Society Books

D.O.M.A. is a great gift to us.

I bought this book and am very pleased with my purchase. Besides the historical information and knowledge presented, I find Mr. Hall's wit and humour to be excellant. I would suggest this book to anyone who wants to learn more.

Considered the definitive work in the field of hermetic arts, this wonderful large book is also very ornate, containing full-color plates and two-color manuscript section. Most notable of these images is the only known representation of the Temple of the Rosy Cross from an engraving in 1618. The book contains the English translation accompanying a facsimile of the original eighteenth century manuscript, which is of particular interest to the more serious scholars. Also useful was the commentary, which threads together fragments of history pertaining to the Rosicrucian foundations in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The famous psychologist C. G. Jung, in his work entitled Psychology and Alchemy, reproduced the plate of Michelspacher's Cabala and made numerous other references to material contained in Codex Rosæ Crucis.

If you are a student of the hermetic arts this book is a must for your collection. It is always nice to find a book whose content value is equally matched with its artistic quality. If you are just dabbling in the occult, this book would probably not be of much use other than as eye candy.

I cannot attest to this manuscript's rarity, as it is being mass-produced.

However, I can say that it is, indeed, a very aesthetically pleasing tome. Even the cover is lovely to look at. The plates inside are of excellent quality. While you may not spend months with your nose in this book, there is knowledge to be gleaned from it. I do find it a book of value for one who is interested in the esoteric.

I bought this book based on the above review, and at first, I was doubtful after I ordered it, but when it arrived, I was very, very glad I did! This is a beautiful oversized book, with many illustrations, and much information I have never seen before. I find the whole Rosicrucian movement fascinating, and this book has information you will not find anywhere else, to my knowledge. Get this book, it is worth the price. Also check out the "Golden Game". Another beautiful book but focusing more on 17th century alchemy in general.

Based on a simple split 9-patch, Karen's designs serve only to whet your appetite for more. The book includes pictures and instructions for 18 projects, plus a literally endless source of inspiration for future quilts. If you have been a conservative quilter, using three fabrics and a background, this is a great way to break into the world of multi-fabric quilts. You will learn to judge your fabrics by their value (light or dark) and it will improve your quiltmaking skills for other kinds of designs, too. This book is completely different from Karen's Optical Illusions for Quilters but every bit as enjoyable.

A terrific book, chock full of ideas for using up all your scraps using simple 9 patch designs! Great for beginners and wonderful for all of us who have been quiltmaking for years. This book makes you want to run to the fabric store and buy even more fat quarters to add to your stash.The color photographs are wonderful, as are the directions. You will keep this book handy at all times for inspiration!

Here are some excerpts from my review of this book. You can see the complete review (and many other reviews of quilting books and quilting products) on the Quilter's Review website.

"...Karen Combs' new book...shows you how to use your scraps to make quick and easy quilts.... Karen has reworked some standard block patterns in a larger format to create designs that are traditional, yet have a contemporary feel. Using only four different versions of a nine-patch block, Karen presents many different looks from which to choose.

"Since all the nine-patch blocks use just one or two easy shapes, a quilter of any skill level can make all 17 quilts shown in the book.

"...Once you have the blocks made, Karen encourages you to play with the layout of the blocks. The blocks can go together in endless combinations, so you never have to make the same quilt twice, even though you are making the same blocks again and again....

"But you don't need to use scraps for these striking quilts. The projects in Karen's book work well with fat quarters, charm packs or fabrics you swap at your quilt guild.

"And these wonderful scrap quilts are perfect for using that fabric you bought because you liked it at the time but, on re-examination, can't imagine why. Everything works in Karen's quilts.

"In addition to her "combing" techniques, Karen also covers fabric values, rotary cutting, piecing, and block layout.... 'Combing Through Your Scraps' is a great book for beginners as well as for scrap-rich experts."

Something I have struggled with from the beginning is color. I will procrastinate the beginning of a quilt forever, just because I get stumped on the color. This book actually lets you take a break from color and focus on value. If you can sort light and dark value, you've got it! Great for all those scraps we tend to collect and perfect for the "uglies" as you're only looking for value. Anything works as long as you stay true light and dark value. I highly recommend this book.

This book not only stirs the imagination for scrap quilters, but also is refreshingly informative in a way to benefit the beginner and aid the intermediate with helpful technique and designing hints. I highly reccommend this book for the quilter and for those buying gifts for quilters!

It was exactly what I expected to see in a book on this subject.

Guy Debord's THE SOCIETY OF THE SPECTACLE is one of the most widely quoted and important works of the past fifty years. Society as spectacle has become one of the most frequently used descriptors for modern consumer society and the media that reinforces its basic principles. For instance, in only the past couple of weeks I have encountered frequent mentions of Debord in Telotte's REPLICATIONS: A ROBOTIC HISTORY OF THE SCIENCE FICTION FILM as well as an essay on a number of recent important SF films by Bukatman (contained in Kuhn's first anthology of essays on SF film, ALIEN ZONE) entitled "Who Programs You? The Science Fiction of the Spectacle." One encounters Debord's central image in literary critics like Fredric Jameson and a host of writers on popular culture such as Greil Marcus (especially in his LIPSTICK TRACES: A SECRET HISTORY OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY).

Marcus's discussion of the Spectacle is at best vague, but I believe that is part of the source of its power. One sees -- to stay on the level of the SF film -- in movies like ROBOCOP the spectacle in full bloom, as the mass media through advertising pushes onto the public utterly irrational products like the 6000 SUX, a large luxury automobile that explicitly celebrates its horrible gas mileage and somehow makes this a reason for desiring it (in the course of the film a gunman holding hostages makes one of his demands a huge car that gets "really sh*tty gas mileage, like the 6000 SUX"). One can associate a wide range of phenomena with the Spectacle, from the endless hawking of products that are supposed to result in "a better you" to political regimes like the Bush administration that used the explicit, bald-faced lie as its primary tool for governing to our endless preoccupation with pseudo-celebrities like Paris Hilton, Britney Spears, and the contestants on AMERICAN IDLE (yeah I know that is spelled wrong). It is a flexible and versatile image that gets at our brute suspicion that our world is increasingly obsessed with what is not important but with what is trivial and unimportant. Debord's insight that the system of the spectacle elevates untruths to the level of uncontested beliefs is constantly on view, such as the absurd contention that the American news media -- one of the most conservative and compliant to the needs of the corporations that own it -- is "liberal." And when entities as the very conservative American news media or politicians like the fiscally conservative Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter are defined as "liberal" it shifts the "center" so far to the right as to make the far, far right seem mainstream. And the few voices that point this out -- such as Supreme Court Justice John Paul Stevens, who points out that he is, while the most liberal current member of the U. S. Supreme Court, in fact a moderate conservative -- are ignored. The celebrities, the pageant, the epic verbiage, the spectacle obscures history and prevents any other understanding either of history or of what kind of society would actually serve our real needs.

Both the major virtue and a major vice of both THE SOCIETY OF THE SPECTACLE and Debord's COMMENTS are the almost complete lack of structure. The former is written as a series of over 200 "Theses" that ramble over a host of matters. These are loosely arranged in chapters but I emphasize the word "loosely." Many comments are immediately clear and easily understood. Some passages are opaque to anyone who is not intimate with the most obscure debates concerning Marxist and Communist history. Some theses are brilliantly written and cut to the heart of our contemporary society; some theses are so dull and irrelevant that they may be guilty of killing brain cells. To say that THE SOCIETY OF THE SPECTACLE is uneven is an understatement. The upside is that if you don't understand one page, nothing has been said to prevent you from understanding the next; if one page is flat, the next can be thrilling.

COMMENTS ON THE SOCIETY OF THE SPECTACLE is, compared to the earlier work, very easy to read and understand. There is still some vagueness, but there is little that is impenetrable. It does a somewhat better job of connecting up the various bits and parts. He is more explicit here about precisely what his targets are. There might be a small parallel to a passage in Kierkegaard that he quotes at length in THE SOCIETY OF THE SPECTACLE. PHILOSOPHICAL FRAGMENTS (actually "Crumbs" -- it is a Biblical reference to the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table; here Kierkegaard imagines himself as the poor subjective thinker who has to content himself with the crumbs from the table of the great objective philosopher Hegel -- so far no translator has been willing to give the book the less impressive but more accurate title) deals with the problem of Christianity "algebraically" (in the Swenson translation), while the much larger sequel CONCLUDING UNSCIENTIFIC POSTSCRIPT "clothes it in its historical dress." So THE SOCIETY OF THE SPECTACLE is more abstract; the COMMENTS more concrete. He makes several explicit (and scathing) references to Reagan; his allusions in the first book are far more illusive.

Despite Debord's hesitancy to be as clear as he might about his overall argument, his intent is clear: to indict the alliance and collusion between mass media, celebrity culture, market capitalism (and its expression in consumerism -- nicely captures in the title of Lizabeth Cohen's A CONSUMERS' REPUBLIC: THE POLITICS OF MASS CONSUMPTION IN POSTWAR AMERICA), and politics. And by remaining less than utterly specific, he made his work all that much more usable by other thinkers and writers. THE SOCIETY OF THE SPECTACLE remains one of the most important books for anyone interested in modern culture and society with which to be familiar, while the COMMENTS is an important tool in aiding that familiarity.

The book at first seems a slip down a few notches from S.O.T.S. because it is shorter and Debord seems a lot less interested in his topic, or getting us interested in his topic. Who can blame him?

But the brevity of the book makes sense when you realize this--RE: the spectacle, 1) see S.O.T.S. 2) take a look around you from your reading chair 3) ask, what are the few changes in 20 years? 4) write a brief and get back to lived experience.

Some highlights:

The integrated spectacle combines the diffuse, subtle domination of that system which goes by the label "liberal democracy" with tactics practiced by the concentrated, dictatorial mode of the spectacle in past communisms and facsisms. Which means: today, the rulers of the integrated spectacle dictate/script the appearance of an ever-unfolding narrative/fantasy of liberal democracy, complete with all the nitty-gritty details, plot twists and turns, shocking surprises, and pleasant mysteries at which to gawk and gasp and coo. Caravaggio would be jealous of such veristic, theatrical bravado! But what is really happening is something else altogether, hidden behind the misinformation and unverifiable information in the spectacle.

Terrorism is the invented enemy of the perfected, integrated, yet fragile spectacle, which needs an external enemy, seemingly worse than itself, in order to look good and survive by comparison.

Secrecy is everywhere and yet we accept it in passing (our state of alienation conditions us to know nothing about too much anyway, so secrecy seems natural, almost a relief from concern). Is anyone asking: Do we need to know anything more than what we are told by the spectacle? Is is even possible to know more?

".....Eddieeeee, anoootherrr drinkkkkk!!!...."

Experts do our thinking for us, or at least we are not given enough information in a condition of generalized secrecy to make up our own minds. Experts are intercessors, like priests of old, who stand between us and the spectacular governments with their ultimate knowledge of what's really up in the universe. And we must respond to their statements, which can be lies or truths (but we'll never know), with FAITH, since government usurps the position formerly held by God.

Finally, the integrated spectacle has made a whole new method of government possible. Debord wonders if the rulers of the spectacle have yet to realize what they can do with their new spectacular tools? Will the possiblilites become apparent in a flash of lightening?

How will we spectators know if and when this has occured?

Should be read in conjunction with the Society of the Spectacle for full understanding, but can stand on its own.

Notice how accurately Debord predicts, in the 1980s, the current neverending and unwinnable "war on terrorism" that the spectacle system produced.

When I was originally assigned this book in my Western Civ class, I was fully prepared for this to be another uninteresting book that the professor for some reason was going to make us read. My assumption was completely incorrect however. Not only was Debord's book easy to read, but also it was incredibly interesting. His point of view is especially interesting to any American I believe because of his French viewpoint. It is an excellent experience for any American to interact with other countries and their cultures, and though I am not much of a French fan, Debord does it right.

He begins by outlining three basic spectacles that are found and then dives completely into the integrated spectacle, a French/Italian model of ideology that differed from Russian/German and American models. Though not even one hundred pages in length, the pages pack an impressive punch that no reader can deny. In order to understand what I am speaking about, you should do yourself a favor and grab a copy of Debord's work. You do not have to agree with what he is saying to gain from the experience.

This is an extremely informative book; all those dreadful (and politicized) things one hears about the abuse of indigenous peoples' sexuality -- it's even worse than that, and this this book is an articulation of all that. A must-read for those who are interested in correcting the ills of history and the present, in order to be achieving a wholesome society for everyone.

Smith delivers a searing critique of mainstream feminism on behalf of one of the world's most oppressed peoples.

The first few chapters present the tragedies that America(as well as Canada, etc..) has committed on Native Americans, and while devastating it is real interesting to read about the boarding schools, sterilization, drug experiments, land taken thru treaties, etc...and abuse that Native Americans recieved from the government. I didn't even know about all the issues that Andrea Smith discusses -but I do know. I loved the first few chapters better then the rest!

This book is outstanding! Ms. Smith presents a clear and cogent treatise of the problems Native Americans have which were created by the Colonizers. Within a few pages you come to the realization that your knowledge of Native Americans is below average at best. I am African and not only was I able to relate to her because of the obvious similarities of our predicaments but I was also extremely impressed by Ms. Smith's knowledge of Black History and the subsequent connections she was able to make pertaining to our struggles. After reading this book you'll see that the best way to assist not only Native Americans but all Ethnic Groups is to first listen...I mean really listen.

Smith's groundbreaking book should be required reading for all rape crisis advocates in North America. Not only does she provide a scholarly examination of the link between colonial genocide and sexual violence, Smith also provides context for contemporary activism and solutions. Forget everything you thought you knew about rape and sexual abuse and be prepared to re-think what it means to be a feminist and advocate. Smith's eloquence and thoughtfulness make reading this text an ideal starting point for dialogue in both academia and grassroots organizations. You will learn about how historical events continue to have an impact today and how the mainstream (white) rape crisis movement has fallen short of providing comprehensive analysis of sexual violence.

The writer thoroughly researched his work. He studied how technology affects organizations and how crisis of information come into play when dealing with mass markets and new technologies. This is a must read work.

If you have, like Beniger, asked the question "Why is information so critical for our current mode of production? Why Information? Why Now?" You need to read this book.

His basic argument is that the seeds of our contemporary information intensive society was sown way back during the start of the Industrial Revolution. In fact, information was critical to make the transition from feudal to industrial society. The reason being that the industrial revolution (entailing mechanization, steam power, assembly line etc.) speeded up the process of production to the extent that human beings on their own physical powers would be unable to keep up with the speed of production. In feudal/agricultural based societies, the production process was slow (i.e., ploughing using ox) and it remained in control of the individual. With the industrial revolution, the production process was speeded, resulting in what he terms as "a crisis of control." This reminds me a lot of the Charlie Chaplin movie "Modern Times." Don't know if you have seen it, if you have, you know exactly what I am talking about.

In order to resolve the crisis of control emerging from the speeded-up production process, you need information. Example: Steam engine travels faster than a human being. How do you keep track of the train if you can't run faster than it? String telegraph line along the railway track connecting different stations along the way. When train reaches station, the station master informs the next station about the next estimated arrival time. Think about it, if you didn't have a schedule or an estimated time of arrival/departure, it would be impossible to operate a passenger train service or a goods service. Speed brings uncertainty which can only be resolved through the acquisition of information.

Today, just-in-time production (epitomizing the heights of efficiency and speed) would not be possible without flow of information to control this process.

This is a great book! Much recommended for people who would like to exercise their grey cells. WARNING: Business travellers nourished on Tofflerian hype may have indigestion!

Beniger has published two sole-authored books. The Control Revolution: Technological and Economic Origins of the Information Society (Harvard University Press, 1986) gained a full-page review (with brief biography) in the New York Times Book Review and the lead review (and cover illustration) in the special book review edition of Science, journal of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Now in its third printing, The Control Revolution won the eleventh annual Association of American Publishers award for "the most outstanding book in the social and behavioral sciences" and the Phi Kappa Phi Faculty Recognition Award; the 1989 softcover edition was selected by the New York Times Book Review as a "Notable Paperback of the Year." Recently Harvard University Press announced contracts to publish The Control Revolution in two additional languages: in Italian by UTET Libreria, an Italian book publisher, by December 1995; and in Mandarin Chinese by Laureate, a U.S. book publisher specialized in foreign translations for export, by May 1996.

Beniger has synthesized findings from scores of fields to produce a plausible and remarkably original view of economic change and commercial development in America. While some of his explanations are a bit murky and some of his linkages a bit half-baked, this a brilliant book. Nobody to my knowledge, saving perhaps only Alfred Chandler, has done a better job of explaining the evolution of administrative systems or the linkages between that evolution and the advances in information technology occuring in the 19th and early 20th centuries. I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in management control, competitive dynamics, or technological/economic history.

I only wish the author had taken one more cut at simplifying and clarifing his basic thesis, It is also a pity that the volume was written prior to the development of transaction cost economics.

This is an excellent synthesis of great information from a number of different fields. I want to point out (for anyone reading these "reviews") that the person who gave this book only one star is actually referring to a book by another author. The two authors have books with similar titles. For that reason, I urge you to disregard that irrelevant ranking and read this excellent book for yourself.

Although there are many complaints about this book because it is in outline form, it is the best oncology nursing book FILLED with great, very useful information. I bought the book to get me through my first year as a brand new nurse and to assist met in studying to become certified as an oncology nurse. The way the sections are broken down is very helpful. You are able to review one specific section at a time. Outlines, such as this allow the reader to focus on the most important FACTS in a very organized manner.
I am a brand new RN on an adult transplant/oncology floor. Many nurses before me have used this particular book and it came highly recommended to me. After only reading through the first chapter, I understand why this book was so highly recommended.
I GIVE IT a 10/10 and also HIGHLY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK!

Along with Shirley Ottos' Oncology Nursing, the Core Curriculum, with it's concise outline format helped me study for and pass my OCN exam. The 'core' will accompany me on my unit for quick, easy reference.

The Oncology nurse certification test is not an easy one, but this book can help. You know all of the drugs and side effect management stuff, but who remembers all those statistics and obsure disease symptoms?? If you are taking the test, this book is great!

I used this book, and the Study Guide for The Core Curriculum for Oncology Nursing textbook, as well as the OCN 3 exam booklets from ONS, and did really well on the OCN Exam that I took in Washington D.C., April 17, 2002. This book helped me so much on being able to pass that test. It is set up exactly like the OCN Test Blueprint. I would study and work my way through each chapter and then test myself in the study guide book, and then I would test myself on one of the OCN Exam booklets, and then I would go through the book again.

Truly this is your bible for passing the National Oncology Certification Test. This and the Q and A study guide and some practice tests directly from ONS were all I used to take the test this fall. All of us at my work place who used these same materials passed. You really don't need anything else. The only problem is the book is presented in an outline form which makes for difficult reading for pleasure's sake alone but good for studying. Also a good reference book.

As the daughter of a semi-country doctor, I grew up with the experience of having a father who always seemed to be on call. Dr. Macdonald's anthology of cases was an excellent read, and after the first story I immediately called my mom to share it with her. We both had a laugh over it, and I am going to recommend that she buy it, along with my 2 older sisters. I enjoyed reading the stories, and they are set up such that you can read for as long or as short a time as you want. A must-buy for any child or spouse of a physician!

I thought this book was excellent. I thoroughly enjoyed this book... you'll laugh out loud and you'll cry as you see everything through the eyes of one rural Minnesota doctor. I'm couldn't wait until his second one came out! Read it!!

A Country Doctor's Casebook: Tales From The North Woods is an anthology of autobiographical stories by Dr. Roger A. MacDonald, a physician who has served the people living in a remote region of northern Minnesota during the years after World War II. Vignettes of sickness, compassion, feuds, dangers, births and deaths make A Country Doctor's Casebook unforgettable and very highly recommended reading.

Dr. MacDonald's book is a welcome remembrance to those who lived in Northern Minnesota in the 40's & 50's. His stories of survival (and sometimes not surviving) are very descriptive and detailed. When he tells of a trip through a swamp he carried his wife through to help a patient, you almost feel as though you are sloshing through the mud with him. His stories are NOT about heroics that he performed on helpless rural Minnesota residents, although he certainly could do that as well. They are about the heroics of those people he cared for. This story has it's humorous parts as well as parts that make you cry for the brave and futile attempts at life of his patients. I am grateful to Dr. MacDonald for this book, and I hope to see more from him in the future.

I got this book because I too come from Minnesota and work in health care, but once started on Dr. MacDonald's A Country Doctor's Casebook Tales from the North Woods, I was hooked. The author was what we would now refer to as a family practitioner who worked in a small rural community near Duluth from 1947 to 1980. His charming collection of stories is a delight to read, and I literally read the book from cover to cover over about three hours without putting it down. The tales of the doctor and his patients pull the reader through the pages without tricks of style, just the author's natural talent for telling a simple story: the life and death struggles of members of his community, the happiness of new lives begun, the suddenness of unexpected death, incredible courage in the face of adversity, acceptance of the setbacks of life, amusing vignettes of simple people living life among their neighbors.

FOR THOSE WRITING PAPERS in English, creative writing, journaling, journalism, history, and sociology, this would make a nice format to follow or a good bibliography entry. The author has used his own life experiences to create a history of his practice, community, and time.

Janet Ruell is a brainy and talented librarian from a provincial Minnesota backwater called Eldreth where, as she explains, because she has not married and she is nearing thirty, she is treated like a third class citizen and scorned or pitied by all. On a automobile vacation on a hot summer day she stops by a toutist camp and joins twenty or thirty strangers for a meal served on a porch. There she meets little Scottie, or "Cottie," as he calls himself, a charming toddler with a suspicious, yet magnetic father in tow. Janet's having one of those moments without which the plot could hardly begin, but she makes that existential leap of faith and takes off with father and son for another tourist camp, this one on the lake of the "Crying Sisters." It's an old Indian legend of two sisters who loved each other so deeply you can still hear them screaming and crying for each other across the eerie stillness of the night lake.

Janet's behavior is puzzling, especially since she knows hunky Dad had a revolver hidden among his things, but the plot of the book is a sort of rehash of Jane Eyre, with the man who calls himself "Steve Corbett" like a Clark Gable version of Rochester. Janet spends most of the book tending to little Cottie, disliking his father, and terrified as fellow guests at the motel start dying and disappearing at strange times of the night. What's great about the book is that, although Seeley is often compared to such HIBK queens as Mary Roberts Rinehart and Mignon G. Eberhart, she is actually much closer to a social realist, and her picture of this flybynight tourist trap, with its creepy denizens and downright hideous atmosphere, gives her a noir edge the others lack. Well, to be fair, they weren't interested in unearthing life among the lower strata of society, while Seeley is fascinated by the Erskine Caldwell lowlives who populate her best books. After making your way through the Grand Guignol horrors of THE CRYING SISTERS, one wonders why she isn't being anthologized by the Library of America in their CRIME NOVELS series. If the guy who wrote NIGHTMARE ALLEY is in there, why not Seeley? THE CRYING SISTERS is as gruesome and haunting as NIGHTMARE ALLEY, no, more so, but because it was written by a woman (perhaps especially a woman called "Mabel"), she has been relegated to obscurity and to specialist regional presses like this one.

I loved this book, although at first I found it hard to accept the premise that a woman would just chuck a vacation for herself and go off to become a nanny. But it turned out to be an excellent story with a well-written and suspenseful plot. It also gives a nice sense of the society of the 1940's, when people did enjoy staying in tourist camps and life was simpler. The lurking evil is first rate, a couple of perfect red-herrings and fully developed characters make this a fun book for summer reading, especially if you like the Great Lakes.

I was born in 1955. I read this book as a teenager and it was tremendously exciting. I read the book again as an adult with children and again I fell in love with it. It has the same mastery of writeing, as To Kill a Mockingbird. It isn't the same type of story. But the scare is timeless.

The story is about a young woman who is a lone in the world without family. She is bright and intelligent and without any prospects for a family of her own. She meets a man with a charming child. He offers her a job takeing care of the boy while he pursues infomation on his long missing wife. During which time she poses as his wife. A long forgotten scandal is involved along with several tense moments as murder is uncovered and the suspicion that the man is involved in the unsolved deaths. Really great with a lot of suspense.

If you've ever been to any of the old-time lake cabins in Minnesota, you'll feel like your there again when you read this classic 1940's mystery. The characters are perfect, and the setting, right down to the dirt and gravel paths to the lake, is so real you can almost see it. All Seeley's books have a real distinct 40's feel to them, so if you enjoy that, I'd say they're well worth your time.

A well-written mystery with many a twist in the plot. The characters are interesting and the book keeps you guessing until the very end.

I think this is an excellent book! The blocks were SO much fun to put together. After reading this book and trying out a few easy designs, my confidence in sewing curves has increased immensely! Ms. Bowles guides you thru her techniques in the first 25 or so pages and then devotes the rest of the book to creative designs. She shows you how to make a traditional log cabin design, among other designs, and give it a very contemporary feel and look! If you're very anxious about trying curves, give this book a try and see where it takes you!

If I could only have one quilting book this would be it!! I love this book!! I am one of those compulsive quilters and fabric collectors. I have numerous quilting books and take many out of the library. I have been making quilts for almost 30 years.

I signed up to take 2 workshops from the author and this book was included on the materials list. The book's instructions are so clear that I am not sure that I need to take the classes. I plan to take them anyway since I really want to meet Debbie Bowles.

I couldn't wait to make a curved quilt block. I completed two pagoda blocks in less than one hour and then spent the next hour praising myself.

Debbie Bowles really encourages you to experiment with color and patterns and provides excellent guidence and encouragement. I am pretty talented and adventurous with color but was astonished at the terrific results I have achieved from these techniques even with mediocre fabrics.

I also purchased her other book, Dancing Quilts from Straight Pieces and am looking forward to trying this technique as well. (but I like Cutting Curves better).

I'm a quilting-book-hound. If I could own only two quilting books, one would be Cutting Curves from Straight Lines by Debbie Bowles, the other would be Colorplay by Joen Wolfrom. These two books cut all the frustration, when trying to accomplish those eye popping wonderful pieces, that we see in these books. They are beautifully illustrated with great color on glossy paper. Debbie's book is the clearest and simplest book I have read on the dreaded curve in quilting. There is no time consuming pinning and I got instant success with my first block. I have little patients with written instruction and found this book really cut to the chase with step-by-step instruction. If you like traditional patterns with a contemporary twist this is it!

Learn new, innovative methods of curved cutting and stitching with the help of Cutting Curves From Straight Pieces, a highly recommended guide which provides instructions and illustrations on making single and multiple cuts and arcs for quilts. Quilters will enjoy trying out the 16 projects which utilize curved cutting techniques and illustrative color photos.

The author and her technique were featured on an episode of Simply Quilts. I ordered the book immediately and have already made the double pagoda wall hanging and lap quilt. They were both so easy to make and the result was more than I hoped for. I'm already planning on making a queen sized double pagoda for my bed. The book takes you through each step, provides clear instruction and I feel it is one of the easiest and definitely most fun and enjoyable quilts that I've ever made. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants a quilt or wallhanging that stands out from the rest! Happy Quilting!

Very thought inspiring collection of essays that address the social and economic implications of technology. Not very light reading and not very heavy - somewhere in between. May help to have some very elementary economics background. Worth reading if you're interested in understanding what technology may do to capitalism and the workforce.

A great collection of essays for those looking to understand and begin their studies of the new technological/electronics revolution occuring in the productive forces of society and its resultant new class formations and alignments. A praise to Herr Marx!! The productive forces do take the lead and along with the deeper proletarianization and destitution of the masses(to the point of their labor becoming redundant) and the high level of technology and robotics in production, there is but only one way to go.

The book and modern application and interpretation of classical Marxist economics is excellent. It would have been helpful to have an Index as this text is excellent as a reference and the editors could have taken time to properly index pertinent topics (e.g. When value is created by labor p.75)

This collection of essays examines the historical and current role of technologies- never neutral, but always integral to a dominant class' agenda and planning masked as a reified objectivity - in partially determining the class struggle. Particularly, the ongoing telecommunications, "information" and robotics sectors introduce a qualitatively radical transformation of social relations by appropiating into capital the mind and soul of the workers, rendering us redundant just as the steam engine and electric motor technologies earlier rendered workers' bodies and physical power partially without value. The increasing genocide (for the workers at the low edge of the global hierarchy) and pauperization of various degrees for the rest by the corporate transnational state is made possible for the greedy rulers and technocrats by the degradation of the power of labor in the context of a society approaching total automation and terrabit-per-second panoptic global communications. The maintenance of coercive class relations through such contrived means as "intellectual property rights", the artificial scarcity and thought control induced by such media as cable tv and the dismantling of public services is turning more of us into a new Roman proletariat, with technology serving the role of ancient slaves in marginalizing our vital endeavors. Instead, we're force fed a sad circus of televised slaughters for our patriotic entertainment while the Reagans, Bushes, Clintons and Mc.Cains thank us "for serving". A worthy book which I found full of insights for aggessive resistance against the old masters now beaming in cyber cloth. To their new digital hype, we should be armed with essays like these- along with some physical ammunition, for certain- and give a convincing reply of Non Serviat.

Cutting Edge has considerably advanced my revolutionarly understanding. I intend to read parts of it again & again. My 10 rating should be applied only to parts of this collection of essays. The balance of the book I would rate a 5. I was particularly impressed with chapter 8, The Digital Advantage by Jim Davis & Michael Stack. Warning! Don't read this chapter before bed time. My brain was so stimulated, I had a hard time getting to sleep after I read it. This chapter alone is worth the price of the book. Great stuff! On a scale of 1 to 10, it's a 20! The other chapters that got the a lot of yellow from my hilighter: Introduction, Robots & Capitalism, High-Tech Hype, The Digital Advantage, The Biotechnology Revolution, Structural Unemployment & the Qualitative Transformation of Capitalism, The New Technological Imperative in Africa, and The Birth of a Modern Proletariat by one of my heroes, Nelson Peery. I strongly recommend this book to any thinking person!