3 comments about Architecture and Design Library: Arts and Crafts (Arch & Design Library).

1. This was the first book on the arts and crafts movement I read, and I have only read a few since then, so you can take my opinion with a grain of salt. What I was looking for, and found in this book, is an overview of the arts and crafts style. What I like about it, but one of the other on-line reviewers did not, is that it uses arts and crafts movement as inspiration, and brings it into modern times. However, it does this without losing the feel and goals of the style. It has beautiful photos and tells you which elements of design in each photo is specific to the arts and crafts movement. Also, it not only has photos of interior rooms, but also of exteriors. Pictures of original elements are inluded. For example there is a picture of the "Gamble House" and Frank Lloyd Wright's own dining room.

   I think anyone would like this book, but I would specifically recommend it to people who are starting out exploring the arts and crafts movement and want to see if they like it, or those who want a simple book that represents the spirit of the movement. People who are die hard admirers of arts and crafts may want to check out other books.




2. I returned it. Not what I expected....pictures are not relevant to the Arts and Craft movement. Too many new designs in newer homes. If you want to get a good book go with The Bungalow, Americas Arts and Craft Home. This book has more to offer and better photos,inside and outside of the Bungalow.



3. This is a well-done book on Arts & Crafts Movement exteriors, interiors, details and finishes. Over eighty beautifully shot color photos show buildings, furniture, and decorative details of the Movements style, and what makes it so warm and appealing. Anyone who is a fan of the Movement, and especially anyone considering remodeling or building an Arts & Crafts style home should have this book for the pictures alone.

   J. Wheeler

   San Francisco Bay Area Arts & Crafts Movement

   http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Orchard/8642/

5 comments about Angkor: An Introduction to the Temples (Angkor (Odyssey), 3rd ed).

1. I just returned from a week-long visit to Angor Wat and the surrounding temples and found this guide invaluable. It is concise and well-written, provides the historical background of the Khmer empire, and tells the visitor what to see and what he is seeing. I took the book with me everyday and feel that I would have missed a lot without it. It helped me to appreciate the spirit and beauty of the magnificent temples.

   I wish that more books on ancient sites were as easy to understand and as helpful as this book. Anyone going to Angkor Wat should take this book with them.




2. If I had to choose one item to take to Cambodia it would be the 4th edition of Dawn Rooney's book on Angkor. The background on the geography, religion, architecture, and cosmology in the first half of the book provides a wealth of information that will enhance anyone's trip to Angkor. The second half, grouped into ten recommended tours, details each temple by giving an overview of the site, the historical setting, and the layout, which in most cases is accompanied by a plan. Descriptions of the carvings are clearly written and add to one's enjoyment of the site. My only complaint is that Dawn Rooney didn't tell us more as she obviously loves Angkor and is most certainly one of the world's experts on the subject. I've read the book three times--before, during, and after my visit and, thinking about the lively narrative, good photographs, and comprehensive content, I may just read it again. I give this book five stars plus! Don't go to Angkor without it!



3. The book is fully packed of information. But then could the PhD Dawn Rooney sources be trusted ? Dawn Rooney maybe written from a Thai perspective. She irrelevantly made many references of Khmer's words as Thai words. For example, on page 125 she wrote: " 'wat' is the Thai name for temple, which was probably added to Angkor..." [so it became 'Angkor Wat']. Also on page 180, refering to "Preah Khan" monument, she cited that it is a translated word from "Nagarajayacri" of Thai means "The City of Sacred Sword". Therefore, she seems to imply the monument Pheah Khan (which is about 1.25 miles north of Angkor Thom) was a Thai monument. Dawn Rooney is wrong on both of these instances. 'Wat' is and was always a Khmer word for temple or pagoda. And 'Preah Khan' always means sacred sword. Cambodia is rich of her own culture, tradition and language. It is the Thai who uses a lot of Cambodian words and modified them as their own language. The origin of Thai language, according to the research of UCLA Language Material Projects, published that it "has borrowed heavily" from Cambodian(Khmer) words.

   The book is a fairly good reading but since Dawn Rooney did not get some of her facts straight, I wouldn't rate it for more than two stars.

   If you are interested to learn about the Khmer and her ancestors who built Angkor, I found the French translated books are excellent sources. Most French authors are archaeologists or expeditors to Angkor Wat themselves. I highly recommend Claude Jacqes "Angkor : Cities and Temples" in which Michael Freeman's photographs are stunning!!




4. Being a tourist who visiting Angkor for the first time, I want to find good guide book I could rely on. I'm more interested to know brief histories or stories associate with the sites (monuments) that I visit as well. I picked up this book at the souvenir shack in front of Baphoun which is one of the temple at Angkor Thom. It is a good book. I found Dawn Rooney did a fairly nice job of describing the Angkorean historical aspects in the Khmer religion, art & architecture style and present day restoration/preservation of Angkor. I'm not a bit surprised because the author is a PhD in art history. But the major disturbing flaw I found with this book is that the description of each monument left me blind as to where or what monument she's writing about. The book lack of enough monument pictures that she describing. For example, what does Phimeanakas or Prasat Soor Prat look like? Rooney should have included at least one picture of each monument she's referencing to or otherwise tourists who use this book will have a hard time trying to guess where they are and what monuments they are looking at. The book is good to those who want to know brief background of each monument but dont't care what that each monument looks like.



5. Great book with wonderful contents about the ancient ruins of Angkor. I found it very interesting since the book because it contained maps and diagrams of the temples and their whole layout. Of the best was that of Angkor Wat which is very well known by the Khmer people. Great attention was paid to the writing on this book and I found that this book is essential for those who want to explore Angkor itself. Wonderful photographs of the ancient ruins discovered late last century. The book actually covers most of the temples in and surrounding Angkor including the wonderful temple of Banteay Srey which is still considered by many as the "jewel of Khmer art" because of it's dependly carved statues and for the rose coloured sandstone temple which dwarfs Angkor Wat but built several hundred years earlier. Yet spectacular in it's right and so is this book too... I give it the thumbs up and yes... soon the understand for Angkor and it's mystery will grow...

3 comments about American Country Churches.

1. I have ordered several similar books and this is the best of the lot. Great pictures. Great price. Enjoyable. I keep going back for reference.



2. this book was a present for my step-mother,residing in an assisted living facility in brunswick,maine. she is a wonderfully religious woman and really enjoyed this book. congratulations to the authors.and thanks to amazon for making it available.



3. This is a beautiful book. Mr. Morgan made great choices of which churches to photograph. The table of contents uses thumbnail images so you can quickly find the churches that interest you. The photography is superb. Altogether a book that is a joy to possess.

2 comments about The American Family Farm (Motorbooks Classic).

1. I think the book was wonderful and its so sad, that, probably in a hundred more years the only place you will see a farm will be in the Smithsonian.
   
   I have farmed a small farm of 3oo acres and the pictures brought back wonderful memories of hard work and dedication to the soil. The layout of the book is great and just so real you could touch it. A very good read for anyone who loves the outdoors and good honest labor



2. I must admit, The American Family Farm is one great book on farm memories and agricultural science. I only bought it because I have a big inteerest in farming, and if you do, this a book that you won't be able to put down!

3 comments about Up from Zero: Politics, Architecture, and the Rebuilding of New York.

1. Up From Zero should appeal to anyone interested in architecture, urban planning, real estate, politics, and to those who desire a lucid and highly readable account of what has happened at Ground Zero in the few years following 9/11.
   
   Paul Goldberger chronicles a number of events, from the widely reported-on World Trade Center master plan competition, called the Innovative Design Study, to numerous community forums and private meetings, and the players that are significant to the eventual outcome of the site. It speaks to Goldberger's skill as a reporter and writer that he is able to organize all of his information into a seamless narrative, while recognizing the tenuous nature of the rebuilding process. The result is a cohesive, mostly unbiased account, and a true page-turner.
   
   The book has several pages of b&w illustrations, but including more of the designs themselves would have been helpful. If you want a better sense of the types of designs submitted in conjunction with the Innovative Design Study, I highly recommend the book Imagining Ground Zero (2004) by Suzanne Stephens. Imagining Ground Zero: The Official and Unofficial Proposals for the World Trade Center Site (Architectural Record Book) Here you see why Daniel Libeskind's winning design and runner-up THINK's received such acclaim, while others were deemed too progressive or traditional.
   
   Urban planning on the scale and in the context of Ground Zero has never been untaken before, which Goldberger makes a point of in the preface. Major building projects take years, some more than a decade, to complete. With the intense pressure to build on the former World Trade Center site, it is impressive to consider that the years this book covers (mostly 2001-2004; the paperback has been updated to include events in 2005) may likely turn out to be but a prelude to the whole of the design process.
   
   Libeskind may have won the master plan competition, but by the end of the book, his bold design had been subject to significant modification. Libeskind, depicted as maverick and avant-garde, would continue to see his role diminish and his scheme compromised by the competing visions that many stakeholders have in the site and some of the economic and political realities of building in such a highly visible place. The early life of Libeskind's design alone should serve to illustrate how much of Goldberger's great book is prefatory.
   
   As expected, Goldberger cannot end his account satisfactorily insofar as the process has not been played out fully, and it may be years before it is. It is then no surprise that the epilogue is meandering, as the author tries, for the sake of his readers, to impose some kind of conclusion to the events and offer a reasonable explanation as to why something that should be guided by collaboration is instead being dictated by commerce. In the end, it is the visionaries, whether they are architects like Libeskind or planners, and the citizens of New York City who walk away as losers.
   
   But nor does anyone emerge as a winner. Certainly not Larry Silverstein, the leaseholder of the World Trade Center, who is painted as a greedy developer exerting considerable influence on the design process. His triumph may turn out to be 7 World Trade Center, his building adjacent to Ground Zero that was also destroyed on 9/11. Designed by David Childs of Skidmore, Owings, and Merrill, it was completed a few months ago and has been well-received.
   
   Golderberger's book reveals how democracy, bureaucracy, and powerful constituencies work in continuum at Ground Zero. And slowly but surely a picture of how it will look is emerging.



2. What's so great about this book?
   
   Is it because the book carefully analyzes
   pros and cons on the history of the area?
   
   Is it because the book brings alive the political
   games of Port Authority and LMDC?
   
   Is it because the book broadcasts the competition
   of world-class architects?
   
   Is it because the book records the behind scenes
   of super architects' dirty cat fight?
   
   Is it because the eye of the book is not only from
   top-down, but also bottom-up?
   
   Is it because the book tells what the role of developer is in NY?
   
   
   Well, the book surely answers all of above-mentioned questions. But the real drama of the book is in what the New Yorkers did together to make this site memorable and meaningful (both symbolically and practically); a strong testimony to the victorious civic life against the destructive terrorists attacks.
   
   Paul Goldberger bites that drama with such tenacity and rigor that it's really difficult to put down the book once in hands. The book actually mentions that NY had to wait several months before speaking of rebuilding because nobody dared to speak when the scars of terrorism was just around the corner. What a tragic yet promising story!
   
   The heart of the matter is that in the turmoil of rebuilding energy arises a revelation how a great contemporary city -such as New York- claims it's identity. It's a city of ideas. It's a city of debates. It's a city of interactions, and it's a city of generating hope from the deepest despair of human affairs. "It's a city of Victors, not Victims"
   
   I would like to believe that Goldberger, as a New Yorker, simply could not resist speaking of what he had witnessed. The book is mind bothering, yet, heart beating read.



3. Who would have expected from Paul Goldberger to produce such a restraint in personal opinion and - instead - factual, informative, surprisingly objective, and detailed history of the Ground Zero's struggle to rebuild the WTC in NYC? It is a story involving distribution of billions of dollars by those having executive power (combined with exemption from NY City building code) giving the politicians ("Emperor" Pataki, the Director of LMDC Roland Betts - a close friend and business partner of President George W. Bush, ...) opportunities to establish arbitrary restrictions and allowances regardless of the cost and usefulness, to arbitrarily select the participants of design process regardless of their merit, ability, capacity, and a public interest, etc. They created (initiated and developed) opportunities for favored participants in the design process to gain from their political and not entirely appropriate, but self-serving decisions, which - at the end - bit them, after confronted by a reality check, which exposed their selfishness and ignorance.
   Supplementing illustrations are in "Imagining Ground Zero" - ISBN: 0847826570.

3 comments about Tipi: Home of the Nomadic Buffalo Hunters.

1. Paul Gobel books are favorites of mine. The Grandchildren ask for them to be read every visit. When I purchased a tipi we were inspired by Mr Gobel's excellent books to create a traditional design with personal meaning.
   This book arrived in time for our initial use of the tipi and brought greater meaning to the experience of putting up the tipi and living in it for a week of Camp Grandma. We are looking forward to "furnishing" the tipi next summer.



2. Filled with insights and great respect for this horse culture. I passed a copy on to a friend of Mongolian descent who took it to Mongolia where it was received with great interest and reverence. The artwork and symbolism should be tremendously helpful to future generations of young tribal members and descendants as the memories fade ever further.



3. Paul Goble's TIPI: HOME OF THE NOMADIC BUFFALO HUNTERS blends traditional insights into tipi construction and development with a retelling of old-timers stories and a blending in of art to make for a fine survey of construction techniques, decorations, cultural meaning, and more. TIPI includes over a hundred color illustrations and drawings and makes for a vivid, outstanding survey of the spiritual and culture meaning of the Native American structure.

No comments about Rustic Traditions.

1 comments about Building the New World: Modern Architecture in Latin America.

1. From the very beginning, Europe's modernist architects had a burning need to prostelitize about the benefits of their new architectural style. Their socialist message of modernity with its emphasis on form following function, simplicity and economy found an eager audience in Latin America during the first half of the Twentieth Century.
   
   "Building the New World" follows the rise of modernist architecture in Mexico, Venezuela and Brazil with a special emphasis on the ideas of Le Corbusier. These countries became world leaders in the advancement of the modernist agenda. At the time, Latin America's modernist architecture was admired throughout the world. Today, Latin America's contribution to modern architecture is almost unknown outside of the region. Valerie Fraser does a good job of raising the question of what happened to this acclaim. Unfortunately, she does not do a decent job of answering the question which she posits at the beginning of her book.
   
   In the end, "Building the New World" is nothing more than a cursory survey of Latin American modernist architecture. The illustrations are meager and the analysis is superficial. The only good thing that I recommend about this book is that it can purchased used for around five dollars. There is not alot written in English about this period of architectural history and anyone who is interested in the period will probably have to purchase this book. Purchase a used copy. In addition, avoid Carlos Brillembourg's "Latin American Architecture 1929-1960", an even less substantial work of architectural history.

No comments about Moralism and the Model Home: Domestic Architecture and Cultural Conflict in Chicago, 1873-1913.

5 comments about Roller Coasters: A Thrill-Seekers Guide to the Ultimate Scream Machines.

1. When was the last time you had so much fun screaming? Probably last time you were on a roller coaster, your hair tingling, your eyeballs popping, and your stomach churning. Robert Coker, a talented journalist, has been everywhere you've been and more, and he describes the different rides he's been on, whether wooden or steel, coaster or twister, with a different appropriate writing style that will make you feel you're in the same box, hurtling hundreds of feet downwards after a longslow climb.
   
   Maybe the best part is Coker's sneak preview of coming attractions, rides they're building out there that we may not get to stand on line for just yet. But, a boy can dream, can't he?



2. This is a great book for anyone who is interested in roller coasters. It includes history of roller coasters, wooden roller coasters, steel roller coasters, and extreme machienes. It also has great pictures. Take my advice, this book is great!



3. Roller Coaster is colorful and informative history of roller coasters by Robert Coker covers early models in an introductory chapter than focuses on the heart of the topic: innovations in roller coaster models and modern coaster innovations. The colorful coverage provides a solid, appealing leisure read which should attract a wide audience of those young at heart.



4. This book is basically another in a long line of coaster thrill books designed to prolong the excitement of riding these amusement park behemoths. This latest book is tastefully done and includes the requisite history with lots of familiar and some rediscovered photos and prints of old timers. A few of the newer beasts are included with enticing views of riders being turned in spine tingling directions. Coker's text is well written. This book has enough new stuff to warrant it's inclusion in your coaster book library.



5. This book is great.It tells really well about the rollercoaster itself and great pictures.(TWO THUMBS UP)