Georgia Books

While Ricky Jay has long been considered one of the world's great sleight-of-hand artists, his career is further distinguished by the remarkable variety of his accomplishments as an author, actor, historian, and consultant.

His one man show Ricky Jay & His 52 Assistants was directed by David Mamet and garnered for Mr. Jay the Lucille Lortel and Obie Awards for Outstanding Achievement. Subsequent productions were staged at Chicago's Steppenwolf Theater, the Melbourne International Arts Festival, the Tiffany Theater in Los Angeles, The Spoletto Festival in Charleston and the Old Vic in London. His most recent show, Ricky Jay: On the Stem, also directed by Mr. Mamet, just closed a seven-month critically acclaimed run in New York City.

As an actor, Mr. Jay debuted in the Joseph Papp production of Midsummer Night's Dream at the New York Shakespeare Festival. He has appeared in David Mamet's films: House of Games, Homicide, Things Change, Spanish Prisoner, State and Main, and Heist. He can be seen in many other films including Boogie Nights, Magnolia, and the James Bond film, Tomorrow Never Dies. He also starred in the heralded episode of the X-Files, "The Great Maleeni."

A serious student of his art, he has been elected to membership in the American Antiquarian Society for whom he authored Many Mysteries Unraveled: Conjuring Literature in America 1786-1874. He is a contributor to The Cambridge Guide to American Theater and has defined the terms of his art for the Encyclopædia Britannica. Mr. Jay's book, Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women was published to critical and popular acclaim and was voted one of the outstanding books of the year by the Theater Library Association and one of the "Notable Books of the Year" by The New York Times Book Review, which hailed his work in a rave front page review.

As a writer and speaker on subjects as varied as conjuring literature, con games, sense perception and unusual entertainments, Jay has authored numerous articles and has delivered many lecture/ demonstrations. Among his presentations are:

"Hocus Pocus in Perfection: Four Hundred Years of Conjuring and Conjuring Literature," the Harold Smith Memorial Lecture at Brown University;

"Splendors of Decaying Celluloid" with Errol Morris, Rosamond Purcell and Bill Morrison at the New York Institute for the Humanities.

"The Origins of the Confidence Game",for the conference of Police Against Confidence Crime;

"Chirosophi: Sixteenth and Seventeenth Century Conjuring Literature," at the Henry E. Huntington Library in San Marino, California;

"Fast and Loose: The Techniques and Literature of Cheating" at the William Andrew Clark Memorial Library, UCLA;

"The Mystery of Fasting Impostors," and "The Avant Garde Art of Armless Calligraphers" at Amherst College;

"Sense, Perception, & Nonsense" at the University of Rhode Island Festival of the Arts;

and the keynote address at the International Design Conference in Aspen on "Illusion as Truth."

He has spoken on "Prose & Cons: The Early Literature of Cheating" in the Pforzheimer Lecture Series on the book arts at the New York Public Library and at the Chicago Humanities Festival, and on "Magic & Science" for the T.E.D. Conference (Technology, Entertainment, & Design) in Monterey, California.

Mr. Jay is a founder of the biennial Conference on Magic History and is the former curator of the Mulholland Library of Conjuring and the Allied Arts. He is the author and co-designer of The Magic Magic Book, an illustrated history of the earliest trick conjuring books, published in the Writers and Artists Series of the Whitney Museum of American Art. His book Jay's Journal of Anomalies, based on his fine press periodical of the same name, was recently named one of the "Notable Books of the Year" by the New York Times and one of the "Best Books of the Year" by the Los Angeles Times. His most recent book, with photographs by Rosamond Purcell, is Dice: Deception, Fate & Rotten Luck.

Mr. Jay's consulting firm Deceptive Practices has provided expertise on projects as diverse as the film Forrest Gump and the Broadway production of Angels in America: Perestroika. He was a consultant on the Devices of Wonder exhibition at the J. Paul Getty Museum, and was the guest curator for an exhibition on conjuring at the Harvard Theatre Collection.

He has written and hosted his own television specials for CBS, HBO, and the BBC, and was the host and narrator of the first documentary mini- series on conjuring, "The Story of Magic," for the A&E network. He presented of a series of films on con games for Turner Classic Movies and in March of 2003 he debuted as a weekly essayist on the National Public Radio station, KCRW, in Los Angeles.

This is a fascinating depiction of the life of Margaret Mitchell within the context of an Atlanta that is far more sophisticated and complicated than when she lived there. As you begin your drive you go from the newly renovated Margaret Mitchell house (which is also fun for a tour) down Peachtree Street, past the Georgian Terrace and into less modern areas of the city until you end at her grave at the Oakland Cemetary. It is really moving when you finally drive up and park and listen to the final words of the tape. I loved the tape of the Battle of Peachtree Creek and I love this one--both because you really see the city in a multi-faceted way; both from a historical and a contemporary perspective. This is particularly effective with Margaret Mitchell who loved Atlanta and lived and died here. The stories and quotes which you listen to on the tape bring you close to a real Margaret Mitchell not just the legendary figure who wrote Gone With The Wind. This is just a great way to follow her personal history and see the places where she lived and died. Definitely a must do for fans of Margaret Mitchell as well as those who are curious to see Atlanta within a broad spectrum of its architecture and its history.

If you need to learn more of the history of Marietta, Georgia, this book is for you! The writer shares with the reader what Marietta used to be like as well as sharing how Marietta has changed. This book has facinating photographs, both old and new, of Marietta. Excellent book!

Charles Johnson brings to life a fascinating and fiercely independent woman from the Old South. Johnson is a wonderful story teller and the tale includes scandal, a prodigious court battle and an array of marvelous personalities. This book is a treasure.

Summary: This 5th edition of The World Atlas of Golf belongs in the library of every golfer who wants to appreciate more of the game's rich history . . . and have a Walter Mittyish look at courses that will probably never be seen in person. Over 70 courses get the deluxe treatment of looking at the course layout, the score card, and an in-depth evaluation of the most famous holes. Thorough essays recount the history of the course, including the most memorable golf moments there. Beautiful color photographs capture the holes, and famous historic shots share the winning and losing. Afficionados will appreciate the pin-point descriptions of how to play the world's most demanding holes. The book also boasts a brief gazetteer of over 100 courses providing a one-third page thumbnail sketch of their layout and history. The book also boasts excellent, brief essays on the development of golf course design.

Review: This book will appeal to those who have played these wonderful courses and want to relive the experience, those who wish to know more about the rich history of the world's most challenging holes, and those who are curious about why golfers everywhere rave about certain holes and courses. The material is so rich and detailed that any golf fan could happily spend days with this book and just scratch its surface. A fan could easily extend enjoyment of the book by getting videos of famous championships to see the live action that is captured here in photographs and essays.

The courses are selected from around the world, but are primarily from Europe and the United States. Reflecting the game's heritage, the courses examined start with those in Scotland and proceed from there throughout the British Isles and Eire. From there, you transfer to the European mainland. Next, you go the North America. Asia, Africa, and South America are your final stops.

Naturally, the courses include such standards as St. Andrews's Old Course, Royal Troon, Carnoustie, Royal Dornoch, Muirfield, Turnberry, Loch Lomond, Royal Liverpool, Royal Birkdale, Ballybunion, Valderrama, Shinnecock Hills, Augusta National, Cypress Point, Pebble Beach, Oakmont, Baltusrol, The Country Club, Olympic, Winged Foot, Pinehurst No. 2, Seminole, Merion, Pine Valley, Medinah, Oakland Hills, Dorado Beach and the Mid Ocean in Bermuda. But you will also get exposed to courses that you may not know as well like Sotogrande in Spain and Banff in Canada.

As an example of the hole-by-hole analysis, the book early on looks at the famous 17th on the Old Course at St. Andrews. A hotel cuts off the right side of the hole of this tough par four, also referred to as the Road Hole. In 1995, John Daly won the British Open there in part by hitting a tremendous drive around the hotel and into the fairway. He was able to hit onto the green from there with a 7 iron. The book shows the outline of the hotel, where Daly's ball went, and where most players shoot. Naturally, this looks easy on paper. When I tried the same thing with my drive, my ball went just a bit too far right and disappeared into an area near the foundation of the hotel, out of bounds. I came away much more impressed with Daly's feat.

With the knowledge this atlas can give you, you will find yourself able to take on challenges that great golfers have lived up to before you. You may not match them (and probably won't), but you will enjoy the feeling of trying on the challenging swings of the greats. It'll be a great thrill when you do!

After you finish enjoying this book a few times, think about where else in life you would enjoy reliving great moments of those who have gone before. How can you use those experiences to inspire you to try more, accomplish more, and have more fulfillment in everything you do?

"Take dead aim."

Almost everyone wishes to lead a long and productive life. Most of us accept the biblical seventy as a reasonable life expectancy. Recently [circa 1978], organized research in the field of gerontology - the study of the problems of aging - has attempted to come up with a formula to increase life expectancy. Now all one has to do is read May You Live to be 200! to find some of the secrets of a long life; for amazingly enough, there is a group of people - those who live in the Caucasus, in Russia - who live to be well over 100 years of age!

Personal interviews, both with the centenarians themselves and their doctors (who, for the most part, are not therapists but astounded researchers), bear out the above statement. Henry Gris, whose native tongue is Russian, and Milton Merlin, afforded us a portrait of active, respected, well-adjusted men and women, who believe that life does not begin until after the age of 100 - quite a contrast to the present problems of the American elderly....

Included are diet lists, aphrodisiacs, daily programs, six rules for longevity, tips on working and sleeping, charts and statistical records.
--- excerpts from book's dustjacket

This is an enoyable, well-written and very even-handed treatment of a fascinating, discrete subject. One marvels at the heroism, tradition and bravery of the RN, and the author gives due credit to the aggressive tactics of the Luftwaffe. As for the Italian Navy,well, the author is fair, and says good things about the few things he can. I actually had no idea the Italian navy could have so easily swept the British from the Eastern Mediterranean, if they had the will, and the tradition. It always amazes me when I read books like this, meaning well-written ones, how brave people at war can be. Also a very fair view taken of Cunningham, not just hagiography. Finally, after getting their behinds kicked by the Luftwaffe due to no air cover for its ships, how could the Brits possibly have sent out the Repulse and Prince of Wales (w/o air cover) in December of the same year?

This is a selection of the works of women writers from medieval times. There is an introductory essay about each woman followed by extracts from their works. The book provides a good overview of secular and religious works and is an excellent source book for those studying medieval women.

This is an incredible true sweet tale of a little girl born with a physical disfiguration. Flannery O'Connor wrties a brilliant introduction and the story of this innocent little girl is irresistable.

This is the best book that I have seen on the historic Memory Hill Cemetery . It is like each chapter is dedicated to one person , very informitive for anyone doing genealogy . There is many photos in book that make this so real to the viewer . This cemetery is located in Historic Milledgeville GA ( Baldwin County ) .