Shanghai and the Yangtze Delta: A City Reborn (Regional Development in China, Vol 3)

Book Description

Each book in this series focuses on a single province in China, and examines its history, government, geography, human resources, and economic development. This third volume explores the prominence of this strategic and important historical city and the Yangtze valley.

Customer Reviews:

A good book on the development Shanghai.......1999-04-01

This is a good book on the regional development of Shanghai and the Yangtze river basin. It looks at the historical development of the region from the viewpoint of literature and culture, politics, regional geography, human resources, and economic development. But as a geographer by training, I find the part on geography not insightful enough.

Shanghai and the Yangtze Delta: A City Reborn

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Shanghai and the Yangtze Delta: A City Reborn
Brian, Ed. Hook
Manufacturer: Oxford Univ Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MBSRCK

Book Description

What sets this book apart from others that explain individual improvement tools is the sequential organization and the integrated explanation for applying the tools. Using an overall process improvement framework the author groups the tools into a total approach, thereby helping you know when to use each tool and for what purpose. Every single tool includes an example of its use along with ready-to-use templates for matrices, forms, and charts so you can start using the tools right away. Business Process Improvement Toolbox starts by explaining all overall process improvement framework, presents the tools in sequence for this framework, and then concludes with one over-arching case demonstrating the use of all the tools in a concerted effort. As a result, you'll learn how tools fit together and how they can be used in a coherent process improvement system. The author focuses on providing clear, step-by-step instructions and describes an improvement process that can be used in real life.

Customer Reviews:

Succinct description of simple/powerful tools & methods.......2001-06-20

This is a small, information-packed book that contains a collection of tools and techniques, and an overreaching method.

The tools are standard TQM and process improvement implements, and are augmented by forms and templates that anyone who is tackling process improvement can quickly put to good use. These tools are classified by use: problem identification, analysis, brainstorming and consensus, etc. The author shows not only when, but how to effectively use the tools, and gives clear examples.

The overreaching method that is communicated in this book is: (1) when possible perform improvement activities in parallel, (2) activities that are sequenced can often be improved by examining the sequence and determining if it can be changed to promote greater efficiency (and reduce cycle time), and (3) pay attention to process flow and look for barriers and interruptions that need to be removed.

I like this book because it is short and to the point, is densely packed with information (even if a lot of it has been published elsewhere), and the author's approach which is to pay attention to seemingly minor details and perform rigorous analysis using the easy-to-use tools he provides in this book.

Quick review.......2000-05-03

Very interesting book, I think needs more practical cases.

Business Process Improvement Toolbox, Second Edition

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Business Process Improvement Toolbox, Second Edition
Bjorn Andersen
Manufacturer: ASQ Quality Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Quality Control | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books

Total Quality Management | Management & Leadership | Business & Investing | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0873897196

Product Description

This best-seller is fully revised and updated! Its goal is still to give readers practical insight into how they can create a coherent business process improvement system. The author works from the premise that consistently working on improving various aspects of how things are done, large and small, is the key to success for any organization. The first half presents an overall business process improvement model, with the ensuing chapters dealing with topics of understanding and modeling your current business processes, using performance measurement in improvement work, creating a business process improvement roadmap, and organizing for improvement work. The second half of the book presents the overall toolbox, followed by one chapter for each phase of the overall improvement model. For each of these phases, a selection of suitable tools is presented with background, steps to use them, and an example of their use. The final two chapters contain two more extensive case studies illustrating the use of the full methodology. And finally, a number of templates can be found at the very end of the book, templates that support most of the tools presented. This book is suitable for employees and managers at any organizational level in any type of industry, including service, manufacturing, and the public sector. It should also be useful as a textbook for students in courses relating to quality management and continuous improvement.

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Business Process Improvement Toolbox
Bjrn; Andersen, Bjorn Andersen
Manufacturer: American Society for Quality
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000LZJFUK

Book Description

Everyone needs reliable access to safe, appropriate and healthy food; yet despite regular public pronouncements and apparent commitments by states and institutions, the reality is very different for many consumers in both rich and poor countries. This book explains why, looking at the role of food in contemporary policy, in the UK, Europe and internationally. The contributions challenge (or provide a challenge to) state, institutional and agency structures and responses to this critical issue. The book opens up new areas in social policy, providing a comprehensive and readable account of key current issues: food rights, patenting, safety, aid, choice and poverty.Food concerns are easily relegated to the private, domestic arena. This volume shows where the real powers lie, and provides some means for redressing the balance.

Amazon.com

To watch apes dressed in human clothing and mimicking human manners--an old standby in films and television shows--can make some human viewers uncomfortable, writes the noted primatologist Frans de Waal. Somehow, by doing so, the apes are crossing some line in the sand, a line that speaks to issues of culture, which humans alone are presumed to have. But culture, in de Waal's estimation, does not mean using an oyster fork properly or attending smart gallery openings. Instead, it "means that knowledge and habits are acquired from others--often, but not always, the older generation." Culture implies communication and social organization, and in this, he notes, humans by no means have a monopoly. A sushi chef learns by acquiring knowledge and habits from more accomplished masters, but so do chimpanzees learn to wash bananas in jungle streams, and so do birds learn to break open mollusks on the rocks below them.

Closely examining anthropocentric theories of culture, de Waal counterposes the notion of anthropodenial, "the a priori rejection of shared characteristics between humans and animals when in fact they may exist." He takes issue with "selfish gene" theories of behavior, arguing spiritedly that there are better models for explaining why animals--and humans--do what they do. And, against Aristotle, he argues that humans are not the only political animals, if by politics we mean a social process "determining who gets what, when, and how." What animals and humans clearly share, he concludes, are societies in which stability is an impossibility--an observation that may disappoint utopians, but one that helps explain some of the world's peculiarities.

Perhaps no human alive knows more about the great apes than does Frans de Waal. With this book, he ably shows that he knows a great deal about humans, too. Students of biology, culture, and communication will find much food for thought in his pages. --Gregory McNamee

Book Description

Arguing that apes have created their own distinctive culture, eminent primatologist Frans de Waal challenges our most basic assumptions about who we are and how we differ from other animals.

What if apes had their own culture rather than an imposed human version? What if they reacted to situations with behavior learned through observation of their elders (culture) rather than with pure genetically coded instinct (nature)? In answering these questions, eminent primatologist Frans de Waal corrects our arrogant assumption that humans are the only creatures to have made the leap from the natural to the cultural domain.

The book's title derives from an analogy de Waal draws between the way behavior is transmitted in ape society and the way sushi-making skills are passed down from sushi master to apprentice. Like the apprentice, young apes watch their group mates at close range, absorbing the methods and lessons of each of their elders' actions. Responses long thought to be instinctive are actually learned behavior, de Waal argues, and constitute ape culture.

A delightful mix of intriguing anecdote, rigorous clinical study, adventurous field work, and fascinating speculation, The Ape and the Sushi Master shows that apes are not human caricatures but members of our extended family with their own resourcefulness and dignity.

Customer Reviews:

Truly one with nature.......2005-05-18

I have just finished reading this book, and I am both thrilled and saddened. I am thrilled because someone has had the insight and courage to say that our human characteristics are not all that unique in the world and that culture is not all-or-nothing. I am saddened because it was made painfully clear just how much our own values and beliefs affect what we see...or even what we WILL see. Western society with its insistence that humans are utterly distinct and even "unnatural" and its refusal to look at certain issues like sexuality means that we are constantly blinding ourselves to the facts. If there was ever a treatise that showed just how much cultural affects perceptions--including the perceptions of what and where is culture!--this is it. I agree that the flow of the book is a little jumpy, going from discussions of personalities like Konrad Lorenz to discussions of ethological observations, but here too we get to see human blinders in action. Too many people looked at Lorenz--and still look at Darwin--through their own political (and "other") agendas and do not judge the work itself and the facts it is based on. Maybe if we were a little LESS personal in our evaluations of the world around us and took it on its own terms, we would understand more and argue less.

a bright book from the brightest mind in primatology.......2004-06-16

As anthropologist, I strongly recommend the reading of this book, especially for non-specialist. Easy to read, full of such interesting reflexions and historical fact. It is THE book to read for better understanding where human stand in the animal kingdom.

What is Culture?.......2003-01-25

And do apes and other animals have it? For some reason I didn't find it too long a reach to say that apes and other animals have culture. How much of an organism's brain is hard-wired and how much allows for the flexibility of learning...learning such that you change your daily behavior, be it eating or mating or whatever. Sure, why not? Why can't animals observe each other and change their own behavior when they see something that works? I've never really looked at intelligence, let alone culture, as things that are discrete, parceled out in specific quantities "to each according to his need" to each species, but rather as more free flowing phenomena, with some chance for overlap between ourselves and our animal (and not just primate) brethren.

Naked ape or God's special project?.......2002-11-01

Everyone wants to be special. In big families, children vie for the place of momma's little boys or girls; in the army, every soldier carries a marshal's staff in his backpack. There is barely any nation (mature enough to identify itself as a nation) which successfully resisted, throughout its history, messianic ideas. The worst political nightmares of the last century arose from our burning desire to be special, and to prove so to all other untermenschen.

But let's face it, we are not special. During the last decades, the civilization entered a phase when it can destroy itself - by military or industrial means. We proudly predict the end of the world. But the world has existed for billions of years before us, and will safely do without us. Even in the worst-case scenario of a nuclear Armageddon, cockroaches will survive. It will not be the end of the world. Just the end of us. Big deal. It's just one species.

It seems to be pretty important to come to terms with being ordinary. To find a proper place for ourselves in the world. To stop misrepresenting ourselves. Once Copernicus shifted Earth from the central place in the universe, astronomy ceased to be a fairy tale, and eventually space travel became possible. Everybody won, in the long run.

The first father of modern Western thought, Aristotle, seemed to be aware of this need. (Though I am always wary about interpretations of Aristotle in modern science books - his writings are not perfectly preserved and extremely cryptic, and blurred by twenty-five hundred years of interpretations.) The second father of modern Western thought, Descartes, did away with it, reinforcing the ideas of our special position, of God's special treatment of our species, and rejecting any continuity between (other) animals and ourselves.

We are still struggling with the consequences. Darwin offered a bridge across this yawning gap, but old convictions die hard. We are still extremely uncomfortable with the idea of our connection with the rest of the living world.

De Waal's book poses just one question: do animals have culture? To answer that, we need to define terms, of course. He defines culture as non-genetically transmitted information. And then he easily says - Yes, they do. Songbirds have dialects (roughly speaking, nightingales and rossignols do not sing the same tunes). Japanese monkeys in a certain colony on a certain island wash sweet potatoes in the sea. Chimpanzees of a certain colony use stone tools to crack coconuts open. They are not born this way. They learn it from each other and pass it down to the next generations. Just like us. We are not born with driving skills, for example. We cannot possibly be, such skills have been necessary for only about one hundred years, that's not even recognizable as evolutionary time. But we learn to drive, some better than others; and chimps learn to crack coconuts. There are human populations which do not need to drive, and they don't. There are chimp populations where coconuts do not grow, and they don't have these skills. Simple, isn't it.

Simple. But consider the implications. All difference between the ape and the sushi master becomes quantitative. We find ourselves not on the pinnacle of God's creation, but rather in a link connected to the endless chain. We are forced to reconsider everything that we deem exclusively human. And the more we consider it, the weaker our case for uniqueness. Altruism? You can routinely train dogs to blow up enemy's tanks. There is no reward, no evolutionary need that justifies such actions. Language? We hardly know what language is; we do not know when, how or why it originated; we do not have bullet-proof ways to separate animals' communication means from ours. Art? Humans have lived for thousands of years without any trace of art; either our definition of "humans" is seriously flawed, or art is not crucial for our biological existence. And then again, there are ape painters, and they, argues De Waal, do it for their own pleasure. Social structures? There are animals with such sophisticated social life that our states and parties (both senses) seem a joke in comparison.

It is not bad to be self-centered, it is bad to be self-absorbed. Once we understand our limitations, things will go more smoothly. It is good for us to know that there is no metaphysical divide between the ape and the sushi master.

De Waal's book is patchy, and sometimes his story seems to be jumping from subject to subject without much effort to glue chapters together. The author's Dutch experience is very interesting for me, but I live in the Netherlands, so this opinion is strictly private. His forays into the history of the question and the lives of scientists who gave it its present form are educational and lucid. He is a scientist all right, but there is no trace of guild narrow-mindedness in what he writes. And he does not accompany his thoughts on probably the most important scientific, philosophical and human question of all times with pomp and circumstance. He treats it with a grain of salt, but with the earnestness it deserves. And the book reads smoothly. Thumbs up, on hands and feet alike.

Absorbing even for the lay reader.......2002-07-10

I read this book even before it was assigned to my undergrad psychology class -- and then I read it again, and enjoyed it both times. De Wall does protest too much -- he's clearly answering his critics throughout -- but I found his curmudgeonly outbursts amusing. More importantly, De Wall's arguments for the existence of culture in animals are persuasive (not that I needed much persuading), and his use of anecdotes keep the book entertaining. I'm looking at my pet pooches in a whole new way these days.

THE APE AND THE SUSHI MASTER: CULTURAL REFLECTIONS BY A PRIMATOLOGIST

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THE APE AND THE SUSHI MASTER: CULTURAL REFLECTIONS BY A PRIMATOLOGIST
Frans de Waal
Manufacturer: Basic Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000J3S68G

El Simio y el aprendiz de Sushi/ The Ape and the Sushi Master: Reflexiones De Un Primatologo Sobre La Cultura/ Cultural Reflections by a Primatologist (Transiciones/ Transitions)

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El Simio y el aprendiz de Sushi/ The Ape and the Sushi Master: Reflexiones De Un Primatologo Sobre La Cultura/ Cultural Reflections by a Primatologist (Transiciones/ Transitions)
Frans De Waal
Manufacturer: Ediciones Paidos Iberica
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Aping Others: The Transition to Culture.(Review): An article from: American Scientist

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Aping Others: The Transition to Culture.(Review): An article from: American Scientist

Manufacturer: Sigma Xi, The Scientific Research Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Science | Subjects | Books

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Book Description

How the body responds to high altitude—the classic study revised for the latest scientific findings.

·Cutting-edge information on how to prevent, diagnose, and treat altitude illness and hypoxia in everyday life
·Interweaves fascinating research discoveries with dramatic first-person accounts
·Authored by a celebrated mountaineer and physician who pioneered research in the field

From the time of his historic expedition to Nanda Devi in the high Himalaya, Charles Houston, M.D., has been fascinated by the effects of altitude on the human body. Why do people get sick in the mountains? What are the symptoms of hypoxia—lack of sufficient oxygen—that also occurs in everyday life, sometimes chronically due to disease? How can we decrease the incidence of illness and death?

This substantially revised edition incorporates new research of the last 10 years. Houston joins forces with an educator and a medical writer in a text made even more accessible for the average reader while retaining the depth of material of particular use to the medical community. It includes new chapters on vision and the eye at altitude, chronic and subacute altitude illness, and the limits to work at altitude (with implications for athletic training). It presents current information on genetics and gender differences and more on flight and space travel, on understanding and treating sea-level hypoxic illnesses, and on who can (or should not) go to high altitude, and much more. With an expanded glossary of terms.

Customer Reviews:

Going Higher - New and Revised .......2006-09-22

This is the fifth edition of "Going Higher", now revised and expanded by Dr Houston and two colleagues. The new book has added additional text and illustrations, as well as added sections including explanations of the effects of gender and genetics. The authors note that the high-altitude adaptation of the inhabitants of the Himalayas is better than those of the Andes, perhaps as a result the death of so many of the indigenous people in the Andes resulting in genetic narrowing following the conquest of South America by Europeans.

This is an excellent book on the effects of altitude on people. It reviews the history of mountain exploration, explains the physiological effects of the reduction of atmospheric pressure, and presents a practical guide for acclimatization to altitude. I agree with the observation that for effective acclimatization, there is a boundary somewhere between 8000 and 9000 feet. This has become apparent to me on trips to Colorado to climb 14,000 ft peaks. As amusing as Vail and Aspen at over 8000 ft may be, Breckenridge, Keystone, and Monarch at 9500 ft are much better, not to mention Leadville at over 10,000 ft. Of course, the best first step in altitude acclimatization is to read this book.

Average customer rating:

Qiuck delivery
The Index alone is worth twice the book's low price
Some useful stuff. Back to basics and history.
Excellent book on the effects of altitude

Going Higher: Oxygen, Man and Mountains
Charles Houston
Manufacturer: MOUNTAINEERS BOOKS
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Anatomy | Biological Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books

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Mountain Climbing | Mountaineering | Sports | Subjects | Books

General | Sports | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0898865808

Book Description

In this completely revised edition of a classic work, Houston examines the inter-relationships between humans, oxygen, and mountains. Beginning with what oxygen is and how we use it, Houston guides the reader through the latest understanding of the various types of mountain sickness, to acclimatization, prevention, and treatment.

Customer Reviews:

Qiuck delivery.......2005-10-02

The book was received quickly and there was no problems with the sender.

The Index alone is worth twice the book's low price.......2005-08-07

Probably the most elegant writer I've read who is a medical doctor, mountaineer, and renowned physiologist. Dr. Houston knows what it actually means to climb high mountains where the air is thin, oxygen molecules are few and far between, and the environment sometimes too difficult to imagine. This is where a great writer comes into his/her own. If you're considering "going higher" don't leave home without Houston!

Some useful stuff. Back to basics and history........2001-02-23

As someone with a general scientific background, I found this book high on padding and relatively low on the content I wanted and was expecting - the author spends much time on the history of the subject and on the basic properties of air, leaving little space for details on the physiology and medical side of the subject. I have no medical education or qualifications, though I still found much of the actual medical text in the book over simplified and lacking in detail.

Excellent book on the effects of altitude.......2000-06-14

This is a revised and expanded version of "Going Higher". The author has added additional text and illustrations. It is now even better than previous editions. Like Dr. Houston, I carry my altimeter with me on airplane flights. His observations match mine. Little do most passengers realize that the atmospheric pressure in the cabin may be the equivalent of the atmosphere at 7000 to 9000 feet.

Dr. Houston has written an excellent book on the effects of altitude on people. He reviews the history of mountain exploration, explains the physiological effects of the reduction of atmospheric pressure, and presents a practical guide for acclimitization to altitude. Whether you are going to ski in the Rockies or climb in the Himilayas, this is a useful and entertaining book. I also recommend "Altitude Illness" by Bezruchka

Average customer rating:

Now I have 101 swing thoughts

Terrific Book

Golf Swing Secrets and Lies: Six Timeless Lessons

Best golf book you'll ever read (and I've read alot of em!)

Mike Hebron

Golf Swing Secrets and Lies: Six Timeless Lessons
Mike Hebron , and Michael Hebron
Manufacturer: Learning Golf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Golf | Coaching | Sports | Subjects | Books
General | Golf | Sports | Subjects | Books
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Four Magic Moves to Winning Golf

On Learning Golf: A Valuable Guide to Better Golf

The Impact Zone: Mastering Golf's Moment of Truth

Your Perfect Swing

Ernest Jones' Swing the Clubhead

ASIN: 0962021431

Customer Reviews:

Now I have 101 swing thoughts.......2007-09-28

Good book for those of us that don't mind figuring out how to navigate all of the information themselves

Terrific Book.......2004-12-21

Of the 30+ instructional books I own, this is the best and most comprehensive. It covers a tremendous amount of material - with good scientific grounding - at the right level of detail (not too technical, not too simple). Everything from the "what to learn" you expect, to "how to learn" as well. Before you pick up anything by Tiger, Leadbetter, Flick, et al, try this first.

Golf Swing Secrets and Lies: Six Timeless Lessons.......2004-06-19

Out of 70+ golf instructional books I own this is hands down the premier selection. Clear, detailed and innovative it is a godsend for the dedicated golfer. This is the book I wish I had six years ago - Hebron cuts to the core yet illuminates so many subtleties. Hallelujah, there is light in the golfers tunnel! P.S.If you've beat your head against the wall with Homer Kelly, Hebron's communication skills will be especially appreciated.

Best golf book you'll ever read (and I've read alot of em!).......2003-10-01

Mike Hebrons book truly gives you the secrets of a good golf swing. It is based only on the fundamental physics of the body and the design of the golf club. He makes it simple to understand and shows you through wonderful pictures that the golf swing has not changed since the begining of the game. Kudos to you Mr. Hebron and thank you for all the materials you have written.

Mike Hebron.......2002-05-25

If this is your first Hebron book, then if may be okay to read it. However, if you've read or watched his videos before, then this book is a waste of time. There is nothing significantly new. It's just a repeat of the things you have heard him say before.

Book Description

This best-selling Japanese dictionary in the handy traveler's size has now been completely revised and updated. Thousands of entries emphasize the most commonly used words in both Japanese and English including Japanese and English idioms. Complete with romanized and kanji forms of Japanese words, it includes a guide to Japanese pronunciation and the Japanese phonetic writing system.

Originally published as Yohan English-Japanese/Japanese-English Dictionary.

Customer Reviews:

Very limited.......2006-07-17

Actually more like 2.5 stars. Plusses: While organized by English alphabetical order, it gives kanji or kana as well. Minuses: Just not enough; not enough subdefinitions, not enough usage notes, and big time not enough words. I bought this because it was compact and I thought good for travel, but the place I'm living (in Japan) has the Oxford mini-dictionary, which is smaller in size and much more comprehensive. I've read other reviews and am going to check out the Langenscheidt too.

A word to the wise: The name Webster's, cannot be copyrighted, and thus is no guarantee of quality. I got burned on this one.

It's a dictionary but..........2005-11-29

I took this thing with me on a trip to Japan...and found it to be totally useless. Of the ~60 words I looked up, I actually found 2...
What a joke.

not recommended.......2005-03-03

this dictionary does not even have the most basic words such as "mouth". it's a joke! i'm demanding my money back from Webster.

Simple but complete.......2004-12-30

Very useful if you are not used to look for words in kana. Easy to carry and complete for a basic use. Very recommendable for beginners.

This dictionary not recommended........2003-08-31

I have a degree in Japanese Studies, and have, in the past, instructed introductory Japanese. A friend of mine, to whom I am teaching some Japanese, got this dictionary. I was appalled at how many very basic words did not have entries in this dictionary. Simple words, like "koko" (which means "here") were missing. Many of the missing words that I had her trying to look up were so basic that when she first told me that the words were not in her dictionary, I thought she had just missed them, until I looked, myself, and verified their absence. If you are trying to learn Japanese, I suggest you choose another dictionary.

Book Description

Beginning and experienced artists alike will find practical, immediately applicable techniques in this inventive guide to home printmaking. Printmaking is traditionally thought of as a cumbersome and costly endeavor, requiring presses, drying racks, and even acid baths. But now, in The Instant Printmaker, author and artist Melvyn Petterson reveals his tried-and-true techniques and simple and affordable materials that enable everyone with an interest in printmaking to create professional, exhibition-quality prints right in their own home. A straightforward, fun, and informative guide for artists and crafters everywhere!

Customer Reviews:

Making Plates at Home.......2006-01-04

Many people are interested in printmaking but are limited by their access to studios and equipment. This book does not attempt to tell you how to print without a press, however it tells you which presses work best for each project. There are some suggestions on some presses that you may be able to find or make if you want to print at home, but that is not the author's emphasis. What the author does best is demonstrate some good processes that will help you prepare plates at home. For those who are interested in investigating screen printing, there is also a section on that.

I think this is a great book for someone to include in their printmaking book collection. It does not solve everyone's issues (how many books do?), but it would be great for someone taking a printmaking class who needs the privacy and comfort of their own home when learning to prepare plates. A few of the suggestions are innovative and fun, and will give you a jump start if you are in an artistic slump.

I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to expand their platemaking practices into new directions, but primarily to the student who isn't totally comfortable making plates in a distracting or crowded studio setting.

Sure wish I had a printing press in my home..........2005-03-15

but I don't. No intaglio press. No letter press. Heck, I don't even have an old washing machine mangle to 'make-do' as a press, which was an authors' recommendation. This book is fine (as far as it goes) into prints you really can make at home i.e. by hand rubbing, but almost all of the chapters include projects that require a press. I was hoping for some innovative ways to do, say, etchings AT HOME and not have to drag my stuff to an art school and pay for press time. If you're so far along as to have invested in a real press in your own home studio, you already know everything that's in this book. If you want a book that's half what it purports to be, you might get a few ideas. Nothing is a total waste -- you might glean something from it that will improve your technique or broaden your experimentation, but don't count on it for prints you can really make AT HOME besides the usual monoprints and reliefs.

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