Alternatives: The United States Confronts the World (Fernand Braudel Center Series)

Book Description

Immanuel Wallerstein draws on a lifetime of study of long-term historical change to shed light in his newest book on the consequences of the recent, significant turn in US foreign and economic policies.

Alternatives shows how the U.S. has been in decline since the 1970s and how these longer trends dovetail with current Bush administration policies, which Wallerstein describes as an attempt to reverse the decline in ways that are disastrous to the future of the country and the world.

Wallerstein suggests that a threshold has been crossed that will make it difficult for future presidents to practice the kind of 'soft' multilateralism in foreign policy American presidents have used in the past. They will be less able to maintain effective alliances. Wallerstein also shows, surprisingly, why 'globalization' already is dead, especially in terms of the United States' ability to dominate economically in the manner that it has since WWII. He calls for a major revision of U.S. policies - and not an attempt merely to return to the pre-Bush foreign policy.

Wallerstein's visionary book speaks to the challenges the U.S. must face if it is to play a meaningful and progressive role in the world-system.

Book Description

"A careful reading of this well-written and timely book should be compulsory reading for our policy-makers, cabinet ministers, pracitisng managers, and students of business management and organisational behaviour." --The Hindu "All models in the book are fascinating... Prof. Sinha has spared no opportunity to make comparisons between western and Indian styles of leadership. This is an excellent tool for any student of leadership -- not just in organizations, but also at the college level." --Indian Review of Books "That the book is highly readable, cultural in persepctive and integrative in nature says a lot for the author. This volume will be of considerable interest to practising managers and to students of business management, organisational behaviour and social psychology." --Financial Express "Here is a book which makes one do a rethink on the value systems and a priority analysis of one's way of life." --Business Line Providing basic scientific knowledge on two of the most crucial aspects of organizational behavior, leadership, and power, The Cultural Context of Leadership and Power supplies empirical evidence and concrete examples, without resorting to statistics and jargon, allowing readers to understand complex concepts and structures. The author identifies effective styles of leadership and constructive uses of power and shows how a synergetic work culture can be developed within organizations. He also traces the concepts of leadership and power to their roots while highlighting controversies. The book then discusses their current status and the manner in which recent theories from India and Japan have given them a new perspective. Highly readable, cultural in perspective, and integrative in nature, The Cultural Context of Leadership and Power will be of considerable interest to practicing managers and to students of business management, organizational behavior, and social psychology.

Book Description

This book highlights the increasing importance of humic substances in the different scientific fields related to terrestrial ecology, soil quality conservation, and environmental chemistry. It shows that modern humic substances research is not only directed to unravel their yet ill-defined chemical structure but is successfully exploring the interconnected chemical, biological, and physical processes that maintain the ecological equilibrium of soil and ensure a sustainable agricultural production.

The book will primarily be of interest to soil scientists and to ecological and environmental scientists. People in the fields of forest science, agronomy, analytical and environmental chemistry, water science, environmental engineering, and coal science will also find this publication worthy of their attention.

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Humic Substances in Terrestrial Ecosystems
A. Piccolo
Manufacturer: NY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MUG0IO

Book Description

What makes a living system a living system? What kind of biological phenomenon is the phenomenon of cognition? These two questions have been frequently considered, but, in this volume, the authors consider them as concrete biological questions. Their analysis is bold and provocative, for the authors have constructed a systematic theoretical biology which attempts to define living systems not as objects of observation and description, nor even as interacting systems, but as self-contained unities whose only reference is to themselves. The consequence of their investigations and of their living systems as self-making, self-referring autonomous unities, is that they discovered that the two questions have a common answer: living systems are cognitive systems, and living as a process is a process of cognition. The result of their investigations is a completely new perspective of biological (human) phenomena. During the investigations, it was found that a complete linguistic description pertaining to the ‘organization of the living’ was lacking and, in fact, was hampering the reporting of results. Hence, the authors have coined the word ‘autopoiesis’ to replace the expression ‘circular organization’. Autopoiesis conveys, by itself, the central feature of the organization of the living, which is autonomy.

Book Description

Keep up with todayÂ's rapid advances in the biological sciences with ANIMAL PHYSIOLOGY: FROM GENES TO ORGANISMS with InfoTracÂ®! With coverage of animal species that will be relevant to your animal-related career, this biology text provides you with the tools you need to succeed. Boxes found throughout the text such as Molecular Biology and Genomics, Beyond the Basics, Challenges and Controversies, Unanswered Questions, and A Closer Look at Adaptation give you examples of cutting-edge research and help you see how what you are learning applies to the real world. Each chapter contains a list of Suggested Readings, a list of websites, and free articles through InfoTracÂ® College Edition.

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You may want to read "Championship Streetfighting" first

A Good Old Boy

For Boxers Only, Unfortunately

Pay no attention to Beaumont's detractors

Great book on western fighting art

Savage Science Of Streetfighting: Applying The Lessons Of Championship Boxing To Serious Street Survival
Ned Beaumont
Manufacturer: Paladin Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Boxing | Individual Sports | Sports | Subjects | Books
General | Martial Arts | Individual Sports | Sports | Subjects | Books
General | Sports | Subjects | Books
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Championship Streetfighting: Boxing As A Martial Art

Boxing Mastery: Advanced Technique, Tactics, and Strategies from the Sweet Science

Bouncer's Guide To Barroom Brawling: Dealing With The Sucker Puncher, Streetfighter, And Ambusher

How to Fight Tough

No Holds Barred Fighting: Savage Strikes: The Complete Guide to Real World Striking for NHB Competition and Street Defense

ASIN: 1581601239

Book Description

In this sequel to Championship Streetfighting, veteran boxer Ned Beaumont shows why boxing is the baddest martial art around for streetfighting. Here he moves beyond the basics and applies more advanced principles, techniques and training methods of the "sweet science."

Customer Reviews:

You may want to read "Championship Streetfighting" first.......2004-06-17

This is a good book, but for the basics you should read Beaumont's first book, "Championship Streetfighting". This book doesn't show you the basic punches, it has more advanced techniques. It only has drawings and not that many of them. Sometimes the drawings and their descriptions don't match, but you should understand what to do. I also would have liked to see elbows, low kicks, and knees in this book along with illustrations on how to use and defend against them. I spar with my cousin, boxing and trying some other stuff on him, and these two books really help. I learned how to punch properly from Beaumont's first book, and learned some "secret" punches and different stances from this one. I took a freestyle karate class and didn't learn proper punching, and I had some great Bruce Lee books. I always misunderstood the words "right cross", when the correct name was "straight right". In short, I learned not to loop my rights, how to hit harder, and even had a better understanding of Jeet Kune Do. These books have punching and streetfighting combined better than any of my other books, and I have a lot of books on practical fighting. I experimented with the different stances in this book and found that a crouch and semicrouch are my favorites and I can move just fine in a low crouch. I do some bobbing and weaving, but I get hit if I get too carried away and turn it into wasted movement. I can beat my cousin easily by being agressive and not holding back (Beaumont's teachings), but I don't want to hit him too hard and want to practice defense and countering skills also. As far as boxing goes, you should also buy "How to be an Ass-Whipping Boxer" by Champ Thomas. He uses an unorthodox stance he calls the Stonewall Defense, with the lead hand low, shielding the body perfectly, and the rear hand high protecting the head. He also shows some cool punches of his own along with the basics. If you're interested in boxing and self defense you should love these books, they're some of my favorites.

A Good Old Boy.......2002-10-07

This book is good fun, not least because the author is obviously an opinionated all-American wind bag. But I liked what he had to say, from my experience it is mostly true. Boxing because of the way it is taught and practiced makes it realistic and applicable to the street. There are other fighting forms, thai-boxing, brazilian JJ, valetudo that are also streetwise but I guess Ned's point is that boxing should be the starting point of anyone's street style and I'd have to agree. As one of the other reviews about Ned states, his attack on other styles is at times a little over the top, he sometimes comes across as the kind of guy who likes to beat on small guys and call orientals 'gooks' but all things considered, it's worth a read and there are some good anecdotes about the 'golden age' of bareknuckle boxing.

For Boxers Only, Unfortunately.......2002-02-10

I should start by saying that Mr. Beaumont is a very good writer...not all that common in many martial/combat/streetfighting books. He's fun to read. And what you see in the title is exactly what you get: anecdotes about great boxers and their fights, and how they might be applied to mostly bar brawls. He loves to diss regular martial artists, and even as a current karate/kickboxer with aikido, kung fu & tang soo do experience, I really don't mind. I, too, think most of today's martial artists would have a tough time in many street situations and particularly from boxers. His main point, that a well-trained boxer can probably beat most dudes on the street is probably true, in my opinion. Boxers, particularly pros, are trained, coached, in great condition, and used to full contact and fast, explosive combinations. Some folks think that a great wrestler can most likely win on the street; others hail the Brazilian jujitsu type styles. But Ned is taking everything here, as the title tells you, from a boxer's perspective, and within that task he does a great job.

Where the book disappointed me: almost no information on mixing in non-fist techniques such as elbows, knees, palm heel, knife hand, finger tips, low kicks, etc....nothing really dirty like using car antennas or ash can lids or eye gouges or biting (he does mention Tyson's "real meal")...very little on actual street situations -- one short chapter, as opposed to weight training, which takes up a significant percentage of the book...and most disappointing was the section on gang situations, in which he advises trying to intimidate the group, or failing that, beat up the biggest or loudest to scare the rest. That don't play down here on Avenue A.

His overall approach in a nutshell: use running and weights and professional boxing instruction to enable you to knock an opponent out quickly with an explosive shot to the jaw set up through an effective combination.

Again, don't get me wrong, I like this guy. He knows what he's talking about. He doesn't brag or posture, and he pays respects to others in the field and refers readers to fellow writers with varying approaches. He explains in a clear and engaging fashion how to adapt your boxing training to street/bar fights. What he doesn't do is tell you how to integrate boxing techniques into a mixed-style, holistic approach to self-defense.

Pay no attention to Beaumont's detractors.......2001-10-11

The last person to claim to have all the answers to streetfighting is Beaumont. Not coincidentally, the first person who would tell you to get out there and get at it rather than read books is also Beaumont. That being said, if the subject interests you and if you want to learn from useful, practical advice, get this book. The section on weight training alone is worth the price of _Savage Science_. Furthermore, Ned's style of writing is engaging and entertaining; I wouldn't hesitate to recommend the book even to people who have no intention of fighting.

Great book on western fighting art.......2001-05-10

Ned Beaumont has done it again another great book that is full of info that most people could only learn by training and fighting in the ring , ned saves many the pain of doing this and provides details on boxing that comes only from years of hard work ,research and commitment .Well done Mr Beaumont i look forward to your third book on boxing ( i,m sure you have more than enough info to write several )

Book Description

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Bias exposes the culture of narrow-minded elitism in the media--and reveals what must be done to change it.In December of 2001, Emmy Award-winning journalist Bernard Goldberg charged the mainstream media with slanting the news and created a firestorm with his controversial bestseller Bias. Now Goldberg goes beyond identifying the media's partiality and explains how the slanting of the news is all but inevitable in the current climate--and why the media's stars continue to deny the industry's condition. In this fascinating report, Goldberg lays out his rallying cry, unafraid to name names, and prescribes the difficult remedies that must take place if genuinely balanced news is to survive.

Customer Reviews:

History will prove Bernard Goldberg to be a pioneer in media reform.......2007-02-04

So many positive and insightful comments have been written by previous readers, I will not try to add much to them. Obviously, I agree with most of them. "Arrogance" does an excellent job conveying the sneering, hypocritical attitudes that MSM holds toward general public opinion, and their deep denial about the situation. In fact, Amazon's "editorial" critique (which you can read above) is testimony to what Goldberg is reporting. In fascist and communist nations, one technique of controlling opinion is to figuratively (or literally) shoot the messenger of contradictory analysis, and you'll get a taste of that from Publisher's Weekly.

Goldberg's best chapters include the interview with Tim Russert, who discusses how network sensitivities control and protect themselves from internal criticism, and the chapter on double-standards and outright omissions used to report race-related news (see "Pass the Mashed Potatoes"). He also makes frequent points explaining how MSM use the fantastical argument about a right-wing bias, in order to cover their left-wng tracks.

I would have given Arrogance 5 stars except it petered out a bit toward the end, with sarcastic chapters on how the media can change itself - not very serious stuff. However, this book is written as much for the citizen like me, to put pressure on the media, as it is for journalists. They ignore this book at their peril!!

Better than Bias.......2007-01-12

Others here have described this book so well that it's pointless for me to reinvent the wheel, so I'll just say that as good as I thought Goldberg's book Bias was, Arrogance is even better. If you think that the bias in news programs or in the paper is limited to how they handle politicians, read this. It will open your eyes to the many ways the public is being "handled" by the media.

Enjoyable study of liberal bias in the media.......2006-05-20

Arrogance by Bernard Goldberg is a truly enjoyable read. Goldberg doesn't waste time trying to create a vast left wing conspiracy tied to Islam or Communism, he just presents the facts as he sees them. As a former insider, he's got the dirt on media bigwigs, and he's not afraid to dish. The liberal bias in the news is causing many people to flee the big three networks and turn on cable to find an escape. Goldberg offers up several examples of this bias and then goes further by coming up with several suggestions (some tongue in cheek) for correcting this slant. He also includes surprisingly frank interviews with Tim Russert and Bob Costas. Goldberg's other books Bias and 100 People Who are Screwing Up America are also excellent reads. He doesn't attack people on a personal level (although you can tell he has a bit of a grudge against Dan Rather) or use hyperbole or vitriol to get his point across. Some books written with a conservative slant make you want to throw up your hands and give up on this country, but Goldberg's books don't have that effect. You can tell he not only loves the country he lives in, but also the profession that he's chosen, and he has hope for the future.

Filled With Hate? Give Me a Break..........2006-04-21

This is a fair and balanced book calling for the open discussion of bias in the media. He's not pointing fingers, he's pushing for changes. For the left-wing media to consistently deny that liberal bias doesn't exist is to sign its own death warrant. Look at the consistent drop in viewership in the major network evening news programs as an example. I applaud Goldberg for his honest evaluation of the problem and his sincere interest in making it better.

How Does the Media Twist the News?.......2006-04-08

Bernard Goldberg is a former news correspondent for CBS and he has won many Emmy awards for his reporting. He has always been concerned about news bias and in 2003, he published a book titled "Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distorts the News". This book became a best- seller and was the object of much controversy and scrutiny. "Arrogance" is basically a follow- up to that book with more quotations and more examples to back Goldberg's claims about the pompousness of the media elite and its refusal to change or even discuss the topic of bias.

Having read Goldberg's first book, "Bias", I was anxious to pick up this, his sequel, and see if he could enlighten me on more reasons to believe that the media is decidedly biased and give me more examples to prove his point. And with "Arrogance", I feel like Goldberg has once again driven the point home about the way a large majority of the people working in the media feel about political and social issues and how their own bias comes through in the way they report the news.

Goldberg attacks certain people and entities more than others in this book. He seems to have a major bone to pick with Dan Rather and he talks about his negative encounters with the head of the CBS evening news as well as his talk with Andy Rooney about an incident where Rooney got himself in trouble by suggesting that Rather was liberal during an interview on the Larry King Live show. Rooney got in trouble with the network for being "disloyal to a colleague". The exchange of words between Goldberg and Rooney is friendly, but to the point, with Rooney avoiding the issue about discussing media bias, apparently out of fear of it affecting his own career and future with the network.

Another thing that seems to bother Goldberg quite a bit is the New York Times and the media's general reliability on the Times as the definitive news source. Much of what he says here is true: the Times is often used as the infallible Bible of journalism. If it's printed in the New York Times, the general feeling by others in the media is that it must have some merit. There would have to be truth about the story at hand or, it is assumed, the Times would not print it. This thinking gives a newspaper like the Times tremendous political clout. What the Times says is often quoted so much that the public is bound to begin to believe much of it, even if it is known to be questionable. This wouldn't be a problem if the paper was neutral but, like Goldberg points out, its stories almost always take a leftward- leaning angle.

Goldberg offers up many good examples of bias in the media and the overall "liberal" slant that most media outlets seem to take. Granted, these are only a handful of examples are there are probably plenty of examples to the contrary. But there are some areas where Mr. Goldberg is accurate in his assertions. Take the gun issue, for example. The media, in general, wants everyone to believe that guns are bad in every single way. Their motives for feeling this way are well- intentioned: they want to minimize gun violence as much as possible and it is feared that if anything positive is said, it could lead to an increase in gun usage to commit crimes. Thus, there is little or no coverage ever given when guns are used to save lives. On the other hand, if guns are used to commit acts of violence, the media want to make sure everyone knows, and often they will drive the point home by talking about the guns and saying the word several times in one short report. But when guns are successfully used in self- defense, there is little or nothing stated about it. In fact, the media is careful to structure its words carefully so that the reported story, while twisted, is still close enough to accurate that no one can accuse them of outright lying.

Not everyone in the media is guilty of showing bias, and Goldberg gives credit where credit is due. Two people he singles out for their professionalism and their basically unbiased reporting are Tim Russert and Bob Costas. To back himself, Goldberg has question and answer interviews with the two men so that you, the reader, can hear exactly what was stated without editing or the chance anything was taken out of context. Both Russert and Costas agree that bias is present in the media and they both give some good examples of what they do when confronted by this problem.

Much of what Goldberg presents in this book is interesting to read about and I really enjoy his quotations taken directly from those in the media and from some of the big name actors/actresses in Hollywood. Many of these I have heard before but some of them are brand new. And they are very revealing in the way they take sides in favor of liberal causes or against conservative causes. Of course, some of them are taken from move actors and actresses and not from media people, so I can only assume that Goldberg added them for entertainment purposes.

As far as the charges levied against the media, the root cause of this is probably the place where journalism is taught: The nation's high schools and institutions of higher learning. If anything should be singled out, criticized, and targeted for change, this would seem like the place to start. And the book does, indeed, take a few stabs at the one- sidedness of journalism schools and toward the end of the book, it presents a so- called "12 Step Program", which has, among its dozen outlined agendas for change, a plea to change the way journalism is taught to students. Meant to parallel the same program that alcoholics use to recover from their drinking habit, this "12 Step Program" is the author's way to correct the problem with bias in the media. First and foremost, media people have to admit they have a problem in the first place- something many of them refuse to do. Then, the media needs to disassociate itself with New York City because there are too many liberals already living there. The remaining steps build upon being open and accepting of diverse viewpoints and one of the steps, #11, includes a list of conservative organizations complete with phone numbers, web sites, and other contact information so that people can get more diversified in the way they think.

If I had to point out some criticisms in this book, it would have to first be its own obvious bias (quite ironic, wouldn't you say?) and its failure to present both sides of the issue. Of course, Goldberg would quickly point out that there really isn't much to point out on the "other" side because the news media is already so one- sided that it's difficult to find those with differing opinions. The other thing I didn't like too much is that the book doesn't take a stronger stance on getting to the root of the problem and making changes there. If journalism schools are the main culprit, then someone needs to work toward either changing the curriculum at these schools; getting more conservative minded students to select journalism as a major; or opening up schools specifically for the purpose of teaching journalism in a more acceptable way. All of this whining about the bias in the media isn't going to change anything. Goldberg and others need to devise a workable plan of action and implement it as soon as possible.

Diversity is a good thing and it would be nice if there were more varied viewpoints on the nightly news, in America's newspapers, and other sources of news information. There have already been changes made in that direction (Fox News, Conservative radio talk shows, etc.) but Bernard Goldberg feels we have a long way to go until we achieve an unbiased media. Admitting there is a problem is the first step in the path toward recovery but as Goldberg points out, the media elite are arrogant, stubborn, and reluctant to admit any wrongdoing.

It will take some time before Goldberg's vision of an unbiased media ever becomes reality. Reading "Arrogance" is one step in the right direction toward understanding what the bias issue is all about and how it affects what we see each night on the evening news and what we read in our daily papers. It's a very good book by a man who has worked in the business for a long time and it has some interesting stories to tell about these people who control America's media outlets.

Arrogance - Rescuing America From The Media Elite

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Arrogance - Rescuing America From The Media Elite
Bernard Goldberg
Manufacturer: Warner Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000P39QUM

Average customer rating:

Arrogance: Rescuing America from the Media Elite
Bernard Goldberg
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: 0681373881

Product Description

The #1 New York Times bestselling author of Bias exposes the culture of narrow-minded elitism in the mediaand reveals what must be done to change it. In December of 2001, Emmy Award-winning journalist Bernard Goldberg charged the mainstream media with slanting the news and created a firestorm with his controversial bestseller Bias. Now Goldberg goes beyond identifying the media's partiality and explains how the slanting of the news is all but inevitable in the current climateand why the media's stars continue to deny the industry's condition. In this fascinating report, Goldberg lays out his rallying cry, unafraid to name names, and prescribes the difficult remedies that must take place if genuinely balanced news is to survive.

Average customer rating:

Arrogance: Rescuing America From the Media Elite
Bernard Goldberg
Manufacturer: Warner Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000R9CUJ8

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Arrogance: Rescuing America from the Media Elite
Bernard Goldberg
Manufacturer: Thomson Gale
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MHMBC6

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My secret weapon!

An Excellent Book for a Typophile!

Candy store for creative minds (recommended)

Great resource!

Fun, witty and informative

Logo Font & Lettering Bible: A Comprehensive Guide to the Design, Construction and Usage of Alphabets and Symbols
Leslie Cabarga
Manufacturer: How Design Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Calligraphy | Graphic Design | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Graphic Arts | Graphic Design | Design & Decorative Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Calligraphy | Instructional & How-To | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
All Titles | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
Arts & Photography | Qualifying Textbooks - Fall 2007 | Stores | Books
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Logo Design Workbook: A Hands-On Guide to Creating Logos

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Book Description

This book is a hands-on guide to the entire process of making logos and fonts and even icons, all of which, essentially, start with the ability to draw letterforms. The intent of the book, in fact, is to enable the user to end reliance on "OPF" (other people's fonts) and learn to draw your own custom logos, fonts and lettering! There are many books on the market that simply display collections of logos and fonts, and that give the history of logos and fonts. But Logo, Font & Lettering Bible is unique in that it teaches you how to create logos and fonts from scratch using traditional tools as well as the computer programs Adobe Illustrator and Fontographer (plus a bit about FontLab). The book provides all the traditional rules and tips about letter formation relating to proportion, shaping, balance, spacing, composition and actually teaches five different methods of drawing letters on computer using bezier curves. There has never been a book like this one that goes into so much detail about drawing letters and takes such a fun and irreverent approach while doing so. The book is also full of inspiration and analysis of tons of great examples of vintage and current lettering from old manuscripts to graffiti. Logo, Font & Lettering Bible also shows you how to create fancy drop shadows and other type effects. And finally, the last section provides straight talk on the business of being a logo and font designer, from advertising your work and pricing to dealing with difficult clients (aren't they all?).

This book has been almost unanimously acclaimed by professional letterers, logo designers and font creators, both young and old. It is currently in use as a text in many typography programs and several Design college educators have stated it is one of the few texts that "students are actually happy about having to purchase."

Customer Reviews:

My secret weapon!.......2007-08-17

Not only is it a terrific and easy-to-understand how-to book, but a fabulous idea-starter and it doubles as a coffee table book because it's beautiful to just thumb through.

An Excellent Book for a Typophile!.......2007-06-18

As a design instructor, I found this book an excellent resource for ideas and examples. It has a thorough explanation of Bezier curves, which is invaluable in understanding how vector based applications like Adobe Illustrator, work. Fine examples of type design are included as well.

Candy store for creative minds (recommended).......2007-04-01

Yummy! With humor, clear illustrations, and useful suggestions, Cabarga provides a wonderful resource for anyone who wants to be a letterer, illustrator, font or logo designer. But this hardbound book is not just for "wanabes." I found it includes comprehensive coverage of most everything learned throughout 30 years in the same disciplines along with new valuable timesaving tips. If I had the patience and tenacity to attempt such a compilation, it could be no more complete and not nearly as well presented as LOGO FONT & LETTERING BIBLE. My essay can now be reduced to three words: "What he says."

Leslie Cabarga, a talented illustrator and designer in his own right, does not limit examples to his own. World-renowned artists such as Gerard Huerta, Michael Doret, Tim Nikosey, Tony DiSpigna, and Seymour Chwast -- four dozen in all -- contribute to the wealth of inspiration. In the 1980's I had the privilege of working with uncles for one of these typography leaders -- producing over 200 hand-lettered packaging logos. It was there that I first saw an original triple outline inking of flourished letters by Gerard Huerta and was privileged to study a fraction of the techniques used.

Cabarga urges readers to become critics of their own work. This also reminds me of employment at the Huertas. A bulge could occur when joining curves using technical pens. After working on it for a while and thinking to myself "It's good enough," this infinitesimal area would be the first thing the creative director would point out. After admitting that I saw it too, he remarked, "If you saw it, why show it to me?" I quickly learned to be obsessively concerned about adjoining curves. Ink bulges may not be a problem today with digital lettering but there are other telltale signs of an amateur. Cabarga shows what to look for.

Your eyes are in for a tasty treat. Beautiful examples of calligraphy, and their influence on Roman font characters, are well demonstrated and discussed. But the book is by no means limited to calligraphy. Cabarga patiently differentiates cartooning, illustration, logo design, icon artwork, trademarks, and font design. LOGO FONT & LETTERING BIBLE compares digital tools such as the now defunct Macromedia FreeHand (my past favorite), Adobe Illustrator (which has supplanted the former), the seemingly forgotten Mac OS 9 version of Macromedia Fontographer (which in 2005 was integrated into the FontLab line of digital typography tools and updated to Mac OS X -- hooray!), and the preeminent FontLab.

LOGO FONT & LETTERING BIBLE covers the history of typography and encourages users to build a library of signage photos and magazine scraps for inspiration. Each subject I thought might be overlooked was eventually covered. Even esoteric techniques such as what I refer to as character ink reservoirs (called clog reduction on page 115) are here. Skeleton Strokes on page 152 demonstrates wonderful timesaving suggestions for digital lettering. Optical character spacing and stroke widths are discussed in detail beginning on page 112. Do you want to learn how to clean up the best scans for converting drawings to vector art? Jump over to page 158. Everything you want to know about Bezier (pronounced "Bez-zee-ay," thank you) curves but were afraid to ask is, well, practically everywhere but particularly in the section Bezier Curves for Cowards that begins on page 140.

Mississippi readers will approve. Just as I was thinking, the author needs to demonstrate how to arch text on a path (FreeHand did a better job than Illustrator), I turned to page 191 and, bam! There it is. The comparison on page 226 of residual shape differences in Illustrator and Fontographer after Bezier points are removed from a path is insightful. Not to leave you hanging, the book concludes with suggestions for getting work, building a portfolio, and negotiating fees. Additional resources and a helpful index rounds out 240 pages, which, like all trips to a candy store, seem to end too soon.

Great resource!.......2007-03-09

I found the book to be a great resource in logo creation. The mock logos section quickly steers one in the direction to go in your own projects. The typography part of the book is also a very interesting read. With examples and the background for the fonts in use today.

You can of course find all of this information on your own and in fact most of the issues in this book are familiar to a seasoned designer. But still I found it tremedously interesting to refresh the knowledge of the letters and their different forms.

One minus for me was in part a very cluttrered layout. Though not unreadable it was in places quite colourful and abundant - to a point where the main issue sometimes took a second seat. All in all a great book. Highly recommended!

Fun, witty and informative.......2007-03-05

A designer colleague loaned me this book and it has been a very enlightening and hilarious read. Leslie Cabarga is a very effective communicator; he combines humor, graphics, and verbal communication to tremendous effect, and beginner types like myself come out much richer for the experience. There's really a lot in this book, whether you're looking for hard and fast rules or maybe just a more robust visual sensibility, and it's got plenty of wit to spare.

Highly recommended.

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