Graphics Books

Joseph Lowery has a love affaire with Dreamweaver dating back to 1998 and version 1.0; that's why this book is more than just an expert writing about a piece of software, Joseph is passionate about Dreamweaver and the result is a real work of love. The book contains 10 chapters, covering different topics; each chapter stands on its own, allowing the reader to pick only one topic at time, there is no need to read from cover to cover here. The vast majority of the material available here is simply not available elsewhere; Mr Lowery covered things that may surprise even a seasoned Dreamweaver veteran like me. If you enjoy pushing Dreamweaver to its limits you can't miss this one

Beyond Dreamweaver covers one of my favorite things about Dreamweaver, which is its open-endedness. Web design is all about pushing limits -- of our own knowledge, of HTML, of browsers -- and Dreamweaver gives its users lots of room to push. So you want to adapt Dreamweaver to work with your company's Content Management System? This book shows you how. You want to work with the latest, greatest XML-based language out there, even though Dreamweaver doesn't *officially* support it? Dreamweaver can support just about anything you throw at it, and this book shows you how. And each chapter is written from a problem-solving, why-would-I-want-to-do-this perspective that makes it quickly useful.

This book will show you what you didn't even know you need to know. I am a medium to advanced Dreamweaver user and I learned so much from this book, starting in the first chapter. I think this book is perfect for people who have used the software for a while, but don't really push it to its limits. Mr. Lowery shows you important things in two general categories: how to accomplish things you couldn't before and how to streamline your workflow to be more efficient.

With an abundance of books on the market focusing on the techniques built into Macromedia's Dreamweaver MX product, reading this book was a breath of fresh air as it takes the product, and completely blows it apart.

The techniques in this book, such as integrating DMX into your content management solution, extending the product using C++ as well as dealing with cutting issues such as accessibility will make you more productive and your workflow more refined.

Lowery leaves no stone unturned, showing clearly how to integrate through the extensibility layer with Fireworks; and explains how to link data into Flash in a concise, easy to understand way.

The techniques discussed are also fully extendable to your own ideas so the book will lay down a very important framework.

A fantastic tome which should hold pride of place on your desktop.

If you have been working with Dreamweaver for some time now, and are ready to take your skills to the next level, Beyond Dreamweaver is the perfect resource. Through a concise and straightforward writing style, the author takes you on a broad exploration of development possibilities beyond Dreamweaver's "everyday" usage.

The book begins with an excellent chapter on the ease of integrating Dreamweaver MX with Content Management Systems. While this chapter may not seem as relevant to developers since Macromedia's introduction of their content management system - Contribute, it clearly demonstrates the extensibility of Dreamweaver. In doing so, it opens the reader's mind to virtually unlimited possibilities for creating custom integrations. Additionally, it continues to be a valuable example for developers using other Content Management Systems such as Interwoven or BlueMartini.

The next chapter provides an excellent overview of Section 508 website accessibility requirements. It also discusses new features available in Dreamweaver MX that will assist developers in ensuring that their websites are accessible.

Beyond Dreamweaver goes on to provide a great introduction to XML. Examples clearly demonstrate how to use Dreamweaver MX, both to export template content to XML and import XML into Dreamweaver templates.

The next few chapters present a variety of techniques that will enhance productivity. You will learn how to build Sequential Navigational Systems for both small and large scale websites; about Dreamweaver's ability to cross-integrate with other Macromedia products such as Fireworks and Flash; and how to go beyond Dreamweaver's built in capabilities and actually build your own custom cross-product extensions.

If you are interested in creating your own extensions, Beyond Dreamweaver explains how to use the standard classes and libraries that ship with Dreamweaver as a starting point. And if you really want to dig in and explore under the hood, it gives you an excellent example of how to take this even further by using C++ to create your own extensions to JavaScript.

The chapter "Making Flash Connections" was of particular interest to me as a designer/developer who specializes in Flash site development and dynamically generated database driven websites. A valuable example that was provided demonstrates the ability to pass data - either static or dynamically generated - from a Dreamweaver coded page to a Flash .swf file. Additionally, a second example demonstrates the new Flash Remoting features which allows Flash to send and receive more complete data structures. I particularly enjoyed exploring the possibilities of combining the Macromedia tri-product MX powerhouse - Flash, Dreamweaver and ColdFusion. Quite a combo!

Beyond Dreamweaver does not extensively delve into any one topic. Instead it provides the reader with a broad range of examples that can be used as a springboard for further exploration.

Gary Larson has a macabre and twisted sense of humor and I commend him for it. His "The Far Side" comic strip was one of my favorites from the first time I read it until he retired the strip. This book contains the cartoons of the last six months of the strip as well as 13 additional cartoons drawn by Larson after he retired. They all have the twisted look at life that was Larson's trademark. If your funnybone is twisted into a similar contortion, then this is a book that you must read.

This book is the last six months of Far Side cartoons. Plus 13 new cartoons. They are phenomenal. And now, a moment of silence for The Far Side...

its like a drug. once you read 1 you cant stop. you got to read more and more AND MORE. till you read them all,then it starts slowly you feel unforfilled then you go in to denile"thair has to be more!!!!!!!!!!!" then anger"i need a (...) FAR SIDE BOOK!!!. then you find more and joy is restored. i just finished Winer Dog Art. now,i am in a state of peril. I NEED A (...)Far Side book. Larson RUN FOR PRESIDENT,you my not no this but you thousands of bystanderdeds who are willing to rise up and carry you to power.i know i would

This isn't Larson's best book but being his last Farside cartoon collection before retirement is a collectors piece. The 140 cartoons in the bulk part of the book contain some classics such as the Inferiority Complex Sufferers cartoon and the ACME Wingbaby cartoon. The majority are good but there are some that you can tell were being left out of earlier books due to their standard. I love the two cartoons on page 80 (the end of the general cartoon section) that tell us The Far Side cartoons were all a dream of a man and the cavemen, cows, nerdy kids all looked like members of his family. The 13 full page cartoons at the back of the book are drawn after retirement and in most cases I would say aren't up to Larson's usual brilliant standard.

There is also an Afterword by Gary Larson that tells a tale his father drew on his kitchen table about a kid in school, drawing a box that becomes a lightbulb then becomes his mum bending over. Interesting story but I would have preferred a few more cartoons.

There are better Far Side collections than this one but if you own the rest you need this to complete your collection. There are plenty of good cartoons here.

For those of you Larson~FarSiders like me, this is a must have. You need to love and see FarSide on your daily life to understand and enjoy Larson's humor. This last book has more of what we all wished he could and would continue giving us. On a scale of one to ten farsides, and compared to previous FarSide books, this one is an "8". Buy it!

This is a major compilation of the work of the intriguing graphic artist, M. C. Escher. Remember seeing depictions of events that seem plausible but, under closer analysis, involve impossibilities? That describes some of Escher's most interesting works.
The book provides just about everything Escher produced (appearing in the "Catalog" section of the book), including his earliest works compiled during his teens. Among the most well known (and fascinating) include "The Waterfall," "Ascending and Descending March," "Convex and Concave," "Liberation," "Synthesis," "House of Stairs," and so on. The catalog section is fun, for one thing, simply to trace the evolution of his art.

But there is more to this volume than the works themselves. The volume provides context, with a brief description of his father's life as well as a more detailed analysis of Escher's life, from his birth in 1898 to his death in 1972.

There is also a most useful chapter labeled "The Vision of a Mathematician" (featuring the thoughts of mathematics teacher Bruno Ernst). It begins by noting two periods in the work of Escher--(page 135): ". . .pre 1935, in which landscapes predominate, and post 1937, which is characterized by a marked mathematical tendency." Ernst describes the mathematical principles in some detail (for those interested in this, a fascinating discussion). The textual portion of the book concludes with an essay by Escher himself on "The Regular Division of the Plane," including his reflections on his art.

This book has been around a while, but it is a valuable backdrop to getting a sense of the art of M. C. Escher.

I love everything Escher. I have several books, numerous calendars, as well as large jigsaw puzzles, T-shirts, magnets and mini jigsaw puzzles. Because of the detail in this book, I will never need to add another book to my collection. I especially appreciate the explanations. I am nowhere near smart enough to figure out what Escher was doing in each of his artworks. The detailed lesson on what each piece means is much appreciated by an art fan who is not an art scholar. I think this book would be great for any Escher fan, but I feel the need to tell you it is very large. Make sure you have room for it.

And c'mon - if you've seen his work, you're a fan.

The great thing about this book is not just the extensive and readable biography, but the complete (so they say) catalog of his graphic works. Even people very familiar with Escher's ouvre will be surprised by some of the entries here. They go back to work he did at ages 18 and 19, and show the devleopment of the Escher that has become so famous. It's just a little disappointing that the catalog is printed only in black and white, when so many of his works used color. The catalog reproductions are just that - a listing of his work, not a gallery, so the quarter-page size of most pieces is adequate for recognizing a piece, if not for appreciating it fully.

It is fascinating to see Escher's style develop though his (and the twentieth century's) twenties. Various influences early on suggest Beardsley (cat. 49, 67), Picasso (cat. 51, 58), or the pervasive Art Deco of his time (cat.34). Even then, some of Escher's later fascinations begin to emerge, including hands and reflective balls (cat. 88 and 80), symmetries and tilings (cat. 61, 65), and complex interactions of many figures in a repeating structure (cat. 90). The lesser-known parts of his work also start to emerge by the time he's 30, including delicate lithographs (cat. 129, 132). As much as I love his visual paradoxes and flirtation with the infinite, the lithos and mezzotints are the pieces that truly move me. "Snow" and "Blowball" (cat. 278 and 330) have an eloquent simplicity. "Eye" and "Drop" (cat. 344 and 356) demonstrate his classical sense and his perseverance with the demanding medium of mezzotint.

The text is also thorough and enjoyable - a good thing, since it takes up half of this heavy book, including its own set of illustrations. I admit that I have only skipped around this section, which starts by describing Escher's father. It's small wonder that his father was an engineer and that his son Arthur studied geology. Although an artist to the core, Escher had fruitful contact with mathematicians and crystallographers. He is one of very few artists that have successfully incorporated hard science into their artistic vision at such a visceral level, and the scientists appreciated that as much as anyone.

Although out of print, this book is available inexpensively on the used market. It's one of the best bargains around; if you've read this far, you'll probably find it well worth having.

//wiredweird

I haven't even had a chance to go through all of this remarkable book yet, but I am so impressed with it so far I cannot burble enough about how delighted I am with my purchase. This is a beautifully produced, designed, and wonderfully complete book. Many tales of the personal life an vision of the artist, countless, cleanly reproduced graphics, many works I have never seen or heard of before. Terrific! Can't recommend enough!!!

Definitely the first book every Escher fan should purchase. It's helpful in getting to know about the man himself as well as his brilliant artwork. It may seem pricey, but it's totally worth it, being hardcover (at least the one I got), and high quality photos of his work. It also shows his lesser known works (ones never released apparently), as well as photos of himself and his family. A very informative read and a quality edition.

I absolutely loved this book! It was fantastic. Marilyn Monroe was such a beautiful, talented person and this book definitely shows it. The pictures are sharp and bright and the captions are wonderful. The variety is nothing short of impressive. I highly recommend this "coffee table book" to any Monroe fan!

Now in a revised second edition, Marilyn Monroe: Cover To Cover by Clark Kidder is a unique collection for the fans one of Hollywood's best known personalities, as it features full-color illustrations of numerous magazine covers that showcased this talented actress and American heartthrob. Each picture offers a brief caption or memorable quote (often by Marilyn herself) about the picture, as well as the average selling price for good condition copies of the magazine. Marilyn Monroe: Cover To Cover is a very highly recommended resource for celebrity memorability collectors in general, and Marilyn Monroe fans in particular.

Clark Kidder has done it yet once again. His magnificent Marilyn Monroe magazine collector guide " Cover To Cover " is lavishly illustrated with gorgeous Norma Jeane covers from around the world. This book is very helpful for Marilyn Monroe collectors. I have been collecting Marilyn Monroe Memorabilia since 1991 and everytime one of Clark's great Marilyn books come out I learn so much valuable information. This book gets my highest recommendation. Simply delightful and is a definite must have referance guide for any serious Marilyn Monroe collector. Clark Kidder is a Marilyn Monroe Super Collector and his work promoting the hobby of collecting Marilyn Monroe memorabilia has done wonders for the hobby. Two Thumbs Up!

This is an unusual outstanding picture book.

Marilyn in unforgetable pictures.

Thank you!

This thoroughly unique and enjoyable approach to the documentation of Marilyn's career is a comprehensive collection of magazine covers from all around the world, featuring her throughout her career. The whole is an eclectic gathering of photos highlighting her metamorphosis from unknown young model to luminous superstar.

Although many of the more well known American covers are absent, there is plenty here to satisfy! The variety and sheer number of colorful covers is impressive. The memorable quotes that accompany so many of the covers capture the essence of her endearing personality without being an actual biography, and the timeline is a good but brief overview of many of the important events in her life.

Although I am not an avid collector of MM memorabilia, I'm sure the pricing information would be valuable to those who are. I found comparing the various values to be very interesting reading. I can only imagine the painstaking work that went into identifying each of these photos and determining the worth of each cover.

This would be a welcome and unique addition to any MM library - highly recommended!

These first issues of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby's X-Men may not seem that great by today's standards, but taking into account that this was 40 years ago and Stan and Jack started an experimental new line of comics focusing on human drama as much as superheroics, it must be said that they were brilliant for their time. The stories are pretty basic and center around the X-Men's training under the tutelage of Professor X as well as their repeated encounters with Magneto, but the characters these tales introduce is what makes this Masterworks volume a real treat. The Vanisher, The Blob, Mastermind, The Toad, Scarlet Witch, Unus and Quicksilver all make appearances, and boy is it worth it! The battles are well drawn by Kirby, and the humor is there as well, making every panel an exhilirating read. Within a few short issues we can already see most of the characters developing into individuals with personalities, flaws and desires. How they interact with each other is also skillfully handled, and this above all makes X-Men masterworks a fine addition to any X-phile's library.

Although it was self-proclaimed before the X-Men were first published, for me the Marvel Age didn't get started until Chic Stone, Vince Colletta and Joe Sinnott arrived on the scene to ink Kirby's art. As a kid I used to read my older brother's early issues of FF, Spider-Man, Thor, even the Avengers but I didn't start actually buying the things until I saw how Chic Stone transformed the art. I could tell something was different immediately. At first I thought it was Kirby just getting better (which he was), but then I started noticing who was inking the comics. It was like a light switch had been thrown--the art work seemed electrified. It's interesting to see the transition from previous inkers to Chic Stone in this series of early X-Men. I consider him the first "Marvel Age" inker. Later you can see how Kirby and the inkers worked together to put together a product that I have yet to like better. The team of Stan Lee, Kirby and Stone, Colletta, and Sinnott were the real superheroes to me. Their work stood head and shoulders above anything else (and still hold up pretty darn good) around, with the possible exception of Ditko...

This is great stuff! Beyond the simply drawn panels, goofy characterizations and nearly adolescent plot lines there's a real sense of marvel, excitement and virtue that's just absolutely wonderful. To my thinking this book shows the beginning of the combined creative genius of Stan Lee and Jack Kirby.
Over the course of these earliest issues of the "original" X-Men we see Lee's seminal themes of isolation, alienation and intolerance really beginning to take root. At the same time we witness Kirby slowly depart from traditional styles of comic book illustration and gradually come into his own-by issue #10 with the introduction of Ka-zar we see the first glimmer of Kirby's eventual brilliance.
I can't see how anyone could be disappointed with the stories collected in this book.

I expected and did find the stories to be dated having been published 40 years ago. However, I still found volume one to be a very enjoyable read. I will continue with the X-Men, there are many more volumes to go.

This X-Men Masterworks reprints Unncany X-Men #1-10! These issues were originally published in 1963. they are reprinted in a full color Hardcover format published by Marvel Comics. The Marvel Comics creators Stan Lee and Jack Kirby created this strange science fiction world of Mutants! The X-Men team roster consist of Cyclops,Iceman,Angel,Beast,and Marvel Girl. the X-Men's Mentor is Professor X. He trains the X-Men to use their Mutant powers for the good of Mankind. the first issue features the first appearance of the X-Men,Professor X, and the super villian Magneto! Buy this X-Men Masterworks edition. Highest possible recommendation! if you want to get Unncanny X-Men#1-10 in full color, this is the place to start! Make Mine Marvel!

I agree with many of the other reviewers - this book is great. I recently got Mathematica and found the imbedded Help browser a little cryptic at times. I purchased Mathematica Navigator after reading many of the reviews here. I haven't read the book from cover to cover, but instead use it as a reference after having read chapters 1 through 3.

I'm studying Matrix algebra, so I skipped to Chapter 18 and worked through the examples without any problem, save a small error on page 467 where an upper case P was typed in lower case.

Highly recommend for anyone wanting help making the most out of very powerful software.

Very well written and full of useful information to start learning Mathematica. It covers all the foundamentals.

This is a GREAT reference book. You won't learn how to program Mathematica from it. You will learn an amazing amount about how Mathematica works by reading it. If you don't believe me, check out it's thorough explanation of cubic splines. It's better than the Mathematica Help. It also comes with the complete book which can be installed in the Mathematica help system.

There is, literally, a wealth of information to work with in this book.

I would also strongly recommend getting An Introduction to Programming with Mathematica, Third Edition. This is a first rate "course in a book" for programming.

There are other books which are good. Between these two books, you will have an amazing arsenal to work with!

Paul

Mathematica is an excellent program, with good built-in and online documentation - although many feel the Documentation Centre in version 6 is not as good as the Help Browser in version 5.2. But sooner or later you will find a problem for which the official Mathematica documentation does not help. The program can then be very frustrating, as the syntax is complicated and error messages can be very cryptic. Help online is painfully slow, as the official resource, the news group comp.soft-sys.math.mathematica (Mathgroup), is moderated, so help requests have to be approved before they will appear. (The newsgroup sci.math.symbolic is sometimes helpful and since its not controlled by Wolfram Research, posts appear immediately). Hence Mathematica users will need one or more good books - more so than with other similar programs such as Maple or Matlab.

In addition to the book Mathematica Navigator by Ruskeepaa, I own several other books on Mathematica, including:
* The Mathematica Book, Fifth Edition by Stephen Wolfram
* The Mathematica Guidebook: Programming by Michael Trott.
* The Mathematica GuideBook for Symbolics (w/ DVD) by Michael Trott.
* Schaum's Outline of Mathematica by Eugene Don
* An Introduction to Programming with Mathematica, Third Edition by Paul Wellin
* Programming in Mathematica (3rd Edition) by Roman Maeder - I also own the first edition.
* The Beginners Guide to MathematicaRG, Version 4 by Jerry Glynn and Theordore Gray

plus a few more old books I've either had a very long time or bought very cheaply on Amazon.

Given the choice of only one book, I would choose Mathematica Navigator by Ruskeepaa. It comes with a CD-ROM which has the whole contents of the book, which may be integrated into Mathematica's help system. It's not unique in that respect, as so do Micheal Trott's Mathematica Guidebooks, but they have far too much irrelevant material in them. Ruskeepaa's book sticks to important facts about Mathematica. The book covers a wide range of topics. Sometimes I wish in more depth, but the book offers a good compromise between width and depth. In particular, the information on writing Mathematica programs is far too short, so its unlikely to satisfy someone wanting to write a major Mathematica package. For writing packages, Programming in Mathematica (3rd Edition) by Roman Maeder based on Mathematica 3 is arguably still the best, although Maeder's 1997 book is very old.

The only significant fault I can find of Ruskeepaa's book is its age. Mathematica 6 is a really major upgrade from 5 with many functions now built into the kernel which previously needed to be loaded from packages. Many functions or options have been deprecated. As such, some of the information is no longer accurate. But given at the time of writing (December 2007) there is no book on Mathematica 6 published, I think Ruskeepaa's book, which is based on version 5, is the best Mathematica users can get. However, if by the time you read this, someone has published a book on Mathematica 6, then it might be worth buying that instead.

I would have given this 5 stars, but it is getting a bit dated now.

I liked the first version so much that I bought this second edition also. The first edition was based on Mathematica 3 but this second edition is based on Mathematica 5 (Mathematica 6 has only just shipped within the past 2 months).

As did the first edition, this second edition comes with a cd that contains the entire book in Mathematica notebook form. The style sheets used to format the second edition cd notebooks are much cleaner looking than the first.

At anyrate, I definitely recommend the second edition even if you already have the first edition.

The fifth graders had just come back from their tour of the middle school they will be attending next year when I asked for volunteers to read this book. The book was a hit with the girls, although the a few boys read it because of the format. The girls wanted to hear about middle school...the joys and the sorrows. The coverage of the different topics: dad killed by drunk driver, single parent mom, rebellious older brother, kind grampa, and mom getting remarried, interested the readers at different levels. The girls were particularly excited about the format....little text but a lot of information. Good book for light reading. Good book to use when talking about and experimenting with differing formats.

I purchased this book for my 5th grade sister who abhors reading. She fights any book any tries to place in front of her. I first heard about this book at a Young Adult Literature Conference for teachers and librarians. It sounded interesting, so I purchased it from Amazon and had it shipped to my sister. She loved the book! She shared it with her teacher and class, too. I highly recommend this book for middle school reluctant readers. It's full of pictures and graphics to help hold the attention of all readers.

This just in: Middle school is HARD. It's bad enough that you have to deal with changing classrooms, let alone changing for P.E. in the locker room in front of classmates. You have to navigate your way between classes and through the cafeteria without losing your cool or your lunch. You have more schoolwork and homework to do than you did in elementary school. Your moods may suddenly shift, and your friends, siblings, and parents might suddenly seem like foreign life forms.

Middle School is Worse Than Meatloaf: A Year Told Through Stuff by Jennifer L. Holm, with artwork and illustrations by Elicia Castaldi, is a unique look at one girl's seventh grade experience. It relays all of the fears and concerns of a typical middle school student, but in a very cool format. It really is told through Ginny's stuff: her to-do lists (she likes scratching out tasks as she completes them), her tests and essays, notes to and from her mom, her grandfather, and her teachers, her older brother's hand-drawn comics, even her report cards and bank statements (she makes money baby-sitting, then spends it and ends up with the same balance every month).

The concept is executed wonderfully. Holm and Castaldi have given Ginny a definite life and personality, just through her stuff. Castaldi's artwork is beautiful. News clippings, greetings cards, and store receipts all look authentic. It brought to mind The Baby-Sitters Club Chain Letter book from many years ago. Though the BSC book actually had letters you could unfold, cards you could open, and other trinkets readers could keep, I liked that Middle School was all right here on the page, so nothing could get torn or out of place.

Every single thing written, drawn, or otherwise included on the page is a part of the story. When Ginny dyes her hair against her mom's wishes, we see the receipt from the store where she bought the dye and other items, then the receipt from the hair salon where Ginny's mother takes her to fix her hair. When her mother remarries, a newspaper clipping describes the affair. When Ginny's older brother gets in trouble, he draws her comic strips to show what he did and to express his remorse. The comics are rendered by Holm's real-life brother, Matthew, who also works with her on the fun graphic novel series Babymouse.

A complete story is told here, just through one girl's stuff. Not only is this contemporary and appealing to kids currently in middle school, but it won't feel dated in five years because it is based on fairly timeless themes. It's not about having stuff - meaning it's not about the desire to have material items - but rather it's what your stuff says about you.

If you haven't seen this book, please go find it. Get Holm's previous works while you're at it!

Jennifer L. Holm's MIDDLE SCHOOL IS WORSE THAN MEATLOAF is an exceptionally fun book for middle school readers and tells of Ginny, who has ten items on her to-do list for seventh grade. Unfortunately she keeps getting in trouble - none of which is on her list - and her fun story is told in a series of color facing pages of notes and experiences along with memos and easy eye-catching illustrations.

As I scrabbled through my purse to find the receipt the other day, the flotsam and jetsam of my life floated out too. There was a post-it note with a phone number I needed, a receipt for the dog's visit to the vet, a class schedule, a flash drive and various other artifacts and odd bits of life that really do tell the story of my daily existence.

As I picked up Jennifer Holm's book, Middle School Is Worse Than Meatloaf: A Year Told Through Stuff and began to read, my purse's contents flashed through my mind. Using notes, programs, hair salon receipts, report cards, post-it notes, greeting cards and newspaper clippings, Holm tells us the story of Ginny Davis.

As the school year begins, Ginny thinks the worst thing she is facing in seventh grade is the cafeteria meatloaf. By reading her instant messages to friends and teacher comments on school papers we begin learn about her family. We learn that she loves ballet and hopes her mother will remarry. We understand that her older brother is having problems and makes his family's life difficult. When her mom remarries, Ginny could not be happier but when her stepfather makes an unfortunate mistake, it puts her into an emotional and academic tail spin as her family life gets crazier.

I do not want to give away too much of this story because the humor and emotion build with each artifact on the page and it would not be fair to the story to spoil the surprises. I became deeply involved in this story and when I saw the image of Ginny's ballet recital program, I gasped.

Jennifer Holm has a gift for creating characters that readers care deeply about. May Amelia, Penny, Babymouse and now Ginny are girls that stay with me even after I finish their stories.

Elicia Castaldi has created the look and feel of real items in an actual scrapbook. She has designed and positioned each item so the story flows naturally. Matt Holm has an illustrator-cameo, contributing some cartoon panels dealing with Ginny's brother.

This novel is very very accessible for readers of all levels and strengths. I would start waving copies of this book ASAP at reading specialists and teachers. Since the story is told in short bursts of information, it would build reading confidence and help readers "see" the story in their imagination as it plays out.

This is a sweet story, cleverly told, that will find an eager audience. Get it on the shelf and stand back. This is going to be a hit.

...this novel is far, far superior! A truly great exploration of human loneliness and the desire for companionship. Quite funny and bizarre in parts, too.

Not being an expert on the modern American novel, I'm reluctant to state that "Midnight Cowboy" is one of the great American novels, but I will, anyway. It's vastly superior to the film, a shallow and perverse adaptation. (Please see my Amazon review.)

Herlihy's characters are so vividly realistic, and his writing so elegantly simple, that one is not immediately aware that the story is an attack on American society's grossly materialistic "values".

The ending leaves the reader hanging. Joe has decided to abandon prostitution, to find a regular job and get Ratso the treatment he needs, but before he can do any of these things, Ratso dies. Lacking another human being to help -- and thus, no unselfed purpose in life -- what will Joe do?

The implication is that Joe will fall back into a life of aimless prostitution (he's learned enough to know how to turn tricks), as he no longer has the motive -- a sincere personal relationship -- for changing. If Herlihy _wanted_ Joe to be "saved", would he not have shown it?

Herlihy might be suggesting that we are what we are, and it is almost impossible to change our values. But that is perhaps reading too much into the novel's intent. Nevertheless, this is hardly an "uplifting" story. One might even interpret it as cyncial.

However you interpret it, "Midnight Cowboy" is an exceptional novel, one of those rare books that rewards the time spent reading it. I cannot recommend it highly enough.

Herlihy has brought us a classic. The American Dream and the struggle to attain it. Certainly not the happiest of storylines but well worth reading. I've yet to see the film, but if it's half as good as the book then it has to be a winner too. 100% Recommended.

I have watched the movie many times and recently, based on the reviews here, decided to read the book. While I am not a big reader of fiction, I could not put it down!!! Herlihy is one of those rare authors that can articulate the human condition in a way that resonates with everyone. I found myself reading certain paragraphs over and over because they were so beautiful. Joe is a symbol of loneliness and alienation. Emotionally stunted by a neglectful past, he becomes a full human being through a series of events that enable him to become aware of how broken he really is and what he really needs.

If you loved the movie, I highly recommend reading the book -- you will never see Joe Buck or Ratso Rizzo the same way again.

Herlihy's gift to American literature was this novel. Though the rest of his work is less remarkable, the author created a special vision of American life in Midnight Cowboy. Herlihy's reputation was founded on his ability to write about "grotesqueries" in an authentic voice, and nowhere is this talent better illustrated than in the exploits of Joe Buck and Ratso Rizzo. The novel is full of contrasting elements that go to the heart of Buck's desire to be more than he has been in his young life. His failures as a son, as a military man and as a women's man were only glossed over in the movie, but are fully explored in the book, and serve as impetus for him to continually seek what he perceives to be his destiny. Buck's transition from southwestern hayseed to knowledgeable New Yorker (with the characteristics of each location carefully explored) is painfully rendered; his ignorance of sophisticated (if not corrupt) urban behavior is contrasted against Rizzo's phenomenal knowledge of all things sleazy (though Rizzo maintains a kind of corrupt righteousness in his appraisal of his own bizarre talents). Joe Buck moves from the Purgatorial heat of Texas to the frozen Hell of New York City, and, with the help of the complex mentality of Rizzo, manages to find redemption in the dream of Florida sunshine. Again, this Dantesque journey of a naïve dreamer is beautifully explored in the most grotesque environments. That Joe Buck was able to carry Rizzo with him into that light of redemption is the most poignant aspect of the novel.

I have another Photoshop book which is good but this one has additional info and different ways of doing things that helps. Only downside is the version it's based on is earlier than mine. But most of the suggestions that had changed, I could figure out.

I echo the comments from everyone else. This is the best choise book to buy to learn how to use this product.

I have uesed this book more than any book I have on photoshop. This is my seconed copy. My first I gave to a friend. Everyone who sees this book wants it. Mat makes everything so easy, you will wonder how you ever did with out it. I give this book five stars. I would love to give it 20 stars,but they only give me five. You will be working in elements and photoshop like a pro in one day. Debbie

I highly recommend this book to anyone who is a new user to Elements or even those who have been using it for a while. You can always learn some new, or improved techniques that you had not thought about. The examples are very easy to follow and they work. They are grouped logically and it is well written with very few errors. You can not go wrong with this book.

I've used Photoshop Elements for several years. I started with Elements 2 & upgraded to PE3 a couple of years ago. I found it too complicated so I went back to PE2. The problem is, I never learned to use layers & fudged on restorations & enhancements. Some looked pretty good, some looked "fake". Without layers there was lots I couldn't do. I got the PE5 program a few months ago & thought I might be able to figure it out. I gave up until 3 weeks ago. That's when I got Matt's book. I have worked thru most of the book & love the detailed visual guide for each lesson. I don't want theory, I just want a simple explanation on how to do things. I can't say enough about this wonderful book. I was able to go to Matt's website & download all of the "before" photos that are in the book. I followed the instructions for each lesson using his photos. After finishing each lesson I worked with photos of my own. I can't imagine a better PSE how-to book than this!

Absolutely beautifully photographed book. Schatz captures the God given beauty of the models under water with perfect taste. This is his best book by far. Yes far better than his most recent book Nude Body Nude.The dancers and models in this book appear to be much more natural and have a graceful beauty that almost makes you forget their nude; as opposed to the cliche "sexy" look that is typical of other models.

A magic delight to any person with or even without sensibility.
A must see for photographers and artists. It is a source of inspiration for my paintings and sculptures.
The beauty of the human body as if we were still in Eden.
After this book I was hooked on all Schatz books.
Do not miss it.

With production values like a Hollywood movie, this book still manages to be intimate, and at the same time, otherworldly and unattainable. More technically accomplished and more luxurious compared to "Water Dance" (although the latter is also a must-have), I can pour over this book time and again, and find another detail or expression to seduce me.

I have now bought three copies of this book, one for my house in London, one for my house in the country, and one which I cut up - so I could frame and hang my favourites. It IS that good: this is a truly-wonderful collection. Howard Schatz is a great photographer and in Pool Light he sets the benchmark.

Whereas "Water Dance" took off from an experiment, "Pool Light" appears to be the result of a complete mastery of this unique form of photography which combines beautiful bodies with dazzling fluid effects. Every image in this book is a sight to behold, combining the beauty and grace of the human body with the imagination and emotion brought forth by an underwater stage.

Photographer Howard Schatz has advanced beyond "Water Dance" to perfect his art of underwater photography through a more effective use of the pool's characteristics to portray motion, suspend animation, and produce some of the most fantastic images of the human body. Every one of the 120+ photos is worth a long look. The bodies of the dancers, models and swimmers are not all there is to admire, but take a look at how Mr. Schatz uses the surface of the pool as a mirror or as a screen to either reflect or shield portions of the physique. Every aspect of each image seems to be perfectly in place, even air bubbles and ripples of the pool's surface, which add an interesting quality of depth and lighting.

As a nice complement to the images, there are several pages of commentary which describe the artists' (photographer, collaborators and models) inspiration and efforts, as well as some of what goes into making a book like this. For example, it's noted how Mr. Schatz prepares his "liquid studio" to be more tolerable to the subjects, such as using ozonated (not chlorinated) water, and matching the pool's pH balance to that of human tears so that models can keep their eyes open longer. Interesting reading indeed.

"Pool Light" is one of my favorite photography books of all time, and I would recommend it to anyone.