Form-S-3 Books

I like Graham Joyce. He writes dreamy, somewhat surreal and fantastic fiction that usually not overly cloying. His books are usually somewhat short, which them imminently digestible pieces of another time/place/state of mind; sharp and resonant pieces of work that never suffer from padding. Of course not all of his works are like this - the more serious "Smoking Poppy" which does not indulge in so many enjoyable flights of fancy like a "Tooth Fairy" or "Limits of Enchantment" is the exception more than the rule however.

This short novella (under 100 pages) "Leningrad Nights" falls into the Graham Joyce mold squarely. Sometimes set in a foreign land from his own (he resides in England), in another time, it could be just more historical fiction, but he sets his own unique slight fantastical and whimsical spin upon it.

"Leningrad Nights" is the tale of a young boy facing a battle for survival during the 900 day long German Siege of Leningrad from 1941-44. It tells his story of survival against a very well-illustrated portrait of a bitterly cold and war-torn city... indeed, the portrait of the city in the throes of war and siege are among the strongest descriptions of the book. But while war forces people to make harsh decisions, this novella may be regarded as not just a struggle for survival of body but for soul as well as the boy becomes the adoptive father of a prostitute's father.

This is a short novella, so much is not as well developed as I would like, I could see this making an engrossing longer book, but it succeeds for what it is - an insightful, descriptive, and slightly turned account of events that we are lucky we only have to experience through Graham Joyce's lyrical prose.

The Nasser D. Khalili Collection is the greatest collection of Islamic art in private hands. Among its holdings of manuscripts is a fragmentary copy in Arabic of the Jami al-Tawarikh or Universal History, one of the greatest illustrated medieval manuscripts to have survived from either East or West. Written by the historian and vizier to the Ilkhanid court, Rashid al-Din, and copied in Tabriz between 1310 and 1315 by the author's own calligraphers and illustrators, the manuscript's importance as the first world history was quickly recognized. Sheila Blair reconstructs the often complex history of its ownership, explains its seminal role in the evolution of the illustrated Persian book, and challenges the belief of previous scholars that the Nour fragment and that in the Library of the University of Edinburgh are parts of different manuscripts. Her study of the manuscript's text and miniatures - accompanied by numerous colour details and duotone illustrations of comparative material - provides fascinating insights into the state of pre-Mongol painting and the working practices of a Persian atelier over six hundred years ago

In the country then known as Zaire, and now as the Congo, Strother spent some time studying the Central Pende ethnic group. Specifically, she analysed the role that masks played in their society. The book has many photos of intricately designed masks. Pretty!

But the book is more than just nice pictures. Strother has conducted a serious anthropological study of what the masks represent and their history. Essentially, she shows that the construction and symbology are not some age old ritual. Rather, a virtue of her study is that she places the Pende masquerade as an active, modern art form. As legitimate as any contemporary art movement in a developed country. Too often, African art is only studied in retrospective mode. Strother shows otherwise.

I have a couple of books on Rodin and this is one of the goodones. I mostly enjoyed its photographs, It's inexpensive too.

With the avalanche of books on crafting and creative techniques published in the last five years (aimed at bored scrapbookers beginning to explore the world of art making), it would be easy to overlook this one. However, this book not only represents a departure within the category, it documents the work and thought processes of one of today's most talented mixed media artists. Michael DeMeng skips the usual tools, techniques and how-to-create-work-that-looks-just-like-mine mantra and leads the reader through a rusty door into a room where he reveals the art of creative concepting. DeMeng explains how history, folklore and mythology serve as springboards for his work. The results are rich, curious creations made from found objects that come together to tell stories or reveal secrets and to showcase the unique approach DeMeng brings to the genre of assemblage.

Would not waist a shinny penny on this book. Title very miss leading.
Nothing but junk. Buy a pc of metal object, spray some of that spray foam around it and paint it. Wow that's it.

I loved looking through the art in this book, and reading the artist's take on it. I found it inspirational.

For those of you creating found art for the first time and those who have been creating for years ... this is the book for you. Makes you want to visit junk yards and comb thru the muck just to find that special, odd piece that brings your art to life. Love his stories and humor. Will flip through the pages of this book for years to come.

I thought this was an instruction book - it's a "how I created great art" book - I was very disappointed

This book is so boring. He tries too hard to pile up the stereotypes. Also, I don't dig all the racism, anti-immigration, jesus freak all-American whatever masked as patriotism and free-speech. People who actually think this way belong in jail.

I guess rednecks have their own culture and should be respected (hicks are people too); but this is exactly why THEY should be the first ones getting up in arms about Larry the Cable Guy. He's taking their culture, commercializing it, and selling it back to them.

I'm not the leading authority on comedy, but i did enjoy Larry's book. The one problem i do have is that i hate the word "retard" and this book has that word on almost every page.

But enough of the negative. The book is damn hilarious, and Larry does deserve the fame he's got and is getting. He has worked hard for it, and even his book shows his talent worth.

The reviewer that wrote that the book is disingenuous must be an uptight New England Liberal or something.

It's COMEDY! It ain't rocket science.

We all know that Larry the Cable Guy's real name ain't Larry. So what? John Wayne's real name was MARION!

The book is hilarious. It's hard to read all at once, though. I had to give my abs some rest from laughing so hard.

[Note to parents: the material in the book is NOT for kids.]

To sum it up quite clearly, I don't like this kind of humor. It's dishonest and "Larry the cable Guy" is closer to the comedy of Andrew Dice Clay than anyone else, and he also claims that the person on stage is not the same as the man doing the show.

Right.

I didn't think it was possible to distill mental retardation and place it into a book, but here it is.

I tried to find out why people thought this guy was funny. I know now. They're stupid. The typical fan of Larry the Cable Guy lacks sophistication and wit, and observations beyond "Okay, I was lying" make thier minds hurt because it requires some thought.

A real waste, unless of course, you like this kind of tripe.

This book was not actually written by "Larry the Cable Guy," but a gentleman named Dan Whitney. Whitney is the human being who plays the character "Larry the Cable Guy" in concerts, movies, TV shows, CDs, and now this book. What Dan Whitney really thinks about anything is up for conjecture, but he certainly knows what he wants people to think his character "Larry the Cable Guy" thinks. In that way, this book succeeds marvelously, it makes fun of all the things Whitney has observed as making LTCG fans mad, and like president they all voted for, he tells them what something is and whether it is good, bad, or funny (i.e., jesus = good, fart = funny, being retarded = funny, not supporting the Bush administration = bad) and requires only confirmation by repetition of the catch phrase title of the book, and purchase of sundry items bearing the same inscription. It is brilliantly targeted and presented for maximum cash-in value, with very little discussion and no thought involved at all. It is the easiest thing in the world to be a Larry fan because you don't even have to know what is funny, good, or bad, just wait for Larry to sum it up in the simplest little joke imaginable. That is because he has calculated that if he talks in a thick southern accent (the origin of which is never revealed because it is an amalgam) people will think "wow, he really must be a down to earth fellow to unabashadly parade his hick background instead of trying to "unhickify" himself to reach a wider audience. The unhickified Dan Whitney was boring and not funny, so he devised the Larry character to play on people who thought a brash, "honest" guy from the south was more funny. It's a beautiful formula, and Larry is a gazillionaire as a result. He may have paid a few visits to a Waffle House to take notes, but you can be assured that establishment does not cater the spread on Dan Whitney's Gulfstream V.

So if you're wondering whether Larry sounds like he's from east Texas, western Louisiana, central Alabama, northeast Arkansas, Northen Florida, southern South Carolina, or smack dab in the middle of Georgia, don't labor too hard, he comes from Nebraska and the accent is fake. Just like all the heartfelt nonsense in this book he is simply describing what he thinks the big fans of LTCG want to hear. So if you want to be told what you want to hear by what is basically a cartoon character, instead of engaging in thought about a real human being, then welcome to the world of Larry The Cable Guy. Just like Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny, and Jesus, he's not real. Is that un-PC enough for you, Dan?

It is true that the book is somewhat superficial. Still I found it helpfull as a first introduction. Now that I read some more it strikes me that the book seems to be quite accurate. The book may suppose some pre-knowledge.

I suppose the first thing to say about this book is that it is through-and-through and introductory book, and that anyone seeking something beyond a rote chronological account should steer well wide from this starved volume, or for that matter anything from Thames & Hudson, especially those by Peter and/or Linda Murray. (As a side note I would just like to mention that Bernard Berenson's celebrated and scholarly essays are not only less informative but incredibly pompous.) But really what I found most irking was this book's lack of personality - sometimes she will give hasty inventory of the surrounding political climate, sometimes she will begin to analyze the details of the work, but in neither of these things does she ever penetrate sufficiently to give the reader an understanding of the MEANING of these things. For example, she will say that certain works reflect the recent interest in Neo-Platonism, but it is not explained what aspects reflect this - we are simply told it is so. For example again, she will often state that certain works reflect a blend of Roman, Tuscan, and International Gothic styles. How? In what ways? She does not say - again we are left with the meaningless fact. And all of these flaws are ten times worse in the chapters that take a broader look at all regions of Italy instead of focusing exclusively on Florence or on Donatello - it is simply a torrential, breathless recitation of unknown men and at most two of their works. Whoever has a slight knowledge of the development of Renaissance style will not benefit in any way from this tedious reading.

This is a fine collection of literature to introduce students, and adults, to genres and methods of literary analysis. Highly recommended for an easily accessible overview.

We ordered the book Literature: Timeless Voices, Timeless Themes :Gold Level, instead we received Literature: Timeless Voices, Times Themes: The British Tradition.

We would to return the book and recieve a refund.

Thank you,

This writer would prefer to keep everyone on welfare! Hate anyone who accomplishes anything. Did he ever have a poor person give him a job? He is so blinded by his ignorance that he can't realize there are good and bad people in any political party. This book is really not worth anything.

complete waste. Just think of all the trees they are killing by printing this book.

This is another uncreative, unfunny list - a jumble of isolated words and quotations that are intended to bring laughter (I suppose) but which quickly become tedious and oppressive.

A real waste of time and money as is its companion volume - 888 reasons to Hate Democrats.

My name is Mrs. LeeAnn Albert. I am always prejiduce against Demacratics, And Always completely horrable acting in front of my students UNTIL I HURT THERE FEELING. he he.I am a bigot. I am also a Repulican because my morals are bad, the poor should get poorer, the rich should get richer,(including me, and my redneck sons that abuse me)and enviormeant should be destroied, wether it means killing a species, or never recycling, or eliminating alaska or the everglades for oil, or our own personal amusement, if its going to get "the rich" more money. Everything in this book is true, and 100% acurate. It is the best book ever, and I don't know why. Thanks for reading but I better get back to my biogetry!:-) White Power, he he!