Indiana Books

John Calder, British publisher of Beckett, is ideally placed to provide his own determinedly secular reading of SB. I have my arguments about some of his stubborn persistence in removing God from Beckett to leave that Sartrian "god-shaped hole," but after all, Beckett is notoriously and delightfully difficult to pin down and resists easy categorisation about the presence or absence of the deity in his fictions and dramas and other unclassifiable prose. Calder's exegesis gains added conviction from the closeness between author and publisher for so long.

Calder raises an intriguing point: Joyce and Kafka were one-trick, if very talented, ponies next to the variety of genres assayed by SB. Calder delves into what J & K lacked (in his opinion) next to their modernist (and post-modernist, given his lifespan and continuing productions) successor: in Beckett, in his life as in his literature, we find a stoic, compassionate, and above all forgiving mentor. Like sincere religious gurus in the past, his message conveys a detachment from greed, solipsism, fanaticism in the pursuit of a cause or a creed, and care for creatures and the defenseless among us. Remember his early story, with Dante's lobster? Personally, I'd reinforce SB's own charity and thoughtfulness, expressed often without fanfare, and how he humbly practiced what he printed. Calder was moved by the author's morality, too, and he writes this study to promote an understanding of SB less for the literati than for the thinkers, and doers, who need guidance in a world in which faith cannot be thrown away to abstractions rather than channeled into action, responses to assuage real human agony now.

Calder explores philosophical, ethical, and religious sources for Beckett's early writings, and compares his own musings to those of Beckett on these matters. The resulting conversation of sorts between SB and Calder invites us to consider our own responses to human suffering, as limned in Beckett's creations and as influencing Calder himself as he became friends with SB.
While I disagree with some of Calder's readings, I fully support his aims, and stress that this is an excellent study that deserves an audience and incites a reader to return to Beckett for direction as well as out into the world to act as SB would. If this sounds like Calder makes SB a guru, so be it. For many otherwise in danger of meeting the tautological fate of many of SB's tormented characters, we can learn to read Beckett as a direction out of our own self-imprisonent towards selflessness.

I've read a shelf-load of Beckettiana, and I admit that this book, overlooked and not easily found, remains among the two or three to turn to after or during encounters with the primary texts. Not recommended as an introduction or primer (if you're starting from scratch, try Hugh Kenner's Student's Guide to SB); you must get your own bearings and learn to respond on your own terms to SB first. But, for a boost and a reminder of the challenges within--and I might add against reductive--existentialism, Calder gives us a heartfelt, eloquent, and accessible study of a man he knew well and, like many of us, loved for his inspiring humanism.

This was a wonderful find. The watercolor and pencil illustrations are beautifully drawn and executed, with especially good depictions of children and animals. Lots of details and interesting information. Kids and adults alike will truly learn from and enjoy this book. Would make a great gift for former Hoosiers now far away.

Gathering together some of the most keen work in the emerging field of Vodou studies, Bellegarde-Smith and Michel edit a masterful work in which one, without experiencing the culture directly are capable of enculterating their mind to the point of indirect experience. Dis-mantling unwarranted and out-dated taboos and meta-narratives about the subject, this work is intelectually riveting and takes into account modern religious scholarship in order to dispel the stigma ans otherness of Haitian Vodou.

I highly recommend this text.

I'm a Major in Music Education and for me it was a great resource. Here in Mexico we don't have choral programs like in the United States and it was very interesting to read all the experiences from the author. Great tips and very important advices. I recommend it for those who want to improve into the Choral Education

I got hold of a copy of this book sometime in the late 80s or early 90s, right after starting to play for ballet classes (and failing to retain my first job because I was overwhelmed by all the fancy French words...what's a "tahndew"?). There are different kinds of ballet accompanists: one split is between "improvise it on the spot off the top of your head" types and "play a piece of music you already know that fits the exercise, even if you have to dig in your sheet music pile for it" types. I am mostly the latter, famous for going around with lots of music books and flipping through them to find what I want. This book helps people who can play classical music to around the level of Schumann's Papillons and Joplin's rags to put together music that will get you through a typical ballet class. Boy do I wish to this day that I had read this book before starting that first ballet job...

After a few months' experience playing for classes, the "music book" types need to learn to improvise for the occasion when no music they know will fit the particular exercise; and the "improvisers" need to expand their habits to include set written music composed by someone other than themselves lest the music they improvise for class always sound the same. Both endeavors are facilitated by the information contained in this book.

This book will help you with learning the names of steps, what kind of music is good for which steps, the sequential order of a typical ballet class, basic ballet class etiquette, and how to arrange music to render it suitable for class exercises. It's a great start for any ballet accompanist, and probably good for many experienced ones as well (I can think of a few I've heard who should read it!...).

(I was also intrigued to see that this author, who by the way writes quite well, has written other books, but no information is available about their content on Amazon as of the date I am posting this. They all look disticntly non-ballet related, though.)

Powers-that-be: put this book back in print!

This is a great book for adults as well as kids.
I learned much about Indiana and had fun with locating towns on the maps. I hope there is a second book!

Lt. Powder is in charge of the Missing Persons Bureau in this one. Dedicated, abrasive, insulting (Walter Matthau-like character) has met his match in this story. He tells wheelchair-bound Sergeant Carollee Fleetwood, wounded in the line of duty, to whom the department has given the choice of retirement or working with Powder, "You look tired. Why don't you take a load off your feet?"

Carollee gives as good as she gets and the story is about their developing relationship and around the solving of half a dozen cases.

I AM FORTUNATE TO KNOW DR. RENSCH PERSONALLY AND I CONSIDER OUR FRIENDSHIP AN HONOR.
I KNOW THAT YOU WILL ENJOY LEARNING MORE ABOUT THIS AUTHOR WHO IS ALSO A DEDICATED AND GIFTED PERFORMER OF THE HARP.
HARPS AND HARPISTS, REVISED IS A WONDERFUL COLLECTION OF INFORMATION, PICTURES, HISTORY AND ALL THINGS HARP.
HARPS AND HARPISTS HAS BEEN THE LIFE STUDY AND JOY OF ROSLYN RENSCH.
WE CAN ACQUIRE THIS KNOWLEDGE AND INSIGHT INTO THE WORLD AND HISTORY OF THE HARP. WE CAN LEARN FROM DR. RENSCH'S 80 PLUS YEARS AS A LADY DEDICATED TO THE HARP.
BY PURCHASING THIS BOOK, YOU WILL BE IMMERSED IN THE WORLD OF THE HARP AND THE BEAUTY OF THAT INSTRUMENT.
A VERY NICE PLACE TO BE.
THE HARP IS UNIVERSAL, HISTORICAL AND WILL CONTINUE TO THRIVE.
AS ROSLYN SAYS...PLAY ON.
ENJOY.

We enjoyed this book it has a story in about the school we went to. Quite interesting.

David Wyn Jones, the editor of this outstanding 2002 reference work on Haydn, (1732 -- 1809), notes in his Preface that "Joseph Haydn was the last 'great' composer to be adequately served by scholarship." This book, part of the Oxford Composer Companion series, fulfills its promise of offering a comprensive guide to Haydn's life, music, and legacy based upon the most up-to-date modern scholarship. David Wyn Jones is senior lecturer in music at the University of Wales and the author of numerous books about Haydn and the Classical Era. The 900 plus entries in this volume were prepared by 41 contributors, each a Haydn scholar in their own right. This book is a treasure-trove of information about Haydn for the lover of his music.

I was drawn to this book to help me in my project, completed recently, of listening to CDs of each of Haydn's 104 numbered symphonies and preparing a survey of them in reviews on this site. Thus, the Oxford Companion includes a 34-page essay on Haydn's symphonies by Professor Simon McVeigh, Goldsmithe College, University of London. Professor McVeigh's article includes an introduction to symphonic form and traces its development from Haydn's earlist to his final works in nine carefully organized sections. Virtually every symphony is given some individual attention, as McVeigh examines the course of Haydn's symphonic writing throught the 36 years he employed it. I found this guide indespensable to my project of getting to understand Haydn's symphonies myself in some detail and preparing a survey of them to encourage others to hear them.

I supplemented the basic article on the symphony with many others from this volume, including, most basically, a long biography of the composer written by Wyn Jones. I found valuable the many articles about the intellectual climate of Haydn's day, particularly the articles on Enlightenment, Freemasonry, Sturm und Drang, and Josephism. There are articles on sonata form, the minuet, and variation which are critical to better enjoying the symphonies. The article on performance practices discusses issues in the performance of Haydn from his lifetime up to current debates. There is an excellent article treating "recordings" of Haydn's music and an essay titled "reception" by the dean of Haydn scholars, H.C. Robbins Landon on how Haydn's music has been received and assessed over the years. These are only some of the articles that were of interest to me as a heard and wrote about Haydn's symphonies.

This book gives a compelling picture of the breadth and depth of Haydn's output. It includes lengthy essays on every form in which Haydn worked including the string quartet, oratorio, piano sonata, trio, concerto opera, mass, song, baryton music and much more. Many works are discussed in individual entries. Haydn is a composer that one can stay with and love over a long period of time.

The book is over 500 pages in length and the entries are organized alphabetically. The book opens with a "thematic overview" which is an index to the entries arranged by subject matter. I found it easy to use, but those coming to the book will want to examine it to find the entries that interest them. Following the detailed entries, an appendix lists Haydn's works organized by type. This appendix impressed me as little else could with the vastness of Haydn's output. A second appendix covers individual numbers in Haydn's vocal works.

This book is essential for those wanting to do scholarly work on Haydn. But, perhaps more importantly, it will appeal to lovers of music who want to explore and enjoy the work of this great composer in depth.

Robin Friedman