from Historic Sources (Dover Pictorial Archive Series)

Book Description

Vast compilation of copyright-free images from many cultures and eras — from prehistoric rock paintings to Max Ernst, from the masks of black Africa to the gargoyles of Notre Dame.

Customer Reviews:

Mediocre Illustration.......2006-11-06

These illustration are mediocre at best and I wish I had realized that they were an artists interpretation of monsters from historical sources, not direct images. Darn.

Depends on your purpose.......2005-11-18

Satisfaction with this purchase will very much depend on your purpose. It certainly does not have much text in the book to accompany the illustrations. Personally, I wasn't expecting any having purchased other Dover publications for artists and craftspeople. Which then left the illustrations. There is a diverse range here across different parts of the world. I was expecting different 'ages' rather than different 'locations'; only because some pictorial archives (especially costume ones) start with the oldest period and work forwards.

As someone looking for different animals and creatures for use in collage art, altered books and card making, this is a good book to add to my collection. There are certainly all manner of creatures contained within.

If you are looking for an informative archive through text, then this is certainly not the book for you. If like me, you are looking for a range of creatures; then this book has something to offer.

well, it's a start.......2002-12-28

On the one hand, the book does offer wide-ranging coverage. There isn't a region of the world that isn't covered to some extent.

On the other hand, the textual information provided is sparse and occasionally *wrong*, and some of the inclusions are questionable.

Each illustration has a one-sentence caption, varying considerably in detail provided. Some give you all the information you would need to find the source of the original illustration, some are a single word identifying the type of creature, others are somewhere in-between. It's unclear how much of this dearth of information is because of the reliance on secondary rather than original sources, and how much of it is because the author and/or his editor over-did the cutting.

Also, some of the captions are mis-assigned. Going through the book, I easily spotted several occasions where two of the illustrations on the same page were clearly given each other's captions. I only spotted this a few times but it begs the question, how many other such errors are there in the book that I didn't spot?

Finally, some of the illustrations included really don't belong. Details from Bosch paintings make sense, they're demons ("fantastical and mythological creatures") from hundreds of years ago ("from historic sources"). But there are some figures from modern art included that don't seem to belong, particularly a Picasso that's just an abstract rendering of a normal human.

It may well be more useful for its bibliography than for its content.

one of a kind, but not very special................................2000-04-04

at first, i was terribly dissapointed at the simple black and white renderings and 1 sentance descriptions. however, i learned to appreciate it as a one of a kind book. it is not very insightful, special, creative, or informative, and i want to let let it be known that this book is not going to be good for a little kid who just likes little baby fairy tales or other things like that. this is especially for the advanced fan of mythological and fantastic creatures. i know that i tresure my copy though! love ya'!

Book Description

Kyoko always thought that Sho, whose family took her in when she was small, was her prince charming. However, when Sho heads for Tokyo to make it big as a musician, Kyoko goes with him and has to quit high school to support his dream. But soon, being in the big city makes Kyoko realize that she has show business ambitions of her own!

Customer Reviews:

"If 'sorry' was enough, there'd be no need for HELL!!".......2007-03-19

I bought "Skip Beat" after reading a preview chapter in Shojo Beat magazine. I liked the plot and the humor, so I bought it when it came out.

I was expecting plenty of humor, but I got a lot more than that. Kyoko's quest for vengence is hilarious indeed, but the best thing about it is how easy it is to relate. In fact, this is probably why the humor is so good in the first place. It's great to watch Kyoko obsess over getting even because we've all been there. Who hasn't ever wanted to prove her worth to some stupid jerk? And Kyoko's moments of glory are extrememly satisfying. It's like when you argue with someone and can't think of anything brilliant to say until much later. Well, Kyoko gets some really killer lines in at just the right moment. I often find myself laughing maniacally right along with her while I'm reading (which earns me some curious glances from my roommate).

The characters make this manga, especially Kyoko. You can admire her devotion to Sho in the beginning, misguided though it is, and you really sympathize with her anger after she finds out she's been duped. She's strong-willed. She's not perfect and forgiving, and she doesn't go around feeling sorry for herself either. And I also like Ren Tsugara, the biggest celebrity around who has a secret mean streak.

The art is nothing special, but it's appropriate somehow. Kyoko's not especially glamorous, and the guys, though not pretty like in most shojo manga, are tall and dark. I thought the characters' designs all fit their personalities very well.

"Skip Beat" has become one of my favorite manga. A must-read for anyone who has ever been put down, made a fool of, or just wanted to get even.

I am interested in Yoshiko Nakamura works after reading this.......2007-03-02

when a great art join a funny characters the story always be good.

Sho Fuwa decided to go to Tokyo to be a "Celebrity" and he asked his childhood friend whom often stays at his family house Kyoko Mogami to come with him, and she accepted since he chosed her among all people, after moving to Tokyo Sho is getting "famous" slowly and he is getting more sullen everyday, Kyoko trying to support him and to understand him since the road to be a star is hard, but once she heard sho talking to other celeb girl and she heard him says that he just sees her as maid and thinks she is ugly and booring and of course she will move her butt to support him since he is the famous Sho Fuwa, she decided to stop beeing with him and otherwise she wanted to beat sho and be a greater star than him, so he beg for mercy someday, she changed her look (its amazing how do girls change their look!) and she started her way to get revange from sho.

its very good story but the guys has very long faces which I hate, otherwise everything is cool, Kyokos revange will need too much work and its seems very hopless, and another character appears Ren is a famous actress that is even sho cant be more cool than him, that Ren works at the same place where Kyoko went to so she got another long face guy to beat

Skip Beat!!.......2006-10-28

I have been reading this serie way before it was licensed here. I begun reading the Japanese version when volume 7 was just released in Japan, and now there are 14 volumes out so far! I bought them all! So happy. The English version is not, but there are a few error here and there, but still worth purchasing. If you like this work, you might like her other work : Tokyo Crazy Paradise where there are 19 volumes in total. Hopefully that serie gets licensed. While waiting, I am planning to buy the Japanese version.

Also you might like "The Wallflower" (A.k.A Shichi Henge or Perfect Girl Evolution) by Yamato Nadeshiko.

Great!.......2006-07-26

Where to even start? How about with THIS MANGA IS AWESOME! Skip Beat! Volume 1 kicks off a great start to what promises to be an addictive series.

At first, I wasn't sure on buying this manga because of the whole "girl followed childhood friend turned star--childhood friend turned star just using girl--girl finds out and wants to now make it into show biz just to extract her revenge on him." It sounded like a typical and predictable manga plot of revenge that I really had to toy with the idea of buying it on a whim.

But boy, am I glad that I did! It may have the used and reused revenge plot line, but Yoskihi Nakamura makes this plot idea completly atypical!

This manga grabs you with its off beat style and humor, the only complaint I have about it is the way the two lead males are drawn. It's either their faces are too narrow, or that their necks are just too thick. It takes a little getting used to, but Skip Beat! is worth it!

Fantastic........2006-07-26

Skip Beat! is a wonderful, hilarious manga about fifteen-year old Mogami Kyoko, who is initially a sweet, devoted young girl who, upon his request, comes to Tokyo with her childhood friend, Fuwa Shou, to support him as he pursues his musical career. Kyoko has dreamed since she was a little girl that Shou was her prince, and that one day, he would marry her and she would be like a princess...

Until the day that Kyoko overhears him complaining about her - how boring, naive, and ugly she is, and a complete drag on his time. Rather than breaking into tears, Kyoko is disgusted and enraged, and declares that she'll have her revenge - and since by now, Shou really is a very popular star, she'll enact this vengeance by becoming a bigger star than *him*.

Kyoko is the reason this manga is so great: she's determined (she gives new meaning to the word), a hard worker, ambitious, and constantly trying to find out who she really is and who she wants to be. Plus, she makes and utilizes voodoo dolls - how can you not love her?

This volume covers Kyoko's very beginnings into the world of showbiz, and introduces Kyoko's likely love interest, the very popular (and wonderfully evil and yet so perfect) actor, Tsuruga Ren.

Nakamura Yoshiki (NOT Yoshiko, Amazon) is a great manga artist who won my heart with Tokyo Crazy Paradise, the series with which she really refined her drawing style. In any case, Skip Beat! is fully of great drawings, fantastic paneling, and the most hilarious dialogue. It's fresh, unique, and given to few of the typical shoujo cliches; I'd agree with another reviewer and state that Nakamura really raises the bar for shoujo.

As to how Viz did: they included some cultural notes that clarify what might be confusing for non-Japanese readers, which I was pleased with... but there's a WHOPPING BIG GRAMMATICAL ERROR in this book that I pitched a fit over. That said, it was only one (albeit a big one - it was even in bold), so the rest of the translation is done very well, and the packaging, in line with the rest of their Shoujo Beat line, is tidy with a regular gloss, if not as great as, say, Del Rey's XXXHolic packaging.

Highly recommended for anyone who loves great characters, humor, potential love triangles, and a flat-out wonderful series.

Book Description

A humorous look at churches in America by photgrapher Herman Krieger with a foreword by Kern Trembath, Assistant Chairman, Department of Theology, University of Notre Dame. The book has 86 duotone illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

Photos Tease the Faithful, Tickle the Funny Bone.......2004-12-22

New York Times, Internet Edition

By Rebecca Fairley Raney

Even through the confusion of the last 30 years, people have managed to maintain some basic social tenets: don't hit, don't run around naked and don't laugh in church. Laughing at a church is definitely out of the question.

Perhaps that's why Herman Krieger is getting so many laughs. He made a career of making light of churches in a photo essay called "Churches ad hoc", a sort of renegade Rorschach test fit for any Sunday school.

In Krieger's eye, a statue of a Jesus without hands is "Carpal Deum." A boarded-up church is "The Pope's Answer to Luther." And a happy blond toddler on the lawn of the Zion Evangelical Lutheran Church becomes "Young Zionist."

This sometimes irreverent photo essay on churches draws a variety of responses. It is either too funny to be religious or too religious to be funny. The pictures speak to the perspective of whoever sees them. Christians see devotion. Atheists see satire. Photographers see artistry.

Krieger was most surprised at the response from Christians. He thought they might take offense. "I'm not a Christian," he said, "and I got so many comments from people who thought I knew something about theology."

In more than a year since the site went up, "Churches ad hoc" has drawn more than 50 links from Christian Web sites, and pastors often ask if they can use his pictures for their calendars and newsletters. The photographs were even exhibited in the Art Rageous tent at the 1996 Cornerstone Church Festival in Illinois. After the festival, Christian chat rooms lit up with praise, and many people called the photos the best art exhibit shown.

On his own Web site, Krieger lists people's responses. "Your photography is as playful and cogent as your prose," one fan wrote. "By the way, I pastor a small church in Washington, D.C., and thoroughly enjoyed your poking through the pious facade."

Paradoxically, the response from atheists and freethinkers has been just as enthusiastic.

"Thanks for carrying on the tradition of laughing at religion!" one wrote.

"You manage to capture the essence of the hypocrisy that fuels all religions in a very clever and humorous style," another commented.

Then there are the photographers, who see only photography. "I loved your panoramic photos; I wish I had your skill so that my contemporary photos of Detroit would look even close. Care to pass along any tips?"

When his work holds such broad appeal, you have to wonder why Krieger is giving his pictures away for free. But he's 71, and his days of working for other people are gladly past. He produced the photo essay in pursuit of the bachelor's degree in fine arts he earned after he retired.

Photography has long held a fascination for Krieger. He worked for a photo lab technician during his teens in Detroit in the 1940s and did darkroom work for press photographers. During World War II, the Army put him to work as a photo lab technician.

But then his career took a turn. He went to California in 1950, earned a degree in mathematics from the University of California at Berkeley, then spent 30 years as a computer programmer in Holland. When he retired, he and his wife moved to Eugene, Ore., and he promptly enrolled for classes at the University of Oregon.

He shot the first pictures for "Churches ad hoc" in 1993. In the last four years, he took his camera wherever he went: Oregon, California, New York, Las Vegas, Arizona, Illinois, Washington state.

Krieger started shooting churches on a whim after taking a picture of a cross in a tree for a different essay. His own religious background did not prohibit him from pursuing the concept; he was raised Jewish. In fact, he thinks his upbringing helped.

"I can look at them without getting emotionally involved," he said.

The work continues to prompt comments such as: "clearly your artistry transcends ideological statements and speaks to people of all faiths, or of no faith."

To the diverse, boisterous masses of the Web, he contributed a unifying icon, an image that was a success not because he set out to make a point, but because he didn't.

Book Description

The Art of Shuffling

It's the most talked about digital music player and fashion statement. The iPod Shuffle has launched the "shuffling revolution" --the portable music experience with the element of surprise and spontaneity.

The iPod Shuffle Fan Book guides owners on a musical discovery that is never predictable. If you've joined, or are planning to join the "shuffle revolution," this user-friendly, compact and beautifully designed book is the ultimate guide. It shows you how to maximize on the potential of the Shuffle and the power of playlists. Learn how to get it up and running, load it with up to 240 songs, or use it as a flash drive to transport files. This written companion will guide Shuffle owners to master the art of music adventuring:

Create custom playlists for any occasion
Discover, share, and publish playlists with iMix
Burn your playlists on CDs

Whether at work or play, iPod Shuffle owners will get the most out of their "shuffling" experience with this handy guide.

Customer Reviews:

Makes a great stocking stuffer for the holidays!.......2006-11-04

Learn that you can do more with an iPod(tm) Shuffle than just uploading songs and listening randomly. If you have a Shuffle, you might want to start with this little 90 page soft-bound book. It is compact (5.9 x 6") and beautifully designed. There are all color images or screenshots on almost every page. One feature that I found very handy was the color coded chapter tags on the left hand side of the pages. On the right side listed the chapter you were in making finding things easier.The red part of the cover is actually a separate piece and I found myself using the ends as a bookmark. No big deal but nonetheless a useful feature.

The book handles all the basics in an easy to understand manner. The chapters range from getting started, all about iTunes, playlists, using your Shuffle as a Pocket USB Drive, cool stuff for your Shuffle and Troubleshooting. Extras include how to make CD covers in iTunes, burning playlists to CD or DVD, making celebrity (or different moods) playlists, and publishing your own playlists in iMix in iTunes.

You do receive a little 29 page (paper) User Guide with your Shuffle that walks you through the basics quite adequately but if you want to know and do more, then this inexpensive iPod Shuffle Fan Book is for you. The chapter on iTunes and the music store was very comprehensive, as was the listing of Apple's and various other web sites about iPods. It gives a new owner a good place to start. I was totally blown away at the power in the little Shuffle. I was equally impressed with this little book. Many aspects of the book will still be relevant if you upgrade to a Nano or larger iPod. Buy the book...it's cheap at $9.95 and makes good quick reading so you don't have to wade through pages and pages to get an answer. Information is presented in a comprehensive and fun manner! I recommend it heartily.

Shuffle handbook.......2006-03-17

This is the book that Apple should have included with the Shuffle. It is a great and simple source of information.

Shuffle off to Buffalo..........2006-01-13

I've owned the iPod Shuffle for about a year, and find it's the best model for people who want to use their iPods while they jog or work out. It has enough memory (even at the low 1/2 gig end) to store a days worth of music, and can either play songs in order or do the whole shuffle random thing. Controls are very intuitive, and it's easy to operate. This book is great for people who need instructions. The actual manual that comes with the Shuffle is short and not too in-depth, and this book is a good replacement for new Shuffle users who are unfamiliar with the product. But people looking for some "Shuffle secrets" like how to jump to the beginning or end of a playlist by a couple of button moves won't find these hacks here. That's my only gripe. The book is cheap, cute, but really doesn't go in to the secret world of all the little tricks this thing can do. You'll have to search the Web for that part.

HAVING FUN WITH IPOD SHUFFLE.......2005-11-25

Are you thinking about getting an iPod Shuffle, have an iPod Shuffle or maybe you just wanted to learn a little more about the world's littlest iPod without having to wade through a book five times the size of the Shuffle itself? If you are, this book is for you! Author Jude Biersdorfer, has done an outstanding job of writing a great book on how to use the iPod Shuffle.

Biersdorfer begins by explaining how to work the iPod Shuffle and how to make digital music file in iTunes. Next, the author specifically shows you how to use iTunes to get digital music files for the iPod Shuffle. Then, Biersdorfer shows you how to transfer the digital music files. The author continues by playing with playlists. In addition, the author next focuses on ways of using the iPod Shuffle to carry files. Biersdorfer also discusses iPod Shuffle accessories. Finally, Biersdorfer tells you where to find more information about the iPod Shuffle and where iPod fanatics like to hang out on the Web so you can drop by and find out all the latest iPod Shuffle news.

In this excellent book, Biersdorfer goes well beyond the brief booklet that comes inside of your Shuffle box and explains in complete detail how to use an iPod Shuffle. According to Biersdorfer, "life is random, but learning how to use your iPod shouldn't be!"

Excellent Companion Guide For iPod Owners.......2005-10-08

The "iPod Shuffle Fan Book" is an outstanding guide for anyone that wants to get the most out of their iPod Shuffle! From discussing what makes the iPod Shuffle truly unique compared to its bigger cousins to getting music on your Shuffle to playing music throughout your house to all the neat stuff you can buy for your iPod Shuffle, this book is for you!!

In a nutshell, this book is for anyone that wants to learn all the different great ways they can use their iPod shuffle and how to make this great little product all that much better. If you are heavily experienced in using portable music players you probably wouldn't find it as useful, but for the novice to amateur iPod person, this guide is a great companion and makes a great gift!

***** RECOMMENDED

Book Description

This is a book that preserves a ten year period of history of the FIrst Coast of Florida. Jacksonville Florida experienced it's greatest period of progress and success from 1986 to 1996, while the city expanded tremendously in area and growth.

Jacksonville Diary was written around a decade of award winning radio commentaries that portray all aspects of daily life on the First Coast. It presents a vivid picture that is so distinctive on the First Coast.

Book Description

During the Civil War in the early 1860s, Calvin L. Robinson was a successful businessman in Jacksonville, Florida, transplanted from his native state of Vermont. Loyal to the Union and finding slave-holding repugnant, he refused to join the secessionist movement in the South. Targeted for his open sympathies for the Union, he would eventually lose his sawmills, his cash, his warehouse, and even his home.

In this journal which he kept during that critical period of U.S, history, he describes the reign of terror in Jacksonville and Fernandina in the years from 1860 to 1864. He met secretly with other Unionists and even helped train a fighting unit. When the Union gunboats that promised safety failed to appear in time, he and his wife, Elizabeth, fled the burning city with their two young sons. Contrary to the prevailing opinions of historians, it was not the invading Union forces which burned the city but fellow southerners who were out to get him and the other Union sympathizers.

After finding their way to New York City and then back to Vermont, the Robinson family was homeless for three years. Upon their return to Jacksonville, Calvin reestablished himself in the business community and again flourished. He founded an orphanage for black children.

This journal was passed down from Calvin Robinson's heirs and found its way into the hands of his great granddaughter, Anne Clancy, who transcribed and edited this important primary document from the Civil War.

Average customer rating:
Diary of John M. Mickey
John Murray Mickey
Manufacturer: S. Norton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Jacksonville | Florida | States | United States | Travel | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B00072CHN4

Average customer rating:
Jacksonville diary: Behind the microphone
Ed Bell
Manufacturer: Carobell Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Southeast | State & Local | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0006FCAIE

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