5 comments about Crossing Boundaries: A Global Vision of Design.

1. mr wolf in his travels search for inspirations in the most unusual places: ethiopia, burma, syria - most of times acquiring local handcrafted items which he will use in his decorations. Although his palette is a bit neutral, with pastel colors most of times, his interiors are extremely beautiful, with subdued elegance and charm. Interesting is how he manages to mix the objects from his travels, with modern furniture, mirrors in abondance and white walls.



2. This book with it's exciting interior pictures captures interior design at it's best. Mr Wolf's incorpration of ethnic items makes these interiors personal and interesting. His use of color and his inclusion of Benjamin Moore color numbers is a nice feature. I very much like this book and his style. I am an interior designer also and I'm not easily impressed by most other designers work.



3. I regret that i have bought this book! It does not show anything special and the objetcive of the author of showing misery people and then show glamorous spaces is a shame!!!!



4. My wife and I plan to remodel, and bought this book for inspiration and design concepts. We ended up quite disappointed.
   
   The book has 5 chapters organized around 5 places that Mr. Wolf traveled to. Each chapter consists of two parts: travel log and design. Both parts show many colorful photographs, some of them quite beautiful. In general, the travel log part has more pages then the design part. For example, in Madagascar Scale chapter, travel log has about 24 pages vs. 18 pages for design. The pictures are even more lopsided towards the travel part. Often the relationship between the design and place seems rather superficial or contrived like a blue/yellow color scheme that is somewhat similar to an umbrella on a photograph or a light color bedroom inspired by a misty landscape. Also, Mr Wolf's design schemes are not as varied as you would expect if they were inspired from all over the world. Most of them use very similar style furniture and color schemes.
   
   Worse still is that the book does not present design concepts in any systematic fashion. It does not say much about the places that Mr. Wolf designed, what were the challenges, or how different rooms fit together. There is not a single floor plan in the whole book, and rarely it shows the same room from different angles to give the reader a feel how things fit together.
   
   Conclusion: If you are looking for a travel diary with pretty pictures, this book might be for you. If you are looking for design ideas that are of practical use, stay away. You might consider Kelly Hoppen's book ``Home'' instead. We bought it together with this one and found it packed with useful interior design concepts and really helped us to think through all the elements of designing a house or apartment.



5. This book lacks consistency, and although the pictures might be technically good, the interiors design itself has little to do with the story the author is tryng to sell to us: that he has seen certain things in his 'exciting and sophisticated'journey that inspired him to create special interiors. What we get instead is a twisted, dated, unrespectful and pasteurized concept of what other cultures could give us in our every day living. Please, don't buy it.

5 comments about Audrey Style.

1. It's putting the quirky details together that makes this book more revealing than the standard saccharin drenched puff piece.
   
   For example, Hepburn is quoted as saying that she wears a size 8 1/2 shoe, while the author clearly states later in the book that Hepburn wore a size ten.
   
   Her mother's quotes, if accurate, provide convincing evidence that the Baroness Von Heemstra was more than a little jealous of her far more beautiful daughter.
   
   The author's claim that Audrey "didn't eat during times of stress" directly contradicts close friends Audrey Wilder and Doris Brynner, who claimed that Hepburn loved to eat. As for her staying so thin due to malnutrition that "permanently altered her metabolism", this is unlikely. According to the author, Hepburn speaks of gaining twenty pounds early in her career. Other bios confirm this. Perhaps in later years Hepburn simply watched what she ate.
   
   According to the author, Hepburn washed her hair every four or five days. She SMOKED. Whew, draw your OWN conclusions about that one!
   
   I've found Robert Wolders a bit creepy ever since I read about him in "Queenie", a superb biography of Merle Oberon. From Merle to Audrey to Shirlee Fonda; this guy clearly has a THING for wealthy, older glamour girls. He's always described as an actor/businessman. Hmmmmmmm.
   
   An additional strength of this book is its focus on her personal fashion philosophy--not just her association with Givenchy.
   
   Audrey Hepburn is my absolute favorite and always will be. She had many lessons to teach; not only about beauty and elegance, but also about tolerance, grace and kindness. No star of today can compare.
   
   PS-I'm just tucking into the Barry Paris book, which is FAR more in depth. I recommend following Audrey Style with this one if you haven't already read it.



2. If they reprinted this without any words, it would get 5 stars.
   
   Random examples of the writing:
   
   "'Oh, they were fated to meet,' says Connie, curiously choosing the exact same words used to describe Audrey's friendship with Givenchy." (Like OMG! Someone said Audrey was _fated_ to meet Givenchy! And someone else said she was _fated_ to meet another person!)
   
   "... she intones with the well-bred vowels of a Farmington girl, with some of her old boss, Diana Vreeland, thrown in for emphasis."
   
   Pamela Clarke Keogh comes off like an untalented high school student in a creative writing class. You know the sort, under the impression that bludgeoning the reader with random vignettes and a morass of clauses is "descriptive."
   
   And don't get me started on the over-the-top hagiographic nature of this book. Look, I love Audrey as much as the next person. Probably more. But how many quotes like "and she couldn't have been sweeter! So gracious! Beyond gracious! Heavenly!" do we need? There's such a thing as praising so much it becomes meaningless.



3. I think Audrey Hepburn will be eternally remembered not only as one of the kindest and most generous women that has ever volunteered for Unicef, but to us women as a timeless, most graceful role model of style. She's the perfect embodiment of the adagio that in elegance less is more. Her streamlined, understated style that yet made one of the biggest statements in fashion history continues to be an inspiration to us women of the 21st century despite the forty years that separate us from "Breakfast at Tiffany's." Clarke Keogh's book captures Audrey's spirit like no other. It is beautifully illustrated and there are contributions from Hubert de Givenchy, Ralph Lauren or Gregory Peck, among other people who generously share with us souvenirs of this angel of grace that they had the chance to meet in person. Her wardrobe and makeup are meticulously reviewed and this book will prove an invaluable tool and source of inspiration for all those women who want to bring more elegance and refinement into their lives. One of the best assets in your style bookcase and one that you will gladly pass down to generations of graceful women to come.



4. Even though I'm definitely an AH fan, I thought that the author went overboard with praise for Miss Hepburn's personal qualities. No doubt AH herself would be embarassed to read all this fawning and adulation.
   
   This book attempts to combine into one an AH biography and an analysis of her fashion style. Unfortunately, both fall short. The only worthwhile text was the introduction by Hubert de Givenchy.



5. If you admire Audrey Hepburn, you'll enjoy this book. This is my inspiration for my sewing projects.

No comments about Digital Photography Workbook For Dummies (For Dummies (Sports & Hobbies)).

3 comments about One Hundred & One Beautiful Towns in Italy: Food and Wine (101 Towns).

1. It is a beautiful book with excellent photography. I was disappointed in the fact that there were no recepies associated with the towns. I was anticipating a great cookbook/winebook, but had to settle for a coffee table book instead.



2. Wonderful book full of color photos, the only disappointing thing is that there were no recipes provided.



3. This book was a birthday gift for a dear friend who has visited Italy several times and who thoroughly enjoys its delicious cuisine. She loved it! The book is filled with beautiful photos and interesting information on the little towns of Italy. My friend has it on her coffee table for all to enjoy. A great gift!

No comments about The Call of Trains: Railroad Photographs of Jim Shaughnessy.

5 comments about Basic Photographic Materials and Processes, Second Edition.

1. This is a rather comprehensive introduction to the theory of photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology. Rochester (NY) is of course where the headquarters of the Eastman Kodak Company is located...

   Note the word "theory" above. That the volume contains an appendix on the calculation of basic logarithms should give you a clue to the nature of this book.

   This is a book about the physical properties of light, the chemical properties of photographic papers and film, and so on. It is not a book about composition and "beauty".

   Photography is an art and also a craft. You would buy this book to become a better craftsman.

   After a boring introduction to one of the most exciting topics I can think of (Light and Photometry) the volume covers exposure both at the picture taking (camera) stage and post-exposure (printing). These are extremely useful chapters for any photographer.

   There then follows five chapters and 160 large pages whit what is essentially an introduction to science for photographers. You wouldn't guess it from the chapter headings, but you are given a brief introduction to statistics, sensiometry (excellent chapter!), optics, chemistry, and physical chemistry. Only what is relevant for photography is presented, and it is done at a fairly high-level. The level may suit you or frustrate you. The style is unlikely to excite you...

   Finally, on page 213 we get practical and hands-on again with a chapter on black-and-while development followed, after a section on archival, by one of the gems of this book: tonal reproduction. Starting from the foundation it has developed over the five "boring" chapters it shows how to achieve the tonal reproduction that you want, and shows the Zone System as a practical approximation. Understanding the Zone System in this light (pun intended) will give you a great background on when and how to use it, and when not to use it: it is only an approximation.

   The remaining chapters are classics and include excellent sections on visual perception, colors and color reporductions.

   This book is a must read! I considered deducting a single star in the rating because the book is very focused on black-and-white photography. It does cover color, but not in the level of detail that I would have liked. In the end I decided that it would be unfair to give this book anything less than 5 stars: you should read it.




2. The book "Basic Photographic Materials and Processes" is separated on 16 chapters. Very useful chapters for everybody, both for beginners and professionals are chapters: 1) Light and Photometry, 4) Photographic Sensitometry, 5) Photography Optics (there is an instruction how to build the pinhole camera with exact calculation a diameter for different pinhole cameras and how make the lens testing), 8) Black and white Photographic Developments (with a paragraph about anti-foggants, special black-and-white process), 10) Tone Reproduction (Objective tone-reproduction curves for motion pictures, transparency etc., Luminance values of an outdoor scene, Flare factor, The making of negative, The making of Positive, the equations for average gradient for different quadrants of tone-reproduction diagram, ......), 11) Micro Image Evaluation (with much examples og graininess of films of different producers), 13) Filters with their influencies on different sort of films, 14) Color, 15) Color Reproduction and 16) Digital photography. This book is very useful and its content is very comprehensive one. I photograph since 1960 and I admire Mr. Anselm Adams, that is to say I very, very recommend this book for one, who has serious interest about photography and different cameras with their optics. The book has many pictures, useful tables and diagrams. (Rene Novak, studio ER67, ...)



3. All the technical details of photography have been covered. The review questions at the end of the each chapter are helpful too. I feel one can surely save a lot of film after reading this book. And there are quite a few b&w photogrpahs which are quite interesting.



4. This isn't an Idiot's guide to photography. It is a well written book on the physical and chemical phenomena around picture tacking, an eye opener on quirky peculiarities of the media for photographers (more scientifically minded people may feel it just brushes the surface of many subjects). It is a good read, but as with text books, if you're not well awake, you'll have to go through a topic several times!
   
   Most of the emphasis is on film, with a last chapter added on to cover digital. I reckon even strictly digital shooters may profit from reading it.



5. OK nearly fully understands photography. This book goes far beyond the "for dummies" overview of the medium. It even goes far beyond the "Beyond Basic Photgraphy" books I've read. This book, along with Ansel Adams' The Negative are the best instruction you can receive on the technical aspects of photography, digital or film. It does include chapters on film and chemicals which are becoming less and less popular though still useful for some. But it also describes light, light measurement, focal plane vs. leaf shutter operation- you'll understand why an SLR has a high flash sync speed limit of 1/250" while point and shoots as well as Hasselblads can sync flash with any shutter speed. You'll understand lens optical performance terms. You'll fully understand film characteristic curves (now dynamic range characteristics of digital sensors). Worth the money. (Note this review is based on the first edition which was hardcover.)

5 comments about Paper Airplanes: a novel based on a true story.

1. Fred, This is suppose to be a review of the book - not a stage for your moral agenda. I thought the book was well written and a great read. I can't help that this brought up bad memories for Fred and his own wife.
   
   
   Read this great book!



2. A wonderful and endearing story of a forbidden love, passion and eventual loss. The story takes you into another world as it passes from present to past and back to present, chapter after chapter A well written novel and a beautiful read.



3. First of all, I think Bill's comments to Fred are innapropriate. As you pointed out, the forum is for comments on the book, not making snarky remarks about whether the story hits close to home for Fred.
   
   Secondly, I think Fred brings up a valid point. As someone who is familiar with this story as told on a particular message board in addition to the rumor mill here at "Augusta Airlines" I find it to be a tacky, distasteful expose' on an inappropriate relationship. There is a certain creepiness factor when you know who's supposed to be who.
   
   Depending on your perspective...it's either a love story or an episode of "Springer". I vote for the latter.



4. Everyone on this Earth has their secrets - some are never to be told. If you have ever been in love, truly in love, even if just for a moment, you can relate to this story. Some of us are not strong enough to accept the power of the moment - others are not alive enough to even recognize it. It shares all the joy, pain and sorrow that only someone who has been there can understand. This story moved me - a lesson of truth.



5. This was a great read! The author did a marvelous job. One chapter lead to another and I couldn't put the book down. Well worth my time. I'm looking forward to the author's next book. Bravo to Emily Kieson!

5 comments about Jeff Smith's Lighting for Outdoor & Location Portrait Photography.

1. A good book on the subject, but not very detailed on specific camera settings and other tips; therefore it's not for everybody.



2. 
   
   Being that flying is what it is, I find myself doing more reading and less traveling for educational meetings. The first thing I liked about this book is that it is all Jeff Smith and not a compilation of many authors saying " Well, I do it this way". Within a very few pages, I realized that this is a true gem of a book. I found Jeff Smith challenging concepts that many of us as photographers have been accepting for years. What is more important is that he is correct. In one example, he inquires if we would use on camera flash in the studio. Of course not we think and then he asks.....then why would you do that outdoors? The theme of the book is how to get PROFESSIONAL pictures in location photography be it indoors or out and I think he accomplishes that admirably. He not only explains why he does certain things but why we do it as image makers either consciously or unconsciously.
   There are many facts without a lot of verbiage and although in my compulsive manner, I like to highlight as I read, I found I was highlighting practically everything. Yes, a few of the comments could have been explained better but after more reading you figure out where he is taking you. An excellent, well thought out book that will unquestionably give you pearls to walk away with and whets my appetite for more of his books and thoughts.



3. I was far from impressed with this book.
   
   My biggest problem is with the sample images. There are, on average, several images per page, and every single one of them has a cheesy Photoshop soft focus effect or a diffused glow effect applied to them. The author states over and over again the importance of shadow transition zones, and then goes into photoshop to blur the transition between shadow and highlight and artificially enhance the lighting.
   
   The second problem with this book is that the author insists that artificial lighting on location must be done with portable studio strobes. This is simply not true, and most beginners would benefit from some advice on using speedlights on location, whether singularly or in groups. On-camera flash is what most armatures have, and what most professionals use on location, and there are techniques that allow photographers to get professional results without investing thousands of dollars in studio strobes and portable battery packs. The author avoids the topic completely by saying "If you would not use an on camera flash in the studio, why use it on location?" The answer is that on location you have natural light as your main light and flash as your fill or accent. In the studio you have to create all of the light there. There is a difference.
   
   In short, this book does not provide armatures with the information to get into outdoor portrait lighting right away, but is not nearly inventive enough to give professionals any really new ideas or techniques.



4. I enjoyed this book - I LOVE outdoor photography and it gives great advice about different aspects of the game...
   
   I would definitely recommend this book...



5. good book for beginnners, but there is not much info, huge color photos, and 128 pages, the space would be much better if was used for more information not photos, because photos I can see on internet for free.
   Also the photos contained in the book are too soft with almost no detail.

No comments about Apple Aperture 2: A workflow guide for digital photographers (Digital Workflow) (Digital Workflow).

5 comments about Eye Mind: The Saga of Roky Erickson and the 13th Floor Elevators, The Pioneers of Psychedelic Sound.

1. Comprehensive book. Leaves out the fact that John Ike Walton was married to me -- Gloria Greenfield (at the time, I was in college at UT Austin) from 1971 thru 1975. When Roky got out of Rusk, John Ike "found" him and tried to restart the Elevators... this was the time frame of the appearances in Austin and in Houston at La Bastille. We were married at this time. The "club" called Ling Kong in Port Aransas was totally funded by my money -- I had inherited from my parents while I was still a student at UT. Anyway, it wasn't much more than a concrete slab and some bathrooms in a mosquito pit on some land that we didn't own -- it belonged to a much wiser investor who also owned "Custard's Last Stand" a popular ice cream place in Port Aransas. He also retained any liquor rights if the place became a moneymaker -- which it didn't!! Anyway, I have a lot of photographs of John Ike, me and Roky at our house in Austin on Enfield Rd. right when he got out of Rusk. Roky still had the charming, boy-face that captured so many female fans on stage. But there were always the creeps that literally came-out-of-the-woodwork to follow him and hand him drugs, which they knew he would readily accept.
   
   John Ike and I got divorced in October of 1975 --I've got the divorce decree petitioned in Dallas, to prove it!!



2. Paul Drummond's book finally delivers all the details behind the story of one of America's finest and most idiosyncratic rock bands, the 13th Floor Elevators. While the history of the Elevators has long been shrouded in mystery, Drummond's heroic research has given us interviews with nearly every major player in their story, as well as a rich supporting cast of friends, cronies and enemies. If Drummond almost tells us more than we might ever want to know about the Elevators, the musicians who comprised the group and the philosophies that drove idea man Tommy Hall, the book is a welcome corrective to the sketchy biographies of the group that have appeared in the past. A truly mind-boggling study of the intersection between rock and roll, expanded consciousness and the cultural tumult of the Sixties, this is essential reading for anyone with an interest in the 13th Floor Elevators or the times that produced them.



3. This is a crucial book for anyone who's a fan of the 13th Floor Elevators or the American psychedelic music scene in the 60's. Drummond really did his homework and the level of detail is amazing. The book reads well, it's entertaining and ultimately a fascinating story of artistic struggle.



4. One of the BEST music biographies ever written that tells the story of a decade in American music history with all of the uncensored truths intact. This book is overflowing with all of the explanations, descriptions, and details about which everyone has wondered for almost a half-century. This is a valuable source for those who are just starting down the road as well as answering some questions about unfinished business for those who experienced it. The research for this book rivals scientific methods of verification. One review called it "rock archeology". If you want to learn about the psychedelic era and the band that paved the way for the Beatles' "Lonely Hearts Club" and the Airplane's "Surrealistic Pillow", then this is a must read. Not only does it tell about the music of the 13th Floor Elevators but it also "gets it" when explaining the philosophies of the Hippie Generation. This is more than a biography. It is a history book and a legend told in an honest and unbiased way. Paul Drummond outdid himself on this effort. Thumbs up.



5. This is without a doubt the best, most well researched rock biography I've ever read. True, the author may have trouble distinguishing between 'affect' and 'effect,' and he may have got a few details about life in Texas circa 1965 wrong, but he truly delivers the goods that all of us Roky/Elevators fans have been waiting to hear for a very long time. He's great on details, and attentive to historical and cultural context. As far as I can see, he's tracked down every surviving member of the band (including Tommy Hall!), and pieced the whole story together in meticulous detail, 1965 to 1968. It doesn't get better than this. All the information (Tommy) you could want, combined with emotion (Roky) required for a spell-binding read. This book lives in a time of its own!