Taken by Design: Photographs from the Institute of Design, 1937-1971

Book Description

One of Chicago's great cultural achievements, the Institute of Design was among the most important schools of photography in twentieth-century America. It began as an outpost of experimental Bauhaus education and was home to an astonishing group of influential teachers and students, including Lázló Moholy-Nagy, Harry Callahan, and Aaron Siskind. To date, however, the ID's enormous contributions to the art and practice of photography have gone largely unexplored. Taken by Design is the first publication to examine thoroughly this remarkable institution and its lasting impact.

With nearly 300 illustrations, including many never-before published photographs, Taken by Design examines the changing nature of photography over this critical period in America's midcentury. It starts by documenting the experimental nature of Moholy's Bauhaus approach and photography's new and enhanced role in training the "complete designer." Next it traces the formal and abstract camera experiments under Harry Callahan and Aaron Siskind, which aimed at achieving a new kind of photographic subjectivity. Finally, it highlights the ID's focus on conscious references to the processes of the photographic medium itself. In addition to photographs by Moholy, Callahan, and Siskind, the book showcases works by Barbara Crane, Yasuhiro Ishimoto, Joseph Jachna, Kenneth Josephson, Gyorgy Kepes, Nathan Lerner, Ray K. Metzker, Richard Nickel, Arthur Siegel, Art Sinsabaugh, and many others. Major essays from experts in the field, biographies, a chronology, and reprints of critical essays are also included, making Taken by Design an essential work for anyone interested in the history of American photography.

Contributors include:
Keith Davis, Lloyd Engelbrecht, John Grimes, Nathan Lyons, Hattula Moholy-Nagy, Elizabeth Siegel, David Travis, Larry Viskochil, James N. Wood

Customer Reviews:

A fascinating sidebar in the history of American photography.......2003-05-22

The collaborative editorial effort of David Travis, Elizabeth Siegel, Keith F. Davis, Taken By Design: Photographs From The Institute Of Design, 1937-1971 is the Art Institute of Chicago exhibition catalog which was a jointly published project with the University of Chicago Press. Showcasing the photography that arose out of The Institute of Design during some three and a half decades, Taken By Design chronicles and documents a fascinating sidebar in the history of American photography. Enhanced with essays, articles, biographical sketches, course curricula, and more, Taken By Design is a welcome, original, and highly recommended contribution to personal, professional, and academic Photography historical reference and resource collections and reading lists.

Much more than a catalog.......2002-08-03

Much more than a catalog

This book is not just a catalog of the show now at San Francisco's MOMA. It is a rich source that chronicles the evolution of the Chicago Institute of Design (ID) and its photography program. With 6 written essays and articles, biographies, course curricula, and other background it places the ID's photographers rightfully in the middle of the late twentieth century art revolution.

The writing is authoritative, revealing and thought provoking. Some is understandably enthusiastic, by authors named Moholy-Nagy and Siegel, some is analytical/critical, illuminating the difficulties and disagreements that resolved themselves into a program like no other. Any student of photography or modern art must know about this controversial and audacious adventure that was spun off from the Bauhaus by Moholy-Nagy, Arthur Siegel and the other subjects of this chronicle.

The authors explore some of these subjects. Why was the this such an important project and why was it controversial? What effect has it had? What does it teach us today? These are important questions simply because a large number of prominent and influential students passed through it.

No serious collection of late 20th century photographs can be without 20 or so of the prints from this group. Harry Callahan, Aaron Siskind, Ken Josephson, Ray Metzker, Linda Connor, Arthur Siegel, Art Sinsabaugh and many others all studied and taught there. Many went on the teach at places like R.I. School of Design, San Francisco Art Institute and many places in between. The influence of this group is much more extensive than its size and longevity would suggest.

At a time when the "giants" of the medium were devoted to "pure" photography, Moholy-Nagy appeared from Europe and proposed that photography be treated as a tool of graphic design. Light, texture, volume, rhythm, contrast and other elements were worth studying for their own sake in order to apply the unique strengths of photography to the art of design.

They produced something akin to Jazz. Painters like Motherwell, Johns, Rauschenberg were producing strikingly similar imagery. Paul Strand, Man Ray, Lartigue, Rodschenko and a many others had explored the same issues. The Bauhaus and the Chicago ID were an attempt to formalize the earlier experiments. Strand, Weegee, Winogrand, Blumenfeld and others contributed to the ID at various times.

The ID photographers showed how purely graphic aspects of the medium could be used to express a vision, used to dig subtle meaning from the mundane, used to reveal things in synthetic abstract that weren't visible. They expanded and elevated their medium in a very short, intense time. There is little in today's published graphics not already in the photographs of the students in this show.

An unintended consequence of this book is to have produced a key to much of abstract expressionist painting, and modern poetry. The photograph always contains an insistent link to "reality" that seems more obvious than it is in a painting, but it is no less a subject of the painter than the photographer. This show might be the trigger that makes other modern artists accessible to some people. I've recommended this book to some art teachers for this reason.

A LEGENDARY TIME...........2002-03-08

I have long been a fan of the work that came out of the Institute of Design from the 1940s-1960s. It was a highly creative and experimental time and environment. After fleeing Nazi Germany in the late 1930s, many Bauhaus design and photography educators set up shop in Chicago. They started a new school and a new method of teaching photography that emphasized experimenting with abtract forms and understanding the process of imagery through intense creative study. Lazlo Moholy-Nagy was the driving force for the early successes, along with Gyorgy Kepes and Nathan Lerner. After Maholy-Nagy died, Harry Callahan took over the job as photography head, and moved away slightly from the early experimentation period by trying to challenge his students into creating their own thesis statements. Some of the other artists that also attended or participated in this important school were Barbara Crane, Yasuhiro Ishimoto, Joseph Jachna, Kenneth Josephson, Arthur Siegel, & many others.

The book in in conjunction with the exhibition at the Art Institute of Chicago of the same title. The exhibition should not be missed if you are in the Chicago area, but if you cannot make it to the exhibition (which closes May 12, 2002), this book is a great representation of the exhibits masterpieces. Inside are hundreds of fine-art images from ID, along with interviews, quotes, in-depth commentaries, and a lot of really great candids of the artists. It is really worth it. And I would certainly suggest buying this book at Amazon...

If you have any interest in modern art or photography, this book is a fantastic history lesson on the impact of these innovators on the entire possibilities of the medium. The Institute of Design helped shape photography into an art form of its own, and to push the boundaries of the medium at the same time. What a great time it must have been!

Book Description

In mystical and dramatic New Orleans, an unlikely team of supernatural heroes embark in strange adventures that explore Louisiana's bloody history. Four individuals are given a chance at redemption by coping with their own violent past. With exclusive character sketches and original e-mails between creators and script notes, Of Bitter Souls delivers in content and story.

Book Description

Almodvar is Spain's most successful and controversial director, a unique blend of art-house auteur and popular film-maker. His films, with their mix of Hollywood and European styles and of popular melodrama and comedy, have been attracting growing international audiences since the success of Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown. His most recent films are the critically acclaimed Live Flesh, based on a Ruth Rendell story, and All About My Mother, the runaway winner of the 1999 Cannes Film Festival. A Spanish Labyrinth is a much needed, clear and comprehensive introduction to the films of Almodvar, which investigates cultural and national contexts for his work, issues of gender, sexuality, stars, genre, visual style, music and much more. It is the ideal companion to Almodvar for students of film and Hispanic Studies, as well as those generally interested in film and Spanish culture. AUTHORBIO: MARK ALLINSON lectures in the Department of Hispanic Studies, Royal Holloway, University of London.

Customer Reviews:

good insights.......2003-02-03

Stimulating, illuminating insights into the genius mind of Almodovar. The author paints a respectful, comprehensive picture of one the greatest living filmmakers. While we can never truly know everything about the mysteriously talented director, it sure is fun to sneak a peek and try to figure out some theories.

Pedro Almodovar...A New Title (At Last).......2001-10-30

Finding a new book on Almodovar is always a treat, especially in English, and Mark Allinson's book is a very interesting analysis of all of Almodvar's great work.
A definate must for any Almodovar fan like me.

Brilliant.

Mark Williams ...

A Labyrinth of Information.......2001-09-15

As I have only seen two films by the critically acclaimed and now Oscar winning director, my interest in film production encouraged my reading of Mark Allinson's "A Spanish Labyrinth" which touches on almost every aspect of Almodovar's techniques, and compares these with traditional filmmaking of, say, the Hollywood system.
The "in depth" analysis of each of these techniques, and other notable areas of the book transpire the writers clear passion for cinema, Spain, and the Spanish language. Without this, the book would lack it's captivating edge, and be "just another book about filmmaking."
Little is known of Pedro Almodovar in this country. Recources are limited and "A Spanish Labyrith" is only one of two books on the subject written in English. Whilst Almodovar produces all of his films in Spain, it is only a matter of time before he makes films for a wider audience, directing actors from a script written in English.
To conclude, the book is of great interest to anyone who enjoys watching, analysing or even producing films, or indeed shows any interest in World Cinema, Europe and particularly Spain.
Allow the book to be the basis for your introduction to Almodovar, then you'll know what to look for in his latest film releases.

Book Description

Commissioned to mark the 1882 All-Russia Exhibition of Arts and Crafts, this extraordinarily popular work premiered at the consecration of the Kremlin's Cathedral of the Redeemer. A colorful musical tapestry of nationalistic themes and battle scenes, performances of the "1812" — with cannons thundering and bells pealing — have remained an electrifying outdoor event.

Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74; Romeo and Juliet, Overture Fantasy; 1812 (Overture) Ouverture Solennelle, Op. 49

Average customer rating:

Symphony No. 6 in B Minor, Op. 74; Romeo and Juliet, Overture Fantasy; 1812 (Overture) Ouverture Solennelle, Op. 49
Peter Ilyich Tschaikowsky (Tchaikovsky)
Manufacturer: Books and Music, Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MBUF8Y

Average customer rating:

1812 Overture, Op. 49: Miniature Score

Manufacturer: Alfred Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Tchaikovsky | Composers | Sheet Music & Scores | Formats | Books
ASIN: 0757990185

Book Description

This amazing book has every possible airplane design from stunt plane to glider, from the normal dart, to the X-Wing. You don't need fancy paper to execute and you can also learn to make ninja stars and frogs, helicopters, and a pac-man head. If you love paper planes, get this book!

Customer Reviews:

Not Recommended.......2006-11-03

This book has the most horrible directions and diagrams immagineable! There is no glossary of terms the author uses in his instructions (what in the world is an "accordian fold" and how does one "accordian-fold the bottom sides"? What is a "bottom side"?) and the diagrams are poorly labelled. Children and their parents will end up with nothing but frustration.

Tons of fun! Great book for a rainy day........2006-06-05

This is probably one of the greatest books I ever got as a gift growing up as a child. There are 40 different airplane instructions and 10 toy instructions. The airplanes truly are the highlight of this book. There are so many great airplanes and anyone (child or adult) could spend hours folding different airplanes and flying them through the air!

My personal favorite is the "Long Distance Champ." This airplane flies forever (supposedly up to 150 feet! Although none of mine have flown that far - of course my living room is only about 30 feet wide). I also enjoy "The Hunter," "The Origami-Nose Box Plane," and "The Ram Jet."

If you take care of kids I totally reccommend getting this book because it really is a great thing to pull out on a rainy day. The best thing about this book is every design only needs a normal sheet of white typing paper. You don't have to cut out pre-colored designs like many other airplane books.

Lots of Fun.......2003-02-14

I never knew paper airplanes could fly so well. Right from the start you'll be able to build simple planes that fly straight and far. The short paragraphs about each plane, in which the author sometimes explains how he discovered the design of the plane, are fun to read. The flying tips included with some designs are helpful. The only problem with the book, and the reason I didn't give it five stars, is that the diagrams and instructions for some designs are confusing. For example, I can't build the last plane even after spending about an hour and several sheets of paper on it. It would be really helpful to have actual photographs of some of the more complicated planes at certain steps in the building process. Regardless, for me the book was worth it after I built plane number one.

Fun book, be a kid and have some fun.......2001-12-16

This is a great book on paper airplanes and some origami paper toys. It is mostly about airplanes and there is airplane after airplane on page after page. No matter what you want your airplane to do, glide for long distance, do tricks or just plain look cool, it is in this book. Unlike some other books on this subject it does not have any premarked papers secured to the inside of the book that you can rip out and fold. On the other hand, these planes use ordinary paper and have such good illustrations that you can make them without any premarked patterns on the paper. I love the book. I've folded most of the planes and flew them. It makes me a popular person at children get togethers and allows me to be a child again once in a while myself.
The only thing that I don't like is that it has no theory of paper airplanes. If you fold one and it does not seem to be acting right then there is nothing in here that might teach you how to correct the problem. If you want to learn the aerodynamics involved in making a paper airplane act the way it does, how lift and drag affect the flight, etc, then this book is useless to you. But if you just want to follow the diagrams and make some great airplanes that are consistently fun, then this is your book.
Just "plane" fun.

wonderful.......2001-02-12

This book is an amazing book. It has every possible airplane design you could ever want. If you want a stunt plane, you got it. If you want a glider, you got it. If you want a plane to smack your sister in the forehead, you got it. This is the book for you! (cheesy smile here)

Average customer rating:
Yesterday's Perfume: An Intimate Memoir of Paul Bowles (ISBN:0609605739)
Cherie Nutting
Manufacturer: Clarkson N. Potter Publ.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000LC84SM

Average customer rating:

A POIGNANT MEMOIR OF PAUL BOWLES

Who is this woman?

A Rich Feast For the Senses

A really poor book....

Today's Banquet

Yesterday's Perfume: An Intimate Memoir of Paul Bowles
Cherie Nutting
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
Similar Items:

Paul Bowles: A Life

Paul Bowles, Magic & Morocco

Paul Bowles on Music: Includes the last interview with Paul Bowles (Roth Family Foundation Music in America Book)

In Touch: The Letters of Paul Bowles

Days: A Tangier Diary

ASIN: B000HWYQBA

Amazon.com

The formidable charm of Paul Bowles radiates from every page of this unconventional memoir, which recalls Cherie Nutting's friendship with the expatriate American writer-composer during the last 13 years of his life. Nutting layers together text (her narrative, his journal extracts and unpublished writings) and photographs (of Bowles, his friends, and various significant objects) in a collage-like format. This impressionistic approach is highly appropriate to Bowles (1910-99), whose first published work appeared in a surrealist magazine, and who remained an avant-garde innovator in music and literature for half a century. Although 40 years his junior, Nutting has similar interests: she fell in love at age 10 with Morocco, his adopted homeland; and, when she read his best-known novel, The Sheltering Sky, in the 1970s, "the book meant everything" to her. Inspired by recurring dreams, she wrote to Bowles in 1985 and explained that "it was in my destiny that we should meet"; he responded with an invitation to visit him in Tangier. Her photos show a radiantly handsome old man, while her reminiscences of kif smoking, rambles through the Moroccan landscape, and pronouncements like "the illicit bouquet that smelled of yesterday's perfume" create a dreamy atmosphere. Readers who are disinclined to this sort of stargazing will find comic relief in a running subplot that involves the house that's being built for Nutting by Bowles's friend Mohammed Mrabet, who extracts substantial sums of money from both of them, gets angry whenever his plans are questioned, and takes a long time to complete the structure. Readers who are attuned to the special sensibility that's expressed in Bowles's life and work will find it evocatively captured here. --Wendy Smith

Book Description

Fifteen years ago, Cherie Nutting returned to Morocco. She had first visited it as a child with her mother, and the images of mystery and the desert had stayed with her, fueled over the years by accounts of expatriate life and by the literature created there. In Tangier again, she met the most famous of the expatriates and author of the classic The Sheltering Sky. Cherie became a friend of Paul Bowles and part of his circle. Over the years, the friendship deepened and widened.

Yesterday's Perfume is a memoir of that friendship and of Cherie's love of Morocco. She had unparalleled access to Paul, and recorded, journal-like, their conversations and the events of everyday life. Interwoven among Cherie's narrative are bits and pieces of Paul's previously unpublished writings -- diarylike fragments, retellings of dreams, little stories -- a sharp counterpoint in his inimitable voice.

Unlike most memoirs, Yesterday's Perfume is blessed with a wealth of extraordinary images. Cherie has created a visual record of their friendship, capturing intimate moments, making formal portraits, recording the comings and goings of celebrities and friends. And here, too, the dialogue with Bowles continues, for Paul has jotted down his reactions in the borders and on the prints.

Several other friends have contributed to these pages, Peter Beard, Ned Rorem, and Bruce Weber among them. But key is the collaboration of Cherie and Paul. Together they have created a touching portrait of friendship and a road map to the mind of an artist.

Customer Reviews:

A POIGNANT MEMOIR OF PAUL BOWLES.......2001-12-21

Paul Bowles' collaboration with the photographer Cherie Nutting was a very special endeavor. It was his last writing before his death in November 1999. This hardcover book is beautifully produced, and Mr. Bowles himself actually handwrote some of the text and wholeheartedly participated in it. He relied on the artistic ability of his friend to produce--over a period of many years--such quality photos of himself and those around him. This is a 'must have' book for any afficionado of Paul Bowles. I highly recommend it. It is inconceivable to me why anyone would write a negative review, but perhaps those are the unfortunate and jealous souls who were not included.

Who is this woman?.......2001-08-06

Cherie Nutting somehow attached herself to Paul Bowles and took lots of photographs. Many of these are of herself in various gauzy poses. We also get the inside story in the form of her dreamlife. "Memoir" indeed, but who cares? What does all this have to do with Paul Bowles, especially the version that created the books and music? Toward the end of this volume we realize how lonely and confused Mr. Bowles was, and how ripe for an opportunistic Ms. Nutting. I don't know exactly what to call this thing, but the Bowles name would more correctly appear in it as a footnote.

A Rich Feast For the Senses.......2000-12-17

This is an untypical book about an untypical person. Just as the photographs of the Western and Southwestern landscape by Ansel Adams evoke the majesty of nature, so do the photographs of Cherie Nutting well represent the life and surroundings of the author Paul Bowles. The Bowles mystique is spread throughout the land. Here in Chicago respected Tribune columnist Jon Anderson and political and real estate consultant Phil Krone were among Bowles' friends and admirers. In a sense Nutting's volume pierces through the myth that Bowles was a reclusive hermit. In fact he was a very social and convivial man who balanced his life between the discipline of hard work that any craft requires, and the conduct of life as a traveler, not only through geography but minds as well. In a very lighthearted and elegiac way this is what Ms. Nutting captures.

A really poor book...........2000-12-13

I was loooking forward to this book, hoping it would be about Paul, whom I knew fairly well and whose work I much admire. But it's not primarily about Paul; it's about Ms. Nutting and her silly fantasies. This book is sheer narcissism, an ego-trip par excellence. And Ms. Nutting's photos aren't all that good either. Why anyone would pay $75 ($60 on Amazon) for this nonsense is beyond me. Here are the same old stories (about Cherifa and Jane, etc.) told better elsewhere (i.e. in the biographies.) There's unattractive cattiness here as well -- for example the mean reference to the number of letters Paul may or may not have written to Debra Winger. Finally there's little perception into Paul's behavior -- the passive-aggressive way he manipulated everyone (especially the marginal people) around him. Paul Bowles was a superb writer and a fascinating man...but he was also a complex human being with plenty of faults and flaws. Unfortunately there's nothing here but empty idolatry.

Today's Banquet.......2000-12-09

Yesterday's Perfume is a veritable banquet of tastes and sensations as well as an honest and intimate tribute to the late Paul Bowles.

Cherie Nutting truly loved "Pablo" as she refers to him, and her photos reflect her affection and reverence. In his last year of life Bowles spent considerable time preparing observations and comments for this book to both make it more marketable and to demonstrate his affection for Cherie Nutting.

This is a very handsome book. Its photographs are rich in symbolism as well as substance. For those who are interested in Bowles, this book will be most satisfying indeed.

Average customer rating:

My favorite book. Period.

The Ballad of Carl Drega

Insane by reason of bureaucracy!

A Must for those interested in freedom.

A Must Read if you value freedom

The Ballad of Carl Drega
Vin Suprynowicz
Manufacturer: Mountain Media
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | 20th Century | United States | Americas | History | Subjects | Books
Gun Control | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Send In The Waco Killers: Essays on the Freedom Movement, 1993-1998

The Black Arrow: A Tale of the Resistance

Molon Labe!

Lever Action: Essays on Liberty

Domestic Enemies: The Reconquista

ASIN: 0967025923

Book Description

In a free country, individuals have almost limitless rights -- to travel as they please, carry private arms, consume any plant or drug, keep what they earn, raise their kids as they see fit ... all without showing any license or permit. Bureaucrats have few powers, specifically listed.

But that hardly describes America today, where the default settings fast approach those of a slave state. Bureaucrats claim expansive power and privilege; the rights of the individual are crushed. Carl Drega fought back ... and died. Peter McWilliams fought back ... and died. Garry Watson fought back ... and died. Donald Scott fought back ... and died. ...

Not all their desperate acts were wise or admirable. But Libertarian columnist Vin Suprynowicz insists we should at least start cataloguing and honoring the names of those who have given their lives in this War on Freedom, being waged against us from the lowliest government classroon and "code-enforcement office" to the loftiest temples of Washington. Because we're next. Eight died on that bridge at Concord, back in 1775. How many will it take this time?

Customer Reviews:

My favorite book. Period. .......2006-02-03

Do not let the fact that this text is a "collection of essays" disuade you. Neither should you be dissuaded about the month waiting period for a new copy to arrive. Order several copies and earn a profit by selling via Amazon's Marketplace!

This thoughtful book forced me to take a fresh look at the incredible power's that have been given the IRS, FBI, ATF (BATFE) - just to name a few. Upon opening the book, I was under the distinct impression that I was a "citizen" residing in a "representative democracy." It has become clear to me that the Bill of Rights (which unquestionably grants me the rights of a true citizen) has been usurped by a runaway police state - where I resemble a well-trained slave. Does that mean I hate police, FBI, IRS, ATF(BATFE)? No. Although, I feel strongly that law-abiding citizens must reclaim their citizenship birthrights from these (and other) superiorly armed and trained slave masters. Vin asks rhetorical questions throughout his essays. My favorite question is "how can the government prohibit law-abiding citizens from owning particular weapons?" You see, our government inherits powers from "we the people." Therefore, if one citizen cannot lawfully prohibit another citizen from owning an assault rifle - how can Uncle Sam? It matters not that a "duly elected government" passed this law, because the Bill of Rights are God given and cannot be usurped. These essays are more powerful than a linear text and have been the genesis of heartfelt powerful pro-liberty thoughts. Subsequently, it is impossible for me to look upon my government as benign. In fact, I feel much like Benjamin Franklin must have. Ben Franklin was enamored with England and was residing there during the "Colonial Stamp Tax Revolt." It pained Benjamin to hear of his Colonial brothers resisting the "just command of his Majesty." I was staunchly pro-FBI during Waco & Ruby Ridge, because I watched mainstream media. Now I'm disgusted with my weak thinking - I sincerely apologize to the victims and surviving family and friends. I have come to the conclusion that our government has purposely overstepped its boundaries and now violently snuffs-out those small groups that see the wolf for what it is. The police-state may already be invincible, having already achieved critical mass - but I find some solace in the fact that I am no longer acting like a deferential pawn. I will resist illegitimate authority from this day forward. Thank you Vin! Sorry it's taken me so long to wake up. In my defense, I was public schooled. Also, I recommend Boston's Gun Bible (revised edition).

The Ballad of Carl Drega.......2005-09-17

It is a great eye opener to the tyranny around us all.

Insane by reason of bureaucracy!.......2004-04-07

That could very well be a legitimate legal defense some day. Certainly this book goes a long way toward detailing the million and one ways that we suffer from a surfeit of government.
Mr Suprynowicz does an excellent job of pointing out that tyranny comes in many forms. That sometimes the most aggravating forms are those of the petty bureaucrats and local governments who refuse to use compassion or common sense in the course of their duties.

This book is an easier and more entertaining read than his previous "Send in the Waco Killers", which read like a collection of his columns. "Ballad" follows a logical progression towards the inescapable conclusion that freedom and regulation are at opposite ends of a scale.

Guaranteed to irritate Republicans and Democrats alike.

A Must for those interested in freedom........2003-10-01

An outstanding look at the unending chain of abuses that are heaped on us by our government and the obvious, but tragic results. The Ballad of Carl Drega is a collection of articles and notes from 1994 -2001 by the award-winning Libertarian columnist Vin Suprynowicz. Carl Drega, Gary Watson, Donald Scott, Peter Williams, and the victims of Ruby Ridge and Waco are the martyrs in the raging War Against Freedom. This expose goes where no others dare. Vin exposes the War that has been declared on our rights in his essays on Taxes, Western Land Grabs, Environmentalism, Gun Laws, Vaccinations, and the "Mandatory government youth propaganda camps, still known to most as the 'public schools'".

He challenges you to focus on the victims' plight and leaves you wondering how on earth there are not similar "last stands" on a regular basis. Unfortunately, I fear that there will be many more Carl Drega's before Vin's next book is released.

I have given this book my highest recommendation and consider it a must-read for freedom lovers, patriots, libertarians, journalists, and concerned parents. If you don't like to loan out your favorite books, you might be wise to order more than one copy.

A Must Read if you value freedom.......2003-06-17

This book is so important and so well written, I am buying copies of it to give to everyone I know. Vin exposes the underside of America and shows plainly how America is a defacto police state. He deals with facts not fiction and provides another side to some of the news stories we have heard in the press. Also he deals with stories that will never be heard in the "mainstream" media. Well done Vin. Molon Labe

Book Description

This scholarly and authoritative book examines the cultural and literal history, as well as the natural history and biological needs and concerns of turkeys. Davis explores how turkeys came to be seen as birds who were not only the epitome of failure or stupidity but also the suitable centerpiece of the celebration of freedom in America itself—Thanksgiving. She examines the many varieties of turkeys and uncovers the methods by which millions of turkeys are raised, fattened, and slaughtered on farms around America today.

Davis takes us back to European folklore about turkeys, the myths, fairytales, and downright lies told about turkeys and their habits and habitats. She shows how turkeys in the wild have complex lives and family units, and how they were an integral part of Native American and continental cultures and landscape before the Europeans arrived.

Finally, Davis draws conclusions about our paradoxical, complex, and "bestial" relationship not just with turkeys, but with all birds, and thus with all other animals. She examines how our treatment of animals shapes our other values about ourselves, our relationship with other human beings, and our attitude toward the land, nation, and the world.

Customer Reviews:

Unique Look at a "Food" Animal.......2003-07-24

"More Than a Meal" is an incredible book, examining not just the nature of the turkey (behavior, intelligence, emotions, etc.), but also our cultural construction of it. Ms. Davis eloquently describes the many ways in which the turkey is dehumanized and demeaned in modern society. Such atrocities go far beyond the obvious (farming and killing turkeys for food), at times bordering on the ridiculous (for instance, the annual presidential pardoning of a Thanksgiving turkey that will soon die prematurely anyway, as it was bred for grotesquely rapid growth that its body cannot withstand). She also delves into the human psyche, in a quest to figure out just why we hate this particular bird so (yet schizophrenically honor it every fall).

Karen Davis is an asset to the animal rights community. While anti-ARAs may disparage her with childish nicknames (Karen "Bird Brain" Davis is a popular one), Ms. Davis is clearly deserving of her PhD. She's an excellent writer, transforming what at first glance might be a mundane subject into a fascinating examination of our dysfunctional attitudes towards the nonhuman animals with which we share this planet. "More Than a Meal" is a must-read for anyone interested in the humane treatment of animals.

A must-read during Thanksgiving...and beyond........2002-10-27

When it comes to the other species with whom we share this planet, humans are often ignorant and lacking compassion. This characterization is also one that humans have tried to place on turkeys. Frequently this remarkable animal is wrongly portrayed as stupid and clumsy. Part of the reason for these incorrect descriptions of the turkey has to do with our species having cruelly bred this animal for fast growth and unnaturally large size. Turkeys' dependence on humans is often cited when people state that these birds are not intelligent. However, Karen Davis points out in her book More Than a Meal: The Turkey in History, Myth, Ritual, and Reality that these animals are dependent on humans for survival because we have made them so. By breeding fast growing, overweight turkeys we have created birds who are unable to walk fast or fly into trees and who commonly experience "lameness, respiratory congestion, mating infirmities, and heart disease, and most have white feathers that prevent them from camouflaging themselves." Besides intelligence, Davis offers fine examples to illustrate that turkeys are good parents and very protective of their young.
If human animals are going to begin respecting and living in harmony with nonhuman animals, we must learn about these animals and treat them with the compassion and respect all species deserve. We must also learn from our mistakes and cruel past and start righting these wrongs. In More Than a Meal: The Turkey in History, Myth, Ritual, and Reality, Karen Davis provides considerable knowledge on these fascinating animals and our deplorable relationship with them.--Reviewed by N. Glenn Perrett

More Than a Monograph.......2002-03-04

In her latest book, United Poultry Concerns President Karen Davis goes well beyond the basics when it comes to "talking turkey." As would be expected, Davis provides a wealth of facts about turkeys in their natural state and about the perverse abuses against turkeys perpetrated by hunters and on factory farms. Davis also shares many of her own often quite moving experiences living with and caring for turkeys. But Davis also dares to go deeper, probing the sociological and psychological meanings of such rituals as turkey shoots, turkey drops, and the thanksgiving dinner. Probably, most readers will be shocked to learn about spectacles of humiliation performed by modern communities in the name of "good clean fun" and about the everyday brutalities practiced by the poultry industry. Surely, every reader will be provoked to think hard about the often quite subtle arguments Davis puts forward concerning such issues as the oddly sexualized manner in which hunters of wild turkeys interact with their prey. Whether or not you think you will end up agreeing with Davis, you should read this book to learn more about an important American symbol and exercise your mind at the same time.

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