Book Description
An exploration of the radiant work of the American abstract painter Emily Mason.
The first comprehensive presentation of Emily Mason's work, this volume brings long-overdue attention to the nearly fifty-year career of this contemporary American artist. Grounded in the early influence of late 1940s and 1950s Abstract Expressionism, Mason's ongoing exploration of the expressive possibilities of abstraction has produced paintings of a broad emotional range. The artist's work is driven, above all, by color. Her combinations of raucous, vibrant hues and her masterful tonal calibrations imbue her canvases with mysterious luminosity. Also carefully calibrated are Mason's compositions—structures that delicately balance spontaneity and control, impulse and restraint. To achieve such harmonies of color and composition, Mason relies on an intuitive approach. She comes to each canvas free from intention and open to chance, allowing the process of painting to guide the evolution of each painting.
Emily Mason: The Fifth Element includes seventy reproductions of the artist's oil paintings, along with a selection of prints, chosen to show the span of her impressive career and to highlight her most significant works. David Ebony's text brings Mason's life and work into focus, showing how her unique painterly vocabulary has proven that the expressive possibilities of abstract art are indeed boundless.
Customer Reviews:
Emily Mason: The Fifth Element.......2007-03-08
Emily Mason: The Fifth Element is well written and the illustrations are excellent. Reproduced colors are accurately brilliant and the beauty of the paintings is revealed to great advantage. The biographical narrative is absorbing and illustrated with delightful photographs that capture the artist's character and the zeitgeist of the second half of the twentieth century. Analyses of individual paintings are clearly explained and fascinating. Emily Mason's use of color is individualistic, unusal and expressive. She is a profound artist. I highly reccommend this book.
Emily Mason: The Fifth Element.......2006-12-31
In "Emily Mason: The Fifth Element" David Ebony, Associate Managing Editor of "Art in America" magazine presents a comprehensive survey of eighty oil paintings along with several examples of prints made from Carborundum plates by this contemporary American woman artist. The title comes from the mysterious substance described by Aristotle which complimented the four basic elements of earth, air, fire and water. In this fifth element--- ether, hung the heavens.
This daughter of Alice Trumbull Mason, famous founding member of the American Abstract Artists group and descendant of Neo-Classical colonial period painter John Trumbull, decided she was an artist while still a young child. Surrounded by art and artists, Emily Mason benefitted from this support and advantages by being educated at New York High School of Music and Art, Bennington College, Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, and The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art. Mason matured during the revolutionary art movement called The New York School during which time abstract expressionism became the dominant style of painting. In 1956, Mason won a Fulbright scholarship to study at the Accademia di Belle Arti in Venice. Returning to New York, she exhibited there by the 1950's and made her mark in a male-dominated art community.
The paintings in this book are examples from five decades of steady work exploring color and space in an intuitive process of adding and substracting color, forms and texture.
I have seen her work in her studio and in a museum.
A master of color which speaks directly to the soul, Mason's work is beautifully reproduced by faithful recreations of her paintings in this book printed in China.
Inspired by nature and poetry, Emily Mason is a beautiful person. This is evident in her work.
If you have any concern about painting being "dead" buy this book!
It is alive and well in Mason's hands.
Book Description
Innovations in digital technology have created an array of new options for photographers. Now, accomplished freelance photographer Les Meehan provides a comprehensive guide to using this technology to produce high-caliber black and white photographs. From basic concepts to advanced techniques, Meehan introduces and explains all of the factors that go into creating great monochrome prints. Topics include proper camera calibration, controlling white balance, choosing the right scanning equipment, simulating traditional darkroom techniques, and working with advanced printing software. Meehan also examines the many exciting new possibilities created by digital technology for both image capture and image enhancement. Focusing on fundamental principles that apply to all digital equipment, this invaluable book features hundreds of photographs demonstrating a wide range of monochrome techniques.
Customer Reviews:
Not very focussed...........2006-05-01
Very fluffy. Too much explanation of basic hardware; not enough regarding B&W technique. The introduction to Zone was adequate, but wasn't really linked to the discussion of technique, which seemed to be mostly a generic Photoshop lesson, anyway.
It was like three superficial books sewn together.
Good Beginner Guide.......2006-04-22
This book is certainly written for the beginner level digital photographer. The author devotes better than half the book explaining cameras and technology. He does a very good job with this, but it leaves only 60 pages or so for creative techniques. The information presented is well done, I just wish there was more of it.
Good place to start.
sucked in by a title again.......2006-04-17
The sub-title of the book said "creating and manipulating great monochrome images".
However comma
Chapter one covers really basic info on cameras, scanners, computer, monitors, tablets, external storage, printers, scanning software, editing software, cataloging software, file formats, capture method (camera vs. scanning), lens quality, flare, and color quality.
Chapter two (cameras and scanning techniques) covers monitor calibration, camera calibration, scanner calibration, choosing quality settings, exposure control, film speeds, focus /depth of field, and solving depth of field problems, dealing with high contrast, explaining the Zone system (6 pages), and film scanning (another 8 pages).
Finally, after 73 pages (of the 128 page book), we get to:
Chapter 3 (Enhancing images) where the author tells us how to convert color to mono, make basic corrections, correct chromatic aberrations, how to use the clone tool, do burning and dodging, posterization, bas relief, solorization, make lith prints, texture effects, how to simulate traditional films, creating infrared, image coloring, basic photomontage, multi-image techniques, panoramas, and using sharpening techniques (all in PS).
Then in Chapter 4 (Outputting images), we learn how to calibrate our printer and print an image.
Although the book is well written (1 mistake on p.12 where he should've said megahertz instead of GB in describing what type of computer you should buy) and the author does present a couple of great ideas on B&W photos later in the book.
However, one is left with the impression that the author tried to fill up a 128 page book the best he knew how by adding a bunch of really basic digital photo stuff and a whole lot of scanning stuff. Otherwise, nobody would ever buy a 50-page book.
Unfortunately, I did (sucked in by a title again).
Great Book! Expertly Written Instruction for Black & White Digital Photography.......2006-01-29
This is a wonderful book with great instruction on perfecting the art of digital black and white photography. It also covers extensivly the many different methods of converting color digital and printed photos into quality black and white and monochrome. A must have for the digital photography enthusiast who wants to produce spectactular digital black and white works of art.
J. Johnston
www.digitalphotoart.net
Book Description
The dark, feverish imagination of Steve Niles has produced some classic works of horror, such as 30 Days of Night. This special collection gathers up some of his most twisted one-shots in one volume. Contained within is Niles' re-telling of "Hyde," his spooky all-ages tale, "A Very Big Monster Show," and the ghastly short stories of "Horrorcide." Illustrated by some of the best horror artists in comics today, the stories contained in Steve Niles' Cellar of Nastiness offer you dark journeys and dangerous visions.
Customer Reviews:
More from creator of "30 Days of Night".......2007-08-02
Steve Niles has amply demonstrated his warped imagination by sending a legion of vampires to a lonely Alaskan town where the sun doesn't rise for 30 days. For more insight into his strangely twisted creative vein, descend into his "Cellar of Nastiness" for a handful of short, unrelated tales.
The book begins with a modern retelling of the Jekyll & Hyde yarn, co-written by Kris Oprisko and featuring the jagged, mottled artwork of Nick Stakal. Jekyll in this case is a pair of brothers, both of whom would do anything to keep their funding intact for research into the chemical mysteries of the brain. The story proceeds in the general direction you'd expect, although it certainly turns the violence up a notch and stirs the tension with Stakal's sharp edges.
For a humorous turn, "The Very Big Monster Show" features the cartoonish art of Butch Adams. Young Theo feels bad for the classic movie monsters who have been replaced in the nightmares of modern society by gorier but less imaginative creatures. By strange coincidence, Theo discovers an ancient manor in his town where, lo! the sad and retired monsters live and sulk. But Theo has big ideas, and pretty soon he's leading a road trip to Movieland where, he hopes, Frankenstein, the Mummy and all the rest will show those upstarts how it's done.
"Bitch," drawn in action-comic style by Josh Medors, is a fairly nondescript future battle of the sexes. "Torg's Big Day," drawn by Chee, shows the misadventures that can occur when a caveman is beamed into a modern laboratory -- and when a well-armed scientist fails to keep track of his weapons. "Making Amends" again features art by Medors, this time in scratchy black ink, as a criminal seeks atonement for a past deed. Finally, Ben Templesmith provides loose sketches in sepia tones as Niles unfolds the story of the "Neighborhood Creep."
This set of stories is occasionally cute, occasionally spooky, but sets no great new benchmarks in Niles' career. It's more of a curiosity for your collection than a necessity, but it's still a pleasant reading experience.
by Tom Knapp, Rambles.NET editor
Average customer rating:
- A simple Delight
- Not enough for a book
- Thought Provoking
- A waste of money
- Joseph Campbell it's not
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Buddhism for Sheep
Manufacturer: Ebury Press
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Buddhism for Bears
ASIN: 0091807549 |
Book Description
Sheep are seriously underestimated creature when it comes to spirituality and religious feeling. For the first time, this book recognizes their huge potential and offers ovine students of Buddhism everywhere the opportunity to focus their skills and follow the path to enlightenment.From meditation to the essential concepts of Zen, all the fundamentals are set out here in a series of concise interpretations of Buddhist teaching. For anyone searching for something different in their life, this groundbreaking book will be essential reading.
Customer Reviews:
A simple Delight.......2006-04-10
This is a kind and fluffy book: it makes no claims for itself but infiltrates a kind sense of compassion into the reader. Beyond rubies. buy it. You will kick yourself if you don't.
Not enough for a book.......2004-03-14
While I commend the authors for making a cute cartoon comment on Buddhism and those we humans might think "beneath us" (sheep), this is not enough material for a book. It was a serious overexpenditure -- and in *hardback*, no less???
This would have made a cute Web site, no more. It takes literally five minutes to read.
Thought Provoking.......2003-03-21
While this is a light hearted look at Buddhist Principles, I found it quite thought provoking. The format is cartoon line drawings with a short statement of Buddhist Principle on each page. Some pages will make you smile, others may cause you to pause and reflect. As a 'sheep collector', this is a must have book but I was pleasantly surprised by content after my purchase!
A waste of money.......2003-01-29
I do not think the authors have ever had anything to do with real sheep, it is insulting.
Joseph Campbell it's not.......2002-02-04
Short, cartoonish, and superficial. Little depth to this cute but insubstantial tome. Most memorable quote: "Karma means there is no escape." Occasionally humorous, it is finished in a flash. And, like dining on nouveau cuisine, it leaves you hungry for more.
Amazon.com
Author Mary Rose O'Reilley is decidedly eclectic. She confidently blends sheep tending with her Quaker background as well as her passion for Mahayana Buddhism (a form of Buddhism taught by Vietnamese monk Thich Nhat Hanh). This may sound like the recipe for a soup of spiritual mush, but nothing could be further from the truth. Like Anne Lamott, O'Reilley also happens to be a hysterically funny storyteller who understands the importance of humility when writing spiritual autobiography. (One reviewer called O'Reilley a "social anthropologist from the Planet Mongo, a stand-up mystic going for the belly laugh...")
Whether she's talking about grief over dying lambs, the plague of Monkey Mind, flipping sheep, or a barnyard fashion crisis, O'Reilley keeps her metaphors down to earth and her epiphanies humble. The structure is especially inviting: a collection of brief essays of only about three to five pages each. But this collection also reads like a journey with a beginning and an end. It starts with O'Reilley as a college professor who decides to try some part-time animal husbandry at a local farm and ends with her finding a new direction in life that we can only hope will inspire her to write a sequel. --Gail Hudson
Book Description
Deciding that her spirituality needed to be grounded in the real world, Mary Rose O'Reilley, a Quaker with a Catholic past and a Buddhist future, embarked on a year of tending sheep, whom she called her "two hundred spiritual teachers." In this seriocomic work of guerilla spirituality, O'Reilley takes the reader into a working barn, where she learns to "flip" sheep, inoculate them, and help them lamb (among other, earthier things). Dividing her spare time equally between meditation and dreaming of French pastries, the author happily fashions a spirituality based not in "climbing out of the body" but in existing fully in the world.
Customer Reviews:
One of the Best Spiritual Memoirs.......2007-01-23
My first impressions of this book were that it was weird. That really describes the first section and a half of this book. It *is* weird reading about the excrutiating details of sheep farming coupled with deep religious insights. But it was weird in a good way, like waking up one morning in the middle of the winter at 6 AM and having the sun already be risen. The further along in the book I went, the more I enjoyed her weird combination of sheep farming, Buddhist retreat, music, and Quaker imagery. I found myself thinking about what she just said constantly; quite frankly, it was an absolute inspiration to me, especially when she starts delving into her life at Plum Village.
Her format also makes the book easy to read. You can pick it up for just 5 minutes at a time. With some memoirs, the format of short essays makes the memoir feel disjointed; with this one, it makes it feel whole.
I've read many memoirs and many spiritual/religious books. If I had to give a list of my top 3, this book would be on it.
Didn't interest me.......2006-11-10
I found this book boring. Her message was good, but her delivery did nothing for me.
Profound, Poetic, Perfect .......2006-04-10
In the past 15 years, I've read two, "personal memoir"-type books by women writers that totally blew my doors off: Terry Tempest Williams' "Refuge: An Unnatural History of Family and Place" and Mary Rose O'Reilly's "The Barn at the End of the World: The Apprenticeship of a Quaker, Buddhist Shepherd." Very different books, at the end of the day, but both women think and write from deep religious traditions in their lives. Likewise, both have an abiding love for "the land," concretely and metaphorically, so what you hear at the end of that same day are calm but passonate voices that make you listen, make you want to listen hard to the observations, but with sense of deep fulfillment for the experience of it.
As for "Barn," I am neither a Quaker, a Buddhist, a farmer, a teacher nor an "older, adventurous woman" (as one reviewer suggested would be the type of person who would enjoy "Barn"). SO WHAT! "Barn" is a truly a banquet of wise and penetrating insights into the essence work (and working with and caring for animals in particular), of friendship, love, responsibility, accountability to yourself and to others, silence, mediation, the sacred, and, ultimately living honestly. There is much humor, gentleness, and "character" (for want of a better word to describe her inner strength) in the 90-odd "chapters" (some as short as 1 page) that are more like mini-essays on discrete but interrelated topics, so much so that I found myself going back, often, re-reading passages, savoring her prose and her insights, shutting the book, just letting the writing sink in. "Barn," resonated with me (an "semi-older, adventurous man") on more levels than I could ever have predicted. I'm a big fan of Thich Nhat Hanh's work, so the chapters recounting her experience at Plum Village and Thay's "dharma talks" were an added "bonus." Give it a shot, and take your time reading it; it's worth it.
Perfect Summer Reading.......2005-07-07
The Barn at the End of the World: The Apprenticeship of a Quaker, Buddhist Shepherd by Mary Rose O'Reilley is a beautiful and insightful memoir. There is something to be learned, pondered over, and highlighted for posterity on almost every page of this book. O'Reilley's humor and down-to-earth honesty regarding spiritual and personal matters made me feel at home, even in unknown territory. While reading this memoir, I learned to pause, remember, and cherish my own breath, to accept what is and what is not.
One of my favorite books ever...........2004-07-07
I loved reading Ms. O'Reilley's thoughts as she delved into her spiritual life through the retelling of the "everyday." As a fairly young woman with children myself, I enjoyed this author's empty-nester vitality and exploration of a life she obviously enjoys living. She does things that I hope I would do someday when I no longer have the children at home. Again, as a woman with children, I could relate in a very earthy way to finding holiness in... well... "dirty work." I like that Ms. O'Reilly doesn't mince the details in an attempt to be pious or meek. On the other hand, much of her writing style is absolutely delicious to read, no matter what the subject matter. This author can make sheep rectums something wonderful to read about!
I also love the way the author lives, something I would describe as very loving living. I love the value she places on many aspects of different spiritual traditions. It comes together in wonderful harmony, something that is very soothing and pleasing to read. (I would agree with some other reviewers that this book is not a solid reference for Buddhism or Quaker beliefs, but it certainly has a wonderfully lovely tone!) This book is about spiritual living - with or without a denominational label. I often found myself feeling a great sense of peace and calm while reading it, and enjoyed it immensely.
This book is heartily recommended!
Average customer rating:
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Buddhism for Sheep
Chris Riddell
Manufacturer: EBURY PRESS (RAND)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: B000GREMEC |
Average customer rating:
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Buddhism for Sheep
Chris Riddell
Manufacturer: Ebury Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: B000OGMUUI |
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Buddhism for Sheep Feng Shui for Cats Fe
Louise Howard
Manufacturer: Vintage/Ebury (A Division of Random House Group)
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0091868084 |
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- A Little Thin
- Methods of blues
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Mel Bay Basic Blues Harmonica Method Book/CD Set
David Barrett
Manufacturer: Mel Bay Publications, Inc.
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Binding: Paperback
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Mel Bay Blues Harmonica Jam Tracks & Soloing Concepts #1 Book/CD Set
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Mel Bay presents Basic Blues Harmonica Method: Level 1, Complete Blues Harmonica Lesson Series
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Mel Bay First Lessons Blues Harmonica
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Rock n' Blues Harmonica: A World of Harp Knowledge, Songs, Stories, Lessons, Riffs, Techniques and Audio Index for a New Generation of Harp Players (Includes ... book and 74 minute stereo CD Jamming Buddy)
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Mel Bay Classic Chicago Blues Harp #1, Level 2 (Book/CD Set) (Blues Harp, 1) (Blues Harp, 1)
ASIN: 0786656565 |
Book Description
Basic Blues Harmonica Method is geared toward getting you playing blues harmonica as fast as possible. The songs and exercises have been designed to get you comfortable with moving around the instrument and allow you to take full advantage of the great sounding patterns available on your harmonica, without first having to learn advanced techniques such as bending. The basic techniques covered are single hole embouchure, tongue block embouchure and octaves. You'll be able to achieve that bluesy feel, without bending notes, by learning how to play in 3rd position. You'll also learn single note patterns and rhythms that will help you develop your motor skills and tone. This book is packed with song examples that sound great, even at this beginning stage. The CD that accompanies the book contains eight jam tracks for you to play along with. These jam tracks use harmonica-friendly keys and a wide variety of tempos and grooves to fit whatever mood you're in. The instruction portion of this book/CD set teaches phrasing within the 12 bar structure.
Customer Reviews:
A Little Thin.......2007-05-08
A good introdution to blues harmonica. However the book itself is a little thin and could have been combined with subsequent edtions for a better overview and more affordable read.
Methods of blues.......2006-11-12
This book rocks! Building basic riffs using 1 hole! making it sound incredible. You are given the tools to start building your style of the blues riffs you like, illustrating how to attack the notes.
Very well done.
Average customer rating:
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Mel Bay's Basic Harmonica Method
David Barrett
Manufacturer: Mel Bay Publications, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
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ASIN: 078662888X |
Product Description
This book is meant to give you a jump-start in playing blues harmonica. You will find there are both easy and difficult techniques on the harmonica. Due to the nature and length of this book, and to avoid repetition of sections of other books by the same author- some of the more commonplace blues harmonica techniques are avoided here. A 10-hole D harmonica is required to begin this book, but a Lee Oskar natural minor harmonica in the key of A minor is also recommended. All tunes and exercises in this book are written in standard notation with harmonica blow/draw indications. Although this is not a beginner's book, the enclosed CD recording provides an additional assist to players at all level.
Customer Reviews:
This is the best Harmonica book ever published!.......1998-04-24
If you are looking for just the right instructional harmonica book, then this book is for you!
Average customer rating:
- Not Bad for the beginner, but not too good either
- purely magical
|
World's Best Coin Tricks
Bob Longe
Manufacturer: Sterling
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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Modern Coin Magic
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Coin Magic
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Self-Working Card Tricks (Cards, Coins, and Other Magic)
ASIN: 0806986611 |
Book Description
Hit your forehead, wave your arms, cough-and pull a coin out of your mouth. Over 50 coin tricks, with dozens of illustrations, are simple to learn. Bonus: expert tips to make the audience howl as it's being fooled! 128 pages, 89 b/w illus., 5 3/8 x 8 1/4.
Customer Reviews:
Not Bad for the beginner, but not too good either.......2001-09-13
This book is fair for the beginner; it does teach some easy sleights and vanishes. For those who may be starting out in magic but are fairly serious about it, Modern Coin Magic is a much better value.
purely magical.......2000-09-01
Great tricks, easy to understand. It's a great book to flip through. At parties and around kids, I have shown off these tricks, andthey are very impressive. The book is well worth your money.
Average customer rating:
|
World's Best Coin Tricks
Bob Longe
Manufacturer: Sterling Publishing Company, Incorporated
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MBPKLG |
Book Description
A Silicon Valley veteran and author of the bestseller High Tech Start Up reveals the nature of unfair advantage -- that holy grail for every company, the mysterious quality that separates successful businesses from the nine out of ten that fail -- and then shows how to create an unfair advantage, build it into a business plan, and use it to maximum effect.
Nesheim's first book, originally self-published during Silicon Valley's wild west days in the 1990s, quickly moved from underground hit to business bestseller. He witnessed the incredible highs and lows of the Internet bubble, and he got an intimate look at why some companies weathered the storm while others went under. Now, in The Power of Unfair Advantage, Nesheim shows you how to bring the pioneer spirit to your new enterprise -- whether you are starting a new company or trying to breathe new life into an old dog. Unfair advantage is an enduring but often overlooked dynamic and a crucial aspect of any successful business endeavor.
To show you how to attain unfair advantage over your competitors, he begins with a clear model: Outsource everything you are not good at, concentrate on those things that can be differentiated, and strive for a unique, consistent difference that cannot be copied. Integrating these maxims with other essential elements, he demonstrates, with dozens of case studies, how to orchestrate unfair advantage through marketing, sales, engineering, and operations.
Unfair advantage can take many forms. Pager maker RIM rocketed to the top of the mobile wireless email market with Blackberry by employing an unfair advantage that it alone possessed -- pager technology and pager infrastructure. Alternately, an unfair advantage can come from a unique relationship with a strategic alliance partner, as when Flextronics pulled Handspring out of a life-threatening crisis.
The Power of Unfair Advantage is an essential handbook for every manager who is responsible for introducing a new product or service and every entrepreneur and would-be who plans to start a company. Unfair advantage is here to stay -- learn how to lasso its power, rise above the competition, and build a flourishing, long-lasting business.
Download Description
"A Silicon Valley veteran and author of the bestseller High Tech Start Up reveals the nature of unfair advantage -- that holy grail for every company, the mysterious quality that separates successful businesses from the nine out of ten that fail -- and then shows how to create an unfair advantage, build it into a business plan, and use it to maximum effect. Nesheim's first book, originally self-published during Silicon Valley's wild west days in the 1990s, quickly moved from underground hit to business bestseller. He witnessed the incredible highs and lows of the Internet bubble, and he got an intimate look at why some companies weathered the storm while others went under. Now, in The Power of Unfair Advantage, Nesheim shows you how to bring the pioneer spirit to your new enterprise -- whether you are starting a new company or trying to breathe new life into an old dog. Unfair advantage is an enduring but often overlooked dynamic and a crucial aspect of any successful business endeavor. To show you how to attain unfair advantage over your competitors, he begins with a clear model: Outsource everything you are not good at, concentrate on those things that can be differentiated, and strive for a unique, consistent difference that cannot be copied. Integrating these maxims with other essential elements, he demonstrates, with dozens of case studies, how to orchestrate unfair advantage through marketing, sales, engineering, and operations. Unfair advantage can take many forms. Pager maker RIM rocketed to the top of the mobile wireless email market with Blackberry by employing an unfair advantage that it alone possessed -- pager technology and pager infrastructure. Alternately, an unfair advantage can come from a unique relationship with a strategic alliance partner, as when Flextronics pulled Handspring out of a life-threatening crisis. The Power of Unfair Advantage is an essential handbook for every manager who is responsible for introducing a new product or service and every entrepreneur and would-be who plans to start a company. Unfair advantage is here to stay -- learn how to lasso its power, rise above the competition, and build a flourishing, long-lasting business. "
Customer Reviews:
Using it in my entrepreneurship courses.......2007-03-11
Excellent book, I teach technology and creative entrepreneurship at the University of Edinburgh under the Edinburgh-Stanford Link programme. Most of my students are MSc or Ph.D.s in the arts and sciences. It has really helped explained how to build competitive advantage in the short and long term, and I consider this crucial as a learning for my students. I am using it during this academic year as an optional read for students; next academic year I plan to make it required. John was also a Professor of mine at Cornell (MBA) and is an excellent teacher as well, BTW.
This book is NOT "exclusively" for CEOs and the "power lunch" crowd.......2006-04-22
Yes, there is an element of CEO / Venture Capitalist / etc. in this book, and while that crowd may constitute a large SEGMENT of the audience, there is valuable information here for sole proprietors, small business owners, and others. PERFECT example: Page 122, "Flanking." Nesheim discusses the need to roll out your product or service in an "uncontested area," stating "If there is an entrenched leader of the market you are planning on dominating, you are too late and have nothing to flank into...The only thing left is to try a better, faster, cheaper product for the existing market. But that has virtually no chance of winning." Anyone who passes this book by on the premise that it is for CEOs and their ilk is making a big, big mistake if they want to succeed in their own business. There are additional chapters on business development, marketing, sales...all written by a guy who witnessed "Silicon Valley" from the ground up. If more small business owners read well-written business books like this one, fewer small businesses would have "going out of business" sales.
A venture capitalist's perspective.......2005-11-23
John Nesheim captures the essence of the foundation for success in high growth companies typical of the venture capital industry. "Unfair Advantage" is all about attractiveness to the customer and competitive advantage. In our VC investing practice at Canaan Partners, we constantly evaluate our current and prospective portfolio companies in terms of uniqueness and value proposition. John flushes out those notions and is right on the money. Required reading for all aspiring entrepreneurs.
If you want to learn from the BEST read this book!.......2005-11-22
After reading this book it is very apparent that the concept of 'Unfair Advantage' is the single most important concept for anyone starting anything; whether it be a start up or a new product/project within an existing organization.
If John's first book successfully maps out what needs to be accomplished to successfully take an idea to an IPO, this book reorganizes all this info and more around the important concept of Unfair Advantage. His book is also a must read for anyone attempting to write a world class business plan. Implementing what I learned from Nesheim, I was able to get comments such as "one of the best business plans I've ever seen" from a top silicon valley VC partner.
I would like to personally thank John Nesheim for instilling in me the spirit of entrepreuneurship, and what I have learned from his teachings and books have been an invaluable help in taking me as far as I have in the world of high tech start up.
A must read for any CEO or senior executive.......2005-11-22
John's latest book is a must read for any CEO or senior executive of an early stage company. It encompasses the most comprehensive recipe for an organization to gain a competitive advantage. I found the concepts covered to be very practical, actionable, and applicable to organizations of any size.
Of course, one of John's passions has been eary stage companies, and therefore the book is the best I've read covering the process from founding of the enterprise, to developing of a busines plan, to securing funding, to executing the business plan - with a focus on building a competitive advantage from the ground up.
Books:
- Ernst Ludwig Kirchner Drawings & Pastels
- Fairfield Porter: A Life in Art
- Flemish Tapestry in European and American Collections: Studies in Honour of Guy Delmarcel (Studies in Western Tapestry)
- Flower Fairies Secret World R/I (Flower Fairies Friends)
- Fresh Ideas in Invitations, Posters & Announcements
- From Energy to Information: Representation in Science and Technology, Art, and Literature (Writing Science)
- Fun with Ballet Stencils (Dover Little Activity Books)
- George Inness: Writings and Reflections on Art and Philosophy
- Georgia's Legacy: History Chartered Through the Arts : An Exhibition Organized on the Occasion of the Bicentennial of the University of Georgia, 1785
- Ghost Ships: A Surrealist Love Triangle
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Owen & Mzee: The True Story Of A Remarkable Friendship
- Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate
- The Hotel New Hampshire
- Renew Your Life
- Magnetic Information Storage Technology
- Natural Hazards and Disasters
- Singled Out: How Singles are Stereotyped, Stigmatized, and Ignored, and Still Live Happily Ever Afte
- Paleontology and Geology of the Western Salton Through Detachment, Anza-Borrego Desert State Park, C
- The Best Years: Recollections of Lucina
- Newcomb's Wildflower Guide: An Ingenious New Key System for Quick, Positive Field Identification of
Joan Mitchell: A Survey of Works on Paper 1956-1992
Pictures of Nothing: Abstract Art since Pollock (A.W. Mellon Lectures in the Fine Arts)
Frankenthaler: Works on Paper 1949-1984
Howard Hodgkin, Paintings 1992-2007 (Yale Center for British Art)
Mark Rothko
