Art collectors living in Cleveland have been well exposed to sculpture made from glass both through the efforts of Tom Reiley of the Reiley-Hawk Galleries and the passion of a group of collectors, most notably Francine & Benson Pilloff and Mike Belkin. A few years ago, the Cleveland Museum exhibited a significant amount of material from local collections in one of the Museum's most popular shows. This is the beautifully illustrated catalog that accompanied the show...and if you enjoy contemporary art, this is a must

For a considerable period of time the Mexican colonial period was viewed as a wasteland in the arts, a barren stretch awaiting the arrival of the Spaniards. Recent scholarship reveals that this was not the case. In fact, just the opposite was true as is showcased in this magnificently illustrated bilingual volume.

Displayed between these pages are eye-popping decorative and fine arts from the Mexican viceregal period (1521 - 1821). Included among the collection are paintings, sculptures, furniture, ceramics, metals, textiles, featherwork, lacquer, and books.

Five informative essays by Mexican and American scholars provide a backdrop for the arts of colonial Mexico, and extensive commentaries allow further exploration of individual pieces.

"The Grandeur of Viceregal Mexico" is an extraordinary volume shedding light on a previously little known segment of art history.

- Gail Cooke

It is a travesty that this book is now out of print, as Pleasant's first great book, The Agony of Modern Music, has been for a long time. This book creates a window into the past, an idea of how the greatest singers before the advent of recording actually sounded. He brings them to life again, in short, vivid chapters. When you read this book, you get a clearer idea of how Bellini and Donizettis' operas sounded when Rubini and Grisi and Malibran were actually alive and singing them for the first time. Anyone who wants a better appreciation for opera should read this book. Any classical singer who doesn't is missing a critical part of their education. Pleasants covers performance practice from the Baroque through Strauss, from vocalism to ornamentation and the shifts in the balance of power between singer, composer, and conductor (and, now, director). It is an essential book.

Henry Pleasants died this month 1/5/2000. We have lost a great man. Maybe the publishers will notice this and reprint his books. Finally.

this reads like really good fiction...Anais opens up and analyzes everyday life to death....expresses emotions that everyone can relate to...as well as daring, very strange, and exciting situations in her life. very sensual....very deep views of relationships...very optimistic..never EVER DULL...always at maximum pitch

Robert Ferguson has written a spectacular biography on legendary writer Henry Miller. Ferguson, unlike other Miller biographers (such as Mary Dearborne, Alfred Perles), relates the details of Miller's life & works without personal bias or an angle. Although a very tough task, Ferguson is able to distinguish reality as it happened from reality as reported by Henry Miller (which at times is filled with bald-faced lies, such as claiming to have met Emma Goldman although she was not allowed in the city when Miller claims to have met her) most of the time. While some fans of Miller will not like the work because it "spoils the mystique of a legend", others will, I'm sure, agree that this is a thorough, fair and accurate biography about a man who tried very hard to erase the tracks he made in life with all new marks created by semi-autobiographical romances. And dang good ones at that!

This book is one of the most helpful sources to understanding and looking at Henry Moore's world, work and learning his regard for the objects of reality he transformed into his sculptures. It is truly amazing and it is the actual sketchbook of his very own sheep. It is a wonderful book.

Some quotations from Adam Starchild's wonderful afterword to this book are appropriate:

"Children today are starved for the image of real heroes. Celebrities are not the same thing as heroes. Heroes existed way before celebrities ever did, even though celebrities now outshine heroes in children's consciousness."

"Worshiping celebrities leaves children with a distinctly empty feeling -- it doesn't teach that they'll have to make sacrifices if they want to achieve anything worthwhile. No- talents become celebrities all the time. The result is that people don't seem to care about achievement or talent -- fame is the only objective."

"... Despite immense differences in cultures, heroes around the world generally share a number of traits that instruct and inspire people. A hero does something worth talking about, but a hero goes beyond mere fame or celebrity. The hero lives a life worthy of imitation. If they serve only their own fame, they may be celebrities but not heroes. Heroes are catalysts for change. They create new possibilities. They have a vision, and the skill and charm to implement their vision."

"Heroes may also be fictional. Children may identify with a character because of the values projected. People tend to grow to be like the people that they admire, but if a child never has any heroes what images will he copy? Adults need heroes too, but the need is even more urgent for children because they don't know how to think abstractly. But they can imagine what their hero would do in the circumstances, and it gives them a useful reference point to build abstract thinking skills."

This little book tells the story of the most important turning point in the history of Western thinking. That it is full of surprises, shows how widely misunderstood is the subject it treats. One of the most important things it demonstrates, without necessarily meaning to, is how radical skepticism has historically been an ally, rather than an enemy, of religion, and an enemy, rather than an ally, of science.

Popkin is the undisputed master of this subject, and this book is filled with summaries and precious exerpts of works no longer accessible to most of us, and is worth buying for that reason alone.

This book is the best game book I've ever found. The layout of the book by continents/regions of the world is most helpful. The background information given adds to the appreciation of the game. The checklist of equipment needed, the excellent diagrams on executing the game (or dance)and grade appropriateness makes these games a sure hit with all ages. I also appreciate the index of games and dances by country. I have used many of these games for intergenerational gatherings with great success.

The Labyrinth of the Comic is a finely written academic study of the meanings of comedy and the comic in literature, philosophy, psychology, and psychoanalysis, from the middle eighteenth century to the early twentieth. It is published by a university press and aimed primarily at academic audiences: for students and teachers at the college level. If you are interested in how comedy has been understood and interpreted between Henry Fielding's Joseph Andrews and Tom Jones in the mid eighteenth century, and Sigmund Freud's Jokes and their Relation to the Unconscious in the early 20th century, you should find the book interesting and helpful. The book also considers William Makepeace Thackeray, Soren Kierkegaard, the rise of experimental psychology, and George Meredith.