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Empire: Impressions of China (Imago Mundi series)
Orville Schell
Manufacturer: 5 Continents Editions
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China Obscura
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Magnum Stories
ASIN: 8874391277 |
Book Description
This collection of duotone photographs of contemporary China evokes the timeless spirit of this ancient and rapidly changing culture. The innate and mysterious details that make China unique are captured in fleeting facial expressions and gestures and in fragments of architecture and landscapes. The moving, highly personal view of China that emerges in these images typifies the strength of the human spirit and its ability to overcome adversity.
Customer Reviews:
not to be missed.......2006-03-31
An amazing body of work, and a must for anyone visually interested in the China of the late 1990's/ early 00's.
Chronicle of a Death Foretold.......2005-09-22
I write this knowing that the Agfa paper James Delano has used so far in his career, is about to be discontinued -- like many of the rural locales he chronicles in this book. And there is no better elegy for Agfa's silver paper than this collection of images, where Delano uses the paper to breath-taking effect. The images have an elegiac quality, everyday Chinese moments that have been caught and wrapped with a shimmering, silver timelessness. My favourite is the rural woman crossing a wooden bridge with her two infants - black and white photography at its very best. Elsewhere, Delano has manually dodged the paper to near-black, forming blurred images that have the mystery and power of half-buried archetypes.
Agfa is gone, thank God for Ilford!
A for EFFORT!.......2005-09-13
I'm thankful that some publisher was wise enough to feature James Whitlow Delano's work in his very own book. But I'm sorry it was Imago Mundi. Why couldn't it have been Phaidon, Scalo or Taschen? They could have really done his work some justice.
What are my complaints one might ask. Well my main issue with the book is the fact that the images are muddy and far darker than his work actually is. You see, I learned of this book in an interview with Delano on a DVD produced by LensWork magazine. The DVD, which is a far better investment than this book, goes into detail about Whitlow's career, his origins in photography and his influences. Unlike this book, the DVD also features 160 of his works and they are presented far better than anything in this book.
Do I recommend this book? Well not for anyone who's looking for an introduction to his. I would suggest LenWork's DVD/CD set or Delano's own website for that. But if you are a fan or collector then you probably wouldn't need my input to begin with. I would only urge someone to purchase this book in the hopes that Delano can benefit from the sales and continue to fund his future projects. Maybe if other publishers find that there is interest in publications of his works, then someone who is truely capable of producing a quality presentation may just step forward.
Book Description
Netsuke are exquisite reminders of three centuries of Japanese life. In tiny sculptural masterworks, most under two inches high and originally destined to keep the cord attached to a gentleman's snuffbox from slipping through the belt of his kimono, the myths, legends, and cultural history of Japan is recorded. Tiny Buddhas, grinning female poets of the sixteenth century, monkeys, jesters, and craftsmen beam their imperishable cheerfulness toward the viewer, taking the mystery of the ages in their tiny strides. Netsuke: Japanese Life and Legend in Miniatures features over seventy of these superb artifacts, along with fascinating background on the figure and the object or idea it represents.
Customer Reviews:
The power of netsuke.......2007-03-26
This book is a lot like the netsuke themselves. At first, it looks like it might be something interesting, so you pick it up, look a little closer, and...you are inside a whole different world. Something deceptively simple shows itself to have hidden depths.
I had been interested in netsuke for awhile, ever since buying a little ivory sumo in an antique shop in Japan one day. There was something about the miniature wrestler that fascinated me, and I found myself going back to the shop over and over again, just to look at it. I finally knew that, even though it was expensive, it had to be mine.
This is much like the feeling that author Edwin Symmes describes, leading me to believe that it must be a universal experience amongst netsuke appreciators. He is someone who loves the stories behind the tiny figures, who tries to find their personality rather than figure out their rarity or value. In "Netsuke: Japanese Life and Legend in Miniature", he combines his fascination with his skills in photography, creating small vignettes incorporating the figures with appropriate settings, such as an ivory tiger emerging from real bamboo, or a wooden Daruma nestled inside a rock cave. Next to each image is a story, detailing the legends behind the figure, or maybe a little something about the carver, something that you wouldn't know just by looking but which deepens the understanding and appreciate of the figure.
What this book is not is a collector's guide to netsuke. Anyone new to the art form, and looking for a "How to.." guide to give them tips as what to look for, isn't going to find that here. Not that it is entirely lacking in practical information. There are sections describing the history of netsuke, their original use and their evolution, but that is not the focus. To those who's interest lies in photography, Symmes includes a fascinating section on photographing netsuke. But the real joy lies in looking at the pictures, reading the stories, and sharing the love of netsuke that radiates from this book.
Netsuke: Japanese Life and Legend in Miniature.......2007-01-11
There are a lot of high quality photographies of very wonderful netsuke, interesting design, good advice how to do the photographies of small netsuke better! This book is very good for beginning carvers, galleries!
A story goes with each netsuke.......2004-09-17
As author Symmes says, netsukes have the "power to influence people and pocketbooks." This statement is true in several aspects. First, the collector of netsukes will find that they are expensive. Second, the purpose of a netsuke is to fasten an "inro," or case holding valuables, to an obi or belt. "Ne" translates as "root" and "tsuke" translates as "to fasten." An inro's cords are held tightly by an "ojime," or bead, to keep it closed and the netsuke keeps the inro from falling off of the wearer.
The highly-detailed photographs of netsukes are in harmony with the scenery and objects surrounding them, so lusciously artistic that you may consider framing them.
HIH Prince Norihito of Takamado, who wrote this book's foreward, says he looks for "warmth, wit, and a certain twist" in his own netsuke collection. To fully appreciate a netsuke, "hold it, feel it, and examine it closely in one's hand."
Netsuke figures have stories associated with them. Many figures are puns in which the same word may have several meanings. For example, monkey is "saru" which is pronounced the same as "to leave," so it would be unlucky to marry in a monkey year.
If you are not familiar with Asian astrology, this book will teach you much about the associated legends. One tale that fascinated me was about Daruma, the 28th patriarch of Zen Buddhism. Daruma meditated for 9 years, sitting so long that his legs lost their strength. My sister, who lived in Japan for many years, sent me a wooden Daruma doll with two blank eyes. When you knock over the Daruma doll, it pops back upright, reflecting an undaunted spirit. Here's what you are supposed to do with a Daruma doll: you color one eye to make a prayer, then you color the other one when the prayer is answered.
You'll learn much about Japanese life and legend from studying these tiny netsukes -- and Symmes provides us with a fun way to learn.
Lovely images, informative text - great introduction!.......2000-01-23
Between the introductory text and the stories attached to each picture, this book serves to both educate and whet the appetite. I struggled with the desire to own each of the pieces that Symmes so lovingly photographed.
Visual Masterpiece for the Netsuke Enthusiast.......1999-05-04
Symmes does a wonderful job of composing this text. He gives a nice history of netsuke, covering the span of time from feudal Japan to the present. He includes a small section on netsuke manufacture, and another on photographic techniques for macro photography and design, and then the text opens into a wonderful collection of full-page photographs of several varied and incredible pieces, some dating back to the seventeenth century. He includes brief descriptions of the netsuke, although he could have elaborated on the Japanese (and Chinese) fables that inspired many of these creations for Western audiences. Many of the pieces in this book are available today in reproduction form, and the netsuke are composed of several different materials, not just the "typical" ivory or wood. This text is a must have for any collector, beginning or advanced, as it will inspire readers to research their private collections as well as create the desire to build them! The reproduction of detail from the photographs is amazing!
Book Description
The Ultimate Netsuke Bibliography is a comprehensive bibliography of more than 4,400 bibliographic print and non-print entries covering all aspects of Japanese netsuke, the miniature carvings which Japanese men used to suspend various items from the sash belt that fastened their kimono. It is organized into 15 major and 5 minor categories. Each category is further divided into 11 subcategories. Additional features include four indices (Author, Journal, Place, and Subject), and a variety of appendices.
It contains 2,196 books, 1,861 journal articles (457 from the Netsuke Kenkyukai Study Journal), 367 from the Journal of the International Netsuke Collectors Society 1,494 auction catalogs, 431 items in French, 254 items in Japanese, 60 items prior to 1900, including 9 auction catalogs.
Includes most materials published through the end of 1998. A section of 'Late Arrivals', including last minute submissions and items in early 1999, will be listed as well. This volume is a necessity for every netsuke collector, bibliophile, art library and museum.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent research source.......2000-09-22
Norman Sandfield has saved everyone a lot of time and effort with this excellent annotated guide to the world of these miniature Japanese carvings. References abound on netsuke types, specific pieces, inro, ojime, sagemono, and toggles in addition to those on legends, subject matter, techniques, materials, and various artist's schools.
Not content to confine himself to the English literature, outstanding foreign references have been included. Any serious collector of netsuke, okimono, or sagemono must consider this book.
Book Description
Drawing on the Victoria and Albert Museum's fine collection, Japanese Netsuke examines these appealing, accessible, and often humorous works of art in the broadest possible context.
In a text that is both comprehensive and entertaining, Julia Hutt traces the history of netsuke, showing how these highly collectible objects originated from belt hangings used by nomads along the Silk Road. The stunning color photographs reveal the full range of subjects portrayed-images of animals, birds, and sea creatures, portraits of dancers and demons, droll cameos of characters from everyday urban life, even a rare poetic evocation of landscape-and the high level of skill involved in their creation. The richness and diversity of the materials used, as well as the different sources of inspiration, are also discussed, providing an indispensable guide for collectors and all those interested in Japanese decorative arts.
Book Description
Lavishly printed in full color, this exhibition catalogue features over 300 spectacular examples of netsuke carvers' art. Chapters elucidate the historical development and extraordinary breadth of netsuke production with examples from as early as the 17th century to contemporary works by living artists. Matthew Welch, Associate Curator of Asian Art at the Minneapolis Institute of Arts, and Sharen Chappell, former president of the International Netsuke Society, discuss iconography, technique and artistic style of each work. All netsuke were selected from the private collections of the International Netsuke Society members, and many have never been published or publicly exhibited.
Book Description
The Toledo Museum of Art has an outstanding collection of more than 250 netsuke. Fifty examples are highlighted. Chapter One relates the history of netsuke. Chapter Two illustrates the most popular types using additional examples in the collection. Chapter Three explores materials, some information about the carvers, and techniques. Selected bibliography. Index.
Customer Reviews:
Japanese Treasures: The Art of Netsuke Carving in the Toledo Museum of Art.......2007-01-11
There are interesting stories about every netsuke, good quality of photographies.
Great book for a gift!.......2000-12-16
This is good book to start know about what NETSKE is. It introduces the brief background, type and techniques for Netsuke. What I like was the pictures of marvelous museum collection with notes. It is not thick book like others but it is enjoyable and enriches your mind.
Book Description
Netsuke-tiny, exquisitely carved globes or clasps used to secure pouches to the kimono-have long been an obsession for collectors in the West as well as in the East. They depict a wide variety of figures and cultural icons, from marketplace tradesmen to otherworldly beings to revered animals of the Chinese zodiac; representations of the decidedly domestic to the frankly erotic. Unlike earlier books on the subject, Netsuke: Fantasy and Reality in Japanese Miniature Sculpture examines the pieces in the context of Japanese life, detailing the origins of the designs and themes that were carried down through the centuries, evolving and changing over time. Lavishly illustrated with over 500 color photographs, Netsuke is the definitive work on these remarkably minute, endlessly intricate objects.
Product Description
Sale Results slipped in; Lots 1-812; b/w ill.; not all lots illustrated; unpaginated - over 150.
Product Description
A catalogue of the Bowers Museum exhibition includes work by one hundred contemporary artists - more than five hundred netsuke, ojine and sagamono.
Book Description
Long out of print, The Adventurous Decade is now available again, covering the background and art of such strips as Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, Tarzan, Scorchy Smith, Dick Tracy, Terry and the Pirates, Prince Valiant, The Phantom, Brick Bradford, The Spirit, and Don Winslow together with many seldom-discussed strips such as Bronc Peeler, Tex Throne, Roy Powers, Dan Dunn and Tailspin Tommy. While the text of the book, based on interviews with such comic strip luminaries as Noel Sickles, Milton Caniff, Roy Crane, Alfred Andriola, Dick Moore, Mel Graff, Leslie Turner and other improtant strip artists, remains unchanged (why change a classic?), the book has been totally redesigned in a 9 inch by 12 inch landscape format to showcase the fabulous artwork from these strips. The reprint is printed on deluxe heavy paper stock with all new illustrations, many taken from rarely seen original artwork.
Book Description
Healing humor and jokes that will pass the 99 3/4% purity test. Sprinkle them in speeches, homilies, and comedy club performances. Tell them at cocktail parties. Or share them with a good friend who needs a smile.
Book Description
Art Linson's riotous journey through the making of five major motion pictures.
Whether he's trying to persuade an executive that Gwyneth Paltrow has enough chin to carry the lead in a movie, forcing an enraged Alec Baldwin to shave off his mountain-man beard, or sitting through an excruciating reading of a David Mamet script as Bob de Niro toys with the notion of heading up the cast, Art Linson gives us a brutally honest, funny, and comprehensive tour through the horrors of Hollywood, from script to screen.
In What Just Happened? we get to explore, at close range, finicky directors, clueless executives, shameless marketers, famous actors, battered screenwriters, and hapless producers crossing paths in such calamitous ways that it's a miracle these films get made at all. Linson is the ideal guide through this heavily land-mined, high-stakes industry, pausing for a moment here or there to explain some aspect or pitfall of the business, to wax nostalgic about film days past, or to serve up a compelling inside Hollywood tale of woe. Whether you love the movies or not, you won't be able to resist the stories behind them.
Customer Reviews:
How can we understand Hollywood without addiction?.......2005-07-11
As one who writes and researches alcoholism and the role it plays in human misery, misbehaviors and the bizarre, this book was a huge disappointment. There is bizarre, there is misbehavior (Baldwin's little fit over his beard)--but there is no alcohol or other drug use or addiction. We can't possibly understand Hollywood without inserting alcohol and drug use in a third or so of the characters--usually the ones written about (after all, they provide the most interesting stories). In addition, there was a lack of depth from someone who was so entrenched. There should have--and easily could have been--something far better than the superficiality sprinked throughout this little book. Thus far, I rarely write reviews and wouldn't ordinarily consider panning a book. Unfortunately, this one deserves it.
Classy gossip and some insights.......2005-05-10
Sex sells, goes the old maxim, but if the sales of gossip magazines featuring the likes of the late Princess Diana, the present Drew Barrymore et al, then gossip may well be up there with sex as a matter of titilation (no pun intended) for the masses, of which I am one. THe fact is David Mamet is a great writer, Robert De Niro a great actor and the author, Art Linson, is no slouch in the producing arena. So if any of these are of interest to you, this book is a very well written - snappy dialogue, witty observations on the status of restaurant seating, and well constructed vignettes - as well as providing yet another insider's view on the shark aquarium known as Hollywood.
For the Hollywood-curious.......2004-01-17
I couldn't put this book down once I started it -- not such a problem, since it's pretty small. Linson aims for deliberate frankness from the very first quote to the final credits. The book is a series of conversations between Linson, the producer of such movies as Great Expectations, The Untouchables, and Fight Club, and an ousted movie studio exec, in which Linson relives all of his recent Fox Film "failures" (including GE, The Edge, Fight Club and Pushing Tin). Linson works hard to look like he's pulling no punches, and the anecdotes he does share are bizarre and funny - Alec Baldwin's beard tantrum, the stunned studio reaction to Fight Club, etc.
Don't let the conversational style fool you, though. This isn't a documentary; it's a highlights reel, cuts from Linson's life that show the best story. The book is, if nothing else, extremely self-interested. Linson gives a sort of overview of what producers actually do in films mostly as a justification for his own job. Beyond that, the book reads a bit like a therapy session and a bit like a report Linson cooked up to show his own "blamelessness" in the four "failures" described within.
WJH is a good, short, gossipy book for behind-the-scenes nuts, but shouldn't be regarded as much more than the popcorn version of the events behind any of these films.
comment from L.A. Times reviewer.......2003-05-22
"... you may have missed 'What Just Happened?' when it came out last year. Now it's in paperback. Don't make the same mistake twice." -- Susan Salter Reynolds, reviewer, Los Angeles Times Book Review Section May 2003
Excellent, Bitter Pamphlet.......2002-11-03
What Just Happened consists of behind the scenes tales of the making of The Edge, Great Expectations, Pushing Tin, and Fight Club from film producer Art Linson.
The stories are pretty great. Bitter and specific to a degree not usually found in Hollywood books not written by Julia Phillips, these have the nasty ring of truth, and are very funny.
The only problem with this book is that it barely qualifies as one. There's barely enough text here to fill an ambitious pamphlet. Surely there was more to be written about the making of the wildly controversial Fight Club (like how it managed to get made in the first place) than just describing how the finished product power-freaked the Fox marketing department.
Also padding out the length is a bizarre framing story wherein Linson is telling these tales to a memorably creepy ex-studio head. Pitch black as these segments are, they feel both repetitive and vaguely untrue, a bit of theatricality whipped up to hammer home Linson's bitter points. The book doesn't need them, but I guess they added a few more pages.
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- Understanding Piazzolla
- An impressive contribution to Music History studies
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Astor Piazzolla: A Memoir
Natalio Gorin
Manufacturer: Amadeus Press
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Binding: Paperback
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Le Grand Tango: The Life and Music of Astor Piazzolla
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Astor Piazzolla in Portrait
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Astor Piazzolla for Piano
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The New Tango
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Pulsación
ASIN: 1574670670 |
Book Description
Astor Piazzolla, brilliant, iconoclastic tango musician and composer, has become a national hero in Argentina and a cult figure for classical and jazz lovers worldwide, but only after a lifetime of controversy and struggle.The outspoken, headstrong Piazzolla told his story to journalist and longtime fan Natalio Gorin in the spring of 1990 in a series of frank interviews.Among the firsthand observations of others who knew Piazzolla well are those of his lyricist Horacio Ferrer, his fellow musicians, and his colleagues. Translator Fernando Gonzalez, an Argentine native and American popular music critic who covered Piazzollas career in the United States, has annotated the Amadeus edition for the widening audience that is rediscovering Astor Piazzolla.
Customer Reviews:
Understanding Piazzolla.......2003-03-27
I have read the Piazzolla biography Le Grand Tango and came away with a great deal of knowledge about Astor Piazzolla and his music. But it was not until I read Astor Piazzolla: A Memoir that I felt that I came to understand Piazzolla.
I like this format. Natalio Gorin's interviews with El Troesma are not the chronological, blow by blow account of Piazzolla's life I expected. Gorin asks some questions, but in a series of interviews generally allows Piazzolla to warm to whatever topic develops and then expand on it as the spirit moves him. He only prompts Piazzolla at times when he wants to steer the conversation in a particular direction, such as Piazzolla's politics or his love life.
This is really a tremendous work. One can feel Piazzolla's struggles as he describes his many clashes with the tango establishment and his constant fight to make a place for himself in Argentine and world music. Particularly interesting is the chapter in which he talks about numerous well-known musicians and those who influenced him, and those for whom he felt contempt. Particularly poignant is his relationship with the great bandoneonist Anibal Troilo who would often criticize Piazzolla's work, but at the same time express great affection and admiration for him.
I am amazed at the passions of his audiences whenever he would introduce new elements into his work. That people would actually riot and threaten a musician with death boggles the mind, but I am sure that reactions like that only more firmly convinced Piazzolla of the rightness of his course. Piazzolla was a fighter and he answered his critics not only with his fists, but with one musical masterpiece after another.
After Piazzolla is through talking, the book winds up with Gorin tying up loose ends and analyzing some of Piazzolla's greatest triumphs and greatest disappointments. He also takes a number of swipes at Aldo Pagani, a man Gorin considers to be Piazzolla's Rasputin. Gorin's conclusion is then followed by a couple of short commentaries by some of Piazzolla's collaborators and a discography of Piazzolla's recordings.
I highly recommend this book both by itself and as a complement to Le Grand Tango as a guide to understanding one of the greatest and most complex musician/composers of the 20th century.
An impressive contribution to Music History studies.......2002-10-08
Superbly translated, annotated, and expanded by Fernando Gonzalez (who as a music critic for The Miami Herald and The Boston Globe reported extensively on Astor Piazzolla's career), Astor Piazzolla: A Memoir by journalist Natalio Gorin (Astor Piazzola's friend from their first meeting in 1971 until Piazzolla's death in 1992) is an unforgettable remembrance of the brilliant tango musician and composer Astor Piazzolla (1921-1992), whose work was so unique that he even dared to create some tangos that were not for dancing. Astor Piazzolla offers the reader a fascinating glimpse into a musical genius' life, times, and inspirations and is brilliantly presented biography as well as being an impressive contribution to Music History studies.
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Astor Piazzolla: Memorias/ Memoirs (Trayectos/ Ways)
Natalio Gorin
Manufacturer: Alba
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Encyclopedia of Impromptu Magic
Martin Gardner
Manufacturer: David Meyer Magic Books
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0916638901 |
Product Description
The most comprehensive collection of close-up magic tricks using ordinary objects calling for no special apparatus, gimmicks or advanced preparation. From tricks with apples and bottle caps to tooth picks and whisk brooms, this collection offers concise and practical instructions for a wide range of fascinating magic.
Book Description
The last few years have been a watershed for the commodities, cash and derivatives industry. New regulations and products have led to an explosion in the commodities markets, creating a new asset for investors that includes hedge funds as well as University endowments, and has resulted in a spectacular growth in spot and derivative trading.
This book covers hard and soft commodities (energy, agriculture and metals) and analyses:
- Economic and geopolitical issues in commodities markets
- Commodity price and volume risk
- Stochastic modelling of commodity spot prices and forward curves
- Real options valuation and hedging of physical assets in the energy industry
It is required reading for energy companies and utilities practitioners, commodity cash and derivatives traders in investment banks, the Agrifood business, Commodity Trading Advisors (CTAs) and Hedge Funds.
In
Commodities and Commodity Derivatives, Hélyette Geman shows her powerful command of the subject by combining a rigorous development of its mathematical modelling with a compact institutional presentation of the arcane characteristics of commodities that makes the complex analysis of commodities derivative securities accessible to both the academic and practitioner who wants a deep foundation and a breadth of different market applications. It is destined to be a "must have" on the subject.”
—Robert Merton, Professor, Harvard Business School
"A marvelously comprehensive book of interest to academics and practitioners alike, by one of the world's foremost experts in the field."
—Oldrich Vasicek, founder, KMV
Customer Reviews:
Not good.......2007-06-27
Having done some work in commodities, and more recently in commodities derivatives, I was looking forward to reading this book. Helyette Geman has an excellent reputation in both the academic "ivory tower" and the practitioner "real world". While the book definitely attempts to cover a large and hereto unmet demand, it does not deliver a coherent, consistent and careful analysis of the commodities markets.
In offering an introductory overview of commodities spot and futures markets, the book does a decent job. Chapters 1 - 6 are probably the best chapters in the book and reflect the good understanding and thought leadership of the author. These chapters would have benefited from some careful linguistic editing. Frequently, the text reads French although the book is written in English; this linguistic dissonance is at times frustrating.
The last eight chapters are quite uneven. Each chapter is supposed to describe and introduce a commodity market, such as ags, metals, energy, etc, but few of the chapters are able to fully penetrate the material. The chapters and the material in these chapters are uneven, often bordering to the somewhat disorganized, and occasionally challenging to follow a logical flow in the exposition. Granted, the mathematics are there and they are correct for the most time (some steps in chapter 12 only make sense when you switch around the notation, which can be annoying). The chapter on gas markets is somewhat confusing and the treatment of electricity markets is very uneven. The two better chapters in the second half of the book - on metals and oil - are not written by prof Geman.
Is this a useful book? Notwithstanding the problems, it is a useful book as long as the reader and user recognizes its limitations.
Disappointing.......2007-06-14
Mrs Geman is a refernce in the commodities world and I would have expected to see less talk and more models. I defnitely would not recommend this book to any quant who have to deal with the real world!
Excellent introduction to many aspects of commodities.......2007-01-03
As I had background in equity and credit derivatives I found the book to be an excellent introduction to commodities as it covers many aspects that I currently support at Barclays Capital as a technologist; the mathematical notations are not complicated and you can always dig deeper then the book. Definitly a book in your reference library.
[...]
An Excellent, Comprehensive and Useful Resource.......2006-10-08
Geman's book is up to date, and covers all commodity markets. The author clearly has an in-depth understanding of most all markets discussed and something to teach us about modeling and trading these markets. It is not only an superb introduction to commodities and the traded derivatives, but surely an enhancement to the body of knowledge for the professional commodity trader. Even if you are a fixed income trader, this book belongs on your shelf.
A very welcome work on a neglected field.......2005-09-19
As a former agricultural futures trader who has now moved on to credit, this book was a welcome addition to my bookshelf, as it brings a contemporary voice to the field which has been long overdue. The previous best work was the CBOT's own "Commodities Trading Manual," which has been outdated for a decade. Before the arrival of Helyette Geman's "Commodities and Commodity Derivatives : Modeling and Pricing for Agriculturals, Metals and Energy" the current state-of-the-art for pricing models and information feeds for commodity derivatives was sadly dispersed across journals, often obscure ones. Now increasing attention is being paid to diversified portfolios containing commodity exposure in addition to classic investment vehicles. Along with hedge funds, who naturally seek "under priced" volatility, portfolio managers today must therefore have a command of a wider knowledge base of investment opportunities. This work is therefore, indispensable.
The weakest element of the work is Nassim Taleb's introduction, for which commercial interests and pedagogic considerations no doubt combined.
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