This book is pinnacle to your success as an improvisor. Understanding the evolution of improvisation as well as the tried and true tactics are mandatory to being a good performer. Please do not hesitate. You will never forgive yourself! Really! This is endorsed by really big improvisors. Also see "Truth in Comedy" by Del Close and Charna Halpern! Truth in Comedy is also a great book that will open your little "short-form" mind to a "long-form" world!

This book is chock full of information about the "Beginning" of modern improv. It's an excellent story well told. It reminds me of a story I know about sheetrock.

Delicious Laughter is Coleman Barks's collection of some of Maulana Rumi's most uproarious stories from the Mathnavi. But I must warn you potential reader: many of the narratives in this compilation are quite explicit - *definitely* not for puritanical prudes. The thing to remember is that Rumi uses these graphic images to make a point. His stories are not just crude attempts to make us chuckle. Rather, he seeks to lay bare the various impulses that push and pull us - impulses that in fact make up the Divine Comedy of human existence. Behind all of these impulses lies the Grand Impulse, which is our inate yet unconscious yearning for the Object of our existence - the Eternal Beloved - like water drops seeking a return to the ocean, or flowers naturally turning towards the sun. As long as this is kept in mind, Rumi's humour will reveal itself for what it is: a key to a higher and more profound understanding of what makes us human. Through this key the grand narrative behind the apparently incoherent and disjointed fables and stories will unlock itself.

Delicious Laughter is a secondary translation of teaching tales in verse by Rumi. By secondary translation I mean that Coleman Barks does not translate directly but works with others who can read the origin. However, Barks' sense of poetry, meaning and story make his versions excellent. Many of the stories are known to the Western world via Idries Shah's work, some through de Mello, others have moved East and West through time. However, many of the tales will be unfamilar to the reader - some of which will remind us of the international character of Rumi's environment.

In "Chinese Art and Greek Art" there is a contest to see which art is best - the Chinese complete a stunning piece of art on their wall. The Greeks polish their wall so brightly that it reflects the Chinese work. ... the moral is ... (read the book to find out).

As a teen, I LOVED this book. The sequel, "Nobody Has To Be A Kid Forever" is a must read also. Both books will keep the reader entranced...a real page turner.

This book is the greatest! It has super effect and a dazzling plot. I can't wait to read it again. I have already read it twenty-eight times!

"Nazraeli also publishes critical prose, . . . clearly anchored by the accomplished writings of A. D. Coleman and Bill Jay. . . . [Coleman's] latest book, The Digital Evolution, examines with a forthright lucidity how computerization and electronics have affected the photographic arts. Coleman's writing . . . is informative and unpretentious -- a rare combination in art criticism of any kind." -- Eric Lorberer, Rain Taxi: Review of Books, Winter 1998/99

"Coleman's discussion of the impact of technology on traditional photography serves as a brilliant . . . record of how new electronic tools have permeated our lives. . . . [Coleman's] ideas and concepts . . . are immensely valuable and insightful, with hints of what our future may hold. Coleman's critical eye makes [The Digital Evolution] required reading for today's media-savvy or information-obsessed artist." -- Daniel Carter, Design Editor, Wired, July 1999

This book was our trusted guide and friend through the first years of our child's life. We took this book with us to every new medical and therapeutic appointment, and it enabled us to quickly become knowledgable about our son's condition. I give this book as a special gift to welcome new "exceptional" families to our circle.

Highly recommended.

This book is an excellent reference tool. As a student seeking certification in early intervention, I find this book to be extremely helpful. This book will guide you through termonology and provide you with a wealth of information.

The insights and candor found in this book are at times chilling. Mr. Coleman hits the nail on the head, and this book should become a part of the "corporate player's" library.

"Empowering Yourself" is an excellent source of information on how the real game is played. This is a book that needs to be read twice. The first time you read Coleman's work, you will feel helpless, angry, and even have the desire to revolt against the status quo. The first reading really motivates you to either change the system or merely give up even trying to play. On the second pass, you really get a feel for the power of this book. You realize that "Empowering Yourself" is a blueprint to success. Coleman is merely providing the reader with the design for success in the world we live in. It is up to the reader to decide whether it is worth going through with these plans. The analogy which I get from this book lies in the similarities between the "Rules of the Game" and the laws which govern gravity. We have all had the desire to fly, unbounded by the earth, flying free as a bird. But to do so, we would have to suspend the laws of gravity.As much as we revolt against physics, the laws of gravity will not be broken by man. Neither will the power structure which we currently live under (at least not in our lifetime). So it is the readers choice to learn to fly by man-made methods, become a modern day Don Quixote and fight the windmills of societys power structure, or be content to travel the earth by foot. This is a must read for all those who want to fly and are willing to pay the price.

This is what a book on an artist should be, lots of nice big images, early to current work(presented chronologically) and not too much BS, except for an essay written by Steve Martin(yes the comedian).

.........But the more I look at the book, the more I think Fischl has quality control issues. The more I look at it, the more bad paintings I notice. Don't get me wrong, this is a great book and Fischl has done some great paintings, but the more you look at this book, the more you notice how bad he can be at times-quality control. Some of the paintings should have never left the studio except in a dumpster but when your getting as much money as he gets for work.................... I imagine its hard not to think everything you make is great, when you get the "status" he has as an artist.

but this isn't an art critique, this is a great book on a well know contemporary artist. If you like Fischl, this is the book to get and it may give you more insight then you want, if you have any asthetic sensibilities.

Integrading wireless data technology with assorted meats and cheeses.

Featuring photography and interviews by Tina Ruisinger, Faces Of Photography: Encounters With 50 Master Photographers Of The 20th Century is a stunning gallery of portraits and compelling interviews of fifty great and famous 20th century photographers ranging from Ellen Auerbach, Arthur Leipzig, and Gianni Berengo Gardin, to Andreas Feininger, Robert Frank, and Sabine Weiss. Powerful and impressive black-and-white image arrays along with candid interviews straight from the heart and soul distinguish Faces Of Photography as a particularly fine coffee-table book especially recommended for photography connoisseurs.

there are a number of portraits in this elegant tome which made me stop and say, "this is really a perfect photographic portrait!" (e.g., the marc riboud portrait, and more). i am honored to be included within this roster of archtypes. i am impressed with tina ruisinger's avant-gard, dadaistic style of capture and layout and some of the text and interviews in this book can throw daggers and some can bring wisps of tears. edition stemmle should feel proud and happy to have published this artful document of the living and dead and the insight into their characters by this courageous young (facing the lightning and thunder of the old gods) photographer. a wonderful gift for those who "know" about creativity and for those who'd like to learn.

Joe, my best freind and the guy I chose to miss a day of work to walk with him and his wife Guinn every week in Golden Gate Park. More than this, he inspired Shambhala Publications and was the silent Guru to many practicioners, setting them straight, during the sprititural shopping era of the 60's and 70's. He practiced meditation in the 1930's in San Fransicos's China Town, a lone Westener, and lived a life of a Bodhisattva and Guru until his death. He did this with no thought of gain or without ever promoting himself. His favorite saying was " Give Love with no thought of return". He practiced and taught this daily. Not with words only, but through his being. The people he worked with are many and some are famous, but that is not the point, His ordinary-ness "is", and it is captured in this book.

i used to walk in golden gate park with Joe. This book captures his essence and the power of his teaching. He was a remarkable hidden homegrown saint in america. If you want to taste a bit of his teaching then read this book. It can change your life.

The book is compulsory reading for everybody with an interest in groupware technologies. It covers most aspects of modern groupware systems and successfully addresses all important technical, organizational and commercial issues. The depth and the details are exceptional, the informative and extensive approach is thoroughly convincing and highly recommendable. Although the book is taking a slightly more commercial view, it seems Coleman does for the late nineties what Ronald Baecker did for the early nineties with his landmark collection "Groupware and CSCW".

This is one of the few practical and knowledgable books about groupware and collaboration that doesn't loose the reader in details about the technology. It gives readers a top notch education about all these group applications that are supposed to help us be more productive. Since so many of them are showing up in Netscape, Microsoft and other main-line business applications, it's great to have an easy-to-use and really right-on tool. My only complaint is that the book is so big, over 600 pages. There's just a lot of information in there, but the chapters are very well organized and focused. I highly recommend the book