Book Description
Oz traveled throughout Israel and the West Bank in the 1980s and spoke with many people about the past, present, and future of his country. What he found is memorably set down here. New Author’s Note and Postscript; map. Translated by Maurie Goldberg-Bartura. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book
Customer Reviews:
Mythbuster.......2006-07-09
Although this book was first published in 1983 and updated in 1993 it is currently exceedingly topical and deserves not only to be read but incorporated into our thinking about that country. Oz shows that the myth of "the Jews" as a unified concept, so favored by anti-Semites, has no basis in fact. The book depicts the wide varieties of views Israelis hold vis a vis Palestinians as well as Diaspora Jews. In addition it reveals a latent self-destructive trait in some of the citizens of the state which may bode ill for the future if it were to become a dominant feature of Israeli society.
The book also presents the Palestinian side fairly and destroys the myth that "they are all terrorists." They are likewise people who want to live in peace and each side is poorly served by their respective government.
From the many excellent points made by the various people Oz had conversations with there was one from a young Palestinian which deserves quoting. "Tell the Israelis power won't help them. Power is like money - today it's mine, tomorrow it's yours, the day after it's his. They have to end the war with sense, not with power. Justly. Write for the peace!"
Even Americans who put their confidence in our country's military might would benefit from taking this simple truth to heart.
Thus, everyone who wants to understand what is going on in the Middle East should read this book.
20 years old and still remarkable and fresh.......2006-04-27
This remarkable portrait of Israeli society is organized around diverse populations and Oz allows each to speak with eloquence and passion for their own vision of what Israel is or should be. Although this work is now more than twenty years old and some aspects of it seem dated (the Intifada, Oslo, the pullout from Lebanon are all in the future), it still holds much to offer. A marvelous window into debates still raging in Israel today.
A small collective portrait of Israel in the 1980's .......2004-10-10
This is a book about meetings in Israel with different kinds of Israelis. Oz does a good job of listening sympathetically and narrating the stories and complaints of those he meets. One especially powerful meeting occurs in a development town where those of the ' second Israel' powerfully spell out their grievances. The writing here is clear and often very moving. Though Oz is of course touted for his fiction it seems to me that this small piece of writing is , to the point he wrote it, his most effective work.
Israel in the 1980s.......2004-02-17
A somewhat fetishized portrayal of life in Israel in the early 1980s. The author describes interviews which he supposedly conducted with several different people in Israel. Like the vast majority of authors and journalists who produce literature about Israel, Oz overly dramatizes the situation and tries to paint an apocalyptic picture. The interviews were supposedly taken in the early 1980s during the war in Lebanon and before the intifada and Oslo, so many of the issues discussed are no longer quite relevant. The book is very interesting nonetheless and one of Amos Oz's best. Just take it with a grain of salt.
An essential read.......2002-07-16
This book is an excellent contribution to the understanding of Israel in general and of the situation between the Palestinians and Israelis in particular and is, in my opnion, a "must read" for anyone interested in deepening their knowledge in this area.
The book is a collection of articles first published serially in 1982-83. Each chapter is an interview that author Amos Oz conducted in Israel or the Palestinian territories in late 1982. The interviews include a teacher at an orthodox rabbinical high school, two Palestinian journalists/writers, an Israeli Arab, settlers in the West Bank, North African Jewish immigrants, a French Catholic priest in Jerusalem, a Jewish farmer and his wife living in the coastal plain, and an elderly Rumanian immigrant in the seaside city of Ashdod.
It should be emphasized that the book is NOT a "cross section" of Israeli society and it does not profess to portray the "average" Israeli. Amos Oz himself says as much when he says he does not believe these articles to be a "representative" picture. Nevertheless, these articles have value in that they provide in depth views into one of the smallest yet one of the most complex and diverse societies on the planet.
However, what is most valuable about the book is the 17-page postscript added at the end. This postscript is a lecture that the author delivered in Michigan in 1993, ten years after the original interviews had taken place, and it presents the author's analysis of the conflict between the Israelis and the Palestinians. Mr. Oz believes in a two-state solution: Israel and Palestine, two independent states co-existing side by side peacefully. In this lecture, he presents the sanest, most rational, most balanced perspective on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict of anyone I have ever heard or read. It is more insightful than anything I have heard from a "talking head," news commentator, or media pundit. Although it was written 10 years ago, nearly all of it is still valid today (in 2002). The postscript itself is almost worth the price of the whole book. Outstanding. This book has my highest recommendation.
Book Description
Fundamental to the understanding of wine is a sense of place. Knowing which country, which region, which vineyard, and even which hillside a wine comes from adds enormously to the pleasure of drinking it. Through its unique cartography--more than seventy-five spectacular, hand-painted panoramic maps--and Oz Clarke's lively and opinionated prose, this revolutionary atlas illustrates and explains the vital connections between the land, the winemaker, and the wine.
This edition has been completely revised, updated, and expanded, with a closer look at Napa and Sonoma, and new maps for Chile, Argentina, and elsewhere. No other book maps the world of wine as vividly, and no wine library is complete without Oz Clarke's New Wine Atlas.
Customer Reviews:
Under-appreciated.......2006-11-10
This is a wonderful atlas. It differs from other offerings in that it includes panoramic maps, giving the reader a real feel for "the lay of the land". The book also has regional "keys", providing information on grapes grown, aspect, soil and climate. The accompanying text is less scholarly in tone than The World Atlas of Wine but nearly as informative.
If I were to recommend one reference, it would be the above referenced atlas. But if your bookshelf has room for two, get this as well.
It takes you there.......2006-05-25
I can hardly judge the author's knowledge about wine itself, as I am definitely not a connaisseur. I just enjoy wine and want to know a little better about it. It also happens that I like to travel too. So, I thought it was a pity that nobody has reviewed this nice book before.
What I can say is that this book is very well done, with an interesting introduction, and maps that try to replicate the vegetation you would find in the actual places. It really gives you the sense of traveling to the area he is describing, which is not bad considering the aim of this type of book.
Comparing this to Hugh Johnson's Wine Atlas, this one feels much more like a travelogue, a quite good one, whereas Johnson's seems to be more informative about growers, more like a mapped encyclopedia. If you are just a curious wine consumer and can have both, start with this then go to Johnson's. If you can't, perhaps a good idea might be to buy this one and Johnson's Pocket Wine Book...or the other way round. It's a tough decision.
Book Description
First published in hardcover as Oz Clarke’s Encyclopedia of Grapes, Oz Clarke’s Grapes and Wines is newly revised and updated to provide the most current information on an even wider array of grapes. Oz covers chardonnay, cabernet sauvignon, and fifteen other "classic" grapes in depth, and includes features on tradition and innovation, methods used in the vineyard and the winery, and different wine styles around the world. He also provides vivid descriptions of more than three hundred grape varieties organized in his renowned A-to-Z format, as well as a glossary of technical terms and a wine decoder that lists which grapes go into which wines.
This authoritative volume by one of the world’s great wine writers is all you need to distinguish among grape varieties— the wines they create and the flavors they contribute—and to make an informed choice on selecting the most satisfying wines.
Customer Reviews:
Grapes Galore.......2007-09-24
Completely updated, you can test this, learning the recent discoveries about the origins of Zinfandel and Primitivo grapes.(pag 293).
You can learn a little more about native portuguese grapes.
You would enjoy having a kind of glossary to "translate":
which grapes make which wines !,
so you can travel Europe strange names in the wine label, either from terroirs, clos, crus, vineyards, vignerons or wine-makers and evem fantasy names. Perfect for you, who love choosing wine by their grapes.
Schiffini, J. P. (Founder member of The Century Club)
More problems than advantages.......2006-04-17
Oz Clarke's Grapes & Wine takes a different tact than other large definitive coffee table-style wine books like Hugh Johnson and Janice Robinson's World Atlas of Wine, Sotheby's Wine Encyclopedia, and Peter Forrestal's The Global Encyclopedia of Wine. Those books (and, indeed, Mr. Clarke's own New Encyclopedia of Wine) are organized based on countries and regions, while this book is organized by major grape varieties, which are arranged in alphabetical order.
As such (and despite what the title says), that makes this more of a guide to grapes than to wine. And that offers some advantages for a lover of, say, Chardonnay, who with this book can read and learn about they way the grape is used in California, France, and New Zealand, without having book markers protruding from three different chapters. The style of organization also allows for the history of a certain grape to be traced even when it crosses national borders, as is the case for every significant variety grown in the U.S. and many classic varieties like Cabernet Sauvignon, Pinot Nior, and Shiraz that have made names for themselves far from where they were originally cultivated.
But I believe the grape-oriented organization ultimately presents more problems than advantages.
From a purely logistical standpoint, it can be confusing because many grapes are known by different names in different places: what the Americans, Australians, and South Africans call Shiraz, the French call Syrah; what the French call Pinot Nior the Italians call Pinto Nero; and what people in one part of Tuscany call Sangiovese is referred to as Brunello, Prugnolo, and Morelino in other parts of the same region. Mr. Clarke solves this by listing the grape by its best-known name and making references to the others in the text (Shiraz and Syrah are listed in hyphenated form), but it might still be confusing to someone who became familiar with a grape by one of its lesser-known appellations.
Also, for a novice, it's not clear what grapes are tied to what kinds of wine in regions that don't reflect the variety on the label. So while the book does explain that red Burgundies are made from Pinot Nior and white Burgundies from Chardonnay, that Barolo and Barbaresco are both crafted from Nebbiolo, and that Chianti comes mostly from Sangiovese, the reader must first know these things before delving into the appropriate chapter.
But the most serious problem, I think, is that organizing chapters by variety presents a false choice: a light and crisp Chardonnay grown in New Zealand, for example, has more in common with the Sauvignon Blanc grown down the street than it does with a powerful and buttery Chardonnay from California. And what about regions known for blending varieties? In Bordeaux most wines are mostly Cabernet Sauvignon (Lafite Rothschild, Haut-Brion), but some very significant wines (Le Pin, Petrus) are made predominantly from Merlot.
That said, the book is packed with compelling writing and important and interesting information, and the photography is very strong (even if photos are for the most part a little small for my taste). This book, the last of three editions, was published only three years ago. Afterwards, editors divided the contents into two books: the aforementioned New Encyclopedia of Wine and Mr. Clarke's famous Encyclopedia of Grapes -- both of which I ought to be more familiar with. But after familiarizing myself with the high-level of Mr. Clarke's knowledge and his strong writing and at the same time being somewhat stymied by the way the book is organized, I can't imagine that the decision to divide these riches into two books wasn't a wise one.
Average customer rating:
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Look and Feel Fabulous Forever: The World's Best Supplements, Anti-Aging Techniques, and High-Tech
Oz Garcia , and
Sharyn Kolberg
Manufacturer: Collins
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Binding: Paperback
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| Mysticism
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| Reference
| Reincarnation
| Self-Help
| Theosophy
| Urantia
| Visionary Fiction
Similar Items:
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The Truth About Beauty: Transform Your Looks and Your Life from the Inside Out
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Oz Garcia's The Healthy High-Tech Body
-
The Anti-Aging Solution: 5 Simple Steps to Looking and Feeling Young
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Stopping the Clock: Dramatic Breakthroughs in Anti-Aging and Age Reversal Techniques
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The Anti-Aging Revolution: Stopping the Clock for a Younger, Sexier, Happier You!
ASIN: 0060988908
Release Date: 2003-01-07 |
Book Description
Do you want to live until you're ninety but always feel like you're twenty?
Do you want to find out about the most recent breakthroughs in nutrition, weight loss, disease prevention, cognitive enhancement, and anti-aging?
Do you want the very best body you've ever had -- one that will last you a lifetime?
Oz Garcia's Look and Feel Fabulous Forever is the first comprehensive guide to the finest health supplements, procedures, products, techniques, and technology in the world today. Whether you're looking for remedies to boost your energy level, reliable sources for nutraceuticals, information on the latest European cell treatments, secrets to youthful aging, or the latest cosmeceuticals for skin, nails, and teeth, it's all here.
The 5 pillar of the healthy high-tech body
Pillar 1: Frontiers
•Find out how many illnesses and diseases will be controlled by new medical therapies and technologies
Pillar 2: Supernutrition
•Discover the Paleotech Diet, a powerful new concept in nutrition
•Learn about nutraceuticals, the next generation of nutritional supplements
Pillar 3: Life Extension, Life Enhancement
•Find out how to stay mentally sharp throughout your life and protect your brain from the ravages of aging
•Learn about European anti-aging treatments and cutting-edge clinics in the United States and abroad
Pillar 4: Body Beautiful
•Discover cosmeceuticals, the newest skin products that can eradicate signs of premature aging and help you keep your youthful complexion
•Exercise your twenty-first-century options and keep your aging body at peak performance throughout your life
Pillar 5: Sexuality
•Improve sexual performance for great sex at any age
Customer Reviews:
great book!.......2006-03-09
absolutly the best book I have ever read about this subject really full of useful thing.
Thanks Dott. Garcia
Book Description
Adam Ferguson's Essay on the History of Civil Society (first published in 1767) is a classic of the Scottish--and European--Enlightenment. Drawing on such diverse sources as classical authors and contemporary travel literature, Ferguson combines a subtle analysis of modern commercial society with a critique of its abandonment of civic and communal virtues. Central themes in Ferguson's theory of citizenship are conflict, play, political participation and military valor. The Essay is a bold and novel attempt to reclaim the tradition of active citizenship in the modern state.
Customer Reviews:
Ferguson: An Essay on the History of Civil Society.......2007-01-04
I had to purchase this material for a class which was extremely boring but somewhat thought provoking in the end it wasn't worth the money or the class time so much more could've come out of the this piece. I would rather sell this book back to amazon.com if I can
Book Description
An important testimony as well as a moving portrait of a divided land is revealed in this collection of provocative essays and speeches on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict (variously composed before and after the peace initiatives). Preface by the Author. Translated by Nicholas de Lange. A Helen and Kurt Wolff Book
Customer Reviews:
Terrible symmetry -the unfairness of being too fair.......2006-01-02
The incredible literary power of Amoz Oz flashes forth from time to time in these essays. So too his admirable effort to understand what he calls the war of 'two rights' the right of the Jews of Israel to a state of their own in their own historical homeland and the right of the Palestinian Arabs to a state in a land where they have long lived.
Oz' intense fairness aims at a balance and reasonableness which will convince both sides to abandon maximum claims and recognize part of the divided land as a state belonging to the other people.
There is also something admirable in the Israeli Oz's effort to take the conflict out of the dimension of mutual accusation and blame.
Nonetheless there are historical facts and a historical reality which Oz slurs over. And that is that the conflict throughout has been characterized by Arab intransigence. And that there have been five historical opportunities for the Palestinian Arabs to accept statehood and compromise- and they have rejected them all.
There is another assymetry which is extremely important. It is in the level of humane relation to the other. The Israelis have on the whole been far more humane and decent than the Arabs have. The unspeakable acts of Terror against civilian populations which since the time of the writing of this book have taken on new and more cruel dimensions, of which suicide bombings against civilan populations is the most prominent, indicate a great between the sides in the value they give to human life and suffering.
Oz in covering up the assymetry ingratiates himself to those who believe a 'studied neutrality' is the right attitude toward the conflict, and the only path to its possible solution. But in taking this position and winning many friends for himself especially among the Europeans he sacrifices something very dear indeed, the truth of the reality in question.
Amos Oz is always worth reading.......2001-01-11
These essays should read as dated. They do not. Though Oz' non-fiction tends to be uneven, as this collection is, they are amazingly rewarding reading. He's not only a wordsmith but a passionate writer who defends peace in the Middle East without ever becoming the least bit sentimental about how enemies must go about this. Now, when there is no peace, and none on the horizon, he is still well worth reading and re-reading. He knows whereof he speaks & writes--some of these essays were lectures he's given--and his energy is contagious. Good reading for writers and well as readers. Great reading for peace lovers who are, of necessity, confused during these darkening days.
Wonderful, Informative essays.......1998-04-14
Beautifully written essays that illustrate the problems of the Holy Lands frankly and passionately. Oz brings me my first real understanding of both sides of the struggle in Israel. He succeeds with the clarity that has alluded most news teams, and does it in a way that degrades no one. As always Oz's writing, is remarkable.
Amazon.com
For many of us, the adventures of Dorothy in Oz will forever be associated not with Judy Garland singing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" but with W. W. Denslow's exceedingly odd line drawings for the original editions of Baum's Oz series. The Viennese artist Lisbeth Zwerger, however, goes a long way toward providing a new and refreshed set of images for the Tin Man, the Cowardly Lion, and the humbug wizard. These illustrations are often cockeyed, with occasional realistic details thrown in, like a crow with a corncob in its beak in the first portrait of the Scarecrow. The characters have a poignance and oddity that escaped the makers of the Oz movie.
Book Description
`The road to the City of Emeralds is paved with yellow brick,' said the Witch; `so you cannot miss it. When you get to Oz do not be afraid of him, but tell your story and ask him to help you.' A cyclone hits Kansas and whirls away Dorothy and her little dog Toto to the magical Land of Oz, where wild beasts talk, silver shoes have magic powers, and good witches offer protection with a kiss. But Dorothy has made an enemy of the Wicked Witch of the West. With her new friends the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion, they brave many dangers in search of the Wonderful Wizard in his Emerald City at the heart of Oz to ask him to grant each of them what they most desire - only to find that they already possess it. Published at the dawn of the twentieth century, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz (1900) immediately captivated child and adult readers alike. This new edition includes many of W. W. Denslow's original illustrations, and the introduction considers both the famous MGM film version and recent literary theory in a fascinating discussion of this children's classic.
Customer Reviews:
There's no place like home.......2007-04-12
I read this book recently after reading Maguire's Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West. I was very familiar with the movie The Wizard of Oz (Two-Disc Special Edition) but had never got around to reading the book, and I have to say, I really enjoyed it.
Read it by yourself or with your child, you will be surprised how different it is from the movie we all know.
The Great Adventure.......2007-02-20
This book was a great adventure!! You meet a lot of imaginary creatures and go through the woods through a town made of china and its good for children or adults!!!!!! So if you want your child to read more often give him/her the wizard of oz it will be imposible for your child to stop reading it!!!!!!!!! So if you want to read read read than read the wizard of oz!!!!!!!!!!!ITS GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
the fairy tale of the wizard of oz.......2007-02-07
THE WIZARD OF OZ
The Wizard of Oz is about a girl, Dorothy, who's house was carried up in a cyclone with her and her dog Toto still in it. It turns out she landed in the Land of Oz. She meets some munchkins and a nice witch who tells her to go down the yellow brick road to meet the Great Oz who can get her back to Kansas where she lives. On her journey, she meets bad creatures, and friends who also need to get to Oz. They have some difficulties along the way. Will Dorothy ever get back to Kansas to meet her Aunt Em again?
This book has a clear message that you should keep trying, even if it's hard. Dorothy and her friends keep trying to get to Oz and anywhere else they need to be, even though the challenge is difficult.
This is a great fairy tale. I loved this book! So if you're looking for an exciting fairy tale, read The Wizard Of Oz!
A "not so" wonderful wizard of Oz.......2007-01-08
The reason I read this book was because of all the high praise I hear about it. Don't get me wrong the book was wonderfully written for a 5 year old. There were some parts I enjoyed but most parts left me bored and wondering when it will end.Most of you have seen the movie, some of you have seen it many many times. What i'm getting at here is that book was actully worse than the movie. The book has a bunch of different and wierd parts that the movie didn't have.After awhile dorothy get annoying when see keeps complaining that see wants to go home and she seems not to care about anyone exept for her dog toto.
To any child or,parent looking for a book for a child, this book is for you. But to the teenagers and adults that don't enjoy children's books, this book isn't for you. It may seem that i've been harsh on the book but there is some good parts too. Its also a classic so it wouldn't hurt to read this book.
A "not so" wonderful wizard of Oz.......2007-01-08
The reason I read this book was because of all the high praise I hear about it. Don't get me wrong the book was wonderfully written for a 5 year old. There were some parts I enjoyed but most parts left me bored and wondering when it will end.
To any child or,parent looking for a book for a child, this book is for you. But to the teenagers and adults that don't enjoy children's books, this book isn't for you.
Customer Reviews:
Entertaining Stories for Adults and Children.......2003-06-01
Lyman Frank Baum (1856-1919) is best known today as the author of "The Wonderful Wizard of Oz," a children's story written in 1900. But following the success of that book, Baum wrote thirteen other Oz stories before his death from a stroke in 1919. Moreover, Baum wrote dozens of other children's tales, plays, and general stories. He was extraordinarily prolific, churning out five books in the year 1907 alone. In addition to this immense body of work, Baum worked as a journalist, a printer, a chicken breeder, an actor, a theater manager, an oil salesman, a playwright, and many other equally esoteric occupations. Despite this litany of accomplishments, it is that one little story about a Kansas girl and her dog that people remember, and even that is due to the 1939 film adaptation with Judy Garland as Dorothy. This Penguin Classics volume compiles three of Baum's Oz stories, "The Wizard of Oz," "The Emerald City of Oz," and "Glinda of Oz." With a dandy introduction by Jack Zipes, a bibliography of pertinent literature about Baum, and explanatory endnotes, this is an excellent introduction to a marvelous trio of stories written by an enormously talented individual.
The introduction outlines the highpoints of Baum's life as well as academic analyses on his Oz stories. According to Zipes, these stories reflect personal aspects of the author's life as well as social aspects of American society. Zipes's own analysis is that Oz represents a matriarchal utopia based on socialist principles. In Oz, women rule as witches and princesses while magic and good deeds serve the denizens without relying on capitalistic tendencies of competition and money. The introduction also refers to academics that saw "The Wizard of Oz" as a thinly veiled allegory concerning the Populist movement of the late 19th century, which was the reason I decided to read the stories. Regardless of academic analysis or cultural insights, these stories turned out to be a fascinating and entertaining read, full of puns, irony, and wacky creatures. I had fun reading these stories.
The first story in the collection, "The Wizard of Oz," should be instantly recognizable to most people. It differs considerably from the film version, however. Dorothy and Toto do meet the Scarecrow, the Tin Man, and the Cowardly Lion just as they do in the movie, but there are more adventures in the book version. There are differences too: in the story, the winged monkeys only obey the wicked witch because she can summon them with a magic cap. The witch also holds Dorothy and the Cowardly Lion in bondage for a period of time. I understand why the movie made several changes in the tale, but reading the story is as much if not more fun than seeing the film.
"The Emerald City of Oz," published in 1910, recounts several more adventures of Dorothy in the Land of Oz. Baum used this story to expand this mysterious realm by having Dorothy bring Uncle Henry and Aunt Em to live in Oz permanently after the bank forecloses on the Kansas farm. Young Dorothy then acts as a tour guide for her family, setting out on an exploration of unknown regions of Oz. The author throws in some great puns in this installment, little jokes that surprisingly made me laugh out loud. For example, Dorothy's adventure in Utensia (where she stands trial in a dwelling full of animated cutlery, pots and pans, and utensils), her trip to Bunbury (a town inhabited by living pastries, buns, breads, and rolls), and her meeting with the Fuddles (people who literally fall to pieces when surprised by outsiders; Dorothy and her companions have to put them back together like a puzzle) are amusing to read. The best scene in the story has to be the Flutterbudgets, a town full of people who worry incessantly about nonexistent dangers. All of these explorations take place against the backdrop of an invasion of Oz by the evil Nome King and his evil allies the Growleywogs, the Whimsies, and the Phanfasms. This Oz story is quite amusing and tremendously clever.
"Glinda of Oz," released to the public in 1920 a year after Baum's death reunites nearly every character from the other Oz stories. Dorothy, now a princess of Oz, sets out with her friend and monarch Ozma to stop a war between the Flatheads and the Skeezers. When Dorothy and Ozma get trapped in the fighting, Glinda the Sorceress leads a ragtag group of characters to rescue the two. Along for the trip are the Wizard of Oz, who returned to Oz after the first book and is learning magic, the Tin Man, the Scarecrow, and the funniest character, Button Bright, a boy whose sole attribute is his ability to constantly get lost. Glinda and company step into the situation and bring it to a resolution. Arguably the most interesting theme in "Glinda of Oz" is the limitations Baum places on the uses of magic in Oz. There are different types of magic and no one character (The Wizard, Glinda, Ozma) has a grasp on infinite stores of magic. Moreover, magic can only be used to assist people, not to harm them. Ozma and Glinda punish anyone who uses magic as a weapon.
These are great stories whether you pay attention to the social and cultural subtexts or not. Fans of the MGM extravaganza will find much here to expand on their knowledge of Dorothy, Tin Man, Scarecrow, Lion, and Glinda. Moreover, the addition of scads of other characters adds a richness and depth to the fantasy world of Oz beyond the scope of the film. I enjoyed these three stories so much I am considering reading a few of the other Oz stories, and hopefully you will too.
L. Frank Baum makes magic come alive.......2001-11-29
These stories are sheer genuis and a blessed light in our sometimes dark world. I read them to my children, ages 4 and 6, and we all are transported to a place over the rainbow, where things somehow turn out wonderfully happy. In the Emerald City and Glinda, we enjoyed hearing more adventures of Dorothy's friends. Ozma is indeed a great heroine for her people and for my two bright-eyed children. I could just picture where each land was that Dorothy visited with her aunt and uncle in the Emerald City book. And the eccentric rules each place had were enchanting.
A Wonderful Selecttion from a Wonderful World.......2001-06-29
Penguin Twentieth-Century Classics presents a nice selection of L. Frank Baum's Oz books with The Wizard of Oz, The Emerald City of Oz, and Glinda of Oz. It is a nice way to visit Oz beginning with the excellent essay, notes and bibliography by Jack Zipes to set the reader on the right foot along the Yellow Brick Road. After that the stories themselves will delight the reader in their own way with the versatile imagination of the author and will hopefully lead the unintiated to read more about Oz and to the more seasoned explorers it will bring back the joy felt when first going to this wonderful, wonderful land. A nice package.
Great.......2000-06-12
Anything by L. Frank Baum is going to be a good book for a person of any age to read. Oz is a fairy land that is full of imagination for any girl or boy. This is one of the best Oz books I've seen.
Book Description
Oz Clarke's perennial bestseller The Essential Wine Book is one of the most original and diverting wine volumes ever published. Now this conversational encyclopedia of wine, which provides complete coverage of all wine regions of the world, has been revised, updated, and expanded to reflect the latest changes in the fast-developing world of wine.
Clarke's extraordinary wine-tasting talents and eloquence combine in this beautifully illustrated book to produce a resource for every wine lover, whether a newcomer or a longtime aficionado. With his trademark combination of hard facts and breezy practical advice, Clarke outlines what makes each wine work -- what it tastes like, why it's different from its neighbors, and most important, whether it is worth seeking out.
Each chapter covers a different wine-producing region of the world and includes:
- A lively introduction to the region, with useful maps
and a full description of grape varieties cultivated and
wine styles produced
- Evocative descriptions of the taste of the region's wines,
explanations of how to read the local wine labels,
evaluations of recent vintages, and recommendations
for enjoying these wines with food
- Vintage ratings and tasting notes, along with useful summaries of the value-for-money and availability of specific wine styles
Customer Reviews:
best beginner wine book period.......2007-08-30
This was my class text 12 years ago and is still the best beginners book on wine. It covers all the basics with no fluff. Read it twice, once before a vineyard tour and/or wine class and once after. Cheers!
Good, but superceeded (obsolete).......2007-08-20
It's hard to think of a book re-printed as recently as 1997 (3rd edition in this case, which is the one I have at home) as being BADLY out of date, but when it comes to wine, that's par for the course.
Oz Clarke is one of the better, and less corrupt, wine writers out there, and I've enjoyed what few of his books I've read thus far.
Anyway, this book is one of his earlier offerings. Other books he's published since have rendered this obsolete (not that I was very surprised), and I have no doubt that it will soon drop out of print entirely.
It's a good book, but Clarke focused a tad too much on specific vineyards and vintages. His more recent books (those appearing on Amazon anyway) appear to have shifted emphasis to grapes and regions (a wise decision, IMNSHO). He still covers vineyards and vintages, though, and as time goes by those newer books will become dated in turn as a result ... as all books on wine invariably do.
BOTTOM LINE: Although it's a good book, it's been superceeded by more recent offerings by the same author, and is about to go out of print. Save your money.
Get this book........1999-09-03
This is about the best wine book I've browsed through and possess. While other books out there speak to a true expert or the wine lover who feels above the crowd, Oz Clarke speaks to everyone. Expert and novice alike. The info is pretty complete for such a small book. He gives the essentials but leaves room for you to research further if you so choose. He takes the mystery out of it and can get anyone to walk into a wine store and actually understand what the heck's going on.
Good overview for wine fanciers.......1998-04-24
Less encyclopedic than some of Hugh Johnson's or Frank Schoonmaker's books, this is still a good basic guide to wines of the world. It includes sections on choosing wine (the characteristics of different varieties and styles of wine), buying and storing wine, serving wine, vineyard and winery techniques, a glossary and a vintage guide. The essence of the book is the regional description of wines. The color photos of vine- yards are often smaller than I would like, but they do add something to the attraction of the book as do the wine label photos. Having lived for a number of years in Germany, I was disappointed to find some of my favorite wines missing from the book (i.e., Ockfener Bockstein from the Saar region)or Urziger Schwarzlay (hope I'm spelling that correctly) and Urziger Wurzgarten from the Mosel. However, some would be difficult to find in most American cities. He does a better job detailing French wines and does put in a good word for the Scheurebe grape (a crossing of varieties that produces some lovely German wines). He also brings the reader up to date on replantings in Napa Valley, California and other locales where vintners are still deciding on the best variety of grape for a specific site. I would enthusiastically recommend this book to someone learning about wines, but it would be supplemented by one or more of Hugh Johnson's books and books specifically on US wines and German wines.
A short cut into the wine world.......1998-02-19
This book achieves a lot in its small but well printed and organized volume. Almost in each wine region, Oz hits the right spot in relating the geography, climate, soil, vintages and grapes to the vividly discribed wine taste. It enables beginners start to enjoy the pleasure of selecting, tasting and drinking wine without paying much tuitions.
Book Description
Swartz reminds us in that various stage and screen dramatizations of Baum's story preceded and influenced the 1939 film. This richly illustrated book contains many rare photographs, film stills, sketches, theater programs, and movie advertisements from the different productions.
Piecing together the Chicago and Broadway stage productions (1902-3) from contemporary reviews, surviving script pages, and published song lyrics, Swartz shows how Baum and his many collaborators worked to transform the book into a popular theatrical attraction -- often requiring significant alterations to the original story.
Customer Reviews:
Before MGM's Musical Oz, there was . . . Oz on Stage & Film.......2005-04-21
After a few years I finally have this book, and it was an absolute pleasure in reading about the many editions of "the Wizard of Oz and others" that I knew about but never really could find any info about. In this book, Mark Evan Swartz gives a detailed synopsis of L. Frank Baum's original story on 'The Wonderful Wizard of Oz' book, his first draft for the Musical (which closely followed his book but with a few little changes), the 1902 Musical Stage Productions of "the Wizard of Oz" - along with the many changes it went through in later years and countries for tours, along with the other "Oz" Musicals on Stage (like "the Woggle-Bug", based on L. Frank Baum's 2nd Oz book 'the Marvelous Land of Oz" and "the Tik-Tok Man of Oz", based on the 3rd 'Ozma of Oz' book), the 1908 "Fairy-Logue and Radio Plays", the 1910 Selig film of "the Wonderful Wizard of Oz" (which was the first film and debut of - what most people would believe - the Witch of the West, named Momba), the 1925 "Larry Semon in the Wizard of Oz" movie, the 1933 animated short "Wizard of Oz" and finally the 1939 "MGM's the Wizard of Oz", while also mentioning the remakes of the Musical MGM, along with mentioning "the Wiz". It also tells us about a few other Oz films that aren't very well-known today.
The colourful pictures are in the middle of the book (like a Movie Novel) and the black-and-white pictures/photographs are throughout the book. However, it forgets to mention a few things:
* the name for the Good Witch of the North in the Stage Musical was Locasta (found in 'Annotated Wizard of Oz').
* the synopsis for performances such as "the Woggle-Bug" and "the Tik-Tok Man of Oz" Stage shows, the 1910 films of "Dorothy and the Scarecrow in Oz", "the Land of Oz" and "John Dough and the Cherub" (I'm sure that if the '1910 Wizard' can be found, then maybe the 2 '1910 Oz' films + 'John Dough' and hopefully the '1908 Fairy-Logue and Radio Plays' can be found/restored soon and put on DVD too), a 1931 "the Scarecrow of Oz" short and the 1933 "Wizard of Oz" animated short.
I love having this book and I agree that those of you who wish to know a lot about 'Oz on stage and Screen' should have this book.
Thanks to this book, it helped me to realize why, compared to the previous 'Wizard of Oz' films of 1910 and 1925, why the MGM Musical is very popular with the older people, seeing how it was the first film based on the Original L. Frank Baum Story (Remember, when compared to the previous versions) to be feature-length with colour and taking up many parts of the story; it even helped me to point out/remember a few more bits of MGM that was from the book, but I still prefer the more closely-followed-animated-adaptaions (of 1982, 1987 and maybe 1991 and 1973-4).
yes, but no.......2003-04-03
Everything you've ever wanted to know about Baum's Oz career, written, alas, by a perfectly dreadful stylist who can't synthesize information, can't shape a thought, and, basically, can't write.
The photos are nifty, though.
What a Surprise!.......2002-11-19
Prior to reading this wonderful book, I was somewhat of a newbie to the works of L. Frank Baum. I was familiar with the Wizard of Oz movie, but had never bothered to read the book from whence it came. Reading Mark Evan Swartz's "Oz Before the Rainbow" opened my eyes to Baum's additional works as well as the 1903 stage extravaganza based on "The Wizard of Oz".
Before the 1939 Judy Garland film, the 1903 stage adaptation was THE definitive version of Baum's first book. David Montgomery and Fred Stone were the definitive Tin Man and Scarecrow. In fact, the play made the team of Montgomery and Stone household names for several years after the play's successful run. While the storyline of the musical did differ from Baum's original work, you'll be surprised to find out how much of it translated over to the '39 movie.
Several adjustments were made to the story in order to get it to the stage, rendering the story vaguely recognizible, but way off from Baum's originial work. While wary of the many differences, Baum and songwriting partner Paul Tietjens composed several tunes for the show -- none of which carried over to the film versions. But through extensive research, Swartz provides the words to many of these forgotton melodies -- a real find for any Oz fan.
There are also many other interesting revelations concerning the 1903 play as well as the other film versions that followed. For instance, did you know Oliver Hardy (of Laurel & Hardy fame) played a part in one of the early versions of Oz?
This is a great book for any fan of the Oz books or movies. It's all beautifully arranged between text, documents and pictures. It'll make a wonderful addition to your Oz colletion and make you want to discover more about Oz prior to 1939. Highly recommended reading!
Impressively Researched and Finely Focused.......2001-09-23
Oz Before the Rainbow (L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz on Stage and Screen to 1939) is an amazingly well researched and thorough piece of work by archivist Mark Evan Swartz. This piercing view is directed at the 1902-3 stage version and the three subsequent incorporations of the story into the silent movies, often rather loosely incorporated in odd and often surprising ways for those familiar only with the book. All of these versions of Baum's first book have fallen out of public consciousness, pushed aside, as it were, by the memorable 1939 film verion (the version that remained the truest to the spirit and not just some of the ideas of the book). Concepts from the previous incarnations do leak into the 1939 movie and it is fascinating to watch this evolution. This is a tremondous piece of research that is a must for fans of Oz.
Better Than A Trip to the Emerald City.......2000-11-30
This is a marvelous book for Oz lovers, but especially for those interested in the history of musical comedy and silent movies. Mark Evan Swartz has has written a scholary, meticulous book that is clear and exciting. The book pays off in loads of information about Baum and the development of his ideas for Oz in print, on stage and in motion pictures. What I found most fascinating was Swartz's account of how "The Wizard of Oz" became one of the biggest hits in American theater and about the business of managing a big production that ran, in New York and on tour, for years.
Swartz performs a near-miracle in marshaling information about business issues into a cogent and exciting story. His retelling of how the show looked and sounded to audiences of the time is masterful. The show made enormous stars of the comedy team Montgomery and Stone as the Tin Man and the Scarecrow. (Stone lived long enough to act in movies in the 30's and 40's, so that it's possible for us to see one of the biggest broadway stars of the eary 20th century in movies like "Alice Adams" and "The Trail of the Lonesome Pine." Even as an old man he has some of the twinkle that enchanted theater audiences.)
Swartz is equally good in drawing a picture of the Oz silent movies and of how MGM came to make the "Rainbow" version in 1939. And speaking of pictures -- the book is lavishly illusrated with pictures of the original production and its stars, with shots from the silents and with wonderful color reproductions of posters and other ads. It's a scholarly book that is fun to browse and a handsome book you can learn something from.
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