Outside of Richard Schmid's book Alla Prima, this (and the other 2 books by Gruppe) is the best book available for learning about alla prima painting. Yes, it's pricey. Yes, it should be reprinted, but if you can get your hands on a copy you won't want to part with it.

Gruppe takes you through the details of how he produced his paintings. It's not just a presentation of his paintings with a few comments; this is a serious how-to book. Be prepared to learn a lot.

The evil Purple Empire has invaded America. Secret Service Operator 5 leads a ragged band on patriots to save the day. This is true pulp adventure -- Operator 5 at his finest!

Hi, first, you have to know that I have read the book in french so I got the direct style from Emile Zola. I've noticed that there's nothing about the Masterpiece by Zola. It's a story of a painter, who is creating one of the new styles of the 19th, and his difficulties with other painters. It's the explicit subject, but this book is mostly about the passion some artists have in life, and some others who've accepted the rules of society. You will experiment in this book the delight of creation but also the destruction of the human in creation. If you're interested in impressionism you should read this book, the historic point of view will interest you a lot since the writer has been a witness of great french painters, but if u get the message of this book, which is the essence of life, u'll really have a wonderful moment reading it.
Sorry for my bad english.
Sincerely,
GaFIR777
(Hope you'll read it Oracle242)

El mejor libro de filosofia por mi leido y estudiado. Lastimosamente se me han extraviado los tres tomos que tenia. De facil lectura y entendimiento. Con palabras sencillas y muy buen manejo del idioma. Accesible incluso para personas que no tienen una educacion superior. Hace muchos anos que intento volver a comprar estos libros pero lastimosamente en Paraguay no existen a la venta en ninguna libreria.

One of Zola's best and most famous works. There is something strangely fascinating about a murder where the killer escapes detection and punishment only to receive terminal treatment from another, totally unexpected source. When this happens twice in the same book, along with some tales of child abuse, a high-level cover-up, a sabotage attempt on a train in which virtually everyone is killed in the carnage except the persons targeted, a suicide, plus some assorted couplings outside of the marshalling yards, things get really interesting. What makes people commit such crimes? Here Zola really shows his skill in explaining his characters' motives and the dark, primeval forces that drive them. A pulsating, chilling story from beginning to end, full of unexpected twists, starting with the creation of a previously unknown member of the Macquart family as the novel's main character. Highly recommended for long train or air journeys.

This is by far one of the best books I've ever read. Zola's ability to demonstrate the dark side in human beings is absolutely spectacular. If you are too read one of his works, it should be this one.

A great book full of heartwrenching mellodrama. Greed and incest rear their ugly heads before the backdrop of Haussman's transformation of Paris in the mid 19th century. There is hardly a dull moment in this masterpiece. I have yet to read more of Zola, but you can bet I've got two other books by him waiting on my shelf. The story follows an opportunistic provincial descendant of the Roujon family as he makes his fortune in Paris. He heartlessly leaves his first wife to die as he makes arrangements for his second marriage- to a wealthy young woman half his age. Renee's spirit, already dimmed by a savage rape by a family member is only tarnished all the more in her extravagant new lifestyle under the negligent eye of the specuating schemester, Rougon. She falls madly in love with her efeminate stepson and seals her ruin which concides with the burst of the speculative bubble in Paris real estate. This review was based on the original French text

Who looks out from the movie camera? Through whose eyes are we really seeing? These questions are not just for moviegoers, though, even though this novel is set in Hollywood's heyday. Gavin shows thorough knowledge of the business then, and, as always, of human nature, with a few twists. Emile Vico is a film star with a past; his cameraman, the story's narrator, has an interesting inner life of his own. One day Vico disappears. Where has he gone, and why? The reader will remain engrossed from the beginning until the unexpected ending. A great book!

St. Margaret Mary is the saint of the Sacred Heart devotion. It is largely due to her that we know what we do about Our Lord's love of His Sacred Heart for men which He revealed to her, and it is largely to Bishop Bougaud that we have such an accurate idea of the life of this famous saint. Shows that St. Margaret was not just a quiet little woman in Religion, but also a loving soul ready to give all for Jesus. The best account of the events surrounding the greatest private revelation of Jesus' loving and tender Sacred Heart.

Emil Mersch is truly a man with vision, yet he is largely invisible in world of spirituality. He devoted his life to studying Christian Mysticism, and wrote volumes on the subject. His tragic death prevented his book "The Mystical Body of Christ" from being completed. James Arraj had done a great service to Emil Mersch by publishing this book. It is a profound and thought provoking account of Mersch's version of Christianity, humanity, metaphysics, theology, life and death. I read and reread each paragraph, stopping to contemplate the meaning of each word, each sentence, each nuance of book. I highly recommend it!