3 comments about Novelty Hand Fans, Fashionable Functional Fun Accessories of the Past.

1. For anyone interested in costumes and accessories, the book, "Novelty Hand Fans" is FAN-TASTIC (pun intended). It is clearly written and wonderfully illustrated, offering details and descriptions.
   
   There is a glossary as well as line drawings showing the different types of fans in the beginning of the book. This helps to delineate the structural differences between fans.
   
   What is so remarkable about this book are the photographs of such a wide variety of styles of antique fans, old advertisements and photographs of people holding fans in portraits.
   
   It is inspiring to see the art involved in making and decorating fans. This is a book one wants to leaf through again and again simply because the author is so thorough in her writing, and because there are so many amazing fans to gaze upon.
   
   This book is really a bargain when you realize the enormous amount of research the author put into creating it. The layout and chapters are clear and easy to follow. For collectors or art lovers, this is a fascinating book to savor.
   
   It is so well thought out -- and even includes a humorous chapter on the Language of the Fan with funny photos, period graphics and song lyrics!
   
   The book includes an astonishing collection of fans ranging from parasol fans to puzzle fans! It lists a detailed bibliography, fan museums and organizations.
   
   If this book lacks anything, it is an index. Perhaps in the next edition, this feature will be added. But other than that, I can find nothing but praise for this wonderful book.
   
   I admit it -- I'm a big FAN of the book, NOVELTY HAND FANS!



2. Imagine the excitement of finding a well researched book that leads one into area of Fan collecting that has been neglected until now.
   Novelty Fans have been ignored in the past by many collectors but no longer. The bar has been raised with this beautifully illustrated reference tome. The authors overall dedication to this subject is to be congratulated.



3. Not only are the photographs gorgeous but the book is filled to the brim with tons of information on every kind of fan imaginable! I learned all about the many different kinds of fans that were made, and unlike most books, there were photos of people holding fans! If you want to learn about hand fans, this is a wonderful book and I highly suggest you get a copy.

1 comments about Health Hazards Manual for Artists: Fifth Revised and Augmented Edition.

1. This book is great for anyone that works in a studio. It makes you really think about your health and there are plenty of things in here that I wouldn't have normally thought about.

1 comments about Drawing Animals (Dover Art Instruction).

1. "Drawing Animals" by Hugh Laidman
   
   Laidman takes 1 or 2 pages to devote to drawing a single animal, such as a horse. The page will have about 9 illustrations of the horse, starting with the most generalized rough shapes with line and oval, and each subsequent drawing is a refinement of the first rough sketch. I like the idea.
   
   But what if a timid beginner feels overwhelmed by this method? That's where the good news comes in. Author Hugh Laidman offers 5 pages at the beginning of the books with simpler, more elementary animal shapes composed of spheres of various shapes. It's a nice methodology of assisting the student overcome his "jitters".
   
   Actually, there are quite a few pages of horses, mixed in with the tigers, elephants geese, dogs, cats, sheep, cows, gorillas, baboons, leopards, lions and eagles, and other creatures.
   
   At first glance, some of these sequences might appear intimidating, but if one looks throughout the book, it is shown that Laidman gives many rougher and simpler sketches for every creature he shows. Laidman's final sketches are of an "expert" quality.
   
   As a Dover edition, this book comes at a bargain price. I do recommend it.

No comments about Logo Mondo.

No comments about Marvelous Images: On Values and the Arts.

5 comments about Outlaw Representation: Censorship and Homosexuality in Twentieth-Century American Art (Ideologies of Desire).

1. This book does for twentieth-century American art what Vito Russo's "The Celluloid Closet" does for twentieth-century cinema. The illustrations and reproductions are brilliantly choreographed with the text.



2. This book is genius and amazing. Read it right now.



3. This is an amazing book, rich in detail and images, but also exploring with passion and intensity a border between queer studies, art history, and cultural studies. It demonstrates an astonishing command of the social and political history of the period it covers, along with theoretical depth and great sophistication in the reading and analysis of visual materials. I was mesmerized. Written beautifully, this book makes its erudition appear effortless, but in fact it is an extremely courageous and innovative text, bringing together disparate worlds of scholarship into a brilliant synthesis. It neither panders to popular tastes, nor remains trapped in disciplinary jargon; instead, it is an examination, full of intellectual integrity, of the intersection of the law and artistic production, showing how artists moved around and through what might have been devastating censorship by entrenched homophobia. It is to be expected that the book itself will encounter resistance, since it breaks new ground with such authority, unnerving those with vested interests in disciplinary boundaries or in policing representation.



4. I must say that the reader from Cambridge, whose review appears below, seems to me to have it right. Certainly, the book is well-illustrated, well-researched, and readable. But analytically, whether understood as art history or cultural criticism, this book offers very little. Meyer does us a service by collecting these images and placing them next to each other, but his observations about the consequences of censorship struck me as quite banal, and predictable to such a degree that you must wonder whether he has any interest in complicating (let alone challenging) the theoretical paradigms he draws on. It is hardly news that right-wing zealots intent on suppressing representations of gay sexuality often display a questionable fascination with the very images they claim to despise. It hardly requires any advanced art historical training to see that Mapplethorpe's "Brian Ridley and Lyle Heeter" photo plays on the conventional image of the Victorian heterosexual domestic couple. I had rather hoped, given the time and effort that Meyer put into this book, that he would have been able to present something more surprising and innovative than he delivers. For a good discussion of current perspectives on censorship in law and the humanities that goes far beyond Meyer's account, see the Getty publication, edited by Robert C. Post, titled "Censorship and Silencing: Practices of Cultural Representation."



5. Richard Meyer has added a significant volume to the compendium of books on American art and its kinship to social mores. Using Censorship as a topic should arouse the interest of all who value freedom of expression and it is to that audience that I think this books plays to best. Yes, the art examined here is queer art, but it is art that is a significant part of the 20th Century, not just an isolated school. His chosen artists are Paul Cadmus, Robert Mapplethorpe, Andy Warhol and Gran Fury and in presenting these artists he is concomittanly investigating the influence of such highly important social issues as AIDS, consumerism, POP culture, the whole Jesse Helms/Jerry Farwell/Christian Coalition debacle in a way that makes the reader look into the motivational behavior of the past century that continues into this century. The book is well documented in images and footnotes, making it a must for school libraries and fellow scholars. Despite the confrontational topic of the book, Meyer writes so well that he maintains interest even when extending his examples a bit too far. He overall theme appears to be that there is some good to be found in censorship: media attention derived from such art brings heightened awareness and eventually more prestige and longevity to the art and involved artists. One major complaint about this book: the typeface point is so small that it makes reading the pages a visual strain. In an otherwise expensive layout, one wonders why the typeface couldn't have been changed to one more user friendly.

1 comments about Toiles for All Seasons: French & English Printed Textiles.

1. As a lover of toiles and their history this is a most useful book.It can be a little technical but if you are interested in the history of printed textiles this is a must

3 comments about North Light's Big Book of Painting Watercolor Flowers.

1. I do not recommend this book. I have quite a lot of watercolor books including several on painting flowers in watercolor, and this one ranks at the bottom.
   
   This book lacks a lot of clarity and the instructions are extremely vague for the most part. Some of the demonstrations begin with a picture of a penciled drawing of a flower, then go on to the next picture, which looks like a highly detailed finished painting, with a short paragraph on how the finished product was accomplished. I got the feeling that this book was hastily put together by a number of people working segmentally. There are a few acceptable demonstrations, but for the most part, the book lacks clarity and leaves students on their own to interpret what the author really means. If someone were considering this book, I would have at LEAST 5 other watercolor color flower painting books that I would recommend instead of this one. It was quite a disappointment.



2. Very nice book,looked like a new book



3. Very instructive. Many different styles of painting demonstrated in a way easy to follow. Very well worth the money.

2 comments about Very Young Actress, A.

1. "A Very Young Actress" is a good book for a young, aspiring actress. It takes you through the life a young actress, from school life, home life, friends, fun activities, vocal lessons, dance lessons, agents, auditions, rehearsals, and the actual run of the show, 'Annie 2.' I nice coffee book with nice pictures - I recommend.



2. My mother bought me this book when I was a very young child, and I know I have read it at least 100 times! It tells the story of a young girl who lives in New Jersey that portrays Annie in the new musical "Annie 2" (now called Annie Warbucks). This book takes you through the rehearsal adn audition process, and tells you what live theatre is like back stage. The photographs are vivid and colorful and give you a good taste of an actor's life. As an aspiring young actress, this book was often a resource to me, but I believe it is a wonderful book for any child with a dream.

2 comments about Nautical Antiques & Collectables.

1. Just occasionally, I pick up a book and realise I have a quality product in my hands. It is nothing to do with size or format - just a certain finesse that speaks more than words. Jon Baddeley's "Nautical Antiques & Collectables" is such a product. I was not surprised, therefore, to discover he works for Sotheby's - a company of great quality in itself.
   
   Generally speaking, scuba divers do not recover very many artefacts from shipwrecks and, even when they do, it might be some insignificant souvenir from the dive that is only of value to the diver - as a memento. Others quickly deteriorate on exposure to the atmosphere but even more were destroyed by immersion in salt water. Nevertheless, we do all retain a passion for ships and the sea and anything that goes with them and many of us do become avis collectors of anything (and sometimes everything) to do with the ships.
   
   This book is an excellent choice for all those with an interest in Nautical artefacts. It is well laid out with headings which include Models, Instruments, Fixtures & Fittings, Arts & Crafts, Portraits, Ocean Liner Ephemera, Caring for one's collection and finally where to go in the world to see what's on display.
   
   Quite frankly, there is little more one could ask of a book on this subject.
   
   NM.



2. I bought this as a gift for my dad, a beginning but serious nautical antiques collector. It was recommended highly to me by a reputable nautical antiques dealer here as the one book my dad should have.