These people are ahead of their time - if you had a chance to catch the Guggenheim retrospective of the same name, you know what I am talking about. In 50 years, more people will know about Arakawa and Gins than right now, but why wait? We need to change the direction of humanity NOW!

This book goes though the vast output of Arakawa and Madeline Gins, from Arakawa's thought-provoking conceptual paintings from the 60's, to their more current philosophies about the body and architectural surround.

The pictures are colorful and vivid, every page is different and exciting. Their newer computer renderings of beautiful organic housing projects will blow you away. When you open a book like this in a room full of people, everyone will gather around you to get a look! When something is different than the norm but still maintains logic and beauty, it naturally attracts people.

Get this book before it becomes a collector's item.

A Gaon is an exilarch, the "prince of the Jewish people in exile. He is chosen for his learning, piety and charisma. A good "portrait" is painted of the Vilna Gaon (1720 - 1797), the great scholar and mystic who vigorously opposed the Hasidim and their excesses. The fear was that this movement would eventually follow the trail of Frank and Sabatai Zwi which lead to a false messianism and disaster for the Jewish people. The Hasidim were a Jewish sect who encouraged drinking alcohol, strange dancing and a general happiness which was reputed to serve God better than a painstaking study of the the Torah and the Talmud. The Vilna Gaon ( a Lithuanian Jew) was abstemious, studious and it is claimed had an intimate knowledge of both the Talmud from Jerusalem and from Babylon that would have rivalled a modern computer. There may have been some rivalry on social grounds. The Hasidim belonged to the lower socio-economic levels and were less well educated. Some of their books were burned publicly. The Hasidim, for their part, rejoiced when the Vilna Gaon died. The author is balanced and fair in his judgement and while not calling a plague on both houses is frank about shortcomings in each. Fundamentalism remains a problem in our world and this insight on the history of a brand of Jewish fundamentalism is timely

Today the Hasidic movement is associated with mainstream Orthodox Judaism and is accepted around the world. This book takes us back to a time where the Hasidic movement was considered to be a threat to the future of Judaism. It is shown that the main opponent was the renowned Gaon of Vilna, a scholar of incredible genius, well versed in Talmudic and Kabbalistic teachings.

His main concerns were that the Hasidic movement was guilty of sexual impropriety, heresy, breaching certain Halakhic teachings and numerous other offenses. The book details the alleged violations that the Hasidim were accused of. With regards to these improprieties, the author does not discount the possibility that the Gaon may not have had adequate contact with the Hasidim themselves, and that certain infractions may have been exagerated, fabricated or at the very least were not representative of the general population of the sect.

When one reads about the origin of some of the customs, rituals and beliefs of the Hasidic movement, it is amazing that it is still widely respected and accepted. Some of its contemporaries (including the founder: the Baal Shem Tov) initiated and taught some incredibly peculiar principles and practices when it came to prayer, granting divine status to the "Tzaddik" and their emphasis on consumption of alcohol and frivolity. Granted that the movement was initially targeted at the less educated masses, it does not excuse some of the more unorthodox and sometimes barbaric practices that it advocated.

The author has gone to great lengths to provide a very fair and unbiased view of the conflict between the Gaon and the Hasidim, and presents a very enjoyable walk through Jewish history. Thoroughly recommended!

As a die hard Redskins fan, I was very sorry to see this excellent concept so badly muffed. The idea behind this book is to cash in on the Washington Post vault, providing great photos and articles combined with new pieces by long-time Skins beat reporters to tie it all together. Sadly, whoever edited and proofread this thing reeeally dropped the ball. Sentences at the bottom of the page are repeated at the top of the next, photographs are mislabeled, pieces of sentences are missing, words are chopped off in the middle. Probably still of some value for the die hard Skins fan, but a real black eye for the Washington Post. If their newspaper were produced as shoddily, Richard Nixon would have finished his second term.

Yes, there are some typos and such in the early chapters but the book isn't as lousy as described in the 2-star review. Most of the problems are hyphen-ated words that are not at the end of a page or line. It is like the typeset was changed but the book was not reproofed.

Still, there is a lot of good information in the book. I think it covers items that Loverro's book (very good as well) ignored or glossed over-- how Gibbs wanted to sign and trade Riggo and how Joe Jacoby ended up sticking around in that first camp. The Times summary makes it sound like Gibbs and Beathard were geniuses building a team. This book shows that they were also lucky geniuses. If you are a Skins fan, you should own this book.

I see there is also a newer edition out with the Synder years (ugh).

This combat memoir is amazing. Most young soldiers find themselves disillusioned after their baptism of fire, but return with a new maturity. Not so George Lince. This veteran has merely catalogued a vast array of bitches, gripes and moans about his WWII experiences: his buddies were dishonest and lazy, his gear was antiquated and, yes, the food was terrible. Even worse, his father was unsympathetic and his girlfriend left him. This is not a case of combat angst; this is common whining, a display of self-pity carefully nurtured for fifty years. Even worse, the book is padded with long passages from other (and better) books. Save your money.

A new author telling us of the real war. Not only the war fought on the beach or in the foxhole but the war within himself. The shock and realization of what war really was from a 17 year old eyes. Not the John Wayne war, but the war our fathers and grandfathers fought. These men gave just as much as our founding fathers gave in the early days of the United States. This should be read so we may understand and remember the destruction war brings. These memories of his will be yours after reading this book. His words draw you in to read page after page of how this teenager survived the hell in Okinawa. Then 50 years later returning for forgiveness from the Okinawan people and receiving the love of humanity from this tiny island that shaped the authors future

This is a very disappointing book. Essentially, it is a regurgitation of the IRS regulations on a number of estate planning issues. There is no interpretation, no attempt to simplify or clarify for the reader, and worst of all no advice on tax planning strategy given particular issues or circumstances. What do these regs mean? How should they be interpreted? What do they allow the estate planner to do and not to do? What is the most advantageous interpretation of the jprovisions? This book gives not a clue. For me, it was a waste of $145.