This is a book that I didn't mind buying twice.
I LOVED their advice on dating, and how girls need to love themselves first. The book is BIG on the importance of self-esteem.
I found "Venus and Serena . . ." to be motivational and insightful, and I highly recommend it.
Book Description
How To Play Tennis, by Venus and Serena Williams, is the perfect courtside companion for young tennis players of all levels. Detailed photography and text explain everything about the game of tennis‹from dressing for the court and holding a racket to executing the perfect lob and smash. The Williams sisters offer pro tips, demonstrate the techniques that took them to the top, and inspire young readers become the best tennis players they can be.
Customer Reviews:
Great For 9 to 12 year olds........2004-10-31
This beautifully illustrated book is intended to show the future star how the game is played at the top levels. The book includes quite a bit of commentary on the game, including tips on cloths, rackets, tactics, and how practice reallly does make your game improve. It is intended to not take the place of a personal coach, but to be of help to the starting player.
The exercises and pointers given by the Williams sisters will get you started if you don't have a coach, and will provide questions to ask him, and support for his answers if you do. The book is aimed at the 8 or 9 year old up to perhaps the 12 or 13 year old. It's written at a level that they will understand, and appreciate.
My daughter LOVES this book.......2004-08-11
After our family spent many hours watching Wimbledon earlier this year, my 8-year-old daughter started showing interest in the sport. Now that she's got this beautiful book by Venus and Serena Williams, she is HOOKED. Every day she begs me to take her to our local courts so that she can practice her swings. She's got a long way to go, but at least she's spending her last few days of summer 1. reading and 2. being active. Recommended!
Average customer rating:
- Lucrece is beautiful and ethical, that's her doom !
- What a great way to go behind the plays
- Fine editing, fine printing of the NARRATIVE poems
- Opitcal Illusion
- A terrific collection.
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The Poems: Venus and Adonis, The Rape of Lucrece, The Phoenix and the Turtle, The Passionate Pilgrim (The New Cambridge Shakespeare)
William Shakespeare
Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
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ASIN: 0521294118 |
Book Description
This is a fully annotated edition of all the poems that can now confidently be assigned to Shakespeare, excluding the Sonnets. It contains Venus and Adonis, The Rape of Lucrece, The Phoenix and the Turtle, The Passionate Pilgrim, and A Lover's Complaint. John Roe's introduction to each poem examines the classical and Renaissance traditions behind the poetry and the conditions under which the poems were produced. The commentary demonstrates how in his management of formal rhetoric Shakespeare fashions a living language out of handbook oratory.
Customer Reviews:
Lucrece is beautiful and ethical, that's her doom !.......2004-01-31
Shakespeare is at his best in this poem. At his best as for the subject : a raped virtuous wife who cannot go over the stain and cannot even utter the name of the rapist because she does not see his crime first, hence her vengeance second, but she only sees her crime first, hence her punishment second, and she commits suicide in front of everyone. At his best in the contradictions he brings in the treatment of his subject : Lucrece is not able to understand that rape is a crime on the side of the rapist, and not a fault on the side of the victim, but, and there Shakespeare is great, Roman society, and probably English society too, at the time but also today, will not accept her explanation if she does not consider herself as absolutely guilty of the crime she was the victim of. A woman is never accepted as clean and white if she is raped, she keeps some guilt in the eye of society, be it only to have « incited » or « caused » the rape by her being enticing, beautiful and desirable. In this society, the Roman society, but also ours, the woman is always, somewhere, even if she goes to court and gets the rapist in jail, the cause of the crime, hence the one responsible, at least partly, for the crime. Shakespeare does a pretty good job at showing this unescapable dilemma for a woman. And this appears clearly in the treatment of Tarquin's banishment in exactly one concluding line. What is banishment when compared to death in mental torture ? But Shakespeare is also at his best in his poetry, in his poetical style, in his brilliant use of the language to enchant us with music, the music of words, sounds, meanings, and all other musics you can imagine and find in this poem. I will suggest everyone to study in fine details the section going from line 925 to line 1035, what I call the « time » soliloquy. It is absolutely marvellous and brilliant, and what's more, it is extremely modern, even if it is fully Renaissance. On this subject, time, the Renaissance was particularly prolix, even verbose, but Shakespeare rises over time into some eternity by the way he composes the rhythm and the harmony of this brilliant piece. It becomes timeless and should be studied by all people to finally understand that time is cruel but that life is even more cruel if we do not accept to go along and away when necessary with time. Time becomes a friend in a way, and not an enemy because it knows how to liberate you from life, suffering and useless aging when aging does not bring anything any more except torture and humiliating degrading and ever increasing inferiority, declining and vacuity.
Dr Jacques CIOULARDEAU
What a great way to go behind the plays.......2004-01-26
I've always loved the Bard's plays. Something moved me to pick up this copy of his early poems. Man! Really gets you thinking about the themes of love, jealousy, honor that surface throughout the plays! I recommend the introductory material, too -- gives lots of insights into how to ponder Will's motives in publishing early under his own name. But beware: it raises more questions than it answers.
Fine editing, fine printing of the NARRATIVE poems.......2003-06-24
Another example of excellence from "The New Cambridge Shakespeare (NCS)". NOTE, however, that this volume presents exclusively what is usually lumped as "The narrative poems" - i.e., it does NOT include the full set of sonnets ( which appear in a separately edited volume of the NCS series). As a value to the student/customer, therefore is this tradeoff: NCS covers here a smaller portion of the Shakespeare canon than the alternative from Oxford (ed. by Colin Burron, 2002, ISBN 019281933X ), but NCS can therefore offer larger typeface; larger and better quality paper.
In this NCS edition, editor Roe provides helpful background material on each of the poems [Venus, Lucrece, Phoenix & Turtle, Lover's Complaint, and Passionate Pilgrim (*partially* attributable to Shakspeare) ]. The length and depth of discussion of each poem's introduction is not as great as one usually finds for an edition of, say, The Sonnets; but these poems have not stirred so much controversy or confusion either among the reading public or in academic analysis. The poems are (at least on the surface) much more readable and "accessible" to the general reader than are the sonnets. Roe's thorough annotations on each page of text clarify unusual or ambiguous words; they also raise intriguing issues about Shakespeare's art and agenda in suggestive writing with multiple levels of meaning.
Both this NCS edition by Roe and the Burrow Oxford edition were released too early to benefit from fascinating new insights into the ever-puzzling bantam of this flock: The Phoenix and the Turtle. For the compelling evidence that this long-locked enigma of the canon is an eulogy to two Elizabethan Catholic martyrs, the reader will need to turn to a Times Literary Supplement issue from April of this year.
For most of the controversies surrounding these poems, I'll risk claiming that there have been few critical revelations between the publication of this excellent 1993 NCS edition and now; so (excepting the 2003 TLS article mentioned above) it remains satisfyingly current. For reading pleasure and thoughtful study of these masterpieces, I think you'll be most pleased to own this Cambridge edtion.
Opitcal Illusion.......2001-05-09
I thought that this could be a bit better as far as Shakespeare books go.
A terrific collection........1999-06-27
"Venus and Adonis" is Shakespeare's first published work, 199 stanzas of sesta rima (a quatran with a couplet) with an ababcc rhyme scheme. Venus chases and detains Adonis to woo him but does not win his love. In fact, Adonis actually rejects her love. He goes off to hunt and is soon killed by a boar. The poem has eloquent set speeches and beautiful landscapes. "The Rape of Lucrece" is Shakespeare's epic poem in rhyme royal of the story of the rape of a Roman lady which led to the overthrow of Tarquin rule in Rome and the establishment of the Republic. "The Phoenix and the Turtle" is a short (67 lines) allegorical elegy. "The Passionate Pilgrim" is a collection of twenty poems, only five of which are clearly by Shakespeare (although a few others may be as well). Number XI is possibly by Bartholemew Griffin. Numbers VIII and XX are by Richard Barnefield (and possibly No. XIX). The well-known No. XIX is probably by Christopher Marlow. The last stanza to XIX is by Sir Walter Raleigh. "Sonnets to Sundry Notes of Music" is the title to the second part of "The Passionate Pilgrim." And, "A Lover's Complaint" is a poem in rhyme-royal (ababbcc) about a maiden who complains of her seduction by an unworthy young man.
Book Description
The 7 Steps to Passionate Love is a revolutionary guide for people searching to enrich their relationships with a more profound and intimate experience of love. It is a challenge to become a more sensitive person, a more intimate companion and a more effective communicator.
The 7 Steps to Passionate Love breaks all the rules of traditional relationship guides by treating causes rather than symptoms. Dr. William Van Horn bases his teachings on studies that he conducted in his medical practice. He is a brain specialist with an emphasis on developmental and emotional healing. After years of research, he concluded that true individual healing could only occur through the experience of intimacy and love. This led him to his research and work with relationships. Ten years and thousands of couples later, he shares the principles that transformed these relationships in The 7 Steps to Passionate Love.
Dr. Van Horn empowers you with specific steps to develop and maintain passionate intimacy and love in your relationships. He teaches you what it means to love your partner, how to assess your capability of love, what to do to be a better lover and what to do if the process is not working. You will also be taught an emotional and spiritual maturation process that is necessary for your development as a lover. When you finish reading The 7 Steps to Passionate Love, you will know exactly what you need to do on a daily basis to experience and maintain passionate intimacy and love in your life.
Customer Reviews:
Amazingly honest too bad about the editing and typos.......2005-11-16
This book is amazing. It is too bad that Dr. Van Horn no longer conducts the love and intimacy workshops. I am in the process of putting these principles to practice in my own marriage. Like Dr. Horn states it takes a lot of time and pains...but the results and healing are worth it.
This is not easy quick fix. He helps a person deal with root causes of lack of intimacy and passionate live.
The title is kind of cheesy but it contains invaluable information.
Awful and Arrogant.......2005-02-27
The author appears to be very arrogant. I did not enjoy this book.
Not all that great at all..........2003-12-26
Too much of the authors own religious beliefs are forced upon you. Boring reading, told from a very egotistical point of view if everyone would just believe in his values we would all "see the light"
Brilliant in a very practical way!.......2003-05-07
My husband and I both have professional degrees from Ivy League universities. About 20 years into our lonely, workaholic marriage, I was seriously thinking about leaving him. Yet because I did not want to subject our son to the anguish of divorce, I started to search for books that could help us learn how to improve our relationship and deepen our love for one another.
Two books helped tremendously: David Schnarch's Passionate Marriage, and William Van Horn's 7 Steps to Passionate Love. Each is brilliant in a different way. Schnarch's book helped us to see that "emotional gridlock" was inevitable in a longterm relationship, but that there were ways to grow individually and collectively into a much more fulfilling relationship. Van Horn's book has helped us to see what we must do day-to-day to create a more satisfyingly loving experience. Van Horn's book is lacking re design, editing, and proofing, but these are minor complaints. Today, we are a far happier couple because of the things that we learned from these two wise books.
How refreshing.......2001-11-20
Wonderful. I can't tell you how much this has meant to, not only my marriage, but relationships with my kids and extended family as well. How wonderful to accept people as they are without feeling you must change them to meet your expectations. Freeing, liberating, sobering. It takes a lot of work, but you can get there.
Average customer rating:
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Venus and Adonis the Rape of Lucrece
William Shakespeare
Manufacturer: Naxos Audiobooks
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ASIN: 9626344296
Release Date: 2007-05-22 |
Book Description
The Williams sisters have captured the attention of the tennis crowd like no one has in recent years. Taken alone, each is a force to be reckoned with on the court. Each has the skills, the determination, and the strength to make it to the very top of her sport. Yet through all the competition-even times when they face each other on opposite sides of the net-they remain true to each other.Serena has just won the Wimbledon 2002 singles title by defeating her sister and is currently ranked #1 in the world.Playing as partners, Venus and Serena won the Wimbledon 2002 doubles championship as well.
Average customer rating:
- A comprehensive and useful tool for Shakespearian scholars
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Venus and Adonis: Critical Essays: Critical Essays (Shakespearean Criticism (Garland))
Philip C. Kolin
Manufacturer: Routledge
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ASIN: 081532149X |
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This is the first collection of critical essays devoted exclusively to Shakespeare's first published work, his long narrative poem Venus and Adonis, which established his reputation as the literary darling of London and the heir of Ovid. Particularly important is the book's coverage of the little-known presence of Venus and Adonis on stage.
A substantial introduction of 65 pagessurveys the history of criticism about the poem and its significance, and addresses such issues as the burdens of readership and the poem as a staged production. Following are 19 reprinted works from the 18th to late 20th centuries and seven original essays by leading scholars that examine the poem from a variety of theoretical and critical perspectives-Lacanian desire, semiotics and Elizabethan wardship, female readership, mythology, aesthetics and art history. An extensive chronological bibliography of scholarship, editions, and theatrical and literary reviews makes this volume indispensable.
Customer Reviews:
A comprehensive and useful tool for Shakespearian scholars.......1999-05-13
Philip Kolin has collected the most contemporary critical essays on Shakespeare's version of Ovid's Venus and Adonis. "In addition to examining the critical commentary in light of historical and theatrical events, each introduction functions as a discursive bibliographical essay that cites and evaluates significant critical works--essays, journal articles, dissertations, books, theatre documents--and gives readers a guide to the research on a particular play or poem." (Editor's Introduction) Individual essays are thought-provoking, argumentative and intellectual perspectives which enhance the reading pleasure and knowledge of the Bard's work. This collection of essays will save the scholar and student hours of searching the MLA Bibliography for independent works.
Average customer rating:
- The life stories of the tennis pro sisters is shared in chapters which cover their stories & associated topics of gender & race
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Venus and Serena Williams: A Biography (Greenwood Biographies)
Jacqueline Edmondson
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ASIN: 0313331650 |
Book Description
The author shares the life stories of Venus and Serena Williams, who charged onto center court in professional tennis at the end of the 20th century with a force never before seen in the sport. No other women tennis players have matched their strength, their speed, or their overall athleticism, and none have achieved the status and celebrity they have gained on and off the court as they powered to the number one and two rankings in the Women's Tennis Association (WTA). Venus and Serena Williams represent in many ways a shift in attitudes concerning women in sports, particularly African American women. By playing tough tennis, they conveyed to the public that it was acceptable for women to be strong, to have muscles, and to compete. When Venus and Serena first appeared in the public eye, their hair bound in beads bespoke their ethnic pride, the braces on their teeth belied their youth, and their grit and determination enabled them to withstand challenges concerning the attitudes of these young African American women in what had traditionally been a "white-washed sport." This book shares their stories, and it provides a way to consider the impact of race, gender, and culture, and the influence these have through sport in shaping popular culture. Includes a timeline and a bibliography of print and electronic sources for additional research.
Customer Reviews:
The life stories of the tennis pro sisters is shared in chapters which cover their stories & associated topics of gender & race.......2006-01-07
With all the action tennis sisters Venus and Serena Williams have brought to the sport, it's near certain Jacqueline Edmonson's Venus And Serena Williams: A Biography will bring added attention and a ready audience. The life stories of the tennis pro sisters is shared in chapters which cover their stories and associated topics of gender and race. An excellent addition to Greenwood's biography series.
Book Description
On Althea Gibson, America's first African American tennis champion:
"I am grateful to Althea Gibson for having the strength and courage to break through the racial barriers in tennis. She knocked down walls that gave us more freedom to concentrate on the game. . . . Althea's accomplishments set the stage for my success, but she also made a difference for people of all backgrounds in all areas. Through beneficiaries like me, Serena, and many others to come, her legacy will live on."
-Venus Williams
"She just meant so much to me. I've always felt connected to her and thankful and grateful for what she's done for people of color and me."
-Billie Jean King
"Althea built many bridges over her seventy-six years on this earth to ease our crossing. . . . She fought the good fight, she finished her course, she kept her faith, and she can rest-game, set, and match."
-David Dinkins
former mayor of New York City
"It was the quiet dignity with which Althea carried herself during the turbulent days of the 1950s that was truly remarkable. . . . When she began playing, less than five percent of tennis newcomers were minorities. Today, some thirty percent are minorities, two-thirds of whom are African American. This is her legacy."
-Alan Schwartz
President, U.S. Tennis Association
Book Description
Venus.Serena.Anna.Martina.Lindsay.Like other modern-day heroines -- Madonna, Hillary, Mia -- they need only one name. They are the stars of professional tennis -- the young, brash, and often reckless women who hold court, and serve.The last several years have seen such a seismic explosion in women's tennis that you might be surprised to learn there's still a men's game. Fans flock to the high-voltage matches, which come packaged with tales of infighting, family squabbles, and, of course, Anna Kournikova's micro-miniskirts. In Venus Envy, Sports Illustrated investigative reporter and tennis columnist L. Jon Wertheim draws back the curtain on the soap opera that is the women's professional tennis tour, with its primal plotlines driven by ambition, sex, and revenge.Here are the stories behind the stories: the tragic Garbo-like star who whiles away hours in a midwestern hotel room because she's afraid to go outdoors; the teenager who tries to cope with the pressure of the big time as well as an abusive father; the brilliant number one who plays out her adolescent tantrums on the public stage; the coquette who launched a thousand Web sites; and a little-understood African-American family who proved that they could play by their own rules and still win the game -- not to mention the endorsements.The biggest story in sports in 2000 was Venus Williams. Forced to the sidelines for the early months by injuries to both her wrists and her psyche, she stormed back to win Wimbledon, the U.S. Open, and two Olympic gold medals. Not since the glory days of Martina Navratilova -- and the historic days of Althea Gibson -- has women's tennis seen such a dominant champion with the rare combination of athleticism, intelligence, and competitive fire. By the time Venus signed the biggest endorsement deal ever for a female athlete, her opponents' sentiments could be described in just two words: Venus Envy.
Customer Reviews:
Not A Venus Williams Bio.......2007-05-08
I overlooked this gem for years, thinking it was just about Venus Williams. Not so. It's a great, candid look at some of the players on the WTA tour, circa 2000, most of whom are now retired, such as Monica Seles, Jennifer Capriati and the soon-to-be Lindsey Davenport. Since the book came out, Martina Hingis retired, then came back to top 10 results, though not like when she was burning up Grand Slams as a teenager. The author is a bit too worshipful of the Williams sisters, though he accurately paints Richard Williams as nuts. If you follow tennis, you'll want to read this, though the definitive insider look at the WTA tour is still to be written.
If it's compelling, they will come ..........2006-03-02
This book, though dated now, chronicles the re-emergence of women's tennis as one of the world's most popular, most intriguing and most marketable sports.
For the better part of the 1990s, all we heard from tennis aficionados was how the sport was dead in the USA, how the dominance of Steffi Graf & Monica Seles failed to raise the sport's profile a la Martina & Chris and how the women's game pailed miserably in comparison to what was a bustling men's game (you still had Sampras, Agassi, Becker, Moya, Bruguera, Courier, Chang, Washington, Stich, Henman and Rafter doing wonders for the sport's popularity).
BUT, along comes a new, different and exciting generation of young pony-tailed, bleached-blond and beaded wonders who were as eye-catching in appearance as their game's were revolutionary, aggressive and athletic.
This book attempts to capture the essence of what Martina Hingis, the Williams sisters and Anna Kournikova brought to a table that already included notable top players like Lindsay Davenport and Mary Pierce.
You'll get a refreshing behind-the-scenes look at the inner workings of the women's locker room.
You've got the smug, borderline arrogant Hingis, the world No. 1 that everyone respects but nobody really likes off court.
You've got the Hingis-foil Williams sisters who couldn't be more different: African-American, large, strong and coming up from the hood to wreck havoc on the lily white, privileged tennis establishment.
Then you've got the sex-kitten, Lolita type in Anna Kournikova -- a celebral player with good hands to match that gets more credit for the skimpy outfits and goldie locks, girly girly appeal that sent pre-pubescent kids & dirty old men into a frenzy a like.
All four players were immensely talented and all contributed to the rivalries that gave rise to the pro women's tennis circuit heading into the new millennium.
This book specifically will look at the 2000 women's tennis season, so it'll focus on Venus Williams' ascent to becoming the best player in the world with wins at Wimbledon, the U.S. Open and the Olympics.
However, this book easily could've been used on a broader scale to examine women's tennis: 1997-2001.
That's what I'd consider the golden age of the sport's re-emergence in popularity. Hingis, the Williamses, Kournikova, Capriati, Davenport and Pierce were at their best and you literally didn't know who'd win a tournament when all were present.
In hindsight, this era is definitely in stark contrast to the present: none of the top players are healthy at the same time & you can't get all of them into the same tournament to save your life.
This book will make you miss the 1997-2001 era ... the Henins, Clijsters, Sharapovas and other Russian "Ovas" lack personality if you ask me.
But back to the book ...
The main criticism, and it's a small one, you don't necessarily get the "head to head" feeling of why the players disliked each other or for that matter any sense of unifying quality where a Martina, Serena, Venus and Anna can all take credit for raising the game's profile.
Cat fights, sex appeal and power games were what this generation brought to the table, but that's an inference.
The behind the scenes banter among the world's best players is what this book delivers.
Like High School.......2003-12-07
This was a well written book that will be a fun read for any tennis fan. I found myself chuckling at the high school-like behavior of the women of tennis. Come to think of it, most of them are of high school age, so I guess it makes sense.
Insightful, entertaining, brief.......2003-01-02
Martina, Monica, Venus, Serena, and Anna: five tennis players who dominated (and still dominate) the headlines in 2000. Martina trying to stay on top with unparalleled dexterity and grace; Monica with her personal tragedy and on-court power; Venus and Serena, two sisters with unmatched power trying to define their game styles as well as their separate identities; and Anna, the media's perennial it-girl. All of these players' on-court game styles and off-court intrigues collide in Wertheim's Venus Envy, an insightful recording of the events during the WTA in 2000. Events ranging from the Australian Open in January to Indian Wells, Key Biscayne, Roland Garros, Wimbledon, and the US Open in August are all covered. Match analysis of championship and pertinent earlier round matches are melded with insight into who the top women tennis players are and the joys and struggles they face on and off the tour. While mainly focusing on the events of 2000, references are made to past tennis stories, like Monica's stabbing, and constant motifs in women's tennis, like funding and coaching.
Within a sphere of 250 pages Wertheim attempts to cover much and sometimes needlessly dwells upon and revisits certain issues (coaching and commercialization) far more than the equally important ideas upon which he briefly touches on (the Wimbledon quarterfinal match between Martina and Venus). Intertwining the stories behind a player's slip in the rankings and recent renaissance or the issue of the popularity of women's tennis versus that of men's, in a chapter pertaining to Wimbledon or Indian Wells leads to cohesion errors, as Wertheim tends to get carried away and digresses. Additionally, Wertheim tries to write an overtly pretentious and grandiose text by using legalese and French phrases that have been assimilated into the English language in an attempt to stray the farthest away from stereotypical sportscaster vernacular. It's a transparent attempt to write in a grander yet less effectual manner, which in the end just takes the meaning away from what he's trying to convey.
Overall, Venus Envy proves to be a solid, yet too succinct text that manages to allocate the necessary amount of time to each of the top tennis players. Overall, it's an entertaining, insightful, and engaging read.
An ok read.......2002-08-18
I'm not going to rehash what you can read in all the other reviews. I don't think this book is sensationalist. It seems quite fair. There is nothing explosive, just interesting insight. Wetheim does seem sympathetic to the women's tour vis a vis the men's tour but is otherwise quite objective. I agree that unfortunately it is dated. It is about the 2000 tour. There is a chapter on 2001, but we are almost at the end of the 2002 season.
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