This is a survey of American culture, as manifested in everything from travel books, film, dance, to the fine arts. It lurches from subject to subject at times, but its strength is that it places the fine arts in their cultural context.

This, the first volume of a two volume work (this is by far the stronger of the two)may not contain the strongest prose in terms of capturing the moment in history when America finally began to assert her own unique voice in the visual arts, but it does boast many glorious images.

Maybe this book is nothing more than a glorified coffee table book, but what a fine, colorful one it is. The book is crammed full of beautiful reproductions of some of the finest work America's shores ever produced: Stella, Johns, Pollock, O'Keefe, Lawrence, Benton, Hopper and Calder all recieve detailed representation.

Being personally obsessed with the art of the Depression, I particularly valued the long, detailed chapter contained here.

Many hours have evaporated as I have lost myself in the many rich reproductions. This book, when enjoyed in union with Robert Hughes' excellent "American Visions" (which supplies the much needed rich prose), serves as a fine celebration of America's visual culture. A fine addition to any library.

I pre-ordered this book from Amazon as soon as I read about the exhibit at the Whitney. Ths book is a wonderful compendium on art of the 20th Century and is loaded with information and great photos of what will become the "classic" works of the 20th Century.

John Haskell is a writer new to the reading (though not the performing) world and his voice is one that stirs interest, primarily because it is unique. He tells these nine 'short stories' - they seem more like extended meditations or themes and fugues - in a manner that combines known public figures (a particular penchant for old movie stars and old movies) with imaginary cast members to explore the thin line of reality vs fiction. He makes bizarre choices in combining such people as Orson Welles, Joseph Coton, Falstaff, Prince Hal and Janet Leigh to ponder self perception:"...once we think we know who we are, to change who we are means giving up what we love, even if we hate it." The haiku poet Basho is intertwined with thoughts about John Keats; Keats falls short of relating to Fanny Brawne until he faces his moment of death; Basho confesses he "...wants to find beauty and harmony, but something is always distracting him - people usually - pulling him off the road." Mercedes McCambridge, the devil voice of Linda Blair in "The Exorcist", struggles with alcoholism, Joan of Arc is recallled historically and through the various guises of the actress who portrayed her in the film. Sound confusing? Well it is, and sometimes the obtuseness of Haskell's technique borders on not the absurd, but the senseless. I think we're seeing the early work of a mind that is rich in fluid imagination. I feel as though this author has a lot to say but is hiding behind the likes of Jackson Pollock and Joan of Arc and Ganesha for fear of not being noticed. I don't think he needs this gimmick and I eagerly await his next novel. He WILL be noticed on his own rights.

Publisher's Weekly (editorial reviews) describes the nature of this book far better than the previous customer review. Haskell is ambitious, knows this work is perversely anomalous, but isn't motivated by difference for its own sake. He's winnowed down what really interests him in fiction and is relying on myth, news accounts, and film scenarios the way a composer might riff on familiar melodies.

None of these pieces (though in a sense the complete book has an inviolate structure of its own) was transcendent, however. I was interested but not rapt. No sirens or fireworks went off. But Haskell is nonetheless an artist in the best sense; he is after something beyond the familiar confines of fiction, is following his own muse without apology or a need to ingratiate himself with the reader, and I have a strong hunch that his best efforts lie ahead. He is original, focused, and definitely a writer to watch.

John Haskell's first short story collection takes key figures from history, identifies them at defining moments in their existence and builds a story around them to explain their significance. It's an interesting take on the short story, which some say is a dying art, and Haskell does good work, for the most part.

His premise, though, turns the "stories" into more analysis of moment than a narrative. Occasionally, the stories become bogged down and feel like essays, though this is itself is intellectually stimulating.

He gives the reader a look inside Jackson Pollock's head in one piece, granting you the opportunity to follow Pollock's reasoning.

In "Elephant Feelings," the best of the stories, Haskell takes three figures from culture and history and draws parallels between them. (It feels like a shorter version of "The Hours," even, except with mythical characters and an elephant playing the Virginia Woolf part.) But not enough is done with the premise, in my opinion.

As with all the stories, I felt like the characters and moments were well-drawn. But, to justify going into all this detail, I wished it'd featured less analysis and more plot.

"The Cheese Book" is an excellent guide to cheese and everything that goes with it. With thorough descriptions of nearly every type of cheese in the world, information on the origins of cheese, how they are made, and recipes using them; this book contains everything you ever needed to know about cheese. It also provides good information about buying, serving and storing cheese properly. The only negative about this book is that it can be lengthy at times, but if you have a true interest in cheese that won't bother you at all.

I came upon this book long after it swept into thousands of American homes via Book Clubs. (1960's) At that time it must have been considered an incredible resource as cheeses (beyond the standards) were still largely unfamiliar commodies to most. It may have been a bit overly-thorough for the average reader at that time.

Today we are on the whole a lot more cheese-savvy in this country and there are wonderful cheeses to be found near at hand. It's wonderful to find a book that takes the time to go into all the various aspects of cheese-making, buying, storing, serving, as well as covering the fascinating history of cheese down through the ages. Every possible type of cheese seems to be covered - it's amazing how many there are!

Then finally one comes to the recipes - not many, but all use basic ingredients, are quite simply prepared and incredibly tasty. They've all worked well for me (and I've tried most all of them.) The cheddar cheese soup is easy to prepare and is one of the best I've ever tasted. It's the two creamy onion soups with cheese (one with a hard sharp cheese like cheddar, one with parmesan) that are the piece de resistance for me in this fine book. I consider the book worth it for the soup recipes alone! If you like cheese -- ANY kind of cheese -- grab yourself a copy of this now out-of-print book!

Dark Horse is a beautifully put together book, with lots of vivid imagery and emotion. Any horse lover will enjoy it.

I remember loving this book when I was a kid. It is a great book for horse crazy girls. The best part about it, I think, is that the end is not what you expect. It doesn't have that perfect storybook ending like some books do. The ending is more like real life and real horses.

In this book Dr Murphy explains extrasensory perception and healing, premonitions, dream communication, clairaudience, precognition, astral travel, the law of abundance and how to eradicate negative predictions. Although the book is a joy to read and Dr Murphy is one of my favourite authors, I have to agree with a previous reviewer that there are too many testimonies and that more detailed, step-by-step exercises would have been better. Today there are so many books available on developing your psychic powers that the serious student should perhaps find it easier to start elsewhere (Ted Andrews for example). However, as a good overview on how to impress your subconscious mind to experience the good in life, this is still a valuable work. Just reading Dr Murphy's work has the effect of raising one's consciousness. I also recommend his great classic "The Power of your Subconscious Mind."

In this book Dr. Murphy guides the reader to understand the nature of psychic skills. In my opinion, this book is very practical and teaches you to understand the nature of psychical world beyond your senses.

The style is very similar and comparable to his other books, and there are number of good examples and techniques enabling you to activate your psychical senses.

The reason I give this book only 4 stars is that Dr. Murphy could have included more instructions instead of having so many testimonies. After I had read the book, I felt like there could have been more practical exercises or something that could support a reader to train his psychic muscles.

If you are familiar with New Thought already, this book will do so much good for you. However, if this is your first Murphy book, then I suggest you to read some of his basic books such as "The Power of Your Subconscious Mind" or "The Amazing Laws of Cosmic Mind Power".

As you combine these three books together, you will get a powerful tol to create a life of your dreams.

I recommend this book for advanced students of truth and who are familiar with Murphy's other titles.

This book is a handy guide to doing the way many gone it the past. This book shows real gardens and how simple it is to set up such a garden. This book contains a touch of history ever gardener should know about. The plant lists from some of the gardens is great and very helpful when shopping

This text provides a quick, concise review of the pimary topics covered on emergency medicine exams. I found it to be a good way to prepare for inservice exams and the written boards.

Those interested in mathematical logic will appreciate this book written by one of the main contributors to the field in the twentieth century. The technique of "currying" in higher order logic is named after the author, wherein unary functions can be used to emulate functions with many parameters. The book was first published in 1963, reprinted in 1977, and so is not a up-to-date treatment of mathematical logic, but it could still be used as an historical supplement to a course in this subject. The reader should be aware though the terminology employed by the author is very idiosyncratic and therefore it may not reflect what is currently used in the literature.

The first chapter of the book could be considered an introduction to the philosophy of logic and mathematics. The author though views "philosophical logic" as the study of the principles of valid reasoning, and this is to be distinguished from "mathematical logic", wherein mathematical systems are constructed to study (formally) the principles of valid reasoning. One can also according to the author view logic as a theory in itself, and many "models" of it can be studied, in much the same way as many different models of geometry can be considered. The author also discusses very succinctly the logical paradoxes, and the different schools of thought in mathematics, such as Platonism, intuitionism, and formalism. The author clearly advocates the formalist school of thought in this book.

In chapter 2, the author gets more into the details of formal reasoning, the field of semiotics is outlined, and the author first begins defining the grammar and symbols for the upcoming discussion. A theory is defined as a class of statements, and consistency and decidability of theories is defined. The idea of a deductive theory is also defined, and the author defines the notion of such a theory being complete. The notions of consistency, decidability, and completeness are the familiar ones now entrenched in current textbooks on mathematical logic. A formal system, according to the author, is a theory in which the parameters of the statements of the theory are introduced as unspecified objects, and the statements of the theory make assertions on the properties of the parameters and their relations. The author considers syntactical systems, wherein the formal objects are taken from some object language, and what he calls Ob systems, which are essentially the systems considered in modern mathematical logic.The author employs the familiar Godel numbering scheme to numerically represent formal objects. The notion of algorithm is brought in here as an effective procedure to manipulate the formal objects of a system.

The next chapter is basically an introduction to the analysis of what would now be called the metalanguage of a formal system. This analysis is done in terms of what the author calls epistatements and epitheorems. Examples of these epitheorems include the Godel incompleteness theorem and the Skolem-Lowenheim theorem. The author introduces and classifies variables, and defines free and bound variables. A brief introduction to the lambda calculus and combinatory logic is given.

Then in chapter 4, the author discusses logical systems which are relational but with no bound variables. These are called logical algebras by the author, and the reader will encounter the famous truth tables and lattices in this chapter. A discussion of the Heyting algebra is given in the notes to the chapter. The reader interested in the more exotic types of algebraic logic, such as quantum logic, could benefit greatly from the reading of this chapter.

The logic of propositional calculus in terms of algebraic logic is discussed in chapter 5. Called propositional algebras by the author, the author proves the deduction theorem for such systems in this chapter. Interestingly, the L systems introduced by Gentzen are also discussed in this chapter. Although there are much better overviews of Gentzen's work in the current literature, a reader may still profit from a perusing of this chapter. L-systems where negation is added is then the subject of the next chapter.

Quantification in formal systems is taken up in chapter 7, considered both in the usual predicate calculus and in L systems. Prenex normal forms, the Herbrand-Gentzen theorem, and the completeness theorem are discussed in fairly good detail, albeit with old-fashioned notation.

The last chapter covers the interesting concept of modal logic. First considered by Aristotle, the author discusses it in the context of L systems, with the presentation being the shortest in the book.

One wonders what or who this writer was thinking about when she wrote this story! The lapping fluidity of the characters created the distinct impression that while at the same time reaching for the clever, she may well have been working out some mistakes she had made in her past; seeking atonement in her own mind. Yes, that's it. And curiously I can't help wonder what an angel is doing having sex with a mere mortal when he knows full well he will soon depart the carnal and 'dissipate into the mist without saying good-bye" only to retrieve his poor clipped wings. These being the same wings he had lost for causing this character unnecessary pain with the imposition of his self-will several lives prior? Hmmm. Did I mention that this very same angel was quite aware at the time that the *f* and fly philosophy is not the way of earth women because as he points out, mere mortals are not that evolved and just haven't yet realized that we'll all meet again someday. But of course it's apparently a very cool kind of philosophy in the blissful, evolved state of Angelhood where "everything goes" because those who have reached the end of their soul journey are all unattached love beings having great fun; much like the sexual renaissance of the 60's. Most unfortunate that we don't get to read about it, though. Okay, I'll give the deal this much, angels truly want us to know that what really counts is that we're all connected.

I wonder, does this mean that both humans and angels alike make big mistakes but then as either being.. we simply cannot count on learning from them? Or perhaps as mere mortals we simply need to acquiesce into the hopelessness of dysfunction and depression much like the female character who he came down to help - and just time out for awhile and look for the next "dewinged" angel to appear?

Still, LET US CONSIDER THIS ART because it surely did provoke me! It might provoke you, too when you find out what God had to say about it all when this dear lost angel got back!

I DO ADMIT LOOKING FORWARD TO READING THE OTHER TWO BOOKS she's written and apparently in completely different genres. Perhaps I'm drawn to the underground of this writers mind with the hope that more truth will be revealed and I can tie it all up neatly in the end......that is just before I evolve and leap into the big bad antique bed from the sixties..... Give this book a shot.........!

I got this book from my local library, and began to read it right away. I was dissapointed in the writing. It told what a screwball fan already knew. What blew me away with this book were the beautiful pictures. Many of the pictures are full page-the one of Katharine Hepburn in jail in Bringing Up Baby, and the one of Carole Lombard peeking out from the covers from Mr. and Mrs. Smith are great. Also, there are quotes from the movies in this book which are also fun to read.

So, if you get this book, get it to look at the wonderful pictures-a few ones that are even framable.