Ware Books

This book is fun and catchy. I would suggest reading this book not only because it seems realistic to seventh grade girls, but because you feel like hey that happened to me or something. Venola seems to be somewhat pressured at the thought of a boy she finds out that she just isnt right for it.She even realizes she likes the boy because of his looks! Throughout this book Venola proves to be an average and spunky girl through her notes -FeatherBall

There is a lifetime of information stuffed into these two unwieldy volumes. For anyone seriously interested in the legacy of Josiah Wedgwood or in the development of the pottery business in Britain in the late 18th century - or simply in the beauty of the objects illustrated - this massive undertaking is a necessity. Any objections are quibbles. It's difficult to use without a library stand or table. Its layout is workmanlike and the illustrations cry out for more color and larger size.

Shows a variety of German WWll vechicles and some of the configurations,that are required in conduct of war.

"Stay on the Ball. Keep'em rolling!" These worlds are familiar for those who dealt with a subject of supply Allied force by various materials during their advance across France and North-West Europe. This new book from Ian Allan Publishing tells us a story about daily problems, failures, titanic pressure. The every aspect of the "Red Ball" supply line is covered, even the vehicle types are examined. And this is the main drawback of the work. Pat Ware devoted too much place to vehicle specifications and descriptions of types. Probably, the author has considered it as the best variant to "fill the gap". As for me, the variant with the battle orders of supply units would be the best.

Great book and am glad it was available! Helped get an A in the class!

American history can best be understood if the fundamental conditions that control both the social lives of ordinary people and the practice of politics are investigated through the decades. This means moving beyond conventional ways of organizaing a book around political events that historians like to think of as "turning points". Social change has a pace and rhythm of its own, and understaning its flow enables us to see poliitical changes in a new light.

The authors have divided American history into three unique periods: Preindustrial America, from the beginning of the sixteenth century to the 1820s; Industrializing America, from the 1820s to the 1920s; and State and Society, from the 1920s to the present. Each of these periods has its own logic and contains special kinds of human relationships that prodice a distinct history of the United States.

O.K, this is for those using this book for AP American History in high school. This book is much better than texts used in previous AP classes, it's divided much more effciently and orderly, in terms of taking notes this is the easiest thus far. However, the summer reading assignment of the first 5 chapeters is an exercises in futility. The short answer and essay questions we are tested on are rediculous. Do not waste time doing the reading. Find a friend who knows a guy who knows this place where you can get an outline of the book. These notes are the holy grail for AP students. I recomend you use these notes only for the summer reading; during the year, do the reading! This book is not a horrible one for class use and doing the reading is essential for the AP test in may. The summer reading is simply a device used by teachers to "weed out" weaker students, I dont approve of cheating...but use all the resources you have before walking into school in september.

American history can best be understood if the fundamental conditions that control both the social lives of ordinary people and the practice of politics are investigated through the decades. This means moving beyond conventional ways of organizaing a book around political events that historians like to think of as "turning points". Social change has a pace and rhythm of its own, and understaning its flow enables us to see poliitical changes in a new light.

The authors have divided American history into three unique periods: Preindustrial America, from the beginning of the sixteenth century to the 1820s; Industrializing America, from the 1820s to the 1920s; and State and Society, from the 1920s to the present. Each of these periods has its own logic and contains special kinds of human relationships that prodice a distinct history of the United States.

My son is a Junior in High School and brought this 5th Edition book home last week. I spent an hour going through this book and I have to tell you that I am disappointed in the content. It lacks historical information and focuses on Social issues. I want my son to know the historical information behind these social issues.

It is sad that so much of our history is no longer being taught in our schools in favor of diversity.

First off, this is a beautifully designed book. The paper stock is heavy and bright. The dust-jacket and endpapers are themselves pieces of graphic art. Several of the included works are printed in full color. This deluxe treatment screams "comics are serious art."

And, for the most part, the quality of the stories bears out that premise. An outpost of the "Best American" brand, it's a survey of contemporary comic writing, with a handful of novelistic, introspective pieces; stand-by representatives of the alt-weekly aesthetic; and a couple truly out there pieces that I had a hard time grokking.

The collection includes a few stars (Alison Bechdel, I'm looking at you), only a couple duds, and the rest are fine -- I'm grading on a curve, but the average feels pretty high. No representatives of old-fashioned genre comics, though, and Brian Wood's "DMZ" is glaringly absent. I presume anything published by the corporate gorillas at DC and Marvel were off-limits for reprint rights reasons, if not also editorial ones.

Editor Chris Ware reprises his role from McSweeney's #13, confirming that highly-designed serio-irony is Dave Eggers' world. We just read in it.

When you buy a book with a title like The Best American Comics 2007, you're obviously going to go into it with a certain preconceived notion of the book's quality. In fact, you might even set your expectations for the stories contained within its pages so high that you set yourself up to be let down. I feel that this scenario might have indeed been the case with a few of the critics whose personal biases led them to pan the book, but in my estimation it does not disappoint.

Some have quibbled with this book for something as simple as its title, claiming it is somewhat of a misnomer. That the contents of the book are quite excellent is not a matter of debate, but these stories being designated "the best" has gotten under some people's skin when in their mind other, more outstanding works were left out.

I admit there were one or two selections that left me scratching my head as to why they were given a place in this collection. For my tastes, the more esoteric works like those of C.F. or Paper Rad left me feeling cold; they seemed to be sketchily drawn and nonsensical simply for the sake of being "out there," that the emperor had no clothes. But that choice of word, "taste," was very apt, for by its very nature, an anthology such as this one cannot please everyone. It cannot include every great story of the past year (which is why the publishers include a list in the back of the book of 100 Distinguished Comics not included in the anthology), and not every story is going to be one you will personally enjoy.

But that simple fact does not mean that the things you don't like don't deserve to be included. Surely such a compilation as this one is designed to create controversy, to spark debate about what the best of the best should be, and I have no doubt that a desire to invite discussion was factored into the decision to place certain stories on this list. In the end, I think any one of us would be hard-pressed to find better comics released in the past year that fit all the criteria for inclusion, such as length, geographical location of the creators, or the time period in which it was published.

The logistics of creating a "best of" anthology also factor into another criticism: an overabundance of stories in the vein of autobiography. Admittedly, as a fan of that genre, the prevalence of that type of story did not affect me, and I still felt it had enough variety, with stories of real life being told with humor, as philosophical exercises, or with a historical bent. But I also wondered if that genre-specificity might not just be reflecting a trend in the industry at present. If that's the case, you cannot fault a yearly anthology for echoing the year in which it was released.

Additionally, the perceived genre bias of this book might be an issue of publication rights. Autobiographical stories tend to be creator-owned, and thus the people that created the stories gladly submit their work for inclusion in such an anthology as this one and are grateful to be included. Many of the noteworthy stories in other genres such as science fiction, fantasy, or superhero are published by the most mainstream of publishers and are thus most likely off-limits, since corporations hold the rights to them.

A final criticism I've read is that the book is filled with the usual suspects, that most of the creators featured in the book are the same artists we saw in last year's anthology. It's true that many of the names in the table of contents might be familiar, names like Adrian Tomine, Alison Bechdel, Seth, and Art Spiegelman. But does the presence of these creators really illustrate a problem that the same artists are too often the recipients of what little critical and media recognition comics get? I don't think so. The simpler answer would be that these artists clearly deserve to be highly regarded, since they repeatedly create works that are noteworthy.

That notion brings me to my only actual problem with the book, that because of my familiarity of some of the artists, I had read many of the pieces before. Having come across approximately a third of the book in other forms already, it failed to have the same impact on me that it might have had to a reader coming in with fresh eyes. Despite some familiar contents, there were still stories in the book that I hadn't read which I enjoyed, such as the pieces by local St. Louis artists that were included, Dan Zettwoch's historical "Won't Be Licked" and Kevin Huizenga's philosophical "Glenn in Bed."

Yes, many of the inclusions in the book do come from the same sources. Eight of the 39 pieces came out of the Fantagraphics anthology Mome, and another five came from Buenaventure Press' Kramer's Ergot. If you're already a reader of those anthologies, you might come up a bit disappointed, but they are still quality pieces deserving of a place in this book. Jonathan Bennett's "Needles and Pins" was a story I had already read in Mome, but I was happy to read it again here. Even if you read a large variety of indie books, there's sure to be something to surprise and delight you.

At the very least, a long-time fan of indies could read and enjoy the introduction by this year's guest editor Chris Ware (Acme Novelty Library), which contains musings on the artform and a discussion of the difficult tasks involved in putting together an anthology (including some points which address the critiques I've outlined here). Also, the authors' notes provide us with insight into what was going through each of the artists' heads during the creative process.

In the end, whether you come to this book with firmly established firsthand knowledge of the works included therein or you're completely a blank slate, you will find your purchase of The Best American Comics 2007 to be money well spent. If nothing else, it'll be an excellent addition to your bookshelf: you'll have all these great stories in one volume that is easy to loan out to friends to prove that there are quality comics out there.

The Best American Comics series strives show what the medium of comic books can do more than feature spandex clad future feature film franchises beating the snot out of one another for 24 pages.

It's true. It can. What Best American Comics 2007 shows is that comics can also be about self-indulgent whiners who think their every minor drama is worthy of lionization in pen and ink. The book drips with an overwrought teenage angst and Gen Next "Wonderful World of Me" sensibility.

The other ugly little secret is that with a few exceptions, the magnificent Adrian Tomine among them, the art is often no greater than very bad doodles and amateurish scribblings.

The book isn't a total waste. There are a few amusing tales and well-crafted pieces. It does prove that comics are more than superhero fair. If it were a movie, it would be an art house flick rather than a summer blockbuster.

Best American Comics 2007, and the entire series, is for people who believe something different is something better. People who listen to obscure bands and raise their middle fingers at the Beatles or the Stones will love Best American Comics.

People who like a fun read or to be told a good story, though, will have a tougher time of it.

Boook was very strange and so were the comics in it. My husband is a comic freek and I thought book would be cool for him. The Book was not what I was thinking and not how it's info blurb made it sound.

Two things caught my attention scanning through the Best American Comics of 2007. The first was that it was edited by the multitalented Chris Ware and the second was a story by Gilbert Hernandez about a gigantically breasted woman. The later will get my attention every time. I found the 2006 Best Comics to be a big disappointment and I considered the possibility that perhaps one year just wasn't enough time to come up with 300+ pages of alternative comics. However, I put my faith in Mr. Ware (who also edited the fantastic `McSweeney's Issue 13') and bought the 2007 book with hopes of major improvements.

The cool thing about these anthologies is that it's like eating at a buffet. You can sample all sorts of different items and if you don't like something move onto the next. If you really enjoy a particular artist you might just pick up other things they've produced. The overall quality in the 2007 edition is higher than last year but I have to confess that nothing in this book jumped out at me and I only discovered a couple of artists I might look into further. In the opening section Chris Ware mentions one of the criticisms of these kinds of comics, that the artists tend to engage in a lot of naval gazing. Well, recognizing the problem doesn't make it go away and there is an unfortunate amount of depressing self introspection about how sad and lonely the artists lives are. I also have to say that this collection features some of the most primitive art I've yet to see in any of these anthologies with some looking like they were scratched out during lunch period at junior high. What this collection didn't have was any stories that I was wishing would just end which sets it apart from the 2006 collection.

I would like to give special mentions to Jonathan Bennett and Kevin Huizenga who I felt had the best art in the book. David Heatley's short pieces may be the most memorable as he puts ink to actual dreams he's had. I'll give the award for most interesting story to Kim Deitch for `No Midgets in Midgetville'. I would put this collection somewhere in the middle of alternative comic anthologies. It's not as good as `An Anthology of Graphic Fiction, Cartoons, and True Stories' but much better than BAC 2006.

This book was great, in my opinion, because i have NO clue.I'm sure for anyone w/ more business operation knowledge it lends less assistance.

I was glad to find a extreme basic book that gets me up to speed and lets me know the basics before i move into the next and intermediate level reading on this topic.

It's cheap - and it presents information that COULD change your mind or confirm your ideas ... good investment :)

This is a very skinny book written by two men who obviously have restaurant experience, but who have very poor writing/communications skills. This book is not a guide to setting up the spreadsheets necessary to open a restaurant. It is doubtful that the authors even know how to open up Lotus or Excel. The amount of essential items left out are humongous. Watch yourself! Not a recommendable expenditure of any money whatsoever on this crummy attempt at producing a useful "book". Rating: eight onions.

This is a very small book written by two men who obviously have restaurant experience, but who have very poor writing/communications skills. This book is not a guide to setting up the spreadsheets necessary to open a restaurant. It is doubtful that the authors even know how to open up Lotus or Excel. The amount of essential items left out are humongous. Watch yourself! Not a recommendable expenditure of any money whatsoever on this crummy attempt at producing a useful "book". Rating: eight onions.

From myths to realities; This authoritative book covers all the planning, organizing, and operating procedures which are necessary and crucial to a successful restaurant venture.

While many people desire to build the restaurant of their dreams, there are important issues that need to be considered if success is to be achieved. Too often sheer determination is not enough. This business relies on too many individuals for one person,(you), to see things right. This book provides the insight and information necessary to provoke serious thinking regarding whether or not to actually pursue the dream of restaurant ownership.

This book contains several anecdotes of real life situations as well as charts, explanations of record keeping, and financial statements. My favorite parts involve the exhaustive lists of what one should seriously analyze, research, and consider before beginning the venture process.

However, heed this caution; This book may in fact dissuade you from ever opening your own restaurant. But if you decide to go ahead with your dream, this book is just what you need to help prepare you for the realities of this time engrossing, yet rewarding business.

I just finished reading the other reviews and couldn't disagree more. I found Linet to be stupid and clueless. She betrays Duncan several times, even after she realizes that she is in love with him. I couldn't fathom why Duncan would care about her. Skip this one!

I love this author's other works, so I was thrilled to get my hands on this trilogy. I got all three at once so I could be sure to read them straight through.

It's a good thing I did. You can tell right from the start that the characters really connect with you. There are three brothers, each with his own personality. The eldest, Duncan, is the knightly, responsible one. The middle brother is more of a hot-headed fighter, and the youngest is a God-fearing lad. All three can wield their swords with great skill, of course! Even the interactions between their parents are great.

This is Duncan's story. He loves to protect the weak and the helpless, and dislikes his father's more proper noble opinion of the "unwashed masses". It's therefore perhaps quite fitting that he instantly falls for the blond angel, Linet, a woman of the merchant class. She takes on a famous pirate captain and while she momentarily gets an advantage, in short order she is captive and Duncan is after her.

Not that she knows it, of course. Duncan has chosen to disguise himself as a gypsy - so throughout the story you have Linet putting Duncan down as a common peasant, claiming she is far above him. In reality, her mother was a commoner who abandoned her noble father as soon as his family disowned him. It's a long, long time before she finally starts to think of peasants as OK to talk to (or touch!) and reconcile herself with loving a common gypsy.

I love the writing style, the laugh out loud humor, and the great details inserted into the story. Linet is a woman who deals in fabrics, so much of her observations of the world are couched in the language of dyes, fabric types, weaving techniques and more. It makes for an interesting, multi-layered story.

I also loved the way the character interactions are described. They are very vibrant and real.

That all being said, both of these characters grated on me a bit. Sure, I like it that people have flaws and are not perfect. However, Duncan the knight apparently has 19 or 20 bastard kids wandering around the castle - but he can't really identify them. He just gathers them up randomly and tells stories to them. Where did the mothers go? All the kids were taken from their moms because a castle life is better than their pitiful commoner life? Or were the moms all in the castle too - just unmentioned - and having to move on to new men?

Then he runs into Linet who - while we can complain from a modern, PC point of view that she's very snooty - is simply behaving in the class system that time period had. So she holds herself above the common folk. This is 100% opposite his daily way of life. So he supports her ... why? Because she's buxom and beautiful? He obviously had at least 20 other women who cared for him. I suppose it might be less than 20 if some women didn't learn their lesson after the first time ;) But anyway, all these women were ones he liked enough to sleep with and spend time with. Now he wants to hang around this blonde who is diametrically opposed to his viewpoints, just because she needs help. I'm sure hundreds of other women in his neighborhood also needed help and were more akin to his outlook in life. It was just her blonde hair and porcelain skin that hooked him. That's a bit depressing for a man who claims to be a see-the-true-value type.

As far as Linet goes, as I mentioned, her attitudes are non-PC but are timeline correct so you can't fault her for that. However, what I *do* fault her for is her incessant inanity. She is portrayed as very intelligent, sharp, a shrewd negotiator who can always see the profit angle in a situation. However, from the moment she meets Gypsy-Boy, he constantly tries to save her - and explains clearly what he is doing and why - and she just says "no no no" even when it will very obviously put her into more serious danger. That doesn't make any sense. She would use him to her advantage even if it was to discard him later on. For her to risk her own life - repeatedly - just to be able to say no to him just didn't ring true for me.

There was one minor point that stood out to me - he put the ring on her middle finger, as that was the finger that led to the heart. However, all the research I've done on this period said it was the finger next to the pinkie (i.e. the one we use in modern times) that was the ring finger / heart finger. I wonder if the confusion is that they sometimes say the "third finger" - because they didn't count the thumb as a finger. If someone in modern times heard third finger and did count the thumb, they'd end up in the middle. In any case, if anybody knows otherwise please let me know, because I write books on romantic traditions and this is something I'm asked about often.

So to sum up - great read! Great details about fabrics! Great humor! But the two main characters are a bit too flawed for me to 100% connect with.

The blurb promises a great Medieval romp as the eldest of the De Ware sons, Duncan, fixes his sights on Linet De Montfort whom he witnesses publicly humiliate a Spanish Reiver that she believes previously robbed her father of precious cargo. From that moment on, Duncan decides to become her bodyguard whether she likes it or not, and brave and chivilrous though that may be, it was this factor that began to irritate quite early on in the book. Though he's the heir to a small empire of estates and fortune, he obviously has nothing better to do than disguise himself in rags and stalk a woman who protests his constant presence with flagrant insults every half page. No doubt about it, she can't stand the sight of him! What ensues then is constant bickering: Linet telling Duncan to leave her alone, and Duncan telling Linet that he would not because he knows best and he says she needs his protection! AAagghhh! Campbell writes this book with great humor, but this sometimes verges on the slapstick which robs the plot of any authentic medieval flavour. Medieval England was a dark, grim, troubled yet fascinating period in history. None of this comes over in this book - even the speech feels contemporary. I think this author would write a great contemporary romance. If you are looking for a book that has a basic style of writing, a light hearted story, with an uncomplicated plot, then you will enjoy this book. But if you are looking for a sexy romance with a real, authentic slice of Medieval life then look up Roberta Gellis or Marsha Canham.

This book is a great read. Much more action and adventure than the usual "gee, does he like me" fare of the genre. Solid lead characters, with well-integrated deWare siblings hinting at even greater adventures to come, surrounded in an authentic, well-researched atmosphere of castles and moss, empowered heroines and gallant heros. True, if you like the slower, plodding plotlines of Roberta Gellis or Marsha Canham, then this book might not be for you. But if you want the double dose adrenalin rush of an espresso with a Chantico chaser, the deWare brothers deliver!

I loved this book! Read it in almost one sitting and was sorry to see it end. Duncan and Linet are a match made in heaven. Can't believe this is a first book for this author. She writes so very well, with humor and sensitivity. Look forward to "My Warrior", Ms. Campbell's second, I guess?!

Chris Ware's works have been described as `unbearably obtuse', `psychologically abusive', `bleak' and `depressing'. And these are just the descriptions offered by Mr. Ware himself. Wikipedia says, "The defining characteristics of Ware's work include a pervasive sadness and nihilism, tales of disappointment, thwarted affection, and the dehumanization of the individual in a modern and mechanized world."

So get ready for a good ole' time....

Maybe not.

Chris Ware is a very interesting artist. His visuals have an extraordinarily clean/meticulous look with extensive use of primary shapes particularly circles, simple flat colors without shading and thick black bordering. They look like they came straight from a graphics design class. The light, whimsical visual contrast dramatically with Mr. Ware crushingly depressive writing. His stories tend to focus on pathologically introverted figures and main characters who tend to be chunky misfits and loners with little to no friends. The art teacher obsesses on the appearances of his young students and spends class time trying to sneak peeks at the girl's panties. After school he smokes pot in the back of his student's car. And the teachers name? Mr. Ware.

As strange as it may sound my biggest issue with Chris Ware is his tendency to print his books in odd physical dimensions. When I purchased `Quimby the Mouse' I was surprised to find that it was an unwieldy 14 by 11 which made it difficult to store. This may seem trivial but I now check the dimensions of anything I purchase by Mr. Ware. The book I'm reviewing is a much more compact 9 by 7. Another issue I have is his tendency to use absurdly small fonts. I have very good vision and I've never worn glasses or contacts but sometimes I flat out can't read the text. You really have to see it (or not see it?) to know what I'm talking about. My last beef is that his work often goes beyond bleak into the realm of sterile. His art is SO meticulous and precise that it can sometimes lose its humanity as if it were drawn by a robot. The characters tend to resemble each other in manner and appearance with Rusty Brown and Chalky White being practically interchangeable.

This particular edition focuses on Rusty Brown, a young boy in primary school who imagines himself with super powers rescuing the Supergirl doll he carries around. The only semi friend he has is Chalky White who is equally unaccepted by his peers. Since the events are part of an ongoing series there is no beginning or end to the story and nothing triumphant or uplifting occurs. Regardless of the quality of his works it's unlikely that Chris Ware will ever have mass appeal because he is so unconventional. I enjoyed the book but I'm generally one of those people who enjoys comics and movies that are out of the mainstream. On the other hand I love a good Superman story too. I recommend the Acme collection but I can understand where Mr. Ware's critics are coming from.

Ware's Jimmy Corrigan was great, and some Acme editions are great as well, but this one is just a bit too predictable. Drawings still great, color too, but more crazy little details is what i miss in this one.

Chris Ware is a fantastic draftsman. He does not create good comics however. His comics are depressing & lifeless. This might be his point, but if this is what "grown up" comics are about, we'd be better off keeping comics for kids, full of optimism & dynamism.

Chris Ware says this in the small print himself -- this volume is not as good as previous volumes. And I realize now he wasn't being his usual, excessively self-deprecating self on this point. It is TRUE. This volume is thin on plot -- and even sort of tinny in tone. Mr Ware must have been stretching himself thin at the time of its creation -- he was doing live engagements and all those decidedly unfunny panels for the Sunday New York Times magazine's "Funny Pages."

I should have considered myself warned by his fine print. But I thought he was being funny.

I much admire C.W. work. The book is flawlessly designed. The amount of details is amazing (don't forget to check the barcode sticker with the "warning" on the back cover...

Thirty years ago we swore by The Cruising Guide to the New England Coast when we cruised in our Tartan 41. However, technology has increased the ability to receive the latest data. It would be good if the folks who bring us this Cruising Guide would have a web site to give us the latest information on the dredging of channels, great places to buy fish, etc. The book is outdated. However, it was a good read.

While the cover for this book says 'Updated' and is labeled 12th edition, it appears to be a 2002 printing of a 1990 copyrighted texted. It describes the use of GPS briefly and refers to 'when it works, it is okay'. Obviously the comment predates the bombing raids on Bagdad. The description of harbors is little changed from a 1978 printing but having visited some of these harbors in 2004, I found the names, phone numbers and parts of the onshore facilities' descriptions totally out of date. I returned mine...hope you find a more up-to-date reference.

a must have for the serious cruiser, a joy just to read as well.

Maptech is a better quick reference guide and more useful for navigation

A wonderful and entertaining resource book. It is filled not only with reference information for the cruising sailor, but geography, advice, local history and accounts of sailing (mis)adventures.

Well worth reading for anyone who loves the Northeast coastline - whether or not they have ever entered an unfamiliar harbor, short of food and fuel, just ahead of a storm.