Cultural Arts Books

What a great gift--for one's own nosalgic journey and for anyone else who will want to have a keepsake of the times and tides of our nation's preoccupations, whether with celebrities, politicians, sports figures, important 'voices' of inspiration. The pictures are captivating; the joy is infectious. It speaks volumes about how and why Oprah has led the way for a nation's curiosity and insight. It reminds us of all of the friends we've made as Oprah introduced us to who was 'happening' and how we came to open our world to all of them. Important !!

I'm a huge fan of Oprah Winfrey. I've watched her television show since it first came on the air. TO OPRAH WITH LOVE has wonderful color photos from many of my favorite episodes. It's filled with pictures of Oprah with tons of celebrities, politicians, sports heros, authors and others. So many priceless moments from her tv career are captured on these pages. It's just like a photo album filled with pictures of your best friends and family! As I first looked thru it I realized how much Oprah has made me laugh, made me cry, made me think, made me wonder and made me happy! I'll cherish this book! Wow!

THIS IS THE REAL THING.AN ABSOLUTELY PRICELESS CHRONICLE OF OPRAH THOUGHOUT THE YEARTS.IT SHOWS HER AS SHE EVOLVED AND FEATURES ALMOST OF HER MOST CELEBRATED GUESTS.THIS IS MORE THAN JUST A BEATIFUL PICTURE BOOK.IT IS A HISTORY OF TELEVISION AND OUR TIME.IT ALSO WISELY LETS EVERY PICTURE TEELL THE SORY AND DOES NOT CONTAIN A LOT OF PUFFERY.THIS LIMITED EDITIOB IS A THE BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR.

This book will transcend you to a time and place that makes you feel at peace with nature. Merrick's writing is like poetry in motion. You will wish you could have been there to experience the times when he is at one with the universe. The people and places he is writing about no longer exist, which is the greatest pity of all.

I read some of the previous reviews before getting this and some were positive and some negative...I have to say I was very much pleased with the book, excellent story and tale with local dialogue to add an element of adventure and flair. I just really enjoyed the story and to see the hardships people faced...

A fascinating book! A well written account by a man who traveled extensively in the Canadian North in the 1930s, just as the traditional remoteness that had characterized that world was ending with the introduction of planes and other technologies. Merrick was a keen and sympathetic friend of the North, its history and its Native peoples.

it was a good book, i couldn't put it down, i strongly suggest it.

This is the life and times of Tupac Shakur in a manner approachable by students in the 5th to 8th grade. If you teach in an innercity-- get this for your classroom.

The author has done a great job of writing and research. The book has given me more understanding of the muscic. Highly recommended for all Tupac's fans.

As a social science student, I found this book invaluable in its incisive exposure of Eurocentrism. The authors treat the subject in a mature manner, and offer an alternative, that of decentering the discussion and making it multi-centric rather than Euro-centric. This book is sensitively written and does not offend Europeans, but seeks to reveal the hidden ways in which Eurocentrism manifests itself. I experienced the reading of this book as liberating and as a validation of my own thinking. I read a university library copy, but I intend to purchase a copy for my children to read - and to refer back to time and time again. It is a timeless work.

I started reading Unthinking Eurocentrism one night and couldn't sleep until I had finished it. Shohat and Stam's briliantly written, often witty, book is an intellectual page turner. I plan to read it again.

I started reading Unthinking Eurocentrism one night and couldn't sleep until I had finished it. Shohat and Stam's briliantly written, often witty, book is an intellectual page turner. I plan to read it again.

Here is a book for everyone who thinks that ideas are the greatest source of power on the planet. Within this highly-readable volume, you'll find ideas from more than sixty original thinkers - people who, depending on your point of view, can be described as mavericks, geniuses, philosophers, mystics, agitators, insurgents, visionaries, leaders, or members of the lunatic fringe.

The profiles are billed as presenting "People and Ideas to Change Your Life." That may be a tall order to fill, but the range of ideas presented will, at the very least, make you re-think your view of the world and the people in it. It is a book of possibilities and alternative viewpoints, of helpful suggestions and dire warnings - little or none of which you'll find championed in the mainstream media. These are the voices the establishment wants to relegate to the hinterlands of public debate. They are important voices, regardless of whether you find yourself nodding in agreement or shaking your head in bemusement.

This book presents profiles of the most original minds of our time. The Utne Reader editors have outdone themselves with the selection of this compilation. The biographical information is amazing, and the ideas that sprang from those experiences will sweep you away. The book literally cuts across the entire board: Included are scientists, mystics, activists, business leaders, talk show hosts, poets, dissidents, musicians, novelits, Buddhists, rabbis, economists, bankers, futurists, jazz singers, environmentalists, architects, community organizers, feminists, dissenters, book clubers, journalits, conservationists, philosphers, healers, dancers, and America's leading Idler. A small sample of some these amazing people:

* THOMAS BERRY: Catholic priest, environmental philosopher, grandfather of the religious ecology movement. "We have a moral sense of suicide, homocide, and genocide, but no moral sense of biocide or geocide, the killing of the life systems themselves..."

* NOAM CHOMSKY: After Marx, Lenin, Shakespeare, Aristotle, the Bible, Plato, and Freud comes Chomsky on the most quoted top ten list. As you can see, he is the only living person on the list, making him numero uno in the land of the living. Linguist, political analyst, and America's most prominent dissident.

* THICH NHAT HANH: Described as a "living Buddha." "Peace is present right here and now, in ourselves and everything we do and see. The question is whether or not we are in touch with it."

* SATISH KUMAR: Magazine editor, global wander, and advocate of spiritual ecology. "There is a dance between what you know and what you don't know. The place of mystery is the essential ingredient."

* ZALMAN SCHACHTER-SHALOMI: Radically genius, dancing spiritualist, LSD-imbibing rabbi scholar, and flagstaff leader of the "psycho-eco-spiritual revolution of our millennial age."

* STARHAWK: Pagan, feminist, author, activist, protestor, rejuvenator of rituals in American life. "And by `sacred' what I mean is not a great something that you bow down to, but what determines your values, what you would take and stand for."

* FRANCES MOORE LAPPE: Author of "Diet for A Small Planet," chronicler of community activism across the country, promoter of public life. "I made a vow to myself that I would never do anything else again in my life until I understood how it related to the underlying causes of human suffering."

* HELENA NORBERG-HODGE: Advocate of alternative development, defender of global diversity and local culture, founder of the Ladakh Project, a group dedicated to helping Ladakhis understand that they can choose which of the Western ways they want to adopt and which of the traditional ways they want to keep. "The destructive global economy exists only as long as we are prepared to accept it and subsidize it. We can reject it."

* JOHN PAPWORTH: Human-scale advocate, former assistant to the president of Zambia, "shoplifting vicar," and protestor of "car madness." "There is surely reason to suppose that local people running their own neighborhood are far more likely to do what is decent than government ministers trapped in the entrails of power mongering on a mass scale."

* JIM HIGHTOWER: Self-described populist, radio personality, former Texas commissioner of agriculture. "It won't be long before your church alter is adorned with a flashing neon sign hustling St. Joseph's aspirin."

* WINONA LaDUKE: Anishinaabe nationalist, Green Party vice presidential candidate, founder of the White Earth Recovery Project. "We all need to choose some ground and stick to it."

* GEOFF MULGAN: Policy adviser to British prime-minister Tony Blair, founder of the Demos think tank, and chronicler of connectedness. "The most pressing social problems no longer stem from an absence of freedom, but rather from too much freedom that leads to antisocial and self-destructive behavior..."

* MUHAMMAD YUNUS: Founder of the Grameen Bank and "micro-credit," champion of women, and economist. "I avoid grandiose plans."

* FRITJOF CAPRA: Ecological philosopher, physicist, and ecoliteracy advocate. "The environment is no longer one of many `single issues': it is the context of everything else-our lives, our business, our politics."

* THEO COLBORN: Scientist, formulator of important theory about chemicals disrupting our endocrine systems. "Every one of you is carrying at least five hundred measurable chemicals in your body that were never in anybody's body before the 1920s."

* EDWARD GOLDSMITH: Green firebrand, founder of "The Ecologist" magazine, crusader against the global economy. "Nearly everyone today seems to accept the preposterous view that modern man is actually `improving' the world..."

* PAUL HAWKEN: Entrepreneur, green businessman, and prophet of a sustainable economy. Advocates nothing short of replacing our "throw-away" culture with a "closed-loop system".

* HAZEL HENDERSON: Futurist, sustainable-development advocate, self-taught economist. "If I had been inducted into Economics 101, I would have suffered brain damage."

* WILLIAM McDONOUGH: Architect, industrial designer, and pioneer of the next industrial revolution. "The model for the next industrial revolution may have well been right in front of us the whole time: a tree."

Other profiles include: KENNY AUSUBEL & AND NINA SIMONS, ANDREW KIMBRELL, DAVID MORIS, ANDRES DUANY & ELIZABETH PLATER-ZYBERK, STEPHAN AND ONDREA LEVINE, VIRGINIA VALENTINE, MICHAEL LIND, ROBERTA BRANDES GRATZ, JANE JACOBS, GARY DELGADO, TED HALSTEAD, RIANE EISLER, COLIN GREER, BELL HOOKS, JERRY MANDER, ERNESTO CORTES JR, THEOADORE ROSZAK, CHARLENE SPRETNAK, GLORIA ANZALDUA, OCTAVIA BUTLER, EDUARDO GALEANO, GEORGE GERBNER, BARBARA MARX HUBBARD, KALLE LASN, BOBBY McFERRIN, BILL MOYERS, NEIL POSTMAN, RACHEL ROSENTHAL, JOHN RALSTON SAUL, WILLIAM STRICKLAND, LARRY DOSSEY, CHELLIS GLENDINNING, SUSAN GRIFFIN, JAMES HILLMAN, TOM HODGKINSON, HENRY & DAREN KIMSEY-HOUSE, JANE MAXWELL, VICKI ROBIN, BABRIELLE ROTH, and ALICE WATER, DONELLA MEADOWS, BILL McKIBBEN

I came across this book not long ago while looking for something completely different. After reading a few of the small bios in it about activists such as Bill Moyers, Noam Chomsky, and bell hooks to name a few, I bought it.

The best thing about the book is not the bios of the famous. It is the moving and inspiring stories of the unknowns. The activists who have worked tirelessly for years and decades to fix some injustice that they will receive very little praise for.

It made me realize (I guess I had known, but needed verification) that one person can make a REAL difference and after reading this book, I won't stand idle while a problem openly exists.

only 4 words, It Is The Best

I LIKE THIS BOOK!! Oh yeah by the way Sammy Sosa is going to win the homerun chase.He is going to kick mark mcgwire's behind back to Oakland where he belongs. Sammy deserves to win he doesn't take sterioids he takes flinston vitimans. GO SOSA!!

I read this book at a difficult time in my life. My mother had died days before, and I was sitting in the closest weeping, when by my foot lay a copy of Will Power! I wiped away the tears and began to read, expectantly, looking for answers.

I was inspired and enraptured to say the least, and my life suddenly took on new meaning. I could breath again, I could sing again. I began to rap involuntarily. I could not stop rapping, until musical ecstacy permeated every pour of my being. I was liberated at last from the sorrows of my recent loss.

Thank you Will Power! for changing my life forever.

Way back when this was released it completely changed my life. In later life I think I have a broader perspective, but it's still in my pantheon. I enjoyed re-reading these interviews while listening to the extensive FREE interviews with Throbbing Gristle available at the SavageRepublic and Mobilization places. It tells the story of a time that is gone now, as it was decaying.

The W.S. Burroughs photo in this issue was the late Dr. Timothy's favorite of Bill Burroughs--the great one with the gun in his hand. This alone is worth the price. Great photo, especially with the interview of Burroughs and the part about the murder of wife Joan in Mexico City. "There are no accidents" Burroughs liked to say all the rest of his life, after the 'accidental' shooting of Joan.

I received this book as a gift, as an admirer of these people's work and ideas, I found it to be a very interesting and comprehensive collection of writings, photos, graphics and interviews. An excellent introduction for people who are curious about the subjects presented here. A very inspiring book for those who..............

Although I am very much an casual student of Japanese, I was attracted by the contents of this publication as I flicked through it at the bookshop. It is a translation of an old (1973) work by Takao Suzuki, a Japanese linguistics academic. Surprisingly the book is written in a quite light style, with some humor even if a little dated. On the surface I found the book quite exciting because it helps explain how words which appear to have similar meanings from a 'dictionary' viewpoint, can have very different social meanings and cultural usage. Examples are the verbs "cut" and "wear", which appear relatively simple to English speakers, yet have a range of different verbs and very different contexts in their Japanese usage. The section on the cultural context of the words "lips", "nose" and "chin", for example, start to bring a feeling for the complexity of meaning, and perhaps the inadequacy of many dictionary definitions which up to now I had taken at face value.

Moving through to the last chapter "Words for Self and Others" I found myself totally captivated by Suzuki's clear exposition of the misclassification of these parts of Japanese speech according to a misunderstanding of their relationship to English personal pronouns. It sounds heavy, but it is not, on the contrary it is a clear insight into the social context of words and language. I will never see those words in the same light again, and my Japanese will be certainly better for it.

At a much more profound level Suzuki expounds his core belief that words create things, in contrast to our "natural" acceptance of the idea that objects exist independently of language. If this is too deep then fortunately it does not impose on the value of the book at the more pedestrian level at which I thoroughly enjoyed it.

If you are a curious student of Japanese, then you will enjoy this book. I intend to read it again, and expect to enjoy it at least as much as the first time.

This is a wonderful book. Suzuki teaches us how to see our own language and culture "from the outside" (from the perspective of a non-Indo-European mentality); because of this I have assigned Suzuki's book as a required text in several college courses on language and culture. I particularly recommend the sections on "translatability" (especially chapters 1 and 2) and the chapter on "Words for Self and Others" (chapter 6). The latter reports a splendid bit of linguistic research and analysis that any reader can understand and appreciate: in it Suzuki undertakes to explain how and why "I" and "You" relate to one another differently in Japanese- and English-speaking cultures.

Wors In Context will give you an angle by which you may evaluate your deeply held cultural concepts, especially those that you may not consciously consider as cultural (and therefore, fluid) concepts.

For example, the author considers the concept of mercy killing of animals. The average American mind would consider it a cruelty not to "alleviate misery" and through this lens, any alternate behavior becomes a violation of Natural Law. The Japanese concept as put forth in this book considers "mercy killing" a human-centered concept that, as such, is the antithesis of holding the animal's corporeality in high regard. Nature should decide the fate of an animal, instead.

So, we have here two differing ideas of right-to-life concepts that people hold with the highest integrity. what to do??

Another example extends the differing concepts on animals by examining our relationships with pets. Whereas the American must have complete obedience of the animal to his every whim, the Japanese concept of a pet recognizes this treatment as a larger distortion of nature and gives more leeway for a dog to be a dog.

(New York city in this light is an eye-opening case indeed as the New Yorker's near pet-worship is held in its highest dysfunctional relief when a man kneels to pick up after his dog, while the dog stares on and seemingly recongnizes and enjoys this debasing servitude. "Kind master, you missed a bit.")

Despite that last poke, don't take the book as a polemic. It's not. It's just a solid exposition with ample reflection that, at a minimum, gets you far away from any of the common and misguided blanket statements on Japanese culture. However, in a wider view, the book gives many opportunities for you to evaluate your own culture.

It is difficult to understand your own culture by holding it up to its own standards.

Use this book to take a look inside yourself and learn something about Japan along the way.

Whether one is a beginning ethnographer or one is an advanced ethnographer wanting to learn more, Goodall's book is extremely helpful. His writing style is accessible, but does not shy away from the difficult questions. His insights on living an ethnographic life will make an ethnographer of anyone.

I read this text from beginning to end in one day! That is how interesting this work is. Not only does the text provide valuable conceptual clarity, but also exercises for students to help them along the road (God help them!) from research to writing the ethnographic report. Also of great value is the attention the author gives to writing as method: both in terms of writing up fieldnotes and the final report. Students need to grasp the importance of writing within ethnographic research. Dr. Goodall (I think they call him Dr. Bud) provides! I plan to use this text in an undergraduate class on the sociology of everyday life. Certainly great for graduate students as well.

Bud Goodall's book is probably the most important work that I have read the entire time I have been in school. Why? Bud writes in a clear, yet soothing voice, clarifying concepts, not in dictionary-like language, but through his ease of story-telling, narrative and analysis. He covers the whole range of concepts regarding not 'how to do ethnography,' but 'how to be an ethnographer.'

He takes on the hard topics. He talks plainly about the being reflexive and studying yourself as you go out to the site, watching for your own biases and preconditioned sensemaking. He discusses the hard aspect of leaving the site - when you have come to know the folks you've been watching and learning from. He discusses perhaps the hardest part of all - the writing of the ethnography, the development of one's own voice - the necessity of writing, rewriting, editing - and then writing again.

Bud's book is chockful of good concrete information, and yet when you are done reading, you realize the grandest part of all: He did it all with only a few bullet points, but with a great style of writing that makes you want to read it all over again.

This collection of 1000 signs covers everything from postings you see every day to those that are unique to various locations, such as Australia's kangaroo crossing sign. Chapters are: Animals, Man, Stop, Dog, Transport, Children, Miscellaneous, Danger, Weapons, Toilets, No! and Work. Not much text, printed in English, German and French. Photos are in color. Photographers and locations credited, but no index. This is a goofy but fun book, and interesting to leaf through.

The title of this intriguing chunky photo book has a word missing, it should have been '1000 ROAD SIGNS'. Actually probably about 940 official highway signs and the rest being privately made but still relating to roads. The three-language text for the twelve chapters (Animals, Man, Stop, Dog, Transport, Children, Miscellaneous, Danger, Weapons, Toilets, No! and Work) is on single pages and mixed into the relevant photo sections. Considering that the subject matter is rather uninspiring, visually this book looks rather good, photos are twelve, six, four or one to a page and there are plenty of spreads with one photo.

There are some pretty weird signs, too. One from South Africa has an explanation mark in a triangle with three words below, 'CAUTION ROAD STOLEN', Australia has a no swearing sign, a red outline circle with a red diagonal across the body of a man, by his head there are five marks, *!#"?.

I'm not quite sure who this book is aimed at, highway engineers and transport planners, graphic designers, or readers who go for quirky books (me) but as it was produced in conjunction with Colors Magazine (Taschen published their '1000 Extraordinary Objects ISBN 382285851X) you can be assured of something a bit different to leave on your coffee table.