Every fashion person who ever was blown away by the original depraved-decadence fashion photos of the notorious french and italian vogues from the red-hot seventies....will savor this collection of legendary images by a truly visionary master, Guy Bourdin. Mr. Bourdin, alongside Mr. Helmut Newton, changed what was acceptable as an image to sell luxurious designer products. They introduced imagry associated with pornography, violence, surrealism and Film Noir to the fashion magazines and started a trend that will never go out.....even though the versions recreated today no longer have the style, taste or originality of these masters.....an odd statement considering their work was considered "tasteless" by many subscribtion cancelers.
This book could have had better printing quality....and some actual magazine spreads could have been included....but overall, it's a long overdue tome.

This sample of Guy Bourdin's work is an interesting glimpse of some of his photographs. Little known in America, Bourdin was well known in the world of fashion photography and often copied by well known, popular photographers. This selection offers a taste of his work and a hint of what will follow in further releases of his photographs.

I met Samuel Chand after he spoke at a conference in Los Angeles, and bought his book right off the table. My wife and I had been struggling to plant a church in South Central Los Angeles, and at the time were stinging from several painful setbacks... could we have done anything to avert those disasters? 20-20 hindsight always accuses "Yes!". Chand's book helped us deal with our failure, pick up the pieces (those available to pick up at least) and continue on. Best thing about this book: it is not mere cheerleading or positive-thinking, but honest, bold approach to understanding and redeeming failure so that "all things [really do] work for the good of those who are called according to His purpose". Don't read it when things are going well. Read it when you are angry, despairing, or ready to give up.

The Story Behind the Book

It was the first Monday in August 1985. Mondays can either be real good or real bad for pastors depending on the day before Monday-Sunday! Sunday is the day the self-worth and even the calling of the pastor are tested to its limits. An experienced pastor has counseled wisely, "Never resign on a Monday!" On this particular Monday, I walked up to a few pastor friends who were gathered in the parking lot of the Conference center. The annual denominational conference was about to begin. The typical Monday morning pastor's conversation was in full bloom. "So, how many did you have in church yesterday?" was the operating question. Now, we all know that that question is usually asked by pastors who had a "good" Sunday, and this is the way they can let others know how well they did. Actually, it is a very self-serving question. It is not about the questioned; it is about the questioner! The respondent, who usually had a "bad" Sunday responds by shuffling his feet, clearing his throat, and saying something like, "We've had a lot of sickness in our area and seems like so many people were out on vacation. . ." This one-upmanship in the parking lot that Monday morning got the best of me. So, as a junior member of the clergy, I timidly asked, "Do any of you have low Sundays? Do you ever get discouraged? Do you ever feel like giving up? Do you ever wonder if it's worth it?" As soon as the words left my mouth, I knew I had said the wrong thing! Why deal with reality when denial serves us so well? The book in your hands was born on that Monday morning in that parking lot. The accounts in the book finally answer the questions that were asked in the parking lot and remind us that failure is the womb of success. As you read this book, you will laugh and you will weep. You will shake your head in agreement as well as amazement. Failure is not a popular subject. Go to your nearest bookstore and look for the shelf marked FAILURE; that shelf does not exist! Everyone wants to talk about success (it sells), but we all know we fail at more things than we succeed at. So let's talk about it! This book will get you started.

Samuel R. Chand Coordinator and collaborator of this book

The Fiction Writer's Bible is a very enlighting book involving fresh ideas and concepts on writing. I found it to be written in a down to earth approach which was not only educational but likewise entertaining and extremely interesting. It contains many useful tools to help one develop their own writing style. I recommend this books to all writers and readers as well.

The Fiction Writer's Bible is just full of useful hints in developing your writing skills. I was impressed. I've read a lot of books on writing tools but this one actually helped to improve my thinking and blending process. I think it is a "must read" for beginners as well as experienced writers. It will give anyone who reads it a fresh approch on writing and enhance their writing creativity.

This is a good Book. This Book is so good I read it in one night and read it again. I would reccomend this book To anyone who thinks life is difficult or someone who needs a good role model or inspiration or just someone who really likes to read. This book is basically anout puttong your trust in God. If there were more than 5 stars I would give it 10 and 2 thumbs up.

This is a remarkable story of one man's deliverance from a life headed for a tragic ending. Using honesty, modesty and a keen sense of humor, Sam Huddleston tells how his father's (heavenly as well as earthly), undying love changed him from an angry man living a perilous life to a loving man living for God

This volume is by far the best one so far. The first book ("Tales of Neveryon") was a bunch of neat stories with ulterior meanings that were sometimes obvious and sometimes no so obvious, and the second novel was good but meandered a bit more than it needed to. Here, however, it all comes together. Delany seems far more focused here than in the other volumes. In the earlier stories Delany seemed more experimental than anything else, cloaking a variety of topics in the sword and sorcery genre just to see if he could, in this volume he's decided to explore subjects that mean a lot more personally to him, and this causes an incredible jump in quality (which was high to begin with). The three stories are uniformly excellent here, and all are vastly different. Delany seems to be trying to look into the nature of reality and myth here, trying to figure out the difference between what is "real" and what people perceive and how it might get like that. This is more intellectual stuff than fantasy is normally used to, and far from the typical "good vs evil" simplicities that usually inhabit the fantasy genre. The reason Delany can pull this off is because the fantasy here feels "real" when he focuses on minor events and characters who are really just regular people it gives the story added weight. His Neveryon comes across as a real place with an active and complex culture, from the admirable to the hedonistic. He's probably also the first to inject homosexuality into fantasy, in all its forms, which is something that has always been noticably absent from fantasy over the years (not that it needs to be there, but it's about the only major genre to not even acknowledge it . . . except for the usual fey, pale, lisping princes and the like . . .) and is very prominent in this volume, moreso than the others, which it was acknowledged but not really addressed. The last story especially "The Tale of Plagues and Carnivals" is really an amazing story, nominally about the emergence of an AIDS like illness into Neveryon while also an account of Delany's experiences in NY in the early eighties when AIDS was first becoming more prevalent. He captures both times well and the story jumps back and forth from his recollections to Neveryon to his thoughts on writing the book and eventually does a lot to blur the line between our world and Neveryon. It alone is worth the purchase of the volume. Overall these stories are some of his best post-"Dhalgren" work and for anyone who thinks that fantasy can be more relevant than beating up trolls, they owe it to themselves to track down this series.

I read this for my college English course. At first it was a bit daunting, but since I had to stick with it for the class I pressed on. Suddenly all the words just started to flow and it quickly became an involving tale. I love the book so much that I've given it as a gift to more than a few of my friends.

I enjoyed this book for personal reasons, but aside from that, I thought the author's perspective gave the stories depth to many of the impersonal aspects of the war. He is a great story teller, and adds that personal detail that makes them come to life. I recommend this book to young and old - in fact to anyone who wants to learn about this time period through the eyes of a young surgeon who served on five fronts and lived to tell about it.

An able and highly enjoyable job of getting the facts out with the tone of our shared WW-II experiences. Am impressed with the precision of writing. Moore has done all of us a huge favor, and I, for one, am most grateful. Brig. General Robert A. Duffy, USAF (Ret.)

The best EEG book ever to come along. Since EEG is a visual art, combining actual, full size EEG pages with a text explaining the relevant findings is the only way one can learn it, and the authors have done an outstanding job of this.

This book is now out; I have seen the edition. I consider it one of the most useful texts I have ever read. It is worth twice the price.

This is a collection of about 20 or so essay-format descriptions by different authors of great raids, including Drake's Cadiz expedition, John Paul Jones' hijinks off the British coast, the U-Boat raid into Scapa Flow, the botched invasions of Dieppe (1942) and Tehran (1980) and Israeli commando attacks on Egypt in the early 1970s. Inevitably, different authors, while adding immense color and depth to the stories, do tend to break the continuity, so this is a book best read in 30 page slabs. The descriptions of Wingate's first Chindit raid in Burma and Stephen Tanner's revealing account of the German commando raids and other intrigues which kept Hungary in the Axis camp are the standouts. Overall, an excellent compilation of military history and an excellent piece of collective writing.

(The numerical rating above is a default setting within Amazon's format. This reviewer does not employ numerical ratings.)

Daring actions by small units have always excited the imagination, not least because they affirm that individual initiative and courage count for something in the impersonal forces of war.

Here is a fine collection of accounts of some of those raids, from Elizabethan times to the present, beautifully written and (generally) well researched. Stephen Tanner's essays on Custer and Skorzeny particularly stand out as lively, reliable history writing. Less praiseworthy are the efforts of the conspiracy theorist who always seems to find American perfidy in every Allied reverse. With photos, bibliography, and an excellent index.

I'm a student taking art classes, and this book was HIGHLY RECOMMENDED by my drawing teacher. Real drawing skills, or draftmanship, is sadly a lost art. Very few art teachers (even those teaching in universities) could draw realistically, let alone draw well. Therefore this book is a MUST for the serious students who wish to study/perfect his skills.

Although the French philosopher, Diderot, wrote of Jean-Baptiste Greuze, "this man draws like an angel," the philosopher also had a few words to say about Greuze's marriage, noting that when the couple talked it was like a Punch and Judy show as blows were returned "with a skill which makes his companion even more malicious."

While it may have been that Greuze was a confrontational spouse, there is no doubt that he is one of the greatest artists of 18th century France and a draftsman par excellence as is revealed in Edgar Munhall's superior "Greuze the Draftsman."

Boasting 350 illustrations, over 100 in color, this sumptuous volume presents a comprehensive view of Greuze's output. The panorama of drawings is found in a variety of media, pen and ink, brush with tinted washes and watercolours, red chalk, and pastels. It is a veritable banquet for art lovers.

Accompanying texts highlight the importance of each work as well as conveying information regarding provenance and technique.

"Greuze the Draftsman" is an admirable addition to the collections of art devotees.

- Gail Cooke

This is one of the best books I've ever read on hypertension. Dr. Mann's style is gentle and knowing, and he makes the concepts easy to understand. And whether your high blood pressure is linked to your repressing your emotions or not, the latter part of the book offers an excellent overview of treatment options.

When I picked up Healing Hypertension, I was expecting yet another book on the mind/body connection of hypertension. To my pleasant surprise I found that the book offered fresh new ideas regarding both medical and psychological aspects of the cause and treatment of hypertension.

Dr. Mann's viewpoint differs in many ways from traditional mind/body views. He emphasizes that hypertension is linked to emotions in some people, while it has nothing to do with emotions in others. He discusses how hypertension is linked more to the emotions we have hidden from ourselves than to the emotions we feel, which affect us only temporarily. People who never feel distressed about anything are more likely to develop hypertension than people who do. Traumatic events from the past can affect our blood pressure even decades later. Understanding this, and getting in touch with hidden emotions can then lower blood pressure. Dr. Mann makes his points using many very interesting and quite persuasive case histories and also discussion of many studies. I was very surprised at the considerable evidence that argues against the traditional mind/body concept.

Dr. Mann also discusses how to pick the right blood pressure drug, depending on whether the hypertension is linked to emotions or not. Having felt like my doctor has been picking drugs without any rhyme or reason, and having found little information anywhere on how to pick the right drug, I found the chapter on drug treatment very important.

Healing Hypertension is a fascinating book. It conveys a great deal of new information and yet reads more like a novel than a medical book. I highly recommend it to anyone living with the mystery of hypertension.