Iowa Books

Karen Coats's book is the finest instantiation of Lacanian theory available to theorists of children's and adolescent literature. Accessible to students and yet still offering challenging insights for more advanced scholars, Coats's work is elegantly written and ground-breaking. I recommend this book to all scholars in the field.

I had mixed feelings about this book. Its worth getting. It is beautifully written, clear, concise, and conveys a ton of difficult material on Lacan in a very lucid manner. Its probably one of the best academic writings I've encountered on Lacanian theory--to some extent (that is, the most basic and elemental aspects of Lacan).

However, I was not happy with the way the writer brought her impeccably controlled and "authoritative" theoretical apparatus to bear on children's literature. Not once did she address the problem that children would never be able to process their literature in Zizekian or Lacanian language. She never discusses the immense gap between the theoretical technology she commands and the audience for the books she writes about, to the point where it got absolutely ludicrous to read about the perverse psychic structure of Curious George. She simply has to address the problem that children don't have a clue what "the Other" is. They do not have these terms at their disposal. Therefore, it seems to me, one must find and seek out the structural translations that might lead us to really understand how how the "Other" or the "phallus" translates to someone without this verbiage. It seems to me that children's lit demands a purely structural Lacanian approach so that we may find the things that truly are at work and transmitting to children. I don't think she gets at this level at all, except, maybe, when she is talking about early picture books. Then she actually discusses the differences between words and things, images and story. That is concrete. But when she gets to the older literature, she loses her grip.

This is not to say that one can't use Lacan to talk about children's lit, but her readings are way too didactic. She spends way too much time expounding and explaining her theory, and hardly any time at all reading the texts. A la Zizek, they simply become "transparent" demonstrations of her theory.

So I would recommend this if what you're interested in is an "authoritative" rendition of Lacanian theory; it really is very clear and very interesting. But I would not recommend it if you're interested in children's literature or a truly Lacanian reading of children's lit.

This book was too hard to understand. It's as though the author used her thesaurus every chance she got. I think it could have been a really good book if was written in a way that is easy to understand.

The 5th edition has seen a complete revision of the illustrations, which all were replaced by a better grade of line-drawings. This makes for a much more likable book.

As a guide to the trees of N-America (exclusive of Mexico and tropical Florida) it seems obvious to compare it with Sargent's "Manual of the Trees of North America (exclusive of Mexico)", now available as a Dover-reprint. The present book appears an abbreviated and updated version of the earlier one, with distribution maps the most noticeable addition. However I find the earlier one definitely more attractive, if only because the line-drawings are so much clearer in the old book. In Preston's book the reproduction of the drawings is very black, and hence unclear.

When comparing this with the magnificent "Trees_of_Canada" by John Laird Farrar (aka "Trees_of_Northern_United_States_and_Canada") the book by Preston looks shabby indeed. The most kindly thing to be said would seem to be that this is vastly overpriced. Surely the USA can do (a lot) better than this for its trees?

This 400 page book is a no-nonsense identification manual for north American trees exclusive of Mexico and tropical Florida (except for 35 species of hawthorn and 16 usually shrubby willows). It is adequately illustrated by drawings and distribution maps. Most of the species are described (habit, leaves, fruit, twigs, bark, general), some of the more uncommon ones are only mentioned in the keys. Although the book claims to use language as simple as possible I can imagine that it is the botanists who come to terms with it most easily.

A real drawback can be found in one of the introductory keys (species with toothed leaves) where the identification relies heavily on fruit characters. This is no doubt scientifically accurate, but not very practical in the field. A less rigorous, user friendly approach would be preferable.

I recommend the book to people with botanical training who will be happy to find the species arranged according to families and not according to the position of leaves. I liked the book because of its mostly very useful keys and because it presents all the north American trees in one easy-to-carry volume

I find it hard to say less than positive things as I know all the work that goes into writing a work like this. But I didn't like this book at all. It felt like a bit of an ego trip to me and I didn't come away from it enriched or excited about an art form in which I participate in both as a composer and a performer. Arcana, Forces in Motion and Experimental Music do a much better job than this. Sorry.

History, styles, and cultural and spiritual implications of the out jazz scene (primarily New York) are well documented in this 200 page text. If you are "going out" with your music, this is a valuable reference for recorded music and scholarly texts. Author is multiinstrumentalist and has a background in anthropology

Toíbín has performed considerable primary research often in the unpublished manuscripts either by or about Lady Gregory, and he combines this work with detailed research into the lives of the writers who were associated first with her husband and later with herself. Indeed, Toíbín's essay is best when he follows his journalistic instincts to collate the scattered information that allows him to enrich our knowledge of Gregory's lesser known social and artistic associations: her husband's friendship with Anthony Trollop, her social encounters with Henry James and Queen Victoria, or her failed efforts to befriend James Joyce.

These strengths notwithstanding, Toíbín is rarely able to discuss Gregory's life without subordinating it to other, often patriarchal, narratives which are portrayed as conditioning her activities; thus, we see her as Sir William's wife, Blunt's mistress, Yeats' long-suffering `helpmeet', Synge's reluctant defender, John Quinn's lover, Robert Gregory's mother, and O'Casey's soulmate. This reluctance to consider Gregory as in herself a subject worthy of direct analysis extends to her career as well: while Toíbín devotes considerable attention to the private love sonnets written for Blunt in the 1880s, in an argument that positions her squarely within a male economy of marital duty and adulterous desire, he largely ignores her successful literary career in the twentieth century. There are exceptions to this general criticism, as in his insightful discussion of her Cuchulain of Muirthemne; nonetheless, the reader has few views of Gregory beyond her social functions as theatre manager, literary patroness, and social dowager. Of her thirty-seven works produced during her lifetime, Toíbín discusses only the early drama co-written with Yeats and very briefly mentions three later plays. It is telling that Toíbín devotes ten percent of his work, roughly twelve pages, to the discussion of Yeats' poetry about Gregory or her estate, while spending a mere seven pages on only three works by her: the aforementioned sonnets to Blunt, her Cathleen Ni Houlihan co-authored with Yeats, and Cuchulain of Muirthemne.

Unfortunately, the refinement of Toíbín's arguments is significantly hindered by his failure to avail himself of the important contributions of the last twenty years; indeed, he lists the largely biographical collection Lady Gregory: Fifty Years After (1987) edited by Ann Saddlemyer as the book's only critical source for Gregory's career. Thus, even at their best, his interpretative expositions lack the rigour and refinement that would have come from a familiarity with the recent critical arguments that frequently pre-empt his own. For example, Toíbín's treatment of Gregory's sexual, political, and artistic awakening through her encounter with Wilfrid Scawen Blunt is central to his explanation of her development in the late nineteenth century, yet his work lacks the scope and insight of Declan Kiberd's treatment of this topic in Inventing Ireland: The Literature of the Modern Nation which appeared in 1997. Similarly, though Toíbín may be forgiven for not having consulted John Wilson Foster's thorough discussion of the historical context for Gregory's Cuchulain of Muirthemne, as well as her other translations of medieval Irish narrative, in his Fictions of the Irish Literary Renaissance (1987), the same cannot be said for Toíbín's failure to benefit from the introduction and thorough bibliography in the widely available Selected Writings of Lady Gregory, which appeared in 1995. Although barely one third the length of Toíbín's book, this introductory essay by Lucy McDiarmid and Maureen Waters covers several topics later discussed by Toíbín and skilfully surveys the major biographical and interpretative issues that have concerned recent criticism.

The tension of the Anglo-Irish, Toibin argues, can be charted in Lady Gregory's own life, as she negotiated the difficult balancing act of a Coole landowner hosting balls for British nobles before going off to her next social engagement, a tea party for the ladies in the local workhouse. Speaking of the latter, the infamous if well-intended Famine-era "Gregory Act" enacted by her family, that pushed off so many from their small plot of land into emigration, ironically making the conditions for those who remained behind in Ireland better off, is delved into efficiently. Toibin, with sympathy but not apology, notes how she, no less than Pearse, Joyce, O'Casey, Synge, Hyde, Gonne, or Yeats during the period from 1890-1925 (for those among the Revival who managed to live through the Rising and the subsequent strife), had to constantly reinvent and embroider and disguise her contested Irish identity. This extended essay, more a monograph than a full-fledged book, briefly sums up the general trajectory of how the rise of the Free State paralled the life and successes of the coterie led in no small part not only by the more prominent and grandstanding Yeats but also by Lady G.

It's not recommended for those who may be unfamiliar with "The Countess Cathleen," for example, or the plays put on by Yeats, her, and their colleagues/rivals for the Abbey Theatre. While a well-chosen list of primary sources and scholarship is appended, no footnotes are given, and Toibin seems to expect his readers to be already familiar with the Irish political, cultural and literary currents of the early 20c. Little description of her writings and no literary analysis to speak of can be found here. Rather, Toibin seeks to uncover what the title of the book indicates: the gap that Lady G. sought to close but never fully could...between those like Lady G. who used a toothbrush, to cite her bon mot--that is, who were civilized, and those--such as the peasants that she alternately romanticized, ministered to, and ridiculed--who had no such dentifrice.

Iowa's Historic Architects is a collective biography of architects who worked in the Hawkeye State prior to 1950. Professor Emeritus Wesley I. Shank (Iowa State University) has been writing on Iowa's architectural history for over 25 years. Iowa's Historic Architects has concise biographical entries on 234 architects, each with a short list of building attributions and references.

The book is not presented as a history of architecture in Iowa. I found it essential to have the 1993 Buildings of Iowa (David Gebhard and Gerald Mansheim, in the Society of Architectural Historians "Buildings of the United States" series) at hand while reading Shank's book. Gebhard and Mansheim provide the necessary architectural survey, maps, photographs, and thematic arguments. With this supporting information, the men profiled in Iowa's Historic Architects can be placed in context. A comprehensive reference dictionary of regional architects and their work, in tandem with such a good survey overview, should be an invaluable research tool.

The biographies of Iowa architects are organized on the basic information that defined each man as an architect: where they got their training, where they worked, with whom they were associated, and a selection of their projects. Many of the entries read like obituary notices, with benedictions and lists of the surviving family members at the architect's death. Few of the entries have detrimental information. A reader might infer that Iowa architects were immune to incompetence, bad business, legal battles, character flaws, and passion. The entries include too much genealogy; the dates of birth of an architect's children, for example, generally have no value in evaluating the architect's career.

Some 50 architects whose offices were not in Iowa, but who designed buildings in Iowa, are included in Iowa's Historic Architects. These sketches are properly concise. Professor Shank includes references for each architect (but not specific citations for each building attribution). The book has a useful introductory essay on the history of architectural practice in Iowa, with good details about the implementation of professional ethics and standards of practice. Appendices show where the Iowa architects acquired architectural education and the Iowa cities where they had offices. The bibliography includes National Register reports, the files of the Iowa State Historic Preservation Office, and the 1955 AIA directory of living architects.

Regional dictionaries of architects (or any reference book) may be judged by three standards. The information must be accurate; the information must be inclusive, within the book's geographical and chronological limits; and the information must be accessible. I cannot dispute the accuracy of the information included, but Iowa's Historic Architects fails to fulfill the second and third standards. The book has three fatal flaws:

1. The book is not indexed. This severely restricts access to the information. To learn, for example, who might have designed the wonderful Methodist Church in Menlo, or the Art Deco municipal swimming pool in Decorah, you must read every page of Iowa's Historic Architects with no surety that you'll find anything. Even with the Gebhard & Mansheim volume at hand, the absence of an index is unforgivable. Reference books must be indexed!

2. The book has only a small selection of buildings designed by or attributed to each architect. Architect William Thomas Proudfoot designed hundreds of Iowa buildings, but his entry - the longest in the book - lists only fifty projects. For other architects, Shank includes no more than a dozen Iowa building attributions. How can we assess the achievement of an architect, except by examination of his work? Less glamorous projects, such as apartment buildings, livery stables, commercial remodelings, warehouses, and Sunday School additions, are as valuable as any courthouse, school, or cathedral to characterize an architect's competence. Similarly, scholars pursuing individual properties, typologies, regional histories, or other building patterns will find Iowa's Historic Architects to be frustratingly incomplete.

3. The book fails to list many Iowa architects. The Clark W. Bryan Directory of Architects and Classified Directory of First Hands in the Building Trades (1890) (Springfield, Massachusetts: Clark W. Bryan & Co., 1890) lists 52 architects who had offices in Iowa. Twenty-five of these men, at least, are not found in Iowa's Historic Architects. Another primary source, Hendricks' Commercial Register of the United States For Buyers and Sellers (1918) (New York: S. E. Hendricks Co., Inc., 1918) names 118 Iowa architects. Fifty-nine of these men are not included in Iowa's Historic Architects. In each of these two windows, fifty percent of the Iowa architects are neglected! This does not reflect a conscious "editing-out" of minor architects, for Shank includes Frank Fiedler, C. B. Lakin, J. E. Howe, Henry Throne, and several other obscure Iowa architects about whom almost nothing has been recorded. It appears, rather, that the primary research was inadequate. This is not an inclusive dictionary.

A biographical dictionary of Iowa architects should strive to include every Iowa citizen who was identified, however fleetingly, as an architect, and every out-of-state architect who designed anything in Iowa. It should include every Iowa building and project, built or not, that can be attributed to these architects, with all project references cited. It should be indexed by project sponsor, by locality, and by building type. Iowa's Historic Architects fails on all of these counts.

Scholars requiring information on Iowa's built environment will consult Iowa's Historic Architects. They will be disappointed. This is not the authoritative reference book that it should be.

Shank's clear prose is a gold mine of information on a hard-to-nail topic: biographical data on architects in the state of Iowa. A brief summary of the development of the education and licensing of architects is also quite useful. The individual biographical sketches are engaging in and of themselves. A very useful book.

This book is as much about Freud and Heidegger as it is about Nietzsche. Golomb was right that there was a 'lacuna' in Nietzschean studies involving the study of Nietzsche's psychology, and his relationship to Freud. That would have been enough for a book. But Golomb also has the issue of Heidegger to introduce all over the place. As a result, this book becomes a Heideggerization of Freud and with him, Nietzsche.

If you want to learn about Nietzsche, you don't want to read this. There are a couple of interesting enough chapters about the early development of Nietzsche's psychological thought. But beyond this, students proceed at their own peril.

The previous review is absolutely bewildering. There is no trace of Heidegger in this book. None. It's a much needed investigation of Nietzsche's emphasis upon psychology--something every secondary work notes but few explore. It's also a much needed comparison of Nietzsche and Freud's respective takes on human psychology, desire, and motivation (since there are strong resonances, and Freud was, undoubtedly influenced by N.). The author is a bit too quick to map Freudian concepts directly onto Nietzsche--without paying enough attention to the differences. And the interpretation of Nietzsche on will to power and sublimation seems questionable--far too influenced by Kaufmann's version of Nietzsche. But on the whole well worth investigating.

This book, like many published by Nimble Books, should be considered as a professionally rendered work of "fan fiction" and nothing more. It's premise and execution are well researched, but it's little more than a guilty pleasure of the imagination. That being said... fans of naval action, read and enjoy!

The sexual assault and murder of a young boy from Sioux City, Iowa, apparently took place in Plymouth County in the 1950s. A man who had picked him up was not given a fair chance at a defense. His original trial in Le Mars, Iowa, ignored that he had been given methamphetamines while questioned relentlessly in a mental hospital. A University of Iowa law professor helped win a new trial years later by thorough investigative work.

Don't expect to learn about small details of songs in this book. It's more focused on learning the overall ideas of song forms, trends, and traditions. Easy to follow layout with outline subjects in the margins.

I was just fooling around with Google and ran across this reference from 1986. It just goes to prove Amazon does indeed have an index to almost everything!