Michael Sexson displays a tacticle familiarity with the throbbing heartbeat of the human psyche.

This is a lovely collection with quotes from famous writers, poets, or just people who share at least one thing: their love of books and reading. The quotes are organized under themes like Re-Reading, What to read, The Library, Bookstores, Books as Objects, etc. A musthave for booklovers!

This is a truly amazing book. By its contents, its style, and ... its price. The author affects a convoluted, turgid style where archaisms abound (erstwhile outnumbers former by two to one), where few words will not do when many can (in March 1865 becomes at the very end of the American Civil War in March 1865), where speculations and misrepresentations are handed down as God's Truth. Three pages on Father Sebastian Englert, who spent most of his life on Easter Island, would alone justify buying this book if it were not so expensive. They are a torrent of venomous, defamatory abuse opening with a mild Sebastian Englert (1888-1969) was perhaps personally the most remarkable-and academically the most overrated-figure, soon waxing to the German Capuchin father distilled a yarn as far removed from the historical truth of rongorongo's erstwhile use as one can imagine. For if Englert genuflected to any dogma it was to that of the almighty Oral Tradition... His claim that the inscriptions were read alternately left to right and right to left, without mentioning boustrophedon or the need to rotate the artefact while reading, shows in fact just how limited his knowledge of the subject was...Even in his posthumously published Island at the Centre of the World - New Light on Easter Island (Englert, 1970: 73-81)- regarded today on the island, in the Spanish edition, as "Scripture"-Padre Sebastian only reiterated the superannuated posture toward rongorongo of the 1930s and confused its scientific discussion with sophomoric inaccuracies... ignoring in later years all scientific advances made by Thomas Barthel or the Russians... and concluded with Unscientific but remarkably well-read, Padre Sebastian was long on words-but short on substance. The fascinating thing there is that those claims are never substantiated by, say, a direct quote, or a precise reference. Even more fascinating is that any reader who bothers to look up pages 73-81 of Englert "Island at the Center of the World" will discover that Fischer's claims are all outright misrepresentations. There Englert wrote: According to the tradition, Hotu Matua brought with him from Hiva sixty- seven of these inscribed tablets...The sequence of the writing is a rare and curious one called reversed boustrophedon that is, each line of script when it reaches the edge of the board turns back upside down to form the next line. This means that to read the script one must turn the board around at the end of each line...The most complete work dealing with the problem up to the present time is Grundlagen zur Entzifferung der Osterinselschrift (Foundations for the Decipherment of the Easter Island Script) by Thomas Barthel... A group of Russian scholars... have spent some years studying the problem. Englert having died in 1969, the editorial board of Clarendon Press must have felt it was safe to publish this libellous material. Fischer's aim becomes clear when he mistranslates Thomas Barthel's Grundlagen zur Entzifferung der Osterinselschrift as Rudiments Toward the Decipherment of the Easter Island Script (p. vii). The message is clear: Barthel's work was rudimentary, only awaiting the coming of Fischer's. The mistranslation is systematically repeated to ensure that the reader gets the point. What then, of Fischer's offering? The corpus of inscriptions is given as free- hand line reproductions of the hieroglyphic texts, falsely claimed to be computer- drawn (p.404). Those drawings are vastly inferior to Barthel's and contain glaring errors. Where Barthel had further provided alphanumerical transliterations to help analyze the texts, Fischer gives none. There are photographs, but so reduced that the signs, already tiny (10 to 15mm tall), become quite microscopic. A truly amazing book, hailed as the first study of rongorongo in any of the world's languages that comprehensively addresses the classical Rapanui scripts full history, traditions, and texts by its author, who has himself modestly described elsewhere as the greatest decipherer to have ever lived.

As a long-time aficionado of the Royal Shakespeare Company, it was with great pleasure that I discovered Steven Adler's book about the greatest theatre in the English-speaking world. This book provides a
treasure-trove of insights into the company, and he seems to have conducted an unbelievable amount of research. Interviews with actors, directors, designers, and a ton of behind-the-scenes folks make this book even richer, as they depict myriad personal perspectives of how the RSC works. I've seen many shows at the RSC over the years and I found this book an indispensable aid to understanding this important theatre company. It will not only make going to the theatre there in the future a richer experience, but has vastly increased my understanding about theatre production in general. I noticed that the author is a professor. Well, the pleasure is that he avoids the use of academic jargon. It's written in a completely accessible style and crammed with wonderful details about how theatre is made at the RSC. A perfect holiday gift for anyone who loves theatre and loves British theatre especially. It's amazingly readable and you literally feel yourself transported into the backstage and behind the scenes life of this theatre.

Lucky me. I spent the better part of today at the Metropolitan Museum of Art standing before fifty-five incredible 11th through the mid-15th century paintings from one of the great Buddhist civilizations of Asia. I've got to go back tomorrow. Luckily, in the meantime, I have Sacred Visions.If you can, see this exhibition and do not leave the Museum without the accompanying catalogue with wonderful reproductions and essays by noted scholars such as Steven M. Kossack, of the Met, Jane Casey Singer, Tibetan Art Historian, and Robert Bruce-Gardner, from London's Courtauld Institute. One will learn how Buddhism spread from India through Tibet and the effect the religion had on Tibet's people and, hence, its art.The details of the beautifully reproduced works of art are chosen to help illustrate the subtle and important aspects of the Tibetan artist while diagrams, such as for the Vajravarahi Mandala, further explain the iconography. I brought the book into the exhibition to gleen as much information as I could while standing before each work.If you have any interest in Tibet, rush to this exhibition (it closes 1.17.99) to see some beautifully presented mandalas, book covers, etc. If you cannot, you are not "settling" by any means to peruse the catalogue as you will witness Taras, portraits of Lamas, that are not only unique for their beauty and intelligence, but for the remarkable fact that we have them to admire.

For anyone who ever took a film course, we are taught via the writings of Laura Mulvey that it is the women who is subjected in film. Screening the Male provides the research conducted in examining the filp side of Mulvey's theory. This book is extremely valuable for anyone who is interested in how men are present in film.

...I have not yet seen the movie and read the screenplay and loove it! Steven Soderbergh is not only a great director, but also a very good screenplay writer. The story was unique in the sense that it had a very contemporary feel to it - and yet at the end of it all addressing the same issues such as loneliness, sexual needs, love, strive, and hatred in a marriage or a failed relationship. I would love to see Peter Gallagher, James Spader and Andie McDowell play these roles out!! Great book!

This book tops all the rest!! It is a wonderful asset for any English learning classroom and also extremely helpful for those who intend to create their own textbooks. I have used it in both ways and found it exceptional. I strongly recommend it to anyone in the educational field!!

SPADA is a journal that contains some of most current ideas on historical swordsmanship by a number of the field's leading researchers. As a student of historical swordsmanship myself, I think it is an excellent step in the right direction for the progression of this school of study.

As far as the contents of the book are concerned, my hat goes off to the editor, Stephen Hand, for distilling such a diverse, and yet interesting range of papers from the vast array of excellent treatises available.

The book also features some interesting reports on some of the most recent activities undertaken in the WMA community. This provides the reader with a very good 'big picture' perspective into what advances are being made in what fields, and an appreciation for the vast range of people who are now interested in historical swordsmanship.

With regards to it's practicality, the book caters for many different tastes - whether you are interested in the finesse of renaissance fencing, or simply a medieval re-enactor using the trusty 'sword and shield' method. SPADA provides useful insights and a greater understanding of historical methods of fighting.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in gaining a greater appreciation of historical swordsmanship, and anyone who is curious to know what the swordmanship community out there is doing. I rate it as a 'must have' item, and I look forward to more SPADA releases in the future.

cheers

Matt Partridge
Secretary
Order of the White Stag

This is a really interesting behind the scenes look at the making of CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND. The perspective is from that of Bob Balaban, the actor who played the Translator/Cartographer teamed with Francois Truffaut. The anecdotes are fun and interesting, a look at what it was like to hang out and work with two of the greatest directors in history, one at the beginning of his career, still young and kind of idealistic, the other being a master at the height of his talents, acting for the first time. If you love CE3K, Speilberg, Truffaut or have a thing about guys who are constantly mistaken for Richard Dreyfuss (some of the funniest stuff in the book, this is a great read) It isn't really a dirt dishing tell all, it is more of sweet memories of the struggles involved in making a groundbreaking piece of cinema.