Barry Books

"Beethoven" by Barry Cooper is much more than I had hoped when I ordered the book. I have been a lover of Beethoven's music for years. I always liked the movie "Immortal Beloved" and wondered how true to life the story was. As it turns out, the movie is only loosely based on Beethoven's life. There are many ficticious episodes in the movie (the writers raked his name through the mud!) and it perpetuates many ill-conceived rumors and stories. As is often the case, reality is even better than fiction. This book reveals Beethoven a the upstanding, devout and charitable personality one who is familiar with his music would expect to find.

Beethoven's life makes for an amazing and entertaining story - especially in juxtuposition to the music that he lived to create. This book super-analyzes the significant pieces from his career - almost to a fault. If you are very learned in musical and compositional theory, this analysis will be a strong point. If, however, you have less knowledge of musical form, this book can get a little difficult at times. This did not reduce my enjoyment by much (I still rated it 5-stars) because the book is so strong in every aspect. This is THE book to read if you want to learn about Beethoven.

This surprisingly engaging and informative biography of Beethoven is written as a continuous narrative history, and is certainly a work that any Beethoven enthusiast would wish to have in the library. At some 400 pages of small text, the work is a carefully researched and highly detailed piece which presents a comprehensive portrait of this musical genius. Beethoven "comes alive" in the work, and one forgets that the work is describing a person who passed away some two centuries ago.

The work integrates Beethoven's personal life with a critical look at his musical work. This approach allows us to not only understand the entire opus of collected works, but to place individual pieces into the unfolding context of Beethoven's life. There is no sparing of details, but the book is nevertheless able to convey these details in a manner that doesn't require us to be musical experts to understand the descriptions. We also find in the text some eminently interesting details, such Beethoven's estimation of George Frederic Handel as the greatest of composers, a preference for Streicher pianos, and Beethoven's wrestling with the "finale problem" that kept his "Symphony in C," now sometimes nicknamed "Symphony 0," permanently unfinished. But these are just interesting notes in a symphony of words which Cooper has put together for us: the entire work is an immense musical play which we observe with great interest and pleasure.

The book also provides some very helpful informational addenda which serve as continuing reference for our Beethoven studies. These include a comprehensive "calendar" of Beethoven's life from 1770 to 1827 (including for each entry the year, Beethoven's current age, the event, and contemporary musicians and musical events), a comprehensive listing of Beethoven's works (including WoO, Hess, and opus numbers as appropriate), and a small personality glossary describing key people in Beethoven's life.

The book is an easy recommend to the Beethoven enthusiast, the music student, or the Beethoven scholar. The work easily stands on its own as a solid piece of historical scholarship, but when coupled with a good collection of Beethoven recordings (say, the Deutsche Grammophon "Complete Beethoven Edition" CD-ROM series), the work serves as a continuing reference for anyone wishing to know more about Beethoven's music.

As a Beethoven fan I was initially attracted to the cover of this book, until I discovered its contents. The amount and quality of information is outstanding and Barry Cooper doesn't spare any words to guide us through the life, creative process and personality of this incredible composer. In a nutshell, a book not to be missed by any classical music enthusiast.

The work of great artists is inexhaustible. In Beethoven's case, his music remains a stunning achievement. His achievement as a composer, together with the nature of his character, his deafness, his thwarted love affairs, and his relationships to his musical predecessors and successors, has led to a fascination with him and to a literature that is likely to be written and rewritten as long as people listen to his music. As is Beethoven's music, and is is history, Beethoven's life and character, and the means by which one is to understand them, are open to a multitude of approaches.

In his Preface, Cooper writes (at x) that "surprisingly little is known for certain about Beethoven." He points out that some studies, such as Maynard Solomon's fine biography that appeared shortly before Cooper's own, featured a psychoanalytical approach to Beethoven that attempted a fuller explanation of Beethoven's character than those that had been attempted by other writers at the cost of questionable psychological theory and speculation in the face of a scarcity of evidence. Cooper endeavors to write a biography that holds closer to the known facts about Beethoven's life and to emphasize those facts that may shed life on his activities as a composer.

Cooper also spends a great deal of his book analysing the music itself. There are lengthy accounts of the origins of the symphonies, concertos, quartets, sonatas,songs, masses, of Fidelio, of the folksongs and other parts of Beethoven's output. There are generous musical analyses and quotations. I was particularly impressed with Cooper's attention to some of Beethoven's work that is not as well known as it deserves to be, such as the Opus 7 piano sonata, the Creatures of Prometheus Ballet, and the oratorio, Christ on the Mount of Olives. These works are analyzed insightfully and lovingly.

As Cooper acknowledges, his study is perhaps less detailed than is Solomon's on Beethoven's life. His book does, however, offer its own perspective on Beethoven. Broadly speaking, Cooper is more sympathetic to certain aspects of Beethoven's actions than has been the case with many other writers. Unlike Solomon, Cooper takes Beethoven's side, for the most, part, in his dispute with his sister-in-law over the custody of Karl, Beethoven's nephew. Also, he disputes Solomon's account that Beethoven frequented prostitutes. In both these matters, I am not sure that Cooper has the better of the evidence. The portrayal endeavors to see Beethoven favorably without making him something different than a human being with fallibilities.

I also found interesting Cooper's discussion of Beethoven's religious views. Beethoven's views on such matters, as is the case with the views of any thinking person on these matters, were highly personal and difficult for a third party, such as a biographer writing 250 years after the fact, to ascertain and expound. Cooper acknowledges that Beethoven was not for most of his life a practicing Christian but finds him a devout believer in God as the source of human morality. Solomon's account emphasizes more Beethoven's predilection towards the Enlightenment. A difficult question, and I suspect that Beethoven had components of both views in him.

Too many recent biographers feel a need to deprecate their subjects. This is definitely not Cooper's approach to Beethoven. (For that matter, it was not Solomon's approach either.) Cooper writes of Beethoven that "despite much sniping from twentieth-century critics, his reputation as a giant among composers remains intact as we enter the twenty-first century." (Preface x)

This book is not hero-worship but it presents an inspiring and historically plausible account of a composer and a man who is worthy to be revered for his vision, attainments and character. This book will be treasured by those who love Beethoven's music. May it encourage the reader to become acquainted or reaquainted with these works of the human spirit.

Bob Dylan fans will enjoy this book that features over 100 pages of Dylan quotes on subjects ranging from music, the 60's, drugs, love, his idols, songwriting, and more. Everybody knows that Dylan was a wily and occasionally malicious interviewee, and this book reflects that. I laughed out loud several times at his witticisms directed back at the hollow questiosn that were put to him. However, there are some very pointed answers that he serves up here as well, that seemingly give a real insight into his persona, his life, and his views. There are also a lot of high-quality pictures. My only complaint is that the book is a little short-you can easily read it all in one setting, though it's probably a book that you'll go back to time and again to see what Dylan offered up on a particular subject-it would have been nice, for instance, if it had a section where Dylan commented upon particular songs of his, such as was done in the Leonard Cohen book in the "In His Own Words" series. Still, Dylan interviews are always hard to come by, and this is the best copendium you'll find featuring them.

This is really a (the) great book for the base of a Dylan book
collection. Each of the 112 pages comprising this paperback
has at least one photograph, and many pages have two or three!
In my mind the pictures alone are worth a binding of their own. They
include many of his co-workers, and famous peers. After looking
at all of them for the first time, you really get a "feel" for
the environment in which he has been working (living) for the
last 30 - 40 years.

The entire collection of quotes (quotes and pictures are all you get, folks)
are catagorized by a plethora of topics, which enables quick referencing,
so you really should learn ALOT about his PERSONALITY.
I say "personality" because the quotes are in
conversational mode, candid, ranginging from silly quips and
understatements to very sincere and thoughtful comments; the way
I imagine he shares with intimates. This is not a stilted,
unemotional, professional collection of aphorisms, and I feel better informed
as a result.

This book contains a compilation of Dylan's own words, transcribed from interviews, press conferences, radio, and TV shows. Complete with scores of pictures, In His Own Words is a must for any Dylan fan. Dylan dons persona after persona, and the results are quite entertaining.

A must for any Bob Dylan fan, this book contains an ecclectic collection of Dylan's responses to reporters and others.

I absolutely could not put this book down! From cover to cover I was hooked: The mastery of Shannon's writing style painted vivid images in my head, and kicked-started my imagination like no other book has in a very long while.

The boldest adventure on paper I've ever been on in my life, I recommend this book to anyone who wants to read at the edge of their seat, and be salivating for more when they're done! It's been a while since an author could stir me up like this...a most welcome change for everyone who's tired of the S.O.S. that clutters much of our bookshelves today. Great job, Barry Shannon!

The tale takes us to places we'd probably best never seek in person, but come wonderfully to lusty life in Shannon's seemingly simple style. Readers will wait as anxiously as will I for the further adventures of JOAT St...John; remarkably, the tale pushes the rather two-dimensional universe of the medium; The wry and apt turn of phrase, the hilarious juxtaposition of events, and the relentless insouciance of the auctorial voice seem to surpass the restrictions, taking this reader more for a flight into, through, and about marvels, than just a drive along the tired turnpike. This one carried me straight through, but already I'm going back for another look at scenes that may be experienced again and again, albeit vicariously. Shannon enters august company, nay even julian enclaves, with other paradigm- pushers such as Laurence Sterne, Richard Condon, and Thomas Perry, each uniquely enriching the volume of the reader's experience. Bold Stroke came to me as a gift, one that encourages me to hang out in anticipation of the next one; even the cover art enhances the package to the benefit of the beholder. Behold and enjoy!

Barry Shannon has written a captivating tale with all the ingredients needed to hook me on the first page and keep me entertained all the way through. His accuracy and attention to detail is significant but never gets in the way of the action. I really liked this one and would certainly recommend it. Good show, Shannon!....hope you write another.

Brilliantly filled with gems of Private Investigator tradecraft, ceaselessly entertaining with madcap and ribald adventures, "The Bold Stroke" engages your interest and exhilarates your sense of humor. It is also a wonderfully readable yarn of a streetwise righter-of-wrongs who seems possessed of indefatigable sexual prowess and joy of life. Yeah! . . . Barry Shannon's hero is just my kind of role model for the New(est) Age.

Paul Robinson

With two recent titles of Barry Graham's cancelled due to Incommunicado Press going, well, incommunicado, I'm dismayed to see this book fall out of print. Luckily, it's available used. Here Graham is at the top of his form, delivering brutality and hope at a relentless clip. There's nothing forced here, nothing false. Innovations in technique are employed towards a definite end, not just to look hip. The dialogue is perfect, the characters seem real, and I'm convinced after finishing it that if there is any justice in the world (and there is a little left) BOOK OF MAN will be remembered as one of the finest novels of the 90's.
My only gripe? The cover design and the plot summary on the back make the book seem a lot more flip and dated than it is. And that's the publisher's fault, not Graham's, so I don't know why I'm bothering to mention it...

Fans of writers like Irvine Welsh, Charles Bukowski, and Eileen Myles will find this riveting. It should be on the shelf of every aspiring fiction writer. It should be in print. It should be next on your list.

The Book of Man -- A story of a mans love for a friend -- for his lover and mother of child -- and for his son. I read the book in one sitting. Barry goes back and forth in memories -- so ya gotta be quick. Couldn't put the book down. ....amazing!

This book is a masterpiece. I have never read anything else that comes close. (I haven't read his other books, but I'm going to now.) I can't even describe how good this book is. Please read it.

The Book of Man is the most touching piece of thrash fiction I've ever read. Barry Graham made me laugh, gag, cry and fall in love.

Apart from the first one, I think this was the best in the series. Taken against the backdrop of the Germanic forests, Casca and his companion Glam (I love this guy!) find shelter in a Nordic fortress and Casca falls in love with the Lord's daughter. When Casca is betrayed by the nasty lord, the daughter is blinded. So when Casca breaks out and wastes the bad guys, he marries Lida and he becomes Lord. Simple story, great characters, just the way a good action story should be. And I love the way Glam is trapped into marrying the girl Hemming.

This one has always been one of my favorite of the Casca Series. Sadler blends history with action and in this one even throws in a love interest. It is one of the sadder episodes in the Eternal Warrior's story but hold to Sadler's original story line and style. Like any of the Casca books, I do not read them for any great literary enlightenment, but rather to be entertained by a good story from a good story teller. This work fills that bill perfectly. If you are a Casca fan, you will like this one and I highly recommend.

This is a wonderfully written story that even the women will love. Casca finds a true love of his life only to be betrayed at every turn. Tragic but so very rare in realistic writing that only the great Barry Sadler could write! Oh, how he is missed!

I think the best of the whole series. The characters are believable, the love angle some what unique to Sadler's novels, the battles the usual Sadler gore-and-guts, so you have something for both the guys and gals. I just love Glam's character, and its very true as I know one or two like him! Definitely a hit.

This is a great story, one of Sadler's best. It picks up with Casca being fished out of the sea and taken to Roman Britain and he gets laid by dozens of whores. Traveling onto Rome itself he sees how the empire has declined and become rotten, something I think we all relate to today with our own societies corrupting from within.

After that he goes east and picks up a wild boy called Jugotai. Casca then bumps into the Brotherhood, the first time they are mentioned, and this is where we read why they are after him. Jugotai rescues him and sews on his amputated hand (nice!!) and he parts ways with the boy and goes on alone to China where he saves a young woman from being raped by Huns. Later, he meets with her again and she's the emperor's wife.

The later part of the book deals with Casca serving in the Chinese court and fighting the Huns. Things turn nasty with the empress when she wants his secret of eternal life. Great ending and worth the wait. This is how an action adventure should be written, concise, descriptive and flowing. Something Paul Dengelegi should have taken note of before writing his two novels of trash.

We pick up Casca's story from the end of God of Death where he's fallen overboard and is eventually picked up by a Roman trader and taken to Britannia. Becoming friends with the Roman who saved him, Casca travels to Rome and finds it a depressing place, corrupt and degenerate. He goes east to Byzantium and then travels on his own into Asia and picks up a boy called Jugotai who eventually saves Casca's hand after it gets chopped off.
Casca is set on traveling to China where Shiu Lao Tze came from and after an epic journey through the Himalayas gets there and is enrolled into the Emperor's army. After saving his life, Casca is made a high officer at Court but falls foul of the jealous Empress who buries him alive.
Coming to after 7 years or so and freed thanks to an earthquake, Casca decides to head back west.
A great story, runs along at fast pace, tells a tale without becoming bogged down with irrelevancies. Certainly one of the best in the series.

This was my first CASCA book I ever read and it had me hooked right away. Its a good story of a man journeying east to China to serve in the court of the Emperor Tzin. There's plenty of action, betrayal and humour scattered amongst the fighting to give it a well balanced feel. I particularly liked the passages referring to his stay in the inn at Dubrae. This follows on from God of Death so read that one before this in order to get the context of this story right.

yOU HAVE JUST GOT TO READ THIS STUFF, ITS SIMPLY GREAT WRITING FROM AN AUTHOR WHO KNOWS WAR AND BEEN THERE.

I bought this book years ago while doing research into a game board game that uses song title trivia and song titles.
The infomration was accurate, sufficient and very helpful.

I've followed the charts since the early 70s and done DJ work for 15 years. Quirin and Cohen level the playing field for songs that straddle New Years. By calculating points for each title, ROCK 100 considers more than chart position alone. Though there's a limit to the years Billboard charts covers, I'd like to see years before and after the span of this volume, and I've had lots of requests for a Country version and an R&B version. I hope there's a market for them. Great investment!

No other listing of the top hits of each year gives full credit to those songs released at the beginning or end of the year. These rankings are as accurate as i've seen and i've followed the charts for over 45 years. I would like the years 1992 to 1998 done though.

ive worn out 2 copies of this book while trying to collect every 45 listed in it over the past 19 years. i like the fact that the listings are in the year that the song was popular. the authors go from jan 1 to dec 31 unlike billboard who use nov 1 to oct31 of each yr. the book has a very useful title and artist listing in addition to the listings by year. all in all a very necessary book for the serious record collector i only wish they would follow up with a listing from 1992 to 1998. how about it jim & barry?

The Claims of Christ by Barry L. Davis is well balanced
concise review of Jesus' ministry on earth. I haven't finished the book yet but I am enjoying this refreshing look on the Life of Jesus and Mr. Davis' analogies to certain points in Jesus' life. I especially enjoyed a story about a woman who blind for 50 yrs. only because she was ignorant of a simple procedure that would get her sight back. It shows the importance of knowledge.

He likens a shepherd sleeping at the sheepgate of a sheep pen to Jesus the shepherd. He likens taking a lamp into a dark place with a Christian witness proclaiming the Word. My favorite line so far is when Mr. Davis says, "One good witness = 3 good lawyers."

I'm just finishing up the book and will write more when I'm done.

God bless you Mr. Davis,

Your brother in Christ,

Doria2

This book helped me to see Christ in a new way. I was impressed with the way the author focused on Jesus' words about himself. Rather than rehashing the same material that everyone else is writing about, this book has a fresh approach that magnifies the Person of Christ by taking a close look at the Gospel accounts. The study questions at the end of each chapter were very helpful.

Well, I finally finished this book. I spend so much time on the internet I don't have time to even read the newspaper.

The best part of this book is the way Mr. Davis uses everyday life and history and compares it to the teachings and actions of Jesus Christ. Napoleon compares himself and other conquerors to Jesus by showing how Jesus built His "empire" on love while the violence of the other conquerors didn't accomplish nearly as much.

There was the story on how Zacchaeus climbed a tree for Jesus then Jesus in turn climbed a tree for Zacchaeus.

My favorite line though was an explanation of too many churches today when Davis quotes someone as saying: "The church today is raising a whole generation of mules. They know how to sweat and work hard but they don't know how to reproduce themselves."

AndrewP/Doria2

I really enjoyed reading this book. Usually a topic like this would be something I would read a few pages at a time, but I couldn't put this one down. The author uses really helpful illustrations to make his points. I feel that I have a much better understanding of Jesus now that I've finished this book. I am going to recommend this to my pastor to use for our study groups.

Although out of print and somewhat out of date, this book still offers some helpful hints for Corel users. The section on perspective and fountain fills is good for reference. If you see this one out on the discount table, grab it!

I loved this book and read it from cover to cover. It's hard to find the time to try out every project but they all seem really worthwhile and I've referred to some of the hints/tips when I'm starting one of my own projects and know that a particular end-result can be achieved, if only I could remember how. This is not really a reference book however - more of a cookbook. Beautifullly illustrated and clearly explained. One of the best 'how-to' computer graphics books I've ever used.

This is the perfect book for anyone looking for the hidden trick to using Corel Draw. Clear examples with full color illustrations showing step by step the tricks to making stunning vector illustrations. The introduction alone has saved me hours of time and money in wasted printing simply by understanding the tricks to calculating blends and fountian fills. I don't start a new project without refering to this book just to make sure I'm using the most effecient method to creating a desired special effect. I only wish a book like this was made for Corel PhotoPaint

I purchased this book on my own (was using 6 then); got so frustrated that I quit half way through. Am now taking a course on 7 and using this as text. Thank goodness my instructor has rewritten the directions for those exercises used. When I try to go ahead on my own, it is extremely confusing.

Most of the times, academics are enclosed in a bubble far away from real life. This book is exactly the contrary: Culture and Equality offers a vigourous defense of egalitarian liberalism regarding minorities' rights.
The book can be easily read since it was written in a succint delicious prose (with some gestes of humour).
Every responsible citizen should read this book in order to form a well opinion of what multiculturalism is and how it will change our societies.

Barry's work is presented as an egalitarian critique of multiculturalism. The work argues against much of the recent theoretical literature on multiculturalism (most notably W Kymlicka, IM Young, and B Parekh), but takes a more positive stance on reasserting the basic values of liberal egalitarianism--i.e., that individuals ought to have the ability to make and exercise rights claims as individuals, not as members of collective cultural groups. Barry goes through a number of case studies, such as the case of Sikhs in Britain on safety laws to explore whether what he calls "rule and exception" approaches to public policy are consistent with liberal values. He looks in depth at issues of religion and education.

The book is important for at least two reasons. One, the argument draws on empirical case studies which is intertwined with the theoretical material--a rare achievement in political theory. Two, the work challenges so much of the underlying assumptions in multicultural thinking. It is a breath of fresh air to read a tightly argued criticism of the kind of PC nonsense that passes for scholarship these days.

This book is likely to be greatly misunderstood. In this 'egalitarian critique of multiculturalism', Barry is not trotting out the tired right-wing argument that minorities don't deserve 'special treatment' etc., Rather, Barry contends that the best way to help those least advantaged is not by engaging in a politics of difference, but rather ensuring that all are guaranteed the full benefits of citizenship.

Barry wants to move away from the view that cultural rights are of prime importance so as to facilate a more inclusive social model. He gives several examples to illustrate how the politics of difference is ultimately self-defeating and non-sensical. These range from the rights of the Ahmish, to the issue of Quebec separatism.

The discussion of authors such as Kymlicka, Parekh, and Iris Young is very illuminating and to the point. He exposes the weaknesses in their arguments without marginalizing their concerns about the rights of minorities.

I read an earlier draft of this work and was blown away by the wit and energy Barry brings to bear here. This is a work by a top - notch scholar, which should be read by anyone who is interested in just what multiculturalism means.

In his book "Culture and Equality: an Egalitarian Cririque of Multiculturalism", Brian Barry convincingly argues that multiculturalism is not only a threat to liberalism, but - as in the case of communitarianism - gave the green light to practices that might well open a road that could end with Stalin or Hitler. The concept of "group rights", the claims of religious groups to self-government in internal affairs and the demands for specific minority practices and legal exemptions from general rules for members of minority groups fragments society and condemns liberal rights.
Multiculturalism can lead to the reification of cultural groups: "What we might find out by experience is that institutionalizing group representation offers opportunities and incentives for political entrepreneurs to whip up intragroup solidarity and intergroup hostility in the pursuit of power. And indeed this has happened all over the world virtually every time group representation has been introduced."
By attributing rights to cultural groups rather than individuals, one risks reifying cultures in a way that is not the case when rights are established for individuals. Eroding the universal framework to which all should abide in liberal democracies, undermine individual rights and the principles of justice. The `rule and exemption' approach - which establishes the right of cultural groups to make claims that place them outside the parameters of the law applied to others , sets a precedent which ultimately delegitimises the law. It is absurd to establish a framework of law and then undermine the universal application of the law by exempting some groups from it. Any liberal system of justice must apply the law on an equal basis. For Barry, a liberal egalitarian approach to contemporary politics requires a universal set of laws that provide a systematic framework under which everyone can live equally regardless of their private differences. Indeed it is incumbent on the state to establish a liberal system whereby individuals are able to pursue their private perceptions of the good to the greatest extent as long as that does not involve practices that infringe the law.

Brian Barry calls for a renewed attention to the concept of universal rights: "[Universal] rules define a choice set which is the same for everybody; within that choice set people pick a particular course of action by deciding what is best calculated to satisfy their underlying preferences for outcomes. . . . If uniform rules create identical choice sets, then opportunities are equal."
In his view, cultural differences are not problematic because "within a liberal state all groups are free to deploy their energies and recourses in pursuit of culturally derived objectives on the same terms."
Barry's critique of those multiculturalists who seek an alternative for liberalism is indeed devastating because he shows that their approaches conflict with basic liberal values.