This a delightful book. David Muench's ability to use light and contrast to capture the varied landscapes of Arizona is unsurpassed. He truly has a gift.

This is a wonderful coffee table book packed with a wide variety of spectacular photos of Arizona. It is a stunning display of the tremendous variety found in Arizona's natural habitat. Muench focuses on different aspects of the landscape including light, form, life and ecology. Captions tell where the photograph was taken with some brief commentary. A short essay by the photographer leads off each section with some of his personal thoughts and insights.

You will find an awesome view looking up through the trees to the sky, and the beautiful azure color of the Colorado River contrasting against white and rust colored rocks. Views of waterfalls, snow-capped mountains, autumn leaves and desert sands will take your breath away. Natural rock formations and cactus plants are seen in a new light as they become elegant sculptures. Endless, brilliant blue skies are captured against fields, mountains and red rock formations. Close-up of photos vibrant pink cactus flowers and sunny yellow poppies will brighten your day. You also get an occasional glimpse of lush green trees and plants.

As with all of Muench's books this one is printed on quality glossy paper with the highest of production values doing justice to the photography. As a Muench fan this is a treasured addition to my library.

David Muench's photographs show the incredible beauty and variety of Arizona's scenery. The book is a wonderful gift for anyone who loves Arizona or color photography. We received it as a gift and have purchased two more copies since then to give to others.

As an elementary educator, I highly recommend this book for both teachers and parents of young children. The power of reading over watching television has substantial research and ultimately confirms that reading is a powerful tool. David McPhail is my hero when it comes to writing and illustrating text. His delightful message is not only for Emma the bear, but for all children. Read Read Read.

David McPhail's "Fix-It" is a charming way to introduce reading to beginning or relunctant readers. Emma wakes up one morning to find the television set not working. Her dad, mom and even the repairman are unable to fix it. When the T.V. problem is finally solved, Emma no longer cares. She has found an equally enjoyable activity, reading a book. Although this book could be considered a "baby book" by more "experienced" readers, preschoolers should be able to find this book appealing. The message that the book is trying to get across to children is great. The illustrations are soft and help tell the story accurately. This book has charm and should be enjoyed by a variety of children.

David McPhail's Fix-it! is a charming book. The illustrations are clear; the text is simple. It is good for pre-readers and beginning readers. The book promotes reading with your children.

Now in a newly revised edition that includes verses from "Elegy", Larry Levis' (1946-1996) final collection of poetry, The Selected Levis, gathers inspirational and moving verse whose lyrical, picturesque wording evokes an atmosphere all its own -- sometimes beautiful, sometimes bleak and dark. But some things are not possible on the earth./And that is why people make poems about the dead./And the dead watch over them, until they are finished:/Until their hands feel like glass on the page,/And snow collects in the blind eyes of statues.

I'd like to make a correction to my review--when I wrote this I was so excited about the collection that I wasn't thinking straight! There are no poems from his last full collection, Elegy in here; the Selected Poems ends with the Widening Spell of the Leaves. I didn't mean to misrepresent this volume. But if you've never read any Levis before, buy the selected, and buy Elegy, and work from there.

I think it was Michael Levenson who said that "It's easy to have an opinion, but so hard to write a sentence that counts." Nearly every one of Levis's sentences counted, through a deep and original sense of line and a voice that easily alternated between the fierce and tender. Except perhaps from his first book, nearly everything that Levis wrote resonated--he's one of the best, and sadly, one of the most underrated, of the poets of the 80s and 90s.

He did this by creating new KINDS of poems; the cadences (particularly in his later books) are singularly his, and tonally the poems can be elegaic, or funny, but they're not just "feelings put on paper." His poems aren't merely glib, vague confessional prose broken up arbitrarily into lines, as seems to be trendy lately. Tonally they might vary from the elegaic to the absurdly funny--but they are all part of a deep exploration by Levis of human experience. He is often rooted in regional soil (the hardscrabble California vineyards of his childhood) but he is not a "regional" writer; in other words, whatever his experiences in life might be, he uses poetry as a way to transform them, merely than just describe them. He can write a poem about Belgrade, and have the same type of unbounded imagery, rhythms, and lyrical force than he has writing about "home."

Perhaps the greatest poems here are the Elegies from his last book, in which the elegies themselves become kind of semiautonomous creatures in of themselves (the titles say much to this regard: "Elegy with a Thimbleful of Water in the cage," "Elegy with a Petty Thief in the Rigging," "Elegy with an Angel inside its gate," etc), and are probably the best sequence of poems I've seen in a long long time.

In short, this is a fine introduction to Levis's work--but if you're hooked, you're going to want all of his books anyway (most of which are thankfully in-print by both Pittsburgh and Carneige Mellon). It has been awfully hard to pin down in words what makes his work so special, because in many ways, just like his poems, it defies easy categorization. His poems don't necessarily provide nice morals at the end; they aren't sugar-coated. But I can't think of another poet--even Sylvia Plath, whose work I love--who I regret (grieve, really) had died an early death. With any luck a hundred years from now people will be reading, passionately, Levis's work.

What if a balloon was so big it carried you away? That's what happens to the poor little boy in this story when his parents buy him a balloon at the zoo. What follows is a wonderfully imaginative and beautifully illustrated adventure packed full of wild animals and hair-raising situations.

My daughter loved this and has asked us to read it to her many times. It's delightful for parents, too, which is always a plus for the story-reader!

Oh how I love this book! Open it up and right away the illustrations capture your curiousity, they make this book what it is...........fun! Children will laugh, hisssss and growl right along with the story as the little boy lifts off high in the air dangling from a big red balloon. His adventures with the zoo animals are exciting and somewhat suspenseful as he meets face to face with a long, slithering snake (with fangs..oh my!). This is great storytelling for groups of children who will eventually recite the main dialogue "that's good. No, that's bad" before you can even get the words out. After reading it add some dramatic play by acting out the zoo animals and then get to the art supplies and draw your own adventure! Have fun!

This book is great fun to read out loud to preschoolers and young school children. Sound effects are written in (bang, whoosh, plop), so you don't need a lot of imagination, just a lot of expression. It is the story of a boy whose parents buy him a balloon at the zoo (that's good), and it lifts him up and away (that's bad). He is deposited in the jungle and meets a variety of helpful and not-so-helpful animals there. The illustrations are delightful, and it has a happy ending. It shows kids that you can have all sorts of adventures in the big wide world, and you can always come home to your loving parents.

Hi! Editors. I am Yanbei Liou from China,and my callsign is Bd2bh.I Iike the ARRL Handbook for Radio Amatures 2001 very much. For I had read it for many years (1987),but i never read it newly again. Like all hams in China I could not get it, and hope it will be published in China, and be bought

The 2001 edition of The ARRL Handbook is the latest and most up-to-date version of an excellent reference book for both the Amateur Radio operator or anyone interested in RF engineering. The Handbook contains information on the basics of radio operation and practices and detailed information for the RF engineer needing to know technical component details. The ARRL has again designed a wonderful book that will provide information for all levels of hams. Information on the new HF digital modes is provided, as well as the old standards of voice and CW. For those wanting to know the theory behind the radios, the ARRL focuses on the technical details - the how and why - of the radios and the modes, so that when you walk away from this book you will know the answer to your question (and a lot more if you keep reading!) The only real negative comment on this book is that there is a LOT of very technical information. This can make finding exactly what you want to know a challange, as it takes a little digging and knowing exactly what you are looking for. A very complete index does make this much easier. However, for the beginniner this book would do well to whet your appetite for venturing deeper into Amateur Radio, and for the master RF engineer this book serves well as a very detailed technical reference that can aid in every day engineering questions.

When City of Angels premiered on Broadway in 1989, it ran for fewer than 1000 performances. When you read this libretto, which you absolutely must do if you like musical theatre at all, you'll wonder why it isn't running today. The book is full of wit, and is incredibly funny and biting as it satirizes Hollywood movie-making. The stage directions keep you fully abreast of what's going on (even if you've never seen a show), and they allow you to easily keep track of where the action is happening. The only thing missing from this wonderful volume is, of course, the great music that goes with the song. All the more reason to buy the OCR of the show and listen to it at the same time! City of Angels is a great musical, and one you'll enjoy reading (and listening to!) time and time again.

Not to be confused with the recent Cage/Ryan flick, this book is the libretto of a little-known musical with music by Cy Coleman ("Sweet Charity", "The Life"), book by Larry Gelbart ("A Funny Thing...", "Tootsie"), and lyrics by David Zippel (Disney's "Hercules" and "Mulan"). "City of Angels" won the 1989 Tony Award for Best Musical and is the story of a detective novelist named Stine and the perils he encounters while trying to adapt his novels for the silver screen. In the play, scenes about Stine (in color) are juxtaposed with scenes about his private-eye creation, Stone (in black and white). Besides building some genuine film noir detective-mystery suspense, the musical offers an insightful commentary on how art imitates life, and vice versa. Unfortunately, one misses out on the marvelous jazz-infected music that accompanies the adventures of Stine and Stone if one merely reads the libretto, so grab a copy of one of the cast recordings (Broadway or London) as well!

Inside AutoCad 12 For DOS ISBN 1562050559
While a co-worker was spending hundreds of dollars to
learn AutoCad at the local collage, I learned as much at
the same pace at home with this fine book. It should be sub-titled as a tutorial. The book begins assuming you know nothing about AutoCad,
and carefully explains in a straight-forward method all you need to know. Everything is done in sequence so each excercise teaches
new commands to be used in following drawings. It is a great primer
for new users learning 2-D basics, and I have shared it with experienced users at work as a reference manual for 2-D
and 3-D drawings. The book comes with a disk with programs
to help you learn which was a real time-saver for me. I would recommend this book to all beginning and professional
AutoCad users. I have other titles from The New Riders Publishing Company, and they have all been a very good investment.

While a co-worker was spending hundreds of dollars to
learn AutoCad at the local collage, I learned as much at
the same pace at home with this fine book. It should be sub-titled as a tutorial. The book begins assuming you know nothing about AutoCad,
and carefully explains in a straight-forward method all you need to know. Everything is done in sequence so each excercise teaches
new commands to be used in following drawings. It is a great primer
for new users learning 2-D basics, and I have shared it with experienced users at work as a reference manual for 2-D
and 3-D drawings. The book comes with a disk with programs
to help you learn which was a real time-saver for me. I would recommend this book to all beginning and professional
AutoCad users. I have other titles from The New Riders Publishing Company, and they have all been a very good investment.

A LAND SO REMOTE

Prior to the holidays, I received a great gift, a copy of the beautifully produced three-volume study A Land So Remote, authored by Larry Frank and Skip Miller, and published by Marianne and Michael O'Shaughnessy of Red Crane Books, Publishers, Santa Fe.
Creation of a successful publication of this magnitude can only be accomplished by many who work in concert, in this case scholar, editor, publisher and, of course, those who are willing to share their treasures with anyone wishing to turn the pages in this landmark study. Frank and Miller have devoted a large percentage of their lives carefully studying and painstakingly handling objects-some of religious importance, powerful images that were the subject of daily devotion, while other objects that served a useful function in the lives of hundreds of thousands attempting to make their lives easier. To the Hispanic, Native American, and the Anglo, these objects were an integral part of daily life-whether as an expression of their spirituality, their intense religious devotion-- or to enable them to perform certain physical tasks-- cutting wood or baking bread.
The authors, in concert with photographer Michael O'Shaughnessy, have treated each object sympathetically, whether it be a santo or bulto, or packsaddle or carreta wheels, with the same level of care, even reverence. The real joy is in seeing so many diverse objects fashioned out of wood and other materials in significant numbers. How often have we had the opportunity of examining page after page of images beautifully organized and described. The authors, of course, treat us to a display of work by lesser known santeros, as well as the most celebrated, notably José Rafael Aragon. Volume two devotes pages 288 to 377 to some of the most powerful religious images by Aragon and his followers that the reader will ever experience.
Since 1974, I have been a frequent visitor to New Mexico and have written a few books on the Anglo painters. After reading Miller's and Frank's essays, I said to myself, "I wish I had written these words. Both scholars write with conviction and authority. They also write in a style I have labeled "an easy read." They have organized their material so that it makes sense. You understand why the objects were created, who created them and importantly, how they were created. Happily, these objects, some still in the churches in Ranchos de Taos, Chimayo, Taos, and chapels throughout the Southwest, others in museums and private collections, have been "gathered" and presented to the reader and viewer in a beautiful and effective manner (I was tempted to use the phrase elegant but refrained).
All reviews of the publication praise A Land So Remote for its visual appeal, handsome photographs," fascinating account of the history and culture of Hispanic New Mexico," scholarship, a major contribution to Hispanic studies. One critic even suggested that, before being placed in a glass case [with other rare books], it might serve as a coffee table book. Never! If anything, it will be a banquet table book, and will be the scene of great feasts-visual and literary. But their words, like mine, fail to express the impact this handsome three-volume study will have on you-the participant. This study will, like the objects that it treats, transcends time. Secure your copy. I can assure you that it will never gather dust (although it will go out-of-print).

Dean A. Porter, Ph. D.
Director Emeritus, The Snite Museum of Art
Professor of Art History
University of Notre Dame

Published by the vaunted Red Crane Books of Santa Fe, New Mexico, this three volume set on religious art and wooden artifacts of New Mexico is a rare, rich visual and intellectual repast. It would be a treasured gift, one to which collectors and aficionados will return time and again.

Larry Frank is remembered for "The New Kingdom of the Saints" (1997), while Skip Miller is curator and director, Taos Historic Museums.

With 842 stunning color photographs and 848 pages A Land so Remote surely holds the most comprehensive and accessible information on this subject. Many of the photos included are of rare objects gleaned from nine museums and a number of private collections. Carefully selected for the part each plays in this artistic corpus, photos are accompanied by concise essays that enhance knowledge while still piquing an interest to know more.

Volumes I and II beautifully present the growth of religious art during a period of over 125 years. It was a time when in order to undergird their faith Spanish settlers turned to santos, visual representations of saints. Thus was born an art form unique to America which once was of great import in churches, communities and homes.. Santos were, if you will, incarnations of the hopes and dreams of these immigrants.

"Rightly understood," author Frank remarks, "santos are a kind of 'liberation theology' written in the language of wood, plaster, and paint, an understanding of Christianity that empowers the poor to free themselves from unjust socioeconomic and cultural structures in the larger world and within themselves.

Volume III centers on wooden objects, such as tools, furniture, toys, and domestic utensils. These objects testify to the influence of the Spanish on the traditions of the indigenous inhabitants of this region.

Photographer Michael O'Shaughnessy described his task as a "...wonderful, often awesome, experience of having such close contact with material that radiates the love and importance that their makers brought to their creation."

Such is the case with readers as they leaf through the pages of these landmark volumes.

- Gail Cooke

Brimner's Raindrops is a gentle, poetic tie-in to primary science units about the water cycle. Big and bold illustrations by David Brooks in soft, pastel colors are dreamy--as if seen through a soft rain. Brimner, who is one of the best loved writers for kindergarten and first grade, has a winner here. Like this one and you'll enjoy some of his other emergent readers--Cowboy Up!, Nana's Hog, Firehouse Sal, How Many Ants?, and the hysterical duo Max and Felix. Kids love them (and so do their teachers).

A first-grade team teacher, I find Brimner's emergent reader to be a useful tie-in to our science unit on the water cycle. Although he doesn't clobber readers over the head with scientific facts--it is, after all, fiction--the cycle is there for young readers to discover and enjoy. An excellent choice for anyone wishing to tie scientific fact to the realm of young fiction.

This is a great book well worth the money. it reminded me alot of the old days flying the airplane. very good book highly recomended

I think this book is a rich reference about the most representatives aircraft in the USAF history.

Cover all parts in aircraft development's, from the USAF requeriment's for a new nuclear fighter-bomber, passing for prototype, F-105B,D,F & G; also the the F-105 cancelled projects and their roll in Combat speciality in the Vietnam War.

This book have a good reference of technical details with good explanation in the diferences between F-105A,B,D,F,& G and others projects.

Contains many photos and detailed technical drawings that can help to understand the past existence of this aircraft in the USAF.

Highly recommended for modelers.