3 comments about Guns of the Old West: An Illustrated Guide.

1. Firearms played an important role in the West, guarding against animals and outlaws alike. Guns Of The Old West is an informative survey which will interest a wide range of readers; from those interested in early firearms, to others who want an accurate narrative of those who used them. Descriptions accompany black and white drawings of rifles, revolvers and other weapons. The history is lively and well done and will interest a large audience.



2. Overall a good book with lots of information on the subject. A few of the pictures in the book were labelled with the wrong descriptions. Otherwise, worth the money.



3. Since this is a reprint of a 46 (1961) year old publication my main criticism is that it was just copied and all of the original omissions and mistakes are presented again, just as they were in 1961. As a collector of 19th century Smith & Wesson's and it's predecessors, this book misses the factual marks of that manufacturer repeatedly. It lists the products of the first Smith & Wesson company (1852-1854) as being produced by another company (Volcanic Arms) and it plays down the significance of the development of self-contained cartridge firing handguns by Smith & Wesson throughout it's presentation. It truly glorifies the development of the cartridge firing revolvers by Colt's and almost ignores those by Smith & Wesson even though the number of Smith & Wesson revolvers produced prior to the turn of the 19th century was far greater than the number produced by Colt's. No wonder most uninformed people believe that the Single Action Army revolver was the only gun popular in the Old West when there were far more Smith & Wesson's produced and sold during that time period.
   
   The sections on pre-Civil War arms was well done except I did notice the very limited mention of the U.S. Model 1841 so-called Mississippi Rifle which was very important during both the War with Mexico and the Civil War.
   
   If you are looking for a definitive reference on the Guns of the Old West, this really isn't it, however some of the background information and stories are wonderful.

1 comments about California Pottery: From Missions to Modernism.

1. This colorful and enjoyable book makes a strong case for the importance of California's commercial potteries in drawing on the state's unique cultural heritage to introduce dramatic new colors and styles to the United States. The book is easy to read and filled with interesting facts, with beautiful color photos on almost every page. I was fascinated by pictures of pottery from the 30's, side-by-side with the handmade folk pottery on which the designs werte based. This is a must for any serious pottery collector! Note that the book parallels an exhibition at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. The author, Bill Stern, was the curator for that exhbition.

5 comments about Whalesong: A Novel About the Greatest and Deepest of Beings.

1. This book was very descriptive. Every sentence Robert Siegel wrote makes your mind boggle. I didn't like this book a lot because it was hard to understand. The end of the book was probably the best part because there was lots of action.



2. I think this book was alright. it wasn't the best book that i have ever read. it was only good when somebody died. i wanted Hruna to die just to get some ction in the story. i would recommend this book only to people that like emotional stories because a loit of people would cry but i didn't.



3. A very unsuspensful book. I didn't like how the whales knew so much and at the same time didn't ex: they knew what ice was and didn't know what a boat was. I also didn't like how the author made imagery and you didn't know what the object was that he was talking about. I also didn't like the story and the plot. You could also tell what was going to happen next. The book was about a calf who has many adventures, then he gets older and leads the pod.



4. None of the reviews do these books justice. The first book, Whalesong, is a very good book. The next 2 books get better and better. But you really need to read Whalesong before going on the others.
   
   Yes, 'saving the whales' is an obvious theme, and for good reason! Maybe if more people thought about what we are doing to the planet from the whales' point of view, they would change.
   
   But, that is not really what this trilogy is about. These books are about the spiritual journey, about visionquests, about life and death. Each book in the trilogy gets better. Start with Whalesong and by the time you finish Ice you will not be the same. Allow this beautiful, spiritually uplifting tale to inspire and transform you!
   
   Very consciousness-raising, and by that I mean spiritually. Also poetically written. You'll shed some tears, but you will feel enriched.
   
   What if...just what if...it's true??? What if whales really do have a culture as emotionally and spiritually rich as our own?
   
   You think that sounds far-fetched? You won't after you read these wonderful books.



5. I have read this book several times, as a young adult, an adult, and a parent reading to children. Loved it every time. The story is captivating as story, but Siegel is also a gifted poet and the language is as beautiful as the tale it tells.

4 comments about Early 20th (Twentieth) Century Stanley Tools - A Price Guide With 1909 & 1926 Catalog.

1. Tool collectors will enjoy this interesting and useful book of nearly 300 pages which is a reprint of the complete original 1909 and 1926 Stanley Tools Catalogs. The softbound, handy-sized book contains more than 1,200 black and white pictures and details of the tools. It is complete with the original indexes, making tool location easy. A special insert contains year 2001 pricing. Everyone interested in these historical tools will enjoy using this great reference work. Take it with you when you antique for old tools. Add it to your reference library.



2. For a book that claims to be a price guide, it is a rather dissapointing publication. The book consists entirely of reprinted Stanley catalogs from 1909 and 1926. The "price guide" to current values merely consists of a loose page inserted into the book. The loose, 2002-2003 current price guide page that I received was not even cut square! The prices quoted are questionable at best (a stanley #212 in "good" condition for $700!??. I'll take half a dozen, thanks.), with no genuine attempt to clarify price variation as a function of tool type or condition. In the introdcuction the editor so rightly points out that "We do not claim to be experts in the tool collecting field (and the) seperate price guide is only the opinion of the editor."



3. This book was just a representative sample of the tools that Stanley made. I was looking for a more comprehensive list and descriptive book. The information in the book could have been found on the internet.



4. If your are a collector of old woodworking tools, this is an ideal book to carry with you during that weekend flea market or antique shop search. The illustrations are also very useful when trying recliam old tools with missing parts. Some of the tool pricing seems to be a bit too high.
   
   If you are a Stanley collector, this is a must have.

3 comments about This Old Farm: A Treasury of Family Farm Memories.

1. The pictures alone make this book a "must have" for anyone who grew up on a farm. It brings back warm fuzzy memories.



2. I loved the book, "This Old Farm". The memories it brought back to me are some that I had forgotten for many years. The writers of "This Old Farm" knew exactly what they were talking about. I could smell the odors, see the colors, feel the grass, hear the sputter of the tractors and machines. It brought tears to my eyes as it brought back memories of my life on a farm while I was growing up.



3. IT WAS VERY WELL WRITTEN AND THE PICTURES ARE FANTASTIC. IT BROUGHT BACK GREAT MEMORIES AS I TOO OWNED A FARM, IN INDIANA. I AM ON MY WAY TO OWNING A RANCH, SOON, I HOPE AND READING THIS BOOK I LAUGHED AT THE ANTICS OF KIDS AND ANIMALS. I DON'T THINK FARMERS, OTHER THEN THE AMISH WOULD KNOW HOW TO DO ANYTHING IN THOSE PICTURES TODAY HAHAHAH. EVERYTHING WAS DONE BY ANIMAL OR BY HAND. THE PICTURES AND WORDING ARE JUST GREAT. I THINK IT IS A WONDERFUL READ ESPECIALLY SOMEONE WHO LIVED AND WORKED BACK THEN ON THEIR FARM

4 comments about When French Women Cook: A Gastronomic Memoir.

1. Is it really possible to cook French food? I wonder how hard this recipe book will be...probably impossible. Aren't all French cookbooks a little hard to understand, my last one was...oh well, I have jet lag keeping me awake, I might as well read this somewhat interesting French cookbook my mother set out for me to read on our return from Europe...here goes!

   Incredible! Amazing! When can I start cooking this food? I'm going to give this book as Christmas gifts to all my "Reader-Friends" because this isn't just a classy cookbook, this is an old world novel!

   You'll never know that French cooking could be so de---liciously-romantic (need I go on?);

   possible to cook? - even for the novice (like yourself!);

   exciting! - because you can use all the taboo "fat" foods like butter and cream (we all know that butter and cream makes everything taste better), and without gaining weight (!!)...

   Yes, you'll never know until you read "When French Women Cook" (similar to reading a classic, century-old-novel) that you too can actually cook this practical, sumptuous food and be known as a gourmet French chef. (well, almost!)

   At least you can say you read this fantastic cookbook-novel that inspired you to cook these incredible tasting dishes! I think one should go to Madeleine Kamman's French Cooking School in France to really qualify as a pro French chef.

   OK ?...Let's go!...Bonjour!




2. I first encountered this book through the aisles of my public library. I re-checked it so many times that I had to see if it was still in print. To my happy surprise it was. I love it for the great recipes and the warm and rich memories of a by-gone time; though I did find mention of a place I had travelled to on my honeymoon in 1996--a qaint little town called Annecy, in France. She described her experience much as I had recalled my own happy time there! This book is simply enchanting and everything I've made from it has been a rewarding and deliciously wonderful dining experience. Try the Green Beans Brittany Style or the simple Escarole Salad. Really good!



3. OK I bought this book on a whim. I'm not sure why I bought it over the other dozens of books on french cooking/lifestyle that I read the reviews about. I suspect it was on someone's list and they made it sound appealing. I have read it (parts of it I have reread). I have cooked many recipes from it. The book is appealing.

   First, the recipes are wonderful. The saute of wild mushrooms is the best. The browned veal stock took me alot of research on epicurious.com (reviewing other recipes) to fill in the missing steps. Once I experimented with it, I thought it was excellent. I never appreciated the importance of homemade stock until I read this book. Now I have lots of it ready for defrosting. But the book has more to offer than recipes.

   This book is perhaps at its best in that it sheds light on a way of life that has passed or is passing. It provides insight into the very different regions and origins of the people of early twentieth century France. I came away with a new appreciation for the people and their cuisine. A very worthwhile investment.




4. `When French Women Cook' by Madeleine Kamman is one of the very best in a genre which may be called culinary anthropology, a genre closely related to the memoir and the survey of local cuisines, but still a bit different. It is more than a memoir in that it provides many useful recipes serving a much greater purpose than simply illustrations of an event or a point, as you find in, for example, Ruth Reichl's excellent memoirs. They are also a bit less than a full survey of a culinary terroir, as you may find in Paula Wolfert's excellent books, in that they tend to deal with the recipes of a specific group of people. The three other leading examples of this little genre are Patience Gray's `Honey from a Stone', Richard Olney's `Lulu's Provencal Kitchen', and Amanda Hesser's `The Gardner and the Cook'.
   
   Madeleine Kamman is an odd duck in the pantheon of English language writers on French cuisine. She is really a cookbook author of the first order, especially with her excellent text `The New Making of a Cook', but she has always been a bit in the shadow of Julia Child, Elizabeth David, and Richard Olney. According to Child's biographer, there was even a substantial amount of rancor towards Child on Kamman's part, after the success of Child's book and TV shows and before Kamman achieved recognition with her original `The Making of a Cook'.
   
   Like the other three notable books in this genre, this is a cookbook which is meant to be read from cover to cover. It's culinary content and its anecdotal introductions to each of the chapters are all great reading. The book tells the story of eight French women cooks, all of whom Mme. Kamman, who is herself, of French birth, knew before she left France for the United States in 1960 (coincidentally about the same time as Jacques Pepin, another major French culinary import to the US). As Shirley Corriher points out in her new Foreword, by some happy chance, the eight women came from a very diverse collection of French culinary centers. And, this diversity is easily one of the most useful and enjoyable aspects of the book. One sees clearly the difference between the cuisine of Normandy, laden with its apples and butter, and the cuisine of Alsace, for example, with its sauerkraut and sausages, so similar to its German neighbor's cuisine. So, this book becomes a major dissertation on examples of terroir, the French doctrine that is conveniently paraphrased as `What grows together, goes together'.
   
   Ms. Kamman confirms the role of this book by insisting that there are many ingredients to many of these recipes that simply cannot be had in the United States. A major issue, for example is her claim that it is senseless for us to create `crème fraiche' in our kitchens, as there is simply no way we can reproduce the flavor and result obtained from the true French product. How idiosyncratic this position is can be seen from the fact that many cookbooks I have seen which presented French cuisine gives a recipe for `crème fraiche'. Interestingly enough, however, is the fact that Julia Child, in `Mastering the Art of French Cooking' allows that American cream typically doesn't match the butterfat content of the French product, but does allow that one can approximate the product by mixing in a little buttermilk and letting the mix stand for a bit. In Ms. Kamman's favor, she simply tells us to use heavy cream when the recipe calls for `crème fraiche'.
   
   Ms. Kamman is also adapts the conceit that these recipes come from a time before the reign of the famous French male chefs and their Michelin stars. I won't belabor this point, but Madeleine is plainly wrong on this point as the male domination of commercial kitchens goes back at least to Antonin Careme and Escoffier. And, Michelin started giving out its restaurant stars in 1933, starting with the granddaddy of modern French cuisine, Ferdinand Point.
   
   But getting back to the recipes, I find virtually all of them delightful to read and delicious in anticipating my trying them and tasting the results. Since the book's chapters and recipes are organized by person and by region in France, the recipes are not organized for easy location for a good dish for chicken or veal or artichokes. Gratin's, my favorite type of dish, for example, appear among the recipes for each of the eight chapters. This being so, it is almost a shame that Mme. Kamman took such great pains to give us a measure of the cost and the difficulty of the recipes, as one will generally not use this book to find quick or cheap recipes. For that, we go to Rachael Ray.
   
   Nevertheless, these recipes are really top drawer in both selection and in the detail with which the author describes the procedures. One thing I really like about the text which may be a little intimidating to some readers is that while Ms. Kamman is very careful in describing things carefully, she does expect a modicum of knowledge about French cooking. Not every French culinary term is translated and you may have to consult her textbook for her preferences on what to put in the `bouquet garni', or even to find out what a `bouquet garni' is.
   
   One of the surest tests of whether or not I like a cookbook is whether I anticipate the recipe for a dish and actually find a recipe for that very dish in the book. This happened as I ran across a gratin recipe for mushrooms and potatoes. This seemed to be such a natural dish that I thought it was inevitable that there should be such a recipe, and there was.
   
   This book is highly recommended for anyone who likes to read about cooking in general.

No comments about Danish Modern And Beyond: Scandinavian Inspired Furniture From Heywood-wakefield (Schiffer Book for Collectors).

No comments about Good Things from Tag Sales and Flea Markets.

5 comments about Pontiac GTO.

1. Great book for the goat owner. Learn about your vehicle and it's brothers. Great pictures, great info. Sure brings back memories.



2. I've just purchaed a 1973 GTO and bought 5 books on the subject. This is by far the best one. The pictures are wonderful and the analysis is both insightful and inspirational in an entrepreneurial sense (getting the GTO done over GM's massive corporate bureaucracy.) A must-read for the true GTO or musclecar fan.



3. This book is definitely one of the best books written on the Pontiac GTO. It combines great photography with a good chronological story on all the GTO's from 1964 to 1974. Excellent read! Caution to other buyers: the recently released paperback titled Pontiac GTO: Four Decades of Muscle by Steve Statham (published May 2003) has exactly the same content as this book. So if you own this book already, don't bother buying Four Decades of Muscle



4. Decent coverage and review of the GTO for most enthusiasts. Background information and pictures are clear and well presented. Another great addition to my collection.



5. First, you need to know that I owned two new GTO's. I absolutely loved them. Especially the first one, a 1966 GTO Convertible; the first year the GTO was its own car.
   This book is great. It has great pictures of all of the different GTO's. Even the '73 which few people even know existed. It actually had some information I did not know!
   Good history of how the legend started and how GM reacted to it both before and after the totally unexpected popularity.
   This car is considered the definitive muscle can. It was new, fast and a looker to boot. It lead the way for all of the other muscle cars.
   If you were (are) into cars of the late 60's and early 70's you will like this book.

5 comments about Arrogance: A Novel.

1. With one of the better, and more original, voices in contemporary fiction Joanna Scott has created a startlingly beautiful view into the artistic process. Through the lenses of several people (including his own)we get a full picture of the painter Egon Schiele and of those around him. You can taste the food, feel the paint on the canvas, and smell early twentieth-century Vienna! There are few writers today who can write with the grace and power that flows through Joanna Scott's prose. She is a writer who commands attention, and deserves to be widely read. If you enjoy art, traveling, food, or amazing writing you should read this novel. In fact, you should ingest everything that she has written, and then pass it on to others! ARROGANCE is a great place to start- it is phenomenal, it is beautiful, in short: it is a must



2. I bought this book more because my artistic interest in Egon Schiele than as an interesting fictional work. The book is well done as fiction but seems to get a significant part of the art wrong. Biographies of Schiele usually give his wife Edith a very different character. In the book, she is very proper. In most collections of his work, many of the most explicit and erotic drawings are listed as of Edith and her sister. Also,the relationship to his sister seems very much more restrained than than his work seems to indicate. Discussion of paintings and drawings without examples made me happy to have the Schroder biograpby of Schiele handy for comparison.



3. Egon Schiele lived a brief and turbulent artistic life, dying of influenza in 1918 at the age of twenty-eight. Schiele was a draftsman and printmaker, but was best known as a painter. He entered the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts at the tender age of sixteen and soon became a student of August Klimt, the most well known Austrian painter of that time. As one of the preeminent artists associated with Austrian expressionism, Schiele's paintings are transgressive depictions of contorted, erotically charged nude figures, often in provocative sexual poses and often including young girls. Not surprisingly, Schiele's art was controversial. Moreover, his use of adolescent girls as models for his drawings and paintings led to numerous charges of immorality. Often, this simply meant he had to move from one small Austrian town to another, hounded by the wrath of common people who viewed him as morally repugnant. However, in one case, Schiele was prosecuted and spent time in prison for his averred transgressions.

   "Arrogance" is Joanna Scott's fictional account of Schiele's life, a parallax narrative that tells its tale from a series of changing and different perspectives. Nominated for the 1991 PEN/Faulkner Award (which, regrettably, it did not win), it subsequently earned Scott a MacArthur Fellowship for her presumed literary genius. While not a novel for readers who prefer straightforward, linear narratives, "Arrogance" is nonetheless a penetrating fictional exploration of Schiele's artistic genius as related not only from the facts of his life, but also from the imaginary inner world of the artist and those around him, including his long-time female companion, Vallie Neuzil, and a fictional female narrator who tells of her fascination and involvement with Schiele and Vallie during their residence in the small Austrian village of Neulengbach, where Schiele was arrested for corruption of minors.

   "Arrogance" is a vivid and convincing portrait of the life and mind of the artist, a complex narrative that challenge the reader to understand and interpret that life from multiple perspectives, both biographical and imaginative. It is, in short, a brilliant example of how fiction and imagination can inform biography, how literature can be written to illuminate and inform the real.




4. Egon Schiele lived a brief and turbulent artistic life, dying of influenza in 1918 at the age of twenty-eight. Schiele was a draftsman and printmaker, but was best known as a painter. He entered the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts at the tender age of sixteen and soon became a student of August Klimt, the most well known Austrian painter of that time. As one of the preeminent artists associated with Austrian expressionism, Schiele's paintings are transgressive depictions of contorted, erotically charged nude figures, often in provocative sexual poses and often including young girls. Not surprisingly, Schiele's art was controversial. Moreover, his use of adolescent girls as models for his drawings and paintings led to numerous charges of immorality. Often, this simply meant he had to move from one small Austrian town to another, hounded by the wrath of common people who viewed him as morally repugnant. However, in one case, Schiele was prosecuted and spent time in prison for his averred transgressions.

   "Arrogance" is Joanna Scott's fictional account of Schiele's life, a parallax narrative that tells its tale from a series of changing and different perspectives. Nominated for the 1991 PEN/Faulkner Award (which, regrettably, it did not win), it subsequently earned Scott a MacArthur Fellowship for her presumed literary genius. While not a novel for readers who prefer straightforward, linear narratives, "Arrogance" is nonetheless a penetrating fictional exploration of Schiele's artistic genius as related not only from the facts of his life, but also from the imaginary inner world of the artist and those around him, including his long-time female companion, Vallie Neuzil, and a fictional female narrator who tells of her fascination and involvement with Schiele and Vallie during their residence in the small Austrian village of Neulengbach, where Schiele was arrested for corruption of minors.

   "Arrogance" is a vivid and convincing portrait of the life and mind of the artist, a complex narrative that challenge the reader to understand and interpret that life from multiple perspectives, both biographical and imaginative. It is, in short, a brilliant example of how fiction and imagination can inform biography, how literature can be written to illuminate and inform the real.




5. "Arrogance" is a worthwhile novel, beautifully written, full of astute observations on art in general and Schiele in particular. The unusual kaleidoscopic narrative structure of the book led me to take my time with it. Because one is constantly shifting in time and point of view, it can feel that, as a "story," the book never gets off the ground. On the other hand, this stylistic choice encouraged me to savor each page as I might in a book of poems. (Also, the language is extremely well-crafted, as in poetry.) Here is a quote that, for me, encapsulated not only Scott's subject but her own way of putting the novel together: "Symmetry and perspective, chiaroscuro, balance--all these, Egon Schiele believes, offer false comfort, and man is truly aware only when he learns to accept, even to delight in the incongruous, terrifying nature of the visual world."