Independent Books

The fact that everyone uses the web in some way or another, this is a good book to have. I am a computer junkie and this book definitely kept my head afloat. But I highly recommend you read "A Branded World" by Michael Levine. This author really knows what he's talking about. The next time a company hands out memos to its employees, make sure "A Branded World" is on the top of the page!

Bob really knows what he is talking about. He gives a lot of wonderful easy to read tips on how to get your name recognized on the web. He is very clever & witty and fun to read. I recommend you get a copy now.

The Internet offers a lot of "get rich quick" schemes, and advice based on 20th-century advertising techniques. However, what worked in the past century and before the Internet, is not working now. From "Cluetrain" to "Gonzo Marketing," there's ample proof of that.

But, if you're self-employed and/or building your online identity... how do you start? And, if you've been online for awhile but you're somehow missing the boat--or at least your audience--what do you do without a corporate advertising budget and webmaster/advisors to help you?

The answer is simple: You get this book. And read it. I've read Chapter Two at least ten times, and I'm still making notes about what I'm changing on my own website (online since 1995, and boy-oh-boy have I made mistakes! *sigh*).

Baker's books are not for wimps. And, they're not the sitcom version of business, where you spend a few days creating a by-the-numbers clone of others' websites, and then sit back expecting income to flood in like clockwork.

Instead of being a book that you read, say, "Oh, that made some good points," and then put on a shelf to collect dust, this is a book that you'll read, re-read, and keep close to hand. Baker's book is information-packed. There is no way that you'll learn it all in one reading, or even two.

This is easily in the top five books that everyone who is (or wants to be) in business online MUST own. Sure, you can read the sample chapters at Baker's website, or take this book out of the library, but it contains too much important advice for that. And, you'll refer to it often, as well.

Buy this book. Roll up your sleeves and do what he says. It's how to succeed on- and offline, in the 21st century. It's not your parents' business era anymore. Learn the new rules in this book, and give yourself a genuine chance for success.

Baker's information would be cheap at ten times the price; it's already helped me to increase the daily hits at one of my websites from 500/day to over 800/day. And, I'm still on Chapter Three!

I haven't made it past chapter 3 and I have already read a wealth of helpful information on branding your business name and branding tools. The author provides a detailed, step-by-step guide to branding and marketing techniques one can use both online and offline. This book is a must read for first-time start-ups and entreprenuers.

This is a great book for those of you who want to make a name for yourself on-line. Bob has an abundance of ideas to get you started and to keep you going as you explore the ways to market yourself online. Bob has a very witty and humorous way to keep you interested in what he has to say. I think Mr. Baker is on the cutting edge of where the future of online marketing is headed. I highly recommend this book.

In this engaging book, George Pyle avoids clichéd hand-wringing about the "Crisis of the American Farmer." Instead, he delivers an informative, fascinating farmers'-eye-view account of US agricultural policy within the larger context of economic globalization, the energy crisis, global warming, water pollution, the US obesity epidemic, genetically modified foods and terrorism. Pyle enriches his account with links to slavery, communism, the Dust Bowl, Star Trek and Nobel economist Amartya Sen. Sprightly, direct writing, clear information and convincing analysis, all in 200 pages. Read this book, and you'll to understand where your dinner fits into the Big Picture.

Since the 1930's when subsidies were provided to farmers that grew program crops (corn, soybeans, wheat, cotton, tobacco...), we were told by pretty much every politician running for office that such subsidies were necessary to save the family farm. Finally, somebody has taken the effort to point out that telling this lie for over seventy years hasn't made it true. In fact, if there is any one factor which is working to limit the viability of mid-sized family operations, it is the grain subsidies which encourage overproduction and mismanagement of the land and water resources and has created a producer base whose primary skill is "farming the government" rather than being true stewards of the land.

While I agree with the author's main point, that grain subsidies are putting family operations at a disadvantage relative to the larger "mega-farms", I respectfully disagree with the point that the subsidies are being maintained for the benefit of all agribusiness entities. While major players in the grain market (Cargill, ADM, Continental Grain) have a vested in interest in having a lot of bushels of program crops around which they can handle and thereby tack a fraction of a cent/bushel margin on, I don't think this conspiracy includes the beef packing industry. Rather, this industry just evolved to its present state to operate in the environment which the subsidies created. If such obscene profits were being realized by all agribusiness entities, IBP (Iowa Beef Processors) would not have been boughten up by the poultry industry juggernaut, Tyson Farms and Swift Packing Co. would not be on Smithfield Farms acquisition list. In fact, I think these events provide a certain degree of circumstantial evidence that the grain subsidies provide a comparative advantage to the pork and poultry industries over the beef cattle industry. However, this one slip can easily be dismissed on the basis that the author is an aging baby boomer and raging against the establshment is what boomers do and shouldn't detract from the point that the grain subsidies are causing more problems than they solve.

I 'm a city girl and though I was raised in Kansas, I know little about the argricultural market. This book was an eye opener. The author's premise is sound and believe me, it took a lot of convincing on his part to bring me to this point.

Let's stop feeding the poorer nations with our "surpluses."

I've known farmers and always wished them well. However, I never really had a burning passion for their survival. Growing up in Houston didn't exactly make me a "man of the soil".

Yet, after reading George's book, I understand and finally do care about their success. This is a great book for folks who, like myself, don't understand. A side bonus - unlike a textbook, it's fun to read. George brings the issue down to the level of the consumer, then elevates that level to greater understanding. You learn about the health, security, and economic reasons that you care...even if you didn't know you cared.

I had the honor of working with George in Salina. Anyone who knows his body of work has to feel that, whether you agree with him or not, he's an excellent and entertaining writer. He's also a great guy.

Bryant

RAISING LESS CORN, MORE HELL: THE CASE FOR THE INDEPENDENT FARM AND AGAINST INDUSTRIAL FOOD by George Pyle is an eye-opening treatise on the damage that overproduction and overdevelopment of food does to our economy, our health and our ways of life. These wrongs are committed through the industrialization of food that has occured in the United States in the twentieth century, and Pyle makes a convincing case in easy-to-read reportage that outcomes of this process are not good.

Pyle, who is currently an editorial writer for the Salt Lake Tribune, was raised in Kansas and spent several years as editorial page editor at a newspaper in Salina, Kan. He was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in 1998, and this book shows his valuable journalistic sensibilities in an issue of great public interest. He is able to clearly (and colloquially) make his case in all the areas he focuses on through thorough citation and primary reporting.

The book (after an interesting prologue titled "Searching for Roots: Or, How I Learned to Start Worrying and Love the Small Farm") is divided into sections with chapters that explore the aspects of "Wealth," "Health" and "Security." "Wealth" deals primarily with the faulty economic assumptions that spur American growers to grow not just crops but their own operations, borrow money for bigger and better machinery, and commoditize themselves right out of a profit. He also deals with the corporate farms and giant cattle and hog farms that are springing up all over the nation. (The farmers make all the investments in facilities and the corporations take none of the risks, but control all the prices. The corporations can also decide not to use a farmer for whatever reason after he or she has made the investments in all the facilities...) This sections lays the groundwork for the fundamental pricing issue of Pyle's thesis: Overproduction drives down prices for American farmers, causes worldwide commodity "dumping" and discourages developing nations from growing their own foods. It's really a "death cycle" of farm economics, but individual farmers feel compelled (and are supported by short-sighted governmental policies) to get as much as possible out of their lands to get bigger profits (or smaller losses) each season, even while this action contributes to driving down real farm wages over time.

The second section, "Health," deals with the consequences of genetic modification of crops and the issues associated with feeding livestock corn and chopped up animal bits, contrary to nature. And there ARE consequences. Some of the consequences are trade related (the EU and other nations won't allow GM crops to be imported, resulting in trade embargoes, political conflict and accusations and aspersions cast on U.S. crop exports) and some are health related (cows should not be fed corn, as when they are, e. coli develop in their intestines... this would be fine if slaughterhouses were clean or careful enough to keep the organs away from the saleable meat, but they aren't... also, mad cow comes from feeding cattle, which are herbivores, bits of other animals, including brains, to fatten them up). Pyle makes such a convinincing case against both these practices, that it has caused me to be more careful in what I purchase and what I eat.

The third part, "Security" focuses on how easily U.S. food production could be terrorized, either by a malicious party or by nature because of its uniformity and its determined ignorance of natural threats and defense. The previous two sections figure in this argument given all that the author has laid out for readers leading up to this penultimate part.

The afterword is particularly instructive. Pyle ties together the themes of his work and focuses the reader on going forward toward something positive. We must find local growers of food, we must allow our food to be a local product, we must be receptive to nature's lessons, and we must seek change in the economic and political climate that encourages our own farmers to drive themselves out of business and our food out of natural confines.

The book is serious, but fun to read, as Pyle's voice is colloquial, strident, but personable. One of my favorite passages, in which he makes an analogy that instructs us on crop rotation, and intermixed crops: "Imagine that you are a discerning, well-cultured, and intelligent person. Imagine that you really like chocolate. But I repeat myself" (p. 187). His headnotes for chapters are diverse, interesting and eclectic, as he quotes communicators from William Shakespeare to William Shatner.

I strongly, strongly recommend this book. It's something we should all be concerned about, and Pyle's treatment of the issue is comprehensive and accessible. It changed my thinking about food, made me more informed as a consumer and a citizen, and I think it will do the same for you!

Should you be planning to visit London with a specific interest in accumulating an unbelievably detailed history of London, English and the British Empire, this book with its accompanying CDs is for you. It is also a must for teachers and students dedicated to learning about the historical events and personalities that molded what is today's London, the center of once Britain's Empire.

The book and its two CDs become a virtual tutor of history that brings to life the people and places of England. For the tourist, when in the presence of London's famous places, buildings, churches and statues, the author cloaks each in a history lesson by itself. Similar to the recordings and headsets that one uses when touring an art museum, if and when visiting London's sites, one will require a portable CD player. Of course, a tandem headset is essential when traveling with another person. If one is not actually visiting London, the book by itself or the playing of the CDs at home or in one's car, will provide a wealth of knowledge and information about London, the city that Dr. Johnson once commented, "When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life."

Unfortunately, the artisans commissioned to build, sculpture, paint or create London's monuments to persons or events over the centuries also were inadvertently inconsiderate by not placing this extensive and priceless collection of artifacts in chronological order. For example, when visiting the area of Westminster, Westminster Abbey and The Houses of Parliament, one has to accept a mosaic of chronological confusion that spans more than a two thousand year period from the Romans to Elizabeth II. Mr. Wayne has done a brilliant job of research in that his book and CDs provide a cornucopia of historical facts on everything and everyone from pre-Boadicea to post-Winston Churchill.

Even when visiting the more famous tourist attractions such as Piccadilly Circus for example, Mr. Wayne will explain that the most photographed statue in London, the statue of the Greek god of carnal love, Eros, in the center of the fountain in Piccadilly Circus, was actually intended to be the statue of the Angel of Christian Mercy to honor the Seventh Earl of Shaftsbury. (Although I personally lived in London for almost eleven years and studied British history, this anecdotal fact somehow escaped me until now, thanks to Mr. Wayne.)

The reader, or listener, will also become familiar with the works of Christopher Wren after the great fire of 1666, his architecture of St. Paul's Cathedral and another fifty-two churches he designed in Greater London.

This book and accompanying CDs are virtually a college course in the history of almost everything one can see while touring London. It is NOT simply a tourist's guide to London or a collection of interesting observations but a highly researched and magnificently delivered history to an inquiring mind. For those with an insatiable thirst for learning about British history, Mr. Wayne's book has my unqualified recommendation.

Royal London In Context is a unique book/CD set. Robert S. Wayne, also the author of Venice in Context, knows all the secrets and introduces you to historically significant locations, complete with historical facts.

Joel Godard is the perfect guide and he narrates the entire journey. He "literally" guides you through London in a step-by-step fashion. I just listened to this for the first time and I feel like I've been in London exploring Westminster Abbey and peering through the gates of Buckingham Palace. I started to feel homesick for comforting foods like fish and chips with vinegar and meat pies. When I was there as a teenager, London was fascinating, but no one was there to tell me what I was viewing.

Tour One: Westminster Bridge, Big Ben, Houses of Parliament and Winston Churchill's statue - interesting information about why pigeons don't like landing on his statue.

Tour Two: Westminster Hall, Oliver Cromwell, Richard I, Old Palace yard, Victoria Tower and Gardens, Emmeline Pankhurst

Tour Three: George V, Henry VIII Chapel, Chapter House, Jewel Tower

Tour Four: St. Margaret's Church, Westminster Abbey

Tour Five: Westminster Abbey, Broad Sanctuary

Tour Six: Cabinet War Rooms, Robert Clive, Cenotaph, 10 Downing Street

Tour Seven: Horse Guards Parade, Banqueting House, Great Scotland Yard, Old Admiralty

Tour Eight: Charles I, Trafalgar Square, Nelson's Column, George IV, Church of St. Martin-in-the-fields

Tour Nine: Piccadilly Circus, Eros, Church of St. James's, Jermyn Street, Fortnum & Mason, Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington Arcade

Tour Ten: Ste. James's Street, St. James's Palace, Pall Mall, Queen's Chapel, Queen Alexandra Memorial, Friary Court

Tour Eleven: St. James's Park

Tour Twelve: Buckingham Palace, Queen Victoria Monument

On the inside front cover there is a map of the tour area. In the back cover, there is a clear envelope for the CDs. So, you could take this book with you and carry it around while you are on the tour. The pictures help you locate various historic monuments and buildings. The tours only take up a third of the book. The rest of the book is dedicated to history, royal palaces and fortresses and getting around London (on foot or with public transportation like the Tube).

If you want to take a sightseeing bus, that is always an option. There are ideas about taking a river cruise or information on why you should stop in and see St. Margaret's Church and not just head straight to the Westminster Abbey.

While this is a book for the Independent Traveler, I don't see why you couldn't buy two or more and take a walking tour with friends and family. You can then listen to this CD later to recreate your entire London tour. After listening to both CDs, I wish I was going to London with my mom in September. She is going to love this book and she will have an entire month to explore!

Even if you don't plan to leave for London right away, this Book/CD set is perfect for when you are sitting out in the sun or cooking or doing just about anything that involves wishing you were traveling in Europe. Royal London in Context is the perfect gift for friends and family. If you are heading to London, I highly recommend taking this book with you because it is like having your very own personal tour guide.

~The Rebecca Review

What a great idea -- an audio tour of London! The book is engagingly written and beautifully illustrated, and it's full of very practical information (when you exit the Tube station, turn left. . .). If you enjoy audio tours of museums, you'll enjoy this book and CD. They'll turn Royal London into a museum that you can peruse at your leisure.

Full color photographs on almost every page add an enhancing touch of visual splendor to Royal London In Context: The Independent Traveler's Guide To Royal London, a detailed introduction to the pageantry, pomp, and circumstance of British royalty. Featuring an audio CD with 12 audio tours delightful for vacationers and armchair travelers alike, interesting anecdotes of the British royal family, and all one needs to freely explore London at the freedom of one's heart's desire, Royal London In Context is a very highly recommended travel guide. If you are planning a visit to London, then begin planning your itinerary with a careful browse through the pages of Robert Wayne's Royal London In Context.

A number of years ago my parents went to London. What did they want to see? They wanted to see the Queen, the Queen Mother and every place where the royals hang out. Although I have been to London many times, I wasn't much help to them. I don't share their interest in the royal family. And because they don't like tours, they had to sort it out for themselves. As a result, they didn't see much more concerning royal England than the crown jewels and the events outside Buckingham Palace. I've felt guilty ever since for not being more help.

Now, if they had wanted to go at a time when Royal London in Context was available, they would have had a marvelous time!

This book has many fine qualities to recommend it compared to other guides of London. First, the tour information is much more extensive, both in terms of how many tours and how much information is shared about each one. Second, you have an audio CD that you can play as you tour (this is like having a self-paced tour in a museum by using a portable acoustical guide). Third, you have excellent material on the history of the Royal Family which will add helpful information that most people don't know . . . unless they were English history majors in college. Fourth, the book provides much more detail about traveling around than any other travel guide I have seen for the London area. And fifth, buy my no means least, the book is slanted to the royalty. I have seen no other travel guide that makes any attempt in this direction.

How good is this guide? Well, even if you think you're not interested in the Royal Family, it's still a helpful guide that I would recommend to anyone for a first visit to London who's interested in British culture and history. The tours are ones that most visitors to London would love. The many details about what you are seeing in the book and the audio CD can greatly enrich your experience in London. In addition, there are many color photographs in the book so you can see what you will be visiting . . . which will help you choose what you want to focus on.

If you are planning to travel with someone and want to use this guide, I suggest that you take a portable CD player that will let you plug in two headphones. In that way, you can both listen at the same time as you walk about.

Have a jolly good time!

Say hello to Prince Andrew if you happen to bump into him!!

This book will show you the basics of publishing, with an emphasis on how to produce the final product. Whether you are self-publishing, or need to communicate intelligently with your publisher, this book will be of great use.

Its strengths are in explaining the editorial, production and design process. It is less strong in explaining marketing. It contains a glossary which is very good, and directions which will help you continue to educate yourself.

The Romans had an expression ----ultum in parvo---much in little.
Hemmerly's slim volume fits that description. A publishing pro first and self-publisher second, she has assembled much useful
information---some of it unique---in {\it Unlocking the Secrets of Publishing}. Topics covered include book packagers, (she is one), forming a publishing company, prepress, printing and binding, CIP etc., BISAC codes, bound galleys, press kits and dealing with reviewers. The appendices are helpful without being overwhelming in length, and include coverage of professional contacts, early reviewers, media contacts in some major markets, and finally a useful glossary that is heavy on printing technology terms.

The book itself is a good advertisement for her work, unlike some
others we have reviewed. And by its utility we are reminded of another compact but extremely useful book, David Li's All by Yourself Self-Publishing which after seven years in print remains one of the truly valuable contributions to the self-publishers bookshelf.

In short Hemmerly has assembled the necessary facts in sufficient
detail without wasting much paper, ink or reader's time. The more we browse in it the higher it ranks on our personal publishing bookshelf.

For any writer considering publishing independently, Sylvia Hemmerly's Unlocking the Secrets of Publishing is not only a simplified guide to independent publishing; it is a friendly introduction to the process.

Books that describe an industry often seem to be written in a secret code that frightens newcomers away, but Sylvia Hemmerly's book invites you in and introduces you to the world of self-publishing in an encouraging way. Her information is well organized and attractively presented. This book is filled with solid basic information and helpful hints.

If you are ready to take the leap and get your work into print, this should be your first guide. If you have a friend or family member who is an aspiring author, this book would be a perfect gift!

In Unlocking The Secrets Of Publishing: Simplified Guide To Independent Publishing, author Sylvia Hemmerly offers the novice writer an informative tour of the complicated world of publishing and along the way explains clearly and definitively how to form a publishing company, as well as how to produce an attractive, marketable book. Hemmerly explains the critical importance of editing, cover and interior designs, how to work with designers, printing and binding, adjusting page counts for pricing purposes, and binding methods. A vitally important section is devoted to reviews -- how to get them and what to do with them once you have them. Indeed what Hemmerly has to say about book promotion, publicity and marketing will prove indispensable for any aspiring small press publisher or self-published author seeking to operate at a profit. Enhanced with appendices of publishing resource contact information, including reviewers and media, it is an invaluable addition to any "how to" reference collection on publishing in today's competitive and rapidly evolving marketplace, Unlocking The Secrets Of Publishing will save money, time, and aggravation for those new to the small press publishing field.

This is a good basic introduction to the exciting world of self-publishing. The author covers forming your publishing company, copyright, prepress, printing and selling. Since she worked in the production department of a large commercial printer, her advice on printing is particularly good.

Sylvia serves as an officer in both writing and publishing organizations and she is a consultant to the publishing industry. She generously shares her experience and wisdom.

The 38 pages of resources and the glossary of terms alone are worth the price of the book.

As a publisher, author of 28 Books, 109 revised editions, six translations and over 500 magazine articles as well as a consultant to the book publishing industry, I recommend this book to both authors and publishers....

I have always been a fan of Orson Welles on radio and television. Having collected a ton of radio broadcasts on CD and audio cassette and having watched most of his movies, I appreciate the genius of his work. I picked up a copy of this book recently and am amazed at the amount of research put into it. An aspect of Welles rarely discussed is his magic career. At the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention this September in Aberdeen, Maryland, I plan to attend the presentation about Orson Welles and his magic career so I can watch rare footage and films with Welles, and get an even deeper insight to his trickery. Book comes recommended.

This book's title aptly describes its critical task in taking issue with the misleading images perpetuated by certain critics and journalists concerning the significance of Orson Welles as a major cinematic talent who developed, rather than declined, after making CITIZEN KANE. The author had the benfit several years of contact with the director before he died as well as the opportunity to appear before the camera in the still unreleased THE OTHER SIDE OF THE WIND.

McBride has been engaged in Welles's scholarship since his early 1970s monograph dealing with the director and is in a good position to promote the case that Welles was more of what we would describe as an independent film director rather than a Hollywood figure. This book covers similar territory to the first two volumes of Simon Callow's biographical project but has the advantage of extending beyond the final chapter of HELLO AMERICANS to document Welles work in Europe and his return to Hollywood up to his eventual death. It is also a much more balanced work than either of Callow's two volumes by avoiding tendencies towards cheap character assassination (mercifully limited in Callow's second volume but still present in certain instances) to document a person who was both a genius and a difficult person.

The key argument of this book is that the director was more sinned against than anything else. His Hollywood career was deliberately sabotaged by studion executives and he was under surveillance by the FBI for some 15 years. Despite that, Welles never gave in but directed several fascinating films and worked on others that still remain to be completed up to the very moment of his life. Welles was a fascinating character, a product of the New Deal Cultural Front, and a cinematic innovator in many ways. He left a legacy of completed American and European films as well as other works that challenged the boundaries of mainstream cinema. McBride delivers this argument in an eloquent manner and documents his sources meticulously.

This is one of the best biographies that has appeared so far on the subject. It aims to reveal the truth concerning Welles's real creative challenge to the establishment which several notorious treatments have attempted to deny. McBride writes in a very engaging manner and makes a strong case for the reassessment of the legacy of Orson Welles as one of America's major talents of the twentieth century. It is a really important work demanding wide readership and respect for its very valuable achievement.

The University of Kentucky Press also deserves congratulations for publishing this work along with the recent books on Cecil B. De Mille, Thomas Dixon and Peter Lorre which are all instrumental in rewriting film history and refuting so-called standard interpretations.

Everyone knows that Orson Welles made _Citizen Kane_, possibly the most audacious and most analyzed movie to come out of Hollywood. And then what happened? He had been called a "boy genius", having made the movie (co-written, directed, and starred) when he was but twenty-five years old, but within a decade the term was used with sarcasm, and Walter Kerr wrote that Welles had become "an international joke, and possibly the youngest living has-been." Welles had been knocked down, and in the view of many, he never got up. Certainly, he never made anything like a _Kane_ again, but that isn't really fair: no one has. It is true that he never produced the sorts of films that were Hollywood-popular, but he did not at all disappear. Joseph McBride, a film historian who knew Welles, has answered the title question in his book _What Ever Happened to Orson Welles? A Portrait of an Independent Career_ (The University Press of Kentucky). The answer, quite simply, is that Welles worked and worked for decades in film, writing scripts, making movies, and (perhaps because few would bankroll him) doing things his own way. It's a sad story, in many ways. No one could doubt Welles's genius, and there are so many "if only" episodes in this book that it is often a depressing account. But Welles was not a tragic figure; he reflected years later that he might have made a mistake in staying in films (rather than, say, returning to the theater in which he had previously made his mark). But he would not have had it any other way: "I'm just in love with making movies," he said, and indeed, it was only death that stopped him.

McBride necessarily describes the problems that beset Welles immediately after _Kane_, when Welles could no longer get anything close to the full control of a film which he had practiced on his first movie. Still wanting to make movies, he left Hollywood to continue in Europe. McBride makes the case that contributing to Welles's decision for self-exile was his fear that he would be called to testify in the Communist witch-hunts. Welles loved shooting films and he especially loved editing them (as anyone who has seen _Kane_ can tell). There are plenty of pictures Welles worked on whose footage has been lost, but many others have the footage saved by fans or by creditors, and they frequently propose bringing out a finished version, hiring someone to pull the scenes together into a finished movie even so long after Welles's death in 1985. One producer mentioned she'd like to see a particular film screened not as an unfinished work by Welles, but as a film the way he might have finished it; but she says, "Finished by whom? Who can you substitute for Orson Welles?"

McBride does not go deeply into Welles's inability to finish things. Certainly it was attributable in a large part to Welles's way of skin-of-his-teeth filmmaking, whether or not it was some deep-set psychological disability. Welles could have written a magnificent autobiography, but when he got advances for such a work, he always returned them to the publishers. McBride writes, "Welles was deeply ambivalent about reminiscing, perhaps because he would have had to address issues he usually found too painful or delicate, such as his sexuality, his family life and some of his more traumatic experiences in Hollywood." Some of the stories of incompletion here, however, are extraordinary. His finished negative of _The Merchant of Venice_ was simply stolen from Welles's production office in Rome. The Iranians held funding for his meditation on filmmaking in the sixties, _The Other Side of the Wind_, and then the Shah was overthrown. "It's hard to imagine a movie career more littered with sensational catastrophes than mine," Welles admitted. He seldom admitted that he was the source of the less sensational catastrophes; a cameraman who worked with Welles late in his career said that Don Quixote was never completed because Welles "moved around too much, stuff got lost." For sensational and unsensational reasons, the losses recounted here are staggering. Nonetheless, McBride shows that they cannot be blamed, as some critics say, on Welles's being lazy or dilatory. The decades were filled with work for him, and he was pounding out a manuscript for a brand-new project on the night he died. As an independent filmmaker, Welles may have never fully lived up to his potential, but with a record of films that includes _Touch of Evil_ or the supremely weird _Lady from Shanghai_, his pattern of incompletion must be a minor sin. Much of McBride's personal account comes from his being an actor in _The Other Side of the Wind_ (of course, never finished) as were such droppable names as John Huston and Dennis Hopper. McBride's story won't re-make Welles's post-1950 career, but it isn't just a story of loss and lost opportunities; it is one of real movie history and at least some genuine artistic success.

Mention the name Orson Welles and his most famous involvement - with the radio scare 'War of the Worlds' - immediately comes to mind; but for a deeper understanding of Welles' life and career you need What Ever Happened to Orson Welles?: A Portrait of an Independent Career. His later projects were largely self-financed and erratically distributed, but film critic and biographer Joseph McBride has a personal familiarity with Welles from previous projects worked on with him and here shows how the Hollywood studio system forced Welles out of the industry. Its value thus is twofold: as a biography for Welles fans, and as a history of film industry operations and politics.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

While I might be biased because a many parts of this book included stories about my father, Gary Graver, this is not something you want to miss out on if you have any interest in Orson Welles or the inner workings of the Hollywood movie industry. I knew Orson when I was a young boy and teenager during the time my father worked with him, but my memories are nothing compared to the vivid details and thoroughness of Joe's writings.

This book taught me a lot about a man whom I admired and feared. He was rather scary from the perspective of a ten year old, but he often took time to have me sit with him while he taught me card tricks. I am so grateful that these stories are now available for everyone to read. Thank you Joe for your commitment in documenting what no one else ever has and sharing these wonderful stories.

In a landscape where the bravado and bluster of busty cartoon pin-ups was the norm, Jay Ryan's work seems downright radical in its understated, yet evocative approach. Jay's talents somehow make me want to see a concert and buy a Caldecott Medal winner in equal measure. A+

The first collection of poster artist Jay Ryan is both a biography and an art celebration: it gathers his works from rock clubs to galleries and arrives not alone but supplemented by essays from other involved in the music, design and poster worlds. Full-color reproductions of his works supplement these insights to create an excellent catalog of screenprint poster genius: a must for any collecting underground poster art.

This book is absolutely essential for all fans of illustration, poster art, and contemporary design. One of the best books you will find on an american poster artist, the layout is top-notch with original drawings for some of Jay's posters next to the finished pieces. Having watched Jay make his work for Ten years, it is great to see such a powerful survey packed into such a beautiful book.

Maybe Narducy of Evanston is kidding, but just to clarify for the kids in New York, Los Angeles, and Berlin--this IS the Jay Ryan based in Chicago, dude. And this book of his posters should grace the collection of any art student or indie music fan...

ps. it would be great if Amazon would fix the typo in the title--it's "Decade," not "Secade."

This book is a wonderful resource, and full of great book report ideas. I like the pages that can be photocopied and distributed to the students. I have already used four of the projects, and found they are really well done.

I am a middle school teacher who was looking for a way to get my English students to even DO a book report. This book was an answer to whatever prayer I had. The diifferent genres helps them figure out WHAT genre of book they are reading and choose accordingly. The rubrics are easy for them to follow and understand and make my grading a breeze.

This book is a timesaver in every way: the ideas are great, the pages to photocopy are well thought out, and the scoring rubrics are very helpful! I'll use this book alot in my fourth grade classroom this year!

This is a wonderful book. It is a great resource for teachers and offers a variety of reproducibles for use in the classroom. I would recommend this book to anyone who actively works in the classroom.

.... "It has seventeen new essays and 37 new book lists added to the second edition mentioned here. Forty six essays describe how individual groups are organized and portray thier strengths, weaknesses, and unique characters. Special-interest groups, groups with professional leaders or sponsors, new groups, and groups that have been meeting for decades are all represented. Readers discover what makes a good group tick, from how to organize meetings, select members and books, and stimulate discussion to turning a flagging group around. More than three dozen reading lists supplied by the groups themselves help to provide insight and inspiration for all who currently belong to a book group or are tempted to start a group of thier own....

From Fall 2000, but Amazon does not carry it yet. Hopefully soon. "It has seventeen new essays and 37 new book lists added to the second edition mentioned here. Forty six essays describe how individual groups are organized and portray thier strengths, weaknesses, and unique characters. Special-interest groups, groups with professional leaders or sponsors, new groups, and groups that have been meeting for decades are all represented. Readers discover what makes a good group tick, from how to organize meetings, select members and books, and stimulate discussion to turning a flagging group around. More than three dozen reading lists supplied by the groups themselves help to provide insight and inspiration for all who currently belong to a book group or are tempted to start a group of thier own. This book replaces 1-55652-246-0" catalog

I was looking for information about starting a book club when I found this book. At first I thought it would be useless because I was looking for guidelines, and this is a collection of essays. However, I was pleasantly surprised to find that the essays here not only provided the information I was looking for but were enjoyable reading in their own merit. The collection reads like a book of short stories. The compiled book lists are also very helpful.

A Thoughtful Guide to Forming & Enjoying a Stimulating Book Discussion Group with essayss written, often collectively, by members of many & varied groups together with a What To Read section. With a foreword that only Margaret Atwood could write, this collection of quirky, humorous & serious essays gathered from book groups around the country, enchants, entertains & had me plotting how to start a group out of our local library. A really neat read. ................

I have bought & tried several D'Nealian handwriting books with my son and this one is BY FAR the best I've seen! It doesn't just have letters to trace & practice like the other books, it also works on other skills. It starts off by showing pictures of children sitting correctly in their seats, how to hold your paper & pencil, etc. The book provides various exercises to work on good penmanship, including circling letters in a paragraph that are formed incorrectly. Later, they edit their own writing. Since trying this one, I've bought the 2nd grade level book for next year (which introduces cursive gradually) and the K book for my daughter...I wanted to be sure to have them on hand!

This book is wonderful for someone who has not written in D'Nealian before because it does not proceed alphabetically. It builds off of each letter. For example, the letter "d" follows the letter "a" because the motions are almost the same and the child can build the words "add" and "dad" in the second lesson. Very well thought out.

Once I found out what book my son was using in school. I had to purchase for home. Since the teaching of printed letters has changed since I was in school. I figured it was time for me to learn all over myself. So I purchased the Independent practice book/1. This way I was learning as well as my son. I found once I knew how to print, I then could help him a great deal more. Thanx D'Nealian Books

This is an excellent practice book with well-spaced lines, clear starting points, and easy-to-follow samples.

I can take a picture using my digital camera and I can even use the software, but the pictures looked horrible. So I broke down and bought this book. Wow! Now I know what I was doing wrong - lots! It's the technical information about resolution and working with the software that makes all the difference in your pictures. This is a must buy. If you've spent the money to buy the camera, spend a little extra, buy this book, and do it right.

I recieved this book as a gift and I snickered, thinking I already knew a lot about digital photography. Boy, was I wrong! This book is full of great information about things that really matter (resolution for example). This is a must buy for anyone scanning or using a digital camera. Really, there's a lot to learn!

Want to know the difference between image, monitor and printer resolutions? This book is a great intro to the world of digital graphics. The author writes in a witty, nontechnical manner, and manages to make even a technical topic a joy to read. The chapter on Internet images, however, lacks coverage of online photo albums such as ecircles and clubphoto. Perhaps the accompanying Web site at wambooli can pick up the slack.

I don't own a digital camera (35mm buff) but just couldn't get the hang of achieving even decent scans of my 35mm shots. This book follows Adobe Photodeluxe to the "T" but is very useful for anyone with a scanner. Changed everything and frequently use the book as a reference tool. Best bet for the price!