Arts Books

while i bought this book for another, i find it to be pretty good. some pictures aren't up to todays digital quality, but its still great to look at. you won't be disappointed.

AMAZING - INSPIRING - AWESOME. This book was purchased in tandum with the video "Rivers and Tides". I don't think I could just pick one or the other. What one begins, the other ends and the relationship is perfect. Be inspired - spend time, REAL TIME - looking at these images and reading about his work and his methods. You will look at the world a new way. I am a professional photographer and the photography is gorgous. You can't miss this one.

I was instantly attracted to the cover. I would have liked two things before I purchased. The date of publication and to have access to more pictures in the book. It was a gift and it is loved. I love you people...I love free shipping....it is now a HUGE factor in whether I purchase on line or get in my car and go to the book store.

I plan to acquire more Andy Goldsworthy albums. His photo art calms the mind, eyes and soul...look at it while listening to your favorite calming music!

This is classic Andy at his finest. A must have for your coffee table, bookshelf or any tucked away corner or your home. Fantastic intro book to get anyone to know Andy and his work. A great gift. Pick up a few for yourself.

Who wants to remember 35 years of people robbing, cheating on each other, stealing money, jumping in bed with someone else when they were already married, the search and holding on of power. These were not nice people they were all distrubed human beings who belonged in jail or the sick house.

When the series finally left the air, it was a sign of sanity.

This is now a great retrospective of a great show that is now defunct. It is one of the best types of this book (though it is not as well done as General Hospital's). It should be in every collector's bookshelf.

This book is a must-have for any fan of the much-missed soap opera Another World- hundreds of photos, detailed year-by-year recaps, and interviews with the actors all make for a great tribute to a wonderful show. If there are any complaints, it's that some of the plot synopsis have been condensed a little too much, and more information about spin-offs Texas and Somerset would have been welcome, as well as more behind the scenes information. Still, this is an incredible book that should appeal to any fan!

For the first 10 years of watching AW, I was a loyal, but hardly passionate fan. The last 5 years, leading up to the cancellation, I developed a passionate attachment. This book has made dealing with the loss of this 15 year old friend so much easier. I treasure this book in so many ways. If you are or were a fan, this really is a must have. No doubt.

Anyone who watched this soap will enjoy this book. Since this soap was taken from us on the 35th anniversary, this book has even more meaning. You will get to relive the highlights and story lines now missing from our daily lives. I get mine out about every 6 months - or whenever I need a Bay City fix. Looking through the book always manages to bring tears or laughter to me.

This book is absolutely amazing. My mother got this book for me when I was about 17 and just really starting to bud out and become an artist. Dan's work was absolutely mesmerizing and inspiring. His colorful life and tragic death spark something in you to go out and change the world.

This is a dense, rich book of images and words left by Dan Eldon, one of those brilliant, outsized people who burn through life like a flare and are gone. He surrounded himself with beauty and horror and tried to both record and to make some sense of his experiences and the constant, jarring disparity between the extremes of life.
If you love photography and art or are just drawn to precocious brilliance and the intense energy of people who are present in every moment of their lives, you should own this book.

After seeing this book in a Borders store, I decided to buy it. I couldn't put it down, page after page offers so much of the author, yet offered so much to the reader. It makes your own imagination soar again, and as a fellow photographer, it gave me a kick in the butt I needed to start shooting again. The vision of Dan Eldon was not only through a lens, but through his heart as well. He accomplished a great deal in a short life, and definitely contributed to the bettering of our world. His photographs of Africa, combined with the scrapbook like additions of text and objects could be considered a new form of documentary photography. I strongly urge anyone who is interested in travel or photojournalism to get this book and have it transform your outlook on life.

Eldon's story of the war-torn Somolia is as much an artwork as it is an engaging story. This "book" is a reproduction of photojournalist Dan Eldon's journal from his travels in the most impoverished regions of Africa. Part insightful reading, part artistic work, this book should be on anyone's reading list who wants to know more about the world we don't see everyday, and it truly makes one think about all we have, and all Eldon lost...5 out of 5 starts easily!

I bought this book upon it's release in 1997. I can remember allowing the contents of this memoir to captivate me for hours on end. I lent my copy to a friend shortly thereafter and subsequently forgot about it. I recently ordered a replacement and I must say, this book is even more compelling than I ever remembered. Dan Eldon was a profound visionary, an articulate statesman and a devoted caretaker. As a Reuters photo-journalist, he traveled the world and served as a dipomatic embassador to many, yet his life was taken prematurely in a stoning riot in Somalia. He experienced more in his brief 21 years than most of us will over an entire lifetime. A MUST HAVE.

This is the instruction manual that I use to teach new magicians.
Lawrence O'Leary

I've always fascinated by magic. And for those guys who like to entertain the women, will find an absolute importance of magic in their routine. The tricks in this book are ranging in difficulty and definitely require times, energy and whole lot of practices to execute.

I was expecting there will be lots of impromptu magics, the kinds I like to entertain people. Quite dissapointed to find the section to be basic and not very impressive. However, if you are a professional magician without this book, you'll be like a man in LA without a car. Thus I can say that this book is critical and mainly focused for stage magicians.

This book is wonderful for anyone wanting to learn magic tricks. This book explains how each trick will appear to the audience and then gives very detailed instructions with drawings showing each step. I used the information in the book to teach rope tricks to a bunch of third grade cubscouts. The parents were so impressed with the tricks that they wanted to learn them too.

Many times applauded, this classic for teaching magic is practically unequaled. If you want to learn magic from scratch, this book is what you need.

I have a library full of Magic books. This is definitely in the top of my recommended list for magic books.

1. For the price it can't be beat
2. For all the information included it can't be beat
3. For included illustrations it can't be beat
4. It includes tricks from about every category in magic

I find it hard to give any book 5 stars but this one definitely deserves it.

If you are interested in magic and want a good book to start or to have for reference just buy this one without further thought.

This book doesn't have any pictures of actual work. Each image looks like a professional cartoon but there are many variations of the same work. For instance he might have 4 pictures of the same woman, with the same face, but wearing different clothes. Almost every image has some cute caption to go along with the picture but I didn't think there was more than a handful someone would want on their body.

Very cool book. This book has some really funny artwork in it. Definitely a good one to have in your tattoo shop's collection!

Fantastically original style! It is very rare that you come across an artist with a vision who is not afraid to put it out there. Had to get the book to view the entire collection and it definitely hit the mark. You have to check out the dude's website for additional killer works and goodies too ([...] ). Cheers!

If you like Mitch OConnell or if you are into tatoos or illustration in general this is a great book. Tatoos have become pretty standard but these are a notch above the rest.

If I was being really picky, my only complaint would be that the line art is filled in with some shabby coloring. As if an intern who just learned to use a computer and gradients did the coloring. But I'm assuming it's to simulate the coloring in a real tatoo, so who really cares?

Good book.

Seriously, Mitch Oconnell is a great artist. This book is proudly displayed on my coffeetable. Everyone comes over and thumbs through its tantilizing images. I would recommend it to all the cool kids and art snobs!

I have taken a workshop by Ann Kullberg she teaches colored pencil so clearly that even I learned something. I have read this book and one of her other books. Colored pencil painting done by showing the importance of layering colors in creating shapes with depth and richness in colors. I've since used what I learned from Kullberg in my other painting mediums. I've got nothing but praise for this book!

For those interested in the colored pencil medium, this is a descriptive reference for portraiture creation.

When I recieved this book, the first thing I did was skim through it entirely. It is very informative and well written, going into excellent detail in technique and color theory for the medium of colored pencil. After settling down with enough time to properly read it ( although the chapters are detailed enough that it is not necessary to do so), I also found that the techniques explained incorperate very well into my own personal style of drawing. It will definatly remain, as a great reference, in my studio for years to come! I recommend this book to anyone who loves colored pencil or those that have no idea just what a colored pencil can do.

This book is equally useful for beginning colored pencil artists through more advanced portrait artists. It is a must read for beginners, as I am. Author Anita Kullberg begins with basic colored pencil techniques, composition and the all-important skills of using light, dark and mid tone values. Then, she leads the reader through the step-by-step techniques of painting skin tones, facial characteristics and realistic hair. By the time I painted my second portrait using Kullberg's techniques described in this book, my painting was believable and recognizable. Far more important to the amateur, I really liked my work! The book is indexed for an easy search for content and Kullberg's "Hints" are real gems. This is a great reference book in addition to the tutorials.

Colored Pencil Portraits
I have been a non-professional artist for over 50 years, and I do primarily portraits of people and pets. This book offered very thorough help. For example, the author showed how to create your own guide for skin tones using the brand of pencils she uses. It made it very easy to create the same effects.

She also gave quite a bit of space to explaining how to do a background, and showing good and bad examples of how to place the main subject within the "frame" of the background. Many full color examples of what she is trying to explain make the book enjoyable and easy to understand the points she is making.

All in all, this book is well worth buying if you do portraits--or would like to.

The books and the DVD'S fill in the blanks,and it easier to understand than the usual traditional method of learning the theory behind the guitar. It is easy to understand and take in, and gets you playing real songs straight away, so you can see, what your learning corresponds with some of the greatest songs around... I highly recommend this to anyone who is playing the guitar or who are interested in taking it up, definately makes the learning process fun and easy!!

Having Played Guitar for over 20 years but largely self taught, I found this book offered valuable information & filled in a lot of the missing blanks, Desi Serna explains Guitar Theory in easy to understand terms with plenty of helpful & clear diagrams & lots of song references to put your newfound knowledge to practice. Whatever level you play at, there is great stuff in this Book for all Guitarists, It has become my Guitar Bible, Thank you Desi, Wish i had this Book 20 years ago. If your serious about guitar, you need this Book!

[..]


great for any level student, helps to take away a lot of the confusion created when trying to learn guitar theory. He doesn't teach like it's for formal music training, instead breaks down to a workman's understanding... providing tips and helpful hints along the way

I have bought dozens of books/ dvds before finding out about Desi Serna .... wish I had heard about him sooner ... would have saved me tons of money

I have been playing on and off for about 10 years. I have read fretboard theory books before, the CAGED system included, jazz comping, and numnerous books on Modes. I can honestly say not one of them explain the application as well as this book (and videos).

Most of what Serna teaches you probably have seen before; but what is unique about this material is the application. I dont know how many times before in other material the CAGED system, pentatonic scale, and modes have beenn disussed but never applied with actual examples. This course ties it all togther. At least it did for me. For the first time ever, I understand how modes are actually used and which are common and which are rare. Try finding that info in any other course - never happen.

Throughout the course Serna provides examples from the book and videos of how to apply what you have learned from actual songs you have heard on the radio etc.. Although he makes no attempt to teach the entire song, he gives you the understanding to figure it out yourself; so if you want to be told where to put your fingers to play a particular song this is not your book/course. If you want to learn and be able to figure things out, this course should be very helpful. It has been for me at least. Also, I think he does not reproduce entire songs ver batem because the music industry is closing down sites that directly reproduce artist intellectual property. That is why all the courses are now teaching methods "in the style of... Jimi Hendrix etc".

I play electric blues. I make no attempt to play top 40 cover tunes so my goal is to learn my own style for myself so I need to understand what I am doing and how to figure things out. Without a doubt this book (and videos) has accomplished more in the last month than almost all the other material combined because for the first time ever it "connected the numerous dots" that other courses have failed to do. For example I never fully understood how the pentatonic patterns, both major and minor, tie in to the CAGED system as well as the arpeggio form of the chord.

I do not recommend the course for beginners that do not know too many chords or progressions yet. Also I do not recommend it for those who simply want to "play" without understanding the underlying theory.

I learned guitar 43 years ago - enough to get by for the playing I wanted to do. Now that I've returned to playing, Desi Serna's book has been one of the basic tools I've been using to re-learn and learn new playing skills. I have looked at and tried at least 3-4 other similar books on Amazon and have settled on basically two - this one from Desi Serna - the other being Pumping Nylon.

None of these books are going to make you an excellent guitarist overnight - it takes a lot of hard work, and even then, if you are not dedicated to continual practice, your skills will dwindle. Desi's book provides a lot of good information, and is the absolute best in referencing other songs for examples - more songs than I could ever download or locate.

This book has been super helpful in preparing my husband for boot camp- physically and mentally. The only problem is that we've learned that after the publishing of this book a lot changed in army boot camp. At first my husband was interested in joining the national guard, but in order to go to a boot camp like what is described in this book, he has to choose a different branch of military.

My son will go to marine boot camp in July. I read this first and it was a great help for me to understand what will happen and what he needs to do before he goes. I highly recommend this not only for our "new" military but for their parents as well.

Get this book it has a world of knowledge in it. Are you to call a DS "yes sir or Yes Maam" ? What is a DS hat called? get the book it will HELP you.

This book was packed with info that will benefit anyone interested in going into the militry. My hubby went through boot camp a few years ago and said that all of the info would have made life a little easier then...lol.

This book has helped me in so many ways. I knew nothing about the military before I left for boot camp. Now, I feel I am completely ready. The book has an easy to understand fitness routine and told me what to expect mentally from a drill sergeant, even the other recruits. This book even contains a packing list so I know exactly what to pack for boot camp.
Before I was scared to leave for basic, now I cant wait.

This book breaks down the audition process and helps to give you something, a formula to work with and depend on to prepare your best performance. A great tool for any actor or performer.

This is a fantastic book with extremely helpful information to any young actor aspiring to become a professional actor. Every actor needs this book so they can improve their auditioning skills and get the part they want! Break a leg!

This book deals with theatre, and I was going into it thinking it would help me audition for movies. I did not learn anything from it. But...if you are into the theatre, you will find it very helpful.

This is a really great acting book- definitely one of the best i've read. Not only for auditions but for rehearsal as well, (as it states in the book.)

Considering the low price, I can't imagine a more valuable book for the actor. Michael Shurtleff is a luminary of theatre, and this book reads like a private class with him. Remember, this is a guy who basically launched the careers of DeNiro, Streisand, Redford, Vereen, Tomlin, Midler, and Hoffman. His wonderful career included both Broadway and film casting. He knows a lot, and in this book, he shares it with you.

This book may be called "Audition", but the discussions go way beyond the audition. Granted, the opening chapter (Practical Aspects of the Audition) contains sage advice applicable only to the audition. What follows in the book are the "12 Guideposts", the bible of scene study and character development. Following the very readable discussion of the "Guideposts", Shurtleff writes essays on topics such as musical theatre, comedy, pace, and monologues. I know that my copy will become well-worn as I refer back to it again and again.

I am currently in two shows, and I'm putting the "Guideposts" to work for me. I've not had an audition since buying the book, but I am looking forward to using Shurtleff's advice the next time I read for a part.

This is a must-read for actors and directors. Highly recommended.

I watched THE NANNY and I like her performance a lot then I read this I know that show is the real her.

Fran Drescher is obviously an extremely talented woman. Sharp and witty, she was not only the star and co-creator of the '90s show The Nanny, but also served as one of its producers, writers and directors. Her book Enter Whining is a funny, gossipy tale of her ascent to the stratosphere of Hollywood stardom, but we're not talking Kitty Kelley here. Readers who already love Drescher will adore this book, as it's full of sweet, happy stories and profiles about the author's adventures as a struggling actress and her eventual success.

Drescher comes across as being very down-to-earth, still the starstruck chick from Queens who probably still has to pinch herself now and then, unable to quite believe how far she's come. She writes pretty much the way she speaks, with her occasional Yiddishisms and the trademark, "Meanwhile..." She offers an especially moving chapter about the rape she suffered early in her career, and while she refrains from providing the details, it's a harrowing read all the same. It's the only time in the book where she moves away from the lighthearted tone she adopts elsewhere, but she manages to seamlessly integrate it into her story without indulging in self-pity.

There's a lot of backstory about the making and filming of The Nanny, but readers seeking lots of behind-the-scenes anecdotes will be disappointed. This is Drescher's story -- and a good one at that -- so we'll have to wait for another book on The Nanny show itself, hopefully to be written by Drescher and Jacobson.

By the way, everyone knows that Drescher and Jacobson separated and then divorced in the late '90s, a few years after this book was published, so it does leave a somewhat bittersweet taste in one's mouth in the end. Drescher writes affectionately and lovingly about her husband, their long courtship and marriage; it's obvious they were devoted to each other and considered each other soulmates.

A great, quick read and a must for any Drescher fan.

This 1995 book tells the story of how Fran Drescher made it to the top of the TV sitcom business. Her humor and kindness come through very well in a writing style that evokes her very unique voice. Perhaps not as frank as her 2003 book about fighting uterine cancer, it still provides a lot of insight into what makes this woman tick. You feel that you would really enjoy knowing her.

This book is all about Fran Drescher's extremely interesting and unique life up to 1996.In it, she writes in a humorous vein about almost everything that happened in her life, from the highs like meeting and later marrying her husband, creating and starring in the hit tv show "The Nanny" and later meeting "God's gift to all little Jewish girls in need of a leader", Babs herself, to the lows like discovering a growth in her body.But with the help of family and friends, she didn't let the negative things get her down.We should all be strong enough to follow her example. She also provides some interesting tidbits like how "The Nanny" was produced and about talk shows and their hosts.Sure, she goes on quite a bit on her worries about her weight and her looks, but she's just human like the rest of us and a lot of people have the same worries.The book has some nice black & white photos of her, her family and her friends in almost all the chapters.I enjoyed reading the book very much even though it's short.I can't recommend this book highly enough to not just the fans of her work, but to all fans of comedy.

The book Enter Whining, by Fran Drescher, is a biography. To me this book was very entertaining, it told all about her life and how she got from being a little child to where she is at today. The book also has many pictures in it so you can see and picture what she is talking about while you are reading. The way it is written is like she was writing to herself in her own diary, but towards the end she addresses it to her mother.
How the book starts out is when she was little and how she first got started being on television. Fran started when she was around ten, she was in commercials at first then she moved up to be in the background of some movies. When she got to be in the background for the movies she always thought that she was actually in the movie so she got really excited, but it ended up that she was just in the background.She was still happy to be in the background though, intill one day when she was the actual star of the movie and that changed her whole life because then she got to star in any movie that she got a chance to. Ever since that first time starring in a movie then she moved on to being in a television show called ''The Nanny''.
Throughout the biography she writes about this guy that she has been seeing for a while now and she doesn't really mention his name at all intill she starts getting into detail about him. His name is Dave which come to find out, is her husband. Fran has been with Dave for most of her life now, she states that it is hard for her to have a husband and be moving all of the time. To me Fran has a very fun filled life and is happy with what she does for a living.