Paris

O.k. first, let me say, it's my own fault. With picture books it's best to have a look to see if you really want to spend the $. I didn't. I made an assumption that with YSL retiring this would be a retrospective of his glorious career. Not so. Fuzzy, boring, behind the scenes pictures of people at work in his atelier. Very few dresses and those shown aren't shown well. All in all a disappointment.

Though the producers and editors of this book have obviously taken great care and reverence in assembling the images seen in this hefty Rizzoli hardcover edition, it is nonetheless lacking.
There is an eight-page, albeit in very-large typeface, essay extolling the philosophy behind the decades of YSL's influence and visions of modern fashion, as well as journal entries in Yves Saint Laurent's own handwriting that are written mostly in French. There are several famous quotes from him: among them the most famous of all "there is nothing more beautiful than a naked body."

The photographs number in the hundreds, though only a handful of family photographs from YSL's childhood in Oran, Algeria are captioned with names. Otherwise, the documentary's images shot mostly in the atelier at 5 avenue Marceau are without caption or description, though you can discern the sense of creativity and endless discussion that is the process of the haute couture. The masterpieces of tailleur (suits) and flou (dresses) are often one-of-a-kind. Their numbers are usually limited to one or two copies, so the 2000 or so women who can afford the prices are not likely to see someone else wearing that same opera coat or evening gown which ends up photographed in the society pages of Paris and New York among other places. If you are paying $50,000 for a hand-embroidered Lesage suit jacket, you don't want to see it on the shoulders of a half-dozen of your fellow couture followers. Ca marche pas!

Most interestingly the editors did not include many quotes from some of Saint Laurent's inner circle, except for a small contribution from his life and business partner, Pierre Berge. There is one short blurb from Catherine Deneuve, but no words from Loulou de la Falaise or Betty Catroux, or even Marie Munoz, directrice of the YSL atelier for years. There are some very old press clippings from the 50s and 60s when YSL was hitting the peaks of creativity, but very little from the pinnacle of his career, which would be most of the 1970s. In the 70s we witnessed some of the greatest moments in fashion history with the Chinese and Russian collections that set the trends for womens' wear for years after the clothes were shown in Paris.

The book is full of images, but short on text. For those who are unfamiliar with all the innovations introduced for women's clothing, their number is second only to that of those brought forth by Coco Chanel. Saint Laurent created the women's pantsuit, the "smoking" or women's tuxedo, the trenchcoat, the safari look, khaki, the list goes on and on. Seeing the documentary would be more than helpful, as it would fill in many of the gaps.

A beautiful book that leaves you only wanting much more...

If you are looking for a book about the designer YSL look somewhere else. If however you are interested in the flow of fashion design as done by YSL then this is a wonderful creation. To me it feels like a work of gratitude to all those involved behind the YSL name.

The book jacket claims to "share the secrets of the Cordon Bleu's famous kitchens." Hardly. Since when are Toll House cookies a secret special recipe?

There are no special techniques taught and the cookie recipes are readily available in any cooking magazine or even in your grandmother's Good Housekeeping cookbook.

A better alternative would be Rose Levy Beranbaum's cookie book or ANY other cookbook!

Fortunately, this is not another Betty Crocker book; the word margarine is never mentioned. These are classic cookie recipes. Each cookie is beautifully photographed; its recipe states the level of difficulty and preparation time (it always takes me longer). My only regret is that the book is not larger.

Don't let a fondness for Proustian luxe sucker you into purchasing this book containing mediocre photography and a text of perfumed flatulence. The ostensible purpose of the book is to reveal French urban, aristocratic taste as of the late twentieth century, or more accurately the taste of their designers (the usual cast of Henri, Renzo, etc.)and other arbiters of taste (Hubert, Alexis, Carlos, etc.). Certainly, there are more than enough interiors of the mummefied magnificence that comes from cocooning staggering numbers of objects in layer after layer of fabric (WARNING: Do not try at home. If you do not possess first-rate things and have access to the production from the best mills in Italy and France, you will achieve only The Old Junkshop look), but the pictures are uniformly fuzzy, muddy and printed on poor quality paper. Most maddening of all, the photography neglects genuine masterpieces (you cannot catch more than a glimpse, for example, of the incomparable Ingres portrait of Betty Rothschild) while devoting page after page to boring tabletop vignettes usually consisting of a few knicknacks and photographs of long-dead nobodies as children. In fact, the real purpose of the book is apparently to provide the author with a vehicle to boast about her ancestors (many of those same long-dead nobodies) and the elegant life they led. There is also a stench of moral decay most evident in the fawning description of Lady Mosley with an outrageous defense of British fascism before World War II. Mostly, however, the premise of the book seems to be that you are what you own, or more accurately what you inherit -- a concept so inherently ridiculous that even the owners of the homes depicted in the book had the good sense for the most part to insist on anonymity. If you truly want to revel in the atmosphere of things past, make yourself a cup of tea, find a hard biscuit and settle back in your recliner with the first volume of you know what.

Though the title under which this book was released in France "Visite Prive" is perhaps more telling and appropiate for this volume, the homes included are no doubt among the finest to be found in that wonderful city. Most notably, the Rothschild's Hotel Lambert, is probably one of the finest homes to be found anywhere in the world. Truly a house fit for royalty for these kings of banking and bankers of kings. The home of couturier Hubert de Givenchy is another which exemplifies "French taste" and elegance even if we visit it in a more simplified state of grandeur then it was to be found some years ago before Mr. de Givenchy sold off a good part of his exceptional collection of antiques. Mme. de Nicolai-Mazery really brings these houses to life as she pays friendly visits to their inhabitants and informs as much about these notables of French society as she does about the houses they inhabit, many of which are truly family houses and have been handed down trough generations. All in all the book is a must for any lover of Paris and France as it illustrates French social life and culture in this cultural capital of the world. Highly recommended.

There are 58 walks here, richly researched and presented with White's wonderful opinions. There are plenty of drawbacks, however. 1. You must speak pretty fluent French to read this book. White drops untranslated phrases in relentlessly. Even plain old buildings have to be called "Bureaux", "Logements", "Immeuble": Was White's editor as pedantic as White seems? One wonders why "Ambassade des Emirats Arabes Unis" could not have been translated into "Embassy of the United Arab Emirates". Really. 2. The maps are terrible: black and white Michelin maps with 1, 2 or 3 walks shown in grey on 1 map. The map numbering and site numbering system is very difficult to follow. Some readers might like to backtrack from a location on a map to White's text but this is very difficult. 3. Architecture books without photographs are self defeating. The joy, or distaste, the author wishes to share is best illuminated with visual imagery. White is delightfully opinionated but his book is scantily illustrated.

The only other review at the time of this posting is rather unfair, probably because the author misunderstood the purpose of the book. It is a guide for walking the streets of Paris to look at buildings. It is not a coffee-table book. Hence the relative paucity of illustrations. Hence the use of actual French names for buildings and places. (How else would you find them? The signs are not in English. And the reviewer obviously found translation no problem.) And the maps are certainly adequate for finding your way. They show excellent small-scale detail. Perhaps the only "fault" of the book is that it is so compendious and the information so complete that it takes some study to plan your day. But at 446 pgs, it still fits neatly in a handbag or camera pack. The index is very good, and there are 20 blank pages at the back for your personal notes.

After "MASH" & "MASH Goes to Maine," Richard Hooker "took on a collaborator", William E. Butterworth, for a series of "MASH Goes to..." books.

The first two MASH books are basically collections of short stories with a very loose structure. The Butterworth books are sitcom novels... and not very good ones.

After the Butterworth series was played out, Hooker released "MASH Mania," which was a loosely structured series of short stories about the Swampmen in middle-age -- a rock-ribbed Republican middle-age, in fact, amazing though that may be to fans of the TV series, which Hooker hated. Although this book has politics opposite to my own, it's still funny and more importantly, Hooker WROTE IT.

From the completely different writing styles involved, I'd say that if Hooker ever even SAW what Butterworth wrote, it was to say, "Yeah, ok. I'll approve that."

I like Hooker's writing; so I felt rather manipulated by the Butterworth MASH books, which to my mind are Hooker's in name only.

The MASH Goes To series continues with the virtual destruction of the City of Lights!

Despite all the descriptions that would lead one to believe that this book is written in English, it is not. It is written in French. Therefore, unless you read French, I strongly recommend that you do NOT buy this book!

Did you know that old Michelin red guide books can be found as antiques in some nice shops in France? You should buy this guide if you want to get the most sober and definitive guide for Paris restaurants. In this edition you can choose restaurants from a variety of categories including "specialties", "with terrace" and other useful criteria. New! you will get a description of each restaurant. "Knopf guide restaurants of Paris" (ISBN: 0679755780) will also be necessary if you want to get a warmful, visual approach of your next "aventure gastronomique".

This book is ridiculous. Carlile puts words in the mouths of characters under many sets of circumstances which he could know nothing about--intimate dialogue that is absurd when created in this manner. I realize it is billed as a novel, however, I thought there would be more depth of character shown here. This book is shallow and disappointing. Carlile takes factual circumstances and builds private conversations around them. The scene where he has Hemingway having intercourse with McAlmon--am I naive? I have read a lot of Hemingway--did I miss something? I never got a hint of this type of relationship. And the way he sets the event up is absurd--like a dream sequence. It is idiotic. However, if there were no mention of the sexual escapades of the group, it would have been too boring to continue. I was glad when I finished this. I didn't find it to be well written.

I have read much about Hemmingway and this author has done justice to his lifestyle. It is very informative about literary Paris in the 20's and 30's. Do remember it is a novel and enjoy!

I don't know, I have read almost every biography of Hemingway, and many biographies of the other writers from this group, and quite frankly I think Carlile got it right. Of course in a novel the author adds thoughts and dialogue, but again, little of it seemed far afield from the biographical realities I have read. In truth, most of these folks were self-aggrandizing, narcissistic, drunken sloths, who showed a great deal of pettiness and jealousy of each others' works. Most of the reviews here seemed upset with Carlile's focus on sexuality. However, the fact was that these post-Victorian writers and artists, not unlike late 1950s and 1960s practitioners in that sexual revolution, WERE obsessed with sexuality, and experimented to a great degree with sexual variations and polyamory. Finally, some of the reviewers were put-off by the scene where Hemingway (in his sleep??) forced himself sexually on McAlmon. Frankly, Carlile is not the first to hypothesize that Hemingway's youthful and extreme disdain for homosexuality (culminating in some pretty violent acts against homosexual acquaintences of his) may have been his overcompensating for his own homosexual impulses, and that this "reaction-formation" may even be the source of his life-long and often farcical attempts (through deeds and writings) to prove the extent of his own masculinity. Indeed, contemporaries of his theorized this about Hemingway for years.

In any event, I frankly enjoyed the book. It was obvious that Carlile had read the same histories of this group as I have read over the years, and it was fun to have him fill in the blanks with what seemed to be right-on-target and realistic appraisals of a group whose talents were not as developed as their egos, and whose actions (scatological and sexual ones included) were elevated to cultural phenomena.

There's not a lot I can say beyond the title of this review. From reading the description of the book I expected to learn something about how the foreign policies of various countries combined with the poor leadership in the DR Congo to destroy the country. It's hard to find any good books in English on Francophone African countries, and I eagerly awaited the arrival of this book. Imagine my disappointment when I got a small book that was poorly designed and pretty much 100% content-free. There are lots of pictures though. If you're looking for pictures covering the various tragedies that have befallen the Congo this is the book for you. If you like reading poorly edited rants, this might be the book for you. If you actually want to read and learn... invest your [money] in a better book.

There's not a lot I can say beyond the title of this review. From reading the description of the book I expected to learn something about how the foreign policies of various countries combined with the poor leadership in the DR Congo to destroy the country. Instead I got a small book that was poorly designed and pretty much 100% content-free. There are lots of pictures though. If you're looking for pictures covering the various tragedies that have befallen the Congo this is the book for you. If you like reading poorly edited rants and pages of long, mundane lists this might be the book for you. ...

I purchased this book as research for a paper on genocide in the Congo, and quickly discovered there was hardly any information whatsoever - instead, each page is a photograph with one or two sentences underneath. What facts were given were strewn amongst run-on sentences, spelling errors, and horrific grammar.

This book is filled with photographs of corpses, dismembered arms and legs, and so on. While this is a legitimate aspect of the mass murders that took place in the Congo, it would have been most helpful if the book had provided the information the title promised - the links between the genocide and President Clinton, the Paris Club, etc.

I had no intention of purchasing a picture book - I could have read Time Magazine to obtain photographs and propaganda if I was after such drivel. The only reason I gave this book one star is no stars was not an option.

I was very disappointed with this guide book. I've bought a lot of guidebooks and have never seen one as general as this one. The information contained in Fodors or Frommers big Carribean books give better coverage to St. Kitts which is what I was interested in learning about.

I read the review that said this book was worthless and chose to ignore it - mistake! You can definitely find all of this information, plus a whole lot more, via the few websites and message boards about Anguilla. Buy a book to read on your trip instead!

I have found this book to be an informative helpful guide about some of the Carribean islands which little seems to be written.

It is particularly useful for someone, like myself, who is ready to explore the Carribean beyond their own favorite island, in my case - St. John.

I am finding it to be a great resource tool.

A minor fault - I wish it had more colored pictures.

I am a former student of Bruce Powe's. A year after being handed one bad critique after another by this man, I decided to read one of his books - which I found collecting dust in a bargain bin in one of the worst parts of town - and see for myself, what sort of talent and insight empowered this twerp to make the judgements he made. What I read was an elementary and sophmoric take on the past and present and future direction of communications. One reviewer noted that Powe seemed to hold McLuhan up as a sort of deity - you are absolutely right. Dear Marshall was all we heard about - with no substantial backing, never a word heard in protest or a hint of his own views herein. Powe is a true zealot - stupid and a receptacle for garbage, which he seems to relish and regurgitate. Thank GOD he didn't enjoy my work. Hey Bruce, chin up - you're almost fifty and still fumbling with a sophmoric talent, and at worst, you're still taking it out on those who are looking to be better than you. If there was a zero-star rating, that's what I would give. Shame on you, Bruce - you stink.

I am simply astonished by the fact that such a sophomoric, bitter, stupid and senseless book could be published by anyone --- let alone a major house. Not worth buying, it isn't even worth reviewing.

Okay, so Mr. Powe left the narrative paradigm at the office and wrote his book at home. This odd road story has a full complement of characters who are both chillingly strange and completely recognizable. The story is at once bleak and exhilarating. In the end there is some wisdom to be had; along the way some scintillating encounters with cranks and failures the likes of whom must keep Mr. Powe up nights when he can't write himself to sleep; and throughout some fine riffs on the facts and meaning of human life in the age of information machines. Maundering? ! Give me a break. The only thing I knew for sure after reading the first reader review on this page was that its author is hurting and hungry for some positive feedback. The only thing I knew for sure after reading the next two reader reviews was that the same person had written them. So okay: you write really scathing reviews. But find some synonyms for "sophomoric."