1 comments about Kyoto: Seven Paths to The Heart of The City.

1. I was privileged to have spent 4 months in Japan, but of all the places I visited, I fell in love with Kyoto. This is a marvelous book for doing all the walking that one needs to do here. Take a city tour first, but then leave several days to revisit all the places that enthralled you, and believe me, there will be many! Get this book and study it well; you won't be disappointed.

5 comments about Flower Portraits Birthday Book: Dates to Remember Year After Year (Birthday Books).

1. I love this little book and gave it as a gift to someone who could not find one like it.



2. I love my birthday book. Its small which makes it perfect for carrying around. Fast process and delivery.



3. I gave this to my mother as a stocking stuffer, after I had written in all the important birthdays and anniversaries. She loved it! It was exactly as I expected.



4. this little book is ok. I think it should be bigger. The space to write the names is too small. I will keep looking for a bigger book.



5. Handy size. Perfect for your desk space. Clever idea -- this will get you organized!

5 comments about Seaside Style.

1. You need to know this is just about the place, Seaside, in Florida-which is fabulous. I really enjoyed the book.



2. although the book is lovely to look at, the houses are quite similar and very typical of that particular part of Florida, which I did not realize in the description. My intent was to view houses that would fit in all seaside areas and the book therefore was a disapppointment.



3. When one thinks of Seaside, Florida, images of white picket fences, quaint beach cottages painted in pastel colors and tin roofs are evoked. From classic Greek Revival to urban contemporary, the mix of interior and exterior styles fascinate and capture the reader. In Seaside Style, Nesmith allows readers not only to experience the broad range of architectural styles but also tour the interiors of these amazing spaces. Highly recommended for coffee tables from Maine to California and Alabama to Illinois.



4. As a Seaside neighbor in Old Seagrove I have a special interest in Seaside, but I found the book to be much more than the chance to get inside houses of people I know and others I see every day. While the writing in the style of architectural magazines might be called "gushing," Eleanor Lynn Nesmith subtly focuses her seasoned critical eye on the people who brought more than their money to the "New Urbanism" community. The result is the story of how Seaside got its soul. The somewhat dark--almost broody--photos of Steven Brooke suited my taste, though maybe not everyone's.



5. The new Seaside Style book through the pictures of Steven Brooke and the words of Eleanor Lynn Nesmith takes us on a tour inside some of the homes of Seaside. A small town along the Gulf Coast of Florida, Seaside gained world fame as the birthplace of New Urbanism.
   With humor and insight, the author walks us through 23 houses and gives us a glimpse of both the homeowners and their personal style.
   The photographer takes us there with his stunning images.
   A must buy for anyone with an interest in New Urbanisn or viewing the individual styles and the pleasures of living at the beach.

No comments about The American Record: Volume 2, Since 1865.

5 comments about Dream Street: W. Eugene Smith's Pittsburgh Project.

1. It is amazing to see the scope of the body of work he produced during this time period, LIFE was pissed at him Magnum fed up! All the world didn't understand his need to see! This book shows the work in full! wonderful buy.



2. I purchased Dream Street after reading about the Pittsburgh Project and what it ment to Eugene Smith. I think it's an important book for anyone interested in Photography, Photojournalism or Eugene Smith. The size and quality of the prints is quite allright for the price paid. And the photos are the best part. Great book!



3. This book was bought for Christmas for my husband who just loves photography. He has had this on his must have list for some time so he was delighted with it.



4. I'm a Pittsburgh native, though I was born after the pictures were made. Still, I found Dream Street to be an interesting perspective on my hometown. Smith's special gift is looking beyond the typical "beauty shots"- the Pittsburgh skyline, the parks, etc., and capturing images that create a strong feeling of the local neighborhoods and their residents. While the topology of Pittsburgh creates strong local neighborhoods, it's the mix of residents that really gives it character. Local restaurants, the alleys and streets of some of the less glamourous sections of the city, and the sense of history and grandeur of Mellon Bank downtown. This book is a great opportunity to step into the past and feel the grit of a true industrial city. Smith's personal genius - and his demons- heavily influnce the project. We're fortunate to be able to benefit from his views after the fact. Special credit has to go to the editors for wading through the 17,000 images Smith shot to get down to the highlights for this book.



5. This book does a great job in documenting not only W. Eugene Smith's four years of extensive research and photographing Pittsburgh, PA but it also reveals a torment man's struggle in trying to capture something that we will never understand since his 6000 photographs of Pittsburgh set a standard for not only documenting a city but he also raise the bar in the artistic expression of black & white photography. The prints of Smith's work in this book are very good and edited quite nicely, included are some of the photograper's letters to his friend and relatives revealing the thoughts of a troubled genius in words that show he could have been a great writer, too.

5 comments about The Mustard Seed Garden Manual of Painting.

1. This book is almost priceless to me. Not only are the illustrations well reproduced and are a huge benefit to the artist, but the text is a testament to the Spiritual eyes and heart of its authors. Few people are patient enough these days to really take the time to understand what these subjects really are...living, breathing, knowing life-forms. I have discovered a new way to look at the subjects I paint, they require one to sit and share conversation and acceptance on the deepest level. I will treasure this book more than any others in my collection.



2. A solid book that encompasses the subject matter very well. excellent as guide for learning techniques.



3. I really love this book . It has an old world flavor but is easy to understand . This isn,t a book to read but one to study for a lifetime .
   I,m a beginner brush painter and it has offered me many ways of looking at one subject. That is the true beauty of this art form .
   I,m very glad to have it in my library .



4. I am a student of Chinese painting and this book was recommended by our teacher as the most reliable reference book for Chinese painting. I am very pleased with this purchase since it is everything that I expected.



5. This manual has been used for centuries in China and Japan and illustrates all the basics needed to paint in oriental style, with helpful written pointers. Be aware that the black ink illustrations were originally wood-block prints so grey tones do not translate. Particularly useful for compositional study and models of outlline figures, animals and architectural elements. For more up-to-date and in-depth instruction in the Four Gentlemen, including stroke-by-stroke illustrations, try the "Book of Bamboo", "Book of Plum", "Book of Orchid" and "Book of Chrysanthemum" by Prof I-Hsiung Ju.

No comments about Dos & Don'ts 2: 13 Years of Vice Magazine's Street Fashion Critiques.

2 comments about How'd You Do That? Volume 1: Poser Character Creation for Beginners.

1. This is the easiest to follow guide to create content for Poser I have found yet. I've been a Poser user since version 2 and I have never seen anything this well thought out and written. DAD, I must have ran into you on the metacreations listserv years ago.
   
   Robert aka KYHighlander



2. I purchased this book not knowing really what to expect but the day I received it I could not put it down. If you are a beginner you will really enjoy it very much, the author kept the beginner's in mind unlike most book that claim "this is for beginner's", and the humor he has added make the reading and learning process so less frustrating than many other "how to" materials that I have come across.
   
   I feel that not only is this a great learning tool but it will be kept around for a long time to reference back when needed. Can't wait for his Volume Two.

5 comments about Bhutan: Hidden Lands of Happiness.

1. "The portraits are as wonderful as the words and the people are so
   beautiful. They definitely loved posing and being photographed. I hold
   off reading BHUTAN until the end of the day when I need and want a
   mental boost and not once has 'Hiddens Lands of Happiness' failed."
   - Woodfin Camp



2. There is something qualitatively different about the happiness depicted in this book. The people of Bhutan have a quiet, bemused look about them that is so different from the forced, frenetic smiles we see in photographs of ourselves in the west.
   
   We see their rustic dwellings and simple clothes and think of them as backward, yet their peaceful countenances speak of values different from our own. While they're satisfied with taking care of their basic needs, we clamor incessantly for more.
   
   I was so initially taken by John Wehrheim's photographs of the Bhutanese that I couldn't wait to discover what he had written about the culture. His telling character sketches whetted my appetite for a deeper understanding of the Buddhist way of life.
   
   With a book so beautifully packaged, the danger is to judge it as mere travelogue, memoir, or coffee table bric-a-brac. Rather, it is an opening on a true Shangri-La culture that points in its simplicity to missing aspects of our western way of life.



3. As a print media professional in Europe for 20 years, I must say that I've not encountered another book quite like this - great stories, great pictures, great energy. It feels like a full-fledged travel narration - an illustrated story - rather than a photography book with explanatory text. The way the author leads the readers into a personal experience of the theme, is truly captivating.
   Given the quantity an importance of the text I would have preferred block set with serif fonts - always better for reading stories because this is a full fledged travel and cultural narrative in the style of Paul Theroux and not merely a coffee table "picture book". Literary quotes need to appear "loose" and work well left-justified. The lack of page numbering for the introduction, which is long and full of narrative, appears somewhat confusing since the layout is the same as in all the chapters.
   But truly, this is a beautiful book. I enjoyed the stories and the insights into Bhutan's culture as well as the brilliant photographs - many of them have stayed in my mind ever since I first saw them.
   Congratulations to John Wehrheim and Serindia for a great and original work of art.



4. Congratulations to John Wehrheim and the publisher to this book. Black and white photography is very rare in the field of illustrated books from exotic countries nowadays. You feel on every page how close John was to the people and how he loves them. Great portraits are accompanied by fantastic landscape photographs. John not only is an excellent photograper. He is a very good writer too, a rare combination. I hardly can remember when I read the text in a photographic book from the first line to the last one. John's humour and knowledge made the reading a great fun! My own travels to the places John visited became present as if they would have happened yesterday. It is the best book on Bhutan I ever had in my hand!



5. John's window into another culture, his new book entitled Bhutan: Hidden Lands of Happiness, is bright and clear. His book is filled with marvelous stories of his travels and the legends and history of this amazing country. His exquisite photographs look through the lens into the very soul of a traditional Tantric Buddhist culture and its remarkable people.
   
   His stories are filled with great humor and portray the Bhutanese people - of all ages and stations in life, from a child to a Senior Abbot and the soon-to-be King - as playful, respectful and devoted to their culture. I've followed his work for more than thirty years, and this book - together with his new film "BHUTAN -- Taking The Middle Path To Happiness" - make a bright and welcome package into a world "where happiness is the guiding principle of government. Imagine a people who see all life as sacred and the source of their happiness, a place with an abundance of clean and renewable energy, a nation committed to preserving its culture. Imagine a Kingdom where the King lives in a simple wooden cottage and judges his progress by the country's `Gross National Happiness.'"
   
   John Wehrheim's book "Bhutan: Hidden Lands of Happiness" is marvelous!

No comments about Stephen Shore (Contemporary Artists).