Subjects:  1. 1564-1616    2. 1789-1883    3. 19th century    4. Bibliography    5. Biography & Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Collier, John Payne,    8. Early modern, 1500-1700    9. Educators    10. English literature    11. Forgeries    12. History    13. History and criticism    14. Literary forgeries and mystifications    15. Methodology    16. Modern - 19th Century    17. Plays / Drama    18. Reference    19. Shakespeare    20. Shakespeare, William,    21. Theory, etc    22. Drama / Shakespeare   

Reviews (4)

"Topaz Moon": The Great Nature of Chiura Obata
"Topaz Moon" is a slim little book that is filled with a selection of the interment imagery of Chiura Obata. The imagery is both in his writings and in his art. And both make lasting impressions.
Great art and great social history
This is a wonderful book. I bought it for the artwork which is fresh, inventive, and very skillful but the social history is equally engrossing. The text is clearly written and generous with quotes. Great for educating children about Executive Order 9066.
Most of the artwork are done in black ink on white paper.It makes for a stark and bleak testament to the difficulties faced and endured by the internees.The book is a great teaching tool for children and adults, not only to learn about the internment, but to study the artwork. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Artists    2. Artists, Architects, Photographers    3. Biography    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Graphic Arts - General    8. Imprisonment    9. Obata, Chiura    10. Reference    11. United States    12. Central Utah Relocation Center    13. History    14. In art    15. Japanese Americans   

Editorial Review

A young woman named Julia Butterfly Hill climbed a 200-foot redwood in December 1997. She didn't come down for 738 days. The tree, dubbed Luna, grows in the coastal hills of Northern California, on land owned by the Maxxam Corporation. In 1985 Maxxam acquired the previous landlord, Pacific Lumber, then proceeded to "liquidate its assets" to pay off the debt--in other words, clear-cut the old-growth redwood forest. Environmentalists charged the company with harvesting timber at a nonsustainable level.Earth First! in particular devised tree sit-ins to protest the logging.When Hill arrived on the scene after traveling cross-country on a whim, loggers were preparing to clear-cut the hillside where Luna had been growing for 1,000 years. Read more

Reviews (78)

Interesting Read
I read this in one day, it's almost as if reading a letter from a friend. I had heard about the woman who sat in a Redwood Tree in California, and after seeing the documentary about it, I had to read the book. The writing isn't outstanding, but I got everything I'd hoped for: A detailed description of life in Luna, which is amazing to say the least, and a much better insight on the activism to preserve old growth forests. I couldn't put it down. Read it for another perspective on life, and to learn more about Julia Butterfly Hill: A truly amazing activist.

Saving our environment
I had seen the documentary and was interested to read the book.It was enjoyable, well written and an interesting report of a woman's total belief in what she was doing, along with her lessons in dealing with the very personal issues and fears that arose in her.An easy read and worthwhile.
Julia Butterfly Hill:A Woman Literally Up a Tree
Julia Butterfly Hill's father taught her a good lesson early in her life.The lesson was to stand up for what you believe in and not to give up.Julia obviously took this to heart.In her mid twenties she was looking for a meaning in her life.So she sold many of her valuables, "hit the road", and came into contact with an organization that was involved in the fight to save the redwoods.One of their main actions against the chopping of these trees is to put people up in a tree on a small platform for about a week.
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Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. California    6. Environmental Conservation & Protection - General    7. Hill, Julia Butterfly    8. Humboldt County    9. Luna (Calif. : Tree)    10. Old growth forest conservation    11. Political    12. Reference    13. Women    14. Women conservationists    15. Biography & Autobiography / General    16. Popular astronomy   

Editorial Review

David and Daniel Hays, father and son, designed and built a smallboat together, then set out to sail it around the tip of South America, a journeythat David had dreamed of ever since childhood.Along the way they foughtand swore and sweated and shared triumphs large and small. ... Read more

Reviews (31)

Heart warming and humorous
Being a new sailor, I appreciated that these two experienced sailors were quick to admit they weren't into being fastidious about nautical terms. That honesty, along with their introspective humour and self-deprecating insights, makes for a very down to earth narrative. I laughed many times and would love to have half as many friends with their sense of humour. A smidgen of sailing experience or familiarity with things nautical may help you further enjoy this touching journal of a man and his son as they expound on their experience in close quarters over thousands of miles of open sea.
Mildly interesting, turned off by language
I was enjoying this moderately until right about midway (between Galapagos and Easter Island) when the language got rougher than the seas and I deep-sixed it. After reading Joshua Slocum's "Sailing Alone Around The World", (a tremendous story!) this book seemed crude and sophomoric.
My old Man and the Sea
I listened to the audio version during a cross country drive with a friend. Along the way, we found ourselves laughing at times, crying at others. Our trip had a lot of ups and downs, much like their travels- of course the amenities of driving a car cross country cannot compare to sailing a boat around the horn!Anyway, my friend identified a little more with the older character, while I identified with his son- it made us think a little more about each others perspective. Definitely the best book on tape I've ever heard. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1930-    2. 1960-    3. 20th Century Description And Travel    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. General    7. Hays, Daniel,    8. Hays, David,    9. Reference    10. Sailing - Narratives    11. Sports - General    12. Travel    13. Travel - General    14. Voyages and travels    15. Dictionaries of biography (Who's Who)    16. Hays, Daniel    17. Hays, David    18. Journeys    19. Travel writing   

Reviews (5)

This book gave me hope
If you - or someone you love - has been raped or sexually violated, read this book.It is a step by step guide to recovery.

Healing
I, now, call this book my "peace".It has helped me ten-fold understand and begin healing my mind, body and spirit.It is a must read for those who are survivors and for those who are friends and family of those who are survivors.It helps me understand that what I have gone through, does not constitute "crazy" but rather what is to be expected of the experience.I would recommend this book for any and everyone who wants to truly understand.

Miss America by Day
If you have been a victim of sexual abuse,the contents of this book will point you in the direction of healing & closure...Even if you have not been a victim of abuse, this will open your eyes to what could be going on behind closed doors & give you the insight to help & perhaps rescue someone... ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography/Autobiography    3. Reference   

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Reference    5. Women   

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. General    5. Reference    6. Biography: general   

Editorial Review

This minutely reported book is as much a portrait of the frenzied, prodigal New York art world of the 1980s as it is a biography of Jean-Michel Basquiat, who died of a drug overdose at age 27 in 1988. Basquiat, one of very few African American artists to acquire an international reputation, left a thick web of dealers, collectors, friends, lovers, paintings, drawings, and used syringes behind him. Author Phoebe Hoban seems to have unblinkingly interviewed or examined them all. While she duly registers Basquiat's sad childhood, with his unstable Puerto Rican mother and punishing Haitian father, she doesn't make much of the deeper veins of sorrow and self-destruction that may have motivated the artist and informed his art.Rather, she allows his celebrity, which whisked him from street urchin to art star, to be the central trajectory of this story. The Warhol protégé would probably approve, as he was the primary obliterator of his own psychological depths, throwing away his short, phenomenally productive life in the edgy club and drug scene of downtown Manhattan. The miracle is that Basquiat was so good, and so serious, an artist, surrounded as he was by hype and cash. Hoban's book is a fluid, intricate, authoritative dissection of a time, a place, and--almost--a person. Read more

Reviews (21)

Most useful for history buffs, not terribly enlightening for fans of Basquiat's work
Phoebe Hoban's BASQUIAT: A Quick Killing in Art is one of the few biographies of the painter whose brief career (1980-1988) coincided with the disgusting obsession with profit of the Eighties' art world. There is little here about his work itself, and in order to understand why Basquiat is so important you'll need a collection of his pictures.
Reality Check
I usually am disappointed in the art books I purchase because they lack insight into the artist and the reproductions are consistently not accurate reproductions.
Contains just a peek into the life of Basquiat
I enjoyed this book. It is a pretty entertaining read,but it does not got that in depth into the artists life.It does give some insight into the man and his work, but not as much as I would like.Still worth a look for any fan of Basquiat, though. 3 1/2 STARS ... Read more

Subjects:  1. American - African-American    2. Artists, Architects, Photographers    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Reference    7. Biography & Autobiography / Artists, Architects, Photographers   

Reviews (33)

Enjoyable but Flawed
Retired FBI Agent William Roemer (1926-1996) details the activities of mobster Tony Spilotro, alleged to be the Chicago mob's "heat" in Las Vegas during the 1970's.During those years the syndicate in Chicago and other Midwest cities skimmed millions of dollars from several Las Vegas casinos, an activity documented in the book (and movie) CASINO.After the skim was uncovered in the early 1980's, several Mafia bosses and teamster officials ended up in federal prison, while other figures ended up dead.At about that time, Spilotro's burglary crew was busted, turned informant, and in 1986 Spilotro and his brother were were found beaten and buried alive in an Indiana farm field.
My Mind Wanders
Good object lesson in how Amazon reviews can save you money. I bought my copy on impulse, off the shelf. Fortunately, I only wasted $10. Considering today's book prices, it could have been more. Yes, the book is as ill-conceived and meandering as overwhelming number ofreviews indicate. Unfortunately, there's precious little evidence of research anywhere in the text. No need to repeat points already made and so glaringly present in the book.Experience is a little like sitting with a good ol' boy at a boozy party, who can't wait to tell you all about rosy memories and great guys from days in the FBI, and, oh yeah, something about some guy named Spil ott ro, or was it Spil oh tro.

I used to box in college!!! OH YA,did I mention Spilotro
PLEASE DONT WASTE YOUR TIME!!!!
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Subjects:  1. Biography/Autobiography    2. Murder - General    3. Reference    4. True Crime / Espionage    5. Biography & Autobiography / Reference    6. Fantasy    7. Science fiction   

Reviews (16)

The End Of Time
This book is a very good book if you are interested in learning about 9/11 and how it happened. This book had a very good story line and it has gone into a lot of detail about everything it talks about. This book was very insightful. I enjoyed to read this book because it told me how everything happened at 9/11. It also teaches you life lessons and it does this without trying to. It makes you think about your life. This book also teaches you to live your life to the fullest because if you don'you might run out of time. That was the cancer part of the book. The man thought that he couldn't get cancer but then he did. This tells you that anything can happen at anytime.

Poignant and, as usual, well written
I think Horowitz's political persona obscures important facts about him as a man and a writer: He is very obviously an honest and courageous guy, and he also pens beautiful prose. This book will, in no way, disappoint: surprisingly, I found it to be a quite pleasant, thought-provoking rumination on a difficult subject that I, like most others, would normally have steered clear of. Had I not already been a fan, it is certain that I would have missed an important opportunity at personal introspection. (Thanks, David.)

Viva Velikovsky...he can help clear up agnostic doubts
My nephew recommended Tammy Bruce and David Horowitz to me...to clear my mind he probably supposes. As I glance through some of the reviews I noticed one which dismissed Zinn and Chomsky as "clowns".Apparently I am not an agnostic.I believe in clowns, just as I believe in life and respect for all of it.
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Subjects:  1. 1939-    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Cancer    7. Death    8. Death, Grief, Bereavement    9. Diseases - Prostate Cancer    10. Family    11. Health    12. Horowitz, David,    13. Medical - General    14. Moral and ethical aspects    15. Patients    16. Psychological aspects    17. Reference    18. United States    19. Coping with death & bereavement    20. Coping with illness    21. True Stories   

Reviews (50)

INSPIRATIONAL
This book wasn't just fascinating and interesting, but Captain Meryl's life story about her dream to fly is absolutely inspiring!I also couldn't put this book down, but also didn't want it to ever end!Although, it may seemed cliched, Captain Meryl proves in her book that any goal can be achieved in life, just as long as you never give up. Whether or not you have an interest in airplanes or flying, this book is excellently written, it's humorous, and it's just so much fun.I highly recommend this book to ANYONE and EVERYONE!

I read in it one day - couldn't put it down!!
A fun and fast-moving collection of stories from one who has many unusual life experiences.A great family book - clean and appropriate for all ages.The author's story is inspiring but never preachy.

Cap'nMeryl -good job
I have finised reading your book and I'm so impressed that I can firmly say that you are not only very good pilot but you are my idol. You are so relentlessly in your decision and courage. Ienvy youyour polyglot possibility and your travel adventures. You have so colours and full of adventures life. You met so many friendly people. Raturning to your book - it can kindle passion to aviation. The book is is not only true and sometimes hilarious but life, realistic, inspirational and educational. I read it at once. When I read it I relate haw difficulty was becoming an airline Captain. "The World At My Feet" brings something new to my life.
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Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Reference    5. Women   

Reviews (19)

Too much detail about the design of his shoe.
BUT, if you take anything out of this book, it's the fact that Jordan works harder than his peers, whether it was basketball or business.His inner drive and desire to succeed and give it his all is what I took away from the book.I would skim the parts on shoe design and focus mainly on his words and advice, especially on work ethic.
DRIVEN FROM WITHIN
THIS WAS A GIFT.RECEIPIENT WAS SATISFIED.HE IS A 19 YEAR OLD INTO SPORTS AND MICHAEL JORDAN IS SOMEONE WHO HE ADMIRES AND WOULD RECOMMEND TO OTHERS.

Great Michael Jordan Book!!!
I am a big fan of basketball as well as Michael Jordan and this book is just awesome! It gives a very good description of Michael Jordan's life, and how his life is put into his shoes.
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Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Photoessays & Documentaries    5. Reference    6. Rich & Famous    7. Sports - Basketball    8. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Editorial Review

This amazingly rich lode of memoirs, letters, and diaries jumbles together a great roster of 20th-century women, including Virginia Woolf, Simone de Beauvoir, Bernadette Devlin, Emily Mashinini, Sara Suleri, and Santha Rama Rau. Read more

Reviews (1)

Most enlightening book I've ever read
This is by far the best book I've read in the last few years.I picked it at random from the library, but I didn't want to take it back when I was finished with it.As an aspiring anthropologist, being put smack in themiddle of so many different women's lives from all over the world at alltime periods of the twentieth century was absolutely fascinating.I'vemade a list of all the selections that have inspired me enough to make mewant to read the book it was taken from, and the list is two pages long! The book is an excellent montage of so many different walks of life, Ithink it should win some kind of award for it's superb editing.I wouldrecommend this book to anybody interested in other women's lives, and toany men wondering how we really think and feel. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Reference    3. Sociology    4. Women    5. Women's Studies - History    6. Sociology, Social Studies   

Reviews (11)

snoozzzzzzzzzzzzzzzze
This Book was a big disappointment.The narrative and narrator were uninspired.It was geared to a third grade level and probably wouldn't have held a nine year olds attention long.

Fascinating & Captivating!
Wonderfully written, this book holds the reader's attention from beginning to end.This book is not only for history buffs, but for anyone who wants a fascinating glimpse of the lives of our founding fathers.Written in the form of short biographies, it makes it easy to put down and pick up again without having to re-read the previous chapter.The timeline in the end also makes it easy to put all of the events into perspective.This will be required reading for my own homeschool children, and should be required for all young adults.

Wonderfully done!
Mr. Allen has put together a magnificent work here.The book features 6 subjects: Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, John Adams, Patrick Henry, Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. Each biography is in the 35 - 40 page range and goes a little deeper than a basic work.Mr. Allen gives the reader the basic information and hits the highlights, but also delves into personal nuances and incidents of each subject.
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Subjects:  1. 1775-1783    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography & Autobiography / Political    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Founding Fathers of the United States    8. General    9. Historical - U.S.    10. History    11. History / United States / Revolutionary Period (1775-1800)    12. Politics and government    13. Reference    14. Revolution, 1775-1783    15. United States    16. United States - General    17. Biography & Autobiography / General    18. Political    19. Presidents    20. United States - Revolutionary Period (1775-1800)   

Reviews (7)

The Architect's Brother
Wow.That's how I'm going to start this off.My first inkling was to give the book four stars, you know, seem objective to the reader, maybe have a bigger influence.The truth is objectivity has nothing to do with this book.It is full of magic, suprise, wonder: nothing but true subjectivity.That is where its beauty lies, like a receiving a small bit of mail from an unknown sender, each page is a tale for you to tell, as well as ParkeHarrison.By far my favorite photography book, second only to Rocky Schenk, Photographs.Highly Recommended, also beautifully bound and LARGE.Take it from this poor college student, well worth the money.

Surprised
This is one of the weirdest photography books I have ever read...and enjoyed looking!
parke harrison
This book presents you with beautiful images of Parke Harrison's new endeavors.A great book showing the possibilities of the photographic medium. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1968-    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions    5. General    6. ParkeHarrison, Robert,    7. Photography, Artistic    8. Poetry    9. Reference    10. ParkeHarrison, Robert    11. Photographs: collections   

Reviews (6)

Fabulous!
I read this book to prepare for a trip to London a few months ago and loved it!What an honest journal that sums up the wonderful daily life of a prolific man.There are no big ideas or revelations but I got so much out of each and every detail Boswell offered.Extremely insightful and engrossing!

Where's the video?
Tired of all those solemn "memoirs" and "remembrances" that are on the library shelves? Well, this one will knock your socks off! Pure delight
To anyone who, like myself, has found a real and deep enjoyment in reading the Life of Johnson, I can only recommend Boswell's own diaries. The first volume - his 'London Journal' starting in the year he met Johnson - is pure delight. Boswell always saw himself as a character acting in the drama of life, and he could be almost excruciatingly honest and objective about himself. His voluminous diaries record all the trivia, triumphs, and despairs of his own life, day by day and year by year.Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Literary    5. Personal Memoirs    6. Reference    7. Reference / General   

Reviews (3)

Offensive and insulting
It is hard to tell what is truth and what is fiction in this book. In its attempt to be lighthearted and amusing, more often the tone appeared to be mocking the Catholic Church. If I were trying to learn about the lives of those holy men and women whose examples we try to copy in our walk with Jesus - well, I most definitely would not use this book or let anyone I knew read it.

Better than others of its type
I liked this book better than The Everything Lives of the Saints. The "Everything" series contained a lot of fabrication presented as fact. The Complete Idiot's Guide to The Lives of the Saints
My first impression is that this book is a joke. Granted there is a lot of truth to what is stated but there is so much fabrication intertwined with this truth that a person who is not grounded in the reality about the saints would leave this book with a complete misunderstanding of "the lives of the saints". I don't understand what Mr. Williams' goal was in writing this book. His hang up on sex that is entangled with these holy people makes me really wonder. Please do not read this book. There are many books out there that tell the true story of the lives of the saints. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Catholic Church    4. Christian saints    5. Christianity - Catholicism    6. Doctrines    7. General    8. Reference    9. Religion    10. Religious    11. Religion / Catholicism   

Reviews (1)

Three fascinating lives
Davis takes the reader deep into the lives of three quite different European women of the 1600s, showing how they courageously face family and career challenges.Each story is amazing.Catholic widow Marie Guyart goes to the wilderness of Canada to help found the Quebec branch of the Ursuline teaching order.Jewish mother of 14 children, Glikl von Hameln is a successful business woman, both as her husband's chief assistant and as a widow.Divorced Protestant Maria Merian supports herself and her daughters through her engravings based on her own ecological observations of caterpillars native to Europe and northern South America. I particularly enjoyed learning about Merian because I have been impressed by her elegant work which I have seen in a number of museums including the National Museum of Woman in the Arts in Washington, D.C. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Europe - General    2. History - General History    3. History: World    4. Reference    5. Social Science    6. Women's Studies - General    7. Women's Studies - History    8. Biography: general    9. History / Europe / Western    10. Women's studies    11. c 1500 to c 1600    12. c 1600 to c 1700   

Subjects:  1. 1904-1991    2. Authors, Yiddish    3. Biography    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography And Autobiography    7. Biography/Autobiography    8. Literary    9. Singer, Isaac Bashevis    10. Singer, Isaac Bashevis,    11. Biography & Autobiography / General    12. Biography: general    13. Novels, other prose & writers: from c 1900 -    14. Yiddish   

Editorial Review

From Pietro Aaron to Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, Don Randel compiles 1,013 pages of thumbnail sketches describing the life and music of 5,500 individuals who figure significantly in the world of music. Intended for "the musically inclined, the curious, the informed, and the expert," this is a beautiful, intelligent, and comprehensive volume that wants only its companion, The New Harvard Dictionary of Music, to feel complete. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music (Harvard University Press Reference Library)
A great companion to the Harvard Dictionary of Music.Well written, comprehensive, and surprisingly complete for a sigle volume dictionary.Highly recommended for any serious musician or teacher.

Comprehensive and Inexpensive
One word.Wow!This book, combined with The New Harvard Dictionary of Music, makes a great resource for serious musicians, amateurs, and students alike.The near 6000 entries make this reference the best for its price. I've used the Baker on several occasions.While the Baker is certainlymore comprehensive, a glance at its price (~$90) is enough to make onethink twice.The Harvard Biographical Dictionary of Music, with itsbargain price, is a must buy.Couple it with The New Harvard Dictionary ofMusic (which is the same price as the Biographical Dictionary), and youwill have an unbeatable musical resource at your disposal.If you areREALLY tight on budget, then perhaps you may want to check out the OxfordDictionary of Music.It accomplishes in 1 volume (and ~$34 compared to theHarvards' $54 combined) what the Harvard Dictionaries do in 2, though(understandably) to a much lesser extent.Nevertheless, the Harvard musicreferences are still great buys, especially if you have a little extra cashto expend.

Excellent refereence.
Written by over 70 top musicologists, this splendid reference focuses on composers but also includes a generous selection of performers, theorists, and instrument makers, of all eras and genres, in nearly 6,000 entries.Read more

Subjects:  1. Bio-bibliography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography/Autobiography    4. Dictionaries    5. Dictionaries - General    6. General    7. Music    8. Music (General)    9. Music/Songbooks    10. Reference    11. Music / General