SuperVisions: Stereo Optical Illusions (Supervisions)

Book Description

These amazing artistic optical illusions have real depth—that’s because they’re in 3-D! Some have to be viewed through a pair of red and blue paper glasses, which come with the book: put them on and watch decorative cubes, towers, and other complex geometric drawings spring to life, gaining volume and space. Other illusions are visible to the naked eye, with incredibly elaborate and colorful designs that seem to pop—waves of flowers, a crescent man in the moon, a coiled dragon, a blazing sunset. With a range of different visual tricks on display, and eye-popping pictures that include antique stereoscopes and hidden images, this collection is truly incredible.

Book Description

The application of make-up for women was made more convenient in the 1920s with the popularization of small container known as a "compact". Inside, pressed (compacted) face powder was housed with a cloth of feather "puff" applicator and a mirror for checking the job. In this book, Frances Johnson has compiled hundreds of different compacts of various materials, styles, and values along with delightful stories about girls who did or did not paint themselves up to attract boys. Her direct style is tinged with humor, making the compacts here all the more enjoyable. Prices with captions.

Book Description

'How to Read Superhero Comics and Why' brings literary critic Harold Bloom's thesis that the meaning of a poem is to be found in its relationship with an earlier poem to the study of the modern superhero comic book.

Superhero comic books are traditionally thought to have at least two distinct periods, two major waves of creativity: the golden age and the silver age. Reductively stated, the golden age was the birth of the superhero proper out of the pulp novel characters of the early 1930s, and was primarily associated with DC Comics. Superman, Batman, Green Lantern, and Wonder Woman are the most famous creations of this period. In the early 1960s, Marvel Comics launched a completely new line of heroes, the primary figures of the silver age: the Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, the Incredible Hulk, the X-Men, the Avengers, Iron Man, and Daredevil.

An analysis of superhero comic books beginning with Frank Miller's 'Batman: The Dark Knight Returns' and Alan Moore's 'Watchmen' drawing on the literary and psychoanalytic theory of Harold Bloom and Slavoj Žižek, 'How to Read Superhero Comics and Why' argues for the recognition of a new age of superhero comic books. Klock builds through a discussion of 'Marvels', 'Astro City', 'Kingdom Come', Alan Moore's America's Best Comics and Grant Morrison's 'Justice League of America' to argue that 'Planetary', 'The Authority' and 'Wildcats' usher in the future of the superhero narrative: a future that will be what Spiderman and the Fantastic Four were in the early 1960s, and what Superman and Batman were in the late 1930s.

Customer Reviews:

Indispensible for understanding the future of superheroes!.......2007-03-22

Geoff Klock's book How to Read Superhero Comics and Why is absolutely essential reading for anyone curious about the ongoing evolution of superhero narratives. The book purposely eschews structural mythology and archetypal interpretation - because that thesis is already covered in a multiplicity of sources - most notably Super Heroes: A Modern Mythology by Richard Reynolds. Instead, Klock's book sets out to interpret the superhero narrative through the lens of Harold Bloom's literary criticism and explain which aspects of the superhero narrative need to be acknowledged and understood in order for the superhero narrative to continue to evolve.

It is commonly understood by superhero fans and scholars alike that superheroes started in what is considered the Golden Age of superheroes with Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, and others in the late 1930's. The second age of superheroes came with the Silver Age that some believe started with the appearance of the new Flash in the mid-Fifties and peaks with the appearance of the Marvel heroes such as the Fantastic Four, Spider Man, Daredevil, and the Hulk in 1961. Instead of ascribing to the common perception that superheroes just passed through a Dark Age from 1975 to 1995 - Klock posits that the so-called Dark Age was merely a redundant Silver Age - which actually culminates with Frank Miller's Dark Knight Returns and Alan Moore's Watchmen. Mostly using Harold Bloom's theories of literary criticism, Klock sets out to help us identify the direction the newest age of superheroes has taken with books like Planetary and Authority over the past ten years.

I'm not setting out to interpret Klock's theories for you here - because that's the purpose of the book. If you're interested in what I pointed out above - then read it. Some of the reviews posted here show a love for the reader's own opinions preventing themselves from comprehending what Klock was even talking about. I am not informed by Bloom's criticisms. However - I am informed by the superhero narrative and have studied every book Klock references in his book to the point of meme-like synchronicity. Anyone that states Alan Moore's Watchmen is not influential - should obviously stick to reading Harold Bloom and leave the superhero narratives to the rest of us - because you don't know what you're talking about. Geoff Klock goes to great lengths to explain how the use of realism and psychology in Watchmen and Miller's Dark Knight Returns influenced comics in the late Eighties and Nineties and laid the framework for every superhero to come. Their influence is still felt today - and if you don't believe that - then you simply must not read superhero comics anymore. However, if you still comb the monthly racks for something to read - then you will know the above statements to be resoundingly true.

The reason Klock seems to avoid Marvel comics is that there were so few Marvel comics in print at the time of the writing that followed Klock's thesis. Klock does describe the place of the mini-seires Marvels - but then moves on following the natural evolution of the superhero narrative - which DID NOT occur in Marvel comics at the time. Likewise, Klock points out in his book that he purposely detailed books that were easily obtainable in trade paperback format or reprints and avoided nascent books that the average reader would have a hard time obtaining.

One of the other "reviewers" complains that Klock focalizes on the writer over the artist - when Klock takes the time to explain the importance of not only the artist - but the colorist as well - and purposely chooses to identify with the writer due to the common practice of recognizing the writer as the progenitor of the superhero narrative - for simplicity's sake alone. This is not a book about comic book layouts and the artform itself. Anyone interested in the artform of the sequential illustration would serve themselves well to track down Scott McLeod's works and Will Eisner's seminal Comics and Sequential Art for a proper lesson - but that is not the stated purpose of Klock's book. Outside of Grant Morrison's metatextual works - the medium of sequential illustration has very little to do with the evolution of the superhero narrative - and no place in the thesis presented herein!

If you are interested in how the Silver Age culminated when the superhero narrative was brought into the real world by Dark Knight Returns and the Watchmen, and you want to see how books like Planetary and Authority have lead the superhero narrative through the real world and into the fantastic world of the newest age of superheroes via metatextual awareness - then this book is for you. How To Read Superheroes and Why is not about superheroes as mythology or archetype. It's not about why some stories are good and others are not. It's not about panel to panel relationships found in sequential illustration. Those theories are neither ignored nor refuted - they are for the most part - not a part of the thesis presented herein. This book is about the evolution of the superhero narrative via metatextual awareness and what superhero narratives need to address in order to keep evolving.

I am not a psychology student or literature major - so I had to keep the dictionary by my side to help me navigate through Klock's book. In the end, it is all worth it, as Klock's work gave me a new set of tools with which to examine the superhero narrative. Klock has given me the ability to recognize which superhero comics are simply regurgitating the tropes of the past - and which ones are pointing the way to the future and beyond.

Highly recommended and absolutely indispensable for anyone that wants to work with superhero narratives.

A must.......2005-01-09

Living in Portugal, and being, well, 47 years old(!), I remember my first dazled look into superhero comics through portuguese translations in brasilian editions (b/w) by Editora Abril when I was just 10 or 11 years old. I collected some of the titles, nevetheless confined to an offer of major superheros like Superhomem (Superman), Batman, Flash, Atomo (Atom), mainly from DC and later on from Marvel (Capitão América, Quarteto Fantástico (Fantastic Four)). But I had a penchant for the american editions in full colour with the striking Jack Kirby artwork from Marvel, like FF, and Giant Size editions (or republishings), as well as the titles of Spider Man, Daredevil, written by Stan Lee and with artwork from (for instance) John Romita or Gene Colan and others great pencillers (that's why I still own some editions of comics like Spider Man #70, the early Captain Marvel (yes!), DD, FF, Sr. Strange, SSurfer, etc., from circa 1969-1970. But as I grew older I got tyred of american comics and began coleccting european adult and mature readers comics, mainly from french and belgian sources, (much late with the exception of some post-modern new classics such as Watchmen, and Frank Miller's Dark Knight. Recently, however, I went to a comic book shop and bought Mr. Klock's book. I read it and I was absolutely appauled by the variety and deepness of new or renewed characters studied by Klock. I was so impressed that I began buying acomic books, mainly writen by Ennis, Morrison, Bendis, Straczinsky, Millar, Waid, Buziek, Kirkman, etc. And till this day I'm really delighted by the rich contours of the genre. I owe it, totally, to Mr. Klock's book, which can be read as a thesis, but also as entertainment, even if you don't know some of the comics described and studied by the author (you certainly will get the same "re-discovery" fever that I got...!).
Highly recommended -but only if you're willing to spend money on comic books...!

Good, but too one-sided.......2004-01-07

This book is an interesting study of superhero comic books, particularly the examination of the Dark Knight Returns, but it is one-sided, as Klock solidifies his argument (applying Bloom's anxiety of influence to superheroes) through a consideration of Crisis on Infinite Earths, an event that took place in the DC Universe.

This causes a problem because Klock overlooks Marvel almost entirely, which is truly ironic in terms of his intentions: he states over and over his dissatisfaction with the "archetype" idea about superheroes, and yet, DC's characters lend themselves to the "arcehtype" idea incredibly well, whereas Marvel has its own conditions under which to consider Klock's theories.

I for one, feel his dismissal of the archetype argument to be ill-founded and not entirely well-thought out, not to mention poorly supported in the text itself. Perhaps his youth contributes, but I think that Klock makes a fundamental mistake in his analysis of superheroes: he is in love with Bloom's theories, to the exclusion of many others. He complains about Joseph Campbell and Jung, but like Campbell himself, gets so caught up in the poetry of his own ideas that he becomes his own demiurge, trapping himself when he could consider the stories from multiple angles, thereby creating a truly revolutionary piece of criticism.

Definitely enjoyable, not exactly the most challenging read, or the most insightful, but worth a read-through. Interestingly, Grant Morrison's seminal Flex Mentallo, relegated to the "further reading" section already surpasses any theories Klock may posit, and the work does so by isolating itself from any one school of thought. Also dissapointing is his rash and entirely too flat reading of Alan Moore's Promethea, perhaps that writers best and most experimental work.

Finally, however, is Klock's demonstration of his ignorance of the language of comic books. He considers the writer, or at least the words to be running the show. He hardly examines the nature of the language, the interplay between word and picture. While a good read, this book also makes one aware of the immense lack of comics criticism. In the back of my mind however, it seems that the comic form is more suited to comment on itself than is the medium of prose.

Fresh insight, but poor taste: way too much Moore.......2004-01-06

4 stars, not 3 stars -- because Klock's use of Bloom's anxiety of influence is a great, novel way of reading comic books. I enjoyed reading (in about 2 days) although there were places where I don't think Klock really made his point well (and I consider myself somewhat informed by Bloom's criticism).

My recommendation is: if you are interested in an intellectual view of comics (90s, and 00s comics) then this book is for you. Moreover, if you like Alan Moore's comics and you want to read an interesting take on them, this is definitely the book for you.

The problem is: I don't like Moore as much as Klock does. I admit that his perspective on Killing Joke, ABC Comics, Miracleman, etc., -- this stuff is good -- but I don't think Moore is nearly as influential as Klock thinks. Yes, Watchmen is an important comic. Yes, it did change the industry back in the 90s. But to take Bloom's theory and say that Moore is the Shakespeare of the comics field, well, that's saying a bit too much. Moore's not all that.

One amazon reviewer above hit the nail on the head: Klock totally avoids dealing with Marvel comics (except to remind everyone how the Fantastic Four are getting grilled by Ellis in _Planetary_). For someone like me who favors Marvel comics over DC (while admitting that DC has been the arena of many original comics in the past decades), this book gets a bit tedious.

Other problems with the book (which the author acknowledges) is his way of focalizing the _writer_ over the artist. I feel that this project was only half-realized. It seems to me that if you going to talk about the future of comics, you have to take into account the blossoming of writer/artists -- and maybe that's why he avoids Marvel and deals more with the DC writer + artist teams. Only at various times does he talk about the layout of the comic page, but overall, the stylistics of the comic book get overlooked by the author which is a shame. It is difficult to talk about sequential art (Scott McCloud gets a lot of credit for boiling it down like he has) -- but this should be the main aim of anyone discussing comics. Yes, Alan Moore is incredible, but so are his artists Bissette, Sprouse, Gibbons, etc.

Bringing up Jack Kirby only to say that he was co-opted by Wildstorm as a character in one of their books isn't going to cut it. If you want to trace influence in comics, it comes from there (or maybe Siegel and Shuster, or Kane, etc.). Klock stresses the importance of the "writer" over characters, but he treats the Fantastic Four as characters with whom the third age (Moore, etc.) struggle to overcome -- why isn't it Lee and Kirby that they're struggliing to overcome? Inconsistencies like this don't help the book -- I also wish the author was more consistent applying Bloom's theory and terminology throughout the chapters (some may appreciate this) -- and at other times he's far too abstruse (where was his editor?).

Overall, this is a good book. Not great. Certainly controversial. I mean, come on: WildC.A.T.S/Aliens crossover is a starting point for the new age of comics? Gimme a break!

Misprision.......2003-11-05

No doubt about it; the superhero comic book genre is in a period of fundamental transition. The safe, juvenile realm of the 1940's Superman, the 1960's Spider-Man, or even the angtsy teen drama of Chris Claremont's mid-1980's X-Men have given way to something deeper and far more relevant. No longer is the genre simply about escapism into fanciful tales of Spandex-clad mortals with extraordinary powers who choose to fight for all that is good and just; this new generation of stories lay bare the most primal of Jungian archetypes and allow their readers to examine themselves and their place in the real world.

That was a pretty dramatic-sounding paragraph; allow me to clarify. Geoff Klock is in many ways picking up where Richard Reynolds left off in 1992's Super Heroes: A Modern Mythology, digging to the very roots of the genre (which, he contends, go back considerably further into the past than 1936's Action Comics #1). Klock expands his overview of the superhero genre to the point where he only makes a few passing references to the big-name comic book houses like Marvel, DC, and Dark Horse, and instead devotes most of his time to smaller-name publishers and less well-known independent titles. About the only exceptions to this are his dissections of Frank Miller's The Dark Knight Returns and the standalone superhero series The Watchmen (already covered at length in this reviewer's annotation of the aforementioned Richard Reynolds book). Like Reynolds, Klock cites these titles as pivotal transformations in the history of the genre, but he focuses more on their psychological impact than the stories or characters themselves. He also devotes entire chapters to exploring Kurt Busiek's Astro City, Alex Ross's Marvels, and especially Mark Waid's post-apocalyptic alternate future series Kingdom Come, none of which were previously familiar to this reviewer, and which have proven to be very difficult titles to locate.

It is Klock's contention that superheroes and the study of psychology frequently come into contact with one another; I am put in mind of the palpable sense of outrage among some superhero fan circles in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Some people honestly asked themselves: Where were Spider-Man and the Fantastic Four to protect their beloved New York City in its time of crisis? Why didn't Superman save those people who jumped off the World Trade Center, and why didn't Green Lantern put out the flames with his power ring? More than a few behavioral psychologists now find themselves in the difficult position of having to sort this out for their distraught patients. No question about it: superheroes are very real to many -sometimes so real that a few devoted readers have difficulty sorting out fact from fantasy.

The superhero-psychology overlap recurs partly because so many of the superhero characters represent more than mere wish-fulfillment in their readers; they represent a personification of one or another heroic archetype that is not fundamentally different from the roles once filled by the "superhero teams" of the Greek, Egyptian, or Nordic gods and their respective supporting casts of mortals and semi-mortals.

Unfortunately some of these elements tend to get lost in Klock's account; by skipping over so many of the fundamentals (and curiously ignoring outright the role of any of the characters from the Marvel Comics' "universe"), he periodically seems to lose sight of the overlying message. Ironically he never does seem to get to the "Why" portion of the book's title. The book is actually a bit of a paradox: while the psychology text gets bogged down in several places and, unlike Reynolds, Klock totally avoids the suggestion that modern-day comic book authors borrow liberally from ancient fables, myths, and legends for their story ideas. Yet at the same time he insists throughout that a new form of literature is evolving, one that is allowing us to explore ourselves and our collective consciousness through its reinforcement of larger-than-life heroic archetypes.

A surprisingly difficult read, all told: too much reliance on psychology and not enough attention paid to plain old-fashioned good storytelling. The author's emphasis on titles which (for the most part) are largely unknown, seems to also suggest that the more widely-consumed titles like Superman and Spider-Man don't help to fulfill the author's intended psychological conclusions (hence my use of the word "misprision" for this review's title, a word which ironically surfaces many times throughout Klock's narrative).

Average customer rating:
HOW TO READ SUPERHERO COMICS AND WHY
Geoff Klock
Manufacturer: Continuum
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000PEE94E

Book Description

This is the live recording of the show that played to sold-out theaters across the country. As Philip Brunelle leads the Minnesota Orchestra, Garrison Keillor does what he does best: talks, tells stories, and ponders the experience of being Lutheran. It's a gentle mix of great music and down-home humor. Includes Keillor's popular parody, "A Young Lutheran's Guide to the Orchestra."

Customer Reviews:

I hurt myself laughing!.......1997-11-09

I have not heard the whole cassette yet (I will since I plan to order this when I'm finished the review). But I just heard the *Young Lutheran's Guide to the Orchestra* on my Public Broadcasting Station as I pulled into the parking lot of the grocery store. I sat in my car for 25 minutes, totally enthralled, laughing until I hurt at his comments on each orchestral instrument and why each was unappropriate for a Lutheran to play.

My sister drives quite a distance to work and listens to audio tapes in the car. After I enjoy Keillor's tape, I'll give this to her for Christmas--or maybe I'll get one of my own...?

Customer Reviews:

a well writen book joe.......2005-03-17

i agree with danny on this one joe was very hones,t and open about his book. he did elvis proud also larry geller wrote a moving book about his time with elvis and that was also a very honest discription. jeanette

Shockingly candid.......2004-08-03

I have not read that many books about Elvis Presley, but I do consider myself an Elvis fan. Joe Esposito is more candid about Elvis' affairs with women than I had expected of him. You do realize that Elvis was flawed, but only because he was human. There were parts of the book that were almost shocking. Joe even talks briefly about some of Elvis' sexual practices. He picks up, in detail, about the very night he met Elvis and travels on to the day Elvis died, which is also in detail. Joe talks about the funeral arrangements and how he was in on the cover-up about the drugs. Among all the hundreds of books about Elvis, this one is worth the read. You just cannot dismiss Joe Esposito. He was really and truly as close to Elvis as anyone ever was. Joe has probably more first hand knowledge of Elvis than anyone.

It is very interesting to a casual Elvis fan such as me, but l would not recommend it to the die-hard fan.

I agree with another reviewer who spoke of Joe rationalizing the Colonel's treatment of Elvis. I strongly suspect that the Colonel and Joe treated Elvis about the same. They used him to get what they could out of him. Maybe I'm wrong, but the fact is Joe Esposito gained a lot from knowing Elvis and I doubt very seriously he ever would have done or said something that would put him out of favor with Elvis. Elvis was as much Joe's livelihood and he was the Colonel's. Joe does give a story about him and Elvis splitting up at one point, but in the last years Joe did not seem to do anything to help Elvis.

I want to comment on another reviewer's statements concerning Joe's exposure of J. D. Sumner and The Stamps' womanizing. I too love gospel quartets and I was a big J.D. fan, but I am not naïve. Singing, regardless of what genre it is, requires a lot of time on the road and that can easily lead to affairs especially when you happened to tour with Elvis Presley and all the "leftovers" to be had. I even saw J.D. two or three times during the late `80's and early `90's. I just want to say that I for one understand real life is ugly and no one is ever what they appear to be, particularly entertainers even the gospel ones. As far as Joe asking J.D. beforehand whether it was okay for Joe to expose J.D.'s affairs, I doubt too that he asked, but what do you think J.D. would have said, sure go ahead? I appreciated Joe's honesty. He gave plenty of evidence damning himself, but also provided a true picture of life with Elvis. For the record so to speak, J.D. never had a widow. His wife died a few years before him. As a matter of fact I think she died in 1992 or 1994, the year the book came out. J.D. died in November 1998. So although J.D. may have been aware of the book's existence, his wife probably never saw it. But with so many Elvis books out there, I am sure quite a few have mentioned J.D. and some were probably not kind in their remarks.

Good Rockin Book.......2004-06-05

I thought this book was very good! I have read many Elvis books and really liked this one it gives you an inside look into the life of Elvis and the guys around him. i thought Joe was very honest in telling the story. i also liked the fact that this book tells what happened the day elvis died. it really is a great read if you are an elvis fan. good job joe i loved it!

Warm and honest portrayal of a celebrity friend.......2002-08-19

I appreciate Mr. Esposito's warm and honest portayal of Elvis Presley as a complex, imperfect, yet sincere human being as well as a great performer. I especially appreciated his clarification of Elvis' relationship with blacks, and relieved to hear accounts from Myra, one of the members of the Sweet Inspirations (the black female group that did background with Elvis from the late 60s until his death) that Elvis was not a racist and treated blacks with respect, courtesy and admiration. (in fact, he appreciated black music as a child sneaking to black churches to hear the singing). The only thing that bothered me was his account of the late J.D. Sumner and the Stamps running around chasing women the same as Elvis did. Even if it were true, this must be very painful for his widow and children to hear, and I think Esposito should have at least spoken to J.D. before he published something of this nature about him (I believe that J.D. passed away after the book was published). I'm sure if Elvis (who deeply respected gospel music) were alive, he would be appalled. Other than that, the book was very good.

Bad Writin' Tonight.......2001-06-04

This is one of the most inaccurate books ever written about Elvis Presley. It's obvious that Joe's affiliation with The Colonel was something that he tried desperately to rationalize because he is constantly lying in regards to how the Colonel ran things. He gets details wrong all the time, dates,...ect. When you compare this book to others written about Elvis, it's obvious that Joe's memory and his refusal to talk honestly about the Colonel and a few other subjects, make this a bad choice in what books to get about Elvis Presley. Even researchers ignore most of this book when writing their own books about Elvis. It's not that he doesn't talk honestly about the drugs either, he does. But the facts he states involving stories about the movie years and other things he gets the details all wrong.

Average customer rating:
Solitaire To Go!: Book And Card Deck Set
John Hartley
Manufacturer: Peter Pauper Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 1593599706

Average customer rating:

Bueno Maestro

Kindergarten Level Info on the Business

Start Your Own Staffing Service (Startup)
Krista Thoren Turner
Manufacturer: Entrepreneur Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Human Resources & Personnel Management | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Industries & Professions | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Writing | Reference | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
Entrepreneurship | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
General | Small Business & Entrepreneurship | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1891984837

Book Description

This book explores the different types of staffing services and gives valuable advice to help the reader choose the best options.

Customer Reviews:

Bueno Maestro.......2007-02-03

After reading and reviewing this book I felt relieved. It contained answers to questions I had, but over all its informing and straight to the point with details and advice. I would recomend it for any begging bussiness entrepreneur for a staffing service.

Kindergarten Level Info on the Business.......2006-03-28

If you're going to invest a hundred thousand or so to start a staffing service (as stated in the book... but actually, you'd better be ready for lots more) then you're going to need A LOT more information than this kindergarten-level waste of paper provides.

In fact, you probably already know more about the staffing service than this book offers if you're just THINKING about starting a staffing firm.

A total waste.

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