Finally. A well thought out and well executed book about a major movement in American art that is often dismissed as being one dimensional. Dennis' introspective look into the most revered "Regionalist" artists not only offers engaging scholarship, but a very good education in American social history as well. A must read for anyone who thinks they know what "Regionalism" is.

This book makes you rethink any ideas you might have about Regionalism. Whether you agree with James Dennis or not is up to you, but he certainly does bring up some very interesting ideas. The basic ideas of the Regionalism school are initially laid out for the reader, and from this beginning it is already possible to see the weak foundation of the very definition of "Regionalism," as it was defined NOT by the artists, but by their critics and the public. The sterotyping generalities inherent in this 'school' set the stage for Dennis' questioning of the similarities of the work of Thomas Hart Benton, Grant Wood, and John Steurat Curry, the triumvirate of Regionalism. The author proceeds to explicate the inherent differences between the 3 artists' work, as well as the eventually obvious flawed general definition of "Regionalism." Dennis breaks down his discussions into realism vs. abstraction, realistic subject matter vs. fantasies, the ideas of nationalism and fascism in the artists' work, their varying depictions of women, and finally compares the three Regionalists to three contemporary modernists, Charles Demuth, Charles Sheeler, and Marsden Hartley. Dennis concludes with the assertion that the so-called "Regionalists" are in many ways more "modern" than their modernists contemporaries. The book has plenty of pictures, sadly only in black and white, and thus the book is a surprisingly quick read. Each chapter is thorough however, and must be studied to be fully understood. The reader should have some art historical background, and some knowledge of the history of the first half of the 20th century. I would highly recommend this book to anyone who is interested in Regionalism, and the history of American art. Makes you think.

"American Gothic" appears opposite the title page in "Artist in Overalls: The Life of Grant Wood," but John Duggleby makes it clear to his young readers that the artist's most famous painting is also perhaps his most atypical. First, there is a more realistic depiction of the faces than you find in the vast majority of Wood's paintings (e.g, "Woman with Plants" or "Appraisal"). However, what was always most striking for me of Wood's art was his stylized landscapes, ever since I first saw "Midnight Ride of Paul Revere." This is especially true of many of his farm paintings, such as "Spring Turning" and "Fall Plowing." The first half of the book talks about how Woods grew up in Iowa farm country and then turns to his art career. Although Duggleby talks about how Wood struggled to find his style and has an epilogue on how to draw and paint like Grant Wood, this book is primarily a biography rather than an effort in art appreciation. For the latter I would suggest Mike Venezia's volume on Grant Woods for the Getting to Know the World's Greatest Artists series. However, if you are just looking for a juvenile biography of one of the most American of American artists, then "Artist in Overalls" is what the book you want.

Full of humor and glee, just an excellent work all around. Well done.

The paintings in this book make fantasy look like reality, they look like photographs and the images seem so real. The earth and the trees generate energy and light. The atmospheric, surreal night-time landscapes and mythical creatures in this book will lead you to believe that they truly exist. I also loved that there were detailed explanations from the artist of what she was trying to achieve, as well as pictures of the works-in-progress! I highly recommend it.

This companion to the PBS program is a fine armchair read for any fascinated by railroads and travel: it takes a cross-country trip behind the scenes of American roads, presenting eight chapters which celebrate multi-day rail journeys. Rail history and scenery alike are presented in colorful, photo-packed chapters.

Covers the mysteries of the modern era- poltergeists,telepathy,lake monsters,UFO, and Big Foot,etc..

John Sherwood manages to create likeable characters and place them in an interesting setting (the English countryside). The mystery involved is engaging, as is the use of horticulture. Sherwood goes beyond just gardening to add a distinct air to the entire series. Anyone with an interest in plants and gardening will enjoy this series. And if you don't enjoy them, read this book (and the others) anyway.

This is the "director's cut" of a book that was first published in 1994 in a very different form. Here is the blurb from the back of the new -- and, by me, vastly preferred -- edition.

Please accept no substitutes!

-- John Grant

The story begins several million years ago, when sentient machines from an alien civilization build a Dyson Sphere around the sun's Red Dwarf companion star (which is why we've never seen it) and seed the Sphere with Neanderthals . . .

Or maybe it begins in the future, after terrestrial humanity has discovered the Sphere (now called the Big Dunkin Donut), colonized it, and enslaved the natives.

Whatever ... the Donut is in peril.

Atheist fundamentalist preachers - Rev Rick "The Man" Hamfist and Rev Bo "No Messin" Fingers - inspired by dastardly Dennis the Complete Bloody Sadist, are waging an evangelical war there with the aim of destroying the local, very real, goddess LoChi.

Using a matter transmitter, Earth sends holochips of two plucky adventurers to sort this out: heavy-weapons-toting xeno-anthropologist and scantily clad babe Petula McTavish; and by-the-rules supercop Dave Knuckle. But Knuckle's holochip is accidentally shattered on arrival into one hundred fragments, which are reconstituted to form one hundred lethally diverse partial versions of the supercop.

McTavish now has a hundredfold problem to solve. Actually a one-hundred-and-one-fold problem, but that wouldn't have made as good a title.

And that's before she falls in love . . .

The Hundredfold Problem is that rarest of things - a gloriously funny romp, populated by outrageous, larger-than-life characters, that's also an extremely imaginative, challenging sf novel.

Legendary Lighthouses V. II continues the celebration of American lighthouses begun in the first volume, paralleling information presented in the second new PBS series and providing fine color photos of the lighthouses as well as a healthy dose of local and lighthouse history. Any with a fascination for the lighthouse will find this an invaluable guide.

My english is not so well to express all my thanks to author for so god book. I am interested to read more books about databases from same author.