Studios Books

I recently purchased this book becasue I am an avid cook and recnetly purchased an herb garden. Looking for some interesting ways to use my new herbs, I picked this book up. The recipes are simple enough for an average cook and turn out restaurant quality dishes. The only trick to this book and virtually any cookbook is having QUALITY ingredients on hand. Not many people have all of the herbs on hand that the book requires for many of its dishes, but if yo do you will be rewarded with great dishes your friends and family will love.

Easily one of the best gardening books i own. This book is thoughtfully organized to be useful and intuitive to everyone - even those who have never grown a plant before in their life. The herbs are indexed in both common, family and latin names, with descriptions and numerous photos of many varieties of each herb. Propogation and growing tips (focusing on a natural, organic approach whenever possible) are included for all plants, all of which are specific and helpful. Like whether or not a specific plant grows well in containers; what type of soil and moisture an herb prefers; if the herb flowers beautifully for a week and then gets leggy, ugly and topples over; if it reseeds aggressively; or if it is plagued by one particular pest or another. There are also wonderful histories and descriptions of common uses - whether they be for culinary use, medicinal, fragrancing, or fabric dying - as well as any possible usage warnings. Also included are sections devoted to proper soil preparation - with several soil "recipes" for different plant needs, tips on pruning and starting from seed. There are also several garden plans set up by theme and space available (dying garden, kitchen garden, bath garden, etc.) If you grow - or would like to grow - herbs, this book is indespensible for seasoned gardeners or novices.

This is a concise and copiously illustrated paperback survey on 216 pages of all major buildings and projects from 1959 to 1996 published under ISBN: 3764356987 by Birkhäuser (Basel...) and ISBN: 0817956987 by Birkhäuser (Boston) in English and German side by side. Following 18 pages with analysis of the architect's style, each of the presented 45 works is headed by a description from as little as just a few lines to over a page long followed by illustrations from one to several depending on work's scope. All of more than 400 only B&W illustrations - most of them technical (plans, sections, sketches, elevations, etc.), but also B&W photos of a good quality - are well balanced, superbly crisp and perfectly legible. On several pages at the end, there are: a biography, selected bibliography, list of works, awards, exhibitions, collaborators, etc. Like all from the Studio Paperback series, this book is solid among architectural monographs even of a bigger size. Similar to smaller books from the Works and Projects series published by Gustavo Gili (GG) in English and Spanish.

A great selection of various writings, describing some of the simplest items most pass by daily without thought, sounds we often take for granted such as the honking of geese in the sky above. He takes the details of a boulder and the life that springs from around it and creates an enjoyable detailed story that makes you smile as you read. Throughout all these writings, there are beautiful pictures lending visual enjoyment to the writings. The stories give a real feel for those places that lie hidden in each forest and wildlife area and the function each shares with the other in the ecosystem and the cycle of living.

In the history of the world, nothing compares to the twin goddesses of Shane and Sia. The photography in this book is so stunning and so beautiful, you'll know that these women are masterpieces.

The power of this book is in the pictures, but the text is informative and interesting. You can see how the Barbis shot to superstardom literally overnight and became calander icons. Next came TV (I saw the Geraldo episode), posters, video games, etc.

No women were ever so beautiful, so gorgeous, so breathtakingly beautiful. They put the super in supermodel, and the camera lavishes them. By all that is holy, you must purchase this book to get a complete collection of their photographs.

It's quite difficult to find a good book on toy theatres and this one is excellent. I didn't expect the colour plates and the large number of pictures! Lots of scenes and character sheets, dating back to the very earliest toy theatres and precursor entertainments.

"The Great Wave" may be the one lasting impression some people have of Japanese printmaking. That's by Hokusai. He worked about 200 years ago, but his work is still fresh and vital.

"Fresh" may seem an odd word to use about images made by the hundreds, and "vital" may seem odd when describing the days, weeks, or months needed to carve a set of wood block. Still, the images are clear, communicative, and decisive, as if one thought were held for the days or weeks of cutting a set of wood printing blocks.

That freshness aslo belies the huge labor that went into each print, or set of prints (36 of Fuji, 100 of Edo). Each of them was based on a "key" block, the one that created the black outlines. Then there were more blocks in each color, usually one for each color, sometimes four or more of them. Then there were the various trial proofs of each block and combination of blocks. Then there was the effort of inking each block and pulling each impression uniquely. The "100 views" is beatiful, but also a statement of Hokusai's endurance.

Hokusai also printed some shunga, "pillow books" allegedly used to show baffled newlyweds what goes where. Some are charming, some have outlandish exaggerations of both his and her genitals, and some (see the diptych p.157) are just strange - funny, but strange funny.

This is a wonderful colletion of Hokusai's color and B&W printing, along with a few brush drawings, and a very informative text. It's a wonderful book in its own right, but a wonderful addition to any library on printmaking or on world art.

//wiredweird

I never understood the relationship between the theater companies on the east coast and the production companies on the west coast until Altman's book. Filled with first-hand anecdotes passed down from her father, an MGM talent scout who discovered Joan Crawford, Jimmy Stewart, Ava Gardner, and many others. Excellent addition to film history.

A well written book which explores Hollywood genres with easy to read examples of classic Hollywood movies, and their effect on the movie-going public of the day. Comprehensive and absorbing.

Doug Gomery has written a fine book on the history of the Hollywood studio system. Whereas earlier treatments of this topic tend to neglect the period after the rise of television, Gomery does an excellent job of covering that period as well. One argument in the book that scholars will recognize as original is that the studio heads have always been quite concerned about distribution issues and that even though they no longer directly control the majority of movie screens they still have a lot to say about what gets screened and where. There is considerable detail in the book on the history of each of the major studios based on archival materials and interviews. This book should be required reading, in short, for anyone writing about Hollywood in the future.