I had the honor of studying on scholarship at the Martha Graham School in the summer of 1994. I was given this scholarship by Diane Gray, the director of the school and a woman who was given many of Martha's roles after Martha could no longer dance them. It was such an honor to train in that school knowing it had been founded by such a genius as Martha Graham.

This book itself is, in my opinion, the best record of Martha's art. This is a legendary and important work for the dance world. "The Kick," which is featured on the cover of this book, is perhaps the most "iconographic" picture in dance history. This book even includes pictures of Martha with her then-husband Erick Hawkins, as well as with future Modern Dance legend and innovator Merce Cunningham, in a dance Martha created called, "Every Soul is a Circus." This dance was one of Martha's few forays into comedy.

Martha was a genius who changed dance forever. And this book helps to insure that her legacy will continue.
If you can afford it... and you are an admirer of Martha Graham, I would recommend getting this book.

Barbara Morgan, did a wonderful work with Martha Graham, she captured the essence of the movement, she took so many pictures of the early works, such as Frontier, Lamentation, Primitive Mysteries, that you are able to feel what the piece is about, also the size of the pictures in the book, gives even more credits to the Author. Graham Classics, Satyric Festival Song, and Deep Song, have been reconstructed with the help of Barbara Morgan pictures, in the late 80's, even Martha agreed that the actuals versions of the pieces are close to what she did... This is a book to have in your Library if you are a Friend of the Art, enjoy your new book.

What a wonderful book this is! I love W. S. Maugham. I first read his short stories in college and "Home" has never left me. Maugham's words are a great comfort to me and this biography about his life and his experiences are absolutely fascinating! Reading biographies is a hobby of mine, sometimes I do not get passed page 30 due to the horrible boring words of the biographers, but this book is an absolute delight. It is a must read for ALL Maugham lovers.

"Maugham" remains the quintessential biography of this enigmatic figure. The most complete and thorough examination of the life and tramas and adventures that made up the life of the man and the writer. As Morgan states, Maugham is the most popular writer of serious fiction that England has produced since Charles Dickens. Weather that fiction is literature or not remains to be seen by his fans and by his critics the discussion has been put aside forever. Somerset Maugham is barley mentioned in acadamia. But Maugham had a genius for story telling (Max Beerbohm) and he told more than two hundred of them in his plays, novels, essays and most admirably in his short stories. As Alexander Freere said, I you don't think he can write, read "The Outstation" or "The Alien Corn" and then sit down and write a better one. His barroom fight scene in "The Moon and Sixpense" is superior to anything by Hemmingway and it was written six years before "The Nick Adams Stories" or The Torrents of Spring" were published. Maugham's story is so fantastic that it is no wonder he was such a good friend of Churchill's. Churchill, of course had an equally eventfull life. Maugham was as famous a playwright in the teens and the twenties as Neil Simon, but he was also a Doctor an ambulance driver on the Western Front and a spy who was given the assignment to try to squelch the Bolshevik Revolution. All in a twenty year span during which he wrote ten unsuccessful novels and "Of Human Bondage". He was also the first great world traveller author with the possible exception of Conrad. Maugham went nearly everywhere one could expect to travel during the days of World Wars and steamships. He wrote about his travels in short stories that are still widely read by many of my fellow travellers along with the first guru tripping novel,"The Razor's Edge." Somerset Maugham's Villa Mauresque on the French Riveria was the place he entertained royally. He was a great instructor to his chef and an innovator of cuisine. He was at various times friends with Henry James, Virginia Woolf, H.G. Wells, Noel Coward and Graham Greene, but the reason this book influenced me more than any book I have ever read is the additional cast of characters that I was unaware of before reading Morgan's book. Writers like; Arnold Bennett, Lytton Strachey, Aubrey Beardsley, Ruppert Brook and scores of other people whose work I am now familiar with because of this biography. This book has been critized by many fans for being too rough on the writer. Labeling Maugham a women hater, cheap, anti semetic, cynical, bitter at being considered a second rater and a promiscuous Bi-sexual who became exclusively homosexual after the age of forty to almost a pornographic obsession. In other words, only being able to enjoy anonymous encounters. All this criticism is unfounded. Morgan paints a sympathetic balanced portrait of a painfully sensitive human being who lived through a time that is difficult to judge. I can count myself as Somerset Maugham's biggest fan and I love women. I have travelled to many Maugham spots on the globe: Tahiti, Capri, Trivandrum, Pagan and Haiphong. I even visited his home in South Carolina and his writers cabin. This is a Great Book.

Though twins, Morgan and Moffat Barker couldn't be more different. Moffie, the oldest by ten minutes is an over achiever with a real Type A personality, bossy, critical and competitive. Her brother, Morgie, is a laid back, go with the flow kind of guy who likes everyone. So when they start school, it isn't surprising that Moffie racks up the gold stars, shouting answers and always having to be the best, while Morgie, eases into the class. He's not getting any gold stars, but he's making lots of new friends. As the first week progresses, their teacher has a quiet little talk with Moffie, asking her not to shout out all the answers, wait her turn and give others a chance. "Now run along and play with your friends." And that's when it hits Moffie. She's been so busy being the best student, she hasn't made any friends and goes off to find her brother. But, with a little encouragement from each other, the twins soon learn it's possible to have gold stars and friends, too..... Tomie dePaola has done it again, written a simple, charming story with a gentle message that won't be lost on young students. His expressive, humorous and familiar artwork complements the text beautifully and children will delight in watching this lovable pair work their way through school shopping and their first week as new students. Perfect for early readers or as a family read aloud story, Meet the Barkers is hopefully the start of another terrific dePaola series and a picture book your kids will want to read again and again.

As always, Tomie DePaola does it very well in this book. It is just in time for school and holds the young reader's interest in his own "fascinating way". Our granddaughter, 8 years old loves reading and reading all of DePaola'a books. This one is very special to her - she loves school and loves to read about adventures at school.

Pat Booth does it again with a sexy, thrilling romp about life in the Sin City of the '90s. With plenty of double-dealing rascals and hard-hearted heroines (who always happen to be beautiful), Booth takes us to places we've always wanted to go, and occasionally, to places we'd never want to. The dialogue is as sharp as a scythe. Characters, although glamorous, waver between the self-absorbed and just plain cruel. Although Booth's novel takes us far from reality, isn't that what we most often want a book to do? The perfect escape.

For all you Pat Booth fans, Miami is a must. If you loved Palm Beach, then go south to Miami. Pat Booth's ability to articulate in words the sights and sounds, heat and passion of Miami makes this book truly a piece of art. If you can't afford to take that vacation to Florida, then bring Miami to you. You'll be whisked away to a place you'll never want to leave. Enjoy.

The world looks different when you're a chicken. Your kids might know what a school looks like, even if they haven't spent much time in one, but to Minerva Louise, an inquisitive hen, that big empty building she encounters during her early morning walk is a wonderful, fancy barn. She filters everything she sees through her own experience, so that the custodian raising the flag becomes the farmer hanging his laundry out to dry, and the wastebasket at the side of the teacher's desk becomes a feed bucket. The kids' cubby holes are nesting boxes -- there's even one with an egg in it. To Minerva it's an egg, but your kids will recognize it as a baseball nestled in a ball glove. This is another great book if you need something light-hearted to calm first-day jitters. The illustrations are crisp and bright, and it's hard not to like Minerva Louise, even if she is a silly goose, er, chicken.

My 2.5 year old just loves Minerva Louise. What a funny hen...even the name is very catchy! My daughter delights in telling Minerva Louise how mistaken she is in her "know-it-all" assessments of the world! And Minerva Louise is often listed as one my daughter's "friends" whenever we're going down the list of her good friends! We read this book thru the library, but now I am ordering all 3 books on her. What a funny, silly, and love-able hen!

David Morgan's hisory of the Mongols is a "must read" for anyone serioussly interested in Mongolian history and culture. This is a well written, highly readable and comprehensive study of the largest empire the world has ever seen.

I believe this is the book I read about the Great Mongol hordes several years back. The authors name does appear to ring a bell in my head. I know the book was simply titled "The Mongols". I have looked around for it, and can't find it now. So, it would be a safe assumption that it is out of print, as this book is.

The Mongols were one of the oddities of history. A people that conqoured most of the world. Note, they didn't become the rulers of just a large part, or all the world they knew about. But pretty much all the of the world. From Korea and China in the east, to Eastern Europe in the west. With Persia, Iraq, Russia, northern India, and of course, Mongolia, all inbetween. Alexander the Great's Empire was small in comparision... and Alexander ruled a lot of the world.

It was the Mongol empire that brought about the downfall of the power structures that held up the Islamic States in the middle east and persia. China was brought to a realitive low point in her power. India, Russia, Poland, Mummaluke Egypt, China, and the Byzantine Empire were all brought to their knees in the face of the Mongols.

Also, the Mongols brought an early version of free trade to bare from China to Europe and all parts inbetween. People knew that folks thosands of miles away had good stuff to trade for. The lack of political boarders made this possible.

The nations of Western Europe were pretty much the only peoples who didn't have the fire and sword of the Mongols lowered on to their heads. Because of this, the back water that was Western Europe was able to reach out to the world, and finding a lot of weak nations conquorer and control much of what they found there.

The Mongol's got bad press for years, as they were the stuff the legends of evil hordes were made of. This world would be a very different place if Ghengis Khan and the rest of them were to have never existed. Understand them is something every true student of world history needs. This book can provide a very good start to understanding the Mongols and what they did.

The book is like taking a college course. The author is very good at explaining the information. He uses examples for most of the material. After reading the book I felt like I could someday reach financial serenity.

Outstanding primer for both the new investor and the more experienced investor interested in improving her/his investing savvy.

First, this book illustrates rather convincingly, how investing just a moderate amount of money consistently over a period of time, can build personal wealth beyond most people's highest expectations. Makes it clear that there are no "guaranteed, get rich quick approaches" but that by being patient and investing in any of a broad range of solid investments...."financial serenity" is definitely within reach.

Then, this book explains the basics of personal financial management; including life insurance, real estate, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, REITs, futures, annuities, 401k plans, IRAs and tips to help determine which is right for you. This explanation of the basics, provides a framework which can be used to help individuals determine which investment vehicles fit their personal financial profile/style, and how they can take the first steps in building a personal financial plan which can secure their future.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in improving their financial position in life. It is written by one of the world's leading financial management experts in terms that anyone, from any walk of life/profession can easily understand.

Simple no nonsense approach. Cuts thru all the hyphe and explains the market in laymans terms

"The Internet Report" is excellent and will give you the most timely and accurate picture of everything involved with the Internet. As one who teaches Internet classes, I can tell you that this book is just full of great facts about Internet history, Internet infrastructure, Internet technologies, and where various Internet-related businesses will succeed (and fail). If you only buy one technology book in the next six months, it HAS to be this book! It is essential to read this book because your competitors and your customers will read it

Tears and laughs. Well written book. Honest feelings lets you know what it is like to have a separation. I'm looking for more books by the author! Where is he?

This is a unique book about what it is like to go through a separation. The author combines pain and humor to talk about the experience. Transparent and warm it has you crying and laughing. Remarkable writer. It is a real window on the experience. I've been separated and it was a book where I could keep saying, "Yes" with similar feelings. It is a gift to give anyone going through separation and friends/family to understand. Written from a Christian point of view but not pushy on religion. I hope the author writes more.

My three-year-old daughter and I love this book. Recently after reading it, she was wiggling around while I brushed her hair. I asked if she would be patient like Rosie was while her mother brushed her fur, and she sat still!

Patient Rosie is a warm and wise book for very young children that celebrates patience without being preachy. Rosie the mouse shows us in wonderfully child-appropriate ways just how patient she is... she waits for her turn; she sits very still while Mama combs her fur; she lets the cookies cool before eating one. A very sweet book -- my preschooler loves it!