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Schulz and Peanuts: A Biography
David Michaelis
Harper Perennial, 2008
From a Unique Perspective
Amongst the many reviews written on behalf of David Michaelis' "Schultz and Peanuts", some have been exclamatory while others have been critical of the author's approach to his subject. Apparently members of Charles Schulz' immediate family have also expressed bitter ...
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Lives of the Artists
Calvin Tomkins
Henry Holt and Co., 2008
A portrait of the motives and minds of some great artists
In an instant gratification society where 15 minutes seems to be a long time and an hour devoted to one subject is almost a career, Tomkins explains how 10 of today's artists became great.
In brief -- it takes decades of devotion to a central alluring ideal. No ...
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Chagall: A Biography
Jackie Wullschlager
Knopf, 2008
Fine biography
A fine biography, the best from the generation which did not know Chagall personally. To what extent the weakness of relying on the perceptions and judgments of others is offset by the objectivity of having had no contact positive or negative with the subject is a ...
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The Gingerbread Architect: Recipes and Blueprints for Twelve Classic American Homes
Susan Matheson, Lauren Chattman
Clarkson Potter, 2008
Creative and fun!
I saw this in a bookstore today and am ordering a copy for my sister. I loved the way the houses look and the variety of them.
As for the previous reviewer, excuse me but WHO in the WORLD makes two story gingerbread houses with interiors?
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Le Corbusier: A Life
Nicholas Fox Weber
Knopf, 2008
Weber's ambitious 'first full-scale life of Le Corbusier.'
Swiss architect and urban planner, Le Corbusier, was born Charles-Édouard Jeanneret-Gris in Switzerland in 1887. He later reinvented himself by adopting the pseudonym Le Corbusier in 1920. It translates as "the crow-like one." He became a French citizen in his 30s. He ...
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The Man Who Made Vermeers: Unvarnishing the Legend of Master Forger Han van Meegeren
Jonathan Lopez
Harcourt, 2008
The Man Who Made Vermeers
What's really terrific about this book is the way that it sets the story of Van Meegeren's forgeries within the personal biography of the forger and the history of the period. In fact, I'm starting to think that this is the way that art should always be looked at, ...
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Loving Frank: A Novel
Nancy Horan
Ballantine Books, 2008
Interesting fictionalized bio
I did not know the background of Frank Lloyd Wright's life so this book read like a pleasant romantic novel. I had been told that it had a startling ending. At one point, I put it down for the day and said to my friend, "I don't get it. I'm enjoying the book but I'm ...
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Frank Gehry in Pop-Up
Jinny Johnson, Roland Lewis
Thunder Bay Press, 2007
A unique achievement perfect for pop-up book fans
FRANK GEHRY IN POP-UP provides extraordinary 3-D creations through paper engineering that is outstanding: architectural marvels in pop-up replica accompanied by commentary on structure's history, design and construction. From colorful photos discussing Gehry's ...
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World Atlas of Wine
Hugh Johnson, Jancis Robinson
Hamlyn, 2008
Note - this is the SIXTH edition!
The editorial notes for this listing refer to the 5th edition, but the listing itself is actually for the new, 6th edition. I own the 5th and have gone through the 6th in some detail. It is worth buying the newer edition if you have an earlier edition. The authors ...
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Frank Lloyd Wright The Houses
Alan Hess
Rizzoli, 2005
Almost As Good As Being There
This is a necessary book for all who study architecture. Why? Because the photography conveys something close to the reality of Mr. Wright's works, especially so when it comes to the interiors.
When I was studying architecture in college in the 1970s, the BEST ...
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The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
Erik Larson
Crown, 2003
A Serial Killer to make Jack the Ripper seem Tame!!
I first learned of this book written by Erik Larson on C-Span's Booknotes. In hearing Larson's explanation of the Chicago's World's Columbian Exposition, I became intrigued by what it took to build and what this Fair represented not only to Chicago but to the United ...
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The Art of Construction: Projects and Principles for Beginning Engineers & Architects (A Ziggurat book)
Mario Salvadori
Chicago Review Press, 2000
If it had been around...
I've been rereading this lately. This morning I showed everybody in the restaurant where I was eating the book saying, "if this had been around when I was in middle school or junior high, I expect that I would be an architect or structural engineer now.
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Death in a Prairie House: Frank Lloyd Wright and the Taliesin Murders
William R. Drennan
University of Wisconsin Press, 2008
The Best Account of the Tragedy
This books gives an account of the tragic event and the circumstances surrounding it -- the murder of Mamah Borthwick Cheney, her two children and other members of celebrated architect Frank Lloyd Wright's household at Taliesin, his sprawling hillside home near Spring ...
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The Agony and the Ecstasy: A Biographical Novel of Michelangelo
Irving Stone
NAL Trade, 2004
Feels Like Being Right There
Irving Stone makes you feel you are right there: in Ghirlandaio's studio, in Lorenzo's Garden, in the Pope's apartments, in Michelangelo's marble. I have seen the movie many years ago (and enjoyed it greatly) so when I saw the book in a friend's house borrowed it. When ...
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Chanel: A Woman of her Own
Axel Madsen
Holt Paperbacks, 1991
Chanel Bio is everything it should be.
I found it strange that some readers gave negative or highly critical reviews of this biography. Someone even commented on the difficulty in reading the French names! It's a little late to change Chanel's nationality and thank God! This biography is successful on a ...
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