Chang Books

I received a copy of this for my own wedding. The book is attractive, colorful and creative. The book is hand illustrated and printed in soft pastels. Truely beautiful. It takes you through your history together, your past, present and a leap into the future, where do you want to go in your life together? What are your dreams? Once completed, each section takes you down memory lane. From your first meeting, first impressions of each other, special moments shared, etc... It provides space for detailed information of your engagement, parties in your honor, wedding memories, honeymoon, and your dreams for the future. I cherish mine. As my daughter grows, she enjoys looking at it. Seeing how her parents got together and the romance they shared. As I age, it reminds me of all the wonderous things we experienced together. In addition it reminds me of where we started and all of the goals we have achieved. This book can always take me back to those romantic feelings once again. I highly recommend this book for the bride to be. She will treasure it for years and probably pass it on to her children.

Certainly the gold standard when it comes to big, impressive books on the American musical.

Huge. 352 oversized pages, 6 and a half pounds, with gynorumous photos that can't be found anywhere other than historical archives. As might be expected, there are terrific illustrations of sets, lights, costumes, props, and stars. But I cannot believe the quality and number of shots of rehearsal processes and of choreography. Harder stuff to capture in still photography.

Gottfried's text is expansive and intermittently expert, providing historical overview, profiles of the major creators, the excitement of performance, and, finally, just what is "Broadway" and what does it feel like? He shoots from the heart. Perhaps the most wondrous and heralded part of this book are the little photos sprinkled through the index of shows that closed out of town or that opened and were boffo flops.

He also shoots from the hip. His text is also opinionated, a bit bitchy, and cavalier. This is sometime jarring.

All in all, I'd call this Design 10, Editorial Savvy 10, Text 7.

"The intelligible forms of ancient poets,
The fair humanities of old religion,
The Power, the Beauty, and the Majesty
That had their haunts in dale or piny mountain,
Or forest, by slow stream, or pebbly spring,
Or chasms and watery depths; all these have vanished;
They live no longer in the faith of reason;
But still the heart doth need a language; still
Doth the old instinct bring back the old names;
Spirits or gods that used to share this earth
With man as with their friend; and at this day
'Tis Jupiter who brings whate'er is great,
And Venus who brings every thing that's fair."

At the end of his Author's Preface for "Bulfinch's Greek and Roman Mythology: The Age of Fable," Thomas Bulfinch (1796-1867) quotes from Coleridge's "The Piccolomini" to represent the connection between mythology and literature. An accountant at the Boston Merchants' Bank, Bulfinch had been educated at Harvard and was a teacher early in his career. Seeing a need for something more than a formal translation of the myths and legends of antiquity, Bulfinch decided to popularize classical literature for all of us who did not know how to read Ancient Greek and Latin. Throughout his business career he collected hundreds of myths and legends, not only of the pagan era of Greek and Roman gods, but also Oriental deities, and Norse sagas. "The Age of Fable" was first published in 1855, and created the identification of the name of Bulfinch with that of mythology for the general population. For the last half of the 19th-century and the first part of the 20th, the volume was as much an American classic as "The Last of the Mohicans," "Uncle Tom's Cabin," "Uncle Remus," "Tom Sawyer," and "Huckleberry Finn."

When Bulfinch told these ancient tales the archeological study of Greece had not really begun (Troy was still considered a mythical location) and historians had yet to formulate any acceptable explanations for how these myths originated. Bulfinch was interested in telling these stories simply and for their own sakes, without being caught up in the Dead Language issues of the poems he excerpts (except to the extent that he uses the Latin versions of the names of the gods and goddesses rather than the Greek). Nor was he interested in drawing moral lessons from these stories, because Bulfinch's goal was to make the classical references found in the educated poets of his day accessible to the common folk.

The opening chapters deal mostly with the gods and goddesses, starting with the tales of Prometheus and Pandora, and ending with the "Monsters" such as the Sphinx and Pegasus. The next section is devoted to the great heroes, from Jason and Atalanta, to Hercules and Theseus, and then the lesser heroes such as Orpheus and orion. We then get to the epic poems of antiquity with chapters on the Trojan war, the adventures of Ulysses, and the adventures of Aeneas. The final section of "The Age of Fable" covers a lot of ground, including Egyptian deities, the Oracles, Poets of Mythology, Eastern Mythology, Hindu Mythology, and Norse Mythology, including Beowulf. I was weaned on Edith Hamilton's "Mythology," but I still appreciate Bulfinch's approach in telling pretty much the same stories in a more straightforward manner. More importantly, these stories have really become literature in their own right, and can be read for that enjoyment rather than for scholarly knowledge. This edition has the additional virtue of being illustrated by some of the world's greatest paintings, which is perfect because mythology has been the subject of so many great works of art from "The Birth of Venus" on down the list.

his book would have to be good-a picture is worth a thousand words ,so how can it miss with Burne-Jones' awesome pictures in it?

A book that includes a bright text about Callas's personal life and about her roles, with pages and pages of big and beautiful pictures of the Diva in quality paper. A treasure for fans that love Callas, the legend and the woman. The most beautiful book wrote about Callas.

This book will teach you care and respect for our flag and the proper ways to display it. It is easy to use, informative, concise, with interesting side notes. Every organization and household that uses the flag in any way should have one of these books. It is very good reading!

I probably looked at 8 books on the Loire chateuaxs, and this was the best. Great photographs, laid out well, great information on each of the castles/chateauxs, lots of photos of the inside decoration and furniture. This book gave me a better understanding of the landscaping around the castles as well. If you are planning to visit the Loire valley, and you are trying to decide which castles to visit, this book is a must. It is also and excellent armchair-traveller/coffee-table book.

If you are contemplating surgery for cataract removal, this book will answer all your questions. It explains how the human eye works, the causes and symptoms of cataracts, the removal of a cataract and insertion of the implant, and the recovery after surgery. The guide also explains the differences between the multifocal lens implants currently available that can reduce your dependency on glasses after surgery. The co-author, Dr. David Chang, was my cataract surgeon so I was fortunate to have one of the best surgeons remove my cataracts (from both eyes).

If i had to describe this book in just one word, I would, of course, say it's simply amazing. Cecil Beaton was a truly genius British photograher.

I really loved the practical side to this book. The T'ai Chi forms are particularly beautiful and the supplementary exercises made my legs MUCH stronger. Incredible that something so simple could work as well as it did! It's only downside is a lack of explanation beyond the individual moves. If you are looking for an historical reference, this isn't it. If you want to learn T'ai Chi, this is the one. I recommend this for beginners as well as instructors.