Courtyards: Aesthetic, Social, and Thermal Delight

Book Description

COURTYARDS
Aesthetic, Social, and Thermal Delight
Courtyards is an artful, informative exploration of courtyards, from their origins in early civilization to contemporary design concepts. Architects and landscape architects will repeatedly turn to the detailed guidelines for reference, gain a greater sense of balance between building and garden, and cultivate optimal green space by using the practical planting tips. Over one hundred photographs and drawings illustrate the concepts written about by an authority and passionate scholar in his field.

Customer Reviews:

Stunning!.......2007-08-11

This book surpassed all my expectations. I was looking for a book full of photographs of Spanish courtyards, to assist me with constructing my own "patio" at home. I was delighted when I found not only loads of beautiful photographs, but also incredible detail about how to construct a courtyard, which direction it should face, keeping it warm in winter and cool in summer, how courtyard entrances work, thermal sailing, what to plant, and more! I have really enjoyed using this book to plan my own private oasis. I would have loved to have seen more colour photographs (many are black and white, but most are colour), and it would have been ideal if courtyard construction in the southern hemisphere had also been considered (I live in southern Australia, where the climate is very similar to southern Spain), but these minor issues did not interfere with my enjoyment of the book.

Courtyards: Aesthetic & Function.......2006-05-18

"Courtyards: Aesthetic, Social, and Thermal Delight" begins with a brief history of courtyards including itemized accounts of such topics as placement within a building, orientation, exposure, and the promotion of temperature conditions within a courtyard.

Over 50 full-color photographs from Spain and Latin America supplement the second section. Temperature charts, solar diagrams, and other key technical data accompany these images.

Finally an extensive section of planning and design guidelines highlighting factors for consideration such as daytime/nighttime temperature ranges, zoning regulations, proportions, and proposals for driveways and use of rainwater.

Architects, landscape architects, and building designers will find useful information for creating or renovating any courtyard. Students will also find this an inclusive reference. This is not a title of tremendous value to the casual reader.

Couryards: Interacting with nature.......2005-11-06

I got this book several years ago on an inter-library loan from NDSU. It's a great book. The only problem is that it's relatively expensive -- $60 or so.

I'm not an architect, but over ten years ago I built a geodesic dome on an Indian Reservation with the permission of the local district. Assuming you can afford it, where and how you live is the most important spiritual element of your life.

Professor Reynolds approaches his subject with this sort of wonderment. Someday, I hope to build again using some of his ideas as a base. I've never met him, though I would certainly like to sometime. And, I don't know any of these other reviewers who, like me, seem to be very swayed by his writing. (The only reason I mention this is because of one reviewer who felt that there was a certain intellectual dishonesty in the sameness of the praise for this book.) If you're interested in creating harmonious personal space, then you should fork over the $60 or get it from your local library like I did.

Honest Reviews?.......2004-03-03

Were all the reviews written by the author? Give me a break! The fact that every review sounds the same will keep me from ever purchasing this book. In that case, I guess all the reviews helped!

THE Book on Courtyards........2002-05-09

Courtyards is a terrific book, the result of 20+ years of loving research. Oregon Professor John Reynolds is crazy for courtyards and it certainly shows.
A courtyard is a space surrounded by a building, often surrounded by a house. There are all manner of courtyards, large, small, huge, quiet, loud. Some are open and others are terribly private. But all good courtyards have things in common. In the landscapes most of us in the US are used to, we have a house and the gardens are on the outside and we see them before we see the house. In a sense these landscapes serve mostly as dressing to enhance the outward look of the house. But a fine courtyard garden is different. It is smack in the middle of the house and the house surrounds it. It is not wide open to the world, but instead is a place to get away from it all, a place to be outside, but not to be out in the open. The best courtyards are open to the sky, have water, vines, a multitude of interesting flowers, trees, potted plants. A large number of the very finest courtyard plants are discussed in detail in this excellent book. I was struck by how interesting the numerous photos and designs were. Profusely illustrated, each one serves a definitive purpose. I was struck too, by how many different things go into the making of a well thought out courtyard. What is involved so that it will be warm in the winter and cool in the hot summer. What is involved so that it becomes a place where people want to be. I took many notes as I read this large book and some day I plan to build a house of my own design, and in the middle of it, I'm going to have a courtyard. And in this courtyard, I'll have all the things needed, the ingredients so carefully detailed here, that make the right courtyard a magical place. I'd recommend this book for anyone who ever plans to build their own home, for all landscape designers, for all architects, for anyone with a serious interest in horticulture and design. An excellent book.

Cultivating Delight: A Natural History of My Garden

Average customer rating:

not what I was looking for
brilliant, meditative, poetic and charming
a gardener's deligh
I loved it, and Iým not even remotely a gardener
Stop and Smell the Words

Cultivating Delight: A Natural History of My Garden
Diane Ackerman
Manufacturer: Harper Perennial
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Essays | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

General | Nature & Ecology | Science | Subjects | Books

Nature Writing | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books

Reference | Outdoors & Nature | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

A Natural History of the Senses
An Alchemy of Mind: The Marvel and Mystery of the Brain
Deep Play
A Natural History Of Love
'The Moon by Whale Light: And Other Adventures Among Bats, Penguins, Crocodilians, and Whales

ASIN: 0060505362
Release Date: 2002-10-01

Amazon.com's Best of 2001

Diane Ackerman relishes the world of her garden. As a poet, she finds within it an endless field of metaphors. As a naturalist, she notices each small, miraculous detail: the hummingbirds and their routines, the showy tulips, the crazy yellow forsythia. Of visiting deer she writes, "I love watching the deer, which always arrive like magic or a miracle or the answer to an unasked question."

In her popular book A Natural History of the Senses, Ackerman celebrates the human body; in A Natural History of My Garden, she turns her attention to the world outside the body, outside the human sphere. Structured by seasons, this is a book of subtle shifts, but the reader never feels lost. Her prose is so welcoming, at times it feels like she's talking directly to you, although her lush, poetic language is the opposite of speech.

Distracted urban readers craving a book that will transport them would do well to spend time immersed in these pages, as will gardeners who've lost appreciation for their plot. Ackerman is a generous writer--a teacher who will share treasured, obscure passages from Beckett or Hawthorne. She's emotional and highly charged, and her descriptions are so clear they're small marvels. She's remarkable for her ability to find mystery everywhere. --Emily White

Book Description

In the mode of her bestseller A Natural History of the Senses, Diane Ackerman celebrates the sensory pleasures of her garden through the seasons. Whether she is deadheading flowers or glorying in the profusion of roses, offering sugar water to a hummingbird or studying the slug, she welcomes the unexpected drama and extravagance as well as the sanctuary her garden offers.

Written in sensuous, lyrical prose, Cultivating Delight is a hymn to nature and to the pleasure we take in it.

Customer Reviews:

not what I was looking for.......2006-01-12

In an earlier book, Ms. Ackerman congratulates herself on being open to experience more than most people. In light of this, I found that in this book she is too self-absorbed in herself (ironic for someone who does at times describe the natural world so beautifully) and too enamored of her ability to write prose.
She's good at throwing in fascinating factoids on everything from space to psychology to animal behavior, but alas, seems to flit from topic to topic like a bee gathering pollen. That is to say the flow of her writing is haphazard (though a bee may indeed be more purposeful than I give it credit for here).

If most people don't seem to have as much time to smell the roses as Ackerman, perhaps that is because they work away from home full time and have children and a spouse whose needs must occasionally come before theirs. It can be hard to be open to the natural world when you're worrying about being fired or demoted or if your child has come down with the flu. I never get the sense from her books that Ackerman lives in "the real world" what with her tales of meditating, biking, rose gathering, etc.
That's lovely for her, but don't pass judgments on people with different lifestyles.

I wanted to learn more about plants and the best conditions for growing various ones. Instead, I got a book of poetic, and sometimes purple, meditations, which was all right, but not what I had expected.

brilliant, meditative, poetic and charming.......2005-05-27

i checked this book out from the library during the drab winter months of oregon, and i was so enraptured with it that i kept it for 3 weeks, reading it as slowly as possible, savoring every page. it's on my list of books to buy for myself, as well. i thought her writing was fluid and descriptive. i thoroughly enjoyed meandering along with her through her garden and through her life. i imagine her garden must be incredible. i'm no book reviewer, but i can say this: i haven't read any of ackerman's other books (yet), but this one is spectacular.

a gardener's deligh.......2004-05-23

I read this book from the library and then bought it for myself because it is definitely a re-reading book. I have read it several times now and it amazes me every time. The depth of knowledge and the decriptions of her plants along with the distractions of her life are interesting, engaging and wonderful to read. Diane is one of my favorite authors but this book combines her scientific wordy writing style with one of my loves - plants and gardening. I read it when I'm sad and it reminds me of the wonders in the world and in my yard and neighborhood. I envy her spending so much time in her garden. I highly recommend it to plant people who like to read books besides the plant manuals that tell you how to grow things, enjoying the plants is the ultimate pleasure.

I loved it, and Iým not even remotely a gardener.......2004-02-25

Gardens. They're great, and I have a lovely one in my front yard. But I can claim exactly none of the credit. My style of gardening is to sit on the front steps chatting with Teri, my gardener, while she prunes the shrubs and tucks primroses and lobelia and cyclamen into the little bare spots.
But I love reading about people who DO enjoy gardening, and Diane Ackerman is a consummate writer on the subject. I've read The Moon by Whale Light and A Natural History of the Senses, two others of her several books, and find myself equally charmed by this one. It's a casual tour through the four seasons of her upstate backyard garden. But, as she's a naturalist, a poet, and a philosopher, she doesn't stop with just the plants; she uses the plants and their interdependent roles as metaphors to browse mentally through a wide variety of topics, including what gardens can do for people more than how people can tend a garden. It's like a role reversal of sorts. Some of the subjects that her free- and far-ranging mind roams over include: how we are like plants, plant's self-defense mechanisms, why we see faces in nature, etc. Her lyrical writing and vast, encyclopedic curiosity sometimes remind me of Annie Dillard's nature writing, a comparison that should be considered a compliment to both authors.

Stop and Smell the Words.......2003-10-22

Previous reviewers, grumps and rhapsodics both, are pretty accurate in their review of this work. If you're looking for a lot of how-tos about gardening, you won't find them here. What you will find is someone who LOVES her garden, and loves reflecting on it. While the "hard labor" of gardening is something she is glad to hire other people to do for her, she revels in it's lovely blossoms and the wildlife who visit it. My husband was put off by her hiring out the hard work too, but all I could think was, "If I could afford it, I'd hire out the nasty stuff too"
I really don't think it is the author's intent to instruct us on how to garden, what she does is inform us, through her example, that delight can be found in many aspects of gardening. It is a zen-like philosophy; focus lovingly and intently on what you do.
While there are no earth shattering revelations here, Ms Ackerman's musings reminded me of poems I had forgotten, books I'd been meaning to read, and, yes, plants I'd been meaning to plant. While some may have a problem with this as an overall book, I can't imagine anyone objecting to it page-by-page. This may be one of those books to be read just a few pages at a time. Savor each page as you would a rose blossom, enjoy the loveliness of it, then move on.

The Garden of Eden and Other Criminal Delights

Average customer rating:

Faye Kellerman leaves little to the imagination.
Terrible, terrible and more terrible
A somewhat uneven, mixed bag of stories
The Big Question: How Much Of A Kellerman Fan Are You?
Surprising writing styles

The Garden of Eden and Other Criminal Delights
Faye Kellerman
Manufacturer: Grand Central Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Short Stories | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Anthologies | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Suspense | Thrillers | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Capital Crimes
The Burnt House: A Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus Novel (Peter Decker & Rina Lazarus Novels)
Obsession (Alex Delaware Novels)
Straight into Darkness
Gone (Alex Delaware Novels)

ASIN: 0446530395

Book Description

Here the backdrop of contemporary California becomes fertile ground for Kellerman's riveting tales of murder, mystery, and family ties most sinister and deadly.... Among the first-rate short mysteries in this collection, the brand-new "Garden of Eden" and "Open House" feature the famous sleuthing duo Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus. "Bull's-Eye" introduced Cindy Decker to the crime-fiction world, and "Mr. Barton's Head Case" appears here for the very first time in English. In addition, two rare personal essays allow readers glimpses into Kellerman's private life, revealing her true grit in "Small Miracles" and childhood memories of working in her father's deli in the exquisite "Summer of My Womanhood." Compiled at last in one volume, the seventeen pieces in this book feature new introductions by the author and contribute to a unique, compelling portrait of one of America's top masters of suspense. A must-have collection for all mystery fans, The Garden of Eden and Other Criminal Delights showcases how ordinary everyday experiences can be the genesis of extraordinary tales that unveil the darkest sins and secrets of the human heart.

Customer Reviews:

Faye Kellerman leaves little to the imagination........2007-04-01

Faye Kellerman, is one of the best authors i have read. Her diversity in this book of short stories, shines through impeccibly.
She not only writes about Peter Decker and Rina Lazerus, but other stories, such as a touch on Jack the Ripper, in my opinion!!
She puts such detail, in such a small story, that it's not overwhelming. Like many authors, we are left sitting there after reading, thinking and pondering what we have just read. Sometimes we even have to re-read a passage or two.
But with Faye Kellerman's novels all you have to do, is sit back, read and enjoy!

Terrible, terrible and more terrible.......2007-03-30

I agree with previous reviews and am sorely disappointed in the latest works of the Kellermans in general. Clearly, they've entered a comfort zone...

A somewhat uneven, mixed bag of stories .......2006-12-07

Faye Kellerman's novels of crime and psychological turmoil have earned a permanent spot on my reading shelves, albeit I've noticed a general slide towards a flat, repetitive style in the last few novels. But now she is taking a slightly different turn with this collection of short stories from throughout her career.

Several of her stories feature her most popular characters, those of Peter Decker, and his wife, Rina Lazarus. Others feature historical figures, characters on the edge, and all sorts of human nature. There isn't any sort of linking theme here, just that they are stories by Kellerman, and several either co-written with or inspired by her children or husband. And as usual with short story collections, several are downright creepy, a few are very good, and one or two fall short of the mark.

The Garden of Eden
This one, and the next three, are stories that feature the Deckers, a married, Orthodox Jewish couple that are very real, and good to read about. In this one, Rina and Peter have a problem at home when Rina's indoor gardening starts to get out of hand. Mixed in with this is the death of an elderly friend that has hints of foul-play and a stash of money that is missing. How both problems are resolved is done with Kellerman's deft hand at suspense.

Open House
A dead body turns up in a vacant home, and it's up to Decker and his officers to puzzle out the how and why. It's a sordid little tale of a man who gets caught with his pants down and the girlfriend is getting a little too annoying. While it's a simplistic tale, I was glad to see more of the policemen that Decker gets to work with.

Bull's-eye
This one features Decker's daughter, Cindy, who is a chip off the old block when it comes to solving crimes. This time, the murder is particularly close when one of Cindy's instructors at the police academy is gunned down in front of witnesses. But the question is who and why. Kellerman kept this one from getting too stale by tucking in a twist or two, and it's a good, tight story, perfect for your coffee break.

A Woman of Mystery
This is one of the saddest stories that I've read in a long time. Rina has an encounter with a young, troubled woman without a name or past, and it's a tale that will make all of us wonder how far we should visit the sins of the past onto the future.

The Stalker
For every woman who has been the victim of an abusive relationship, this one is sweet, sweet revenge. While I wouldn't recommend being this drastic, it's certainly soul-satisfying.

Mummy and Jack
Cowritten with her son, Jesse, Kellerman takes on the old Jack the Ripper story, but this time with a twist or two that makes it unique. And actually, it's not too bad.

Bonding
Told in first person, this is a tale to make your blood run cold at a teenage girl who's bored with her life, and decides to make mischief. The body count rises, the sins are unthinkable, and it's one of those stories that makes you wish you didn't read it. Not that it's bad, it's just that horrifying.

Discards
A female private eye takes on a case that looks simple enough -- find a cleaning woman who has vanished over several days, and the employer is concerned. There's always a deeper motive, of course, and this one turns into a question of poverty and morality over a diamond ring.

Tendrils of Love
If this tale doesn't turn you off of internet chat rooms, nothing will. There's all sorts of reasons for a woman to turn up dead in a quiet backwater in Missouri. How it all fits together is the appeal of this one.

Malibu Dog
We all know them. The neighbor with the dog. The monsterous fanged horror of both the canine and human species that has turned your little slice of paradise into an absolute hell. But as with all Kellerman stories this one has a twist.

The Back Page
It's a cute story on an old urban legend, but I found it to be a little too much. Set in a newspaper, it's the story about a reporter who always seems to be first on the spot.

Mr. Barton's Head Case
It's a tale of true love, between a man and his car. This is one of those stories that makes me wish that Kellerman used more humor in her full length novels, as when she does it, she is very good at it indeed. This one was also based on one of the more interesting bits of lore out of the Bible, updated for the modern age.

Holy Water
More humor here about a rabbi who is kidnapped during Purim in a clash of corporate giants. It's a cute tale, and it made me chuckle a bit.

Free Parking
There isn't any crime in this one, just a cozy tale of elderly women and a youngster gathered together for a family ritual of playing Monopoly.

The Luck of the Draw
Kellerman co-wrote this with her daughters for an anthology. It's an ok story, but it's such a painfully 'goody-goody' tale that I had a hard time taking it seriously.

Small Miracles
This one is a recounting of an actual event in Kellerman's life involving her mother and her children. Just a few pages long, it's still a treat.

The Summer of My Womanhood
This one is a story about Kellerman herself, working in the family business. I found it to particularly poignant and wonderful to read. It made wading through all of the other stories worth it to get to this point.

Each story comes with an introduction, where Kellerman talks about what influenced her to write the story, and some of the underlaying themes and ideas. It's a nice touch, and it helps to understand where a writer can get their ideas and topics in both fiction and non-fiction. As a collection showcasing Kellerman's talent, it's not bad, but I would only suggest it to those who are already fans of her work, and it wouldn't make that good of an introduction to her work. For that, I would recommend her earlier Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus novels.

Overall, about four stars. While mystery fans will enjoy it the most, the final stories in the collection are accessable to anyone and are very heartfelt.

Recommended

The Big Question: How Much Of A Kellerman Fan Are You?.......2006-12-02

Not everything written by well-established authors should be published. Never was this truer than when Stephen King came out with From A Buick 8 and the coauthored Colorado Kid.

Faye Kellerman has been delighting readers with her Decker/Lazzarus crime fiction novels for many years now, and most will probably snap up The Garden of Eden and Other Criminal Delights, a mish-mash collection of short stories (and a few inspired by and coauthored with some of Kellerman's close family members).

Short story fans will be as equally delighted and chagrined as Kellerman's fan-base, as this collection runs from quite good to downright terrible. The most notable are the final two stories, "Mummy and Jack" and "Holy Water."

"Mummy and Jack" was a coauthored piece with Kellerman's older son Jesse. Wickedly dark in tone, the story takes the Oedipus complex a bit over the edge and plops us uncomfortably in the middle of adult son Jack's desire to please his mother by any means necessary ...including killing.

"Holy Water," the longest story in the collection, is a hilarious romp via a Rabbi who's hijacked by some prosperous thugs that demand the formula for a rival cola company's soda. Since the Rabbi confirmed the ingredients for kosher reasons, he's on their list of men whom they need to "talk to." But the Rabbi is smarter than the thugs and twists their plans until even the bad guys come around to his way of thinking.

But from here the stories take a serious nosedive. Several of the Decker/Lazzarus stories fall flat or conclude in very ho-hum fashion. One story that focuses on Decker and his now grown daughter who's entering the police field, goes absolutely nowhere while trying to show the strains of the father/daughter relationship during an accidental shooting. Two stories were cowritten by Kellerman's other children and they read, unfortunately, more like poorly put together streams of consciousness.

If it weren't for "Holy Water" and "Mummy and Jack," this collection would be easily forgettable. But the big question: Is it worth the price of purchase just for those two stories? That probably depends on how much of a Faye Kellerman fan you are.

Surprising writing styles.......2006-11-05

Reviewed by Lynn O'Connell for Reader Views (10/06)

Crime and mystery tales, short stories and autobiographical essays are all part of this collection of works by Faye Kellerman. In all, the book contains 17 stories. Four stories, making up more than 100 of the book's 327 pages, feature Kellerman's husband-and-wife duo, Peter Decker and Rina Lazarus, from her full-length novels. And, two of these pieces are published here for the first time. One is the title piece, "The Garden of Eden," which has Lazarus and detective Decker exploring the death of their next-door neighbor. In the other new work, "Open House," Decker and police department colleagues investigate the mysterious death of a woman who was killed and left in the closet of a house for sale. Daughter Cindy makes her first appearance in "Bull's Eye," as a rookie in the police academy.

Two of the short stories are collaborations between Kellerman and her children. "The Luck of the Draw" is co-written with Kellerman's two daughters. "Mummy and Jack," written with son Jesse, is a dark tale reminiscent of Jack the Ripper.

One of my personal favorites in the collection is "Holy Water," which involves the kidnapping of a Rabbi by a soda company in an effort to discover the secret Coca-Cola formula. "Discards," featuring Kellerman's first private detective, Andrea Darling, was another favorite for me. Both tales had some mystery as well as a somewhat light and humorous ending.

The last two works in the book, "Small Miracles" and "Summer of My Womanhood," are autobiographical essays. "Small Miracles" describes Kellerman's successful capture of a mugger, while "Summer of My Womanhood" provides a look into her teen years as she worked in her father's deli.

Other stories include: "The Stalker" and "Bonding," both very dark tales with somewhat disturbing endings; "The Back Page," based on the years-old legend about fillings picking up radio transmissions; and, "A Woman of Mystery," in which Lazarus solves the mystery of a student without memories.

This collection is truly an anthology of works by Kellerman, as it includes stories from numerous genres - not just the crime/mystery stories for which she is best known. The book is also a wonderful way to get to know Kellerman and her writing style.

Each of the stories has a wonderful ending; albeit some are humorous, while others are dark and unsettling. It is amazing to see the range of Kellerman's writing capabilities all together in one book. Each short story has a very short introduction which I found interesting as I tried to put each vignette into perspective as to Kellerman's purpose and the timeframe where it fit in her writing career.

Kellerman fans will probably all enjoy this book, particularly those who are eager for another Peter Decker/Rina Lazarus novel. (The last one came out in 2005.) However, it is important to realize that this collection is not all crime and murder mysteries; fans should read the book as an opportunity to see a new side to Kellerman. I was truly surprised by some of the writing styles, including the personal essays, in the book. The book is a great read for those first-time readers of Kellerman, who then can decide if they want more.

In all, "The Garden of Eden and Other Criminal Delights" held my attention, and each story was a quick read. Some I liked, and some I didn't. But, with such a diverse range of genres represented, every reader is likely to find at least a couple of stories that will leave them wanting more writing from Kellerman.

Average customer rating:

delights of the garden
Keep up the good work
Delicious raw foods recipes!
Good book, but not does not live up to its name
Wonderful book

Delights of the Garden
Imar Hutchins
Manufacturer: Main Street Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Baking | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

General | Vegetables & Vegetarian | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books

Natural Foods | Cooking, Food & Wine | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Eating Without Heating: Favorite Recipes from Teens Who Love Raw Food
Raw Food Made Easy For 1 or 2 People
Raw Foods for Busy People: Simple and Machine-Free Recipes for Every Day
I Am Grateful: Recipes and Lifestyle of Cafe Gratitude
The Raw 50: 10 Amazing Breakfasts, Lunches, Dinners, Snacks, and Drinks for Your Raw Food Lifestyle

ASIN: 0385479654
Release Date: 1996-04-01

Customer Reviews:

delights of the garden.......2004-06-10

This is a great book for those making a gradual transition into eating raw foods. Recipes are easy to prepare and tasty, there's no raw carrot and water soup here.
Thanks Mr. Hutchins

Keep up the good work.......2000-06-05

I didn't realize how significant this book is until I didn't have it. Thanks for publishing this book Imar. More than anything in D.C. I miss Delights.

Delicious raw foods recipes!.......1999-05-10

This un-cookbook includes several basic recipes to get you started...great for someone just beginning to explore a raw foods diet. Once you taste those, you'll want to jump into the more complex recipes, many of which are combinations of the simpler ones. My favorite is the Kenyan Quiche (veggie tuna made from carrots, sweet corn salad, and seaweed "noodles" mixed together in a sesame-raisin crust). The uncooked soups are wonderful, blending veggies with heated water for warmth. I recommend a good blender or food processor for easy creation of these tasty meals. One basic recipe used throughout the book is kush, made from cracked wheat bulgar, which is not a whole, raw grain. I make my own mixture of raw grains (wheat, rye, quinoa, amaranth) and soak them for 24 hours, then substitute it for the wheat bulgar. It has a different consistency, but tasty all the same.

Good book, but not does not live up to its name.......1997-11-05

Though the book claims to be about food that is preparedwithout heat, one of the primary ingred ients is "kush",which is made out of cracked wheat bulgur - cooked! Other than that, I think it is great. END

Wonderful book.......1997-08-26

This is a wonderful book. It has appetizers, entrees, and of course desserts from Imar's Delights of the Garden Restaurants. My favorite, because it is simple and tastes great, it the basic Kush. It is basically soaked cracked bulgur wheat with seasoning and veggies, but the flavor is fantastic. The desserts are easy and taste great. For those concerned with fat intake, the recipes do not have a calorie tables and some do use oils. If you are vegan, some of the recipes call for honey, but you can substitute maple syrup to taste. I highly recommend this un-cook book. Included in the front matter is a well written discussion on nutrition and in the back is an essential nutrient appendix. One last note, make sure you have a good food processor for some of the dishes. We busted our cheap Regal belt-driven processor and bought a nice little Cuisinart direct-drive. Enjoy

Robert Kushner: Gardens of Earthly Delight

Average customer rating:

Robert Kushner: Gardens of Earthly Delight
the pleasure of discovering Kushner

Robert Kushner: Gardens of Earthly Delight
Alexander Anderson-Spivy
Manufacturer: Hudson Hills Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | History & Criticism | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Artists, A-Z | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

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

Robert Kushner: Wild Gardens
Joan Snyder
Abstract Painting: Concepts and Techniques

ASIN: 155595121X

Book Description

to please the eye and thereby satisfy the human soul.--Robert Kushner

Customer Reviews:

Robert Kushner: Gardens of Earthly Delight.......2007-05-23

Very disappointed with the book. I was hoping the book would have more flower-paintings since the book calls Gardens of Earthly Delight.
Although over half of the reproductions (about 50 of 80) are of abstract people and other abstracts instead of flowers.
Colorplates are small - pages are with huge margins.
If you like flowers of Robert Kushner rather then his other abstracts I do not recommend the book. You will be disappointed.

the pleasure of discovering Kushner.......2007-01-18

In this book I could apreciate the work of this great artist and discover our similar points of interest. Beautiful plates and good reading.

Gardens of Delight: The Great Islamic Gardens

Average customer rating:

Gardens of Delight: The Great Islamic Gardens
Christa Von Hantelmann , and Dieter Zoern
Manufacturer: DUMONT monte
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Garden Design | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

The Art of the Islamic Garden
The Persian Garden: Ecohoes of Paradise
Majorelle: A Moroccan Oasis (Small Books of Great Gardens)
Alhambra: A Moorish Paradise (Small Books of Great Gardens)
Gardens of Persia

ASIN: 3770170784

Average customer rating:

Gardens of Delight
Erica James
Manufacturer: Orion Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

General | Romance | Subjects | Books

General | Contemporary | Romance | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Love and Devotion
Airs and Graces
Holiday
Time for a Change
Paradise House

ASIN: 0752877607

Book Description

"The Gardens of Delight" brochure promises travelers the chance to visit Lake Como's most enchanting gardens. For Lucy, a trip to Italy offers more than just gardens. Lake Como is the home of her father, whom she last saw when she was just a teen. Recently married, Helen and her rich husband have just moved into the Old Rectory. With her husband often away from home, Helen throws herself into caring for the garden that was the pride and joy of its previous owner. But Helen needs help—and friends—and so decides to join the local Garden Club. Conrad isn't the least bit interested in gardening. A widower of five years, his life revolves around work and humoring his curmudgeonly Uncle Mac. Mac has expressed a desire to go on the "Gardens of Delight" tour—but only if Conrad will accompany him. Reluctantly, Conrad agrees. "Anything for a peaceful life," he concedes. But a peaceful life is the last thing any of them are in for....Winner of the 2006 Romantic Novel of the Year Award.

American Gardens in the Eighteenth Century: For Use or for Delight

Average customer rating:

A Superb Read From the Drawing Room to the Frontier

American Gardens in the Eighteenth Century: For Use or for Delight
Ann Leighton
Manufacturer: University of Massachusetts Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Landscape | Architecture | Professional & Technical | Subjects | Books

Essays | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Garden Design | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

General | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Landscape | Gardening & Horticulture | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

General | Agricultural Sciences | Science | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Restoring American Gardens: An Encyclopedia of Heirloom Ornamental Plants, 1640-1940
For Every House a Garden: A Guide for Reproducing Period Gardens
Herbs and Herb Lore of Colonial America
Landscapes and Gardens for Historic Buildings: A Handbook for Reproducing and Creating Authentic Landscape Settings: A Handbook for Reproducing and Creating ... for State and Local History Book Series)
Plants of Colonial Days

ASIN: 0870235311

Customer Reviews:

A Superb Read From the Drawing Room to the Frontier.......2001-07-10

Whether you are a casual reader or a serious garden historian, this book has something for you. It is the second of a trilogy of very fine books written on American gardening covering the 1600s, 1700s and 1800s.

While it is fascinating just to page through and you can start just about any place and enjoy yourself, it is truly indispensible if you are interested in historical gardens. This is THE bok for anyone trying to recreate a period garden to go with a house style and who wishes to know the proper design layout, plants, materials, colors and even what fruits vegetables were being grown.

It also contains nice, gossipy little tidbits of information about everyday life, when to plant, how to cultivate in the 18th century manner and lots of black and white illustrations from the period. Well footnoted, extensive glossary, lists of plants with latin names given to avoid confusion, just a top-notch piece of work.

All three books in this series are excellent. I found this one very helpful, as at the time it was reissued I was in charge of the [18th century] gardens at Fort Frederick State Park in Western Maryland.

Genius B-Boy Cynics Getting Weeded In the Garden of Delights
Average customer rating:

genius b-boy cynics

Great

even if you don't like poetry, you'll love this

worth your while...

Genius B-Boy Cynics Getting Weeded In the Garden of Delights
Adam Mansbach
Manufacturer: New Mouth from the Dirty South/Garrett County
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

20th Century | Poetry | United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Poetry | United States | World Literature | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
General | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
United States | Single Authors | Poetry | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Angry Black White Boy: A Novel

ASIN: 0966646959

Book Description

Hip hop poetry.

Customer Reviews:

genius b-boy cynics.......2001-12-08

this is a great book. mansbach used to to publish a journal called elementary, and so i thought i'd check out genius b-boy cynics. i started reading it on the train and couldn't put it down until i finished the enire thing.

Great.......2001-11-30

There's some terrific stuff in here. Playfulness, inventiveness, nonstop supercharged language. Mansbach is as talented with words as any writer. The book will give your intelligence a workout. And it's FUNNY-- without ever undermining its serious intentions. Very impressive. Shackling Water was no accident.

And I should add: for poetry with such an aggressive intelligence, there's a lot of heart in it, some moments of sublime tenderness-- "Black Marbles," "Sin Titulo." Really quite amazing.

even if you don't like poetry, you'll love this.......2001-11-30

Even if you don't usually like poetry, you'll like this. Mansbach's poems are like nothing else out there: funny, sharp and hard-hitting. He flows from topic to topic with ease, and his rhythm and wordplay are off the hook. This has none of the pretensions usually associated with poetry; it's like reading the lyrics of some incredibly well-read, clever and reflective rapper. Highly recommended.

worth your while..........2001-11-28

Adam Mansbach's debut poetry collection, genius b-boy cynics getting weeded in the garden of delights, gives us a glimpse at what overused terms like "hip hop poetry" should, but seldom do, refer to.

Hip hop is only occasionally the subject matter of Mansbach's poetry -- alongside topics like race, family, consumerism, academia, love, jazz, popular culture and religion -- but a hip hop sensibility infuses his work. He collages words and ideas like the best DJs, samples voices, rhythms and ideas with a skill and wit worthy of the RZA or DJ Premier, twists and invigorates and layers language with up-to-the-minute wit.

And yet, Mansbach is more in the tradition of T.S. Eliot than he is in keeping with the contemporary poetry scene. His best pieces, like Eliot's, are long, winding narratives which shift from topic to topic, their structures revealing themselves cagily. Poems like "It's Your World Tour," "Black Marbles," and "Sticknmove" are searingly insightful, strikingly personal, and often hilarious attempts to grapple with the complexities of life. As with Eliot, the uninitiated may have to grab a reference book to properly understand all of Mansbach's allusions, but in this case the privileged insiders are more likely to be genius b-boy cynics than scholars.

Mansbach's scope of reference is so wide, though -- as Michael Eric Dyson, author of Holler If You Hear Me: Searching for Tupac Shakur, has written, he is "equally comfortable with high cultural classicism and vernacular vibrations" -- that his work is challenging to almost any reader. In a single piece, it is not unusual for Mansbach to cite cultural markers as diverse as Phil Ochs, Eryka Badu, Wallace Stevens, George Wallace, Grand Wizard Theodore, Phase 2, Tennessee Williams, and Shaharazad Ali, to name just a few of those who crop up in the first few pages of the expansive "It's Your World Tour."

In shorter pieces, Mansbach is often more pointed. In "Frontlines," he discusses the gradual process by which academics lose touch with reality: "late at night you gaze/at the titles on your university housing pinewood bookshelf/and beg james baldwin's forgiveness/because the fire this time stopped burning after two degrees/leavin you strong enough for a man/but ph.d balanced against outrage/like the scales of justice." In "Gotta Be," the tongue-in-cheek subject is his own obsession with Nikes, and in "Veen" he envisions a world in which "God plays time" like drummer Elvin Jones. "Knight in Shining Karma" explores fear and vulnerability in love relationships, drawing on kung fu movies and cold war terminology to do so, while "A Visit With My Brother David" is a poignant, straightforward narrative about a trip to prison.

Book Description

These richly illustrated art books cover several centuries of great artists and their masterworks. From Arcimboldo to Schiele, each artist's life and times, influences, legacy, and style are explored in depth. Each book analyzes a particular painting with regard to the history surrounding it, the techniques used to create it, and the hidden details that make up the whole, providing a thorough look at each artist's career. Included is a bibliography, a chronological reading of principal works, a brief life history, and listings of public collections featuring each artist.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books