Scrupulously researched and intelligently written, Lord's biography of Giacometti is cleary a labor of love. Anyone seeking a compelling and articulate account of this artist's life will not be disappointed. The b&w photographs of Giacometti's family, intimates, and major works are well-chosen.

Yet the book is not without its problems. The author's prose stylings can seem somewhat oblique and hi-falutin; on occasion his weakness for facile psychoanalysis of his subject nearly undermines the entire project. For all the book's detail, it's curiously difficult to get a sense for how this artist viewed himself in the world. Did Giacometti consider himself a sophisticate? a bohemian? an artisan? an iconoclast? a failure? This is a polite, somewhat aloof biography of a passionate man.

Lord ably describes the evolution of this artist's process and work, and places it in clear historical context. Yet readers seeking a more incisive appraisal of Giacometti's aesthetic achievement might do better to turn to works by David Sylvester or Yves Bonnefoy ... Still, this is an accomplished, considered, well-crafted, and intelligent biography.

When I started with this biography I knew little of Alberto Giacometti. To me he was a sculptor of tall lanky figures. Mr. Lord's book gave me a complete look at the man as artist/sculptor, man of genius and flawed individual. It points out the power of absolute focus on a personal goal. Anyone wanting to know of the artist in a personal way will enjoy this biography. The reading of the book was enjoyable albeit a few times getting too wordy with descriptions of motives for Mr. Giacometti. If I would flaw the book however it would be for a lack of illustrations of the artist's work. There were some pictures of the work but with such a complete biography it would have been nice to have a more complete coverage of the artist works, drawings, paintings and sculpture.

Alberto Giacometti, a true genius, was a touchstone for the leading lights of the first half of the 20th century in paris -- from Picasso to Beckett. Lord's book explores his art, his relationships and his pursuit of what cannot be expressed with power and grace.

This is an excellent book. It explores the full spectrum of Munch's career through an interesting presentation of words and pictures.

I fell in love with Munch when I saw one of his prints(the scream) at the Met museum in NYC, this is an amazing man with an amazing mind and an eye for color. the prints are beautiful in this book.

Here's the great aid for understanding the life and works of one of most underestimated genius. Great story on great Norwegian. Plentiful of color reproductions, abundant in information, great source for studying tormented painter. Worth every minute spent on reading. Looking forward to see Munch Museum in June. Nenad from Croatia.

Martín Fierro is, in some way, a national hero for Argentinian people, even for those who haven't read the book. And it seems pretty difficult to analyse this poem knowing that, because Fierro is basically a dirty, filthy, lazy and bane gaucho. Anyway, being Fierro for Argentinian people as Cid for Spanish or Achilles for Greek, the reader should know that this book defends a savage way of life with reasonable ideas, and that is what makes it unique. Martín Fierro belongs to a special time in Argentinian history, and because of this fact the reader should take over this book in a special way and try to understand it by entering the soul of the typical gaucho poetry. This book, written 120 years ago is still very very recommendable in this age of Grishams and Sheldons.

Martin Fierro was written by Jose Hernandez in an era of gauchos and caudillos, not very different as what it its today with unjustice and segregation. Gives a plain message of values, courage and validates the ability of the people to survive under the worst conditions and succeed. A very actual approach at very current problems. The advise he gives to his kids could be the same we today give to our kids "sibbling be united , ..."
Agreat book, with a wonderfull content, some historic points of view and a nice look to lthe 1800 argentinean society from a gaucho's side .

Martin Fierro is a work of art. While describing in poetry the life of Martin Fierro (a Gaucho in the Pampas in the mid to late 1800's), this poem was also a political complaint and a message of unification against the modern world for the gauchos. Herandez's greatest achievement was to unite, in one poem, a message for all the social and cultural classes. Hernandez was a self made man, ruled by simple principles based on honesty and dignity. These principles are well reflected in his book. When Martin Fierro meets his sons, and counsels them, it is Hernandez speaking to all of us.

Mr. Montaner belongs to the "innocent" generation, that is to say, those of us who were born too late to contribute to the catastrophe of 1952 and too early to join the Anti-Batista fight.
In this little jewel of a book, the author shows tremendous maturity in keeping it fair, not allowing himself to sin on the side of fanatical anti-Castro bias. Indeed, this is a remarkable unbiased account of the so called Castro's Revolution, as well as a good synopsis of Cuban history from the XIXth century to our days.
Well researched (except on the African adventure of the Cuban dictator) well written and generally fun to read, this book is a must to all those that have an interest in the Cuban phenomenon and totalitarian regimes in general.

This is a fine book, only suffering from one major defect: the author is unable to say - or, at least, ignores the question... - when Fidel became a communist. About this point, I should recommend the reading of Nathaniel Weyl's classic "Red Star Over Cuba": in 1948, during the "Bogotazo" evenments in Colombia, considering the documents apprehended by the colombian police, Castro already was a "komintern" agent, a fact that also contradicts Montaner's assertion that USSR had not any role in the process that led to the overthrown of Batista's regime. Really, the main revolutionaries like Castro brothers - Fidel and Raul - and "Che" Guevara were all convinced communists controled by the afore mentioned country.

Despite this defect, the book is really good and clearly shows the disastrous effects of communist dictatorship, exercised in the purest stalinist way, over Cuba.

Carlos Alberto Montaner completely debunks the immense ammount of propagandistic lies spread by the cuban regime, proving that:

1º) The economical collapse actually suffered by Cuba is totally owed to the failure of the ortodox marxist central planning economics followed by the cuban communist party, giving no place to free enterprise and private property; not to the so-called american blockade, far away from that;

2º) Health care in Cuba, excluding hospitals to party's nomenklaturists and foreigners, has the worst quality possible: the lack of common medicaments is generalized and many hospitals, even, have not sheets to put on their patients' beds...;

3º) Education is completely submited to a strict ideological rigidity, not fulfiling the main target of any educational system: learn to think;

4º) Cuba currently has the lowest quality of life in the entire american continent, after Haiti and Nicaragua; in 1959, it was one of the three most developed latin american countries...

Read also Carlos Alberto Montaner's "Guide To The Perfect Latin American Idiot" and Armando Valladares's impressive "Against All Hope".

Carlos Alberto Montaner re-explores the history of Cuba in the last half century, with particular attention on the present period. He does this filled with his own feelings as a Cuban exile, yet he does not become subjective, and offers views and opinions without imposing them. The book is filled with passion, with anecdotes, with feelings, and is guaranteed to be of immense interest to anyone studying Cuba or just interested in Cuba. Indeed, it is one of those books that are at the same time a pseudo-academic or journalistic study, but also a novel-style book (a novel which, in the case of Cuba, is sadly true).

Alberto Manguel - anthologist extraordinaire - put together this definitive collection of fabulist fiction almost twenty years ago, and it's yet to be surpassed. It covers an immense range of themes and an eclectic international mix of writers. Moreover, it's one of the few anthologies in which almost every story appeals. What appeals less, however, is Manguel's immensely irritating habit of revealing key elements of most of the stories in his pithy introductions. Such editorial spoiling is always annoying, but it's especially frustrating when applied to 'fantastic' fiction because so much of its effect depends on mystery, surprise endings, and the wonderful disorientation of not knowing precisely what is going on. Here, story after story is derailed by Manguel telling us up front that it's a 'time travel story' or a 'ghost story', or how it ends, or that it achieves its effect in a particular way. My recommendation is that you read the introductions only after you've read each story - and do read them, because apart from spoilers, they quite often reveal savvy observations, unusual connections, and interesting biographical notes. Dates of composition for each story (where known) would have been a helpful addition. You can in some cases deduce these from the copyright acknowledgements at the front of the book, but not always. Manguel's preface to the volume is illuminating: it strikes just the right balance between personal memoir, academic apparatus and useful information.

I have a very old, bent copy of this incredible anthology that's falling apart because I've read it through six times. What's so great about it is that editor Alberto Manguel understands that the term, "fantastic," does not preclude the sublime. Entries here range from slow creepers like Julio Cortazar's unsettling "House Taken Over" and Horacio Quiroga's "The Feather Pillow," to more classically fantastic fare such as Poe's "The Facts in the Case of M. Valdemar" and Ray Bradbury's "The Playground." What's more, Manguel does not limit his sources to North and South American fiction. The multinational anthology includes entries from France, Germany, Italy, Denmark and Japan. The more than 70 entries are also a great sampling of over a century of world literature. A comparable sequel, "Blackwater 2," followed, but it's this one that will leave you chilled, stunned and pensive after every selection.

a mixed bag- the best were by nin, yamada, kawabata and billat. some other works were just too conventional, tame and generally boring. still a good introduction to erotic short fiction, and worth having for the handful of gems contained within.

This anthology is a tasteful and diverse collection of some of the world's most compelling tales of erotic short fiction. This well thought out assemblige of stories gives an insightful gaze into the variety with which we view and experience human sexuality both historically and culturally. The editor, Alberto Manguel, not only gives a comprehensive introduction to the entire collection, but also prefaces each story with a mini-introduction, adding to the interest of each piece. This treasury of erotic tales contains works from such celebrated authors as D.H. Lawrence who penned "Lady Chatterly's Lover", Milan Kundara who wrote "The Unbearable Lightness of Being", which was later made into an award winning film, Ang Li, author of the novel, "The Butcher's Wife", and of course, Anais Nin, well known for her published diaries. There is also a section at the end with notes on each author included and a thorough bibliography should the reader want to further explore this genre of literature. All in all, this is an excellent compilation of fiction erotica from the imaginations of well respected writers.

This book has excellent images on Kandinsky's work beginning with his representational early works to his abstract later works. The color quality of the prints are good and the information is readable - to the point and not overwhelming like many art books can be. I only wish this book was bigger with more examples of his work. ...A good resource for art educators.

This book in few pages can describe Kandinsky so well. The style of Kandisky which reflected the developments and strides physics took in first 2 decades of century is shown in his love of planes and geometry.

The word "visionary" is so often overused, but Wassily Kandinsky truly was one. Pick up this book and find out why!

This book is good because it divides the body up into systems -- the digestive system, the respiratory system, etc. But it's frustrating because the illustrations are a little bit too cartoonish. I can see also that it tries to illustrate that it's depicting separate systems in the body, but you never see how they all fit together. I guess I'm not sorry that I bought it to help my four-year-old understand the basics of how the body works, but it was only really useful in conjunction with other books of the same subject.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book and have purchased it twice, actually.

The first time was about 4 years ago, when I bought it for my (then) 4-year old son. It makes talking about human anatomy a breeze, especially for those of us who were never taught the 'real' names for our body parts until we were over age 10. I bought it again just a few months ago, for my boyfriend's 6-year old daughter. She got as much out of it as did my son.

It is simply written and very clearly illustrated! The format lends itself to learning at your child's pace ... one page at a time, or even in smaller chunks. I think this book is a must for every household with little ones.

I have two girls a three year old and a one year old. The oldest has just become familiar with the fact that boys and girls are different. This book is great at teaching about the differences and similarities between boys and girls in a very basic, but informative (for a three year old) way. It also teaches about the different organs, senses, muscles, and bones in our bodies. It was perfect for me to introduce my kids to their bodies!

Stand Up for Your Rights is a great intoduction to humanrights. Children will appreciate the detailed and well chosen artwork and the short passages contributed by children from around the world. The passages come in the form of poems, letters, interviews, and narratives. These passages are short and easily accesible to both children and adults. While the book does attempt to give a balanced view of human rights, some ethnocentric and unbalanced reporting did come through. In several cases the authors failed to explain the reasons behind human right violations. In this respect, Stand Up for Your Rights is a good resource manual for teachers and parents to go over with children, who can supplement the book with discussion or other resources. At the end of the book is a listing of organizations and ways for children to get involved with human right causes. In all, this is a gook book about human rights and I believe children will appreaciate it as well.

"Stand Up for Your Rights" is a book written by and for children around the world from over 60 countries, who describe in their own words and pictures the importance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The Declaration was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly in 1948 and sets forth the basic civil, economic, political, and social rights and freedoms of every person. This book divides the Declaration into two broad sections, the first dealing with legal and political issues, such as freedom and equality for all people, while the second relates to the daily quality of life of an individual. Within this context the book explores each of the 30 Articles, beginning with the language of the article made simple and then a mixture of historic and contemporary events with the words and drawings of the children and young people. It is the later that provides thought-provoking material, which should serve as an excellent starting point for class discussions. Certainly the topics touched upon within these pages will be easily relatable to what young students see on the nightly news. The book also includes the Convention on the Rights of the Child adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in 1989. Comparing the difference in the rights of children versus those of "humans" should also prove interesting, especially as a way of defining the difference between children and adults. There is also a list of organizations and efforts, such as Amnesty International and Defense for Children International, which gives children an opportunity to do something about this issues besides just reading about them.

Stand up for Your Rights is a fascinating and informative book. Written by youth from around the world, this book puts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights into terms that everyone can understand. Photographs, drawings by children, first-person narratives and explanatory paragraphs make this a very readable and eye-catching book. As an ESOL teacher with young students from around the world, I find this book to be unparalleled in offering a view of life that doesn't always make it into the daily news or the movies. I highly recommend this book for anyone of any age who wants to learn more about our world and its people.

The straightforward concepts of strategy, tactic and mission are the strong points of the book. The chapter addressing the mission is especially usefull as a thorough overview of the subject. The main drawbacks are the overly superficial treatment of strategy and the way of working out figures from strategy orientation (concepts are not easily turned into figures without a great load of subjectivity). All in all, it's a good introduction to strategy.

Make no mistake. This book is clearly essential reading for managers who wants to know more about the stategic aspects of their business.

The framework that the author propose is simple to understand and I believe extremely useful in helping a business leader in formulating his/her strategies. It is practical and can be used in any industry. The author also walks the reader through the framework with many examples which help to illuminate the concept clearly.

I was most impressed by two aspects of the book. First of all, the author has defined strategy very clearly. Most authors and management gurus define strategy as actions that has a long-term effect on the business. However, the author defined it as actions which determine where businesses is to compete. It was a refreshing way to look at the definition of strategy but he thoroughly convince me that this is the proper way to look at it.

Secondly, the author concentrates on the essentials of strategy. Too many strategy frameworks consider too many things until the final strategy is unfocused. The author insists that strategy should be simple. And he shows how a good strategy can be written in only a few pages.

The only thing that made me feel that the framework was still not perfect was that the framework relied on numbers that was based on subjective views to quantify the value of strategies. I guess most frameworks also rely on such subjectivity and thus this may not be such a big issue after all.

Still, it is a good book. The author promises another book soon which is on strategic movements. I believe that book will be even more interesting than this one.

This author wrote a very clear description of business strategy. He precisely defines his terms and moves step-by-step through the various aspects of preparing a strategic plan.

I liked the quantitative approach to many of his topics, although I think some of it may lead to subjective manipulation (pushing numbers around in a sandbox to get the effect you want). Still, to compare strategies, putting a number on something definitely helps. So, I liked his approach.

I found the author very easy to read, in many parts he was humorous.

I liked his tie-ins with military strategy. Throughout the text the author provides quotes and insights on the parallel of military strategy. But it is not overdone. He also had interesting quotes from business luminaries (Drucker, Ansoff).

I highly recommend this book to anyone preparing a strategic plan for his company. I noticed when searching for books listed in his bibliography (extensive) that Amazon is now carrying his most recent book "The Neglected Firm : Every Manager Must Manage Two Firms : The Present One and the Future One". I'll be ordering that one soon, for sure.

Also, there are extensive and very interesting footnotes for each of the chapters in the back of the book. Don't forget to read those.

All in all, I wonder why this treasure of an author lives in Portugal and not in the U.S. (he has a Ph.D. from Columbia in NY). He's also widely published.

John Dunbar
Sugar Land, TX