News and Media Books

What a joy to have a book not designed for tourists, but just for we who live, work and play in New York. It has all the info we need to access those neighborhoods we don't know as well as our own. I have used it every day since receiving it and don't leave home without it. It will be an annual purchase like Zagats from here on.

Spongebob is now the Hall Monitor. He is like a guard. So when a maniac is in Bikini Bottom, he helps out with Patrick, Unfortunately he is the maniac!

William Shakespeare's "Hamlet" is arguably the most famous play ever written in the English language; presenting the world with questions and characters that have been the subject of thespian and scholarly debate ever since the Prince of Denmark's first appearance on the stage of London's Globe Theatre. Probably written and first performed in 1601 (estimates vary between 1600 and 1602), the play draws on Saxo Grammaticus's late 12th/early 13th century chronicle "Gesta Danorum," which includes a popular legend with a similar plot centering around a prince named Amleth; as well as several more contemporaneous sources, primarily Francois de Belleforest's "Histoires Tragiques, Extraicts des Oeuvres Italiennes de Bandel" (1559-1580), which expands on the story told in the "Gesta Danorum," and a lost play known as the "Ur-Hamlet" (i.e., original "Hamlet"), sometimes also attributed to Shakespeare, but equally likely written by a different author a few decades earlier. Another work frequently cited in this context is 16th century playwright Thomas Kyd's "Spanish Tragedie."

Pursuant to Shakespeare's wishes and like all of his works, "Hamlet" was not immediately published, and the original manuscript did not survive. However, in the absence of copyright laws or other forms of protection of what today would be called the playwright's intellectual property rights, first bootleg copies (so-called quartos) based on transcripts made during or after performances began to appear in 1603. Yet, it would not be until 1623 - seven years after Shakespeare's 1616 death - that his former fellow actors John Hemmings and Henry Condell published 36 of his plays (including this one) in a collection known as the First Folio.

As no print version of any of Shakespeare's plays has a bona fide claim to its author's first-hand blessings, ever since the Bard's death the world is left with numerous questions about his characters' motivations and psychological makeup; first and foremost, in this particular case: who is this Prince of Denmark anyway, and what's driving him - is he a reluctant suicide or reluctant avenger? A Renaissance man? Wrecked by Freudian guilt? Genuinely mad, or merely putting on a clever act of deception? Or is he someone else entirely? - Indeed, we're even left in doubt as to what exactly it was that Shakespeare meant his characters to say, with all attendant interpretative consequences: Does the Prince wish for his "too too sullied" or his "too too solid" flesh to "melt, thaw, and resolve itself into a dew" in his first major soliloquy (Act I, Scene 2)? Does he really contemplate "the stamp of [that] one defect" which may fatally taint the perception of a man's other virtues, "be they as pure as grace," before meeting his father's ghost (I, 4)? Does Polonius, when sending Reynaldo on a spying mission after Laertes, refer to his scheme as "a fetch of wit" or "a fetch of warrant" (II, 1)? Do Hamlet's musings in "To be, or not to be" (III, 1) concern "enterprises of great pith and moment" or "of great pitch and moment," whose "currents turn awry and lose the name of action" by his doubts? Does or doesn't the sight of the Norwegian army while Hamlet is on his way to England (IV, 4) prompt him, who has so far failed to carry out his purpose, to reflect "How all occasions do inform against me," and conclude his soliloquy with the vow "from this time forth my thoughts be bloody or be nothing worth"?

How you answer any of these questions, and how you consequently view the play's characters, depends in no small part on the text you read. Like all Folger Shakespeare editions, this one is based on what the editors have deemed the "best early printed version," while allowing the reader a unique direct comparison of the available (reliable) versions by including a text essentially combining these versions, with unobtrusive markers characterizing those passages appearing only in one particular version. For "Hamlet," the editors eschewed the play's very first (1603) quarto, which was possibly compiled by a journeyman actor and whose inconsistencies with all subsequent versions (textually as well as plot-wise and even regarding character names) have caused it to be generally considered a "bad" quarto, in favor of the 1604 Second Quarto, which some even believe to be based on Shakespeare's own first draft of the play and which, in any event, while more extensive than the 1623 First Folio (in turn, thought by some to be closest to the version(s) actually produced on the Globe Theatre stage), boasts about as secure a claim of authenticity as the latter. In some instances, the text follows the Second Quarto (Q2) without visually alerting the reader to the differences vis-a-vis the First Folio (F1), thus compelling those more used to the latter version to seek out the extensive end notes to reassure themselves that (in the examples given above) it might indeed be "solid flesh," "warrant," and "pith and moment" (F1) instead of "sullied flesh," "wit," and "pitch and moment" (Q2). In other instances, however, the First Folio's language is given preference over that of the Second Quarto; while crucially, the text also includes all those passages *only* contained in the latter, including the "stamp of one defect" and "bloody thoughts" monologues, whose interpretation has such a direct bearing on many a reader's understanding of Hamlet's character.

The text is amplified by illustrations and annotations for those unfamiliar with 16th century English, scene-by-scene plot summaries, a short biography of Shakespeare, and introductory and concluding essays on this and the Bard's other plays and on Shakespearean theatre, as well as extensive suggestions for further reading, and a key to the play's most famous lines. While it is unlikely that after 400 years of debate any one version, be it in print, on stage or on screen, will be able to generate unanimous acceptance as the "definitive" rendition of this complex play, this is an excellent starting point for an in-depth excursion into the Prince of Denmark's world.

I got this for a gift for my great niece. She loves it so I bought more of the series.

It seems every hand tells the story of one's life; emotional experiences, accidents, health conditions and the list goes on. Being able to read the numerous unique lines in one's hand is a science called Handology. It's not like fortune telling or daily horoscopes (they're a waste of time) but an actual science based on the fact the brain closely communicates with the predominant hand (the hand having more nerve endings than any other part of the body). A couple of quick checks with the book and it identified an ongoing health problem I have, a profound emotional experience when I was growing up, and that I had a good back ;) I should warn some readings may be of a personal nature, so it's always a good idea for the one having his/her palm read to consult the book first, so that nothing too intensely personal will be shared inadvertently.

Handology is a neat book to have around and I recommend it.

When Sabrina wants to see the Crushing Oranges concert, she bribes Salem into babysitting her cousin, Ally. Ally pushes Salem into Sabrina's magical storybook. He gets stuck in the story until he meets a genie and asks him to take him to the rabbit hole. But the golden goose was overlapping Alice in Wonderland and Salem was stuck with the golden goose. Poor Salem! But Sabrina (as usual) came to the rescue. I thought this book was so cute. Salem once again has gotten himself into trouble, even though it was sort of Ally's fault. I highly recommend it!

Franklin D. Mitchell has written an extensive portrayal of the pugnacious relationship between President Harry Truman and the news media. Truman liked the media, especially when it provided the public with images that displayed his down-to-earth personality. But the president often lost his temper when the media became critical of his family, friends, and his domestic policies.

Mitchell recounts how the media played an important role during the Truman years between 1945-1953. He provides the reader with a chronological narrative in history. Mitchell reviews the 1948 election that resulted in the greatest presidential miscall in journalistic history. He also touches base with the rise of women and minorities in the media, and how the newsreel and photojournalism contributed to the Truman presidency.

The book is interesting and extensively detailed. Highly recommended for anyone interested in Harry Truman or political/presidential studies.

the book the haunted mansion is a very good book . it scarry for little kids but for big kids they would love like me.

This is an excellent book! I am currently a student in the Music for Healing and Transition Program, and this book perfectly dovetails with the classes. It describes in detail many topics needed to become a healing musician. I especially liked the chapter dealing with modal music and arrhythmic music. Also included are a CD and the sheet music to demonstrate the categories of music described in Ms. Benson's book. Anyone in the MHTP program needs to have this book!!

This collection of essays covers some of the key aspects of Buddhism in Cambodia today and their historical context. A really first class publication with reliable information not found elsewhere. The primary focus is on contemporary Cambodia. Well produced, well written, well priced. Highly recommended.