California Books

The book was exactly what I wanted for a Christmas present and at a good price.

Los Angeles. There were a few years there when Los Angles was the center of the world. 1965-1985, give or take a few years. Oh yes, even the Brits were raving. David Hockney had declared LA the best place to paint ("Splash") and Reyner Banham declared LA the city of tomorrow. Things were cooking and I was there. Then things started to go wrong. Spielberg and the boys from USC took over Hollywood and turned the city from a culture center into an amusement park. The pollution started to get too dangerous to laugh at. The gangs took over much of the fringe. There was Rodney King, O.J., riots, earthquakes, fires, gang warfare. All in all, the city was destroyed. Who knows what Banham might make of the place now. This is a great little book.

Outstanding book about Los Angeles, a must-read for anyone interested in history, architecture, and culture.It reads like poetry.

Reyner Banham's writing is intelligent and entertaining. He has taken LA to heart and reveals how its "four ecologies" have affected its contemporary appearance and character. You'll not only learn how LA's architecture came to be as it is, but learn a great deal about the history and personality of the city as well. I read this book to get to know LA better. I couldn't have picked a better one.

Even though Banham's book was written in the early '70's, it remains a cogent view of a metropolis that has changed yet remained the same. It is a place, yes a real place, that is defined by geography and the various cultures of its inhabitants to a unique degree. Architecture is but a backdrop to Banham's larger point about the inter-relationship of people to the natural and built environments. The perspective of 35 years only sharpens the observations made by the insightful author.

Magic Quizdom is a must-have for any Disneyland fan. With three levels of difficulty, every Disneyland aficionado will be able to join in the fun.
The Magic Quizdom is a fantastic book to bring when going to Disneyland. It's especially useful when waiting in long lines, like the one for Nemo's Submarine Voyage. You can quiz your friends or make new friends and quiz others around you. It's a blast for everyone.

This book gives you some great little unknown facts in a fun format. A must if you are a true Disney nut!

Kevin Yee (of the best Disney website on the Internet: Miceage.com) and Jason Schultz have put together a terrific treasure trove of little known facts and trivia about Disneyland. While Gordon and Mumford's Disneyland: The Nickle Tour is STILL the best book ever produced about the theme park, this surprisingly dense effort offers in words a perfect companion to what they provide in photographs. Together, they provide a wonderful two volume reference set about the Happiest Place on Earth. My one and only complaint is that it's, well, organized as a multiple choice trivia book, albeit with paragraph long answers that go far beyond the question asked. I feel that more could have been accomplished had it just been written as a book, and thus I found myself skipping the question sections altogether and just reading the "answer" sections because that's where the true magic of this book is. All in all, it's great. This is one of the first books about Disneyland without pictures that I absolutely couldn't put down! Purchase this at Miceage and support Kevin!

As someone who frequents Disneyland about 40 times a year thanks to an annual pass, I thought I knew everything about Disneyland. This book gives valuable insight to little known facts. Sure, maybe they can be looked up on the internet or are common knowledge to some, but it's nice to have it all in a nice, inexpensive little book. In fact, my wife and I have taken this book to Disneyland to verify some of the information. If you want a different slant on history, background and secrets of Disneyland, this is a good place to start.

Barbara Berglund's wonderful new book let's us see the kind of people who made San Francisco fun, as well as fascinating. She takes the standard histories of the City by the Bay, turns them upside down and gives us a way to look at San Francisco that has never been done before. An important book for any bookshelf devoted to the city's history.

At last, a new interpretation of the San Francisco history we all know and love! It was refreshing to see Ms. Berglund explain how the masculine, multi-cultural frontier town evolved into an American City. We often read about the dominant personages and the gold rush phenomenon, but this book looks at the every day activities of the boarding houses and restaurants, the fairs and amusements and explains how race, class and gender figured into our culture. Brava!

Just when you thought there was nothing new to be said about 19th and early 20th century San Francisco, along comes Barbara Berglund with this splendid and readable book. By examining how the city's social elites turned the cultural stew of the Gold Rush years into a stratified society more in keeping with national norms, Berglund changes the way we think about San Francisco and the stereotypes that still color its character. Using places of amusement, hotels, restaurants and other "cultural frontiers" as her guide, Berglund takes us on a fascinating ride through San Francisco history and brings us to the present with a greater understanding of one of the pivotal cities of the American West.

We all know (well, most of us) what today's city by the bay looks like and even feels like. For the story on how San Francisco got this way -- and you should want to know this, too -- you must read this wonderfully researched report. From brothels to museums, it's all here. And barely a century old!

Best known as the executive chef of Dallas' Mansion on Turtle Creek, Dean Fearing soars above Texas and, indeed Southern Regional Cooking. This book is a must for anyone interested in the subtlties of taste combinations. While many of the ingredients are not easy to find in much of America's hinterland, those on either coast should have no problem in achieving Fearing's direction. Additionally, to those fearful of the small portions usually associated with today's fashion cuisine, Fearing's quantity of hearty food matches a True Texan's appitite.

I thoroughly enjoyed every page of this cookbook chef fearing a grad of cia is a wonderfully talented and inventive chef who cuisine should not be missed when in dallas . If you can't go there personally he has given every detail on how to prepare his heavenly dishes at home

Chef Fearing's food at The Mansion has been a legend for over 20 years, with fresh ingredients that look as good as they taste, with his use of generally local Texan ingredients.

I've dined at The Mansion years ago, and would give it a true Michelin star for the service and quality then, and would only hope it earned two Michelin stars (out of 3) today.

This cookbook is from 1987, and with it's easy to follow recipes, fairly easy to get (or substitute) ingredients, and few well chosen color pictures, I give it 5 Amazon stars today. (I like it much better than it's sequel that purports to mix Asian with Sowthwestern cuisine.)

Recipes include: Chilled avocado soup with Tangerine-lime sorbet, Lobster and apple bisque, Southwest corn chowder. More involved recipes include fried oysters stuffed with crabmeat, stir-fried shrimp with spicy peanut sauce (16 ingredients, including brown veal demi-glace) and pineapple chutney (13 ingredients).

I like the look of Oven baked chicken with maple pecan crust and pan sauce, roasted garlic potatoes, and cranberry-orange relish in sweet potato cups.

He gives delicious tricks of the trade, with information on cold smoking of meats and vegetables, to give his flair and signature to some dishes.

He gives instructions on making the brown veal stock, with pretty standard instructions that are clearly written, and his fish stock simmers for 20-25 minutes, also standard. Thus, one needn't buy prepared stock, or go to other books for recipes.

His brining is different, intended for smoking game, meat and fish. It starts with fairly standard salt, onion, celery and carrot, and adds various herbs, chillies and white wine...this is a unique restaurant technique that works well for home smoking of food. (It's easy to adapt one's charcoal or even gas grill for smoking, as one does not need a dedicated smoker ...)

Even Simon David, the upper end Dallas grocery store, is still in business for mail order of some ingredients, so do not worry if there's one choice ingredient missing.

Make some Chocolate Jack Daniel's Ice Cream or Bradley Ogden's Molasses spice cake with lemon curd sauce (don't let the curd sauce boil on it's "medium heat"), look through the recipes, and cook up some great food!

For those who have dined at the Mansion on Turtle Creek in Dallas, or for anyone who is deeply involved in the craft of gourmet cooking, this book is culinary heaven. The photographs of some of the dishes in the book are indeed fine art, and they entice the reader to make permanent residence in the kitchen studio, with spatula-paintbrush in hand, and mimic or alter at will the recipes in the book. Having cooked all the main dishes in the book, with varying degress of success, I can vouch for the idea that one must depart frequently from strict adherence to the recipes. Definitely try the creme brulee, but use a cooking torch instead of broiling. Can't find quail? Use Cornish hens instead of course.

Painters are often their own worst enemies when speaking about their work, obscuring rather than enlightening. But not Matisse. The intelligent and painter knew the trap that speaking of his art could be, yet his own comments on it are intelligent and illuminating. This book is fine reading that's a help to the working painter, as well as the viewer. You'll look at Matisse's great paintings with a fresh eye after reading it. And that's what matters.

Painters are often their own worst enemies when speaking about their work, obscuring rather than enlightening. But not Matisse. The intelligent and painter knew the trap that speaking of his art could be, yet his own comments on it are intelligent and illuminating. This book is fine reading that's a help to the working painter, as well as the viewer. You'll look at Matisse's great paintings with a fresh eye after reading it. And that's what matters.

Here are compiled the writings of and interviews with Matísse. It is not only about his estethic concerns but also about his feeling for life. The latter was his underlying motif in his paintings. This book is very interesting also for people without artistic concerns since Matísse here conveys his fine-tuned philosophy of life. A highly rewarding book that one can return to many times.

Mats Winther

If you want to extend the boundaries of ordinary perception, in order to produce unique, distinctive visions read "Matisse on Art." It is a critical piece of literature written by a masterfully innovative painter. I recommend it as a professional artist for nearly 20 years and as an art professor.

IF YOU WANT TO SPEND AN EVENING READING A MOST INTERESTING LIFE STORY THIS BOOK IS FOR YOU. IT WILL NOT ONLY INTRIGUE YOU BUT ENTERTAIN AND EDUCATE YOU AS WELL. I COULDN'T PUT THE BOOK DOWN AND THOUGHT OF MANY FRIENDS TO WHOM I WANT TO RECOMMEND IT.....A VERY EXCELLENT BOOK.

Since the author is the main character, you know she lived to write about her tragic ordeal: breast cancer treatment that literally killed her heart. . . muscle. This story, as awesome as it sounds is a page turner. You won't be able to put it down. Any woman who has breast cancer or knows someone who has had it, should read this book. There is some excellent advice in it. And in the end, it's actually UPLIFTING!

This is human interest story that will move you to tears of joy and make you marvel at Nancy's indomitable will to live. Reading this story made me realize how lucky I am to have the health that I do. Nancy Pedder is a phenomenally strong woman who has never let her health issues cloud her positivity and zest for life. She has dealt with challenges that would make a lesser human crumble, in a way that is to be admired and respected. Nancy should be an inspiration to all that are organ recipients and the families of organ donors. I admire how she continues to make the most of the second shot at life that she got through her donated heart and how she is determined to lead the charge to promote organ donation.

Once I began reading, I couldn't put the book down until the I finished it! This book has numerous endorsements from the medical profession, but like Nancy Pedder, I too am a cancer survivor, and this book is an INCREDIBLE account of the author's ordeal. Pedder truly has a knack for telling her story; one which will keep you on the edge of your seat until the very last page. Not only will the reader be amazed and astonished at the incredible odds Nancy overcame and SURVIVED, but also this book tugs at your heart (no pun intended) and will hopefully be a positive impact on organ donation. Nancy's story makes you not only want to stand and cheer that you are allive, but also makes you want to thank God each day for the many blessings we sometimes overlook. This is the MOST positive book I have ever read on surviving cancer - and as a 17 year cancer suvivor, I should know. Everyone should read this book!

As a new member of the club, I really appreciate Bert's candor throughout his experience. He's witty and a great story teller. I was hoping for more humor, but I guess there really isn't much in the process to laugh about. I am glad I waited until after having the procedure to read this book. My recovery has been much better than the author's, and the book may have been "too real" before the operation. However, I definitely was able to relate to his war stories after the fact and highly recommend reading this book durine recovery.

Take down the wallful of industry awards, put away the Clios, move over Beethoven, this is Bert Gottlieb's finest hour. Not that Beethoven would notice, nor Dicken's or Faulkner for that matter. This is not just a book. Not just a string of incisive words, carefully and beautifully crafted; it's more the struggle of a man who was suddenly scared witless, and emerges, witfully, I must add, scaring the boogey man.

This is a must read for anyone over 50. Not a manual about the aspects of Prostate Cancer, although it is that, rather a chronicle of the all too human being we all carry around in us and forget.

I read it in two sittings and I was moved. There were laughs, there were tears. I learned a lot. I hope I never have to use what I learned. If I do, I hope I can face it a bravely as Bert Gottlieb did.

Well done!

An intimate and courageous encounter of one man's bout withprostate cancer. Bert Gottlieb treats his fears and anxieties withmegadoses of wit. Concurrently, Dr. Thomas Mawn open his notes to reveal his analysis of every phase of the case, never losing sight of the patient's and his family's feelings. Everyone with a prostate must read this book. All others will find it a well written, entertaining story. END

THIS IS AN EXCELLENT BOOK THAT ALL MEN SHOULD READ. I BOUGHT A COPY FOR MY DAD, FATHER-IN-LAW AND HUSBAND. IT IS IMPORTANT FOR THEM TO KNOW ABOUT IT.

Wonderful book.
Excellent exercises and full of history.
I'm not an expert in traverso, but the fingering chart is very complete and ideal for who want to learn by yourself.

This is one of the best method books I've seen for a historical instrument. Every essential topic is covered: tuning, intonation, articulation, fingering, baroque & classical ornamentation (fingering for trills off of each note, for instance). Period sources (notably Quantz, plus several others) are quoted frequently. There is also a good discussion on the differences between different historical models. Plus there is a wealth of exercises and tunes from the period. While not pretending to be complete in every sense, this is far superior to many methods I've seen for recorder and other instruments. It's also quite affordable.

I have been playing the modern, silver (Boehm system) flute for over 25 years as a hobby and a magnificent obsession. For some time, I had been thinking about playing the baroque or one-keyed flute. The thought of moving to an instrument with a softer, subtler sound fashioned from organic material (wood) appealed to me. Expressing this interest to my flute teacher recently, he very kindly volunteered to loan me two of his baroque flutes (a boxwood Folkers & Powell and an ebony Von Huene) to see which I preferred, along with this book. For the past two months, I have spent some time on a self-guided study of these new instruments with the help of this book which I am finding to be an amazingly informative, straightforward and an extremely practical introduction to this instrument. It takes the reader from a point of knowing very little about playing a one-keyed flute to a point of playing a full repertoire and then beyond to the "top 13" 18th century flute tutors. Starting with the history of the instrument and then moving to the very basics of holding the instrument, developing a sound, developing a tone, intonation and fingerings, it lays out very clear charts, trill tables and over 80 pages of exercises, scale studies and music to play.

As noted in the preface, this book is intended as a method book written for players of the Boehm-system flute who are already somewhat familiar with tone production and modern flute technique hoping to provide the flutist with information for the initial approach to the instrument. It is not intended as a musicological treatise, but a practical and useful guide which cites historical sources offering "a broad diversity of opinions which challenge us to explore the ideas of 18th century writers and incorporate them into our present-day experience."

Dockendorff Boland advises taking a little time each day to focus on learning the instrument, incorporating in that study readings from the early flute tutors such as Quantz On Playing the Flute: Second Edition, Hotteterre Principes de la Flute. Reprint der Amsterdamer Ausgabe von 1728 etc., as well as paying attention to the work done by players all over the world in developing their own expression.

This book goes a long way in demystifying the understanding and comprehension of a historic instrument making it accessible to anyone willing to take a little time to learn.

The book has great instruction at your fingertips to start learning the one-keyed flute. There is so much here! But it's not bogged down with copious trivia. This book is especially helpful for the Boehm flutist who wishes to transition into some baroque flute playing. When you purchase this volume, you'll have everything you need (apart from the instrument itself!) to get started, and also to avoid injury to your hands and fingers through incorrect position or over-practicing. Wonderful, sound advice clearly presented.

The funiest book I have read in years. If you liked The Mouse That Roared you will love this one.

Moonlight Bowl Manifesto is a bit wacky, a little wicked and lots fun. Barbara Jones dissects contemporary California society with wit and humor. When the bowling team 'kidnaps' the chi chi California crowd, chuckles and even belly laughs are inescapable. A wonderful read--thought provoking in the best tradition of well written satire.

This book registers 7.5 on the laughter Richter Scale. Ms. Jones' talent for satire is brilliantly displayed in her first work, Moonlight Bowl Manifesto. She not only skewers the stereotypical Californian, but the rest of us-reviving us with large doses of common sense and kindness. What a funny, subtle, wise dissection of our society this is!

In "Moonlight Bowl Manifesto: A Cure for California," Barbara Jones has fashioned a wild satirical romp over social and political correctness. When a member of a bowling team comes up with an instant wood-eating formula, the bowlers hold hostage an auditorium filled with famous people by threatening to destroy a forest, particularly a famous tree called General Sherman. The book is filled with memorable characters, such as a woman who believes her pig is the reincarnation of her dead husband, and a lawyer who has to share her body with Margaret Mitchell and a hippie. Among the other strange folks is a celebrity who has to take medication to lighten his skin and maintain his feminine characteristics, until his privileges are taken away and strange things begin to happen to his mind and body. A fun read, one that won the 2000 Georgia Author of the Year Award for First Novel.

Morning Glory: A Biography of Mary Lou Williams is an interesting work that captures the personality of the wonderfully talented musician. The biography captures the struggles and achievements of Williams; it also shares some amusing details that make the book hard to put down for anyone interested in the careers of early black musicians.

An engagingly written book on a much ignored, extremely talented musician. Mary Lou Williams was (and is) respected by music giants the world over, including the likes of Duke Ellington. This book puts Williams' importance to American music in perspective, and gives her the overdue credit she so obviously deserves.

My recommendation is to put on a MLW disc, sit back and read. It will be a rewarding experience.

Mary Lou Williams' jazz experiences are detailed in a biography which covers both her life and career and her role as an Afro-American female musician. Dahl was given unlimited access to the Williams archive and her first full-length biography of Williams makes for an important coverage.

It's too easy (and condescending) to say that Mary Lou Williams was one of the greatest female jazz artists; she actually was one of the greatest, period. Her compositions and arrangements for the Andy Kirk band while she was a member throughout the 1930s brought much praise and admiration at the time (and still do today). (She also arranged for Benny Goodman, Tommy Dorsey, and other top-rated swing band leaders.) She was a sensational pianist, too, one of the finest boogie-woogie and stride players in jazz; she was also a great innovator and was among the first to master and play bebop in the 1940s. She greatly influenced many modern pianists, and personally changed the styles of Bud Powell and Thelonious Monk. Mary Lou was a deeply religious person and wrote much religious music and kept very close relations with the Catholic Church (Ms. Dahl covers this aspect of Mary Lou's life very thoroughly.) Williams was a demanding player and seemed to have her greatest difficulties dealing with incompatible bass players (she once fired the great bassist Richard Williams during a New York club engagement). Linda Dahl has written a detailed and comprehensive biography of Mary Lou, covering all her musical and extra-musical activities. Included is a nicely organized selective discography. Anyone familiar with Mary Lou's playing or arranging and would like to learn more about her will benefit greatly by reading this excellent biography.