Literature in Art Books


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Literature in Art Books sorted by Average customer review: high to low .

Literature in Art
The Bedside Book of Birds: An Avian Miscellany
Published in Hardcover by Nan A. Talese (2005-10-25)
Author: Graeme Gibson
List price: $29.95
New price: $18.35
Used price: $13.49
Collectible price: $35.00

Average review score:

Bedside book of birds
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-07
Very, very few books this physically beautiful are published today. This is a true gem! The author has collected poems, short stories, etc. from authors worldwide which concern or include birds. The numerous illustrations are classic-looking drawings similar to Audubon and that style of drawing. There are no photographs of birds. The paper is of unusually weighty quality and the binding is first class.
This is a book that the avid bird-watcher can hand down to a younger generation. Makes a wonderful gift!

A marvelous confection...
Helpful Votes: 46 out of 46 total.
Review Date: 2006-03-29
I found this book in the gift shop of the Point Reyes National Seashore visitor center on a recent trip to Inverness and had to own it.

As an artifact it's quite beautiful: the illustrations and text and heft of the volume is sumptuous. This is, as the name says, a bedside book; a substantial hardcover with a creamy, coated-stock dustcover instead of a slick and glossy coffeetable book. The point of it is to open the volume and read.

Many such books are just random tidbits that catch the collector's fancy or have some private meaning to the person pulling the work together but which don't form a larger, coherent work. Somehow, though, this book seems to have an ebb and flow that seems natural, as if Gibson himself it taking ownership of the words, the images, the flavors here.

I bought the book for feel and flavor, but am pleased to note that it is worth owning as a volume in its own right, a perfect bedside companion. Highly recommended.

This One's Special
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2006-06-19
A beautiful book, excellent for a gift as well as for one's own library. The illustrations are many, varied, and lovely. The text is engrossing.

A treat for birders and lovers of folktales in the natural history vein.
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-19
I purchased this book as a gift for my Aunt Jen, to whom I am deeply grateful for instilling in me a love of the outdoors in general and a love of birds in particular. She is now mostly confined to a bed and I wanted to get her a book on an outdoor subject she loves which she can enjoy while indoors. Before sending her the book I was able to get a good look at it and I feel confident she will enjoy it. The book is beautifully illustrated and the stories are well-written. All of them are interesting, some are humorous. I highly recommend this book.

Beauty on every page
Helpful Votes: 9 out of 11 total.
Review Date: 2006-06-02
I've found myself coming back to this book time and time again, just to open at random. I would recommend this book without hesitation.

Literature in Art
Fairy Crafts: 23 Enchanting Toys, Gifts, Costumes, and Party Decorations
Published in Paperback by North Light Books (2003-09)
Author: Heidi Boyd
List price: $14.99
New price: $5.69
Used price: $4.39

Average review score:

Crafts are for older children
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-17
This book had a lot of really wonderful ideas, however, most of the crafts are for older children and my party was for 6 year olds and younger. I made the fairy braclets for the girls myself as it was a little time consuming. For kids 8+ this is a wonderful book with some really cute ideas.

Cool book.
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-05-13
for all who love fairies or crafts, this is a perfect book. Great ideas, wonderful processes and beautiful products!

Excellent book of crafts!
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2005-08-18
I bought two copies, one for my 9 yr old daughter and one for her friend. They love it and have had the most fun with these creations. I do recommend a little adult help and guidance with the different crafts.

Beautiful Book
Helpful Votes: 8 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2007-02-13
I bought this book, along with Sweet Pea's Garden: Special Things to Make and Do ~ A Flower Fairies Friends Book & How to Host a Flower Fairy Tea Party, to help me with my daughter's fairy birthday party. The crafts are exquisite as well as resonably easy to do. Most items can be easily found around the house or your nearest craft store. I love the crafts in both this and Sweet Pea's Garden. Both books are easy to do although I think Sweet Pea works best for our smaller fairies while this book would be perfect for an upscale girls tea party. I loved the little stories and the illustrations that were woven through the book. The only thing that dissapointed me was that there weren't any recipes. If there had been three or four little recipes that would have rounded out the book perfectly. I fell in love with the little cake in the picture of the table setting at the beginning of chapter three. The crafts included invitations, bookmarks, wings, skirts, fairy dolls with a fairy land playground, jewelry, etc. My favorite crafts were the playground and the blooming tableware. Both were made to decorate my daughters table and they were absolutely beautiful. This made for a magical day. Oh, and there are instructions for a Violet Choker by Heidi Boyd at the DIY website.

Great Birthday Party ideas!
Helpful Votes: 8 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2005-10-23
We used this little book as the basis for a flower fairy birthday party for a six year old, and it was a huge success, and considerably less expensive than renting Little Gym or another insitutional party place.

We made several decorations and the gorgeous flower fairy wands.

All of the projects would probably require adult assistance for a child under 10, but they are really lovely and worth any effort.



Literature in Art
How to Draw Cartoon Animals (Christopher Hart Titles)
Published in Paperback by Watson-Guptill (1995-05-01)
Author: Christopher Hart
List price: $19.95
New price: $10.24
Used price: $4.46
Collectible price: $23.00

Average review score:

Great book!
Helpful Votes: 10 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2004-07-05
As a cartoonist and author myself ( of "Let's Toon Caricatures"), I have quite a collection of how to draw books that I've amasses over the years. This book is my all time favorite for drawing great, cartoony animals.

MUST HAVE!!!
Helpful Votes: 11 out of 11 total.
Review Date: 2001-10-31
Christopher Hart's how to draw books are all wonderful. I own this one and a couple others and I often go back to them when I just can't get my sketches perfect. When I first received them I couldn't tear myself away. I was drawing up a storm 24-7. I've drawn realistic pictures all my life, but until buying these books, I'd never been able to whip out anything cartoony. Unexpectedly, his instructions and tips on cartoon drawing also helped me out in my realistic drawing and creativity.

I can't say enough about this book! You won't be disappointed! It's well worth the price and more. One great thing about it is that not only does the author really know his stuff, he's managed to present it wonderfully. It's a fun & easy read!!!

Love this book
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2006-02-19
I actually have some of my own characters now just from reading this book. Keep up the good work

Wonderful!
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2004-06-27
I love the idea of putting cartoon animals into humorous situations, and this book shows exactly how to do that! Shows simple ways to draw some of the most seemingly complex cartoons! Highly recommended!

Best book i have:)
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2007-02-23
This book is by far the best one in my collection:) It's stuffed with inspirational pictures and it's very easy to read:) It took me only about a half hour to create my very own cartoon character after reading a bit in this book:D

The step-by-step drawing guides in here are so easy to follow, and the book also show you different degrees of hardships in creating a character. You have the easily drawn characters, the medium hard-to-draw characters, and the really hard-to-draw characters:S

I'd say i was already in the "Medium" category when i bought this book, so the easily drawn characters were just to simple for me to even bother with. But still, they make good reference::)

If i am to say something about what audience this book is aimed for, then i'd have to say it's for beginners and people like me(A bit past beginner:p). There are VERY few hard-to-draw pictures in here, so i'm gonna have to buy another book soon if i keep progressing like i do:p

Different animals you can learn to draw from this book: Cats, dogs, horses, sharks, elephants, lions, tigers, bears and a few other critters...

I love this book :) I do not regret buying it at all:) I can actually REALLY reccomend this book to people who are out for learning this subject:)

Literature in Art
insectlopedia
Published in Hardcover by Harcourt Children's Books (1998-03-01)
Author: Douglas Florian
List price: $16.00
New price: $4.83
Used price: $0.12
Collectible price: $16.00

Average review score:

Fabulous poems and pictures!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-25
I was helping my 11 year old son with his Boy Scout reading merit badge. He needed to read different types of books and was adamant about hating poetry. We went to the library and found this book. Twenty-one poems and paintings, each about a different, specific insect. All the way home he was "Mom, listen to this one. Mom, you've got to see this picture. Mom, look at the way the poem is written in the shape of the insect!!!" We quickly shared it with two older sisters and two younger brothers. We loved the poems and artwork so much we immediately ordered our own copy. The poems are witty, humorous, include words to raise your childs vocabulary, and they are just plain FUN!

What a Delight!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-16
Insectopedia is a delight! I found myself reading these poems aloud to my class during silent reading time. They thought the poems were funny too. The book is perfect for all ages, even adults!

It's great! (Ethan 5) It's Wonderful (Alissa 6)
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 1999-11-19
We just love reading Insectlopedia! My 6 year old daughter andmy 5 year old son both think it is a great read. Ethan & Alissalike the poem about the Whirligig Beetles the best.

Great fun, even for kids who aren't "insect lovers"
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2002-09-22
This is a book of poems about insects. The poems are great; their content is funny and rhythmic. Through the poems we learn about the various insects. Some have very creative text formatting such as the inchworm; the text is shaped like a humped-up inchworm. The illustrations are very creative collages that are unique compared to most other children's books.

I began reading this when my first son was 2 years old and he loved the poems then and he loves them now. Neither of my children are otherwise very interested in reading about insects but this book captures their interest and they laugh hysterically at some of these poems. After reading these they have found some of the more unusual insects such as the walking stick outdoors and called it to my attention. We've owned the book for 3 years, every once in a while my now-5 year old will find it and get excitedly proclaim "we haven't read this in a long time" and begs me to read it again (and again and again).

Some of the insects featured are the inchworm, tick, walking stick, praying mantis, monarch butterfly, daddy long legs spider and army ants.

The poems are so much fun I don't mind reading the entire book two or three times in a row. A fun book to read to young children. This is good reading for just plain fun or to introduce poetry or to enhance learning about insects and nature.

Pun-derful
Helpful Votes: 7 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2005-03-14


Another in the series by this talented author/artist, Insectlopedia is a great adventure for adult and child alike. Children are encouraged to learn about the natural world in a series of poems and illustrations that are engaging, humorous and informative. Florian writes charming verse that informs, but even better, when read aloud, the tongue-twisting alliteration stimulates curiosity and laughter.

"Mosquitoes are thin.
Mosquitoes are rude.
They feast on your skin
For take-out food."

Insectlopedia is fun for beginning readers, certainly a bonus in engaging their interest in words and images. The nonsense menu includes: the dragonfly, the daddy longlegs, the inchworm, the walkingstick, the giant waterbug, the termite, the locusts and the ticks.

As for "The Praying Mantis":
"A caterpillar,
Moth
Or bee-
I swallow them
Religiously."

Luan Gaines/2005.

Literature in Art
Memories of Summer: When Baseball Was an Art and Writing About it a Game
Published in Paperback by Hyperion (1998-04-01)
Author: Roger Kahn
List price: $12.45
New price: $0.66
Used price: $0.01
Collectible price: $19.00

Average review score:

Readable and Heartfelt
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2005-12-21
The flowing pen of author Roger Kahn provides readers with books of nostalgia and heart. Here he covers baseball in New York City in the bygone 1950's, his love affair with the Brooklyn Dodgers (whom he covered as reporter from 1952-1953), plus the Yankees and Giants. Readers learn a few things about Jackie Robinson, Willie Mays, Leo Durocher, etc. There's the author's take on baseball racism, on the slow retreat in the 1950's. Kahn also traces his upbringing and close relationship with his baseball-addicted father. The book has a definite sense of loss, due to his father's passing, the Dodgers and Giants fleeing to California, and the urban decline that has since afflicted New York and many other once-tranquil cities. This moving book is something of a follow-up to THE BOYS OF SUMMER, the author's superb look at the Brooklyn Dodgers that was published in the early 1970's (this book came out in the late 1990's).

This book doesn't quite match BOYS OF SUMMER, but it's another gem by a writer whose heart clearly belongs to baseball.

A Glimpse of a Past Era in Baseball
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2004-06-30
In "Memories of Summer," Roger Kahn takes the reader back to a time when the Dodgers were an integral part of the life of a Brooklynite, through his career as a writer for several different newspapers and magazines, up to modern times where he interviews former baseball stars, including Jackie Robinson, Mickey Mantle, and Willie Mays.

Though he grew up a Dodger fan, forced to wait 'til next year seemingly forever, his love not just for the Dodgers, but for the game, is made manifest through his memoir and his reprinted articles. His painting of baseball in his earlier years as a game engulfed in wonder and mystique is shared by many who cherish old-time baseball.

Kahn is not remiss in placing baseball in the context of the social realm in which it was played--a time where writers were reluctant to write about the off-the-field lives of players and where racism, which barred blacks from playing in the majors for almost 50 years, slowly gave way to integration, very slowly. He saw the Jackie Robinsons and the Willie Mays and the Monte Irvins in Major League Baseball as baseball players, not black baseball players.

This book is funny at times, sad at others, but always piques interest. Kahn does an outstanding job of painting vivid images of a time when baseball truly was an art, and writing about it truly a game.

A poignant volume that reads like a novel.
Helpful Votes: 10 out of 12 total.
Review Date: 1999-09-27
Mr. Kahn turns back the clock to the days when baseball was the true American pastime. His anecdotes and interviews about Mantle, Mays, and Early Wynn bring these individuals to life more than any statistics possibly could. His love of his father is written about in such a profound manner that is timeless. In all a classic piece of Americana that hopefully will be read fifty years from now.

an enjoyable look to yesteryear
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 1999-07-09
Kahn's most recent work, _Memories of Summer_, is a very thoughtfull look to the golden years of baseball, set in the context of Kahn's childhood and career as a journalist. Simply put, it is a must-have for any serious baseball fan, cultural anthropologist, or anyone else wondering how the game used to be and the importance that it played in the lives of fans. Throughout, Kahn manages to capture, quite superbly, the romanticism of the era, focusing specifically on perhaps the very epitome of that romanticism, the bumbling bums of Brooklyn. He very adequately portrays the love affair that so many in Brooklyn had with the team, as well as give an indication of why they are remembered so reverently today. Kahn also laces his story with his interactions with baseball celebrities, including Leo Durocher, Willie Mays, and Jackie Robinson. My one drawback is that Kahn occasionally gets somewhat preachy when addressing race and racial discrimination during the time. Obviously, a certain amount of preaching is in order, but in my humble opinion it goes a step too far. Otherwise, however, the narrative that Kahn weaves, beginning in his childhood (the relationship with his father and how that relates to baseball is especially noteworthy) and tracing his career in journalism through newspapers and magazines is wonderful, easy to follow, and extremely well-written. I completely agree with the earlier reviewer who commented on the issue of "turning corners" in the book, and I would add one more - expansion to the West Coast and baseball turning the corner to become a two-coast sport. The reader can't help but feel the sorrow and bitterness that is left following the move of the Dodgers to California. This is a fantastic composition, a true gem by one of America's premier sports writers. Happy reading!

Great man, great book
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 1998-09-11
I was fortunate enough to receive a preview copy of this book a few weeks before its release because I was interviewing Mr. Kahn on a radio interview program.

As soon as I started reading, I was hooked. Although I was not alive during the 1950's, I have always been fascinated with baseball during that era, particularly the lovable Brooklyn Dodgers. Kahn's latest book does such a wonderful job of describing what it was like to be around baseball every day in that bygone era.

The easiest interview I have ever done was that one I did with Roger. His love for baseball was evident from the first question I asked him. His insight gained from covering the Dodgers in the 1950's is something every baseball fan could use. In this season of home runs, the average fan is once again starting to appreciate baseball. Roger Kahn will make you appreciate it even more.

Literature in Art
Oprah Winfrey: "I Don't Believe In Failure" (African-American Biography Library)
Published in Library Binding by Enslow Publishers (2005-07)
Author: Robin Westen
List price: $31.93
New price: $28.74
Used price: $26.73

Average review score:

Mini bio of Oprah
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-11
Pictures were great, easy reading, but not quit what was expected for price paid. Not store's problem. Their processing was great & quick.

Inspiring Oprah
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2006-12-01
Oprah Winfrey's inspiring life is detailed in this volume from the African-American Biography Library by Enslow. This book contains information many biographies written for young people about Oprah do not. Many photos and quotes accompany. Includes Chronology, Chapter Notes, and Internet Addresses.

This is the BEST book on Oprah ever
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2006-08-18
I am a big Oprah fan. I started watching her with my mother when I was just a child. So when my teacher said I could read this book for school I did it right away. It's so good. I learned so much about Oprah and now I love her even more. Every kid and grown up should read this book if they are interested in Oprah Winfrey. There were so many great pictires I never saw before also. Read this book and you will get all the REAL information you want to know about Oprah. I want to thank the author for writing this book. It is one of the best I've ever read.

You want this book
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2006-05-15
I had to write a book reveiw about a famous African American and Im really glad my teacher let me write it about Oprah becausee she is one of the greatest women in the world. This book was very helpful and very interesting also. I learned all about Oprah's childhood all the way up to the latest news. It has great pictures and the writing is easy to understand but very interesting. If you love Oprah it doesn't matter how old you are. This book is really great.

This is One of The Best!
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2006-08-26
I've read a lot of books about Oprah, but this one stands out. It has new material that I'd never read before despite the plethora of biographic stuff I own on this amazing woman. Many of the photographs are new to me. I'm putting Westen's book at the head of my collection. It will be a while before any others come out that can compete. I recommend it highly. Before it goes out of print -- grab it.

Literature in Art
Savage Art: A Biography of Jim Thompson
Published in Hardcover by Knopf (1995-10-24)
Author: Robert Polito
List price: $30.00
New price: $10.11
Used price: $9.46
Collectible price: $30.00

Average review score:

Interesting, illuminating, meticulously researched.
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2004-11-17
Savage Art is a truly remarkable work of scholarship. In it, Robert Polito meticulously separates out fact from the considerable amount of mythology that surrounds Jim Thompson's life.
Since so much of what Thompson wrote is autobiographical in origin, a knowledge of Thompson's very unusual life history helps the reader better appreciate his work. So it is not at all hard to argue that this is not only a well written and fascinating biography, it is an important one as well.
Polito explains, in exacting detail, how Thompson's life and consequently his writing was influenced by the interpersonal and societal forces he encountered as he matured.
To put it another way. Jim Thompson's worldview was shaped, nurtured and, some would say, warped by his life experiences.
He then took this unique worldview and used it to interpret the self same experiences which formed it. The result is Thompson's very significant contribution to 20th century American fiction. Dark, disturbing books inhabited by sad, desperate characters trapped in hideous circumstances. These are novels that boldly explore areas that would otherwise be unexplorable.
Savage Art is very much a monumental achievement. Essential reading for Jim Thompson fans.

Tedious but Complete
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2003-12-03
I suppose when an author pens a biography of another author, the reader should not expect the biography to provide the same level of reader delight as the author whom the biography covers. Don't get me wrong, Polito does a good job, and he certainly is not a hack writer. His analysis is steady without flights of fancy about Thompson's motives, but it's not too interesting either. Yes, Thompson lived a tought life in Texas and Oklahoma as his flitty father bounced from one dream deal to another, and his time spent in the Texas oil rig jungle is informative not only about Thompson but about the times and condiitons where he lived. Bringing in excerpts from Thompson's writings to explain (or perhaps just to connect the dots) events in his life with parallels in his writings doesn't always work. Yes, the reader can see his father in life and in the person of a corrupt official in one of Thompson's novels, but one can never see the genius--the why.

This award-winning book certainly deserves any awards based on the good scholarship Polito brings to the effort. The details, though, sometimes bog the reader down in minutiae that seem to detract from who Thompson was. One of the more interestings periods of Thompson's life was while working with the WPA as a writer working on the Oklahoma Guide. The connections with the writers and the communist and socialist, including Thompson, even Thompson's activitist role in the WWW is rendered in such detail that the reader wonders why Polito brings in all the detail -- which seems almost like the minutes of a party meeting -- that he does. However, whether intentionally or not, Polito puts the lie to the contention that mystery writers are right-wing apologists for capitalism. Thompson (and perhaps even more so Lous L'Amour who was part of Thompson's group of writers who were involved in Oklahoma's communist party) were not just hacks churning out pulp fiction for the he-man magazines but were men of conscience who were well aware of the plight of the working man during this era in this time and place. The fact that Thompson gave up the party doesn't detract (or indict) from his deep feelings for injustices he experienced in his life and saw in others.

All in all, Polito's work represents excellent scholarship, and in reading this book, you will come away with a close rendering of Jim Thompson's life. However, while well documented and certainly with a pedestrian scholarship, I never felt that Polito found the source of Thomson's real genius.

Thorough and well written
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2007-03-03
I highly recommend this 1995 National Book Award winner. Thorough and utterly engrossing, Savage Art will satisfy both longtime Thompson fans and neophytes, providing stunning insight into the man as well as the autobiographical aspects of his ofttimes sordid fictional output. Definitely a must read for those who appreciate noir.

The Definitive Bio on Thompson
Helpful Votes: 8 out of 9 total.
Review Date: 2001-05-28
If there was ever an American original, it's Jim Thompson. His dark and deranged world-view, expressed in a series of cheap paperbacks in the fifties and sixties, revels in the that part of the American psyche that we ignore and are afraid to look at. Polito's detailed bio explains where Thompson came from, and the events that molded him into the premier writer of American noir. Even if you aren't interested in Thompson and his work, this is an exquisite biography.

Amazing Detail and Research
Helpful Votes: 8 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2000-06-29
I didn't think it was possible to write a full-scale biography of Thompson because of his scattered, secret life. But Polito has pulled off the seemingly impossible. He gathers together unexpected facts from obscure sources in places all over the country. He combines this with excellent, insightful analysis of this tortured writer's work. When I first read Thompson's novels back in the mid-'80's, it felt like my brain was being turned inside out. I was so astonished I went out and bought every one. Now thanks to Polito we can begin to understand the sources of the horror and the humanity of his novels.

Literature in Art
Searching for Mary Magdalene: A Journey Through Art and Literature
Published in Hardcover by Welcome Books (2006-04-18)
Author:
List price: $39.95
New price: $9.95
Used price: $9.00

Average review score:

Excellent resource
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-08
Lahr's book is a real treat. Not only are there dozens of full page reproductions of some of the most famous art works containing images of Mary Magdalene, the text itself is well written and, for the most part, historically correct. Then there are the occasional gems - an 11th century mosaic portraying Mary and the angel more like aliens. Moreover, Lahr offers large selections of text from just about every major document dealing with Mary Magdalene, from the 1st century through the 20th century.

One criticism of this extremely valuable book is that a lot of the artistic analysis seems to be based on Lahr's own impressions, rather than giving us the painter's perspective. While Lahr's opinion is obviously of interest, I'd also like to know what the artists' intentions were.

Another shortcoming is that there are many paintings of Magdalene that are not covered (I'm thinking, for example, of Rosetti's 1877 stunning portrait of the curly haired woman, or Da Vinci's sketches, or his very sexual Mary with breasts exposed). Instead, she has many paintings that do not include Mary, but focus instead on Jesus or the disciples. While this makes for a well rounded book, the title suggests that we'll focus on Mary.

Another problem is that Lahr sometimes gives us a painting with no explanation, and often it's difficult to understand what's going on and to distinguish Mary Magdalene from the other characters. This problem happens, for example, in Ruben's "Resurrection of Lazarus."

None of these minor criticisms should stop any serious student of Mary Magdalene from buying this book. It is a one-of-a-kind and very well done.

The Magdalene rules!!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-02-20
Mary Magdalene rules! I had no idea she is told in so many different stories-not only in the canonical gospels, the apocrypha, but also in poetry, stories, and songs. You don't need to look to the traditional bible to find her-she is everywhere. And these writers and poets knew this; all these years, all these centuries, they all knew. Her story is told everywhere. The church tried to suppress her and keep her hidden-in your dreams, jerks! The Magdalene was never quiet, nor will she ever keep quiet. Long may the Magdalene reign!

R.S.V.P.
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2006-07-31
In accepting Jane Lahr's invitation to time travel through centuries of artists and writers whose attention to Mary Magdalene illuminates profound truths, this is a transforming read, a moment in which to reflect on beauty and truth and really what it is that we do need to know in life. Exquisitely rendered by Lahr's finely tuned sensibility and scholarship, this book is a blessing and a great gift.

A concise and intricate descriptive analysis of Magdalene based upon the many known resources
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2006-06-08
A beautifully illustrated work of original scholarship, Searching For Mary Magdalene: A Journey Through Art And Literature by author and editor Jane Lahr is an in-depth and comprehensive detailing of the modern and historical history of the enigmatic Mary Magdalene as reflected through the literature and art of the last two millennia. Introducing readers to a collective survey study drawn from historical writers, philosophers, artists, and scholars, Searching For Mary Magdalene accessibly presents a concise and intricate descriptive analysis of Magdalene based upon the many known resources. Searching For Mary Magdalene is very highly recommended to non-specialist general readers with an interest in a life and history of Mary Magdalene.

A concise and intricate descriptive analysis of Magdalene based upon the many known resources
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2006-06-08
A beautifully illustrated work of original scholarship, Searching For Mary Magdalene: A Journey Through Art And Literature by author and editor Jane Lahr is an in-depth and comprehensive detailing of the modern and historical history of the enigmatic Mary Magdalene as reflected through the literature and art of the last two millennia. Introducing readers to a collective survey study drawn from historical writers, philosophers, artists, and scholars, Searching For Mary Magdalene accessibly presents a concise and intricate descriptive analysis of Magdalene based upon the many known resources. Searching For Mary Magdalene is very highly recommended to non-specialist general readers with an interest in a life and history of Mary Magdalene.

Literature in Art
The Company They Keep: C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien as Writers in Community
Published in Hardcover by Kent State University Press (2007-03-01)
Author: Diana Pavlac Glyer
List price: $45.00
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Average review score:

The Company They Keep
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-08
Glyer's book provides valuable insight for fans and scholars of The Inklings collective works. She has a fresh slant on material that most Tolkien and Lewis readers have seen in other formats. Her agenda, though, presents the idea of "influence" in a changing light. I think that she opens doors of critcical opportunity that will allow much more fruitful sorts of investigations of Lewis, Tolkien, and William's work.

Scholarly and Accessible
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-21
The Company They Keep is scholarly writing at it's best. I used it with gifted high schoolers with excellent results. The students became excited about how Glyer did such extensive research and then wrote about it in such an interesting and readable way.

Warning! Homework distraction!
Helpful Votes: 11 out of 12 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-23
If you're interested in community, the writing process, or Tolkien and Lewis, this is the best book out this year. I have to be careful not to pick up the book when I'm supposed to be doing homework. It's entertaining reading full of fascinating facts and an inside look at how works like Lord of the Rings got written.

The literary community as a source of Tolkein's and Lewis's fantasy classics
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-19
The fantasy literature of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkein is so imaginative and idiosyncratic that one accepts that they wrote such lasting works somewhat obstinately and mainly privately almost as a hobby with little hope they would ever be published, much less popular. The picture of J. R. Rowling writing the beginnings of the first Harry Potter book sitting along at a table in an English shop comes to mind with this image of the earlier authors. Lewis and Tolkein are known to be good friends as well as professional colleagues at Oxford University. But as professor of English at Azusa Pacific U. in California Glyer puts forward, Lewis and Tolkein were part of a circle of academics and writers who had a large, discernible, and often documented influence on their works. From diaries, memoirs, letters, and other sources, Glyer finds that this influence is most evident with Tolkein. This circle which acquired the name "The Inklings," "modeled the behavior of poets and storytellers, provided feedback on his drafts, helped him develop his own critical faculties, recommended reading material that supported and shaped his imagination, and suggested that certain pieces be started, reworked, completed, or submitted for publication." Glyer continues, "It is no small matter that all of this early influence took place within a highly interactive group setting." What the author says with respect to Tolkein applies as well to Lewis, though not quite so overtly recognizably. In their turn, Tolkein and Lewis were active participants in the group offering the same support and suggestions to its other members. Shortly after arriving at Oxford as a student, Tolkein founded the literary society named the "Apolausticks."

In an appendix by a David Bratman, relevant background on 17 members of the Inklings besides Tolkein and Lewis is given. Most became university professors of English or medieval literature or of language studies, with most doing scholarly writings on literary criticism. This work of literary criticism and author biography is obviously timely given the current interest in these authors as evidenced by widely-popular movies made from books of theirs.

A book I wish I could write
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-27
This book shows scholarly intellect, hard work, dedication, and insightful thought that I have only achieved in lofty dreams. Diana Glyer presents interesting, insiteful, and inspiring information about the Inklings that you will not find anywhere else. I have never read a book that so skillfully puts scholarship in such an accessable read. For anyone who is a fan of the Inklings, Lewis, Tolkien, Williams, or anyone remotely related to these men do yourself a favor and read this book.

Literature in Art
Green Cultural Studies: Nature in Film, Novel, and Theory
Published in Hardcover by University of Idaho Press (1998-11)
Author: Jhan Hochman
List price: $35.00
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Average review score:

Choice Award
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2000-04-13
Green Cultural Studies was selected as a Choice magazine Outstanding Academic Title of 1999.

From Book News:
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 1999-07-08
From Booknews: A work of cultural criticism arguing that destroying the boundaries between animal and human, between nature and technology, as mainstream green critics propose, would promote culture over and against the needs of nature. Offers instead a new way of thinking about difference. Also contends that the differences between culture and nature impact the treatment not only of nature, but also of human groups currently coded as race, class, gender, and sexuality. No index. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

Perhaps predictably...
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2004-10-24
cultural studies managed to ignore it and stay just the same, after all.

Review from CHOICE May, 99
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 1999-06-11
"Because it is one of the first sustained studies to use the analytical tools of cultural studies and to focus entirely on the environment, this volume is an important contribution to the literature. Hochman engages the greening of cultural studies, and in so doing strenuously foregrounds nature. In these highly adroit analyses, nature stops being backdrop and becomes primary subject. The author looks at many texts, including primary works such as Women in Love, Deliverance (the film), Beloved, and Silence of the Lambs and such scholarly discussions as Jacques Derrida's Of Grammatology (Ch, Jul '77) and Donna Haraway's Simians, Cyborgs, and Women (1991), the latter (along with Alexander Wilson's The Culture of Nature, Ch, Dec'92) a theoretical antagonist that informs Hochman's study. Ultimately, Hochman rails against the theorization of nature, insisting that the natural world is more worthy by far than to be commodified and diminished. Though Hochman at times indulges in overly sophisticated and ingenious readings and portmanteaus ("worldnature," "culturescape") and provides no clear rationale for separating the bibliography into two parts, this groundbreaking book is highly recommended for all upper division undergraduate and graduate programs in literature and environmental studies. It should greatly widen the appeal of ecocriticism.-B. Adler

Perhaps readers will be interested in the table of contents:
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 1999-05-28
Introduction

PART I: Theriomorphs and Anthropomorphs

1. A Theriomorphic Bestiary: The Silence of the Lambs

2. Human Parsites in Animal Hosts: Women in Love

PART II: The Forest and the Trees

3. The Forest Primarily Evil: Deliverance

4. A Peculiar Arborary: Beloved

PART III: For Land's (Not Property's) Sake

5. The Deed and Its Undoing: The Conservationist

6. Owning Up to Belonging: Daughters of the Dust

PART IV: Nature, In Theory

7. An Environmental Impact Report: Of Grammatology

8. Beyond a Creeping Metonymy: Simians, Cyborgs, and Women

Epilogue

Notes

Bibliography/Filmography I

Bibliography II


Books-Under-Review-->Arts-->Humanities-->Literature in Art-->5
Related Subjects: Dante Chaucer Shakespeare Arthurian Legend American Classics Robin Hood Mythology Fables and Fairy Tales English Classics
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