How Art Made the World: A Journey to the Origins of Human Creativity

Book Description

By the charismatic host of the PBS miniseries "How Art Made the World," a compelling and gorgeously illustrated account of how humans made art and how art makes us human.

In the late nineteenth century, the first discoveries of prehistoric painting were greeted with incredulity. How could there have been such deft and skillful artists in the world over 30,000 years ago? Noted art historian Nigel Spivey begins with this puzzle to explore the record of humanity's artistic endeavors and their impact on our own development.

Embarking with the motto, "Everyone is an artist," Spivey takes us on a quest to find out when and how we humans began to explore the deepest questions of life, using visual artforms. With the help of vivid color illustrations of some of the world's most moving and enduring works of art, Spivey shows how that art has been used as a means of mass persuasion, essential to the creation of hierarchical societies, and finally, the extent to which art has served as a mode of terror management in the face of our inevitable death. Packed with new insights into ancient wonders and fascinating stories from all around the globe, How Art Made the World is a compelling account of how humans made art and how art makes us human.

Customer Reviews:

evolution of the mind.......2006-11-10

excellent show, actually better than the book. I watch a lot of documentarys and Non fiction films and this is one of the best I have seen for the tlelevision market.

A bit dry and overblown, but thoroughly delightful.......2006-05-28

The premise that "art made the world" is overblown. The text is often a bit dry. But the trip through the ages on the wings of art is superb. Of course, back 30,000 or so years ago, we don't know if the folks daubing walls and cutting into rock gave a thought to "art." In fact, we don't really have a solid clue as to why they did what they did.

A bit further into history, say a few thousand years ago, we know that people were attempting to immortalize their rulers, gods and priests. Again, we don't know if they were conciously creating "art" or simply communicating.

Art is, after all, in the eye of the beholder.

Whatever purpose may have been in mind, the images, carvings and engravings that have come down to us are mind-boggling and certainly, in our age, may be fairly considered art.

Nigel Spivey is certainly knowledgeable in his area, though he sometimes wanders off into unsupportable theory. The illustrations are magnificient and, frankly, I would preferred to have seen more of them and less of Spivey's text.

Overall a worthwhile book and, despite its occasional pomposity, delightful.

Jerry

A Charming and Fascinating Evocation of Primitive Art and Humanity.......2005-12-14

Nigel Spivey writes with eloquence and gentle humor and a rich understanding of his chosen topic - how art has informed life has informed art since the beginnings of history. This is one of those books that will appeal to all audiences, whether they be primarily interested in history, archeology, art, human studies, or mystery. It is all here in one splendid volume.

Based on a British television series by the same title, Spivey wanders through the most primitive art known from cave drawings, to ornaments, to early 'sculpture' or god figures, into the Renaissance. With very generous pictorial examples he clearly demonstrates how from the very inception of 'art', as we know it, mankind has tackled with the Big Questions - creation, life, death, and gods to God. He shows panoramas of cave drawings which address 'us vs. them', hunting, procreation, fertility, and symbols to ward off evil, be those mythical beasties or Satan or elements of nature confined to diagram, and celebrations and funeral rites. The permutations seem endless.

But in the end this book invites us to look at 'art' in a new way - as a manifestation of man's looking inward at himself, finding a rational universe out of his attempts to represent phenomena. It was then, it is now, and hopefully it ever shall be - Art. Wonderful book. Highly recommended! Grady Harp, December 05

Book Description

Comprehensive study of late-18th-century clothing worn by settlers and Abenaki Indians of New England. Full descriptions and line drawings with complete instructions for duplicating a wide range of garments: shifts, petticoats, gowns, breeches, waistcoats, headgear, more. Four bibliographies. List of resources. 54 black-and-white illustrations.

Customer Reviews:

Everyday dress.......2007-07-22

This book was not what I expected. it had basic drawings of a few garments from colonial america and showed some native american garments. I wish it had more in it. It was very short and I expected it to have more pictures of the clothing in it.

Great for beginners!.......2001-07-11

This is a great book for those looking to get basic knowledge of late 18th century clothing. It has clear illustrations of the everyday garments worn by men, women, and children. It shows layer by layer the many garments being used at this time. I have seen other "beginner" costume books leave the reader baffled as to how and when a garment was used; that isn't a problem with this book. One thing to remember is that fashion was in transition at this point in history so the patterns are really only good if you are trying to reproduce dress specific to that time frame. I have been studying this field for over ten years so this book was not of much use to me, but I would definately recommend it as a good foundation for a beginner.

Help the way I like it.......2001-06-25

I ordered this book a few weeks ago. I have been looking for books to help make costumes to take my grandchildren to reenactments, which has stimulated their intrest in history. This book is the most balanced book I have seen-in that it tells you what you want to know, why it was what it was, and it is easy to read and understand. It covers men and women's clothing, with illustrations and graft patterns, along with fabrics and sewing techniques. I find this book delightful with information put in a fun and usable way. There are not enough book's that I have found on everyday dress, so this is a great and much needed addition.

Customer Reviews:

Alone in My King's Harem.......2007-07-22

This was a huge mistake. I never should have bought it. It's not yaoi, it's not even good mushy romance or fantasy. When boys look like girls and have crocodile-tears in their eyes all the time it just doesn't do it for me. Girls don't become boys if they're referred as "he".

Very cute..........2006-11-17

I loved this manga. I thought it was very cute. No it isn't yaoi, with all the hot steamy sex, but there's romance between guys, and it's adorable. The art is very beautiful as well. It's a collection of short stories, and yes, most of the bottoms (uke) look/dress like girls, but hey, that's not a problem, right? Either way, it's cute, and I would recommend this to anyone.

Very good.......2006-07-28

When I bought this, I had no precise expectations, which is always good for when you read something. What I got was beutiful stories about love in all it forms. Loving someone who has forgotten you, loving someone who you cannot be with, and so on. It isn't what you'd call dirty, so if you're looking for dirty stories about bishonen then go somewhere else. But the stories are very beautiful reading.

DMP has yet to disappoint me.......2006-04-12

i got this book b/c i've loved every single one of the other DMP books i'd read, even though i'd read the other reviews. yes, the long-haired and otherwise completely feminine characters are a bit of a turn-off if you're expecting boy on boy action, but for people who have a cross-dressing[...] and for anyone who is interested in exploring that realm this book is perfect. this was the first DMP book that extensively featured fantasy elements (such as a fairy queen, a fantasy kingdom, and a magical circus), which i enjoyed. what makes this worthwhile for me though is the artwork, which is some of the best i've seen and which fit the stories perfectly. (the freedom of the drawings and layout reminds me of clamp's clover series if that gives you an idea.) the masculine guys are drawn well also. if you're looking for a strong story with strong characters then you should def. try some of DMP's others (like the popular -only the ring finger knows-), but if you've read all the others and want to try something different this is def. worth getting.

My first Yaoi: Fair.......2006-02-23

The first thing I thought when I saw this: WOW!! It's pretty big. This is my first yaoi, so I don't know if all yaoi are this big aside from regular mangas.

What I thought of the cover: Uhhhh...I thought this was yaoi. Most yaoi has a pic of two guys on the cover, but I thought that 'lady like character' on the cover was a woman. Come to find out, Lily Hoshino actually made most of the Ukes in this manga look like women with flat chests and long hair. I did not like this type of uke design. I mean its just so..."transvestitish" lol. The only time the uke wasn't girl-like was the last story, which is pretty smutty and dirty. Meaning they have the most action.

What Caught my Attention: What caught my attentiuon was the good story idea in the first piece, 'Alone in my king;s Harem'. Not only did I continue this story because it caught my attention in all the sex scenes, but most of the stories are actually pretty interesting.

What I liked: I liked/loved, the story Adventures of a Canary in this book. It was great the way a human 'boy'(canary is the uke, which looks like a girl)was portrayed like a canary all caged up by its owner. And how the boy had a beautiful voice that juno (oure seme and hero) couldn't resist it. It was pretty retarted at the end of this section when he just got kicked off the ledge by the canary owner, but the next part made up for it when canary jumps off after him not knowing that he can't fly until his hair (i think it was his hair) turns into canary wings. Its just a beautiful tale b/c the live happily ever after at the end. I also liked the dirty 'just sex' scenes at the end of the book. The last story contains hardly any plot, but makes up for it in smuttyness. Like I said before this is the only story where the uke isn't rediculously 'transvestitish' (lol i live the use of that word). The last story I liked, was the shortest one, Night Circus. Even though its almost less than 7 pages long, I stil enjoyed it. It had no sex in it and the outcome of the story just made me feel mushy, because this is the story about a boy who has love for the lion, Kika. (Just read it an you'll see how it makes you mushy)BTW it has no sex in it.

What I didn't like: Like I said I didn't like the uke design, my least favorit story is the Sea Bed of Night, b/c the two main characters were just retarted to me. Also there was too much side-narration and random thoughts by the uke, Lullus.

Overall: Iguess this yaoi would be considered "fair". But overall if someone obsessed over wanting to read it, I'd say, "Dude, it's not all that great. Have you read Brother?" BTW that's what i'm going to read as my next yaoi manga. I bet it will be 10 times better than this one.

Average customer rating:

Alone In My King's Harem (Yaoi)
Lily Hoshino
Manufacturer: DIAMOND BOOK DISTRIB
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K3K6B0

Book Description

Author Karen Isaacson will have readers laughing out loud with her Erma Bombeck-like stories on life with an eclectic but endearing gifted and creative family!

The quirky cast of characters includes: the daughter who thinks she's related to an imaginary family of rabbits; the son who recites entire scenes (not just lines) from movies; the sister who makes pretty designs with the ovals of a bubble sheet during a test instead of answering the questions; and the grandmother who fixes tuna fish and jellybean sandwiches for lunch!

Reading these unbelieveable (but true!) stories will not only help you appreciate your own family, but also give you an informal introduction to the world of giftedness.

Customer Reviews:

Raising eccentrics.......2006-09-01

I'm sorry, I agree with the reviewer who said these children, indeed the whole family, seemed more eccentric than gifted. The author does have a great sense of humor, but the behavior she described is odd, not intellectual. For example, her mother who gave the kids a strange view of life, because she seemed to lack a basic sense of how to fit in with people. Bargaining on rhinestone jewelry past the point of embarrassment for her children and sewing underwear which was much too large for her children, rather than buying some, were just two examples.

In paying attention to this book, I noticed that her examples were of children's curiosity and misbehavior as proof of giftedness. for example, you know your child is gifted when...she makes an awful mess in the kitchen by...

????

I don't know if the family is really gifted or not. I do think that a good deal of gifted books attempt to redefine eccentricity as giftedness. This is one of them.

Down to earth, Informative and Entertaining.......2005-09-13

I found this book wonderfully informative and refreshingly written in a conversational format with lots of personal experience and humor thrown in. It was not what I was expecting, however. After reading the reviews, I was disappointed to not laugh out loud until several chapters into the book. Despite this, I enjoyed it enough that I did recommend it to several friends and bought copies to give to my siblings for Christmas. (Maybe now we will understand my brother blowing himself up with rocket fuel he had made with his chemistry set at age 13....)

The easy format doesn't require the concentration of some of the more sterile books on parenting a gifted child, but seemed to have almost as much information. There were many excerpts that made me smile but only a few parts where I laughed so hard that I thought I would cry. The best part of this book was that it helped me to understand my own family - both past and present - and realize that what we often take to be ADHD or ordinary weirdness, is just a normal symptom of having a differently wired brain, intense concentration and an amazing imagination.

Another feature of this book that I appreciated was its lack of glorifying giftedness. Instead of describing it as a trait to aspire to, it talks about it clearly as the strength and curse that it is for those that are born with it. It talks about the different needs of a gifted child in education and life with detail and many zany examples. It emphasizes throughout the differences in giftedness levels as well as giftedness in many different areas. She talked about her 5 children and their varying strengths and interests. She gave her five children and 4 siblings interesting names to protect their identities; names like Myron, Pandora, Stanley, Magnolia and Otto. As she teaches through conversation and silly examples, she "keeps it real", reminding us that all parents ask themselves often why they chose to have children, but always know the real reason deep inside.

The ability to laugh at oneself and enjoy our situation and gifted children is one that is often overlooked and a much needed trait for surviving this path of raising gifted children. This book is very refreshing and should be a definite addition to any gifted library. I highly recommend it for gifted parents, educators and older gifted children. For most of us, this will be the copy that is most worn and most lent out....

you'll laugh out loud.......2004-11-30

I think the person who wrote the negative review below (see Adderall)has no sense of humor. This book is hilarious. The family it describes is hilarious. These are bright,creative, interesting people. Not every family is like this, but this family is authentic. Those of us who work with gifted kids know families like this. We appreciate bright, creative kids who can think in unique ways. Creativity means thinking outside the box; and we're going to need lots of creative thinkers like the ones in this family to solve the world's problems.

Uneducated not even a day of collage." EXPERT???".......2004-11-27

What I have seen decribed in this book falls more under Obsesive Compulsive Disorder and ADHD. I would not be suprised if most of her siblings are on some sort of medication for depression or mood swings. In my opinion it is a good book for reseach into the lifes of people dealing with and raised by the emotionaly unstable. Where was the father?

New test for giftedness!.......2002-12-12

Thanks to Karen Isaacson, we won't need standardized tests to see if children, or their entire families, belong in a gifted program. All we have to do is have them read this book, and wait. If, within minutes, the parent is on the floor hysterically laughing, "I'm not the only one! I'm not the only one!".. her kid gets in the program. As I read this thoroughly enjoyable book I kept wondering how she managed to hide the surveillance equipment she must have installed in my house while MY kids were growing up. Her relaxed, delightful point of view is a gem in this over stressed,what-if-my-kid-isn't-president, panic stricken world of education and parenting. Run, don't walk, to buy this book. Even before you wipe the two pounds of peanut butter off the carpet the kids used in their anti-friction experiment.Especially before you find out which kid did it this time.

Customer Reviews:

so-so.......2007-07-17

Obviously you'll quibble with some of the selections or rankings, which is probably the point of a book like this. A short synopsis of each film or some stories and trivia are included (example: Toto the dog from 'The Wizard Of Oz' made $125 a week in production; the munchkins made $50). Some nice behind the scenes photos are another highlight. Not an incredibly insightful book, but good to pass an hour or two.

ideas are me.......1999-12-05

i found that this book is very well put together but could of used a little more written in description of the photos and on the ups and downs of movie making more.

If You Enjoy The Movies, You'll Love This Book !.......1999-11-04

160 pages of great black and white and color photography from the early days of the movies to the present time. Every page is a winner. Sure to bring back memories of the past. Each movie includes: A brief discussion and an Oscar Index, Type Casting, Behind the Scenes, and What Might Have Been. Movie fans will enjoy this in their libraries.

Entertainment Weekly The Century Collection The 100 Greatest Movies Of All Time

Average customer rating:

Entertainment Weekly The Century Collection The 100 Greatest Movies Of All Time

ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 1929049102

Average customer rating:

The 100 Greatest Movies of All Time
Entertainment Weekly
Manufacturer: Time Inc. Specials
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MLSTP0

Entertainment Weekly The 100 Greatest Movies of All Time

Average customer rating:

Entertainment Weekly The 100 Greatest Movies of All Time
Entertainment Weekly
Manufacturer: Time Inc. Home Entertainment
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000LJ0HH6

Four-Star Movies: The 100 Greatest Films of All Time

Average customer rating:

Pretty, but stay away.

Four-Star Movies: The 100 Greatest Films of All Time

Manufacturer: Easton Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Leather Bound
ASIN: B000CKY3II

Product Description

LEATHER BOUND book accented in 22kt gold! !

Customer Reviews:

Pretty, but stay away........2007-01-12

This book, at first glance, looks like a film buff's dream: Nicely bound, beautifully accented, articles as long and seemingly in-depth as you've ever seen. Aside from the sometimes bizarre choices (no To Kill A Mockingbird, The Exorcist, or one single Clint Eastwood film, but Diner, Saturday Night Fever and Airplane! are included? And Jaws and Seven Samurai are near the bottom of the list?!), the book is full of so many typos that its hard to actually get through. In the synopsis of Annie Hall, the authors describe Tony Roberts' character in Play It Again, Sam rather than his 'Max' character. They refer to 'Star Wars Episode 1: The Empire Strikes Back' (not to mention the misspelling of Obi-Wan "Kenobe". And that's just within the first third of the book. Honestly, though the articles look in-depth, you don't learn anything you didn't already know if you watched any of the films' DVD commentary, or were alive and at all interested in movies at the time of it's release. A horrible, horrible disapointment.

TOTAL FILM PRESENTS THE 100 GREATEST MOVIES OF ALL TIME The Definitive Guide to the Finest Films Ever

Average customer rating:

TOTAL FILM PRESENTS THE 100 GREATEST MOVIES OF ALL TIME The Definitive Guide to the Finest Films Ever
Jamie, Matt Mueller, and Nev Pierce, editors Graham
Manufacturer: Future
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 185870197X

The 100 Greatest movies of All Time - Entertainment Weekly

Average customer rating:

The 100 Greatest movies of All Time - Entertainment Weekly
Entertainment Weekly Editorial Staff
Manufacturer: Time Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MOHCOQ

Customer Reviews:

Little Pre's review.......2000-06-25

The book is an accurate following of the making and completed album of U2's "Rattle and Hum." It contains comprehensive detail of U2's four members, along with co-musicians on the album like B.B. King and Sterling MaGee (writer and singer of "Freedom For My People"). Along with the movie, "Rattle and Hum" (1988), it is a great compendium for any true U2 fan.

U2 - All That You Can't Leave Behind (Tab)

Average customer rating:

U2 - All That You Can't Leave Behind (Tab)
U2
Manufacturer: Hal Leonard Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Songbooks | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 0711986355

Book Description

Guitar transcriptions to U2's award-winning 2000 release with 11 tracks, including: Beautiful Day * Elevation * Peace on Earth * Stuck in a Moment You Can't Get Out Of * Walk On * Wild Honey * and more.

Average customer rating:

U2 / Pop

Manufacturer: Alfred Publishing Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback

Songbooks | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Book Description

12 songs from the hit album: Discotheque * Do You Feel Loved * Mofo * If God Would Send His Angels * Staring at the Sun * Last Night on Earth * Miami * If You Wear That Velvet Dress * and more. Includes color photos.

Average customer rating:

U2 Rock Score (00694410)
U2
Manufacturer: Hal Leonard Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Songbooks | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Book Description

10 of their best, including Gloria * Sunday Bloody Sunday * New Year's Day * Pride (In the Name of Love) * more.

Average customer rating:

"U2"
U2 (Musical group)
Manufacturer: Music Sales Ltd
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Play Guitar with the Best of "U2" (Book & CD)

Average customer rating:

Play Guitar with the Best of "U2" (Book & CD)

Manufacturer: Wise Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Book Description

A collection of stories, told first-hand, by people who have known Bobby Fischer in the past. There are 7 authors in all, making for a book with many different views on America's greatest chess player of all time.

Customer Reviews:

one of most interesting book about Fischer........2005-01-31

I have 4 or 5 books about Fischer, but this one is different. It shows Fischer, the person. Seven contributors recalled their personal contacts with Fischer. Their encounters were first-hand, so their stories are truer. There are no deep chess analyses in this book, however they are the important games during Fischer's career. This is no problem, because I can find the analyses in other books or magazines, or even from chess programs. The interviews, stories, experience, observation that the authors shared enlighten me many points about Fischer. He is incredible, demanding bunch of money to play the championship with Spassky; then rejecting more money when having to defend his title. He turned down large sum of money when asked to write a book about the match. How could he rack up long strings of wins without allowing a single draw along? And these games were against the GMs. This book also has many good pictures along his exciting career. A nice article written by Unzicker near the end showed how fairly Fischer treated chess-fellows. This book could a short historical document illustrating the rise and fall of a chess titan.

Average customer rating:

The Guiding Merriman

Review of overall subject matter

Easy to Read and Excellent Advice

Better Book Than Most Books Offering Financial Advice

Understanding the importance of Asset Classes

Live it Up without Outliving Your Money!: 10 Steps to a Perfect Retirement Portfolio
Paul Merriman
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Popular Economics | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Financial Planning | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Retirement Planning | Personal Finance | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Look Inside Business Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
Business & Investing | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books
Similar Items:

The New Rules of Retirement: Strategies for a Secure Future

Work Less, Live More: The New Way to Retire Early

The Savage Number: How Much Money Do You Need to Retire

Yes, You Can Become a Successful Income Investor! Reaching for Yield in Today's Market

Retire Secure!: Pay Taxes Later The Key to Making Your Money Last as Long as You Do

ASIN: 0471679976

Book Description

Live It Up without Outliving Your Money!

"Paul Merriman's new book is a rich and meaty guide to achieving real retirement security. It's full of wise, easy-to-follow advice that will stand the test of time."
—Knight Kiplinger, Editor in Chief, Kiplinger's Personal Finance Magazine and The Kiplinger Letter

"Read, Live It Up! Not only does Paul Merriman know the secret to making your money work as hard as you do, he loves helping people achieve their goals and dreams."
-Paul B. Farrell, author of The Millionaire Code, The Winning Portfolio and The Lazy Person's Guide to Investing

An educational and motivational guide to retiring without running out of money

No one understands this better than Paul Merriman. For four decades, Merriman has helped and watched people manage their money—both before and during retirement. Now, in Live It Up without Outliving Your Money!, Merriman distills what he has learned into a sound, time-tested approach to creating a portfolio that will fulfill your unique retirement needs.

Based on Merriman's popular retirement workshops, Live It Up without Outliving Your Money! offers ten straightforward steps to creating and maintaining the perfect retirement portfolio. From determining how much you will need to live on after retirement to recognizing and controlling the expenses of investing, the easy-to-understand strategies outlined within these pages can help you regain confidence in your retirement plan.

Stay current! visit www.wiley.com/go/paulmerriman

Download Description

How to make sure the golden years aren't lean years In the coming years, more than 70 million people will enter retirement. But even as people live longer and stay active longer and with Social Security's future in jeopard, theyhave saved less than any previous generation. Baby boomers are hungry for sound, time-tested advice about how to reinvigorate their retirement portfolios with less risk so that they can live the comfortable retirement they've promised themselves. Live It Up Without Outliving Your Money! is the road map that people are looking for. Based on the author's popular workshops, this plain-speaking book gives readers simple, low-risk strategies to get the most out of their retirement without running out of money. Paul Merriman is President of Merriman Capital Management in Seattle, which manages more than $600 million in investments for more than 1,200 clients. Merriman hosts "Sound Investing, a weekly Seattle-area and Internet radio show and is a retirement and mutual fund columnist at CBSMarketwatch.com. He is the publisher and editor of FundAdvice.com, an online newsletter and investment advisory service rate Best of the Web" by Forbes in 2000, 2001, and 2002.

Customer Reviews:

The Guiding Merriman.......2007-08-16

The most complete book for understanding the whats and hows of retirement planning and investing for retirement. Complete with data to support the ideas the author presents.

Review of overall subject matter .......2007-05-30

One of the best references on the subject of retirement & Investing I have read so far. Step by step method for securing income during retirement. Intruduces a number of strategies Investors don't want you to know about. I have recommended this book to several of my friends who are also close to retirement. For those close to retirement, it should be front and center in their libraries. A lot of facts backing up recommendations. Short read.

Easy to Read and Excellent Advice.......2007-03-21

I found Merriman's writing style easy to read. He does an excellent job of covering the basics of investing including asset allocation.

Merriman's suggestion of holding 50% foreign stocks and 50% U.S. stocks was a little surprising to me. I was not expecting such a high allocation to foreign stocks. Vanguard, for example, suggests no more than 20% foreign stocks. Merriman makes a compelling case for holding 50% foreign stocks, but past performance of foreign stocks relative to U.S. stocks does not necessarily mean future performance will be the same.

Another surprise was no mention of REITs. For a book published in 2005, I expected to see at least a 10% allocation to U.S. REITs.

The last surprise was his recommendation of DFA funds compared to Vanguard funds. He tries to make the case the 1% of assets fee per year to a DFA advisor is more than offset by the superior performance of a DFA fund portofolio compared to a Vanguard portfolio. Most of the extra return is not due to lower DFA expense ratios, but the fact that DFA offers more asset class choices than Vanguard. I'm a big Vanguard fan, plus manage my own portfolio.....so I'm not sold on the DFA approach.

Over-all an excellent book.

I would suggest companion books to supplement this book including:
The Richest Man in Babylon
Bogle on Mutual Funds: New Perspectives for the Intelligent Investor
The Millionaire Next Door
The Four Pillars of Investing: Lessons for Building a Winning Portfolio
A Random Walk Down Wall Street: The Time-Tested Strategy for Successful Investing, Ninth Edition
Index Mutual Funds: How to Simplify Your Financial Life and Beat the Pro's
The Coffeehouse Investor: How to Build Wealth, Ignore Wall Street, and Get On With Your Life
The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing
Wealth: Grow It, Protect It, Spend It, and Share It
All About Asset Allocation.

Better Book Than Most Books Offering Financial Advice.......2007-01-21

Merriman's book offers readers a review of different portfolio options with a focus on the risk of each portfolio. Most books and discussion of investment options fail to consider risk and thereby mislead readers into thinking that one can simply repeat the strategy that produced spectacular investment returns in a prior year.

This book provides example portfolios that were constructed using the most convincing economic theory to-date developed by leading financial and economic scientists at the highest regarded economic schools in the world (Chicago, Stanford, Yale). The probability of having greater portfolio returns than most people by receiving the average return of many asset classes (financial markets) is higher when investors follow the relatively low risk options Merriman provides.

I highly recommend this book to readers of all knowledge levels. I also highly recommend the firm Merriman Capital Management for its low fees, excellant customer service, and access to the mutual funds of Dimensional Fund Advisors. The portfolio returns of DFA funds have far exceeded the portfolio returns of most actively managed funds and even passively managed funds from Vanguard and Fidelity in all of the last 5 years including 2006.

Understanding the importance of Asset Classes.......2006-04-21

This book, written by a money manager with 40 years of experience in the field, makes it crystal clear how diversification using asset classes can increase your return while reducing risk. It offers fundamentally sound advice while rejecting the "get rich quick" mentality. If you want to sleep better when you retire, read this book.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books