5 comments about The Encyclopedia of Tibetan Symbols and Motifs.

1. this book is very educational. the descriptions are very detailed and tend to be lengthy (which I find to be very informative) but I must say the pictures aren't all that good and it is sometimes difficult to find exactly what you are looking for quickly. Still this is a very good book, great source of information, and I do and will continue to recommend it!



2. If you're interested in Tibetan Buddhist iconography for whatever reason you can't go wrong with this detailed book. The author's original illustrations provide a wealth of examples of images in Tibetan art, and the text provides rich historical and doctrinal background for understanding why the symbols are important. Highly recommended.



3. Recieved the book promptly and in the condition promised. The book is an excellent source book. It does suffer from being without an index, for which the author apologizes. A source book without index is less than it should be. Still the images are excellent, and I assume the text is accurate. The author has spent a good portion of his working life in preparation: studying with Tibetan artists and craftspeople; and, becoming accomplished at rendering the brush drawings in an authentic manner. A good compaion book, especially as this does not have a index, is the "Handbook" by the same author



4. It's a more interesting and authoritative reference for this subject matter. This is due to Rinpoche being a qualified (I emphasise the word 'qualified') Lama and Tibetan scholar. Also at no point does Rinpoche compromise Tibetan Buddhism by giving away restricted information.



5. I love this book. Having found it a few years back at a tattoo shop in Santa Cruz, California, I was only able to look at it for a short time but I was able to gain so much knowledge as to the wealth of designs and deep meaning found in Tibetan art. This book stayed in my mind thereafter. Here it is a few years and a couple tattoos later and the book resurfaced on Amazon. Great price, great condition and prompt service. This book is great for one who has interest in Tibetan art and it's symbolic nature. The concepts are well articulated and with each 'type' placed into a different chapter it makes refrencing quite simple. If you are interested, get this book!

5 comments about Thomas Jefferson's Monticello.

1. I have toured Monticello, and the stunning pictures in this tastefully put-together book does Monticello proud. Also the writings and diagrams within the book describing how Monticello came about, and something about the genuis patriot who designed it is very well done and most interesting. This book is well worth the price, and would make a wonderful gift.



2. After visiting Monticello and being awestruck, I could hardly wait to visit again. This book makes me feel as if I am there again. The photography is superb and the text so engaging. I am in love with this book as much as I am Monticello itself. I highly recommend it!!



3. Thomas Jefferson's Monticello, an essay in architecture, takes readers on a historical tour of the third U.S. president's cherished home near Charlottesville, Virginia, through well-written text and gorgeous, full-color photography. The book includes floor plans and photographs of Jefferson's original architectual elevations, as well as drawings of the finished building that we are most familiar with today. It describes Jefferson as art collector and plantation life on Monticello's farms, and it explores the four seasons in Monticello's gardens. Published in 2002 by the Thomas Jefferson Foundation, Inc.



4. This work successfully links the many unique qualities of Thomas Jefferson's personality to the unique qualities of the home that he designed and spent most of his life building and rebuilding. All of the intriguing features of this home are covered.
   Anyone interested in this remarkable man and his home who is unable to visit Monticello in person should strongly consider this work.



5. This is a highly informative, well documented book covering all aspects of the design and building of Thomas Jefferson's home, plus insights into why things were done the way they were done, through Jefferson's own notes, sketches and correspondence. Plus,the photographs are exquisite.

5 comments about Flash of the Spirit: African & Afro-American Art & Philosophy.

1. I had the privilige to see Robert Farris Thompson, when the FACES OF THE GODS exhibit came to the Seattle Art Museum. Dr. Thompson came to speak about the history of the orishas (gods and goddesses) in the santeria and vodoo religious practices amongst the Afro-Cubans, Afro-Brazilians and African-Americans. What sets Thompson apart from other scholars is his genuine passion for the subject matter he has well-researched, as well as his vast knowledge of the Diaspora, and the cultural interconnectedness of people of African descent throughout the globe.
   
   FLASH OF THE SPIRIT examines on a closer, more intimate level the cultural significance of the gods and goddesses depicted in mythology and art of those who are practitioners of (among other religions) Yoruba, Santeria and Voodoo faiths. We see beautiful and powerful illustrations and photographs of the jewelry, textiles, plates and figurines used in worship, and we also get insight into the characteristics of the gods and goddesses, their meaning in the lives of those who pray to them, and how this plays into other parts of society, human interaction and behavior. I come away from this book feeling that we are lot closer than we think, and that while "African-American" and "African" are important distinctions to recognize in terms of cultural definition, they are also at times parallel and quite similar to the indigenous Native cultures of South and Central America, as well as other parts of the world. This is fascinating material and Farris Thompson's writing style is pure poetry. I guarantee that once you start reading this book, you won't be able to put it down.



2. I really enjoyed reading this book. It is very educational and it really takes me back to my grandma nem' time.



3. If I could give this book 6 stars I would. Robert Farris Thompson presents our rich, ancient history making it quite clear that African Americans are not an isolated group but a group intimately connected to particular cultures and societies in West Africa and the African diaspora. The rich text is generously supported by illustrated plates. Essential reading for those who wish to gain an understanding of African cosmology, philosophy and art in relation to the African diaspora (North and South America, copious information on Brazil, the Carribean etc) Great reference material for students, artists, writers, researchers and thinkers. As an educator, writer and author I highly recommend this book.



4. I enjoyed this book when I first read it as much for the kinds of bridges it seemed to make as for his own writing style and subject matter. R.F. Thompson, who I had the pleasure of meeting once in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, is someone who along with being highly knowledgeable cares a great deal for the subject. Where the book could be considered lacking I would say is it's way of seeming dated. It bares some cultural prejudice which, considering the cultural remoteness of the subject matter when compared to the intellectual/cultural arena of the writer(African and African-American, Afro-Cuban/Hispanic culture vs. Post-World War II Ivy League) - and how well he did anyway- is forgiveable, but present nonetheless. If you are expecting some pretty powerful things to be said about Coltrane, or the early days of Rap music and Hip-hop dance (now in its third decade of existence already), or Modigliani, or other things that are in the forefront of the present culture's mind, to a certain degree you will be disappointed. However, if you had no idea other than the Alex Haley "Roots" era rhetoricals about the derivation of many African-American and Hispanic/Hispanic-American cultural paradigms, this will enlighten you in ways that will have you going to the bookstore to see what else he and many others have written on the subjects. I recommend it- particularly for lovers of European modern art, studies of religion, and other things influenced by the Mother country.



5. Thompson's work on African retentions in New World artforms is seminal in the field of African Diasporan art history. However, Flash of the Spirit reads more like a best seller than a textbook. Fascinating details and insights into the meanings of art from Haiti to Georgia to Brazil, with excellent context for all objects. Great for anyone at all curious about African heritage, religion, and art. Occasionally thick reading, as one must trace entire cosmologies, but well layed out, full of illustrations, and textually easy to follow. Thompson makes an obscure genre easily accesible to readers of varied backgrounds.

5 comments about Art Since 1900: Modernism, Antimodernism, Postmodernism, Volume 2: 1945 to the Present (College Text Edition with Art 20 CD-ROM).

1. Art Since 1900 probably shouldn't be read by artists, younger ones at least. Here is where all your sincerity, all your peer support, all your sudden joy in thinking you've finally got it right this time, goes to die, splattered like meaningless bracken against the wall of Context, of History. Probably what's enraged so many people so much about this book is that its authors, scholars of 20th century art if there ever were any, aren't in the least afraid to make judgements, to call a bad idea a bad idea, to explore the limits of an artwork's relevance to the question: can art still matter? The criticisms of the book all seem to want to posit some grand democracy of artistic endeavor, or better still an anarchy, all the while ignoring the fact that we've already gone past the point of anarchy and moved into pure spectacle, which can only exist within the disavowal of history, and of judgement. Utopia's already here, but this book wants to mean more than that. Ultimately its message seems to be, simply: not making crap takes hard work. Read it and suffer.



2. Ok, parts of this book, especially the first few chapters, are really, really hard. But if you slow down enough, you can sometimes figure out what the author(s) are saying. Some of it is clearly written, so there must be at least one writer on board who can write for the educated masses.
   
   This book does deal with a lot of issues that are important to contemporary visual artists, especially in the second half of the book. The roundtable discussion at the end is worth the price of admission alone.
   
   The reproductions are really good.
   
   I taught art history for a couple of years, and I would love to teach a class using this book. It raises a lot of issues that would be fun to talk about in a seminar. I wish I had had it when I was in graduate school in photography.



3. As a visual studies major, I've read my fair share of theory and art history books, and this is by far the worst. It is filled with statements that ramble on for full paragraphs leave you looking for both the period and the point. The reader gets the impression that an intoxicated art historian is rambling on at a party, completely unaware of how uninteresting he or she is, or how little sense is being made. The legitimate information in this book could be presented in a pamphlet. I was forced to read this, and sift through 704 pages of hay to find the needle. I literally read this book while walking on a treadmill in order to maintain consciousness.



4. The best example I've ever seen of art historians taking themselves so seriously that almost every paragraph drips with pretension.



5. I suspect that a number of these comments were inspired by a scathing review in the Wall Street Journal by Eric Gibson (the "culture war" ones at least). But maybe not...
   I would have liked to write a more critical review of this book, although, or perhaps, because I liked it so much, but with all of these rather "blunt" opinions, it is hard to do anything but just praise it. Still, I'll throw out a couple of points of critique:
   
   1. It is obvious that the authors are trying to create a kind of definitive history of 20th century art. This is in part based on their particular take, and indeed, sometimes this is more evident than others (esp. the closer you get to the present), but in general it is a very thorough book (presenting numerous positions). That they were among the founding editors of October should make it more interesting to read than otherwise. Needless to say, it should also be read in this way. There is definitely a certain direction to this work. But isn't that what writing and scholarship is all about? See also point 3.
   
   2. I do wish that they would call into question some more of their own philosophical and political "foundations." For the most part, much like in October, their critique and development of Marxism, structuralism, psychoanalysis, "post-structuralism" etc. all seem to focus on a historical or art historical USE of these fields rather than going to the "heart of the matter" and maybe trying to address them on a philosophical or for that matter on a "real-political" level. It would be nice to be able to read the work from a philosophical or political vantage point too, not just an art historical one...they seem to SOMETIMES ironically mirror their "blunt" critic's weak position of lumping everything into one common trend of "continental philosophy" or "postmodernism" etc.
   
   3. The tension between textbook and the "avant-garde" art critic: I find this to be sometimes a bit too much, end up asking myself, am I in some "contemporary art 101 class?" or am I directly "on the front"...but in the end I find this also to be interesting. Trying to make an institution, a textbook classic out of all of these disparate attempts to undermine such an idea... I hope the next version is less well-mannered and proper and a bit crazier (less a text book).

1 comments about Classical Art: From Greece to Rome (Oxford History of Art).

1. This innovative and deliciously illustrated guide to the arts of Greece and Rome is composed in a light-hearted, humorous vein and provides as much entertainment as artistic edification. Furthermore, its unique exploration of Greek art through the prism of Roman culture offers a refreshing new perspective on the development of the wildly influential high classicism of the empire. In short, a delightful and beautiful book.

5 comments about Flip Dictionary.

1. I'm an aspiring author and the Flip Dictionary has become my new best friend. It is one of my favorite resources. Very handy whether in the office or on the road.



2. My husband just bought a second book for his office. Turns out that the Flip Dictionary makes sense to him when a regular thesaurus is too complicated. Since he has to write a great deal of correspondence, as well as personnel reviews and standardized procedures, finding the right word is terribly important. With dyslexia, finding the right word, and then writing the right word can be very challenging. He has decided the Flip Dictionary is a tool he cannot work without. If you need a simple thesaurus, this is the one.



3. As a journalsit, I never found Roget's Thesaurus to be of the slightest use, but I turn up Dr Kifner's Flip Dictionary at least once a week. Evan Whitton



4. I've had this book for over a year, and it has been helpful one time. It never has what I'm looking for.



5. I keep the Flip Dictionary right within my reach whenever I'm writing, along with my dictionaries and thesaurus.
   The Flip Dictionary is a great source of information if you're looking for just the right word to use. It should be on every writers' book shelf.

No comments about Style School Volume 2 (v. 2).

2 comments about Stencil Nation: Graffiti, Community, and Art.

1. it would have been nice if they had wrapped this book in plastic so that when it finally reached my hands it would not be wrinkly and moist. thanks retards!



2. This is a great art book! It's a worldwide who's who of stencil graffiti artists Beautiful full color photos cover every page showing murals by the likes of Banksy, Jef Aerosol, Logan Hicks, Swoon, and hundreds more. There's work by over 350 artists. Some of my favorite stuff is by people like Scott Williams who is well known around San Francisco but whose lush work really needs to be seen on a larger scale. The book is not only filled with big name artists but great local finds. The pages are dense with images and a variety of styles. Highly recommended.

1 comments about African-American Art (Oxford History of Art).

1. Sharon Patton does a wonderful job placing African-American art and artist within the contex of the time in which it was made. She shows how people of color were part of all the art movements and what the contributions were. The reproductions are high quality and the images cover many different mediums. It is easy to read and flows more like a story of art instead of a dry lecture.

5 comments about A History of Illuminated Manuscript.

1. Christopher De Hamel's "A History of Illuminated Manuscripts" (now in its second edition) is certainly the definitive history for lay readers, but it is probably the best starting place for aspiring professionals as well. It is well-written, faultlessly researched, and copiously illustrated. I happily use it in my university course on illuminated manuscripts together with Ingo Walther's "Masterpieces of Illumination" (published by Taschen)--in my opinion, the perfect companion piece.
   
   The second edition of De Hamel's book is structured as was the first: an informative introduction is followed by chapters which divide and discuss the manuscripts according to their intended users (missionaries, emperors, monks, students, aristocrats, everybody, priests, and collectors); an extended bibliography precedes several useful indexes. This Phaidon paperback edition is a beautiful book, with a white paper cover adorned with a full-color dust-jacket. Many new illustrations have been added, and there are many more color illustrations than there were in the first edition. More importantly, the text has been updated to reflect ongoing research in the field.
   
   My only complaint about this edition is that many of the important full-color and full-page illustrations in the first edition (to which I often referred in my classes) have either been reduced in size or eliminated entirely in the new edition. There are also significant (and inexplicable) differences in the color reproduction of illuminations between the first (David R. Godine, Publisher) edition and this second (Phaidon Press) edition--sometimes the differences are so radical that only a close inspection (or a familiarity with the actual documents) reveals they are photographs of the same manuscript. And since many of these manuscripts are from private collections (to which Mr. De Hamel apparently gained access by reputation or through associations established during his tenure at Sotheby's), it would be impossible for most readers to know which of the differing reproductions are the more accurate. My own experience would suggest that not all the changes in the new Phaidon edition are indeed improvements.
   
   Publishing faults aside, this is a fine book by a scholar with impeccable credentials and a gift for clarity and sensibility in his writing. I highly recommend it.



2. The title explains exactly what is in the book. It is very infomative and has tons of color illustrations of illuminated manuscripts.



3. I am thoroughly impressed with this book. Its scholarship is impressive and helpful in my preparations to study medieval history at Oxford. And the thoughtfully written bibliography and through indexing of the manuscripts illustrated assist further studies. Even though it's not on my official reading list and is certainly not a light nor compact book, I'm packing it and taking it with me.
   
   But, as scholarly as this work is, if one simply wants an attractive coffee table book on the subject, this can certainly be one. If one wants a very readable, engagingly written, well illustrated introduction to illuminated manuscripts, this is for you as well.
   
   There is even some helpful guidance on collecting the more available manuscripts such as Books of Hours. And as the Fellow Librarian of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge and with his 25 years experience in evaluating manuscripts for Sotheby's, Dr. De Hamel's knowledge is not just theoretical.
   
   Yet the price is extremely reasonable for a book of this quality.



4. Simply a treasure in print, Christopher De Hamel's work on medieval manuscripts is an enjoyable and fact-filled romp through the Middle Ages as if no "darkness" in the period ever existed. Focusing on a descriptive narrative that is as delightful as it is informative, the text leads the reader from one interesting setting to another, belying the breadth and scope of its coverage. One meets the educational reformers in Charlemagne's court, the scribes of the cathedral schools of Laon and Chartres, the workers in English scriptoriums, and many others in this highly researched, but clearly and engagingly written book. The reader feels as if he is simply touring the European countryside from one location to another and watching the patient and unrelenting work of scribes, copyists, and illustrators as they seek to develop the most enduring artifact of the period. Underpinning the entire work is a series - no, a PLETHORA - of beautifully reproduced and highly detailed medieval manuscript reproductions, many of them full-page, to the extent that one finds himself questioning why the text doesn't cost three times the price. A rarity in that it contains both outstanding prose as well as stunningly reproduced photographs, this text should be in every medievalist's (and art lover's) own scriptorium.



5. I loved this book! I used it for a graduate course on Illuminated Manuscripts, and it was one of the main textbooks we used, but I used it often after the course as well. I really enjoyed reading it, and found that it was unlike most of the typical text books I had formerly used. For any art history student, it is an outstanding resource. For anyone who loves illuminated manuscripts, book arts, or the Medieval period in general, this is a wonderful resource. It is a book that I consider an indispensable resource in my personal library. It is very well written and easily accessible for anyone. Although some of the terminology may be unfamiliar, it isn't so esoteric that it is beyond the scope of general understanding. It is clearly one of the best resources on the subject that I have ever come across!