Richardson Books

I'm vacationing in a rustic cottage on a lake in Maine with my family. One quiet evening, the moon rising, and loons calling, I find this old book, its spotted and yellowed pages almost falling out and begin to read it. Well! I couldn't put it down. Maybe the setting and circumstance is why I've given this book a 5, but it is truly is a great story. Along the Kentucky/Virginia border 'civilization' is arriving. The mountain people have their own culture and rules of clan justice and they are about to discover the culture of the so-called civilized world. This is an absolutely fascinating view of tribal tradition clashing with the rule of law and proper living as the civilized world sees it. A young girl who has only known rude mountain life and morays meets and falls in love with an engineer from 'away' who is cultured, educated, well dressed, well spoken. Meanwhile, coal has been discovered in the Cove. Speculators from as far away as England come to cash in. Schools and stores and jails are built in the Gap. However, the once pure streams run black. All the while reading this, I thought of the parallel of today thinking that our culture, come hell or high water, is best for all. I wonder: to what end?

Bob feels that this book was very good. Bob liked this book very much. This gripping tale of love and survival is deeply etched into the soul of every reader that reads this heart-wrenching novel. Fox tells a story of a facinating undying love for others and the Big Pine that always seems to know the answers to life's most difficult questions. Bob encourages anyone that likes a wonderful well wrote book to pick this one up, hold it close to your heart, and never let go.

The Trail of the Lonesome Pine proves to be an enchanting tale about love. A tall pine tree stood in solitary splendor on the top of a mountain in Kentucky and through its fame lured a young engineer to find it and leaad Hale on a trail of love which I felt was an overall wonderful plot for this book. Since the plot of the book was set in Kentucky June and her family along with the many nountaineers had our good ole country accent which also portrayed that they had not received very much education. In a waaay I feel that it was an insult to Kentuckians knoweledge even though it did portray June's remarkable learning rate when Hale helped her to attend school. I think the beauty of the state could have been captured morewhile telling of how beautiful the land was while looking at the view of the lonsome pine. Many flowers in Kentucky are mentioned throughout the novel and June also had a flower garden built for her of Kentucky's wildflowers. Although I didn't like the waay the law stepped in during the Falins and Tollivers family feuds which continued throughout June's childhoodBecause I think their battles could have been a book by itself rather than to combine them with the love and romance of Hale and June even though they greatly affected their lives. I felt that the novel was deeply expressive in many ways and throughout all encounters portrayed by John Fox Jr. you were sure to experience the poetic side of life in the Kentucky mountains.

The Trail of the Lonesome Pine is set in the Kentucky mountains of the 19th century. June Tolliver is a very poor young mountain girl who meets an engineer from the outside world. He takes June out of the mountains so she can go to school and get an education. He is also interested in mining coal in the Kentucky hills. The story of how their love for each other grows and of the Tolliver family's feud with the Falin's is a classic American tale. I read this story out loud to my teen-age children and they just loved it! This is the first of a trilogy by Fox.

The Trail of the Lonesome Pine takes place in the Kentucky mountains, bordering Big Stone Gap, Virginia. It is a story of love, as well as change. At the heart of this novel are the Tolliver & Falin families, who have been in a feud with one another for as far back as anyone can remember. The story begins as life in the mountains is beginning to change..coal mining is starting to boom, and the oustide world is creeping into the simple ways of mountain life. A town is blossoming in Big Stone Gap Virginia..and the Trail of the Lonesome Pine connects the town with Lonesome Cove, home of the Tolliver family, and a pretty little mountain girl named June. When John Hale enters the Tolliver/Falin territory, June is immediately drawn to him. The entrance of this "furriner" will change June's life forever.

Not being from the region that the Trail of the Lonesome Pine is written about, I was definitely reading it from a "furriner" point of view. The Trail of the Lonesome Pine is really two stories in one. Part of this novel is a love story, centering on a young girl, June Tolliver & her love interest John Hale, the "furriner." The other side of this novel focuses on what life is like for the "mountain people" and the effects of the coal mining boom, and the influx of foreigners into their way of life. Both stories are very interesting and blend well together. At times though, I felt the writing was hard to get through and difficult to follow. The last 1/4 of the book really picked up, and by the time the story concluded, I was glad that I read this and look forward to reading more by John Fox, Jr.

Just an outstanding book. Anyone who is engaged or thinking of becoming engaged should get a copy. And for married men-what wonderful ideas to make your marriage more meaningful, more binding and more romantic. And there are even great ideas for single guys who would like to impress the opposite sex.

If you are romantically impaired. . . this book will get your creative juices going. Twenty Ways to Pop the Question is more than popping the question. It features a gourmet selection of amorous adventures in gift giving from "creative romantics" that will enrich your relationship! Highly recommended.

I read this book with a smile on my face and laughter in my heart. The stories reminded me so much of my dad. He was always doing something creative to make anniversaries and birthdays very special occaisions. The story in the book, "Treasure Hunt" on page 92, brought back some fond memories of his crazy treasure hunts in our home. I strongly recommned this book to anyone who wants to celebrate a special day with fun, romantic moments that will last a lifetime.

The premise of this book is excellent, however it falls short of five stars simply because it is so short. 20 ideas aren't simply enough to get a good idea on the best way for YOU to propose. I liked the ideas but none worked for me. I had much better luck with the over 100 super creative ideas at ...-- I also found out there how to get my proposal on TV which netted me ... .

Some good ideas but I found much more at howtopropose. com

In this compact, easy to read tome, the late Mr. Richardson (an experienced director besides teacher)attacks, debunks and demystifies the insipid acting cult known as "the method". Breaking down acting into simple (albeit far too simple-hence the 4 star rating)and applicable steps, Richardson approaches acting as a joyful and natural form of human expression.

While the book doesn't really provide as many usefull lessons (a few more would have earned the book a slightly higher rating)as attending a class would, it does communicate a clear philosophy that makes acting accessible to a wider variety of students.

Richardson attacks the psuedo-pyschiatric approaches made popular by too many 20th Century acting teachers and sticks to the very basics. A successful director himself (unlike the most of the pantheon of American Acting teachers- Adler, Meisner, Strassberg- Lewis being the exception)Richardson takes great pains to approach acting from both sides of the camera and stage. His teaching method is to make acting as painless as possible.

Too bad this is relatively hard to get ahold of. A valuable addition to any actor's library.

Ultimately, yes, this is an interesing book. What makes it interesting is that it points out a lot of the flaws and pitfalls in 'Method' acting. That was something that I wrestled with for years. All the agony. I'd lost the joy in the process. That part makes this book interesting. However, these techniques, although they sound promising are a bit shallow and overly simplistic at times. I still think this is a worthwhile book. There are bits of it that are very good. I would just say to watch out for when it gets too gimmicky. Now, this is just my own experience, I want to be fair here, maybe others were able to make this work, but I tried his system for supposedly creating emotions and to me that is just a gimmicky way to work. I can't imagine how that could work for anyone. It sounds interesting but after trying it, the techniques given for emotions just fall flat (for me anyway).
The overall problem with this book is that it tries to create too many little 'tricks' at times. I don't think it quite works that way. My personal feeling is that you need to be thorough in your character choices, know the right questions to ask, and eventually trust your talent. BE. Be in the moment, with all the work you've done you then jump in and surrender to your talent. I don't think any little system can do that. I think it's a god given-surrendered kind of thing, not something you try to manipulate. That was at times the problem I had with this book.
Nevertheless, it does have some gems in it. Aside from the system for creating emotions, the rest of the book is very good. It points out the importance of a well chosen objective, he gives you good character questions and explains how to work on different styles. Also, he does find a nice way to simplify things. I did feel I learned some good things from this book.

After translating this book into spanish,I have had a very close relationship with don richardson's text. I trust that this book will be as valuable to spanish speaking theater students as it has been to english speaking actors and actresses. I would like to publish the work, and would like to contact mr. richardson.

The best book I ever read about the art of acting. It's simple and direct. I require it in my classes. Wonderful for directors as well

I had the good fortune to study with Don Richardson when I was living in California. What a treat to find this book recently while I was searching for theatre books on Amazon.com. Don's book is probably one of the top two books that I have ever read on Acting. It is clear, concise, and incredibly helpful for either the beginner or professional actor. I'm an actor, director, and am currently teaching a course on acting and I use Don's book at the top of my list of reference books. Thank you Don, for putting your ideas down on paper for us all

Bela Karolyi is such a inspirational man to take what little he had and make winners. I had the advantage of meeting this man this summer. He seems like a father figure with strong discipline and a positive effort. I always loved it when he 'You can Do it! " Which is all so true when you use your body in a positive way in the sport of gymnastics or any other sport.

I thought the book was great, if you love Bela
if you don't or are a true gymnastic stat follower
you might not, because Bela includes many of his
personal beliefs on many competitions, some of which
are trully exagerated and completly from the point
of view of a coach. Which is what i believe the point
of the book was. Overall it was a cool book to read.

This book was written by Bela Karolyi, the Romanian coach who has coached such gymnastics legends as Nadia Cominici, Mary Lou Retton, Kim Zmeskal, Dominique Moceanu and Kerri Strug.

This book tells you about his life in Romania, training Nadia, defecting to America, and all the way to the 1992 Olympics.

Before I didn't know much about Bela or about the girls he had trained. But after reading this book, I now know much more about him and his wife, Marta.

If you want to know more about this memorable coach, be sure to read this book!

It tells the entire story of Bela Karolyi's life and it tells the stories of the many famous gymnasts he has coached. The book makes you appreciate this man more than anything else could! I read it before I met him at Karolyi's camp and it made it THAT MUCH better!!

I have read this book a while back. However, I often refer to it for the inspiration, and sometimes quote it to my students (I am a figure skating coach). Bela is a legendary coach, and it was interesting to find out about his coaching, and life philosophies. I hope I could be like him one day. The part of the book that especially moved me is when Bela found out that more than half of his students became p.e. teachers.

I'll agree this book is a staple in the canon of literary criticism and the history of the novel, but what about women writers? I think this book's short coming is its oversight of authors such as Burney, Edgeworth, and Lennox.

Published in 1957, "The Rise of the Novel" was immediately recognized as a landmark of literary criticism. It has, justifiably, retained this status up to the present.

Recognizing that life does not present itself in neat separate packages of literature, history, and sociology, "The Rise of the Novel" integrates Watt's considerable knowledge in each of these areas to assess the impact of three authors, Defoe, Richardson and Fielding, upon the development of the English novel in the eighteenth century. In the final chapter, he shows how their contributions were integrated and further developed in the works of Laurence Sterne, Jane Austen and others.

Along the way, he makes numerous fascinating observations that I personally had not run across before. For example:

* With the rise of the city (in this case, London) in the eighteenth century, and the resulting development of a more transient population, the model for the Family shifted from the patriarchal family (with a paterfamilias) to a conjugal model (i.e., a new family is born upon each new marriage).

* During the century, there was considerable disapproval of the heroic epic (as exemplified by Homer) as a result of the manners and morals it exhibited, i.e., violence and cruelty. "Tom Jones," a comic epic, was critized at the time for glorifying these and other negative values.

* The large number of "spinsters" during the century led to formal proposals for the passage of laws allowing bigamy.

The book is remarkably fair and balanced in its assessment of Defoe, Richardson and Fielding, with Richardson coming off better than I had expected. It's not enough to make me want to read "Pamela" and "Clarissa," but I did come away with a heightened appreciation of Richardson's abilities as an observer of life and society.

Watt's own life (1917 -1999) is interesting. He joined the British Army at the age of 22 and served with distinction in World War II as an army lieutenant in the infantry from 1939 to 1946. He was wounded in the battle for Singapore in January 1942 and listed as "missing, presumed killed in action." In fact, he was taken prisoner by the Japanese and remained a prisoner of war until 1945, working on the construction of a railway that crossed Thailand a feat that inspired the Pierre Boulle novel "Bridge Over the River Kwai" and the film version by David Lean. More than 12,000 prisoners died during the building of the railroad, most of them from disease, and Watt was critically ill from malnutrition for several years.

He joined the faculty of Stanford University in 1964., and was chair of the English department from 1968 to 1971. In addition to "The Rise of the Novel," he is best known for his body of criticism of the works of Joseph Conrad.

Although this is not an exciting book, it is highly informative and well-written. Watt makes a case for why Defoe, Richardson, and Fielding all have a claim to the paternity of the novel. Laborious academic bloviation is relatively nonexistent in The Rise of the Novel, and if you do much of this type of reading, you know that's a plus. Even if your focus is not Defoe, Richardson, or Fielding, this book is important to read, just so you understand where your writing fits in the greater literary tradition, or even to give contemporary writers context.

What? No reviews of this classic? You cannot pretend to understand the novel in English if you've not read this.

Any study of the novel would be incomplete without knowledge of this book; however, and it's a big however, it is not a study of the rise of THE NOVEL so much as a study of the ENGLISH novel. And then it's not so much that as the story of the English novel by male authors because the book barely acknowledges female and Continental predecessors and acts as if Defoe invented the form. But as long as you read the book with this grain of salt, it's a good and informative read and well worth the time.

This CD is excellent for sitting meditation. I would recommend it to anybody who likes to meditate with music. There are several cuts with times that are appropriate for standard mediation sessions.

Zen - that's how this music feels - calming, peaceful, challenging, complex. I frequently use public transportation to work, I have loaded these CDs on to my mp3 player for a relaxing meditative ride each morning. Beautiful.

Not melodic, nor does it carry much of a tune but it is rythmic, quieting and soothing. Great for yoga, before bed or after a loud day's work.

The flute music is very peaceful. Sometimes flute music can sound dissonant or have quick & sharp note changes, but this CD set is meditative without any awkward moments. The flute flows like a river: with slowly changing notes and simplicity. It is like a soaring bird catching an air stream. I especially like listening to this music during shiatsu (finger pressure medicine) or a good massage.

This is a wonderful CD to help calm the mind and body. Two CD's for that price is a bargain. I listen to Stan Richardson on the shakuhachi quite regularly when I am doing yoga or just quietly reading. Highly recommended (from a fellow shakuhachi player in Japan).

I have numerous VFP books and am firmly a VFP 6.0 user. I have found this book to be awesome for beginner to advanced. Very, very well written.

I've actually found it more usable than the subsequent Que title "Using Visual FoxPro 6" - which has different authors and different approach. Que should have simply upgraded their 5.0 title.

You won't be sorry with this one.

bigchip@aol.com

By the title itself 'Using...', simply means HOW to use Visual Foxpro? It is the best guide for developers who are new and for some who wanted to learn Visual Foxpro as a database development tool. For sure, the learning curve of a newbie VFP developer will be shortened when using this book.

Very informative and guides the readear in a step by step manner to visual foxpro 5.0. Also very useful for users who are not familiar with DBMS concepts

I am not new to XBase (FoxPro 2.6) and I was looking for something to help me make the transition. but this book doesn;'t do that. it appears comprehensive enough.. so comp[rehensive that it rattles me... I'm still looking for the right transition book John Fox

Simply the best book for learning Foxpro. Mr. Antonovich's style makes it easy to grasp all the new concepts that have come along with Foxpro's adoption of OOP model. Also an outstanding Foxpro and database reference.

This is a great book that tells it like it is. It describes the lives of many of us in South Texas.

This book is a bit of a puzzle. I'm not sure if its purpose is to go beyond mere description in dealing with the "batos, bolillos, pochos and pelados" of its title. The author does do a good job of decribing the various socioeconomic relationships that exist within and between various population groups in the Rio Grande. He does this with the aid of various interviews and surveys performed by the Borderlife Project at UT-Pan Am. There are excellent summaries of the data from these surveys, and some attempt is made at explaining some of the results. But the whole book is too shallow to function as a critical work, and I'm not sure if it was the author's intent to leave the analysis at a minimum or not. (I know it would have made for a larger book). An example: the book designates "Anglo" as one of the cultural/socioeconomic groups in the Valley, and yet nothing in the book really examines what the term might mean or refer to. When Mexican immigrants were surveyed and interviewed for the Borderlife project, were they using "Anglo" in the same senses? Is there a difference between "Anglo" and "White" or do the two terms refer to the same thing? These questions are never cleared up, even though a proper analysis of the surveys would seem to require just this kind of clarification. This seems to me a critical failing of the book. Another salient failing is the fact that the book doesn't account for the fact that not all immigrants or people of Hispanic origin in the Valley are Mexican. Many are from Latin American countries other than Mexico. Richardson makes no effort to discuss the differences in culture and socioeconomic status between these groups (e.g., Nicaraguans, Colombians) and the other groups (Mexicans, Anglos, etc.), even though he does spend some time discussing a black population that is arguably less important. There are many more examples like this, but the point is that the book fails to engage in any serious analysis of the interview and survey materials. This is disappointing, especially considering the high quality of the student-led interviews.

Many an anthropologist and sociologist has described SouthTexas borderlife along with all its cultural nuances, customs, and practices. Dr. Chad Richardson is the most recent social scientist to take on this challenging task and none has done it better. This book is filled with stories of cultural conflicts, clashes, and mutual cooperation among the various inhabitants of this historically significant and culturally rich region. The cultural confluences of this region are among the strongest and most potent of any multicultural mecca in the world. The region and its people play out the conflicts of two vastly important and different cultures, embedded in economic, power and class struggles for survival. Among the third world colonias, the numerous 'Winter Texan' gated-communities, and the exponential growth of 'macquiladoras,' can be heard the loud sucking sound of NAFTA accompanied by the cries of 'La LLorna.' The region and its people have never been so well documented. Dr. Richardson's observations are based on empirical studies and surveys, richly supported by ethnographic histories collected from archives and interviews with hundreds of families over several generations of Mexican, Mexican American and European Americans who have lived, worked, and invested together to make this region a powerful force for the future of America. This book tells the 'true' story of South Texas. Dr. Richarson doesn't hide anything. He tells it like it was, and how it continues to be, for an important, fast growing, often overlooked, underestimated, and often wrongly stereotyped, minority population. His science represents years of work. His product is most impressive, despite an unfortunate title.

Many an anthropologist and sociologist has described SouthTexas borderlife along with all its cultural nuances, customs, and practices. Dr. Chad Richardson is the most recent social scientist to take on this challenging task and none has done it better. This book is filled with stories of cultural conflicts, clashes, and mutual cooperation among the various inhabitants of this historically significant and culturally rich region. The cultural confluences of this region are among the strongest and most potent of any multicultural mecca in the world. The region and its people play out the conflicts of two vastly important and different cultures, embedded in economic, power and class struggles for survival. Among the third world colonias, the numerous 'Winter Texan' gated-communities, and the exponential growth of 'macquiladoras,' can be heard the loud sucking sound of NAFTA accompanied by the cries of 'La LLorna.' The region and its people have never been so well documented. Dr. Richardson's observations are based on empirical studies and surveys, richly supported by ethnographic histories collected from archives and interviews with hundreds of families over several generations of Mexican, Mexican American and European Americans who have lived, worked, and invested together to make this region a powerful force for the future of America. This book tells the 'true' story of South Texas. Dr. Richarson doesn't hide anything. He tells it like it was, and how it continues to be, for an important, fast growing, often overlooked, underestimated, and often wrongly stereotyped, minority population. His science represents years of work. His product is most impressive, despite an unfortunate title.

The book titled "Experience the Extraordinary Chemistry of Ordinary things" is a great introduction to chemistry and science in general. It is thorough on safety, which is very important when teaching beginners, and contains solid and well thought through experiments. A question-part for every experiment ensures an aditional element of kognition that enhances learning. Being well written and safe, it lacks the spectackularity that would make it a great book for making new people interested in chemistry. No bombs, no flashing lights. The Plastics-chapter makes up for some of this, but it needs more chrash-boom-bang to make it into the 5-star area.

It is a good companion for teachers who want to introduce chemistry to unexperiences high school pupils.

A very good book for anyone who is studying chemestry for highschool or university.

I am a student majoring in education. This textbook is wonderful because the author uses ordinary household objects that are used daily instead of substances only the science geniuses have heard of. I would reccommend this book for professors who teach non-science majors because the ablilty to understand the information is incredible.

Most of all us lose the joy of curiousity that we all had as children as we become adults. A friend, the author, gave me and my wife this book as a gift. It is a wonderful publication; and it is a joy read. I recommend this book to anyone who wants to regain that youthful curiousity. It is possible. Whether you purchase the book for a class or for personal reading, it is a wonderful book.

The best English lexicon of biblical Hebrew & Aramaic, KBL is also easier to use than the classic BDB. Words are listed alphabetically, rather than grouped by root, with cross-references to other words from the same root (no more trying to figure out a noun's putative "verbal root"). Akkadian tends to dominate the etymological information, rather than Arabic), along with Ugaritic. Glosses tend to be traditional, although references within the articles and the extensive supplementary bibliography (84 pages; alphabetically by author) allow you to find narrative lexical discussions. The Aramaic section is outstanding, with citations ranging far beyond biblical Aramaic. Although some might be tempted to begin with an "intermediate" lexicon such as Holladay, KBL's layout, clarity, and wealth of information makes this appropriate for both beginning students, pastors, teachers, and other scholars.

This lexicon should be in the library of anyone seeking to understand the deeper meanings of Hebrew words in Tanach. No one text stands alone in that regard; however, it is felt that Koehler - Baumgartner is indispensable for any serious student of Biblical Hebrew, and everyone is a student of this wonderful language. The 2-volume unabridged study edition is affordable and is more space efficient on the shelf. Buy this one with confidence.

This series of Lexicons give a never before seen view into ancient Aram and the language of Jesus Christ and his followers. For anyone interested in further study of the passages of the Bible, this is a collection that should be a requirement to add to your library. You will appreciate it more as you study it. The Bible and the Talmud no longer need be cryptic in their original forms.

The printed 5 volume set provides a fine supplementary lexicon for all students of the Biblical Hebrew and Aramaic. The volumes are finely bound, printed on acid-free paper (though not ANSI certified). Each volume is smyth sewn.

Much more asthetic than using a computer screen, the printed version allows you to view all 5 volumes at the same time, even without electricity! Though it cannot compare with the search power of the CD version. The main text is in a two column format and all of the fonts are easy to read.

These volumes will become the standard Hebrew Bible lexicon. Unfortunately! However they should be supplemented with other works because:

(1) They do not show all of the needed etymologies, many entries display no etymological data. (Ernest Klein's work is recommended here). The data from North/West Semitics could be expanded, it is lacking in many entries. Hittite data seems deficient as well as some Sumerian data -- let's face it, they are early influences on the Semitic languages. The Koehler-Baum. work only skims the surface when it comes to etymologies.

(2) Many important works by evangelical scholars (such as S. P. Tregelles, Gleason, Archer, Kyle Yates, E. Young, Robert Dick Wilson, et al) were not even utilized. Too much emphasis was given to the popular works done by secular scholars.

(3) Ugaritic, Phoenician, Arabic and other fonts (scripts) are simply transliterated. They should have been printed out in their original script. Transliteration tables could have also been included for the scholars who are not familiar with these languages, but accuracy can be jeopardized when the original scripts are just transliterated, and it takes time and effort to "recompose" them. Perhaps they were transliterated so that the digital search engines could be simplified. Poor trade off!

(4) Some important definitions are missing for some entries! Thus other lexicons are needed. For example: sh-r-Ha (shin, resh, he) in volume 4, pages 1652f does not show the meaning as "to shine" (from a possible Arabic root) nor as "chains" or "bracelets" as in Isaiah 3:19.

(5) Textual variations are often not listed, and the Qumran literature and data could have been better utilized.

(6) Foreign word indexes could have been supplied, and an index of Biblical passages could have been added. Several hands worked on the 5 volumes, and a variety of abbreviations are used for the Biblical books, making Biblical book cross references difficult even on the CD version.

All in all, a very useful addition. The price is quite high and the folks at Brill often ask too much for their publications. The work NEEDS to be supplemented, and some entries are woefully deficient -- giving only a partial definition. Coupled with the poor etymological data -- this is not acceptable. Gary S. Dykes