No comments about Boudoir Art: The Celebration of Life (A Schiffer Book for Collectors).

No comments about Wedgwood - The New Illustrated Dictionary.

5 comments about Christmas Letters Gone Wild: Everything You Need to Shock Your Friends and Loved Ones.

1. This book is the funniest thing I've read in years. I hope this author has more writing to be found.



2. Home made gifts are always the best--except for that time I tried to make an "electric hammer" by gluing a power cord into the handle of a standard-issue ball-peen--and this book shows you how to write the perfect chatty news letter that will have your friends laughing. The letters themselves are funny and can be used as is, or just as valuable, they will spark your own imagination to create your own. Either way, a very useful and clever book. And great gift too.



3. This is very funny. Comes with a Word Document CD with a bunch of different crazy scenarios into which you can place the names of yourself, your family and loved ones, even your pet, to really turn those annual "catch you up on what's happening" Christmas Letters on their heads. Smart and hysterical.



4. This book is uproariously funny. Not to be missed.
   These letters should be read and used by everyone with a sense of humor. Buy this book - you won't be sorry.



5. This book is perfect for creating an antidote to any and all of those "bragalogue" Christmas letters that deeply boring people insist on sending each year. Hey, maybe if you send them one of these "wild" letters anonymously they'll even take the hint and save some trees and stamps next year. Of course, it's probably asking too much for them to understand the joke, but that doesn't mean that the rest of us can't! This is a great gift for the merciless and mirthful.

2 comments about Bronzes of the 19th Century: Dictionary of Sculptors (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

1. This book was perfect for my parents who like to know all they can about the antiques they have. This book is well illustrated and thorough. Of all the bronze books they ahve recently aquired, this one is their favorite. They wanted the book for the Mene and Barye bronze information in particular and were pleased to find most of their pieces in the book. I would recommend this book for those wanting to know about thier bronzes and the people behind them. ( My parents love it.)



2. This publication will be of interest to 2 groups of people. Firstly collectors of Bronze figures of the classical period will be able to use this as a reference for studying artists which thewy may encounter in their antique hunting. The book is large and imrpessive and handsomely presented with colour and B & W photographs.
   For the second group (lovers of quality books) this one is very impressive and is of the type that would make a great coffee table book.
   I am in both categories and will use this publication for both avid collecting and just as a good read.

2 comments about The Official Price Guide to Native American Art (Official Price Guide Series.).

1. I find it quite amazing that the author included the words "Price Guide" when titling her book. What might be more applicable are the words "Mini-Bio's of Native American Artisans" since that's primarily what this book is. If I had wanted to learn birth/death dates or more about the formal educations of these individuals, I have a local library that I could have visited gratis. I WANTED a PRICE GUIDE reference book as the title implied it to be, and this book sorely missed the mark. It was a waste of both money and time.



2. I just received this book. To my astonishment I found out that this book has more about the artists then PRICES! To give you some specifics in the Art Section there are 259 artisits listed with only 41 artists with prices. I would not call this a PRICE GUIDE. The rest of the book has even less prices listed...

No comments about Roycroft Art Metal.

No comments about Compacts: Powder and Paint.

2 comments about Peep-Machine Pin-Ups: 1940s-1950s Mutoscope Art.

1. I was always curious about Mutoscope cards and having bought the book I'm still curious. It seems cards were dispensed from coin-operated machines for mere pennies but the book doesn't picture the machines or tell me how they were dispensed or, as another reviewer has mentioned, how many different sets there were.
   
   The 128 pages feature the pin-up cards printed in 175dpi and presented in a very boring layout, not even a thin grey drop shadow to give them a lift on the page. On the cover the thumbnail cards do have a depth shadow added though. The first few pages have some very skimpy text about the cards and the four artists who painted most of the artwork throughout the book.
   
   I thought this was a rather expensive publication but if you like pin-up art there is a better book available. For a third of the price to can get Taschen's The Great American Pin-Up (Midi) which has hundreds of pictures and although I haven't checked I bet all these Mutoscope pin-ups are included (there is also a large coffee-table version of this wonderful book).



2. If you are looking to view the authors' collection of 230 Mutoscope Pin-Up cards, nicely reproduced, this is the book for you. If you want more information, look elsewhere.
   There is a cursory history of Mutoscope cards and brief biographies of 4 artists represented, but that's it. No information on how many were made (386); over what period of time (1940-1954); how they were grouped (10 sets of 32 or 64 cards with 2 extras). It would have been nice to have a complete checklist and information on how to identify the various sets. Instead of being ordered by year or set, the authors put them alphabetically according to the cute quotes on the cards: from "A Clothes Call" to "You're The Top". There are Internet references, but you could have done that anyway, right? I am waiting for the complete reference guide. Anyone step up?

No comments about Indigena: Contemporary Native Perspectives in Canadian Art.

5 comments about Wabi Sabi Style.

1. Sorry, I don't understand why this book gets glowing write-ups on the Amazon review page. I found this book poorly thought out and amateurishly written. Yes, there are pretty pictures, but I wanted to learn something about wabi sabi. I didn't.



2. Wabi-Sabi is a must-read book for those into Asian Design and simplicity. Before I read the book, my room was a disaster. Now, my room is completely transformed along with my lifestyle. I have thrown away all of my junk or clutter, and only display a few items which are important to me. By changing the paint color to a more earthly and natural tone of color and using natural wood for the trim as contrast, my room clearly displays beauty in its simple form. The authors of the book, give great advice in beautiful detail as how one can apply the wabi-sabi approach to one's home regardless of its size. The ability to stay with a minimalistic attitude shows wisdom and self-control as explained in the book.



3. Much appreciation to the authors for bringing Wabi Sabi to the masses. In doing so they have rescued Wabi Sabi from the pretentious "WABI SNOBBY" pseudo intellectuals.
   here is a sampling of a few jewels found in the text of Wabi Sabi Style;
   "To ennoble the ignoble"
   "Moving beyond the glossy, gilded, and gaudy - the simple organic elegance of wabi sabi is for those who have no need to prove who they are. Wabi Sabi is for those who are at peace with themselves and want to feel the peace of the world around them at all times."
   "In order to understand wabi sabi, beauty must first be understood on a conceptual level. The traditional Japanese concept of beauty differs radically from that of the West. The Japanese have long held the notion that beauty is not inherent in an object but rather is experiential. Given an order set of circumstances, beauty is the elicited response experienced by the perceiver."
   I am an admirer of Leonard Koren's writing on wabi sabi, but it is apparent that there are those who make the unfortunate mistake of comparing the Crowley's work with Koren's. As Confucius has told us "comparisons are odious" Even the work of Lennox Tierney deserves recognition. The Japanese know that "there are many paths to reach the top of Mount Fuji"
   It is apparent that there are those who deem themselves the guru's and sensei's of a fabricated "wabi sabi movement or school" these individuals or groups are in direct opposition to the spirit of wabi sabi . Let us all remember Koren's wabi sabi universe, under "Moral Precepts" and "focus on the intrinsic and ignore material hierarchy."
   Thank you to Koren, Tierney, and the Crowley's for bringing the values found in wabi sabi to the west.



4. Will "wabi-sabi" become the new buzzword among corporate retailers and mall mongers? That seems to be the authors' intention. They attempt to transform an elegant and rarified sense of beauty into corporate easy speak: high bulk, low content. The authors' flawed methodology is to take a mishmash of things Japanese and, by association, assume it's wabi-sabi. They haven't done their homework.



5. The authors have achived the elusive, communicating concepts of wabi and sabi through poetic text and evocative images.