The staff of the Whitney Museum for a 1998 Wyeth exhibition compiled this beautifully printed and bound book. The stock is heavy and glossy and the colors sharp and clear. Many watercolors included have not been publicly seen for years, as many private collectors contributed their paintings for this exhibition. The dates of the compositions range from the early 30's through the late 90's.

The two most recognized American artists of the 20th Century are Andys-Wyeth and Warhol, and they have more in common than their initials. Both are controversial and neither is as "realistic" as accused and/or categorized.

My enjoyment of Andrew Wyeth was never diminished by the fact that I had a lot of company. Popularity does not necessarily mean inferiority in spite of what the self-consuming art world tells us. True, you have to have a certain fondness for bleak settings to properly take pleasure in most of the paintings. I often idly wondered if Wyeth ever painted landscapes in spring or summer and why he was so enamored of bare earth and beige and brown compositions. I have never seen as many abstracts as are contained in this book.

The essays in the book are interesting, but not so prevalent as to overshadow the marvelous prints. My only complaint is the book is an unhandy shape, longer than it is tall, making it difficult to shelve. However, this is minor. Many hours of viewing pleasure are in store.

When you view the work of an artist, who is to be the arbiter of what, in this case the painting is about, what it means? Do you turn to the Professional Art Critic, Art History Majors, you the viewer, or the man or woman who created the work? In this case the Artist is well and painting, and his thoughts about his work are many and well documented.

This book on the paintings of Andrew Wyeth focuses primarily on the media of watercolor and drybrush as opposed to the egg tempera paintings that are the medium for so many of his most famous works. Mr. Wyeth takes up to 6 months for a tempera work, and completes as few as 2-4 a year. The images in this book are produced by the hundreds, and over his career amount to literally thousands of images. This book discusses and publishes many images that have never been publicly shown, and uses this body of work to advance various ideas.

The book is a valuable addition to those who are admirers of his work, the opinions that are expressed by people other than the artist, are either critical to the book on one extreme, or mostly ridiculous from where I sit.

Andrew Wyeth has been a target for the self-proclaimed tastemakers of Art for one reason; his art is widely admired, collected, and highly valued. These elements automatically qualify him for criticism that is so absurd; it adds a comedic aspect to the text. Then there are those who do love his work but feel they must demonstrate that, yes, he is what the critics say he is not, and even more!

The text did help me understand more about the method by which Mr. Wyeth creates these works, and the role they sometimes play in a major tempera piece. I loved his work before this book, and will continue to regardless of what "they" have to say. The only individual whose comments matter are Mr. Wyeth's. His thoughts are documented; I don't see the need for others to presume they know better than he what he paints, and what his intent was when he created the work.

The book is great for the new images it brings to the public. Everything about the construction of the book is as good as you will find in a commercial publication, and the color plates are excellent. As to the text, that is left for you to decide, I am placing the stars above for the Artist and his work, not for what others have to say about it.

A collection containing a number of stunning watercolors loosely executed, rarely included in a book of Wyeth's works. Also includes many of his more labored tempera paintings.

Frankly I was stunned. I knew nothing about Kundalini, and little about ecstatic experiences, but after finishing Dorthy Walter's "Unmasking the Rose" I was both enlivened, educated and inspired. This book is a MUST for anyone asking the question, "Is it ever too late to connect with God?" Dorothy Walters teaches us not only that connection is only a breath away, but how, through her own remarkable journey your own path may be created. Finally, books of this kind can frequently be thick and inaccessible. I found Ms. Walters writing to be both "friendly" and a joy to read. What more could I ask?

I was so honored to be asked by Dorothy Walter's publishers to endorse this brave and wonderful book; How rare it is to read an account of a spiritual transformation that is both profound and very, in the highest sense, accessible. Ms Walters has made a unique contribution to the literature of the Spirit with an elegance, candor, humor and passion that will inspire all those who are blessed enough to read this book. In my blurb, I wrote "'Unmasking the Rose' is one of the most amazing and powerful books I have ever read". I have just read it again and I am happy and grateful to find it even more compelling than I did before.Do not hesitate to get this book and reflect deeply on what it has to say.Your life will be the richer for it.

I am so overwhelmed that I will be short in my praise : This book should be handed out free; It is simply a masterpiece of spirituality>Ms Walters shares with us her struggles to understand the amazing process taking place within her 'regular' life and the revolutionary leap it creates;
We all have to learn from Dorothy Walters; May God bless her and her superb work.

I BEGAN READING V.C. ANDREWS BOOKS WITH HEAVEN. I HAD TO HAVE THE OTHERS. HER WRITING IS VERY UNIQUE. SHE KNOWS EXACTLY WHAT A YOUNG GIRL GOES THROUGH WHEN THINGS IN HER LIFE ARE BAD AND OFTEN SCARY. BY READING HER BOOKS, I WAS ABLE TO MAKE IT THROUGH THE HARD TIMES AND KNOW THAT ALTHOUGH IT WAS A FICTIONAL BOOK, SOMEONE, SOMEWHERE, KNEW WHAT I WAS FEELING. SHE WILL BE SORELY MISSED, BUT THIS GHOSTWRITER IS AN EXCELLENT REPLACEMENT!

I have read all of Virginia's books, and I loved them. VCA is my favorite author, and I wait eagerly for each one of her new books to come out. The first VCA book I read was Ruby, and I was so impressed that I had to read more. While waiting for Pearl in the Mist to come out, I began reading the Casteel series, which quickly became my favorite series of all, even after I read the others. Heaven Casteel, Annie Stonewall, and Leigh VanVorren are three of the strongest characters I have ever read about, and I've read a lot of books. The Casteels pull on your heart and you become a part of them as you read the story. I loved all five books, but my favorite was Gates of Paradise. The love story between Annie and Luke really got to me. Some people think GOP is boring, but don't listen to that. It's wonderful. All five of the novels have children that are in some way abandoned by their parents, and the children search for parental and romantic love, and a place to call home. The journey the children take leaves lifetime scars, but in the end the do find love and home, and some of their dreams do come true.

I have read MANY of V.C. Andrews' books, and the Casteel family series is my absolute favorite! (Including the prequel Web of Dreams) This tale of incest, secrets, and lies, will keep you in thrall until the last page. And just when you begin withdrawls, you can pick up the next book. Andrews has a special way of unraveling a story, and keeping it exiting until the fifth book!

"Eva Padlyat lived in a village on Ungava Bay in northern Canada. She was Inuit, and ever since she could remember she had walked with her mother on the bottom of the sea. It was something the people of her village did in winter when they wanted mussels to eat. Today, something very special was going to happen. Today, for the very first time in her life, Eva would walk on the bottom of the sea alone..." So begins Jan Andrews' tale of a young girl's first trip alone through the thick winter ice. In painstaking and intriguing detail she describes Eva's adventure; cutting a hole in the ice at low tide, descending to the dark ocean floor below, lighting candles to illuminate the sea bed, collecting mussels, and exploring this beautiful hidden world..... Ms Andrews' engaging tale, filled with history, mystery, drama, and suspense captures the imagination, and is rich in imagery and magic. Illustrator, Ian Wallace's quiet, dreamy artwork, in soft, textured tones, pulls the reader beneath the ice and right into the story. Perfect for youngsters 5-9, Very Last First Time is a fascinating and evocative experience that shouldn't be missed, and works well as part of a unit introducing the Inuit culture and way of life, or as a stand-alone for story time.

The possibility of gathering mussels under the ice at low tide was absolutely amazing to me. I had never heard of such a thing or imagined it. What a wonderful world we live in! Andrews writes of young Eva's solo walk on the bottom of the sea and she does an intriguing job of it.

The illustrator,Wallace,enriches and expands the written story through his detailed pictures of the village and native life on Ungava Bay.

I hope Andrews & Wallace collaborate again and soon!

This is one of the best books for young girls that I have come across. A young Inuit girl is sent under the ice at low tide to collect muscles for the family.. this time by herself. She gets distracted, the candles burn out leaving her in darkness just as she starts to hear the water returning. What an adventure. I buy this book as a gift whenever I need a present for a beginner reader girl.

Few Christians today even grasp the concept of waiting: the true meaning of the aspects of the word. This book clearly delinates the concept of why we wait, what we wait for, what it means to wait, and the blessing of waiting. You absolutely have to read it.

In 1991 I read this book and was so impressed that I sought permission from the publisher to use it as a text book in our night school. EVERYONE who has taken this course has commented on the spiritual impact it has made in their lives. Mr. Murray, along with a number of other men of that age, may not have been "giants" in doctrinal materials, but they were way ahead of many today in their spiritual devotion to God and His Word. I HIGHLY recommend that every saint read and reread this book. One of the saints of the past said, every good book ought to be read over many times.

Andrew Murray is the master of devotional literature. In his devotional books he usually breaks a subject down into a month of daily lessons which require approximately 20-30 minutes of prayerful reading.

One of the most difficult lessons of the Christian life is how to patiently wait on God. In 1993 I devoted 30 minutes a day for one month to studying this book. This altered my life. Since then waiting on God has been one of the greatest joys in my life! It doesn't get any better than this!

Thank you, Andrew Murray and thank you, Jesus.

Adam Smith like Marx sees changes in the economic system as a logical, inevitable sequence of events. For example the power of the landed aristocracy declined as a consequence of the increasing importance of the towns. Good government was a result of this decline as people that had worked on the estates in conditions close to slavery moved to cities where they had considerable freedom. The difference between Marx and Smith is that Smith considered all of these changes leading to steady improvements whereas Marx considered the results of capitalism and industrialisation and urbanisation disastrous. Marx living about one hundred years later than Smith. The system had not produced wealth for all as Smith foresaw. Smith believed that if governments would refrain from interfering in the economy prosperity would increase for all. Marx considered that a revolution whereby the capitalist class would be eliminated and private property is abolished a necessary consequence of the exploitation of the workers. Smith believed the opposite in that private property was the main driving force for progress. Their analysis of the historical development looking at it now shows many serious mistakes. However many more of the ideas of Adam Smith are still valid in hindsight than those of Marx. Somewhat surprising both being persons with interest in morality do not ascribe any importance to that subject. Both are imprisoned by the concept that "mechanical" or systemic changes in society can explain changes in the economic system. Many economists to day still fall in the same trap. They do not believe that moral standards can play an important role in the development of economic system. They therefore typically reject new developments such as "socially responsible investing ". Like "Capital" of Marx, the "Wealth of Nations" presents many interesting facts about for example the near slavery conditions in the large agricultural estates throughout Europe. This information is a good antidote to the romantics that believe conditions in the countryside in the past were very pleasant. The Wealth of Nations is lucidly written and shows quite clearly the dependence of wealthy creation on essential but minimal government.

Given the apotheosis of Mr. Smith in various market-fundamentalist circles, I expected a work saturated in ideology prior to reading. Being prejudiced by selective citations in the economic literature, it turned out I was in error.

Conservatives and libertarians will ultimately be infatuated with this monumental achievement. However, to give skeptical lefties a taste of what lies within, here are a few brief quotations--

Book five is loaded with instances calling for government intervention. Take education--this line of thought was reiterated a few decades later by Tocqueville: "In the progress of the division of labor...the man whose life is spent in performing a few simple operations ... has no occasion to exert his understanding, or to exercise his invention ... He naturally loses, therefore, the habit of such exertion, and generally becomes as stupid and ignorant as it is possible for a human creature to become." twon bk5 ch1

Marxists will dig this: "Labor alone, therefore, never varying in its own value, is alone the ultimate and real standard by which the value of all commodities can at all times and places be estimated and compared. It is their real price; money is their nominal price only." twon bk1 ch5

Smith is verbose, sometimes superfluous, but unequivocally took a fantastic step forward for the "science" of economics. A must read, regardless of one's ideology.

This book is a classic of economic thought!

A real keeper, if for nothing else but the old photos. Really outstanding. The Southern ladies diary entries in Part Three were truly heart-wrenching.

...A friend lent me "When the South was Southern",and I couldn't put it down until I had finished it.I immediately got on the Amazon site, found the book, and ordered it.It sits proudly on my coffee table,so that anyone who visits my home will know where I stand.Mr.Grissom has done the South a great service by writing this book, along with his other books, which I am going to purchase,and display alongside this one.
This book is a treasure for anyone who loves the South,or wonders what the South was like,or wonders what the South could have been if it hadn't been for the Northern aggression that destroyed it.

Once again, Michael Andrew Grissom has ridden back into time and captured the TRUE South, not the "Sun Belt", but The South. Grissom shows what the South was like during and after the War of Northern Aggression. This book transposes the reader back to the glory days of the South, long before Wal-Mart Supercenters, when one could hear laughter on the levee, steamboat around the bend. The reader can almost smell the blooming magnolias and the warm Southern breeze blowing on the front porch. Grissom atests to the fact that when you speak of the north, the east, the west, you speak of a direction, but when you speak of the SOUTH, you speak of a place, a people, a culture that is the greatest on the face of the earth. This book should leave any southerner agasp for quite a long time. This book also would be perfect for children, to help them expand there horizons from Barney, Nintendo, and Ninja Turtles, to something worthwhile. GOD SAVE THE SOUTH !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

This book was really and I mean really easy to relate to. Amy,a really snot-nosed brat [we all know one],tries to become friends with Alex just so she can get with Alex's brother. What a witch!! But don't worry Alex's girls [friends] got her back. I really loved this book and you should check out the entire series. WAIT-A-GO KATE ANDREWS!!!!!!!!!!!

I'm a thirteen-year-old girl and I'm very picky about my books. I don't just pick up any book and love it. But I saw the first book in this series at a secondhand bookstore nearby, and it looked good, so I bought it. I didn't know that this would become my favourite series. It was remarkably detailed, the characters are very well developed, and I was laughing and crying with them the whole way through the book. It's too bad I could only find half of the rest of the books. They are just awesome.

This book is so amazing. I couldnt stop reading it. I`m 14 years old and in 8th grade. I have never read such a book that moved me as much as that one. Wise-up Alex made me sooo worked up, I told my teacher to call me Sky. She is my favorite charactor. This book is extreamly relistic. I recomend it to everyone...wether your 6, 16, or 60! Its soooo great! -Allie

This book is an absolute must for anyone studying Joseph Smith. To ignore this book would be like biographizing Lincoln, and ignoring the Gettysburg Address.

It is a collection of the 173 Nauvoo discourses of Joseph Smith, covering the years 1839-1844. It is an interesting mixture, since the Prophet wore so many hats. We normally see him as Prophet, Seer and Revelator, but he was also Mayor, General, and Presidential Candidate and was a Husband, Father and Lover. This book opens up Joseph Smith and we hear him as the early saints heard him.

For example, on 180-181, James Burgess includes some of the Prophet's rhetorical "Oh no!" and "Oh yes!" flourishes. Sometimes we sand down Joseph Smith, thinking that he has some rough redneck edges. But I imagine that he would be quite a personable speaker. Judging from these notes, I am quite convinced of it.

I confess that we do have the "distance problem." We have a few autograph manuscripts, so we must work through the scribes. Then again, this is no different than the Socrates-Plato perplexity, and we still recognize Socrates as a great thinker nonetheless.

The gem of this book is the six contemporary accounts of the King Follet Discourse. You see how the early historians amalgamated the text into a seamless whole, and can see that there was no deception involved with the synthesis of the talks into one whole.

The book is divided among the five years, 1839-1844, with the spectacular notes placed at the end of each year-section. This novelty allows of easy access to the information, and makes the book thoroughly user-friendly.

This is one of my favorite books. I continually refer to it to double-check the talks in the official History of the Church, and Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Admittedly, it is a technical book, and not for casual reading, but for the serious hard-core scholar, it is a library essential.

This book is not an end all to the Joseph Smith question, but it brings us closer to a solution.

This is an excellent book which uses contemporary journal accounts to give a presentation of what Joseph Smith, Jr. ^really^ taught in his sermons. The general practice of the 1840's was to have scribes who scribed speeches, sermons, etc., as they were being given in order to preserve an account of such things.

The source documents which are quoted in this book come from the collection of journals in the archives of the LDS church. The history of these documents is important in that when the division between the RLDS and LDS churches occurred after the death of Joseph Smith in Illinois in 1844, most of these journals were "arrested" from the possession of Smith's widow, Emma, by Brigham Young. She applied to receive them back but was denied. As a result, these journals made the trek west to Utah with the group that went there and became what is now known as the LDS (or "Mormon") church.

The book contains most of the recorded sermons and remarks made by the prophet during the 1839-1844 time period (the last 6 years of his life). However, some of them may not be completely accurate considering there is recorded court testimony by those who worked in the LDS historian's office after Joseph Smith's death to the effect that many of Joseph Smith's recorded sermons and history were altered to give credibility to some of the doctrines which the new leadership was wanting to teach. The largest amount of "changes" occurred, however, when the LDS official published accounts of Joseph Smith's history and teachings were made, using many of the journal accounts in this book as source texts. You will find that in many cases those "official" published sermons and statements read very differently than the journal accounts in this book.

It was found by going back to these journals that such things as the alleged 1844 "Rocky Mountain Prophecy" never occurred. The true wording of the prophet's statement gave no indication that the Latter Day Saints were ever to go to the Rocky Mountains. (And, as a point of fact, most of them didn't.)

A most interesting thing about this book of the prophet's teachings is that you will find no mention whatsoever of the doctrine of polygamy, which the Utah LDS later taught and claimed came from Joseph Smith. In this book you ^will^ however find his denunciation of the doctrine of polygamy as well as his repeated proclamation of innocence with regard to the accusations people were making against him at the time, namely of committing adultery in the name of religion and having several "secret" wives.

Within the footnotes of this book, however, you will find that the LDS editors make several attempts to pin the polygamy doctrine on Joseph Smith though there is no such actual reference to it in the text.

As a 4th-great nephew of Joseph Smith, I greatly appreciate the painstaking work of the editors in preserving the exact wording (including original punctuation and spelling) of the journal accounts that were available to them. Everyone of RLDS background or beliefs should be very interested in this book as it is the most accurate source available for the prophet's Nauvoo sermons.

Joseph Smith is an American prophet who restored Christ's church to the earth. I have read this book and the footnotes, carefully, 3 times. It contains the journal entries of persons who were actually present when Joseph Smith spoke. By having multiple accounts of different persons of the same discourse, one is able to more fairly judge what was said. The talks given are amazing: containing Christian doctrines that have lain dormant since before the time history calls the Dark Ages. The doctrines in these sermons represent a true Restoration of the doctrines taught by Jesus. The discourses are filled with references to the Bible and Jesus Christ. In addition, they contain much of history and give a feeling of events that unfolded in the United States of America in the years 1839 to 1844. The diary entries are left unchanged in grammar and punctuation and have the unmistakable imprint of authenticity.[There are also excellent annotations.] What did Joseph Smith teach? What was he like? In any true study one must go to the source and to eyewitness acccounts. Did God, our Father, have a plan in the finding, founding, and establishment of America? Yes, a land of religious freedom where the Gospel of Christ could be restored to the earth, after having been rejected by the people at and after the time of Jesus. Yes, the same Gospel, the same Church. Joseph Smith was a prophet just as Adam, Abraham, and Moses. The Lord has always worked through prophets. Joseph Smith is an American prophet and this book contains the Words of Joseph Smith.

Mr. Lax offers an expanded approach to meshing real and surreal experiences in this, his first published novel. With seemingly effortless weaving of astute emotional perception and acute visual observation, he pulls you into his story and holds you as a witness to the fact ... and the finish! "Worthwhile" is sci-fi realism at its best!

This novel bends a great many genres, but it is simply a great book. From a science fiction perspective, it is one of the most unique "first contact" stories I have ever read. But don't categorize it as sci-fi. It has enough twists and suspense to qualify as a mystery, with legal aspects thrown in. And then it operates on a second level as a character study, or even allegory. The basic plot: in 1994, after a night of drinking, the main character, Sumter Kearn, a burned-out lawyer, begins to tell his best friend a story about an experience from five years before that is so impossible that Sumter himself doubts it even happened. According to Sumter, he was working late the night in 1989 when Hurricane Hugo unexpectedly hit Charlotte, North Carolina. In the midst of that, Sumter was visited by an alien in the form of a girl he had known as a teenager. He was dragged into negotiations between our world and hers to free a captured alien comrade. The results of that negotiation were so unexpected that Sumter had been ordered never to tell anyone. But now he had to share it with someone, simply to keep his sanity, to believe it was real. Was it? I thought I had guessed the answer to that question, among others, but I was wrong. Very well written, tough to put down, and full of surprises, this was a great book.

I am not a regular science fiction reader but a friend highly recommended I read this novel. I read the book out of a sense of obligation given the friend mailed it to me. I knew the book was written by a first time author and expected to find a book filled with recycled sci fi themes and tired prose. Once I started the book, I quickly realized I was wrong! This book is very well written and its plot is unique. By the time I got halfway through the book I could not put it down and, as a result, found myself completing the book in the early morning hours of the second day I cracked its cover. You will enjoy this book whether you are a sci fi fan or simply a fiction lover. I hope Mr. Lax is working on a second (and hopefully longer) novel. He clearly has the talent and imagination to capture the eyes of larger publishers.