Cabinets Books

Author Don Martin pens an interesting biography of the most public of members of the Stronach family dynasty.

The Honorable Belinda Stronach is the daughter of Frank Stronach, perhaps most renowned for his Stronach Stables/Adena Springs Thoroughbred holdings and Magna Entertainment Corp., which owns a number of major tracks in North America.

Her life has been in a fast lane of politics, pop culture and business. A Liberal Member of Parliament (MP) in the Canadian House of Commons, she started her political career as a member of the Conservative Party; her friends include Brad Pitt, Bono and Gene Simmons of KISS and she has had major management positions in Magna International, the family's automotive enterprise.

Hers is a life that can be explored from many angles. And through the triumphs, controversies and tragedies, Martin keeps the pace of his text humming along, like a race car rhapsody.

This book is everything you'd expect except that it is only half (last half) of the total information.

Caligari's Cabinet and Other Grand Illusions was a wonderful reference towards production design, both in terms of theory and practice. I will admit though, that I did have some initial criticisms over the book.

First off, I was obviously impressed by the author's research and knowledge, but there were parts that I wished had been expanded. Barsacq's section on `Period' films not only could have used more examples, but I wish that he had better articulated the importance of period films, or the metaphors that period films communicate, rather than a basic overview of them, as he presented it. I was also disappointed with Barsacq's rather elitist attitude towards American films, as he rarely seemed to compliment any design in American films. I thought it was a mistake to end such a book by speaking of his disappointment in the latest American blockbuster films, like Earthquake and The Towering Inferno, instead of choosing to end the book by celebrating his favorite new developments in design, instead.

Lastly, I am confused a bit by Barsacq's opinion upon the role of the production designer. Throughout the book, Barsacq heavily compliments directors who served as their own designers, within a capacity that seemed to dictate their vision to others, rather than to colloborate with a group. Books like Screen Deco and Designing Dreams seemed to celebrate the idea of working within teams of creative people, whereas Barsacq seems to promote the idea of individualism behind production design.

However, what worked in this book was Barsacq's terrific outlining of the role of a production designer, and how he/she is to work in concert with a producer and director. I appreciate that, in addition to the pictures of various film sets, Barsacq also showed off pictures of architectural layouts in chapter 9. Such layouts reminded me of the projects we have taken on in our own production design class - ultimately, production design involves a ton of hard work, as no set can be created until it is completely outlined through all forms of layout, and Barsacq captured that fact extremely well, both through illustration and his words that described the production design process.

The book is concluded by a section on set construction, as well as a chapter on special effects. Both sections were insightful because they explained the role of the designer, in contrast to the director and producer, when all parties are collaborating upon a set.

Although, I would refer back to one of my above criticisms here - Barsacq goes at length to explain the designer to director relationship, yet in so many of his reviews film reviews, it often seemed that his favorite films were designed by people who served both as director and designer, upon the same set. Therefore, I wish that Barsacq had better articulated an opinion towards what he prefers, or what seems to make a better movie - movies that are driven by visionary directors who set the course of creativity, or collaborators who rely upon others for their best ideas.

Overall though, this book combines both a great analysis of production design, in addition to a wonderful description of the design process, in itself. I plan to reference this book, quite often, in the future.

I was surprised to find this dull-sounding book to be remarkably interesting to someone who has little knowledge of the topic. I came across the book with Amazon's new search system "inside the book" which was being checked for "Sarawak" and "Abell." It is a very interesting overview of the nature of power and influence within government: the unelected people behind the scenes in the civil service often being the real movers and shakers and instilling their ideas of realistic policies on the crafting of political will. BTW: there is a mistake when one of the British interviewees refers to the Abell brothers, Sir George was at the Bank of England and Sir Anthony was the Governor of Sarawak.

I am author of this book.

Be careful that you do not get the first printing of the book, which contained a great many errors in dimensions and drawings. This happened through a set of unfortunate circumstances that I should have guaranteed against. But, most of the first printing was destroyed and a corrected second printing was put out by the publisher with my full help and cooperation. When you get a copy of this book, check in the front cover to see if it is the first or second printing. If it is the first, don't use it- send it back and ask for a second printing.

The second printing has accurate instructions, drawings and dimensions for building a variety of attractive display cases to grace your living room. As well, the book has extensive instructions on different techniques for making wood frames to put glass into. The emphasis in the book is on adapting a given design to dimensions and techniques that work for you.

My deepest apologies to anyone unlucky enough to have gotten the first printing. For the record, I worked long and hard to correct the book and put it in the state of accuracy in which it now stands.

I was impressed with this book's scholarship, but after looking into the sources for the chapter on Forrestal's death, I have had some second thoughts. James Forrestal fell from a window of the 16th floor of the Bethesda Naval Hospital in the wee hours of the morning of May 22, 1949. The authors relate numerous details of the Forrestal's actions prior to his going out the window, but none of them are sourced directly to any of the witnesses, the various medical personnel who were on duty that night. Rather, the strongest assertions that support the popular theory of suicide, which they endorse, turn out to be from sources that I was unable to trace, even using the services of the Library of Congress in person.

The best source to start with would have been the official investigation, the work of a review board convened by the head of the National Naval Medical Center, Admiral Morton Willcutts, which took the testimony of most of the witnesses (with a few notable exceptions). Hoopes and Brinkley unforgivably neglect to tell the readers that at the time of their writing that testimony was still being kept secret. They also fail to tell us that the conclusions of the review board were released in brief summary form almost 6 months after the conclusion of the board's work, and that summary concluded only that Forrestal had died from injuries suffered from the fall. It did not conclude what caused the fall, that is, it did not conclude that it was a suicide, and it made no mention of the cord that was tied tightly around Forrestal's neck.

On my third try, I obtained the report, including all testimony and most of the exhibits, using the Freedom of Information Act. It contradicts almost everything that Hoopes and Brinkley have to say about Forrestal's actions prior to his death. (...)

This book offers a unique perspective on WW2, ie. from the point of view of a German child. It is a very candid autobiography, well-written with lots of humour and insights. Mr. Oberle goes on to describe his immigration to Canada, and the struggles he encountered in trying to forge a new life in BC. It was fascinating to see what life is like for a new immigrant. I found the book to be very interesting and informative and have recommended it to everyone I meet. There is a second tome that I hope to read as well, depicting how Mr. Oberle became a Cabinet Minister in the Canadian Government.

book was in great condition was suppose to be new but had a name
written on the first page. This was a disappointment because this was not mentioned. Otherwise the book was great.

This paperback book is very helpful to antique furniture buffs and to anyone curious about an American homemaker's lifestyle in 1900-1930. It provides an excellent overview with a narrative on these large free-standing kitchen cabinets. Made famous by Hoosier Manufacturing Company, the cabinet style was also offered in similar models by other companies. Philip D. Kennedy has included black&white photographs plus sketches from sales literature and national magazine ads of the following companies: Hoosier, Sellers, Napanee (Coppes), McDougall, Boone and unknown manufacturers. Worth the price of the book alone is Chapter 8: "Restoring Hoosier Cabinets". This chapter offers step-by-step tips, photos of the process and inspiration with examples of the success of others who have restored -- plus close-up photos of hardware and metal side brackets. This book was a most helpful resource as I planned restoration of a 1914-era Napanee Dutch Kitchenet previously used in my great-grandfather's farm kitchen! The only reason I didn't give it "5 stars" was because the photos were not "professional" quality (some are a bit blurred but still helpful).

Cooley's amply proved premise that the psychological models proposed by late 18th century Scottish philosopher's ("faculty psychology") and by racial theorists such as Harvard's Agasizz are greatly in evidence in American letters throughout the antebellum period, is convincing, and in its own quiet way, revolutionary.

In faculty psychology, the emotions and the intellect are engaged in an endless fight for the "ear" of the will. Each has it's separate compartment in the mind and operates independently. Phrenology was a further breakdown into smaller and smaller compartments of these elements. Cooley demonstrates in a number of examples in works such as "Moby Dick," "The House of the Seven Gables," "The Scarlet Letter," and "Uncle Tom's Cabin" that the characters' thought processes often seem static or "jointed." It isn't until later in the 19th century in "Huck Finn" that a proto-modern "stream of consciousness" voice is introduced by Twain. Emily Dickinson, rejecting the faculty psychology model she was undoubtedly taught in school, also rethinks through her poetry how the mind really seems to work.

In concentrating on the psychological perspective, I'm giving short shrift to Cooley's other concerns: how gender and race were conceived in this era. The fruitful discussions of the "White Black Man" (Uncle Tom) and the "Black White Man" (Huck Finn), the insight into the endless descriptions of houses in 19th century fiction (the house was a lot like the mind as it was conceived -- "full of rooms"). A fascinating discussion of "whiteness" as it appears in the form of Moby Dick, and as the "white" boiling center of a raging cataract face by one of Poe's heroes, gives rise to a new interpretation of Melville's Moby Dick that runs counter to that of the "castrating" you-know-what proposed by Leslie Feidler.

It can be gnarly to read; Cooley requires your full concentration. Such concentration is often rewarded by his witty, often engrossing, sometimes startling perspective, but sometimes you just wish he'd take the style down a notch or two for us non-specialists.