Picasso and the Invention of Cubism

Book Description

This book transforms our understanding of Cubism, showing in unprecedented detail how it emerged in Picasso's work of the years 1906-13, and tracing its roots in nineteenth-century philosophy and linguistics. Linking well-known paintings and sculptures to the hitherto-ignored drawings that accompanied them, Pepe Karmel demonstrates how Picasso's quest to depict the human body with greater solidity led, paradoxically, to its fragmentation; and how Picasso used the archaic model of stage space to free himself from conventional perspective, replacing the open window of Renaissance painting with a new projective space. In other chapters, Karmel discusses the empiricist philosophy championed by Hippolyte Taine, which encouraged the breakdown of painting into its abstract elements, and laid the groundwork for an art of mental association rather than naturalistic figuration. Similarly, contemporary philology provided the model for a visual language employing both metaphoric and metonymic (but not arbitrary) signs. Combining intellectual history with close visual reading, Picasso and the Invention of Cubism opens new perspectives on the most influential movement in twentieth-century art.

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic BookýEven if you are not in the art world!.......2003-11-10

I picked Karmel's book up yesterday and found that I could not put it down. I am neither an artist, nor an art historian, but I found Karmel's explanation and analysis of Picasso's cubism both accessible and fascinating. I would highly recommend it not just for art buffs, but for anyone who is at all interested in Picasso's work. Setting aside the craft of Karmel's words, the book itself happens to be a work of art in its own right. It is beautifully bound with fantastic images.... This is the first book that I have felt the need to write a review of on amazon. Let me assure you that there is a reason...

Fantastic BookýEven if you are not in the art world!.......2003-11-10

I picked up Karmel's book yesterday and found that I could not put it down. I am neither an artist, nor an art historian, but I found Karmel's explanation and analysis of Picasso's cubism both accessible and fascinating. I would highly recommend it not just for art buffs, but for anyone who is at all interested in Picasso's work. Setting aside the craft of Karmel's words, the book itself happens to be a work of art in its own right. It is beautifully bound with fantastic images.... This is the first book that I have felt the need to write a review of on amazon. Let me assure you that there is a reason...

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Picasso and the Invention of Cubism
Pepe/ Picasso, Pablo Karmel
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OS6L56

Average customer rating:

seen it all before

Nothing but entertainment

Hilarious and sobering, intermittently

Curmudgeon's Delight

Looking for the perfect insult?

The Book of Poisonous Quotes
Colin Jarman
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
Limericks & Humorous Verse | Humor | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
English (All) | Dictionaries & Thesauruses | Reference | Subjects | Books
Quotations | Reference | Subjects | Books
General | Reference | Subjects | Books
General | Foreign Languages | Reference | Subjects | Books
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The Traveling Curmudgeon: Irreverent Notes, Quotes, and Anecdotes on Dismal Destinations, Excess Baggage, the Full Upright Position, and Other Reasons Not to Go There

Phillips' Book of Great Thoughts & Funny Sayings: A Stupendous Collection of Quotes, Quips, Epigrams, Witticisms, and Humorous Comments. For Personal Enjoyment and Ready Reference.

ASIN: 0809236818

Book Description

A wickedly entertaining collection of caustic quips and witty criticisms.

Customer Reviews:

seen it all before.......2007-01-26

if you need a general reference, this is ok. for the collector of quips, jokes and insults this has all appeared before. so getting this depends on your goals. if you are collector you probably have all this material in other quote books.

Nothing but entertainment.......2006-06-10

If you're looking for a good laugh, you've come to the right book. Poisonous Quotes have many critisisms for almost everything in this world. Not to mention when it comes from famous authors, presidents, or thinkers.

Whether you're sharing this with someone or using a classic retort, this book is perfect for your needs of insults and hilarious laughs.

Hilarious and sobering, intermittently.......2004-12-22

The verbal back-stabbing in this book is absolutely hilarious.
For example:

On Oliver Goldsmith-
"Poor fellow! He hardly knew an ass from a mule, nor a
turkey from a goose but when he saw it on the table."
--Richard Cumberland

On Whitman-
"Leaves of Grass-To call it poetry in any sense, would be mere abuse of language."
-William Allingham

"Democracy consists of choosing your dictators, after they've told you what you want to hear."

"The U.S. brags about its political system, but the president says one thing during the election, something else when he takes office, something else during midterm, and something else when he leaves."

"Some fellows get credit for being conservative when they are only stupid."

"Elections are held to delude the populace into thinking they are participating in government."

Curmudgeon's Delight.......2003-08-29

Editor Colin Jarman has compiled thousands of entertaining insults in "The Guinness Book of Poisonous Quotes"' 337 pages. The pithy put-downs are arranged by subject into sixteen chapters. Among the book's most entertaining chapters are those on Literature, Film, The Media, and Politics. Many chapters include gloriously mean-spirited quotes directed at particular individuals as well as venomous comments on the subject in general. "Poisonous Quotes" is an equal opportunity offender. Persons of all beliefs, tastes, and political persuasions are skewered indiscriminately. There is a very useful index in the back of the book where quotes can be located by the name of the person quoted or the person disparaged. This little volume makes a nice gift for yourself or your favorite curmudgeon.

Looking for the perfect insult?.......2003-01-07

There's a lot of material here that you won't find in, say, Bartlett's Familiar Quotations. And some of it is surprising, some of it is delightful, a lot is funny, and some of it useful for cribbing. (Take the structure of an insult aimed at x, rearrange a word or two, and aim it at y.) For example, Mark Twain is quoted on the cover as saying, "Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were a member of Congress, but I repeat myself." (Incidentally this gem is not in Bartlett's, at least not in the sixteenth edition, which I have.) Teachers, for example, can then say, "Suppose you were an idiot, and suppose you were an administrator, but I repeat myself." For those of you in the business world, just plug in "CEO," etc.

Also not found in Bartlett's (alas there's a lot unavoidably not found in Bartlett's, but that's another review), is this on critics from Marilyn Monroe: "I've always felt those articles somehow reveal more about the writers than they do about me." Dumb blonde?--troubled, but not dumb.

Compiler Colin Jarman organizes the verbal swordplay into chapters by category, beginning with "Critics and Criticism" in chapter one, followed by "The Creative Arts"...through literature, drama, film, music...religion, etc., ending with "Insults, Retorts, and Self-Criticism" in which the quoted get to insult themselves, e.g., "I'm as pure as the driven slush" -Tallulah Bankhead. There's an Index by name referencing both the speaker and the target.

The quality of the insults and ironic misspeakings is very high. I read this through in one setting some years ago, compulsively, and had many a chuckle and some outright belly laughs, and then I read it again a couple of years later and laughed anew. Looking through it once again, I have to say, there was a lot I underappreciated.

Bottom line: worth both the candle and the plastic.

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Book of Poisonous Quotes, The
Colin M. Jarman
Manufacturer: Contemporary Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000KX3V4E

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The Guinness Book of Yet More Poisonous Quotes

Manufacturer: Guinness World Records Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Reference | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0851127290

Customer Reviews:

Very helpful backstage story.......2002-07-09

As I was writing a term paper about Broadway musicals a few years ago, I found The Making of West Side Story very helpful to my research. The book tells about the creation of the idea by Jerome Robbins and the subsequent collaboration with Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Laurents, and Stephen Sondheim. It tells of deep research into gang warfare, of grueling rehearsals with the oft-cold Robbins (in constrast to the gentler Bernstein), and of startled reactions to this unusual musical. It gives great insights into the motivations of the characters, the construction of the plot, and the choices of the lyrics and tunes.

My only complaint is that this book gives no proper respect to the excellent movie version; it refuses to allow for the differences between the stage and the screen. (Note: I did see the 1979 Broadway revival, as well as high school productions, and have enjoyed the movie umpteen times.) Otherwise, The Making of West Side Story is highly recommended.

Very helpful backstage story.......2002-07-09

As I was writing a term paper about Broadway musicals a few years ago, I found The Making of West Side Story very helpful to my research. The book tells about the creation of the idea by Jerome Robbins and the subsequent collaboration with Leonard Bernstein, Arthur Laurents, and Stephen Sondheim. It tells of deep research into gang warfare, of grueling rehearsals with the oft-cold Robbins (in constrast to the gentler Bernstein), and of startled reactions to this unusual musical. My only complaint about this book is that it gives no proper respect to the movie version; it refuses to allow for the differences between the stage and the screen. Otherwise, highly recommended.

inquiry into creative collaboration.......2002-02-21

This is an interesting account of how a team put together a provocative and innovative musical tragedy, bucking the trend of syrupy and simpler musicals for 1950s Broadway. Leonard Bernstein (for music), Stephen Sondheim (for lyrics) and Jerome Robbins (dance and direction) formed the nucleus, but there were also a playwrite, and other specialists and actors who all collaborated. The principals took a substantial risk in their budding careers and forged ahead confident of their inventiveness. The result is Broadway history, which opened the way to treating a myriad of other socially relevant subjects in later years. Though the music is what is remembered best now, it is truly a multi-media event that was pioneering in its time.

I read this because I am writing teaching materials for business execs to study, as a case of effective, if unorthodox, management. That is only one of the many many levels n which it can be read. The author offers a wonderful panorama of the dance, music, and acting that was current - and changed by this musical tradegy - at the time.

It appears that Garebian used only written sources to write this. As many of the participants were alive at least during the lat decade, this limits the account in unfortunate ways. But is it well written and a spur to read more elsewhere.

If you are interested, I would recommend this. If not, go to the biographies of the participants. Nonetheless, it is a solid view into a unique collaboration.

An interesting view of the Best Broadway Musical.......2000-06-15

Maybe this title is the latest and best modern view of "West Side Story". Amazing and surprise you'll have spending your time reading it.

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The Making of This Side of Paradise
James L. W. West
Manufacturer: University of Pennsylvania Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

British | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0812278674

The Making of West Side Story.(Video recording review): An article from: Notes

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The Making of West Side Story.(Video recording review): An article from: Notes
Gerald A. Notaro
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

Online Books | Books & Reading | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

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Book Description

This digital document is an article from Notes, published by Thomson Gale on September 1, 2006. The length of the article is 431 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: The Making of West Side Story.(Video recording review)
Author: Gerald A. Notaro
Publication: Notes (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 63 Issue: 1 Page: 180(2)

Article Type: Video recording review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

Book Description

Michael Urban chronicles the advent of blues music in Russia and explores the significance of the genre in the turbulent, postcommunist society. Russians, he explains, have taken a music originating in the "low" culture of the American South and transformed it into an object of "high" culture, fashioning a social identity that distinguishes blues adherents from both the discredited Soviet past and the vulgar consumerism associated with the country's Westernization. While adapting the idiom to their own conditions, Russia's bliuzmeny (bluesmen) have absorbed the blues ethos encoded in the music by their American forebears, using it to invert their social world, thus deriving dignity and satisfaction from those very things that give one the blues.

Based on more than forty interviews with blues musicians and fans, nightclub managers, and others, Russia Gets the Blues reveals the fascinating history of blues in Russia, from the initial mimicry of British blues-rock to the recent emergence of a specifically "Russian blues." The gradual mastering of the idiom in Russia has been conditioned by the culture of the country's intelligentsia, a fact explaining why, on one hand, bliuzmeny feel compelled to proselytize on behalf of the music, to share with others this treasure of "world culture," while, on the other, they perform blues almost exclusively in English—which almost no one understands—and condemn any and all efforts to make the music commercially successful.

Book Description

Features lessons on weak two bids, the forcing no-trump response, negative doubles and counting out a hand. The duplicate lessons explain the mechanics and tactics of duplicate bridge.

Advanced and Duplicate Bridge Student Text

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Advanced and Duplicate Bridge Student Text
Shirley Silverman
Manufacturer: Barclay Bridge Supplies, 1977
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000K5TP1A

Book Description

Lee Remick's ascent as an actress was swift and distinguished. At age 24 she attained stardom in Anatomy of a Murder (1959), and was nominated as Best Actress three years later for her role in Days of Wine and Roses (1962). In the second half of her career, she found her most prolific and rewarding opportunities in television. This book chronicles her life and work in extensive detail, with entries for all her performances. The opening biography overviews her life and discusses her illustrious career. A chronology summarizes her life and work in capsule form. The chapters that follow trace her work in various media, with individual chapters devoted to her stage, film, and television careers. Entries in each chapter provide full information for all of her performances, including cast and credit information, plot synopses, excerpts from reviews, and commentary. An extensive annotated bibliography makes this reference a detailed resource for people seeking additional information about Remick's work.

Book Description

An astonishing find-the landmark journal of a woman living though the Russian occupation of Berlin-which has already earned comparisons to diaries by Etty Hillesum and Victor Klemperer For six weeks in 1945, as Berlin fell to the Russian army, a young woman, alone in the city, kept a daily record of her and her neighbors' experiences, determined to describe the common lot of millions.Purged of all self-pity but with laser-sharp observation and bracing humor, the anonymous author conjures up a ravaged apartment building and its little group of residents struggling to get by in the rubble without food, heat, or water. Clear-eyed and unsentimental, she depicts her fellow Berliners in all their humanity as well as their cravenness, corrupted first by hunger and then by the Russians. And with shocking and vivid detail, she tells of the shameful indignities to which women in a conquered city are always subject: the mass rape suffered by all, regardless of age or infirmity. Through this ordeal, she maintains her resilience, decency, and fierce will to come through her city's trial, until normalcy and safety return.At once an essential record and a work of great literature, A Woman in Berlin not only reveals a true heroine, sure to join other enduring figures of the twentieth century, but also gives voice to the rarely heard victims of war: the women.

Customer Reviews:

History Is Still Going On!.......2007-10-14

A few months ago the city fathers in Talinn, Estonia, moved a World War II era statue of an angry-looking Red Army soldier which had been placed in a military cemetary in the city. The statue was supposed to depict the rage the soldier felt as he contemplated all of his fallen comrades.

Not all Estonians saw it that way. Local wags dubbed the statue the "Monument to the Unknown Rapist" and it was moved to a less prominent location. This outraged the Russians. Their army still wears the Red Star insignia to comemorate their hard won victory in what Soviet authors call "the Great Patriotic War" (World War II to the rest of us.)

Russia lodged official, menacing protests and Lithuania and Latvia responded with official support to Estonia. This diplomatic shoot-out is still percolating along. History isn't over. It's still going on around us.

The conduct of the Red Army toward civilians, especially women, has been a hot button issue since 1944 when Nemmersdorf, East Prussia, was briefly occupied, then abandoned to the Wehrmacht. Goebbels propaganda machine immediately accused the Red Army of spectacular atrocities including mass rape of women and girls and nailing some of them to barn doors and farm wagons as if they'd been crucified. Goebbels' documentary was shown to terrified audiences throughout Germany.

Intended to spur the Volkssturm, and other last-ditch home guards, to fight harder, the films panicked those who realized that they were on the Red Army's line of march into Berlin. They also started a controversy about the cruelties visited upon women by Red Army liberators.

Anonymous' excellent diary, A WOMAN IN BERLIN, gives a balanced insight into their conduct in Berlin when it fell in 1945. Available in several translations and editions, the author is sometimes thought to have been Marta Hiller, a prominent Berlin journalist who passed away in 2001.

Her account avoids melodrama. It is straightforward and describes what she experienced in matter-of-fact tones. She is raped herself. She sees it happen to others.

Yet, some Red Army soldiers are humane and helpful. The Red Army does not try to exterminate the battered population of Berlin as she feared they might in retaliation for Nazi attempts to exterminate the Slavs in some areas they'd occupied.

She learns that the conquerors can be decent, but that Red Army soldiers can also be brutal and dangerous when they are drunk. Nights become times of great danger for her, and other Berlin women.

Her account is one of survival in a time of catastrophic defeat. It is interesting to compare this memoir to Alexandra Orme's COMES THE COMRADE! which was written a few years later and deals with the Red Army's occupation of Hungary, an Axis ally. Orme's treatment of the Red Army strives for humor in the face of unavoidable adversity. Her treatment of the Red Army is much more sympathetic than most other accounts and it shows low long the Red Army's conduct has been an issue.

A WOMAN OF BERLIN is well-written and available in a number of editions and translations. If you're interested in World War II, the Red Army, or accounts of survival in desperate situations, you'll want to read this book. I gave it five stars because of the quality of the author's writing.

A subtle reminder..........2007-10-01

Not just a woman in Berlin at the end of WWII, but in any city, at any time, under armed conflict, this book reminds us of the atrocities derived out of human incomprehension, irracionality, ambition, etc. as anonymous as the author is, the actors are too, given the fact, they're all gone today, but not so their legacy... which has stayed with us (and hopefully with future generations). Interestingly, the way the author describes every infamous episody will make you notice the way things have changed too, for even physical abuse under war circumstances had certain brush of "decency" inexistent among today's savagery.

A just in time wake up call you can't afford to miss...

Powerful but Uplifting.......2007-08-08

I read this book together with An Underground Life: Memoirs of a Gay Jew in Nazi Berlin (Living Out: Gay and Lesbian Autobiographies) in anticipation of a trip to Berlin. They are both relatively short reads, and the combination of the two seemed especially powerful.

I thought that "A Woman in Berlin" might be too harrowing to endure (it _is_ a relation of the plight of defenceless women facing a conquering, vengeful, rapacious (yeah, like, RAPE) male army. However the author's determination to survive and to make the best of what quickly becomes her powerfully oppressive circumstances salves the reader. It's an enlightening description of what happens to an advanced western civilization when completely reduced for a time to life and death armed confrontation.

The author has interesting observations on the 'feminization' of Berlin _in extremis_ -- all the able-bodied men were at the fronts. Other than women of all ages, there were only disabled or very old men and children left in Berlin. [Of course there were also a few remaining men of the rapidly crumbling elite ruling class and their camp followers buried in Berlin bunkers who were utterly irrelvant to life in Berlin in April/May 1945.]

A Woman in Berlin confronts female / male sex in the context of armed male oppresssion and a woman's enlightened understanding of how to maximize her limited opportunities under very straightened circumstances.

An Underground Life: Memoirs of a Gay Jew in Nazi Berlin (Living Out: Gay and Lesbian Autobiographies)celebrates male homosexual sex in the context of unimaginable oppression and tragedy. The author's exuberance about his sexual encounters and conquests in the face of this oppression and tragedy lightens what might otherwise be a harrowing read -- this book is part of a series celebrating the lives of gays and lesbians, after all, and so may not have been intended for the general heterosexual reader -- worth it, nevetheless.

I can't put into words the impact on me of reading in close proximity these two stories of "sex in wartime Berlin". I still ponder that impact.

Raw, Ragged Reality.......2007-07-11

Some books appeal to your intellect, others to your heart. This one hits you hard right in the gut. The author's shock, fear, suffering and revulsion are delivered relentlessly through her perceptive eyes, with poetic expressiveness and biting wit.

Along with the horrific experiences she recounts, some of the most searing passages are the reflections of her heart and soul. In the original German, they are particularly touching and thought-provoking. Her character, humanity and indomitable spirit transcend the pages that she wrote.

At the end of the nine-week period covered in the diary, I was struck by this true "Triumph des Willens" - the will to survive.

stepping into her shoes.......2007-07-03

perhaps because this is a diary, it is raw and allows one to step into the shoes of the author. It gives one a first hand look at what life was like for the German citizens living in Berlin immediately prior to and during the Soviet troops occupation. Although hard to read it times, it is as though one is right there. Very true first-hand look. A book one can't put down, and leaves one thinking about the suffering of the masses.

Book Description

“If we lose, I will destroy the world,” said Kim Jong Il, supreme leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea. Kim’s regime insults all of us. Its very existence is an affront to humanity’s sense of decency and challenges accepted notions of politics, economics, and social theory. More important, North Korea threatens us.

The Great Leader, as Kim now calls himself, can change the course of history with an act of unimaginable devastation. He possesses an arsenal of nuclear weapons and the ballistic missiles to deliver them. Today he can hit most of the continent of Asia and even parts of the American homeland. In a few years–probably by the end of this decade–the diminutive despot will cast his shadow across the globe: He will be able to land a nuke on any point on the planet.

Even now, everyone is at risk. North Korea has said it might sell weapons to others, thereby making itself the first “nuclear Kmart.” Who wants to live in a world where anyone with enough cash and a pickup truck can incinerate a city?

For six decades, America has tried every tactic to stop Kim’s Korea, but it has failed each time. The current approach–providing aid and assurances of security in return for an end to weapons programs–mimics the failed diplomacy of the 1990s. Negotiations, sponsored by China, have yet to produce an enduring solution.

Unfortunately, Kim has paid no price for destabilizing the global order. In fact, many countries, including America, reward him for his fundamental challenge to the international system. Perhaps that is why the world is now further away from a solution to the Korean nuclear crisis than it was a decade ago.

In a contest that will be decided by finesse more than power, Kim is winning. If he ultimately prevails–and time is running out for Washington–his success will probably result in a quick erosion of American power. The world’s strongest nation does not have much of a future if it cannot defend its most vital interests against a reviled autocrat like Kim from a small country like North Korea.

The current conflict with Kim Jong Il is a crisis like no other, perhaps the twenty-first century’s moment of greatest consequence. This is where the world writes its history for the next hundred years. Nuclear Showdown is the first and only major study to look at all dimensions of this crisis. Gordon G. Chang proposes solutions that go beyond the conventional suggestions seen elsewhere.

Customer Reviews:

Robert Kaiser.......2007-02-25

Besides being a thoughtful, informative chronicle of the current Democratic Peoples Republic of North Korea (DPRK), I believe this book is a must read for anyone interested in the security of the free world.

It not only summarizes the history of the Korean pennisula, and the evolution of North Korea's Kim regime and its nuclear weapons program; but describes the current politics involved in both North and South Korea as well as Japan and China.

It also dramatically describes the current "clear and present danger" that the North Korean nuclear weapons program poses to the world.

Some history and thoughts on how to deal with this crisis........2006-10-20

This is an excellent overall summary of the crisis with North Korea over nukes. Chang packs a lot into this book. He gives a history of the Kimist regime in North Korea. The Kims are more totalitarian, than communist. He then relates the series of events which the father and son regime have taken in regard to the armed forces and specifically nukes. This regime has been using maximum deception on the west. It makes agreements, then breaks them. Kim doesn't even care about his people. He will let them starve if that means he can get nuclear weapons. His sole goal is to stay in power and if that means nuclear war, he is willing to risk it.

One fault I have with this book is that it gives a lot of possibilities on how to work with this regime. Then after it relates on how to do this, it tells the reader that some government tried this and got snuckered by the Kims. There are no definitive answers in this book. However it gives the reader a sense of fustration on how the North Koreans have used their allies and the west. A nice read.

No Real Answers.......2006-07-06

North Korea is the only nation so far to withdraw from the nuclear non-proliferation treaty. It possesses an estimated 7-10 nuclear weapons (believed to mostly have been created post-Bush II) and the missiles to deliver them. North Korea has also said it might sell nuclear weapons to others, and is helping Pakistan with its missiles. America has been reduced to relying on China, the DPRK's best friend. War could result in a million casualties in the first day. Kim is winning the contest so far - if he prevails, a quick erosion of American power will probably result.

This is not the first time North Korea has had the U.S. in a box. In Jan. '68 North Korea captured the USS Pueblo in the Sea of Japan and tortured the crew for 11 months - releasing them only after LBJ apologized. In April '69 it shot down an unarmed Navy reconnaissance plane, killing 31, with no response from Nixon and the U.S. Nineteen-ninety-four brought another confrontation - this time over its efforts to develop nuclear weapons via plutonium reprocessing. This time President Carter defused the situation, but the U.S. subsequently dallied on its end of the agreement (eg. reneged on a no-nuclear-attack pledge, promised reactors were delayed - partly due to the Republican takeover in 1994), while Pyongyang did not restart normalization talks with Seoul as promised.

Subsequently North Korea has started a uranium enrichment program, with assistance from Pakistan. (Pakistan is also believed to have taught the North Koreans how to "cold-test" their weapons. Regardless, uranium weapons are simpler - the U.S. didn't even bother to test its first.)

There is some basis for believing recent U.S. belligerence is part of the problem. The "Axis of Evil" statement and personal criticism of Kim Jong Il by President Bush certainly didn't help, nor did our invasion of Iraq and threats against Iran.

About 25% of N.K.'s GNP is devoted to the military, and Kim personally picked about 85% of its generals.

Chang does offer proposals - eg. the U.S. either disarm or considerably reduce its nuclear arms (neither likely, nor sensible), and attempt to get all nations to isolate N.K. The latter is being tried at this moment - we shall see. Chang's most disturbing prediction is that in the long run, America's fate is to become a second-ranked power as China rises to the top.

Far beyond ongoing nuclear crisis.......2006-02-21

Gordon G. Chang's "Nuclear Showdown", like his previous book ("The Coming Collapse of China"), allows you many different ways of reading it. Some might read it as an intriguing prescription to resolve the ongoing nuclear standoff among the member nations in the six-way framework, just to say that will, or won't, work when they are through with the 225-page book.

In fact I was impressed by Chang's propositions such as the one in which the author suggests that in the wake of the virtual bankruptcy of the Nonproliferation Treaty and other U.S.-led antiproliferation initiatives, America take a unilateral step to drastically reduce its nuclear arsenal so the American president, who could now "order to eliminate all human life on this planet several times over", can "kill everyone only once." I am not sure, though, if Chang really means it because he says this is an "extreme dream".

However, my way of reading "Nuclear Showdown" was quite different because I hadn't assumed the author was just bringing up a quick recommendation or two for Christopher Hill, head of the American delegation at the six-party talks, to convey to his North Korean counterparts next time he meets them in Beijing. True, Chang talks a lot about the threat being posed by the North Korean tyrant, but he does that only from a broader perspective far beyond the framework of six-way talks. Actually I read it as if I was reading a work by Arnold J. Toynbee, British historian who intensively scrutinized the rise and fall of civilizations. This is especially true with the last three chapters - "The End of American Primacy", "Civilization's Last Weapon" and "Last Exit before the Dark Ages".

This, coupled with Chang's readable, sometimes witty, writing style, makes "Nuclear Showdown" a real page-turner.

A perceptive book.......2006-01-19

A perceptive book, especially on the complex relationship among the various countries that are involved in the nuclear negotiation: US, China, South Korea and Japan. It shows that the author has lived in that region for many years. I especialy find the chapter on South Korea very thoughtful provoking. He hear many people say that South Korea is no longer America's ally but this book shows that the changes in South Korea society are finally beginning to favor conservatives who still support a strong relationship with America. This books examines those countries one by one. I only wish that the chapter on South Korea is longer, especially how that society is changing. I also find the book really understand the motivations of the Chinese leaders and the changes in Beijing's foreign policy. The book also discusses and issue that is rarely mentioned: the problems between China and Japan and how they are affecting the nuclear crisis negotiation. I only hope that the Americans handling this crisis have such clear understanding as well. They don't seem to be doing a terribly good job at the moment.

There are so many things that people over here doesing know but need to know about that region which is becoming very important.

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