Studios Books

A bluntly honest book of the last decade of De Kooning and his paintings. The author's analysis tells of the decline of De Kooning's mental facualities and how others coaxed him into continuing his painting, to the point of choosing the colors or his palette and drawing the design on the canvas. It reports that his work of the late 80's might stretch the credibility of his own creative integrity.
His paintings during the early 80's challenge our previous concepts of De Kooning's paintings and the book helps expand our appreciation of this gentle giant of art. The book is sad but a also a reaffirmation of the contributions of a genius at any age.

Gorgeous photographs and reproductions of de Kooning's last paintings make this by far the most compelling book on the artist and his period. Anyone who thinks de Kooning died with a whimper should consider this book: it eviscerates the idea that the artist's last works were weak and empty. Over fifteen paintings may be seen in a tumultuous new style executed after his last known paintings, attesting to de Kooning's artistic genius triumphing over speculation and theory.

Unlike most artist biographies which are written by curators, scholars or critics (who often force the reader to conform to their predisposed ideas) this book lets DeKooning speak for himself. DeKooning is not exploited or demeaned as in many kiss and tell books, instead what is revealed is an insightful portrait written by a close friend and confidant.

The text spans DeKooning's lifetime and is chock full of new information. Having read this book I now understand and know more about DeKooning, his art, his friends, and his milieu.

The photographs are equally enthralling. Portraits of the artist, photographs of him working, photographs of the studio, and photographs of the finished paintings all reveal an individual in his artistic prime. Most extraordinary are the ravishing color photographs of the late 1980's paintings-paintings that have been dismissed by many art historians and critics as the work of an "ailing artist". Anyone who sees these photographs (reproduced here for the first time) surely will be as moved by their beauty and intensity as I was.

On the whole, this exemplary achievement deserves a place in the library of all who appreciate art.

Among the most original documents on any artist in history, this compressed volume is multidimensional in its richness and authenticity. In the form of stories culled from conversations the author had with Willem and Elaine de Kooning, the book emerges as a de Kooning autobiography and a compelling synthesis of one of the great periods in twentieth-century American art.

From the opening lines, the reader is irresistibly drawn into de Kooning's life as he hides in a ship and steals away from Holland to America, befriends numerous artists in New York such as Arshile Gorky, Jackson Pollock, Franz Kline, and John Cage, struggles to evolve his own style of painting, and ultimately contributes to the evolution of abstract expressionism as one of its major figures. In addition, vivid footnotes offer thumbnails on the Cedar Bar, WPA, New York cafeterias, the Club, Black Mountain College, de Kooning's family, floor plans of de Kooning's East Hampton studio, and numerous other subjects. Astonishingly, nearly all of the information is new - untainted by historical interpretation - with hundreds of facts corrected in the artist's own words and substantiated by the author's meticulous research. The result is an encounter with de Kooning himself.

While the book's title refers to the de Koonings reminiscing, it also alludes to the nearly one hundred photographs taken by the author in de Kooning's studio. Brilliantly composed, each of the images is a surprise, and the chemistry between Lieber and de Kooning is immediate, complex, and richly-hued. There are deeply-moving portraits, charming vignettes, discerning studio views, studies of the artist at work, and - remarkably - nearly two dozen of de Kooning's last paintings in a bold, new, complex style, previously hidden from the world.

This isn't just a book about Willem de Kooning, it IS de Kooning - still the best book on him and his milieu!

As a person who owns over 15 coffee table photography books, I appreciate the opportunity to display a diverse population of men. Norm Yip's 2 AM is a perfect addition to my collection, and looking forward to more of his late night treats.

Norm Yip continues to substantiate his growing reputation as a fine art photographer with the publication of THE ASIAN MALE: 2.AM. The suggestions of superior craftsmanship and sensitivity as a portrait artist were evident in his first publication THE ASIAN MALE: 1.AM and with that book now in wide circulation his reputation has grown as has the respect from not only an appreciative audience, but also from art critics and peers alike.

The images within this book are both black and white and color, and for the aficionados Yip carefully explains the technical aspects of his craft. What is unique about this collection is that it celebrates Asian men and in doing so further substantiates Yip as the leader in this niche of photography. Historically the Asian models, both female and male, have been modest in facing the camera unclothed: skin without the benefit of costume or secretive modes of stance has been somewhat of a taboo. It is to Yip's credit that his relationship to his models is such that these robustly healthy, sensuous, stunningly beautiful men allows him to capture the nude male in such a relaxed fashion. Some of the models, such as Amin, Sunny, Ken, Gavin and Maverick, have such perfectly formed bodies that they become human matrices for Yip's sensitive lighting and choices of pose suggestive of the best of ancient sculpture. Other models, such as Wilson, Colin, David, and Shawn, share with Yip a sense of inner joy, of lightness and of release.

Norm Yip is an artist whose implement for creation is his camera. His eye is well informed: his sensitivity to contrasts between shining highlight and deepest shadow evidence a thorough knowledge of observation. This is a collection to savor, both for the eye and the territory of the senses: this is the work of a poet. Highly Recommended. Grady Harp, October 07

Although I admired Norm Yip's vision in 1.AM and numerous other works of photography exhibited in Hong Kong, what struck me most about this latest edition of "The Asian Male" series was the power of his personal story. Deftly using both his camera and pen, Norm provides a revealing glimpse into the experiences and friendships that inspired this collection of images. The pride in his own ethnic heritage that was undoubtedly forged through his family's unique immigrant experience and the tribute he makes to those close to him come out in high relief throughout the pages of this book. Clearly, there is more at work here than a skilled professional taking beautiful pictures. Behind every turn of the face, look in the eyes, and movement of the muscle...is a visual depiction of the values and traits that the artist finds as the driving force behind his friends, himself, and ultimately, the Asian male.

Both of Norm Yip's books are great, but I think 2.AM is even better. If you are an admirer of the Asian male, get both books--period.

Before this book I read Basic Home Studio Design by Paul White. This book was very introductory and helped me get somewhat comfortable with the terminology and some standard ways of treating rooms.

Mitch Gallagher's book was definitely a step up from that. It was much more informative and introduced many ways of treating a room (broadband absorbers, bass traps, foam, ceiling clouds, etc.)

This book will without a doubt help one get associated with acoustics. Read the book in its entirety. The only crucial thing that I don't think it focused on much was how to measure your room yourself (acoustically, for flutter echo, decay time, frequency response, etc.)

But, it does give some information that one will be able to figure out and apply properly with a little internet research.

All in all, a very good book that will be very helpful.

There are a lot of books on setting up and working in a home studio - very few on treating the frequency response - fewer on doing it on the cheap using the room you have. This is such a book. The case studies are useful and after seeing a few, a pattern emerges and the mystique falls away and you realize that its not such a black art and you can do it yourself using various inexpensive materials. I definitely found this to be a great reasource for getting my room response under control while spending just a couple hundred dollars.

This book is a gem.

It used to be that musicians went to a professional studio to make recordings; but with all the advancements in computer and recording technology, such a studio is affordable for the home - and ACOUSTIC DESIGN FOR THE HOME STUDIO tells how to make a room perfect for the recording sound desired. Tips on how to sound-proof a home or project studio tell how to use an existing room, whether it be garage or bedroom, and provide diagrams, photos of revamped rooms, and tips on getting the most from such a project.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

The equipment available today at the 'advanced amateur' level far exceeds that which was available to the professional only a few years ago. But the quality of the recordings being made do not come up to professional standards. Apart from skill at using the equipment, the biggest difference is the studio where the work is being done.

If the sound is being bounced all around the room in an uncontrollable manner, this will be recorded faithfully by the equipment. The equipment cannot distinguish the sounds you want (and hear) but takes in what your ears are rejecting.

This is an excellent book that gives a bit of the theory of acoustics and studio design and then gives practical examples of studios that were constructed using these principles. There are a number of designs described which cover a range in cost from near nothing to designs that you'd better discuss with your wife before you start spending money. Most of these designs do not involve altering the basic structure of the room itself, just panels you might attach and then take down when you move.

This book is an excellent introduction to a fairly arcane subject.

Valeria Belletti was an energetic, intelligent young woman who came to Los Angeles from New York and worked as a secretary to some of the most powerful and interesting people in Hollywood in the late 1920s. During this period, she wrote dozens of letters to her best friend, describing not only her experiences at the movie studios, but her personal feelings and day-to-day life in southern California and on an extended trip to Europe. These letters make up the bulk of this short book, which left me liking Valeria very much and wishing there had been more. Well-written background notes are provided by editor Cari Beauchamp.

While Beauchamp supplies some valuable padding-out of the events and personalities Valeria described, she tends to give the compilation a modern feminist point of view the author of the letters did not seem to have in mind. In contrast, the letters indicate that rather than being the victim of an "iron ceiling" (Beauchamp's term), Valeria, although a high school dropout, had opportunities to grow professionally beyond being a secretary, but chose not to pursue them. Furthermore, rather than half-heartedly marrying a man she was "only fond of" (Beauchamp again) as a sort of economic expedient in an oppressive patriarchal society, Valeria was an independent woman who went where she wanted to go and did what she wanted to do. She had no trouble supporting herself comfortably, and she enthusiastically married a man of modest economic means, of whom she wrote, "The more I'm with him, the more I love him."

I have the paperback edition and find it odd that the name of Valeria Belletti, the delightful author of the letters comprising this book, does not appear on the front cover or the spine, while Beauchamp's name is displayed in large print. For enthusiasts of early Hollywood or 1920s southern California, Valeria's letters are well worth reading, while taking her editor's feminist leanings with a large chunk of salt.

Fabulous Book. If you want to know the inner-workings of the star-studded Hollywood Machine in the 1920's then this is the book for you. An insider's account with all the trimmings. Cari Beauchamp does it again. BRAVA!

This is a very fascinating book if you're into Hollywood history, specifically of the 20's. Although written as letters to a friend, they a lot like a diary, and as such it's a look at Hollywood of that era from a viewpoint we've never seen: the regular employee. There are plenty of books by and about the stars, directors, executives, etc., but this is the first one from a secretary, and while that may not sound as exciting as, say, a book about Buster Keaton, it really is interesting.

What's great is that these were just casual letters, not something their author (Valieria Belletti) expected anyone but her friend to read, consequently she speaks her mind with an openness and honesty you just won't get from someone who's expecting to be quoted. The letters are full of comments and incidents about major stars and directors, but are presented in a casual way, not jazzed up as they would be upon later reminiscence or if they were being told in an interview.

The only thing I didn't like, and this is to be expected from the private letters of one young woman to another, is that the "search for a husband" stuff gets a bit tiresome. It's still interesting in terms of being a window on the mores and social life of the time, and therefore some readers might find it better than the movie studio parts, but I came at the book through an interest in the movies not an interest in how women dated in the 20's. (As I said though, I did find this stuff interesting, it's just that it started to occupy more space than the studio stuff. And in Valieria's defense, it sounded like she was wearying of it after a while too.)

So I'm glad I read the book and I definitely recommend it, just don't expect wall-to-wall insights and revelations about Hollywood. Not that I expected that, but just be sure you don't either.

This book is not only for film buffs, it is a window to a world that is long gone. It is a bird's eye view of Hollywood at the end of the silent era and transitioning into the age of the talkies.

Aside from the great Hollywood dish, of which there is plenty, Belletti was remarkably candid and refreshingly not star struck. Although, I must confess that I can totally relate to having a crush on Ronald Colman. In the end it is the delightful, matter of fact, take no prisoners Valeria Belletti that you come so much to admire in reading her letters. She was a wonderful letter writer and these letters are, indeed, treasures. At the turn of each page you are delighted anew with some insight or adventure. She was one spunky girl and wrote letters that are filled with details of her days and nights in Hollywood. We need to bless her beloved friend Irma for saving these letters and presenting them to her many years later.

We must also thank Cari Beauchamp for bringing these letters to light and annotating them carefully with her own delightful and informative prose. As I said before, this is a window to a lost world. More than that, it is a celebration of an independent young woman making her way in a man's world and celebrating her life at the height of the jazz age. This will be a volume I will turn to again and again. Don't miss it, this will brighten the gloomiest and dampest spirits on a rainy day.

My children love all of the Great Illustrated Classics. And I'm hoping that if they're already familiar with the story lines, when their literature instructors start dissecting the books line by line, allusion by allusion, metaphor by metaphor, my kids will remember how much they enjoyed the books in their youth.

Lucy Adams, author of If Mama Don't Laugh, It Ain't Funny

Huckle Berrey is a boy who has a drunk evil father whos trying to steal his treasure so huck takes a raft and goes down the mississippi river and befriends a runaway slave and they start an adventure

This book is amazing. An all Time American Classic. The follow up to "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer" follows his best friend Huckleberry and a black slave named Jim as they journey to free Jim. I give this 2 thumbs WAAAAAAAy UP. A must read

I liked the book because it had adventure and exciting stuff in it. Like when Huck kills that pig and drags him through the forest and leaves a blood trail. He also it made look like someone broke in and killed him because he puts an axe in the door and busts it downto looke like it.

I think the best part of the book was when he dressed up like a girl to find out if people were still talking about his death. But everybody thinks the black man did it because he dissappeared the same night as Huck.

I think the two reasons are characters and setting. I think it's the settings because it gives really good details about it and it's old timey and that's what the story is all about. People didn't even wear shoes they were still walking around barefoot. I also think it's the characters because he explains them really well and I think he picked real good characters to play the parts.

I love Susan Branch's beautiful illustrations and ideas. This is a lovely, keepsake book with her usual touch. It provides lots of "journal" room to write personal reflections and has space for each season and holiday. I'm giving this book as a wedding gift coupled with a red "You are special today" plate. I hope it will be a treasured place to write down the couple's memories and special occasions throughout their relationship. You could also couple it with various holiday decorations for a shower or wedding gift.

Susan Branch has been publishing a number of new books lately and this is another great one. This is more of a "journal" type book with pages to record different occassions and holidays. I believe this is one of a series of three of these type books, the others being "Baby Blessings" and "Weddings". In the age of trying to find "our authentic selves" this book would be a great tool and also great fun for future generations to look at. There are places for photos and written memories. And of course, wonderful drawings from Susan. I have been a big fan of Susan's since her first book and her work just keeps getting better over the years. This also is very reasonably priced on Amazon.

This is a perfect place to record special events and gatherings. I record not only group parties but also special occassions when just a couple of friends come over. Susan's art graces every page. The book is divided into the four seasons, winter, spring, summer and fall. A great gift.

This journal is so pretty! The pages are so different from just plain old white, and I don't want to mess it up! Buy it!

Peter Green is correct in saying, "The Greeks have influenced Western society more, and more fundamentally, than any other nation in history." The Greeks introduced much of the vitality into our aesthetics, literature, ethics, and our language. Their wars with Persia saved the West. The Greeks insisted on making sense of things. The world must have an order, and the Greeks had the intelligence and fortitude to discover it. Likely, their elite were as close to gods as man has yet become. Athens, with about 50,000 citizens, produced more knowledge than today's cites of over a million. If you are a serious person on history this is the book for you.

I just had to laugh when I saw the previous reviewer's comment that Peter Green's area of expertise was not ancient Greece. It certainly is! He has written a critically acclaimed biography of Alexander the Great, Alexander of Macedon 356-323 BC: A Historical Biography, ..., as well as numerous histories of many of the pivotal events in Ancient Greece.

This book is an introductory survey of the civilizations on ancient
Crete, Greece, and the Greek cities of Asia Minor.

From the outset he acquaints the reader with the interpreting of
physical artefacts, texts and also the impact of geography and
climate.

He draws on insights from images on ceramic, emphasizes the larger
contributions of written records, and points out for the student where
speculation must stop. For example, despite passionate and clashing
assertions, nobody really knows what the "Archaic smile" signifies on
statues from Miletus, though Miletus' philosophical currents were of
huge importance.


What drew me in to the book was the early geographical theme. Mr.
Green links the Greek proclivity to open-air discourse and oratory to
the abundance of clear weather, and matches class differences to the
different uses of the land.

This approach pays off in the telling of Athens' political feuding and
Cleisthenes' redistribution of tribes in 508, after which he says
"Athenian democracy had at last come of age."

Professor Green's specialty is the 4th century BC.

This book delivers more concepts more rapidly than other survey
works such as the Pelican Greek Ancient History.

This is a edited version of my review because some people are taking for too much offense at this short review. I advise them to read it again. Green is a specialist in the Hellenistic period, a culture quite different from the Classical city of Athens or the archaic development of the polis for example.

If one reads the review below you'll note that I did not trash this book, I pointed out that it was lacking evidence and topics btut also how it might best be used in a classroom. I'm a college instructor so I think in terms of what I would use in a history class and how best to use it. I stand by what I said below because I'm comparing the book to others of its type, and this book is not the best (that would earn 5 stars).

You should also note the "?" in my title -- you are entitled to your own opinions but when people start sending me nasty private emails about my reviews, I can only feel sorry for their lack of professionalism.

For the specialist, Green's book is too concise, short on evidence to support all of his "facts". However, for the introductory history class, it might be a good book if supplemented by cultural and social history by the instructor. It is clear that Green's area of specialization is not ancient Greece but he is knowledgable nonetheless.

Edwin Weihe's Another Life and Other Stories is a remarkable first collection of short fiction. Weihe's characters find themselves trapped, suffocating in their various situations, yearning, often unconsciously, to chuck it all. Sometimes, they do just that. Despite the desperation they often feel, the characters are always sympathetic, nuanced, sharply drawn. In his title piece, "Another Life," which is that unusual form, the novella, the narrator is Jack, an American academic attending a Hemingway conference in Paris. Like the famous novelist and the "Lost Generation" crowd of the `20s, the narrator is also an expat, lost from himself. It's a wonderful work in which the literary history of Paris in the '20s plays against the narrator's sense being an exile from his earlier life when a love affair in Paris ended abruptly. The writing is spare, funny, satiric in its treatment of the lit.crit./celeb scene, and finally moving in its understanding of what pushes people to the edge. When a powerhouse feminist critic pronounces the central contention of her scholarship on D.H. Lawrence, namely that Lawrence wasn't able to bring his wife Frieda to orgasm, you realize Weihe is making a wry comment about the state of literary criticism as well as the essential impotence of male critics in the face of powerful female scholars. The war between the sexes, Weihe's novella reveals, has its generals and foot soldiers in academia. I highly recommend this fine book for its honesty, understated humor, and for its unwavering gaze at the craziness of our time. When asked by an American newcomer to Paris if he believes in the afterlife, Jack replies, "This is the afterlife." Yes, it is.

In a selflessly honest appreciation for bare life, this book opens to a yearning for that which the modern human is in search of; the straining of life against its inevitable end to recapture innocence, grace before the fall, love, or what is even more mysterious, forever lost, and finally unattainable. The anxiety of these stories is deafening as you hope against hope for your own salvation along with the characters' in their quiet desperation for another life, so exigent as to be a matter of life and death; a struggle too unfathomable to dare come into consciousness, though felt every moment throughout the living flesh. You will find yourself in this book.

While I know all the adages about books and covers, the black and white photo, the grainy texture, the man off center, all things that run in these stories. In a way it is France, and France is the Northwest. These stories have a terrific edginess to them. Something wonderfully unsettling keeps the reader less than comfortable and completely at the mercy of the story. After reading these stories, I felt I had woken to something I had done in my life no one must know, the dicey wonder of having gone just a little wrong, having given in to temptation. Weihe's fiction creates this dynamic tension. It is racy in all the right ways; I found it difficult not to finish in a single sitting.The stories in this collection made me want to live again. I imagined dangers lurking behind doors in Paris, in the Northwest. Finally, Weihe's perfectly chosen detail brings its own carefully chosen color to the grainy, dark, rainy quality of the Northwest and Paris. In the end, one thought: where's the next book.

Another Life is an incisive collection of stories depicting the contemporary plight encountered in the search for love, for understanding and for a meaning to life. Delving behind the superficialities of daily living and with prophetic insight, Edwin Weihe captures the intense desires that drive his characters to their inescapable and inconclusive ends. Told in a sparse and lean style, the stories brim with a sense of urgency, an urgency that is frightening, as though tomorrow might never come.

The ultimate guide to quality tabletop antiques for those of us who cannot get enough of these kind of "pretties". Have owned this book for 10+ years, and still "pour" over it, can never get enough of it!! Besides being informative, the pictures are literally intoxicating. If you love all things old and elegant (nothing shabby here) for dining and entertaining, this is the book for you. If you look at decorating books and get disgusted with cookie cutter tablewear, or you would die before going into a Pottery Barn or Pier One, this is the book for you. Tasteful, classic, traditional and always in style. Like a very wealthy elderly MD once told me, "anyone can have new things". Ladies, if you think like me, you will totally understand this!

This book is a must for those who truly enjoy a great table! The photos are magnificent and is beautifully written. I found that I learned a LOT by simply looking at the photos of china, crystal and glassware. From this book alone, I chose my sterling silver flatware and china patterns and have never regretted it! The book also gives ideas on simple room decorations as well - even though this is not a primary focus of the book itself. I really can't say enough good about this book......

This book is everything I hoped it would be. The photographs are stunning and the book is full of them. There is virtually no repetition. A beautiful, inspirational tome for anyone who loves to set the table.

I wish I could give this book more than 5 stars. It is an absolutely gorgeous book for anybody interested in table settings of the most elegant kind. As well as spectacular photography of the most sumptuous crystal and china, the text is fascinating as it explains the history of table settings and of individual antiques.

As a person who is particularly interested in mixing and matching colored crystal and different china patterns on the table, I have found it to be of immense help and has given me even more courage to blend different styles together.

I will treasure this book forever.

I had the wonderful experience of apprenticing for Peter and finished soon after we did the photoshoot for the book. I have to say, Peter and his brother John both went through great lengths to make sure the book would have as much practical information in it as possible. The only thing better than the book is one of Peter's workshops. But with the book, all of the information that Peter gives is easy to look over time and time again. The pictures are great! As soon as you start making and install a floor, sink, fireplace and so on I'm sure that you'll be hooked. You'll realize that it is possible to do on your own or with a friend. You'll also see and understand how much farther you can push clay than you had ever expected. Plus, above all, it's alot of fun!

The pictures are fantastic! For those of you who are tired of tiny pots, this is the book.

I'm a student and as such I'm very new to the game. This book gave me not only inspiration but enough detailed information to allow me to plan my bathroom sink. The plans include the sink, tile, and following the example in the book, the plans for the forms I need to make so that the pieces will be shaped correctly. I hope to create and fire the pieces early next year.

For those of you who have been searching for a book on the contemporary art of handmade ceramic tile, your search is over. Peter King has twenty five years of experience in architectural ceramics. His attention to detail and design help new and experienced ceramists alike in producing their final product. He even discusses designs for inexpensive tools that can be made by the artist. I have seen the author's proof of this book and it is nothing short of spectacular. If you are interested in this medium, no other book will give you this wealth of information. I highly recommend this book and the workshops Peter gives several times a year. He is clearly a pioneer in his field.

I usually do small works; handbuilt and wheelthrown pieces and tiles. It was quite eye-opening to read this book on large scale projects. It is written in a very clear manner, with wonderful pictures.

I only fault him on his tile making techniques, which could be better, but hey, who cares? His expertise lies elsewhere. He has obviously worked out the best techniques for large ceramic projects.

I like the way the book is organized. The chapters are very sequentially logical (to me).
Chapter 1: Tools and Equipment
Chapter 2: Building and Decorating Techniques
Chapter 3: Sectioning, Drying, Glazing and Firing
Chapter 4: Installation
Chapter 5: The Projects
Chapter 6: Gallery

The Projects chapter reiterates some of the information in previous chapters, but this time applied to a particular project. This is fine with me, since reiteration is a good teaching technique. The Gallery chapter is quite inspirational! There are lots of pictures of installations done not only by Peter, but also other artists.

Makes me want to try some architectural ceramics!