Vary good cooking book,Easy to use.

Peter Blodgett's Land Of Golden Dreams: California In The Gold Rush Decade, 1848-1858 is a superbly written, splendidly illustrated, authoritative history that begins with a description of Mexican California society before the discover of gold. Blodgett then describes the great western migration of 1849 launched with the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill; the cultural and political transformation of California with the sudden and huge influxes of people; and the enduring legacies that the gold rush decade had upon the people and the land. Highly recommended reading for students of the American west in general, and the California Gold Rush in particular, Land Of Golden Dreams is enhanced with a checklist of the three-gallery Huntington Library Press exhibition upon which this book was developed, and a "user friendly" index.

Opera aficionados will relish this warm revisiting of the years spent at Bayreuth by tenor Lauritz Melchior. Rich in photographs and anecdotal material it is a revelatory look at a time, the years 1923 - 1931, a place, and a man. It is also a warm, personal recollection as is revealed in the narrative written by his son, Ib Melchior.

As many know Bayreuth, a small town in Bavaria, is the home of the Wagner Festivals. Relatively early in his career Richard Wagner had felt the need for a theater solely for the performing of his operas. Deciding that a large city was not an appropriate site, Wagner selected this relatively unknown town for his Festspielhaus. A Patron's Association underwrote the cost of building, and the cornerstone was laid on May 22, 1872, Wagner's 59th birthday.

Following the great composer's death the Festival was overseen by his widow, Cosima, and son, Siegfried Wagner. It was for them that Mr. Melchior auditioned in 1923 as the Festival was scheduled to resume after being interrupted by the war.

It has been said that following Mr. Melchior's singing Siegfried consulted with his mother, and then simply said, "Mother likes you."

Thus began a benchmark period in the artist's career. He was to spend several hours each day under the tutelage of famed voice coach Karl Kittel, and from Cosima he gained insights into the Wagner characters. With unparalleled thoroughness she even gave him acting instructions concerning the body, the face, and the eyes, which she called "mirrors of the soul."

Among the many friendships developed during the Bayreuth years was one with Siegfried's wife, Winifred, who had great admiration for Adolf Hitler. Nonetheless, at that time Hitler received scant attention from others at Bayreuth.

Surely the thought never occurred to Mr. Melchior that some 8 years later, following Siegfried's death, the atmosphere in Bayreuth would be dramatically altered.. Hitler moved into Siegfried's rooms, and his brown shirted troopers overran the small town. The tenor would leave Bayreuth not to return.

Nonetheless, during those "Golden Years" glorious operas were performed - Parsifal, Die Walkure, Siegfried, and more. In addition, lifelong friendships were forged as steins were hoisted.. It is a never-to-be-forgotten period in the archives of music history.

What of the man who is called one of the greatest heroic tenors of all time? He quickly took to Lederhosen, wearing them whenever possible. Music was his metier, hunting his passion. He had an irrepressible sense of humor, which is evidenced in the MGM films he later made. He was more than generous to his fellow performers, and genuinely loved mankind.

Lauritz Melchior: The Golden Years of Bayreuth is enriched by over 315 never before published photographs, and notes from Mr. Melchior's journals. A volume to be prized, it is apt tribute to the man called "...not the world's greatest Wagner tenor...the only one!"

- Gail Cooke

My little girl loves this book! This book features Cookie Monster as he prepares for a dinner party for some of his friends. The story is told in rhyme and it's full of pictures of Sesame Street characters. There are a few "interactive" parts whre Cookie Monster addresses the reader. This is destined to become a quick favorite.

there is always something inside the book that can touch your innerself, so read it and find out!

This was a funny cute book

Lilly Golden and Larry Dark have put together a remarkable series of collections over the years. All of them are "Literary" collections of short stories. Then again, it's probably more accurate to describe them as "Literary" collections of *contemporary* short stories. Each year, we're faced with numerous warm and "feel good" books and CDs bearing a traditional Christmas theme. This one is more than refreshingly different. As a psychiatrist therapist, I'm all too familiar with what Christmas *really* means to a substantial number of people in our country. This book contains a cross-section of gritty and realistic stories that just happen to take place around that holiday. An early selection is Paul Auster's penetrating "Auggie Wren's Christmas Story," the core around which his later film "Smoke" was constructed. My favorite, though, is Mark Richard's "The Birds For Christmas," in which two hospitalized boys conspire to be able to watch Hitchcock's classic film way late on Christmas night. 27 stories in all, most by well-known masters of the form (O'Connor, Wolff, Shange, Dillard, Disch, Calvino, Beattie, Carver, Smiley, Boll, and Bradbury, to name a few). You'll probably have to find your copy used or remaindered, unfortunately. But they *are* still out there! Go get one!

Fellow reader, I have no idea how you stumbled onto this book, but consider yourself quite lucky: you've found a hidden gem.

The very fact that this book is out of print is not surprising. After all, which publisher would be willing to republish a book that is studded to the marrow with Latin quotes, not to mention some scholarly verbiage in four languages, all untranslated? If this weren't enough to scare off the squeamish, then the heavy barrage of high literary allusions would certainly provide the coup de grace. The irony is that the book was definitely written for public consumption. The author obviously makes an attempt to provide translations for longer passages which is very helpful.

But the reading public of now is not that of the turn of the century. It should be clear by now that this book is not for the faint-of-heart. For an admitted classics dilettante like me, the book was definitely hard. Aside from some oases of respite where the author provides English translations, the rest is from the source untainted. The chapter on Marcus Cato was particularly brutal. The literary allusions are extremely varied and erudite. That said, the teeming allusions - as far as I can understand them - rarely strike a strained note (though his own 'subtitles' to Plautus' plays were a bit questionable). On the whole, they are not superficial adornment but greatly add color to the stately marble. By contrasting it with modern rivals, the classics really come to life. Examples are so plentiful, but here's a serviceable sample from a passage contrasting Catullus and Robert Herrick: "Each unites artificiality and simplicity. Herrick's 'blossoms, birds, and bowers' are present in the Latin poet, though Alexandrinism left him freer from conceits than the 'metaphysical school' left Herrick." (pg.239, 3rd ed.) Footnote to this quote provides lines of Herrick invoking Catullus. Lively allusions and comparisons like this abound throughout the book.

So why should you read this book? There are two reasons. The first reason obviously assumes complicity in interest with the title aim of the book - it is not history, but a LITERARY history. But as such it's the best I've read since Gilbert Highet's unforgettable book. In some sense, it's even better, because this book is a learned guide through the very fountain of literature. Thus, you will start from some garbled inscriptions from Roman antiquities. From there on, the author proceeds to the extant fragments of the earliest Roman poets: Livius Andronicus, Naevius, and Ennius. With raw and raucous Plautus on, the author really starts to relish meting out judgment on individual works. A prescription (and rarely proscription) of recommended works continues through: rugged Naevius, polite Terence, the unhappily obscure Tragedians, satirical Lucilius, onto the arch-conservative Cato. After Cato comes the line-up of the 'Golden Age': passionate Lucretius, lyrical Catullus, learned Varro, eloquent and verbose Cicero, political and laconic Caesar, Virgil the supreme, genial Horace, the elegiac poets, and finally, lively Livy. Whatever judgment passed is never solely from 'antiquitatis causa' (which is someone's insulting assessment of Ennius, a poet whose work later inspired Virgil's masterpiece) but tempered by criticism. So Livy is chided for his lack of scientific method, Cicero for his oversize ego, etc. Reviewing the fragments of Ennius, he even has a little swipe at Seneca: "For one of these plays [Ennius'] with their warm blood and masculine force, to barter five of Seneca's frigid experiments would be sheer gain." (pg.106, 3rd ed.) Ouch. The partisanship is something that brings me to the second reason why anyone with an interest in classics should read this.

And this is because the author absolutely loves the classics. In the closing sections of chapters concerning certain authors, the tone becomes practically rapturous. Take for example his assessment of Lucretius: "His broad appeal to humanity is the secret of the perennial attraction towards this Titanic genius, splendidly intrepid in the search after truth, disdainful of all pettiness ..." (pg. 221, 3rd ed.) Especially after reading the excerpts, the enthusiasm is extremely catching. Thus, many a reader I hope will sigh when the author grows wistful in recounting the lost tragedies of Accius, or stand in amazement with him at Virgil's wizardry, or admire along the genial humanity of Horace.

In short, the book is a marvelous guide for readers with non-scholarly interest in the Roman classics as well as a good (though bit too erudite) gateway drug for initiates. It would seem to me that the book is a must for professionals. In any case, I predict that whoever reads through this book will, like me, blow the dust off of a forgotten Latin dictionary and get cracking.

So get cracking.

NEWBORN CHILD RESPONDED HAPPILY TO THIS SONG AND NOW NEEDS THE BOO

A very cute book. It teaches little one's that it's ok to be scared or tired, or ok not to be. The illustrations in these books are always fun.