France Books

This Bio does not look upon Louise Brooks as sympathetically as other's Bio's do. Here we feel that we are being told the truth - as not everything in her life was perfect, or admirable, or even sympathetic. Louise Brooks was still a person who did things her way. And this books tells us what her was. A wonderful look at a wonderful Actress, Dancer and Writer.

An all-emcompassing book for fans of Louise Brooks. It has interesting stories and beautiful photos.

This is a great biography of an obscure, but fascinating silent film star. Barry Paris has done a great job researching the life and times of Louise Brooks. A must-read for any Brooks fan.

This book was wonderful, before I read it I had no idea in the world who Louise Brooks was or what an impression she had on the motion picture industry. While this book is full of information and well written there are some slow points. A wonderful book for anyone interested in films.

I am one of those who became entranced by Louise Brooks after seeing her in "Pandora's Box". She appeared to be highly sexual, intelligent, and to be marching to the sound of a drummer that she alone heard within herself. It turns out that she was all of this. This is an excellent biography and a lesson about what happens to those who despise the opportunities that life presents to us and to those whose lives are driven by sex rather than common sense. Louise Brooks was a very modern woman despite having been a star of the silent screen. She made only a few films but her performances in those films stand up with the great performances of today and their naturalism makes the acting of most silent screen starlets seem idiotic. While other actresses were concerned with nothing but their looks, Brooks was reading Shaw and Proust. While others did all they could to ingratiate themselves with the movie studios, Brooks had nothing but indifference for them. She turned her back on fame, fortune, and power. She could have had a brilliant career but always sabotaged her chances. She had beauty and incredible sex appeal. She had Chaplin as a lover. She wrote. She lives on today as an image of a woman ahead of her time and also as a tragic waste. Her own difficult personality drove everyone away. Her lack of discipline was childish. She fascinates. This is the best biography we will ever get of her. Recommended.

Excellent book to learn about the Lourdes and the message of the apparitions. The author is vivid and clear in her narration. Well written book!

I thoroughly enjoyed the author's approach to a beautiful story and her ability to demonstrate in a tangible way the message and meaning of Lourdes. This is a story told through the eyes of a person of great faith and insight.

Elizabeth Ficocelli has writen a wonderful blend of history and spiritual truth that has come out of the print and captured my heart. It is a incredibly balanced book on events that lead this believer to examine her own heart and how her own personnel healing came about.

This is a great resource on the historical and contemporary Lourdes. The first chapter of the book presents the story of the apparitions in a simple, straightforward manner. Some of the earliest accounts of Lourdes suffered from exaggeration and lack of full adherence to the facts. Elizabeth applies her journalistic skills to create an accurate and factual account of the historical Lourdes. She tells the inspiring story of Bernadette and the other visionaries and outlines how Lourdes grew from a sleepy little town to a place that attracts on a yearly basis an estimated 5 million people of all faiths. In addition, Elizabteh has created a great guide to the modern day Lourdes that will be an invaluable resource for anyone planning a pilgrimage to the site.

This being the 150th anniversary of the apparition in Lourdes of the Blessed Virgin Mary to St. Bernadette, Paulist Press commissioned Elizabeth Ficocelli to do a book covering Lourdes - Lourdes: Font of Faith, Hope, and Charity. The author found that while there was a wealth of books on the saint and Lourdes in other languages, that there were not that many in English.

This book is not just another biography on Saint Bernadette, but goes much farther. The first three chapters do an excellent job of going over Bernadette Soubirous early life and the history and circumstances of the time along with a nicely detailed description of the apparition and the reaction by Bernadette and the towns people. You get easily drawn into the times and the reactions both positive and negative that occurred. Also covered is her life in the convent and just how accurate was the Virgin Mary telling her "I cannot promise you happiness in this life, only in the next."

A subsequent chapter covers the growing coverage on Lourdes and some of the battled between various authors documenting the events and the errors that cropped up. I found this chapter highly ironic for those covering the life of the saint were quite willing to expose the errors of other authors while never correcting there own.

The next two major sections of the book cover the start of the pilgrimages to Lourdes, Bernadette's canonization, miracles both physical and spiritual, and the reality of Lourdes today. One thing I really liked about the book was that it was pitch perfect in its theological descriptions. It contained one of the best descriptions of canonization and sainthood that I have read and even got the detail right that papal canonization are in fact infallible. Throughout the book this same attention to detail is quite evident.

Another aspect of the book I enjoyed was the descriptions of Lourdes today and the large number of volunteers that help make possible the throngs of pilgrims who visit possible in the first place. Since a large number of people who visit Lourdes have physical disabilities a lot of care and attention is needed and these volunteers certainly see there work as a sacred responsibility and as a service to Christ himself. These chapters also cover some of the authenticated miracles in the history of Lourdes along with an explanation of the extremely thorough process for recognition and why only a relatively few number of miracles are recognized. Also covered are spiritual conversions at Lourdes and while these would not be considered officially by the Church as miracles, they are obvious examples of God's grace. While the large majority who go to Lourdes will not experience a physical healing, there are quite a number of spiritual healings that occur there and of course sometimes there are both physical and spiritual healings. One interview of a person who was healed and his healing recognized as one of the authenticated cures is quite interesting in that he had pretty much given up hope and that his brother was the one who brought him to Lourdes. He now brings pilgrims to Lourdes everywhere himself.

The is really quite an excellent book even for those who are quite familiar with St. Bernadette's biography and even includes an excellent introduction by Fr. Benedict Groeschel, CFR where he say he owes much to his recovery after the accident to Our Lady of Lourdes. Normally I am quite skeptical to books put out by Paulist Press, but I have zero qualms over this one and highly recommend it.

What a beautifully illustrated book! This was a wonderful book based on a true story. I used it with pre-schoolers and they really enjoyed the story as well as the beautiful artwork. I highly recommend it!

I have long been a fan of Linnea in Monet's Garden - so I was very excited to find this new series of books by Laurence Anholt. Anholt's approach to introducing children to these artists - he has covered Monet, Picasso, Van Gogh, Degas, and DaVinci - is to use their art to create the backgrounds and settings for his characters. This book in particular is my favorite of the series because it is crowned with a fold out of Monet's vivid Waterlilies with a tiny boat floating across it carrying the story's members - Monet and a little girl who happens upon his garden. Before it is over, the little girl plucks one of the lilies from the famous painting as a memoir. My daughter loves this picture - and it is almost surreal to me to see Monet's art coming to life in such a manner. I can hardly wait until she visits the museum and sees the real painting. Watching her make this connection should be very exciting.

Aside from this stunning mixture of Monet's work and Anholt's own lush artwork - carefully drawn to compliment the featured art - the book gives some great educational information about Monet by weaving it into the story - all this without ever starting to sound like a textbook. The story retains its' focus and its' charm without becoming boring. That is an amazing accomplishment in my opinion.

I hope to purchase the entire set for a lovely and educational Christmas gift. These are sure to become beloved classics. Any children's book that learns to entertain both child and parent equally often does.

Anholt's lovely book about Monet is my favorite of the series about famous artists. He demystifies impressionism and actually inspires children to paint their own "magical gardens"!!

The Magical Garden of Claude Monet is a great way to expose young children to impressionist art. My son loved the story of Julie in Monet's garden. Julie is a young French girl who takes a train with her Mother to visit Monet's garden. As they arrive into the countryside, her dog runs away and is found in Monet's garden. Soon the painter and Julie become friends. The illustrations are bright and colorful. You almost feel as if you are inside one of Monet's paintings. Children will be captivated by the story as well as the beautiful pictures.

Fine art apprecation was a lost thing among adults let alone children, encouraging an understanding of art at a young age will encorage intrest in art in children and their caregivers alike. Help kids enjoy art and culture while reading a fun story. With this book, (and the others in the series) they introduce kids to the famous artworks of great painters throughout history while encoraging a childs imagination to be creative and tell a story with each picture.

This story is even better because it is based on factual people, even the little girl. She embarks on a journey with her mother to visit a friend..the little girl ends up chasing her runaway dog on the trip and finds herself in a most magnificent garden..only to find out that is the "friend" they were going to visit. This book is wonderful, historical, educational, and fun. It encourages children to think about paintings, and to form images and stories for each one, to think about "what would it be like to be inside that painting".

Dr. Edmund Bickleigh compares to Walter Mitty at first: a meek soul given to escapist daydreaming but living in reality under the thumb of a domineering wife. That's where the resemblance leaves off, however. Bickleigh, conceived by Frances Iles circa 1930, isn't all that innocent. An English country doctor, already given to dalliances with younger, more pliant women, he decides to do away with the wife and move completely to the role of steamroller rather than steamrolled. This is established in the very first sentence of MALICE AFORETHOUGHT, which gleefully follows Bickleigh from conviction to action and consequences.

The book is a brilliant tour de force. The suspense grows rather than diminishes with every page. There is something for everyone: social satire, mystery and suspense, police procedurals, even the type of science popularized by the CSI shows. The characters are astutely drawn with psychological and sociological nuance. I never saw the PBS version of the book, but it can't possibly have what lifts the book high and above its ilk: the Iles voice. On the page, the omniscient narrator is witty and smart. Iles has an uncanny gift for revealing information. Every twist, every outcome is airtight. He skillfully moves between the up close and personal perspective of Bickleigh, the view of neighborhood gossips and court and newspaper accounts. Most highly recommended. Despite its age, the book hardly seems dated except for references to standard plumbing of the era.

A delightful comedy (for this is its main strength, not the fact that it was the first "psychological thriller"-and I have my doubts about this fact: didn't Mrs. Belloc Lowndes anticipate Cox?). Dr. Bickleigh, a philandering medico suffering from an inferiority complex, determines to rid himself of his wife, a bullying and domineering shrew, in order to marry his mistress-who announces her engagement to another man immediately after the murder. (Of course, his "ingenious" plan is immediately seen through by the other villagers.) Superb wit: excellent social satire-St. Mary Mead steeped in venomed ink, with plenty of amusingly catty back-biting and splendid caricatures. Berkeley at his most acerbic is highly amusing, in small doses-like aconitine.

This is a glorious book if you like cosy English mysteries! A classic from 1931, the dialogue is marvelous; you can just "hear" the English manerisms and personalities through the writing! The characters are charming and likeable, and the main character is fantastic and amusing with his running internal rationalizations that lead to his decisions and actions. Don't miss this one!

I have to confess that I don't own the audiotape, but I've read the book several times and think it's one of the best mystery novels ever written. It definitely, but definitely does not deserve to be out of print! Humorous mysteries are often not well plotted, but this is an exception; it's wickedly funny and ironic, yet it's also cunningly structured, with a story full of twists and turns that lead to a truly satisfying surprise ending. The character of Dr. Bickleigh, the hapless protagonist, is truly a hoot, and the supporting cast is fabulously drawn as well. Don't miss this one.

High quality meets high readablity! I wish everything I've read could meet such high standards of full character development, and intriguing, original, yet beliveable plot. This book is definately deserving of precious leisure reading time.

We LOVED this map of Paris for our trip. All of the major sightseeing attractions (the monuments & buildings) are drawn in 3D and to scale. This was VERY helpful to be able to plan a day of sightseeing. Metro stops are shown and helpful info about sights and stores are right on the map. Highly recommended!

MapEasy maps are the best! It is so much easier to navigate when you have a map with landmarks for restaurants, shops, etc. I never travel to a new city without them.

I own 8 of these, so see my review under "Rome." They're great!

If you are going to Paris, especially if you haven't been there before, you will probably want to get a couple of guidebooks and maps to help plan your excursions. I had used the MapEasy guide to Rome in the past, and found it to be an ideal blend of detail and narrative for navigating the city. When I needed a tactical map of Paris, I turned to the MapEasy Paris guide, which I also highly recommend.

There are better and more detailed maps and books more suitable for planning a trip to Paris, but the MapEasy Paris map is the overall best choice for navigating the streets and sights once actually venturing around the great French city. The major streets are well detailed, and not only are historical sights depicted in an easy to interpret, three-dimensional manner, but they also have brief descriptions to help direct your focus to places of interest to you specifically (for example: "Musee Gulmet: Vast collection of Asian art and research library.") Important or noteworthy shops, hotels, and restaurants are depicted, and in the case of restaurants a symbol representing how expensive the food is is also included. Of course all the famous sights such as the Eiffel Tower, Arc De Triomphe, and Notre Dame are especially well detailed, and there are several inset maps on the opposite side of the main map detailing the Parisian periphery, Montmartre, and suggested short driving trips.

The map is a great value, and is printed on a unique rip-resistant and water-resistant paper that is both durable, yet pliable (unlike many of the laminated card stock maps available.) For navigating the streets of Paris this is an ideal choice for tourists or those new to the city. I highly recommend the MapEasy series.

As with most Mapeasy maps, this one is great in helping you find not only the streets, but the stores, the restaurants, the hotels and other worthy places.

Granted, it may not have the most detail when it comes to little streets and alleys, but it will get you where you need to go.

If you want to make marquetry, buy marquetry or just appreciate marquetry this is an excellent resource. It has the kind of detailed information coupled with drawings and a bounty of color photos rarely seen in one book. Worth the money!! Go see the exhibit at the Getty!

This book is published by the Getty museum, which has an absolutely wonderful permanent exhibit on marquetry that includes many fine examples and a touchable how-to exhibit depicting start to finish manufacture of marquetry furniture. The book is a detailed how-to on various types of marquetry (including wood, metal and stone) with both color (over 150 color photos, more color pics than B&W) and black-and-white pictures of a large variety of examples from Renaissance through 17th and 18th century through modern (not too many or too-weird modern), plus many photos showing marquetry in progress in the how-to section. It is also a large, beautiful enough book for your coffeetable. If only every art/craft topic could have such a wonderful book.

I have two books of the same author: Masterpieces of marquetry (or something simmilar since it is written in French) and Marquetry. Each of the books cost over 100 USD in France and belong to a collection this author has published on the same subject. The Marquetry book (in English) I believe is the best book of its class. It has very detailed sketches of real antique designs. It not only explains the techniques but also stone inlaying, designing of tools and benches for cutting materials, etc.

Marquetry is impressive if you are making a simple flower or a project as ornate as the examples that are given in this book. Covering the art form from the early adopters in France and Italy, he explains in detail the procedures, as well as the tools that are used. When you see some of the pictures of the projects, you will think that you need a lifetime of practice to get to those levels, and maybe you do. They are so elaborate and ornate that you will appreciate what can be done in the art form.
The book is large and is something worth featuring on a shelf. It is wonderfully illustrated, and they don't short you on the full color photographs.
The chapters are; Veneer Decoration, History, The Marqueters Workshop, The Materials, The Instruments, The Drawing, Preparation, Procedures, Frisage and Jeux De Fond, The Construction of Cutting Tools, and Conclusion.
The book is 14" x 10" and every page is packed with beautiful color photographs, and at the very least a drawing. Makes for an interesting read, as well as seeing what is being explained in full color. With so many full size color photos, you can see why the book is more expensive than a standard book.
Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned practitioner in the art form, this book will capture you. See the highest forms in the art, chosen by the top museums for display. All in all a first class reference. Highly recommended.

I found this book to be completely comprehensive on the subject of marquetry. Everyone who loves this art form will want to have this in their library.

E um livro muito interessante, porem, apenas para quem tem curiosidade ou gosta muito de marchetaria. Belissimas imagens. Quem faz marchetaria nas horas vagas tera uma boa referencia, inclusive com a historia dessa arte. Capa dura, muito ilustrado, acredito que tera um lugar de honra em sua biblioteca.

Mauricio - Brazil

Ms. Mathews presents Mary Cassatt's entire life and incorporates little known details about her travels and associations with friends and family. She mixes facts, anecdotes and reflections on society in such an easily readable way that even her suppositions could be viewed as gospel truth. The (hardcover) book is well illustrated with historical photographs and black and white illustrations of Cassatt's and her contemporaries' work. The author makes numerous points regarding what motivated and inspired the artist at different periods in her life. She gives very specific illustrations of how difficult life could be for a woman of Cassatt's time. Additionally, the author admits Mary Cassatt's opinions and outspokenness often got her in trouble with friends. Those friendships she was able to maintain were based on a mutual, professional respect. Included is a chapter about the artist's work in an historical context. Her work was viewed differently by critics, and herself, at different times. Nancy Mowell Mathews book gives so much life to the artist's character, I wouldn't be surprised if it's made into a movie! It is certainly motivation for any working woman.

Nancy Mathews gets to the point... her book is wonderfully researched and weaves through the intricately woven fabric of Cassatt's life; yet she doesn't bog you down with too many details. I enjoyed every page of this book and felt like I got an honest portrayal of the woman, her art and the reasons behind the decisions she made. I especially thank Nancy for her sympathetic yet analytical overview of the many misunderstandings that have been perpetuated year after year about Cassatt and other women artists in the late 19th/early 20th century. I'm glad to know the truth.

This biography left me in awe of Mary Cassatt who was obviously a focused, smart and privileged person at a time when many male artists were barely making ends meet. She was unafraid of the establishment, outspoken and determined, not to mention a smart businesswoman. The only thing I disagree with is when the author states that at 51 Mary Cassatt "was faced with an unusually hard burden of loneliness." Mary Cassatt was blessed with many friends, family and admirers and moved in a great many social circles all her life. She rarely veered from her chosen path. But the greatest lesson we can learn from Ms. Cassatt is to stay focused on our life purpose and to honour our own lives with the best we can give of ourselves.

Mary Cassatt is a true American treasure. This is an enjoyable, and thoroughly researched biography about her. It is not only well-written, but it is full of wonderful and historic photos of Mary, her paintings, her friends, and her family throughout her life.

Despite Mary Cassatt's continuing resurgence in popularity as an artist since the 1970s, prior to this volume her biographers had missed the boat. As a result, most people who admire Ms. Cassatt's wonderful paintings are filled with inaccurate beliefs about her life and the condition of women artists during her life. If you care enough about her work to want to correct those mistaken beliefs, please do read this volume. You'll also learn even more if you follow that reading by also looking at Cassatt: A Retrospective by the same author, Nancy Mowll Mathews.

Mary Cassatt is an elusive subject for several reasons. She didn't write many letters, often didn't care what others thought of her and wasn't written about by others nearly as often as she deserved. In addition, her role as an iconic woman pioneer in the Impressionist movement has caused many to "interpret" her life to explain other agendas.

The reality is much more interesting than the misinformation. At a young age, she was exposed to the leading cultural events in Europe . . . a rarity for any American. Her mother was probably one of the most intelligent and capable women of her generation anywhere. The family moved around constantly in rented homes to stay close to the various children and business opportunities. Only after her father's death was Ms. Cassatt able to purchase and enjoy a home. Contrary to popular belief today, it wasn't at all unusual for women to pursue painting careers. In fact, the Louvre was full of American women painting copies of the masterpieces there. What was unusual was for a woman to be viewed as the peer of the best male artists. Ms. Cassatt clearly reached that pinnacle during her Impressionist years and beyond. Much to her own disgust, she let herself be led into painting the mother and child paintings that we all love so much by the marketing plans of her gallery . . . rather than her own passion. Although profitable, this path was in her view a diversion from her better work. Paradoxically, Ms. Cassatt's two bothers were even more famous in their day than she was . . . even though we have barely heard of them today. Her older brother was, in fact, one of the most important railroad developers in the eastern United States. As head of the Pennsylvania Railroad, he directed the development of the railroad tunnel into Manhattan.

Ms. Mathews does a nice job of balancing what is known from what is not . . . while pointing out what the possibilities were. As a result of this biography, I felt I knew the real Mary Cassatt for the first time.

Bravo, Ms. Mathews!

I highly recommend as a MUST READ this book Mary Cassatt: A Life. by Nancy Mowll Mathews. The book is a fascinating not only of the life of Mary Cassatt but for the insights on the art circles, family life and historical context of these artists and the times in which they lived. Mary Cassatt was a mover and shaker of her times, with good social skills and a mind for business. You travel with her life and times as if you were present. From my perspective I am so happy that I happened on this book because it puts alot of bits and pieces together on these artists.

Deborah Chapin

Everyone should know this is a must have cookbook. It teaches the novice the basics and explains everything clearly. Just the information regarding the sauces is worth the purchase. Timeless information that will allow anyone to set a good table.

I just purchased this for our eldest daughter who is to be married but never developed any skill in the kitchen. She will now have to sink or swim in her own kitchen. This classic teaching book will serve her well and I am not worried about her success.

Rarely are we able to say with certainty that a book is at the top of its subject in regard and quality. This book, the continuation of `Mastering the Art of French Cooking' by Julia Child and Simone Beck is certainly in that most unique position among cookbooks written in English and published in the United States.

This volume is truly a simple extension of the material in the original work, which was recently published in a 40th anniversary edition by its publisher, Alfred E. Knopf and its principle author, Julia Child. As told in Ms. Child's autobiography, the original manuscript brought to Judith Jones at Knopf ran to over a thousand printed pages. About two fifths of that material was put to the side and most of it appears in this second volume. All this means is that you are unlikely to really have a full coverage of the subject of French Cooking as intended by the authors unless you have both volumes.

The first chapter has a clear sign that this volume rounds out the work in that it gives soups a much more thorough coverage than the first volume. Most importantly, it includes recipes for that quintessential French dish, bouillabaisse. To complement this subject is coverage of seafood such as a tour of the anatomy of a lobster that would put seafood specialist cookbooks to shame.

The biggest single addition to the subject in this book is its coverage of baking and pastry. Here is one place where the book may be seen to diverge from its focus of the French housewife's cooking practice. As the book states clearly in the first chapter, practically no baking is done at home, since there is a Boulangerie on every street corner. I generally find the level of detail on baking in cookbooks specializing on savory dishes to be much too light to give the reader an adequate appreciation of the subject. This book covers baking with a level of detail which would make most baking book authors blush. A sign of this deep, quality coverage is the diagrams used to illustrate baking techniques. The line drawings typically succeed where photographs do not in that they can be easily incorporated into the text and the drawing can eliminate extraneous detail and show the reader only what is important in understanding the technique. The section on making classic French bread ends with a `self-criticism' section we may nowadays call a debugging section. It lists several different things that may go wrong with your product, and how to fix them. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in only baking, let alone the rest of us.

The quality of presentation continues with the coverage of pastry. Some books on pastry give one pie dough. Some good books on pastry may give three or four. This book gives eight, with a clear indication of the differences in when to use the various doughs. Some books on pastry describe how to make puff pastry. This book gives a really complete explanation, with abundant diagrams. I suspect that very few people want to make their own puff pastry, but anyone who uses store-bought pastry will benefit from knowing how it is made. This section is worth five different expositions on the subject on the Food Network rolled into one.

Another major subject untouched in the original volume is the long chapter on Charcuterie. That is, the techniques needed to make sausages, salted pork and goose, pates, and terrines. Like the description of puff pastry, this chapter contains a lot you may never need, but then again, I am a great believer in serendipity. You never know where you may hit upon an idea to add interest to you cooking practice. The simplest product you can garner from these techniques is the method for making breakfast sausage, which needs no casing. The subject really wakes up when you realize that the subject arose as a method for preserving meats, just like canning and pickling were developed to preserve fruits and vegetables. If economy and the old hippie / whole earth catalogue ethic are your thing, this is something you will want to check out. And, I have seen this subject covered in recent books such as Paul Bertolli's `Cooking by Hand', and this book's coverage of the material is more useful.

Another gem in this book is the coverage of desserts, including frozen desserts, custards, shortcake, meringue, charlottes, and on and on and on. The guidance on novel uses of puff pastry has probably been a source for more TV shows on the subject than you can count on your fingers. The recipe for leftover pastry dough is just another indication of how practical the material in this book can be.

The appendices contain `stuff' that virtually no other cookbooks touch. One contains a cross listing of recipes for meat and vegetable stuffings. I did not have enough room in my review of volume one to cite the quality of the material on kitchen equipment. As both books have been updated several times since the early sixties, both contain modern tools such as the food processor and the latest heavy-duty mixer attachments. Aside from being as complete a catalogue of hand tools I have ever seen, I find the presentation done with the kind of good humor which was the hallmark of Julia Child's PBS shows.

The last major feature of this volume is a two-color index that covers both volumes. Please be warned. These books have neither simple cooking nor low calorie dishes. The object of this style of cooking was to make the very best of inexpensive ingredients.

Each page offers more reasons to be impressed by this work. Any true foodie should be ashamed if they do not own and read these volumes.

Very helpful. I have been trying to figure out how to make my french bread crust crispy. The directions of Julia came about as close as you can get without a commercial oven.

Julia Child is a master in the art of French cooking. I read this book after reading her biography. I am 15 and all I have seen of Julia Child is her in her old age.... I highly suggest buying thid book and also Volume I which has a phenominal recipe for French Onion Soup. Jen

Fabulous book. Worth the price simply to learn how treacherously simple it is to astound and amaze your friends with home made chocolate truffles. I recommend 2 tablespoons Grand Marnier in place of 4 tablespoons of any other orange liqueur, though.

If this be gossip, then it is the best kind. Engaging account of the rivalry/synergy of Matisse and Picasso and the interactions over half a century, with a Gertrude Stein introit at the beginning. This competition is fairly lightweight stuff as far as I can see although throwing rubber suction darts at a Matisse painting gets close to borderline rascalian--Picasso probably loses points on adolescent misdemeanours, but the art of both leaves us unable to judge, save that a third here could not be found.

This is an excellent book. I am thoroughly enjoying it.
This book compares great painters 'Henri Matisse' and 'Pablo Picasso' works and the influence of each other and their works on the others art.
Henri Matisse with his keeping the painting simple and lively and Picasso with his cubism, drawing from imagination are 'artists of different worlds'. They have different painting styles and they paint at exactly opposite times.
The book goes through the works of each in the order one was done as a reacton to the other, sometimes one trying to beat the other at their own style.

CITES:
Baudelaire's essay- 'The Painter of Modern Life'.
Apollinaire's essay on Picasso's work.(also his 'La Poete assasine')
Picasso's play - 'Desire caught by the tail'.
Matisse - 'Notes of a Painter'.

This is an excellent work for art history enthusiasts. It depicts
many famous works of art by Matisse and Picasso. Classically,
Matisse is known for the artful use of color; whereas, Picasso
is credited with the unique form of Cubism which pervades
his artwork. Flam depicts important works by both artists.
For instance, Matisse's "The Woman With The Hat" is shown in
full color. Picasso's "The Acrobat's Family" is depicted
together with "The Two Nudes". These pictures show the emotional side of Picasso's work in contradistinction to
Matisse's exercise of restraint. This book would make a
perfect gift for a friend, relative or art buff.

Imagine one tightly written book that can tell you what the art world was like for much of the 20th Century! Jack Flam is the man who did just that in "Matisse Picaso." Then imagine learning all about the lives of Matisse and Picasso and their loves along with their push-pull friendship and competition. After that get the skinny on the paintings both men painted. I never even saw all the -------- in Picasso's paintings. Now, it is hard to see anything else.

I found this book to be much more exciting then typical biographies that include all the boring parts of people's lives. Here you get all the interesting parts with all the boring parts left out. I read every word and recommend the book without reservation. In fact, I believe every art student needs to read this book, every artist, every art affictionado.

Before there was Andy Warhol, the ultimate in art cool, there was Picasso. And before there was Picasso, there was Matisse. Picasso and his cronies used to make fun of Matisse's primitive style and threw fake darts at Matisse's portrait of his daughter, and people laughed in the salons at Matisse's Joy of Life but no artist influenced Picasso more than Matisse, from his works to his introduction to African and Iberian art, Matisse was one of the few constants in Picasso's life, always keeping the paintings that he had of Matisse. These two heavyweights, more than anybody, have influenced the way we make art today. This books does a great job fleshing out the relationship between these two artists and how they affected each other in a well written and highly accesible format. An excellent book worthy of the excellent artists.

While South Central Texas (San Antonio) isn't a coastal area (and isn't exactly a "moderate" climate, either), Latymer's book has proven to be a good resource for our area. The pictures helped me to visualize what could be, and the plant lists have been invaluable for choosing plants. While I've always loved "digging in the dirt," no one ever would have accused me of being an accomplished gardener. But that didn't stop me. Thanks to the inspiration I found in Latymer's book, I've been working steadily at replacing my grassy front yard with a Mediterranean-style water-wise garden. And now, many of my neighbors are interested in doing the same. They think my yard is gorgeous. And so do I.

Can't beat this for our climate (So. Calif. by the beach) for trustworthy info. Hugo is dead-on! We own zillions of gardening books and this is by far my personal favorite.

This book is a good reference for moderate coastal areas (we are on the Palos Verdes Peninsula in So. Cal.) The reference area (2/3 of the book) is well organized with lots of photos. Latymer has divided Mediterranean plants into sections on trees, palms, sbrubs, etc. The reader can look at a choice of plants for a particular application, which are grouped together.

This book is an absolute delight, as much for the prose as for the glorious photographs. As well as recommendations for planting in various Mediterranean conditions, the author gives splendid professional advice on local problems such as water shortage, salt air damage and so on.

If you have had failures in your ex-pat. garden through trying to acclimatise plants which only thrive in more northerly regions, this book will help you never again to make those mistakes.

No-one should be without it; I have two of them. Yvonne Gregson.

The most valuable thing about this book for me was the extensive plant list which contained good information about size, growing speed, minimum temperatures, water need and descriptions of the plant itself sometimes including information about propagation. The list is devided in different chapters for trees, shrubs, climbers, palms, cacti and succulents, perrenials and annuals which made it very easy to use while planning a garden.
The information chapters are mainly oriented on style and design though even some chapters about soil and water are included which contain valuable knowledge.