Literature in Art Books

A book about that archtype from the Judeao-Christian theology, "the devil". Whatever your religious views, Satan has no doubt been an intriguing character in much art and literature, and this book is a creative work all about him. The book itself is rather high-quality, with a velvet-like covering. Throughout are tons of random pictures of Ol' Scratch, some very old, some very recent, and from many different countries. Most are paintings, but there are also lithographs, photographs, etc.

The text placed here and there in the book includes poetry, quotes from famous works like Dante's "Inferno" and Mark Twain's "The Mysterious Stranger", as well as original lines as if written by the devil in the first person. These excerpts and art work that make up the entire book are again randomly placed, but the intent was obviously to make an interesting book in an artistic, poetic, and fantasy sort of way. And in my opinion, they more than succeeded. Makes a great gift.

This book is full of enjoyable and interesting art. It also has a quality cover & mostly color plates. Much of the art is medieval, although it spans from antiquity to recent decades. It covers all genres of the subject, from religious works to ads and pop-art. This whole icons series from Taschen looks interesting.

This is the first and only edition of Michael Tobias's first published book, D'haulagirideon. The book is a fairly dense academic treatise on the interplay between art, environmentalism and a personal journey whereby the main character eventually pushes himself to the extreme in his life's journey to the point of simply disappearing on the mountain. This book represents a first attempt at Tobias's trademark interweaving of fiction together with densely packed historical references. The book represents a tapestry woven from an historical perspective on art, environmentalism, humanism and a personal physical journey of the individual who pushes himself/herself to their personal limits. Over the years, Tobias has refined his artistic methods so as to make his works more accessible than is this early work. However, as a cornerstone to the meteoric career of this prolific author / film maker, D'haulagirideon provides an important comparator as one maps the artistic process. Do not buy this book as light reading but as a collector of an author's personal artistic journey.

This book was limited to 100 copies. It was published by a homespun publishing company dubbed the "International Mountaineering Arts Journal," a journal run out of Yellow Springs, Ohio. This soft cover book was printed by the Antioch Book Plate Company and then hand stitched and hand bound in 1973. The book is embellished with a series of photographs, printed separately and individually mounted into the book. Michael Tobias obtained his Ph.D. in the History of Consciousness from the University of California-Santa Cruz. Tobias has lectured widely. He was an Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies & Adjunct Assistant Professor of English and the Humanities at Dartmouth College, an Associate Professor of Humanities at California State University-Northridge, the Garrey Carruthers Chair of Honors and Distinguished Visiting Professor at the University of New Mexico-Albuquerque, and a Distinguished Visiting Professor of Environmental Studies, and Regents' Lecturer, at the University of California-Santa Barbara.

Tobias is the author of 35 books (both fiction and non-fiction as well as several edited anthologies). Some of his better-known works include: World War III - Population and the Biosphere at the End of the Millennium, Preface by Jane Goodall, A Vision of Nature -Traces of the Original World, Nature's Keepers - On the Frontlines of the Fight to Save Wildlife in America, A Day in the Life of India, Voices From the Underground - For the Love of Animals, Environmental Meditation, Life Force - The World of Jainism, Voice of the Planet, Kinship With Animals (co-edited), The Soul of Nature (co-edited) and A Parliament of Science -Science For the 21st Century (co-edited). In addition Tobias has written, directed, produced, executive produced or co-executive produced well over 100 films - TV series, documentaries and dramas, most pertaining to environmental, cultural, social or scientific issues. Some of those works include the 15-part series, A Parliament of Minds, the 28-part series, A Parliament of Souls, the ten-hour dramatic miniseries, Voice of the Planet, and such other works as Ahimsa -Non-Violence, Black Tide, Antarctica: The Last Continent, A Day in the Life of India, A Day in the Life of Ireland, World War III, The Sky's On Fire, River of Love, America's Great Parks, Element One, The Hydrogen Age, The Cost of Cool, Mad Cowboy and No Vacancy.

Tobias' research has taken him to some 60 countries where he has specialized in an interdisciplinary approach to environmental history, scientific, ethical and philosophical frameworks for policy research, strategies and documentation, demographic analysis, ecological anthropology, biodiversity conservation, and non-violence activism. In 1996, Tobias received the "Courage of Conscience Award" for his commitment to animals, he has won several Emmies, and most recently, Tobias was the recipient of the 2004 Parabola Focus Award for his lifetime body of work.

Books by Michael Tobias

Non-Fiction
Donkey: The Mystique of Equus asinus (with Jane Morrison)
Life and Death in New Zealand - The Ethics, Economics, and Biology of Nations (forthcoming)
Sanctuary (with Jane Morrison, forthcoming)
A Vision of Nature - Traces of the Original World
War III - Population and the Biosphere at the End of the Millennium
Nature's Keepers: On the Frontlines of the Fight to Save Wildlife in America
Mountain People (ed.)
Life Force - The World of Jainism
Environmental Meditation
A Parliament of Souls - In Search of Global Spirituality (ed. with Jane Morrison and B. Gray)
The Mountain Spirit (ed. with H. Drasdo)
After Eden - History, Ecology & Conscience
Deep Ecology (ed.)
A Parliament of Science - Science for the 21st Century (ed. with T. Timmers, G. Wright)
India 24 Hours
Dubai 24 Hours
Voices from the Underground - For the Love of Animals
A Parliament of Minds - Philosophy for a New Millennium (ed., with P. Fitzgerald, D. Rothenberg)
Ich Spurte Die Seele Der Tiere (I Feel the Soul of Animals) (ed., with K. Solisti; also published as Kinship With Animals)
A Day in the Life of India
The Soul of Nature - Visions of a Living Earth (ed. with G. Cowan)
In Search of Reality - The Art of Documentary Filmmaking (ed.)
No Vacancy (ed., with Jane Morrison, B. Gillespie, E. Hughes)
A Biography of Self-Consciousness

Fiction
The Adventures of Mr Marigold
Rage & Reason
A Naked Man
Jan & Catharina
Voice of the Planet
Biotopia
TWIMC - To Whom It May Concern (with C. Traub)
Believe (with W. Shatner)
Fatal Exposure
Deva
Tsa
Dhaulagirideon
Harry & Arthur (a play)
Films by Michael Tobias

Films directed, and/or written, co-written, and/or produced, executive and/or co-executive produced by Michael Tobias

No Vacancy (feature film)
Mad Cowboy (feature film)
Voice of the Planet (ten-hour dramatic miniseries)
The Making of Voice of the Planet (one-hour)
The Power Game (four-hour series)
Ahimsa - Non-Violence (one-hour)
Antarctica - The Last Continent (one-hour)
Cloudwalker (one-hour)
Kazantzakis (half-hour)
The Sky's on Fire (feature film)
A Day in the Life of Ireland (one-hour)
The View from Malabar (one-hour)
River of Love (feature film)
A Parliament of Science (60 half-hour interviews)
The Last Stand - The Battle to Save the Ballona Wetlands (one-hour)
America's Great Parks (feature film)
A Day in the Life of India (feature film)
World War III (one-hour)
A Parliament of Souls (28 half-hour series)
Dubai 24 Hours (feature film)
Black Tide (one-hour)
Science Notes (32-part series)
The Gift (half-hour)
At Home in the Universe - The Life & Times of William Shatner (one-hour)
Animal Rights (15 minutes)
The Cost of Cool (half-hour)
Images of Arizona (one-hour)
J.C. Leyendecker - The Great American Illustrator (one-hour)
Whale Shark Hunters of the Philippines (one-hour)
Sean Connery - An Intimate Portrait (one-hour)
Space Futures (half-hour)
Sand and Lightning (half-hour)
The Sixth Annual Genesis Awards (one-hour)
Jam Packed (one-hour)
Element One (one-hour)
Y.M.I. (feature film)
Kids & Animals (one-hour)
Reigning Cats of San Francisco (one-hour)
Legends & Dreamers (one-hour)
The Fifth Annual Genesis Awards (one-hour)
The Hydrogen Age (one-hour)
Renewable Power (half-hour)
A Parliament of Minds (15 half-hour series)

"Diamonds are Forever" is a marvelous book for anyone who loves baseball. I have lent it many times to my piano students and their parents, and they delight in the colorful paintings, witty drawings, artful photographs, deeply felt poems, and whimsical essays.

I believe that baseball has something for everyone, on many levels from the most superficial "three strikes and you're out" to the statistical for those devoted to numbers, to the "head"
game", the insiders' level that develops with thought and experience. By the time our three daughters played high school softball, they had learned the inside game quite well and found competitive joy in it.

"Diamonds are Forever" is a great coffee table book, but in addition to the wonderful visuals, it's a good read. Highly recommended!

Willem P. Gerritsen and Anthony G. van Melle's 'A Dictionary of Medieval Heroes' does not try and is not supposed to be a comprehensive volume on the subject of Medieval heroes. Rather, the "object of this book is to trace the fortunes of eighty characters from medieval narrative through time... there follows a survey of later medieval versions, with mention of the current state of scholarly research in the area. Where the character concerned also played a part in the work of post-medieval artists, the last section of [each] article is devoted to this 'afterlife'' (pg 1). The very brief introduction addresses in little detail the purpose of medieval narrative poetry, the dates of the first lais and chansons de geste, the rise of the French prose romance, and interesting elements such as the adaptation of Arthurian stories to 12th chivalric ideals and locals, and a myriad of other topics. The selection of the 80 characters is confined principally to the main genres of epic and romance. This does not prevent the book from providing useful outlines of the different manifestations of important heroes over the ages.

The characters covered span from Medieval incarnations of Vergil's Aeneas, to lesser known Moriaen from a Middle Dutch Arthurian Romance of the 13th century, a knight as black as a raven, who scared away sailors with his black skin. Arthur, Beowulf, Tristan Iseult, Ruodlieb, and the other well known medieval heroes all receive multiple page analysis with mention of the myriad of primary source texts that they appeared in. As a historian I especially like to study the slow fictionalization of historical characters, such as Charlemagne, Theodoric the Great, Brendan, Cid, Roland, who took on mythic proportions and pursued knightly quests over the ages. Also included in the dictionary are examples of modern theatrical, literary, and on screen incarnations.

This volume serves multiple purposes. Firstly, it is a great introduction to medieval heroes and their legends. Secondly, it provides a wonderful framework and starting point in the form of the listed primary sources and massive bibliography, for further more detailed analysis and research. And thirdly, it's a wonderful source for finding other incarnations of Arthurian legends, or similar epics and romances for reading (and thus enjoyment). I cannot wait to track down Chretien de Troyes less famous romance Cliges, where one of the characters drinks a magic potion which makes him go straight to sleep every evening and dream that he possesses a wife where upon waking is unable to distinguish his dream from reality. Or, to read about Little Hagen from the Middle High German epic Kudrun, raised by a princess from India, Portugal, and Iceland, whose superhuman powers are gained by the blood of a 'gabileon,' and who kills griffins with the weapons of a crusader who had washed up on his shore. This book has opened thousands of doors that I did not even know existed!

My son loves this book. He uses it at school as well and his teacher recommended it to us. He can sit down and trace the dinosaur for long times and it makes him concentrate.

The book arrived on time and as pictured so I would order from this seller again. But on a side note: Even though the item itself is cheap the shipping cost will get ya!

Janis Scalone's book, DISTANT THUNDER: An Integrated Skills Approach to Learning Language Through Literature (Pitt Series in Esl) is compiled in such a way as to make it both informative and entertaining. Not only are the stories and poems Scalone has chosen entertaining and enriching, but the exercises for the students are likewise informative and enlightening, presented in a way that helps them experience the many and varied cultures represented in the literature chosen for inclusion in the text. I found it a delight to read for any audience.

Any dog lover would enjoy this book. It is a treasure trove of masterfully crafted stories. There is very little sentimental sappiness, the collection focusing mainly on the ways dogs enhance the lives of humans. I applaud this book and hope to see more of the same caliber!

Another in the series of memorable art books fromWatson-Guptill, "DOG" follows the format of"CAT", "ZOO", and in cogent writing, excerpts ofpoetry and literature, all to tie together an exploration of how we have viewed dogs through the eyes of artists over the past several hundred years. Etruscan sculpture from 500 BC is placed beside photographs by Muybridge, medieval tapestries, paintings ranging from Bruegel, Bosch, Durer, to David Hockney, Miguel Conde, and other fresh contemporary young painters. Author Iain Zaczek has a scholarly but endearing writing style that allows this litle book to sing. For the legions of dog owners this is a sensitive celebration. As a means to introduce children (of all ages!) to fine art, this is a valuable tome. END