The Cairo Trilogy: Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, Sugar Street (Everyman's Library)

The Cairo Trilogy: Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, Sugar Street (Everyman's Library)
Average customer rating:

A Window on Another Culture

Intricate and unforgettable

Great book for a long trip

Long, intense and worth every minute

A Treasure

The Cairo Trilogy: Palace Walk, Palace of Desire, Sugar Street (Everyman's Library)
Naguib Mahfouz
Manufacturer: Everyman's Library
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0375413316
Release Date: 2001-10-16

Book Description

(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)

Naguib Mahfouz’s magnificent epic trilogy of colonial Egypt appears here in one volume for the first time. The Nobel Prize—winning writer’s masterwork is the engrossing story of a Muslim family in Cairo during Britain’s occupation of Egypt in the early decades of the twentieth century.

The novels of The Cairo Trilogy trace three generations of the family of tyrannical patriarch Al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad, who rules his household with a strict hand while living a secret life of self-indulgence. Palace Walk introduces us to his gentle, oppressed wife, Amina, his cloistered daughters, Aisha and Khadija, and his three sons–the tragic and idealistic Fahmy, the dissolute hedonist Yasin, and the soul-searching intellectual Kamal. Al-Sayyid Ahmad’s rebellious children struggle to move beyond his domination in Palace of Desire, as the world around them opens to the currents of modernity and political and domestic turmoil brought by the 1920s. Sugar Street brings Mahfouz’s vivid tapestry of an evolving Egypt to a dramatic climax as the aging patriarch sees one grandson become a Communist, one a Muslim fundamentalist, and one the lover of a powerful politician.

Throughout the trilogy, the family’s trials mirror those of their turbulent country during the years spanning the two World Wars, as change comes to a society that has resisted it for centuries. Filled with compelling drama, earthy humor, and remarkable insight, The Cairo Trilogy is the achievement of a master storyteller.

Customer Reviews:

A Window on Another Culture.......2007-09-12

Naguib Mahfouz's "The Cairo Trilogy" is a family saga set against the Cairo of the first half of the twentieth century, from approximately 1917 to the mid 1940s. It was (like Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings") originally written as a single novel, but published as a trilogy for commercial reasons. The three volumes into which it is divided, however, do read like self-contained novels in their own right. The first, "Palace Walk", covers the late 1910s, the second "Palace of Desire" covers the mid to late 1920s and the third, "Sugar Street", chronicles the events of the thirties and forties. The titles of each part are taken from three streets in Cairo in which the characters live.

The main character is the paterfamilias Ahmad Abd al-Jawad, a well-to-do Cairo merchant who leads a strange double life. To his family he is a devout Muslim, a stern husband and father who imposes a strict discipline. His wife Amina is virtually confined to the family home; when she courts her husband's displeasure by daring to go out to visit, a few streets away, the shrine of an Islamic saint whom she reveres, the incident nearly ends in divorce. Yet there is another side to Ahmad. Away from his family he frequents houses of ill repute where he enjoys the company of women (he keeps several mistresses), drinking alcohol and other pleasures forbidden to him by his religion. We also meet Ahmad's sons- the irresponsible playboy Yasin, Fahmy, an idealistic Wafdist (Egyptian nationalist) who loses his life during a demonstration against British rule, and the young Kamal- and his daughters Khadija and Aisha, who are also very different in character. Aisha is beautiful and gentle like her mother, but is fated to have a tragic life. Khadija is less attractive, sharp-nosed and sharp-tongued, and initially worries about finding a husband. In the end, however, she makes as good a marriage as her sister (they marry a pair of brothers).

In "Palace of Desire" Kamal, who was only a mischievous schoolboy in "Palace Walk", starts to emerge as a major character. He falls passionately in love with Aida, the beautiful sister of a friend, but the relationship is destined to end unhappily as her wealthy, aristocratic parents do not regard the schoolmaster son of a shopkeeper as their social equal. Disappointed by the failure of this relationship, Kamal, once as idealistic as his older brother Fahmy, becomes a disillusioned cynic, losing both his idealism and his Islamic faith. He becomes obsessed with the study of philosophy, which he believes will enable him to understand the meaning of life, but this goal eludes him; all philosophy seems to teach him is that such an understanding is unattainable.

Kamal remains an important character in the third volume, "Sugar Street"; he has the chance to marry Aida's equally beautiful younger sister Budur, but does not do so, largely because he has grown used to a bachelor existence and fears that, if married, he would have less time for the philosophical problems which have come to obsess him. His father, however, by now elderly and in poor health, fades into the background in this book. The third generation, in the shape of Abd al-Jawad's grandsons, starts to play an important role. Yasin's son Ridwan is a homosexual who becomes the lover of an influential politician. (This must have been a daring theme in the Egypt of the 1950s when the book was written). Khadija's sons Ahmad and Abd al-Munim are committed followers of two very different ideologies, the first becoming a Communist and the second a Muslim fundamentalist.

Of these two ideologies, Mahfouz tends to devote more time to Communism. In 1957, the future of Egypt and the wider Arab world may well have seemed to consist of a choice between Communism and the secular nationalism espoused by the likes of President Nasser in real life and Fahmy and Kamal in the novel. Mahfouz, however, was to have a long life, dying last year at the age of 95, and was doubtless surprised to see the resurgence of religious fundamentalism during his lifetime, while Communism never won widespread support in the Muslim world and eventually withered even in its Soviet and Eastern European strongholds. Had Mahfouz been able to predict these developments, he might well have paid more attention to Abd al-Munim and his ideas.

One of the themes of the trilogy is the conflicts and contrasts between the Egyptian values and those of the West, especially Egypt's attempts to free itself from the influence of Britain (which remained pervasive even after the country had officially become independent in 1932). Westernised characters such as Aida and her family and contrasted with more conservative ones such as Abd al-Jawad. (Even he, however, becomes more liberal later in life, even allowing his wife to go out freely). It is notable, however, that apart from Abd al-Munim the most politically nationalistic characters are all strongly influenced by European thought. The philosophers who most influence Kamal are Westerners such as Bergson, Russell and Schopenhauer, and the Communism which inspires Ahmad was originally a theory developed by a German sitting in the British Museum in the mid -19th century. I felt that Mahfouz was perhaps too generous towards Communism; Ahmad and his equally radical girlfriend Sawsan are portrayed as attractively idealistic, and there is no attempt to contrast their idealism with the brutality of the Soviet regime which they uncritically support. ("Sugar Street" is set during the years when the Stalinist terror was at its height).

Reviewers have compared Mahfouz to a number of major writers; the two most often mentioned seem to be Tolstoy and Dickens. Both comparisons seem to me to be apt. The Egyptian writer shares with Tolstoy the ability to integrate political and philosophical themes into his work without seeming to preach and without interrupting the flow of his narrative. The tormented Kamal is a fascinating character even though, outwardly, little happens to him; the action is all internal as we watch the development of his character and his ideas. With Dickens he shares the ability to conjure up a vivid sense of a particular time and place, sharing with us the sights, sounds and smells of early 20th century Cairo just as the English writer did with those of 19th century London. With both writers he shares the ability to create a large cast of characters we can identify with and care about, however different their circumstances might be to our own. For those like me who are not familiar with Egypt or the Arabic-speaking world in general, "The Cairo Trilogy" acts like a window enabling us to see something of that culture.

Intricate and unforgettable.......2007-08-13

As it happened, I began reading "Palace Walk" as I boarded the plane that was taking me to Cairo on my second visit. The timing was impeccable, and the live city below my hotel windows provided a living breathing illustration to the rich tapestry of the story, thus making it even more unforgettable. In today's world, this book must be read and re-read by anyone who thinks, who questions current events, who struggles to understand and wishes to form his/her own opinions.

Great book for a long trip.......2007-06-13

Naguib Mahfouz relates a distant time in a far away place with simple sentences and rich details. He relates the breadth of human experience equally well, offering depth and understanding of women as well as men. For the first time I feel that I have some understanding of the daily life of Muslim men and women.

If you want to laugh, read this book. If you want to cry, read this book. If you want a page turner, read this book. The characters will feel like your own family before you're done.

Long, intense and worth every minute.......2007-06-12

I received this book as a Christmas present and when I saw the sheer size of it, I'll admit, I was frightened. For anyone who feels the same, don't let the fact that you could use this a weight put you off from reading it. You will be losing out on a magnificent work.
Mahfouz's trilogy pulled me into a world I know very little of and made me feel at home. I felt the fear the rest of the family did when Al-Sayyid Ahmad Abd al-Jawad walked down the halls, banging his cane ahead of him. I read with anger and frustration, watching Yasin's transformation, or lack there of, and Kamal's.
Amina's growth and Aisha's destruction were an equally intriguing read. The fact that Aisha is unable to join her family and is forced to continue falling apart was a hard pill for me to swallow and ended up making me cry by the end of the novel.
Mahfouz is definitely a master storyteller who creates characters in one of the most realistic ways I have ever read. I will certainly be reading The Cairo Trilogy again.

A Treasure.......2007-05-11

This three-generation saga of a decaying Cairo family will totally envelop you. Mahfouz creates a complete and detailed world of characters, places, atmospheres and emotions that you will be reluctant to leave. Among the overarching themes is the contrast between the public face we present to society, and our private conduct and inner reality, a problem of universal significance. These books are a treasure and warrant every superlative.

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

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Calculations are only as good as your numbers
Pants on fire?
Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed.
Very Interesting
History as Science Fiction

History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Anatoly Fomenko
Manufacturer: Mithec
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 2913621058

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

North Shore Long Island: Country Houses, 1890-1950

Average customer rating:

Beautiful...
Best Gold Coast book
FASCINATING ARM CHAIR VISITS
GOLD COAST

North Shore Long Island: Country Houses, 1890-1950
Paul J. Mateyunas
Manufacturer: Acanthus Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0926494376
Release Date: 2007-03-16

Product Description

NORTH SHORE LONG ISLAND: Country Houses, 1890 1950 covers 40 of the region s most noted homes, representing the breadth and variety of architectural design and the social and sporting life that characterized the North Shore in its golden age. Drawing on 15 years of extensive research and introducing dozens of never-before-published original photographs and social records, author Paul J. Mateyunas traces the stories of the grand estates and the people who built and occupied them. Each estate covered in the book was carefully chosen; many are written about in detail for the first time. Scarce source information, much of it provided by heirs of the original estate families, clarifies incomplete or misleading information offered by other books on the subject. Each estate is illustrated with both exterior and interior views of the residence, the outbuildings for service and sport, and lushly landscaped grounds that made Long Island famous.

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful..........2007-04-15

Wow.

I grew up in Old Brookville and was drawn to this book. While I know some of the history, and remember bits of it from anecdotes and people and stories from my childhood, Mr. Mateyunas has done a compelling, well researched job of evoking a lost era of a magical time in American history. And even better, he has captured all of it in one beautiful book.

He has done a masterful job (and this from someone who writes for a living). I shall give this book as a gift and am proud to have it in my library.

"And so we beat on, boats against the current..." FSF

Best Gold Coast book.......2007-04-14

This book is absolutely amazing. It is by far the best book out there for this part of Long Island, in this particular time period. There are so many pictures that I've never been able to find anywhere else. My only complaint is that there wasn't enough information about the few houses in the back part of the book (one of them is my old house and I can't find any info about it anywhere!!). Finally someone has put all of the best info about the classic North Shore together in one place. Excellent work!

FASCINATING ARM CHAIR VISITS.......2007-04-09

Ever imagine what it might have been like to have dinner with F. Scott Fitzgerald and Zelda, to attend one of the fabulous parties so vividly painted in his literature? Their time is often called the Gilded Age, and it truly must have been if the amazing homes featured in North Shore Long Island are examples of houses they frequented.

As most know, the North Shore of Long Island borders Long Island Sound and once boasted some 1,000 stately homes, more accurately mansions, earning that area the sobriquet Gold Coast. These were the homes of the rich and famous, the celebrated, and a gathering place for those who yearned to be a part of their storied existence.

In all probability, it is the setting for Fitzgerald's The Great Gatsby (1925) with its memorable descriptions of privileged lives. North Shore homes with their varied architecture, verdant gardens, pools, furniture and appointments once outshone any to be found elsewhere in America or in Europe.

Art historian Paul J. Mateyunas has selected 40 of these homes as the focus of "North Shore Long Island/Country Houses 1890 - 1950." He not only presents 350 duotones and floor plans in his beautiful volume but also traces the building of the homes and the lives of those who were in residence. All of this makes for a fascinating arm chair tour of another time in an unparalleled place.

Recommended.

- Gail Cooke

GOLD COAST.......2007-03-28

Acanthus Press rocks..and this is another great book from them..this book is fantastic. The North Shore of Long Island is the benchmark for high society living..the movie The Great Gatsby may have been filmed in Newport, but it was about the Gold Coast. This is the bastion of WASP high society of the turn of the century into the sixties. The book itself is perfect, scholarly text and crisp, vivid images. Highly recommended, you wont be disappointed.

Commander's Kitchen : Take Home the True Taste of New Orleans With More Than 150 Recipes from Commander's Palace Restaurant

Average customer rating:

Brings fond memories to mind
Great compliment to a great restaurant!
Eating great...New Orleans style!
Learn about Creole and Cajun cuisine...
Creole Class Act

Commander's Kitchen : Take Home the True Taste of New Orleans With More Than 150 Recipes from Commander's Palace Restaurant
Ti Adelaide Martin , and Jamie Shannon
Manufacturer: Broadway
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0767902904
Release Date: 2000-10-31

Amazon.com

Commander's Palace is an American restaurant treasure. For many years, patrons of the beloved New Orleans institution have been urging the Brennan family, its proprietors, to publish the restaurant's recipes. Commander's Kitchen, written by co-owner Ella Brennan's daughter, Ti Adelaide Martin, and Chef Jamie Shannon, realizes that wish, presenting more than 150 accessible recipes for the restaurant's acclaimed Creole dishes. These reflect a mix of French, Spanish, African, Arcadian, and Native American cooking traditions. The book also provides a glimpse of the history, lore, and daily backstage to-and-fro that have made the century-old restaurant a required dining destination.

"We like to push things to the edge," says Shannon of Commander's vibrant cooking, and in chapters that treat drinks through desserts, the book proves his point. Dishes like Shrimp Tasso with Five-Pepper Jelly, Pan-Crusted Sirloin Steak with Cayenne Butter, and Braised Lamb Shank with Merlot Mushroom Sauce are typical of the heady offerings, fare both earthy and sophisticated. Also presented are recipes for many of Commander's famed brunch dishes, the classic creamed-spinach- and artichoke-garnished Eggs Sardou among them; "The Chef's Table," a chapter of "show-off" dishes served at the restaurant's renowned in-the-kitchen table; and a selection of sweets, including Chocolate Molten Soufflé and the Creole sine qua non dessert, Bread Pudding Soufflé. Illustrated with color photos and containing technique tips throughout (readers learn, for example, the difference between sautéing and panéing), the book is an exuberant portrait of a remarkable American restaurant and its unique cuisine. --Arthur Boehm

Book Description

Commander's Palace is one of the most critically acclaimed and beloved restaurants in the country. It was named the outstanding restaurant in America by the James Beard Foundation, and is always rated the most popular restaurant in New Orleans by Zagat. It consistently receives awards from magazines such as Food & Wine, Wine Spectator, and Southern Living. A trip to New Orleans just isn't complete without a meal at Commander's Palace.

Now home cooks can bring its unmatched style, hospitality, and great food to their own tables. Reflecting the restaurant's fascinating culinary intersection--a New Orleans landmark combining native ingredients and techniques with exciting and evolving contemporary flavors--Commander's Kitchen takes readers behind the doors of a truly exciting culinary experience.

Featuring 150 recipes from the restaurant's extensive offerings and other Brennan family recipes, Commander's Kitchen describes step-by-step the secrets to Shrimp and Tasso Henican with Five-Pepper Jelly, Eggs Louis Armstrong, Pan-Seared Crusted Sirloin Steak with Cayenne Butter, Braised Lamb Shanks with Merlot Mushroom Sauce, and, the queen of Creole desserts, Bread Pudding Souffle. Of course, four varieties of gumbo are also included, along with dozens of information-packed sidebars, personal anecdotes, tips for throwing a New Orleans--style bash, and juicy tidbits of Commander's Palace lore. Lavishly illustrated with color and black-and-white photographs that beautifully capture the lively Commander's Palace spirit, Commander's Kitchen lets the good times, and the exceptional dining, roll.

Customer Reviews:

Brings fond memories to mind.......2004-05-23

If you want to remember your meals at Commander's and perhaps try one or two of the dishes on a slow weekend, you will want this on your shelf. At the same time, it will be the occasional book, not one to reach for time and again.

Great compliment to a great restaurant!.......2004-03-27

This is an excellent compliment to one of the best restaurants. Ilove to cook & eat!! Most restaurant cookbooks have cookbokks which its hard to duplicate their meals. Usually they have recipes so complicated ( require kitchen appliances the average person doesn't have or ingredients impossible to find. Nothing is further than the truth with this book. It has easy to follow recipes, which can be cooked with basic cookware. The dishes come out fantastic. If you love creole food, but can't get to New Orleans regularly-- BUY THIS BOOK. You won't regret it.

Eating great...New Orleans style!.......2003-09-08

When my wife and I recently visited the Commander's Palace restaurant and sat at the Chef's Table (located in the kitchen where you are pampered by the staff), current Executive Chef Tory McPhail wrote "Eating great...New Orleans style!" on a menu he signed as a memento of our visit. Not only was he right about the food we had at Commander's Palace that evening, but he also provides a short and to the point description for this cookbook.

This book is a must for those that "live to eat" (as opposed to those that "eat to live") and truly enjoy the New Orleans and Creole food styles. The recipes we've tried so far have turned out wonderfully (the recipe for the Chocolate Molten Souflee alone is almost worth the price of the book) and, thus far, have been easy to follow. The narratives provided by the authors about both the food and the restaurant itself are a great addition to the great recipes.

I would recommend this book, and the restaurant, to anyone.

Learn about Creole and Cajun cuisine..........2002-03-22

Having spent 4 years of my life in Texas I was introduced to the wonders of Creole and Cajun cuisine. Generally, Creole developed in the city of New Orleans using local produce but influenced by the multicultural nature of the city. Cajun (or Acadian) cooking is food from the country.

I am partial to the simplicity of one-pot cooking offered by Cajun cooking. These are wonderful hearty and spicy meals (gumbo, red beans & rice, etoufee, jambalya) that I often cook to serve large groups of people. In fact, Chef Jamie includes many of these recipes in the "crew" section of the cookbook since he used them for staff meals.

Creole Class Act.......2001-12-28

As a longtime fan of Commander's Palace (and creole and cajun cuisine in general), I found the book as much fun to read as the dishes were to prepare. The beautifully presented recipes and well written preparation tips were made all the better by the inclusion of tidbits of New Orleans and Brennan family history. This book is a must have for both veteran and novice cooks interested in preparing great Louisiana style food.

Amazon.com

Almost 500 years after Michelangelo Buonarroti frescoed the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel in Rome, the site still attracts throngs of visitors and is considered one of the artistic masterpieces of the world. Michelangelo and the Pope's Ceiling unveils the story behind the art's making, a story rife with all the drama of a modern-day soap opera.

The temperament of the day was dictated by the politics of the papal court, a corrupt and powerful office steeped in controversy; Pope Julius II even had a nickname, "Il Papa Terrible," to prove it. Along with his violent outbursts and warmongering, Pope Julius II took upon himself to restore the Sistine Chapel and pretty much intimidated Michelangelo into painting the ceiling even though the artist considered himself primarily a sculptor and was particularly unfamiliar with the temperamental art of fresco. Along with technical difficulties, personality conflicts, and money troubles, Michelangelo was plagued by health problems and competition in the form of the dashing and talented young painter Raphael.

Author Ross King offers an in-depth analysis of the complex historical background that led to the magnificence that is the Sistine Chapel ceiling along with detailed discussion of some of the ceiling's panels. King provides fabulous tidbits of information and weaves together a fascinating historical tale. --J.P. Cohen

Book Description

“There is no other work to compare with this for excellence, nor could there be,” wrote Vasari in his Lives of Artists.

The extraordinary story behind Michelangelo’s masterpiece in the Sistine Chapel - from the author of the acclaimed Brunelleschi’s Dome.

In 1508 Pope Julius II commissioned Michelangelo to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. Though he considered himself primarily a sculptor not a painter, he laboured over it for the next four years and the result was one of the greatest masterpieces of all time.

Ross King’s fascinating new book tells the story of those four extraordinary years. Battling against ill health, financial difficulties, domestic problems and inadequate knowledge of the art of fresco, Michelangelo created figures so beautiful that, when they were unveiled in 1512, they stunned the onlookers. From Michelangelo’s experiments with the composition of pigment and plaster to his bitter rivalry with Raphael, who was working on the neighbouring Papal Apartments, Ross King paints a magnificent picture of day-to-day life on the Sistine scaffolding and outside in the upheaval of early sixteenth-century Rome.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Well worth the read.......2007-08-16

A master sculptor, who becomes a painter, to continue with his quest and passion as a sculptor. King's accounting of the painting of the sistine chapel ceiling is filled with details of day-to-day situations arranged and contrived by the artist. Micelangelo must use real world problem solving skills to deal with the realities of his times in his performance in completing a task of incrediable challenges. King convincingly clarifies and disarms some of the myths surrounding the work and working process. Clearly King has done his research and gives an insightful accounting of the life and times of Pope Julius II and his relationship with Michelangelo and other artist, architects and politicians. The warrior Pope maintains a love and support of the arts throughout his career with a special display of admiration and love for the artist, Michelanglo. He does all this while managing some strategic manuevers in an era of difficult and trying political arena. For anyone interested in the Renaissance art and artist of the time this approach to learning is a pleasant read. As for me, I am looking into what else Mr. King has to offer.

A Pretty Good Book.......2007-05-12

I found this an excellent read. It's pretty much a straight forward story of Michelangelo. It seemed to have updated information compared to "The Agony and the Ecstacy" and much less drama.

Loved it!.......2007-03-08

I am an art historian, and spent a year of grad school researching the restoration of Michelangelo's Sistine frescoes. I only with that this book had been published when I was still in grad school. Ross King writes very well, with good research of primary sources.

A Lasting Work of Art:17,000/Day Visit The Sistine Chapel.......2007-01-16

At the age of 33, the sculptor Micelanagelo Buonarroti, was summoned to Rome by Pope Julius II. Having been essentially fired from the job of sculpting the Pope's tomb, this strong willed artist defied and denied the invitation as long as he could. Since his patrons, the Medici, did not want a war over this, he reluctantly went. To finally arrive and learn that the task was a mamouth painting assignment must have been a shock. He was not a painter. He wanted to finish the tomb.

Then follows the amazing story of how he did it. This reluctant artist gave it his all created an enduring work of art. The book covers the fresco process, how paints were made and their components procured and how the sculptor turned painter defied the architect and built his own scaffold. Going in order of their creation, the panels are explained.

While Michelangelo is painting, Pope Julius is also busy. He's having Rapheal paint his apartments and making wars. At one point the fear of invasion is so great there was fear for the paintings. Michelangelo's family is busy too. They hound him for money and want to exploit his contacts.

The book tells the tale but leaves you wanting more. You're only teased with the character development of the two principles. For instance, that Michelangelo's father beat him for drawing as a child is merely mentioned. The reader doesn't have a feel for the personal relationship of Michelangelo and Julius, only the formal one. A few weeks ago I read Basilica which led me to this. The very brief sketches of Julius and Michelangelo in Basilica are more compelling.

Perhaps the hardcover has more photos. The paperback's are wanting but this can be remedied with several internet sites that have the images. The black and whites that appear with the text, such as Michelangelo's sketch of the scaffold and the various portraits, appear on the right pages to help the reader visualize the story and times.

The book will no doubt be a classic, because it brings together so much of the period in a highly readable style.

The god within Man.......2006-12-22

While I read this book, repeatedly I had to remind myself that despite the drama on so many pages [the drama of clashing personalities, the drama of papal-declared wars, the drama of artistic competition, the drama of family obligations/frustrations], this was no "historical novel." The "characters" were actual people who existed and a great deal of the action is actually accounted for through the original writings of Michelangelo himself [for example, to his brothers and father] as well as of his contemporaries like Vasari and Bramante.

The descriptions of what a day consisted of for Michelangelo and his assistants as they tackled all the logistics of painting something as epic [epic in space, style and substance] as the Sistine Chapel - well, even these "quieter" elements of King's story grabbed me. It made me respect Michelangelo more and more deeply as I read into what it took to retain the necessary funds for materials for scaffolding, plaster and paints, mixing the various paints, transfering the outlines of the images into the wet ceiling to accomplish the amazing frescoes that we still enjoy today, so many hundreds of years after their original creation.

Add to that, King manages something along the lines of an art-in-context education course - you learn about the politics of the day, who the power brokers were, whether it was the Pope himself or one of the many Medici, who owned what land and who pledged allegiance to who.

Finally, the paperback version that I read had many black & white images sprinkled throughout the chapters that are of Michelangelo's sketches and other works, along with a handful of color prints of the Sistine Chapel.
You will find yourself repeatedly returning to those color images as you read about Michelangelo's painting of Genesis or Noah or even the many architectural accents.

Michelangelo, even though he was essentially forced into this painting commission when what he truly desperately wanted was to design & execute a 3-story, 40-taue layout for Pope Julius II's burial in St. Peter's Basilica -- which we only get the slightest taste of with his powerful and amazing rendition of Moses, which is contained within the comparatively tiny San Pietro in Vincoli church -- created what should truly be considered of the wonders of the "modern" world... we will never see his equal and King does right by the man who had the ability to create reality with paint and marble like a god creating man out of some baser element.

King's words bring the era and the man to life.

The Shakespeare Wars: Clashing Scholars, Public Fiascoes, Palace Coups

Average customer rating:

If you love Shakespeare....
Carelessness
"The shock of pleasure"
Fascinating, inspiring... but oh, SO irritating
Get Excited about Shakespeare...that's the Message.

The Shakespeare Wars: Clashing Scholars, Public Fiascoes, Palace Coups
Ron Rosenbaum
Manufacturer: Random House
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Authors | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books

Shakespeare the Thinker
Shakespeare and Co.: Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Dekker, Ben Jonson, Thomas Middleton, John Fletcher and the Other Players in His Story
A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599
Shakespeare's Philosophy: Discovering the Meaning Behind the Plays
Explaining Hitler: The Search for the Origins of His Evil

ASIN: 0375503390
Release Date: 2006-09-19

Book Description

“[Ron Rosenbaum] is one of the most original journalists and writers of our time.”
–David Remnick

In The Shakespeare Wars, Ron Rosenbaum gives readers an unforgettable way of rethinking the greatest works of the human imagination. As he did in his groundbreaking Explaining Hitler, he shakes up much that we thought we understood about a vital subject and renews our sense of excitement and urgency. He gives us a Shakespeare book like no other. Rather than raking over worn-out fragments of biography, Rosenbaum focuses on cutting-edge controversies about the true source of Shakespeare’s enchantment and illumination–the astonishing language itself. How best to unlock the secrets of its spell?

With quicksilver wit and provocative insight, Rosenbaum takes readers into the midst of fierce battles among the most brilliant Shakespearean scholars and directors over just how to delve deeper into the Shakespearean experience–deeper into the mind of Shakespeare.

Was Shakespeare the one-draft wonder of Shakespeare in Love? Or was he rather–as an embattled faction of textual scholars now argues–a different kind of writer entirely: a conscientious reviser of his greatest plays? Must we then revise our way of reading, staging, and interpreting such works as Hamlet and King Lear?

Rosenbaum pursues key partisans in these debates from the high tables of Oxford to a Krispy Kreme doughnut shop in a strip mall in the Deep South. He makes ostensibly arcane textual scholarship intensely seductive–and sometimes even explicitly sexual. At an academic “Pleasure Seminar” in Bermuda, for instance, he examines one scholar’s quest to find an orgasm in Romeo and Juliet. Rosenbaum shows us great directors as Shakespearean scholars in their own right: We hear Peter Brook–perhaps the most influential Shakespearean director of the past century–disclose his quest for a “secret play” hidden within the Bard’s comedies and dramas. We listen to Sir Peter Hall, founder of the Royal Shakespeare Company, as he launches into an impassioned, table-pounding fury while discussing how the means of unleashing the full intensity of Shakespeare’s language has been lost–and how to restore it. Rosenbaum’s hilarious inside account of “the Great Shakespeare ‘Funeral Elegy’ Fiasco,” a man-versus-computer clash, illustrates the iconic struggle to define what is and isn’t “Shakespearean.” And he demonstrates the way Shakespearean scholars such as Harold Bloom can become great Shakespearean characters in their own right.

The Shakespeare Wars offers a thrilling opportunity to engage with Shakespeare’s work at its deepest levels. Like Explaining Hitler, this book is destined to revolutionize the way we think about one of the overwhelming obsessions of our time.

Customer Reviews:

If you love Shakespeare...........2007-07-17

... then buy this book.

That's all I can really say.

Carelessness.......2007-06-17

At first, I was annoyed by the lack of citations Rosenbaum gives to Shakespeare's text but now my annoyance goes beyond that. For an example of the kind of carelessness that put me off the book turn to page 269. Here, Rosenbaum, in a discussion of lineation, quotes lines from Richard II, and states that they are from "the unmodernized FOLIO version" of the play but does not say which act and scene they are from. One has to hunt around for them. When I found them on page 353 of Hinman's Facsimile, (Page 31, second column, of the Histories), I saw that Rosenbaum does not quote the text of the Folio accurately. Rosenbaum has a comma after "too" but the 1623 Folio has a colon. He should have:
I should to Plashy too: but time will not permit,
All is uneven, and everything is left at six and seven.

He then gives the same lines as given in the Riverside edition.

I should to Plashy too,
But time will not permit. All is uneven,
And everything is left at six and seven.

He seems to have given these accurately, but again there was no citation of the act and scene where the lines come from.

On the next page, Rosenbaum writes "Not only is it an instance of the jeweled clockwork of Shakespearean verse, not only is it another instance, he [John Andrews] suggests, in which one imagines that Shakespeare may have overseen the printing in order to ensure that the expressive irregularity of the meter was persevered in the lineation...." Since Shakespeare was buried in April 1616 and the Folio was not published until 1623, the Bard must have overseen the printing in Jaggard's printing house from beyond the grave.
Perhaps Rosenbaum meant to write "Quarto" where he wrote "Folio." But even if he meant "Quarto" he still does not quote the First Quarto of Richard II (published in 1597) correctly.

"The shock of pleasure".......2007-04-24

In studying and teaching the Bard, I always wonder if I am over-praising or under-estimating Shakespeare's achievement. "Is it him or is it we who are not making sense?" (524) Rosenbaum replies we are at fault. But this is a "felix culpa," a happy fault. He energetically plows through dozens of topics revolving around reactions of critics and directors of Shakespeare. This is not a biography; Rosenbaum has choice words for Stephen Greenblatt's recent "Will in the World." Rosenbaum's dogged pace shows his journalistic knack for standing outside the "public fiascos, palace coups" of his book's subtitle, the better to examine "clashing scholars." Digging in, he holds his ground against formidable experts.

He's able to summarize Stephen Bloom's rhetorical application of antanaclasis in Sonnet 40: "like pulsating alliteration, evokes a sense of insecurity, of flux, of motion..." (471) This whole book, in fact, is Rosenbaum's effort to come to grips with a day as a grad student at Yale when he first realized this disassociation, this suspension between meanings, this either-and-or-plus-more capability that he argues Shakespeare, more than any other writer ever, at his best conveys to us. Still, this "exegetical despair" at never having enough time to get to the bottom of Shakespeare's "floating signifiers" persists.

In fact, Rosenbaum's status as a drop-out from an Ivy League doctoral program in English enables him to return to textual studies, critical debates, academic cogitation, and performance anxieties with aplomb-- and perhaps a wish to settle scores with fusty scholars and fussy thespians.
I found myself certainly eager to return to my student seminar on Lear, to pick up for the first time since college Antony & Cleopatra, or to re-discover the overlooked Troilus & Cressida. But, admittedly, the amount of detail, the intricacy of the arguments, and the rapidity with which parts of this study move too quickly all present any prospective reader of "The Shakespeare Wars" (not the best title, either) with reason to reflect. This book took me over two weeks on and off, and it demands-- as is only fair given its subject-- close attention and unwavering recall.

Often Rosenbaum sets up a point that he may not return to for hundreds of pages; he takes up as an aside concerns that far ago at a later stage in his quest to uncover Shakespeare's spell. He expects more than that elusive "generally educated reader" for you need to have read the plays he talks about. No plot summaries here; he takes what is odd for a mass-market account of the drama in that he writes at a level thankfully more accessible than the usual critic (which isn't hard these days, admittedly) but nonetheless a tone that implies on every page you need to have done as nearly an intensive scrutiny of the plays as he has had the stamina, the intellect, and the passion to pursue over thirty-five years.

The high points for me were his treatment of Shylock as performed too genteely by actors today afraid to admit that Shakespeare may have been one of his time and not above it in some universalist humanism in presenting a Jewish villain. Rosenbaum confronts Steven Berkoff and Henry Goodman, both British Jewish actors who in Rosenbaum's estimation have with varying degrees of success tried to make this play and its main character still worthy of a post-1945 performance of a drama more controversial now perhaps than it presumably in Shakespeare's London. Rosenbaum's own determination to argue for the play's antisemitism as its central and essential core despite "universalist" efforts to soften its edge make for stimulating reading.

He follows with a suitable interlude showing that Shakespeare on film for us can outshine its theatrical productions today-- by virtue of close-ups, subtle vocal expression, voiceover of soliloquys, and crafting of scenes without the stage's necessity to thunder out and soldier on for hours more. He recommends Welles' Falstaff, Burton's Hamlet, Olivier's Richard III, and Brook's Lear above all else. To his credit, he gives fair space to Harold Perrineau's stunning Mercutio in Luhrmann's Romeo; on the other hand he barely mentions Taymor's Titus, Parker's Othello, Branagh's Hamlet & Henry or Almeyredra's Hamlet although he seems to like much in them at their best. Not to mention his lack of explanation of what's good and bad in the 1980s BBC TV series that filmed for the first time the entire set of plays. Much more is needed than what his film chapter gives.

Too often, Rosenbaum mentions asides that to me proved more appealing than his main examples. I never figured out what adds up from Brook's "Secret Play" concept or the cumulative effect on stage of Cic Berry's vocal experiments in rehearsals. The Socinian heresy may have much to suggest about Merchant and Empson in "Milton's God" had much to provide about the Doctrine of Christian Satisfaction, but Rosenbaum raises such points only to then rush past them in his determination to transcribe yet another interview with an actor or director. These conversations are often enlightening, but there lurks an understandable if still awkward tendency of the journalist to put himself too forward as the antagonist, the devil's advocate, the naysayer.

There are places, as with his demolishment of Harold Bloom's ridiculous claims for Falstaff as the epitome of Shakespeare's "invention of the human" as we have inherited his conceptual paradigm, where he seems to have that personal agenda come out too much. Revenge for those Yale sherry parties when he witnessed his classmates fawning over Bloom is understandable. But it does undermine the intellectual rigor of his critique of that orotund mandarin.

Unfortunately, this hefty and handsomely designed book lacks any way to track down quotations from his sources. Bibliographic endnotes are engrossing, but the lack of specific citations for hundreds of quotes is disappointing in a book that tries to connect a wider audience to insider debates. Despite an imperfect result, this is one of the rare books that bridges the gap between the ranks of (in the phrase of one of them, Linda Charnes) "yuppie guerrilla academics" and the rest of us. Rosenbaum, for all this book's unevenness and exhausting mass of half-digested material, cares about getting us to share his enthusiasm. Pleasure-- how rarely do we find this concept at the heart of a critic's search for aesthetic wonder? Grace, infinitude, love, sea change, the abyss, forgiveness, transport outside of ourselves: Rosenbaum seeks the source of his "reader reception" by hunting down everyone he can who may guide him to the elusive source of Shakespeare's power and control over him-- and, he urges, if we wish to follow him, Shakespeare's trail blazed for us.

I don't understand, apropos, why Rosenbaum agrees with an assertion that we are the last generation who will be able to comprehend Shakespeare's language before it becomes as antiquated and inaccessible as is Chaucer's Middle English to non-specialists. He raises this point, typically, but never elaborates on it. He raves about Kevin Kline's Falstaff but skims over how Kline's acting in part 2 of Henry IV alters from part 1: a topic that previously Rosenbaum insists upon for many detailed pages. Too often, Rosenbaum seems so excited about his adventure that he forgets we have a hard time keeping up with his dash.

He's no Bardolator. Rather, he wishes us to uncover the intensity of what we read and witness as "the language of thought" as it emerges onto paper or into the spotlights. He argues for what matters in Shakespeare as an aesthetic achievement-- in fact one more apparent to those of us outside today's academy. We may be mocked by those claiming "the institutionalist debunking of the bourgeois subject" from ivory towers to speak rather for the oppressed. I teach some of these less- privileged, literarily-challenged students every day, far from the Ivy League. I'd ask Charnes: how should I teach them Shakespeare? How explain his appeal to the person next to me on the bus? Getting "ordinary folks" to understand a bit of Shakespeare's art brings the original aim of the playwright home. As one critic mentions, anyone can experience the complex reactions Rosenbaum or critics or directors know. The only difference is that the professionals know how to articulate it, and can re-experience it with increasingly adept awareness. What Wordsworth labelled as simultaneous dissassociation and association: this quality marks Shakespeare's inexhaustible, endlessly renewable "moral complexity" as well as artistic achievement.

The inexhaustability of good art may sound old-fashioned, but Rosenbaum near the opening of his book shows how Shakespeare rewards our investment-- with compound interest. For many people today, accustomed to obvious presentation of vapid messages, Shakespeare may nudge them out of their shell. They are often scared of him. Rosenbaum likewise demystifies Shakespeare for a wider audience. He understands the academic arguments and translates their findings to those of us whom scholarly articles and learned books may rarely reach: the common reader.

Fascinating, inspiring... but oh, SO irritating.......2007-03-25

Absolutely great, stimulating material. Rosenbaum has both thought deeply about Shakespeare and had the contact with leading critics and directors to make this a compelling intellectual journey that anyone with a deep interest in Shakespeare should read. In fact, I know of no similar book, one that so carefully and successfully treads the narrow line between scholarship and journalism.

All that said, the incomplete sentences irritated me increasingly as I got deeper into the book. They make the reader stumble, and they're unnecessary. Interestingly, they don't seem to be a hallmark of this writer's other work, at least judging from his compendium of essays published as The Secret Parts of Fortune. Why here, then? I have no idea, but they detracted seriously from what would otherwise be one of the best books I've read in quite a while.

Get Excited about Shakespeare...that's the Message........2007-03-23

With so many excellent books about Shakespeare, where do you start...with Harold Bloom or Ron Rosenbaum? What book would you give to the teenager who is afraid of the Bard. I would select this book, not because it contains the best analysis of the plays, but because it imparts an infectious enthusiasm that is irrepressible. Over and over again, the author talks about how HE reacts to a performance or a line or a film of the Bard...and that is good. He starts with his overwhelming experience of seeing (Peter Brook's) Midsummer Night's Dream in Britain, an experience perhaps similar to the ecstasy of St. Theresa in brushing close to God. (I never saw that performance but I was impressed with Max Reinhardt's black and white film of the DREAM produced in 1935)

Let's take an example of how he approaches Shakespeare. He rails against the recent attempts to soften Shylock and the anti-semitism of the Merchant of Venice. In response, I believe that Shylock is a deeply complex character and that the recent attempts such as Al Pacino's film performance are valid. The point is not the argument but that the author forces us to think about the issue. Again, that is good. Thus, I wholeheartedly recommend the volume to get excited about the meanings of the plays.

Ron Rosenbaum deliberately avoids discussing the biography of Shakespeare and indeed argues that much of the biographical work is counterproductive. To him what matters are Shakespeare's words, not Shakespeare's bed partners. The argument against the biographies is a point well taken. To quote the author, we don't know much about Homer yet we can still read and appreciate his Illiad and Odyssey just the same. Indeed.

Plantation Homes of Louisiana and the Natchez Area

Average customer rating:

Okay Book But Not For Repeat Viewing
Lovely Louisiana

Plantation Homes of Louisiana and the Natchez Area
David King Gleason
Manufacturer: Louisiana State University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Louisiana Plantation Homes: A Return to Splendor
Vestiges of Grandeur: The Plantation of Louisiana's River Road
Marvelous Old Mansions: and Other Southern Treasures
The Majesty of the River Road (Majesty Architecture)
Virginia Plantation Homes

ASIN: 0807110582

Customer Reviews:

Okay Book But Not For Repeat Viewing.......2007-07-17

First of all, I love the South, and love plantation homes. The photographs in this book are very good. I personally didn't enjoy the photos of the rundown and derelict plantations. I bought this book because I thought it contained BEAUTIFUL pictures of the finest homes. And most of them are very nice, BUT...First of all, this is a pricey book.I once had a slim volume offerred by the Travel bureau that was better than this book. If all you want is to have a pretty coffee table book, it's fine. I personally would have preferred they leave out the aerial photos high above the homes...and the photos of derelict, rundown plantations and included more interior shots or different angles of the really beautiful plantations. I found that I looked through it once, but will probably rarely look through it again. Though it is well done for what it is, when reading the reviews before purchasing, I had a different impression of what this book is.

Lovely Louisiana.......2005-05-14

This book just takes your breath away. The houses are so beautiful and the photographs so vivid. Louisiana is perhaps the most blessed with homes from the old south and this book does them such a great service. It's nothing short of amazing that so many of them have survived, it's a testement to the quality of the builders, mostly slaves, the cypress wood used so often and benign neglect. Thank God these wonderful homes where not burned during the Civil War or torn down by short sighted developers. It's really lucky for us that this part of Louisiana has been virtually asleep for 150 years, but in the last 30 years it has awaken like a Pheonix and these houses have been restored and cared for, I am so grateful to Mr. Gleason for having created this book and for the preservationists that saved the homes themselves. I have visited many of these grand plantations and you can't help but be in awe of the beauty and saddened at the same time about the cruel institution that created them. I most appreciate the homes that have maintained their slave quarters, everyone should have to see the way these people lived, it was not all zippidy do da zippidy aye, I assure you...one must always view the historic south through this prism to understand the struggle to overcome. I highly recommend this book to anyone with a love for all things beautiful.

Lady on the Hill: How Biltmore Became an American Icon

Average customer rating:

Lady on the Hill
Like Going To Biltmore School
Biltmore Since George Died
If you are interested in the Vanderbilts or the Biltmore Estate ... read it!
BILTMORE

Lady on the Hill: How Biltmore Became an American Icon
Howard E., Jr. Covington , and The Biltmore Company
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Historic Preservation | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Home Design | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

All Amazon Upgrade | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

History | Amazon Upgrade | Stores | Books

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Biltmore Estate (NC) (Images of America)
Biltmore Estate: The Most Distinguished Private Place
The Vanderbilts
Fortune's Children
National Geographic Guide to Americas Great Houses (National Geographic Guide to America's Great Houses)

ASIN: 0471758183

Book Description

"What William Cecil has accomplished at Biltmore Estate is one of the great preservation success stories of all time. He has set a high standard for what all historic house museums strive for: magnificently preserved buildings and grounds, engaging interpretation, and—perhaps most challenging of all—economic self-sufficiency. It is no surprise that Biltmore Estate is widely recognized as one of America's finest places to visit."
—Richard Moe, President of the National Trust for Historic Preservation

"Biltmore is a glorious national historic landmark that, through creative vision and entrepreneurial management, preserves and provides insight into a way of life in the early 1900s. Bill is the imaginative and multifaceted leader who has built this great monument to enrich his community. George and I admire his dedication and success."
—George and Abby Rockefeller O'Neill

"Bill Cecil and his team at Biltmore Estate have sure proved that they know how to build a successful business. They did it the old-fashioned way: embrace a bold idea that others said could not be done and—through commitment, determination, and hard work—bring it to life. Their achievement against the odds is inspiring, and their vision and perseverance are valuable lessons to us all."
—Don Logan, Chairman, Media & Communications Group, Time Warner

"If George Vanderbilt did nothing more than engage the two most prominent and storied designers of their time, architect Richard Morris Hunt and landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted, to carry out his vision of a European estate in the southern Appalachians, he would have created an American icon. The beauty of the method by which the estate was executed and, even today, the meticulous attention to detail, in the presentation and care of the estate by William Cecil, have brought history to life."
—Gary J. Walters, Chief Usher, The White House

Customer Reviews:

Lady on the Hill.......2007-07-12

I've read and studied regarding the lives of the Vanderbilt families and the Biltmore inparticular. This is truly one of the BEST books I've read. We've all learned about the house and George Vanderbilt's ideas and thinking on building Biltmore. This book describes the life of his wife Edith and their daughter Cornelia after his death and what they had to go through to keep Biltmore after his death. The research is absolutely amazing. For anyone who is interested or obsessed with The Biltmore, this is a MUST read.

Like Going To Biltmore School.......2007-06-27

Half way through the book it just becomes tedious. There is a fair amount of repetition. I had to purchase another book because this one lacks enough photos. We are planning a trip there in the coming weeks
and now I think I know more than I need to know.

Biltmore Since George Died.......2007-03-09

This book is intriguing for those who enjoy nonfiction. It describes how Biltmore formed a business to keep from being sold and subdivided, what happened to the family members since George's death, and the relationship between Biltmore and the city of Asheville, among other things. It is extremely interesting if you would like to know more about the history of the estate and its families.

If you are interested in the Vanderbilts or the Biltmore Estate ... read it!.......2006-11-26

There is not a whole lot of literature around when it comes to the Vanderbilts and the Biltmore. SO this book is a refreshing and very easy to read story about the Vanderbilts and their successes leading up to the building of Biltmore taking 6 years.

Everyone that can find the time and is planning to visit the Biltmore should read this before going. The Biltmore is so large and there are so many things to see that a visit requires some advanced planning to get the whole picture about this family and this American marvel. After our first visit to the Biltmore during this year's Christmas lights, we bought an annual access pass (upgrade while your day pass is still valid and you save a bundle), this and a picture history book. Now we are planning to go back and be prepared to really udnerstand this marvellous site.

BILTMORE.......2006-10-09

Very interesting read on how Vanderbilt heir's found a way to afford to maintain this behemouth in the foothills of the Appalations. Biltmore is without peer as far as American's great houses go, it looks like the kind of place Frances I and Catherine de Medici would have felt right at home in, it's quite simply a breathtaking tour de force, but as such a true money pit and the proverbial white elephant. You have to give Vanderbilt heir, Mr. Cecil, credit for finding people to tell him how to do what his grandfather could not, and that is to make this place, if not make money, at least break even; indeed, not an easy task. As someone who has toured Richard Morris Hunt's anachronistic Biltmore, I for one applaud his efforts; the mansion looks great and the tour is very well persented, although, very expensive, but I suppose one has to look at it as a donation of sorts, to help to assure the vital survival of this singular American mansion, and the fact it helps enrich, the already rich Vanderbilt's, I suppose it an unfortunate biproduct I can live with, frankly the Vanderbilt's, thanks to the slash and burn ruthlessness of the Commador, will probably always have wealth, well at least they gave us Anderson Cooper. Good read, highly recommended.

Princely Rajasthan: Rajput Palaces and Mansions

Average customer rating:

Princely Rajasthan: Rajput Palaces and Mansions
Antonio Martinelli , and George Michell
Manufacturer: Vendome Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Home Design | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Royal Palaces of India
The Unforgettable Maharajas: One Hundred and Fifty Years of Photography (Roli Books)
Rajasthan
Maharaja: Princely States
India Modern

ASIN: 0865652406

Book Description

Rajasthan is a growing destination for both Indian and Western visitors, who are attracted by the region's history, tradition, luxurious hotels, and cuisine. This lush new book, written by a leading architecture and social historian, traces the evolution of palace architecture in Rajasthan from the 16th to the early 20th century. George Michell focuses on the major capitals of Rajput power, including Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, and Bikaner, as well as the lesser centers of Alwar, Bundi, Kota, and Jaisalmer, providing a glimpse into the lives of the often-colorful maharajas who lived in these and other fantastic palaces.

From the early fortresses of Chitor and Amber to the spacious city complexes in Jaipur and Udaipur and the Art Deco-style Umaid Bhavan in Jodhpur, Princely Rajasthan is at once a remarkable architectural history and a sumptuous visual evocation of Rajput courtly life. Antonio Martinelli's dazzling photographs bring to life the magnificent settings of the palaces, their outstanding architectural features and murals, and the royal collections of paintings, furniture, palanquins, and armor. AUTHOR BIO: George Michell trained as an architect and has a Ph.D. in Indian archaeology. He has published numerous books on Islamic and Indian architecture. Antonio Martinelli is an internationally renowned photographer who has worked extensively in India, Europe, and Japan.

Private Splendor: Great Families at Home

Average customer rating:

Excellent!
Amazing book with private views of fabulous splendor
Some stayed away
Good subjects ruined by photography

Private Splendor: Great Families at Home
Alexis Gregory
Manufacturer: Vendome Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Historic Preservation | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

General | Home Design | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Classic Greenwich Style
Rooms
Classic English Design and Antiques: Period Styles and Furniture
The New Eighteenth-Century Style: Rediscovering a French Décor
Axel Vervoordt: Timeless Interiors

ASIN: 0865651701

Book Description

This beautiful volume explores eight European estates that, despite war, taxes, and the passage of time, have remained in the same families for centuries. The photographs are redolent in atmosphere and the text is revealing, due to the author's long friendships with the owners of these great houses. Offering an inside view of a highly refined way of life, Private Splendor reveals the secrets that kept these homes in private hands. The houses include Seville's Casa de Pilatos, owned by Spain's most illustrious grandee; Harewood House in Yorkshire, owned by a cousin of Queen Elizabeth; Germany's Schloss Regensburg, occupied by the flamboyant Princess Gloria von Thurn and Taxis; and the Palazzo Sachetti near Vatican City, whose enormous Sala dei Mapi is entirely frescoed by Francesco Salviati (1510-1563).

Customer Reviews:

Excellent!.......2007-06-13

This book is excellent! If you've ever wondered what it must be like to live in grandeur like the British nobility and some European Royal Families, then this is the book for you!

Buy it today!

Amazing book with private views of fabulous splendor .......2007-02-05

This is a fabulous book. I bought the book because of my connection and time spent at Harewood House in England. The photographs are so fantastic and the text very competent. Which in the case of Harewood is quite an accomplishment since the history is long and quite complicated. Alexis Gregory is to be congratulated on getting all the facts right. I know this home intimately and the photos show Harewood just as it is in all its glory.

I was also fascinated with St. Emmeram Palace in which I have also spent much time. Again the images and the accompanying text are best examples of their craft.

But the best part of the book was discovering other stately homes and palaces that I did not know about. It was exciting to get a look inside these private spaces. A more beautiful book will be hard to come by. I could not put it down. The only complaint with the whole book is that there was not more of it- more photos and more homes included!

I am often disappointed by such photography/history books, but this is the exception to that rule.

My highest compliments!

Some stayed away.......2007-01-29

Beautiful objects, great architecture, photos show dark inhospitable living conditions of a time gone by. I would have liked more photos of living areas and brighter conditions

Good subjects ruined by photography.......2007-01-27

The author has arranged to enter some of the oldest, most ornate historical family residences in Europe -- homes we would not otherwise be able to see or tour, in many instances -- thereby providing an opportunity to see what generations have accumulated in these grand mansions. Unfortunately, the photographer is, like so many French photographers of interiors, incompetent.

Virtually all of the images have deep shadows over much of the interior, allowing very little to be seen. We see this repeatedly in French publications focused on interiors, leading us to believe that perhaps French photographers have never learned how to use any supplemental lighting at all, certainly not effectively. This is usually essential in allowing one to actually look at the detail of the decor. Only Naudin and Bardlay, among French architectural photographers, are generally able to make the "available lighting only" approach work and when their work is paired with that of a Skrebneski (as in the Givenchy book), it pales by comparison. Why would the publishing house have accepted these photographs?

A further, minor observation: in two of the homes, the owners are shown. Aside from Princess TNT, (and this is a bit nasty, but what the hell, these books are supposed to be fun to look at) showing the owners in these cases was not a wise editorial choice. When a Conde Nast publication shows a homeowner in an interior, you can be certain he (or far more often, she) will be highly photogenic. If, when showing a home, the resident duchess could, at best, be described as having an "unfortunate" visage, Slim Aarons could usually find a comely young housemaid going about her duties to include in the photos instead.

Poor photography results in a waste of unusual access.

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