Instruction Books

any book by Ralph Steadman requires serious and not so serious reading. his perspective on life is truly unique and worthy of consideration.

I'm very pleased with my purchase...It arrived promptly, well packaged, and in stellar condition. A flawless venture.

I love his work, have since he did the cover art and animation for Pink Floyd The Wall. This book is worth grabbing if you respect the artistic value of total insanity and the furthering of freedom of expression.

May the ghost of Hunter S. Thompson come down and become the next President of the United States - and may Ralph Steadman be his Art Director!

Having had, as many people did, my first taste of Ralph via Hunter S Thompson's books, I found this to be a great introduction to the Hyperactive and frantic style of a dude who is probably my favourite artist. This has a forward by Hunter, gives great colour examples of his works in the realm of Gonzo, and also has many written, poetical works, and songs. My fave piece is 'Stand up and be counted.' IE: The maverick beast will ALWAYS raise his head in the crowd. A perfect definition of Gonzo.

This is one of the most profound books I've ever read. Slowly the wisdom seeps into and invokes profound change in one's life. This is an experiential guide to personal transformation. There is no other book, I would recommend higher than this little gem. It will change your life. More importantly, if people embodied its message, it may transform the world. Unlike many modern prophets of spirit who are more concerned with morphing prosperity into a cottage industry, this author advocates for an integral approach to spirituality. Read it: you may never be the same again.

A workbook that helps you absorb universal principles.
THe best way is to work on one page a day, and repeart the previous last ones.

Easy reading, highly inspirational. Read it like drinking fine liquore - a little bit at a time, letting the words sink in and be carried on their wisdom on the days that follow.

In those moments when all you can hear is the house creak and the dog change positions, I like to pick up this book and read one or two of what the author calls seed passages. It's that kind of book. The author provides joyfully lively and thought provoking portals for the contemporary seeker's spiritual envisioning regardless of the readers' religious or non-religious identification. It is a small book with big ideas. Mr. Shulman's languaging, explanations and examples, in this his second book, are extremely clear, to the point and easily understood., The profound perspectives offered present many varied opportunities for the healing integration of body, mind, heart, and spirit into a place of embodied fullness and awakened consciousness. I find this book deeply transformative, full of delight and would recommend this book to all seeking devotional insight.

Spiritual awakening teacher Jason Shulman presents The Instruction Manual for Receiving God, a spiritual self-help guide that focuses upon making oneself available to receive the presence of God, rather than seeking God. Drawing upon the Kabbalist and Buddhist Dharma traditions embraced by Shulman, The Instruction Manual for Receiving God consists of 108 "seed passages", each a brief insight into divine mysteries of life, death, and wonder. The Instruction Manual for Receiving God is not meant to be read as a blueprint or lecture book; instead, each of the seed passages is meant to be pondered at length, perhaps absorbed individually over the course of days or weeks, in order to motivate contemplation of the divine and help open up one's heart and spirit. An inspirational and insightful tool. "Ecstasy is not something separate from fear. Ecstasy is something that includes fear in the price of being human."

I love this artist and am always inspired by this book. I first bacame familiar with this artist through a series of greeting cards made from his art. When my mother found this book we both had to have one. It is a nice shelf size, with full page and double page images. There are also excerpts that are blown up to show detail, sketches to show initial concept and process, and clever writing to keep you engaged in each piece. I was delighted as I read the book to find out just how much symbolism he uses. It makes his pieces much deeper than the common fanciful fantasy art. It was a real pleasure learning more about James Christensen. No matter how many times you look over these pictures, they will never get boring. You'll always see something new.

I love this book! I am an artist and illustrator. When I need inspiration to open my own creative juices, I study the pages of this book. Christensen's images come from a pure expression of the inner creative child blended with the quirky imagination of a "Renaissance" painter gone wild!

I got this book as a Christmas gift along with a painting by the artist. He's a good artist. Make no mistake about that. But you'd better be an ardent gamer to really enjoy his subject matter.

There's really no way to tell what James Christensen's art is like. It's as unsatisfactory as trying to describe what chocolate tastes like to the person who's never tasted it. It has to be experienced to be appreciated.

This is a wonderful collection reproducing almost all of Christensen's earlier work. It includes some "serious" works of which the artist clearly is a master, but his fantasy art is unlike anyone elses. It takes flights of fancy and works of whimsy to completely new heights. The person who can go through this delightful romp among a truly creative genius' works and not find themselves smiling for most of it is suffering from an atrophied sense of humor.

If you like fantasy, get this book. If you like art, get this book. If you have a sense of humor and the willingness to use it, get this book. Warning: you may have to take this book in small doses, or your smile may suffer from overwork.

This book causes you to see through the eyes of a child again, playing with reality and delighting in possibilities. It gets your "imaginative juices" flowing to where you won't look at ordinary, every day objects in the same way again. The artist provides the reader with insight into his whimsy, while at the same time providing a magical feast for the eye!

This is a really great book for anyone interested in education, not limited just to Montessori. The book explains clearly several aspects of Montessori education and describes the research that supports or does not support the Montessori method. I didn't know much about Montessori before reading this book, so I found it very enlightening to begin to understand this complete system for education.

I would highly recommend this book. Although a text book type publication, it is extremely interesting, easy to read. Very well researched and packed with insight and explanation on the Montessori method. I have read several other books on Montessori and this is one of the best. Read it in conjunction with Maria Montessori's own book "The Secret of Childhood."

I was familiar with the basics of Montessori education before I read "Montessori: The Science Behind the Genius". I have been drawn to it ever since I first heard about it because it feels more natural and right than traditional public school. I read this book in an effort to understand the system better and to be able to defend my choice to well-meaning but critical friends and family. I was not disappointed.

Lillard first compares traditional education with the Montessori system, pointing out how each came to be and how they have evolved over time. She then looks at what she considers to be the eight principles of Montessori education. Each is explained in depth, compared in depth with traditional education, and then research is provided in support of each principle. In her research, Lillard discovered that none of Montessori's central points have been disproven, many have been proven, and several are in need of further research.

Pros: This book cites many, many scientific studies. It is well-written and easy to understand. There are many examples (and pictures) of specific materials used in Montessori education. It provides a solid explanation of many of the important principles of Montessori education.

Cons: The book is a little wordy and uses too many previews, summaries, and reviews for my taste. The last chapter contains a section called "Frequently Asked Questions and Concerns about Montessori" that I wish was longer and more in depth.

What I would really like to find is a debate between pro- and anti- Montessori educators. While I really enjoyed this book and learned a lot from it, I came away thinking that Lillard's assessment was too good to be true. If Montessori education is really as wonderful as she (and I) think it is, why is it not more popular?

This is a great book to peruse if you have an interest in furthering Montessori's educational philosophy at home, in traditional, or alternative schools.

As a former Montessori student, I've been amazed at how other children develop learning methods in classroom experiences across the U.S. With our educational system in flux, how about looking to Maria Montessori and her teaching philosophies that she developed a century ago.

I may hold a biased view for Montessori learning. However, Montessori believed that the 'factory method' of schooling was outdated. Believing that children have blank slates for learning, she created learning techniques and environments that develop concentration, independent thought, motivation, curiosity, and self-discipline for life's choices. After reading this book, I'm in full agreement with her teaching methods.

Lilliard explains the history and theories behind Montessori education in-depth and with strength. She explains the importance of our relationships and environments within the classroom and our homes, and she explores the knee-jerk arguments against Montessori education. If you're working or raising children, you'll be way ahead of the game with this thorough and insightful book.

I wanted to explore the foundations of how I learn in life, and Lillard answers my questions. I'm not only more knowledgable about how I learn, but also I'm more aware how intelligence is developed and the possibilites of how our youth can learn in today's world.

Add to your building blocks of knowledge, and explore Montessori methods...This is a supreme read.

Golf books get alot of criticism and I was skeptical when I bought it but I approve of the authors writing ability and applying his concepts on how to diagnose and correct a major flaw in your swing realy helped me.

It's geared more toward the frustrated golfer but there is some practical knowledge advanced players may find useful as well.

I've bought countless golf books in the last few years in search of the perfect swing that will result in lowering my score. I believe I've bought my last golf book. Joe Laurentino's book, "The Negotiable Golf Swing: How to Improve Your Game Without Picture-Perfect Form", is a gem. What a relief to learn that I no longer need to model my swing to a pro's swing. My swing is good enough. With that pressure off, I can now focus on a mental pre-shot routine that will send my ball to where I want it to go. Mr. Laurentino takes you through the basic swing mechanics and mental processes that will make your game automatic resulting in lower scores and more fun!

What so impressive about this book is its ability to help me link the dots in my golf swing. More amazingly, it allows me to choose my own dots and connect them as I see fit; as long as I adhere to some governing rules that are non-negotiable.

Non-negotiable rules related to club face, club path, and swing path, cannot be bent. Hence, you MUST adhere to them in order to improve your ball flight. As I become more aware of them during my practice, I see my ball flight begins to take a gradual ascending shape - this is what I was looking for :). My short and mid iron play is getting sharper. I can't wait to work on my longer irons to make the ball flights more predictable as well.

What this book tells me to do is; as long as I adhere to these simple rules that govern the ball flight, I can keep my own unique swing, even if I don't swing like a pro, and still manage to hit great shots.

This book will pass the test of time and remains as one of the greatest books ever written. It humbly unravels the mysteries behind your unique golf swing and convinces you that; it's ok to swing the way you swing; as long as you adhere to some basic rules of a good golf swing to maximize your ball-striking ability.

I had never really thought about it before picking up this book, but nobody really has a perfect, text book swing. The best of the best in any sport seem to have their unique idiosyncracies, and yet they make it work...for them.

Really. I have been golfing off and on for 30 years. For 30 years I have worked to keep the left arm straight, head still, legs proper width apart, grip perfect, etc., etc. And yet, for 30 years I have a natural tendency to fall into old ways that feel more comfortable to me than the "perfect swing".

After reading this book, I have learned that I don't have to beat my head against a brick wall trying to perfect a text book swing. Laurentino showed me how to take what feels natural to me, and tweak it to make it work. It feels much better to work from my natural comfort zone, and modify those parts of the swing that are "negotiable" to achieve my goals, rather than trying to execute a completely unnatural swing in the name of "perfection".

The lessons I learned in this book have helped me get more distance and accuracy and have definitely improved my game. More importanly though, they have made the game more fun. I can play better with less frustration because I "negotiated" a swing that works with my natural habits. Thanks Joseph.

Since I started playing golf 30 years ago, I have taken lots of lessons from four different professionals. Each one taught me a different swing, and those swings produced vastly different results on the course. Only one of the professionals taught me a swing that was very repeatable and reliable. That professional spent a lot of time letting me see what the swing was supposed to look like and then giving me lots of objective information on how my swing was different.

With the other three professionals, my game always got a lot worse after taking a lesson . . . even if I hit the ball well during the lesson. I also found that I was confused . . . because these professionals had told me things that contradicted one another.

As a student of how people learn, I'm a big believer in using feedback from experience to spot errors and correct them. But none of the four professionals ever taught me to how take information from ball flight and use that to make adjustments. As a result, I learned relatively little about how to hit the ball well.

I found that The Negotiable Golf Swing was like a breath of fresh air because Joseph Laurentino shows what must happen in a swing . . . and where you have room for personal preferences. After 30 years of confusion, I found that he demonstrated objectively three things that I do wrong in my swing that account for most of my current problems . . . all of which are based on my misunderstanding of what is supposed to happen during a swing.

Without picking on any of the professionals who confused me, it's clear that they demonstrated those three points in ways that included errors . . . errors that I memorized and struggled to repeat. It's clear that the professionals could have used access to this book's fine photographs and analyses.

Before you take any lessons, read this book. I was also impressed that the book referred to the most helpful other golf books that I've read over the years. If I had read this book 30 years ago, I would have been a better golfer and saved a fortune in lost balls and unnecessary lessons for the full swing.

The book is, however, not as complete as the Pelz books on short game and putting. For those important subjects, rely on Pelz . . . as Mr. Laurentino also suggests.

Hit 'em where you want to!

Trust your first instinct when you hit the green, and learn to keep those negative thoughts at bay. This mental and technical guide to putting will help you improve your form.

Very straightforward and comensensical. Seems everything we read these days is about positive thinking. And it does work along with a good basic set up. I especially like his instruction that once you are over the ball, don't wait there and let negative thoughts sneak in. Go ahead and hit the ball. He says to trust your first instinct when you read a putt and I have always found that to be true. Can't wait to put his recommendations into play.

After reading Golf is Not a Game of Perfect by the same author I got this one and found it to be just as good which I rate as 5 stars *****

Any golfer (including disc golfers) would benefit from this book. It's a very good book!

So much of golf and golf instruction is mechanical, and justly so. Technique is very important in a complex action such as the full swing, and improper form can lead to both bad shots and injury.

In contrast, we have putting. The action on the ball is so slight and simple, mechanics themselves are important only at a very rudimentary level. Technique has more to do with guaging individual variances for a particular situation than it does moving from positions A to B to C.

This is why putting is called the "game within a game". It resembles so little of the rest of golf. It also makes it one of the most difficult for the mechanics oriented golfer to master.

What Rotella has done here is to lay out his observations of what the best putters in the game think and do, not with their stroke, but with their minds. Using examples of unusual putters like Locke, he points out that it is not the stroke itself that counts, but your confidence in it. Locke believed he was hooking the ball into the hole, when this was likely not the case. Still, his stroke, which cut across the ball, made him one of the best putters ever because he believed in it.

Rotella goes further, discussing people with more "technically sound" strokes, such as Faxon and Crenshaw. Crenshaw, in particular, is an interesting case. Rotella introduces a story in which Crenshaw, in one sentence, completely turns putting instruction on its head, much to the horror of a professional golf instructor. Again, what is important is what was in his mind, not what a slow-motion camera might reveal.

People frustrated with their putting may find good, solid information here on how to improve. The biggest test will be trying to apply it, which may be harder than any swing change you could imagine.

I've been playing guitar forever, and writing songs for years, but like most other writers I get stuck in ruts from time to time. Now, whenever I need some new ideas, whether an entire song, a verse, a chorus, a bridge, or a lift, I just look through this book. Even a basic I-IV-V can be made more interesting by advancing or delaying a change. I also like that he relates the CD examples to particular musical styles, which provides a good template for writing to that style.

As with Rooksby's other books, the material is presented with great clarity and is well edited. A songwriter could do a lot worse than build a library of his books.

man, this book has really really come in handy for me, expeically early chapter, good thing i have this. some of the think in here i have never seen or heard on the internet before, this book seems rare with its information.

I have over last two years developed into a real fan of Rikky's books. This one really surprised me for progressive depth in the structure of each chapter. Each chapter builds on the next. And sandwiched between the 'tips' are these gems of compositions that helps broaden and deepen the constructive elements of songwriting. The book is focused more on chord progression in songs and then the composition of the song's components, verse, chorus, bridge, etc. The great surprise, and I think, and real beauty of the book is the way he uses the CD with the last chapter. He records 12 or so songs, and then in that chapter, he breaks them down in to their component structure, and tells you why he made the choices he did. A really GREAT book. Worth the price!

This book taught me so much about songwriting, it's scary. I'm not a novice, either! It teaches you about chord theory better than any other book I've read.

Sparks my creative thoughts and brings me back to the love of writing music with passion.

I used this book to help me write my senior thesis (rooted in music education). I enjoyed this book because it was as much about personal experience as it was about science. Science is compelling, but personal experience helps one connect. The author has interesting hypotheses about music therapy. An enjoyable, educational read.

I just received this gem of a book as a Christmas gift and have not been able to put it down. This is an easy to read, superbly insightful volume with quick, accessible and practical chapters
that should be in everyone's bookshelf right at eye level. As an avid, long time collector of alternative (complementary) therapy approaches I find this to be the most comprehensive book I have ever laid hands on. A pity that, being published by a small publisher, it has not received the "marketing muscle" of much lesser volumes. Bringing together eastern thought, simple-common sense psychology (fully validated by research that supports all of the approaches throughout the book), and music from one's own collection the Tao of Music is a gift for mind, body and soul.
If you have children rush out and also get his "Nurturing Your Child with Music," sensational.

I originally purchased this book based on two, completely unrelated endorsements from colleagues who have found it consistently useful both in their personal lives and their professional practices. Having read this excellent book I can honestly say that it is a wise, cost effective investment. The fact that each clearly written, well researched chapter stands on its own makes it very easy to find a topic one is dealing with (using music to handle anger or depression for instance, or designing a personal exercise or relaxation program) and putting together a personalized program from among the many practical exercises suggested. The hundreds of recommended song titles are refreshingly modern and amazingly effective. If extra reseach into a particular area is necessary each chapter offers a number of relevant professional articles and resources to fit each target area.

As a professional trainer, however, I find this book takes an added dimension and provides an excellent resource for anyone designing programs to address many typical issues encountered throughout corporate or industrial settings such as time management, procrastination, motivation, productivity, relaxation, communication skills, social relations, and a host of other relevant areas encountered in management, education or business.

I recommend the Tao of Music highly both as a professional resource for trainers and a personal tool to help address day to day situations.

Julian Evans Corporate Trainer

A classic within this genre.
The cream of the crop.
Superb!

Simple to read. Relevant to laypersons and professionals. Essentially any "issue" we all deal with is addressed in this book written in a clear, practical, orderly format. I use it often in my practice (I am a psychotherapist) and recommend it to my clients who rave about it without fail. My wife, a high school teacher, also uses it to assist in her lessons plans. Exceptional!

I bought the book. Two, by accident. Started to read it and thought "I know someone who could use this" (besides myself). I loaned the extra copy to a fellow photographer that does a "commercial photo" class at the institution at which I teach "fashion" (subtitled "forget the crap the other teachers taught and have fun).
Anyway, he liked it so much, he is asking that it become the text book for his class! Truly, although I probably wasn't ready for it, I wish this book had been there when I had graduated from College/Assisting...

Lesko relays equal parts insight, humor and experience into what might otherwise be a droll subject. Surprisingly, I found myself glued to the pages and I before I knew it I had learned something too! A great read.

excellent real world knowledge, with a friendly, real world voice. A photographer who knows the business, and is firm in his knowledge- like he should be. Highly recommended.

Not only does Lou walk you through the intricacies of doing business as a commercial photographer, he offers basic insights and meaningful advice any photographer can use. Further, his style of writing makes this a fun and interesting read. A definate thumbs up.

This book is a good book to go through whether or not you are a photographer. The stories that Lou tells are great. They make you laugh but also have a lesson and a point to each one. The photos are beyond amazing and I enjoyed all of them and the lessons they taught as you go through the book. I would recommend this to any reader whether you are an avid photographer or just a point and shot type of person.

This book has the most awesome animal drawings I have ever seen. The fact that they are wood engravings is more than remarkable!

A present for my daughter-in-law and the illustrations were incredible. She is an artist and will make good use of this book.

Wow - the enormous numbers of animal life is astounding and the book clearly shows this. Unfortunately the images are quite dark and the book is very thick (you get your money's worth - image-wise), so scanning them for use in various artistic media is difficult. Therefore, I bought two of the books and plan to cut one of them up (that hurts to say for I treasure books of all types). This way I can control the scanning and modification using software to bring out details and highlight an image to my satisfaction. And finally, the classic images are impressive and I applaud the author for his selection of animals from all realms of life on earth.

Used several of these drawings in projects. Books like this are great for those of us designers who aren't the best freehand drawers.

This is just packed full of brilliant illustrations of birds frogs fish girafee spiders butterflies you name it , throughly recommended for any one who loves botanical illustrations or engravings , really good source material for artists or designers.very nice book but rember it is a paper back not that that matters to me.