Bruce Davison Books

Elaine Stritch is Lillian Hellman herself, showing her stubbornness and fragility very well. I'm touched by Bruce Davison's calm narration with passion reserved inside.

What I like "Cakewalk" best is no border between stage and audience. Listening to this audio, I feel like I've been living with two writers in the very same place and time, sharing their joy, anger, pain and struggle as a writer and human. All scenes with full-color appear before us, then we are not an observer any more. This will invite you to consider what real relationship is. Peter Feibleman is the greatest natural born artist.

Elaine Stritch is incredible in this recording. Though I have only minor familiarity with Lillian Hellman, this play is simultaneously light and dark, humorous and serious, and a perfect portrait of two artists together through time. I would absolutely recommend it to anyone.

Elaine Strich becomes legendary novelist/playwright Lillian Hellman in this sometimes scathing, often tumultuous, frequently poignant account of Hellman's long term relationship with a man 25 years younger than she. There's wit, there's passion - all delivered by an A-one cast performing live in Los Angeles.

More than an introduction and less than a full course on Balinese architecture, this is an excellent little guide.

Plenty of great illustrations on every page, and lots of meaty but hightly readable text is packed together in sidebars and full essays.

Very lightweight (meaning it is physically portable), this could come along with a traveler to Bali and be a valuable asset towards understanding temples, villages, etc.

Great technical companion to any of the style books on Bali (Bali Style, At Home in Bali, etc), which usually concentrate more on look and style & have a large variety of beautiful photos.

This small and inexpensive book packs with it a tremendous amount of information about Balinese Temples. The author starts by introducing the concept of Hinduism and Buddhism in Bali, as well as religious life in this island east of Java. He then proceeds to discuss general elements of the temples, such as: structures, functions, styles, and types. Along the way, he packs in many examples of those elements (in text and in images), and explains well each new terms that the readers encounter.

The illustrations are well thought of and done. The lay-out of the book assists the readers in navigating through the sea of information. Captions, side-bars and placement of graphics work very well. One thing that is missing from this book is the floor plan(s) of the temples. While this book does not profess to be an in-depth study on architecture, it will be useful to include simple floor-plan(s).

Almost toward the end, the author puts in a chapter on the kingdom of Majapahit of East Java, the influence of which is apparent in Balinese art and architecture. Somehow I wonder if this chapter would be better off placed toward the beginning of the book, since it would better explain the spread of the religion, as well as the style of architecture from Java, Bali's neighboring island.

This book is part of a series in Periplus' "Discover Indonesia." Check out the two other titles already available at Amazon.com: Balinese Architecture (ISBN 962-593-194-5,) by Davison and Granquist (the same team that writes the Balinese Temples), and The Mysteries of Borobudur (ISBN 962-593-198-8) by Miksic, Marcello and Trachini.

This is an invaluable source of information for all those who are in any way connected to the US textile industry. And for anyone who is constantly in need of contacts and lists of products manufactured by a certain compay, this is the who's Who!!

A one stop shop for all the concise information related to a company and updated every year this yellow pages will not dissappoint you. A must have for anyone in the Textile industry!

Ship of Gold is a well written account of the sinking of the Central America as well as of the search for its remains some 130 years later. It's full of details, sometimes too many. I enjoyed this book but felt really ripped off that there wasn't a single photo in the entire 500 page book. Pictures make a story come alive and I found myself reading along and then wanting to look at a picture or two but there was nothing. I don't know why they didn't include any pics but they were sorely missed.

I read a copy I had borrowed from the library and was so fascinated with the story I had to purchase a copy for my library. This is better than a fiction story because the obstacles and challenges are such that you couldn't have made them up. It is a marvelous personal account of the salvage of the treasure of the SS Central America that sunk in 1857. 400 lives were lost in that. Kinder does a good job of reconstructing the last moments of the ship before it goes down in a terrible storm with 21 tons of gold. The salvage effort takes place below 8000 feet of sea water! Kinder himself is quite a character of interest.

The 'Prologue' tells about the discovery of gold in California after building a water-powered saw mill in January 1848. The United States was ending the war with Mexico; Alta California would become a US territory. The US government provided a subsidy for two fleets of sidewheel steamers. One traveled from Oregon and California to Panama, the other traveled from Panama to New York. They carried mail, freight, and passengers. Stories about finding a fortune in gold created a gold rush. This skyrocketing population made California a state in September 1850.

'Ship of Gold' tells of the last trip of the SS Central America. The second day out of Havana a storm arrived (it was the stormy season). The ship sprung a leak while sailing into the storm (p.31). Burning coal lightened the ballast so the ship rode higher. The strong wind tattered the sails. Water continued to rise in the bilge. All men were asked to help bailing out water. A smaller ship sailed by, women and children were sent aboard. The Central America sank that night, almost all souls on board were lost (p.75). Did the loss of this gold cause the Panic of 1857 (p.158)?

'Tommy' tells of the life of Tommy Thompson growing up in the small town of Defiance Ohio. Young Tommy collected parts from discarded appliances (p.82). He was an unusual character in college and majored in mechanical engineering (he wanted to be an inventor). Submarine vessels go back a long time (p.94). There is an engineering challenge to deep sea underwater exploration (pp.147-150).

'The Deep Blue Sea' describes their search and the problems they encountered. Storms still occur, hardware glitches caused problems, and human errors were found (p.253). Careful analysis produced areas where they might find the Sidewheel ship. The more expensive recovery phase came next. They designed a Remote Operation Vehicle to operate 10,000 feet below the sea. They would need an artifact from the wreck to file a legal claim on the shipwreck in court. Problems occurred (p.325). Legal terminology was important (p.348). The Federal judge enjoined anyone from interfering with the salvage (p.372). The great depth affected electrical motors (p.377). Once the season was over they prepared for the next year. More money was needed, then a new ship was found. They made a new discovery when rechecking their data. This new site best matched the lost steamer. More money was raised and the gold was recovered the next year. Insurance companies filed lawsuits to claim all the gold! [No problem for their lawsuits.]

The 'Epilogue' has the conclusion. The recovery vehicle was far in advance of anything else. It led to new knowledge (p.493). New life forms could have medical benefits. The insurance companies that had no evidence for their claims were rejected (p.499). The other were rejected because they "abandoned" their claim to the gold. Columbus-America was rewarded for its pioneering work (p.501). [Too many pages were spent on inconsequential matters. The events of 1857 are not contiguous. Reducing this book by about 200 pages would make it faster reading.]

This is an appealing book on many levels. 19th century sea adventure, heroes, tradegies, great survival stories, heart stopping excitement, 20th century high tech recovery adventures, interlopers and bottom feeding lawyers and insurance companies, it's got it all. Why 4 stars rather than 5 ? I found it a tad long after they found the boat and began that part of the story. But, that is a small point. Well worth the reader's time.

This book seamlessly blends three stories. Two are adventure related with one begatting the other, that is the story of the sinking of the S.S. Central America, creating great panic due to about half of the U.S.A.'s gold being lost in addition to the death of over 400 passengers, and the subsequent story of how it was found and reclaimed some 130 years later. The other, the third story if you will, is a bio of what I am inclined to call an important yet still virtually unkownn American scientist, Tommy Thompson. I guess if Titanic fever helped in some ways, making Bob Ballard a household name, it somewhat obscurred Tommy Thompson. That fact adds to the mystique Ship Of Gold so wonderfully reveals.

Yes, this has quite a bit to reward the reader with. I was fascinated by the amount first hand documented information availabe. On the day prior to and the day of the sinking we get an almost hour by hour account, so vivid it actually puts the reader in the midst of the unfolding tragedy, during which most women and children were evacuated and the men valiantly bailed in the real hope that their lives as well as the boat could be saved. When the boat did begin to sink the last thing those in the water remember was the renowned Captain Herndon going down with the ship. The imagery conveyed is jaw-dropping. At the time the sinking put the young country in an economic depression due to the tremendous financial loss of the nation's gold, but due to the Civil War it was forgotten in the passing years.

Mr. Kinder has woven the bio of a youngster named Tommy Thompson into the telling of the sinking by going back and forth using chapters as dividers. Just as a series of unknown random events created the conditions to sink a ship so they did to spark a young boy's fertile mind. Tommy Thompson was not just brilliantly inquisitive..He was imaginatively inventive. A bit of a theorist, like Einstein, and a lot of an inventor, like Edison. By the time we get to the adult Tommy Thompson we're still not sure if he's kind of a mad scientist version of Jimmy Buffett, or if he's a "once-in-millenium" brilliant intellectual that happens to be entertaining as hell. Either way destiny will bring the right person on a collision course with the S.S. Central America.

The third part of the story is that intersection. Against all odds, Tommy Thompson was about to make history. Even though he fooled the casual on-looker, Tommy Thompson was a disciplined scientist first before being an adventure seeker. He methodically knew there were steps that had to be taken, including the extremely speculative possibility of finding the S.S. Central America. However, even if that could be done he was still going to have to extend technology to do things that were not considered doable yet. None of this stopped him and this book vividly, with lots of comic relief, tells of this impossible journey resulting in the truly amazing outcome when he triumphed.

This true story can not be equaled by fiction. It should, and I understand, may be turned into a movie. Until then I recommend this book to any armchair adventurer and history buff. It's a first rate true yarn that is entertaining and scientifically significant too.

This is a nice little book, suitable for both older children and adults. The text is interesting, and the illustrations are lovely. However, I can't believe the price it's being sold for! I just bought it in Bali 2 weeks ago for about $3. You might as well buy a ticket to Bali and buy it there yourself.

The book is a good introduction to the different building types you can visit in Bali. The photos and accompanying illustrations are helpful. The text is basic and gives reasonable summaries of the buildings. The downside is the tendancy for the authors to repeat topics in the sidebars included in each section. While consistent, it does become a bit redundant. I'd also like to have better access to definitions of the balinese terms used throughout the text. They're good to know, but become cumbersome afte a while. The bibliography will be helpful to those looking for additional information on any of the chapters.

**REVIEW HAS SPOILERS**

Now don't get me wrong, I'm a pretty big King fan, but this book was absolutely terrible. I really only have two complaints about this book:

1. It was too wordy. I know that King is known for this, but in this novel it was out of control. This 500 page book should have been a short story, or maybe a novella at most. Instead of plot, 90% of this book is filled with pointless descriptions and fluff. There were times when I skipped pages at a time without missing anything of significance.

2. The format of the story was unnecessary. Bouncing between the past and present was stupid, and telling the story from different characters' perspectives was even worse. Both of these devices work in the right context, and this book was NOT that context. First of all, the entire book should just be a flashback. Second of all, I didn't feel like I gained any additional insight by switching the first person narration around. It was completely unnecessary and ruined the natural flow of the book. This story should have been told in the standard, third person narration.

There were aspects of the novel that I did like. The overall concept was an interesting one. I also liked the fact that we never really found out much about the car. That was an interesting angle because the reader knew exactly what the characters knew and nothing more. This novel also had a handful of great, quotable statements. I wish I'd written them down, but I remember that one was, "We spoil the grief-stricken have you ever noticed that? And they become used to the treatment."

In a nutshell: Don't. While this novel does have its moments, overall it's slow pace and length make it almost unreadable.

"From a Buick 8" is neither King's best nor his worst. It strikes me as about average for his recent (ie: post-accident) books. Still, it is a fun read. If the story lacks a bit in the substance department, it is more than compensated by King's always reliable story TELLING talents. I swear the man could make a recounting of what he had for breakfast interesting. Bottom line: if you are new to King, there are better titles of his that I'd recommend to cut your teeth on; if you're a King fan, "From a Buick 8" is a worth while notch to add to your belt.

This book stays with you for a long while after you put it down. King creates such atmosphere and the characters are all so engaging. I felt as if I were standing in that old dusty shed looking at a run down Buick. Not only will this book cause you to break out in "goose flesh", but it will cause you to feel such empathy for each person and genuinely care about what happens to them. How many authors are capable of this?? I am astonished at the negative reviews on here to be honest. I'm very happy that I don't read book reviews until afer I'm finished w/ the actual product!! Keep on pumping them out Mr. King, I'd read the back of a box of cereal if you wrote it.....

Not long ago i saw From a Buick 8 in my local Borders store at a Bargin price of 7.99 by that time king had become one of my favorite writers and i fugered that i should get it at a low price and at a steal for a hardcover novel But you dont want to know about that.

From A Buick 8 Tells the the story of Troop D a police troop in western Pennsylvania but within the troop it tells the story of Curtis Willcox a tropper who was sturck by a car and killed But willcox had a son named Ned Willcox who started to come by the barrik after his father died and help out.

One day while washing the windows of Shed B ned discovers that there is a car in Shed B The car he sees in there is a 1954 Buick Roadmaster he asks cheif Sandy Dearbourne The story behind the old Buick.

Dearbourne then nararates the story with it switching out between the other troopers and even Shurley the Dispatcher, he tells the story of the Buick and how it ties in to the supernatural things that go on around Troop D and even how it ties into his fathers death.

Some readers might Be reminded of another story by King "Christine" but with diffrient things happning with this story Christine And From A buick 8 are totaly diffrient orginal Stories.

King Once again gave us a great work of Fiction that can be read over and over agian well into the night. 5/5

An interdimensional portal in the form of a Buick is impounded by state troopers who spend the next thirty years guarding the secret of the alternate universe it accesses and the grotesque creatures that occasionally come through from the other side. Although there are several nightmarish, gross-out scenes, this is a quieter King novel, and I found it to be quite successful. It is more about the powerful attraction that the unknown exerts on the human psyche than it is about rampaging monsters. This secret fascination shared by three decades of Troop D officers makes them a close-knit, tight-lipped group and even distances them from their families a bit. The structure of the novel--a group of Troop D old-timers tell the story of the Buick from their various perspectives to the son of a recently killed comrade--is effective and frequently moving.