I have the hard-to-find first edition of Gérard Herzhaft's Encyclopedia Of The Blues, the one printed in 1996. It is worth finding if you can. If not, this edition (which I am trying to decide whether to buy or not) may well be as good or better than the first. The first edition has over 500 pages, but fewer photos I think. Gérard Herzhaft's Encyclopedia Of The Blues is the most accurate, in-depth, and comprehensive collection of Blues musician information I have been able to find anywhere in the past 6 years of being an active Blues fan. I wish Gérard would know how much his great work is appreciated by all of us Blues music fans in the USA and the world. Thank you Gérard.

I write as a blues fan of forty years standing in order to assure folks that this French fellow knows his stuff. When I first heard about this Encyclopedia 8 years ago, I was concerned that it would be another effete European effort to convince Americans that they have no taste.

Au contraire! This is the first survey-type of blues review which does justice to disparate blues streams such as blues shouters (barely touched on in Cohn's book) and boogie woogie, as well as Delta blues and obscure East Texas singers of the Twenties.

The Encyclopedia is well-organized, with fine summary essays on various blues streams so that the reader can follow developments on different fronts without having to turn back and forth between essays on individuals. There is a generous serving of individual biographical sketches as well, and Gerard does us the favor of pointing out when certain blues artists are following in the footsteps of others.

He also does a good job of including glancing references to less well-known blues artists who are worth investigating later in yours blues journey.

All in all an excellent reference work with plenty to interest the casual blues fan.

If given a choice of which sense one would least like to lose, smell would certainly rank last. Yet our sense of smell is our oldest and most basic connection to the world around us. We probably begin to smell our mother while floating in her womb, and may be attracted to our future mates by their odiferous-fingerprint. Vroon gives a readable survey of the anatomy and physiology of our olfactory organ, and explains the implications of its direct connection to the sites of the most basic impulses in our brains.

This is a fascinating insight into our most basic, but most overlooked sense. Lots of basic factual information, which is clearly written and easy to understand, and lots of interesting and thought provoking material about how important our noses are in our daily lives. Quick reading - will liven up your next conversation.

The Bear by Anton Chekhov was one the most interesting yet provokative stories I've ever read. This play shows the interesting relationships between men and women. I am 16 yrs. old and my acting class is doing this play for competition. This play is the first one that the entire class fully enjoyed.

The Bear by Anton Chekhov is one of the best plays that I have read in my entire life. It features funny prose which makes the reader think about the nature of mankind and how he will go to any lengths to have what he wants. Smirnov (the main character) at first wants the money that an old colleague of his owes him from his wife and then falls in love with the mourning widow. He is spured on by the insesant denial from the woman that he can not have the money and falls for her fiery nature. A great read and I urge all readers of his plays to read this little beauty

This play was a great description of how men react to women. It's a great laugher and I recommend it fully!

Of the three stories. My favorite was the tale written by Tori Phillips. She writes the Twelfth Knight, and the story involves Alyssa Cavendish. She must chose a husband among the suitors her parents invite to their castle. Alyssa is known as a hellcat, so her father must bribe the would-be suitors. Little does Alyssa know that there is a "knight" in disguise to woo her. A fun read and light. I finished in a day.

I have only read the Tori Phillips book in this series. She has never failed to take readers to a wonderful time in history where love prevailes!!

Checkov was a master of composing life's largest problems into beautiful language and ordinary situations which the entire world could understand. Granted he wrote them a long time ago but the underlying situation exists everywhere today. Here are three sisters completely unable to move on with their lives. They are unhappy, they are desperate for a change of scene, they are forced to give up anyone they love to someone else but yet they remain glued to the exact place where all of this occurs. Olga has passed her prime, Masha loves someone other than her husband, and Irina has no idea what could possibly make her happy and all they do is talk about change, but never do anything active. And in the end it all comes full circle and we as an audience, a reader, need to decide how to not fall into such a life rut, to learn by their actions as we do from Aesop's fables. This play is just written a great deal better, with a little more comedy and tugging at the heartstrings.

Schmidt presents a 'smooth' translation of Chekhov including his insertion of '(Beat)'s. However it is not faithful to the TIME and CONTEXT of Chekhov's Russia. TIME: Chekhov's language often reflects the social customs of the period and manner with which to approach communication. It's not always meant to be economical or direct (although he is direct in his day). So an 'updated' translation which flows quickly will flatten these nuances. CONTEXT: One has to understand the development of Theater in Russia in his time. His plays are not meant for melodramatic performances (prior to his time) or 'Method' acting (our time). Hence, a translation written for performances today will be colored by the directorial style preferred today. It is important to take that into consideration. By these standards, then no translation is acceptable. However if you find one that will generously tell the reader the difficulties in translating, present the various versions, include historical resources, notes and essays, and have plenty of footnotes. Then you are likely to have a good idea. I recommend Bristow's translation from Norton.

PS - I'm reviewing this from the point of view of a director. For actors or literature students or everyday readers, it is obviously a different matter.

This translation, which incorporates the original vernacular seamlessly into a contemporary translation, is by FAR the finest translation of Chekhov's plays (especially *Uncle Vanya*) I have ever read, or am likely to. As a professor of dramatic literature, I will never again teach Chekhov without assigning my students this fine edition--may it long stay in print.

introduced me to the wonder of chekhov. it's alive. "fresh" is definitely an apt description. read cherry orchard through and then start again at the beginning. hoofa!

In view of the lack of modern books on this subject, and the failure to reprint the standard (and admirable) biographies, this monument of modern academic P & P (pedantry and pedagogy) is seriously disappointing. If you are seeking enlightenment about this motivation and methods of this most sublime of composers --- look elsewhere. This is a view through a microscope of the vast Brucknerian universe. You will, however, get a glimpse of current efforts to achieve tenure in academe. The standard works (in addition to Simpson, Schoenzeler, and Doernberg, perhaps the recent compilation by Stephen Johnson)remain essential --- so search the used book sites.

It's wonderful and helpful to me.

Because, nowadays, I'm listening to his symphonies conducted by Georg Tintner.

Especially, chapter 4 of Part I is very impressive showing the annexation with NAZI.

But, I feel that this book is more general than I thought before I purchase it. Then, I can not rate this book as 'Five Stars'.

Anyway, this book should be helpful to who wants to know about the composer or the Man (Anton Bruckner).

Anton Chekhov's 7 Short Farces, is a book of seven Russian plays. The first play (The Bear) is his most famous of the plays in this book. It is an entertaining story of a man collecting debts to pay his mortgage. He travels all around, but nobody can or is willing to pay their debts. So at the last house owned by a recently widowed lady refuses to pay they argue and it breaks into chaos. The rest of the plays follow this pattern. They start of with a normal somewhat comical situation that ends up in utter chaos than just ends. Most of the plays have something to do with irony. I think that Chekhov wrote these as a symbol of the Russian government at this time. Its supposed to show how chaotic and ironic Russia's politics are. After the third play this book becomes somewhat tidies. I think it would be more interesting if these were acted like they were intended to be. Individually the plays are interesting, but when read one after another they are boring. Overall I would not suggest these plays to be read but I would suggest them to be acted for a better understanding of Russian literature.