List price: $65.00 (that's 30% off!)
Used price: $18.99
Collectible price: $25.95
Buy one from zShops for: $43.50
Used price: $1.77
Collectible price: $5.04
Buy one from zShops for: $1.95
-Jillian, page 53
List price: $29.95 (that's 30% off!)
Used price: $14.78
Buy one from zShops for: $16.99
Used price: $39.88
Buy one from zShops for: $39.88
Joyce Treiman was both a draughtsman, an iconoclast, and a painter of such dexterity and creativity that even today she remains 'unclassifiable'. Painting in the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, when figuration was considered retrogressive, Joyce Treiman painted magnificent canvases that paid homage to Eakins, Sargent, Bonnard, Tiepolo, and Rembrandt - all with a flare for homage and tongue-in-cheek wry humor. Her later paintings almost always included an element of self portraiture and it is this aspect of her style which gifts the art students of today with a sublime example of 'The Painter's Progress'.
The essays in this magnum opus are erudite and entertaining. Theodore F. Wolff writes lovingly of Treiman's life and talent while Michael Duncan details admiration for a woman who just went about her art of painting without regard to varying styles or schools. Terrific examples of Treiman's drawings are interspersed with drawings by the masters to show the influences on her evolving technique. The plates of her paintings are color-true and plentiful. And the book includes an extensive biography and exhibition section.
This is a magnificent volume on art of the 20th Century and for Treiman's cadre of devotees it is a heartwarming tribute. For those unfamiliar with her work, it is a startlingly fine introduction. Highly Recommended!
Used price: $0.79
Buy one from zShops for: $1.88
Used price: $2.49
Collectible price: $4.75
Buy one from zShops for: $5.99
Used price: $2.35
Collectible price: $10.58
Buy one from zShops for: $19.54
Used price: $1.16
Buy one from zShops for: $3.95
Used price: $49.38
Nor does Wolff lambast everyone else, as has been implied. There are a lot of examples of people he is friendly with, or even admires: Hayden, Isaacson, etc. Yes, the majority of business men portrayed are not cast in the attractive life. it would seem to me that preserving the appearance of decency in a cutthroat environment is practically a superhuman task. I think that the brutality of Wolff's honesty (and the fact that he is writing about failure rather than success) have been a turn-off for some readers.
The interesting thing about the book is that Wolff is taking a somewhat philosophical approach to the Internet business models and (truly in the spirit of NetGuide) tries perhaps a bit too hard to distinguish content companies from other Internet players (nowadays the lines are more blurred). The theoretical stuff is not necessarily fun to read, and the real book starts with Chapter 7, when all of a sudden he and his personal fortune are put in a big squeeze by the evil investors. The drama of his struggles to keep the company afloat (and not his relationship with Time Warner or CMP) is what fascinates me in the book.
Highly recommended.
The book covers the internet business from 1994 to 1997, when Wolff was trying to cut a deal with Magellan or AOL or Ameritech or the Washington Post, while keeping his venture capitalists at arms length. His "burn rate" is high-he's spending half a million bucks a month-and the money is always about to run out in a few weeks. He has no hope of turning a profit in a reasonable length of time and so he needs a deal, fast.
Wolff is always on the verge of that deal, always about to sell out for more money than he thought existed, only to have the whole thing collapse in acrimony or apathy or a shift in the corporate zeitgeist or whatever. Back then, everybody was making internet commerce up as they went along (the term "e-business" was a couple of years off) and huge sums of money always seemed about to be made or lost on hunches or whims or loopy idealism. Wolff has a keen eye for the resulting nonsense, and he can write about it without condescension because he realizes that he was just another asylum inmate. Overall, a good, fun read.
Not all investors, venture capitalists, and investment bankers are calculating and greedy, but enough of them fit that mold that Wolff's vivid portrayals ring true. Woe to the entrepreneur who thinks his investors are his friends who won't try to squeeze him when the going gets rough.
His tale of Magellan being left at the IPO altar by Robertson Stephens, its twirl around the dance floor with Wolff, and its eventual fire sale to Excite, the company that precipitated the IPO jilting, is filled with intrigue because of the Maxwell connection. What he doesn't detail, unfortunately, is the backroom machinations of a prominent VC and Excite investor who pressured RS&Co. to drop the Magellan IPO.
Wolff's depiction of AOL as one of the great dysfunctional companies of the Internet boom years is dead-on. I know, first-hand, that trying to find anyone at AOL who actually had the authority to make a decision was an exercise in futility. AOL management at the time was like the novice surfer who found himself riding a tsunami and somehow today, inexplicably, has made it safely to shore.
Revealing himself to be not only a victim but also a perpetrator of the Internet gold rush, Wolff's fleecing of CMP shows he is no saint. When considered in the larger context of the book, it makes painfully clear that whether you are buying a business or "buying" investors for your business, "Caveat Emptor."
Strangely enough, the business plan I wrote for my company in 1994 (that helped to secure funding from one of the "Big 3" Silicon Valley VC firms) prominently quoted some Internet statistics reported in the Wall Street Journal that had been compiled by Michael Wolff ! & Co. While I'd love to come full circle and quote from "Burn Rate" in the business plan I'm currently writing, I'm afraid it would hit too close to home for most VCs to stomach.
Used price: $79.50
Collectible price: $59.95
The tales are told as if transcribed from the oral tradition and probably work better if they are presented that way, rather than as a picture book. Older children who are independent readers will be able to handle the text but younger kids will enjoy hearing the stories more in a storytime setting.
The illustrations, linoleum block prints painted with watercolor, are well done, but they probably aren't plentiful enough to keep the attention of younger children in a one-on-one reading. Each page outlined in traditional motifs of the tribe whose tale is being told, but there is only one full page and one smaller illustration per tale. I know that my kids, at least, are still at the age they tend to lose track of the narrative if they don't have pictures to focus on. That's why these stories ultimately work better as oral tales.
I intitially borrowed this book while looking for reference images for a video project. It became obvious to me in a very short time that I would HAVE to purchase this book. Even though I am a professional photographer and filmmaker, there are very few photography books I am willing to spend my money on. There are many I like but few I wish to own. This book, like all of the photo books I've purchased, moved me in a powerful way. These are beautifully executed, intimate black and white portraits. Most of the photographs are spontaneous and shot during recording rehearsals. Several of the images graced the covers and sleeves of the records produced by the jazz record label, Blue Note.
Francis Wolff was not just Blue Note's primary photographer (and quite talented), he was also the label's co-founder. His already skillful eye was that much more in tune (no pun intended) with his subjects and sensitive to the working environment. He was able to capture subtle moments few likely could. Most images are illuminated by a single light source, spotlighting the artists and capturing them in moments of thought, exhilaration, playfulness and intensity.
Seeing greats like Wayne Shorter, John Coltrane, Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins, a young Herbie Hancock and Hank Mobley in these intimate moments early in their careers is powerful. The design is outstanding and the printing if these photographs is impressive. This is a must have book for the music lover, photographer, or photography lover. If you don't fit into one of the above catagories, don't sweat it. You will love this book simply because it is beautiful.