John Wayne Books

This is an unbelievably beautiful book! The photos are very good quality, the information accompanying them is interesting. Also loved the chronology at the end. Very lovely and well done.

This is another good book by E. John that gives a lot of straight forward advice. He followed this book with the "problems" book which is also a good one. This book has more full color plates and more pictures of refined (rather than example) work, which I prefer to look at. Beginners probably get more value out of the sketches, however, so I wouldn't pass up either book if you are trying to learn the art of seascape painting.

E. John's latest book, published just a couple of years ago, is a lot more "slick" than these other two published back in the 70's, but most of the advice and examples are similar in all three. For any serious seascape painter getting all three books is beyond thinking about, even if you aren't necessarily going to work on trying to emulate his style, some of the techniques are common to most marine painting and all of the general rules on wave anatomy, how foam is created, how light is dispersed, etc. are common to any seascape.

While painters like Lassen, Wyland (and the many seascape artists he features), Walfrado, Tabora, Nelson, etc. may have dominated the "popular" art scene in the last 10-15 years in Hawaii, Japan, Florida, California and probably other spots as well, they still have a few years to paint before they approach what E. John has under his belt. I still think his timeless and classic seascapes are among the best that have been produced.

Another painter that has about the same number of years under his belt is Loren Adams, who unfortunately probably won't be producing a book on painting in his life time. E. John not only produces books with "how to" steps, he has released video lessons and has given (maybe still does) lessons each year during studio workshops. Loren is managed by those that feel sharing his techniques would somehow hurt their cash flow, so he is kept under a tight leash. It is a shame because he is perhaps the most talented marine painter alive. Some of his work can be seen at his web site and it is useful to compare his style with that of E. John and some of the more impressionist painters.

I've been looking for and buying books on seascape painting for a few years as well as studying works in galleries from Carmel to Kauai and I can assure any painter that they are getting lessons from one of the best in E. John Robinson.

This exceptional and timely second edition provides a much-needed update. The volume focuses around how the chemical senses work, with coverage ranging from microorganisms to humans and from genetics to behavior. Research in these areas has grown rapidly in the past decade; more than anything, this work illustrates how far we have come in understanding the cellular mechanisms that underlie taste and olfaction. With coverage that is both comprehensive and succinct, features its readers will value, this volume is a "must-have" for everyone doing research on or teaching about the chemical senses. (And almost like a hidden treasure, at the end of each chapter there is a superb bibliography.) --Vincent E. Dionne, Boston University

The endpapers of this book feature an 1848 map of lighthouses on the Great Lakes. The evolution of the Lighthouse Board and the Fresnel lens are accompanied with historical photos as the book moves toward the 20th century. There are even some sequential photos of early training exercises for keepers and rescue workers. Readers then get to meet some of those keepers and their families, not in dry biographies, but in colorful accounts and memoirs. Once acquainted with these brave men and women, the tour of the Great Lakes lights begins, and sometimes I think that you see these lights today through their eyes. There is a pride in those that have been lovingly preserved, and a sadness for those in ruins. Each light covered has its historical significance and photo; some lights have more than one. A great many of the shots are aerial views, all in all a treat for any lighthouse buff.

Captain Bert Minshall was aboard John Wayne's classic 1942 136' minesweeper conversion Wild Goose for the last 16 years of the Duke's life. He says "The great, aging yacht was the actor's proudest possession as well as a much cherished floating retreat and playground. She was the sort of ship you'd expect John Wayne to own. . . big, rugged, comfortable, impressive. Few stars would have had the money or grit to take on such a formidable pain in the pocketbook. But to Duke, owning the Wild Goose capped a life that had been lived to the hilt. She was more than status symbol. . . she was an extension of himself."

Capt. Minshall obviously had enormous respect for Wayne, his family, his career, and his vessel. The book is a well written and fascinating inside look at his adventures cruising the coast from Alaska to Mexico with the Duke.

This is a book that is designed to be a text book for baking. While recipes are measured in both English and Metric, they are primarily measured by weight, not volume. Also many of the proportions are not for the home, but for industrial use. The book covers many areas of baking by going delving into ingredients, and their special characteristics. There is an almost 40 page primer on baking specifics such as yeast, temperatures you want you kitchen to be for rising of breads and much more. If you are looking for information about is about baking in general this book would more than serve you well as it covers so much, but its primary use would be best suited for a professional kitchen.

My husband has a considerable number of cooking and baking books in his culinary library. Thinking about what to buy for his birthday I casually asked him; "if you could only have books by one culinary author, WHO would it be?" Without any hesitation he answered, "Wayne Gisslen." If you knew my husband, you'd consider his response a FIVE-STAR recommendation worthy of anyone's consideration. Knowing that all Gisslen's tomes, more than one edition of some, were already at home in our casa, I decided on surprising him with a new sport coat.

Mr gacy got into depth with his book and I very much enjoyed it. I had a copy, but I missed placed it and i was also wondering how I could get another copy of it, since they are not made any longer.

I read a lot of books (164 in 2007), and it's rare that I actually have an emotional response. Not to the story -- that has to happen or reading would be no fun at all. I mean feeling genuine affection for the characters, so that I'm actually sorry the story is over.

True Grit is the first book in a long time to elicit that response from me, and I'm not exactly sure why it did. It was certainly not the plot, which is simplicity itself: fourteen-year-old Mattie Ross hires an unconventional U.S. marshal, Reuben J. "Rooster" Cogburn, to hunt down Tom Chaney, the man who killed her father. That's all, but it takes the whole book for that storyline to complete itself, and what a glorious ride it is.

What makes the read memorable is how Portis draws his two lead characters. The title attribute is at first meant to apply to Cogburn, of course, but we soon discover that Mattie herself has just as much "grit" (the word "sand" is also used in this way) when she asks the local sheriff for his opinion on who the best marshal is:

He said, "...I reckon William Waters is the best tracker. The meanest one is Rooster Cogburn. He is a pitiless man, double-tough, and fear don't enter into his thinking.... Now L.T. Quinn, he brings his prisoners in alive.... He will not plant evidence or abuse a prisoner. He is straight as a string. Yes, I will say that Quinn is about the best they have."

I said, "Where can I find this Rooster?"

Mattie is full of surprises, but we soon find that Rooster is, too. Introduced as a hard-drinking, unreliable man who is the epitome of the loner, Rooster begins to grudgingly admire the "sand" (a.k.a. "grit") of this "child" and a kind of respect (and later, affection) grows between them. It is this unexpected turn of character (along with other surprising touches that kept me on my toes) that display Portis's skill to such great effect.

Donna Tartt (an author in her own right) gives a fine reading on the audiobook of True Grit. Her Mississippi accent substitutes for the Arkansas twang of the characters well enough for most listeners, and her vocal characterizations are utterly perfect. Not only are they distinct and unmistakable, but they also express a deep knowledge of these people as individuals, allowing the listener to completely get lost in the story.

Tartt's afterword adds little except to express her entire family's love for the book (it is, I understand, an introduction to the print edition, and is probably better served in that capacity), but acts as a good celebration of a book that is likely to become one of my favorites, as well.

Like I stated at the beginning, very few books speak to my emotions the way that True Grit did, and I look forward to reexperiencing its wonders in the near future because this is one book that will require multiple readings to really understand its subtleties. This is not just a terrific Western; it's a terrific novel, and one that deserves a wider audience.

This is a must-have book for those interested in Paul's writings. The first part contains his letters in the Revised Standard Version, with introductions and footnotes. The Revised Standard Version is probably the best translation of Paul - because it is very literal (vs. the clumsy inclusiveness of the NRSV, which changes "brothers" into "brothers and sisters").

The second part of the book excerpts many, many commentaries about Paul and his work and his place in the Church - and this is quite fascinating. These include works by the Early Church Fathers, but also comments by such folks as Martin Luther, Nietzsche, George Bernard Shaw, Kierkegaard, Albert Schweitzer.

Get this book. It is stunning in its depth and breath.

WGL