1 comments about Gracie Mansion: A Celebration of New York City's Mayoral Residence.

1. Ellen Stern's "biography" of Gracie Mansion is simply tremendous. It traces the history of New York City's Mayoral Mansion from its beginning as a merchant's country house, through several owners, years of benign neglect after NYC acquired it to it's conversion into the Mayor's Mansion.
   
   Ms. Stern tells the story of each family that has lived there starting with Fiorella LaGuardia through the current Mayor, Mike Bloomberg who uses Gracie Mansion only for entertaining.
   
   The book is lavishly illustrated with wonderful color pictures as well as clever pen & ink caricatures of each of the mansion's mayors by Al Hirshfeld and Peter Stern.
   
   This is a great book for anyone interested in the history of New York City, it's mayors and the many colorful personalities that have crossed Gracie Mansion's threshold.

2 comments about Frank Lloyd Wright's Fallingwater (Building Block Series).

1. Excellent little book on the "Fallingwater" house by famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed in 1935 ( He also designed Guggenheim Museum ). This little book ( measures 5 X 7 inches )contains 90 pages of which the first 15 pages are text, from page 17 to 82 there're Black&White photographs, the last 8 pages are drawings and plans of the house accompanied by explanations to the images. Photos are by Ezra Stoller and "Fallingwater" ( Pennsylvania - USA ) is undoubtfully the most photogenic private house ever built! All photos are superb, especially the ones showing the waterfall running underneath this superb house!
   Drawings and plans are made by floor and give a good idea of the interior dining room, kitchen and terraces!



2. Ezra Stoller is an expert in the art of photography. Although Mr. Stoller is not an architect, he shows you the beauty of one of the marvels of great architecture. Falling Water is one of those dream houses, built over a waterfall, but fitting in perfectly with its surroundings. Ezra Stoller captures its magnificence.

No comments about Case: Puerto Madero Waterfront (Case).

4 comments about Country Houses of Tuscany.

1. A picture book for dreamers. Unfortunately, not much else of substance (e.g., how does the house work and why ?) Avoid this book especially if you have read Country Houses of Sweden. All in all, a poor effort.



2. Extremely disappointed in the photos. Small pictures of doorknob, a foot of railing, a chair. Besides English also written in 2 other languages. Also contained recipes...I didn't order a cook book.



3. If you are in love with Italy and like to look through interior books, this one is truly a winner. You needn't even be in love with Italy to see that.

   Barbara and René Stoeltie has made a piece of art taking us on a tour through country houses in Tuscany, from the old fashioned homes to the more modern, they all have the typical Tuscan touch which I love so much. You can almost feel the taste of olive oil, and the small of lavendel when you look through the pages.

   The text is written in English, German and French, so there should be no problem reading the informative writing.

   A perfect coffee table book for all Italian lovers.




4. Looking for ideas to inspire building a Tuscan farmhouse, then this is it. It does lack in exterior shots, but the interior shots are wonderful. Whether you use this for inspiration or not, it will add to anyone's collection.

No comments about Shaping a Nation: Twentieth Century American Architecture and Its Makers.

1 comments about Traditional Domestic Architecture of the Arab Region.

1. I like the book very much because it is filled with many line-drawings indicating different aspects of domestic architecture in the region. However the title is well chosen, the book has a broader significance because of the wide spectrum of subjects involved. After a short introduction dealing with some general terms the book continues with a chapter about The Arab Region. Here it describes shortly geography, climate and used building materials but also cultural determinants of the region like history and tradition, socio-economics, the nomadic input, values, ideology and the role of Islam. The Origins of Architecture delves into human needs and comfort conditions and describes climate and microclimates. Traditional Materials treats organic and inorganic materials and binding agents. Traditional Structures mainly is about covering structures, floor slabs, post and beams, corbelling, arches and vaulting in it's many varieties. Types of settlements and towns is the subject of Shelter. The Planning Elements treats the cell, transverse space, colonnade and arcade, the porch, veranda and loggia, gallery, peristyle, Iwan, courtyards and so on. A special chapter is Water and Waste Management which goes beyond the narrow definition of domestic architecture. Privacy is examined in Traditional Design Strategies together with designing for variable space needs, expansion and severe climate. There is also a chapter about Exceptions to the Rule, the special types of housing in the area. A large part of the book is then devoted to Case Studies classified according to country. Some very varied topics are dicussed in Western vs Eastern Ways. Then at the end of the book the Appendix is filled with a colourful collection of material documenting contemporary efforts for a synthesis of modern living requirements with environmental and traditional factors of the Arab Region. The last part can be read as general recommendations for the planning of housing in a arid region.
   In short the book does justice to the title and leaves, though in black and white, a colourful impression of domestic architecture in the region.

4 comments about Sicilian Odyssey (National Geographic Directions).

1. I have never been to Sicily (but am planning to visit in March), so I'm unable to judge whether this book accurately describes the island, but as a work of travel writing I found it to be light, jumpy, and fairly enjoyable. It doesn't intend to be comprehensive, but it does move around the island and describe both cities and country, historical sites and restaurants, etc. Like much travel writing, it is--in part--a reflection of the author as much as the place, but Francince Prose never intrudes too much into the narrative. (In other words, it isn't the inward journey, "How I found myself" type of travel writing.)
   
   As to the strong dislike of the book mentioned by Bill Marsano in a previous review, I'm not sure I agree with his complaints. Some of them feel like professional jealousy for the soft assignment Francine Prose received from National Geographic to write this book. He criticizes her prose, and while it can be unnecessarily ornate at times, it isn't as extravagant as he proclaims. Francine Prose seems to be having fun trying to capture her thoughts and emotions, while Marsano seems to prefer some objective, semi-historian approach to travel writing. He also criticizes her for not having spent much time in Sicily, but I don't have a problem with that. I think it's as useful to read a limited perspective of a place as it is to read an expert's description. There's something to be said for the honesty of a first impression.
   
   I'd give it 3.5 stars (and 4 if you're planning a trip or in love with Sicily).



2. It is hard to top Bill Marsano's devastating review. I didn't find the writing that bad, but it certainly wasn't compelling. There is a certain laziness here. But I enjoyed the book anyway, because I was on vacation when I read it, and I love Italy. Two and a half stars to three stars is about right. So if you're in the mood for light fare, sort of like cold pizza, read Sicilian Odyssey. And Bill Marsano's comments about travel writing are dead on.



3. By Bill Marsano. This is a small book but a large achievement. In less than 40,000 words (about one-third the length of the average novel) Francine Prose commits almost every sin in, as the say, the book. It can't have been easy.

   Prose is a novelist of some reputation, chosen probably because the editor thinks novelists are Real Writers who will lend credibility to travel writing, which is, after all, journalism's sandbox. (Also because they know travel books by novelists are routinely over-praised.)

   Prose's passion for Sicily is dubious. Although she claims often and unconvincingly that she wishes to be re-born a Sicilian, she has visited but once before--10 years ago. Such devotion is a little on the cool side, is it not?

   Does she have some insights to ipart? Indeed, she tells us traffic in Palmermo is 'homicidal'; that Catanians love sweets immoderately; that Sicilian life 'burns at a high heat'; that the Ancient Greeks wouldn't recognize Sicily today; the Sicilian food is not subtle; that Sicilians have a gift for overcoming tragedy that is specifically their own. Her silly comments on the Sicilian aristocracy are at least mildly amusing.

   And her writing is both awful and lazy. She writes in the present tense--the lazy way of getting to the bottom of the page, of getting it over with, with a minimum of effort. ("Name" writers love book assignments like this because they pay well, but their work ethic often deserts them. They think they're on vacation.) Like so many other bad travel writers, Prose is short of imagination: She can't get past the first graf without reaching for "magical," the travel hack's favorite word.

   She piles up words instead of really writing. For example, when she wants to tell us that 'many pilgrims in a religious procession carry candles' (that's eight words) she says instead that they "carry long yellow candles they will light in the course of their peregrination around the holy sites associated with the saint scattered through the old quarter" (that's twenty-six). What we want from a writer is some electricity in the words, some vigor, some sign of delight in mastery of language. Prose gives us prose, not poetry--drab, bloated, prosaic prose, comma-crippled and tedious.

   She uses crutches so often I began counting them. Eternally indecisive, she says 'seems' more than 60 times, occasionally switching to 'perhaps,' 'almost,' 'maybe' and 'a little like.' She finds things 'disturbing' nine times and also leans on 'perilous,' 'upsetting,' 'alarming' and 'spooky.' Well of course: The Real Writer does NOT enjoy herself, especially because she is in Sicily "to discover what this island has learned and can teach us about the triumph of beauty over violence of life over death." (Really?)

   Prose often mentions 9/11 as if she were the only one affected by it. She experiences "panic" at an old castle and again while planning to visit Mozia, a tiny island a few yards off the coast: ". . . what if the fisherman who ferries us out there gets distracted and forgets about us, and we're stuck out there all night? What if we're stranded, exposed to the elements, alone with the spirits of the Phoenician traders who first came to Mozia in the eighth century B.C. and who lived in harmony with their Greek neighbors until the Carthaginian wars, when Dionysius the Elder of Syracuse, using catapults, missiles and battering rams--state-of-the-art tools of fourth-century warfare--destroyed the settlement and much of its population?"

   What if, indeed. This is drama-queen panic--she's still in her hotel. If stranded, she can just return to the island's museum and tell the attendant. And why on earth would she write or commit such a gross and clumsy sentence to begin with?

   Apart from the awful writing, Prose misquotes Goethe and commits numerous grammatical and spelling errors. Everyone connected with this shabby performance should be embarrassed, copy editor included.--Bill Marsano is a professional magazine editor and an award-winning travel writer.




4. Novelist Francine Prose's slim but not slight book is filled with insights and evocative appreciation of the often-invaded island of Sicily and its hybrid art and cuisine. Her book provides a good introduction to Sicily, and also provides many interesting reflections for those who have visited the island and are familiar with the literature about it.
   
   _Sicilian Odyssey_ lacks the familiarity based on long-time residence underlying Peter Robb's involuted and near-desparing _Midnight in Sicily_ , Daphne Phelps's The Most Beautiful House in Sicily, or Mary Taylor Simeti's _On Persephone's Island_. Prose's travel book is, however, much better informed than Lawrence Durrell's entertaining _Sicilian Carousel_, but there are not any characters as vivid in Prose's book as some of those in the other books I've mentioned.
   
   I think that Prose's book is a useful introduction to Sicily that also contains much of interest to those with previous experience of Sicily and the writings about it in English.
   
   She writes acutely about food (rightly summing up that "if freshness [of ingredients] is the hallmark of Sicilian cuisine, subtlety is not").and art and architecture, with insightful bits of appreciation of Sicilian writers and photographers and of what Caravaggio did while on Sicily. Also, her photographs (reproduced in black-and-white) are sharp and well illustrate some of the points in her text.

1 comments about Colonial Houses: The Historic Homes of Williamsburg.

1. This book gave alot of interesting information of the colonial houses in Williamsburg. The pictures compared with stories are werry enlightening. A good book to read for all who are interested in traditional american architecture.

1 comments about Architecture and Its Sculpture in Viceregal Mexico.

1. Jacket and book design: Heidi A. Haeuser. This book received Award of Excellence in dust jacket design at Southern Books Competition (1997-98).

3 comments about Greek Architecture (Classical World).

1. This is one of the best books to study Greek architecture - not only architecture of temples but also other buildings. Good for archaeologists as well as for architects.



2. for any serious student of classical antiquity, lawrence's treatment of greek architecture is a must-read. it is a elegantly illustrated volume, full of plans, drawings and photographs. the text is well-written and easy to understand, even for a beginner to the field. I whole-heartedly recommend this volume to anyone who wants to have a look at greek architecture, beginner as well as expert. lawrence's book is nothing but brilliant. it is THE entryway into greek architecture.



3. Any archaeologist knows that the Lawrence is one of the best Greek architecture/archaeology reference books to own. Buy it if you have any interest whatsoever in the field.