!Cuanta Bondad!/ So Much Goodness!

Book Description

Engaging medley of riveting anecdotes about pursuit of beauty through history with full-color period drawings and film stills by ex-Washington Post Fashion Editor.

Customer Reviews:

Fluffy... Takes few risks..........2003-06-12

I picked up, a copy of Vanity based solely on the cover, (which is quite pretty) and read it cover to cover. While I enjoyed reading this book (I've always been fascinated with anthropology and sociology), this book was rather fluffy, and geared for the most basic reader, (I had to check the spine to make sure this wasn't a children's book) and well, quite frankly... There isn't A LOT to read. Vanity has beautiful pictures and images, accompanied by heavily spaced paragraphs, which give the barest details about each cultural custom, but that's it. Nothing new. Nothing controversial. Nothing anyone has not seen before, and explained in more detail in other books.

While the author touches on many of the the most common customs, (foot binding), Ainu tattooing, I felt that each explanation was sanitized and geared for the lowest reader. The sexual aspect of many of these customs isn't mentioned or is downplayed.

Writing style, at points, seems to 'talk down' to the reader. At other points it appears that the author is trying to be humorous. There is a distinct lack of scientific or anthropological elements to the text. Footnotes are missing entirely, (what if the reader is interested in learning more about culture x? Or in reading some of the author's source material?)Origins of many customs are not adequately explained or are glossed over.

Also, I felt, at times the book misuses the word Vanity. Vanity is defined as: "Excessive pride in one's appearance or accomplishments; conceit, Lack of usefulness, worth, or effect; worthlessness." War paint is not vain. To many cultures this was a way to worship the Gods, win success in battle, and impress your enemies? Vanity? No. Just a facet of being a successful warrior or a successful citizen.

Overall, while I found Vanity briefly amusing, I felt its contents could be misleading to those interested in the cultural customs described herein. My advice: this makes a great coffee table book, but (for me) has little re-read value.

Best Present..........2002-11-07

Ok, this is the greatest present for something fun and uplifting. I brought it to a party as a forty-something present and everyone in the party started reading it aloud. It was the hit of the entire evening. I recommend it highly!

A Most Delightful Book.......2002-11-02

This book is just full of amazing information about who really originated certain styles in clothes and shoes. And it goes into hairstyles and cosmetics, too---and all other kinds of interesting stuff like tattoos and plastic surgery and nose piercing. What I found out is that the styles you think of as really modern didn't start out as dreams in the heads of the big-name designers, or flashy celebrities. They come from all over the world and some of them are hundreds of years old.

Sure, I fuss in front of the mirror, as much as the next woman, when I'm fixing to go out. But I'm not a clothes horse and I don't ordinarily have an interest in fashion history, except maybe the couple of times I had a role in an old play or pageant, or really wanted to so something special for Mardi Gras.

Almost any smart woman would love this little book. I think it's because the author writes it in such an amusing way, and because the art that shows all these styles is so colorful and original. And although this book is small, the author usually does bring things up to date.

But as much as I like all the women's fashions, the stuff about men is just killing. Who says women are the vain sex?

I definitely recommend this book! The only reason I didn't give it five stars is that I wish there was more of it.

Book Description

It's NERV against the Angels in the battle to control Earth in 2015. During a lull in the fighting, Commander Ikari and Ritsuko prepare for the delivery of Unit-03. But no one is prepared when Unit-03 reveals itself as the next Angel. “A+ .... a story this good and art this good are rarely found together in one package.” — GameFan

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Special Collector's Edition, Vol. 6

Average customer rating:

What's the big deal?
A gift from God to mankind
quiet relationships
Good book

Neon Genesis Evangelion: Special Collector's Edition, Vol. 6

Manufacturer: VIZ Media LLC
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books

General | Graphic Novels | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books

Science Fiction | Graphic Novels | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books

General | Manga | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books

Fantasy | Manga | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books

Science Fiction | Manga | Comics & Graphic Novels | Subjects | Books

Fantasy | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Teens | Subjects | Books

Science Fiction | Science Fiction & Fantasy | Teens | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1591160103

Book Description

This best-selling Manga version of Japan's most controversial anime series is now available for the first time in a special collector's edition that preserves the original right-to-left orientation of the artwork.

Customer Reviews:

What's the big deal?.......2004-07-31

There is very little changed from the TV series in this manga. As far as right to left, who cares. The artwork is hard to figure out in many of the mecha scenes. Stick with the DVDs.

A gift from God to mankind.......2003-12-19

This is the greatest literary work existing. When I read it the first time I was overjoyed by the mere existence of something as wonderful as this book. The plot is wonderful, so are the characters (you'll love Asuka, Shinji, and all the others!). There is only one good reason for not buying this book, and that is not having read the earlier volumes. Buy them, and the buy this. I can promise you you'll be glad you did. Noone could dislike this book.

quiet relationships.......2002-05-15

Vol. 3 is one of my fav simply because of how the story is and what ahppenes. Here ur left to wonder of many but still feel satisfied. The conversations are informative and as always the art is perfect. there is also some comody and some quite controvesial scenes u might wanna check out. :D

Good book.......2002-05-01

Evangelion Vol. 1, by Yoshiyuki is the first book in the series. This book is based on a popular Japanese cartoon, Evangelion. This book covers the first episode and parts of the second.
This book takes place in Japan in the year 2015, 15 years after the first ?Angel? self-destructs taking Antarctica and half the human race with it. The enemies are known as ?Angels?. In this, another Angel attacks, and the only people who can stop them are a couple of 14 year-olds in their gigantic robots called Evangelions.
I enjoyed reading it because it is in manga (comic book) form. I first read it when my friend loaned it to me, but shortly after, I bought the book. I highly recommend this book to anyone because I thought it was great. The author did an awesome job writing this book. I can?t wait till the rest of the series comes out.

Amazon.com

Lovers of science fiction movies will be thrilled with this book, a comprehensive guide to the universe of available science fiction videos. VideoHound's Sci-Fi Experience offers commentary and reviews of science fiction films major and minor, serious and parodic, as well as assessments of the science fiction television series that can be found on tape. The guide is dotted with informative sidebars and a generous selection of photographic stills, and the appendix serves as a guide to stars, directors, and subgenres, and also provides a listing of science fiction Web sites, fan clubs, conventions, books, magazines, and newsletters. The volume lives up to the promise of the subtitle; it is truly a Quantum Guide to the Video Universe.

Customer Reviews:

Slacker's Review.......2002-03-21

The book is laid out alphabetically from A to Z, starting with Abbott and Costello Go to Mars and ending with Zonatar, The Thing From Venus and filled with everything in between. But that's not all. Each film is reviewed and giving a rating - according to the VideoHound's likes and dislikes as well as black and white photos throughout. See how they rate your favorite film and find out why they give Flesh Gordon a 2 1/2 out of 4 bones rating. Paging through the book you will easily find films you never heard of and some you'll definitely wish to see. All you'll have to do is track them down on video or DVD. Each listing is complete with film release date, actors, directors and available formats (at the time of publishing).

Want to know all the sci-fi films a director has worked on? Easy enough with the director index. There is also a category listing in case you want to search for your favorite science fiction prison film in the book's category index.

The Sci-fi Experience is just packed with information. Such as an alternate title index (in case you cannot find your favorite film try looking here to see if it was released as something else).

There is also a sci-fi connections area with listing for websites ..., newsletters and fanzines, conventions, fanclubs and other worthwhile science fiction related books. In the event that you are having trouble finding that one particular movie on VHS or DVD there is even a distributors list and guide with names and address of distributors to help aid you in finding that long lost classic sci-fi film.

While some of the information in the book might be out of date (such as dead web links, long out of business distributors and films listed as available in BETA format) this is still an excellent resource and a welcome addition in any film enthusiasts library. We look forward to an updated version with more films and DVD listings...

valuable resource.......2000-03-26

Videohound's books are a movie fan's best friend. their sci fi guide is very good, despite a few glaring omissions. while not as good as videohound's horrorshow or guide to cult flicks and trash picks, this is still worth picking up.

Book Description

Preface by Marcia Tucker and William Olander

Malcolm McLaren didn't invent Punk. All he did was envisage it, design it, clothe it, publicize it, and sell it. In the film, "The Great Rock'n Roll Swindle," he appears in a black rubber garment and mask of his own design and whispers the above in a conspiratorial voice. Thus begins the story of how he went on to swindle a fortune from the British music industry.

Impresario takes a lively and provocative look at the interface between popular culture as orchestrated by the controversial figure of Malcolm McLaren, the arena of High Culture, and the ever increasing public for both.

Essays by Paul Taylor, Jane Withers, Jon Savage, and Dan Graham trace McLaren's career as a pop entrepreneur at 430 Kings Road (the London boutique also known as Let It Rock SEX, and Seditionaries), as the mastermind behind the Sex Pistols, Adam and the Ants, and Bow Wow Wow, which earned him the title, "Svengali of Punk" and as the manipulator of media who turned himself into his own product with the launching of the prescient album Duck Rock and the brilliant pastiche, Fans.

The more than 50 illustrations comprise a visual biography of McLaren, encompassing the full range of his work as designer, filmmaker, musician, and cultural theorist. By focusing on McLaren's career as well as on the collaborative and crossover character of his work Impresario challenges and ultimately broadens our accepted notions of art.

A publication of The New Museum of Contemporary Art, New York Distributed by The MIT Press.

Book Description

Handy album offers sticker enthusiasts 8 laminated blank pages ideal for displaying favorite stickers or keeping them clean and neat until ready for use. Laminated surface allows easy removal or repositioning of stickers. Convenient, inexpensive.

Customer Reviews:

good basic sticker book.......2007-03-12

This sticker book is about the size of a sheet of letter copy paper and is very thin...maybe a 1/4 of an inch thick??? It is as described and works well as a basic sticker book, but if you are looking for something more spectacular or fancy, it may not be for you.

If you like collecting stickers, then this is for you.......2007-01-23

I bought 3 sticker albums as I have many stickers, but no where to put them. This is a good option for sticker collectors.

Book Description

Leadership in the workplace, says Max DePree, is like playing jazz; it's more an art than a science. Today's successful managers are attuned to the needs and ideas of their followers and even step aside at times to be followers themselves. As a result, they spark vitality and productivity from their work force. They culivate communication and spontaneity, diversity and creativity, and the unique potential of every person in the organization to contribute to the success of the team. In Leadership Jazz you'll learn

-How to hold people accountable but still give them space to make mistakes.

- How to balance the needs of your employees with those of the company.

- How to inspire change and innovation and maintain a sense of stability.

- How to practice the art of delegation.

- How to work constructively with creative people.

- How to assess candidates for senior positions.

- And much more!

Customer Reviews:

Waste of time .......2007-07-02

I had to read this book in graduate school. As I read it - all I could think was 'how much did the publisher pay my school to make me buy this book?' With so much good material and real life examples about leadership - this book is not a significant source of inspiration and continually states the obvious.
Good points -
*Short *Easy to read *Inexpensive

Bad Points-
*Incomplete *Boring *Outdated

The Undeveloped Metaphor.......2006-08-28

Jazz is the right metaphor for business today.

I have long thought that the popular metaphor for business leadership of an orchestra conductor is wrong in the rapidly changing conditions of today. To say that a CEO's job is like an orchestra conductor's -- to keep every one at the same place on the same page -- assumes there is a score that all of the musicians have to follow. There isn't.

Jazz demands improvisation. It gives individual musicians the freedom to create and to respond to each others creations. Max De Pree recognizes this and states this metaphor accurately at the beginning of his book.

"We have much to learn from jazz-band leaders, for jazz, like leadership, combines the unpredicability of the future with the gifts of individuals." (page 9)

But, De Pree doesn't develop this metaphor further. The title of the book, "Leadership Jazz", implies more than the book delivers in development of the metaphor.

The book does deliver very good advice on leadership. It is an excellent description of the power of "servant leadership" which is the real metaphor of the book, and, judging from the many stories De Pree relates from his years as the CEO and Chairman of Herman Miller, Inc., it is the metaphor for his life. Leaders do need to read this book.

I just wish De Pree had developed the richness of the jazz metaphor.

Servant-leadership.......2006-08-14

DePree's book falls into the popular genre of a practical leadership primer. In poetic terms, he surveys many of the important attributes related to becoming an effective leader, though this, he admits, a difficult approach: "To catalog the attributes of a leader is like fighting the Hydra. Like Hercules, I confront two more heads every time I write one off" (p. 219).

He contributes to the servant-leadership literature through insights that are largely behavioral and cognitive, focusing on the relational, spiritual, and ontological aspects of serving others or the common good through leadership. "Above all, leadership is a position of servanthood. Leadership is also a posture of debt; it is a forfeiture of rights" (p. 220). His list includes integrity; vulnerability; discernment; awareness of the human spirit; courage in relationships; sense of humor; intellectual energy and curiosity; respect for the future, regard for the present, understanding of the past; predictability; breadth; comfort with ambiguity; and presence.

The strongest aspect of DePree's book is in the stories he tells, based upon decades of practical business experience, and the aphoristic moral dimension of that same experience. His voice is strong in this book; he is a steward of resources that enhance other's lives. "Good leadership," he said, "includes teaching and learning, building relationships and influencing people, as opposed to exercising one's power" (p. 177).

This is a consistent theme: the purpose of business is not to make money but to enhance life, that decisions are not made about individual employees but about families, that the leader is responsible for the renewal of the community.

President Bill Clinton provided this back-jacket blurb for DePree: "Max DePree has written two books: Leadership is an Art and Leadership Jazz. I highly commend them to all of you. They are very well done and very much worth the cost of the books. They're astonishing." I agree that this book is astonishing because it shows very clearly how enlightened servant-leadership, if broadly practiced in business, industry, and commerce in the United States, could transform the nation, uplift our citizens, and provide dignity and care for all American workers.

Experience in a Homely, Lighthearted Style.......2006-03-16

Max De Pree is a past Chairman of the Board of Directors of Herman Miller, Inc. I received the book as a gift from the author -- as did everyone else on the occasion of his retirement as a member of the Board of Trustees of Fuller Theological Seminary. It was a sunny winter day in Los Angeles -- and in keeping with the book's title, a jazz band played as people spilled from the lecture hall. His book is much the same as his address was that day -- pervaded with wisdom, love, humour, and illustrative anecdotes. He kept his audience spellbound throughout, and received a standing ovation.

In his address at Fuller, Max De Pree described how, early in his marriage, he had decided three things: to nurture his family, to make a living, and to serve (hence his position at Fuller). Part of what service means is to nurture others. A business executive is not all about business. His focus is on being sensitive to his employees in such a way that they may be fulfilled in the workplace, secure in their homes, and that their best potential may unfold. Further, one needs to bear in mind that humans are human, and one needs to take this into account in dealing with their weaknesses and building on their strengths.

One has the sense that Max De Pree must have spent many decades writing this book. It is multi-faceted, fast-paced, and comprehensive, and is peppered with worthwhile illustrations. The themes of the various chapters include: finding your "personal philosophy", the causes of betrayal, the need for diversity in unity, the importance of selecting the right people, how to channel creative people, the value of amateurs, the need for supportive relationships, the gift of change, the thrill of keeping up to date, the need to delegate, and the reasons for leadership failure.

Max De Pree concludes with a chapter "The Attributes of Leadership: A Checklist." The book would be worth reading for this alone. The last item on his list includes the following observation: "Leaders stop -- to ask and answer questions, to be patient, to listen to problems, to seek the nuance, to follow up a lead. Leaders quietly and openly wait for the information, good and bad, that enables them to lead."

Depree Gets it Right.......2006-03-15

Max Depree provides a great knowledge base and a vast amount of information for improving leadership at all levels. He doesn't try to answer all the questions, instead he carefully guides you along a path where you can make your own decisions. I highly recomend this book to leaders at all levels.

Fighter Pilot Jazz: Role of the P-47 And Spirited Guys in Winning the Air-ground War in Normandy, 1944

Average customer rating:

A View from the Cockpit of a Fighter

Fighter Pilot Jazz: Role of the P-47 And Spirited Guys in Winning the Air-ground War in Normandy, 1944
Hal Shook
Manufacturer: Humanomics Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Leadership | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Aviation | Military | History | Subjects | Books

ASIN: 097462795X

Customer Reviews:

A View from the Cockpit of a Fighter.......2006-01-08

The painting on the front cover of this book first attracted my attention. It shows a P-47 over the Normandy invasion fleet with a big hole in its right wing, the ammunition cover door open (acting like a big flap but on the top rather than the bottom of the wing), and belts of ammunition streaming in the wind. Particularly striking was the look, no the stare, the pilot is giving the wing to see if it's going to hold together. Later in the book the author tells the story of being over France and shooting up an anti-aircraft gun just as the gun got him.

This is the story of one man's war as seen from the cockpit of every World War II U.S. fighter plane except the P-38, but even indluding the jet powered Bell P-59. He joined before the war and flew through the entire conflict, 105 combat missions. He left the war as a Colonel, having commanded 506th Squadron.

Average customer rating:

LEADERSHIP JAZZ
Max DePree
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000JF29YG

Leadership Jazz, The Art of Conducting Business Through: Leadership-Followership-Teamwork-Touch-Voice

Average customer rating:

Leadership Jazz, The Art of Conducting Business Through: Leadership-Followership-Teamwork-Touch-Voice
Max Depree
Manufacturer: Dell Publishing Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000S61TBA

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