Paper The Books

This is a fair and thorough account of history of the violin and its masters. The late Mr. Schwartz left a legacy to be praised for decades: all due gratitude for his delegent and extensive research and his stellar authourship.

Chapters on early masters are especially impressive, with more than sufficient information and fair analysis on each artist. The simplistic, yet comprehensive and highly informative writing style of Mr. Schwartz make it a more enjoyable reading; anyone, even with minimal knowledge on violin, will find it accessible and pleasant to read. Not a single line in this book is boring, or pedantic; a personal tribute/annecdote at the end of each chapter on modern violinists, is often moving with the author's candour and endearing admiration for the artist.

Comprehensive book that covers every major virtuoso from Corelli to Zukerman by a knowlegeable Russian violin scholar who lived when the great russian music was being composed.

This is the most complete book about violinists I have ever read. This is the book that will "fill in the gaps" of any missing knowledge you may have concerning the great violin soloists of the past.

(This is the paperback edition)

I'll say it again, this is essential reading for any violin lover!!!

Comprehensive book that covers every major virtuoso from Corelli to Zukerman by a knowlegeable Russian violin scholar who lived when the great russian music was being composed.

This is the most complete book about violinists I have ever read. This is the book that will "fill in the gaps" of any missing knowledge you may have concerning the great violin soloists of the past.

(This is the hardcover edition)

I'll say it again, this is essential reading for any violin lover!!!

This is a fair and thorough account of history of the violin and its masters. The late Mr. Schwartz left a work to be praised for decades: all due gratitude for his delegent and extensive research and his stellar authourship.

Chapters on early masters are especially impressive, with more than sufficient information and fair analysis on each artist. The simplistic, yet comprehensive and highly informative writing style of Mr. Schwartz make it a more enjoyable reading; anyone, even with minimal knowledge on violin, will find it accessible and pleasant to read. Not a single line in this book is boring, or pedantic; a personal tribute/annecdote at the end of each chapter on modern violinists, is often moving with the author's candour and endearing admiration for the artist.

This book tells how to confront the harasser. If the harassment continues, the legal steps are covered. For an employer, it provides information on policies, complaint procedures, training sessions and monitoring to prevent harassment.
NOLO Press is noted for making legal information accessible to ordinary people. This topic is something that every supervisor and employer needs to be briefed on.

As an employment attorney and human resource consultant who trains organizations on harassment policy, I use this book as a great reference material. I often suggest it to supervisors who want to know more about how to deal with this complex and difficult problem....

I found the book to be pretty straightforward and easy to read. It gives all the pertinent information on the subject from the law to how to stop sexual harassment to your legal remedies. One of the best features is that provides an array of case studies that clear up a lot of the gray areas. I used the book to help me develop a training on the subject, I recommend it to anyone who needs more info on the subject.

Every business with employees that does not have a sexual harassment policy in place needs to buy this book now.

Actions the authors say employers need to implement regarding sexual harassment include: Do whatever it takes to understand the law, the issues, and keep current; put in place a zero tolerance sexual harassment prevention policy that prohibits specific behaviors of verbal harassment, non-verbal tactics, and physical harassment; take action to stop sexual harassment that does occur and prevent reoccurrence and reprisals.

This is Hass at his finest. In this work he deftly moves within and around human experience with a Rilkean penetration and tautness of line. In my view, Hass' later work labors because it attempts to emulate the vogue chattiness of current free verse poetry and doesn't adhere to the intensity he achieves in Praise.

There is not disappointing poem in this book, something that many "great" poets haven't achieved in their volumes. All of these poems deserve to be reread often and serious poets should study this book to learn exactly how Hass creates his magic.

This book is as good as poetry gets. By all means, buy it.

I can't imagine having not read this beautiful volume of poems. Haas is a master. His poems are holygraphic. You end up being inside them! What he does with time and space is unequaled in all of poetry. No, I'm not his mother! I'm just a totally awed reader who thinks great poetry is one of the hardest things in the world to write. Praise be to Praise!

Once upon a time, I was a naive college freshman who felt that contemporary poetry just wasn't for me: I felt that I didn't "get" modern poetry and that I just couldn't relate to it. Then, one day, I read Robert Hass's poem "Meditation at Lagunitas," and I was like, "Oh!"

After that, there was no turning back.

My favorite poems in this sublime collection, besides "Meditation at Lagunitas," are "Heroic Simile" and "Against Botticelli." All three are poems in which Hass masterfully combines intellectual rigor, lucid expression, wistful romanticism, muted sensuality, and an almost Euclidean reverence for form, structure, symmetry, and recursion.

Former Poet Laureate Robert Hass has created lyrical mastery- with a decidely Californian touch- in 1979's "Praise", the writers second volume of poetry. The book is most certainly a wildly rich, fufilling journey into what may be an admirable ideal structure. Hass uses lilting, engrossing language, wisping by like a breeze but with all of the intensity of the view through which he looks upon his powerful and immense subject matter. Of particular note is "Meditation at Lagunitas", a beautiful soliloquoy that may be the finest and most languid of our American poetic voices.

This is an easy-to-read book about being caught inside on a nasty day. My 1st grader read this book to the family on a cold, nasty February Saturday morning. It was a great "text-to-text" connection to have a book about being trapped inside on a weekend morning--we could totally identify. And later, the book inspired my kids to make their own couch-cushions fort instead of complaining about being bored!

The Henry and Mudge books are such a wonderful series. The charming water color and ink pictures--and the realistic kid adventures--create an engaging experience for early readers. The author does an almost magical job relaying the fears, temptations and ambitions of childhood. Also, many kids can identify with Henry's passionate love for his big dog, Mudge. Plus, this series will appeal to both boys and girls.

The series is at the 1st grade reading level. This book is a "chapter" book (not a "baby" book) with 3 Chapters, and about 40 pages of half text, half artwork. (Just to give you an idea of the reading level, the Henry and Mudge books are easier than Magic Tree House, but harder than the advanced Bob books.)

Note: you might want to purchase Henry And Mudge First Book before this book or with this book. It introduces the characters used in the rest of the series.

Enjoy!
P. Gould, co-author of Feeding the Kids: The Flexible, No-Battles, Healthy Eating System for the Whole Family (Fork and Spoon Field Guides) (Fork and Spoon Field Guides)

I really like this book--how the parents think that Henry is important enough for their time and energy, how they eat pizza, how the dog just chews a boot and is a sweet, goofy dog. Rylant captures "real" family life and the importance of our kids, and I thank her for that.

I love the story line. A family working together on a yukky weekend minus the TV to do something fun. I esp. loved the picture of mom sitting at the table reading the paper while dad and son were building the castle in the basement. My kindergartener loved it! We will definitely read more of these books!

Our names are Luisa, Casey, Tom, Joshua, Tim, Megan, Alex, and Janae. We read Henry and Mudge and the Long Weekend. Here is our summary of the book: Henry and Mudge got up one Saturday Morning in February and looked outside. The weather was disgusting. They couldn't go outside and there was nothing to do. Everything was boring to Henry and Mudge. They were so bored that Henry and Mudge went to sleep on the couch with Dad. Henry's mother had the idea to make a castle out of the big refrigerator and stove boxes. Henry, Mom, and Dad started making the castle. Mom drew, Dad cut, Henry stapled, and Mudge chewed an old boot. The family woke up the next morning and started to work on the castle. Mom read the newspaper and drank coffee. Henry and his father finished the castle. They showed it to Mom. It looked nice. It looked like a real castle. Mom, Dad, Henry, and Mudge had a good weekend!

I first read this one in 1982 and have returned to it time and again. I, like a couple of other reviewers, cannot understand why this book has not recieved more attention. It is well written, funny, informative and just simply fun to read. It is a collection of tales, stories, or what have you, of the western portion of our country. The author has wonderful insight and certainly knows his subject. I cannot think of a page of this work I did not absolutely enjoy. Highly recommend this one.

I first read this book in the mid-1980s, and have been a huge fan of it ever since. It was out of print from a long time after the original publisher, North Point Press, went out of business. I am delighted that it is now available once more. It deserves to be read by anyone interested in the American West.

This is a wide-ranging book that deals with many aspect of the American West in general and the desert areas in particular. Schultheis is a gifted writer, and has a knack not only for telling a good tale but also for turning a wonderful line. He is highly attuned to the remarkable and the humorous in almost every situation, and the book is a marvelous blend of the unexpected, the reflective, and the funny.

My favorite moment might be an occasion he recounts of visiting a store in Navajo territory. While in the store, an elderly Navajo stumbles up to him and says, apropos of nothing, "Hey, I hear that Elvis died," in a tone that almost suggests the Schultheis and The King were lifelong pals. After replying, that yes, Elvis had died and that he had evidently been pretty sick, the Navajo, ignoring what Schultheis had said, continues, "Yeah, Elvis and Hitler, two of your greatest leaders, dead." (I am quoting this story from memory, so don't call me to task for specific inaccuracies.)

This is a book filled with many wonderful and marvelous moments. I would heartily urge anyone with an interest in literature about the American West or the desert to read it as soon as possible.

A cousin tipped me off to this little known masterpiece, which consists of a short, well-written series of anecdotes and tales about the West. An expert in verbal imagery, Schultheis takes you gambling at Native American pow-wow, canyon ratting in Utah, meeting a jack rabbit who lures motorcyclists to their doom, and other esoteric topics with equal aplomb.

His best tale, and the one you won't forget, is the last in order, a fictional episode during the next great Western drought, when the xerothermic climate brings disaster west of the Mississippi.

Schultheis is very readable, and each essay is thought-provoking. I predict you will enjoy this wonderful book. As the previous reviewer cautions, however, loan it out at your own risk.

Rob's imagery and cutting edge mind put him up there with the best - I like him better than the proverbial Ed Abbey (Rob's a little more cerebral). I'm an avid reader of anything to do with the desert Southwest (and West), as well as a desert rat myself, and I was hard put to find anything I'd read to date that was this good. You won't be disappointed with this book - buy an extra for your friends, because they'll "borrow" it and never return it (I've now bought 3 of them and can't find my latest copy...hmmm, now that I think of it, I suspect it went to Hawaii with a friend...)

Arthur Machen, master of the macabre, created something a little bit different in this book. Coming from a childhood background that left him lonely and prone to living in imaginative worlds himself, the main character here is exactly the same. Lucien Taylor, unable to attend Oxford because of a lack of money, "lives" in his father's library. He is particularly attracted to ancient history and magic and hopes to become a writer. This hope is crushed, however, and, with the help of Annie Morgan, a woman who loves him, he escapes into an imaginary world of ancient times. There he remains, totally self-absorbed (to the chagrin of Annie), until he is jolted back to reality after receiving a small legacy. He then becomes an opium addict, which causes his death. Machen captures the moods of his characters perfectly, and this is the best of his books.

Arthur Machen, one of the 20th Century's most talented writers of supernatural horror fiction, wrote Hill of Dreams, his autobiographic novel, in 1922. The novel concerns a gifted young writer, Lucien Taylor, whose calling to write great (not just good) works of literature dooms him to self-destruction.

The novel follows Lucien's life from boyhood until his mid-twenties. Lucien grows up in a rural village in Wales near the ruins of an ancient Roman fortress (Machen himself grew up in Caerleon, Wales near the ruins of the Roman citadel, Isca Silurum). While exploring these ruins, Lucien undergoes a mystical awakening and becomes fascinated with ancient Roman culture, paganism and the supernatural. His imagination is so captured, it is only a matter of time until he starts to write fiction with supernatural and pagan themes.

While still in his teens, Lucien sends a manuscript to a publishing firm. The publisher rejects the manuscript. A few months later, Lucien purchases a newly-published novel which contains entire chapters lifted from his "rejected" manuscript. Saddened and angered, Lucien again wanders to the Roman ruins. There, he happens to meet a neighbor girl and has a sexual encounter which he associates with the fauns and nymphs of Roman mythology.

Lucien's imagination is so active that the border between reality and fantasy is sometimes blurred. In an effort to reach new heights of imagination and expression, Lucien begins to induce mystic experiences and trances. He dabbles in the occult, engages in masochistic rituals and starves himself to induce visions. His neighbors and relatives notice the changes in Lucien and encourage him to eat, to get plenty of rest, to give up writing and to pursue a real occupation.

Unexpectedly, Lucien receives an inheritance which enables him to move to London and devote himself to writing full time. By this time, Lucien is caught in a downward spiral of increasingly disturbing visions, induced by a number of unhealthy methods. He manages to completely erase the border between fantasy and reality, but ironically, he has so disabled himself that he can no longer write coherently.

Machen's story reads almost like poetry and is told in an artful, subtle fashion. The imagery of the first chapter is indescribably beautiful. The final four chapters, detailing his character's descent into insanity, are vivid and horrific. Machen describes the final sensations of a dying brain so vividly and in such detail that I cannot help but wonder how close Machen came to the same fate. Hill of Dreams is among the finest portrayals of the self-destructive artist, ranking with Coleridge's Kubla Khan, Mann's Doctor Faustus and Berlioz's Symphonie Fantasique. Through repeated allusions to Poe, Coleridge and DeQuincey, Machen pays tribute to other great writers who have tried the same path to greatness. Although Machen has achieved cult icon status (due, in part, to his role in the creation of the Angel of Mons legend), he is underrated as an author. I am greatly impressed with all of his works that I've read thus far. Hill of Dreams is the most impressive of his works.

Arthur Machen is better known for his "horror" tales such as "The Great God Pan". However, there is more to Machen that that. Machen believed in a quality of literature (and life) that cannot be pinned down - a sort of magic.

When he first came to London from rural Wales in the late 1800s, he was involved in fin-de-siecle "magic" circles - such as The Order of the Golden Dawn. He translated "fantastic" tales and in works like "The Great God Pan" created his own vision of them. However, like Harold Bloom today, he was perhaps at his best when he wrote about literature, and he did this is three forms: directly, in "Hieroglyphics", autobiographically in "Far Off Things" and "Things Near and Far", and in a fictionalized manner in "The Hill of Dreams".

The Hill of Dreams is about a young writer from the country who goes to London and wanders its streets looking for inspiration, but finds himself caught up in the city's past and becomes alienated from those around him. It is like a Peter Ackroyd novel set from 100 years ago. There is also a magic there that is all Machen's own.

Machen is a writer worth getting to know, particularly in the books mentioned above. In the end, though, "The Hill of Dreams" is his masterpiece.

"The Hill of Dreams" is arguably Machen's finest work, and that is saying something. While there is definitely a story and most especially interesting characterization, the star feature of this jewel of a novel is Machen's rich descriptive prose, virtually prose poetry. It possesses exactly the dreamlike quality the story demands, and becomes a dream itself, a vision of rural beauty, into which the reader may enter. The lush prose, which seems to be supporting the story as a river supports and carries a boat, is eventually seen to have been a necessary tool, and all the elements of story-telling come together at the finale to round off a work of terrible beauty.

This book is very good in that it gives the buyer several options to use in buying a new car, and explans all the methods in detail. I ended up paying dealer invoice for my new car.

This book was by far the most valuable one I purchased while I was car hunting. I would reccommend it to anyone who has either no experience or overwhelming exeperience with buying cars, and to read it before they buy their next one. A little dated, but a short read with nothing but the facts you need.

My sister bought this book and saved several hundred dollars at a dealership in Canada and then suggested I buy this book. I bought a Saturn, no haggling, BUT I did learn A LOT about buying a car. There were a few things that I was able to save money on even though it was a Saturn. I have suggested this book to a clerk at Geico and even the person I am dealing with by e-mail in the Customer service dept. at SATURN. The book answers a lot of common sense questions and lets you know about things I NEVER would have thought to ask about. If you are going to buy a car...buy this book first and study it!!!

This is an excellent book - very easy to read and understand. I was amazed at the tricks that salesmen pull and found the advice very helpful. I lent this book to a friend buying a new car and he saved $200 off what he thought was going to be his best deal.

The psychological and social class undercurrents of life aboard a "Ship of the Line" at the end of the golden age of British domination of the seas is the core of this facinating trilogy. William Golding is the Nobel winning author who is best known for his first book, Lord of the Flies. His literary plunge into the depths of the age of sail during the Napoleonic wars has the same claustophobic tension of this earlier work. Told primarily in the first person, it is a voyage of self discovery of a member of the 'lower' aristocracy as he makes the long trip from England to Australia. During his voyage he is forced to question long held social, political, and personal values. Golding's ability to chart the change of his main character's pompous and self righteous view of the world to a more open and sensitive one is the internal beauty of this trilogy. I highly recommend it.

This is a fabulous, detailed and completely engrossing tale of the sea - the ships, her men and the challenges they faced as they battled weather, currents, illness and all that time and chance threw at them.

This is written in a fairly old fashioned style, which requires some attention to the writing (this is not a quick and easy summer read), but for those who loved Hormblower and the other great sagas of the sea, this is a fabulous addition to your library.

When you read this you can taste the sea spray and feel the rocking of the boat. You will become quite engrossed with the characters and their adventures, and by the end will feel that it was indeed a satisfactory use of your time, and well worth the purchase price.

This writer is excellent. A little difficult to read, due to "old fashioned" language used. A good insight to ocean travel in early days. Was an excellent "Masterpiece Theater" presentation on PBS! Reading the book just fills in the blanks.

I was completely caught up in this saga of a sorry ship and its haughty, pretty much unlikable main character.
It's unusual to somehow care about a person who for most of the story is an unsympathetic snob, yet one who makes the reader root for his redemption. Would it ever happen? The book is long, but fascinating.
I guess it helped to have seen the TV version (a totally accurate rendition of the book) as I had visual images of all the characters.

We got a copy of this book in the early '90's, and it has some excellent, tasty, easy-to-prepare recipes. I'm buying another copy to replace the original, because we've literally worn it out from use. An excellent resource.

First, Thank You Amazon for your speedy delivery. I had this book in 3 days.
I purchased this book not to become a vegetarian but to learn to cook healthier foods. I must say that after reading and trying the recipes Lyndsay and Ariane did a wonderful job. This book actually informs the reader on the health benefits of a more natural diet using whole grains and more fruits and vegetables. They do not say you have to be a vegetarian they just give you information and guidelines for a healthier lifestyle.
If anyone has tried Vegetarian cookbooks before (as I have), and thrown them out because they were complicated with ingredients you can't find, try this book, I had almost everything in my kitchen already, there are no funky things to go out and find, and my sons (9 and 11) have decided they like soy milk better than regular milk. Best book I have ever purchase. Thanks goes to Lyndsay and Ariane.

I was pleasantly surprised at how the information was presented in this cookbook. The authors expressed their desire to create a cookbook that contained not only great recipes but also useful information presented in an interesting manner. They have succeeded. Although I am not a strict vegetarian, I can say that I am not much of a meat eater. This book has helped me with ideas on how to use meat substitutes in a way that is tempting even for my meat-eater husband. All I can say is Bon Appetit!

I have tried many of the recipes in this book and have enjoyed almost all of them. The writers seem as thou they enjoy cooking and eating the food they create, which makes it easy to follow. I have started using this recipe book more and more....wish all cookbooks were this easy for those of us who are terrible in the kitchen.

Donald Jack has created a rare thing, indeed, with this series of books that show the true human condition - that humor (and alcohol, apparently) is what makes the most horrible situations bearable. With the grimmest backdrop of the original WWI set of books - no mean feat, given that the series begins in the trenches - Jack keeps you in hysterics regardless, touching on semi-suicidal parachutes, dabbling with the wives of staff officers, baroque dentistry, pigeons, and other seemingly ludicrous subjects with grace, aplomb, and almost ritual silliness. When you throw historical accuracy in the mix as a bonus, well, it's a practically irresistible package. Poignant, incisive and wonderfully belly-laugh inducing.

My fav in the series of excellent historical fiction (the history is quite accurate, but it isn't the focus), it is full of ups and downs emotionally as well as aeronautically. The Bandy papers are very high on my list of great books since I came across them in my HS library in Carleton Place, Ontario (which could double for Beamington). Sad that so few Canadians are aware of these books. Guess it doens't fit with current trends.

If you are into undiscovered gems, check this series out. At least the first 6 books. Vol 7 was ok, 8 (Hitler vr. Me) was disappointing. Have not read the 9th yet.

I've read the entire Bandy series, and though they are all great, this is the best.

A fabulous ride from the first sentence, you will laugh out loud and excuse yourself from any shared reading room often. The characters are wonderfully written and I swear that no-one does drunken dialogue better than Donald Jack. I'm guessing he has some experience with drunkeness. In an observational role, of course.

Though an even more enjoyable read if you have an interest in vintage aviation or history, this books stands just fine on its own as a terrific work of humourous fiction.

Not to give anything away, but a wonderful meld of the usual comedic grace with a poignant touch of tragedy. You'll be laughing and crying and enjoying throughout.

I'm fortunate enough to have the entire series. It's a pity most are out of print now. This series would make an excellent BBC - style television series.