Creating Textures in Colored Pencil

Customer Reviews:

Lacks detail........2007-05-24

This book is supposed to be for beginners, however, it barely touches on the basics (a mere 20 pages). It does contain a 100 pages of examples of textures, but the instructions are practically non-existant. It does give you a list of colors used to achieve the look, but the book does not explain why these colors are used. This makes it difficult to adapt the instuctions to work for a different color flower, for example.

A MUCH better book is "Colored Pencil Solution Book". I bought both, and the "Solution" book has a very extensive explanation of techniques and how colors work (Such as, when applying a color from the opposite side of the color wheel on top of another, it will neutralize the bottom one, making it grayer and more muted. Layering green on top of red, for example).Colored Pencil Solution Book

Gives good basic techniques for drawing in coloured pencil.......2006-06-06

I have a Bachelor degree in drawing and had no problem getting the hang of any drawing tool except for coloured pencils. Several years ago I took a class specifically on drawing with colour pencil and was disappointed when the teacher told me that I'd have to settle for a light layered application of the pencil on paper so as not to develop wax bloom--what I wanted out of the pencil was rich, vibrant colours, not something washed out. I put down my Prismacolours and resigned having to use them to colour in my anatomy colouring book, not for actual drawing.

That's why I was encouraged when I found and read my way through "Creating Textures in Colored Pencil". The author mentions the use of burnishing to build layered colour so it is rich and vibrant, as well as the use of solvents. He also mentions different coloured pencils, like water-soluable pencils, which I normally would use not for drawing but for fine touches on my watercolours, and oil-based coloured pencils. After reading this book it feels like a whole new world of drawing has opened up to me, in addition to my use of graphite, conte crayon, pastels, and of course what I already do in paint.

Incidentally, the author addresses dealing with wax bloom by spraying the drawing with several layers of workable fixative--I've also heard that wiping the bloom with a paper towel will remove the cloudiness.

Mr. Greene includes several examples of items to draw, including step-by-step instructions with colours mentioned. I'm sure those would be great for the beginning/intermediate student to build up skills and confidence; that sort of thing doesn't appeal to me as I'm used to grabbing tools and drawing from life.

I think this is a great basic book on how to handle the medium. As for handling textures, I thought some were very well done while others were not as realistic as I would like. It has very nice full colour reproduction and is very easy to read.

Wonderful pictures - need more detail instruction.......2004-11-25

I agree with a previous reviewer who stated that there were not enough how tos in the book. The book does demonstrate that wonderful pictures can be created with colored pencils. It needs more details especially for beginners like me.

beautiful drawings.......2003-09-20

The real merit of this book is the absolutely gorgeous drawings which, if not for the title, I wouldn't have beleived were colored pencil. It is wonderful to see colored pencil treated with the same legitamacy as acrylic or oils, and I now look forward to "painting" with my pencils.
The most useful aspect of the book is the rev iew of materials, where the author breaks down how to use rubber cement thinner, odorless turpentine, and colored markers to enhance your colored pencils, as well as various artistic tools.
Before I used this book, my colored pencils always were grainy, and I didn't even really realize it. There were too many "flecks", too much white showing through the paper. This book taught me a technique called burnishing, which has dramatically and instantly improved my drawings, I'm sure it can do the same for you. I also am experimenting more with layers, after looking at the phenominal results that can be achieved.
My only complaint is the lack of detailed how-to's. The individual colors used are explained, and there is some break down of the process, but not enough to produce satisfactory results. However, I think it is definatley worth the modest price, and would recommend it to anyone interested in this medium.

not very informative.............2001-06-30

I was disappointed in the book. Just couldn't get much out of it. Not many detailed how-to's.....

Average customer rating:

Splendid Introduction to Christenberry's Work

Excellent homage to a superlative artist

A visual treat!

An important American artist gets his due.

Christenberry: Reconstruction : The Art of William Christenberry
Trudy Wilner Stack , William Christenberry , and Allen Tullos
Manufacturer: University Press of Mississippi
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Photography | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Artists, A-Z | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
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All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
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William Christenberry

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ASIN: 0878058575

Customer Reviews:

Splendid Introduction to Christenberry's Work.......2002-10-01

This book was published as the monograph to a traveling national exhibition on William Christenberry which was curated by the Center for Creative Photography's curator of photography, Trudy Wilner Stack, back in 1996. It is a splendid introduction to Christenberry's work. Through his photography, sculpture and painting, Christenberry has explored the South's rural manmade landscape and its tortured psychological landscape, focusing in on the Ku Klux Klan. Working in color, Christenberry comes across as a latter day Walker Evans, showing much empathy and respect for the culture he depicts in his photographs, with, of course, a notable exception for the Ku Klux Klan. Anyone interested in seeing a fine introduction to Christenberry's work should look no further.

Excellent homage to a superlative artist.......2002-06-05

As unique and genuine an artist as America has produced, Christenberry receives admirable attention in this work. The depth and breadth of his talent is showcased, with attention paid to all of the mediums he employs: painting, sculpture, and photography. Southerners will especially appreciate the evocative quality that rings through these pieces, but their appeal is not limited to art enthusiasts from that region alone. The gravity of the work has a wide appeal.

A visual treat!.......1999-04-06

A visual treat. The artist has captured the look and feel of rural Alabama. Whether it is a photograph, assemblage, painting or drawing, there is a basic truth and honesty to these works.They evoke the time from the depression to the present in a haunting and beautiful way. Mr, Christenberry is indeed a poet.

An important American artist gets his due........1999-03-10

This is a must-have for those who appreciate the work of William Christenberry. Informative text, faithful reproductions of Christenberry's photos, and first-time glimpses into his early work, Reconstruction supplies us with a first-rate chronicle of the life, inspiration, and work of an important 20th century American artist.

Book Description

Yongbi begins his search for Yulmugi, foolishly flashing his priceless mystical amulet wherever he goes. Now the forests are filled with thieves and assassins looking to find Yongbi and take his mystical talisman using any means necessary.

Average customer rating:

Blurbs masquerading as comments

be careful

Scene Structure Explained

Pepperman Produces Yet Again

It's all about choices, and Pepperman has chosen well

Setting Up Your Scenes: The Inner Workings of Great Films
Richard D. Pepperman
Manufacturer: Michael Wiese Productions
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Direction & Production | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
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Book Description

Every great filmmaker has role models and films which inspired him or her to greater and greater heights. Here, for the first time, is an awe-inspiring guide that takes you into the inner workings of classic scenes, revealing the aspects that make them great and the reasons they have served as inspirations.

Customer Reviews:

Blurbs masquerading as comments.......2007-01-09

I usually find Amazon readers' comments valuable, but after buying this book, Setting Up Your Scenes, I noticed that several of the five-star reviews also appear word-for-word in the front of the book as blurbs, probably solicited as back-scratching by the publisher and author, which suggested to me that the only meaningful comments here are the negative ones. I returned the book and will more carefully consider any Michael Weise products I find on Amazon.

be careful.......2006-04-19

Inspired by the infamously atrocious 'Setting up your shots', this book is a sad departure from Pepperman's vastly superior 'the eye is quicker'. Most of the text is setting the scene in context (unnecessary if you've seen the film) and the rest is slight explanation of the shots, none of which is lined up with the frames making it a real hassle to read.

It deserves two stars, but given Pepperman's mates have provided the five stars I think one is appropriate in this instance.

I'm bitterly disappointed, I'd been waiting for this book for awhile. Buy Pepperman's other book instead it's excellent and in a whole different league to this one.

Scenes are from:
butch cassidy
dial m
french connection
jean de florette
my beautiful laundrette
rosemary's baby
sophie's choice
3 days of the condor
two women
burnt by the sun
children of a lesser god
colonol redl
fanny & alexander
400 blows
kolya
the little fugitive
the white balloon
atlantic city
the battle of algiers
chinatown
and 15 other films.

Scene Structure Explained.......2005-11-23

Published in a horizontal "landscape" format, this book is a must-read for film and video editors. Pepperman is a long time editor and the author of "The Eye is Quicker: Film Editing, Making a Good Film Better" published previously by Michael Weise Productions.

The man has great taste and here he has taken individual scenes from 35 classic films such as "Dial M for Murder, "Two Women" and "Chinatown," reproducing over 400 individual frames throughout the book with an in-depth analysis of the scene structure, both its sound and image editing. Dialogue is shown adjacent to the film image and analysis includes "Scene Value" and "Subtext."

Here is a great way to examine in detail editing choices as well as the strengths and potential artistic pitfalls avoided in some of the classic films of our time.

Pepperman Produces Yet Again.......2005-10-21

If I had access to Richard Pepperman's Setting Up your Scenes ten years ago, it could have quite possibly saved me $100,000 in film school fees, not to mention a lot of time and grief. This book is a must-have for all would-be filmmakers and screenwriters.
-- Far Dada, Independent Filmmaker, Toronto, Canada

It's all about choices, and Pepperman has chosen well.......2005-10-21

Pepperman dissects some very infamous scenes from some very famous movies -- providing us with the most breathtaking black & white stills -- in order to highlight the importance of the interplay between dialogue, subtext, and shot selection in great filmmaking. The beauty of the work is that while it will teach anyone who is willing to learn, it works equally well as a gorgeous coffee table tchotchke for the unwilling amongst us.
-- Lily Sadri, Screenwriter "Fixing Fairchild", [...]

Book Description

Carrying the torch of the Russian violin school that was handed down by towering performers like Jascha Heifetz and Nathan Milstein, Jay Zhong records his pedagorical findings on violin performance in A Violinist's Handbook, A Simpler Manual to Learn the Instrument. Professor Zhong was a disciple of the celebrated violin master Elmar Oliveira and the noted Russian pedagogue Raphael Bronstein, another pupil of the great Leopold Auer. Zhong's violinistic talent was discovered and recognized by Nathan Milstein at age 14, and subsequently promoted by concert manager Harold Shaw. Professor Zhong now holds the Violin Professor and Director of String Program position at California State University, Los Angeles.

Book Description

David J Howe and Arnold T Blumberg present the definitive collector's guide to Doctor Who merchandise. From the rare and obscure to the commonplace and disposable, every facet of Doctor Who's penetration into the marketplace is detailed. This update volume covers all the items released in the 40th anniversary year, 2003, and also contains updates to the main book, as well as market reports and comments from both the people who produce the merchandise and the people who sell it... Howe's Transcendental Toybox is both a fascinating tour through the many ways that Doctor Who has been presented and an entertaining guide to the world of Doctor Who collecting. Product descriptions Black and white photographs of the majority of items Market report from both the manufacturers and the sellers Overview of 2003 The book covers Doctor Who merchandise around the world, including items released in America, New Zealand and Australia as well as the many UK-produced items.

Book Description

"Husserl had captured me, I saw everything in terms of the perspectives of his philosophy," wrote Sartre of his conversion to Husserl's phenomenology. In the present volume Cumming analyzes Sartre's transformation of Husserl's phenomenological method into a rudimentary dialectic. Cumming thus provides an introduction to phenomenology itself, and more generally to the ways in which debts to previous philosophies can be refurbished in later philosophies. He shows how phenomenology, which for Husserl was a theory of knowledge in which "we can always presume sincerity," becomes for Sartre a theory in which imagination, self-deception, and role playing are crucial.

Cumming also shows that conversion is not merely a personal predisposition of Sartre's—further manifest in his later conversions to Heidegger and to a version of Marxism. Conversion is also philosophical preoccupation, illustrated by the "conversion to the imaginary" whereby Sartre explains how he himself, as well as Genet and Flaubert, became writers. Finally, Cumming details how Husserl's phenomenological method contributed both to the shaping of Sartre's style as a literary writer and to his theory of style.

Book Description

This sequel to A Fine Night for Tanks focuses on the bitter infantry travail around the fortified villages south of Caen. The Canadians made five attempts to capture Tilly before the Scottish Seaforths eventually fought their way in.

Customer Reviews:

The Very Sharp Point.......2002-07-26

While the Americans were engaging in a War of movement to envelop the bulk of the German forces in Normandy at Falaise the Canadians and the British were tasked with engaging the main German strength in Normandy. To keep the majority, and the best, fighting units of the German army from turning to block the American advance. Montgomery therefore had to push hard enough to keep German strategic minds on the area south of Caen. In the battle that followed hardened Panzer Grenadier, and SS Divisions lead by the most seasoned, battle-trained officers in the history of warfare fought against fresh-faced Canadian volunteer regiments getting their first taste of battle. In some units the casualties approached those their father's regiments had suffered in World War I.

Although the allies had superlative artillery support and control of the air, they faced an amazing disparity in other equipment: German arms were simply better and fired more quickly, more accurately and with a hitting power that could not be equalled in the immediate Normandy arsenal of the allies. The Tiger tank and the 88mm anti-aircraft-[gun]-anti-tank gun riegned supreme. In commanding positions, direct assaults on German postions around Tilly-la-Campagne garnered a frightfull harvest of death. Whole regiments were wiped out and Tout describes it with the eye of a survivor (Tout served in the Royal Armoured Corps during the Normandy battles).

He gives a good account of the Canadian action and recounts the battle honours of some of the oldest Canadian Highland and French-Canadian Regiments. He describes the relentless charge into Hell across Norman wheatfields of the Canadian Black Watch Regiment and its sudsequent annihilation. The unsuccessful and confusing night attack on Tilly by the North Nova Scotia Highlanders and the deadly game of cat and mouse played in abandoned iron mines between French Canadian Regiments and the 12 SS Hitler Youth.

As a previous reviewer points out this fighting was messy and confused. It was messy and like some WWI battles it just degenerated into a series of local actions until the Anglo-Canadian forces cracked the line. There were no massive flanking maneuovres; this was the anvil battle with the American hammer squeezing the forces. Equally important, and necessarily different.

But the task was achieved and the bulk of the enemy forces especially armour, never faced the Americans and were therefore unable to save themselves from eventual envelopment, it was a success in inter-allied cooperation between Anglo-Canadian and American forces.

As with most military history books, there never seems to be enough maps. Tout uses aerial photos taken during the battle and these are helpful but difficult to read. His writing style is easy and he really gives you a feel of what it was like to be on the cutting edge of the offensive facing an enemy better trained and armed.

It is also a little short on detail as to where and what the Americans were doing during this time. This is important because timing for all of the crucial operations in Tilly revolved around American movements. This would allow us to get a better feeling of the pressure on the Brits and Canadians to keep pushing, even at times when it was clear that frontal attacks against the well fortified villages, farm houses, orchards and hedges around Tilly were bound to have only a slight chance of success.

If you like military history narratives, this is a very good one.

The Very Sharp Point.......2002-07-26

Although the allies had superlative artillery support and control of the air, they faced an amazing disparity in other equipment: German arms were simply better and fired more quickly, more accurately and with a hitting power that could not be equalled in the immediate Normandy arsenal of the allies. The Tiger tank and the 88mm anti-aircraft-cum-anti-tank gun riegned supreme. In commanding positions, direct assaults on German postions around Tilly-la-Campagne garnered a frightfull harvest of death. Whole regiments were wiped out and Tout describes it with the eye of a survivor (Tout served in the Royal Armoured Corps during the Normandy battles).

If you like military history narratives, this is a very good one.

A Major Disappointment.......2002-03-17

With regret, I must conclude that this book misses the mark ... and by a considerable distance. I have a major interest in Canadian military history and was looking for a book that would tell the whole story of the unique Canadian divisions' breakout from Normandy. What I got was a long string of extracts from offical records combined with personal accounts ... lots of trees and no forest.

There is only one map in my text, located right after the table of contents. It is amateurish and confusing. This story begs for maps that picture the many detailed accounts of the Canadian actions, but there are none. Thus, this book repeats a common weakness of military accounts -- describing movement over complicated terrain in words only.

On the other hand, the photographs are interesting and valuable.

I do not challenge the other reviewers' reviews, but we clearly were not reading the same book. Had the accounts in the book been placed in the context of other Normandy actions, had the broader operational and strategic picture been painted, had the individual unit actions been organized and grouped to illustrate the major thrusts of the action, I might have enjoyed the book more. To be fair, the overall Canadian action involved straightforward slugging through an endless sucession of German defenses and that is a difficult story to tell. Unfortunately, the author apporached the story by slugging through an endless sucession of sometimes indistinguishable actions and he did not do it well.

I'm sorry to submit this review, but I think that there are other and better ways and books than this one to understand the Canandian contribution to the Normandy breakout.

The Commonwealth Omaha Beach.............2001-05-08

This book should be a top choice of most readers who are interested in the Normandy Campaign. The book vividly describes the "hell" of this little know battle. The first person accounts, while common in the book, really describe the problems and bravery of the Canadians during this crucial period. The author also ties in the larger picture as well as writes about the weapons used. This book is a great follow on to Blanford's "Both Sides of the Beach", as well as "Steel Inferno" by Michael Reynolds. One of the better first person accounts around.

The Toughest Fighting in Normandy.......2001-04-11

Although the allies had superlative artillery support and control of the air, they faced an amazing disparity in other equipment: German arms were simply better and fired more quickly, more accurately and with a hitting power that could not be equalled in the immediate Normandy arsenal of the allies. The Tiger tank and the 88mm anti-aircraft-cum-anti-tank gun riegned supreme. In commanding positions, direct assaults on German postions around Tilly-la-Campagne garnered a frightfull harvest of death. Whole regiments were wiped out and Tout describes it with the eye of a survivor (Tout served in the Royal Armoured Corps during the Normandy battles).

But the task was achieved and the bulk of the enemy forces never faced the Americans and were therefore unable to save themselves from eventual envelopment, it was a success in inter-allied cooperation between Anglo-Canadian and American forces.

If you like military history narratives, this is a very good one.

Average customer rating:
The Bloody Battle for Tilly Normandy, 1944
Ken Tout
Manufacturer: Sutton, 2000
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000H26I3Y

Book Description

Three out of five Americans, both Republicans and Democrats, feel our country is headed in the wrong direction. America is at the edge, a critical place at which we can either renew and revitalize or give in and lose that most precious American ideal—democracy—and along with it the freedom, fairness, and opportunities it assures. Democracy’s Edge is a rousing battle cry that we can—and must—act now. From Jefferson to Eisenhower, presidents from both parties have warned us of the danger of letting a closed, narrow group of business and government officials concentrate power over our lives. Yet today, a small and unrepresentative group of people is making vital decisions for all of us.

But this crisis is only a symptom, Lappé argues. It’s a symptom of thin democracy, something done to us or for us, not by or with us. Such democracy is always at risk of being stolen by private interests or extremist groups, left and right. But there is a solution. The answer, says Lappé, is Living Democracy, a powerful yet often invisible citizens’ revolution surging in communities across America. It’s not random, disjointed activism but the emergence of a new historical stage of democracy in which Americans realize that democracy isn’t something we have but something we do. Either we live it or lose it, says Lappé.

Download Description

Read the Other Reviews, This One Connects Some Dots.......2007-05-31

There are some excellent reviews of this book, so I will summarize the key points briefly and then point to the top ten books on my Transpartisan Democracy list.

This is a delightful, thoughtful read that is totally transpartisan in spirit, and joins other books like Escaping the Matrix and Society's Breakthrough in setting the stage for a non-violent restoration of We the People as the working owners of the Republic.

The author distinguishes between thin and living democracy, points out that democracy is a process, and you must live it or lose it. The two appendices are superb, one on competing frames (one page) and one on restoring the meaning of language for democracy (3 pages). I recommend taking a look at them before reading the book itself.

I have a note in my margin, "Lappe for President." Seriously. Lappe, not Hillary Clinton, and certainly not Condi Rice, is precisely the kind of Epoch B leader we need right now, someone who can energize Wisdom Councils at every level, and convene Global Intelligence Councils and Global Policy Councils on the ten threats, twelve policies, and eight players other than the EU and the US (see my comment for a URL).

I absolutely agree with her that poverty is caused by a lack of democracy. Dictators and Wall Street have created a class war in which the few are looting the natural resources of the many, and it is time we put a stop to that, to include disbanding the World Bank, the IMF, and the World Trade Organization.

She says that voice is the heart of democracy, and that a culture of connection is now being woven (see Blessed Unrest, Tao of Democracy, and Society's Breakthrough).

She says that the split is not between left and right, but rather between those who believe in democracy and We the People, and those that do not (see George Orwell's Animal Farm--we are all being harvested for profit by a handful).

In the author's view, the crisis is our feeling of helplessness, and the solution is to widen the circle of problem solvers. Well, Joe Trippi is going to bring us the "Big Bat" to channel $500M a year into the Transpartisan Peoples' Trust, and Reuniting America will join with the World Index of Social and Environmental Responsibility (WISER) to connect all of the people all of the time.

There is such a wealth of gifted insight in this book that I do not want to list all the points that made it to my fly-leaf. BUT THIS BOOK. Discuss it with friends. Send this review to everyone you wish to engage in this national conversation.

There is a breathtaking graphic on page 33 in which she lists the seven main areas affecting our public life, and then lists specific individual roles of the citizen in each of these, which I depict by the number in parenthesis:

Economic Life (9 roles)
Media (3 roles, but she neglected to mention citizen journalist)
Education (6 roles)
Cultural (9 roles)
Civic life (7 roles)
Human and Health Care Services (6 roles)
Religious Life (3 roles)

True power, good power, is our multiple relationships to one another. We can get rid of money TOMORROW and shift to localized currencies and Internet barter points. Governments should not be going into debt to banks, they should nationalize them!

She destroys the four prevailing myths:
1) that we only need two parties
2) that we cannot limit private money in politics
3) that we must not tamper with the "free" market
4) that corporations are only responsible for short-term bottom line

See my varied lists, especially on Natural Capitalism and on Democracy, for more recommended readings that strongly support her concise views.

She lists eight corporate crimes:
1) Enrichment through manipulated public giveaways
2) Tax avoidance
3) Global Warming (we have to pay)
4) Hazardous Waste (we have to pay)
5) Profits retained by the managers, worker's salaries do not increase
6) Concentration killing our health industry (and agriculture and energy)
7) Low corporate wages force us to pay benefits--Wal-Mart costs us $2.5 billion a year because their employees are so badly paid they qualify for public benefits! This is NUTS!
8) Campaign to eradicate unions leaves workers without voice or protection

I am quite pleased to learn from this author that townships are passing laws abolishing corporate citizenship. This needs to be a nation-wide finding.

Pension fund managers are one key to victory over corporations.

SA8000 sets global standards for fair labor conditions. We need to enforce it with our purchases.

Expectations and fairness matter. COSTCO pays its employees more, and gives them good benefits, yet applies only 7% of its budget to labor. Wal-Mart treats them like slaves, and applies 12% because of turn-over.

Part III has chapters on attention, action, choice, and voice, and focuses on the need to create localized economies with local currencies, community banking, and 100% worker ownership. That, in my view, is precisely where we are headed.

She lists 11 sources of citizen power, credited to the Industrial Areas Foundation:
1) Relational
2) Self-Interest
3) Listening
4) Tapping passion
5) Storytelling
6) Disciplined preparation
7) Actions and intentional tension (helps reframing)
8) Negotiation
9) Accountability
10) Mentoring
11) Reflection and evaluation

She lists five ways we are robbed of choice by corporations, and ten losses we suffer from corporations. She reminds us that Thomas Jefferson was very concerned in the 1790's about commercial monopolies, and concludes, correctly, that corporations have more power and as much secrecy as the Communist Party in China and Russia.

She presents loss of voice facts on pages 222-224, addresses the need for democratic software and low-cost Internet access for all (good-bye, Microsoft, unless everyone can get mobile Windows for a dollar a month.

She concludes with chapters on learning, security, and reframing.

This book is magical in its common sense and imminent applicability.

Top Ten Transpartisan Books Other Than This One:
Blessed Unrest: How the Largest Movement in the World Came into Being and Why No One Saw It Coming
Escaping the Matrix: How We the People can change the world
Society's Breakthrough!: Releasing Essential Wisdom and Virtue in All the People
All Rise: Somebodies, Nobodies, and the Politics of Dignity (Bk Currents)
The Tao of Democracy: Using Co-Intelligence to Create a World That Works for All
Where Have All the Leaders Gone?
A House Divided
The Nine Nations of North America
Who Will Tell The People? : The Betrayal Of American Democracy
The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to a Moral Economy

The Power of Grassroots Engagement.......2007-02-25

Though "Democracy's Edge" is a polemical work (there seem to be two kinds of Americans in the book: what Moore-Lappé calls the Far Right -- exemplified by the Bush Administration and its corporate cronies -- and everyone else), it is also intended to be a book of hope. There are stories of dozens if not hundreds of citizen groups that are making a real difference in politics, education, and workers' rights in accord with her definition of democracy.

"Living Democracy" involves "negotiating interests by relying on fair play, honest dialogue and mutual respect." It's "not just righting a particular injustice that limits people's freedom. It's changing how decisions are made." Humanity's task, says the author, "is to envision and create institutions, from our schools to our media to our businesses, that foster our democratic selves -- people able to feel and express empathy and to see through the walls of race, culture and religion that divide us, people who know how to exert power while maintaining relationship."

By contrast, what she calls "thin" democracy -- in which politicians proclaim "power to the people" but arrogate power to themselves instead -- perpetuates "four constricting measures" that limit the expansion of Living Democracy. These "misfits" include the assumption that two political parties are enough; that any real limits on campaign spending violate free speech; that "the free market brings us all prosperity"; and that "to keep generating wealth, corporations must consider only the financial bottom line." (While Moore-Lappé welcomes globalization "understood as ... communication and sharing across national borders," she rejects what she calls "global corporatism.")

"Democracy's Edge" is designed to counter each of those ingrained notions with success stories of people united by a common purpose changing how democracy is done. She spotlights the work of such organizations as the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) and the Industrial Areas Foundation (founded by "Saul Alinsky, the godfather of community organizing"). Hers is a leftist agenda, though she does not use that term, preferring instead to frame her proposals as "walking with bold humility" in reclaiming the kind of human relationships that Living Democracy ought to be about.

A chart at the end of the book invites readers to "consciously generate language that communicates what is emerging and what we want to bring into being." Her preferred term is "engaged citizen" rather than "activist." The seemingly neutral term "conventional farming" becomes "chemically dependent farming." "Liberal" becomes "progressive, democratic." She calls "pro-choice" the "pro-child movement including the right of every child to be wanted with opportunities for a full life." Finally, "taxes" are "membership dues for a strong, healthy society."

Moore-Lappé paints a provocative picture, worth the spirited public discussion it generates.

Copyright 2007 Chico Enterprise-Record. Used by permission.

Activists for democracy: here's your guide to involvement!.......2006-05-28

Frances Moore Lappe has written a book that is easy to read, its pages filled with brief and concise facts and comparisons, and above all correct in its analysis of the state of American democracy. She doesn't leave the reader to guess about whether a new people's democracy is possible; she shows it coming into being in highly diverse settings. And if anyone has thought otherwise, she disabuses us of any idea that in the U.S. of A. we currently have democracy. It would be difficult to read this book all the way through and not find oneself eager to get involved.

Richard W. Gillett, author of The New Globalization: Reclaiming the Lost Ground of our Christian Social Tradition (Pilgrim Press, 2005).

We Need to be Reminded.......2006-04-26

Democracy's Edge is a collection of stories of ordinary people actively practicing what the author really correctly dubs Living Democracy. When I read this, the book reminded me straight on how fragile freedoms and protections are, how easily they can be dissolved or subverted by corporate, personal, and political greed...ambitions which truly stop for no man (or woman)in the quest for taking more, more, more. So if you're worried about the pollution, land grabbing, political manipulations of law, etc and want inspiration and some guidance on whether and how you can make a difference with just one voice, read this book. It's SO EASY to read, and lacks the fractious tone that many champions of our freedoms (read liberal or left-leaning)can take, and sometimes push people away with.

Real Democracy is possible here.......2006-02-22

Lappe plots the needs of the future. She points out what is needed for this country to become a real democracy. There are lots of resources for those determined to act.

Democracy's Edge: Choosing to Save Our Country by Bringing Democracy to Life.(Book review) : An article from: Multinational Monitor

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Democracy's Edge: Choosing to Save Our Country by Bringing Democracy to Life.(Book review) : An article from: Multinational Monitor
Sarah Lazare
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

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This digital document is an article from Multinational Monitor, published by Thomson Gale on January 1, 2006. The length of the article is 687 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.

Citation Details
Title: Democracy's Edge: Choosing to Save Our Country by Bringing Democracy to Life.(Book review)
Author: Sarah Lazare
Publication: Multinational Monitor (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 27 Issue: 1 Page: 42(5)

Article Type: Book review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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