Arnold Books

A current resident of Massachusetts, Arnold Skolnick first gained notoriety as the graphic designer who created the infamous dove & guitar poster for the 1969 Woodstock rock festival. During this same period, in the early 1970's he crafted an epic body of work showcasing the sexual union of man and woman. Although a few of these photos were exhibited at the Neikrug Gallery in 1973, this work was largely set aside by Skolnick, mostly out of fear (people were still being prosecuted for distributing sexual materials).

But now, in teaming up with Quantuck Lane Press, Skolnick has published this almost forgotten work in a stupendous satin bound book designed for collectors and limited to only 3,000 copies. It features 85 tritone photographs that are breathtakingly beautiful. The human sexual dynamic is featured here in all its tender, beautiful glory. There is a realistic quality to this work that makes it all the more striking. Each duo are entwined in each others form, engaged in what seems to be real, genuine lovemaking. These subjects are not fitness buffs or even professional-looking models, but appear to be real-life lovers. And this makes it all the more exciting.

Skolnick's imagery will almost certainly remind one of sculptor, Rodin's work (as noted by a critic of the Neikrug exhibit) more than anything one would see in a stag film. This book is a magnificent tribute to both its subject matter as well as the artist himself. This is one production that all collectors of fine art photography will want.

Any one book is two objects at minimum, maybe more. This first presents itself as a luxurious object, plainly hard-bound and slip-cased in elegant, silky cloth coverings. Dense printing adds drama to each B&W picture, on bright and glarefree paper. The paper's density prevents any picture from being impaired by another visually bleeding through from the back. Design serves the imagery well - a factor you might not appreciate until you've seen a book where layout actually interferes with the content. Just this once, I might have recommended the European affectation of putting the copyright notices at the back. Before you even open it, the physical presence of this book prepares you for its sensual content.

The second aspect, the content, keeps the promise made by the format. I don't know the exact number of photos - probably seventy or eighty - but that hardly matters. Each one is a jewel. Each features one couple, intimately engaged. This is love-making, in all of the common ways for a man and woman to try to become one being. These pictures languished since the 1970s (they were too hot even for Playboy back then), but the imagery carries almost nothing of that time - just its hair styles. Only now did Skolnick feel that an audience could accept this work. Because of that inherent time-travel, the timelessness of figure and conjunction truly stand out.

I recommend this to any couple who values their coupling, and who wants art that celebrates their own experience. This documents the deep beauty of the human animal, as Nature invites these handsome people into the ongoing act of Creation.

-- wiredweird

The poetry at the end of the text on the death of Walter Kaufmann's mother was one of the main reasons I bought this book. I was not perfect in claiming in reviews that I wrote years ago that Walter Kaufmann's best reader was his mother, a ridiculous idea that I must have based on poem XVII on page 142 of WHAT IS MAN? (the final third of MAN'S LOT):

"I was not beautiful
my sister was."

You were
unknown to you

but only age and death
wrung verse from me.

"No one I love to read
like you."

Of you I write
what should not be remembered.

Another selection from the poems in the Epilogue: Death and Survival by Walter Kaufmann:

XX

Stop grieving
stubborn heart
wake up.

XXV

Boxes of letters
and old photographs.

Less than three hours' sleep.
I sorted
and forgot
the nightmare
and all sleep

I was with you
the way you were
not were but are
in words and pictures
and in me.

Oh, time was cruel
but not you.
You saved us misery
by being as you were.

XXVIII

Your death was like an earthquake
that set free
the hidden fires of my soul.

Three hours' sleep
is more now than I need
The rest is writing.

The big questions I had were about words, and some of them became pretty obvious.

XXXII

Once in your ninety years
you used a lipstick
and you lied.

You told me you would do it.
I could not picture it
but you did pass for ten years younger.

In London you had worked for seven years
all through the Blitz
but who would hire you at sixty in New York?

And then you worked twice seven years
as long as Jacob served for his two wives
with boys they gently called disturbed.

You learned new words
that nobody is taught in school
and you grew younger.

My lawyer father found no work
but when he died you feared
retirement would be a living death.

An hour's visit at your school
exhausted me.
You took it fourteen years
and thrived on being loved.

XXXIII

...
Your little brother asked why all times were exciting
and only ours empty.
The Russians shot him off his horse in World War I.

...
Who could imagine Louis or your father in your school
hearing those boys or even just your stories?
Your mother there seems like an evil joke.

You had their elegance and pride but more than that
more than they knew
you did them proud.
~ ~ ~ (p. 145).

Walter Kaufmann's significance as an artist and philosopher has yet to be thoughtfully assessed either by academicians or by the educated public. MAN'S LOT is perhaps Kaufmann's masterpiece, a series of artistic photographs which perfectly amplify and explicate the philosophy and poetry which accompany them.

I never grow tired of these images themselves. They are both personal and universal, illuminating the human condition in its many forms and variations on planet Earth. The first section focuses on the poor in Calcutta; the second on the effects of time on humans and the planet; and the third compares humans from a variety of cultural and historical settings, revealing our basic constancy within a framework of constant change.

We once respected thoughtful people who shared their wisdom with humanity through their art and writing. It is, for me, a sad commentary on our times that Kaufmann's work has been so thoroughly ignored. He sought to be accessible to the educated masses. It is grossly ironic that his works of genius are ignored by specialist and layperson alike.

And it is not that Kaufmann is NOT accessible. MAN'S LOT is written in clear and forceful prose. Its arguments are easily grasped, and its messages are potentially as transformative as are those of Plato's REPUBLIC.

For anyone who loves art, the act of thinking, and the pursuit of wisdom itself, there could be no better gift than a copy of this long out-of-print masterpiece. It should be cherished by the many rather than utterly ignored by the same.

Along with Kaufmann's RELIGION IN FOUR DIMENSIONS, there exist no better record of a life--Kaufmann's--devoted to understanding life and participating in its mysteries.

Though this story was first published almost forty years ago, it still remains charming. The book tells the story about a little mouse named Martha. Martha is hungry, cold, and starving on the street. Then one day she sees a movie theatre and sneeks inside. Dan, the man who runs the theatre, is glad to see Martha and the two quickly become friends. Martha soon falls in love with movies. She finds herself getting caught up in the action, imagining new places in her mind, and sometimes even acting out what she sees on screen. However, not everyone appreciates a talking, singing, dancing mouse as much as Dan and soon there is trouble.

The story is written in rhyming couplets and the illustrations that accompany the text are a joy to look at. As a huge fan of movies, I'll read just about anything having to do with film or cinema and I have a great appreciation for children's literature, so I thoroughly enjoyed this quaint little story. This would be a good book to read to children from preschool through about the second grade. It also makes a nice gift for anyone who appreciates older children's literature or anyone who is a fan of Arnold Lobel.

This is a very sweet book by one of the greatest children's authors and illustrators of all times. "Martha" tells the story of a lonely mouse who befriends a lonely man who works in a movie house. Martha becomes enchanted with the movies, until some movie-goers discover her and scare her off. She eventually makes her way back to the movie house to save the day with her brilliant stage performance. I read it aloud each year to my second grade classes, and the kids applaud every time. If you can find a copy, I highly recommend it.

Samuel Bland Arnold was the only one of the convicted conspirators in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln to later write his memoirs. Mr. Kauffman has done an excellent job of editing in this fascinating account of Arnold's time in the prison at Fort Jefferson.

Fascinating account of John Wilkes Booth's conspiracy told by a co-conspirator. The "Notes" section alone is worth the purchase price of the book!

Having studied languages in the past with difficulty my sister told me about a different way of learning languages she had heard about on the radio. From the start I loved the way he teaches without having to memorize or write anything down. His way is quick and efficient and if anyone wants to learn the basics quickly and easily this is the way. Teaching his method in school would encourage a lot more children to enjoy learning languages as there is very little effort required but it helps you to become fluent very quickly.
This C.D. is the Michel Thomas method taught by one of his teachers, it is different, as it is not taught by him, but a useful addition to your learning arsenal.

This vocabulary course builds on the structure that Michel Thomas laid down in his foundation and advanced courses.

Sadly, Michel passed away in 2005, so this course has been written by a long-standing teacher in his language school, Dr Rose Lee Haydon.

For anyone thinking of purchasing this I've made a summary below of what you can expect to cover. I think it will be of interest to those who are beginners or intermediate students or anyone want to brush up on rusty Spanish skills.

The course is very much based on cognates to give a large vocabulary (about 2 CD's worth). In all over 1,000 words are taught on the five CD's.

The next couple of CD's go through Verbs in the tenses covered in Michel's courses.

Some of the verbs covered (in Spanish) are

To avoid
To tempt
To use
To invent
To mention
To form
To spend

Should
To shout
To earn
To invite
To Justify
To dine
To inspire
To admire
To install
To adore
To consider
To acuse
To inspire
to Classify
To study
To console
To administer
To negociate
to clean
To call
To look at
To lend
To kiss
To touch
To attack
To drink
To learn
To understand
To answer
To write

Reflexive Verbs (a whole assortment)

To promise
To be able
To fit in to
To rain
To offer
To protect oneself
To defend oneself
To sell
To be worth
To fear
To cough
To believe
To grow
To recognise
To place
To admit
To insist on
To invade
To omit
To decide
To suffer
To recieve
To cover
To describe
To open
To flee
To permit
To prohibit
To attend
To say
To go out
To sleep
to destroy
To translate
To produce
to climb up
To go out
To lose
To deny
To think
To close

Irregular verbs

Expressions that trigger the subjunctive

The last CD covers everyday expressions particularly those using hacer and tener and questioning words.

Clarification when to use por and para and Ser/Estar

Making comparisons

Using opposite meanings to build vocabulary eg. Good and Bad, Pretty and Ugly etc

Much of this was familar to me, but the course is a great reminder of the shortcuts for creating your own vocabulary and manipulating verb tenses. I also liked the fact that a model for pronunciation is given by a native speaker from Spain (a woman) and a male speaker from Latin America. So this course will be good for anyone planning on going to any Spanish speaking country who wants to practice the correct pronunciation for their destination.

Rose Lee Haydon is superb (to my ears she has an excellent Spanish accent), she is also very encouraging, I did miss Michel's voice but his legacy is obviously in good hands. A recommendation to buy.

I think that this book is great for my class because it contains a story on immigration (I teach ESOL) and it has Niagara Falls in it which is the closest big tourist attraction to Rochester that is internationally known. The kids enjoy these books paired with The Man Who Walked Across the Twin Towers. It makes a nice theme of acrobatics, circuses and social activism.

Award winning author and illustrator, Emily Arnold McCully, has written another wonderful adventure, starring Mirette and Bellini. Our world famous high-wire walkers are sailing to America where they will perform at Niagara Falls. While on board ship, Mirette befriends a Polish orphan boy, Jakob, who's traveling to America to live with his uncle. When they arrive at Ellis Island, Jakob's uncle is not there to claim him. Bellini knows that Jakob will be sent back to Poland and so he decides to takes the little boy with them to Niagara Falls. When they arrive, they find their performance has turned into a big competition. A Mr Patch, who claims to be the greatest high-wire walker in America says that he will perform a trick that's never been done before on the wire, becoming the greatest tightrope walker in the world. He tells the press and anyone else who will listen that Mirette and Bellini will fall. The next day as Mirette and Bellini practice and supervise the wire installation across the falls, Jakob follows Patch and his men to find out what trick he has up his sleeve. And what he finds out saves his new friends lives..... Ms McCully's latest book is a delightful story of friendship, intrigue and courage. Her wonderful text and beautiful, expressive watercolor artwork will transport youngsters back in time to life at the turn of the century. And as little Jakob saves the day and Mirette and Bellini triumph, kids will enjoy the happily-ever-after ending. Perfect for youngsters 4-8, Mirette and Bellini Cross Niagara Falls is a winner!

I'm a medical student and I found this book very useful. It's small enough for me to carry with me in my clinic coat pocket and review when I'm not shadowing other students who are seeing patients.

I love reading this book. It provides various mnemonics for one thing to be learnt! Definately a fun way to remember stuff. I would recommend this to every medical student from year one to four!

Most contemporary poetry harps unendingly upon the personal problems or pseudo-revelations of hacks who can not rhyme. Klein's "Monica," however, revives the tradition of having a character narrate the poem who does not make a claim to being the ultimate humanist. This makes for poetry which is not self-indulgent or self-congratulatory (like the works of Wordsworth, for example--can you believe people STILL read Wordsworth?!?!?!). Instead, Klein creates a viscious narrative voice, following the example of such poets as Robert Browning, Tourneur, and Beddoes, whose mores may not be universally acceptable, but are indeed unendingly scathing and witty. "Monica" reminds the reader of what it means to be inventive in a poetic mode, and how language itself may induce vertigo, contemplation, and the pleasure of a laugh at the expense of societal norms

Anrennen gegen Sprachegrenze!--Well, let's grant We know what language can perform and what it can't We know its pictures of the world are all we've got; We know it's not a cage, but do we know why not? Ingenious engineers have so designed our zoos The animals are fenced, but bars don't block the views; Instead, concealed to men, deep slanted pitfalls gape. And that's what language is: No bars, but no escape[.]

The first of its kind, Neil Arnold's 'Monster - The A-Z of Zooform Phenomena' is truly a literary wonder. Ambitious and well written, 'Monster' is the first book to ever attempt to chronicle in one volume the multitude of zooforms that have terrified mankind since the beginning of our species. Not to be mistaken for another cryptid book, 'zooforms' (a term coined in 1990 by Jon Downes of the CFZ), by definition, are supernatural manifestations in animal, or quasi-animal, form, spectral creatures which only briefly visit this world from the twilight dimensions of some other time and place beyond human reckoning.Packed with hundreds of entries describing spectral entities from all over the world, 'Monster' shows us that we are not alone here in our own dimension; that we are being visited by a host of anomalies from phantom felids and hell-hounds to shape-shifting werewolves, griffins, dwarves, waterhorses and winged humanoids which cannot possibly be flesh and blood entities. At just under 400 pages in length this book is sure to provide the reader with hour after hour of beastly delights. As a Fortean writer myself I can appreciate the monumental effort that has gone into producing such a mammoth tome and whole-heartedly applaud Arnold's attention to the detailed research he's put into it. Invaluable as a reference guide, 'Monster' is a must have addition to any Fortean library. Extremely entertaining and thought provoking, this book is most highly recommended to anyone interested in learning just what type of monsters may lurk in the shadows of our world, waiting patiently for unwary passersby. Best read in the safety of one's well lighted living room. A monumental effort!

B.M.nunnelly
Author - 'Mysterious Kentucky'

As an author in the strange-creature genre, I'm always looking for new, comprehensive and well-researched reference books. It helps if they are fun, besides. Neil Arnold's new "MONSTER!" book hits each of those nails on their warty, pointy-eared heads. Even Karl P. Shuker, a pre-eminent writer and researcher in this field who wrote the foreword, confesses to finding entries in Arnold's book of creatures he had never before heard or dreamt of. Arranged alphabetically for easy look-up, the entries also contain brief commentaries on the "zooform" likelihood of the creature in question, explaining their relation to other known or unknown entities and opinions on the reliability of the report. Arnold also enforces his own ratings system, from 1-4 stars, on the solidity of each entry.

Speaking of solidity, Arnold makes it clear up front that he believes many of the creatures described in the book are "zooform" or non-flesh-and-blood in nature. He does his best to sort them out, which increases the book's usefulness as a reference source. "Mystery cats," for instance, rate 3 stars and the comment that they are simply out-of-place felids, while the Karakura, "a vague night-demon from Turkish lore" rates only one star and a note that too little is known about it.

I rate Arnold's book five stars, with the comment that anyone wanting to bone up on unknown creatures throughout world history will want MONSTERS! at their fingertips. And I'm still swooning over the revelation of Japanese vampire cats and the High Hat Sasquatch. - Linda S. Godfrey, author Strange Wisconsin; More Badger State Weirdness, The Beast of Bray Road, and Hunting the American Werewolf.

This book's subject matter is right on the money. I haven't read it, but Museums have everything to do with the production of art nowadays. Museums and catalogs or big, glossy ads. Because that's where the authority of the printed page meets its audience. And Kynaston McShine is such a cool name.

I attended this exhibit at the MoMA and was thrilled to see so many great artists interpreting what museums and "the institution" means. For some artists, the act of collecting is very private...like Joseph Cornell and his many obsessive boxes, or Christian Boltanski and his melancholy installation of forgotten photographs. In another personal piece, Sophie Calle interviewed various staff members at a museum where prized artworks by the Old Masters were stolen about how they now feel in the artworks' absence. The snoop in me wished that the audience could see what all the boxes contained in pieces such as Herbert Dristel's "Museum of Drawers", which houses over 500 miniature pieces of artwork by many of my favorite artists from the 60's and 70's. The Barbara Bloom installation "The Reign of Narcissism" was hilarious and disturbing. It consists of a museum within a museum, with all pieces and decor dedicated to herself and her own likeness. Claes Oldenburg's "Mouse Museum", another amazing installation, consists of various sculptures and found "junkstore-type" objects that the artist has accumulated. The shape of the walk-in structure of Oldenburg's "Museum" is Mickey Mouse's head! An absurd and fun commentary on pop culture! This show would not have been complete without the work of Marcel Duchamp, a pioneer in calling into question the value of "original" artwork and the importance that institutions place on it. "L.H.O.O.Q." (the Mona Lisa with a mustache) and many of Duchamp's Valises containing miniature reproductions of his own work and readymades are represented here. Vito Acconci decided to use the MoMA as a post office and in a separate piece, tried to infringe upon museum-goer's personal space by standing uncomfortably close to people while they were trying to be cultured and study the 'Art'. Overall, it was a fascinating exhibit. The subversive, but good-humored mockery of what humans do with and in the presence of art made me feel somewhat self-conscious as I was wandering the galleries, but that seemed to be the point!