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Publications Books sorted by Average customer review: high to low .

Publications
Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha
Published in Paperback by Yoga Publications Trust/Munger/India (2007-01-01)
Author: Swami Satyananda Saraswati
List price: $35.00
New price: $35.00

Average review score:

Nice Reference Book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-26
This book won't substitute for having a real teacher to help you learn yoga, but it is definitely an incredibly awesome reference to have.

a classic
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-25
I have found no other book which is as practical, and gives so much insight into what is behind yogic philosophy

One of the best books on Yoga available
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-04
This is in my opinion one of the best books available on yoga. It covers the most basic techniques to some of the most advanced poses. I picked this book up about a week ago and have only gone though some of the basic poses but already I benefited. Throughly comprehensive and detailed, the pictures and instruction are clear and step by step. It also goes into detail on breathing techniques and other aspects of yoga. Certainly a must by in my opinion for anyone new to yoga or anyone who has been doing their own daily practice for while, this will add to it!

Perfect? Just about.
Helpful Votes: 17 out of 17 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-25
I wrote a review of Light on Yoga, and talked about how if you could have only one text on hatha . . . Now, having seen this work, I must honestly revise that opinion. Both this and the much better-known Light are first-rate books on hatha (physical) yoga. This book, however, is quite user-friendly and much more informative about the effects of each asana. It contains information about the chakras most directly affected by the asanas, and--importantly--it discusses the counterposes that are most effective for each asana described. This last point is vital if you want to work toward structuring a practice without a class.

This book does not contain nearly as many poses as Light. And the poses are illustrated by drawings, not photos. But the drawings are wonderfully clear.

Like the title says, the book gives comprehensive insight into asana, pranayama, mudras and bandhas. It leads the reader through a complete course and progression from beginner to advanced. Advanced practitioners, though, can jump in anywhere and benefit from the book's insights, which are profound.

For anyone serious about learning yoga or deepening one's practice, this is an essential text. A wonderful complement to Light, and a stand-alone compendium that is sure to reward the reader, regardless of experience.

Comprehensive Classic
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2007-02-09
APMB is the most complete text on foundational yogic studies I have come across. At the price you cannot find a better deal in yoga texts.

Publications
Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Weather
Published in Hardcover by Fodor's Travel Publications (1920-01)
Author: David Ludlum
List price: $18.00

Average review score:

Excellent Book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-12
National Audubon Society Field Guides are the GREATEST! Thank you for this excellent book on the weather. This book is technical, but really gets into forcasting the wather.

Great gift book, and a surprising work too too!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-10
I have given several of these as gifts to friends of a more scientific mindset, and they love it. They can pick it up and identify that odd thing over the mountain, and the haze around the moon. I have also used it many times for work. I can show a Director this book and he/she can say "I want that kind of sky!". Sure beats trying to create a sky from some vague mis-informed description of clouds they say years ago! I am about to give a copy to a director I'm working with right now, and that's why I'm here: to order it!. He loved the book today when I pushed it across the tabe to him, and it helped flag the clouds we'll use in his commercial. I recemmend it to anyone of a curious mindset, or for professional art direction. High quality binding too!

L.E.

Great Book!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-21
This is a great book. We have several Audobon Society handbooks and love them all.

definitive guide to weather
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-21
I believe this book was previously known as the Field Guide to Clouds, not sure exactly when the change took place but I'm glad to have finally re-found this book. What first allured me to this series when I was a child were the amazing photographs in the middle. Some very rare species of clouds all beautifully captured. The information contained within this book is very well organised, and as said in the title it fully lives up to its field guide reputation. By identifying the clouds you see in the sky via the photographs you can then follow the page number to the description of the formation and what weather you can expect from it. Alternatively, there are essays in the beginning describing several weather phenomenon and their life cycles, where they can be expected in North America and much much more.

This is a fantastic book for anyone interested in weather and particularly clouds. While made with North America in mind, anyone could enjoy this book especially the brilliant photography included with it.

Required Reading For All Pilots
Helpful Votes: 8 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2005-10-04
What I find very valuable about this book is the fact that it is loaded with illustrations of different kinds of meteorological phenomena. For a pilot, it is important to understand what sort of weather you are going to be flying into. If you don't spend a lot of time studying meteorology, it can be difficult to conceptualize what kind of cloud formation is ahead of you. Some of the pilots' literature have rather weak illustrations.

This book is an excellent supplement to any pilot's training manual in providing visual aids for learning about spotting weather phenomnena.

Also, in general, it is very enjoyable to page through the book, as the quality of photography is very good.

Publications
Bearing the Big H: A Hormonal Journey on the Hysterectomy Highway
Published in Paperback by Destiny Publications (2002-06)
Author: Patti Pfeiffer
List price: $16.99
Used price: $19.31

Average review score:

Learned alot while laughing
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-03-16
This book was wonderful. Not everything applied to my situtation but it was very helpful in knowing what to expect. There were even some great tips that I shared with my husband. We even had some interesting chats regarding specifics of the book.

Bearing the Big H
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2004-10-29
My wife and I purchased "Bearing the Big H", at one of Pattis' book signings. I was the first to read it. I was pleasently surprised and read it in a couple of nights. The " big H", is not something a man is normally knowledgeable about but it can drastically affect your relationship with loved ones. Ignorance is defenitely not bliss. My review? I've decided to purchase additional books for my parents(in their 80's), sister, and brother for Christmas gifts. Loved the book Patti!

LAUGH 'TIL YOU CRY!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2004-10-28
Wanna laugh?..READ THIS BOOK! Wanna cry?.....READ THIS BOOK!
This author's wit and humor are both hilarious and heart tugging! This is not a medical journal on Hysterectomy, this is a very real and funny account of a very real and funny woman's journey through the BIG H. Laugh at her, laugh at yourself, but READ IT and be encouraged. Honest feelings and earthy humor make this book a delight!

What Nobody Talks About
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2004-11-03
As a retired nurse, I think the vast number of women who undergo removal of their uterus are usually well informed of the surgical procedure, the possible risks, and anatomical changes, but only a rare few are prepared for the hormonal frenzy that follows. Patti Pfeiffer's humorous--and sometimes heartbreaking--account of her surgery and the weeks that followed is a must read, not only for those who have had, or will have, a hysterectomy but for their spouses, too. Even those not involved in this medical dilemma will be amused by Ms. Pfeiffer's journey.

Hysterical Hysterectomy
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2004-10-26
This book was both entertaining and enlightening! I would wholeheartedly recommend it for anyone facing the surgery, or anyone who just wants a good Venus/Mars laugh!

Publications
Birds of Texas Field Guide
Published in Paperback by Adventure Publications (2004-07-01)
Author: Stan Tekiela
List price: $16.95
New price: $10.47
Used price: $12.14

Average review score:

Great Field Guide!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-07-31
This is my favorite field guide. I started purchasing different field guides to help me identify different birds, animals, and fish while I am kayaking and camping. By far this is the best laid out field guide I own and I would highly recomend it to anyone who wants to identify birds in Texas.

Exactly what I needed!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-29
I don't know much about birds other than they fly and I like to look at them in the backyard. I have often wondered what kind of birds I have been watching... Enter this book.

To look up a bird in the book, you flip through the top corner looking for the predominant color of the bird, then scan through a dozen or so pictures and very easily identify what you are looking at. I have not seen a bird in my yard that has not been very easy to find in the book.

Also, the description of the birds are quite informative, and the information is very easy to understand.

I recommend this book.

Easy to use
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-23
This is a great book for everyday use to identify birds, I have several bird book including an Audabon book and prefer this to the rest.

Better than basic
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-09
This book covers every bird I've ever seen in the Great State (over 40 years worth). I guess if you are trying to dot the final i, you might look for a more complete reference, but for 99.4% of us, this book cannot be beat.

Great book that's easy to use!
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-23
This is the first field guide that I have ever bought. We are studying birds in my kids' science curriculum, so we needed to get a book to help us out. Although I can't compare it to others, I am definitely pleased with this choice. My boys are 9 and 10 and they can use it as easily as I can. And so far we have found every bird in our yard in this book. It doesn't have tons of detail, but that makes it easier to look through it, and then we can search online for further information as needed. And it has wonderful color photos. If you're looking for a basic Texas Bird Field Guide, I would recommend this book.

Publications
The Body Sacred
Published in Paperback by Llewellyn Publications (2005-10-01)
Author: Dianne Sylvan
List price: $14.95
New price: $0.47
Used price: $0.47

Average review score:

A must-read for all women
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-26
This book was exactly what I was hoping for. Diane Sylvan has an irreverant, ("my God is a snarky God" being my favorite) yet focused approach to women's issues with their bodies. It really opened my eyes, and it felt like she was writing to me specifically. Her different sections address aspects of the Goddess (Healer, Mother, Dancer, Lover, and Crone) and links them to our bodies, and how we see them. The spells, rituals, and meditations in the book are useful, and directly relate to what it is she's talking about. If you don't have this book and you see it somewhere, get it. I know no women who do not have body issues, and this book helped me break out of the pattern I was in. There were times I cried because she managed to articulate exactly how I was feeling. She comes at this from a slightly feminist perspective, but she is by no means a man hater, and strongly discourages that women take that path even if we think men are to blame. This book inspired me to start change, and brought me closer to my spiritual side. It is an excellent addition, and I believe that you should absolutely read it.

Blessed Be.

Every woman should read this book!!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-09-22
Even though I read hundreds of books a year, I have never taken the time to write a review before. Which just shows how strongly I feel about this book. I picked up this book at my local library and boy was I glad I did. This book has changed my life and the way I view myself, my body, and my emotions. Even though it is written by a Wiccan author, I can see any woman, Wiccan or not taking away something positive from this book and using it in their own lives. If you have ever had any body issues, please, please read this book. It does not matter what that issue is, if you think you are too fat, too skinny, too short, too tall... this book is for you!!

A MUST HAVE for ALL WOMEN!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2007-06-28
Ms Sylvan has just joined the ranks as one of my favorite authors of all time, and if you read this book, I'm sure you will feel the same way. Her down-to-earth style makes you feel as if she's right there with you, like you're having a chat with your best friend. She isn't afraid to tell it like it is, and to empower women in a world where we're still looked down upon for *being* women. I can almost guarantee that if you need to revitalize the Goddess within, you will find her again after reading this book.

I give this book 5 pentacles and it's worth it
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2007-04-26
The Body Sacred is an amazing book
which should be on every Wiccan's/Pagan's
bookshelf.

This is a book in which so many readers
can relate. I thought, "OMGoddess, she's
writing MY story, MY thoughts, answering
all MY questions, and she is doing it with
a wonderful sense of humor!"

I recommend this book to everyone.

Dianne Sylvan's books are wonderful!
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2007-02-23
An excellent book! Like Ms. Sylvan's other book "The Circle Within", this book is well researched, easy to understand, and thought provoking. I love her books!

Publications
Book of Magic (Peel, John, Diadem, Worlds of Magic, #3.)
Published in Paperback by Llewellyn Publications (2004-09-01)
Author: John Peel
List price: $4.99
New price: $0.01
Used price: $0.01

Average review score:

A Fantastic Yarn
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-05-07
Score, Helaine, and Pixel travel to the planet Dondar. They help a herd unicorns of defeat the most powerful wizard of the planet, only to find their troubles are just beginning. I have read several of John Peel's books, and I think this is the best one. It's a real page turner. I wish I could give it six stars.

It's a keeper!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-10
My daughter loves this series! She enjoys the adventure, magical powers and the good vs. evil aspect of each story. What can I say? She's reading and enjoying it!!! If you like stories about magic and adventure, you'll probably enjoy it!!!

I thought that this book was a great book
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 1999-05-27
This book was a thriller. It kept you guessing at everything. The stange pictures and wird names took me many days to figure out how to solve them. I have read the first two but this one explains every thing that you would need to know. Every page brought new suspence. I would recomend this book to anyone that likes action, and magic books.

Diadem Books
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2003-04-21
Amazing. I have had my diadem set for 4 years, and I never tire of sitting on my couch and reading for yet another time, Diadem. John Peel writes with the feel and certaincy of an established writer, for that is who he is. The book is very, very good. Just a question, why is the fourth book so rare?

If I could, I'd give these books 100 stars!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 1999-05-29
All the "Diadem" books are MUST READS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I love the over-all plot and wonder how Peel thinks of all the wonderful stuff he puts in his books. The Helaine, Score, and Pixel have interesting traits & personalities. People that give this book under four stars are out of there mind! I LOVE JHON PEEL'S BOOKS. He MUST write more "Diadem" books!! If you liked these book you'll love "The Secret of Dragonhome!!

Publications
Canoeing With the Cree (Publications of the Minnesota Historical Society)
Published in Paperback by Minnesota Historical Society Press (1968-06)
Author: Eric Sevareid
List price: $12.95
New price: $45.00
Used price: $8.25

Average review score:

The Insanity and Necessity of Adventure
Helpful Votes: 10 out of 11 total.
Review Date: 2004-09-08
Walter Port and (Arnold) Eric Sevareid took an amazing trip that they started by skipping some of their high school finals so they could get the boat they could afford. Though the project appeared to have been Port's pet, it was Sevareid who came up with the way to fund it: writing about it for the Minneapolis Star. It was clear that once the project began both of them were truly enthralled by it and could not be put off. The tale is told simply, but with a clear affection for all of the people who helped them try to reach their goal, even though few of the people who helped were confident that these young men could make it or were even very encouraging.

The book is written from the journals that were kept along the trip. It is clear that this is a book of its times written by a man who was still quite young. While I would strongly encourage any teens to read this book to realize that they too can give themselves a goal that is worthwhile if only for being difficult, I would also encourage their parents to be ready to answer some questions about the wisdom and risks of such adventures and about some of the attitudes of the past. There is a casual acceptance of the bigotry against Native Americans that was common at the time and Sevareid was not yet the mature thoughtful man that we may remember from the CBS Evening News.

Still, the fact that a reasonably literate student was able to take, and appreciate, such a grand adventure while trying his best to bring it alive for us was a remarkable feat. Twain, at his best, gave us better feel for river adventure, but he had the advantage that he could embroider the story whenever necessary, while Sevareid was already writing and thinking as a journalist. This is a quick read that almost anyone, from a child in middle school to an adult whose days of imagined adventure are long past, can enjoy.

amazing recounting of a determined trip
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-11-02
Enough youthful daring and preparation on a wonderful journey which showed the better nature of people for the exploits of two tough and bright young men. A wonderful journey, with some historical photo's that help illustrate the accomplishment. A wonderful quick read.

How Did You Spend Your Summer Vacation?
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2007-07-31
2250 miles in a canoe - a great adventure and a book worth reading. I can't add much that isn't already perfectly described in this book.

At the start of the trip during a brief stay in Fargo, North Dakota, a friend and doctor named Frederick Gronvold sets the boys on their journey in a proper frame of mind. "Don't let anyone, no matter who he is, convince you that your trip can't be completed. You have youth and strength, and courage too, I hope, and with a little common sense you can do it."

When the journey finally ends and the boys share their tale with the adults at York Factory, they are asked why? Bud responds simply, "Oh, for pleasure, I guess." A journey simply for the sake of the adventure. It is an idea lost on some of the adults listening to the boys. "Pleasure! What a jolly funny kind of pleasure!" Better yet, maybe the idea isn't lost. Colonel Reid continues, "Oh well, that's youth. Things look different when you're young, I suppose. My word, I almost believe I envy you."

Enjoy the beginning and the end; enjoy the pineapples and everything in between. Enjoy the journey simply for the journey; it's an adventure that is perfect for any reader of any age!

A Must for Northern Woods Canoeists
Helpful Votes: 7 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2005-12-15
There's really only two things worth doing in Minnesota: One, canoeing the Boundary Waters/Quetico during Spring, Summer, and Fall; Two, THINKING about canoeing the Boundary Waters/Quetico during Winter. For the latter, this book is the gateway to paradise. Sevareid and Port have the true spirit of adventurers, the love-bug for the North Woods and her bevy of streams, rivers, and lakes, and Sevareid effectively tells his now-classic tale of how he and his friend drank deeply of all her treasures--complete with the axiomatic mistakes, mishaps, surfiet of discomfitures, and, alas, irresistible beauty that she provides to all who avail themselves of her wonders. Like St. Augustine, let us "Take up and read."

And, They Said It Couldn't Be Done
Helpful Votes: 8 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-27
"Eric Sevareid made his name as a CBS news correspondent. But at a young age, Sevareid experienced an adventure most only dream of. Sevareid detailed the journey in his book "Canoeing with the Cree". Now to mark the 75th anniversary of Sevareid's journey, two Minnesota men plan to make the same trip." Tim Post

In 1930 two young men paddled their way from Minneapolis to Hudson Bay in Canada. A trip of 2200 miles. Everyone told them it could not be done. Eric Sevareid, then a 17 year old, fresh graduate of high school, and his best buddy, Walter Port, planned the entire trip. They garnered financial support, collected supplies and a canoe and paddles and off they went. Five months later after trials and tribulations, they made it to Hudson Bay. Their journey is documented by Eric Sevareid, who gathered the weekly diaries he sent to their local Minneapolis paper, and in 1935, he wrote this book.

I stepped back in time to the 1930's when life seemed to be more innocent and the world a safer place to be. Sevareid who went on to become one of the most revered journalists of our time, wrote in an unpretentious manner, and we can feel the excitement of their adventures. They traversed unknown land and water. No one, it seems, had ever accomplished this trek. Even the best canoeists in the country failed. How then, did these two young lads accomplish this journey? Intelligence and good luck, I'd say. They questioned everyone they met, took upon themselves to digest all of the information and made decisions based on their best judgement. And, most of the time they were correct. They had no radio, no maps( this was uncharted country), little preserved food except for hardtack, but they had their ingenuity and the assistance of all of the people they met.

The North Country was mostly woods. Camps, small towns and two larger towns had been established for hunting and trapping. Most of the humans they met were Indians who were kind and generous. As a matter of fact, most of the people they met were in awe of their journey and shared whatever food, equipment and conversation they were capable. The trip was amazing when we look at the obstacles they faced. Water, roaring cold water, sometimes rapids, sometimes falls, no maps, only the word of mouth of strangers, and cold brutal weather at times. Or hot humid weather with flies and gnats. They discovered all sorts of wild animals but were never in real danger. They had their tent, two paddles, food, water, ponchos and several blankets. This seems like a story of new adventurers discovering a new world, and in fact this is what they were. Two 17 year old lads set out on an adventure and one day after another they found one. Extraordinary when you think about it.

Since the time of Eric and Walter, several other duos have made the trip by canoe. However, they had maps, food that could be kept for months and the best of camping equipment. This is not to lessen these young men's courage, but to think 78 years ago, this was accomplished with such primitive arrangments and care.

This was an exciting read and one page after another flew by. The book was difficult to put down. Easy, simplistic writing. but some of the most important writing I have found. The boys parents and friends did not hear from them often and at times, I am sure the parents were worried. But the two lads persevered and the trip was taken.

Highly Recommended. prisrob 06-26-08

Not So Wild a Dream

The Eleanor Roosevelt Story


Publications
Shelters, Shacks, and Shanties
Published in Paperback by Shelter Publications (2000-01)
Author: Daniel Carter Beard
List price: $10.95
New price: $18.81
Used price: $8.88

Average review score:

simple, practical construction
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-05-30
I was looking for ideas on simple structures for the homestead. The book is a bit dated, but you have to go back to find simple, uncomplicated ideas. We have grown so accustomed to specialized fasteners, tools and other hardware. Building a simple shed can be expensive when you have to buy materials. We have an abundance of raw materials and this book provided some ideas towards cost effective structures.

This book is great! Read this review.
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-17
This book is great! I would recommend this to anyone 12+, because the shelters are quite hard to build. It is excellent for boy scouts. I got this for Christmas and in my troop were starting on plans already! Great for any wilderness lover and I recommend all the related books!
1/16/08

Old book but great ideas do not grow old!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-29
I know that most people will find this book to be anything but "green" however, I found this concept to be perfect in a world that sometimes forgets what it is like to be young at heart. Some of the shelters are not safe and one should always supervise young children who if left alone will build forts and such, yet there is a certain allure about thinking you are back in time and surviving on your own wits. Great ideas for survival campouts or if you like getting out "there" and just might once or twice get too far out "there" and find yourself in the need of an overnight shelter. Loved the book and will use or adapt many of the detailed plans.

This book is great! Read this review.
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-16
This book is great! I would recommend this to anyone 12+, because the shelters are quite hard to build. It is excellent for boy scouts. I got this for Christmas and in my troop were starting on plans already! Great for any wilderness lover and I recommend all the related books!
1/16/08

Outdoorsmen's delight
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2007-06-04
This book is geared towards building structures that were used by outdoorsmen from years past. It covers how to make a bed from natural materials, a log cabin, Native American log house, and how to work an axe just to name a few topics covered in this book. The drawings of the dwellings in the book are simple (but not in depth plans or charts). The author does a great job of explaining how to construct these devices, but as I said a drawn picture is all your going to get if your a visual learner. Over all the book does what it says it will do, gives the reader good information, and I personally wouldn't be caught dead without it if I was trapped in the middle of nowhere by myself.

Publications
Concerning the Spiritual in Art
Published in Paperback by Dover Publications (1977-06-01)
Author: Wassily Kandinsky
List price: $5.95
New price: $2.49
Used price: $1.79

Average review score:

Inciteful...
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-07
This book was purchased for a college research project and it was just perfect. It talks of Kandinsky's color theory and how music and color co-exist. The seller was professional and I got the book when it was promised. I would order from this seller again...definately!

A fine attention to artistic reflection and analysis.
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-11-06
Wassilly Kadinsky was a 20th century painter and his CONCERNING THE SPIRITUAL IN ART provides a blend of philosophical, spiritual and artistic reflection as it examines the premises and presence of spirituality in art. This new edition is a recommended pick not just for art students of modernism, but for readers of spiritual works: it includes letters between Kadinsky and Sadler, unpublished prose poems, and a fine attention to artistic reflection and analysis.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Good,but very deep
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2005-08-13
I enjoyed reading the book. At times it was over my head,but still it was worth the effort!!!!

Amazing
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-04
Kandinsky throws his ideas out in a slightly esoteric manner. It make take a few rereads to really grasp the quality of discourse he presents. But, in the end, his commentary shines brightly through his comparisons of music to painting. The spiritual triangle is comparable to Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs. It is important to remember that Kandinsky is not using the term "spiritual" in a religious sense.
This book is a very good read for anyone feeling slumped in their art making. And for anyone who wants to expose themselves to ways of thinking about art. By the third time I had read the material I had underlined and highlighted almost every line and filled all the margins with notes. The book is fantastic. It is especially good when paired with Hans Hofmann's essay "In Search for the Real." Although the ideas in the two books do not parallel. In fact the lines aren't even on the same page. Kandinksky's critiques of other familiar artists are very interesting too. Names like picasso and Cezanne pop up quite a bit.
I'll stop rambling now. Read the book, it is very good.

"to break the bonds which bind". . . "to an impoverishment of possibility"
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2007-06-26
Kandinsky had risen to positions of influence in other disciplines (political science/economics and law) before directing his considerable intellect to painting. His insights extended into the historic 'meta' trends of the arts and sciences, including the physical sciences, and had his interests been directed more to the history and philosophy of science instead of the history and philosophy of art, he might have written Kuhn's observations regarding paradigm change a half century before Kuhn did: "Here and there are people with eyes which can see, minds which can correlate. They say to themselves: 'If the science of the day before yesterday is rejected by the people of yesterday, and that of yesterday by us of today, is it not possible that what we call science now will be rejected by the men of tomorrow?' And the bravest of them answer, 'It is possible.'"

Instead, Kandinsky extended the frontiers of painting and authored philosophic writings on the future of art that are among the most important of such works. M.T.H. Sadler, who translated this work into English, was a friend of Kandinsky's and was among his early admirers. The notes he has written in the front of the book (Translator's Introduction) are therefore more helpful than could be the opinions of many other critics, including myself:

"Anyone who has studied Gauguin will be aware of the intense spiritual value of his work. The man is a preacher and a psychologist, universal by his very unorthodoxy, fundamental because he goes deeper than civilization. In his disciples this great element is wanting.

"Kandinsky has supplied the need. He is not only on the track of an art more purely spiritual than was conceived even by Gauguin, but he has achieved the final abandonment of all representative intention. In this way he combines in himself the spiritual and technical tendencies of one great branch of Post-Impressionism.

"The question most generally asked about Kandinsky's art is: 'What is he trying to do?' It is to be hoped that this book will do something towards answering the question. But it will not do everything. This--partly because it is impossible to put into words the whole of Kandinsky's ideal, partly because in his anxiety to state his case, to court criticism, the author has been tempted to formulate more than is wise. His analysis of colours and their effects on the spectator is not the real basis of his art, because, if it were, one could, with the help of a scientific manual, describe one's emotions before his pictures with perfect accuracy. And this is impossible.

"Kandinsky is painting music. That is to say, he has broken down the barrier between music and painting, and has isolated the pure emotion which, for want of a better name, we call the artistic emotion. Anyone who has listened to good music with any enjoyment will admit to an unmistakable but quite indefinable thrill. He will not be able, with sincerity, to say that such a passage gave him such visual impressions, or such a harmony roused in him such emotions. The effect of music is too subtle for words. And the same with this painting of Kandinsky's. Speaking for myself, to stand in front of some of his drawings or pictures gives a keener and more spiritual pleasure than any other kind of painting. But I could not express in the least what gives the pleasure. Presumably the lines and colours have the same effect as harmony and rhythm in music have on the truly musical. That psychology comes in no one can deny."

Some aspects of Kandinsky's color theory are dubious, at best they cannot be universalized, and Kandinsky sees this. But other of his ideas and arguments are widely accepted among artists, even as being self-evident. Stating that "there is no 'must' in art, because art is free," that is, free to address external representations OR "the inner need," to merely chase after material 'objects' OR to wrestle with the mysteriously spiritual, to somehow meld the two visions OR to stay purely to exploration of the spiritual high ground, Kandinsky absolutely rejects the materialistic expectation of an art "explanation" that has been articulated by EO Wilson in his unfortunate daydream 'Consilience' (Wilson knows ants better than he knows humans, and is given to understanding humans to be essentially ant equivalents).

Anyone interested in art history, painting of the past century, or the relationships/correlations/divergences of the various arts (visual, musical, literary), as well as anyone interested in the meaning and purpose of art, or in the philosophy of aesthetics, should read this important book, perhaps more than once.

Publications
Deadly Obsession
Published in CD-ROM by Dark Star Publications (1999-07-01)
Author: Patricia A. Rasey
List price: $12.95

Average review score:

Deadly Obsession
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2001-01-16
Ms. Rasey has written an exceptional thriller sure to keep the reader on the edge of their seat thru the entire read! She has the ability to transport the reader directly into the novel to meet the three dimensional characters who keep you guessing to the very last page. One easily feels the characters terrifying emotions as they uncover pieces of the killer's identity. Patricia Rasey will very soon be at the top of the best seller's lists with greats like Mary Higgens Clark. Congratulations on such a great thriller! Your others are equally as good.

Rasey Will Knock Your Socks Off
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2001-01-14
Deadly Obsession takes lethal aim at the mystery-reading public and follows through with one helluva fantastic, edge-of-your-seat story. Written with an eagle eye for detail, Ms. Rasey has spun a wicked tale of lust and murder in Smalltown, U.S.A. that will keep you turning the pages in a feverish attempt to outdistance the killer. If you buy just one cop thriller this year, I encourage you to make it this one!

Deadly Obsession
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2001-01-11
If you like 'em dark and filled with suspense, Patricia Rasey's "Deadly Obsession" is for you. It'll keep you on the edge of your seat!

Not your mother's romance!
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2002-08-18
In Dead Obsession, author Patricia A. Rasey offers up a startling mix of romantic fire and steel-edged realism. Delving into the world of real vampires, the book offers a dark long look into the mind of a serial killer and the two people, one innocent, one a veteran of the streets, as they hunt an imaginable evil. Cole Kincaid is battling a past he would sooner forget, but when he is partnered with hard-nosed reporter Laurie Michaels in an attempt to stop a living vampire from killing again, the past is what he must face. For Laurie, her eyes are about to be opened about the world and her own desire for a man both dark and compelling. But does she have what it takes to melt a heart made diamond-hard by too many years and so much pain? Ms. Rasey has earned her place in the ranks of romantic suspense and Deadly Obsession is both an excellent page-turner as well as an unnerving introduction to the daker side of humanity. Highly recommended!

Karen Koehler, author of Slayer and Scarabus

Very highly recommended
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2001-02-03
A man with a taste for blood, a cop with a past, and a beautiful reporter in the line of danger combine in this suspenseful tale. Move over Patricia Cornwell, you've got serious competition. Pat Rasey's DEADLY OBSESSION blends intrigue and romance in a unique combination guaranteed to keep you up past your bedtime, obsessive turning pages to the hair raising conclusion.

The killer begins by preying on young prostitutes, but when the mayor's daughter's body is dumped in his front yard, police officer Cole Kincaid faces the pain of his past while moving to prevent yet another death. The tracing of the killer introduces us to not just Cole, however, but also several other vital characters.

As the novel develops, the tension is beautifully relieved by the evolving relationship between Cole and the beautiful reporter, Laurie Michaels. As Cole struggles with the pain of his past, Laurie learns more than he ever wanted her to know.

Interestingly, another character proves himself to be Damien Vincent, "a real life vampire of sorts." His mesmerizing appearance, and love of blood, fascinate yet repel the reader, guaranteeing interest right up to the last page of the novel.

When Word Weaving received this novel for review, I was swamped and passed it along to another editor. Later I made time for reading it, and was so impressed that I scribbled this review just to get the word out. This fast pasted murder mystery is a must read for all murder mystery fans.


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