Napier is a small town in New Zealand that was destroyed by an earthquake in 1931 and rebuilt entirely in the Art Deco style - go visit it - it's a great little town, and this book is an elegant summary of the architecture there. It may be out of print at the moment, but there are still copies available in the local shops, so go get on a plane and travel.... Shaw is currently working on a reprint and sequel.

This book argues a clear difference between two often confused terms: Modernism and the Avant-Garde. According to Peter Burger, Modernism dealt with formal evolution of style (in visual arts as well as in literature), while the Avant-Garde project involved radical change of the way of life. Consequently,the greatest Modernist movements of the 20th century, according to Burger, must be Cubism and Abstractionism, as they were mainly about visual distortion, and the relevant masters were Picasso and Kandinsky. On the other hand, the Avant-Garde produced its own most ambitious projects with the Russian Constructivism and Surrealism, and its geniuses must be Tatlin, Rodchenko, or Marcel Duchamp. All this is argued quite intellegently; the only reason for my 4 stars instead of 5 being that Burger brings on too much polemics with Marxist or semi-Marxist theorists (Lukacs, Adorno, etc.) and his own view is sometimes hard to disentangle from what he criticizes.

This book is about a little harp seal who just ventured out into the sea. One day he wakes up hungry, and his mother feeds him. He has white fur and blubber to protect him from the cold. I think this is a great book to educate children about the life of a seal. I found it interesting that a mother seal leaves their young shortly after they are born. The pup must then learn to live on its own. A polar bear tries to attack Little Harp Seal, and thankfully, his mother comes to the rescue. The cycle continues with each generation of seals. I would give this book five thumbs up for the illustrations. There were graphic and very detailed pictures.