A Wounded Innocence: Sketches for a Theology of Art

Book Description

What is the theological significance of art? Why has the Church always encouraged the arts? What is so profoundly human about the arts? In A Wounded Innocence Alejandro R. García-Rivera answers these questions in a series of "sketches" that are mixed spiritual and theological reflections on various works of art written in a poetic style. These reflections explore the relationship between the spiritual and the arts in its many dimensions.

The first "sketch," "The Beginning of Art," introduces the rest that go on to explore further the human, artistic, and theological implications of a wounded innocence. Each "sketch" reflects on a particular human work of art. Some are conventional works of art. Others may never find their way into a museum but, then, that is one of the implications coming out of this book. A museum does not define what a work of art is, its human depth does. In these deeply studied yet spiritually written reflections on each work of art, it is hoped that the reader will find his and her own creative depth described, perhaps even revealed.

A Wounded Innocence is both inspiring and informative. Readers will learn about art, spirituality, and theology, and will find themselves inspired to look at works of art, and even to produce a work of art. It sets a new way of doing theology that is at the same time spiritual. More importantly, García-Rivera describes a theology of art.

Chapters are "The Beginning of Art," "The End of Art," "Human Freedom and Artistic Creativity," "Heaven-with-Us," "The Human Aspect of Atonement," "The Tyger and the Lamb," and "A Wounded Innocence." Includes black and white art.

Book Description

Sonia Rykiel represents the liberated woman in every sense of the word, both in her creations and her lifestyle. Known to Americans as "the Queen of Knits," this striking redhead started her career in the most extraordinary fashion. Married to the owner of a boutique that sold clothing somewhere between custom-made and ready-to-wear, she never could find a sweater that truly suited her. So she decided to design her own, using a supplier of her husband in Venice. The sweater went back for alterations seven times before the design was perfected, but in the end she was pleased - so was Elle magazine, who used it on a cover, making Sonia Rykiel instantly famous. In 1968, she opened her own boutique on the Left Bank's fashionable rue de Grenelle, and soon designed sweaters for mass-market mail-order catalogs. Encouraging women to adapt her clothes to their individual lifestyles, she introduced such novel ideas as clothing to be worn inside-out, seams being as important as surface. Rykiel created her own perfume in 1978, launched a career as an interior designer (whose most elegant creation was the decoration of the luxurious Hotel Crillon on the place Vendome), and in 1980 was elected one of the world's ten most elegant women.

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Celebration
Sonia Rykiel
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Et je la voudrais nue
Sonia Rykiel
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L'ecole de la vie, ou, La France autodidacte: Rene Monory, Jean-Claude Coutasse, Jean-Paul Bucher, Sonia Rykiel, Michel Denisot, Jean Bousquet, Olympe, Jean-Paul Goude, Alain Ayache, Pierre Beregovoy

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L'ecole de la vie, ou, La France autodidacte: Rene Monory, Jean-Claude Coutasse, Jean-Paul Bucher, Sonia Rykiel, Michel Denisot, Jean Bousquet, Olympe, Jean-Paul Goude, Alain Ayache, Pierre Beregovoy
Sylvie Marion
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La Jalousie: Jeanne Moreau, Nadine Trintignant, Regine Deforges, Sonia Rykiel, Pauline Reage, Michele Montrelay : [entretiens]

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La Jalousie: Jeanne Moreau, Nadine Trintignant, Regine Deforges, Sonia Rykiel, Pauline Reage, Michele Montrelay : [entretiens]

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Les levres rouges: Roman
Sonia Rykiel
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Rykiel

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Sonia Rykiel
Patrick Mauriès
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La Jalousie: [entretiens avec] Jeanne Moreau, Regine Deforges, Pauline Reage, Nadine Trintignant, Sonia Rykiel, Michele Montrelay

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La Jalousie: [entretiens avec] Jeanne Moreau, Regine Deforges, Pauline Reage, Nadine Trintignant, Sonia Rykiel, Michele Montrelay

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Le Savoir-vivre du chocolat
Blandine Vié-Marcadé , Daniel Czap , and Sonia Rykiel
Manufacturer: Minerva
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ASIN: 2830705467

Book Description

The graveyard is cold and still. Bright moonlight deepens the shadows. The silence is disturbed by a throaty moan. Breaking through the soft, recently packed earth, a claw extends, sharp and grasping. A sickly sweet stench rises with the corpse. Desperate hunger is etched on it s cadaverous face - a hunger for your blood! Now you can join the Slayer's world! Inside these lustrous covers, you will find: an introduction to roleplaying and the Buffyverse; a role-playing guide to all seven season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer; detailed character creation (including pre-constructed Heroes and White Hats for your quick-play pleasure); role-playing specifics for the entire Original Cast; from Buffy to Dawn, including their wild and wacky changes; the Buffy Unisystem; a guide to Buffyspeak to add sparkle to your dialogue; and much, much more!

Customer Reviews:

Excellent Fan-Service RPG, But Lacks Mass Appeal.......2006-04-20

Thanks to a fanatically loyal audience and the supernatural nature of the source material, the Buffy franchise has been squeezed and molded into all kinds of related products and merchandise. Toys, video games, soundtracks... you name it, Buffy's face is probably on it. While I'm not normally a fan of relentless franchise-milking, the world o' Buffy lends itself quite well to the table-top RPG format. Thankfully, the developers didn't drop the ball, and they've managed to create an interesting game system that captures much of the television show's charms, from the vampire face-kicking to the offbeat humor. The game lacks a lot of the 'hard numbers' stuff that many hardcore types prefer, and I doubt it will have much pull for anyone that isn't a devotee of the show. But for Buffy fans and anyone hunting for a quirky RPG that isn't a typical dice-fest, this would be a fine choice.

What I liked best about the Buffy RPG is how it shines a spotlight on my favorite character type: the average Joe/Jane. While many will be keen on role-playing as a Slayer, said Slayer will have a supporting team (just like Buffy) that helps her fight the forces of darkness. With that in mind, you can be a Xander-type who has no special powers and astonishingly mediocre fighting prowess, yet you can still contribute in your own way. The game uses a cute gimmick called Drama Points which allow characters to pull off feats beyond their normal capabilities. There's a special satisfaction in having your loyal little sidekick survive (and even thrive) in near-death situations, as opposed to being a monstrous sword-waving barbarian that kicks down doors and beheads every beast in sight without breaking a sweat. You can be a supporting character with special powers, of course, like a witch or a Watcher. You don't even have to have a Slayer, if you don't feel like it. But the game works best if you emulate the Scooby Gang model, and most gaming groups probably will. A good Director (the person running the game) will create situations where the non-Slayers can use their unique talents or quirks to solve dilemmas that supernatural strength alone can't handle. (Don't leave the Slayer hanging, though... toss in a demon or two that needs a good beating.) Needless to say, so-called munchkins who gauge their RPG enjoyment on how 'powerful' their guy is will not be overly fond of the game, unless they always get to be the Slayer.

Another of the game's strengths is the character creation method, with the excellent Quality/Drawback system. Qualities are positive traits or powers that you 'buy' with points, and Drawbacks are negative traits that you take on to give yourself more points to buy Qualities or statistic points with. Qualities/Drawbacks run the gamut, from physical prowess to glaring personality defects. Some of these are very well thought-out; for example, the Honor trait is considered a Drawback, because it can hamstring your character in certain situations. (For instance, Buffy would never take a pile of money if it came from a nefarious source, even though she'd theoretically use the money towards noble ends.) What makes this system so appealing is that it really helps the players define their characters right off the bat. Many role-players (especially rookies) have a lot of trouble coming up with interesting personalities for their new creations, and end up being 'some fighter guy.' The Quality/Drawback system will alleviate a lot of this, as players will find all kinds of interesting quirks to choose from, and will inevitably take on some entertaining Drawbacks to pay for a Quality they really want. Some players might even take on some Drawbacks for fun (lechery or greed, for example), which will make the game more enjoyable for everybody. Good stuff.

If the game has a weakness, it lies in the somewhat vague presentation of the overall rules. Many sections of the gameplay dynamics seem to boil down to 'the Director's discretion,' which adds a lot of flexibility, but puts a lot of weight on the Director to come up with reasonable rules decisions on the fly. Characters can have a lot of basic skills like driving or computer use, but by the end of that section, the manual basically shrugs and throws in a 'wild card' category that includes anything and everything. And adjucating Drama Points can be quite tricky. If these are supposed to create minor miracles, what are the limitations? The book does a pretty good job of outlining the power of the Drama Point, but players will inevitably come up with new possible uses that seem perfectly reasonable. Unless you want the game to come to a screeching halt during a major combat, the Director will need to have to make a serious yes-or-no decision pretty quickly. A Dungeon Master in Dungeons and Dragons has dozens of tables, charts, and piles of numbers which answer almost any question that arises with simple, hard data. "You're a Level 8 wizard suffering from a poisonous snake bite? Here's the number you need to roll to survive." A Buffy game Director doesn't have the same luxury. A good mantra is "it's just a game. Do whatever makes things more fun, as long as reasonable game balance is preserved." Even with that in mind, the Director should be someone with considerable RPG-running experience.

The overall presentation of the book is excellent. The production values are high, tons of memorable Buffy quotes are sprinkled throughout, and you get character sheets for every major character from the show's seven-year run. Buffy fans will enjoy thumbing through the book even if they never intend to play the game. Of course, many chapters (monster types, spells, etc.) seem underfed... so the developers can sell you supplement books, of course. This is par for the course in table-top gaming and I'm not going to whine about it, but if you plan on getting serious about the game, it will involve a fair amount of money.

When all is said and done, this is an easy product to rate. If you and your friends really enjoy the Buffyverse and role-playing, this is an easy thumbs-up. If you prefer combat-intensive games with a lot of dice-rolling and 37 kinds of swords, you'll probably be underwhelmed. Having a group of easy-going, creative people would help a lot as well. Nice work from C.J. Carella and company.

Almost everything..........2006-01-19

This review is meant for a specific audience. That is, people who have played the BtVS RPG before or own the original BtVS core book. I will focus on the changes that have been made.

The primary changes are to the rules and the character templates. This isn't BtVS 2.0, more like 1.5.

I like all of the rule changes (the majority are to character creation. Ie, changing the cost of qualities and attributes so that PCs advance a little more reasonably. Some are combat changes such as clearer mass combat rules).

The other major difference is all the templates (except Riley, which is done away with in favor of a Riley quick sheet) are completely redone. Instead of giving the stats of the main cast at the end of Season 5 (or at the end of their last season as with Cordelia and Angel), they give the stats of each character at the beggining of Season 1. Then each character gets a page or so to themselves that gives their seasonal adjustements (and episode by episode adjustments)all the way through Season 7 (even people who just guest star). Some of the quick sheets on villains also have seasonal adjustments (see Johnathon).

Overall, it includes everything I wanted excpet one thing. The Angel RPG core book contains rules on how to create your own qualities. Other than a real brief paragraph that just scratches the surface of quality creation, the core revised misses where Angel hits. This is a HUGE dissapointment for game masters that do not own the angel core book, making this book 4 rather than 5 stars.

I love this game!.......2006-01-07

Buffy: Alright, I get it. You're evil. Do we have to chat about it all day?
-3.10, Amends

The book opens with a double introduction to the concept of role-playing games and the show. This includes a general synopsis of the first five seasons of the show, stopping there because the sixth season was currently underway at the time of writing. This section starts in using short quotes from the show as part of section headers and the like that is used through out the book to help provide plenty of Slayer feel to the text. Given that quotes are a means of gaining experience in this game, it could also be considered game play training. The second chapter turns to the main bulk of player concerns with the character creation system. The character creation uses a point system with separate base points dependent on character type for attributes, qualities, and skill points. Character type also defines base drama points, which can be spent in play for bonuses, and set limits on how many points worth of optional drawbacks that can be used to earn points for the other elements. There are six basic, open-ended stats with a nominal maximum of five for normal humans, forty-nine qualities and drawbacks, and eighteen relatively broad skills with one wildcard for potentially very specialized training not covered by the defined skills. The attributes are split between three physical and three mental statistics, which is fairly normal. The qualities and drawbacks, which are listed together, range from acute senses (a good thing) to zealot (a bad thing). There are even some package qualities like Slayer and vampire that give both bonuses and disadvantages. All of these are worth varying points, sometimes based on the severity of the condition, specific variants, relative inherent potency, or as levels of power. The skills are generally broad and loose, making for ease of play and reflective of the natural fluidity of skills portrayed by many television characters as is only fitting. They also have entertaining names like Gun Fu and Getting Medieval, although some have more basic names like Driving and Knowledge. In addition to the creation system, there are two sub-sections to the chapter, the first providing twelve basic character types completely detailed and the second twelve of the cast members as of the end of the fifth season or their last appearance. These last are also given guidelines for modifying to reflect their potency in earlier seasons.

Chapter three and four rounds out game play for players, providing the rules, weapons lists, and the basics of magic. There are some game master elements included as well, such as the introduction to the Quick Sheet format for foes and non-player characters. The basic Unisystem conflict management uses a d10 plus a relevant attribute and a relative skill for all checks against a target number of nine or an opposing target's relative defense value. For checks not involving a particular skill, such as lifting a body, sometimes double the attribute is applied the specifics given in this chapter. The greater the total of the roll and relevant character bonuses over nine the more success levels one has to really impress (or damage) the other characters. Combat is kept simple with basically two rolls per round, one for attacks and one for defense with modifiers for dealing with multiples in either case. There is some complication of different attack combos or weapon uses having different modifiers, but these are recorded during the character creation stage to keep combat fast. Rules for using drama points for heroic feats or reducing damage and gaining more to replace those used are given, as well as some for giving and using experience points to improve characters as they survive whatever adventures befall them. The magic system is similar to the combat system in that there is a fair bit of set up to create a spell, but it is a fairly versatile system with guidelines for crafting spells in any shape or form to produce a resulting power level. A spell caster must roll enough success levels to match a spells power level or things go awry. It is a fairly basic system, but it gives a feel for the magic seen from the show, which is the aim. Those who want greater detail can buy the supplement or use a magic system from another Unisystem game.

The remaining four chapters turn to game master details. It starts with a review of sites, organizations, and people from Sunnydale, the setting of the show. The people included cover three generic character types, students and cops, and several supporting characters from series. The next chapter provides a broader focus of the game, introducing vampires, demons, shape shifters, robots, and assorted undead. Some general rules for creating different beasts and using them in general are discussed. There is little detail on creating monsters systematically, but enough general rules are given to get a game master started until a proper supplement on beasts is printed. This chapter includes several samples of each group of villains and the six of the more prominent villains from the first five seasons. Again, it is not entirely thorough, but enough to get started. All of the characters listed in these two chapters use the Quick Sheet, a simplified description for secondary characters that covers basic game needs without as much work. The main shift here is that the extensive combinations of attributes and skills for various contests are reduced to three relevant statistics. The seventh chapter gives general game running suggests, emphasizing the episodic nature and style of play that should be run for a Buffy game. There is some excellent advice here for any game master using any game here. The last chapter provides a complete sample adventure. An appendix provides a little more flavor with some guides to speaking like characters from the show, some conversion guides to other Unisystem games, helpful tables and charts, and a glossary of show terms.

Buffy the Vampire Slayer Core Rulebook provides everything a starting playgroup needs to play this game. There is plenty of source material from the show to aid in a game that truly captures the slightly gritty fun with a gaming system that is fast and easy to use for the fast pace of television combat. While the magic spells and bestiary are quite limited for a complete game, this book contains enough to get started and enough explanation to allow the more creative individuals to make their own. With numerous sourcebooks already released, what need there might be for more is pretty well covered. The editing and layout are good, using clear fonts, headers, and full color to the best effect and a light narrative tone similar to the style of the show. The use of different color page edges in each chapter is also a nice touch in speeding reference searches. The majority of artwork is just images of characters, locations, and monsters from the television show. There are some illustrations of archetype characters in the character creation section and a few of the generic character types, also in color format. If there is a downside to this product, it might be that it is a little more expensive than competing products and there are occasional publishing errors. The sample reviewed had the last two pages glued into a folded back cover page. Still, given all the positive features, this is still a book to stake out on some evening. Stormy weather is optional.

Revised Buffy.......2005-09-07

I'm extremely excited about this book after talking to the Eden Studios guys at Gen Con about it. I proudly own the orginal run thru of the Core Book. I'm buying the Revisied book out of share fandom. Because its going to have the updated Charecter sheets for the main cast plus other updates thats happen to the storyline up thru Season 7. A nice way to give the book itself some closure. Cause it really didn't happen with the others.

Plus the real excitement for this book is, it brings along the expansion I and ever other die hard Buffy RPG fan have been waiting for, for a year!

~Sonja~

Customer Reviews:

Excellent introduction to foreign film.......2006-03-10

This is a great place to start for the novice foreign film fan. Wilhelm writes with great enthusiasm, humour, and passion, yet tries to maintain a critical eye.

His selection of film titles and directors do at times seem a little questionable, particularly when he omits notable titles like Rules of the Game (by Renoir) or Close-Up (by Kiarostami), to the inclusion of titles like King Kong vs. Godzilla (by Montgomery ?!).

Nonetheless, with the idea that this was intended as an introduction to foreign film, he does a wonderful job in exposing truly great art, such as the works by Bresson, Bunuel, von Trier, Kaurismaki, and Herzog. Of course, less challening, yet still rewarding fare, like Shall We Dance, Kolya, and La Femme Nikita also get there due, as they should.

Even for a foreign film nut like myself, this book still remains a pleasure to turn to when I want to discover a new or forgotten film title.

This book is a wonderful starting point for those curious about discovering the exciting world of film that exists beyond American studios.

Intelligent Recommendations for Foreign Films.......2006-02-23

The author, a museum curator, possesses that rare gift of intelligence and good taste in talking about films. I don't know of any other reviewer of foreign films who is more reliable in helping me select "worthwhile films" and explaining why the films do have merit. I believe this would be a very fine gift
to that friend or relative who is fed up with Hollywood cliches and is looking for something fresh and interesting. An intesting feature entitled NEXT STOP which gives some additional films in the same genre. (For Example, for Ingrid Bergman's "Smiles of a Summer Night", tne next stop is "Rules of the Game, Boudu Saved from Drowning, the Magic Flute." highly recommended.

A Great Introduction to World Cinema.......2005-12-23

I've had this book since 1999 when it first came out and I love it. I knew nothing about world cinema when I first got it, and now I'm obsessed.
I agree with the other reviewers which say it is not a thourough examination of World Cinema, but like the author says in the introduction "Videohound's World Cinema isn't meant to be a definitive list of foreign titles, but the movies described here are a good place to jump in if you're new to international cinema."
The thing that I love about this book is Wilhelm's reviews: Totally subjective. His writing has made me avoid bad movies, and appreciate good ones that I may have missed the point of.
As for the not definitiveness, go look up the director on IMDB.com if you really want to know all the things a director has done.

May not be what you are lookin for........2001-03-23

I wrote a review for this book several months ago uponreceiving my copy from .... After owning it for a while, I haverealized that I probably wrote with too much haste. I was initiallyvery disappointed because I had expected a completely comprehensiveforeign film encyclopedia and that is not what Videohound's WorldCinema is at all. World Cinema is an introduction to the foreign filmworld and is simply very incomplete in its coverage of the thisworld. An example: Wilhelm, the book's author, has not written areview for Jean Renoir's Rules of the Game, considered by many to beone of the best films of all time and it is very foreign. In the indexof the book, there is not a full list of all of a director's, writer'sor cinematographer's works. Sure, some directors are accounted forcompletely but others are left with only two or three titles to theircredit. Also, World Cinema does not use the useful bone ranking systemVideohound's other editions use. Personally I found the bone systemvery helpful for a quick reference to find if a movie is worthwatching. Basically I expected as comprehensive a foreign film bookas Videohound's Golden Movie Retreiver is for movies of all kinds. Iam not writing this review over again to simply tell why I dislike thebook but rather why I like it. Wilhelm gives truly thorough reviews ofthe films in the book. Granted, he usually ruins the movies for anyonethat has not seen them before but one must understand when buying thisbook that they are NOT buying a book for tantalization or inticementto see a movie. They are buying a book that gives thorough reviews ofa solid list of foreign films and is a good starter kit to anyone whowishes to branch out and start to read subtitles.

Don't Buy It.......2000-11-17

After ordering my copy of VideoHound's World Cinema: The Adventurer's Guide to Movie Watching I must say that I was rather disappointed in the hound. Okay, lets say that you are not familiar to any of the directors in the book and you read a review and check out the film and you love what you see. You will probably want to check out other pieces of work by this same director. Unfortunately the Videohound World Cinema book does not list all of the works of cool foreign directors, even of films made outside the U.S. For example, David Cronenberg has a wimpy film list in the back of the book with a mere three films. The book has completely overlooked great campy Italian horror directors like Lucio Fulci. What I am saying is that the book is far from complete and needs a whole lot of additions. If I were you, find another source book and avoid this hound dog.

Book Description

This is an English translation of La Rhythmique Jaques-Dalcroze by Marie-Laure Bachmann, first published in Switzerland in 1984. The book was commissioned by the Institut Jaques-Dalcroze in Geneva and is the first to give a comprehensive account of the work and ideas of Emile Jaques-Dalcroze, 1865-1950, educational pioneer, musician, and creative artist. With its detailed and copious references to archive material the book gives us a fascinating insight into the inception and development of Jaques-Dalcroze's work, from the end of the last century up to the present day. It traces his growing ideas on the use of movement and of improvisation in the process of music learning, and the application of these ideas to the vital experiencing of musical material, both for children and adults. Dalcroze's work begins with the primacy of individual response, the right of all to develop their individual minds through interpretative gesture; this, among other outcomes, enables a process of stringent self-monitoring in the development of the musical ear. The experience of overt physical response, which may involve the whole body, is seen to take precedence in the learning process, unequivocally and at all ages, over information gathering and problem solving. The principles of Jaques-Dalcroze are salutary and more relevant now than ever before. Indeed, many areas of musical activity would by enriched by an understanding application of his ideas, for example pre-instrumental learning, the training of young instrumentalists, performing, music therapy, and of course, the whole domain of music education.

Customer Reviews:

I'm glad I'm finished........2007-10-04

There are two chief components of this book:

1. descriptions of activities which are difficult to understand without illustrations

2. vague, abstract language which is also difficult to understand

Terms are presented by not clearly defined. The music teacher is exhorted to teach "rhythm" rather than "meter," but is left to guess what the difference is.

On page 84, we see a classification of exercises:

exercises which seek to automatize series of movements in their many combinations
exercises teaching how to co-ordinate automatic and voluntary movements
exercises aiming to eliminate all motor actions resulting from any irrelevant nervous response
exercises seeking to individualize and discriminate muscular sensations and to improve the sense of body attitude

If you can understand any of that, you're smarter than I am. If you don't understand any of it, this book won't help you, because the author doesn't give any examples.

Each sentence in this book is a thicket which can be penetrated only with a machete. The champion is on page 130:

But even if he plays straight with his pupils and manages to give the appearance of having forgotten everything so that he can rediscover it with them (and that can hardly fail to offer new perspectives on his subject of which he was previously unaware), the medium of expression and communication already developed within him can hardly be lost, and it would be a mistake to divest himself of something that enables him to clarify situations or illustrate them with a pretty story, to summarize the growth of a movement, to focus attention on a telling point . . . Surely such abilities lie within his province?

but I shall quote a couple of other goodies. Here is one from page 146:

But this involves a power of concentration sufficiently flexible to be able then to momentarily quit the more difficult action on which it is trained, in order to check that the automatized movement is still operating correctly and has not undergone a disruptive effect from the other.

and here is one from page 334:

Whereas at a younger age they would have concentrated solely on the point they were aiming to reach (and perhaps on the actual moment of arrival), or would have taken pains to regularize their steps but then left the overall distance out of account, from 9 years of age their ability to measure will enable them to divide a distance into segments of equal length, and to impart a spatio-temporal unity to the overall period of time.

If you can read that, be my guest.

Book Description

A classic in its field, this is the essential, all-inclusive guide to today's card games, including poker, bridge, baccarat, solitaire, and dozens of others, as well as histories and variations in the games, odds, and tips on how to detect cheating.

Customer Reviews:

A great reference guide.......2002-03-26

For casual card players, this book is a comprehensive guide. I have never seen so much detailed card-game knowledge assembled in one place. Scarne not only provides basic rules of the games, but also describes variations, strategies, and little-known factoids. This is primarily a reference work and is not designed for 'straight-through' reading.

good...but dated in places........1999-08-07

Overall, well written and accurate on most games, save blackjack. Ifa better understanding of blackjack is your aim, you will be betterserved by a Ken Uston book. But for gaming probabilty elsewhere scarne knew his stuff.

Average customer rating:

Scarne's Encyclopedia of Games
John Scarne
Manufacturer: HarperCollins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Scarneandapos;s Encyclopedia of Card Games

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Scarneandapos;s Encyclopedia of Card Games
John Scarne
Manufacturer: Collins
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OF39RW

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Best Mutual Fund Book

Morningstar Funds 500: 2006 (Morningstar Funds 500)
Morningstar Inc.
Manufacturer: Wiley
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Morningstar Stocks 500: 2007

Morningstar Funds 500: 2007 (Morningstar Funds 500)

Morningstar Guide to Mutual Funds: Five-Star Strategies for Success (Morningstar Guide to Mutual Funds)

Find the Right Mutual Fund: Morningstar Mutual Fund Investing Workbook, Level 1

ASIN: 0471743364

Book Description

Stewardship Grade Easily find funds that put you first

Star Rating Quickly see how well a fund has balanced risk and return

Historical Style Boxes See if a fund has invested consistently from year to year

Over 50 Investment Categories Put together diversified portfolios, assess potential risk, and spot top funds within peer groups

Manager Profile Know the qualifications of the people who are running each fund

Results for up to 12 Years Easily evaluate a fund's performance

Portfolio Holdings Review the top 20 holdings for each fund to see the securities that drive the performance

Investment Style Boxes Quickly determine if a fund's true investment strategy matches your goal

Tax Analysis Tax-adjusted returns and potential capital-gains exposure help you decide whether a fund is best suited as a tax-deferred or taxable investment

Analysis Get independent insight into how and why a fund is a good choice—or a poor one

Sector Weightings Avoid overconcentration in certain areas of the economy

Expenses, Fees, Addresses, Phone Numbers Find everything you need to obtain more information before you invest in a fund

Year-end fund reports from the world's foremost mutual fund expert

In this completely new reference guide, you'll find the best information and independent opinion available on 500 of the largest and most popular mutual funds—the very funds you likely own or follow. Morningstar's Fund Reports are the industry standard and are trusted by financial professionals nationwide. Have a look inside to see how Morningstar's independent analysis, ratings, and detailed data can help you make better fund-investing decisions.

This book can help you:

Position your portfolio for a big 2006
Steer clear of "me-first" management
Start a new portfolio

You'll also benefit from:

Morningstar's exclusive Analyst Picks
An expanded management section
Incisive, independent analysis

For nearly 20 years, Morningstar has helped individuals and financial advisors make better investment decisions. Our information and analysis is trusted and independent, and provide a level of insight unavailable from other sources.

For more information about other Morningstar products and services visit us online at www.morningstar.com.

Customer Reviews:

Best Mutual Fund Book.......2006-06-17

This is the fourth edition of this book that I have purchased. It comes out yearly and lists the 500 funds (stock and bond) that morningstar beleives are the best risked adjusted funds we should invest in.

Pros: The book has all of the information you need to evaluate each fund, including analyst's advice. You cannot go wrong if you on the funds in this book. It would be hard to find one with a ten year losing recod.

Cons: Reading mutual fund technical stuff puts be to sleep.

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