Impressionism is my favorite style of painting so I was really enchanted with this biography. Written by Renoir's middle son, Jean, Renoir, My Father not only gives us an intimate look at the life of Auguste Renoir, it gives us an intimate look at the Paris of Renoir's day as well.

As we get to know Renoir we get to know his contemporaries, too. Jean Renoir writes about Monet, Cezanne, Manet, Sisley and many other great artists. We learn many "little known" facts, such as Monet's penchant for lace and his "artful" way with the ladies.

Paris really comes alive in this book. Many of the places Renoir writes about still exist and can be visited today. This book makes any art lover's trip to Paris more meaningful whether he's a Renoir fan or not.

When reading this book, one must remember that this is not a "run of the mill" biography. This is a son writing about the father he adored. The portrait we are given is very intimate, detailed and loving. It's obvious that Jean Renoir adored his father, just as Auguste Renoir adored his family.

Ultimately, this book is a beautiful tribute from a loving son to a father who was one of history's consummate artists. If you have any interest at all in art, this is one book you simply must not pass up. The last page alone will break your heart.

Renoir was far more than one of the world's greatest artists. He was an adventurer, a family man, a man who held interesting views on just about every subject under the sun, and finally, in his later years, a martyr to life. Although this book was written by Renoir's middle son, Jean, it is as vibrant and alive as if Renoir, himself, had just written the words in his own hand. Through this book we learn how the Renoir family left its roots in Limoges and moved to Paris. We read of Renoir's early years as a painter of porcelain and how and why he became an artist, more specifically, an Impressionist. We learn of Renoir's marriage to Aline Charigot of Essoyes, the birth of his three sons and his move to the south of France. Some of the most interesting sections of the book deal with Renoir's feelings about the effect of light on a painting and why he needed to paint in a "natural" setting. Also, most interesting are the chapters on the birth of Impressionism and Renoir's relationships with the other artists of the time, such as Monet, Manet, Sisley and Cezanne, just to name a few. Lovingly and charmingly written, this book truly brings Renoir to life and makes him accessible to all. Absolutely a must for anyone with even a passing interest in art or artists!

Not only is this a book about Renoir, whose tableaux peer out of every other art store on every mall in North America (what a curious fate!), it is also a book about Paris. Born in 1841, Renoir was older than most of the other Impressionists with whom he grew friendly later. He also had the chance to see Paris as it was before the Commune and the war of 1870. He lived a good part of his life on the Butte in Montmartre and it is hard now to recapture the atmosphere up there among the hordes of tourists. Yet early on Sunday mornings with a light rain playing on the umbrellas of the artist's stands in the Place du Tertre, you can wander freely among the memories of the rue Lepic and elsewhere, and catch glimpses of Renoir (and others) as you pass through the old streets. Reading this book first will help.

Jean Renoir is a very famous artist in his own right, having made numerous films and become one of the most acclaimed directors in French cinema history. Here he has taken great pains to paint a fine portrait of his renowned father, this time with a pen. He has succeeded admirably.

As a math minor at Mount Holyoke (yes, my professors actually wrote the book!) I found the book extremely useful especially as an introduction to writing math reports and papers. You will too. :)

This book and the accompanying course helped me enter higher mathematics and discover what being a mathematician was really about. It gave in depth insight into the beginnings of mathematical research and how it gets done.

The book describes drafting program for new emerging operating system: Linux. Linux is a multitasking, multiuser operating system for PCs Sun Workstations and other computers. Up to recent time the usage of this extremely reliable and fully networked OS was limited by lack of application software which runs under it. LinuxCAD is the first CAD package developed for Linux. I purchased the book , installed LinuxCAD from the attached disks on my Linux Intel PC and used book as an instruction how to work in the program. As it appears LinuxCAD is very similar to Acad that I worked before , I was using book and the program for creating technical illustration for my University coursework. Good job folks. We need more developers like you so Linux can prevail !!! I may recommend the book and the program to anyone who would like to do any kind of drafting works on Linux. Program was pretty stable and I had not even one crash , although I may say the book is very helpful too, it helps to get up to speed with LinuxCAD very quickly.

I got the book from the library and I want it. There is too much good detail to remember. Can you talk them into publishing it on CD Rom? Or, can they at least print some more so I can buy it? It is a narrow subject that probably doesn't have enough readers, but it is good.

Here is a refreshing change: a Hollywood autobiography (or sort of) written by someone who refuses to take himself too seriously. The result is one of the most engaging memoirs to have come down the pike in quite a while. Robert Clarke is almost too self-effacing; he is much better remembered than he thinks. Clarke was never a major star (not even close) but a true-blue working Hollywood actor -- and one with a keen sense of observation. Unforgettable as the dog boy in Val Lewton's Bedlam, Clarke went on to appear in Tim Holt Westerns, played supporting roles (some mere walk-ons) in more prestigious fare and starred in very early television swashbucklers. Never boring the reader with endless obscure personal details (Clarke, lone among Hollywood survivors apparently, doesn't seem to have had a horrible childhood), the author recounts working for next-to-nothing in no-budget B-movies, for Ida Lupino and Jack "just the facts, ma'm" Webb. and others too numerous to mention. He even produced and directed a couple of 1950s sci-fi flicks. All of this is recounted in engaging fashion and devoid of fake sentimentality. Robert Clarke is probably not well-known enough to have been published by Random House -- but that is their loss. Happily, horror specialist Tom Weaver brought him to Gary and Susan Svehla's Midnight Marquee, one of these technically up-to-par genre publishing houses made possible by new technology. It is due to folks like Weaver and the Svehlas that film books make such delightful reading these days.

This set of three novellas grouped into a book is a strange and haunting work whose effect lingers long. The stage is Earth far in the future, but an Earth whose pride and will have been shattered by terrible reverses. Silverberg paints a picture of the aftermath of human hubris, whereby pride and technological prowess carried to an extreme have led to the destruction of the continents of North and South America and ultimately to a "bankrupt" earth being placed in celestial "receivership". Beaten down and dispirited, humanity has been splintered in to a number of profession-specific guilds in a reversion to feudal times, with loyalty to guild superceding all other loyalties. The story is told through the experiences of a "Watcher" who has devoted his life to scanning the heavens for the approach of a long anticipated punitive invasion from a planet mortally wronged by human hubris. The book tells of the aftermath of the fateful invasion, resistance to which is rendered impossible by humanity's own divisions, let alone its reversion to a technological stone age. We follow the Watcher as, post-invasion, he seeks a new life and ultimately redemption. The topography is familiar and yet different as Silverberg plays on the names of well known cities (the holy cities of Roum and Jorslem, the romance of Perris in the nighttime). In majestic metaphor, the Watcher, after having his life's vocation rendered meaningless, delves deep into the past for lessons and finally seeks a new redemption, literally and figuratively, in a new united vision of love, tolerance and humanity. A book that is strange, troubling and yet inspiring.

Dave Deubler's review, shown here, is excellent, so I will only add that this is one of Silverberg's best. A must for any Silverberg fan. If you haven't read anything by Silverberg yet, then this one may very well hook you.

In this exquisite gem of a novel, Silverberg introduces us to the world of the far future. In this mysterious and only vaguely familiar land, the social order is dominated by the Guilds, who exercise enormous control over the lives of their members, each of whom plays some small part in a grand scheme whose totality is shrouded in the mists of antiquity. Thus one of the main threads of the story is always "How did things get this way?" Silverberg uses the story of a simple Watcher to reveal a long and complex history of Earth's rise, foolish pride, and subsequent fall. The Watcher's job is to search the skies, but why and for what is not immediately clear. Against a backdrop of magic, sunken continents, alien creatures, ancient wrongs and endless wandering around what we would call the Old World (Roum, Perris, and Jorslem), we come to appreciate the Watcher as a human being. In his love for the Flier Avluela and his loyalty to the Prince of Roum, amidst his failures, betrayals, renewal, and redemption, we see a microcosm of the human race's own journey from arrogance to fear to humility and finally beyond. A quiet melancholy pervades this book, as our protagonist wanders among the remnants of Earth's glory years, now decrepit relics. Yet Silverberg finds a way to conclude with the promise of salvation. Despite the unfamiliarity of the social order and the slightly modified place names, the book is easy reading, even for younger readers. There is no over-abundance of action, or of science, either, really, so perhaps this book won't be a favorite of everyone. There is violent conflict aplenty, but much of it takes place "off-stage" so it won't overpower the fainthearted. The mild sexual content is handled pretty much the same way, making it acceptable reading for all but the most sheltered young teens. In short, Silverberg weaves a spell of quiet mystery, timeless beauty, and eternal human values that is sure to entrance.

The approach of this book is based on experimental data rather than the deduced facts. I have tride many books to prepare me for the GRE subject text in Biochem/cell/Molecular biology. However, many of the books were concentrating on plain facts rather than on experimental data. Some of the GRE question especially the longer and difficult ones are not concerened with memorized facts. Rather, they present to you experimental data in the form of graphs and charts and ask you questions based on them. Of all the books that I sampled this is the only one that provided the necessary levels of understanding for me to tackle such questions. This is also true in a life of a beginning graduate student who is required to make sense out of graphs, numbers and charts in per reviewed journal articles. This book is most useful for such individuals. For lower level undergraduates this book is best when used with in conjunction with another introductory text book such as Molecular Cells biology by by lodish.

Most classes I have taken at the undergraduate level have only presented the facts and theories of molecular and cell biology. Dr. Weaver's text, and the two classes I have taken from him, have given me insight into how those facts were obtained. His text presents the questions of scientists, why they were asked, and how they were answered, including interpretation of the data. This is very important to someone training to be a research scientist.

Yes, it may be understandable only to upper level students, but that is for whom the book is meant. The first two or three years of college should give a student enough background. This book will help elaborate on that information, and more importantly, answer the why and how.

I am a faculty member at a liberal arts college in Pennsylvania and will be using this textbook for the third year in a row. While the style of the text IS difficult for students at the beginning, as they become comfortable with it, they use it more and more as a resource. Every year I have the students evaluate the textbook and this book has received high marks both years I have used it. An instructor using this textbook needs to spend more time discussing the details with the students in the beginning, which decrease the total amount of material you can cover during the semester. However, after using this textbook, students can pick up the primary literature and are quite conversant with it. My class consists of students ranging from second semester sophomores through second semester seniors. If you just want to lecture to students, this may not be the textbook for you to use, but if you want to engage your students in the ways that molecular biologists solve problems, this textbook is an excellent choice.

Alf claims to be the first rock n' roll bodyguard and it's interesting to read how he fell into the job. A nice guy and a nice read but if you are buying this to read controversial info on celebrities, you will disappointed.

Alf describes his early life, history in the service and boxing followed by his foray into the life of a bodyguard. Alf has great history with the Beatles particularly, but also the Stones, Led Zeppelin, Cher and Frank Sinatra as well as many others. While he talks about the good traits, there is no dirt or secrets about these people.

Probably the most interesting relationship he has is with Mike Nesmith of the Monkees. Mike comes across as an interesting guy stuck in a bubble gum band that wants to evolve on a higher level musically.

While this is an enjoyable read, there is no real meat to the book that would need to be there to sell in large numbers.

Alf Weaver tells it like it is. No bull****, no boring stories, but ballsy writing and a whole bunch of stuff about all your favourite rock 'n' roll stars.

Lots of former friends of the stars write kiss and tells, but forget about the kissing and the telling. Weaver ain't one of them. He's got the juice on everyone from Frank Sinatra to The Beatles and also a lot of interesting stuff about The Monkees, Led Zeppelin and all the great bands from the 60s and 70s.

One of m friends were showing me this book when we were talking about genetics and stuff. I became intrested of it and borrowed it for a couple of weeks. This book led me into the world of genetic principles, possibilities and etics in no time. The language is in a medium level, quit easy to understand even for a swedish teacher. It is perfect if you study fundamental genetics or want to now what genetics is all about.

This book contains an ABC approach to classroom management - helpful suggestions, succinctly presented in a page or less (each one). Then continues with some reproduced articles from some of the "big" thinkers in classroom management theory. Big enough to be helpful, small enough to not intimidate.