California Books

I have to agree with the other reader-- that surprise twist at the end of 110 (the freeway, not the page) was so unexpected! It's true, every page tells a story, and you absolutely won't believe 767 E5.

i heard the hype about how popular this book was, who was i to stand in the way of this books progress. progress u ask? why of course, this book is probably the one most riviting influencial piece of american literature to date. it provides a compass, a compass to the soul and to our hearts. and itll give u direction in life... page 345-C4 put chills down my spine because it hit home.

Suprisingly, Thomas Bros. has again, given us a book to put on our list of "Top Books ever Written." Its beguilingly sexy appeal to life will keep you on your seats as you finally come to the realization that yes, even YOU will one day seek the help of...THE GUIDE! But don't take my word for it, read page 4697 and you too will become believer.

Smart, sassy, and full of surprises, the Thomas Guide kept me laughing from cover to cover.

All the books by Arcadia on 'Images of America' are very good, and this book is no exception. I was always interested in the Doheny's, and Chester Place--have read the biography of Edward Doheny-which is also very good, and have had the good fortune to visit Chester Place and the Doheny Mansion, so this just tops it all off nicely. I also know about the Seavers and Herbert Wylie who had homes there and this explained more about the connection with them and the Doheny's. The photos are just excellent, fact filled and of great interest. I liked this little book alot!

I've always been a big fan of Arcadia Publications and their attempt to recapture Southern California's past. Chester Place continues the Arcadian legacy by providing information about the little known neighborhood called Chester Place. Like the Doheny legacy, Chester Place has been shrouded in history. Mr. Sloper unveils the past with photo's and stories about the inhabitants. Of interest are the pictures in Chapter 6 called Neighbors. The photos are precious, especially the photo of St. Edward who looks remarkably like Mr. Doheny. I was also happy to see photo's of the Stimpson house on Figueroa as it has been a long held mystery to LA. Mr. Sloper narratives are very revealing and the book is entirely enjoyable.

Using his considerable storytelling talent, Don Sloper showcases an often overlooked gem of Los Angeles history in this book. Los Angeles and the contributions of the Edward Doheny family come alive for new generations to enjoy. Well done, Mr. Sloper!

In a city where history proves elusive, Mr. Sloper's well-written and engaging book helps to convey a wealth of information and interesting observations of Los Angeles's storied past. Coming from a narrow angle that is the Doheny Mansion and surrounding environs, we learn about a particularly strong couple and their surprisingly normal and quiet life of luxury in the heart of old LA. The pictures and narrative paint a detailed picture of the Doheny family and their mansion and leave the reader with a desire to learn more, to become involved and to perhaps help protect the fragile past in a city that is known for its constant obsession with living in, nay, inventing the future for better or worse.

Magic Quizdom is a must-have for any Disneyland fan. With three levels of difficulty, every Disneyland aficionado will be able to join in the fun.
The Magic Quizdom is a fantastic book to bring when going to Disneyland. It's especially useful when waiting in long lines, like the one for Nemo's Submarine Voyage. You can quiz your friends or make new friends and quiz others around you. It's a blast for everyone.

This book gives you some great little unknown facts in a fun format. A must if you are a true Disney nut!

Kevin Yee (of the best Disney website on the Internet: Miceage.com) and Jason Schultz have put together a terrific treasure trove of little known facts and trivia about Disneyland. While Gordon and Mumford's Disneyland: The Nickle Tour is STILL the best book ever produced about the theme park, this surprisingly dense effort offers in words a perfect companion to what they provide in photographs. Together, they provide a wonderful two volume reference set about the Happiest Place on Earth. My one and only complaint is that it's, well, organized as a multiple choice trivia book, albeit with paragraph long answers that go far beyond the question asked. I feel that more could have been accomplished had it just been written as a book, and thus I found myself skipping the question sections altogether and just reading the "answer" sections because that's where the true magic of this book is. All in all, it's great. This is one of the first books about Disneyland without pictures that I absolutely couldn't put down! Purchase this at Miceage and support Kevin!

As someone who frequents Disneyland about 40 times a year thanks to an annual pass, I thought I knew everything about Disneyland. This book gives valuable insight to little known facts. Sure, maybe they can be looked up on the internet or are common knowledge to some, but it's nice to have it all in a nice, inexpensive little book. In fact, my wife and I have taken this book to Disneyland to verify some of the information. If you want a different slant on history, background and secrets of Disneyland, this is a good place to start.

Barbara Berglund's wonderful new book let's us see the kind of people who made San Francisco fun, as well as fascinating. She takes the standard histories of the City by the Bay, turns them upside down and gives us a way to look at San Francisco that has never been done before. An important book for any bookshelf devoted to the city's history.

At last, a new interpretation of the San Francisco history we all know and love! It was refreshing to see Ms. Berglund explain how the masculine, multi-cultural frontier town evolved into an American City. We often read about the dominant personages and the gold rush phenomenon, but this book looks at the every day activities of the boarding houses and restaurants, the fairs and amusements and explains how race, class and gender figured into our culture. Brava!

Just when you thought there was nothing new to be said about 19th and early 20th century San Francisco, along comes Barbara Berglund with this splendid and readable book. By examining how the city's social elites turned the cultural stew of the Gold Rush years into a stratified society more in keeping with national norms, Berglund changes the way we think about San Francisco and the stereotypes that still color its character. Using places of amusement, hotels, restaurants and other "cultural frontiers" as her guide, Berglund takes us on a fascinating ride through San Francisco history and brings us to the present with a greater understanding of one of the pivotal cities of the American West.

We all know (well, most of us) what today's city by the bay looks like and even feels like. For the story on how San Francisco got this way -- and you should want to know this, too -- you must read this wonderfully researched report. From brothels to museums, it's all here. And barely a century old!

Best known as the executive chef of Dallas' Mansion on Turtle Creek, Dean Fearing soars above Texas and, indeed Southern Regional Cooking. This book is a must for anyone interested in the subtlties of taste combinations. While many of the ingredients are not easy to find in much of America's hinterland, those on either coast should have no problem in achieving Fearing's direction. Additionally, to those fearful of the small portions usually associated with today's fashion cuisine, Fearing's quantity of hearty food matches a True Texan's appitite.

I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this cookbook chef fearing a grad of cia is a wonderfully talented and inventive chef who cuisine should not be missed when in dallas . If you can't go there personally he has given every detail on how to prepare his heavenly dishes at home

Chef Fearing's food at The Mansion has been a legend for over 20 years, with fresh ingredients that look as good as they taste, with his use of generally local Texan ingredients.

I've dined at The Mansion years ago, and would give it a true Michelin star for the service and quality then, and would only hope it earned two Michelin stars (out of 3) today.

This cookbook is from 1987, and with it's easy to follow recipes, fairly easy to get (or substitute) ingredients, and few well chosen color pictures, I give it 5 Amazon stars today. (I like it much better than it's sequel that purports to mix Asian with Sowthwestern cuisine.)

Recipes include: Chilled avocado soup with Tangerine-lime sorbet, Lobster and apple bisque, Southwest corn chowder. More involved recipes include fried oysters stuffed with crabmeat, stir-fried shrimp with spicy peanut sauce (16 ingredients, including brown veal demi-glace) and pineapple chutney (13 ingredients).

I like the look of Oven baked chicken with maple pecan crust and pan sauce, roasted garlic potatoes, and cranberry-orange relish in sweet potato cups.

He gives delicious tricks of the trade, with information on cold smoking of meats and vegetables, to give his flair and signature to some dishes.

He gives instructions on making the brown veal stock, with pretty standard instructions that are clearly written, and his fish stock simmers for 20-25 minutes, also standard. Thus, one needn't buy prepared stock, or go to other books for recipes.

His brining is different, intended for smoking game, meat and fish. It starts with fairly standard salt, onion, celery and carrot, and adds various herbs, chillies and white wine...this is a unique restaurant technique that works well for home smoking of food. (It's easy to adapt one's charcoal or even gas grill for smoking, as one does not need a dedicated smoker ...)

Even Simon David, the upper end Dallas grocery store, is still in business for mail order of some ingredients, so do not worry if there's one choice ingredient missing.

Make some Chocolate Jack Daniel's Ice Cream or Bradley Ogden's Molasses spice cake with lemon curd sauce (don't let the curd sauce boil on it's "medium heat"), look through the recipes, and cook up some great food!

For those who have dined at the Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas, or for anyone who is deeply involved in the craft of gourmet cooking, this book is culinary heaven. The photographs of some of the dishes in the book are indeed fine art, and they entice the reader to make permanent residence in the kitchen studio, with spatula-paintbrush in hand, and mimic or alter at will the recipes in the book. Having cooked all the main dishes in the book, with varying degress of success, I can vouch for the idea that one must depart frequently from strict adherence to the recipes. Definitely try the creme brulee, but use a cooking torch instead of broiling. Can't find quail? Use Cornish hens instead of course.

Painters are often their own worst enemies when speaking about their work, obscuring rather than enlightening. But not Matisse. The intelligent and painter knew the trap that speaking of his art could be, yet his own comments on it are intelligent and illuminating. This book is fine reading that's a help to the working painter, as well as the viewer. You'll look at Matisse's great paintings with a fresh eye after reading it. And that's what matters.

Painters are often their own worst enemies when speaking about their work, obscuring rather than enlightening. But not Matisse. The intelligent and painter knew the trap that speaking of his art could be, yet his own comments on it are intelligent and illuminating. This book is fine reading that's a help to the working painter, as well as the viewer. You'll look at Matisse's great paintings with a fresh eye after reading it. And that's what matters.

Here are compiled the writings of and interviews with Matísse. It is not only about his estethic concerns but also about his feeling for life. The latter was his underlying motif in his paintings. This book is very interesting also for people without artistic concerns since Matísse here conveys his fine-tuned philosophy of life. A highly rewarding book that one can return to many times.

Mats Winther

If you want to extend the boundaries of ordinary perception, in order to produce unique, distinctive visions read "Matisse on Art." It is a critical piece of literature written by a masterfully innovative painter. I recommend it as a professional artist for nearly 20 years and as an art professor.

IF YOU WANT TO SPEND AN EVENING READING A MOST INTERESTING LIFE STORY THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU. IT WILL NOT ONLY INTRIGUE YOU BUT ENTERTAIN AND EDUCATE YOU AS WELL. I COULDN'T PUT THE BOOK DOWN AND THOUGHT OF MANY FRIENDS TO WHOM I WANT TO RECOMMEND IT.....A VERY EXCELLENT BOOK.

Since the author is the main character, you know she lived to write about her tragic ordeal: breast cancer treatment that literally killed her heart. . . muscle. This story, as awesome as it sounds is a page turner. You won't be able to put it down. Any woman who has breast cancer or knows someone who has had it, should read this book. There is some excellent advice in it. And in the end, it's actually UPLIFTING!

This is human interest story that will move you to tears of joy and make you marvel at Nancy's indomitable will to live. Reading this story made me realize how lucky I am to have the health that I do. Nancy Pedder is a phenomenally strong woman who has never let her health issues cloud her positivity and zest for life. She has dealt with challenges that would make a lesser human crumble, in a way that is to be admired and respected. Nancy should be an inspiration to all that are organ recipients and the families of organ donors. I admire how she continues to make the most of the second shot at life that she got through her donated heart and how she is determined to lead the charge to promote organ donation.

Once I began reading, I couldn't put the book down until the I finished it! This book has numerous endorsements from the medical profession, but like Nancy Pedder, I too am a cancer survivor, and this book is an INCREDIBLE account of the author's ordeal. Pedder truly has a knack for telling her story; one which will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page. Not only will the reader be amazed and astonished at the incredible odds Nancy overcame and SURVIVED, but also this book tugs at your heart (no pun intended) and will hopefully be a positive impact on organ donation. Nancy's story makes you not only want to stand and cheer that you are allive, but also makes you want to thank God each day for the many blessings we sometimes overlook. This is the MOST positive book I have ever read on surviving cancer - and as a 17 year cancer suvivor, I should know. Everyone should read this book!

The idea of a book full of arguments for the war in Iraq from liberal authors seemed so interesting that I immediately ordered it and started reading it as soon as I had finished my book of conservative authors not so happy about the war.

Seeing the way liberals had reacted to Iraq was one of the biggest reasons why I have started calling myself moderate instead of liberal. I'm not trying to imply that the word liberal is monolithic by any means, but seeing the way so many different types of liberals were so strongly opposed to this war (many times out of pure hatred of George W. Bush and nothing else), really made me take serious look at what I thought.

Some of the articles in this book are a bit dense, and the average reader might not be able to get through them, but there are numerous other brilliant articles in this book that make a very strong case for their arguments. Put simply, the main point of this book is that a perfectly logical case can be made in favor of invading Iraq from a humanitarian perspective.

The authors in this book are not fans of Bush in any way, but yet they still make the case that getting rid of Saddam Hussein is a good thing. One of the contributors, Adam Michnik, put it best when he said "I believe you can be an enemy of Saddam Hussein even if Donald Rumsfeld is also an enemy of Saddam Hussein."

Throughout the book, the authors pose tough questions such as "If Bush really did lie about the weapons (and knew that none were in Iraq), why did the U.S. not arrange to plant the weapons after the invasion? A simple, but ironclad point in my opinion. The authors also tackle many of the liberal points used to argue against the war. Michael Moore is mentioned several times and because of this book, I am firmly cemented in my view that Moore has about as many positive contributions to make to the political world as Ann Coulter (which would be next to none).

Something I found particularly interesting was that a lot of what was said could be found coming from the right, but the point here is that the talk of liberating the Iraqi people from these authors are genuine. Hearing someone like Sean Hannity making these arguments isn't convincing because he's only for liberating another country if a Republican President is the one doing it. You never hear Hannity-types making the liberation argument in any other case.

I sincerely hope that anyone calling themselves a liberal that is opposed to the war in Iraq reads this book. It really challenges liberals to look at Iraq from the humanitarian perspective and I would venture to say that if you're a Michael Moore fan or a Noam Chomsky fan that could make it through this book and not have second thoughts, you're no different than the Republicans and conservatives you accuse of being blinded by ideology.

Irrespective of whether it leaves you believing that the Iraq war was just, this book is a fresh and valuable perspective. It explores important and critical arguments of a sophistication and depth that the lightweights and bigots of the contemporary media simply ignore (whether through bias or ineptitude).

Read the introduction here:

http://www.ucpress.edu/books/pages/10415/cushman.pdf

...and another example of the books chapters is here:

http://www.dissentmagazine.org/menutest/articles/wi04/berman.htm

Highly recommended.

With the exception of Roger Scruton, all of the contributors to this thought-provoking book come from the left of the political spectrum. It is most refreshing to see that there are still rational people on that side and that the strident, hateful and juvenile shrieking that one encounters in the media are not the only voices of the left.

Part One: Reconsidering Regime Change, contains contributions by the brilliant Christopher Hitchens, Jeffrey Herf, Jan Narveson and Mitchell Cohen. These essays state the case for the overthrow of the sadistic Saddam whilst discussing the liberal and humanitarian case for the liberation.

The next section, Philosophical Arguments, includes a reflection on national interest and international law by the conservative Roger Scruton, an essay on a just war against criminal regimes by Mehdi Mozaffari, and moral arguments on sovereignty, agency and consequences by Daniel Kofman.

Critiques Of The Left is the third section. This contains the most interesting dissection of leftist positions and thoroughly undermines the fallacy created by the mass media that liberals and leftists were unanimously against the war. My personal favourite essays in this group include Pages From A Daily Journal Of Argument by Norman Geras, Ethical Correctness And The Decline Of The Left by Jonathan Re and A Friendly Drink In A Time Of War by Paul Berman, a liberal.

In European Dimensions, people like John Lloyd, Michel Taubmann and Anders Jerichow reveal that many prominent European intellectuals, including Vaclav Havel, supported the war on liberal-humanitarian grounds.

Part Five: Solidarity, contains an interview between the compiler Thomas Cushman and the Polish intellectual Adam Michnik. There are also moving essays by Timorese leader Jose Ramos-Horta, Johann Hari, Pamela Bone and Ann Clwyd. It is quite clear that unlike the rest of the Left, these authors have genuine compassion for the weak and the oppressed. An important point made here is that indifference to the plight of the oppressed means abdication of the duty to protect them.

The volume concludes with Liberal Statesmanship that contains Prime Minister Tony Blair's full statement to the House of Commons on 18th March 2003 and another speech of his titled The Threat Of Global Terrorism. They are both eloquent arguments for the liberation of Iraq that are rooted in principle and morality.

This valuable book demolishes many myths perpetuated by the academic and media elites and more importantly, exposes their malignant mindsets to some extent. For example, Johan Hari points out how Anti-Americanism has become a religion and how leftists ignore the crimes of sundry third world dictators. It is made clear that the anti-war camp really did not care about Saddam's victims. Then again, this is nothing new - leftists of the past also tried to suppress knowledge of Stalin's atrocities and those of Pol Pot.

Another lie that is exposed is the myth of American unilateralism. Forty Eight countries had joined the Coalition by March 2003 and in Europe, states like the Netherlands, Italy, Hungary, Denmark, Poland, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Romania, Bulgaria, Albania, Croatia and Macedonia strongly allied themselves with the USA. Many Asian states supported it too, including Australia, Japan, South Korea, Singapore and the Philippines. That puts the myth of unilateralism to rest.

In his introduction, Cushman mentions the relentless campaign of hatred and disinformation against Israel by the United Nations and the travesty of a UN Human Rights body that that includes representatives of cruel totalitarian states like Libya, Sudan and Zimbabwe.

He also mentions the shady motives behind the anti-war position of France, Germany and Russia. These essays were written and the book compiled before the full extent of the UN Oil For Food graft became widely known, but this scandal of the century only confirms the hypocrisy of the leadership of the aforementioned countries.

The book is not flawless. Some of the writing is perhaps too self-critical and as a Reaganite, I obviously disagree with many contributors on a range of other issues. But they are brave people who are willing to stand up for their convictions in a hostile environment. I regard the George Galloway/Michael Moore Moonbat Left as one would a hairy spider, but these authors are rational and decent. Their concern for the wretched of the earth is genuine. Their hearts are in the right place.

I also recommend A Long Short War: The Postponed Liberation of Iraq by Christopher Hitchens, Unholy Alliance and The Anti Chomsky Reader by David Horowitz, The Force Of Reason by Oriana Fallaci plus everything written by the wonderful Norman Geras.

The essays in this book about the Iraq War and international law are for the most part in clear and accessible English and do not rely on theories that are left unexplained in the body of the essay itself. For that reason I would recommend this collection to people who are interested only in the development of international law and mores and who are not much concerned with the Iraq War.

For those who are interested in the Iraq War, this collection is, I feel, indispensable. Not because the authors agree (they do not) but because the debate in this volume has about it a quality that has been largely absent from the Iraq debate: candor. Thus while the authors disagree on fundamental issues such as:

* was the war in Iraq, on balance, justified;

* did the governments that lead us to war lie or act in good faith;

* was the suffering of the Iraqi people alone sufficient justification for war; and

* do we have what it takes to see this war through

they do so without simplifying the arguments and without assuming that the Iraqi people agree with their positions.

For as profound as their disagreements are, the authors agree that:

* Saddam's regime was genocidal;

* leaving Saddam in place was not costless either (and most immediately) to the Iraqi people or (eventually) to the West; and

* the Bush administration has terribly botched the occupation, thereby endangering the whole enterprise.

And finally these authors point out that when in a public policy debate, the liberals sound like Henry Kissinger while the conservatives echo John Rawls, the political landscape is out of joint.

This is the sort of debate liberals like myself had every right to expect in the days and months preceding the Iraq invasion. We did not get it (for reasons addressed in this volume). We get it here; in this collection of essays. I highly recommend it.

As a new member of the club, I really appreciate Bert's candor throughout his experience. He's witty and a great story teller. I was hoping for more humor, but I guess there really isn't much in the process to laugh about. I am glad I waited until after having the procedure to read this book. My recovery has been much better than the author's, and the book may have been "too real" before the operation. However, I definitely was able to relate to his war stories after the fact and highly recommend reading this book durine recovery.

Take down the wallful of industry awards, put away the Clios, move over Beethoven, this is Bert Gottlieb's finest hour. Not that Beethoven would notice, nor Dicken's or Faulkner for that matter. This is not just a book. Not just a string of incisive words, carefully and beautifully crafted; it's more the struggle of a man who was suddenly scared witless, and emerges, witfully, I must add, scaring the boogey man.

This is a must read for anyone over 50. Not a manual about the aspects of Prostate Cancer, although it is that, rather a chronicle of the all too human being we all carry around in us and forget.

I read it in two sittings and I was moved. There were laughs, there were tears. I learned a lot. I hope I never have to use what I learned. If I do, I hope I can face it a bravely as Bert Gottlieb did.

Well done!

An intimate and courageous encounter of one man's bout withprostate cancer. Bert Gottlieb treats his fears and anxieties withmegadoses of wit. Concurrently, Dr. Thomas Mawn open his notes to reveal his analysis of every phase of the case, never losing sight of the patient's and his family's feelings. Everyone with a prostate must read this book. All others will find it a well written, entertaining story. END

THIS IS AN EXCELLENT BOOK THAT ALL MEN SHOULD READ. I BOUGHT A COPY FOR MY DAD, FATHER-IN-LAW AND HUSBAND. IT IS IMPORTANT FOR THEM TO KNOW ABOUT IT.

Wonderful book.
Excellent exercises and full of history.
I'm not an expert in traverso, but the fingering chart is very complete and ideal for who want to learn by yourself.

This is one of the best method books I've seen for a historical instrument. Every essential topic is covered: tuning, intonation, articulation, fingering, baroque & classical ornamentation (fingering for trills off of each note, for instance). Period sources (notably Quantz, plus several others) are quoted frequently. There is also a good discussion on the differences between different historical models. Plus there is a wealth of exercises and tunes from the period. While not pretending to be complete in every sense, this is far superior to many methods I've seen for recorder and other instruments. It's also quite affordable.

I have been playing the modern, silver (Boehm system) flute for over 25 years as a hobby and a magnificent obsession. For some time, I had been thinking about playing the baroque or one-keyed flute. The thought of moving to an instrument with a softer, subtler sound fashioned from organic material (wood) appealed to me. Expressing this interest to my flute teacher recently, he very kindly volunteered to loan me two of his baroque flutes (a boxwood Folkers & Powell and an ebony Von Huene) to see which I preferred, along with this book. For the past two months, I have spent some time on a self-guided study of these new instruments with the help of this book which I am finding to be an amazingly informative, straightforward and an extremely practical introduction to this instrument. It takes the reader from a point of knowing very little about playing a one-keyed flute to a point of playing a full repertoire and then beyond to the "top 13" 18th century flute tutors. Starting with the history of the instrument and then moving to the very basics of holding the instrument, developing a sound, developing a tone, intonation and fingerings, it lays out very clear charts, trill tables and over 80 pages of exercises, scale studies and music to play.

As noted in the preface, this book is intended as a method book written for players of the Boehm-system flute who are already somewhat familiar with tone production and modern flute technique hoping to provide the flutist with information for the initial approach to the instrument. It is not intended as a musicological treatise, but a practical and useful guide which cites historical sources offering "a broad diversity of opinions which challenge us to explore the ideas of 18th century writers and incorporate them into our present-day experience."

Dockendorff Boland advises taking a little time each day to focus on learning the instrument, incorporating in that study readings from the early flute tutors such as Quantz On Playing the Flute: Second Edition, Hotteterre Principes de la Flute. Reprint der Amsterdamer Ausgabe von 1728 etc., as well as paying attention to the work done by players all over the world in developing their own expression.

This book goes a long way in demystifying the understanding and comprehension of a historic instrument making it accessible to anyone willing to take a little time to learn.

The book has great instruction at your fingertips to start learning the one-keyed flute. There is so much here! But it's not bogged down with copious trivia. This book is especially helpful for the Boehm flutist who wishes to transition into some baroque flute playing. When you purchase this volume, you'll have everything you need (apart from the instrument itself!) to get started, and also to avoid injury to your hands and fingers through incorrect position or over-practicing. Wonderful, sound advice clearly presented.