Mr. Eschbacher and Mr. Johnson have teamed up to deliver a wildly creative and imaginative children's book that truly lives up to its title, Nonsense! He Yelled. Chock full of silly, nonsensical rhymes and hilarious illustrations, Nonsense! He Yelled introduces 26 quite unique boys and girls whose names just happen to begin with each consecutive letter of the alphabet. While their names follow a logical pattern, their descriptions of the themselves or their circumstances are anything but. For example, representing the letter "K" is Kyle, who finds himself keeping cautious company with a crocodile who has come all the way from the Nile to visit. "He claims he did so just to meet me, but I suspect he'd rather eat me," Kyle nervously reports.
The author and illustrator recall the literary style of Dr. Seuss and the visual style of Bugs Bunny creator Chuck Jones. The combination is a winning one and I found my children laughing as much at Mr. Johnson's illustrations as they did listening to Mr. Eschbacher's silly verse. With any children's book, the reactions of the children who read or hear it is the ultimate proof of whether a title has hit its mark. In the case of Nonsense! He Yelled, the reaction of my kids indicate it's an out-of-the-park home run. You'll have as much fun reading it to your kids as they will listening to it.

I liked this book, I liked it alot, and that's not just because my name is Scott. The characters are so real, cool and clever, I had to share this book with my friend Trevor. You see Trevor is my hip friend who's in the know, of course he has to be to hang with me and our pal, Joe. If you must know the truth, my real name is Andrew, but it's hard to work in a rhyme that's as hoppy as a tan brew. My three little girls have enjoyed this book, so much so that Daddy's no more a schnook.

What a children's book should be - entertaining, fun to read aloud, great rhythm, clever, and awesome illustrations. I look forward to the next collaboration of Roger Eschbacher and Adrian Johnson.

Nonsense! He Yelled is a wonderful book on several levels. The one thing it is not, though, is a story; although there are a couple of minor threads woven through it. But that's just fine. A story is not needed.

What you get instead are short, fun rhymes that provide a stealth mnemonic device to help children learn the alphabet. It's a rather painless lesson for kids, and very entertaining. The rhymes hint Seussian but stay within the English language (no floogle floops here). Each character (one per letter for a total of 26) is unique and has a little something to say.

This arrangement gives parents the opportunity to act out each character in a different way. There's nothing kids like better than to see their parents act goofy, and this book offers that chance. After several readings the kids start to play along.

Given the rhyming text, the artwork could have gone the Dr. Seuss route, but didn't. Instead, the artist embodied the figures with modern animated sensibilities, providing images that could easily be part of a Cartoon Network original series like Johnny Bravo or Ed, Edd 'n Eddy. Not that the artwork is particularly reminiscent of either style, but it carries the same sharp attitude and sense of fun that the animated shows have. It's very modern and appeals to kids who, through exposure, understand that style.

The bottom is this book is just plain good silly fun. It's something kids will enjoy and parents will enjoy reading.

This is Adrian Cooper's second book. I loved the first, Sacred Mountains: Ancient Wisdom and Modern Meanings, but here, Cooper surpasses that first achievement.

The book was developed since 1985, when Adrian Cooper began interviewing 150 pilgrims from all over the world about their experiences of finding sacredness in wilderness places. The finished book therefore includes short extracts from these interviews along with Cooper's clear and authoritative commentary.

This book is totally different to pretty much every other sacred ecology / creation spirituality book I've ever read. First, Cooper's book combines so much. There is the combination of ancient history with modern experience. All the texts and scriptures which these 150 pilgrims found helpful to their journeys into, and through, the wilderness are included in the book for others to contemplate.

I really admire the way Cooper has combined a discussion of ecology with faith. The ecological nature of wilderness areas asks penetrating questions of everyones faith who took part in this book. And vice verse, faith asks new and difficult questions of science. You can't deny either of these major themes. Both sides of this balance of ecology and faith are vitally important to sacred nature.

But Adrian Cooper doesn't stop with his debate and tension between science and faith. He looks at the bi-products of that age-old interaction. So we're lead into paths of anthropology, psychology, politics and education. The last two are particularly important for just about all these pilgrims. Why? Because the sacredness of wilderness is not restricted to the wilderness areas. Instead, they follow the pilgrims home. Haunting them and challenging them all the time to change the way they make sense of their world. For parents, they often want to change the education of their children, and so they start lobbying for changes in curricula at PTA meetings. Others get themselves onto community projects and community radio, to tell other neighbourhoods how they personally have felt changed by their wilderness experiences. In this book, Adrian Cooper discusses all these many themes.

Finally, but no less importantly, I admire the way Adrian Cooper holds all these many themes and threads together. He does it by appreciating the power of language. After all, how else do we think, or talk or write about sacred nature, or anything, if not through language. So Cooper traces the importance of the language associated with sacred nature. He looks at how pilgrims learn and negotiate their understanding of sacred nature as well as the opportunities to get out there. He looks at the politics and economics of this language of sacred nature. It's fascinating, and he explains it so clearly!

So ultimately this is scholarship of the very highest calibre explained so anyone can understand it. My only regret is that I wasn't a part of Cooper's interview groups. I've thought about them a lot. And I imagine the atmosphere of sharing and learning from each other - it must have been brilliant.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

Sincerely yours,

Jean King

I recommend Adrian Cooper's book to all students and lovers of the sacredness which this planet inspires.

But this is a ground breaking book. There is more than a single author's voice here. Adrian Cooper uses the interviews he's done over the last 15 years with other travellers and scholars who have all been changed by their experiences in mountains, deserts, tropical forests, frozen landscapes and ocean journeying.

But there are more voices here than these modern and post-modern souls. There are the other writers, extracts of whose work are peppered throughout these pages, all of whom have given the interviewed travellers an added dimension to their pilgrimage experiences.

Making sense of all this dialogue between ecology and spirituality, past and present is a task Adrian Cooper has addressed with brilliant clarity and scholarship. He has a real gift for explaining the most complex of subjects and problems clearly and engagingly without losing sight of the wonder and awe of these same themes.

But there is more to this book than the words themselves. It should be read by every man, woman and child simply for the challenges it presents. Sacred Nature should start a global shock wave. Let me explain. Religious leaders, TV producers, newspaper and magazine editors and school and college teachers all neglect the importance of appreciating the holism of the subjects Cooper examines. Why, for example, do church ministers rarely preach on the themes of sacred earth? Why are they not at the heart (or front) of conservation movements? Why too do TV producers fail to grasp the potential for NEW PROGRAMMES which look at this fascinating but valuable connection between natural history and faith. Discovery Channel, please take note. There is a vast, rich, fascinating wealth of ideas for endless programmes from sacred mountains to sacred deserts and sacred rivers etc etc etc. I pray these people will read Adrian Cooper's book. He has identified a major need for change in the media and therefore in our lives. We will become re-educated at a time we need it most. Presented correctly, these new programmes and newspaper and magazine articles will help us to un-learn redundant ways of thinking and believing about this planet, and open our eyes and other senses to what there is here, and what we can do to celebrate it and conserve it.

A SUPERB BOOK.

Sincerely yours,

Sophie Fergusson

I agree with the other reviewers of Adrian Cooper's book, but I feel so strongly that this is going to become a classic text of the sacred ecology movement, that I wanted to add my name to its list of admirers.

Adrian Cooper has a unique gift of explaining the details of science and mythology, ecology and mysticism clearly and with rare enthusiasm. This alone would be more than enough to recommend this glorious book. But he goes further. Cooper has interviewed 150 people from Europe, North America and Asia, all of whom have had life-changing experiences through their pilgrimage experiences in the worlds wilderness regions. Some have found healing. Others have found insights. All have found more than they expected from forests, ice fields, oceans, rivers and mountains. In Sacred Nature, short extracts of these people's words are included so we get a strong flavour of their sincereity and wisdom. But even beyond that, it's so fascinating to read how these pilgrims use the words of writers and sages from some of the most ancient mystical traditions within their meditations and descriptions. So Cooper includes extracts from those ancient scholars too. The result of all these many amazing texts is an extremely clear, and fascinating literary journey. I loved every minite of reading it. Now, I've started reading his other book, Sacred Mountains, which also seems to be just as stimulating. I hope you all take my advice and read these books, they deserve the widest possible support!

Adrian Plass has definitely earned the title of Sanity Preservation Specialist with this book! Throughout the pages of The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass Aged 37 3/4, Plass brings the lifebuoys of hope and joy to Christians who are struggling to keep their heads above the turbulent waters of modern day Christianity.

The combination of Adrian Plass's incredible sense of comedic timing and deep insights into Christian living, will leave you apologizing OFTEN to family members for interrupting their activities with your recurring outbursts of irrepressible laughter. The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass Aged 37 3/4 proves once again that Plass can dish out consistently humorous insights, while at the same time challenging the reader to seriously examine his/her own Christian walk.

If you're feeling like you can't possibly fathom attending even one more church (dis)function, The Sacred Diary of Adrian Plass Aged 37 3/4 is an absolute must read!

Sam D.

P.S. Addrian's a hysterical read - an anagram of "The Sacred Adrian Plass Diary".

(Alright. You caught me! I spelled his name with an extra "d". It's better than the alternative anagram though, which is "P.S. Adrian's a hysterical adder". His work DOES have bite, but it's far from venomous.)

I simply adore this book! I can't imagine not having readit. Gerald Plass is my dream date; I'm not kidding. It is completelyimpossible not to smile while reading Plass's works. I strongly suggest that you read his other works, such as The Horizontal Epistles of Andromeda Veal, the Theatrical Tapes of Leanord Thynn (even if it doesn't explain the cat...) and the second sacred Diary, I believe it's 41 3/4. I'm not sure. But read it. I just really think it's sort of grand!

Friends in the UK sent us this book a few years ago, and I can't thank them enough. Adrian Plass has now outranked Frank Peretti and Max Lucado as my favorite author of all time. He has an amazing ability to make the reader laugh out loud, and on occasion, even cry. I am an avid reader and no other writer has ever touched my soul the way that Plass does. Whenever I am having a particularly rough day, I read a few favorite parts of this book and I find the stress melting away.

Do yourself a favor and start building a library of his works. I am doing that now, and can honestly say that I have not been disappointed by anything I have read so far. If you live in the US, it can be hard to find Plass's books. But it is well worth the investment and the time.

Excellent, excellent book!

[The following three paragraphs were striken from the end of my earlier review of this book due to length restrictions. The beginning of the review, of which these three paragraphs form the concluding portion, appears immediately below this review.]

Cardinal Ratzinger is forthright in his pessimistic assessment of the time ahead. "The danger of a dictatorship of opinion is growing, and anyone who doesn't share the prevailing opinion is excluded, so that even good people no longer dare to stand by such nonconformists [i.e. Christians]. Any future anti-Christian dictatorship would probably be much more subtle than anything we have known until now. It will appear to be friendly to religion, but on the condition that its own models of behavior and thinking not be called into question." (153) The Church must attorn to the zeitgeist in this scheme. These themes are explored in Michael D. O'Brien's "Children of the Last Day" novels.

It is time for the faithful, Cardinal Ratzinger says, to form "vital circles." [T]here are great, vibrant new beginnings and joyful forms of Christian life that don't figure much statistically but are humanly great and have the power to shape the future." (143). "Particularly when one has to resist evil it's important to not to fall into gloomy moralism that doesn't allow itself any joy but really to see how much beauty there is, too, and to draw from it the strength needed to resist what destroys joy." (69)

In his autobiography, the novelist and historian Russell Kirk wrote, "Not by force of arms are civilizations held together, but by the threads of moral and intellectual belief. In the hands of the Fates are no thunderbolts: only threads and scissors." Throughout this book, Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger shows that in most parts of the world that the Roman Catholic Church is the last defense against the decay of human civilization. By defending revelation and sacred tradition against the moral anarchy of the age, the Church withholds disorder of the soul and the commonwealth, the idolatry of man as god, and preserves man, as a creature of God, against transitory and often violent popular passion. The ambitions of those men who would bring about and celebrate her demise are dangerous. Implicit in Cardinal Ratzinger's words and lifetime service is the message that it is time for serious men of serious purpose to come to her defense.

A very readable, interresting book! Cardinal Ratzinger gives his views on a wide range of topics in the course of an extended interview with Peter Seewald, including his life and the state of the *world-wide* Church. This book offers valuable insights from a man who is uniquely positioned to "see" the workings of the Church as a whole.

In the more "liberal" circles, there's apparently a tendency to villify Cardinal Ratzinger as some kind of "right-wing", closed-minded fringe type. Having read this book, I find that claim hard to believe: whether one agrees with his views or not, it is hard to see the Cardinal as anything other than a thoughtful, intellegent and learned man.

The background of Peter Seewald sets the tone for the book. He does not shy from his questions and this brings out more of Cardinal Ratzinger. I was not dissappointed as C. Ratzinger provides more than standard answers. His answer on women as priests was excellent.One thing that strike me most was when he was asked a particular question, he asked to be excused. The author assumes that he leaves for a prayer and comes back to answer his question. C. Ratzinger answers his question based on the search of truth in the Catholic faith.

Cooper's work directly confronts all this nonsense produced by so-called main stream scientists that there is just one reality 'out-there'. Wrong! There is no such thing. Mountains mean so many things to so many people. They can be huge hulking masses of brutal rock, or they can be the most delightful, gentle companions. They can be cruel or they can be our greatest teachers. How can we make sense of this diversity of possibilities? By listening to the pilgrims who make these decisions to live by those truths. What is the data for our understanding of these poetic geographies? It is the words of these thoughtful travellers. And this is what Cooper does. He's listened to pilgrims from Europe and North America. And then he brings us their words and the words of the writers and teachers who've most influenced these people. So the result is one of the richest books I've ever read. Bristling with ideas. Never short of compelling, courageous experiences. Daring to go places where other mountain books fear to tread. But in doing so, doing a great service to mountain literature, pilgrimage and all allied scholarship. Read it!

There is no shortage of mountain literature, but a great shortage of real quality in this field. Adrian Cooper's brilliant first book is of the highest quality, and I have no hesitation in recommending it to all who love mountains - climbers, walkers, skiiers or other pilgrims. At the heart of Cooper's success here is a willingness to listen to the stories mountain people have to tell. He doesn't judge, condemn or categorise. Instead, he takes these stories, uses the travellers' own words where appropriate and then locates them with the ancient history of the mountain in question - the poetry and prose which others have been inspired to write. So we, the readers, are treated to so much wisdom and clear insight. A remarkable achievement.

I was given Sacred Mountains as a birthday present, but began reading it with dread. It looked too New Age to me. But that was just my first reaction, which I soon banished as soon as I got into this excellent and original book. I like the use of interviews with so many fascinating people. And Cooper's remarkable breadth of knowledge in developing an intelligent discussion from what everyone says is truly impressive. And in so many directions too, but with singular clarity. Each of the pilgrims Cooper writes about have embarked on some remarable mountain journeys. But as readers, we're never left behind. Cooper writes so we can all 'see' what others have experienced - both within their psychology and their physical surroundings out on the peaks. The use of poetry and prose from other writers is also a wonderful added dimension to this multi-dimensional book. To the best of my knowledge, there hasn't been any other mountain book which is like this one, so for originality alone, it deserves the support of all folk who need the mountains and love them (ie find them sacred/precious places). In an age when religious ideas are so much under threat, Cooper reminds us of how important Rudolf Otto's famous observation is: sacredness is both terrible and fascinating.

I read Tropical Nature in preparation for a trip to Costa Rica. First, this is not a textbook or a feild guide. Rather, it is a collection of chapters so richly and interestingly written that I demanded my travel partner read it so that we could discuss its content on our trip. He loved it as well, and we continually reffered to it as our experience of tropical nature itself unfolded. He's thinking of assigning it to high school students. If you need something to get you 'hooked' on the wonders of neotropical ecosystems, this book will easily instill a desire to visit and learn more. If you have been to the tropics or study them and haven't read this book, I still recommend it highly.

A well written, easily readable biological treatise about basic American Tropical ecology. Initial chapter on the climate that dictates all else in the tropics is paticularly interesting. The remainder of the book is divided into various chapters dealing with various plant and animal idiosyncracies. Numerous fascinating facts, anectodes spice up what can potentially be a pretty dry, high-school biology textbook subject matter. The section on the importance of excrements to the rainforest and two chapters on tropical ants and their social lives fascinating. Good reading for anyone interested in basic tropical ecology.

Tropical Nature is a delightful discussion of the evolution, ecology and biodiversity of species in the Central and South American rainforests. It is written on a level that biologists can enjoy but is also highly readable for those planning a trip to these areas. The authors' discussion of evolutionary adaptations of species in the rainforests is written in plain language and would not overwhelm those outside the field. With so much emphasis on molecular biology now, it is great to read a book about natural history and the way species interact.

Desmond and Moore go beyond some of the "psycho-history" poularizers that seem to hang on to the fringes of evolutionary biology these days, but there is still a whiff of the analyst's couch in too much of this book. The title gives away the bias from the first, so we can't say we weren't warned, but it is odd that Desmond and Moore seem to ignore the enormous amount of evidence (often in his own words) of Darwin the Contented Naturalist, Darwin the Excited Traveller (I strongly encourage anyone really interested in Darwin to go look at Phil Darlington's delightful cartoon of "Chas" Darwin "Hanging Out" at Cambridge in Darlington's wonderful "Evolution for Naturalists") Darwin the Family Man (read Raverat's Period Piece, etc.) The chapters continue in the same vein (Paradise & Punishment, Mental Rioting, Murder, Ugly Facts, etc.) and while they draw heavily on one side of Darwin and darwiniana it is only the one side. For my money Janet Browne's biography is head and shoulders above this -if only she would finish it!

Having read a few Darwin biographies, I've decided that this one is my favorite. The account is objective enough to keep my skepticism from acting up, and I actually agree with most of the analysis that usually prompts reviewers' complaints. If you've read Desmond's biography of T. H. Huxley, then count on this biography of Darwin to present less of the analyst's perspective and more the reporting flavor for which one would hope in reading a book collaboratively produced by Mr. Desmond and James Moore, a self-proclaimed "Darwin Biographer."

The wealth of information in this book about Darwin's life lent a great deal of insight to my perception, as a student of natural science and as someone who is interested in the history of science, of Darwinism, its origins, and its large-scale effects on biological thought as a whole. I heartily recommend this book to anyone who is interested in evolutionary biology and its history, and certainly to anyone who wants to better appreciate the life of a man whose work changed the way we understand life.

This is one hell of a riveting biography. I've often read biographies of really interesting people, but the writing is so turgid or lackluster, that I find myself wishing a better writer would tackle this story and do it right. Not so with this one, this is a phenomenal book.

The Punic Wars by Adrian Goldsworthy is a wonderful trip back into time. It is difficult to translate wars and battles that took place over 2000 years ago and make them relevant to modern times. Goldsworthy does a fine job but fails in the latter.

His strength is in describing what happened in the three Punic Wars. The book is not just a military history of the era, but also a political one as well. He spends considerable time analyzing the political climate that led to almost 50 years of war between Carthage and Rome. The strength is in the First Punic War that led the groundwork for the other two. After reading the book one does understand why the wars were fought.

As a military history, the book is limited by a absence of primary sources describing the battles. The one exception are the battles fought by and against Hannibal. His description of the battle of Caenne, with a marvelous narrative of how Hannibal was able to destroy a numerically superior Roman force. He describes the battle in sufficient detail so as to allow the reader to understand the basics of Hannibal's successful tactics.

Where Goldsworthy does not excel is in his attempt to make the Wars relevant to the present. While there are parallels between the Wars and the First and Second World Wars they are unlimited and overplayed. In addition, while he is correct that Carthage did not understand the Roman for pension for "playing for keeps" rather than to obtain a favorable negotiated treaty, that lesson also had limited applicability.

The Punic Wars is interesting reading because of the effect that the Wars had on our history. That is reason enough to read the book. The fact that it is so well written just adds to the allure.

"DELENDA EST CARTHAGO"

"Carthage Must be Destroyed" those most famous words were spoken by Marcus Porcius Cato in the 2nd Century BC. In this new book on the Punic Wars by Adrian Goldsworthy we are taken back into this most fascinating period of history. We follow in the steps of Hannibal, Hasdrubal, Hamilcar, Scipio Africanus and many more famous and infamous commanders and leaders as the Roman Legions and the soldiers and sailors of Carthage clash in this gigantic struggle of the Ancient World.

Each of the three wars are described in as much detail as possible bearing in mind the lack of primary sources for some periods. We follow the stalemate in Sicily during the First Punic War (264-241 BC). Then the more famous struggle in Spain and Italy during the Second Punic War (218-202 BC), followed by the final Roman victory in the Third Punic War (149-146 BC).

The author provides details of all the famous battles, Trebia, Lake Trasimene, Cannae and of course Zama. He also follows the lesser-known campaigns in Spain, Macedonia and Sicily. I found the author to be very fair in his assessment of the commanders and their decisions and offers comments on the sources used in his book and others.

I would compare this book favourably with Nigel Bagnall's 'Punic Wars' and both books sit proudly in my library. The author took the time to explain the military traditions, training and tactics of the two opponents, which assisted greatly when it came to follow the battles. 16 maps are provided to assist in the narrative and all where of a decent standard however, no illustrations were to be found in the book.

The book was easy to read and the narrative flowed along faultlessly. Overall this is a very decent one-volume account of the Punic Wars and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys decent history or who has a love for this period.

This book provides a very readable overview of all three Punic Wars, pulling together the primary sources of information in a way that reads more like an interesting story than a historical analysis. If you can only read one book on the Punic Wars, this should be it.

Adrian was more than just a fashion designer, he was a rare artistic and creative genius. In only thirteen years at MGM, he designed the costumes for nearly 200 films...many of them classics today! He also had a hand in cultivating images for many of the movie stars of that era, such as Joan Crawford and Norma Shearer. His ultimate genius pictures are "The Women" where the costumes are just as big of stars as the actresses in the film and "Marie Antoinette", the elegance and grandeur of which have rarely been repeated! This book is filled with beautiful photographs of Adrians sketches and gowns. There are some beautiful color photographs of some of the opulent gowns from "Marie Antoinette" that are just gorgeous. Excellent purchase for any film or fashion fan!!!

Let me state unequivocally that I know next to nothing about fashion, whether it be for the street or the stage. So when I was given "Gowns By Adrian" as a gift, I thought I'd flip through it casually and never look at it again. On the contrary, this is a book to treasure not just for its abundance of photographs (both black & white and color) but, more importantly, for its generously detailed description of MGM, the Hollywood studio system, itself, and how a man of genius, taste, dedication, discipline and talent fit into that system.

Howard Gutner's research must have taken him years and years, never mind the compiling and editing of that research. And it is all worth it. "Gowns By Adrian" takes us from Gilbert Adrian's first days at MGM, in 1928, when he replaced no less an artist that Erte, to 1941 when Adrian left MGM to open his own shop.

During those years, the designer created clothes for some of the most famous movies ever released and most of the famous movie stars who appeared in them: Norma Shearer as 'Marie Antoinette' and 'Juliet,' Joan Crawford as 'Flaemmchen' in "Grand Hotel," Jean Harlow as 'Kitty' in "Dinner At Eight," Katherine Hepburn as 'Tracy Lord' in "The Philadelphia Story" and Greta Garbo in everything she did for MGM from 1929 until she left in 1941 from "Anna Christie" to "Ninotchka" to "Two Faced Woman" and "Anna Karenina." Adrian's legacy to fashion for the average woman? A dress he designed for Joan Crawford in "Letty Lynton" was "knocked off" and sold 500,000 copies nation-wide. What makes this statement even more unusual is the fact that not that many people actually saw the film: "Letty Lynton" was pulled from theatres only a few months after its release because its writers were accused of plagerism.

The photographs included in this magnificently produced book are not limited to production stills. There are sketches, casual snapshops and the inevitable publicity pictures. My personal favorite is one of Adrian, himself, visiting the set of "Camille" in order to give Garbo a birthday gift. The designer stands with his back to the camera with his hands behind his back like a shy schoolboy while the great star in one of her beautiful costumes opens a jewelry box with obvious delight.

Gutner makes it very clear from his first example to his last that Adrian was not just a terrific dress designer. Here was a man who understood what the character as written on paper needed to be translated into visual terms for the screen. Take a look at "The Women" and you'll see everyone of those 135 characters defined, not only by the director and the actresses, but by Adrian's clothes.

One of the last paragraphs in the book tells the whole story: "My mother always told me," Robin Adrian says, "that when my father left Metro, the studio had to hire five different designers to replace him." HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.

On the surface tackling a subject like fashion designer Adrian might seem like an easy project. However, it becomes very apparent that this could not be further from the truth. The Adrian touch was imprinted on virtually all costumes designed for MGM films during his lengthy tenure at the studio.
Aside from the obvious consideration that the clothes he designed had to showcase MGM's roster of stars, this book accentuates the subtleties that cinema fashions require to place special emphasis not only on the actor/actress, but the parts they are playing.
Howard Gutner manages to cover a lot of ground by providing detailed descriptions of costumes designed for specific actors and the challenges which Adrian encountered. I found myself falling in love with the exquisite details of specific gowns such as those designed for the production of Marie Antoinette. I was also amazed by the sheer volume of costumes the studio (under Adrian's guidance) produced. Gutner's review of Adrian's work and his careful and caring research made this book a delightful read as well as a delight for the eyes. By the end of the book, I came to appreciate and understand the field of costume design and see it as an integral part of movie production. It certainly validated the awarding of Oscars for this category.
Adrian's artistic gifts and his sensitivity toward his subjects gave me an appreciation for his work.

This is actually the diary of Adrian Mole, an awkward teenager, who lived the life of a normal teenager. He had a crush on a pretty girl, hated his dog sometimes, had parents who squabble now and then... The diary was written from the view of Adrian Mole. You could see that the writing style change as he grew and matured. I really admired how Sue Townsend can see things from the view of a young boy and a young man. Nice work! Pretty funny too!

This is the first book I read from cover to cver without being forced to by some teacher or other adult... interestingly enough I got it a week ago at Indigo (this may be a canadian chain... but I pretty sure they own Chapters so I'd assume they'd have it as well)anyway... this intrigues me that no one has been able to find it...

I love adrien mole and all of sue townsends books. The worst thing happened to me last year. My little sis kept going on at me about how she needed a complete verson of the adrien mole booksand after a long hard time of thinking I made the biggest mistake of my life . I had every book of adrien mole. (except the wilderness years) My sis came back to me 2 days later and said she had lost it . I have really wanted to get my book back but it doesn't seemed to have been returned to me. I can't seem to get Adrien mole minor to major any where. I am askin my mum to buy me the other books off the web. If any 1 knows where to get Adrien mole minor to major please e-mail me. Thanx!!!!!!!