List price: $50.00 (that's 30% off!)
Used price: $35.00
Buy one from zShops for: $78.93
Be forewarned, this book, beautifully designed and realized as it is, is disturbing. If you think Robert Mapplethorpe went too far, this is probably not for you. The images we run here in the Libido Review Gallery are on the cuddly end. Others in the book make me wince no matter how often I see them.
Not all of the images in this book are of Fakir, but most are. And this is as it should be, because it is clear that Fakir is the centerpiece of his own universe, in which the TV idea of the makeover is taken to an extreme hard to imagine without seeing it.
After the initial shock wears off, one can't help but wonder why, one would want to poke very large nails into one's self or hang one's body from giant hooks like so much cattle carcass. Why would one do this to one's self.
The answer is found both in the photos and Mark Thompson's excellent introduction. For me the question turn on the point at which performance art becomes a public spiritural quest. For Fakir, pain is a portal to the divine; he has turned himself into a "technician of the sacred," using his own body much the same way flagellants from a variety of religions use pain to seek the divine.
The only difference is that Farkir has documented his experiments with a photographic artists's eye.
List price: $27.95 (that's 30% off!)
Used price: $4.33
Collectible price: $11.65
Buy one from zShops for: $3.49
It was his TRAMP ACROSS THE CONTINENT in 1884, which he weekly serialized in newspaper articles, that catapulted him into the public's eye. In time, as his assignments for the newly-formed Los Angeles Times, took him deeper into the Southwest which would capture his heart & soul, & closer to the American Indians for whom he would advocate mightily, he caught the ear of a President. Theodore Roosevelt came to consider Lummis a vital part of his "cowboy cabinet," & often invited him to Washington. Lummis enjoyed a life-long influence, via his editorials & many books, on the way Americans thought of themselves.
In this era of bland plasticity, AMERICAN CHARACTER, reminds us of how individualistic, passionate, offensive & charming our forefathers were. It also reminds us of how devastating was our impact upon the people & the land in a time when a man could bemoan the wholesale slaughter of buffalo & Indians, while not batting an eye as he shot other critters just for the thrill of it!
In the light of today's political correctness, Charles Fletcher Lummis' love life was as gilded with misogyny as you would expect from a man of his time - he kept his first marriage secret all through his Harvard years. As in every other aspect of his life, his thirst for affection & companionship was both utilitarian & fascinatingly eccentric.
AMERICAN CHARACTER: Charles Fletcher Lummis & the Rediscovery of the Southwest, has been named by the Western Writers of America as Winner of the 2002 Spur Award in the biography category.
I particularly enjoyed the interview with Michael Dell. As a business owner, I could take and apply much of what he discussed to my business.
Overall, a very well done CD, with some fascinating guests, discussing what it takes to lead. I look forward to hearing the rest of the series.
Used price: $9.89
Collectible price: $25.00
Buy one from zShops for: $11.98
It has been said that sometimes you don't find a book, it finds you. "A Gift Before Dying" is a book that found me. If you're a basketball fan, I hope it finds you.
Used price: $10.40
Collectible price: $19.06
Buy one from zShops for: $10.40
Used price: $0.50
Collectible price: $5.85
The best thing about the book, other than the great story line, is that you have a choice of two ways in which to travel. You can go a more direct route which is more dangerous or take the indirect route, which is arguably not that much easier. This means you as the player can effectively play the book twice and enjoy it as new the second time round.
The illustrations are lovely and the map is beautifully drawn, the attention to detail is unbelievable at times and you will find yourself not being able to put the book down. SO! why oh why was the way of the Tiger series taken out of print? Because they didn't sell that well? To be honest, I can't understand why.
Used price: $3.90
Collectible price: $4.95
Buy one from zShops for: $9.95
Used price: $12.95