Friday November 21, 2008
Arts & Photography: Artists, A-Z
Displayed below are the top selling items for today, Friday November 21, 2008 along with the review customers have voted "most useful".
To find top selling items in for a specific category, use the menu on the left or click here to see all categories.
- Annie Leibovitz at Work by Annie Leibovitz
- A Is for Art : An Abstract Alphabet by Stephen T. Johnson
- Mary Engelbreit's Each Day Is A Gift : 2009 Desk Calendar by Mary Engelbreit
- Things I have learned in my life so far by Stefan Sagmeister
- Artist's Way : A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity by Julia Cameron
- New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain Workbook : Guided Practice in the Five Basic Skills of Drawing by Betty Edwards
- Wall and Piece by Banksy
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Annie Leibovitz at Work
by Annie Leibovitz
(based on 1 customer review)
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(Hardcover)
Author: Annie Leibovitz
Publisher: Random House
Price: $24.00
You save: $16.00 (40%) off the list price!
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Most useful review as voted by customers:
23 out of 23 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 11/18/08
The mind of the artist
I bought this book because as a small travel publisher I have quite a library of photography books, and I thought this would be a unique addition.
I was right, but it's not what I expected.
A better title would be "Annie Leibovitz: On Work."
This is not a coffee table book, and it's not mainly photographs. For each image there's at least a full page of editorial, maybe two or three pages, as the author describes how each shot came about and her thoughts about the experience. The book is smaller than you might think--a little shorter and narrower than a Time magazine--and the photos smaller than you'd expect. Few are larger than a postcard.
There's no dust jacket, just a paper band that wraps around the bottom.
I was expecting the book to include technical shot-by-shot details, with background images showing reflectors, stylists and such. No such luck. Leibovitz does, however, include an insightful essay about the equipment she has used over the years, as well as an FAQ list. "What advice do you have for a photographer that's just starting out?" "Stay close to home." (She goes on to elaborate.)
The stories, though, are interesting, much like those in A Camera, Two Kids, and a Camel. Because Leibovitz has such a clean writing style, and her subjects are often celebrities, the book is a pleasant read, and every bit the unique addition to my library I was hoping for. Now that I've spent some time with it, I actually prefer that the book isn't bigger; it's much easier to sit back and spend time with it this way.
Getting back to the images, some of them really stayed with me. Besides the famous shot of Demi Moore that became a cover of Vanity Fair, there's another one, straight on, with the top of the naked actress fully exposed. A shot of Arnold Schwarzenegger on a white stallion looks like something from Herbert List. A simple portrait of Patti Smith has the revealing facial details and expression like the best work of Richard Avedon. Then there's a 1980s photo of Rev. Al Sharpton getting his hair done at a beauty salon. Made me laugh out loud.
I know many of these shots have been published before, but it is interesting to be able to flip from one to the other.
Here's the chapter list:
1. Nixon's Resignation
2. The Rolling Stones
3. John and Yoko
4. Conceptual Pictures
5. Advertising
6. Al Sharpton
7. Arnold Schwarzenegger
8. Dance
9. Demi Moore
10. Performance
11. Peak Performance
12. War
13. O.J. Simpson
14. Impromptu
15. Patti Smith
16. Fashion
17. Nudes
18. Groups
19. Presence and Charisma
20. Being There
21. My Mother
22. Sarah
23. Susan
24. Hollywood
25. The Queen
26. The Process
27. The Road West
28. Equipment
29. Ten Most-Asked Questions
30. Publishing History
Click here to see more reviews for: Annie Leibovitz at Work
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A Is for Art
An Abstract Alphabet
by Stephen T. Johnson
(based on 28 customer reviews)
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(Hardcover)
Author: Stephen T. Johnson
Publisher: Simon & Schuster/Paula Wiseman Books
Price: $11.55
You save: $5.44 (32%) off the list price!
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Most useful review as voted by customers:
4 out of 4 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 9/25/08
A fun intro to the avant and abstract side of letters
My kids, aged six and under, love this book. We take our time reading it so they can spot all the hidden letters and try to figure out the art. Because the works depicted are so different, so full of colors, and so much fun to look at the kids enjoy it every time the open it. While the typical alphabet book usually bores both adults and kids, A is For Art is the opposite of boring.
Indeed, each time I look at a page, I notice something new somewhere and so do my kids. The text, too, is well done. By the end of each paragraph there will be no way your child will not know the sound the illustrated letter makes. While this book is a far cry from a classically illustrated children's book it is just the antidote for the routine.
Click here to see more reviews for: A Is for Art
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Mary Engelbreit's Each Day Is A Gift
2009 Desk Calendar
by Mary Engelbreit (based on 5 customer reviews)
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(Calendar)
Edition: Egmt Spi
Author: Mary Engelbreit
Publisher: Andrews McMeel Publishing
Price: $10.39
You save: $2.60 (20%) off the list price!
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Most useful review as voted by customers:
10 out of 10 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 7/14/08
An Important Change in the Format
I've been ordering Mary's desk calendar for the past seven years. The main reason for this is the large "month at a glance" section in the beginning of the calendar--sort of a mini wall calendar included just before the day-to-day section. I write a LOT in the little boxes for each date of each month, and it keeps me prepped for what's going on all month.
My 2009 edition just arrived and the "month at a glance" section is not included this year. I was surprised. Instead, new sections were added at the end for "Babysitters" and "Children's Friends."
The 2009 edition is cheerful, friendly, and colorful, but I'm going to have to buy another desk calendar to keep my "month at a glance" items clear.
Click here to see more reviews for: Mary Engelbreit's Each Day Is A Gift
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Things I have learned in my life so far
by Stefan Sagmeister
(based on 39 customer reviews)
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(Paperback)
Author: Stefan Sagmeister
Publisher: Abrams
Price: $26.40
You save: $13.60 (34%) off the list price!
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Most useful review as voted by customers:
20 out of 23 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 2/16/08
What can I say...
This book just blew me away. The images are powerful, the sentences are inspiring, the formats are innovative and best of all, I had such fun changing the booklets inside to see new covers thru the laser-cut-out case. This is a true magical book.
Click here to see more reviews for: Things I have learned in my life so far
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Artist's Way
A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity
by Julia Cameron (based on 281 customer reviews)
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(Paperback)
Author: Julia Cameron
Publisher: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Putnam
Price: $10.85
You save: $5.10 (32%) off the list price!
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Most useful review as voted by customers:
255 out of 270 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 1/8/00
The Artist's Way: A Spiritual Path to Higher Creativity
I heard about this book a few months ago and was very sceptical at first. As more and more people around me started with it, I became curious and bought myself a copy. It was the best decision I have ever made! I am in week eleven and I can safely say that this book has changed my life, completely. It has taken the South African performing arts scene by storm and everyone I know who has read or is busy reading The Artist's Way feels the same way I do! Apart from the fact the the book contains so many truths, what makes this book such a pleasure to read is that it is so well written. If you are in doubt and you need just that little bit of encouragement, if you know deep down inside that there is an artist in you, that feels neglected or that you haven't yet discovered, take the plunge and start a wonderful journey! If you are a lawyer, accountant or a mother taking care of your family at home, don't be discouraged or misled by the book's title, it is for you too!Thank you Julia Cameron!
Click here to see more reviews for: Artist's Way
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New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain Workbook
Guided Practice in the Five Basic Skills of Drawing
by Betty Edwards (based on 36 customer reviews)
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(Spiral-bound)
Author: Betty Edwards
Publisher: Tarcher
Price: $12.21
You save: $5.74 (32%) off the list price!
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Most useful review as voted by customers:
56 out of 59 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 7/11/04
A Portable Classroom
I started out as an insecure, fumble-fingered incompetent -- couldn't even doodle. With the techniques Edwards puts forth, I've been able to learn a tremendous amount about drawing, and about looking at the world (a side-effect not to be understimated). This workbook provides a classroom experience for those who can't find or afford a classroom. For those of us with some experience, it's a great refresher course. I recommend it very highly. In fact, I'm ordering my second copy, for an insecure, fumble-fingered friend.
Click here to see more reviews for: New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain Workbook
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Wall and Piece
by Banksy (based on 54 customer reviews)
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(Paperback)
Author: Banksy
Publisher: Random House UK
Price: $15.61
You save: $7.34 (32%) off the list price!
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Most useful review as voted by customers:
65 out of 68 people found the following review helpful.
Review Date: 12/7/05
Art like a land mine
Think art has lost its edge? Witness the art of England's Banksy and reconsider.
His message: that if the powerful and wealthy get to force-feed consumerist propaganda to citizens via giant billboards... then citizens have the right to reply in kind. To that end he's trekked around the world throwing up politically pointed, often funny, always eye-popping street art wherever he damn well pleases: On sidewalks, on train trestles, on the West Bank wall between Israel and Palestine, in monkey cages at the zoo, in the world's great museums (unbeknownst to the curators, of course), and on farm animals (yes, ON them).
"Wall and Piece" is a "best of" overview of Banksy's career, and impresses on a lot of levels. There's the skill and variety of Banksy's techniques (stencils, illustrations, paintings, screenprints and sculptures are all on display). There's the caustic wit of his writing (expressed here in almost epigrammatic blurbs about art and politics). And there's his genius as a prankster. Example: Not content merely to graffitti a blank wall in Westminster, Banksy instead throws up an official-looking "This Wall Is A Designated Graffitti Area" stencil (complete with a "royal" crest swiped off a pack of cigarettes)... and watches others do the work for him.
For those yearning for art that's active... that excites and inspires instead of merely placating... this is the book of the year. One warning: it sits on your coffee table like a social land mine. Guests come over, crack it open, and it obliterates conversation for a while as they get sucked in. Completely Addictive. Highly recommended.
Click here to see more reviews for: Wall and Piece
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