Handbook of Dialysis (HANDBOOK OF DIALYSIS)

Book Description

The revised, updated Fourth Edition of this popular handbook provides practical, accessible information on all aspects of dialysis, with emphasis on day-to-day management of patients. Chapters provide complete coverage of hemodialysis, peritoneal dialysis, special problems in dialysis patients, and problems pertaining to various organ systems.

This edition reflects the latest guidelines of the National Kidney Foundation's Kidney Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (KDOQI) on hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis adequacy and on nutrition. New chapters cover chronic kidney disease management in predialysis patients, frequent daily or nocturnal hemodialysis, and hemodiafiltration. Chapters on venous and arteriovenous access have been completely revised. Each chapter provides references to relevant Web sites.

Customer Reviews:

Reliable.......2007-04-23

I have shopped on Amazon before but this time I bought from another vendor through Amazon. I was skeptical at forst and wasnt sure when and how I will receive the book. I wasnt sure of the condition of it either. It arrived 7 days after my purchase in excellent condition.

The best handbook of dialysis.......2007-02-25

This is the best handbook of dialysis. This is equally true for the forth edition as for the first edition. You don't need to look for another concise book. No one sentence or word is redundant, every information is up-to-date. No doubt you can find there every practical information you are looking for.

Where have you been?.......2004-11-14

I am a 48 year old male who has been on hemodialysis for nearly 29 years. I pride myself in the fact that I have always been very much involved in my treatment. Over the years, I have made it a priority in my life to stay abreast of directions the dialysis industry has taken, some good, some not so good.When my docter suggested this book at first I was skeptical. I felt it was going to be another simplisticapproach to being a "good" patient as oppossed to being a knowledgable, proactive patient.

Although there is a lot of terminology which must learned. If the patient can persist,he/she WILL improve his/her standard of living. A must have for all in the field, Pt., RN, or MD.

Robert C. Notestine.
"doshuevos@aol.com"

The Bible for Any Dialysis Patient.......2004-01-21

"The Handbook of Dialysis" is a must have for anyone who is a patient on dialysis or who is the caretaker of someone on dialysis. This book is written with a Nephrologist or Nephrology nurse in mind, but patients and caretakers can learn a great deal as well. It explains the whole dialysis process including reuse, vascular accesses, anticoagulation, nutrition, infections, sleep disorder, etc. The dialysis process affects one's whole system.

A must for any nephrologist in training.......2003-06-11

This is about the best handbook there is in the field of dialysis. It somehow manages to marry the conciseness and practicality of a handbook that can be carried around in your whitecoat and at the sametime, contains enough information that is usually only found in huge reference texts. Not only does it contain management guidelines in easy to read tables and point form, but also contains a lot more information regarding the basic physiology and scientific evidence if you care to read the appropriate sections. The downside to this is that it appears less readable when you compare it to its main "competitor", the oxford handbook series, but there again, they serve very different needs. For the non-specialist who needs a three second reference, especially someone who works in Britain, I would get the oxford handbook. If you are a nephrologist/dialysis nurse in training, you will inevitably go back to the handbook of dialysis, sooner or later.

The Virtuoso: Face to Face With 40 Extraordinary Talents

Average customer rating:

enthusiastic fun
To surpass oneself is among life's greatest rewards
Buy this book for everyone you care about
THE VIRTUOSO ROCKS!...KEN CARBONE IS THE KING OF THE WORLD!
REDISCOVER YOUR FAITH IN MANKIND. GET THIS BOOK!

The Virtuoso: Face to Face With 40 Extraordinary Talents
Ken Carbone , Ashton Applewhite , Frank Deford , Judith Jamison , John Russell , and Peter Blake
Manufacturer: Stewart Tabori & Chang
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1556709080

Book Description

The Virtuoso is an illustrated celebration of the human potential in all of us. Defined as the unthinkable ventured and the impossible attained, the virtuosos in this book are from different generations and cultures, but they share certain qualities: dignity, self-discipline, determination, courage, and focus. They are tangible evidence of the value of hard work, dedication, and passion; they inspire greatness.

This daring book pairs lively text profiles with stunning, intimate portraits. Some, like Mikhail Baryshnikov and Muhammad Ali are world famous, others are relatively obscure. But all are among the best on earth at what they do, whether it's tying flies, puzzling over evolution, baking bread, making a canoe, picking stocks, juggling, telling a story, or playing a guitar.

From an unbelievable 720-degree aerial rotation on a skateboard to a clandestine 1,350-foot-high wire walk between New York City's Twin Towers or a transporting piano solo, perfection exists in myriad forms, though rarely has it been captured so brilliantly as in this book.

Customer Reviews:

enthusiastic fun.......1999-04-27

What's great here, in addition to stellar photos and high production values (what kind of paper is this?) is the surprising quality of the selection of the people. I like seeing boxers and map makers, basketball players and glass blowers set next to each other.

To surpass oneself is among life's greatest rewards.......1999-04-18

Wayne Gretzky's retirement from hockey seems a fitting occasion to remark on the phenomenal collection of virtuosos Ken Carbone has gathered together in his new book. The gift of a Virtuoso like Gretzky, and of this book, is the realization that absolute focus and dedication to a passion can lead one beyond oneself. That message resounds like a gong through the handsomely designed pages and expressive photographs of The Virtuoso. The thrill of sharing a Virtuoso's talent is the transcendence it offers, the visceral feeling that one is witnessing, in the Eastern sense, life lived fully in the moment. Inspiration, indeed.

Buy this book for everyone you care about.......1999-04-17

Joseph Campbell's sadly over-used expression "Follow your bliss" is personified in the 40 profiles that fill the pages of The Virtuoso. What a revelation to find that the world possesses such remarkable individuals in places we might least expect to find them. The Virtuoso says much about taking risks, about going as far as you can to arrive at a place that is larger than yourself. Love, and a dash of madness, are at the core of every choice a Virtuoso makes, shaping the lives of these extraordinary talents in the most unimagined ways, and those who come into contact with them. It takes a vision to see the vision in others. Clearly this author has that. Bravo!

THE VIRTUOSO ROCKS!...KEN CARBONE IS THE KING OF THE WORLD!.......1999-04-16

This is one of those extraordinarily rare books that inspires me to buy not one, but 100...for family, friends, and colleagues. The idea is so simple and so brilliant but more important, it is beautifully executed. Truly inspired virtuoso selections, gorgeous photography and wonderful writing-- rarely, does one find all of these qualities in one body of work. My only regret is that the book wasn't available during the holiday season or I would have used it for ALL of my X-mas gifts. With tremendous respect, LCLJ

REDISCOVER YOUR FAITH IN MANKIND. GET THIS BOOK!.......1999-03-29

Not just the famous. Not the infamous. Not the obvious. This amazing book actually delivers on the promise of the title. I didn't realize how jaded I was until I sat down and moved through the text and images. Simply brilliant. Don't miss the experience and integrity of this book. ADDED BONUS: The book's superlative design and extraordinary photographs.

Average customer rating:

Brilliantly enlarged pictures, much variety
Beautiful Art

William Blake
Robin Hamlyn , Michael Phillips , Peter Ackroyd , and Marilyn Butler
Manufacturer: Harry N. Abrams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0810957108

Amazon.com's Best of 2001

One day in the late 1760s, when William Blake was a little boy enrolled in a London drawing school, a strange thing happened as he walked across Peckham Rye. He saw "a tree filled with angels, bright angelic wings bespangling every bough like stars." These spirits, and a host of other creatures that peopled his fervent imagination, would later be immortalized in the engravings and poems he printed on his own press, which have placed him in the first rank of British artists and literary figures. And so it is surprising that this fine book--impeccable in every respect, from the detailed yet easy-to-follow notes on individual prints, drawings, and paintings to the quality and thoughtful presentation of the 250 reproductions--wasn't published sooner. It accompanies "William Blake," the largest-ever exhibition of the artist's works, which originated at the Tate Britain and is at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York through May 27, 2001.

Essays by biographer and novelist Peter Ackroyd and Romantic poetry specialist Marilyn Butler set the stage for the haunting images of powerful, accursed, and spectral figures on succeeding pages. The four sections of the book address key aspects of Blake's art. The first one focuses on the influence of Gothic style and spiritualism on his style. The second deals with Blake's life during the 1790s in the South London village of Lambeth, where he harnessed his printmaking innovations to radical political views. It is intriguing to learn how even Blake's new, typically contrary method of etching in relief was a metaphor for his belief in divinely inspired innate ideas. The third section discusses the odd characters that peopled Blake's works, and the fourth surveys his major illuminated books (including Songs of Innocence and Experience), which he created, in his words, "under the direction of Messengers from Heaven, Daily & Nightly." --Cathy Curtis

Book Description

The only manuscripts to survive that lead to the production of one of William Blake's published illuminated books are those of the Songs of Innocence and of Experience, his most accessible and best-loved work. Here, one of the world's foremost authorities on Blake's manuscripts and illuminated printing details the evolution of this masterwork and its entire production process.

In the manuscript known as An Island in the Moon are found the beginnings of Songs of Innocence and in the Manuscript Notebook, a treasure of the British Library, over fifty poems in draft leading to Songs of Experience. All of the pages in manuscript of Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience are reproduced in color facsimile, including many of the drawings used in illustration, granting the reader a singular view of the artist's mind at work. Michael Phillips details the stages of Blake's composition and his remarkable technique of relief etching text and design on a single copperplate. For the first time, he demonstrates Blake's development of selective color printing of the design in opaque pigments over the original monochrome impression. Used in producing the first copies of Songs of Experience, this second step accounts for their dramatic contrast with the first issues of Songs of Innocence, which were hand-colored in transparent watercolors.

Blake united Songs of Innocence and Songs of Experience in 1794 and produced copies in greater numbers than any other work until his death. In the past, the last copies Blake made have been reproduced because of their elaborate and expensive decoration. Phillips concentrates upon the first copies, revealing the original conception of the work. An impressive selection of these plates are reproduced for the first time.

This beautifully illustrated book is a major contribution to Blake studies. It will delight Blake enthusiasts and all who are fascinated by the extraordinary processes of creation and reproduction it describes.

Customer Reviews:

Brilliantly enlarged pictures, much variety.......2004-09-01

I used to buy art books only from bargain shelves and tables, sometimes from bookstores that were only selling bargain books. Amazon.com has both varieties of books, and it would be unfair for me to review one book when I really think you should buy the other (bargain) variety. There should not be much confusion between two 304 page books with the title WILLIAM BLAKE when the books are actually the same, but the contents are of such variety, listing Peter Ackroyd, Marilyn Butler, Robin Hamlyn, and Michael Phillips as authors of the exhibition guide for the exhibition at Tate Britain, London, 9 November 2000 - 11 February 2001, and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, 29 March - 24 June 2001, so it might be possible for someone who was looking to see if the listing in two places was identical to discover differences in the information given, though I believe both books are published in 2001 by Harry N. Abrams, Incorporated, New York (Printed and bound in Great Britain).

If you just want pictures, some of which seem quite large, this book has 250 illustrations, including 240 plates in full color. If you like descriptions of pictures, you might find yourself jumping around in the book. A large picture on page 10 is labeled: `Opposite: `Newton' 1795/c. 1805 (no. 249, detail) on page 11. After the Index on pages 296-298 is a Checklist of Works Exhibited at the Metropolitan Museum of Art on pages 299-304 provide a variety of numbers, including a catalogue number in brackets as follows:

129 [249] Newton 1795/c. 1805 Color print finished in pen and ink and watercolor 46 x 60 (18 1/8 x 23 5/8) on paper approx. 54.5 x 76 (21 1/2 x 30) Tate; presented by W. Graham Robertson 1939

The full picture is shown on page 213 with a tiny number 249 in the corner by the top margin and a description on page 212 that includes more information than above about "Signed `1795 WB inv [in monogram]' and the inscription. It is possible that the detail page 10 is about full size, showing the lower 30 cm. of a picture that is 46 cm. tall. Catalogue number 248, Sketch for Newton c. 1795 described on page 212 as being on a paper slightly smaller than standard typing paper, might not appear in this book at all. Turning back the page from 212 to pages 210-211 reveals a gigantic crawling Nebuchadnezzar 1795/c. 1805 (no. 247, detail) which is a 30 x 46 cm. (almost 12 inch by 18 inch) enlargement of less than half of a picture that was even larger 44.6 x 62 (17 5/8 x 24 3/8) originally. Pages 210-211 is almost lifesize, with a nose 2 inches long and 5 inches from the bottom of Nebuchadnezzar's lower lip to the part in his hair just above his forehead.

It is difficult to tell how many numbered pictures are not in this book. The final catalogue number 303 described as `Jerusalem. The Emanation of the Giant Albion 1804 - c. 1820' on page 282 is a general reference used to cover paintings of Jerusalem plate 97 (detail) (p. 283), Plate 1 (p. 284), Plate 2 (p. 285), Plates 3, 4, 9, and 11 (p. 287), Plate 12, Plate 26 (p. 289), Plates 51, 69, 70, 84 (p. 291), Plates 92, 97, 99 (p. 293), and pages describing these 15 plates describe 7 plates from Jerusalem that are not shown.

People who are interested in reading interpretations of Blake's works will find a sponsor's forward by Stephen Deuchar on page 7, Acknowledgements and Preface by Robin Hamlyn, Christine Riding and Elizabeth Barker on pages 8-9, `William Blake: The Man' by Peter Ackroyd on pages 11-13, `Blake in His Time' by Marilyn Butler on pages 15-25, a Chronology on pages 26-28 and initials of 10 individuals indicating other authorship on page 29.

`One of the Gothic Artists' on pages 32-97 describes items up to catalogue number 96, `The Queen of Heaven in Glory.' `The Furnace of Lambeth's Vale' on pages 100-171 starts with a description of Blake's Printmaking Studio and various techniques, including a detail on page 111 shown more than 5 times the original size of the small print no. 107 There is No Natural Religion 1788/1795 Copy L shown on page 110. There is in this part a political section called "Lambeth and the Terror" on pages 152-167 which mention items of `Rex vs. Blake' catalogue numbers 208 through 210, items that are not shown. Perhaps we learn more by merely seeing no. 212, The Accusers c. 1804 Copy E on page 167, "A Scene in the Last Judgment."

Pictures are generally clear enough for the lettering by William Blake to be legible, where it is not too small, but pages have been selected without regard to the continuity of the original text. For example, Blake's comments on Swedenborg in his book THE MARRIAGE OF HEAVEN AND HELL, Catalogue no. 127, pages 132-135, include Plate 21 and Plate 24 but not the pages between to and from which the thoughts carry over.

`Chambers of the Imagination' on pages 174-257 includes items numbered from 219 to 297 The Ancient of Days 1824? `Many Formidable Works' on pages 258-293 concludes with many plates from a few of Blake's works. No. 298 Plate 42 `The Tyger' on page 269 (upper left) is lightly colored, "Shown in profile beneath the pale blue bark of a tree trunk," (p. 268) while no. 163 Plate 42 Copy G c. 1793-1794 on page 155 shows a tree and tyger with much darker colors.

Anyone who plans to enjoy looking at the pictures more than anything else could start with this book. People who seriously study WILLIAM BLAKE must have their own reasons. Because his writings cover so much, most people could gain some knowledge of bits and pieces from a work like this.

Beautiful Art.......2004-04-24

The works of Blake are represented here on wonderful gloss paper with large images to fully appreciate the artistic genius of William Blake. This book is also intersperesed with essays that explain his life, his writing, and his art. through his various images you can see his complex and troubled life come into view. A must have for anyone who loves Blake and Extremely helpful for anyone who wants to know him and his work.

Average customer rating:

Run-Of-The-Mill
too fawning
A Good, But Not a Great Biography of William Blake
Blake, London, and Beauty - What Better Combination?
Double vision

Blake
Peter Ackroyd
Manufacturer: Ballantine Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0345376110
Release Date: 1997-07-14

Amazon.com

William Blake, a London hosier's son, began having mystical visions at the age of eight and came to see his life as a revelation of eternity. While eking out a living as an engraver, he offered, quite unsuccessfully, his great series of prophetic books, Songs of Innocence and Experience. For Ackroyd, biographer of both Charles Dickens and T. S. Eliot, Blake was a visionary, who long before Freud saw warfare as a form of repressed sexuality and believed there were eternal states of rage, desire and selfhood through which a man passes, keeping his soul intact. The tragedy was that he had the capacity to become a great public and religious poet, but instead turned in upon himself, gaining neither reputation nor influence in his lifetime.

Book Description

"MARVELOUS . . . A first-rate biography of an extraordinary man."           -- The Wall Street Journal

"SUPERB . . . Ackroyd writes with clarity and ease: His book is consistently intelligent, entertaining and affectionate. One closes its pages full of admiration for Blake and eager to study his pictures and read his poetry. . . . Ackroyd emphasizes Blake the visionary Londoner, like Turner or Dickens, and convincingly relates the poet's work to the social upheavals of his time. . . . Above all, [he] makes Blake live for the modern reader."
-- The Washington Post Book World

"LYRICAL AND ILLUMINATING . . .  Ackroyd is a masterly storyteller and interpreter of Blake's writing and art."
-- Chicago Tribune

"THE WORK OF A WRITER AT THE PEAK OF HIS LITERARY POWERS . . . It is one of the great strengths of Ackroyd's writing that he reminds us that every individual life and cast of mind has a tradition behind it, a context of other lives and minds which is half forgotten or not remembered at all. As a writer, he is always letting his bucket deeper and deeper down the historical well."
-- The New Yorker

Customer Reviews:

Run-Of-The-Mill.......2004-07-18

With all the fantastic titles of Blake books out there ("Witness Against the Beast"; "Prophet Against Empire") all Ackroyd could come up with was, uh, "Blake"? From the book's bland title to its dry rehashing of many misconceptions and stereotypes about Blake and his work, Ackroyd's is just another voice tossed into the gathering wilderness of Blake scholarship. There is nothing distinctive or even revelatory about this book, and it seemed to me throughout my reading that it was written more out of obligation than passion. Ackroyd seems more interested in toning down the embellishments of a 150-year-old biography (Gilchrist's) than telling a good story, when it has long been understood that Gilchrist was writing with the fervor and love any writer might have when penning the very first biography of a figure whose legend was already blossoming into something gargantuine.

But more frustrating than Ackyrod's dispassion is the eagerness with which he embraces enduring but disastrous presumptions about Blake. Chief among these is the astounding claim (made by so many others besides Ackroyd) that Blake somehow decided to "turn inward" and thus deny fame: "he had the capacity to become a great public and religious poet but, instead, he turned in upon himself and gained neither influence nor reputation." But Blake WAS the "great religious poet" of his day, and Ackroyd himself concedes this early on: "it can truly be said that he is the last great religous poet in England." Well, which is it, Peter? Any suggestion that Blake somehow missed out on his claim to this distinction says less about Blake than it does about our own epoch, in which we find it increasingly hard to measure success with any yardsticks other than those of the dollars, cents and celebrity.

It is no secret that many of history's most brilliant artists died in squalor because of their practical ineptitude. I don't think Blake cared much for mortgage rates or 401Ks when he was around, and thank god he had the courage not to. Ackroyd repeatedly demonstrates his understanding that Blake was a wholly impractical man and completely unskilled at the cruder concerns of survival, yet he still somehow finds a way to hold Blake responsible for his failures as an entrepreneur. "He never could have been a tradesman," Ackroyd writes, "he was 'totally destitute of the dexterity of a London shopman' and was 'sent away from the counter (of his father's shop) as a booby'." A "booby." Sure doesn't sound like the description of a PR genius to me.

But Ackroyd goes even further in what amounts to a clear understanding that in order to become this "public poet" or "great engraver" Blake would have had to either ignore or compromise his artistic integrity. Sound like a familiar paradox? What Blake did for money and what Blake did for himself were two entirely different worlds in his life, and it is the latter that brought us "Jerusalem," "The Four Zoas," "Milton" and so many stirring and vibrantly colored plates. "He could have continued as one of the best copy-engravers of his day," Ackroyd carries on, "But ... he wished to experiment with his own technique." God forbid. Yes, he could have been marketable, but he was a visionary far more intrigued by his private muse than public fortune and the sacrifices it entailed. As Blake himself writes: "I must create a System, or be enslav'd by another mans/I will not reason and Compare: my business is to create."

Throughout this book the conenction is made -- though apparently without Ackyroyd's comprehension -- between convention and success, withdrawal and genius. This does not have to be the fate of every innovator, but with Blake there just doesn't seem to have been any other way. Why Ackroyd choses not to see this when he himself weaves together all the evidence is truly baffling. Observations such as "in want of income or renown, he had decided to return to more orthodox styles" both make and miss the point. This was Blake's life-long misfortune and that of so many artists who, for the sake of survival, often have to make art of massive appeal, not of private vision or originality. Worse, the banality of the work Blake was sometimes hired to illustrate condemned him to contribute material of corresponding weakness. What an acute agony it must have been for this man to be employed by writers whose skill he knew fell far short of his own, and yet to have to sanction their own work with his time and sweat! I'll take poverty over such indignity any day of the week.

Predictably, Blake himself puts it best: "To the Eyes of a Miser a Guinea is more beautiful than the Sun, and a bag worn with use of Money has more beautiful proportions than a Vine filled with grapes. The tree which moves some to tears of joy is in the Eyes of others only a Green thing that stands in the way." Amen, Mr. Blake.

To be fair, Ackroyd does show great sympathy for the complexity of Blake's character, and especially for the plight described above. Specifically, Ackroyd's investigation into the various personalities Blake manifested over the years, Blake's deep and heartbreaking identity with Job, and Ackroyd's explication of Blake's "London" are long-lasting contributions to Blake scholarship and show that Ackroyd is capable of far more inspiration than he otherwise exhibits throughout the book. For more informed and illuminating discussions of Blake's life and work, David Erdman's "Prophet Against Empire," Harold Bloom's "Blake's Apocalypse" and, to a lesser extent, E.P. Thompson's "Witness Against the Beast" are so good as to render Ackroyd's book obsolete.

too fawning.......2003-11-01

I have really enjoyed Ackroyd's writing in the past. His London Biography, in particular, is an outstanding book.
I had, therefore, high hopes for his life of Blake, the 18th century visionary being a famous Londoner and a fascinating man.

I was a little disappointed. It's certainly learned and well researched (though it eggregiously overuses the word "vouchsafe"), but seems to skip over a number of important points: for one thing, Ackroyd hints darkly the Blake may have had misogynistic tendencies, but then declares "this isn't the place for a discussion of such things". Well, if a balanced biography isn't, I don't know what is.

Additionally, Ackroyd is somewhat credulous in his desire to portray Blake as a misunderstood genius, rather than a somewhat troubled individual. Serious credence is given to statements that certain people in Blake's circle (including, to an extent, Blake himself) were clairvoyant, whilst on the other hand short shrift is given to far more credible notions: such as that Blake - a man given to regular visions of angels and saints, after all - might have been mentally ill. Blake's behaviour may have been that of a genius, but is equally explainable as that of a flat-out nutcase, which appears to have been the general consensus of the time (and might partly explain Blake's lack of success during his own life).

A Good, But Not a Great Biography of William Blake.......2003-08-28

Peter Ackroyd's 1995 "Blake: A Biography," is a good, but not a great biography of the late 18th-early 19th century poet, prophet, painter, and genius, William Blake. Ackroyd's prose is fluid and easy to follow, but the structuring of the book, while it does mostly follow the pattern of Blake's life, is somewhat inconsistent. There are chapters in which Ackroyd does nothing but profile one poem (do we really need a biographer's interpretation of "The Tyger"?), which detracts from the progress of his narrative. Also, there are points in the course of the book where Ackroyd seems a little too condescending to his subject, which imposes a distance between biographer, subject, and reader - my own preference is for the biographer to bring the reader into the subject's life.

One thing that Ackroyd is good at is allowing Blake and his contemporaries to speak for themselves on a number of topics - revealing a depth of ambivalence towards, for example, Blake's lifelong experience of visions, Blake's business acumen (or lack thereof), his hardheaded independence, and so on. Henry Fuseli, John Flaxman, John Linnell, and of course, William Hayley, to whom Blake owed his three year sojourn at Felpham - all are quoted extensively, revealing the social network in which Blake moved. Ackroyd is at his best when he is examining Blake's movements in life, from engraver's apprentice, to art student, through his life of engraving, and in outlining what he was doing to support himself while he produced his illuminated masterpieces.

Ackroyd falters, though, when he tries to play the intentional fallacy game - attempting to explain Blake's nearly-inexplicable works of poetic and prophetic genius by way of the events of his life. Certainly, Blake is one artist who invites such interpretations, with the fact that he attributed his method of illuminated printing to a conversation with his dead brother, Robert, and the fact that Blake incorporates figures from his own life in his works. However, while Ackroyd acknowledges that biographical interpretations are far too simplistic for Blake's works, he does it anyway. I would have much preferred Ackroyd to stick to the conditions and circumstances in which Blake worked and lived and produced his works, than his half-handed attempts at literary and artistic criticism.

The sheer number of illustrations - three sets of portraits, and samples of Blake's works (commercial and non) - are worthy of praise and show a discernment in selection. However, none are noted or labeled anywhere in the text, which makes for somewhat confusing reading. And there are some works which are mentioned once which are represented in Ackroyd's seleciton of illustrations; while others mentioned several times go completely undepicted.

On the whole though, this is an interesting biography - I found myself reading through a lot of it quite voraciously - but I think this is more a testament to the inherent fascination which William Blake's life provides on its own, than the manner in which Ackroyd presents it. Is the book worth reading? Absolutely. For the Blake novice, it provides an entrancing glimpse which should certainly lead many readers into an enjoyment and appreciation for Blake's work. For the most part, Ackroyd does justice to Blake in presenting him as a working man - like anyone - who struggled and failed to make a name for himself in his own time, but whose genius has outlasted the fame of nearly all of his own artistic contemporaries.

Blake, London, and Beauty - What Better Combination?.......2002-05-30

In 1995 & '96 I was traveling to London regularly on business trips. During one of my site seeing ventures the name of William Blake finally penetrated my consciousness. I became fascinated with the gallery the Tate museum (now Tate Britain) had of his work. I saw this book at the airport and picked it up and it became a London obsession for me. When I would get back to London I would look up streets and sites that I had read about in this WONDERFUL book.

This was the first book of Ackroyd's I read and became a fan immediately. Since he is also a writer of fiction and is a profound scholar of London he offers great insight into Blake and his art. I have since added many other volumes of Blake's works and other books on Blake to my library but I still have deep affection for this book. When someone asks me what book they should read about Blake I always point them to this great book.

You will get to know Blake's life and work, but you will also get to know Blake's relationship to London (where he spent almost all of his life) and to the other artists of his time such as Flaxman, Reynolds, and others. It is even worth re-reading. That is high praise!

Double vision.......2001-11-01

This is a great biography. Blake is a complex character. A visionary, an artist whose writing and paintings created a total vision. Ackroyd doesn't belittle the aspirations or eccentricities of Blake, and fleshes out his portrait with interesting details and contextualizes Blake's life within the world events through which he lived.

Of course the reproductions of Blake's work don't do justice to them. Particularly the watercolors in which the luminous white comes from the color of the unpainted paper. These works come off looking clumsy in reproductions. If you have the chance to see these works in person, the effect is altogether different. Blake created a worldview, and he inhabited that (largely interior) mythos.

Book Description

This text focuses on the practical aspects of crystal structure analysis, and provides the necessary conceptual framework for understanding and applying the technique. By choosing an approach that avoids undue emphasis on the mathematics involved, the book gives practical advice on topics such as growing crystals, solving and refining structures, and understanding and using the results. The technique described is a core experimental method in modern structural chemistry, and plays an ever more important role in the careers of final-year undergraduates, graduate students, postdoctoral and academic staff in chemistry.

Customer Reviews:

A great introduction in crystal structure analysis.......2004-01-29

This book should be one of the best introduction in crystal structure analysis for the beginners! Everybody wanting to start with x-ray structure analysis should read this book at the very beginning, since it's, in fact, a International Union of Crystallography Text on Crystallography. It covers the most important topics of x-ray structure analysis in an easy understandable language without boring the reader with mathematical details. You can get a good impression about what the basic principles and problems of x-crystallography are, and how they can be solved.

Average customer rating:

Excellent rendition of Archtect's body of work

Edward Larrabee Barnes: Architect
Edward Larrabee Barnes
Manufacturer: Rizzoli International Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

The eminent architect Edward Larrabee Barnes is a member of the generation of influential modernists that emerged in America after World War II. After studying architecture at Harvard University under Bauhaus masters Marcel Breuer and Walter Gropius, Barnes set up his own practice in New York in 1949. Since then, over the course of a long and varied career, he has worked in a modern vocabulary shaped by his own approach to geometry, composition, and siting. Barnes is a fellow of the American Institute of Architects and has received the AIA Twenty-Five-Year Award, the Thomas Jefferson Medal in Architecture, the Harvard University 350th Anniversary Medal, and some forty other awards for design excellence.

The projects in this monograph present the full range of Barnes' work: office buildings, museums, botanical gardens, private houses, churches, schools, camps, colleges, campus planning, and housing. The extraordinary Dallas Museum of Art and the much-admired Walker Art Center in Minneapolis are among the museums shown. The houses include his best known, among them the Osborn, Hecksher, and Dallas houses. Office buildings presented include the dramatic IBM Building at Madison Avenue and Fifty-seventh Street with its popular interior bamboo garden, the office tower at 599 Lexington Avenue, both in New York, and the Federal Judiciary Building in Washington, D.C. Among the academic projects are the early, widely influential Haystack Mountain School of Crafts, Camp Hidden Valley for the Fresh Air Fund, dormitories at St. Paul's School, arts facilities at the Emma Willard School and Bowdoin College, and several campus plans, including those for the State University of New York at Purchase and the Christian Theological Seminary in Indianapolis.

Peter Blake's introduction presents Barnes' work in both its architectural and cultural contexts. Blake also discusses Barnes' background and the evolution of his designs over the years, closely analyzing particular built works. Barnes' personal comments on each project provide further insight.

Customer Reviews:

Excellent rendition of Archtect's body of work.......1999-01-22

Edward Larrabee Barnes is one of the most prominent Architect's of our time and Peter Blake has done a good job presenting his work.

The Master Builders: Le Corbusier, Mies Van Der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright (The Norton Library)

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R. Hunsaker review of: The Master Builders: Le Corbusier, Mies Van Der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright
The author plays favorites.
Touches the 3 masters topically
Excellent review of three amazing lives.
An excellent book to start

The Master Builders: Le Corbusier, Mies Van Der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright (The Norton Library)
Peter Blake
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton & Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0393315045

Customer Reviews:

R. Hunsaker review of: The Master Builders: Le Corbusier, Mies Van Der Rohe, Frank Lloyd Wright .......2007-01-16

For those interested in the development of American architecture, this is an excellent source. It spans the works of the 3 great architects who laid down the guiding principles for modern architecture in the United States and shows the evolution of each. Many of their beautiful works are pictured and described by the author, a former architecture school dean. The principles involved and aesthetic qualities are elaborated. It gives an appreciation of how many current architectural styles evolved and also comments briefly on some of the failings of today. It also traces the interplay between artistic movements - Art Noveau, Cubism, Impressionism, de Stijl - and architecture.

The book is well written, highly literary and frequently humorous. It is enjoyable and educational for anyone with an interest in contemporary architecture and the artistic geniuses who created it as it came about in the United States thru the 20th century.

The author plays favorites........2004-07-20

This book seeks to profile three architects of worldwide influence, each of whom has profoundly influenced the built environment we experience today. It provides rich glimpses into the architectural environment of the early 20th century, and tells a compelling tale of three architects who each shook off the vine-covered frippery of art nouveau in their own way. It's a good book, but upon re-reading it last year, the author's clear bias towards (almost hero-worship of) Le Corbusier came through much more strongly than when I was a neophyte in college. The book paints Mies Van der Rohe as a cold German technocrat with a talent only for efficiency; Frank Lloyd Wright as a pure iconoclast and egomaniac whose vision was so ideosyncratic that it had only limited influence; and Le Corbusier as a genre-defying revolutionary hero who singlehandedly rescued and reinvented architecture as art. In my opinion, at least, each of these judgments are almost entirely wrong. Even if you kind of agree with Blake's pantheon, the hagiography of Corbu gets a bit embarrasing in places. A great book for the history and context, but I would certainly hope that this book wouldn't be the last thing you read about any of these men.

Touches the 3 masters topically.......2002-08-23

Maybe the only book that attempts to compare (rather...state) the big 3. However I think that it degenerates to being a history book that just states facts that are already available in any monograph on each. There is less commentary and more facts. I guess it is a biggeners book to understand who these men were and what projects they did in their lifetime. The only good thing is that this seems to be the only place where you can read about them as a kind of a time-line.....realizing how each one affected the other.

I wish there was a more discussion and comparison/differentiation of the kind of space that these 3 were talking about and a more indepth analysis of their ideologies. Guess we have to wait for someone else to take that risky venture.

Excellent review of three amazing lives........2002-01-24

This book provides the reader not only with deep insight into these three great pillars of the 20th century, but also helps one understand their influence on art as well. One can see the bridge between their buildings and artists like Braque, Rothko, and those associated with De Stijl. I think it is a fine book for those who may not be familiar with these three men. It is highly readable and recommended!

An excellent book to start.......2001-07-20

This book by Peter Blake is very good if you are just beginning to know about these three iconic architects. It has everything someone who is not an architect could need to know who Le Corbusier, Mies van der Rohe and Frank Lloyd Wright were. If you want to go deep into the career of these architects, study their lives and works, this is a first step, and a very good one, but only that.

It is well written, entertaining and true. As a teacher, I would recommend it to architecture students as mandatory reading, best if read in the second or third year of their college years.

Book Description

A unique edition of Through the Looking-Glass, one of the world's best-loved stories, illustrated by Peter Blake, one of the leading figures of Pop art best known for the Beatles' Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band album cover. Ten fabulous watercolours by Blake accompany the complete text of this classic of children's literature, bringing the story alive for a new generation of readers - and for those who last read it in their childhood. Includes a special 'behind the scenes' interview with Blake, in which the artist discusses the ideas and influences behind his illustrations and reveals his visual sources.

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Sir Peter Blake: An Amazing Life
Alan Sefton
Manufacturer: Sheridan House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 157409209X

Book Description

Sir Peter Blake was the outstanding sailor/adventurer of his time. In a 30-year sailing career, he won every significant blue-water race on the planet, including the America's Cup and the Whitbread Round the World Race, and slashed the record for the fastest non-stop circumnavigation of the world under sail. Knighted for his achievements and accorded celebrity status in many countries, Sir Peter turned away from competitive sailing in the last years of his life to pursue a passion to help protect the environment that he had enjoyed so much. Alan Sefton traces Blake's extraordinary life, from the rigors of ocean racing around the world, to the high drama of the America's Cup triumphs, where the egos of the world's greatest sailors clash. Sefton describes those controversial years in vivid detail. Blake made the decision to devote his life to saving the world's oceans, using SEAMASTER as his classroom. Finally, defending his ship and crew, he was tragically murdered by pirates on the Amazon River.

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Peter Blake About Collage
Et Al Biggs
Manufacturer: Tate
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Peter Blake

ASIN: 1854373234

Book Description

The technique of collage has been incredibly influential in 20th-century art. This publication examines the ways in which the potential of collage has been exploited by a broad range of artists, and looks in particular at the work of Peter Blake. One of Britain's most popular artists, Blake is also an avid collector, and has curated the show at Tate Liverpool that this publication celebrates. He has sifted carefully both through the works at the Tate and through his own fascinating collection to reveal the dispersal of collage in very surprising directions.

Peter Blake: About Collage opens with an interview in which the artist discusses his own use of the technique, his influences, and his many collaborations with musicians, writers and performers. An essay by Dawn Ades explores the history and significance of collage from the early 20th century through to the present day, and investigates the impact of collage in the work of artists ranging from Kurt Schwitters to Joseph Cornell and Tracey Emin.

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