American Iconology: New Approaches to Nineteenth-Century Art and Literature

Book Description

This overview of the "sister arts" of the nineteenth century by younger scholars in art history, literature, and American studies presents a startling array of perspectives on the fundamental role played by images in culture and society. Drawing on the latest thinking about developments in literary theory and cultural studies, the contributors situate paintings, sculpture, monument art, and literary images within a variety of cultural contexts. A wide range of figures are reassessed, including the painters Charles Wilson Peale, George Caleb Bingham, and Mary Cassatt, and such writers as James Fenimore Cooper, Nathaniel Hawthorne, and Henry David Thoreau.

American Iconology : New Approaches to Nineteenth-Century Art and Literature

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American Iconology : New Approaches to Nineteenth-Century Art and Literature
David C. (Editor) Miller
Manufacturer: Yale Univ Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000OM2SSQ

Book Description

130 rare photos offer fascinating visual record of Chinatown before the great 1906 earthquake. Informative text traces history of Chinese in California.

Customer Reviews:

This is an excellent book.......1999-02-12

Arnold Genthe was a German doctor of philosophy who arrived in San Francisco in 1895. He was fascinated by the Chinese and used his skill as an amatuer photographer to take over 200 photos of Chinatown's "Tangrenbu" section. These are valuable photographs as they depict Chinatown as it existed before the 1906 earthquake. Tangrenbu was the home of thousands of Chinese who were forced to live in this area due to de facto segregation and deep seated prejudice by San Franciscans. The Chinese were clannish and left few written records of their lives. The 1906 disaster destroyed whatever documents which may have existed so Genthe's pictures assume an importance beyond the mere fact of depicting persons and scenes.

Chinese had been living in San Francisco as early as 1838, a full ten years before gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill. Between 1838 and 1849, Chinese were men of means, generally merchants, and few in number. As San Francisco boomed with gold seekers, the city experienced a continuing shortage of workers who were needed to lay roadways, reclaim swampy land, make boots and shoes, and to perform hundreds of other tasks. Native Americans wouldn't cooperate and Mexican-Americans were investing their time in gold mining.

The solution was Chinese laborers as they had been used profitably on British colonial plantations in South America and the West Indies. Chinese merchants were employed as middlemen in the process of supplying the laborers. In a span of 30 years, hundreds of thousands of Chinese were lured onto British, American, and other western ships for the long trip across the Pacific Ocean. Conditions on these ships were often worse than on those of the African slave trade. The mortality rate ranged as high as 40%.

During the 1850s and 1860s, 80% of the Chinese in California were spread throughout the mining areas. They were principally used in large company owned mines and had little hope of holding personal mining claims. They were disliked by most independent miners because of their race and their association with the large mining interests. The Chinese miners were also subject to the Foreign Miner's Tax. As primary contributors, they accounted for 50% of California's entire state revenues from 1850 to 1870.

After the decline of mining, the building of railroads became the focus of merchant interests. Irish immigrants were hired by the Central Pacific (CP) to start construction near Sacramento but many refused the debilitating work of carving a few feet of granite daily from the Sierra Nevada mountain range. In 1865, the CP hired 50 Chinese laborers on a trial basis and told them to carve a road through the mountains.

Pleased with the results, 10,000 Chinese were hired within 3 years and drove roadbeds through and over the mountain ranges. In the severe winter of 1866, Chinese crews worked and lived underneath the snow. Avalanches were frequent and buried many Chinese workers. Two of them were found dead, buried under 50 feet of snow with shovels in their hands. An 1870 news article reported the shipment of 10 tons of bones, representing 1200 Chinese railroad workers being sent to China for burial. Chinese were into other areas of work including sewing, shoe shops, etc. By 1870, they formed one-fourth of the state's employed but only one-twelth of its population.

Discriminatory laws were passed against the Chinese including exclusion acts, Chinese children were denied access to public schools and their parents were not allowed the rights granted to U. S. citizens. Tangrenbu or "Little China" ceased to exist after the 1906 earthquake. This proved fortuitous as all immigration records were destroyed making it impossible to determine which Chinese were in the United States illegally. For these newly created citizens, America now became a home instead of a prison.

This book contains 130 of the 200 Tangrenbu photographs in existence. Many of them have never been shown and a viewing makes it clear Genthe was enchanted with the innocence of children. He tended to take photos of special occasions in Chinatown, thus the ornate costuming in many of the prints. While Genthe did retouch some photos and erase objects from others, this does not detract from his body of work despite some fault finding by John Wei Tchen.

Genthe's photos are rich with the visual details of a bustling street life and of the affection shown by the Chinese for their families. This book provides a glimpse into a time and place long past and focuses a reader's attention on the plight of a unique people. After destruction of Old Chinatown, the Chinese embraced the 20th century. Occidental ways, dress, and customs transformed Little China from a forbidden section into a San Francisco tourist attraction.

This book lacks an index and one is sorely needed. Wei Tchen's extensive text adds enjoyment to the photgraphs as he illuminates each picture with revealing and fascinating comments. He has supplied chapter notes and these are very informative. The bibliography is limited and focuses on Genthe's volume of work and 19th century photography.

This books does an excellent job of stressing the importance of the Chinese people to the present day eminence of California and to the western states of America.

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Giant ants! Oh MY!!

Doctor Who: Loving The Alien (Doctor Who)
Mike Tucker , and Robert Perry
Manufacturer: BBC Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Science Fiction, Fantasy, & Magic | Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery & Horror | Literature | Children's Books | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 056348604X

Book Description

A novel featuring the Seventh Doctor and his fan-favorite sidekick Ace. The Doctor knows Ace is going to die. Knows very well, because although she is sitting in the TARDIS watching the TV news, she is also beside him as a corpse. And there is something very, very strange about the autopsy results. In London, 1959, the Doctor does all he can to prevent Ace's tragic death, due to occur in a few hours. In the process, he discovers further anomalies - swarms of giant ants emerging from the ground being among the least of his worries. A disturbing fetish for Cyberisation has taken hold of Britain, and the Doctor can probably guess who's behind it! Against a background of international (and trans-dimensional) espionage, giant ants and Cyber-primates, and quite possibly the end of the world as we know it, the Doctor struggles to save his companion from a fate which she seems more and more determined to bring upon herself.

Customer Reviews:

Giant ants! Oh MY!!.......2005-09-10

This book has a lot going for it. Ace, The Doctor, 1950's England, and GIANT ANTS!! Sadly, it has a lot against it as well. DO NOT bring back a villian from a previous BBC Past Doctor book. Do not bring back other charecters from past Doctor books. I haven't read them all, so I miss the point. If you have not read the two previous books by these authors, don't read this one. Also, don't kill off Ace (It's on the back of the book, no spoilers) just to bring her back the last 5 pages of the book. Doctor Who is best when there are realistic plausible plots, I get so sick of the "alternate universe" cop-out. Again, I would have enjoyed this book much better knowing the charecters. It had a feel of one of the old Virgin New Adventures. Overall, a nice try, but lacked consistant quality.

Book Description

It has been a recurring complaint both within, and against, Film Studies that it has largely ignored the activities of audiences. This book addresses this absence and explains its cause. The authors argue that there is a social context in which the consumption of film can be understood or studied historically and demonstrate that a concentration on the place of film consumption within the changing cultural politics of the city can offer a compelling and productive focus of analysis.

Book Description

This book is devoted to music analysis as an interpretive activity. Interpretation is often considered only in theory, or as a philosophical problem, but this book attempts to demonstrate and reflect on the interpretive results of analysis. Two associated types of practice are emphasised: ‘translation’, the transformation of one type of experience or art object into the musical work, the artistic attempt to persuade us that the new product is as valid as its original, or more so than its origin; and ‘rhetoric’, the attempt to persuade us, through structure, to accept the signifying power of the work. The unifying theme of the essays is the interpretive transformation of concepts, ideas and forms that constitutes the heart of the compositional process of nineteenth- and twentieth-century music. The repertoire discussed ranges from Schumann through Wagner, Mahler, Zemlinsky, Debussy, Schoenberg, Berg, Webern and Stravinsky to Carter and Birtwistle.

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This book says it all

This is no "one minute" sales guide

This book gets better every time I read it!!

Great sales book...as long as it is not your only approach

Everything is "bought and sold" for a reason...

Power Base Selling: Secrets of an Ivy League Street Fighter
Jim Holden
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Hope Is Not a Strategy: The 6 Keys to Winning the Complex Sale

ASIN: 0471327336

Book Description

"Holden's book is rich with wisdom and sage advice and should be required reading for any salesperson who wants to understand how to merge a sales strategy and a political strategy to win the hearts of their customers' Power Base."-Rodney D. Cotton, Vice President, Sales-United States, Baxter Healthcare, Renal Division.

"Jim Holden's book is for serious salespeople and executives who are focused on winning. It provides insights, techniques, and everyday tools to reach the highest possible level of success. The book is most insightful and is a required reading and work tool for enterprise salespeople and executives."-Grant Evans, Vice President, Sales and Marketing Identicator Technology.

"The Holden Power Base Selling techniques have provided our sales teams with a common language from which to develop and plan strategies and tactics."- Colin Latham, President and CEO, MT&T (Canada).

"Power Base Selling is essential. . . . The book is rich with lessons such as how to avoid being defeated by desperate 'end-games,' and how to 'snatch various victories from the jaws of defeat.' The conclusion is a revealing 'self-test.'. . . [Holden's] principles are more applicable today than ever."- Glenn W. Coleman, President, South Africa Branch, Lockheed Martin Overseas Services Corporation.

Customer Reviews:

This book says it all.......2007-10-04

From the get-go, the book sets the stage - you only lose sales to the next best alternative by being outsold. Everything else is an excuse.

Having read several books on the topic of sales strategy, as well as taking training on the subject, this book really nicely summarizes everything I've seen covered on the topic of strategy (and then some).

Highly recommended.

This is no "one minute" sales guide.......2004-07-13

Forget all the Zig Ziglar-type sales technique books! This is the real deal; It's about methodology, not how to glad hand or do an end run around the CFO or purchasing manager. If you want to understand the nature of truly competitive selling read this book, then watch the movie "Glegarry Glen Ross" for contrast. We trained the worldwide sales force of a F500 company on the Holden methodology. Results speak for themselves

This book gets better every time I read it!!.......2002-04-19

The first time I read Power Base Selling, I thought it was great. Now that I have just re-read it, I am blown away by points that I missed the first time around. I recommend that everyone read it, apply it and then read it again -- it not only sharpins your political skills in selling, but in life.

Great sales book...as long as it is not your only approach.......2001-12-13

Almost all sales books have two major flaws: 1) They give you high level advise, such as "have a strategy" without giving you the "rubber-meets-the-road" actions to take. 2) They expect you to operate within a vaccuum where their selling system or methodology will work every time.

Power Base selling does not contain the first flaw and does an admirable job of trying to avoid the second. It is the first and best book I have read attacking the problem of organizational politics and the human dynamics in a corporate or complex selling environment. It gives very practical ideas on what to do in most political/selling situations to tilt the decision in your favor.

What this book does not do, nor attempt to do, is discuss the importance of a value proposition and the solution you are trying to sell. This is a great book to complement other famous sales books such as "Solution Selling."

I recommend this book highly to anyone that sells in a complex sales world.

Everything is "bought and sold" for a reason..........2001-06-12

Great read. Maybe too many stories...yet they explain his point in a clear sense. If you read between the lines and get the big picture of his strategic principles you can no doubt improve you sales performance.

Power Base Selling - Secrets of an Ivy League Street Fighter

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Power Base Selling - Secrets of an Ivy League Street Fighter
Jim Holden
Manufacturer: John Wiley & Sons, New York
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000VZTS52

Book Description

The mother of the most famous person with autism today, Temple Grandin, Ph.D., tells the story of her death-lock struggle with medical authorities and her husband to keep her daughter from being warehoused in an institution, delving into myth and reality, angst and guilt, family and society ultimately defining the travails of all of humanity.

Customer Reviews:

same as all others.......2007-04-06

I have read several books on families that have a least 1 child that is autistic and this is no different. The only thing, i found interesting is that this mother seemed to be more invovled with her child and encourged her then just pushing away.

Good.......2006-11-04

I like this book. It is extremely well written and expressed. I love reading life stories and hers is brilliant. You can pictures her words in your mind. Thoroughly recommended.

asperger's de-mystified.......2006-11-03

This author was constrained in her telling of the 'family story' by an embargo from her adult children who requested that their stories be largely omitted. However, as the main character was her daughter 'Temple'she still managed to impart interesting facts and portrayed the difficulties and some triumphs as she struggled with her unusual daughter and the strains the situations placed on her (Eustacia's) marriage. As a project worker involved in supporting families of school aged children with autism, I found it interesting and valuable as well as a good story in it's own right.

Not a true family story.......2005-08-28

This book was a dissapointment to me. I know that her other children didn't want to be mentioned in this book, but even if they had been mentioned Im not sure it would have mattered. This is not a story about Temple or her family. It is however a book about Temples mom and her life, not necessarily her life involving anyone else. She is a priviledged woman who isn't too in touch with anyone but herself. After reading the inside cover I was hopeful that this book was exactly what I was looking for, but I was misled. The book is nothing like the cover's brief insight into life, but more like a bunch of similies and metaphors stuffed together in random order. It seemed sometimes as if she couldn't complete a thought or even a short story about Temple with out rambling on like some theater major putting on an over the top monologue. "A chink, I think I found a chink!" If you can get through all these ramblings you may find one complete thought that could potentially be helpful. I didn't however.
I have 2 autistic children and they are not nearly as functional as Temple but since I was so inspired by Temples writing I was hoping for so much more from this, her mothers, biography. I'm not saying Ms. Cutler shouldn't talk about herself at all, but if this book was truly supposed to give us all a look into Temple's life and family, Ms. Cutler needs to remember the phrase I repeat to myself daily "This isn't about you anymore, its about your children."
My mother just met with Temple and her mother yesterday and they are exactly like their books. Temple, a down to earth sweet loving lady and her mother still a high society lady who vacations at Martha's Vineyard and always talks like she is performing on a stage. There needs to be a book written by an average parent of an autistic child, or children, that had to struggle with money and with the schools and can still remember these struggles. Maybe I will write one :)

Inspirational story.......2005-08-21

This was an excellent read and made more inspirational when one realises the challenges Temple's mother had within her marriage. Great to also read about Temple's recovery through hard work and more moving because this was over 50 years ago. Would highly recommend this book.

Book Description

Anyone who’s paying attention knows that Bush administration insiders comprise the real axis of evil. There’s Dick Cheney, the shadowy kingpin of crony capitalism; Donald Rumsfeld, the military master of Orwellian doublespeak; John Ashcroft, the fundamentalist zealot bent on undermining our basic freedoms; and Karl Rove, the political puppeteer who tells Dubya what to say, think and feel. This Reader draws from the best books, magazine articles, Web sites and blogs—from America's most astute political observers—to expose these reactionaries’ hypocrisy, lies and greed—and the way they’re abusing our cherished governmental institutions to pursue their own nefarious agendas. It will also shed light on the extremist bureaucrats working in powerful but less public positions, from John Negroponte (former organizer of Nicaraguan death squads, now ambassador to the UN) to Elliott Abrams (convicted Iran–Contra conspirator-cum-Director for Near East and North African Affairs) to John Bolton (Undersecretary of State for Arms Control), who recently asserted that the U.S. reserved the right to nuke non-nuclear enemies.

Customer Reviews:

At least its honest.......2006-12-06

It is good to see honesty and this book it honest. It exposes what is truly behind leftist rhetoric and that is hate. Hate, like Nazi hate, like racial hate, so it is good to see a book that truly says what is on the mind of many people in the United States and abroad. A very enlightening account of why a third of america truly 'hates' the american president and hsi 'cabal'.

Seth J. Frantzman

HATEFUL, BUT UNFORTUNATELY TRUE.......2006-06-21

Sometimes it's hard to take, but Clint certainly exposes the dark side of his targets. As America slowly seems to be losing it's grip on what is true or false, Clint is wildly lashing out at those who are slowly dragging him, and the rest of us, down the slippery slope of corporate rule and control of America.

Dear Clint Willis,.......2006-02-23

If you and your party can channel all that hate against the real enemies of this country we would be at a much farther step with the war on terror. But you are so blinded by hate for your fellow Americans that you undermine every step of the way and put our troops in danger who are in the frontlines in harms way. Don't think that the enemy is not paying attention to what libs' have to say. Why do you think they sound like liberals on every video and audio tapes? They're quoting libs'... they're listening... I've read your books... didn't buy one of 'em... but I've read 'em... I refuse to give money to a party that's against everything I believe... HATE is just one of them...

Great Book.......2005-09-02

One of the best books I've ever read. A real must read.

Exerpts of all the books you mean to read.......2004-10-29

While the title is acerbic, this is a dynamite book that gives a lot of terrific information on how unbelievably corrupt this administration is.

Book Description

Western Backyard Birds, An Introduction to Familiar Urban Species, is a must-have, reference guide for beginners and experts alike. With helpful tips on how to attract birds to your yard, you'll find this an indispensable guide to identifying a multitude of backyard species. The Pocket Naturalist(tm) series is an introduction to common plants and animals and natural phenomena. Each pocket-sized, folding guide highlights up to 150 species and most feature a map highlighting prominent sanctuaries and outstanding natural attractions. Each is laminated for durability.

Western Backyard Birds: An Introduction to Familiar Urban Species (Pocket Naturalist)

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Western Backyard Birds: An Introduction to Familiar Urban Species (Pocket Naturalist)
Waterford Press
Manufacturer: Waterford Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Birds | Field Guides | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

General | Birdwatching | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1889903876

Book Description

The Pocket Naturalist card is a pocket-sized, folding card which provides simplified, easy-to-use reference to what everyone should know about familiar plants, animals, and natural history. Maps are included to highlight prominent sanctuaries and outstanding natural attractions. Every card is laminated so that it is waterproof and practical for use in the field. This card highlights over 100 of Western North America's most common backyard birds and familiar migrants.

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