Bennett Books

When reading this autobiography I felt I was there with him at Iwo Jima and suffered along with him. This book is an incredible journey of a life that is filled with adventure and excitement told by an exceptional storyteller. This is a must read for anyone. Eugene Curnow is an exceptional person with a unique grasp of humanity and life. Don't miss reading this one.

"They leave behind the music, which will live forever. We'll never lose Sinatra." ~ Tony Bennett ~

"Remembering Sinatra 10 Years Later" is a Life's classic book that was published two months ago to coincide with the legendary 'Ol Blue Eyes' 10th death anniversary. The book contains an interesting introduction by Tony Bennett with a couple of photos of Sinatra portraits that he painted artistically himself. The portraits truly show the innate artist in him. One has a handwritten dedication that reads:

"To Frank, The nicest friend I have in the entertainment world. Thank you." (signed) Tony Bennett Benedetto

Tony Bennett's essay include the following quotes about one of the two most famous Chairmen of the Board (the other one being Alan Greenspan, ex-Chairman of the Fed) from himself, Bing Crosby and Dean Martin.

Bing Crosby: "A talent like Sinatra comes along once in a lifetime. Why did it have to be in my lifetime?"

Dean Martin: "It's Frank's world, and we just live in it."

Tony Bennett: "He was simply the best. There are a lot of opera singers, but there was only one Caruso. There are a lot of popular singers, but there was only one Sinatra."

Author/Journalist Gay Talese has profiled at length the Entertainer of the Century with an article entitled "Frank Sinatra Has A Cold," which was actually based on his interview with "The Voice" in 1965. He traveled to L.A. only to find Sinatra was "not feeling well and therefore, he wasn't in the mood," but being the "quintessential journalist" that he was then, he made it happen and the result was a remarkable write-up on why "Sinatra with a cold is Picasso without a paint." Photographer John Dominis provided the many black and white photographs never seen before.

There are also notable lists that every Sinatra fan would find interesting on the following categories.

15 Songs We Love
5 We Never Play
15 Songs We Adore
10 Nicknames We Dig
13 Women He Dug
15 Hot Headlines
15 Flicks To Find
5 Reel Dogs
Our 20 Desert Island Albums
19 Big Awards

This is a nice addition to your Sinatra collection and also great gift to any appreciative Sinatra buff.

This is an illustrated "comic style" book of short stories. Each story is a few pages and brilliantly illustrated. And thank goodness, nobody in this comic book has super powers. They are real world stories, settings, and people (the title is "Lifelike", get it?!) The illustrations are fantastic and showcase many different styles. Particularly standing out is illustrator Tim McClurg's use of color and lines to engage the reader/viewer in the story of a washed out has-been Hollywood "star".

I gave it 5 stars because you can feel the homegrown and indie vibe of this book. It is the way art and collaboration are supposed to feel. I picture these illustrators and author getting together for coffee to discuss the progress and sharing their love of comic style art. Sometimes the joy is in the journey, but in this case, the joy is in the journey AND the result.

This book covers every aspect of LD debate that a student new to the event will need to know. Even covering aspects outside the round, such as how to research effectively and how to gear your debate towards your judge, this book allows the new LDer to cover all of his or her bases. With guides on improving nonverbal skills, improving rhetoric, and how to fix problems that arise during the round, there should be no unexpected and nasty surprises waiting for the debater, after reading this book. It is short and easy to read. After reading the book's 17 chapters, I felt more informed on LD debate than I had in my previous two years of speech and debate experience. This book is very user friendly, and offers bonuses such as sample topics and an appendix of philosophy and value texts. This book is a must have for any new LD debater!

As a literacy researcher, teacher educator, parent and grandparent, I found myself captivated by this comprehensive text on emergent literacy. The authors show how parents and eary childhood specialists can make literacy learning accessible to all children through everyday practices, in a variety of settings. It is an excellent example for how to present research in application for practitioners. I plan to put a copy in my five month old grandson's library and keep several on hand. I will give this book as a gift to new parents and use it in my course instruction for literacy education.

I have carried this book around for many years and recently read it again. I remember now why I carried it around. It is still a great story. One that is not only loved by children but adults. Highly recommended.

We just got back from a trip where we traveled some on our own in NSW. It seemed that there was helpfull info for every place we hit.

This is one powerful book -- one of John Bennett's best, I think, having read several of them carefully. Bennett is much better known for his sudies in Sufism, Subud, and the philosophies of Gurdjieff & Ouspensky. But this one is written with perhaps more humility than any of his others. I don't see how one could read even a few pages, without wanting to make some changes in one's life -- the book makes the ancient Hindu scriptures come alive for the modern Western reader, without necessitating belief in anything traditional -- it establishes practices that can be integrated into modern life without pre-supposing group work or work with a teacher -- it explains clearly where & why you might need a teacher, a group, or a religion for that matter. Many books that "tell you what to do" don't simultaneously leave you room to direct your own path according to your own intelligence and discrimination. This book is amazingly different and thus singularly profound.

One can wish that we knew more about Govinda's meetings with people all over the world during and after his pilgrimage, but as he himself is quoted, roughly: "I am not important; this teaching is important."

Anyone interested in comparative mysticism from a practical standpoint (i.e. with the hope of applying a book as a teaching, to one's own life)can only be very thankful that Dawn Horse took it upon itself to republish this story and methodology almost 10 years after Bennett had died -- and 20 years after the original edition. However, if you are the type who judges a book by its preface, the Dawn Horse preface can be disregarded. Written by Georg Feuerstein, apparently a devotee of Master Da Free John, the preface is an almost hilarious non sequitor to the book itself. Mr. Feuerstein presumes to be able to pigeonhole both the level of soul-evolution of the Shivapuri Baba and the method he taught, according to a system of levels defined by an ad hoc terminology atributed to Da Free John.

Such an attempt at categorization is indeed ludicrous in the face of a story like this: After reaching the age of 18, the Baba spent 25 years alone in the forest as an adult, came out sane enough to spend another 50 or so years travelling the world, mostly on foot, meeting Queen Victoria and many other world leaders. Bennett, who was no dilletante at comparative religion himself, was amazed at how at home the Shivapuri Baba was in several religious traditions -- as if he belonged to each, completely. And Bennett did not travel to meet the Baba at his home in Nepal until the man was over 135 years old! I have heard a couple of tapes of their conversations, and it is remarkable to hear the Baba answer any question put by Bennett, instantly, with no hesitation, and with complete relevance. Introduce me to someone like that -- and over 100 years old! Bennett, in his introduction, gives some sense of what it must have been like to meet so rare a person. But again, it was the teaching of "Right Life" or Swadharma that the Baba emphasized, over and above any interest in his person, in spite of the awesome authority with which he spoke.

Instruction on the fundamental spiritual purpose of human existence. This extraordinary assimilation of Gurdjieff's rich, complex system of ideas addresses "the needs of today's serious seeker." Distilled from a 6-week lecture-course given in 1954, Making a Soul includes remarkable insights on death.

Books on small items, especially small wooden boxes are extremely rare in South Africa, and I was delighted to find one. My suprise was even bigger when I saw how carefully the book was laid out; the absolute detailed plan on the construction, and the clear photographs and cutting lists. As we are very fortunate to have a wealth of beautiful types of indigenous woods available, I can't wait for my order to be delivered.