Commercials Books

This book was a gift for my husband who works for Delta. He really enjoyed the book.

The book is an easy read. It is well organized and flows logically. In addition, it has slightly larger type with plenty of white space for improved readability.

The author writes in a style similar to Peter Drucker, one of my favorite business writers. He expresses valuable key management points in a succinct, easy to understand way.

The author brings his vast consulting experience together to very effectively relate to the issues that Delta faced. His perspective is how Delta's leaders - 7 CEOs and their Board - dealt with those issues and the leadership lessons we can all learn from the decisions of those leaders.

From this leadership perspective, he chronicles the company history, starting with C.E. Woolman, founder of Delta and a great leader during the company's early decades. Nolan then graphically shows how the roots and a culture that caused a growing company to flourish and thrive were damaged or abandoned by later leaders, ultimately leading Delta into bankruptcy.

The points made regarding the agenda of some management consultants are right on target. They deserve serious consideration by any CEO, Board or executive.

The book is a valuable, textbook case study in how a great company can go awry when the leaders lose focus and depart from the values and culture that made it great.

Once nationally recognized as one of the finest major corporations in the United States to work for, this book provides an insight into how a great company was led astray by an unfortunate string of incompetent leaders. This book should be required reading for anyone asked to serve on a company's Board of Directors or as a CEO/President. Lessons learned should be the ability to recognize a pattern of poor decisions and take decisive action before it is too late.

With a sharp eye and a keen analytical pen, Harry Nolan holds up a chronological mirror for the reader so we can see the step-by-step erosion of this once-fine company. It's a shame that Delta didn't hire advisors with his insight when the cracks in the company's armor started to appear. Acknowledging current CEO Gerald Grinstein's efforts now to 'row the boat ashore', Nolan does not cut him any slack for his past omissions/commissions as a member of this infamous Board of Directors. WHERE WAS THE BOARD? is a question asked often throughout the book. This book should be required reading for every Director, present and future, of every company, to witness what can occur when the Board relinquishes its responsibilities as Delta's Board did. A gripping story...and it's non-fiction too!

What an awesome book. I am a Delta employee with 18+ years and this is the best book I have read regarding my company. Although the Leadership would have us "little people" believe Delta is in bankruptcy because of us, this book places the Responsibility right where it belongs, with the CEO and Board of Directors. Thank you Mr. Nolan for disclosing the real facts! Those of us on the inside can relate to your book. It should be required reading, but instead, management at Delta has a prepared script to refute the truth disclosed in the book.

Effortlessly The Golden Age of Advertising--The 50's combines a crash course in visual arts, history, sociology and business, and does it without you even knowing it's happening! Like the other titles in the series, volumes which cover the history of advertising in the 1970's and 1960's, this book throws out so many glorious advertisements it's like time traveling. See full color ads for cigarettes (Doctors recommend Camels for calm nerves!), alcohol, clothing, foods, appliances, cars, and more. See how fashion, hairstyles, the very thought patterns of we Americans, ourselves, have evolved from where we were at mid-century last. You can stare at the pages of this virtually word-less book for hours and still see things you missed the fist time. It's a real treat!

Massive, beautifully produced, and very insightful in it's appraisal of 1950's American consumerism, this tome is perhaps the best collection of 1950's advertising ever assembled. Tons of beautiful illustrations and (in some cases) graphic design that are now relics of the past. In my opinion, this book should only have been published in harcover, due to its weight and number of pages. Sadly the hardcover is impossible or nearly impossible to find, unless you go for the abridged version issued as "The Golden Age of Advertising- the 1950s." This whole series of books which now span most of the 20th century are a great reference, and an important documentation of American history in visual form.

We were recent house guests of a couple who have decorated some areas of their beautiful home with a 50's theme. We gave them this book as a thank you for hosting our family. It was a unique gift, and one they will enjoy for years.

Probably the best ad book I've ever seen! Worth every penny it costs and believe me, it doesn't cost THAT much - not for a book like this! I was born in the 50s (in Russia) and Russians wouldn't even dream (or didn't even hear!) of products which are in this book - advertised in the US in the 50s. I'm now waiting for my All-American Ads of the 60s to arrive from Amazon - I spent my childhood in the US in the 60s and I can't wait to meet my "good old friends" - the American products - as advertised in the 60s. I'm hoping to collect the whole series of these fabulous books. Thank you very much, Jim Heimann and Benedikt Taschen -the guys who made this wonderfull series possible. Alexander Romanov, Moscow, Russia.

I loved this book! As a child born in the mid-50's, many of these ads fortunately carried over to the 60's when I was both better able to comprehend as well as recall them. It was also nice showing the book to our children, as it gave them a glimpse into some of what our own childhood's were like. If anyone reading this wants to take a trip back to a simpler, safer, saner era, this book is your "Time Machine". All for around $25 bucks too!

what can I say?
If you read five or more of Terry's hilerious DiscWorld novels, and ever wanderd how MR. Pratchett imegained them, you will get more than your fair share in exchange to the 20$ this will cost you. Sam Vimes, Nobby, Carrot, Angue, Rincewind, Detritos, RIdiculy and his group of loony Wizards, Twoflower and Death (and manny more) will all get amazing and detailed paintings and sketchas. scatterd among the pages of the book are amusing and sometimes fasnating comments from Paul or Terry.

only little problam I had was the abscence os Gaspod- how could they everforget him? I'm sure he would have been really angry if he ever found out (He is, after all, the only talking dog in the world, he will be happy to explain)

Like every Discworld fan, I've always had in my mind a good idea of what the characters looked like. I pictured Ridcully as Brian Blessed, Vetenari as David Warner, Granny Weatherwax as either Judi Dentch or Maggie Smith, Lady Sybil as Dawn French, CMOT Dibbler as Eric Idle, and Vimes as Russell Crowe. This book doesn't present the characters exactly as I've pictured them, but it's not far off and what it shows is certainly great!

Consider the picture of A'Tuin flying through space, or the picture of Granny Weatherwax smiling broadly. Look at Greebo, oozing feline malevolence (though too bad we didn't get a look at his human form, once described as being the sort of person who can commit sexual harrasment by sitting quietly in the other room).

All your favorite characters are here, and most of them are so well-done you can look at them and just KNOW who it is, without being told. Look at the totally gormless picture of Fred Colon, for example, or Carrot, looking quite noble... almost... regal...

Basically what it boils down to is that if you enjoyed, The Last Hero: A Discworld Fable you'll like this book. There's no story, just some lovely artwork. A definate must-own for any Discworld fan!

This book is a collection of Artist Paul Kidby's illustrations of the various characters in Terry Pratchett' Discworld. And boy howdy, what a good job he does. Personal favorites of mine are the picture of Discworld on the back of the elephants on the back of the turtle swimming through space!! Kidby gets it perfect! I am also very fond of his pictures of DEATH.. one of my favorite characters in the series.

If you are fond of the series, I highly recommend this book! I would also suggest that you check out The Last Hero: A Discworld Fable, which also features the art of Paul Kidby.

All the best,

Jay

"The Art of Discworld" is a beautiful collection of images by Paul Kidby - some are pen and pencil essays, others are more advanced sketches and many form completed paintings. They are grouped by theme and portray the Discworld itself, several landscapes (Ankh-Morpork, Lancre, Überwald...) and buildings (Unseen University, several Guilds, Night Watch HQ...) and almost every named character in the Discworld universe. In addition, Terry Pratchett adds interesting, lengthy comments on characters, how they came to be and his opinion on Paul Kidby's view of them.

There are a couple of inexplicable omissions (for instance, Magrat Garlick is barely shown in the background of a picture, even though she is mentioned repeatedly in the accompanying text) and several images have already been featured elsewhere (e.g. several book covers, the Mapps,the Calendars).

Finally, the illustrations and the text correspond to the Discworld situation as it was by 2006, which means there are some serious SPOILERS in the text for those who haven't read the corresponding books.

Overall, this is an absolute MUST for any serious Discworld fan. It's gorgeous to look at, interesting to read and at times hysterically funny like only something written by Terry Pratchett can be.

I would say that the art depicting the various characters of Discworld looks exactly like I had imagined them. This is a wonderful book that I highly recommend if you are a Discworld fan. The only thing missing in this book is a depiction of Sybil, Vime's wife. I would liked to have seen her included in "The Art of Discworld". All in all, an excellent Discworld resource for the Discworld fan!

The book has an excellent selection of art from the Noir period. I love every single page better than the last!

"The Art of Noir" is a big, beautiful book of 338 posters and lobby cards for crime films 1940-1960, plus a handful of later films. All the film noir greats are here, from A-list films to Poverty Row, though not every film represented is strictly "noir". "The Art of Noir" is 14 1/4" x 10 1/8" -too big even for oversized book shelves- but the results are stunning: Hundreds of full-page posters in bold, eye-popping color, along with a handful of 2-page spreads and some 2-to-a-page layouts. I could not overstate how great these posters look, and author Eddie Muller has made them more fascinating with informative captions and short essays. Each poster is captioned with the film's title, year, and studio, the size of the original poster, a brief analysis of the poster's style, and a little about the film.

The posters are divided into six chapters, each with an introduction by Muller. Chapter 1 introduces us to the distinctive styles of different Hollywood studios. Chapter 2 takes us on a tour of film noir poster art around the world, with examples and explanations of how artists abroad altered or redesigned the posters for their markets. Chapter 3 focuses on thematic and iconographic elements in the posters. The icons are guns, racy women, and automobiles. The themes include bad cops, private eyes, and femmes fatales, among others. Chapter 4 showcases posters that feature the prominent stars of film noir, 9 actors and 9 actresses, with an introductory essay for each. The art of Chapter 6 is organized by writer -not only the famed Hammett, Chandler, and Cain, but also prominent noir screenwriters. Chapter 6 features the films of prominent noir directors and cinematographer John Alton.

American and international posters are featured throughout the book. I had not seen foreign film noir posters before, and scrutinizing the posters and comparing the styles turned out to be a source of nearly endless fascination. Foreign artists departed from the bold color and lurid poses of American posters but created art from their own culture's perspective that is no less striking. "The Art of Noir" will absorb fans of film noir or poster art for hours. I am reviewing the hardback edition of the book, so I cannot comment on the reproduction quality in the paperback edition. But the color and sharpness in the hardback are excellent, on slick, white paper. This is Eddie Muller's best book yet.

This book is a must for all film lovers. It contains the most complete collection of film noir posters anywhere. And since the book is "cofee-table" size, the posters are big enough that you can appreciate even the smallest details. The text is also very interesting, giving a short but insightful review of each film. Get this book now!!!!

Film noir is a fascinating field with a deserved faithful and ever widening audience. Eddie Muller scored impressively with "Dark City Dames," a study of the women of film noir with intimate portraits of such notables as Jane Greer, Marie Windsor and Ann Savage.

Muller returns to a familiar theme here and achieves mightily in two respects, with glossy pictures which practically jump off the page at you, giving one a feel for time and place, as well as being a part of the scene, along with a text providing valuable information on the memorable films being showcased.

San Franciscan Muller is one of the genuine authorities of the genre. He has a real feel for the world of darkness beset by flashing neon lights, smoke-filled bars, detectives in trench coats, and dangerous women.

A feast for the eyes! Gorgeous NOIR poster repros and interesting factoids highlight this weighty tome. Fans will swoon, and the casual viewer will have his/her interest tweaked. As a NOIR poster/lobby card collector, this book is an essential library addition, because I need to occasionally check out pictures of posters I'll sadly never be able to afford(!)

Much has been written about the late, great, Pennsylvania Station, and yet it can never be too much. This landmark should be standing today, with it's pink granite shinning in the sun, and being a becon in cloudy weather. In the 1960's, in many other cities their grand "Union Stations" were being sectioned off and abandonded, some are still standing as ruins today, this is part of the irony of Penn Station's demise, even in the 1960's there were hundreds of passenger trains using the facility daily, and this number has been climbing since.

The author gives us all the facts and figures about this station, from it's planning, short life, and needless destruction. However she also paints the human picture of this building, and in doing so lets us understand how the public allowed this building to slip away.

The opening of Penn Station was celebrated during the final years of the Gilded Age, acted as shelter to thousands during the Great Depression, and it served as a virtual military base during the WW II years.
To the multitudes of returning vets, and their famalies, the railroads and Penn Station represented the past, and times that they all would rather forget. Remember back then there was not the mental health counselling available to the returning soldiers, and one way they coped was to simply forget the past, and all that it contained.

In this book we see that the stations fate was sealed with VJ Day, and the social changes that started to take shape with WW II's end.
By the 1950's, Airplanes and Interstate Highways were in, Railroads were out. Yet at least in the NYC area, commuter trains still played an important role that never went away. The beautiful building was allowed to decay, and was altered by a private company without any accontability required to the public.

By the early 1960's some of the public finally woke up, and NYC's Landmark Preservation Committee was formed, by it was too late for the "Temple of Transportation".

This book also contains an excellent compliment of photos, including a number from the 4 year, yes, four year period it took to destroy the station.

Ken

Very good book which takes into account the historical background of why Penn Station was built in the first place right through to its destruction. A tragic loss not only for New Yorkers but for America and this book describes it well.

I was barely seven years old when old Penn Station was torn down, but I remember the sadness and outrage of my neighbors in Brooklyn. I had only been to the station once or twice but I was too young to remember. I didn't really understand the big fuss about its destruction. And after it was gone, I don't remember there being too much grieving.

Now looking back, through films and books, I understand what it was all about. "The Late, Great Pennsylvania Station" by Lorraine B. Diehl is the best book on the subject that I've come across. Her analysis of the rise and fall of McKim's great station is both awe-inspiring and heart-breaking. The smattering of beautiful photographs is a plus, as well. Penn Station's demise, of course, could be regarded solely as a loss for the city but, as Ms. Diehl explains, the real legacy of the destruction was the enormous preservation/conservation movement that followed. In the aftermath, so many other buildings were spared a similar fate.

There are those who say that the people behind Penn Station's demolition were justified (Ms. Diehl rightly avoids villifying anyone). The apologists for the destruction claim that Penn Station was too big, in the wrong place, and was in the red. The Empire State Building was erected ten blocks south of the midtown business area and three miles north of the Wall Street district. It was a very big building and rarely had over 50% occupancy until the 1950s, when it finally began earning money. Should it have been knocked down too?

Mr. Mark S. Jendrysik is from North Dakota. What in the world would he know or care about New York City? Judging by his past reviews, he is a big business apologist in a square state in the middle of nowhere.

A native New Yorker myself, I could not imagine my city without Grand Central, for instance, or SoHo, Central Park or the historic area of Chelsea and the West Village. Some things are worth preserving.

This book is facinating and so well written, I really could not put it down, the author has a real sence for the history and importance of the building, I agree it could have used more visuals, but that is a minor quibble and really does not take away from the merit of the book. I must take some exception to the review of Mr. Jendrysic, in all due respect he misses the point totally of perservation when he says the building was a white elephant that was in the wrong place and in the red, that may have all been true, but in those cases you find other uses for the building, like Paris did with the Orsay train station and the colossel Louvre as well as Versailles, I mean would you call for the pulling down of Versailles??? and the Orsey Museum is spectacular. This was not just any building, this was a masterpiece a true treasure, that could have been coverted to other uses, buildings of this quality should be persevered, period, not torn down like some 50's tract house. I highly recommend this book in everyway, if you have any interest in great buildings or just wonderful books quite frankly, then you will not be disappointed in this book, you are right about one think Mr. Jendrysic this book is first rate.

I am a 29 year old that used to love to draw, and have wanted to get back into it, but needed a place to start, and some help along the way. I found this book, and it's one of the best books that I could find about drawing, and probably the best Manga drawing guide out there. It covers everything that you could ever imagine about the genre of manga art. It's detailed history on Manga, it's artists, and the step by step instructions are like nothing I have ran into. I plan on using it just for the fun of drawing again, and putting together my own graphic novel. If you're looking to improve your skills, want to know how to market yourself, or just want to brush up on your art skills while learning Manga at the same time, I highly reccommend this book.

I purchased this because I was a dummy with regards to drawing in general, and for some reason got a "wild hair" to try and draw manga. After looking at other how-to books, this seemed the most basic and I have learned to trust the dummies series.

In no time flat I was drawing faces and having fun. I spent my free time over the next few weeks going through the book advancing through the techniques. What I found is that nothing is impossible and I was able to draw Manga characters.

The author does a very good job at starting at ground zero, and giving very basic steps that you can replicate to produce decent results. He covers a wide array of topics that give you the tools you need.

Start with a head, then do eyes, nose, mouth, ears, and hair. Step by step you work through each of these either doing advanced drawing with a lot of detail or more cartoony features with less detail. After the head is done he moves to the body - first basic layout, then more detail to create a full body, and then add clothes. All of this in a patient step-by-step manner that makes it achievable - for a dummy like me!

Finally when you are able to draw a character, you have a lot more to consider: what other characters are there? How big is he compared to others? how do i draw landscapes, cities, or space ships? The author walks through these types of topics and more to give you a basic understanding of what you need to do if you want to draw a manga page.

In addition to all this, he covers the basics of drawing, for instance, what tools do you need to draw (a pencil and piece of paper), or ink, or draw a full manga page, or publish a full manga magazine.

I purchased this book based on experiance of using the " For Dummies Series" in the past. The book does a good job on creating heads, bodies, and the differences in male/female. I had great results with those lessons. It does get brief in the areas for eyes, noses (especially front view), and mouths. Overall this book is a great book and I would recommend it to anyone interested in learning the Manga style of drawing or to expand their current drawing abilities.

You may not be the greatest manga artist, but you WILL have the confidence to start.

I bought this book for my 17-year old stepson who always loves manga. He is very excited to have this book that can teach him Manga from very basic stuff to the leve he can draw himself.
Ths shipping is very fast although I chose free-shipping for order 25$, it arrived in a week.

I love Amazon!

I was extremely happy with the service I receivec. I requested that this book be sent to the county jail, via Overnight Mail, for my son, and it wzs received the next day. Time was of the essence and you delivered. I can't rate the book myself, because it was not for me. I would definitely use Amazon.com again.

I have been admiring and studying the Art of Boris Valejio since 1988. This is a collection of Art (late 1970s-mid 1980s) from his career PEAK. Details and tones duplicated from a MASTER Painter. If you buy ONE collection of Boris's fantastic Art, IT MUST BE MIRAGE...

There are some beautiful pencil renderings with precision use of the eraser to bring his sketches to life. An added bonus to pages of glorious full color women and men in the god-like exploitation of the human form.

I'm a long-time Boris fan. I actually own this in hardback, purchased over twenty years ago. It still is one of my favorite art books even after two decades.

Okay, why "Mirage" and not some other Boris book? This isn't a just some anthology of book covers. Quite simply, it has the finest collection of sensual fantasy art I've seen. I say sensual and not erotic because there is a difference. Boris paints lots of skin in this collection... plenty of gorgeous female pulchritude, but it keeps to the tasteful side lecherous. Oh, there are a couple of male figures as well, and they're just as well executed as his females, so you can't fault him there, either.

But don't think this is a series of illustrations with some poetry (by the artist's then-wife) thrown in to justify a book full of nudes. There's always a heavy element of high (or sometimes low) fantasy in every scene... that's fantasy as in mythic, not fantasy as in Penthouse Letters, even though Bob Guccione would have jumped at the opportunity to have any of these women grace the pages of his magazine. And to the surprise of some, there are several very humorous images as well.

Yet there is some truly incredible art in this collection as well. There is one painting of a triton and mermaid... uh... "disporting" themselves underwater that still stands out after twenty-plus years as one of my favorite pieces of art regardless of style, genre or medium. That's saying something.

If you find nudity objectionable, skip this book... you'll never get past all the skin to see the art behind it. Some of the images are slightly disturbing. Some are what I'd consider "filler" to add volume to the book, not as appealing or creative as many of the others. Yet there are some that are simply stunning... breathtaking in color, style and subject, and that makes up for any weaknesses the rest might suffer.

And as I mentioned, there is poetry included as well, contributed by Boris' wife (before Julie Bell). As far as open verse goes, she does respectably well. Some of the poems are rather forgettable, but others may appeal to the individual reader. I like Dylan Thomas and a few other modern poets who use free verse, so the style doesn't bother me a bit. Still, on the whole, the art is why I got the book, not the poetry.

If you want art by daVinci and verse by Tennyson, save your money... you'll be disappointed. Personally, I enjoy art by Boris and poems by Doris just as well.

Overall, an incredible collection well worth the acquiring.

This book collects a series of Boris' paintings, plus a few very detailed pencil drawings, done between 1979 and 1982. If you're not already familiar with Boris' work - well, you probably are whether you know it or not. He has done years work of book covers for Edgar Rice Burroughs, as well as reams of posters. The one constant through all his work is passion for the human form and human power, both male and female.

These paintings range from the lush and sensual to humorous or macabre. A hookah come to life has a demonic presence, but a bar of soap come to life (and licking the bather) is more charming and a little silly. Even the simplest pictures have overtones - that bather is truly a beautiful woman, leaving me just a little envious of such close contact. Maybe not envious either, but off in thoughts of my own. And the preface is right, 'erotic' is much too simple a word for all the different feelings and combinations of feelings that come from having or holding a strong, healthy body.

My only complaint is a sameness in the female figures presented. The faces are beautiful, long and elegant, but mostly the same. The figures - the one figure, really is beautiful, but I value the uniqueness of a figure and the differences between figures. Cloning can serve a narrative purpose, certainly, but sameness wears. Even the loveliness of Danielle Anjou, acknowledged as a principal model and collaborator, wears.

Boris is the master of the figure in fantasy art, and has been for many years. This is a great sample from an earlier time in his career. It's almost impossible not to like.

//wiredweird

If you are a fan of Boris Vallejo, or are thinking about buying a book of fantasy art -- this book should be the first one you buy. This is an absolute must-have for any art book collection, fantasy art or otherwise. Of all of Boris Vallejo's work to date -- this book by far has all his best art.

Boris Vallejo is by far the best fantasy artist EVER! His 1970s and 1980s art is by far much better than his current work, as is evident from the Mirage book. The figures/subjects in his early work in the Mirage book look like they actually belong in the painted scene. Many other fantasy artists draw subjects in scenes that look like models posing for a painting -- and look really stiff like cardboard. Boris meshes the scenes perfectly and transports you into another world with his vivid depictions of fantasy characters.

I recommend buying Boris Vallejo books in the following order:
1) Mirage
2) Fantasy Art Techniques -- buy it even if you're not an artist.
3) Enchantment
4) Dreams
5) Sketchbook

Verdict: Buy it!
Reviewed by Harrison Chua.

Judith Dupre's book is a keeper, a volume to be read and treasured for generations. It's for those with a relative who fought in World War II, and those who have visited Gettysburg, seen the Liberty Bell and marveled at Mount Rushmore.
Ms. Dupre infuses major historical events with glowing new life. She fills her pages with interesting facts and profound truths, explaining, for instance, why the triumphant Indian Americans were not commemorated in the first 120 years after the Little Bighorn Battle in Montana. Other battles -- from Gettysburg, World War II, Korea -- yield important cemeteries. Ms. Dupre's presentations range from the familiar (Statue of Liberty) to the unfathomable (Saint-Gaudens's monument to Clover Adams in Washington's Rock Creek Cemetery.) In a book that easily stirs emotions her description of New York City prisoners burying the unclaimed bodies of convicts at Hart Island ("the marginalized are interred by the marginalized with dignity") is especially poignant.
The book will be valued by those with connections to these sacred sites, but it belongs in the collections of all who are tuned into American history.

Bravo! MUCH MORE than a "coffee table" book! Dupré's thoroughly researched and cogently presented text outshines the fascinating graphics. "Monuments" taught me more than I had intended to learn about the subject, and made me realize memorials talk about history in an unique way. I would recommend this book to any and all readers, especially those interested in getting a new and intriguing take on presidential and military history.

What impressed me of this work is how well it was researched. It has many side stories. Names and dates are carefully reported. The linkages to similar memorials or concepts are included in shaded boxes as ancillary threads. Was also impressed on the timeline, that reveals how the event that is memorialized eventually came into fruition of an actual memorial.

My only criticism is not clarifying the geographical location of the monument (it assumes the reader knows where it is).

The bonus is including ample space on the mass-conscious inpromptu memorials, such as leaving teddy bears, flowers, notes on the side of a tragedy or catastrophic event. I would add to that the silent and passive solitary memorials left by people along roadsides, memorializing a traffic accident. Or even the placement of a geocache, a box in the woods containing a logbook, such as the one in Western Pennsylvania in remembrance of two teenagers killed ["In Memory Of Clairenda and Loretta" GCQHZP]

On the discussion of people mourning by leaving items at places such as the Vietnam Memorial, Oklahoma City, Columbine, the author however missed to mention that the same people that visit such memorials can actually take an object that is laying there. The items left are considered as abbandoned property by the National Park Service for 30 days, and only thereafter picked up and inventorized into the national museum system. In the meantime, the same item can be picked up by visitors, and the memorial acts as an exchange place. ... very much like a geocache.

This fascinating and unusual book is beautifully produced- it would make an excellent gift. It's a kind of treasury of richly detailed visits to a wide variety of different kinds of monuments. Dupre describes each one historically, evoking the powerful emotions behind the monument or memorial so that the original need can be felt and understood. The book gives us access to the people who created these monuments, and for whom they were created. Scholarly and also profoundly intuitive, Judith Dupre understands that a monument is by definition a labor of love, and has given us one.

Judith's books are always enjoyable but there is something especially wonderful about this one. It isn't just history or architecture, she finds the heart of why we remember, the purpose of these places. The histories are told with sensitivity and care, and the dozens of people that inhabit the book are portrayed colorfully and with close observation of their humanity, something usual lacking in ordinary history books. Having been to Manzanar several times and wandered over its acres myself, her narrative touched me and brought alive the people and the time.

I would recommend this book to anyone with even the slightest interest in the human side of history.

This is a great little book that covers the basics from an experienced insider... It has a broad overview of the industry, discusses the basics of the different things an investor needs to know, some great tips on how things work and enough detail to get a new investor going successfully.

I have invested for a while and have found the book valuable in filling some of the information that I have guessed about... I wish I had this book before starting. Thanks to the author for answering my questions in a clear and concise manner.

Finally, a book that is written for those not necessarily experts in the field. The author makes all the applications very understandable. Well written, clear and concise. Thank you Mr. Morse.

This book stands out from all the other real estate books I've seen, it's informative, well-written and provides basic information for anyone and everyone looking to invest in commercial real estate. A useful tool for anyone preparing to invest in the business, particularly accessible for the average citizen. Well done!

This book explains commercial real estate very well. It is an easy read but is very informative. I really like all of the calculations it gives in regards to the time value of money. Very helpful!!

I worked in the CRE industry for a few years and found myself frustrated from the lack of clear easy to understand, detailed industry information available. Robert's Guide is the answer to that problem. The book is full of terms and definitions that are hard to find, but essential for anybody involved in commercial real estate. The explanations were thorough with insightful tips and recommendations to make a sometimes convoluted subject matter, easy to understand, digest, and make decisions about. I strongly recommend this book.

You can't beat this book on Giger's art as a general showcase of all of his achievements over the years. It's also great value for money at what is really chump change for everything you get.

It's allure is it's broad spectrum covering his phases of art production, but at the same time this also becomes this book's only weakness. Because it covers everything in passing, it also lacks in-depth coverage of the aspects of his art. It's good starting point for anyone that would like to get to know his art in detail, and from this book you move on to more specific books that showcase certain areas.

I have been looking for a Giger book for some time and most of them were pretty expensive, even though great looking. Finally I found this great book from Taschen that portrays Giger at its best, painter, sculptor, architect. The book is amazing and the 3D images are spectacular. This is a must for any Giger fan. Cheers and enjoy his work.

I picked up this book at my local Borders. I was there on a whim, browsing the art section, when I saw this gem. After noting the VERY attractive price, I decided on the spot it had to come home with me, as I'm a fan of Giger's work.

As I perused this volume, I fell in love with more than just the art (admittedly, Giger is just not to everyone's taste...if you're not a Giger fan, then this book and this review will do nothing for you, and it's not an attempt to convince you to otherwise). Designed and penned by Giger, it contains prints of finished art and sketches, photographs, selected images from Giger's personal collection of art (that is, art by other people that he collects)--which I think is VERY insightful; it's interesting to see what kind of art an artist appreciates.

As an artist, myself, I revel in the collections of sketches... Sketches can be a chronicle of how a finished work comes to be, and it's interesting to get a glimpse of how other artists--especially masters, such as Giger--work through their ideas and arrive at a final product. Sometimes sketches are just a fleeting idea that gets caught on a page. These are just as fascinating, because they are an insight into how an artist captures a thought and translates it into something visual. Excellent stuff!

Another detail I want to elaborate on are the "3D" versions of a few of Giger's paintings. I hesitate to say "Magic Eye", because those are often horribly muddy, chaotic and nonsensical when viewed normally, and the Giger images in this section are not at all like that. These images are crisply defined and look "normal" at a glance, but nevertheless have that 3D "popping" effect when you view them correctly. Of course, they're accompanied by commentary from Giger. It's an unexpected and delightful treasure to find tucked away in these pages.

Overall, if you're a fan of Giger's work, this is a very worthy addition to your collection. I've poked around, and there are other versions of this title available, some of which are very limited (and expensive) editions. If you haven't the luxury of purchasing one of those, this "no frills" edition is still very solid, and will be a pleasure to thumb through again and again.

While browsing sale books I found an amusing little item. With a title like WWW HR GIGER COM I was intrigued.

This book was designed by H.R. Giger and contains commentary from the artist about his various interests and his art. Among the pages of art and commentary is a section devoted to the Giger Bar in Tokyo. Giger designed all of the furnishing from the front door all the way to the lavatories. Now, I don't know about you but the idea of being in a building designed by H.R. Giger while getting drunk sounds like a hair raising experience.

This book, having been designed by the artist, is a bit different than others portraying Giger's work. If anything, this one is superior in the detail it provides. I recommend this book to Giger collectors and if you can't find a copy just log on to www.HRGiger.com like the title suggests.

I own the first print of www.HRGiger.com book & I wasnt sure if I needed buy this updated edition but after scanning thru the entire book I realized the answer was Yes! Lots of cool new stuff has been added & the book is laid out better & even more informative not to mention the amazingly cheap price of this book. I own every book Giger has ever put out including the hard to find stuff from the 70's I've been collecting his stuff since the mid 80's. If you're new to HR Giger there is no book better than this one as a starting point into his creative genius. Buy Now!