Ecologies: Mark Dion, Peter Fend, Dan Peterman

Book Description

Since the 1960s, many artists have incorporated ecological concerns into their work, an endeavor that has required new strategies in art-making. To explore recent American manifestations of these interests, the David and Alfred Smart Museum commissioned new projects from artists Mark Dion, Peter Fend, and Dan Peterman, each focusing on interrelationships between particular organisms--human beings-and a specific group of sites--a museum building, a river landscape, and a university campus. The results, exhibited at the Smart Museum during the summer of 2000, evoke the varied scales, from the microscopic to the global, at which human actions affect the environment. This catalog documents each of the artists' projects through an array of images and words: Smart Museum Associate Curator Stephanie Smith provides an introduction and brief overviews of the three projects, each of the artists contribute statements, and photographers Susan Anderson and Tom van Eynde document--in over 100 images--the processes and projects that comprise the exhibition.

Book Description

Classic costume book of the 16th century depicts dress of Europeans, especially Spanish, of all classes. Special section on Aztec Indians brought to Spain by Cortes and sketched from life there by Weiditz. All 154 original plates have been meticulously reproduced, complete with English captions. Indispensable resource for costume and cultural historians.

Customer Reviews:

Plate images are great.......2001-11-16

This book, in it's large size format and the wonderful colour pictures is a must for any costumer or medievalist. The images inspire you to make the clothing then find a horse and go parading down cobbled streets. Aaah, we can but dream

Bird's Eye View of Early 16th Century Clothing.......2000-10-07

This is a basic book for those interested in history of costume in the late 15th and early 16th centuries. These are drawings of the clothing of the time made by an artist of the time. A range of people from a wide variety of walks of life and professions, as well as from many regions and countries, are presented. Gives an idea of what ordinary people wore, those who couldn't afford to have their portraits painted.

Late-medieval traveller's sketchbook........1998-04-05

This book is a selection of illustrations from the 'Trachtenbuch.' This is a good source of ideas for late medieval/early renaissance costumers. The illustrations are "sketchbook" quality. The author seems to have travelled extensively and sketched the people of the cities that he visited. Costumers may find it difficult to translate the sketches into actual articles of clothing.

Book Description

One of America's most treasured comic strips is releasing its eighth treasury, FoxTrot: Assembled with Care. And eight most assuredly will not be enough for fans of the funny pages.Bill Amend's FoxTrot debuted April 10, 1988, and 14 years later it's undisputedly among the most popular strips in newspapers. This colorful compilation of cartoons from FoxTrot's last two years again demonstrates that few entertainers in any medium are better at finding humor in everyday family life than Amend.At the core of much of the strip's wild humor is 10-year-old Jason. He tortures his parents and two teenage siblings Peter and Paige out of their minds with his computer and his pet iguana, Quincy. In this latest treasury, parents Roger and Andrea again have their hands full. In one strip, Jason boldly bursts into their bedroom in the middle of the night to announce that it's "2 A.M. and the lights still work." In another, Jason surprises his mom with a new beep for her computer known simply as "Defcon One." Jason also holds his own with his older siblings, spelling "My Sister Is Ugly" with the carved faces of 14 pumpkins.As FoxTrot surpasses the two million mark in book sales, it continues to demonstrate its timelessness with its always fresh, irreverent, and zany brand of family humor. Like other successful FoxTrot books before it, FoxTrot: Assembled with Care captures the humorous side of the trials and tribulations that come with daily family life like no other strip today.

Customer Reviews:

Best comic strip ever!!!!!!!!!.......2007-07-03

FoxTrot is by far the best comic strip ever! My favorite character is Jason. In this book, he creates a TV special called "The Mrs. Grinch who was too Cheap for Christmas". My advice is too just buy the treasouries; or else you'll get repeats. This book is one of the best!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Whimsically Witty with a Healthy Dose of Attitude.......2007-02-18

I have been a faithful FoxTrot reader for years. Roger, Andy and their kids Peter, Paige and Jason are always good for a reality check with a large dose of laughter. I've got two girls and let me tell you, I see a lot of my kids in Paige with, I believe, even a healthy dose of Jason thrown in. And they have Peter's bottomless stomach. Of course, they're faithful FoxTrot readers too. I used to read the strip to them, explain what was going on, but now they get it just fine and we three all laugh together. Then my girls try and explain the strip to their dad, who pretends he doesn't get it.

The FoxTrot folks are a great family, one we sort of got used to checking up on every day, so we took the news that Mr. Amend was going to cease daily distribution of his wonderfully funny people and turn his strip to Sunday only, with a bit of sadness. Still, we have these terrific FoxTrot books to keep us going with our FoxTrot fix. Mr. Amend is to be commended for his great gift to our culture and his great gift to so many lives. I truly believe a laugh a day, helps keep the blues away and the FoxTrot gang are always good for a laugh. Heck there are a lot of laughs in the FoxTrot books. I know, I have them all and I am, along with my girls and my hubby dear, eagerly awaiting the next one.

Oh yes, I forgot to mention, we don't have an iguana, but my girls do have a pet gecko and, you guessed it, his name is Quincy.

Foxtrot: Assembled With Care. Foxtrot, All Great!.......2007-01-20

I've been a Foxtrot reader for a long time and personally I think there is something suspiciously wrong with people who don't find Bill Amend's characters funny as all get out. If you want a good laugh, check out Bill in your local newspaper, or better yet, get one of the Foxtrot books. They are all great, really, they are.

Like many of Mr. Amend's fans I'm a bit disappointed he's switching his strip to Sunday-only, but fortunately I can still read him daily in the Foxtrot books. Get them one and all and you can keep right on a laughing.

The Best Comic Strip Since Calvin and Hobbes........2004-02-20

First Bill Watterson retired and there was no more new Calvin and Hobbes. Then Charles Scultz retired and unexpectedly passed away, so many newspapers stopped running Peantus. At first it would seem there isn't anything all that funny left in the funny papers. Ah, but one grand gem remains: Fox Trot. Appearing about half a decade before the funnies started to become unfunny, Fox Trot remains as about the only witty and upbeat comic that can be seen in papers. ASSEMBLED WITH CARE is a collection of two-year's worth of Fox Trot comics. I'm not for sure of the exact dates, but the strips ran around 1999-2000. The stories make grand observations on life, but are also constantly ribbing pop culture and (then) current events. Two of my favorite story lines are the one where Jason and Marcus imagine themselves acting in the just announced production of THE LORD OF THE RINGS (the director looks like a hybrid between Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson) and the series that ran the week that Y2K could have happened (the comic strip finds itself back in 1900). A great collection of one of the best comic strips still being written.

A great read.......2003-12-27

It's a funny book and all but there is just one thing - not just about this foxtrot series but all of them - it's that fox family always stay the same, no one ever grows up. Paige is always starting her first year in high school, peter is always staying a junior and taking a physics and trig class and jason is being jason as usual. Although maybe I'm wrong, maybe if they did grow up the show wouldnt be funny anymore...I dont know but it's still funny though. BUY THIS BOOK!!! IT'S FUNNY reaaaaaaly funny.

Average customer rating:

Hell-tastic

Here's the Pope on the Church...

Entertaining and probably blasphemous

What they never told you in Sunday school

Pope-Pourri: What You Don't Remember From Catholic School
John Dollison
Manufacturer: Fireside
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Similar Items:

Growing Up Catholic

Raised Catholic (American Storytelling)

Thank You, Sister: Memories of Growing Up Catholic

The Bad Catholic's Guide to Good Living

Chasing Grace: Reflections of a Catholic Girl, Grown Up

ASIN: 0671886150

Book Description

How many Catholics know that a priest invented the fax machine, or that monks were the first to make coffee, champagne, and pretzels? How many know why St. Elmo is portrayed in art with his intestines hanging out, or why St. Maximus is often shown commanding a bear to carry his luggage?

Probably none. The Catholic Church is all too eager to tell us about the Ten Commandments, the Resurrection, and the glories of St. Peter's Basilica, but how often do you hear about items like "Pope on a Rope" soap, or the "Let Us Spray" lawn sprinkler (shaped like Pope John Paul II, the sprinkler squirts water out of his outstretched arms as it spins)?

It's all here in "Pope-Pourri"-- an unprecendented collection of entertaining anecdotes, trivia, and intriguing information that the Catholic Church never told you about-- and in many cases doesn't want you to know about. Such as the bizarre story of the "Cadaver Synod", when Pope Stephen VI dug up the rotting corpse of his predecessor, Pope Formosus I, dressed it in papal robes, and put it on trial for "aspiring to the papacy" and other crimes. Other unusual footnotes to Catholic history include the Cataphrygians, an early separatist movement whose members prayed with their index and middle fingers inserted into their noses.

"Pope-Pourri" celebrates the wealth of amusing trivia the Church has produced during its 2,000-year history-- from oddball saints to the Vatican's censorious movie reviews, from strange Virgin Mary sightings to embarrasing secret scandals-- presented for the first time in one fascinating volume that practicing Catholics, lapsed Catholics, and the merely curious will all enjoy.

Customer Reviews:

Hell-tastic.......2004-11-30

I received a copy as a gift and absolutely loved it. Dollison's hilarious commentary blends well with the collection of quirky and offbeat vignettes. I'm not an avid churchgoer, yet I still enjoyed the entire book from cover to cover. I even purchased copy for one of my co-workers! I highly recommend purchasing a copy. You'll laugh your way back to the Reformation!

Here's the Pope on the Church..........2001-06-29

Well-written book by Johnny D. Makes for good easy reading. No chapters too long or drawn-out. Maybe Reader's Digest could use him.

Entertaining and probably blasphemous.......2001-02-22

I'm not altogether convinced the writer won't end up in Purgatory, but this book is an absolute hoot. Both my husband (who has had no formal Catholic indoctrination) and I (a confirmed Catholic with 11 years of parochial schooling) enjoyed it immensely. It's got some fascinating bits of trivia.

It's also (forgive me) ideal restroom reading. The little chapters and vignettes are just the right length. We keep our copy in the "smallest room" and never grow bored with it.

What they never told you in Sunday school.......2001-02-11

It's an excellent book. Everything they never told you in CCD, Sunday school, or Catholic school. Humorous, at times hysterical, and faith-shattering.

Book Description

White slave films, dramas documenting sex scandals, filmed prize fights featuring the controversial African-American boxer Jack Johnson, D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation--all became objects of public concern after 1906, when the proliferation of nickelodeons brought moving pictures to a broad mass public. Lee Grieveson draws on extensive original research to examine the controversies over these films and over cinema more generally. He situates these contestations in the context of regulatory concerns about populations and governance in an early-twentieth-century America grappling with the powerful forces of modernity, in particular, immigration, class formation and conflict, and changing gender roles.
Tracing the discourses and practices of cultural and political elites and the responses of the nascent film industry, Grieveson reveals how these interactions had profound effects on the shaping of film content, form, and, more fundamentally, the proposed social function of cinema: how cinema should function in society, the uses to which it might be put, and thus what it could or would be. Policing Cinema develops new perspectives for the understanding of censorship and regulation and the complex relations between governance and culture. In this work, Grieveson offers a compelling analysis of the forces that shaped American cinema and its role in society.

Book Description

Latest release from one of the most important groups of our era. Certified platinum, the album includes two Top 5 singles: Perfect and Ava Adore. Contents: To Sheila * Ava Adore * Perfect * Daphne Descends * Tear * Once upon a Time * (Flat 1630) * Crestfallen * Appels + Oranjes * Pug * The Tale of Dusty and Pistol Pete * Annie Dog * Shame * Behold! The Night Mare * For Martha * Blank Page * Seventeen.

Customer Reviews:

Billy at his best.......2002-08-19

Is it possible for an album to be better than the Smashing Pumpkins' masterpiece _Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness_?

Apparently. And Pumpkins frontman Billy Corgan, with _Adore_, has pulled it off, composing not only a brilliant album of soft, emotional songs, but an album for the ages.

From the lilting guitar picking of "To Sheila," to the crashing electronica of "Ava Adore," from the sad intimacy of "Annie-Dog," to the gentle grandness of "Behold!The Night Mare!" the album flows through songs that range in sound, yet sound similar all at once. As if this is the last desperate plea from a lost romantic, ready to jump off a cliff.

Say what you will, Billy Corgan's musical genius is unparalleled. _Adore_ proves it.

Great book to learn from........2000-11-05

The Tab book for the Smashing Pumpkins album Adore is another excellent book continuing the trend from the previous Siamese Dream and Mellon Collie Tab books. The book is easy to follow for beginners as well as advanced players. The book contains several full page mini posters of artwork from the CD cover as well as some of the images found in the liner notes. If you like the Smashing Pumpkins and you liked Adore, then i'd get this book right away.

Average customer rating:

Best of the Harpers

When three (rings) unite in power and purpose, evil trembles

Weak. Very weak.

A disappointing end to the Harpers series

A disappointing ending to the Harpers series

Thornhold (Forgotten Realms: Songs and Swords, Book 4)
Elaine Cunningham
Manufacturer: Wizards of the Coast
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

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Similar Items:

The Dream Spheres (Forgotten Realms: Songs and Swords, Book 5)

Silver Shadows (Forgotten Realms: Songs and Swords, Book 3)

Elfsong (Forgotten Realms: Songs and Swords (The Harpers), Book 2)

Elfshadow (Forgotten Realms: Songs and Swords, Book 1)

Evermeet: Island of Elves (Forgotten Realms)

ASIN: 078691808X
Release Date: 1998-08-01

Book Description

All is not well in the City of Splendors. A new Zhentarim threat lurkes in the shadows of Waterdeep.

Roguish Harper Bronwyn is sent by Archmage Khelben Arunsun on a mission to meet her long-lost father and reclaim her bloodline's dangerous heritage. She uncovers a family secret that threatens to destroy not only Bronwyn, but the Harpers themselves!

Customer Reviews:

Best of the Harpers.......2006-09-30

Other than needing a little editing I thought this was the best story of the series. Of course the harpers were potrayed as more neutrals, rather than as a force of good. They acted as a "balance" between the extremes of a overzealous Paladin order and the evil Zhentarim.

When three (rings) unite in power and purpose, evil trembles.......2004-07-26

Thornhold starts off incredibly well and continues so, up until chapter 16, about 40 pages before the end. I am not going to go to town on Elaine Cunningham or her book, since I am a big fan of hers and this is the only book that I, and from what I can tell many others, seem to a have a problem with. The plot as a whole is not bad at all; to the contrary it's a great story! It's just that the more one reads, the more "vicious" the attacks on the paladins get!
At first I thought it wasn't a case of Harpers vs Paladins, but a matter of Law vs Chaos, thus giving the author, without second thought, the benefit of the doubt.
As the book progresses, the feelings change: Law and Good (LG) vs Balance and Good (NG); understood. Similarly, the book portrays the rift between Cyric's and Bane's followers which has erupted into full scale war; also understood.
Nevertheless, there are clearly "favorites" in this book, and paladins are not included among them. I am not one to come streaming to their defense, but it is evident that paladins are made to look like complete fools, morons, verging dangerously close on idiocy.
Plain and simple: Paladins and Zhentarim are presented as the "bad guys", which is very difficult indeed for the average D&D enthusiast to swallow.
There are, however, many truths included as well; the difficulty or impossibility of having a paladin in a party that does not exclusively consist of paladins (that's why they are rare, loners and tend to have a very short lifespan). That does not take away from their "goodness". As the previous reviewer (from Ohio) very correctly pointed out, the paladins are portrayed much more as Lawful Neutral than Lawful Good.
The example of paladins giving chase to a band of orcs who run into the forest and are met by the forest's elves only to be slaughtered once the paladins hear that they will not be allowed to further pursue their enemies could be a possibility. However, it is much more likely that elves and paladins would join forces to smite evil together.
My main question is how was Sir Gareth, a "fallen paladin", NOT discovered in 30 years (!!!), by his fellow paladins? All the magical protections/amulets could not keep his secret hidden. Moreover, Sir Gareth is not supposed to be evil, yet why does he accept service in the ranks of the Zhentarim and Cyric, who are blatantly evil? Is "I am pledged to honor the children of Samular's bloodline", enough for a fallen paladin to become a Zhentarim operative? Or is helping his brother and owner of Zhentarim houses of ill repute worth becoming a fallen paladin in the first place, especially when they are portrayed as being so loyal to their cause, that they end up being more Lawful than Good.
In addition, towards the end, when the Gladestone elven/half-elven settlement is attacked by orcs, one of the inhabitants, a half-elf woman, accuses the paladins for indirectly inciting the attack (!!!), and what's more the dwarf feels guilty for wanting to kill orcs!!! Previously, the paladin Carwin had told Algorid that it was their own fault that the orcs attacked the town. Is it me or is there something wrong here? Orcs ARE enemies! Orcs were never good, unlike dark elves. There is no orcish Drizzt Do'Urden. Orcs, and the specific orcs in the book, are EVIL. There is no neutral or good god for orcs, like Eilistraee is for the drow; there is Gruumsh One-Eyed and Company. What should one expect next, a LG red dragon or an orc paladin? What we do get though is Ebenezer the Dwarf, having pity and mercy for Orcish females and children, giving them advice and toys and sending them on their way???
After all that's said and done, the question that automatically comes to mind is what alignment is Bronwyn, when she doesn't return Thornhold to the Order of Samular, which is not only an order set up to fight Evil, but the order that HER OWN ancestor set up, and decides instead to hold on to it for herself and her niece Cara. Yes, it is her right to do so, the deed is in her name after all, but that is something a neutral character would do, not a Harper. Who in their right mind would deny paladins their base of operations? And who would put a knife (!!!) to a paladin's throat to save their father's murderer who also happens to be a high ranking priest of Cyric, a high level member of the Zhentarim, and a top commander of the Zhentilar fortress of Darkhold, even when that is her brother who is clearly using his own daughter to further his own selfish needs in pursuit of wealth and power? She could compromise with the paladin and have her brother face trial in Waterdeep in a secular court and have him locked away.
One final question: if Bronwyn feels so restricted and oppressed by Those Who Harp why doesn't she just quit and leave the organization altogether!
On the positive side, the book is action packed, the characters for the most part are great, the overall plot is very good, and there is plenty of conflict to go around. Hopefully, a sequel will be written setting things straight by shedding light as to what comes next.
In conclusion, it is my belief that the book for the most part deserves 5 stars for being so well written and presented (the usual Elaine Cunningham top quality). After chapter 16, though, the book falls to 3 stars, for the reasons mentioned above, for a total of 4 stars. It falls short of 5 stars for creating a sense of confusion among readers to the point that paladins might end up being the main course for many goodly parties, and that is plainly not right!

Weak. Very weak........2002-04-30

This book was full of cliches, sloppy storytelling, and, worst of all, characters who are nothing more than cardboard, and flimsy cardboard at that. The forces of "good" are especially portrayed as total morons, making you wonder why evil didn't overrun the realms a long time ago. Though, to be fair, Cunningham's Paladins in gaming terms would clearly be Lawful Neutral, not Lawful Good. Which just goes to show that she really doesn't understand how to portray such characters in the first place. And I definitely agree with the reviewers who found a strong bias against religion and authority from the author. A cliched story is bad enough. A cliched story with the author's personal biases shoe-horned into the tale makes for an even less enjoyable reading experience. Leave this one on the shelf.

A disappointing end to the Harpers series.......2001-01-09

I found this book to be uneven and ultimately unsatisfying -- not up to Cunnigham's usual standards. I liked the two leads, Bronwyn, an Indiana Jones type of character, and Ebenezer, the typical grumpy dwarf with the heart of gold. The young knight Algorind, dealing with real life situations while trying to keep true to his convictions, was also well done. The whole magical artifact plotline was very cliched though. ...There was a clumsy attempt to set up for a sequel that seems unlikely to be written. The ending has a rift erupt in the Harpers organization that doesn't make much sense. ...

A disappointing ending to the Harpers series.......2000-09-28

I don't know if you will agree with me but the secret of the powerful weapon was rather disappointing, lacking credibility. The characters were done well, the good guys ain't so good and the bad guys aint' so bad - Elaine did a good job introducing their background and why they are like that. The treatment of the paladins sucks, they were like, cardboards. And a high ranking official among the paladins who can masquarade without being detected, unbelievable. Worse was the reasoning why Khelben fell out with the other & quot;good & quot; forces, and why the Harpers would be under suspicion. The tale just doesn't warrant that kind of split.

Average customer rating:

Thornhold
Mary Stewart
Manufacturer: Morrow
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MGIXC4

Average customer rating:

Thornhold
Steawrt
Manufacturer: William Morrow and Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000JF80Y4

THORNHOLD (FORGOTTEN REALMS HARPERS, NO 16)

Average customer rating:

THORNHOLD (FORGOTTEN REALMS HARPERS, NO 16)

Manufacturer: TSR Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000I64GYM

Average customer rating:

Thornhold
Mary Stewart
Manufacturer: William Morrow and Co. NY,
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000QPKMCU

Book Description

How to unlock the hidden 95% of the customer’s mind that traditional marketing methods have never reached.

Selling Points Practical synthesis of the cognitive sciences: Drawing heavily on psychology, neuroscience, sociology, and linguistics, Zaltman combines academic rigor with real-world results to offer highly accessible insights, based on his years of research and consulting work with large clients like Coca-Cola and Procter & Gamble. An all-new tool kit: Zaltman provides research tools—metaphor elicitation, response latency, and implicit association techniques, to name a few—that will be all-new to marketers and demonstrates how innovators can use these tools to get clues from the subconscious when developing new products and finding new solutions, long before competitors do.

Customer Reviews:

Worst book Ever.......2007-08-10

I dont know if this is a marketing book!!

Too much text for less benefits

Ideas are not integrated with each other specially when connecting science with Marketing

Not too many marketing examples.

Even the examples did not show what where the exact results of the specified theories conducted

At the end of the book he fills it with text about creativity, oh please!!! this is supposed to be a book about marketing and how I am supposed understand customers not how to be creative

One more thing, he argues that products are how they are perceived in the mind of the customer and not what the products are in reality. Well, this is a very old idea, maybe the writer should read books for Al Ries and Jack Trout about Positioning.

Where was the editor?.......2007-07-13

The title holds much promise. The introduction intriguing. Yet as I trudged through this tomb, it finally dawned on me that there is much less here than the first glance promises. Two major problems: 1. The author puts forth a rather simple, yet vague theory of unconscious thinking, then discusses at length the utility of metaphors, but nowhere is the connection made between the two concepts. What is unconscious thinking that metaphors can magically make visible? What proof is there of any connection? This slight of hand left me shaking my head. Where is the model? Where is the empirical evidence? 2. The writing is at times entertaining, but beyond the introduction it is more and more rambling, redundant and scattered. It appears no technical editor was allowed anywhere near this manuscript. bottom line, I know no more about how customers think after reading this book, than I did before. However, I do now know how bad focus groups are (even though the empirical data appears absent.)

Great Insights into the Mind of the Consumer.......2007-05-20

This is perhaps the best text I've read on understanding the mind of the consumer. Zaltman takes potentially complex information and presents it in a form that is relatively easy to digest.

Zaltman explains how new brain science research indicates that the confidence marketers have placed in focus group methodology has been based on a number false assumptions including the following: 1. Consumers think in well-reason, linear ways to evaluate products and services. 2. Consumers can reasonably explain their emotions, feeling, preferences and behaviors - and translate them into words; and 3. Consumers' memories are accurate reflections of their experience.

According to Zaltman, the reality for consumers is really quite different. We live in a world where culture, emotions and desires play a larger role than logical decision-making. We receive and interpret information from the marketplace within a unique context. And, as consumers, much of our thinking takes place on a subconscious level, making it difficult for focus group participants to explain their behaviors. Our memories of what led us to make specific choices are far from perfect. On a conscious level we typically rationalize our decision-making without giving the underlying contextual complexities for our product and service choices.

In summary, Zaltman's text is a great place to learn more about current thinking on the mind of the consumer, the limits of traditional focus groups and some reliable methods for tapping into consumer insights.

Brand, Emotion , Listening , Usefulness.......2007-04-04

1. Rohit Deshpade noted that over 80 percent of all market research serves mainly to reinforce existing conclusions, not to test or develop new possibilities. Managers act as if endorsing current views merits 80 percent of their resources.
2. Recent studies of the effects of brain lesions demonstrate that when neurological structures responsible for either emotion or reasoning sustain damage, the affected individuals lose their ability to make the kinds of sound decisions permitting a normal life.
3. The operation of our memory and emotions occurs below our threshold of awareness. Why do people purchase expensive things? One answer reveals an important feeling relating to self-esteem. Once realized the company strengthens its relationships with the purchasing agents by acknowledging the feeling most closely related to self-esteem during sales calls.
4. The Western view of the mind states the mind does not exist absence the brain, body, and society.
5. Emotion allows the mind to reorganize, innovate, and produce something better and more useful. Memories are metaphors. People generally do not think in words, they think in metaphors. Metaphors help the individual to perceive the world, help to see new connections, and draw meaning from experiences. Without imagination nothing in the world would be meaningful. Without imagination we could not interpret our experiences. Without imagination we could not reason toward knowledge of reality.
6. When customers are exposed to product concepts, company stories, or brand information, they don't passively absorb those messages. Instead, they create their own meaning by mixing information from the company with their own memories, other stimuli present at the moment, and the metaphors that come to mind as they think about the firm's message.
7. Poor quality thinking cannibalizes high-quality thinking. Quality thinking takes time. True understanding takes time.
8. Many consumers view their clothing as a personal container or an extension of the self.
9. Largely ignored, are the Emotional benefits of the product or service. The goal is insightful consumer analysis feed by understanding how consumer mental activity occurs.
10. The more skilled marketers are in listening to customers, the more effective their marketing strategies will be establishing the value of the firm's offerings
11. The more clearly current and potential customers understand the value of the firm's offerings, the larger the top line will be.
12. Skillful listening tells the management team how large a challenge they face, especially in terms of meeting latent needs.
13. Michael Tomasello, states that cognitive skills have been learned fast because of social and cultural transmission.
14. When we encounter new ideas through verbal communication, they root themselves within a preexisting system that gives them relevance. Different cultures emphasize different thoughts.
15. 80 percent of communication occurs non-verbally.
16. Joseph Turner, reason and emotion are not opposites; they are partners who occasionally disagree but depend on one another for success
17. Logical thoughts are much easier to articulate than emotions.
18. Managers who deeply understand their consumers may accurately anticipate their responses to a new product before the firm presents it.
19. Unconsciously a buyer believes that the national brand works better and is therefore better for loved ones (severe sympthoms, self or spouse or child)
20. Fast stimulus to messages occurs when the message is flashed subliminally.
21. People perceive messages transmitted by a baby-faced person as more sincere because they see babies as innocent and honest.
22. The exact same dinner tastes different depending on whether one is dining with a close friend or an unpleasant stranger.
23. The correlation between stated intent and actual behavior is low. 12 percent of the time, customers actually purchases items that they verbal indicated that they would purchase.
24. Customer predispositions create feelings and thoughts toward the brand and unconsciously influence their reaction to the brand.

Does not deliver ..........2007-03-14

In one way I enjoyed reading the book as it pulled together various studies and experiments related to aspects of cognitive psychology and the use of some techniques (e.g. metaphors), but in the end the book simply does not deliver on the title.

For me, the failure of the book is that it does not propose any coherent, overall model of "How Customers Think" (or more importantly ... how purchase decisions are sub-consciously arrived at), just simply some interesting observations on different aspects of thought with little or not integration. I suspect that most people would read the book and think "interesting ... but what the heck do I do now?"

I'm waiting for a better book on the subject to come along ...

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