Beck Books

This catalogue is an art book with 69 paintings by 61 artists of the nineteenth and early 20th century, "that focuses on the avant-garde movements of Paris..." It showcases The Beck Collection, part of the permanent collection of The Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, which - following its recent expansion - is now the eighth largest in the United States. (NOTE: Most - if not all! - of these works are on display in the new $83 million, 192,447-square-foot Audrey Jones Beck Building.) --- I took this book to the museum, and compared its reproductions to several pieces of the artwork while seated before them. I took notes. My thoughts follow: (1) This book displays the paintings sans their frames... anyone who has gone through the arduous process of selecting a frame is aware that the frame color (and background wall!) as well as the lighting trick the eye into seeing some colors more intensely than others. Several works `looked different' and the discrepancy seemed due to the absence of the frame. For example, Jean-Baptiste-Armand Guillaumin's "Le Seine a Paris" (1871), framed in a ornate, sand-colored frame decorated with acanthus leaves, appears much gloomier in reality than it does in this book. In this volume it appears quite `naked'! (2) Unfortunately the colors and darkness/lightness of the reproductions frequently vary enough from the originals to be noticeable. Camille Pissarro's "La Gardeuse d'oies a Montfoucalt, gelee blanche" (1875), for instance, is much lighter in the original than in the book. The reproduction's blues tended to the purple and even the sunlit areas seem in shadow, whereas in the original they are possessed of that piercing winter light that filters down during a cold mid-afternoon. The dying leaves in the tree are muddled and dull compared to the painting itself. In Mary Cassatt's "Susan Consolant l'enfant (c1881) the oranges and blues are very true to the original, but the entire reproduction has a yellow cast, unlike the painting. (Curiously enough, the absence of a frame does NOT make any difference in one's enjoyment of this work!) (3) I was quite upset to discover, looking at Gustave Caillebotte's "Les Orangers" (1878), that a full 1/8th of an inch (of the reproduction in the tome) had been CROPPED off, both left and right! The left side was not distracting, but on the right the damage is serious, since a chair, with hooped top and round seat, are tangent to the edge of the original, but are cropped off in the book. For those (like myself) who enjoy finding the geometries in a painting (Golden Rectangles, squares, etc), this makes such a study impossible... Incidentally, this painting is also marred by the shift problem noted previously; the entire reproduction is lighter than the original. (The poppies look red in the painting, and orange in this work). --- All said and done, the work is unique, and printing technology is not perfect. This is NOT a bad book; it just needs to be used with some understanding of its limitations. The format incidentally is that each reproduction (right page) is faced by text (left page) describing the work, the artist, etc. --- Hopefully visitors to Houston will take the time to see the originals: they are gorgeous!

Published in part as a fundraiser for the "National Peace Officers Memorial Service Fund," which certainly seems a worthy cause, this volume purports to share the cooking secrets of those who keep us safe. It's a fairly extensive collection of recipes with cute names, some from actual police personnel, but most from actors who have played police personnel on TV and in films, and some of which actually are quite good (I tried making them). They are interspersed with black-and-white photos, again not so much of real cops (though there are a few famous ones, such as Buford Pusser, whose story was fictionalized in the "Walking Tall" films of the 1970s) as of TV and film actors playing police. Just as there are some good recipes, there are some fun memory-jogging photos. How else would I have remembered that Al Lewis (Grandpa on "The Munsters") also had a continuing role in that TV classic, "Car 54, Where Are You?" It's worth remembering the humble TV beginnings of such megastars as Michael Douglas ("The Streets of San Francisco").

Thus, this volume is part rather utilitarian cookbook, part nostalgia trip for addicts of shoot-em-up TV shows and (mostly) B-movies. It was given to me as a gift. I don't think I would have bought it myself, but I have enjoyed it.

DCM is a renowed Australian architectural practice and has designed many interesting projects. This book has a comprehensive coverage of its architectural works. However, the no. of photographs and drawings for each project are very limited and not fairly representative.

For example, I have actually visited the Australian Embassy Building in Beijing, China. The architectural design is very humble and static, reulting in elegant consistence with the surrounding context of the Chinese captial which has a long history. This project is definitely not recognizable at the first glance to be any works of DCM. It is the respect paid by the architects to the local context and culture which is highly appreciated. However, the photographs and drawings cannot reveal such ascent to the readers.

Generally, the photographs and drawings for the projects are fairly fragmented and in relatively small sizes, which can hardly present the whole picture of the project, not to mentioned the architect's detailing.

Consequently, as a comprehensive monograph for the practice, it is worth reading and being collected by one who likes contemporary Australian architecture.

This book will teach you about the forming of the Aztec Nation - the People of the Sun. You will learn about their history, education, social classes, wars, religion, achievements and the coming of the Spanish Conquistadors. Filled with pictures, illustrative drawings, and some maps, "The First Book of the Aztecs" gives you a great foundation to understand one of the great Meso-American cultures of earlier times...

This is an excellent beginner book for text and photographs, however it is not advanced enough for the intermediate or experience fly fisher person. Photographs are fantastic and make a great book for beginning collector.

this book really opened my eyes. the way that erik beck hansen expressed himself was very characteristic. one really came to know him and his inner demons throughout the course of his book. i recommend this book wholeheartedly, the one drawback being it was too short, dammit! you can never get enough of that hansen...

All information in a small book, but sometimes it is not that easy to understand everything in the first place.
I would appreciate some sketches or pictures to support the explanation and description.

I only bought this book because it was the required text for my History class at CCP. You couldn't really say it was a "hard" read, but I guess being as though it was "Volume B" I just felt like I was coming in on the middle of something. Every couple of paragraphs it would make references such as "see pg 234" or "see Chapter 11" when this book itself starts at page 347 and Chapter 12! It's enough to drive you a little nuts. So though the book itself isn't all that bad (some parts actually were quite catchy, and I'm not a history person), it's not designed to be a stand-alone book.

My only other complaint was that the book seemed to skip around time periods alot which was kind of confusing. But I guess since the book had to jump around the world, it kind of had to do that...so overall...three stars.

This little quote book would be a nice stocking-stuffer or memento for a friend. It has photos of scenes from The Andy Griffith Show (some of them are color-tinted, which looks kind of tacky) along with quotes on friendship referencing the corresponding episode. If you have other books on TAGS, this one doesn't offer anything new or rare. I bought it because the title is a quote from one of my favorite, and terribly unappreciated, characters Warren Ferguson. Alas, there is only one photo of Warren, a common one from "The Legend of Barney Fife." Knowing that, I probably would not have purchased it. Still, it is a nice, inexpensive gift for the TAGS fan; but nothing more.

Photos include Opie with Johnny Paul and friends selling miracle salve; Ellie Walker giving pills to hypochondriac Emma Watson; Andy jamming with Jim Lindsey; Bob Rogers in "Barney's Replacement"; Mayor Pike, Floyd, Andy, and Barney looking at the new manicurist through the barbershop window; the manicurist; "The Jinx" Henry Bennett and Andy fishing; Andy and Barney being evaluated at the Esquire Club; "Merchant of Mayberry" Bert Miller with Andy; Barney making moulages and Mayor Stoner and company examining the plaster casts in "The Cow Thief"; Andy and Barney at a class reunion; Malcolm Merriweather dodging autos on his bicycle; Andy with Briscoe Darling; Barney with Mrs. Mendelbright; "Andy and Opie's Pal" holding a football; Otis riding a cow; Charles Foley and Floyd in "The Case of the Punch in the Nose"; Ernest T Bass befriending Malcolm Merriweather; Warren, Goober, Barney and Andy next to Barney's 1960 Edsel convertible; Goober guarding the door to "The Lodge"; Howard catching Old Sam; Aunt Bee and Clara; Helen and a bearded Goober; scenes from "Dinner at Eight"; "Howard's New Life"; Opie and Arnold at the ice cream counter.

This book has a great title, as it sums up Beck Weathers' Mt. Everest experience.Unfortunately, this is the only great thing about this book. It is, at best, a mildly interesting book. The only truly interesting part is his recollection of the Everest trip and its immediate aftermath. His survival, which is truly amazing, is almost glossed over and turned into a sad soap opera about a marriage gone stale with time.

It does seem that Beck's patient wife, Peach, had been ill treated in the sense that he would go off to do some amateur mountain climbing (with the emphasis on amateur), leaving her with the kids for weeks at a time and remaining incommunicado. Since her voice is interspersed throughout this book, you can see why he might want to get away. A more insipid voice, I can't imagine. She is what is bad about this book. Yet, at the same time it was her efforts, along with those of her friends, which were the catalyst for the herculean helicopter rescue by Colonel Madan K.C. who brought Beck down from the mountain. Still, she is an utter bore.

What is good about the book is Beck's sense of humor and his indomitable spirit, which is undoubtedly what kept him alive in unbelievably harsh conditions on Everest. Though it is those like him who, financially able to go on these expeditions but lacking the technical skill to effectively navigate the harsh terrain, put themselves and others at risk. While it is clear that he was delighted to be rubbing shoulders with the mountaineering elite on Everest, it did not seem to dawn on him that he was just another foolhardy dilettante who, though having had some climbing experience, simply did not belong on Everest. It is this hubris which brought him to this pass. Quite frankly, given his description of his mountaineering efforts on some of the world's other tall peaks, it is a miracle he was not left for dead long before Everest.