1 comments about Legendary American Cars.

1. The book is gorgeous. Its size, its overall quality of binding are impressive, and its photographs are just stunning. In fact, the quality of photographs is the most attractive feature of this book. The large-scale format, and what is even more important, the ultra-high resolution of the pictures allow to see every single detail of the car, literally, while deep, gleaming colors make every photograph the candy for the eyes! The text comes like a pleasant bonus. Unless you are a newcomer in the fantastic world of classic cars, you'll probably find it not very informative, but certainly nice and neat to read. It`s like an icing on the cake. What makes the book on such general subject remarkable is the model selection, and that's exactly what makes me so exciting about it. Elegant Packards, mighty Duesenbergs, rakish Cords, classic Chrysler Imperials, fabulous Cadillacs ... You will find all of them, both pre- and post-war, in abundance! If you were born a little earlier and knew the classic car before it became a muscle car, you know what I mean. The books with such model selections are not so common nowadays, but you have a nice opportunity to buy just one more of them right now.

5 comments about The Birth of Tragedy (Dover Thrift Editions).

1. The first essay of this giant philosopher is deeply influenced for the echoes of Schopenhauer and Richard Wagner and pretends expose a new conception of the world : the tragic thought, , the intuition of the unity of the things , the converse affirmation of the life and death , the timeless return , the innocence of becoming .
   Fundamental text if you want to get ready for the Apollonian and Dionisus duel!



2. This is one of maybe five reviews I've ever written online. I only do so if I absolutely love a product or am absolutely appalled by something I wish a fellow amazon addict had included in an online review. This will be the latter. This book is rife with translation errors. Not even so much translation errors because I don't speak German but basic grammatical mistakes; "From another perspective we see the force of this un-Dionysian spirit in action directing its effects against myth, when we turn our gaze toward the way in which the way in which the presentation..." -page 56 (this is just one in a long list of examples). Another weird fact about this book is that it is the size of a magazine? I have no fundamental problem with that, I loved JG Ballard's The Atrocity Exhibition which had the same dimensions; however because this book is a mere 80 pages it's just awkward to read. Do yourself a favor and buy another version of this book that doesn't have an abundance of errors. The only saving grace for this POS are the ideas contained therein.



3. This is a slendor volume, yet it is my favorite of all of Nietzsche's works. So far as I can tell it is a fairly good translation, but obviously this book has not gotten the amount of attention that his other works have, so perhaps the definitive translation has not yet arrived.
   
   In my opinion, this book offers original and excellent insights in the area of classical scholarship. It also provides a good introduction for Nietzsche's later philosophy. I also feel that it is a must read for creative people.



4. Just so you know, THIS particular copy of The Birth of Tragedy is NOT split up into the chapters. It's just continuous text all the way through. This is not much of a problem for the recreational reader, but as I am a student, I had to know exactly which portions to focus on. I had to find a text copy online so I knew where to write the numbers. The cover looks like it was made MS Paint too...



5. The book is a great value for the price, but there isn't much in the way of extras. I just wanted the text, though, and this is great.

5 comments about French Style: How to Think, Shop, and Dress like a French Woman.

1. "French Style - How to Think, Shop and Dress Like a French Woman" was published by Express (the clothing store) in 1993. The book design is unusual. It is a an oversized 10" by 9" soft cover book with a stiff book jacket cover making it a cross between a hard cover and soft cover book.
   
   The text is illustrated with line drawings and a number of photographs (mostly black and white). It helps you learn to THINK like a French woman. It will help you learn to make the decisions a French woman would when shopping, dressing, playing and more.
   
   French woman are known for their chic appearance and attitude. Within these pages Vienne who was born and raised in France conveys what it is that makes the French woman so stylish. She begins by looking to the past. A look at how the French fashion evolved. Then she shares the purebred classics that make the French look - items such as the supreme black turtleneck, hermes scarf, red gloves etc.
   
   Vienne encourages you to "epater les bourgeois" that is shock say a French matron. Here is where you wear things that will raise the eyebrow such as a sweater turned inside out, sunglasses in the rain etc. As Vienne says "you cannot have style without breaking the rules". Take what you have and add little twists to make it special and give it style.
   In the States we dress "appropriately" in France a French woman will push buttons - be surprising and fresh.
   
   Vienne gives a list of "do's" and "don'ts" and she gets into "Le Shopping". Armed with more attitude than cash the French woman will use her wits and savvy to find the very best.
   
   Like the design itself this book is very unusual. Not your usual dress like this fare. This is a book that goes beyond the obvious of what is style and helps explain the mystery of how to make style yours.
   
   French style is not a trend, it's a way of life. A way of thinking and feeling. Veronique captures that in this book!
   
   Lee Mellott



2. I loved this book when I was in high school, and still remember (and use)some of the tips.



3. If you're lucky enough to come across a copy of this funny little book, grab it immediately!
   The illustrations & photographs are marvelous, darling! See Audrey Hepburn, the museums of Paris, street cafes & much, much more. The history is fascinating, the tips practical & usable.
   And if you're into book "altering", this book is oh so chic!



4. I, too, bought this book from Express way back when and read it religiously numerous times. As a high school girl who didn't want to look like a tart, Mme. Vienne's words of wisdom were just what I needed to create a classy style of my own.
   
   Sadly, I donated it to the Goodwill or Friends of the Library a couple of years ago, during a momentary lapse of reason and good common sense. Guess I thought I didn't need it anymore. Boy, was I wrong!
   
   Get it if you can, my dears, as it's a great read for the exact reasons the other reviewers love it. Thankfully, I still remember a lot of the advice.
   
   I wish I still had mine!!!



5. I bought this book about 5 years ago. Just casually flipped through it and read only parts (I don't why). Now, I've found another copy and have read it from cover to cover. I honestly don't think I was ready (5 yrs ago) to tackle the suggestions in this book. I am now.
   
   I can't think of anything that's more inspiring or more helpful for getting the French look. I've read all of Anne Barone's books (helpful) and the tres terrible French Chic and this is absolute best..hands down.
   The best thing I have come away with from this book is that you don't needs tons of money to create that French allure. The tips and tricks in the book anyone can do and will create that mystique you're after.
   
   Today, I decided to mix navy and black together (as the book says "Very French") and I've gotten a few second glances. Shock les bourgeois...ooh I do feel so very French!
   
   Get your hands on a copy of this book and don't let go!
   
   Amusez-vous bien!

1 comments about Nineteenth Century Cameos: A Price and Identification Guide.

1. This really is a wonderful addition to the unfortunately small number of sometimes iffy books on cameos currently available. Though it generously contains 134 color plates and is so well presented, I only wish it was longer. Thankfully, it does not waste your time with photos of junky, mass produced modern cameos. These are all important, Georgian and Victorian cameos, fine examples in hardstone, shell, coral, tortoiseshell, lava, jet, jasperware and ivory to train your eye toward picking out the very best at high-end antique venues. The author, a London antique jewelry dealer, has a website, (rowanandrowan), which contains many beauties, if you want to see more. This is a book I will often enjoy browsing through, especially since I am not wealthy. Price guides are notoriously undependable, especially for one-of-a-kind, rare items, and the location of your find can wildly affect the price you can expect to pay. This book is not a price guide, though it occasionally includes a price in UK pounds. (Many of the cameos are privately owned or in museum collections that you might not easily visit, but are of a high-end type occasionally still found in odd places, estate sales and auctions by the avid cameo hunter.) It depicts primarily Greek and Roman mythological subjects in very clear color photos with concise overviews of the myths and identifying information. Additionally, there is a small collection of portrait cameos that does not include, thankfully, the ubiquitous, anonymous ladies' heads. These are portraits of famous Victorians, Lord Byron, Florence Nightingale, and a Victorian portrait of Mary, Queen of Scots. Of interest to me are wonderful, deeply carved ivory portrait cameos of the poet, Elizabeth Barrett Browning and the novelist, Elizabeth Gaskell. There is a short 2 page section referencing eminent carvers who signed their cameos in an effort to differentiate their work from real antiquities. If I could wish for anything, it would be for the author to expand her book in the future with even more examples of the lovely and unusual cameos that have passed through her hands. I recommend this book as a small indulgence to serious fine cameo collectors. Antique Collectors' Club books can be depended on for quality information and wonderful color photography.

1 comments about Anri Woodcarving: Bottle Stoppers, Corkscrews, Nutcrackers, Toothpick Holders, Smoking Accessories, and More.

1. This book is written for collectors but as a woodcarver, I appreciate the history of woodcarving that is a part of this book. The book is filled with great color photos of carvings done over many years. On the downside, it cost me more money because after reading it, I ended up going to ebay and bidding on several anri carvings. I did note than a number of the carvings for sale were being sold by the books author.

1 comments about The Classic British Rook and Rabbit Rifle.

1. This is an excellent reference at a bargain price!
   Well written and the photos are worth the price of the book

2 comments about Wetworks, Vol. 1.

1. So here's some background: Whilce Portacio was one of the original seven artists who founded Image Comics back in 1992. Whilce's contribution to the cause was WETWORKS, which didn't debut until 1994 due to the illness of his sister. The original WETWORKS centered on dirty ops soldiers, who had bonded with golden symbiotes, which granted them unnatural powers. These soldiers then ended up tussling with the undead. This series ran from 1994 to1998, for 43 issues. In 2006 Whilce Portacio revived WETWORKS. This trade paperback, WETWORKS Book One, is 136 pages long and reprints the prelude stories from the EYE OF THE STORM ANNUAL (2003) and COUP D'ETAT AFTERWORD (2004) and the first 5 issues of the relaunched WETWORKS title.
   
   The plot now, and possible SPOILERS:
   
   When the break-in of a U.S. Air Force base results in the theft of an "extinction-level" device and twenty-seven bloodless corpses by someone who is invisible to cameras, Colonel Jackson Dane is called on by the military to assemble a new Wetworks team and investigate. Dane agrees, with the proviso that he gets to pick his own team.
   
   Colonel Dane ends up with a small crew. One recruit is the vampiress Persephone (code-name: Red), formerly the Blood Queen's right hand, but now a bit on the skids and drug-addicted. Then there's the weird, lab-created Ab-Death (or Dustwalker), who has an affinity with and access to the Deadworld ("It is best to think of me as amphibious. I can be alive or I can be dead."). Another of Dane's caveats for reforming Wetworks is the rebooting of the android, Mother One, a close friend and a valuable asset of Dane's who currently lies in a dessicated state (she basically died in the last series). The resurrection attempt proves to be a success, and Rachel Rhodes (Mother One) is soon reactivated. And, finally, Sebastian Ashe, a werewolf lawman, enters the picture.
   
   As usual Dane and company must fend off the Night Tribes, a clandestine society of supernatural races consisting of vampires, werewolves, demons, liches, sea devils, etc. Or, to be more specific, it's the longtime enemy, the vampires, whom the team targets. But, this time, also, members of Wetworks find themselves transported to Thea Mater, a horrific parallel earth where vampires, not humanity, had risen to dominance. They go up against one Simon Vascar, a superior undead who, unlike the vampires of Dane's earth, retains his intelligence when undergoing the "frenzy," the condition in which vampires change into their monstrous forms. And, it turns out, the root of the problem goes back to scientists meddling with a rift in the Bleed. The Bleed, for the uninitiated, is that strange realm which connects parallel universes. Oh, and there's also the matter of a creature called the soul eater hanging around in Deadworld.
   
   SPOILERS end.
   
   WETWORKS has always been a blending of sci-fi, horror, that military cool and bravado, and high-octane action, and it's no different now. Britisher Mike Carey (whose stuff I enjoyed in X-Men Vol. 1: Supernovas and Ultimate Fantastic Four Vol. 7: God War) comes on board as the new writer (more on that later, sadly), while Whilce Portacio handles the interior artwork (for the first 6 issues, anyway, until health issues surface, after which he's relegated to cover artist status). I've always liked Whilce's pencils, and, here, he's solid yet again. Now, on to what sucks.
   
   There's an initial lack of accessibility in the first few issues for new readers, a dearth of background fill-in, as Carey seems to assume that readers will already be familiar with the existing characters, as well as events in the previous series. Newcomers to WETWORKS don't even learn until later of the truce between humanity and the vampire nation (kind of a key plot). Carey's storytelling is routine and, in fact, suffers from a certain lack of clarity and flow; the plot tends to confuse and isn't all that gripping, to begin with. It's weird that I wasn't more into it because I definitely dig lycanthropes and the undead, but I think Carey's writing was a factor. New characters are introduced (Ab-Death and the werewolf Sebastian Ashe), but, to me, they come off as cardboard-flat. The old characters don't fare much better (more play is actually given to the main adversary, Simon Vascar). This story arc is a lengthy one, which gives Carey perhaps too much leeway to tell his tale, although he does eventually fill in the blanks. But these pages could do with some tightening up. I'll say this, I do like the concept of the parallel earth of Thea Mater. Still, I, for one, expected better from Mike Carey. All in all, WETWORKS Book One hearkens back to the generic Image titles in the 1990s, which were across-the-board desperate for character development.
   
   So, a word to the wise, WETWORKS Book One doesn't live up to the promise of the cool characters and premise, wasting Whilce Portacio's artistic contributions and leaving the reader ultimately unsatisfied. And, again, the fault lies in the muddled story and the somewhat clumsy narrative pacing. There's a hanging sense of incompleteness in the air. However, if you've invested time and some green into this trade (and if you actually get hooked enough in the story), then you almost have to get your hands on Wetworks, Vol. 2, too, which continues the Simon Vascar story arc. And those interested in the early tales of the original Wetworks team might seek out Rebirth :WETWORKS, which collects the first 3 issues of the first series.
   
   But, this volume here, I think I'll give it three stars and a marginal, marginal recommendation, based on the neat concept and the artwork, even if the story's execution underwhelms. And, who knows? Maybe WETWORKS, Vol.2 will be an improvement (even though Whilce Portacio isn't much in that one).



2. The premise of a black ops team being organized to battle tribes of vampires is an intriguing one, as are the entities that comprise it. In this particular case that includes, among others, a vampire, a cyborg, and a difficult to categorize individual named Ab-Death. Plus they are joined by a werewolf who also happens to be a sheriff. Talk about an eerie cast of characters. Mike Carey's compelling tale takes this group of supernatural misfits on a mission to hunt down a powerful rogue vampire with an unknown evil agenda. As if he wasn't problem enough, other questions arise as to whether or not the vampire among them can be trusted not to choose sides, and of the entire vampire nation, which currently has a truce with humans. Along the way we learn about such interesting vampire lore as the frenzy, the moment when their uncontrollable blood lust occurs, and the aura capax, their ability to mentally control people. And what or who is the blood box? Carey's well crafted story adroitly sets the stage for a grand finale. Unfortunately this trade ends without any final resolution which, while frustrating, did not greatly detract from the enjoyment of it.

2 comments about Friedrich Becker: Kinetic Jewellery.

1. This retrospective volume is so immense and impressive in scale and quality it is hard to describe. Becker's influence on modern jewelry design is so far reaching that many take many of his trademarks (geometric aesthetic coupled with his obsession with movement and kinetics) for granted in modern metals design. While this book may be a bit expensive for private ownership, it is a must have for any art focused library collection or jewelry school.



2. Whether you're interested in kinetic jewelry, or you just like beautiful photos of jewelry, this book is fantastic. I've never seen work like his anywhere. For him, kinetic is not just a matter of adding some hinges or dangles, but designing hidden devices that allow the jewelry to change its shape, or to move in surprising ways.
   
   Get it as a fabulous coffee table book, or an invaluable reference work. It can be difficult to obtain, but is well worth the wait.

1 comments about First Aid for Art: Essential Salvage Techniques.

1. "First aid for art" is an incredibly useful and informative book. It isn't just for artists and collectors of art. Instructions are provided for emergency damage control and restoration techniques for all kinds of collections; books, paper, parchment, botany specimens, electronic media such as CDs, DVDs, and cassette tapes, furniture, paintings, paleontology specimens, photographs, sculpture and other art objects, skulls and skeletons, study skins, and textiles. There are two appendixes and an extensive list of useful web sites. The last section contains short biographies of the contributing authors and their credentials. The editors and contributing authors are all professional conservators.
   
   I like the design of the book as well the content. It's well organized and durable. The instructions are straightforward and visually easy to read as you would need them to be in an pinch. Printed in dark type with bullet points on stark white paper. The paper is thick so it doesn't rip easily. It is hardcover and spiral bound so it lays flat. However the binding is that of a normal book with the spiral inlay inside the hardcover. Design matches content in that the information is easily accessible in exactly the type of situation where it would be needed. There are conservation methods included along with rescue and restoration. For example, heading off the growth of mold and mildew, in the case of water damage to books.
   
   There are sections to each type of object and each is approximately a page long.
   
   For example, in the section for skulls and skeletons, there are sections for :
   
   1. Properties - the properties of skulls and bones.
   2. Common types of damage.
   3. Supplies - what you may need and why.
   3. Triage - how to decide what to treat first.
   4. What to do - for wet specimens, dry specimens, and packing.
   
   Each chapter contains sections like this.

No comments about Scott 2005 Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue, Vol. 6: Countries of the World, S0-Z (Scott Standard Postage Stamp Catalogue Vol 6 So-Z).