John Davidson Books

The title of my review says it all--this is an essential collection for anyone serious about sound art/theory/poetry or avant-garde music. The CD is a very nice bonus, full of unbelievable rarities as well.

By focusing on "earplay" in texts by James Joyce, Ezra Pound, and other modern writers, this collection's twelve essays investigates the relationship between acoustical technologies and 20th-century experimental poetics. The accompanying CD offers soundtracks of early radio sounds, poetry readings, Dada cabaret performances, jazzoetry, audio-poems and contemporary Caribbean DJ dub poetry.

Concise, clearly presented information. Very pleased with this book ... it covers all bases on this amazing breed of dog.

THE TOY FOX TERRIER: WIRED FOR ACTION provides a revised edition of the original TOY FOX TERRIER by different authors, and combines the shared experience of all authors into some eighty years of information for both novice owners and veteran breeders. From photos of faults and virtues to discussions of standards, THE TOY FOX TERRIER holds both history and breed-specific insights owners can't miss.

This book is most excellent. Makes a great coffee table book for the motorcycle family. It talks about the past and present of choppers.
five stars plus

This book is very well researched and written. Other books like "Art of the Chopper" and "Extreme Motorcycle Art" are great to look at but lack any real historical context. The book definitely has a "Outlaw Club" twist to it, but that is the reality of the history of the Chopper.

Highly recommended

This book is a worthy tribute to the greatest hockey player of all time. Breathtaking photos capture all the emotion of an unparalleled life and career.

For any EMT who works on a regular basis with Paramedics, this book is top notch. This book was included in my EMT ACLS class and I refer to it often.
The subjects are comprehensive enough to satisfy your knowledge and simple enough to not cloud the information.
I would recommend this to any EMT that wants to better themselves and their education and to better anticipate the needs of ACLS personnel.

I read this book for business school and enjoyed it thoroughly enough to recommend it to friends and family who are interested in the recent history of business. This book documents the major events and themes in American Business during the past 80 years. The writing gives enough detail without being boring. In addition, I found it interesting to see how certain themes persist through time proving that history does repeat itself. The book is a very quick read and provides the reader with enough information on each era. After that, the reader can use the suggested reading list to learn more about the subjects, eras and people that might interest him/her. Overall, a great read.

Anytime one looks at a work in another historical context, consideration of time and place must be given if the communicator's message is to make sense. This seventeenth century oration was delivered by John Milton to Parliament, with the central theme of the right of individuals to seek out the truth for themselves.

A Christian worldview was the framework from which Milton's peers made decisions. The age of official state religions was a contemporary issue. Milton calls for the individual conscious to be the determining factor, not an institution. He bases his argument on historical precedent, the Bible, errors made by the Roman Catholic Church, and the virtue of the members of Parliament.

The Beggar's Opera has weathered nearly three hundred years of change, and yet its humorous satire remains vibrant today. Its first performance January 29, 1728 was an immediate success and its popularity quickly spread to Wales, Scotland, Ireland, France, and Germany, and even to the New England colonies (and became a favorite of George Washington).

A London revival in 1920 ran 1,463 performances. A Beggar's Opera Club had membership limited to those that had seen at least forty performances. Later, Duke Ellington wrote the music for a Broadway musical called The Beggar's Holiday. Bertholt Brecht's version, Three Penny Opera, has been immensely successful too, with the rendition of one of the play's songs, Mack the Knife, becoming Number One on the Hit Parade in the early 1960s.

John Gay's innovative musical overwhelmed the formal, highly structured, Italian opera - in Italian - that dominated the London stage at that time. Gay's new, rollicking, rowdy lyrics overlain on traditional English ballads and sentimental melodies had extraordinary appeal. Although having only three acts, The Beggar's Opera has some forty-five scenes, almost all with musical interludes. Gay holds his myriad of short scenes together with nearly continuous action, more akin to a motion picture than to the conventional eighteenth century play.

The cast was equally original with cutthroats, pickpockets, thieves, streetwalkers, and highwaymen. The only honest character was the simple, sweet, trusting Polly Peachum. Miss Lavina Fenton, the best theatrical singer of her day, became immensely popular for her role as Polly; at the end of the run, a record setting sixty-two performances, she married the Duke of Bolton and retired from acting.

The audience was quick to associate Newgate Prison with Whitehall; the deceitful, avaricious Peachum (Polly's father) with Robert Walpole, the Prime Minister; Macheath's band of rogues (like Jemmy Twitcher, Crook-Fingered Jack, and Nimming Ned) with aristocratic courtiers, and Macheath's women of the streets (Mrs. Coaxer, Dolly Trull, Mrs. Vixen, Molly Brazen, etc.) with ladies of high society.

The Beggar's Opera and Companion Pieces, Crofts Classics, 1966, edited by C. F. Burgess, has a moderately short introduction. Unlike some editions, the lyrics embedded within the play are not accompanied by musical scores. This edition is particularly valuable for including other works by John Gay: a selection from Trivia (subtitled The Art of Walking the Streets of London), other poems (Newgate's Garland, 'Twas When the Seas Were Roaring, Sweet William's Farewell, Molly Mog, An Epistle to a Lady, and The Hare and Many Friends), and extracts from various letters. Trivia is perhaps the finest poem of any period on London life.

I also like the Barron's Educational Series edition: The Beggar's Opera by John Gay, edited by Benjamin Griffith, with full page, delightful ink-line drawings of the key characters by Keogh. The lengthy, three-part introduction (the playwright, the play, and the staging) is quite good. Initial musical notes are presented along with the lyrics.

An English major might prefer The Beggar's Opera by Regents Restoration Drama Series, Nebraska University Press, 1969. Edgar V. Roberts authored the scholarly introduction. An extensive appendix, some 140 pages, is a compilation of the music of The Beggar's Opera with keyboard accompaniments, edited by Edward Smith.

Really enjoyed this book. Quite informative and well written. Well researched as well. While I was not familiar with some of the films that Davidson discussed, after reading the book I wanted to view them all. Buy this book!

This is an excellant book for the lay person. Although it is very technical I learned more about diabetes in the first few chapters than I have in the past year from many many different sources. It answers every question I have had since I was first diagnosed. I would really like to thank the doctor for writing it.