Signs Books

Like A Confederacy of Dunces to which it alludes, this book contains much New Orleans local interest and detail. Mr. Herman is very talented in the use of dialogue, and commands the reader's attention with descriptive prose, a discussion of contemporary issues through his talk show host protagonist and a surprise ending. I enjoyed this book very much, and look forward to Steve Herman's next novel.

This slender little roman a clef has everything you want in a mystery: a lost treasure; a murder; a dead man with the answers; a mysterious beauty with a secret; and of course, the reluctant and often naive narrator who finds himself in too deep with this unsavory lot.

Fans of Sherlock Holmes will recognize this late 20th-century version of the all-but-forgotten Sign of Four. This time the setting is the heat and sweat of New Orleans circa 1995, and faithful Dr. Watson has become a lonely, over-articulate innocent who hosts a local talk show.

The novel, with its wisps of old-world romanticism, revolves around the beautiful and mysterious woman trying to reclaim bits of her past as well as her father's lost riches. There's a pegleg, an eccentric stone-cold dead behind his desk, a Howard Stern sympathy homily and even an angry dwarf (yes, Stern and an angry dwarf!).

The storyline is puncuated at odd times by the narrator's on-air rants about society, economic issues and other injustices. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. In contrast are the delightful forays into New Orleans everyday life. At one point, the narrator talks about a restaurant or cafe and remembers what it USED to be called. Forget Fodder's: You can use Sign of Four as your map through the city.

I very much enjoyed this, and, I have many Sherlock Holmes CDs--all good, but this is very very good.

Timson is an able interpreter of these beloved tales. Each character has individuality and the overall tone is faithful to Conan Doyle. The musical interludes are used sparingly and effectivley lending a heightened sense of atmosphere. Naxos is to be commended for putting the entire Holmes canon before an admiring public in these fine new editions.

This is a very faithful rendering of this story! Right up on par with the movie starring Jeremy Brett.

Clive Merrison, as usual, gives us a lively interpretation of Holmes, and yet he captures some of his darker passions, too, running more of the spectrum of Holmes' emotional life than many of the actors who have portrayed him onscreen.

Williams gives us a warm Watson - the Everyman we can relate to - and shows us how he was frequently the calm eye in the center of the Holmes hurricane.

The story maturely explores Holmes' drug addiction, his misogyny, and something of his neurotic nature as revealed in the excruciating amount of importance he placed on solving his "little puzzles."

One unexpected gem was Brian Blessed's performance as Jonathan Small. His engaging read added much life to what can be a somewhat tedious part of the story: Jonathan Small's narrative of the history of the crimes being investigated and his revelation of who The Four are.

But best of all, this production gives us access to scenes of the budding romance between Watson and Mary Morstan which in the novel take place "off stage." These scenes are rather touching, actually, and add just the right flavor to counter-balance what is really a horrible little story of greed, murder, and the ease with which humans can be corrupted.

A fabulous treasure dogged by murder. A trans-racial oath of loyalty. A greedy major, a cannibal pigmy, and a peg-legged convict. Mix in a pig-headed police investigator and a brilliant-but-flawed amateur detective, and you have the makings of a first-class mystery.

Miss Mary Morstan, the recipient of yearly gifts of pearls from an anonymous benefactor, receives a summons declaring her a wronged woman and promising riches if she replies. She enlists the aid of Sherlock Holmes and Dr. John Watson, and finds herself in the middle of a locked-room murder mystery. If the mystery can only be solved, she will become the richest woman in England.

Holmes, in a virtuoso performance, solves the murder, finds the missing treasure, brings the killer to justice, and learns the strange tale of "The Four." Did I mention that Dr. Watson winds up married to Miss Morstan?

The format of this sequel to "A Study in Scarlet" follows basically the same pattern as the original Sherlock Holmes story. Holmes visits the scene of a baffling murder, draws amazing conclusions from his inspection of the scene, and relentlessly tracks down the villian, who then tells his story and turns out to be not such a bad guy after all.

I first read "Scarlet" and "Sign" as a pre-teenager, and they made an indelible impression on me. In my job I frequently visit murder scenes, and I believe that these two books are what have influenced me to perform inspections outside the crimescene tape.

Merrison once again gives an admirable rendition of Holmes, and Michael Williams turns in a creditable Watson. Brian Blessed is a treat as Jonathan Small. The radio play is enhanced by the fact that it gives greater attention to the Morstan-Watson romance than Conan Doyle did in the book. The BBC productions of the Holmes stories always seem to pay more attention to Watson's romances, and it works quite well to make the stories more enjoyable.

I just found this book and was fascinated by the fact that he does so much with so little. I spent a wonderful hour or so trying to track down the artists he is obviously referring to. Because he doesn't include them anywhere in the book, it's like a treasure hunt. The Edward Hopper references are obvious on the first and last page. There's Norman Rockwell (the older sign painter sitting and painting when we first meet him), Ansel Adams (a black and white of a mountain), Magritte (a billboard with clouds), and a nod to Georgia O'Keefe (the cattle skull). There appears to be a reference to Russell and/or Remington with the scene of the two main characters sitting at a campfire against a big sky, but I didn't get around to finding an actual painting since I was pressed for time. The whole situation of the book seems to refer to Andy Warhol and pop art/advertising, but I couldn't find a Warhol work that was specifically used. There are several illustrations that seem to have references (a bright magenta convertible with a blonde driving, a road leading into a stylized landscape, a huge structure of scaffolding, etc.) that I haven't been able to place, but I'm planning on having fun searching with my kids! My husband had fun seeing if he could place them also (not to mention the librarian who was helping me! One of the reasons I'm writing this review is so if others are looking for what the references are they can find a more complete list than I was able to find -- I hope others add their observations!).

The story itself is, like many other Allen Say books, somewhat autobiographical and dreamlike. Not your typical children's book at all. If you're looking for a neat way to give a wide age range of kids an introduction to 20th c. art (mostly American), this is great. They can comb through collections and say, "Hey! Look what I found! This is just like that picture when the boy..." Younger kids can just enjoy the story about a young painter who has to paint things he's not particularly interested in to make a living while he hopes to one day be able to paint what really moves him.

I'm considering using it for a homeschooled kids lit gathering we're a part of, having the older kids go out and hunt down the references (hopefully they'll find some of the ones I didn't!), and letting kids who want to draw their own version of a picture that pays homage to an artist whose work they themselves enjoy.

Wonderful story on many levels. Five stars.

This is a wonderful story about a young man's pursuit of his dream. The artwork is incredible. The author pays homage to many artists in this book - including Hopper, Rockwell, and O'Keefe to name a few. My sons - ages 7 and 9 both enjoyed it as did their classmates. I highly recommend it.

A crabby painter reads a historical book as he falls asleep and George Washington visits his dream. Washington inspires the painter to put "yankee inginuity" back into his personal and business life. Wonderful Illustrations and a new spin for American history or elementary school teachers for February!

The Sign Painter's Dream is a family favorite. We love the story and the illustrations. Also, it was a thrill to see this book featured on the Reading Rainbow!

This book is useful if you are into music for the deaf I also used this book for my hearing friends when I need a special song for the month to do myself. known songs

An excellent book for beginning signers who are interested in religious signs. This book has incorporated signing of simple songs, the story of Jesus and four scripture passages in less than 30 pages! The pictures are easy to follow even for children.

Tedd Arnold's books are great. My son and I have read "No More Jumping on the Bed", "No More Water in the Tub" and this one("The Signmaker's Assistant") many many times over. My son has a great sense of humor and I love to hear him laugh and laugh and laugh... and Tedd Arnold never fails to do that! Oh, and read it to your young ones, don't wait till they're 6 or 8 or whatever the recommended age is on these books(my son is not quite 4 yet) - they'll love it!

This is a story about Norman's tricks and the terrible things he did while the signmaker was gone. I liked the book because the things that Norman did were very funny. Norman was about eight or seven. I think he is eight just like me and that is one of the reasons I like this book. I recommend anyone to read this book if they enjoy funny things, jokes and having fun. I will tell you something this is a book for people 4-8.I also liked the pictures because they show exactly what the signs say.

All the books came in perfect condition and arrived so fast. My boss took a double take when he came in the office and saw them sitting on the shelf.

This is a helpful resource for Spanish-speaking families of hearing impaired kids who use Signing Exact English in school. It is a shortened version of Signing Exact English, containing only about one-fourth the number of signs in the comprehensive dictionary. Vocabulary words are indicated in both English and Spanish and a description of how to make the sign is written in Spanish. Words are grouped by category (parts of the body, animals, verbs, etc.). An English-Spanish and Spanish-English index helps locate words and signs quickly and easily.

The book would be helpful to teachers in selecting words for spelling lists. Words in the list could be written in both English and Spanish to aid Spanish-speaking parents in looking up the signs at home and then being able to work with and quiz their children on their spelling words.

Bruce Beasley has done what so few poets actually do: accomplish what they state their intentions to be. In mixing the scatological artwork of the 1990's with intense visionary threads from his life, the workds of others such as Flannery O'Conner, and theological ideas, Beasley creates a fine visionary volume of poetry. A volume that seems to be in constant dialogue with the art it is relating itself to and the poems themselves.

From seems to slide in and out as the poems shift between abstract throught and poetic reflection. An excellent book.

This book of poetry is for the reader who likes a challenge--who is willing to explore the sacred and the profane togetherunflinchingly as they emerge in art, scripture, and daily life. It isnot for the faint of stomach. Beasley explores contemporary issuessuch as the ... Christ, the male and female body, genetic cloning,and the return to form in poetry-- using langauge that is at timesdelicate and sensitive and others graphic and specific.

If you area risk taker, if you are at times meditative and at others fiercelyhungry to question assumptions-- this book is for you. Beasley is anintense questioner-- and he as a poet is constantly being transformedas a result. If you do not question, if you cannot accept paradox, ifyou cannot tolerate the blurring of the boundary between whatconstitutes a sign and what mutatates a sign into an abomination--then this book is not for you.

The opening poem is a meditiationon John the Baptist-- in many religious works of art, John the Baptiststands in the corner, looking intently towards the viewer of thepainting. While everyone else looks at the center of the scene-- beit Mary, Jesus, Joseph-- John the Baptist looks away. Beasley isfascinated with this apparent contradiction-- John the Baptist seemsto be saying, "look at me," inviting the viwer to make eyecontact-- but then also says, "Look away, I'm not what you aresupposed to be looking at."

This simultaneous invitation andrebuke frames the rest of the poems. We are invited to explore, tomeet the gaze of the mad prophet-- yet at the same time we arefrightened. We want to look at the images presented -- the ...Christ, the male female body, the virgin-- the way we have alwayslooked at them. To meet the invitation is to be transformed. We areseduced and then repelled as we realize what we are doing; then we areseduced again with Beasley's lyric intensity and fast furiouslanguage.

There are many interconnected themes in the rest of thepoems: of birth, of renewal, of life, of death. One of the moststriking poems is a mutated villanelle-- where the speaker of the poemmuses on the obsession of the mad scientist Seed who wants toimpregnate his wife Gloria with his DNA-- Beasley takes the tradional,obsessive form of the villanelle and lets it transform into a totallynew form. Whether the result is a mutation or transformation, a signor an abomination-- that lies with the reader.

Beasley is truly amaster poet-- he experiments with form, content, truth, sacrilege, andinpiration to give us a book that will push, invite, rebuke, andtransform the reader. END

I needed this book for research it was delivered before the date estimated. In great condition too.

I saw the Gee's Bend exhibit and was overwhelmed by the energy, the art, and the human story in those amazing quilts. They were so different from mainstream quilts, and I wanted to find out more about African American traditions in quilting. I stumbled over Signs & Symbols at my local library and loved it. It not only has wonderful photos of quilts, but delves into the symbols and artistic structure of the quilts and how they relate to traditional African art and symbols---with plenty of photos of African textiles, amulets, etc. I'm no expert in anthropology and ethnology, but I am familiar with academic research, and I think Wahlman has presented a wealth of fascinating and compelling evidence for the relationship.

The quilts are truly stunning, the quilting (not just the piecing) shows up well in many of the photos, and dimensions are given (which I'm delighted by---I can get a feel for the measurements of the patches and blocks). This book's quilts are informing my own quilts and will be for many years. In terms of influence on my work, I put Signs & Symbols in the same category with Liberated Quiltmaking (by Gwen Marston).

Be aware, this is not a how-to book. There are no projects, and no descriptions of how to make quilts. But if you like quilt books that are filled with beautiful old quilts, and want to immerse yourself in a different and entrancing quilting tradition, you'll love this book.