Having read the first two volumes of Mr. Richardson's "A Life Of Picasso," and having thoroughly enjoyed them, I went into this book with high expectations. Overall, I was disappointed. Granted, the book is a collection of some of the articles that Mr. Richardson has written for popular magazines over the past 30 years or so. The audience for, say, a "Vanity Fair" article is not the same as the audience for a scholarly journal. But Mr. Richardson acknowledges in the preface that he had hundreds of articles to choose from. He states that he made a conscious decision not to include his more academic essays. That is a shame. Because some of the material that is included, about such people as Lucien Freud and Brice Marden, for example, gives a tantalizing glimpse of what might have been. Here is Lucien Freud on why he chooses to paint nudes of, almost exclusively, close friends and relatives: "Aesthetic and biological truth-telling is what my painting is all about.....the fact that a model would never find himself or herself in this particular situation were it not at the painter's behest makes for vulnerability.....vulnerability would not be an issue if I used professional models. But I don't, because professional models have been stared at so much that they have grown another skin. When they take their clothes off, they are not naked; their skin has become another garment." I would like to have seen more keen insights into the artistic process, such as this one, and less of the following (this is from the essay on Salvador Dali and his wife Gala): "One of my responsibilities (as vice president of the firm that acted as Dali's dealer) was keeping the artist to the terms of his contract- a one-man show of new work, every two years. This was no easy task, given that his eye was so bleary and his hand so shaky that assistants had taken over most of his work. I could not help feeling sorry for the seedy old conjurer with his rhinoceros-horn wand, leopard-skin overcoat, and designer whiskers, not to speak of his surreal breath." For the most part, you can't see any reason to dredge these essays up and put them into book form. There is a lot of gossip, particularly about peoples' sex lives (The Dalis, Vita Sackville-West, Peggy Guggenheim, etc.) and there are several pieces where Mr. Richardson takes on subjects that are just too easy to ridicule, such as Dr. Barnes, The Sitwells and Armand Hammer. (Hence, the title of my review.) Since Mr. Richardson states that he and his assistants had to do a lot of work to update these essays, there is really no excuse for some of the blatant errors- such as writing (in the essay on the Merchant/Ivory movie "Surviving Picasso"- where Richardson is trying to make the point that moviemakers have done a poor job of portraying major artists) that Anthony Quinn played van Gogh. (He did not. In "Lust For Life" Kirk Douglas played van Gogh and Quinn played Paul Gauguin.) In another piece, the statement is made that the announcement of the Nobel Peace Prize is made in Norway. That's wrong. It is made in Stockholm, Sweden. In the essay on Pablito Picasso, Pablo's grandson, Mr. Richardson writes that it took seven years to settle the Picasso estate. As Picasso died in 1973, this would bring us to 1980. But the essay informs us that the estate was divided up in 1990. This may seem as though I am nitpicking. But, remember, Mr. Richardson is working on the third volume of his Picasso biography. The first two volumes have been rightly hailed as a tremendous achievement. The cheap shots and silly errors contained in "Sacred Monsters, Sacred Masters" are beneath a scholar of Mr. Richardson's ability. I still give this book three-stars, as even though the collection is uneven, there are several good essays. Besides the pieces on Lucien Freud and Brice Marden, which I mentioned earlier, there are thoughtful articles on Klee, Miro and Braque, for example. On the whole, however, one gets the impression that Mr. Richardson's publisher wanted something from him while they were waiting for the third volume of "A Life Of Picasso." There's nothing wrong with that. It's just that a little more care should have been taken in deciding what that something was going to be.

Author of a biography of Picasso (two volumes of the trilogy have been published thus far) and a memoir, Richardson has earned and deserves a reputation for having accumulated a wide range of professional and personal relationships with many of the most famous (and infamous) celebrities during the past 30+ years. In this volume, he has assembled and updated more than two dozen sketches, articles, profiles, etc. which previously appeared in various magazines. His subjects include those identified in the subtitle, with one exception recognizable by their last name: Beaton, Capote, Dali, Picasso, (Lucian) Freud, and Warhol as well as others whom many readers will not recognize unless the full name is provided: Albert Barnes, Eugenia Errazuriz, Peggy Guggenheim, Domenica Guilliaume, Armand Hammer, Jan Morris, and Anais Nin. As Richardson shares his mostly negative opinions of them and others, I wondered why he bothered to spend any time with them in the first place. Reactions to this book will largely be determined by one's degree of curiosity about a specific culture and its inhabitants. If you don't immediately recognize the names of those listed previously, you probably won't enjoy reading this book. Those who do read it are urged to keep in mind that Richardson is neither a cultural historian nor an investigative reporter. Hardly a neutral, objective observer. He permits the reader to accompany him as he roams (via reminiscences) through a world to which most of us would otherwise not have access.

Sacred Monsters, Sacred Masters provides a mix of essays on artists, writers and tycoons, each illustrated with a photo or piece of art and selected by the author because they are about special people he's known. While non-artists are included, this is reviewed here for its focus on many of the fine artists Richardson has encountered, from Dali and Warhol to Marden and Picasso. Sacred Monsters, Sacred Masters is an intriguing collection of images and insights.

John Gielgud as Holmes! Orson Welles as Moriarty! How could a Holmes lover resist buying this collection? I spent six pleasant hours reliving the Holmes saga. I went with Holmes and Watson from the foggy streets of London to the English countryside to the Reichenbach Falls where Holmes and Moriarty fought their last battle. Radio plays stimulate the mind to a a degree that television never can, and these stories served up mental stimulation of the first order. As good as "A Baker's Street Dozen" is, though, it doesn't quite measure up to the quality of the BBC series starring Clive Merrison as Holmes. Gielgud is undoubtedly the better actor, but Merrison is the better Holmes.

Despite the fact that Gielgud doesn't capture Holmes' energy as well as Merrison, "A Baker's Street Dozen" is superb listening. It would make an excellent addition to any mystery lover's audio library.

One minor quibble: I can't understand why they renamed three of the stories. "The Adventure of Charles Augustus Milverton" became "The Blackmailer;" "The Adventure of the Golden Pince Nez" became "The Yoxley Case;" and "The Adventure of the Dying Detective" became "Rare Disease." In each case, Conan Doyle's choice of titles was superior.

I am very pleased with "A Baker's Street Dozen." It is so wonderful to listen to these stories and let the power of your imagination create the scenes described by the many wonderful tales. The only flaw I would like to see the publishers correct is that the stories do not seem to follow a chronological order. The fifth tale, "The Final Problem," is an account of Sherlock Holmes' final adventure. However, you still have 7 more tales to go through! Place these stories in chronological order and you will have a flawless product.

I have bought the special edition using autocad2000 to help me with a course I am taking at college. I had my teacher take a gander and he said that it was a good book but thought that it could elaborate a little more. The idea of spending some time explaining about drafting was a very nice touch though. philiperochon@aol.com

A must-have for long-time AutoCAD users who want to quickly implement AutoCAD 2000- and 2000i-based products. The beauty of this book is its focus on effectively using AutoCAD to solve business problems. A great supplement to the out-of-box documentation from Autodesk.

Richardson removes the visual arts, sometimes forcefully, from the conceptual box most art historians have been content to utilize. At the same time, he also offers a subtle but sustained critique of the converts to various postmodernist methodologies who claim to integrate art into larger cultural, social, and political processes. He reveals them to be just as exclusive, hegemonic and politically ideological as the adherents to the conventional historiography they claim to have overcome."

General St. John Richardson Liddell was a biased, cantankerous, violent man devoted to the Confederacy yet doubtful of its ultimate success. This is history with the varnish off; Liddell wrote this record immediately after the war and never expected it to be published in his lifetime. It's one of the essential texts for understanding the Confederate Army of Tennessee and provides great insight into the personalities of its commander. More importantly, it reveals in great detail the mind of one former Confederate.

This was originally required for a MBA marketing class. Great book. Good examples. Written well. Highly recommended no matter what year your reading it in.

I'm in 12th grade and we had to read this book for our Law and Government class. This book was really good. It helped me really understand what our court system is like. Like when Steven Philips discribes everything that he did in his case how the jusry was selected. What the Public Defender was basing the whole case on. What he thinks happend in the shooting of Skeagen. If you want to know more about our court systems. This is the book to read. Very interesting

There are only a handful of Symbian books available yet, and this one is the best of them. It is not a tutorial but a fairly good reference. It does a good job of explaining concepts as well, for instance I really like the discussion of descriptors in chapter 5.

Those who have no Symbian background will find this book difficult (not because the book is badly written, but because Symbian is a very different platform). I recommend that beginners read documentation and whitepapers available at Symbian's website, take an introductory class and then buy this book for reference. Dont try to learn Symbian programming from this book. You'll be disappointed.

I also think that the authors should revisit and work on a new edition of this useful book. There has been an addition of many new topics since R5, that require good reference material - authors could do the Symbian community a favor by providing that much needed reference material.

This book deserves 3.5 stars now - and if the authors release a new edition, it will get 5 stars from me.

As an introduction to programming on the Symbian platform this book is excellent. If you require detailed information on C++ EPOC programming then it may appear a bit sparse. You can get the required information from Symbian/Psion directly. If you wish to start programming on this platform then this is a great introduction. After reading it you will be able to make the most of the detailed information from Symbian themselves.

First, I should state that I know the author. I better say that in case anyone believes my guilty of bias. However, it must be realised that this book is an official Symbian publication, and as such is the definitive reference book on programming for EPOC devices. Personally I think Martin has done a remarkable job putting all this together. As an ex-Symbian employee I have not done any coding since the early development days of the Psion Series 5.

Recently I have needed to get up to date and get coding again. On a brand new PC, with no EPOC utilities on it, with the help of this book and its accompanying CD (which contains ALL of the official Symbian Software Development Kits), I had genuine freshly-compiled programs running on my Psion Series 5mx PDA within MINUTES. Martins writing style is very accessible, and explains the advanced concepts behind EPOC in a manner in which anyone can quickly understand them.

As an aside, the book is deliberately written so that it does NOT have to be read sitting in front of a computer. As a result, this book makes a fantastic tutorial, as it can be read on the train, in the bath, anywhere when you might have a few minutes spare.

A "must buy" for any individual or company considering programming in C++ any EPOC devices (which will in the near future include both PDA's and mobile phones). Well done Martin!

Obviously, the reader from Miami, Florida filed the wrong review. This book is not the Poe short story "The Purloined Letter" (which, by the way, is a good story), but, rather a philosophical and psychoanalitical study of Poe.

I repeat I am not a big fan of mystery novels but this one was not mysterious at all. Edgar Allen Poe left out the suspenseful feeling that every mystery should contain.

Although I have not finished the book yet, I needed to respond to the other reviewer who wrote that this is not a good mystery. You dingbat! This is a work in philosophy and psychology, not fiction! If you don't even have the slightest clue regarding a text, do not review it!

this book is my text and have using for all of my grading examination. this is directed to especiality of laryngology and in compare with other books in otolaryngology have lesser about otology(see chpt.160:otosclerosis). I find many mistake on it!! overall I like this book & I read it every day& I know and remember all on the book!! because i read it more than 5th in my course.

I was disappoited on buying the CD-ROM version of this text. I found it incomplete (ie NO mention on Otoplasty despite being advertised by the authers as the MOST comprehensive text in this field !, and I found it innacurate with plenty of mistakes.
It is otherwise a versatile instrument for reference and revision

There is no access to the authors for feedback comments etc.

I am an ENT man from Taiwan. This book is an important guide for the board examination. I like this book.