New York Books

Davy Reed is thirteen when the story begins and his grandmother dies, the grandmother who took care of him when his parents divorced and who gave him his beloved dog, Fred. Davy's heavy-drinking mother then takes him in to her Manhattan apartment and tells him he can't bring Fred. No way, Davy rebels, and eventually the mother relinquishes, but it's clear from her tone that Fred is only there on sufferance. Poor Davy has to live in a bedroom done up by an interior designer for a five-year old, with a teddy bear on his pillow. Then he has to start a new school and makes a "New York enemy" within his first two hours of his first day of school. However, this has unexpected consequences because a strange friendship develops between the two boys.

I won't give away the rest of the plot but some pretty terrible things happen, and some wonderful ones too. I first read this book when I was about the age of Davy Reed, maybe a little bit older, and identified with him totally, even though my life was very different. Reading the book now, I'm overwhelmed by how talented Mr. John Donovan is as a writer. Had he pitched this book to an adult audience, I feel sure he would be celebrated as one of the best novelists of the 1960s. His toughness and lack of sentiment makes Richard Yates look like Danielle Steel. Simply put this novel, so shocking in its own day, is still a miracle of construction and discipline. If Donovan is still alive, I hope he continues to produce other great books.

While in high school trying to figure out and deal with being gay, I stumbled across this book in the school library. Without knowing that the book dealt with homosexuality, I checked it out and read it. And read it again. And again. This book was the first place I encountered homosexuality portrayed in anything other than an extremely negative way. It was the first step toward my acceptance of being gay. I am extremely grateful to the author and my school library for this book. I think the book is an important resource for school libraries and counselors. I don't remember the specifics of style, character development, etc., but I do know the effect the book had on my life.

This book is great for early adolescents who find that they feel "too close" to their best friend and question their feelings. The book portrays a boy growing up with an alcoholic mother and absent father in New York and his struggle after kissing his best friend. Recommended for any early teen.

Twenty years ago this crazy title tripped me up in my school library, and I took it home and read it in one sitting. I was caught to it because the boy in the story develops a confusing crush on his only friend, another boy, and I was coping with the same developing problem. I re-read the book several times in my school years, and was always moved and thrilled to find a writer that captured adolescence, its awkwardness and self-expression, its fears and its anticipations so perceptively. In all the years since, I've remembered the book with affection, but not until I travelled around the world last year, and spent an afternoon in the New York Public Library, had I been able to re-read it. As a boy, I didn't see the strong craft of the book, the depth and deftness of the characterizations, the careful handling of its issues. The book pulses with real emotion and life, and I realized, in my school library, and again,twenty years later in the New York Public Library, that I loved this book because, somehow, the author seemed to love me too.

I frequently felt touched by the obvious sensitivity and care taken by Dr. Cortright in writing "Integral Psychology: Yoga, Growth and Opening the Heart".

"Integral Psychology" reaches beyond the bounds of empirical science to embrace the spiritual, and indeed the soul. Dr. Cortright insists this bold extension is essential for psychology if it is ever going to discover the defining essence of the human being. In looking to psychology's future, Dr. Cortright proposes a synthesis of western psychology and eastern spirituality. This synthesis is based on the life work of the great twentieth century Indian sage Sri Aurobindo.

Bringing western psychology and eastern spirituality together facilitates opening the heart. Both western psychology and eastern spirituality aspire to open the heart, although, as Dr. Cortright explains, each opens different areas of the heart. To open the heart fully they need each other. Opening the heart clears the way to discover the soul, the eternal core of the human psyche.

"Integral Psychology" is not a religious or dogmatic book. It is a thoughtful characterisation of the psychology traditions of the east and the west, with a result that is inclusive and respectful of both. This book challenges the rational mind and entices those serious about psychology and psychotherapy toward a deeper and expanded perspective.

Dr. Cortright gives us a new look at practical psychology. From this perspective, it is within our human potential to know our true self and the most profound purpose of physical existence. Reflecting the optimism of Sri Aurobindo, "Integral Psychology" embraces the notion, basic to eastern psychology, but revolutionary in western psychology, "that our deepest identity is a self-existent joy, love and light."

Our most essential identity is our soul, which is itself a spark of Divine love. Congruent with our deepest human aspirations, integral psychology aims to move us into alignment with our soul's consciousness. Expressing this unification in daily life is the next step in human potential and the goal of integral psychology.

Brant Cortright (Professor of Psychology, California Institute of Integral Studies) presents Integral Psychology: Yoga, Growth, and Opening the Heart, a daring new approach to psychology and healing that seeks to learn from Eastern methods that focus on the inner being and the psyche's spiritual foundation, as well as the Western methods that focus on the outer being and the injuries of body, heart, mind, and self. Chapters apply classical East Indian yogas as a means to perceive psychotherapy: psychotherapy as behavior change or karma yoga, psychotherapy as mindfulness practice or jnana yoga, and psychotherapy as opening the heart or bhakti yoga. An approach that combines the best of both worlds for psychological and spiritual healing and self-improvement lies at the heart of Integral Psychology. Though Integral Psychology touches upon spirituality, the concepts presented are emphatically not meant to convert the reader to any specific religion, but rather to promote healing and wellness for patients of all faiths and cultural backgrounds. The result is a highly recommended supplementary text especially recommended for psychologists and psychotherapists.

Brant Cortright's Integral Psychology was for me a reader's digest version of the entire history of Psychology and Transpersonal Psychology into the even deeper realms of our being with Shri Aurobindo's " Integral Yoga". His "map" showed me, in a remarkably concise way, the ever deepening paths of the west and the profoundly deep offering from the east of growing through the opening of our hearts and souls. For the beginner, what an overview this is and for the advanced one, what an acknowledgment of spirit and matter in it's evolution!

Integral Psychology: Yoga, Growth and Opening the Heart, by Brant Cortright

Having read Dr. Cortright's earlier Psychotherapy and Spirit, I was pleased to discover that Integral Psychology was available this year, and read it immediately upon receiving it. It's been ten years since the earlier publication, and the author has [from my long-distance observation] made important progress in his spiritual growth, opening of the heart, and writing style during this time.

The book is based upon Sri Aurobindo's complex Integral understanding, and though it focuses upon psychological aspects of that theory, the spiritual and developmental features are also mentioned. Through Ken Wilbur's use of the term `Integral', many have become interested in the concept; Dr. Cortright presents a fuller explanation of how Aurobindo's thinking can be related to psychotherapeutic theory and practice.

It's a pleasure to read someone who is so steeped in an Eastern approach, and who can relate it to contemporary psychological, clinical issues. For example, whole chapters link behavior change therapy to karma yoga, mindfulness to jnana yoga, and heart-opening to bhakti yoga. In these and other chapters, sometimes with clinical examples, Dr. Cortright demonstrates his superior integration of Aurobindo's original theory, his own adaptations, and his use of such understanding in psychotherapy.

Some readers will be most touched by the early chapter, The Core Wounding of Our Time. Based in part on ego-psychology and self-psychology, Dr. Cortright suggests that "The core wounding of our time is a rip in the very fabric of the self", and goes on to suggest that it effects the mind, higher-, central-, and lower-emotional aspects, as well as the body and spirit. This essentially diagnostic chapter is an important precursor to the later therapeutic orientation. Others may be more interested in the concept and approach to spiritual emergency; since I've had little clinical experience with this proposed entity I found it less compelling.

More broadly, for the reader interested in the possibility of integrating the integral theory of Sri Aurobindo and the thinking of a contemporary clinician and Professor [California Institute of Integral Studies], this book is highly recommended.

When the original VICTORIA Magazine used to be sold, I was always impressed with it's contents. Therefore, ever since the magazine went out-of-print I've been searching for similar magazines or books.

Well, this book is even better than the magazine used to be (if that could even be possible) because it is packed with so many ideas regarding "decorating in a romantic fashion".

So if you loved VICTORIA Magazine, then you will love this book as much,if not more.

PS: I just heard that they will be re-issuing VICTORIA Magazine soon (in 2008) . If the rumor is true, then I'll be subscribing!

Exactly what I was looking for! Creating a Private World is filled with beautiful pictures of cream colored fabrics and walls, lacy windows, draped bedspreads and delicately set tables.

The color ideas can leave you calm and soothed, passionate, nostaglic, or inspired. I originally planned to sit down with a cup of tea and look through each page- but no- I started bursting with thought, looking through my fabric collection and searching for new ways to decorate each room. Needless to say my tea was cold but my mind was soaring.

Obtaining this look is not something you run out on a shopping spree and purchase everything all at once. It takes time and carefully selected pieces to blend together beautifully.

Creating a Private World is a fantastic beginning. This way you can see what styles you like and what would work with the spaces you have. It' s also a very nice read and to thumb through at the end of the day.

I purchased this as a treat for myself, along with Victoria's Romantic Country Style, and Victoria's The Charms of Tea.

A little at a time I'll create my own Private, Intimate home.

A beautiful gift for a friend or loved one~ or yourself.

This book comes from a beautiful series. Each book is wonderfully produced with gorgeous photos, high quality paper, and pretty end-papers (haven't seen any of those for a while).

Each photo is someone's way of creating their own private space - or a space that intimately reflects their personal interests. The text on that page, tells about the person, sometimes telling the evolution of that private space.

Sometimes it is just a corner, or a desktop - but a reminder that we need places that belong to us alone.

Beautiful ways to do our just Being. Remembering just Being is an art form.

I have this book to thank for my beautiful, calming bedroom. But, the photos are so beautiful that I'd have bought it even without plans to redecorate. Victoria magazine fans will love getting much more of the same. Others will be happily surprised to see literary quotes and antique accents side by side with comfy couches and livable linens.

In his preface to this book Professor H. A. R. Gibb says that it puts forward a comparatively uninvestigated and hence unfamiliar view of Islam, about which a majority of modern Muslim rationalists would doubtless say that it is alien to the real Islam: but this is a mistaken view. In point of fact S. Hossein Nasr has successfully shown that the cosmological doctrines in question, which were developed during the period from the ninth to the eleventh centuries, are neither mere Hellenistic heirlooms outwardly adapted to the Islamic faith nor yet first gropings in the direction of the modern natural sciences and therefore now only fit to be dismissed as obsolete and decrepit. What chiefly comes to light in these doctrines is a spiritually based view of the Universe, one which always endeavours to see the whole in the part because from the point of view of these doctrines the Universe itself amounts ultimately to a reflection of the divine Unity. Cosmology in the true sense of the word moreover can only be that and nothing but that. When one comes to think of it, this is true of the real basis of every science, since even modern natural science, which considers itself to be agnostic, tacitly assumes the existence of a necessary relationship between the laws of the Spirit and those ruling over Nature, failing which there could be no such thing as truth at all. However, modern science takes no notice of this assumption, as if once and for all it had relieved the Cartesian division of reality into "spirit" and "matter" of any further concern for whatever goes beyond matter, whereas the Islamic as well as the Christian cosmology sees through the different levels of reality, as it were, with the result that the quantity of things matters less in its eyes than their quality; and likewise the actual course of natural events signifies less than their permanent archetypes. This also explains why the mode of expression in mediaeval cosmology often baffles the modern reader: he considers it "naive" when really it is profound in its preference for symbols over definitions, and bottomlessly "abstract" when it is merely indicating things which we cannot grasp with our two hands. Mediaeval cosmology can in fact sometimes be described as naive, for how can this be otherwise when it is a question of human thinking? It is never naive however in its essential features. S. Hossein Nasr develops all this exhaustively by means of three celebrated examples: firstly, the Rasâ'il (epistles) of the Ikhwân as-Safâ, the "Brethren of Purity," an encyclopedia which was published about the year 1,000 by a group of scholars from the region of Basra; secondly, the cosmographical works of al-Bîrûnî (973-1051), the great Persian astronomer and indologist; thirdly, the cosmology of Ibn Sînâ (980-1037), known as Avicenna in Latin, which was also of decisive importance for the development of Christian cosmology: one says "was," yet it could still have this importance to-day in the sense that even modern natural science could find invaluable suggestions within the scheme of ancient cosmology, wherever it is compelled to reach out beyond what can be weighed and counted, as for example in the sphere of psychology or psycho-somatic medicine.

Writing the most Islamic tradition and examines the classical Islamic cosmology and shows how Ikhwan ,al Biruni combined teaching the Quran

This book is for those with "higher" education. Professor Nasr quotes frequently directly from the French, often from the Arabic and occasionally from the German. Without at least passive understanding of French one would miss out on some important information.

In a way the book shows a descent from the Brethren of Purity through Al-Biruni to Ibn Sina. Professor Nasr has faithfully treated an often complex and difficult subject matter without over-simplification but also without getting lost, using Tawhid as a compass.

There are, however, some underlying basic issues that Professor Nasr might have dealt with in more depth. The first one is the symbolic nature of what is called the "physical universe", even more apparent since the middle ages. Without any apologetics, Professor Nasr could compare say Ibn Sina's Weltanschauung with the post-Keplerian or even post-Einsteinian from a pure traditional perspective.

Another welcome topic would have been an interweaving of the development of Islamic cosmology with the cyclical descent of the Iron Age, also known as Kali Yuga. Humans of the Golden Age needed no revealed Books. In this sense, although the traditions with revealed Books, the Islamic tradition being the last of them, close the cycle, they also mark its lowest spiral.

Thus, Professor Nasr seems to lose sight a bit of the Primordial Tradition in favour of the Islamic one but the latter, of course, is the subject matter of the book.

For those interested in profound approaches to the subject of cosmology, an excellent complement to Professor Nasr's work may be found in:

Miscellanea (Guenon, Rene. Works.)

in particular the article entitled "The Conditions of Corporeal Existence" beginning on page 88. Readers should bear in mind that this English version is a translation from the French original.

Writing the most Islamic tradition and examines the classical Islamic cosmology and shows how Ikhwan ,al Biruni combined teaching the Quran

I just finished the book and I enjoyed it so much. Its easy to see why
Brooklyn has been the inspriation for so many novels and movies.

It was so interesting to see how so many different ethnic groups had such
similar stories of growing up. A real shared memory .

Well this book is a treasure and I am so glad to have it.

This book is actually a compilation of anecdotal memories from many people who grew up in Brooklyn, some of whom are world famous for various reasons! While I was disapointed by the lack of coverage of the 50s and 60s when I grew up in East Flatbush, the book brings back wonderful memories of Coney Island and many other institutions. I particularly found the stories from the family that started Nathan's to be fascinating. I ALSO recommend the book "The Neighborhoods of Brooklyn." The two bookds are very different! While it is also light on the 50s and 60s it is fascinating to learn of the full history of each neighborhood. How and when the original Dutch settlers bought the various sections from the Canarsee and Rockaway Native Americans. It is also interesting to learn of the fates of the various neighborhoods and their changing ethnic faces.

I must add that it is at least a bit disingenuous and self-serving for one of the authors to write SEVERAL reviews of his own work!

Entertainers, notables and common folk reminisce about life and experiences in Brooklyn.

A PAINFUL SWEETNESS FLOODS YOU

I have devoured each of Brody's books with enthusiasm! Her nutrition book is a treasure. In it Brody not only offers guidance on healthy eating for self and family, but debunks many of the prevalent false assumptions which persist in current society.

What a great book this is! It's definitely a reference guide, but if you're taken with the wonders of health and your body, this is the best book I've seen to help explain the details. It was referred to me by my doctor, who keeps one in his office.

In simple yet sufficiently detailed terms, it explains how your body processes fats, carbs, protein, vitamins, minerals, etc. and derives benefits from them. It also examine other things we eat like sugar, coffee, alcohol, etc. It brushes on infancy, women, and athletes as well. My roommates and I have read this book numerous times over the months whenever we have a question about what we're putting in our mouths and how our bodies will handle it. Since reading the book, I've modified my eating and have noticed a huge positive difference in my energy level and overall healthy feeling throughout the day. But it, and if you have other books that are similar, please let me know.

This classic, by The New York Times health columnist, is a well researched guide to better health and weight control, based on a diet of complex carbohydrates -- rice, potatoes, pasta and beans. Includes delicious recipes, special diets (for joggers, pregnant women, the elderly), as well as calorie and nutrition charts.

This is a really great reference book on Nutrition. I refer to it often. Easy to read and easy to understand. And, it is filled with basic nutrition information and none of the hype you find on things like aspartame and other artificial sweeteners, vitamins and minerals, carbohydrates/protein/fats, etc. There are many referrals to groups with more information on things that are not covered in detail, like La Leche League for breastfeeding support and information. Each of her 27 chapters ends with book referrals. It is a must for every household.

What makes "Janet and Me" so beautiful is that it combines all of the complex and conflicting elements that are such an important part of being the caregiver to the person who is the love of your life: the tenderness, the fear, the rage, and the anger at a heartless medical system that turns a deaf ear when people are at their most vulnerable. This is, without a doubt, one of THE most touching books about love, loss, caregiving and true friendship that I have ever read. I can't recommend any book more highly! (A shortened version of "Janet and Me" is also contained in the wonderful book on caregiving, "An Uncertain Inheritance," which is also sold on Amazon.com.)

Julia Schopick
www.HonestMedicine.com

This book describes in both narrative form and cartoons the story of Stan Mack's relationship with his long-time partner, Janet, and how he coped with her illness and subsequent death from cancer. Two primary themes emerged, with the first theme focusing on their love and commitment to each other. You finish the book thinking that they were lucky to have had each other in their lives. Stan's tender and total caregiving of Janet during the terminal phase of her illness was particularly impressive. The second theme concerned the reactions of the medical establishment to terminal disease, and the discomfort medical professionals have in confronting the fact that they will not always be able to cure their patients. One of the most heartrending parts of the book is toward the end, when Stan and Janet try repeatedly, in vain, to contact her physician (who had been wonderfully supportive at the beginning of her treatment) to ask whether her chemotherapy should be discontinued and what could be done instead. It was only when Stan started hospice care that Janet started receiving the home help and other sources of support that she needed to improve the quality of her remaining days.

Indeed, one of the features of this book that cancer patients and their families might find most helpful is that Mack provides a more realistic picture of the day-to-day aspects of caring for a terminally ill loved one. You get the sense that he wants to prevent others the trial-and-error efforts he had to go through to figure out what worked best. A related moral is that persistence is needed in dealing with insurance companies and the medical establishment. Lastly, his is a precautionary tale of the legal difficulties facing unmarried partners. Janet's will, naming Stan as executor, was challenged by her relatives, resulting in a legal battle that took over a year to resolve.

This last paragraph probably makes the book sound like it is cut and dried and concerned only with practical and logistical details. That is not at all the case. It is, first and foremost, a story of love and loss, and you will almost certainly be unable to read this book without being moved to tears by the depth of Mack's love and pain. But perhaps the greatest strength of this book is that Mack points out that, in real life, love and loss doesn't proceed like you see on bad made-for-TV specials, or "Love Story," where the heroine drifts off to sleep after a very short and essentially painless illness. In real life, love and loss are embedded in a host of not-so-pleasant details like "what kind of bedpan is best for the advanced cancer patient?" (answer: full-size bedside commode) and "how can I get her to take her pain medicine if she can no longer swallow?" The beauty of this book is that Mack shows so compellingly how love can shine through and conquer all those messy details.

I could barely put it down. It was painful to read, but worth every minute of the pain. Stan Mack is a person anyone would want to have around in a crisis. He is a rock, exhausted but understanding.
I met Janet Bode briefly twice. She approached me because, as she said, "I recognize your hairstyle!" I was bald at the time, having also undergone chemotherapy for breast cancer. We ended up having a long talk, and I was devastated a year and a half later to run into her again, and see that she was bald again. She was beautiful, not just cute.
This is a wonderful book. I am giving a copy to a friend of mine who has been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

This book is a unique, honest, and bravely told story of powerful emotions, true love, beautiful friendship, and perseverance. The author conveys the wide-ranging emotions of Janet, himself, and those around him without dodging a single one--no matter how hard-hitting, no matter how far out in left field. It's all here--the sadness of course, but also the anger, the humor, the desperation, the sarcasm. It's incredibly real and raw. The illustrations and "comic" style, rather than creating a lighter feel, enrich the story and make it even more accessbile to the reader. At the end, you feel you really know Stan and Janet and you really like them. It left me with a renewed faith in love, friendship, and the power of real human connections.

An exceptional book by far the best translation of the Shrimat Bhagwat Gita. You can also call it Shrimat Bhagwat Gita for Dummies.

I recently purchased my second copy of this book. The Jnaneshwari is an amazing window into the wisdom of the Bhagavad Gita. A hallmark of this work is the beauty of the language Jnaneshwar Maharaj uses to unpack and explain the many subtleties in the Bhagavad Gita's verses. I've read many translations of this work and Swami Kripananda's approach is by far the most heart-felt and inspiring.

This is a fabulous interpretation of a timeless epic. I have always been spiritual but have never identified with or even trusted religion. However, in spite of my skepticism, I could not deny the truths that were put before me in this book. I was able to easily understand and apply the teachings that were imparted by the writer. There is huge amounts of beauty and power in the translation. Jnanadeva, an Indian prince, lived in the thirteenth century. He used his great vision and wisdom to achieve a simple and poetic work based on a massive collection of ancient writings.

It has truly improved my health, relationships, and sense of spirituality immeasurably. I highly recommend it!

I wholeheartedly agree with the previous review. I was going through a rough time in my life when I noticed a non-hindu friend reading from this book. The poetry and meaning are simply beautiful. I had forgotten the power of meditation and faith(not religion). But the truths contained in this translation are absolutely undeniable. This book has changed my life and I read from it every day. I wish that I could share it with everyone...

It's a superb book, very nice photos, most of them i have never seen before. The thing that i notice in the pictures, is that John never smiled in this book (apart from the cover and other two pictures, i think), he look's old, small, sad or maybe depresed. I have the Instamatic Karma too, and it's other John that appears on this book, he looks alive, happy and reflexive. In the end, it's a must buy for any Lennon fans.

Thanks.

This book is simply wonderful. It has some of the most intimate and beautiful pictures of John and Yoko ever published. A must have for any Lennon fan!

John and Yoko: A New York Love Story contains a collection of photographs by photographer Allan Tannenbaum of the long lasting romance between John Lennon and Yoko Ono. Many of the photos may have been seen by the public, and several have not been published before. Tannenbaum shows John and Yoko in their most intimate moments, which were shot at New York's Sperone Westwater Gallery and Central Park; the concluding photographs do not need too much description and show fans paying tribute to John as well Yoko posing in the same spot where John and she had walked days before. And by looking at the photographs, one can see it was yet another end to an era.

The most interesting part about the book is its beautiful layout. With the turn of the first page one can see what they are in store for. The pages are comprised of a variety of size photos from proofs to blown-up portraits of John and Yoko in glorious b/w and color, which capture their candidness as a couple and individually; Tannenbaum and book designer Barbara Genetin do a great job displaying the images.

Overall, this is a highly recommended book for John and Yoko fans or photography aficionados. With its over-sized coffee table book format, this may make a nice addition to anyone's book collection.

Allen Tannenbaum's book "John And Yoko: A New York Love Story" is a candid photo album of John and Yoko at work and play in and around New York City. Tannenbaum is granted amazing access to the couples lives. The photos are beautiful and give one a sense of intimacy of John and Yoko's life together. The overall effect of the book is to remind us of the tragic lost of John Lennon for Yoko, Sean, and the rest of us.

Thanks to DuPont, American Federal Furniture is now much appreciated, and is some of the most expensive period furniture in the world. It's hard to fathom, that not long ago this type of furniture was not coveted at all, it was thought too austere and understated, the wealthy in the ninetenth century and early twentieth century wanted all things French, thankfully they finally came to their sences and now this style is considered one of the most beautiful. John Townsend was a master of the style, along with John and Thomas Seymour and Duncan Phyfe. This book does a wonderful job of highlighting his best work and the text is highly informative and the writing scholarly. If you have any appreciation for great craftsmanship or just love American Federal Furniture, then I have no doubt you will love this book.

This book mirrors the wonderful exhibit of John Townsend's work that was on display at the Metropolitan Museum, and for people like me who make reproductions of Colonial and Early American furniture, it is a source of ideas, inspiration, and goals.

It's also a source for humility. Seeing the work that this man produced without the help of table saws, routers and the other tools of the 21st century is humbling.

The book is definitely worth every penny for those who love the furniture of the period, who enjoy knowing the history behind a particular piece, or who just enjoy seeing objects that are beautifully built with matchless craftsmanship and care.

This was originally written for the Washington Woodworkers Guild Newsletter, Sept 2007
This lavishly photographed book is a summary of all the currently known and likely works by John Townsend and his shop in Newport in the late 18th century. It is the catalogue associated with the 2005 exhibit of John Townsend's works at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York in 2005.
This is not a woodworking book per se. The first portion of the book details the history of Newport, with an emphasis on how it turned into a great cabinetmaking city. The extended family Townsend is then documented, and the links to the Goddards, the other great "name" of Newport cabinetmaking is explained. John Townsend's life is then described in as much detail as is currently available, with some speculation on why and how his furniture is distinguishable from the other major makers in the town. The bulk of the book is photographs of every piece currently known or believed to have been produced by him and his shop, organized by type, and with descriptions differentiating the pieces.
There is some description of technique: 10 pages of the more than 200 in the book are in the section "Observations on John Townsend's Cabinetwork". Most of the book is about the time and place that these masterpieces were created in, and the pieces themselves. As a furniture design, construction, and appreciation aid though the book has major strengths. These include 110 pages of large high quality photos and descriptions of 47 major pieces, including many very similar pieces made over decades. Being able to see the effects of subtle changes in proportion and decoration, and of different wood grains on otherwise similar pieces, is worth the price of the book by itself. There are also many photos of the undersides/backs of pieces, which provide additional understanding of how structural issues in the pieces were managed.
For documentation on technical specifics, more detailed references are required. This book contains no plans, and no exploded drawings. There are references to other sources in this book, though most are of historical rather than a technical nature. This book is appropriate as inspiration, for some technical details, and for the very high quality images that could be used to help make reproductions.

The gulf between appreciation and understanding is immense and while anyone can look upon a John Townsend highboy and see that it is beautiful, understanding the world in which it was built (which was without electric tools), the builder and the technological aspect of cabinetry makes these fine pieces of furniture all the more awe-inspiring. John Townsend, who was a shining star in the rather large furniture industry in New England of which Newport might be considered the capital, is all the more interesting because his pieces and his life have been documented. This work that was produced by the Metropolitan Museum of art is fascinating even if you aren't a connoisseur of fine furniture. It is brilliant, well written and most importantly full of beautiful color photographs of all of the known John Townsend works along with several other masterpieces of 18th century New England furniture.

I don't know whether its best to call this work an art book, a collector's reference or a history book but it serves well in all capacity. As an art book it does an extremely great job of describing in word and image the qualities of a master cabinetmaker. Being a master cabinetmaker was (is) a talent and a skill not unlike being a great painter. The difference is the medium but similarly unique styles are developed skills are honed and a great deal of personality is brought about in each work. As a collectors reference this book shows what makes Newport furniture and furniture of New England unique and also gives a great catalogue of the work that is currently in existence. Finally as a historical account the book does good justice to describing Newport's furniture industry and what made New England the place where Furniture making would reach its American zenith in the mid 18th century.

I am happy to own this book and know that it will be often viewed and re-read. If you are a fan of colonial America or fascinated by early American Furniture you need this book. While it may appear expensive it is an excellent reference a great book for the coffee table or to be gently placed on your Chippendale lowboy.

Ted Murena