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Book reviews for "Williams,_Helen" sorted by average review score:

Seven Against Thebes (Greek Tragedy in New Translations)
Published in Paperback by Oxford University Press (1991)
Authors: Aeschylus, Anthony Hecht, Helen H. Bacon, and William Arrowsmith
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When the gods send destruction there is no escape.
This is the third play in a trilogy, the other two being lost. The play results in an end to the curse on the Oedipus family. However, it is different from the approach later used by Sophocles. Here, there is no redemption from within. The curse ends only when the family becomes extinct. The two sons of Oedipus, Eteocles and Polyneices, who were to share power in Thebes, have quarrelled. Eteocles seizes power and Polyneices goes to get help from Adrastus, King of Argos, and six other kings. Eteocles sends champions to fight the six kings at six of the gates of Thebes. The seventh gate is left to Eteocles. However, that is the gate to which his brother comes. Eteocles feels that he has no choice but to fight and further incur the wrath of the gods by shedding kindred blood. "When the gods send destruction there is no escape." Eteocles had an "out" of his predicament but he choses not to use it. One really sees the pains of conflict and war in this play.

excellent translation from excellent series
This excellent edition of Seven Against Thebes is part of Oxford University Press' ongoing series Greek Tragedy in New Translations, the idea behind which is that these plays should be translated into English not just by Greek scholars, but also by poets, to preserve as much of the real communicative power and drama as possible.

This edition is ideal for reluctant students assigned to read Seven Against Thebes, and may even succeed in sparking their interest in the subject. The language is true to the play and stays vivid even through a few static moments.

As with all the plays in this series, the introduction provides information not only about how the translation was accomplished, but also about how the play would have been performed, and perceived, by the ancient Greeks, what's missing from the play (namely, the first two plays of a trilogy), and notes about how the play fits into the scheme of Greek tragedy.

Other plays in the series, such as Oedipus the King, are also highly recommended.

This review applies only to the Hecht/Bacon translation published by Oxford University Press in their Greek Tragedy in New Translations series, and not to the Dover Thrift edition.


Photoshop 7 Magic (with CD-ROM)
Published in Paperback by New Riders Publishing (09 May, 2002)
Authors: Sherry London, Rhoda Grossman, Robert Barnes, Michel Bohbot, Helen Golden, Dot Krause, Kelly Loomis, Cher Threinen-Pendarvis, Al Ward, and Phil Williams
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Good Book, Bad CD.. You got idea but you can't do it!!
New Raiders have problem with Flash MX Magic and now there are some problem with Photoshop 7 Magic, too.

Photoshop 7 Magic also have CD problem, I can't open picture in Project1 Folder. So, I can't Follow the book. Further more, Most of all folder contain only Start File.. no psd, no finish file there are only TIF file without layer! oh dear Sherry London, I'm not professional like you but I need some PSD file to see each Layer because sometime I can't follow your instruction. (as I see, 3 folders have finish file.. it's a big mistake)

in page 47 of this book, Phill Williams say only use Retouching tool to move object in TIFF file to other place (this is like a photo retouching) but they give me only 2 picture in that page .. just only original image and finish image.. there are no clue to point me out where I have to rubber stamp nor start to clone! and it's very small .. I do not understand why they left space behind. Maybe this is a MAGIC! So, it's very hard to understand. I need more picture and bigger! I do not know why her left space away like this .. :(

Worst ever, NO FONT!! but in book say include in cd, (lier) .. and many many error i.e. wrong folder name (I read only 3 projects but I found 4 or 5 errors!! it's too much!) and wrong picture in project 4!! you can download fix file from newriders website but it doesn't help anything! because errata still have error itself!! oh no.

Only a few better left is good tech support! but it's useless because this book is .... ok, I can say only don't purchase this book until next edition of this title came out! or try by yourself :) or purchase Photoshop 7 Wow! book instead!

Book Review
A plethora of new books are arriving on bookshelves thanks to Adobe releasing version 7 of Photoshop, and Photoshop 7 Magic by Sherry London and Rhoda Grossman from New Riders is one of the latest.

I have been using Photoshop 7 for a few months now (and had used a beta version, Liquid Sky, for a few months before that) so I am pretty comfortable with the new version. I was hoping Photoshop 7 Magic would teach me something new, something I did not know I could do with the new version of the program. Alas, that is not what this book is about.

Starting off with some very simple ways to use text, layers, and transparencies, the book moves into many different categories of Photoshop, from Marbled Backgrounds to Satin Beveled Type. The book is broken out into three main segments, Artistic Techniques, Web Techniques, and Image Manipulation Techniques.

The book features some really nice artwork and the accompanying CD-ROM has all the files you need to re-create the projects done in the book.

The book is well written, if somewhat Spartan. There is no sense of who the people are writing the book. It is "I did this, then I did that, etc..." With all the white space in this book, I would have liked to see a little more of the personalities of the writers come through. As it is, it is a boring read. Photoshop 7 Magic is a textbook, not an entertaining read. With the great pictures and examples in this book, it could have been so much more. Perhaps Sherry and Rhoda should take a page from another New Rider writer, Scott Kelby, and liven their work up a bit.

This book is geared to new Photoshop users, or graphic designers just now making the switch from brush and canvas to mouse, stylus pen, and monitor. Experienced graphic artists who have been using Photoshop for a few years will get little from this book they do not already know, or have learned from the countless book already available on the subjects covered in this book. Add to that and the very hefty price tag of the book, a whopping forty-five bucks, and I cannot recommend this book unless you are really lacking in Photoshop skills, unlike the demographic this book seems to be catering to.

Average book at best. Nice paperstock and heft to the book, but price is way too much for the quality of the 275 pages of actual content. The only Magic here is watching [money] disappear from your wallet or purse.

MacMice Rating: 3 out of 5

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Five Big Ones!
With hundreds of choices out there for the category, this one stands out. Photoshop 7 Magic really enhances the possibilities of the tool. As a user, I want a text that's simple to read and NOT overwritten. Just show me how to do it! I'm a painter who found the chapter on brush techniques and liquid painting to be very helpful. You'll want this book on your shelf.


Saint Therese and the Roses (Vision Books Series)
Published in Paperback by Ignatius Press (1997)
Authors: Helen Walker Homan and George William Thompson
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Rather sentimental
A sentimental treatment of Therese's life; I'd look for something more vigorously written, and perhaps for a more contemporary treatment.

Saint Therese and the Roses
As a little girl, I must have read this lovely book at least a dozen times -- the 'divine romance' of little Therese and the difficult life of a cloistered Carmelite convent. Every page thrilled me -- her 'vision' during a childhood illness, her anguished parting from her beloved sisters as they entered the convent before her, her fervor and innocence. Although written in the style of another era, this book captures some profound truths about the nature of children's spirituality, and is a classic from another and more challenging era of Catholic devotion. It is now my pleasure to buy it for my goddaughter for her First Communion; this young lady, with her love of high drama in literature, will no doubt love it as well!

Great book, could not put it down!
What I loved about this book was I learned about Saint Therese and her "little way" inside a sweet easy read novel rather than an biography on her. Now I can't wait to read the deeper "reads" but this book I read in 2 days and fell in love with her and her family. Her family taught me how my family could model hers. I truly fell in love with this book and have bought it for friends who have loved it--and their older children. I can't wait to read it to my 4 and 5 year old boys in a couple more years when they can have a story read to them without pictures.


The Alaska-Yukon Wild Flowers Guide
Published in Paperback by Alaska Northwest Books (1989)
Authors: Helen A. White and Maxcine Williams
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Okay cross section but far from comprehensive.
I've used this book for a few years and have found that I have replaced it with Pojar & MacKinnon's Plants of the Pacific Northwest. The Alaska Yukon Wild Flowers Guide that I have was printed in 1995 but copyrighted in '74. The phots throughout seem as though they were taken in the 70's. The pictures are largely similar to those I take now - washed out with poor colors. The book does have a nice cross section of flowers from beaches to alpine. I'll keep my copy for my library but when it comes to field identification I'll go with the previously mentioned title. (Which is limited to SE Alaska - sorry.)

Alaska-Yukon Wild flowers guide
The book provides an excellent overview of flowers in Alaska & the Yukon, and is useful for identification using the color pictures for each flower. I regret that it is out of print.


Methods in Gene Biotechnology
Published in Plastic Comb by CRC Press (09 May, 1997)
Authors: Michael J. Welsh, Peter B. Kaufman, Helen H. Zhang, and William F. Wu
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practical and useful
It provides researchers with matural methods which have been testified by the author to be awarded. In addition, the frontier of molecular biology -the application of computers in the research of biology was also involved in this protocol book.


Middle English Dictionary (Volume T.7)
Published in Paperback by University of Michigan Press (1996)
Authors: Robert E. Lewis, Marilyn S. Miller, Mary Jane Williams, G. W. Abernethy, James M. Girsch, Helen W. Kao, Robert N. Mory, Mary Elizabeth Ellzey, and Marshal S. Grant
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Yeah, I got snookered
I was very surprised when I ordered this book and found out that yes, indeed, it was merely a very tiny portion of what I had expected. I suppose I should have known from the price, but the description (at least at that time) did not make it clear that it wasn't the entire dictionary.

Must have more complete info before ordering...
While this may be a very thorough source for the words it covers, it should be noted in the basic information that this is ONLY 128 pages of a 15,000 page work. The description above is very misleading.

5 stars
itz a dictionary. what more can i say


Which President Killed a Man? : Tantalizing Trivia and Fun Facts About Our Chief Executives and First Ladies
Published in Paperback by McGraw-Hill/Contemporary Books (23 October, 2002)
Authors: William Bramhall, James C. Humes, and Helen Thomas
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Political bias in an innocent-sounding cover - be forewarned
Although I enjoyed the trivia in this book and learned a lot of tidbits, the longer I read, the more I was put off by the obvious political bias. It's subtle, but after awhile it becomes unmistakable. The Harding scandals, for instance, are characterized as follows: "Harding was personally honest but exploited by his business cronies." Rosalynn Carter, we are told, "wore an old dress to the inaugural" (she could have instead been characterized as "economical"). Nixon's scandals are never mentioned without an accompanying comment regarding the poor character traits of his Democratic foes. George W. Bush is called a "fine student," while we are told that Clinton "never earned a degree at Oxford" (he was not in fact on a degree-granting program). The author gives an account of Teddy Roosevelt's attitude toward muckraking that does not comport with what I have read by other historians. The instances of bias compile the longer you read; these are just a few of the numerous examples.

James Humes is a former speechwriter for Eisenhower, Nixon, Ford, Reagan, and the first Bush, so I suppose this bias is not surprising, and I personally have no problem with partisan argument per se. I'm an Independent voter so I have no particular axe to grind in either direction. What bothers me is that a clearly partisan stance is packaged in an apparently neutral and innocent, "fun" wrapper--"tantalizing trivia and fun facts." It's disingenious and deceitful. I believe readers deserve to know when they are getting something different than what is advertised. If Humes is trying to make a case for Republican "honesty" and superior values, it is ironic that he does so in a most dishonest manner.

Had I known there were so many "mini-sermons" embedded among the "tantalizing trivia," I would have saved my [money]. Good presidential trivia books abound, and most of them are marketed more honestly than this deceptive little volume. Truly irresponsible reporting and marketing. Mr. Humes, your prejudices are showing.


Chaucer's Troilus and Criseyde: A Poet's Response to Ockhamism (Studies in the Humanities (Peter Lang), Vol 29)
Published in Hardcover by Peter Lang Publishing (1997)
Author: Helen Ruth Andretta
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An Eye-Witness Account of the French Revolution by Helen Maria Williams: Letters Containing a Sketch of the Politics of France (Age of Revolution and Romanticism, Vol 19)
Published in Hardcover by Peter Lang Publishing (1997)
Authors: Helen Maria Williams and Jack, Jr Fruchtman
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Helen
Published in Hardcover by Orchises Press (1992)
Author: C K. Williams
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