As someone fortunate enough to actually own several of Bill Henson's photographs (measuring appx. 6 feet by 5 feet) I was a bit skeptical that his work would translate well in book form. I was dead wrong ~ and more than impressed with the publisher for getting it right. A large book, with few words ~ one has to let the work speak for itself ~ and does it ever. I have collected hundreds of photography books in my lifetime and consider Lux et Nox in the top 10. A must have for anyone who enjoys moody, mysterious, exquisitely beautiful,large scale photographic work. Bill Henson is a master printer, and someone who deserves a lot more attention in the American market than he has received.

Bill Henson is an Australian artist with a well-earned reputation as a passionate and visionary photographer. His images explore the twilight zones separating day and night, nature and civilization, youth and adulthood, male and female. His use of light and composition transform photography into a genuine art form while providing the viewer with insights and memorable impressions beyond the boundaries of static rationalism. Drawing from twenty-five years of photographic efforts, Lux Et Nox showcases the best of this master photographer's work to date. Lux et Nox is very highly recommended for students of photography and an invaluable addition to professional and academic Photography collections.

I started reading this the day after I visited the Watts Towers in south central LA. As a rather nervous visitor to the area (not without reason - there was a drive by killing of an 11 year old outside a church the same day) I was absolutely glued to this book.

I love the LA noir genre of detective fiction. This is very different, and offers far more insight into WHY LA is as it is. It takes us to other parts of LA - the more middleclass areas of West LA (where I was staying), for example.

This book is a riveting story, and it deftly juggles the historical context and so achieves so much 'explanation' and 'history' in a naturalistic way.

It also, most importantly of all, offers hope (which, by contrast, noir fiction rarely does)

Revoyr's Southland was one of those books that as soon as your eyes absorbed the final sentence, you felt a particular sorrow and a small shred of guilt for being voracious in your reading. For the time spent between it's covers, the reader is locked in the roller coaster ride of it's characters - the ebb and flow of emotions, the tiring yet exhilirating journey of self discovery and awareness of family. Racial tensions, family secrets, the sheer horror that could be trapped within the human soul - all made for the backdrop of this novel, and all manage to draw the reader further into the juxtaposition of Los Angeles in the sixties and early nineties. Each central figure becomes real and vivid, breathing and weaving his or her own story of sorrow and triumph, love and hardship. Each is familiar, and therefore the reader follows the untangling of the central intrigue of Southland with intense interest and concern. The L.A. painted within it's pages is painfully reproduced, harsh and yet with promises struggling to come to fruition. In sum total, at it's end, Southland emerges a beautiful story heralding the lives of it's beautiful and none-too-fictitious people.

The best of coopers work is not in the novels but here in his powerful, utterly original poems and short verse pieces. Where readers might become bored or confused or unsettled at coopers run on in his long works, here is coopers intelligence in tight, detailed emotion. A perfect read.

Shocking and graphic... yet quite moving. Interesting style, from prose to drama to letter excerpt. And to make it even more gruesome and frightening, it's based on a real-life story.

This is the story of a family of post-WWII German immigrants in Canada, and their struggle to come to terms with life as Canadians, in spite of their difficult, war torn past. I thought this book was beautifully written and wonderfully sensitively wrought. The writer's very unique writing style sustains a tremendous level of poignancy and sensitivity throughout the story, but the author manages to achieve this without ever compromising the story at any point. It remains immensely readable and compelling to the end. In particular, the beautiful relationship drawn between the protagonist, Peter, and his sister, Ruby, is so beautifully drawn that I think it could quite easily go down in the annals of literature alongside such famous sibling relationships as the one in George Eliot's The Mill on the Floss. The book is a series of interconnected stories, beautifully held together with bridges of pure literature. The stories follow Peter, a second generation German, as he tries to make sense of his life in small town Canada. Inevitably, though, his history as a German, and all of the associated feelings of guilt enter into the fabric of his, and his families, lives and emotions and forces each of them to come to terms with the weight of history. The way in which this is achieved is so moving, so finely crafted, it brought tears to my eyes, and furthermore, it gives a very important and valuable perspective to another group of people who also suffered as a result of WWII. I highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in history, who enjoyed reading Anne Michaels' Fugitive Pieces or to anyone who enjoys fine literature.

Being a recent nursing student I have to say I really liked this book. Mary C. Townsend did an excelllent job breaking down the material. It contains nursing diagnosis, chapter summaries,case studies and chapter reviews. It included every aspect of information that made paperwork, careplans, clinical prep-work and studying a bit easier. I would reccomend this book to any nursing student especially if this may be your future field.

An amazing collection of Raymond Pettibon's work spanning over the years. High quality book loaded with images and information as well as interviews with Pettibon. Up until now no other book offered as much insight on this relatively obscure artist. Buy it!!!

Tom Friedman takes household objects and...well read the book jacket if you want a description of what Friedman does, the fact is this is a great book. The obsessive nature of Friedman's work really comes through in this collection, with descriptions of the painstaking process Friedman went through to create his works. One such work is a blank piece of paper that Tom Friedman literally stared at for a thousand hours, not consecutively of course. Friedman explains his thought process, how he conceptualizes his art. The "1000 hours of Staring" for example, are Friedman's attempts to "create" a history to an object (without knowing the "history" of the piece, you would simply be looking at a blank piece of paper)

It would probably be more impressive to see these pieces in person, (especially in his pieces that are very very small or emphasize 'imagined' space such as the area that Friedman had a witch put a hex on). To anyone who hate art installations and the like this book may change your mind. But don't think that Friedman only does installations, his work covers many different areas, from photograhpy to sculpture and illustration. The one quality that links all these mediums is Friedman's intricate, detailed thought process. Even people who aren't into modern art will be forced to meditate on the nature of the objects Friendman employs. Can't say enough about this book. Pick it up even if you think you don't like post modernism, pick it up even if you hate art.

Dennis Cooper is a writer who is creating his own niche in literature. He is eloquent while being brutal, comprehendable while writing about insanity, tender while describing the most perilous of situations, and a master at living inside the heads of troubled youths. MY LOOSE THREAD is more like an epic poem in dialogue than it is a novel. There is story here - grand Guignol story - but the madness of the narrative comes solely through the voices of the participants in this far from normal setting. And like an epic poem, this story begs to be read in one sitting. The dialogue is intense but the depth of meaning behind even short phrases requires deep concentration on the part of the reader.

Some people may be put off by the style or the subject of this book - Cooper climbs inside the psyches of young gay boys and tries to sort out the confusion and challenges of the real versus the fantasy. But get past whatever might disturb you about the story and you will be witness to a major talent. It will be invigorating to read a long novel by this gifted writer.

If you've made it here, you know what the book is about. It's not as shocking as it is horrifying. Cooper has touched a raw nerve here, the elephant in the living room, the huge problem endemic to our society: kids that grow up with little or no love and less imagination. There's no emotion or feeling in anything these kids do. Drugs and disaster provide the only forward motion in these kids' lives. And don't say that it's an unreal portrait. It is too real.

This novel is very of-the-moment. It's unlike anything I've read recently. No postmodern,...admiring flim flam. Just a story about youth that ought to scare the bejeezus out of middle America.

One thing you can say about Dennis Cooper's writing is he intends to shock and alarm us with his subject matter, and he certainly is successful in that respect. You might even call it "high risk literature". He is a born writer who writes with short, tight, tense sentences that keeps the reader glued to the story from the beginning to the end. You can feel the emotions and feelings of each of his characters. That's why I have read all of his novels. The subject matter may not be appealing but Cooper is a daring, literary master with words. Cooper's writing has often been compared to another literary artist, William Burroughs.

Cooper's latest novel is about a high school student named Larry who is offered $500, by an older student, to kill a fellow student at his school and retrieve the guy's notebook. It seems like a easy enough task for Larry to do, but many unexpected complications arise. After the student is killed, Larry decides to read the notebook out of curiosity. What it reveals is totally unexpected and shocking for Larry. Larry's life is changed from this point on in the story. Larry at the same time, is also wrestling with his own sexuality and a sexual relationship with his younger brother. These young characters seem to be in a permanent state of emotional upheaval. There seems to be so much violence, stress and sexual abuse in their lives. Everyday is a matter of life and death for these kids. This story is not one that will uplift your spirits, and it's not for the easily shocked.

Shocking? Yes. Sexually tense and violent? Yes. It almost seems like a "teenage hell". As I said, "The subject matter may not be appealing but Cooper is a daring, literary master with words. Be prepared!!!! Cooper's done it again. Recommended.

Joe Hanssen

Clinging to his memories of fake snuff photographs, the mysterious narrator named Dennis explores the dangers and taboos of sexuality. Finally, in Holland, he finds himself free of restrictions and is able to act upon his dark fantasies. A fascinating tale of fetishes and deep desires that disturbs as it compells the reader onward. While not as lush as Poppy Brite's "Exquisite Corpse" or as satirical as Ellis's "American Psycho", "Frisk" charts its own course along similar territory, coming up with a new revelation. And I have to agree that Cooper's writing style can easily put off readers, and I found "Frisk" to be the most readable of his books I've read.

Dennis Cooper keeps taking us further and further into his dark places. FRISK is his deepest exploration yet into the shadow world of lust and death. It is a collection of images loosely tied to a story line. Cooper salivates over James Duvall's beautiful stomach, and then casually recounts an anonymous sex scene between the narrator ("Dennis" who closely resmbles the author) and a young man who may or may not be Leonardo DiCapprio. The most indellible image, however, is a grisly scene in which a dwarf with an attitude enthusiastically and obligingly hacks a gay junkie with a death wish into easily disposable parts.

FRISK appears to be a strange concoction of desire and nightmare, with, just maybe, a sprinkling of biography. It is definitely not a book for everyone.

This is Dennis cooper's breakthrough novel, which got him both praise and death threats. The narrator, "Dennis", is obsessed with the connection between sex and death, desire and annihilation. As you read his story, he implicates you in indulging him his fantasy, but he also loves you for listening to him. Don't put it down when it starts to repulse you, because so much is waiting for you at the end.