Nice book. Many illustrations.

"The text and photographs in the revised and updated editions reflect the latest happenings in the Holy Land and Middle East." (From the book flap)

This is a good reference book, although it falls short of the intentions of its compilers. Roughly the same size as the Concise Baker's, it certainly could have benefited with the inclusion of more thorough work lists. Many entries should have been updated.

I had bought this book mostly on account of what Laura Kuhn says openly in the Preface: "Entries contained in these pages are restricted to contemporary, classical musicians only, with complete work lists and carefully selected bibliographies" "Pop and jazz artists, idiosyncratically covered at best in previous editions of the Baker's, have been excised". In view of such statement of principles, I felt somewhat short-changed. In comparison with the Concise, there are many new articles - e.g. I had never found elsewhere entries for Kriukov or Pizzini, but conversely, there is no mention of composers perhaps better known than them, such as Glenn Branca or Peggy Coolidge. In addition, I was surprised and outraged when I found that some contemporary composers appearing in the Concise had been deleted! Examples: Frederick Cowen, Alberic Magnard, Mikolajus Ciurlionis. I could not found one valid reason for their exclusion.

The coverage of film music composers is quite irregular. While there are plenty of entries for film-only composers such as Elmer Bernstein or Alfred Newman, there is no mention of some of the most well known names such as Goldsmith, Barry, or Delerue.

In relation to the amount of information, too many of the entries are identical to the Concise Baker's, not having been revised, corrected or expanded. And about the pretence of "complete work lists", check for instance Roslavetz or Ivanovs, whose lists of works are far from exhaustive. Ivanovs is said to have written 20 symphonies rather than 21 and only two of his five symphonic poems are mentioned. The "selected bibliography" consists, in this case, of two books, the most recent being over 30 years old.

As to the excision of pop and jazz artists, a cursory check shows the presence of entries for Charles Aznavour, Jacques Brel, George Brassens, Miles Davis, Frederick Loewe, Alan Jay Lerner, Michel Legrand, Bobby McFerrin, none of whom is credited with any "classical music" accomplishment.

The articles are sometimes idiosyncratic. For example, reading about Penderecki, there is no mention whatsoever of his Post-modernist about face in 1977, although perhaps this suggests that the article has not been revised after that fact.

Kuhn explains in the Preface how a biographical dictionary is a means to invent history: "Giving some room to some, more room to others, ignoring the rest - displaying in both what is included and what is not both the ignorance and the prescience of its compilers". She mentions length of the entries as the first in the list of compiler's resources. Using this as a measure of importance in Kuhn's view, we can see what are the most important composers of the 20th century. What is your guess for No.1? Debussy? Schoenberg? Stravinsky? Bartók? Webern? Wrong. By a wide margin, her choice is Cage, to whose description by Slonismky she added "much beloved". Here is the ranking by the number of lines that she devoted to the most outstanding composers (excluding their list of works): 1. - Cage (426 lines) 2. - Stravinsky (293) 3. - Schoenberg (286) 4. - R. Strauss (187) 5. - Shostakovich (186). 6. - Debussy (184) 7. - Bernstein (167) Other composers that deserve more than 100 lines are Scriabin, Varèse, Vaughan Williams, Prokofiev, Ives, Sibelius and Barber. Bartók, at 99, does not quite make it. The length of Stockhausen's article equals David Raksin's.

In short, a good reference but a bit of a disappointment in the details.

Kaye Manning has taken the time to research and test ideas for using her basic mix similar to "Bisquick" or "Jiffy Mix". These recipes are covering a wonderful variety of recipe categories. Nearly all I have tried are "excellent" and friends request the recipe. Puddings are easy and fun. The "Hot Sundae Sauce" is decadent on ice cream! Croissants are flaky and cakes are moist and easy. I hardly feel that I could provide a well-rounded cuisine for my family without this trove.

Benjamin's Balloon by Alan Baker is a children's book about a hamster who blows up a balloon which carries him away. He flies into snow and finds himself far away from home. After failing to fly home in an airplane he makes out of snow, he decides to make something else. The large, detailed illustrations put the reader close enough to the action to be a part of Benjamin's adventure. With the illustrations, the reader not only becomes best friends with a hamster with glasses, but also does everything from flying away with the balloon to landing in the snow as a wet hairball. This is a fun and humorous book for all ages.

This book was the required secondary reading in a graduate level English course I took on Beowulf this year at Georgia State University. It contains several significant papers published on the poem since the mid-60s. Most of them are well-written (with a few exceptions) and not too difficult to understand. If you are looking for a general guide to research on Beowulf in the last 35 years, this is a great place to start.

This book is a great resource, particularly for people in living in the Boston area. Unlike most food guides, it isn't really a review of restaurants (though some are included). It focuses on where to find the best butcher, the best bread, and most interesting to me - where to find ingredients for ethnic cooking.

My husband and I sometimes pick a style of food we want to prepare - say Middle Eastern - then consult the book for where to find some of the less common ingredients. Because many of the ethnic groceries are in ethnic neighborhoods, we make a day of it by exploring an area we haven't visited before.

My only critism of the book therefore, is that the book doesn't include neighborhoods in the index.

very interesting! this book tells you how to do a make-over but only you make over your soul. I would highly recomend all of her other books!!

"Capitol Women" describes the history of women in Texas legislative politics followed by biographies of every woman who served in the Texas legislature. This book argues that female legislators have had to decide whether to conform to expectations of a male dominated institution, and thus be underminded by being viewed as less capable as male legislators, or to challenge these norms and thus possibly become outcasts. To overcome preconceptions, some Texas female legislators suggest women should either a.) learn the political system and how things operate or b.) work to change and improve the current political system. Some suggest creating strategies incorporating both elements. Still, even recently, State Sen. Judith Zaffirini was advised by a Lt. Governor that "if she cut her skirt off about six inches and put on some high heels, she could pass anything she wants."
Texas has elected women as Governors. Ironically, the first female Texas Governor, "Ma" Ferguson, wife of previous Governor Jim Ferguson, was elected in 1924 with support from antisuggragists and the active opposition of many women. Some legislators then questioned, since Texas law prevented a married woman from legally signing transactions without her husband's signature, whether she would need her husband's signature to approve legislation transferring state property to the federal government.
Ann Richards was elected Governor along with the largest percentage of female legislators that had existed prior. The book argues that more women in politics can make a difference, as the Richards Era was credited for increased attention to mental retardation facilities, crime victims' rights, protection against stalkers, reducing family violence, increasing child immunization, and other issues championed primarily by female politicians.
Someday, there will be a time when a person's gender is not a significant consideration in politics. Until that time comes, this book is a great chronicle of women in the Texas legislature.

I have been looking for this book forever! This book is full of interesting entrepreneurs that were not famous at the time of the writing but are very well known now (Martha Stewart for example). I drew great inspiration from this book.

This was an excellent book & I found it a valuable resource tool. She has detailed her banner & dance ministry....there are several full color pages of banners & dance outfits. She also has some wonderful suggestions for keeping your ministry on the right track. I loved this book & would reccomend it highly to those who have a dance ministry or are looking to start one.