..;L Books

i m really new into comic art. This fascinated me fully, deeply inside out. its so routine but its so deep - frankly words cant express. its hard to recommend 'cause one needs to understand - i m not sure i could grasp it yesterday but today its one of my favourites!

I wasn't sure which one of the american spledor comics to buy; this one is a good place to start. i'm very happy with the read.

A self-described "working class intellectual" with a passion for collecting jazz records and a "flunky gig" as a file clerk in a VA hospital, Harvey Pekar pioneered the literary comic genre. His long-running series American Splendor portrays not caped superheroes with bulging muscles, but the everyday life of an ordinary guy in Cleveland. Pekar's autobiographical vignettes are introspective, honest, and often funny, candidly revealing his flaws and failures as he pushes on heroically in pursuit of love, companionship, and creative fulfillment.

Pekar's realistic dialogue (the characters speak in different dialects, which helps you "hear" them in your head) accompanies a wide range of art styles by a number of comic artists, from the quirkiness of R. Crumb to the stark realism of Greg Budgett and Gary Dumm and the meticulous, photographic detail of Gerry Shamray.

For me, this book was a great introduction to an addictive series. Chock full of amusing anecdotes and musings on everything from race relations in Cleveland to the joy of a good pair of shoes, it's a slice of life in comic book form.

This collection of Pekar writings from the 1970s and 80s was issued on the heels of the film "American Splendor," and it collects some of the best of Pekar's earlier work. Although not exclusively chronological, the presentation of the material gives a good idea of Pekar's life from his post-high school days through his meeting and marrying Joyce Brabner. (For a strictly chronological memoir, see Pekar's recent The Quitter.)

In the later Pekar work, the centerpiece of much of it is Pekar's obsessive-compulsive anxiety. But a lot of this work focuses on what might be described as Pekar's existential anxiety: his terrible loneliness, his anger and alienation, his dark reflections on the meaning of life, his desire for recognition, his regret over wasted opportunities and adolescent hubris, and his worries about future contingencies (financial security, illness and death, old age). The Pekar who comes through in these pages isn't the lovable crank of the film. Rather, the person who comes through is the outsider, a self-educated man, extremely knowledgeable in literature and music, who disdains a "normal" lifestyle and seeks freedom through nonconformity. Perhaps the finest single piece Pekar has ever written, "I'll be Forty-three on Friday (How I'm Living Now)" speaks to all this. The collection's lead story, "The Harvey Pekar Name Story," in which Pekar winds up asking "Who IS Harvey Pekar?" is a perfect set-up.

Of course, there are also lighter moments in this collection. Mr. Boats (wonderfully illustrated by R. Crumb) appears here a couple of times, and he's always good for a bit of gently funny homespun wisdom. "Mrs. Roosevelt and the Young Queen of Greece" and "On the Corner: A Sequel, June 1976" are touching pieces about the bittersweetness of memory. And the penultimate story in the collection, "Common Sense," would make even a dyed-in-the-wool misanthrope love humanity.

Highly recommended.

I've been a fan of Harvey Pekar's work for over fifteen years. The first time I ever read his self-published comix, American Splendor, I was impressed by its examination of everyday life. His self-effacing humor grows on those who want more than mainstream comics starring spandex-clad teens with superpowers. Compared with Pekar, Spidey has it easy.

I was happy when this movie tie-in release of his early collected work was published. The everyday brilliance of the real life interactions between Pekar and his friends, co-workers and loved ones merit more attention by discerning readers. It would behoove anyone who cares about the comix medium to claim a copy for their personal reading enjoyment. This volume is not for collectors, but for fans of alternative graphic literature who want more meat and potatoes rather than the visual eye candy of more mainstream publishers.

Pekar has been described as a "working class intellectual" (The Comics Journal), and this label is respectfully accurate. He comes from a generation who grew up devouring a culture that had more respect for intelligence than is common today. Instead of just mourning this trend, Pekar rebels from it in true beatnik fashion. His long-time association with R. Crumb (who drew the very first American Splendor story, "The Harvey Pekar Name Story") attracted other artists within Cleveland as well as from other locations as the series has progressed.

The everyday heroism of Pekar working a civil service job in order to create his vision of the potential of graphic literature comes through in every page of this collection. I am glad that there are other collections and issues of American Splendor that are available. It would be grand if future generations of comix fans could gravitate around the work that Pekar has never tired from creating. Even at the worst of his lymphoma and chemo treatments, he has never quit observing and relating the drama of everyday life.

A very good piece of work with some precious pearls of wisdom. An excellent read. Great for newlyweds and seasoned couples alike. Highly recommended.

I am reading this book now. I wish I would've read this book before I got married. Unfortunately, I am divorcing, but I can say that this book is a real pick-me-up. I am now understanding the role of a man and a woman in a marriage and now I know what to look for when I do get married again. The responsibility of a man in the household, How men and women are different, how to get past hurts and how not to be manipulitive. God wants relationships to have order. Work as a team under the guidance of the Almighty. Women and men are the same in the spirit, but they provide a different function. If one person doesn't fulfill their role, the marriage will not work. The love emotions will fade and it will end in disaster! Amen! I went through it. I haven't finished reading all the chapters yet, but I can't put it down. Decide for yourself, it is a real blessing to me. Thanks Bishop Long!!!

Eddie Long presents a book attempting to teach people about Godly relationships and what both sexes require in them. While his intentions are certainly noble, they fell short of pleasing or helping me in several important areas. Before I start my ranting, let me say that he does make some very good points about marriage and the sexes. Heck, the man even points out that Delilah wasn't all bad, and you gotta give him gutsy points for that! I applaud him for certain comments, such as telling men not to blame their wives for their problems and to listen to and value their opinions; he also gives women some good advice about men. So what's my problem with him? Well, in spite of all his seeming understanding of the female spirit, his ideas of a woman's role in society are nothing short of sexist.

First of all, he began with the fatal error of telling me that wives should obey their husbands. Not submit to, but obey, as though wives are children. The word "obedience" is an absolute no-no in the marriage vocabulary as far as I'm concerned. This obedience thing honestly surprised me, since he had claimed that women are equal to men. Apparently, someone should have explained to him the meaning of equality, because several of his other comments contradict his supposed belief in it.

When he talks about female obedience, he doesn't draw the line at marriage alone, but indicates that a woman's lot in life is to be obedient to a male force: "her father before marriage, her husband after marriage, and possibly a pastor in an intermediate period." So, where's the equality? As an independent woman, there is hardly anything that offends me more than a man presuming to tell a woman that obedience is best for her (isn't that similar to what Southern whites used to tell Africans about slavery?) Other contradictions are visible in his writing; for example, in spite of saying that it's okay for a woman to be single, he indicates that women were made for men, both to give them companionship and to bear them babies. Men NEED women, he says, and women so need to nurture their men. He even pulled the age-old trick of saying that a woman can influence a man by submitting to him. He basically seemed to be saying that we're supposed to obey our husbands and be their mommies at the same time.

Maybe Long realized that he sounded sexist, because he went way out of his way to praise women's strengths and to emphasize how much men need us, so much so that he actually made me wonder why men SHOULD be in charge if we're so great and they're so needy. The final straw for me was his comments about women having jobs. He said, "I think I understand why women take on men's jobs. Either they've been abandoned and forced to work, or abused in the past and would rather work than rely on a man." Um, you forgot a third possiblility, buddy: Maybe we take on "men's" jobs because we're perfectly competent and capable of doing so! Why imply that a woman only works if there's something wrong with her? With this comment, his claim of belief in equality flew out the window once and for all. But then, I should have seen this coming when he said wives should be obedient; how are women to be equals in society if our own husbands don't treat us as such? Marriage is about two people coming together, NOT about the wife morphing into the husband.

I suppose Long and his wife have the right to practice one-sided marital submission, but he doesn't have the right to pass this off as God's will and attempt to cram it down our throats repeatedly. His agenda is clear when he calls disobedient wives "ungrateful" and tells women that if they don't obey their husbands, their marriage will be miserable and their children will be dysfunctional because they won't know how to deal with male/female relationships. Whatever, fella; I fully intend to get married without obeying my husband. I guess I'll just have to pray that my heinous ingratitude doesn't drive my poor family into therapy. Don't be fooled by his sweet talk, ladies; what his message really boils down to is this: it's perfectly okay for a woman to be strong, but only if she stays in her place. Which, in case you weren't paying attention, is consistently under a man's control.

This is an excellent book on relationship within the family and the body of christ. It helps woman and men to know there place and function in the physical and spiritual.

This book helped change my life. The Lord works in wonderous ways!

Are you the type that has to know the "why" and "how" behind how a language behaves? Then this is the book you need... The Java Language Specification, Third Edition by James Gosling, Bill Joy, Guy Steele, Gilad Bracha. Provided you're buying it for the right reason, there's nothing close to it.

Contents: Introduction; Grammars; Lexical Structure; Types, Values, and Variables; Conversions and Promotions; Names; Packages; Classes; Interfaces; Arrays; Exceptions; Execution; Binary Compatibility; Blocks and Statements; Expressions; Definite Assignment; Threads and Locks; Syntax; Index

So why do I say "for the right reason"? Because if you pick it up expecting something else, you'll be highly disappointed. This is *not* a tutorial of the language, nor is it an easy-to-read conversation or discussion of Java. Instead, it's a computer engineering level coverage of how Java is structured and how it works, from the people who wrote it. As such, you're going to find information in here that you'll have a hard time getting elsewhere. You'll find out how the nitty-gritty of how things like classes and interfaces work, and how they *should* be structured. If you're just getting started in Java, you'll likely be over your head by the second chapter. The target of this type of writing would be people who are Java journeymen, and who have gotten to the point where they need to know some of the theory behind features and structure. You'll also need a book like this if you write development tools that target the Java environment. Armed with this book and a solid background in Java, you'll be able to produce software that behaves just as developers would expect.

Don't let the depth and complexity of the material steer you away from the book if you're ready to go deeper with Java. Just don't pick up the book expecting to learn Java for the first time. There are better books out there for that purpose. But if you need to understand the guts of Java, this is it.

This is it, the complete and authoritative definition of the Java programming language. This edition covers the Java language up to 1.5, so it gives a full description of generics and type parameters, boxing and unboxing, enums, annotation, and all the latest. If you develop Java language tools - debuggers, compilers, etc. - you simply must have this book. If you care about Java details that much, you must have the newest edition.

The typical programmer, someone who uses Java for application development, probably won't find much of interest in this book. This isn't a programmer's how-to manual. Nearly nothing describes how to use the language features. The code samples just illustrate language syntax and subtleties. There's nearly no discussion of the Java APIs, not even the java.lang.* packages or language-dependent reflection features. These are not flaws in this reference manual - this simply isn't a book meant to serve those needs.

Despite its 650+ pages, this really is a concise, precise definition of the Java 1.5 programming language. If you care about the internals of Java or about OO lnaguages in general, then this book is for you.

//wiredweird

The Java Language Specification, The Java Programming Language Guide (4th Edition), and the SJCP Study Guide for Java 5 (Sierra, Bates) are essential to passing the SJCP exam. The Java Language Specification gives you the important technical details that textbooks tend to leave out. The best way to use this book is to make small, simple test programs for each chapter or topic (the programs that the authors provide are too cryptic for my taste). This book is not a tutorial and you should have the level of knowledge aquired by studying the Java textbooks by Walter Savitch and/or Daniel Liang. It's also a good idea to have Head First Java (2nd Edition, Sierra, Bates) in your bookshelf with the others - plus anything by Cay Horstmann (Core Java I and Core Java II.)

Just the book for the java hungry community. For those that are pressed for cash and cannot afford the book just yet you can visit the java dot sun website to download a pdf version of this book with minor cosmetic changes dealing with copyright. The integrity of the book is otherwise intact. The directory to look for is docs->books->jls. Cheers

This book is essential for learning Java, and should be read by anyone serious about learning the language. Pay special attention to the example programs, as they highlight special cases and subtleties that are not explained in other books, and often misconstrued by the authors of other books.

Bear in mind that this books is available for free from Sun Microsystems's web site. They offer it in either HTML or in PDF. So you can save some money.

Dennis Apple does an excellent job in sharing what life is like after the loss of a child. This book will really help those who are trying to help others who are going through grief. They will be able to better understand what those grieving are going through. It will also give those going through it hope, knowing others have made it through it as well, and that they really are not going off the deep end.

My wife and could have written this book. Dennis Apple's words express the same raw, palalyzing, draining emotions we felt when we lost our twenty-seven year old son, Eben, in a car-motorcycle accident. Dennis tells how people around him did not 'comprehend' how life stopped for he and his wife. Anyone lost a son/daughter needs to read this. You have a friend that understands. It will help you release your grief. It only has been a year and half for us, but with God's grace we are healing day by day. rudyghoggard

I really think this book is so true for anyone who has grieved the loss of a child. Even though my child died stillborn 4 days before birth (full term) I can relate to the extreme sadness that one has after the loss. He says in the book how the death of a child is harder than any othe loss because it is the loss of the future and your hopes and dreams... I couldn't have said it better myself.

I wish people could read this book who were family members so they would see what the feeling is really like. It is something you just learn to live with and you have a "new normal".

Take care,
Heidi

After the death of my 19 yr. old son to an accidental poisoning I was and still am devastated. I quickly read all the books on and by people who have suffered such losses. Some give a clinical veiw and some are to much "move on and be joyous" I dont feel very joyous. Mr. Apple is so very open and honest about his feellings and thoughts. The book expressed many things I also have felt. One of my top 5 along with "Lament for a son" and "Goodbye my son Hello".

There is a time and place for everything. Our God is an awesome God but Dennis Apple gives a very refreshing and honest insight from those of us who have walked in similar shoes. My hat is off to Dennis for his ability to write this book and share his feelings. I am buying additional copies to give away because I wish I would have read this sooner. Thank you, Dennis.

I would like to thank Dennis Noble and his crew for their bravery. Tragedies like the Rain Song would be far worse if it wasn't for the courage of people like him. Having lost someone on that boat, reading the accounts of the rescue has helped me to understand what happened that day. This book was very well written.

Excellent story of our men and women of the U. S. Coast Guard.

Lifeboat Sailors by Dennis Noble, a retired Coast Guard Senior Chief, is reading life as it is in the Coast Guard's world of Search and Rescue. I was stationed in Port Angeles for over 10 years and visited the Small boat Stations he talks about. As an Enlisted man with over 15 years, I have many friends at those stations and Dr. Noble tells it like it is. Of course this book was written pre-911 but still with all the growth for the Coast Guard and larger focus on Homeland Security, the Small Boat stations have had little change or given any more assets, but definitely have more patrol requirements. Dr. Noble's ideas and problems still remain. Search and Rescue has again taken back seat, this time to Homeland Security instead of Law Enforcement of the 80's. His prologue and epilogue tell the story of the tragic events of February 12 of 1997, when the 44 foot Motor Life Boat 44363 rolled and lost 3 of its four person crew. Dr. Noble happened to be a Station Quillayute River that night and provides us a first hand account of the events. It is a sobering tale surrounding his plight of the Lifeboat sailors in this excellent book. A must for Coasties new and old.

I was stationed at Station Willapa Bay , Washington from 1974 to 1977. The first time out on a 44ft MLB we had 25ft breakers to play with. What a ride. Spent time at the MLB School at Cape Disappoinment. Had the time of my life with the small boats.

Great book. A must read if you what to know about the Coast Guard search and rescue. All of Dennis books are great..........

This book offered a rare and informative insight into the world of US Coast Guard lifeboat stations and the sailors that man them. It gave great first hand insights into the day to day operations of a lifeboat station and a very informative history of the stations from the early days of the lifesaving service to the modern lifeboat station. A great read and a must for anyone in or wanting to be in the US Coast Guard!!!!!!

This is a beautifully written and often moving memoir of a woman whose life and career spans several continents, intersects with history at many points, and settles in the profession of medicine in the Midwest, especially the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. She was born in pre-Communist China to a foreign service officer in the national government of Chiang Kaishek; grew up in several Chinese cities and spent four childhood years in Cuba; barely escaped the Japanese invasion of Nanjing; and ended up attending college at Mount Holyoke, and medical school at the University of Michigan. After major stops in Detroit, Dublin, and Minneapolis, she landed at the Mayo Clinic, as a staff physician in rheumatology. The book is finely observed and carefully written from first to last, with detailed evocations especially of her childhood in China and Cuba, and as a teenager at the Blackstone School for Girls in Blackstone, Virginia in the segregated South in the early 1940's. (Once she was told by a bus driver to sit in the back of the bus. "But I'm not black, I'm Chinese," she said. After scrutinizing her, the bus driver relented and let her sit in the front.) Interwoven through these travels is the emotional biography of an exile finding a home in place after place, trying to make sense of new customs, new ideas, and new people each step of the way. Describing her studies of Christianity, Buddhism, Tai Chi and Yoga in book's last chapters, the author shows how adventurous travel can cross not only geographical but spiritual boundaries.

Living Medicine by Victoria Beckett is not only informative and inspiring, but an entertaining and fun read. In it she demonstrates that her desire and passion to succeed as a physician and healer can be achieved regardless of the difficulties and setbacks life sometimes throws at us. A very enjoyable book.

Living Medicine is a beautifully written story that exemplifies the passion Dr. Beckett had for her career as a physician and for the Mayo Clinic, one of the world's finest medical institutions. It is also a story of courage and inspiration. Dr. Beckett overcomes many tragedies, but yet continually exercises her mind and body in pursuit of new opportunities and adventures.

LIVING MEDICINE: Memoir Snapshots by Vicky Beckett, M.D. is the story of a remarkable intellectual Chinese woman whose capacity to overcome family tragedies reveals an indomitable courage. It is the charming account of a girl, born and raised in a landlord family, who, after immigrating to the United States, sought and achieved excellence in clinical medicine.

What a find! Nearly the whole history of twentieth century relations between China and the USA encapsulated in the story of the life of a Chinese-American woman doctor at the matchless Mayo Clinic. Her fine character pays homage to the efforts of the Protestant missionaries who were so active in China before the Communists took over. Her earnest goodness shines through her writing as she meets struggle and tragedy and ultimate mastery of life. Her devotion to medicine is an inspiration. Highly recommended.

This book is valuable for anyone interested in the debates about justice, but particularly for readers of Helen Prejean's Dead Man Walking: An Eyewitness Account Of The Death Penalty In The United States. I also advise reading Debbie Morris' Forgiving the Dead Man Walking: Only One Woman Can Tell the Entire Story, and the Bourgue family's Dead Family Walking: The Bourque Family Story of Dead Man Walking, both written by victims of the murderers for whom Helen Prejean was such an eloquent advocate. This is not as appealing as Dead Man Walking, not as warm and fuzzy, but it is an unflinching, indeed horrific, look at the reality of murder and vicious cruelty.

I believe that if we, as a society, release someone whom we have good reason to believe is dangerous, we are responsible for future acts of violence. Not as a responsible as we are for executing an innocent person, but still bearing a burden of guilt. What I like best about the book is that he talks about the reasons that keep me from accepting the abolition of the death penalty. Varnado points out that the arguments that are advanced against the death penalty could, with slight editing, be advanced against any punishment; at 53, I can remember when they were. Executing the murderer doesn't bring back the victim, but neither does anything else. Many of the leaders of the abolition movement, currently begging us to be content with life-without-parole (LWoP), are the same people who have been opponents of any long-term imprisonment. I don't think that we would have LWoP if we didn't have a death penalty. Given the arguments against three-time loser laws, will people who don't accept LWoP for three felonies, even if they are all violent, continue to support LWoP for a murder, however heinous? I think they'd revert to their earlier and more sincere opinions.

It's not an easy question. The legal system is simultaneously too harsh and too soft. Innocent people have been convicted. Chills go down my spine when mayors, governors, etc., announce that heads will roll if someone isn't accused within 48 hours. "Testilying", i.e., false information by the police, is apparently all too common, but the defense is no better. Obviously our legal system is not too concerned about public safety: convicts are given probation, violate it, and are simply given probation again. I hear horrifying tales of the carelessness of parole boards.

I have also come to think less of Helen Prejean, the more I know about her. I finished Dead Man Walking not convinced, but with great respect for her. As she has become more famous, and more information is available, it has become clear that she feels her cause justified lying and general carelessness with the truth. As Varnado and Debbie Morris point out, she simply accepted what Willie told her without any investigation. It was fine as his spiritual advisor to deal with the world as he saw it, but when she crossed the line into legal advocate and author, such sloppiness became irresponsible. Further, she apparently was knowingly telling a lie when she claimed Willie was remorseful. Not only did he contradict her in his own interview, but Debbie Morris told us that she admitted that she didn't think he was capable of remorse. She has now written a book about people who were supposedly innocent of the crimes for which they were executed; I suppose that I will read it, but at this point, I wouldn't take her word for it. She has co-founded a program for victims, but as Varnado points out, she remains extremely insensitive to them as individuals. Her prayer condemning the participants in an execution, including the victim's parents, is a case in point. She topped this off by not considering how they would feel about appearing in her book, let alone the movie! She's great at touching apologies, but they only mean something if one tries to do better.

Readers concerned about valuing the murderer over the victims may also be interested in reading The Victim's Song by Alice Kaminsky; Yale Murder by Peter Meyer; and The Killing of Bonnie Garland: A Question of Justice by Willard Gaylin.

Victims of Dead Man Walking has been the most difficult, tear-jerking, enraging, must read I have come across. Ever. This brutal rape and murder happened not far from my home, and Faith's memory is still well within the minds and hearts of people all over our area. She was a beautiful, smart, 18 year old young lady who had the world within her reach on graduation day. But a cruel, unrelenting Robert Willie and Joseph Vaccaro, both of them boasting about a life of crime without remorse, stole Faith Hathaway away from this earth. They raped her repeatedly, stabbed her until the gaping wounds nearly severed her head, and left her to die alone in Fricke's Cave, only to be discovered 8 days later by a then 25 year old whip detective Mike Varnado. Hollywood doesn't want you to know these things. They would rather you believe that a then 24 year old "Matthew Poncelet" (a dead ringer for Robert Willie if there ever was one), who received the death penalty by electric chair, became a remorseful repentant man when he met his fate. Nothing of the sort ever occured. His partner in crime, Joseph Vaccaro, sits this day in a federal penitentiary still serving out his sentence for yet another crime, the rape and kidnapping of a "16 year old from Madisonville".

This book is so very well written it feels as though Detective Mike is speaking to you personally. He makes it easy, while terrifying, to put yourself in his shoes, countless sleepless nights after discovering Faiths swollen, nude, decomposing body in the once family oriented Fricke's Cave. You can feel the anger rise up from the pages from a very cruel young man who boasted of his murders, who never showed remorse, but loved the attention he gained from the spectacle of a nun and the television news. After the book DMW and movie of the same name, the real story of Faith Hathaway was nearly forgotten until Detective Mike brought forth the true details of the crime. One need not be pro nor con death penalty to learn valuable lessons and true facts of Faith Hathaway. After speaking with Faith's mother personally, I learned that Mrs. Harvey (Faith's mother) asked Tim Robbins (DMW director) to at least visit the area of Fricke's Cave where her daughter was left to die. Mr. Robbins response was "I don't have the time". Please - make the time for this book, the REAL story of the Victims of Dead Man Walking. These words by Detective Mike will make you a litttle wiser to the facts of this young girl, the trial that followed, and could very well give you the knowledge to save your own life one day.

So often today we find the victim and family of an horrific crime victimized the second time. When I read an excerpt of "Dead Man Walking" and then saw who was directing and starring in the movie version I realized that this cruelty was being visited upon the family of Faith Hathaway. I have always had my doubt about the death penalty however the writers have a very valid point about the alternative punishment: life without parole. As long as the murderer is alive there is a chance of commutation of sentence (the removal of a mandatory sentence makes an inmate eligible to be considered for parole) or an outright pardon. After researching the number of commutations allowed in the past I now realize that, with great deliberation, there still is a place for the death penalty.

I read the book "Forgiving The Dead Man Walking" by Debbie Morris, who was also kidnapped and raped by Robert Lee Willie and Joe Vaccaro. Debbie lived to tell the story in her own words... I highly recommend it for those of you who care about this topic.

I lived in the area when this tragic, senseless, and incredibly brutal rape & murder took place near my hometown. Friends and relatives worked the case, and the entire area mourned the loss of Faith Hathaway as the peaceful innocence and sense of safety in our rural area was forever shattered.
The wounds were re-opened when Dead Man Walking came out. It was a slap in the face of everything good and true. It was an incredibly cruel blow to Faith's family, who deserved so much better after the tragic loss of their daughter.
Thank you Mike for setting the record straight, for honoring Faith's memory.

This is a major compilation of the work of the intriguing graphic artist, M. C. Escher. Remember seeing depictions of events that seem plausible but, under closer analysis, involve impossibilities? That describes some of Escher's most interesting works.
The book provides just about everything Escher produced (appearing in the "Catalog" section of the book), including his earliest works compiled during his teens. Among the most well known (and fascinating) include "The Waterfall," "Ascending and Descending March," "Convex and Concave," "Liberation," "Synthesis," "House of Stairs," and so on. The catalog section is fun, for one thing, simply to trace the evolution of his art.

But there is more to this volume than the works themselves. The volume provides context, with a brief description of his father's life as well as a more detailed analysis of Escher's life, from his birth in 1898 to his death in 1972.

There is also a most useful chapter labeled "The Vision of a Mathematician" (featuring the thoughts of mathematics teacher Bruno Ernst). It begins by noting two periods in the work of Escher--(page 135): ". . .pre 1935, in which landscapes predominate, and post 1937, which is characterized by a marked mathematical tendency." Ernst describes the mathematical principles in some detail (for those interested in this, a fascinating discussion). The textual portion of the book concludes with an essay by Escher himself on "The Regular Division of the Plane," including his reflections on his art.

This book has been around a while, but it is a valuable backdrop to getting a sense of the art of M. C. Escher.

I love everything Escher. I have several books, numerous calendars, as well as large jigsaw puzzles, T-shirts, magnets and mini jigsaw puzzles. Because of the detail in this book, I will never need to add another book to my collection. I especially appreciate the explanations. I am nowhere near smart enough to figure out what Escher was doing in each of his artworks. The detailed lesson on what each piece means is much appreciated by an art fan who is not an art scholar. I think this book would be great for any Escher fan, but I feel the need to tell you it is very large. Make sure you have room for it.

And c'mon - if you've seen his work, you're a fan.

The great thing about this book is not just the extensive and readable biography, but the complete (so they say) catalog of his graphic works. Even people very familiar with Escher's ouvre will be surprised by some of the entries here. They go back to work he did at ages 18 and 19, and show the devleopment of the Escher that has become so famous. It's just a little disappointing that the catalog is printed only in black and white, when so many of his works used color. The catalog reproductions are just that - a listing of his work, not a gallery, so the quarter-page size of most pieces is adequate for recognizing a piece, if not for appreciating it fully.

It is fascinating to see Escher's style develop though his (and the twentieth century's) twenties. Various influences early on suggest Beardsley (cat. 49, 67), Picasso (cat. 51, 58), or the pervasive Art Deco of his time (cat.34). Even then, some of Escher's later fascinations begin to emerge, including hands and reflective balls (cat. 88 and 80), symmetries and tilings (cat. 61, 65), and complex interactions of many figures in a repeating structure (cat. 90). The lesser-known parts of his work also start to emerge by the time he's 30, including delicate lithographs (cat. 129, 132). As much as I love his visual paradoxes and flirtation with the infinite, the lithos and mezzotints are the pieces that truly move me. "Snow" and "Blowball" (cat. 278 and 330) have an eloquent simplicity. "Eye" and "Drop" (cat. 344 and 356) demonstrate his classical sense and his perseverance with the demanding medium of mezzotint.

The text is also thorough and enjoyable - a good thing, since it takes up half of this heavy book, including its own set of illustrations. I admit that I have only skipped around this section, which starts by describing Escher's father. It's small wonder that his father was an engineer and that his son Arthur studied geology. Although an artist to the core, Escher had fruitful contact with mathematicians and crystallographers. He is one of very few artists that have successfully incorporated hard science into their artistic vision at such a visceral level, and the scientists appreciated that as much as anyone.

Although out of print, this book is available inexpensively on the used market. It's one of the best bargains around; if you've read this far, you'll probably find it well worth having.

//wiredweird

I haven't even had a chance to go through all of this remarkable book yet, but I am so impressed with it so far I cannot burble enough about how delighted I am with my purchase. This is a beautifully produced, designed, and wonderfully complete book. Many tales of the personal life an vision of the artist, countless, cleanly reproduced graphics, many works I have never seen or heard of before. Terrific! Can't recommend enough!!!

Definitely the first book every Escher fan should purchase. It's helpful in getting to know about the man himself as well as his brilliant artwork. It may seem pricey, but it's totally worth it, being hardcover (at least the one I got), and high quality photos of his work. It also shows his lesser known works (ones never released apparently), as well as photos of himself and his family. A very informative read and a quality edition.

The best part was the account of the expeditions to the Andes to collect blues, it brought a much-needed real world element to the book, to counter the strangely third person stance, and musty approach. The combination of taxonomy and a dead author's research just lacks much punch, though the authors make a valiant effort. One of the authors frequently refers to himself by surname, which seems odd; it happens maybe a hundred times or more in discussing the recent research into Blues, and how it intersects with Nabokov's work. The book is part primer on biodiversity, taxonomy, field biology, and part homage to Nabokov's genius. It must be unique in it's attempt to combine these elements. I love butterflies, South America, and am a biologist, but I found it overwritten, just too many words for what it was trying to get across. The style was also a problem, it needed to have more verve, less reserve.

At first blush this book appears to be a footnote to a writer who had an eccentric hobby. Since Professor Boyd's definitive biography some may consider that there was little else to explore. The scientific achievements of Vladimir Nabakov were not lost but perhaps overwhelmed in the literary story.
Nabakov's Blues does more than just dust off the lepidoptry papers. The book is in the final assessment a celebration of how science and research are never a sterile academic exercise but a reflection of greater issues of the beauty and elegance of intellect at work.
During the course of shedding light on the under recognized research we are reminded that the mundane work of classifying and sorting often underpins more glamorous tasks, but are also given insight into the many quiet achievers in science, who often take considerable personal risks to complete research which is part of a greater whole and leaves them only as a name in a arid catalogue.
We are too prone to identify the heros and not those who without clamor or boasting actually do the work.
Nabakov himself never "promoted" his science although he made it clear that his butterflies were an integral part of his life. We grow to specialise and those who can travel in literary circles as well as science are rare. The authors Johnson and Coates do themselves demonstrate that they too can travel the literary salons and the research laboratories, and write an elegant supplement to Professor Boyd that transcends that status to become a commentary on the man who was in many ways a true renaissance figure.

NABOKOV'S BLUES

Nabokov's Blues: The Scientific Odyssey of a Literary Genius. Kurt Johnson, Steve Coates. Cambridge, MA: Zoland Books, 1999. Pp 372 $27.00

In his Field Guide to the Butterflies of North America Alexander Klots wrote of the genus Lycaeides that "the recent work of Nabokov has entirely rearranged the classification of this genus." The response of Vladimir Nabokov, the acclaimed author of Lolita, Pale Fire and Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle, was "That's real fame. That means more than anything a literary critic might say."

Nabokov was born in April 1899 and his reputation as a leading literary figure of the century he was almost born in seems secure; the Random House Modern Library proclaimed Lolita the fourth greatest novel of the century and the memoir Speak, Memory, the eighth greatest work of non-fiction, thus Nabokov was the only author to feature in the top ten of both lists. It is well known that Nabokov had a strong interest in lepidoptery. Often however it is dismissed as mere dilettantism, or seen by academics and critics as a source of Freudian symbolism. Nabokov himself detested such phenomena as the crass observation that "insect" and "incest" are anagrams, and attacked "the vulgar, shabby, fundamentally medieval world of Freud, with its crankish quest for sexual symbols." Full-time lepidopterists were either ignorant of Nabokov's work or regarded it as amateur dabblings; perhaps they also felt resentment at this part-timer who was nevertheless dubbed "the most famous lepidopterist in the world."

Kurt Johnson is a lepidopterist associated with the Florida State Collection of Arthropods, while Steve Coates is an editor at The New York Times. This, their first book, fights on many fronts; it tries to restore Nabokov's scientific reputation and give some account of lepidoptery's place in his life and literary work; pleads for the oft-ignored discipline of taxonomy, more important now than ever in the light of the crisis in biodiversity; and is an exciting scientific adventure story ranging from the "incorrigible continent" of South America to the squabbles of the world of academia.

Nabokov's scientific work belongs in every sense in a different era; he represents one of the last of the gentleman naturalists. Lepidoptery was an interest inherited from his father, a prominent Russian liberal assassinated in Berlin in 1922. It remained constant throughout the upheaval of the Russian Revolution and exile in Cambridge, Germany and France. On coming to the United States in May 1940 he soon visited the American Museum of Natural History in New York City with certain puzzling specimens from Europe. In Autumn 1941 he visited Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology and found the collections in disarray, and first as a volunteer and then as a part-time research fellow in entomology he endeavoured to straighten it out. This was typical of the war years; considerable lacunae existed in academia and were filled with available workers with little regard for their professional training.

Nabokov's paper Notes on Neotropical Plebejinae is the key in the reassessment of his position in science. It was a pioneering classification of the Latin American Polyommatini, a diverse group of Blue butterflies with members from the tip of Chile to the Caribbean. This paper established a broad framework of genera for later researchers to insert new species. In 1948 he left the Museum of Comparative Zoology to become Professor of Russian and European Literature at Cornell University. This marked the end of Nabokov's formal association with the world of lepidoptery, and with the publication of Lolita Nabokov's fame became a two-edged sword as far as his scientific reputation was concerned.

In the 1980s a series of expeditions to Las Abejas, a jungle enclave near Dominican Republic's Haitian border, began to turn up new specimens of what were known as Blues. Over the next decade and a half, Johnson and other lepidopterists travelled all over South America, becoming increasingly aware of the crucial relevance of Nabokov's classification system to the multiplicity of new species they discovered. In these chapters the authors make us aware of the biodiversity crisis which means species are becoming extinct faster than science can ascertain their existence. The humble place of the taxonomist, seen by some as a drone of biology, is scarcely deserved, considering the importance of this work. The authors are also at pains not to judge Nabokov by the standards of today; some of his beliefs on mimicry and evolution appear scientifically unorthodox, but reflect that when he was working these issues were still being resolved.

This book will provide both enjoyment and enlightenment to any reader interested not only in Nabokov but in the relationship of the arts and sciences, the current state of natural science and the biodiversity crisis. The crucial question for Johnson and Coates is "Was Nabokov a true scholar of Lepidoptera, or merely a dilettante whose contributions were remarkable?" The casual observer might wonder how "mere" a dilettante would make "remarkable" contributions, but the question is deeper; seeing Nabokov as a scientist gives the understanding of his life and works a whole new dimension.

The authors seem to suggest that a healthy relation between CP Snow's "two cultures" requires not a facile "unity" but a deep appreciation of both the humanities and the sciences. Nabokov's quote "Does there not exist a high ridge where the mountainside of 'scientific' knowledge joins the opposite slope of 'artistic' imagination" is often quoted in this context. Far from an airy abstraction, this refers to a specific example; Nabokov's 1952 review of a book centred around the drawings of John James Audubon; Nabokov found Audobon's butterfly drawings inept, and wondered "can anyone draw something he knows nothing about?" Nabokov considered a knowledge of natural science indispensable for a truly cultured sensibility; he was shocked when his literature students at Cornell University were ignorant of the names of local trees and birds.

We see Chekhov and William Carlos Williams as doctors and as writers; we see Primo Levi as a chemist and as a writer. Johnson and Coates convincingly try to persuade us that Nabokov should be seen as a writer and as a lepidopterist. Nabokov himself said "whenever I allude to butterflies in my novels ... it remains pale and false and does not really express what I want it to express, what, indeed, it can only express in the special scientific language of my entomological papers."

This book is a fun read for anyone with an interest in the personal histories that shape authors, in biology and/or in the environment and ecology. It provides great insight into the scientific passion that moved one of the more interesting figures in literature, and nicely weaves the tale of Nabokov's first passion, lepidoptery, providing many interesting biographical details (including his wonderful sense of humor!), and the modern day story of the scientists who continued his work and discovered that his scientific legacy was truly as important and inventive as his literature. It discusses the science in a way that is interesting and easily understood by the non-scientist, but does not diminish the nature of the scientific information conveyed. In addition, it shows how the science impacted the literature. How interesting that a butterfly-gathering trip would provide the backdrop for Lolita! I found this book to be very interesting, informative and entertaining, and I highly recommend it.

I picked up the paperback of this book because I'd heard about it when it was in hardback. For anyone who is fascinated by science, literature, history, sociology and much more, they will find the blend of story, information and insight in this book satisfying and enlightening. Its never gets dull because you're reading about a historical literary figure, and his biography, tons of information about science and exploration, the scientists who completed the formative work Nabokov began at Harvard before becoming famous after Lolita, and how this all fits together in todays biodiversity crisis and squabbles over whether Nabokov was really a bona fide scientist or just an boyish aficionado. I felt I had learned a great deal from this book but also enjoyed it. It is a great blend of historical fact, new stories, and insight the into world's environmental dilemmas. I also had no idea of the complex ways in which Nabokov interwove butterflies and their images and symbols into his novels.

Convinced she has no control over her own life, Jessie Cates resolves to end it. But this is not an impulse decision. She has spent months carefully laying the groundwork so that when she is gone, her needy mother Thelma will be able to carry on. Now nothing is left but to make sure Mama is aware of what's going down so she can prepare herself for when it happens.

Since its first production in 1983, this play has ascended to the ranks of theatrical classics for its almost operatic language, its intimate one-on-one tension, and its shocking denouement. The most stunning surprise in this one-act is its lack of surprise. The crisis point is already past when the play begins; what we're left with isn't conflict so much as conflagration.

As tensions run high, Jessie and Thelma lock themselves into a downward spiral of emotional revelation and high-strung confrontation. Personal disclosures come out with a degree of quiet honesty that many current histrionic playwrights would shy from like a branding iron. And Jessie proves to be one of the most strong-willed characters in theatre for the last generation.

Though remarkably short, this play is extremely compact. Not one word is wasted. And despite the dense subtext, the refreshingly direct language makes a break from all the recent plays that need to be decoded to be understood. This DPS edition includes updates the author made for the 2004 Broadway revival, bringing some of the dated language into the 21st Century.

This play plows a field so unique that subsequent playwrights have fled from this level of stunning lucidity. There is precious little else quite like it in the current theatrical scene. Terse, candid, and powerful, "'Night, Mother" casts a shadow on every writer currently working.

My mother called. She is an actress in the national theater in Izmir, Turkey. This is her last year before retirement after 40 years of service. The theater had asked her what play she would like to play. She told them to surprise her. She got `Night Mother by Marsha Norman in the role of Mama. She seemed excited on the phone and I was very happy for her. I went to Barnes & Noble and bought a copy of the English version. We both read the play and started a discussion. I completely agree with her that this is one of the finest plays ever written.

This play takes place in a few hours of a forty-something Jessie and her mother, whom we know as `Mama'. Jessie has had a rough life: a long time epileptic, which has subsided for the past year thanks to better medication; a troubled son, who keeps stealing from her; a divorce; her father had ended his life, but not before writing a simple good-by message: Gone Fishing; and a mother who has emotionally been distant--if not physically--yet demanding of her to take care of the house they were sharing.

Jessie had had enough and she was now declaring, right off the bat as the play starts, her nonchalant determination to die with her father's gun. The dialogue is Jessie's way to make it `easier' on her mother for what is about to happen. Needless to say the mother goes through an emotional roller coaster ride. At times the play is funny, and other times tragic.

Be yourself, I said to my mother. Funny how her last role would resemble so much of herself. I am, thankfully, a bit luckier than Jessie that I still can find enjoyment in life.

A few weeks later my mother and I talked again. She apparently had given up on the play because it was raising her blood pressure. I told her she made a good decision.

There are seven hours in time difference between here and there. Difference of day and night.

`Night Mother, a 1983 Pulitzer Prize winning play deserves just that! This one act play with simply two characters was unlike something I have read. The play draws on emotional dialogue, an unpleasant subject of suicide and the challenge to convince one not to do it. What is prize winning about the dramatic story is the realistic conversational tones and often painful sounds. It is the exchange of normal everyday dialogue, intermixed with riveting rationalization, pleading, bargaining, and coming to terms with life as it shall be. For the theatrical onstage drama, a clock is visible to the audience that indicates the action takes place in one evening and with no intermission. Time is of the essence.

The drama takes place in the early 80's in a small home, and one main character is Jessie, a 40ish woman with epilepsy, was deserted by her husband, and her son is a teenage criminal whose whereabouts are unknown. The only other character is her mother, whom Jessie lives with and Jessie, somewhat, does caregiving.

In the midst of Jessie carefully and strategically planning her suicide, she is nonchalantly taking care of last minute obligations for her mother, like doing mother's nails. Included in the planning, is a list of instructions so mother can locate everything needed after Jessie's suicide takes place. As mother tries to reason and rationalize and beg, Jessie conducts herself normally, making the preparations and letting nothing interfere. Here, we learn about Jessie, her dead father, why she was deserted, her son, and much more. Then the author transfers the dialogue with brilliancy..... This is wonderful, sad, emotional and powerful.

Movie version with superb acting!
See the movie version with Sissy Spacek and Anne Bancroft. It is rare that I see a version that equals the book! This is powerful. 'night, Mother.

Another wonderful play about death and dying is by Michael
Cristofer, a Pulitzer Prize Shadow Box: A Drama in Two Acts and the film version directed by Paul Newman The Shadow Box. It examines the 5stages of grieving one goes through as they are dying. These stages are also displayed by the living members, the loved ones. Rizzo

I thoroughly enjoyed this play. I watched the film awhile back, and since I wanted to change choose different films for my Film Appreciation class, I decided to review the play before adding 'Night, Mother to my list. What a powerful play. It sheds light on a very difficult subject. Jesse, the main character, makes the decision to "get off the bus early" after careful thought. She shows that some people contemplate this critical experience probably more carefully than buying a house or a car. Her decision is hardly spontaneous or emotional, nothing that I imagined at all. The power of the read helped me to decide to buy the video later on. I also ended up buying a collection of Marsha Norman's other plays, hoping that I will duplicate the insight gained by reading this play.

"'night, Mother" is a tour de force conversation between a mother, Thelma, and her daughter, Jessie, who has just told her that she is going to commit suicide at the end of the night. The play is a taut high-wire act that leaves you spellbound as Thelma tries to convince her daughter not to go through with it and Jessie sternly insists. Thelma and Jessie are extremely dimensional, deep characters with an achingly believable relationship. Through the course of their conversation it becomes apparent that there is a yawning chasm between them despite their seeming closeness, and while Thelma thinks that the two can put it right Jessie doesn't believe it -- or want to try. The fierce, emotional back-and-forth between Mother and daughter keeps you on the edge of your seat. The dialogue is very natural and believable, and the playwright, Marsha Norman, displays an extraordinary acuity for what her characters are feeling and have gone through to reach this point. Norman has crafted a devastating portrait of two women that leaves an enormous impact on the reader. I only finished it two hours ago, but I seriously doubt that "night, Mother" will be leaving my thoughts any time soon. Highly recommended -- but keep the Kleenex on hand, just in case.