The Quick & Easy Guide to Photographing Your Artwork

Book Description

Even artists with limited photography experience can produce competent reproductions of their artwork with Roger Saddington's easy-to-use book. This guide tells artists how to take satisfying photos without spending a lot of time or money. Readers will learn how to: Get good results with their current photography equipment Master the relationship between film type and light source Avoid unnecessary pitfalls with processing labs Present slides and photos professionally Recognize the best shooting conditions

Good slides or photos are essential for entering art competitions, applying to juried shows, keeping records and presenting a portfolio. Artists will appreciate the book's easy steps and common-sense approach to the photography process.

Roger Saddington gained extensive knowledge of art reproduction during his five-year tenure at the National Gallery of Victoria in Australia. He teaches a popular class on photographing artwork and lives in Australia.

Customer Reviews:

Disappointingly out of date........2007-06-26

Although the information given was essentially correct, it was not up to date regarding use of digital cameras.

This book should have been thoroughly updated before being reprinted.

Regards,

Gregg Puckett

Great Visual Reference ... Too General with Information.......2004-05-30

This is a decent book on photographing artwork -- but not the the most comprehensive. The strengths of this book are that Mr. Saddington (1) discusses the use digital media, and (2) makes the process of photographing artwork very user-friendly by providing great visual references throughout. The user-friendly aspect is the book's strongest selling point, especially for artists who are new or novices at photography, or visually oriented (i.e., no patience for reading instructions that come with few or no pictures). Mr. Saddington's book provides pictures of what makes a bad negative exposure/photograph, and provides a concise explanation for these results, and does the same for an example of a good negative exposure/photograph. He also provides illustrations of setting up equipment and artwork for photographing. The weakness of this book lies in the general details provided ... unfortunately, Mr. Saddington provides a limited amount of helpful hints and leaves out specific details for for problem shooting ... I base this opinion on my comparison of this book with a book called "Photographing Your Artwork" by Russell Hart. If you buy Mr. Saddington's book, I'd recommend supplementing it with the purchase of Mr. Hart's book. The two books complement each other. Where Mr. Saddington's book lacks in details, Mr. Hart's book fills in the information gaps. On the other hand, Mr. Hart's book is very text heavy and has very few illustrations ... so if you're a visually-oriented person, Mr. Saddington's book would easily compensate in the area of illustrating this very important process. Again, Mr. Saddington's book is decent, but it should be used as a supplemental reference, especially for the visually-oriented person.

Not enough information.......2004-02-20

Actually I give this book zero stars. It is one of those books that pads the pocket of the author but is stingy with the information it gives. It is too general and does not really deal with problem solving the technicalities involved with taking slides of your own art. I wanted to know on which side of a slide to place a mask. The book failed to give this important piece of information. I found that I had already bought a more comprehensive book, so I feel that I wasted my money buying this book.

Average customer rating:
Andy Warhol - Jean-Michel Basquiat: Important Ensemble De 8 Oeuvres De Collaboration Andy Warhol / Jean Michel Basquiat & 2 Oeuvres De Basquiat - Pierre Cornette De Saint Cyr, Paris - 30 June 1997
Pierre Cornette De Saint Cyr
Manufacturer: Pierre Cornette De Saint Cyr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Basquiat, Jean Michel | ( A-C ) | Artists, A-Z | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000H4M7V4

Average customer rating:
Jean-Michel Basquiat, Francesco Clemente, Andy Warhol: Collaborations
Jean Michel Basquiat
Manufacturer: Edition Bischofberger
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

Basquiat, Jean Michel | ( A-C ) | Artists, A-Z | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Clemente, Francesco | ( A-C ) | Artists, A-Z | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0007B39PU

Book Description

Flora showcases Cunninghams fascination with nature, with images that range broadly from simple floral arrangements to elaborate compositions of exotic ferns and lilies.

Customer Reviews:

Incredible photographer! Inferior Printing!!.......2006-01-09

Out of all of the members of the famous Group f/64, Imogen Cunningham created the greatest body of floral still life work. This beautiful collection of images has been totally undermined by a horrible press run. It's a surprise that Bulfinch would even put their name on this book. Aperture should have probably printed it. Granted, the book has a gorgeous design, and the body of work chosen for the book is definitely of her greatest masterpieces. But, when all is said and done, the print is solely the photographer's art, and poor reproductions of a photograph, especially a "Group f/64" style photograph, renders the art ineffective.

Great Choices of Subjects Marred by Poor Printing.......2001-04-23

Imogen Cunningham is one of my favorite photographers. So I was very disappointed when I saw the reproduction quality of the 92 duotone plates, 59 black-and-white photographs, and 8 color images. The ink is very heavy and dark on these succulent morsels, and almost all the images look like they are of vegetation from the vicinity of Mount St. Helens just after the eruption.

The book contains Ms. Cunningham's famous image of her husband undressed, so if such things offend you, skip over that page. The image is very small, so you'll hardly notice it unless you are looking hard for it.

The essay by Richard Lorenz is a fine one. It makes up for some of the reproduction problems. He captures the ambiguity of her work nicely in pointing out that the "paradox of expansion via reduction becomes vivid when one looks at the visual aspects of nature." This is the familiar fractal observation. Each level of detail is echoed in the next larger and smaller level of scale.

Stylistically, she "empowered her images by isolating her vegetation." What would be lost in a mass is curiously fresh and clear in solitary study. As a result, "negative space is as critical to the composition as the design elements." In fact, she "paralleled the objectivity of the Germans in her work" more so than any other Western photographer. Like Georgia O'Keeffe, she realized and portrays the erotic expressions in vegetation.

Here are my favorite images from the book (as reproduced here):

At Point Lobos, 1921 (like Weston); Thorn Apple, about 1921; Tree at Donner Pass, 1925 (like Weston); Calla, about 1925 (like an O'Keeffe); Colletta Cruciata 7, 1929; Flowering Cactus, about 1930; Calla with Leaf, about 1930; Blossom of Protea, 1935; Fuscha, 1940; Fireworks Plant, 1965; Araujia, 1953; Hand and Leaf of Voodoo Lily. The notes to each image contain horiticultural information.

Ms. Cunningham was "skeptical of physical beauty." Where does nature agree with her? Where can you gain by retaining skepticism, even as you enjoy beauty?

Don't give up on Ms. Cunningham's work. Just go look at it elsewhere!

Imogen's Imagination Floweth Over Again.......2000-06-19

The pictures are exquisite, her mind was constantly creating, and of course, her lens was always capturing... Imogen Cunningham has done it again with another magnificent collection of her images of life. A must-have for any Cunningham collector...

Average customer rating:

Imogen Cunningham : Flora
Marta Vinnedge
Manufacturer: Little Brown & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000MYPT28

Product Description

from MAD magazine

Amazon.com

Everyone knows that a good canon debate doesn't get interesting until you reach the realm of the top 100. But by listing the top 1,000 movies, as the editors of The New York Times have done with this fat, readable collection of reviews, you get to skip all that huffing and puffing about quality and head straight for the fun. With a little elbow room, there's space for ineffable stuff like Mr. Hulot's Holiday and The Match Factory Girl. Room, too, for the nuance-free Mrs. Doubtfire and the free-falling Die Hard (which makes it, yep, right next to Diner). Pillow Talk squeezes in just one down from The Piano. What's really new about this book, though, is that the reviews have been culled from the Times's archive--reaching back to 1931. So you can read Vincent Canby reacting to Taxi Driver in 1976, just days after first seeing it: "The steam billowing up around the manhole cover in the street is a dead giveaway. Manhattan is a thin cement lid over the entrance to hell, and the lid is full of cracks." Not bad for a guy on deadline. Bosley Crowther, who preceded Canby, fares less well, waving off Rear Window as Hitchcock's "new melodrama, " and Psycho with, "It does seem slowly paced." By contrast, Janet Maslin's more recent reviews hum and gush, unraveling the merits of Pulp Fiction and Lone Star. At collected-Shakespeare size (999 pages), the title is probably too vast for schlepping around, but go ahead, try reading just one. With plenty of international selections, including usual suspects from France (Truffaut), Italy (Fellini), and Japan (Itami), as well as some unusual ones from Brazil, Mexico, India, and Czechoslovakia, there's enough canon fodder here for at least five "Top 100" books. --Lyall Bush

Book Description

In The New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made, the film critics of the Times have gathered the original reviews of their list of the best. Covering every conceivable genre, from comedies, dramas, and science-fiction to foreign films, musicals, and others, this book provides the student with an essential resource. How were Psycho or Fantasia originally received? For movies that are often subsumed in their own legends, the original review is a corrective lens for a hindsight that is often anything but 20/20. This volume also includes and introductory essay by Janet Maslin and modern postscripts to movies that survived their original trashing to become classics.

Customer Reviews:

What!? Where's BEACH BLANKET BINGO???.......2007-08-04

You've got to hand it to the New York Times film critics. For one thing, they have the absolute best NAMES of anyone in the cine/crit biz. Can you ask for better monikers than Vincent Canby, Bosley Crowther, Hilton Kramer or(my favorite) Mordaunt Hall? More recent critics like Janet Maslin, Stephen Holden or A.O. Scott (not included here, he's so new) may not have such professorial sounding handles, but they more than make up for said lack in their actual writing, which in all their cases generally reflects a critical sensibility which is both casual and scholarly. They likely benefit from the increased seriousness with which the artform itself has been taken over the past century and from simply having a sense of film history that their critical forebears could not have possessed. (They know that the movies are NOT some passing fancy that in time may go.) And stylistically, they tend to be leaner, meaner and much less flowery than,say, the aforementioned Mr. Hall.

But times do change, and critical writing styles along with them. What makes this book so fascinating is that its editors have seen fit to re-print the original reviews, unedited and unannotated (although editor Peter M. Nichols notes in his preface, that almost every film's "cast box" has been expanded and terminology, in some instances, changed). If the reader, takes in Mr. Nichol's preface and/or Janet Maslin's introduction, he or she won't be surprised to learn that many of the actual reviews included in this volume are indifferent or downright negative. Browsers casually thumbing through this reference work on the "thousand best movies," however, are likely to be a bit more puzzled to find one negative review after another.

It happened to me, I opened the alphabetically arranged volume to the "D's" and immediately found a fairly negative critique of DIVA and a fairly lukewarm one of DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES. That's when I opted to read the introductory remarks, but even then it wasn't quite clear just how these 1,000 best were picked or just who did the picking.

Yes, aside from the actual reviews, there are Top Ten Lists for the years 1931-1998 (the volume itself was published in '99 and is thus about due for an update), but these don't necessarily correspond to the selections either. For instance, the 1967 John Boorman film POINT BLANK gets a so-so review from Mr. Crowther, and is not included in the list of the year's best (suggesting that his colleagues were similarly unmoved by the film). So who decided, in the interim, that it really IS a gem (rough and uncut though it may be)? Editor Nichols? Janet Maslin? General critical consensus (which seems doubtful in this case).

Nichols explains in the preface that we can expect such turnabouts "for films that have risen in common estimation..." since their initial reviews were published. That's certainly true in the cases of BONNIE AND CLYDE, CHINATOWN and GRAND ILLUSION (to cite his own examples), but again I ask you, how to account for the inclusion of POINT BLANK?? Or--to go from a Lee Marvin vehicle to a Lee Remick starrer--why is even a good, solid drama like the above mentioned DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES included? That film is something of a sentimental favorite of mine, since I was 13 when I first saw it and felt very grown up indeed to be able to "understand" this obviously adult drama. But objectively speaking, can one really include this relatively modest revision of a TV drama on a list of the all-time greats of CINEMATIC history.

Well, not to worry. In the last analysis, one man's canon is another man's fodder, so it's probably best to not fret too much what's included or not included on this or any "best of" volume. What you get, if you're lucky, are some good tips on things you might otherwise have missed. Taken in that spirit, the NYT guide joins many others in aiding movie lovers of all stripes to make some intelligent selections. In this case, you just have to keep in mind that the significant factor is not the actual review but the fact that someone somewhere along the line ultimately saw fit to include the movie in this esteemed reference guide of record.

As far as the actual 1,000 best films ever made. You could argue about that until the cows come home...from the movies.

The Gray Eminence Speaks.......2007-05-13

There have been stretches of time in which I was almost oblivious to movies and recently I decided to repair my cultural lacunas. I signed up with Netflix, moved a recliner to the living room and stocked up on Diet Coke. Now, what to list on my queue? Most of those movie books have such abbreviated descriptions... If I'm going to wile away a couple hours, I need to be convinced it's time well spent. I spotted the updated and revised (through 2002) best 1000 movies according to the Times, and noticing the inclusion of a couple obscure favorites, bought the book. The movies are in alphabetical order with the personnel listed first and the date of the review at the end of the narrative. Twenty-nine critics lend their views about films going back to 1931. Hollywood productions dominate, though there is a good smattering of independents and foreign works.

The reviews stand as they were written on opening night, without further comment- a very New York Times thing to do. Many of the reviews hold up as well as their subjects- "Casablanca", "On the Waterfront" and "Star Wars" were appreciated from the get go. However, many glossy Oscar winners are excluded: "Dances with Wolves", "Titanic" and "American Beauty" are absent. "As Good as It Gets" is not good enough, but "About Schmidt" is about as good a review as Nicholson can get- it's included. Is there a Merchant-Ivory film that was somehow overlooked? Highly unlikely.

In the back of this compendium, the Times lists its 10 Best for each year. Quite a few of these movies do not have their review among the currently favored 1000, though their fall is not explained. Of course, the most striking contradiction is to find a movie that was condemned as irretrievable trash on release, only to have wormed its way up from the flotsam. "The Good, the Bad and the Ugly" is such a movie. R.A.'s review from 1968 will crack you up.

I'm sure everybody will have a few favorites that didn't make the cut. How could a movie as hilarious as "A Fish Called Wanda" not be included? Kasdan's poignant "Grand Canyon" was somehow overlooked. Yet, a few great but obscure productions are recognized. The marvelous documentary "Brother's Keeper" is included.

In the preface, A.O. Scott comments on the vagaries of cinematic appreciation. Most of us are more influenced by trends and buzz than we realize. And, if you are overdosed on a particular genre, the best of its kind may pass without notice. Still, I wish a current summation about the great classic movies had been included, even if it meant the Times had changed its mind. In conclusion, I'm still using my Guide, though if it persuades me to rent a movie, I'm not apt to admit it.

Time to update.......2007-01-21

A notoriously contentious activity, this book is sure to start a few arguments. Picking 1,000 movies to label "best ever made" is not easy and will create some surprise at omissions and inclusions. For instance, the inclusion of "Face/Off" - which initiated my Nicholas Cage veto - and the omission of Princess Bride, is indefensible. It is a parochial list also with Hollywood movies reigning supreme. However, I love the use of contemporary reviews for each movie. Reading Frank S. Nugent's response to opening night at The Wizard of Oz in 1939 is magical and gives the movie fan a nostalgic experience. You may guffaw at some of the preposterous choices and wish for a more current update (1999 version) but you will enjoy these critical reviews of your favourite movies.

Before the Rain must be Macedonia's greatest film, EVER.......2007-01-06

I won't say this is an indispensible book. Swap one film reference book for another and you're likely to learn about films and directors you otherwise wouldn't. The operative word there was likely. I've had Ebert books, Pauline Kael books, VideoHound's books, Entertainment Weekly references, etc. They are all good, but the critics works especially.
As opposed to getting a shortened synopsis and rating system, you can get a critical eye, with contextual perspective and a detailed analysis. The New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made offers that. And not from one voice but from over a dozen NYT critics over the decades.
I don't abide by those who call this dated. It was published when it was, and though there may be updated editions, this is still a fantastic book to have. After all the majority of films made were in the 20th century, and the influence those films and filmmakers have resonates now. Including the archived reviews, which feature the NYT tradition of refering to people as Mr., Mrs., Ms. etc., each films leading castmembers, their characters, the lead production credits and film lengths are given. Plus a year-by-year list of the paper's Top 10 films, and an index of the films featured categorized by genre and country of origin.
Oddly enough though is that there are reviews in this that are negative and sometimes scathing. Perhaps this is because the films were appreciated by other Times critics, enough to place them on the Top 10, or the films themselves have proven better than initially thought. Neither Bonnie & Clyde or Chinatown made the Top 10 list.
But this is a trifle, and enforces the critical need that films, as art & commerce require.
If you are a devoted film lover as I am, this book is a terrific member of any collection.

Um, there have been films released since 1998..........2006-11-18

This book is quite dated. It was published in 1999, and unless you want to focus on movies from 1931 to 1998, this is a poor choice.

There is no good reason why this book has not be updated, such as "1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die" which has been revised, adding 17 newer movies, and deleting 17 of the prior 1001 movies. (I wouldn't have minded them simply adding the 17 movies, without deleting any older movies.)

Another good choice is Peter Travers' new "1000 Best Movies on DVD."

Average customer rating:
Wild Blue Yonder: Songs of the Air Force, the Stag Bar Edition

Manufacturer: Redwood Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0941196496

Average customer rating:
The Wild Blue Yonder: Songs of the Air Force
Getz C.W. Bill
Manufacturer: California
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UCI95G

Book Description

Even before John D. MacDonald first anchored Travis McGee's houseboat, the Busted Flush, at Fort Lau-derdale's Bahia Mar Marina, Florida had developed a rich legacy of fictional detectives. Since McGee, the state has become the home of perhaps the greatest number and variety of mystery writers in America.

From Elmore Leonard's professional hoods to Carl Hiaasen's amateur grotesques, Florida's mystery writers have created a criminal universe that centers on Miami but stretches from the Key West of James Hall and Laurence Shames through the Palm Beach of Lawrence Sanders and the Orlando of John Lutz to the panhandle of Geoffrey Norman. This is a world of sophisticated Latina journalists like Edna Buchanan's Britt Montero and retiring ichthyologists like Randy Wayne White's Doc Ford, of Armani-clad socialites like Ed McBain's Matthew Hope and leisure-suited cops like Charles Willeford's Hope Moseley.

For the first time, a group of literary critics examines how the center of crime shifted from the City of Angels to the home of Miami Vice and the Magic Kingdom and why the country's southernmost state has developed such a concentration of talented mystery writers. In addition to essays on the origins of the detective novel in Florida and its contemporary masters, the book includes a chapter on Florida film noir from Key Largo to Body Heat and the first comprehensive bibliography of mysteries set in the state.

Book Description

This breakthrough book is a medical doctor's proven prescription for a healthy prostate. Arnold Fox, M.D., who has successfully treated prostate problems for over forty years, speaks directly to your vital concerns, including:

Early symptoms of prostate problems and what to do about each type
The full range of traditional and alternative treatments available, notably the best drug-free, nonsurgical options
Easy-to-understand, step-by-step treatment plans for each type of problem
The pros and cons of common medications
Innovative treatments such as hyperthermia and cryosurgery
Checklists and brief quizzes to accurately assess your health status
A detailed prevention program to maintain your good health
Important questions to ask your doctor now

Customer Reviews:

This book helps a patient take charge of his own treatment........1996-10-26

This book is a great source of valuable and very up-to-date information on prostate problems. More importantly, perhaps, this book is written by someone who clearly understands both medicine and patients - as demonstrated by these excerpts: "Always bear in mind ... that you're in charge. The doctor is only your advisor." (p51) "The doctor is not God and does not have all the answers. However, the best doctor will have a lot of information, experience, and wisdom from which you can draw when making your choices." (p220) "Don't let your doctor decide for you, or talk you into or out of anything. It's your health and your body, so it's your choice." (p145) "The best patient communicates well, and demands the best from his doctors." (p166) "It's the patients who give their doctors the most trouble, the ones who challenge treatment choices, who ask the most questions, and who refuse to play helpless that do the best." (p174) I whole-heartedly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Prostate.

Book Description

From the start of the Cold War to the fall of Saigon, from the jungles of Africa and beaches of Cuba to the polar icecap and mountains of Tibet, this book presents a comprehensive overview of U.S. air-supported covert operations against the Soviet bloc. Author Curtis Peebles brings a sense of continuity to the shifting, shadowy battlefronts of the Cold War with one fascinating account after another of American intelligence services fighting against some of the most formidable secret police states the world has ever seen. To provide the big picture he draws on recent scholarship and Soviet-era archives and weaves together the known with the unknown. He describes early attempts to set up spy cells behind the Iron Curtain that were doomed by the infamous British traitor Kim Philby, Operation Mongoose, clandestine airlines, and offers details of the CIA's secret spy plane that appeared in James Bond's "Thunderball." He reminds readers that many of the operations ended in tragedy, with the agents knowing full well that if captured, their government would disavow them. In relating each operation to the others, he illustrates the changes in U.S. Cold War strategy and governmental policy from the late 1940s to the mid 1970s.

Those looking for an exciting read won't be disappointed with this globetrotting account of gutsy spies, nor will those seeking substantive facts about covert operations in the skies. Peebles provides just the right blend of drama and realistic detail to attract a broad audience.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent overview history.......2005-06-28

"Twilight Warriors" is an excellent overview history of air-supported special operations against the Soviet Union, the People's Republic of China, North Vietnam and other hostile locations during the Cold War up through the early 1970s. The author shows how the operations were conceived, how they worked (or didn't, in too many cases) and what the results were. He provides a good discussion of Air America and the use of non-US nationals in these operations such as Nationalist Chinese, Tibetans and Cubans. He also mentions why certain aircraft were chosen for certain missions. Peebles compares the success of the Special Operations Executive and the OSS in World War Two with the failures during the Cold War, and his summary of the meager results of these later covert operations is straight-forward and honest: while the operations might have had some greater degree of success, the very nature of the totalitarian states they were aimed at presented a huge obstacle in infiltrating outsiders who could effectively create and sustain a resistance movement. For readers who want to know more about a particular operation, the bibliography is a great starting place. My chief reservations about this title are (1) a lack of maps (not the author's fault!) and (2) no discussion of whether there any new air-supported covert ops after the fall of South Vietnam--did they stop completely, or is sufficient information lacking to say anything about them? Despite those (minor) criticisms, this book is highly recommended, especially for libraries who may not have much else on Cold War covert operations.

We Were Luckier than we Knew.......2005-06-05

As you might guess from the title, this book talks about airborne operations conducted against the Soviet Bloc during the cold war. It includes not only operations against Russia, but also the covert operations during the Viet Nam war, operations against Cuba, etc.

As I was reading this book I couldn't help but think of the older book "Blind Man's Bluff: The Untold Story of American Submarine Espionage" by Sherry Sontag, Christopher Drew, and Annette Lawrence Drew.

I didn't realize just how close we and the Russians were going at each other during the Cold War. We are very, very lucky that some of these incidents didn't turn out to be really nasty.

The one thing that I kept expecting in this book was more on the RB-47 intrusions into Russia during the late 1950's and early 1960's. It is my understanding that about 40 US planes were shot down with a loss of a couple of hundred men.

One thing that I really liked about the book was the summary chapter at the end. His analysis of what we did, what the Russians were doing and the results were surprising and very informative. I'd like to see this part expanded another fifty pages or so in the next edition.

Meanwhile it's still a great book, get it and "Blind Man's Bluff."

Amazon.com

The Great Unraveling is a chronicle of how "the heady optimism of the late 1990s gave way to renewed gloom as a result of "incredibly bad leadership, in the private sector and in the corridors of power." Offering his own take on the trickle-down theory, economist and columnist Paul Krugman lays much of the blame for a slew of problems on the Bush administration, which he views as a "revolutionary power...a movement whose leaders do not accept the legitimacy of our current political system." Declaring them radicals masquerading as moderates, he questions their motives on a range of issues, particularly their tax and Social Security plans, which he argues are "obviously, blatantly based on bogus arithmetic." Though a fine writer, Krugman relies more heavily on numbers than words to examine the current rash of corporate malfeasance, the rise and fall of the stock market bubble, the federal budget and the future of Social Security, and how a huge surplus quickly became a record deficit. He also rails against the news media for displaying a disturbing lack of skepticism and for failing to do even the most basic homework when reporting on business and economic issues. The book is mainly a collection of op-ed pieces Krugman wrote for The New York Times between 2000 and 2003. Overall, this format works well. Krugman writes clearly about complicated issues and offers plenty of evidence and hard facts to support his theories regarding the intersection of business, economics, and politics, making this a detailed, informative, and thought-provoking book. --Shawn Carkonen

Book Description

A galvanizing new work from America's leading economic critic—a book that will set the terms of the political debate for years to come.

No one has more authority to call the shots the way they really are than Paul Krugman, whose provocative New York Times columns are keenly followed by millions. One of the world's most respected economists, Krugman has been named America's most important columnist by the Washington Monthly and columnist of the year by Editor and Publisher magazine.

In this long-awaited work containing Krugman's most influential columns along with new commentary, he chronicles how the boom economy unraveled: how exuberance gave way to pessimism, how the age of corporate heroes gave way to corporate scandals, how fiscal responsibility collapsed. From his account of the secret history of the California energy crisis to his devastating dissections of dishonesty in the Bush administration, Krugman tells the uncomfortable truth about how the United States lost its way. And he gives us the road map we will need to follow if we are to get the country back on track.

Customer Reviews:

One long editorial.......2007-05-17

I am not a fan of George Bush, and was hoping this book would provide a comprehensive critique of his economic policies. What I got instead was a collection of editorials previously published in the print media. These editorials were published over a time span of 5 years, hence many of them were outdated by the time this book was published. The feel of the book is sarcasm, and it is one long polemic against George Bush and the neo-conservatives in his administration. Unfortunately, since it is comprised of editorials, there are no figures, no charts, no graphs and very few references. Instead, we get paragraph after paragraph that mention this number or that statistic, but without proper sourcing. Also, because it is comprised of a series of reprinted editorials, the flow is not good, and many of the points are not argued well.

I would not recommend this book.

More of us should've read this book sooner.......2006-12-09

Having just finished this book, I wish more of us had read it sooner and recommended it to others. Paul Krugman's observations from 1999 to 2002 on the economic side of American politics were right on the mark as far as warning what might happen under the Bush administration. On Nov. 19, 2000, when the Bush-Gore election was still in doubt, Krugman wrote: "Suppose that George W. Bush pulls it off -- that he gets to the White House on the strength of chads and butterflies. Will he make good on his boast of being a `uniter, not a divider'? His behavior since election night is a bad omen; it suggests that what Mr. Bush means is that everyone should unite to give him what he wants." How many examples of that have we seen in the past six years? I read Krugman's columns when my local paper chooses to run them, but that only happens three or four times a month. Even though it's now 2006, this three-year-old book makes up for that drought in economic ideas. Would that every member of the House and Senate could read it and follow Krugman's advice for steering this country in another economic direction!

Very intelligent economist could have done better.......2006-07-10

I thoroughly enjoy Krugman's academic work, and the man is a world-class expert on international macroeconomics.

For those of you who don't know, this book is basically a compilation of his NY Times Columns from 1998 to early 2000s. Sadly, many of his columns are hit or miss.

There are very real economic critiques that exist for the Bush administration, and the columns in the book that objectively discuss these are very well written. Krugman especially has a very solid understanding of academic economic applications to the business world, something that a lot of economists lack.

Unfortunately, the book also contains columns where Krugman tends to wander off on political tirades and rants. Some of the rants border on hypocrital; in particular - his Enron rants are quite appalling, being that Krugman served on an Enron advisory board in 1999 (at which the revenue inflation was occurring).

Taken as a whole, the book contains some gems that critique Bush's economic policy, but is also tarnished in some places with ranting partisan rhetoric.

Mark Twain revisited: starve the beast.......2006-05-31

In 'A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court', Mark Twain characterizes the relationship between the privileged class and the rest of the population in King Arthur's times as follows: 'sweat blood for them, starve that they might be fed, work that they might play, go naked that they might wear silk and jewels, pay taxes that they might be spared from paying them.' In other words, starve the beast.

In his very revealing and clearcut comments, Paul Krugman exposes mightily the hidden agenda and the vast rightwing conspiracy of those actually at the helm in the US: cut taxes for the super-wealthy (even in the face of war), deprive the government of the revenue it needs, then use the deficits as an excuse to cut popular social programs. It is not less than a crusade against the Welfare State.
The results are that more than 40 million US citizens have no health insurance, that US life expectancy is lower and child mortality higher than in most of the advanced nations.
From his analyses, Paul Krugman draws the chilling conclusion that the actual US administration does hot accept the current political system. They want a one-party State, in which elections are only a formality. He poses rightly the ultimate question: 'What will happen to our democracy?'

He also exposes rawly the hypocrisy of the Bush administration with 'its pattern of neglect, of refusal to take crucial action to protect the US against terrorism', its deceptive accountancy, its military spending, its big budget deficits and its intolerance for dissent.

Internationally, he denounces the US foreign policy as 'conquest followed by malign neglect' (Afghanistan). The actual administration refused to provide the relatively modest funds needed for fighting infectious diseases. He scoffs at the pre-war supposition that the cost of the Iraqi war would be defrayed out of oil revenue!

This hard-hitting and provocative book presents a most welcome independent and modern Doremus Jessup amid the actually shamelessly partisan and gagged media herd, paralyzed by autocensure.
We need Paul Krugman's loud and clear voice.

A must read.

Keynesian Schmeysian.......2006-02-12

I hated most of Paul's economics, and, in fact, I hated his stated politics in this book even more, but the book is not about my personal opinions or judgements of Paul's political/economic opinions or his previous job.

The book is well written by a crystal clear mind with well motivated arguments and where his case is stated it is stated clearly and accurately. There is'nt too much dribble or drab.

Much of the content is probably already well known to his readers but a collective work of the thought process over the time span covered in the work was well worth the read.

Again, I disagree with Paul's politics and economics but for those wanting a good view of "the other side" and the mechanics of the minds on that side this is as good as work as any.

The Great Unraveling CD : Losing Our Way in the New Century

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The Great Unraveling CD : Losing Our Way in the New Century
Krugman Paul Paul Krugman
Manufacturer: HarperAudio
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OEQTW0

The Great Unraveling: Losing Our Way in the New Century.

Average customer rating:

The Great Unraveling: Losing Our Way in the New Century.
PAUL: KRUGMAN
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Co.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UDCM6C

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