Witness to Her Art

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Witness to Her Art
Kara Walker , Daniela Rossell , Mona Hatoum , Cady Noland , Jenny Holzer , Rhea Anastas , Michael Brenson , Norton Batkin , Johanna Burton , Aruna d'Souza , Pamela Franks , Janet Kraynak , David Levi Strauss , Cuauhtemoc Medina , Ann Reynolds , and Adrian Piper
Manufacturer: Bard College
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Who Cares

Global Feminisms: New Directions in Contemporary Art

WACK!: Art and the Feminist Revolution

Collectivism after Modernism: The Art of Social Imagination after 1945

Participation (Documents of Contemporary Art)

ASIN: 1931493553
Release Date: 2007-03-01

Book Description

This radical new study aims to change the way that some of the most influential artists of the past 40 years are seen--all of them women. Emphasizing questions of autonomy, critical intelligence and artistic intention, Witness to Her Art presents works by Adrian Piper, Mona Hatoum, Cady Noland, Jenny Holzer, Kara Walker, Daniela Rossell and Eau de Cologne, a magazine published by gallerist Monika Spruth. The artworks are accompanied by original writings by the artists, contemporaneous criticism and newly commissioned essays by Pamela Franks, Aruna D'Souza, Johanna Burton, David Levi Strauss, Hamza Walker and Cuauhtemoc Medina. The ambitious works presented and interpreted herein invite us to consider the impact of the feminist revolution across generations while rendering obsolete any stigma associated with shows or catalogues limited to women artists. Taking its lead from Conceptualism, feminism, and from its included artists, Witness to Her Art reaches for art history's capacity as a medium of world-making.

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Minimalisms: A Sign of the Times
Javier Rodriguez Marcos , Anatxu Zabalbeascoa , Tom Johnson , Rafael Moneo , Helmut Federle , Donna Karan , Kasimir Malevich , Anni Albers , Andreas Gursky , Mona Hatoum , Eva Hesse , Donald Judd , Sol Lewitt , Mark Rothko , Richard Serra , Frank Stella , Josef Albers , Dan Flavin , and Jean Nouvel
Manufacturer: Actar/Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia and Aldeasa
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Book Description

Rather than limit the minimal to being a type of visual art, the curators of Minimalisms: A Sign of the Times conceive of the minimal as a way of life, as a spirit that impregnates nearly the whole of modern culture and its surroundings. After an exhaustive overview of classic Minimalist works by Dan Flavin, Frank Stella, Agnes Martin, Carl Andre, and Elsworth Kelly, Minimalisms looks further, at artworks by Andreas Gursky, Candida Hoffer, Richard Serra, Jean-Marc Bustamante, and Gunther Forg, architecture by Peter Zumthor, Dominique Perrault, Claus En Kaan, and Rafael Moneo, furniture designs by Donald Judd and Shiro Kuramate, and fashion designs by Anni Albers, Donna Karan, and Issey Miyaki. Linking them all is a simplicity of form and ornament, a technical precision, and the essential and concrete nature of structure.

Mona Hatoum: The Entire World as a Foreign Land

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Mona Hatoum: The Entire World as a Foreign Land
Edward Said
Manufacturer: Tate
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1854373269

Book Description

Mona Hatoum was born in Beirut in 1952, to Palestinian parents, and settled in London in 1975. She first became known for a series of performance and video pieces which focused with great intensity on the body. Since the beginning of the 1990s her work has shifted towards installation and sculpture. This book focuses on three new works created for the Tate. Dramatic in scale, Mouli-Julienne (x21), Continental Drift, and Homebound make familiar objects seem foreign, rendering them beautiful yet malevolent. Through the juxtaposition of opposites such as beauty and horror, Hatoum engages the viewer in conflicting emotions of desire and revulsion, fear and fascination.

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Smart and good-looking
Pity to close hatoum'work on a book

Mona Hatoum (Contemporary Artists)
Mona Hatoum
Manufacturer: Phaidon Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0714836605

Book Description

Each of Mona Hatoum's works can be read as a formula for human existence, expressed in a penetrating visual language that is both complex and puzzling. As the artist herself points out, iOneis first experience of a work of art is physical. I appreciate works that have sensual as well as intellectual impact. Meanings, connotations, and associations begin to emerge only after the initial physical experience, when the imagination, the intellect, and the psyche are ignited by what one has seen.i The daughter of Palestinian parents, Hatoum has long been regarded in Great Britain and the U.S. as one of the most important artists of her generation. Born in Lebanon in 1952 and a resident of London since 1975, her sensitivity to themes of power and identity has been heightened by a life lived outside her homeland. Many of her objects, video pieces, and installations deal with aspects of institutionalized violence and the vulnerability of the individual; her central point of reference is the body, in many cases her own. This is the first book to document the full breadth of Mona Hatoum's oeuvre, up to and including her most recent projects.

Customer Reviews:

Smart and good-looking.......2000-06-28

This is a good introduction to the art of Mona Hatoum. The book has several well written texts, an interesting interview, and very good photos. Of course, the kind of work Hatoum makes does not lend itself easily to photography, and inevitably some of the impact is lost (but then again, this could be said for any book on art...). Oh, and it is a very good-looking book.

Pity to close hatoum'work on a book.......2000-06-15

The big art work of Mona Hatoum really don't are able to be close between to cover. Like her performance, her installation and sculpture are ugly and mute in a static and not-so-well-printed photografy book. Good is the intro, and the index of exibitions

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Mona Hatoum: Domestic Disturbance
Site Santa Fe (Gallery)
Manufacturer: Storey Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0970073844

Book Description

Mona Hatoum is recognized as one of the most significant figures in contemporary art. Her work addresses political conflict, the physical body, and feminist issues in a surrealistic style and with a minimalist aesthetic. This thought-provoking artist uses diverse methods and works in various media, including installation, video, sculpture, and performance art. This four-color catalog of her current exhibition at the Massachusetts Museum of Contemporary Art (MASS MoCA) in North Adams was edited by Laura Heon, MASS MoCA's Curator, and gracefully illuminates in words and pictures the Hatoum exhibition, which was at SITE Santa Fe in New Mexico before coming to Massachusetts. The works in DOMESTIC DISTURBANCE revolve around Hatoum's continuing fascination with the everyday object, which she turns into something uncanny and often threatening. Kitchen utensils crackle with an audible, amplified electrical current in Sous Tension. The Baalbek Birdcage, a beautiful Victorian birdcage enlarged to the exact size of a prison cell at Alcatraz, represents the near-universal, feminine dread of a confining domestic life. La Grand Broyeuse (Mouli-Julienne x17) is an 18-foot-tall reproduction of an early, hand-operated "food processor," which the viewer quickly realizes could injure a human being. Also included, in sharp contrast, is a series of delicate rubbings on Japanese wax paper - faint, ghostly impressions, white on a white sheet - that Hatoum created during a residency at the Shaker community in Sabbath Day Lake, Maine, using beautiful handmade Shaker colanders and graters from the 1880s.

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Labortorio Atre Alameda (Mona Hatoum)
Mona Hatoum
Manufacturer: Conaculta
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

1st Valencia Biennial: Communication Between the Arts, The

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1st Valencia Biennial: Communication Between the Arts, The
Peter Greenaway , Emir Kusturica , Shiro Takatani , Nobuyoshi Araki , Achille Bonito Oliva , Jake Chapman , Dinos Chapman , Clegg & Guttmann , Cecily Brown , Jan Fabre , Alan Rath , Andres Serrano , Jane Wilson , Louise Wilson , Massimo Bartolini , John Bock , David Byrne , Claude Closky , Andreas Gursky , Mona Hatoum , Luigi Settembrini , and Robert Takatani, Shiro Wilson
Manufacturer: Charta
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 8881583364
Release Date: 2001-10-02

Book Description

This first edition of the Valencia Biennial was dedicated to communication between the arts and centered on innovation as the language of contemporary culture. Featured artists include Nobuyoshi Araki, Peter Greenaway, Mona Hatoum, Clegg & Guttmann, Richard Billingham, Maja Bajevic, Cecily Brown, John Bock, David Byrne, and Anish Kapoor.

Art From the UK: Angela Bulloch, Willie Doherty, Tracey Emin, Douglas Gordon, Mona Hatoum, Abigail Lane, Sarah Lucas, Sam Taylor-Wood, Rachel Whitread

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a credible book to credit great artwork

Art From the UK: Angela Bulloch, Willie Doherty, Tracey Emin, Douglas Gordon, Mona Hatoum, Abigail Lane, Sarah Lucas, Sam Taylor-Wood, Rachel Whitread
Neal Brown , David Bussel , Paul Fryer , Angela Bulloch , Tracey Emin , Douglas Gordon , Mona Hatoum , Sarah Lucas , Rachel Whiteread , and Abigail Lane
Manufacturer: Ingvild Goetz
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

Featuring interviews with and artwork by such hot young British artists as Mona Hatoum, Sam Taylor-Wood, Rachel Whiteread, Willie Doherty, Tracey Emin, Douglas Gordon, Abigail Lane, Angela Bulloch, and Sarah Lucas, Art from the UK documents an exhibition at the Goetz Collection in Munich. The Goetz Collection is one of the most important collections devoted solely to contemporary art, and is housed in its own small private museum, designed by renowned Swiss architects Herzog & de Meuron. The works presented here exemplify the Goetz Collection's dedication to art that is innovative and challenging--from Mona Hatoum's surprising and complex mixture of media, to Rachel Whiteread's inverted spaces, to Sam Taylor-Wood's explorations of the erotic entanglements of people in closed spaces. In addition, the interviews presented in Art from the UK offer a tremendous insight into the changing creative processes and aesthetic philosophies of the new wave of contemporary artists.

Customer Reviews:

a credible book to credit great artwork.......2001-04-08

I found this book ot be an excellent asset to my collection of modern british art. I thought that the large amount of content was covered thouroghly, but not drawn out to get stale(just like the artwork itself, discussed). This is a very important book because it recaps all of what is happening with the yBa movement in the artworld. This book is for anyone who wants to be on top of the world of modern art.

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Mona Hatoum
Desa Philippi
Manufacturer: Arnolfini Gallery
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0907738338

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Mona Hatoum
Giorgio Verzotti
Manufacturer: Charta
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Suzanne Helmuth and Jock Reynolds: Photographas and Documents, 1975-1985
Philip Brookman
Manufacturer: Mary P. Sesnon Art Gallery
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0939982064

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Banzai Volume 1
Dai Suzuki
Manufacturer: ADV Manga
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: B000SN4W30

Book Description

Banzai is a samurai who knows nothing of his past or of his membership in a "brotherhood" of seven orphans. After defeating another samurai in a violent battle, he is slowly reacquainted with his memories, but only well enough to know that other fights will follow. Banzai will embark on a journey and, along with a few companions he acquires along the way, he will face the remaining members of the brotherhood - including those "brothers" who wish to see him dead!

Customer Reviews:

A Graduate Course in Commercial Acting Excellence.......2000-03-27

Joan See, a classically trained actor (Sanford Meisner, Wynn Handman), explodes numerous myths about acting in commercials, such as:

o Commercial acting is easy

o Commercial acting requires no craft or skill

o Commercial acting is selling

On the contrary, says See: the actor's job is not to sell. Actors "must bring little stories to life in a way that makes other people believe them. If you believe that your job is selling, you will feel that something other than acting is required. But don't forget what the advertisers hired you for - your acting skills. They want your ability to communicate ideas and feelings in such a way that their audience believes you." In other words, actors in commercials need to remain grounded in their foundation skills of acting.

The challenge for actors with a background in theater, says See, is that they don't understand the differing requirements of acting in front of a camera, and the challenge for all actors unfamiliar with the commercial genre is the need to turn in masterful performances in mere seconds in the somewhat bewildering formats and styles found in commercials. This book provides detailed help on both fronts.

The author begins by reviewing acting fundamentals that apply to the naturalistic stories actors are most often asked to bring to life in commercials, including the basic skills of relaxation, concentration, listening and responding, and physicalization. She then discusses the mechanics of acting before a camera, both in the audition and on the set, and lays out strategies for overcoming the most common traps in those settings.

Finally, in the meat of the book, See identifies the three most common forms that Madison Avenue tends to use in commercials -- slice-of-life, spokesperson, and MOS -- and the three most common styles in which those forms are expressed -- film-style, sitcom-style, and "Honeymooners" -- and lays out extensive strategies for practicing, auditioning, and performing in these forms and styles.

This is valuable information indeed: "Analyzing commercial scripts by pinpointing their form and style gives an actor the first chance to control the material. With this information, you suddenly have guidelines for your performance. You have something to work with. The directors and casting directors in the commercial advertising field know what results they want. They are not always skilled at helping actors obtain that result. Actors must be able to function as their own director and bring their performance into the audition with them."

This book provides an excellent set of tools for navigating these challenging but lucrative waters. It is full of practical information, example scripts, and helpful guidance, almost all of which is firmly rooted in classic acting. Practicing and using the techniques in this book, an actor should no longer be like a deer in the headlights at an audition or on the set. Highly recommended.

Up-front, practical, informative, easy to grasp concepts.......1999-04-26

I have had the pleasure of reading several books for actors aspiring to make commercials a part of their livelihood. This is an easily understood exposition of the many facets of commercial work and the transition from stage acting to camera. Many superb examples of eye-opening scenarios give the book life and energy. Anyone aspiring to make commercials should give this book thorough study. Ms. See offers several other sources for self study in the pages toward the end and examples of commercial copy and the mind set to make a performance count.

Book Description

The beginnings of jazz and the story of Charles "Buddy" Bolden (1877-1931) are inextricably intertwined. Just after the turn of the century, New Orleanians could often hear Bolden's powerful horn from the city's parks and through dance hall windows. He had no formal training, but what he lacked in technical finesse he made up for in style. It was this—his unique style, both musical and personal—that made him the first "king" of New Orleans jazz and the inspiration for such later jazz greats as King Oliver, Kid Ory, and Louis Armstrong.

For years the legend of Buddy Bolden was overshadowed by myths about his music, his reckless lifestyle, and his mental instability. In Search of Buddy Bolden overlays the myths with the substance of reality. Interviews with those who knew Bolden and an extensive array of primary sources enliven and inform Donald M. Marquis's absorbing portrait of the brief but brilliant career of the first man of jazz. For this paperback edition, Marquis has added a new preface and appendix. He relates events and discoveries that have occurred since the book's original publication in 1978, including a jazz funeral and a monument erected in honor of Bolden in 1996, the locating of Bolden's granddaughter, the proper identification of Bolden's clarinet players, and the unfortunate confirmation of the destruction of the last known Bolden recording.

Customer Reviews:

Reverent deromanticizing.......2006-07-20

I'm astonished and heartened that this extraordinary book has been re-published. I would suppose that everyone who has heard Oliver, Armstrong, Bechet, Morton et al. has heard of Buddy Bolden, "the most powerful cornet player that ever was hoid, or ever was known" (Morton in his Library of Congress recordings). Unfortunately, he never was recorded, except, maybe, some say, for a paper disc, back around 1902 or 1905, right before they put him in the insane asylum. The big bang of jazz.
What makes this book remarkable, though, aside from its subject, is how painstakingly the author has documented his search. And, I rush to add, entertainingly. I don't know of another book in which we hear every detail of archival and courthouse searching and enjoy every paragraph, as we do here. It all adds, in fact, to the fascination and pathos associated with this first figure of jazz music, and indeed with the passage of time and the loss of most things and most of us in it.

The real Buddy Bolden.......2000-03-31

Donald M. Marquis not only brings us the real Buddy Bolden, the first "Jazzman", but also turn of the century New Orleans, a hotbed of musical innovation. Marquis' succesfully describes all the different cultural influences that all of the sudden converged into what we now call jazz. How New Orleans' multicultural make up made it possible for jazz to come of age, and finally how Buddy Bolden unknowingly began jazz, the first true american music. As a person living in New Orleans, and working just a few blocks from where Buddy Bolden was born and lived, it was specially refreshing to get acquainted with his story. I have been able to corroborate first hand with marquis' descriptions, as I frequently walk through First Street and in front of Buddy's home. This is a must read book for all those interested in early jazz.

The Real Story of a Legend.......2000-03-25

When the first jazz writers in the late 1930s started asking older musicians about the origins of the music, the name "Buddy Bolden" kept comming up. Bolden was a New Orleans trumpeter and bandleader active in the 1890s and first decade of the 1900s who some contemporary and later musicians credit as having started jazz.

Bolden became a figure of legend, with 4th hand stories about him being passed around, and his name has been used for fictional characters (most notably in writer Michael Ondaatje's well written but historically inaccurate novel "Coming Through Slaughter").

Legends aside, Buddy Bolden was a real person. Writer and researcher Don Marquis find the real story of Bolden. This book is the result of long research, both in archives and interviewing and cross-checking accounts of surviving people who had know Bolden first hand. The book may be a bit dry in parts compared to a novel, but here you get the truth about Bolden, his life, his associates, and his music. Unlike his fictional counterpart, the real Bolden wasn't a barber and never heard the music he was helping form called "jazz" during his active life, but he did play an original loud and driving style of cornet that made New Orleans take notice, until he was hauled away to an insane asylum in 1907.

If anyone wants to find out about Buddy Bolden, this is THE book.

-- DCM "Froggy"

NEED TO KNOW ABOUT HIS FAMILY HISTORY,CHILDREN,WIFE,PARENTS.......1999-09-15

I'M TRYING TO LOCATE MY COUSIN BUDDY BOLDEN THE JAZZ MUSICIAN, THE BLUE MUSICIAN, ETC. AND HIS FAMILY. PLEASE E:MAIL ME AT SHERRY_A._BOLDEN@HUD.GOV. OR CALL ME ON 202-708-0614 EXT. 3336 OR MY HOME NUMBER AT 703-837-8282. I AM ONE OF THE YOUNGEST BOLDEN'S. HOPE TO HEAR FROM YOU SOON.

In Search of Buddy Bolden, First Man of Jazz. (book reviews): An article from: The Mississippi Quarterly

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In Search of Buddy Bolden, First Man of Jazz. (book reviews): An article from: The Mississippi Quarterly
Ted Olson
Manufacturer: Mississippi State University
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Book Description

This digital document is an article from The Mississippi Quarterly, published by Mississippi State University on September 22, 1994. The length of the article is 1410 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: In Search of Buddy Bolden, First Man of Jazz. (book reviews)
Author: Ted Olson
Publication: The Mississippi Quarterly (Refereed)
Date: September 22, 1994
Publisher: Mississippi State University
Volume: v47 Issue: n4 Page: p716(5)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

In Search of Buddy Bolden : First Man of Jazz

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In Search of Buddy Bolden : First Man of Jazz
Donald M. Marquis
Manufacturer: Louisiana State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OLXRPU

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Good book, have your chess board out while reading it!

Excellent intro to chess

Very Difficult Book

Useful information, but mediocre presentation

just another rag for the "provisional self-esteem" crowd who feel warmed when called a "DUMMIE"

Chess For Dummies
James Eade
Manufacturer: For Dummies
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess, Third Edition

Beginning Chess: Over 300 Elementary Problems for Players New to the Game

Chess For Beginners

Chess for Kids

Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess

ASIN: 0764584049

Amazon.com

It was inevitable, thank goodness, that the Dummies series would give us an introductory chess book. The light touch is perfect to offset the sober aura of mystery that surrounds the game in many people's minds. And the extras that reach beyond the well-written move explanations, strategies, and pattern-recognition make the book a real winner. It won't take much playing for readers to appreciate the section on chess etiquette, for example, or the one on uncommon moves, subtitled, "The Ones That Start the Fights." Informative tips and amusing bits of trivia add to the fun.

Book Description

Proven tactical tips to strengthen your game

Your quick and easy guide to the rules, strategies, and etiquette of chess

Kings, queens, knights - does chess seem like a royal pain to grasp? This friendly guide helps you make the right moves. From using the correct terms to engaging in the art of attack, you'll get step-by-step explanations that demystify the game. You'll also find updated information on tournaments and top players, as well as computer chess games and playing chess online!

Discover how to:

Set up your chessboard
Understand the pieces and their powers
Recognize the game's patterns
Decipher chess notation
Employ tactics to gain an advantage
Find tournaments and clubs

Customer Reviews:

Good book, have your chess board out while reading it!.......2007-01-19

This was a gift for someone else, they liked it a lot (a 14 year-old that is trying to learn chess well enough to beat his mother). You do need your chess board out while reading it to visualize the moves, not something easily done in a car!

Excellent intro to chess.......2006-06-13

I read through this book after having read the numerous negative reviews on this page. I'm a c.1400 player looking for something on chess that would help my nieces and nephews. I thought the book was excellent: clear, easy to understand, well-written, and interesting.

NEGATIVES: only real negative was two chess diagrams that contained errors. Some reviewers had difficulties with the organization, but I thought it was a quite well-organized intro.

POSITIVES: #1. The many diagrams make it possible for even beginners to understand about 90% of the book without pulling out a chess set. One should use a chess set, of course, but I think few readers will, and they will scarcely ever need to: virtually every sequence of moves is illustrated by a diagram for each move. The diagrams are often enhanced with Xs showing threatened checks or captures that beginners might not easily see. This extensive use of diagrams helps make even very difficult points easy for beginners.

#2. The book is very comprehensive, and yet concise. The author is skilled at covering a lot of ground in a very short space, and yet making it all look natural and easy: for example, it's not every beginner's book that covers the Lucena position in rook endings, and makes it look easy. Fred Reinfeld was one of the best at writing chess books for beginners, but Eades (at least in this book) is every bit as good; and in many ways better.

#3. The book has a vivid, yet conversational writing style that keeps the reader interested in the text. Introductions can be a dreadfully dreary thing to either write or read, but this book does a very good job at holding the reader's attention.

I give it five stars in part to counterbalance some negative reviews elsewhere here that I regard as excessive. But I think the content is well worth five stars: the only thing I would dock a star for is the poor proofreading on two diagrams (embarrassing in a second edition!). The editors should show higher standards of professionalism for their third edition, but this is not enough to reduce it to a four star book.

Very Difficult Book.......2006-06-08

The way this book is set up it does not teach in a good order. It has a lot of things that make no sense when you are given information suddenly that has noting to do with what was covered in the last segment and it is not instructional. Look at getting "Learn Chess" by Alexander as a much better book.

Useful information, but mediocre presentation.......2006-05-11

There is a good deal of useful chess information in this book, but the presentation of the material is unsystematic. A good editor should have organized the material better. The book has a slapdash style that will probably confuse the absolute beginner ("the dummy") more than is necessary. A better book for a beginner, in my opinion, is Yasser Seirawan's _Play Winning Chess_ which introduces most of that material covered here, but in a systematic way that builds a more solid foundation for further development in chess.

just another rag for the "provisional self-esteem" crowd who feel warmed when called a "DUMMIE".......2006-02-07

******What is the first thing you know about a man that does not respect himself? ------He does not respect anybody else, either!*****

Chapter by chapter, the lesson material in this book is lacking in depth, and certainly, it is already available in other books. James Eades personally, however, is one of the finest individuals active in the promotion of chess. The exception I take is the marketing gimmick in the title.

"Chess for Dummies" by James Eade holds an appeal for such persons as are very intimidated by CHESS as a game. I want to make it very clear why I am critical of this book. It is overpriced. Books like this rely on coy language in the title, to "hook" a beginner. However these DUMMIE chess books are not as good as many other titles already in paperback, man of them which are priced lower, about $17.95 and less. NEW copies of "Chess for Dummies" are currently selling elsewhere for $4.24, and the market is a good benchmark of a book's impact.

I suggest the reader search carefully in this book. Does the author refer to HIMSELF as a "DUMMIE"? ....or is it only YOU who is the "DUMMIE" ?

Calling yourself a DUMMIE is self-destructive behavior, pure & simple. If one must think of himself/herself as a DUMMIE, what's the point in starting out learning a game where one must think for himself and face constant assaults upon the EGO, SELF-ESTEEM, and personal CONFIDENCE? The pattern of negative reinforcement and negative self-talk destroys most beginners after a short experiment in the game of chess anyway, and James Eade reinforces this fatal affirmation.

Playing chess will either destroy the notion that you can think of yourself as a "DUMMIE" (a postive outcome) or the individual will even more strongly regard himself as DUMMIE because he loses games (negative outcome). It does not matter how many books you buy. If you think yourself a DUMMIE, you will play like one.

And in Westminster Colorado this week, a 14 year old girl was attacked by an adult male on her way home. She had not learned to think of herself as a "DUMMIE" in her Karate class. She knocked her assailant down to the ground with a single punch to the head, and got safely away.

As a teacher of chess beginners, I introduce every new student to my two rules:
RULE#1: "Never, EVER, beat yourself up!"
RULE#2: "LOVE yourself a lot!"

That's the first lesson in the first class; but then, I'm training players to win and to respect themselves in much the same way that the KARATE student is taught to respect himself and others. Regarding one's self as a "DUMMIE" might sell chess books; but it will never make you a chess player.

The MASS MIND makes it "cute" or "coy" to refer to yourself as a "DUMMIE"; but James Eade is not William Shakespeare, and this is a different kind of tomfoolery. Of course, what do you call someone who hands over his money to the guy calling him a "DUMMIE"? It's like:

AUTHOR: "Hey, bud, you're a DUMMIE!!!"
BOOK BUYER: "Gee, thanks man. Here's Ten Dollars."

Of course, you can learn some "beginner" chess in the book, but that's hardly the point. What are you going to do when you want to move up to the next level? Are you going to search for another book titled: "WINNING CHESS, FOR DUMMIES WHO DON'T WANNA BE DUMMIES?"

Such books will eminently qualify you to wallow in the shallows of "casual" chess, winning an occasional game against weak players, right up to the point where you give up the game completely. Chess is a useful tool and one of its benefits is that it teaches us how to release our innate intelligence.

Several exciting movies have been release about chess in the past ten years:

"SEARCHING FOR BOBBY FISCHER"
"KNIGHTS OF THE SOUTH BRONX"
"THE LUZHIN DEFENSE"

I cannot remember once hearing the main character (either child or adult) referred to as a "DUMMIE". Think about it.

Then again, James Eade, much to his credit, has just come out with "The Chess Player's Bible" a beginner's book to which I gave a five-star review. I respect the author a great deal for his newest book. By the new standard set in his "Bible" Eade is terrific chess teacher.

Chess For Dummies - A Reference For The Rest Of Us!

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Chess For Dummies - A Reference For The Rest Of Us!
James Eade
Manufacturer: Idg Books Worldwide
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000VK6H1U

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How to Beat Granddad at Checkers
John P. Cardie
Manufacturer: Lifevest Publishing, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Alzheimer's Disease | Disorders & Diseases | Health, Mind & Body | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 159879390X

Product Description

An entertaining, easily understood "How To" book that teaches "sound strategy" for BOTH Checkers and Life. This Book is highly endorsed by the President of the American Checker Federation, Youth Counselors, Educators and wise old Grandparents. It helps Young People to develop "forethought" which should aid them in making right choices as teenagers and young adults. This charming and highly readable little book, can drastically improve a child's reasoning ability and assist them in improving both their Math and Social Skills. By encouraging Grandparents and Grandchildren to regularly have " Board Meetings", this educational manual helps to close the multi-generational gap - thus, improving the quality of both their lives.

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Chess for Dummies
Mark Montano
Manufacturer: HUNGRY MINDS (TWLD)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K2S79E

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