Individual Parks Books

I have just finished reading this book, and will soon go out and buy several more copies for friends and relatives-- longtime Springsteen fans and newcomers alike. Symynkwicz does an excellent job of laying out before us in a clear and coherent manner so many of the themes that we always knew were there in Bruce's work-- themes like hope, redemption, the power of love, and the yearning for social justice and real patriotism. Because this book is so well organized, one album at a time, and because the author lays out the lyrics and main ideas of particular songs so clearly, it can be used both by those who have an expert's knowledge of everything Springsteen has written, as well as those who might just be curious, or just passing fans. The book also is a nice balance between the popular and the scholarly, and a nice blend of Springsteen's ideas and the author's. It's full of very interesting & pithy insights that will get the reader thinking further into the meaning in Bruce's wonderful lyrics.

Casual fans -- the ones who haven't shelled out cash money for a Springsteen album since "Born in the U.S.A." -- need not apply for "The Gospel According to Bruce Springsteen." They would probably find Jeffrey B. Symynkywicz's album-by-album, almost song-by-song evaluation of Springsteen's work from a spiritual perspective to be almost maddeningly comprehensive and, at times, just plain kooky: Who thinks this much about this stuff?

But for those of us who do think this much about this stuff -- we know who we are -- this detailed, thoughtful analysis is a welcome and thought-provoking look at the words of an important artist whose work has and continues to resonate on a spiritual level.

If there's an underlying philosophy that Symynkywicz points to in Springsteen's work, it's that we have to bring our own "love and joy" to our lives. "Nothing will change if we put all our hopes for salvation outside of ourselves," Symynkywicz writes, "if we waste the whole summer waiting `for a savior to rise from these streets.'"

There's a fair amount of lyrical analysis, some of it fairly obvious to anyone who's listened to these songs carefully (meaning most people who'd be interested in this book). But more interesting, to me at least, were Symynkywicz's looks at the underlying religious implications of some of the songs, including references to scripture. The allusions are intriguing, and make you want to listen to these songs again, either to try to hear what Symynkywicz hears or to dismiss it as a lot of hooey.

That's most true in the book's section on "The Rising," one of Springsteen's most spiritual albums. Because the lyrics are more oblique than some of his earlier tales of Magic Rats and '69 Chevys, they're more open to the type of interpretation Symynkywicz excels at -- and he rises (so to speak) to the challenge of analyzing them in the context of the horrific events of Sept. 11, which inspired them.

Granted, even the diehard Springsteen fans might not want to delve this deeply into his work, out of fear that it might become too academic and lose some of its primal power, or even its sense of fun, an important component of most Springsteen albums and certainly his concerts. Still, if you have all those albums on your shelf and have enjoyed them through the years -- and maybe even leaned on them to get you through the rough patches of life -- "The Gospel According to Bruce Springsteen" will at the very least have you nodding your head in enthusiastic agreement.

This book shows an interesting view on Springsteens work. Very interesting to read how the writer intepretates the Boss's songs & lyrics.

Reads like a high school term paper. Every other sentence quotes song lyrics (i.e., too much) and is weak on explication and context. Most of the points are greatly overwrought and exaggerated. Corny, even to a Bruce Springsteen fan like myself. I am half done reading so, to be fair, I'll update this review when I have finished the entire book. Hope to find more substance as I go.

As a seminary grad, I have long been interested in the intersection between faith and popular culture. And as a confessed long-time diehard Springsteen fan, I found myself nodding in agreement with much of this book, as the music of Bruce Springsteen has certainly been a part of my own spiritual journey. Music has the power to move us viscerally, and there are times when the right song at the right moment articulates that which is too deep for us to verbalize ourseleves. Many others have noted the explicit religious references in Springsteen's body of work; he himself has admitted in recent years how his Catholic upbringing has shaped his worldview and permeated his music. But Symynkywicz offers deeper analysis and new insights grounded in sound theology and presented in an engaging style. The book would also lend itself to use in small group discussion for both the casual listener and the devoted fan.

I must admit, this book is outside my preferred genre. I am not a fan of Patterson-Baldacci-Grisham. I prefer historical fiction (Jeff Shaara) or fantasy (George R.R. Martin). This book left me very unsatisfied. The protagonist is flawed to the point of being unlikeable. The ending felt like a weak cop-out. I chose this book to read because I was travelling and needed a "thin" book that was easy to carry. Reading Harry Potter with my 8 year old was more rewarding than 'The Monsters of Gramercy Park'.

The Monsters of Gramercy Park by Danny Leigh draws the reader into a haunting tale of need and a struggle for power between two determined personalities. Wilson Velez, the convicted felon and leader of the Sacred Incan Royals, needs a reason to live after years of the harshest segregation known in the American prison system. Lizbeth Greene, the celebrated novelist known for the extreme violence that has haunted her life, is looking for her next book. The coming together of these two to create a true recounting of Wilson's life sets in motion a train of events leading to a truly horrific outcome.

While not your typical blood and gore thriller, this book is perfect for the reader who likes to be kept guessing. Throughout, manipulation and tension keep shifting the foundation upon which the novel is set. Many time I felt the rug pulled out from under my feet as what I believed to be true was ripped away.

Leigh does a great job in fleshing out his characters. Just when you think you know who they are, knowledge is turned on its head and you are left scrambling for a foothold. While Wilson and Lizbeth were not characters I liked, I was compelled to keep reading their story. Several times I found myself ranting out loud at Lizbeth, something I haven't been caused to do by a book in years.

This is a novel that will leaving the reader thinking and second-guessing for days to come. Highly recommended for readers who don't want their endings tied up in a box with a pretty bow.

The Monsters of Gramercy Park by Danny Leigh draws the reader into a haunting tale of need and a struggle for power between two determined personalities. Wilson Velez, the convicted felon and leader of the Sacred Incan Royals, needs a reason to live after years of the harshest segregation known in the American prison system. Lizbeth Greene, the celebrated novelist known for the extreme violence that has haunted her life, is looking for her next book. The coming together of these two to create a true recounting of Wilson's life sets in motion a train of events leading to a truly horrific outcome.

While not your typical blood and gore thriller, this book is perfect for the reader who likes to be kept guessing. Throughout, manipulation and tension keep shifting the foundation upon which the novel is set. Many time I felt the rug pulled out from under my feet as what I believed to be true was ripped away.

Leigh does a great job in fleshing out his characters. Just when you think you know who they are, knowledge is turned on its head and you are left scrambling for a foothold. While Wilson and Lizbeth were not characters I liked, I was compelled to keep reading their story. Several times I found myself ranting out loud at Lizbeth, something I haven't been caused to do by a book in years.

This is a novel that will leaving the reader thinking and second-guessing for days to come. Highly recommended for readers who don't want their endings tied up in a box with a pretty bow.

The idea of this book was fascinating and does bring back intensity of the 'Silence of the Lambs' interaction - and it is as effective in this wonderful read.
Wilson Velez is a prisoner who formed an ultra-violent gang who is in a high security prison and has a given a new court review to moderate his life at the prison - Lisbeth was a popular serial writer, whose subject has gotten worn, and failing sales - She decides to interview Wilson and maybe get herself writing again.
The 'dance' between writer Lisbeth and Wilson is mesmerizing - and soon you get so caught up you wonder who is really telling the true story - who is the manipulator - is Wilson a visionary or is he still the ultra-violent gang leader still operating in this high security prison?
The ending and its events that proceed it are thought provoking and will haunt you after you close the book.
Well worth the hardback price.

I'm not sure whether to describe Monsters of Gramercy Park as a thriller with the style of a literary novel, or a literary novel with the momentum of a thriller. All I can say is that you'll want to buy two copies: one to keep and one to gift. It's that good.

On the surface Monster's a thriller, but really it's the tale of the codependent relationship and power play that develops between a failing writer (Lizbeth) and Latino gang lord (Velez). Leigh's keen ear for dialogue and deft prose kept me guessing until the very end.

Monsters takes its name from an eponymous story-within-the-story, which could easily stand on its own as a Gothic children's book.

Leigh recently shared a Time Out London cover with Zadie Smith and Ian McEwan, among others. Well, if he keeps going at this rate, Zadie and Ian best watch their backs. Leigh's talents are undeniable. Read this before Hollywood gets its grubby hands on it, then you're stuck buying the version with the "NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE" cover.

Most people know Ansel Adams' iconic photographs of gorgeous natural scenery in US national parks. But Adams' passion for national parks went farther than documentation. He was also a forceful advocate who spoke and wrote in defense of preserving wilderness in national parks. This small gem pulls together familiar Adams images of national parks with his writing, both formal and informal, on national parks especially his most beloved Yosemite.

Adams' most significant contribution to conservation was popularizing the concept of wilderness as spiritual retreat; a concept that demands we protect wilderness from too much human use, too much human carelessness, and even too much human love. This is where this book offers something enlightening and became more than just another pretty compilation of Adams' photos. The images illustrate the places his words seek to describe, defend, and protect within the historical context of the national parks system formation and development at critical junctures.

The images are smaller scale than we are used to seeing them; however, they are sharp high-quality reproductions. This is not a comprehensive treatment of Adams' views or a complete compilation of his writing. The selections in this book introduce his views to new readers and remind those, like me, who may have overlooked it that Adams was a serious conservationist.

The Ansel Adams book put together by Barry Pritzker is a nice arrangement of Ansel's great landscape photography. I like the large format of this book, roughly 14" x 12". The photos are gigantic and very beautiful. The size is representative of the work. One of the complaints I have is about the images themselves and the darkness of them. Ansel's work is full of contrast, which I really like about his photographs. However, the shadows in these prints are almost pure black. They should have been enhanced just a tad bit, maybe dodged in the shadow areas for reproduction purposes only. Viewing original prints and reproducing originals are going to have extremely different outputs of tonal range. I do like that the author created an introductory section to familiarize the readers a little more about photography and its roots. It shows pioneers such as Alfred Stieglitz and Paul Strand. It's a segway into the work of Ansel Adams.

I would have loved to see maybe some type of commentary about each image and how it was captured, a type of "Mind's Eye" insight for other photographers to understand the ideas behind the actual work. The title of the book is Ansel Adam's, so I really would have liked to see a little more diversity of his work. I'm pretty sure he must have made a portrait here and there in his entire lifetime. I know he couldn't have devoted his entire life to just landscapes alone. There has to be some other images, that even an Ansel fan like me, has never previously viewed before. I purchased the book because it was Ansel Adam's and his photography is very beautiful. I must be honest, when I opened the book and flipped through it, I was disappointed at the design of the book. It left me wanting more from the book itself. Out of a possible five stars, I would have to say the book is about two and a half stars.

This book is really beautiful. The pictures have been really well selected. I think this book would make a perfect gift for almost anyone, since it has pictures from all over the United States.

Ansel Adams was our photographer-advocate laureate of the national parks. This outstandng volume combines a look at his efforts both to capture the meaning of the parks and to lobby on their behalf. Fortified with a Guggenheim Fellowship in the 1940s, Adams was able to travel throughout the U.S. to visit the many national parks outside of his beloved, native California. This volume greatly benefits from those travels in creating his ideas and the 80 black and white images contained in it.

As Ansel Adams reminds us, "The National Parks, are, indeed a phenomena of an advanced society . . . ." When Yellowstone was established by President Grant in 1872, it was the first national park in the history of the world. Since then, we have been in a race between despoiling our wilderness environment and retaining some of it in national parks. The challenge is heightened by the pressures to commercialize and increase access to wilderness areas. How many people should visit Yosemite each year? These are the questions that Ansel Adams anticipated and helped us address. These questions are even more relevant and important today than when he first raised them. "Possessions, both material and spiritual, are appreciated most when we find ourselves in peril of losing them."

"There is a constant erosion of the concept and the reality of wilderness." Unfortunately, Adams was much more successful as a photographer than in achieving his environmental vision. Will his final epitaph of the future be of someone who captured images of what does not exist any more? I certainly hope not.

I recommend the preface by William A. Turnage very highly to understand Ansel Adams' vision and its effects on our society. The preface also contains a delightful section by Nancy Newhall on what it was like to be Ansel Adams' assistant for his dawn photography treks.

This book contains much more written material by Ansel Adams on conservation and the national parks than in any other book of his photographs that I have seen. I enjoyed reading about his ideas, and they helped me understand his photography better as well. He is trying to show us "the clear realities of Nature seen with the inner eye of the spirit [to] reveal the ultimate echo of God."

As I mentioned in the title to this review, the publisher put these images on pages that are too small to capture the detail of Adams' work in most cases. In fairness to the publisher, I should also point out that remarkable efforts have been made to reproduce these images well in the small format. Compared to other small reproductions of these same images, these are by far the best I have seen.

Some compositions in fact succeed in overcoming the limitations of the page size. These include:

Cliff Palace Ruin, Mesa Verde National Park, Colorado, 1941

Leaves, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, 1942

Forest, Early Morning, Mount Rainier National Park, Washington, 1949

Leaf, Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska, 1948

Forest, Beartrack Cove, Glacier Bay National Park, Alaska, 1949

Teklanika River, Denali National Park, Alaska, 1947

Mount McKinley from Stoney Pass, Denali National Park, Alaska, 1948

Cinder Cone in Crater of Haleakala, Haleakala National Park, Hawaii, 1956

Mount Lassen from Devastated Area, Lassen Volcanic National Park, California, 1949

Mount Clarence King, Pool, Kings Canyon National Park, California, 1932

Many of the other photographs will be familiar to Ansel Adams' fans. If you have seen them reproduced in larger sizes, you can use your memory to add the missing detail. In this size though, the details being indistinct is like erasing chapters from a novel. Adams often accentuated reflections of details between different natural features in his compositions. When some details are obscured in small size, the reflections thus are not available to stimulate your mind.

In keeping with the spirit of Ansel Adams, I suggest that you consider becoming active in organizations (like the Sierra Club, which Adams belonged to for many years) that fight to save wilderness areas. If your great grandchildren are ever to experience the spiritual cleansing of the wilderness, we each must act now.

"Solitude, so vital to the individual man, is almost nowhere."

The Gates was too cool. As with all art, it is subjective. One person might consider junk, is anothers treasure. The Gates was a sight to see. We went on a trip to NY to see them. TOO COOL! The book is great.

What these men do is not art, it is junk. Real art is Picasso, Renoir, Rodin, Ansel Adams etc... Since this is not art,logically any book about "the gates" is a waste of money. Anybody who thinks that what this book shows is art should look up the word pretentious.

The Central Park Gates Project will be remembered as the first great public art installation of the 21st century. Christo's gift to New York City was immersive, democratic and profoundly spiritual. If you want to understand the thought, passion and effort that went into this masterpiece, then this is the book for you.

This book depicts a project began by the authors circa 1979.
The presentation contains many full-color pictures i.e.
The Wrapped Coast of Sydney, Australia. The Wrapped Coast is
a spectacular presentation of a rock formation set in contrast
to the sea and sky. The work has a presentation by Da Vinci
in Milan and a panorama of umbrellas called the "Japan Gates".
The volume is well worth the price for art and world culture
enthusiasts.

Somewhere in one of my many boxes of books I have a copy of a reprint of the original book by Celia Thaxter, "An Island Garden". I have written a review about this book for Amazon elsewhere, and said it wasn't very good (it isn't) and received many negative votes. My major complaint about the "other" book is that you cannot see the brush strokes in the paintings. The book obviously appeals to those who care not a whit about brush strokes.

Fans of Child Hassam--this is the book you want. No, it isn't the cute little book by Thaxter. The reproductions of Childe Hassam's paintings of Celia Thaxter's island in CHILD HASSAM: AN ISLAND GARDEN REVISITED are 100 times better--and you can see the brush strokes. I can't give this book five stars, because I collect art books know the reproductions could have been better. However, the reproductions in this book are head and shoulders above those in Thaxter's book. Not only that, David Curry has included much text about life on Thaxer's island and in her famous parlor.

If you are a fan of the American Impressionist Childe Hassam, you will appreciate knowing something about the artist, his work, his friends, and his relationship with Ms. Thaxter. Most of all, you will be able to see what he painted and get an idea of where you might locate some of the originals. They are still hanging in various places such as the Walter's Gallery in Baltimore and other esoteric locations.

This book is specially interesting to all fluteplayers and sheds light on many less known aspects of Kuhlau's life and huge flute production.

This is a short book with vivid pictures of interesting pieces. Its a great coffee table book to flip through.

This book reveals an extraordinary body of landscape architectural work that is at least notably accomplished and, at its best, reflects a comprehensive expression and thorough understanding of the forces and elements that celebrate the confluence of nature and man. It is what Konrad Osterwalder -who selected Kienast as the "founder figure" of the landscape architecture program at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology- acknowledges as the act of entering into nature while retaining an awareness of cultural perceptions.

Kienast's work is reflective of a marvelous simplicity of which Mies would be proud, and his use of materials -especially plants- manifests a managed and thoughtful approach, almost tender and certainly romantic. Grounded in horticulture and plants like so many European landscape architects, it is through Kienast's measured use of a broader palette of materials common to the landscape that his remarkable talent is most celebrated. Especially revealing are the observations of his peers, presented in short essays, that honor both the technical and aesthetic achievements manifest in Kienast's work. Captured in a variety of images, the seasonal impacts that interplay with Kienast's landscapes are an essential representation that pays just homage to the reflective brilliance of his expressive interpretations.

The text shares Kienast's view that it is only through variety that a place can acquire an identity. The spirit of such places can emerge and be recognized only through emancipation of a satisfactory (landscape) design, relevant utilization, appropriate care, and healthy ecology: these criteria surelywere essential to the works of many great American landscape architects including Olmsted, Eliot, Farrand, Church, and others. The underpinnings of the bridge between contemporary European and American landscape architecture continue to be sustained through this text.

This text places landscape architecture on a European meridian of great import to the larger discipline that carries its message well beyond European boundaries. It is an important work on a landscape architect who died too young (age 53, in 1998), with much work still to be accomplished. Perhaps others will follow a path parallel to Dieter Kienast: the landscape would surely be better for it!

Ever since Yellowstone became a national park, people have worried about its elk population. It seems that there are always either too many elk or not enough; Paul Schullery's "Searching for Yellowstone" even reports seeing petitions to increase and to reduce the elk population available in the same store on consecutive days.

So, is the elk population too big, too small, or just right? This book provides the National Park Service's answer to this question. Like Goldilocks, the author decides that it's just right. Of course, the population fluctuates dramatically with weather, vegetation, and other factors, all of which Houston discusses at length to the extent possible. (He even calls for research on how nematodes' effects on vegetation would influence elk.) Houston develops impressive reconstruction of historic elk populations from fragmentary and imperfect data, from travelers' reports to modern aerial surveys. His presentation is clear and accessible to layman.

Before Houston, the conventional wisdom maintained that there were too many elk, and they were damaging Yellowstone's Northern Range. Evidence included the alleged decline of the willow and aspen that elk eat, and the expansion of conifer forest into meadows in place of aspen stands. Further evidence included the loss riparian habitat associated with willow, and the beavers that thrive there.

These changes are dramatic. In fact, Houston shows us the evidence in Appendix V, which consists of 50 pairs of photos, with a historic photo and a retake 50-100 years later. Though all are in black and white, they nonetheless show the dramatic changes in Yellowstone over the decades. Most show an expansion of conifers into meadows, among other changes.

Though agreeing that there have been significant changes to Yellowstone's vegetation. Houston reinterprets the evidence based on his elk counts. He argues that elk are less to blame for these changes than humans are - - fire suppression, in particular, can account for these facts.

This claim is particularly important in light of wolf reintroduction in 1995. Many biologists claim to find significant, rapid changes in aspen, willow and riparian habitats since 1995, which they attribute to changes in elk behavior as a result of wolf predation. Houston's analysis suggests that we should slow down and be sure to consider other possible explanations for the changes that biologists have observed. Thus, although this book has become somewhat dated, its topic remains relevant - - and it is still an essential source if you're interested in the topic (and why else would you be reading this??).

But be sure to consult Frederic Wagner's recent, thorough rebuttal to Houston. It is poorly presented but makes a persuasive case that there are too many elk.