I have been teaching guitar since 1980 and have taught from other guitar methods. I always return to this one. This method starts with basic music theory as it relates to the guitar. Then one string at a time introduces new songs and chords. Alfred's basic guitar method is a concise and easy to follow book. In addition with each new lesson there are photos and diagrams that show left hand placement. In the back of the book is a chord chart that is arranged to key signatures not in alphabetical order as is in many other methods. This is important for the beginning student to learn which chords sound correct with other chords in various major and minor keys. Overall I would highly recommend Alfred's basic guitar method books 1-6 for a solid foundation in guitar studies.

I purchased this book for a preschooler's birthday present anddecided to keep it for my own 16 month old son and myself! Althoughthe content is too advanced for him, he is fascinated by the collages of tinted photos. The colors used for the photos are bright, but not obnoxiously so...nice change from typical kids' books AND appealing to those who are into "retro". Both of us like the silly photos of the dogs at the party, too. I think that my son will really enjoy this book in a few years when he can pick out the items in the photo puzzles, but in the meantime, we are content to read about silly dogs (and one cat) at a birthday party. Happy Birthday, Alfred!

Alfred Wright takes you into battle briefly as the Civil War is ending. Will Brandt is a captured Texas Confederate soldier. The end of the war finds him 1500 miles from his home, family, and young wife. No one knows if he is alive or dead. He has only his wits and those of his comrades to help him survive the journey home. The journey is dangerous due to the high levels of emotions of the North and South and the variety of people encountered along the way. The times are hard for everyone, but the dignity and honor with which Will ultimately faces his problems makes me proud that he was a Texan. I could not put this book down once I started reading it. A favorite book which I have read and re-read many time over the years, Love Is A Wild Assault, is one that I would compare the author's ability to involve the reader and share details. He was able to paint the words in such a way that you could actually smell the smoke of burned out homes and feel the stones on your bare feet as you took one more step toward Texas...toward home. I am the winner for having read this book and I will read it many times over. Thank you Mr. Wright please write another book soon.

I have been a Hitchcock fan for years and have always been intrigued by the quiet, petite woman beside the giant behemoth of a man. Now I know her story thanks to this intimate memoir written by the Hitchcocks' only child Pat Hitchcock O'Connell. Pat delves deep into the recesses of her memory, it seems, to bring the reader the details of life in the Hitchcock home. Alma was a remarkable woman, very instrumental in the production of all of her husband's films and a wonderful homemaker to boot. She was a little spitfire of energy, but also quite reserved. She put "Hitch" in his place when he acted up and she was always there by his side when he needed her--which was always! The photos and Alma's recipes and menus in teh back of the book add another level of intimacy to this memoir, practically bringing the reader into the family fold and the Hitchcok world. Alma was quite the successful gourmet cook--as her husband's corpulence proved! While it seemed Pat included a bit too many interviews with friends and family, it just only served to confirm Alma's enormous influence and presence in the Hitchcock legacy.

I highly recommend this book to ALL HITCHCOCK FANS and to all who love to read a good family biography! Thank you, Ms. Hitchcock O'Connell for this long-awaited glimpse into your family life.

"The Amenities Of Book-Collecting And Kindred Affections", by A. Edward Newton is a classic in its genre as well as a book that will be enjoyed by anyone who is interested in the collecting of books, and some of the most noted collectors. Some may question the wisdom of reading about this man's experiences, as they were collected in this book in 1918. A variety of books have been published in recent years that claim to offer a guide to the collecting of books or the experiences of novice collectors. Building a library of books is not something that is easily done or learned. And a person with a fortune at their disposal acting without guidance will only amass a collection that had it been guided by a trusted advisor would be exponentially more valuable and complete.

The curator of the rare book department of a noted college who also was a participant in the latest book by Nicholas Basbanes, "Patience And Fortitude", introduced me to this book and two others. Mr. Basbanes is the author of, "A Gentle Madness", and will be publishing a third volume to his work that is already considered a modern classic by collectors and book lovers.

While the prices and auction results that are listed in this book are very out of date, they still make for great reading, and in some cases may bring to memory a book on a grandparents shelf that today would buy a car or home. If nothing else these old prices show just how much value continues to be placed on collectable books. Mr. Newton lived during the same time that some of those authors whose work he collected were alive and writing. He was a collector of manuscripts, which meant that the author's original drafts of their work were often available. At one point in the book he laments the appearance of the typewriter and the effect it will have on replacing the hand written original. Had he foreseen the computer it probably would have caused him physical distress.

Another area he was an avid collector of is so-called association copies. Like manuscripts these have the rarity that comes with being a one of a kind item. Throughout the book he shares many of the treasures he acquired like a book inscribed from Charles Dickens the father to his son. For people who love late 19th Century Authors, this man not only collected their work, but often knew the writers and their friends. In other instances his collection of Boswell and Johnson's work may not have come directly from the author to him, but he still was able to collect correspondence and other written material that is now difficult to find outside of museums.

This particular book is also wonderful for it has photographic illustrations as well as black and white and color plates as well. If you love books, find as old a copy of this work as you can, and you will have added a treasure to your shelves.

If you liked the CD, then you will love this book. It has some of the best music that I have ever played. I really enjoyed it!

For all of you who like Ancient Egypt and such please buy this book it is really cool! it is mystical in every way so by it! E.A Wallis Budge is awesome while you're at it by The Egyptian Book of the Dead! that book is also really fascinating.

The late, great, Maurice Natanson, himself a student and friend of Alfred Schutz, was told by Schutz, "Maybe you will discover that anonymity and death are the same." This profound thought underlies the entire text, as Natanson explores the causes and effects of anonymity (also called abstraction, typification, alienation, or as Dr. Martin Luther King has called it, "the darkness of nobody-ness").. Natanson reminds us that anonymity is not always a bad thing, but when it is instituted as a system upon unwilling participants, then it becomes problematic.

Also, I would recommend the work of Lewis R. Gordon, who adapts Schutz's and Natanson's theories of anonymity to discuss issues of antiblack racism and Africana thought. Gordon's "Existentia Africana," "Her Majesty's Other Children," and "Fanon and the Crisis of European Man" are suggested.

Alfred Gell's book is both scholarly and (generally) accessable for laypeople and those (like Gell) who are anthropologists . He looks at opposing theories of time perception and how these fit with a human grasp of time. Some of the more theoretical (philosophical) sections are quite heavy. Persist and you shall be rewarded. I enjoyed this book and found it a real thought-provoker.

This book demonstrates how to use Mathematica to do electronic design and includes a demo version of software "NODAL". The chapters include DC circuits, small signal analysis, filter design, component design and sensitivity, time series, high frequency circuits, and noise analysis. The difference between this program and SPICE is that you can do the analysis symbolically. The HF chapter show how to do stability analysis of RF circuits and matching network design. I found the book helpful.