Michael Peppiatt has resources for his book that defy belief. Francis Bacon was indeed an enigmatic person and artist and I suppose that the lurid details of his existence may shed some light on the paintings. But not, I think, to the degree that the author would have us believe. Some of the most glorious works of art have been created by personalities who border on beastial (Richard Wagner, Diego Rivera, Rodin et al) and so I suppose that knowing that Bacon was night gutter tramp may illuminate some of his portaits. The book does add to the literature on Bacon by introducing a number a fascinating photographs and for the reader who needs to know it all, well here is that cluttered closet.

Great book.... I had never seen a painting of Francis Bacon and had no idea who he was. That being said, I found that the book held my attention from start to finish. Partly it was Bacon's outlandish lifestyle and the strange cast of characters who ran through his life which kept me entertained. Partly it was the analysis of art and Bacon's art in general that worked. The author excelled on both counts, mixing colorful anecdotes with insightful analysis of the work. The author is a master of words -- while reading it you may find yourself in SOHO hanging with the bohemians at a seedy bar, or perhaps getting reamed by a gangster in a public bathroom. In any event, this is a book well worth your time and money.

"Francis Bacon : Anatomy of an Enigma" is an illuminating insight into the odd life of an artist who took great pains to prevent undue public prying while alive. Bacon felt that unnecessary publicity on his own peculiar choice of lifestyle would strip his paintings of the mystique they needed to work so effectively on the most visceral levels of the viewer's nervous system.

Michael Peppiatt takes us beyond the racks of carcasses and the pained, unsettled figures in claustrophobic rooms to glimpse a painter who was disarmingly immersed in all the pleasures that life can bestow. From his financial generosity and love of fine wines and good fellowship, to the celebrated sexual experimentation and excess of his youth, Peppiatt's portrait of the artist is at once astonishing and humorous in its revelations and salacious gossip. We learn the truth behind Bacon's ill fated relationship with the gigolo-spiv George Dyer, who features so prominently in the artists 60's portraits. We read about Bacon's unlikely association with Ronnie and Reggie Kray, the gangster celebrities of swinging Sixties London, as well as a whole host of other unsavoury characters, the flotsam of a twilight 'interzone' where Bacon lurked and prowled as if to reinforce his determinedly cruel, sadistic view of the world.

Other prominent Baconian characters are also sketched with humour and compassion, including Muriel Belcher, acid-tongued proprietor of the Colony Room Club, Isabella Rawsthorne, Henrietta Moraes, George Deakin and Lucien Freud. Particularly hilarious is Henrietta Moraes' account of the origin of her famous nude photographs, many of which formed the basis for Bacon's most memorable female nudes. Unsurprising for a Baconian character, the photographer - George Deakin - having persuaded Henrietta to pose with her legs a little further apart than necessary for the particular needs of art, was caught attempting to sell her nude images to sailors in 1950s Soho. This and other splendidly sleazy stories transform what would otherwise be a bleak or pretentious subject matter into a tour de force of black humour that Samuel Beckett would be proud of.

This biography is the document which avid Baconians have long been waiting for, the perfect companion to David Sylvestor's record of Bacon's conversation and poet Michel Leiris' various essays on the Bacon world view. It will be an essential text for all those who, like Bacon himself, struggle to achieve a totally honest and unvarnished opinion of human life in all its squalor, depravity and cruelty whilst still finding the motivation not to slit one's own throat. Only recommended for those, like 'the old queen' himself, with a particularly warped view of existence.

I thought this book did a wonderful job of explaining Catholic beliefs in a straightfoward manner. It touches on pretty much every topic that you could be interested in, and I especially like its question-and-answer format. I believe that one of the best aspects of this book is that, for the most part, you can skip around. If you just have questions about the sacrament of marriage for instance, you can just read that chapter to get your information; it doesn't depend too heavily on all the chapters before it (although everything leading up to it is certainly important also, specifically things like the basis of the Catholic faith)
What I don't feel is covered as well is the reasoning behind the beliefs. In many sections of the book, references are made to the bible as well as various papers the Vatican has composed. However, I feel that many of the topics warrant much more information about the history behind them, how certain decisions were made, etc. After thinking about it though, I think perhaps that is outside the author's intention for this book; I'm sure someone could write a book on the history of each topic alone.
Ultimately, this is a great no-nonsense book about the beliefs and teachings of the Catholic church. You'll have to look elsewhere to find out WHY they believe and teach it, though.

I have recently been enrolled in RCIA classes, leading to full communion with the Catholic Church at Easter. Being a new student of Catholicism, I found this book to be an ESSENTIAL companion to the Catechism, as it offers explanations that are far easier to comprehend than those contained in official Vatican documents.

Regardless, many life-long Catholics who are in my RCIA class as sponsors believe that the book is an essential tract to read to gain a fuller understanding of Catholicism.

Highly recommended!

We have been using "This is our Faith" by Michael Francis Pennock in our RCIA class. Written in a simple and direct style, "This is our Faith" is an eminently readable and highly accessible introduction to Catholic teaching and theology. Pennock divided the text into four sections that parallel those of the Catechism: The Profession of Faith, focusing on the creeds; The Celebration of the Christian Mystery, which focuses on liturgy and the sacraments; Life in Christ, which emphasizes Christian morals; and Christian Prayer. Individual chapters consist mostly of Questions and answers--making "This is our Faith" sort of a FAQ for Catholics. Each question is cross-referenced to the Catechism. Curiously, the teachers of my RCIA class sort of discourage us from reading the Catechism. (Is that typical?) But I like having the cross-references so that I can follow up where the text doesn't provide enough detail. Pennock's theology seems sound and conventional, yet he reflects both traditional church teaching and current thinking. Anyone in RCIA ought to pick up "This is our Faith."

This book stands out in the sea of horse books for its beautiful photographs. The text part is also quite good and give the basic information that is contained in most wild horse books. The rare photographs are up-close, candid and detailed which is rare in a book on wild creatures.

This book gives lots of information about the biology and ecology of America's wild horses. There are many interesting facts for horse lovers. The photography is stunning. A beautiful book.

When they burned down the library at Alexandria, The excuse was if it is in the Koran than we already have it; if it is not, then we do not need it. What was true for them is true for us; if it is not in this book, then we do not need it. Or as Ed McMahon would say on the Johnny Carson Show "everything there is to know is in this book"

I will not give you a blow by blow description of all the features in this book, as it would weigh as much as the book. Let's say it covers everything you need to get off the ground or expand your existing knowledge. One usually overlooked feature that is well covered is [Connecting Using ODBC (with Microsoft Access)]. What I really want to do is tie this back to my Unix applications, as this is the only program I use that is not UNIX at this time. My best guess is that AutoCAD can not afford to keep their UNIX experts. That is no excuse for lack of information in this book. So five stars for coverage of almost everything and minus one for lack of UNIX information.

The book itself is an amazing tool to have at ones side while learning this complex program. However, I see I'm not the only one who had problems with the CD. Most unfortunate as the files that do work are an excellent match with the scripted tutorials.

I have found the book to be an excellent source of information. The only problem I have found is that the CD that comes with the book locks my computer when autorun is turned on, and will not let me access the CD.

There were many admirable things about this book - among them, a likeable and believable child protagonist, good depictions of his relationships with the adults in his life, especially his mom and grandfather, and a plot Jewish children who love animals will easily relate to. In spite of these strengths, the book is seriously flawed. At one point, an adult tells the young boy that a Christian custom has nothing to do with Judaism, "just like Hannukah has nothing to do with Christmas and Passover has nothing to do with Easter". When I read this, I excalimed, "That's a lie! Easter has *everything* to do with Passover!" It also disturbed me that, though the boy approaches the priest as one of the adults he wants to poll (see the previous review for this plot point), he never actually *talks* to this man. He's scared of him, and that's presented as being okay. Up to this point, I had thought the book a fine ecuminical story that I wanted to share with the fifth graders when I visited our local school (I am a librarian). I did not. It struck me that interfaith dialogue could not be advanced by presenting an unfair and inaccurate picture of Christianity. And this could have been - and was, in many ways - such a good book! Mr. Rosen should have had a Catholic or Episcopalian friend read his manuscript and correct factual errors.

Not only are the illustrations fantastic in this book, but the issues that are dealt with are done in a way that are sensitive to all sides of the dialogue. Religion is a hard thing to question, especially as a child, and Rosen creates a story that sensitively gets right to the heart of a child's concerns about belief. I believe this book encourages kids to contemplate their faith in a very healthy way. I highly recommend it!

the blessing of the animals is a delightful story about a boy and his dog and his predicament regarding the dog's religious affiliation or lack thereof. Does a child's pet take on the religion of the child and family? Or can the pet share another religious affiliation by virtue of the fact that it is indeed an animal and is viewed "differently"? Or does the pet have a religion at all? These are the questions that the boy in the book needs to answer before making a final decision.

The Folger Library series are your best Shakespeare source. They specialize in Shakespeares' greatest plays and are quality books that are perfect companion and translator to Shakespeare. It is loaded with page after page of translation from the Old English expressions that are no longer in use to our modern talk, and pictures as well as historic background information on th Elizabethan era and Shakespeares' life. Hamlet is without question Shakespeare's greatest tragedy, remaining in our theatrical culture to this very day. It has become a conversation piece for English professors, dramatists and screen actors (Mel Gibson tackled the role in 1991) and even psychologists, who claim that Hamlet had the Oedipal complex, especially when they read the scene in which Hamlet is in his mother's bedroom. What makes Hamlet so great ? Why does this old play still come alive when performed on the stage in the hands of the right actors ?

Shakespeare, believe it or not, was a people's person and knew about the human condition perhaps more than anyone in his day. Hamlet deals principally with obscession for revenge. Hamlet is a prince whose father has been murdered under the evil conspiracy from his uncle Claudius and even the support of his mother, Queen Gertrude. Depressed, wearing black all the time, and very much as solitary as any "Goth" would be in our day, Hamlet laments his situation, until his father's ghost appears and urges him to avenge his death. The mystery still remains, is this ghost real ? Is it, as many in Elizabetheans thought, a demon in disguise ? Or is it simply a figment of Hamlet's own emotions and desire for revenge. At any rate, Hamlet's father appears twice and Hamlet spends most of the play planning his revenge. His most striking line that reveals this consuming need is "The play's the thing, wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king!".

Pretending to be mad, he scorns even the love of the woman he genuinely loves, Ophelia, whose mind is shattered and heart is broken and who has an impressive mad scene. The deaths of Hamlet's friends, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern, are also in Hamle'ts hands and a consequence of his revenge. The famous soliloquy in the play, is of course, "To be or not to be", taken on by such great actors as Lawrence Olivier and Orson Welles. Hamlet muses on the brevity of life and the suffering which can only cease through death, as he holds a skull and is evidently suicidal. Finally, the last scenes are the most dramatic. Hamlet duels with Laertes, Ophelia's brother, and with Claudius himself. The deaths of the main cast, including the Queen, goes to show how tragic the human desire for greed and revenge is.

This is Shakespeare's finest tragedy, and quality drama, best seen in a live stage performance, but that also works as a film. As for this book, as I said before, this is the Hamlet to have. You will become more acquianted with Hamlet and Shakespeare even more than taking a year's course with a teacher. This book itself is the teacher.

A tragedy by William Shakespeare, written around 1599-1601. Before the play opens, the king of Denmark has been murdered by his brother, Claudius, who has taken the throne and married the queen, Gertrude. The ghost of the dead king visits his son, Prince Hamlet, and urges him to avenge the murder. Hamlet, tormented by this revelation, appears to be mad and cruelly rejects Ophelia whom he loved. Using a troupe of visiting players to act out his father's death, the prince prompts Claudius to expose his own guilt. Hamlet then kills Ophelia's father Polonius in mistake for Claudius, and Claudius tries but fails to have Hamlet killed. Ophelia drowns herself in grief, and her brother Laertes fights a duel with Hamlet.

Hamlet's dilemma is often seen as typical of those whose thoughtful nature prevents quick and decisive action.

Hamlet contains several fine examples of soliloquy, such as " To be or not to be" and Hamlet's earlier speech lamenting his mother's hasty remarriage and Claudius' reign which opens "O! that this too too solid flesh would melt". Much quoted lined "Neither a borrower nor a lender be", "Something is rotten in the stste of Denmark", "Brevity is the soul of wit", "To sleep: perchance to dream: ay, there's the rub;" The lady doth protest too much, methinks," and "Alas, poor Yorick". Arguably Shakespeare's finest play and one that can be read again and again.

If you could read only one thing in your lifetime Hamlet should be that one thing. It is Shakespeare's best work by far, and within its pages is more meaning than you could find within the pages of an entire library full of books, or plays as the case may be. A mere review, a couple words, cannot do Hamlet justice. At times I realize that the language of Shakespeare can be difficult that is why I recommend the Folger version because it helps to make the images expressed by Shakespeare's characters clear to the reader, and allows them to get their own deep personal meaning from Hamlet, Shakespeare's greatest work, with out being bogged down in trying to decipher and interpret his antiquarian English. Don't just listen to what I say, or read what I write, read the play on your own outside the cumbersome restraints of a classroom and see for yourself what I mean.

"The Real American Dilemma" is a jolting account of America's greatest problem. The writers gathered here do not worship at the shrine of multiculturalism or diversity.

Jared Taylor, Samuel Francis, Michael Levin and Philippe Rushton have all paid a great price for their honesty in discussing the biological, cultural and political consequences of a multiracial, multicultural America.

This book should be read by everyone who cares about the future of their country. Whites are going to have to start asking themselves hard questions such as: Do I want to live in a Third-World nation full of Third-World people? Must I continue to pay high taxes to subsidize those who cannot or will not assimilate into Western culture? What will life be like when people like Lani Guinier are on the Supreme Court or proficiency in Spanish is required for a government job? Do non-whites honor the rights and culture of whites when they are in power?

Because time is running out, they had better ask themselves these questions soon.

I bought this book in 1999, and never stopped to be reminded of it whenever some event in my personal experience related to immigration. We are losing this country only because white people believe that other races will be as tolerant as whites when they get into power in a future that is not even very far.

Perhaps this book is better for younger readers who, like myself, are too young to remember the civil rights movement of the 60s. I find that people from previous generations have very fixed ideas about race relations in this country and will not be open minded when reading Mr Taylor's book. It is an honest appraisal of the problems facing the US in the coming decades.

i love that francis bacon is credited in the title above as 'illustrator" in dennis farr's little retrospective. bacon who sought to avoid illustration in his paintings by creating a reality, often relying somewhat on chance, that if inaccurate was in his mind 'greater' than the truth. this taken from a very moving quote from van gogh, whose letters and paintings francis studied closely. the reverse landscape in question is in fact reversed - its like an error card. otherwise the text is intelligent and the body of work is well chosen but there are so many bacon paintings its hard to find a comprehensive publication.

somebody else said the color needed work. i have definitely seen much worse. one of the images might be flipped, maybe there were problems reproducing certain colors - i never saw the originals so how would i know - but overall i have to assume it's fairly accurate; at least, it works. it's nice that the descriptions face the plates, but that's just common sense. overall it's a fairly comprehensive collection. there are only a couple pieces left out here that i miss, but i can find them in practically any other bacon book so it's no big deal.

Well, here it all is - the paintings, the analysis of the person, the milieu that aided in the production of this prodigious artist, brilliant essays that go further than predessors into the hows and whys of Francis Bacon - the much anticipated Retrospective book and exhibition. One of the finest aspects of this book is the placement of descriptions of the background and the implications of each painting adjacent to the work. No search party needed here. If only as much attention to detail would have been spent on the four color separations of the works then this would truly have been the definitive work about one of the most exciting painters of the last century...AND chronicler of the disintegration of society and mentality brought about by the dissecting sciences.

The animal descriptions are very brief and basic. This book might be good for someone with little knowledge of wildlife but doesnt go into much detail on any animal. It also spends too much time on animals that it even states are rarely found in Yellowstone(ie Lynx) and says almost nothing about more common, although less exciting animals(various bird and small mammals).

After buying many books like this I would suggest checking them out of the library for the length of your visit. We did not see the animals in this guide to back up the information and the locations but found it good for basic information about the animals and their habitats etc.

I found the book to be very helpful. Especially paired with "Scenic Driving in Yellowstone & Grand Teton". Other than the cats, we where able to get out early and find the wolves, grizzly, moose etc.

This is a fantastic book in every way but one. Perseus Books has done such a terrible job printing it that I am returning my copy. It looks and feels worse than any book I have ever held in my hands. The paper is cheaper than any book I have on my shelf. I can see an empty spot in the glue on the binding. The text itself looks like a second generation photocopy.

All of this is a terrible disappointment to me, because everyone I have talked to has loved the content of the book, and I was expecting a good, strong paperback that I could keep for thirty years. This doesn't feel like it'll last thirty days. I can't recommend that anyone buy this book. Perhaps if you could get a cheap used copy it would be worth it, but sixty dollars? No. Get something else.

Some people believe that, for getting into algebraic geometry (by this I mean Grothendieck-like AG, with schemes and all that), one needs a monolithic training in commutative algebra (something like both volumes of Zariski-Samuel, for example). I disagree. This little book seems to be specially suited to those who want to learn AG. It's a bit too brisk, specially at the beginning - if you don't already have an acquaintance with the basics of groups, rings and ideals, you may run into trouble - but very illuminating. Masterful choice of topics, great exercises (as a matter of fact, about half the topics of the book, and more specifically the ones that are directly related to AG, are treated in the exercises, some of them quite challenging) - like one said before, it looks like a "chapter 0" of Hartshorne's book on AG. The authors consciously estabilish relations between the commutative algebra and the modern foundations of AG over and over along the way, illuminating both topics.

For the algebra itself, it also gets on well with Rotman's "Galois Theory" and MacDonald's out-of-print introduction to AG, "Algebraic Geometry - Introduction to Schemes", besides being the perfect preamble in commutative algebra to the books of Mumford and Hartshorne. A gem.

This is how mathematics texts SHOULD be written. As in technical writing, the smaller text is the better written text. Everything is clean and direct, with clairity obviously a prime consideration. One never gets mired down. The proofs are always as close to a "THE BOOK" proof as possible, with illuminating examples, and plenty of excercises, many with outlines for solution, which makes the book ideal for self study. This book is a revelation. If I had to take only one math text with me to a desert island, this would be the one.