Book Description
Introduction MY MOTHER WAS FORTY the day the photographer came to our house on Cherry Court and lined us kids up behind my parents, who were sitting shoulder to shoulder on the piano bench. I've never forgotten how she looked. She was in her mint-green knit suit. Her brooch and earrings were the same gold tone as the buttons on her closed jacket. Her soft strawberry-blond hair was in tamed curls framing her bespectacled, confident face. I was a teenager looking through a different lens that day, but what I captured was just as permanent an image as the portrait that hung for years on our dining room wall. While the photographer was setting up his tripod, I was looking into the future. In that moment, watching my mom settle onto the piano bench, I saw how profound it was to be a woman at forty. Forty meant freedom. When you were forty, you could be yourself, you didn't have to live up to other's expectations. Forty meant you could wear whatever you wanted to, because by then you were your full, radiant self, not a copy of someone else. I could hardly wait to be just like my mom, an original, in her mint-green suit on that fall day in North Dakota. Now, twenty-some years later, it could be me sitting on that piano bench with my teenaged daughters and my son posing behind me. I've grown up. Not only am I in my forties myself, but it's also my good fortune to be working every day with women in their forties, dressing them to look their beautiful selves. I wonder if it really was easier back then, or did my mom just make it look easy? Life seems so complicated today. Women have been crazy busy. Look around. We've climbed the corporate ladder, survived a divorce or two or three, been to therapy. If you're forty, you may have earned a black belt in juggling careers and family. I know you. While you're making time to mentor a coworker, you're also closely following the basketball or soccer seasons of your kids, consoling one friend through a breakup, or helping another one plan her wedding. Chances are you're the most likely one to be neglected. While you're chasing life down the fast lane, you're not sure how to dress yourself anymore. Your wardrobe's been slogging along in the slow lane for a decade or maybe two. Where does a real woman go for relevant advice on style and clothes? Fashion magazines? They're filled with pages of twenty-year-olds weighing less than a hundred pounds. Do you take the advice of your teenaged daughter—in orange hair and skimpy T-shirt, with a pierced tongue and belly-button ring? No. When you manage to grab a minute to shop for yourself, what do you find on the racks? Retro fashions in Day-Glo colors, showing up again like a bad dream. Aaaugh! This is hard work! Everything's stopped making sense. To confuse the issue even more, you're living in a different body. Your shape is changing, and your hair and attitudes are too. Where do you fit in? I've heard the lamenting. If you could make it all go away, you would. You may be older and wiser, but opening your closet door still brings you to your knees. You could have written the Roy Lichtenstein caption on the T-shirt that says, “I feel like such a failure! I've been shopping for over twenty years, and I still don't have anything to wear!” Should you just give up? Hold everything! Amidst the world's clatter, it's time to do the unthinkable—to slow down, turn the focus on yourself, and do a major check-in. Who are you right now? Get current. Take a good long look, discover yourself anew. It's the right time to take a look in the mirror and make peace with this body, these arms, these thighs, these gorgeous lips, and this hair flecked with gray. This precious body of yours has made it through one million comparisons and has defied the look of the Kate Moss print ads on the sides of city buses. It's time to invite a new love affair into your life—a love affair with your every line, every tooth, every toenail, every facial expression, every whim and desire. Passionate, wild, crazy, frivolous, impulsive—make it a love affair with yourself. You've earned it. There are no more excuses. There's no time to waste, nothing's more important. You have collected half a lifetime of laughs, wisdom, accomplishments, mistakes, integrity, and experience. You've kept getting better and better. Now it's time to express that on the outside—confidently, boldly. There is freedom at forty, the freedom I saw in my mother's eyes, in her sure smile. With a little excavating and renovating of attitudes, you'll be wearing that freedom too. It's under the surface, waiting to reveal itself. You'll find it in these forty chapters of fashion advice. You'll learn how to combine looks, passion, personality, and preferences into the perfect recipe for wearing clothes and accessories—while having delicious fun. Forget about problem areas! Go somewhere else to hear about camouflage tricks. You'll be too busy falling in love with yourself when you put the focus on what works (a great smile, pretty skin, shapely calves). Other body parts will quiet down and assume their proper proportion. You'll find the correlation between your personality and preferences and discover how to wear them proudly. You'll learn how to shop for a bathing suit with dignity and courage, what to wear while going through a divorce, what to do instead of (or until) plastic surgery, and how to walk away from clothing with “potential” and only buy what works. I won't ask you to do anything I haven't already done in my forties. I've been the mom who frantically shopped for school lunch ingredients at 7 A.M. in my accessorized jammies. Following my own advice on dressing for a high school reunion, I snagged a sweetheart at mine. I've given in to friends who insisted I'd lost ten pounds when all I'd really done was lift up my bra straps and loosen my belt. It's all doable. My clients in my style and wardrobe consulting business prove it to me every single day. I invite you to zero in on the ordinary thing that you do everyday—
getting dressed— and turn it into an opportunity
for personal expression, peace, and joy
beyond words. After you've done your homework, it'll be so much easier to turn off the screaming consumer ads, ignore questionable advice from teenaged daughters or well-meaning friends, and trust yourself. You can and will love how you look in clothes. Come on, I'm going to show you how.
Customer Reviews:
Wasn't looking for a self-help guide........2007-09-09
The author implies that all women over 40 are overweight, frumpy, and in need of an injection of self-esteem. Thankfully, this is not the case, and the rest of us are perhaps looking for style guidance (how to look sexy and chic without dressing like a 20-year-old), not a personal cheerleading section. Then there are her practical tips: Wear clothes that match your hair color? Throw a nice trench over your rumpled house clothes if you have to step out? Don't feel guilty about pampering yourself? For any woman even remotely self-aware and style conscious, this guide will be useless -- unless she can find the humor in it.
if you have lived for others until now.......2007-06-08
a perfect book if you never walked in high heels or never considered your hairdresser a basic need.
if you feel that your time has passed, this is the book for you.
I will read again it when I will be around 57. now I am forty and I feel like it has been written for another woman.
We're Not All Frumps at Forty.......2007-05-13
I am sorry, I did not like this book. It just wasn't for me. I do not have any of the problems it addresses. However I think it would be helpful for women who do. It made it sound like we all turn into frumps at forty.
Save's a lot of money........2007-05-07
Reminds you what you all ready know and don't admitt. Save a lot of money with its tips. Wear what's really good for you.
Helpful, wise and funny.......2007-04-11
This is a useful book for women over 40 seeking to revamp and update their wardrobe and enjoy doing it! It helps fill the gap for fashion advice for the older woman who is not ready for housecoats and leisure suits. I bought this book with several others - Sam Saboura's Real Style and Kendall Farr's The Pocket Stylist - none is complete in itself, so if you are after one book to cover everything this is not it. Also note that 40 over 40 contains no photographs, only cute graphics, which adorn but do not illustrate the text. This may be less helpful to some, but it does prevent the book from dating too quickly (it was printed in 1999). I loved Brenda Kinsel's humorous style, and her tackling of the emotional issues eg inexplicable attachments we have to our aging garments, and the mad frenzy at sale time that fills our wardrobes with even more stuff we don't wear! She also provides useful exercises in discovering one's personal style, and celebrating one's body regardless of age or size. Would make a wonderful gift for any woman in this age bracket who is even remotely interested in clothes and looking stylish.
Book Description
A useful scientific theory, claimed Einstein, must be explicable to any intelligent person. In Deep Down Things, experimental particle physicist Bruce Schumm has taken this dictum to heart, providing in clear, straightforward prose an elucidation of the Standard Model of particle physics -- a theory that stands as one of the crowning achievements of twentieth-century science. In this one-of-a-kind book, the work of many of the past century's most notable physicists, including Einstein, Schrodinger, Heisenberg, Dirac, Feynman, Gell-Mann, and Weinberg, is knit together in a thorough and accessible exposition of the revolutionary notions that underlie our current view of the fundamental nature of the physical world. Schumm, who has spent much of his life emmersed in the subatomic world, goes far beyond a mere presentation of the "building blocks" of matter, bringing to life the remarkable connection between the ivory tower world of the abstract mathematician and the day-to-day, life-enabling properties of the natural world. Schumm leaves us with an insight into the profound open questions of particle physics, setting the stage for understanding the progress the field is poised to make over the next decade or two.
Introducing readers to the world of particle physics, Deep Down Things opens new realms within which are many clues to unraveling the mysteries of the universe.
Customer Reviews:
Particle Physics Made Easy.......2007-03-02
This book should be a must read for anyone that tries to understand particle physics. I've been looking for something like this for a long time. The Standard Model is explained with great skill and clarity, and with minimal use of math. This is not a mathematical book, but where minimal mathematics becomes necessary (group theory), it is introduced with the assumption that the reader knows next to nothing (which was my case) and developed to the point where, combined with physics, it makes sense. Most of the math only requires logic, not computations, and all you are required to memorize are a few rules -- conventions -- that only take a couple of lines. Beautiful.
The author limits himself to what is known and generally agreed about particle physics. The limits of the theory are also very well explained, but no significant steps into the unknown are made, which I think it is a good thing for once.
If you like Brian Greene, Michio Kaku, Lisa Randall, and others like them, do them, and yourself, a favor: read "Deep Down Things". It will open new horizons in the way you see, and appreciate, their work. These more popular authors cross into the unknown with beautiful, breathtaking constructs, but none explains the basics as Bruce Schumm does.
A Review From a Non-Physicist.......2007-01-01
Two items set this lay physics book apart: clarity of writing and minimum of speculation. It covers only material amenable to experimentation. This rules out both string theory and multiple universes - each mentioned only briefly. Nor does it dwell on Einstein's theories of special or general relativity - the gravitational physics of the large. "Deep Down Things" is like an introductory text on quantum phenomenon and particle physics without the explicit math and with more explicit wordage.
Particle physics studies the smallest units of matter and how they interact with each other. This led to ever larger particle accelerators during the last 68 years of the 20th century. More than 150 exotic particles have been discovered - every one having differing combinations of properties that boggle the mind. An exotic particle that results from the collision of two protons may exist for only 10 to the minus 12 seconds before it decays into something else. Traveling at close to the speed of light, this is just enough time to leave a (highly sought after) 1 mm mark on a recorder, documenting the brief life of that particle. The Particle Data Group from Berkeley exists just to keep physicists updated on these particles.
For something so fleeting, why do we bother? Because this research is centerstage in explaining the Big Bang and all of cosmology. As by-products, we achieved huge gains in any industry you can name. Unless you live like a Mennonite or are on a boy scout camp-out, these technologies effect the way you live your daily life - ground floor activity on the internet itself came about because physicists desired a more immediate way to share research with each other.
The use of common sense was not a factor in the investigations of particle physics. Instead, knowledge was and is gained through particle accelerators, predictions from abstract mathematical models, and meticulous use of the scientific method by thousands of physicists. The author mentions frequently that the math works out, predicts something, disproves something, needs a cheat factor, etc. This made me want to see the math, but I'm at least a couple of college courses from there, so I guess I'll have to take his word for it. For non-physics, non-math majors, consider reading on despite lack of total understanding or you might bog down in details. As the point of view changes, concepts are restated and you'll get another stab at it. The author starts a sentence on page 187, "If you've understood, even vaguely..." and ends it with "it gets even better (or worse...) as we move on to other properties of elementary particles."
On page 351, he closes with congratulations to anyone who made it to the end - then inserts a joke about the Higgs field that only an "insider" (a physicist or one who read the book) would understand. This is a great book that I highly recommend for any physicist who wants to brush up on particle physics, any undergrad or grad student in physics, or any other scientist types who are persistent enough to want a better handle on this fascinating but difficult subject.
It really is "Breathtaking".......2006-11-30
This is a book about quantum mechanics, and gauge theory in particular. It's essentially non-mathematical, having just a few equations, and requires little mathematical expertise. For readers with math anxiety, or those unfamiliar with partial differential equations, the few equations in the book can be skipped without missing much, as Schumm focuses almost exclusively on providing a qualitative understanding of what's at the heart of the Standard Model of quantum mechanics.
This isn't your typical book on quantum mechanics, aimed at your typical armchair scientists. There's virtually no discussion about various speculative macroscopic aspects of QM, such as freewill. God doesn't come into the picture except as a non-personal synonym for "the universe." Schrödinger's cat isn't discussed. Neither is tunneling, time travel, teleportation, or Bell's inequality. This text is what I'd describe as a nuts-and-bolts qualitative look or introduction to the Standard model. I think it would be excellent reading for anyone contemplating a class in QM, before taking a quantitative and detailed course on the subject. Of course, I'd also recommend it for casual yet serious readers who want to know the basis for modern quantum theory.
The first half of the book lays the groundwork with a discussion of forces of nature, patterns, the building blocks of nature, and symmetry. I particularly liked Schumm's explanation of how symmetry relates to conserved quantities. I think he does an especially nice job of describing Lie groups and segueing the topic into the heart of this book, which is gauge theory.
The gauge principle says that objects within a system are subject to precise laws of interaction. It also says that the wave equation is invariant with respect to local changes in phase. The connection between these two notions (phase invariance and laws of interaction) provides a quantitative theory for causation, known as the gauge principle. [pp. 276-277] I commend Schumm for presenting the basic principles and arguments of gauge theory in a way that can be clearly understood at a qualitative level. Here's a summary of how he does it.
Start with the Schrödinger wave equation. Next, apply the condition that information cannot be instantaneously transmitted or transmitted with arbitrary speed over arbitrary distances. This is a principle that seems deeply ingrained in Einstein's relativity, that no object with non-zero mass energy can travel faster than the speed of light, and is the position taken by Yang and Mills in their 1954 paper in the Physical Review, where they argue the following:
"As usually conceived, however, this arbitrariness is subject to the following limitations: once one chooses [the phase of the wave function] at one space-time point, one is then not free to make any choices at other space-time points. It seems that this is not consistent with the localized filed concept that underlies the usual physical theories. In the present paper we wish to explore the possibility of requiring all interactions to be invariant under independent [choices of phase] at all space-time points. [p. 217-218]
Back to the Schrödinger wave equation, Schumm considers the case of an isolated electron (no potential). To make the wave function invariant with respect to local changes in phase, Schumm describes a trick used by Yang and Mills, in which they added a new term to the wave equation, a so-called "cheating" term, A(x). A(x) changes when the phase of the wave function changes, in just the right way so that the overall wave function is unaltered by local changes in the wave function's phase. This might seem like an obvious and trivial thing to do, but interestingly, when you do this you find that the cheating function, A(x), represents the quantum of the electromagnetic field - the photon. As Schumm explains:
"The inclusion of A(x) thus incorporates, within the field-theoretical description of the particle's behavior, the possibility that the particle emits or absorbs a photon, that is, the possibility that the particle emits or absorbs a quantum of the electromagnetic field."
This is a nifty trick. Start with the Schrödinger equation for an isolated particle, apply the relativity principle by insisting on invariance of local phase shifts, add a "cheating" factor to make phase invariant, and the "cheating factor" ends up being the quantum force mediator of the particle described by the Schrödinger equation. The nature of the cheating term depends on the symmetry of possible changes to the wave function. That's where Lie groups come in, and that's why it's so helpful the way Schumm lays the conceptual foundation with his chapter on Lie groups.
Mathematically, the symmetry of a quantum particle is described by the Lie group that describes possible changes to the particle's wave equation. If the group has only simple phase-change symmetry we end up with quantum electrodynamics, or the quantum theory of the electromagnetic force. For wave functions described by more complicated Lie groups (wave equations that have rotational symmetry in some internal symmetry space), we must add different cheating terms, as many as there are generators of the Lie group. This is the basic idea behind the gauge principle, which is at the heart of the Standard model of quantum mechanics. Of the four known forces of nature, three (electromagnetic, weak nuclear, and the strong nuclear interactions) are explainable from the well-established methods of gauge theory.
This was one of the best books I've read this year. It's long (just short of 360 pages) with lots of material between the covers. You'll want to read the Appendix and notes, and you'll most likely find yourself reading over parts of the book several times, digesting the meaning behind the words. In the end, I think you'll agree with the author's assessment that quantum mechanics - the study of "deep down things" really does reveal a breathtaking beauty of the natural world.
A 'big-picture' conceptual guide to the Standard Model.......2006-08-28
Fed up with useless metaphors which equate the Higgs particle with hangers-on at a party slowing a celebrity's passage? Exasperated at continual references to Lie algebras and gauge theories, which are never explained?
In Peter Woit's recent book `Not Even Wrong', he comments (p. 205) that relativistic quantum field theory is not even studied until the second or third year of graduate school. For the rest of us, there is `Deep Down Things'.
Schumm's objective is to take us on a conceptual tour of the Standard Model of quantum mechanics, without requiring a mastery of the technical apparatus. The first half of the book introduces the four fundamental forces, wave-particle duality and the wave function itself. The approach is historical and visual - plenty of Feynman diagrams - and Schumm assumes the reader is happy with complex exponentials. By chapter 5 we are deep in the eightfold way, and the classification of quarks, leptons (electrons, muons, neutrinos) and bosons (the force quanta).
Chapter 6 begins the process of diving deeper with a discussion of Lie groups and Lie Algebra, motivated by plenty of examples. A Lie group is defined via: (i) a continuous set (i.e. a real or complex manifold such as R^n or C^n) with (ii) operators which are continuous functions over the manifold. Chapter 7 introduces Noether's theorem: `To every differentiable symmetry generated by local actions, there corresponds a conserved quality' and this is linked with symmetries under transformations by the Lie group operators (such as rotations in isospin space which interchange protons and neutrons).
Introductory quantum mechanics courses talk about the physical irrelevance of the phase of the wave function when it comes to the calculation of probabilities of observables. We thus have the concept of global phase invariance. However, this is unphysical - we cannot have the universe adjusting phase by the same amount everywhere at the same time. Yang and Mills in the mid-50s proposed to force the wave function to be invariant under local changes of phase: it turns out the only way to achieve this is to add a new term of the form gA(x)psi(x) where g is a charge parameter associated with the particle, psi(x) is the wave function and A(x) is a new term which turns out to be the field potential function for the relevant force field (electromagnetic in chapter 8). The freedom of choice in choosing the function A is called a gauge freedom, hence gauge theory.
Choose a fundamental particle. Write down its wave function. Identify the spaces in which the particle participates (space-time, isospin, ...). Identify the Lie group which rotates the wave function (state vector) in each of these spaces - U(1), SU(2), SU(3). By the principle of local phase invariance, adjust the original wave function with gauge terms gA(x)psi(x) as above. From making this work mathematically, out pop the corresponding force quanta (= the number of generators of the corresponding Lie algebra above). As the chapter heading puts it: `Physics by Pure Thought'!
Chapter 9 explains how the standard model assigns a mass of zero to all force-field quanta. Any attempt to add mass destroys the local phase invariance that we just discussed. The only way to retrieve the situation is to assume the existence of a new field (the Higgs field) which somehow pervades the universe and which interacts with non-zero-mass force quanta (via the weak force) in a `screening' way which gives them mass. The Higgs field is also responsible for the masses of quarks and leptons. If this is true, there should be a Higgs particle within reach of CERN's Large Hadron Collider in 2007.
This is a really excellent book. If you dimly recall how to solve a differential equation, and are unfazed by the notion of an abelian group, then this book is accessible. By book-end you have the sense that you `get' the big picture of the standard model and its remaining conceptual weaknesses. I would say that if you were an undergraduate interested in theoretical physics and wanted a tour d'horizon, this is the one book which will give it (Penrose's `The Road To Reality' is still too difficult for this purpose).
Best popular particle/quantum physics books I have read.......2006-05-02
Bottom line: Buy it.
If you are tired of books that throw out words like "symmetry" and "gauge theory" without ever explaining (at least conceptually) what these terms mean and how these concepts relate to a deep understanding of particle physics then this is the book to buy.
The author explains the mathematical concepts quite simply and in such a way that if you can read ANY popular book on physics then you can understand how Lie Algebras and Gauge Theories help derive the eightfold way, the charges on some bosons, the probability of the Higgs field/particle, and therefore lead to the Standard Model of particle physics.
Imagine a book which covers these topics (Lie Groups, Lie Algebras and Gauge Theories) without ever seeming mathematically challenging or complex. Here it is.
My only disappointed? It doesn't cover more, because this is the best exposition -- real teaching at a world class level -- of the subjects it does cover. If Schumm ever writes another book I will buy it, sight unseen.
If you have read, or wanted to read "The Road to Reality" by Penrose (which I highly recommend if you have the determination to read it), this will make several sections of that book much easier to understand -- were all of Penrose's explanations as high quality as "Deep Down Things" there would likely never be a better book on these subjects.
For anyone considering this book, the answer is simple: buy it and enjoy reading it.
Average customer rating:
- The definitive biography of Gia, as well as an excellent history of New York fashion modeling
- Can get VERY annoying....
- I love this book
- heartbreaking
- Such a tragic story, but I couldn't put it down
|
Thing of Beauty
Stephen Fried
Manufacturer: Pocket
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
 Entertainment
| Subjects
| Books
| Humor
| Movies
| Music
| Performing Arts
| Pop Culture
| Puzzles & Games
| Radio
| Sheet Music & Scores
| Television
Fashion Design
| Commercial
| Graphic Design
| Design & Decorative Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Fashion
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Performing Arts
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
Entertainers
| Arts & Literature
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Rich & Famous
| Leaders & Notable People
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Art
| Arts & Photography
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
General
| Fashion
| Arts & Photography
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Fashion Design
| Commercial
| Graphic Design
| Arts & Photography
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
General
| Performing Arts
| Arts & Photography
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Entertainers
| Arts & Literature
| Biographies & Memoirs
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Rich & Famous
| Leaders & Notable People
| Biographies & Memoirs
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
All 4-for-3 Deals
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
No Lifeguard: The Accidental Life of the World's First Supermodel
-
Gia (Unrated Edition)
-
Everything About Me Is Fake-- And I'm Perfect
-
Model: The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women
-
Check, Please!: Dating, Mating, and Extricating
ASIN: 0671701053 |
Amazon.com
Trashy celebrity bios are usually diminished by the fact that we've already heard the stories about Lonnie and Burt, or Madonna and Sean, or whoever the current target is. Author Stephen Fried manages to get all the sleaze value plus a lot of surprises by choosing supermodel Gia Carangi as his topic. Although her face is widely recognized, Gia finished her modeling career in a blaze of heroin and disease just before the time when models became celebrities with name recognition. Her life is the perfect fodder for the exploitation market, but Fried goes beyond that with fluid prose and a reporter's nose for tracking down sources. His stories about her teenage years, with their mix of late nights in Philadelphia's gay clubs, manic worship, and glam-style imitation of David Bowie, as well as tales of Gia's ability to seduce her friends, male and female, are the product of a lot of work and make for very interesting reading. Gia's unabashed homosexuality and early death from AIDS make her story a palimpsest of life on the edge in the America of the 1980s.
Book Description
At age seventeen, Gia Carangi was working the counter at her father's Philadelphia luncheonette, Hoagie City. Within a year, Gia was one of the top models of the late 1970's, gracing the covers of Cosmopolitan and Vogue, partying at New York's Studio 54 and the Mudd Club, and redefining the industry's standard of beauty. She was the darling of moguls and movie stars, royalty and rockers. Gia was also a girl in pain, desperate for her mother's approval—and a drug addict on a tragic slide toward oblivion, who started going directly from $10,000-a-day fashion shoots to the heroin shooting galleries on New York's Lower East Side. Finally blackballed from modeling, Gia entered a vastly different world on the streets of New york and Atlantic City, and later in a rehab clinic. At twenty-six, she became on of the first women in America to die of AIDS, a hospital welfare case visited only by rehab friends and what remained of her family.
Drawing on hundreds of interviews with Gia's gamily, lovers, friends, and colleagues, Thing of Beauty creates a poignant portrait of an unforgettable character—and a powerful narrative about beauty and sexuality, fame and objectification, mothers and daughters, love and death.
Customer Reviews:
The definitive biography of Gia, as well as an excellent history of New York fashion modeling.......2007-08-05
Gia Carangi was a tough punk kid from Philadelphia, a product of a broken working class family, who redefined beauty when she broke into the late 1970's New York fashion modeling scene. Grappling with feelings of abandonment from her family, Gia was unashamed of her drug use and heavy partying and refused to reform for anyone. She sought love and affection via drugs and a string of intense love affairs. Her life ended in tragedy, as Gia succumbed to AIDS in a welfare clinic. She was one of the first women to suffer from the Gay-Related Immunodeficiency Disease (GRID).
Stephen Fried's book is as much the story of Gia as it is a treatise on the androgynous followers on David Bowie, the transformation of high fashion in the late 1970's, the modeling agency wars, and the street drug subculture of metropolitan New York city. His treatment of all these subjects is thoroughly academic, which at times leaves the reader wishing for more of Gia. Fried has collected dozens of first-person quotes from Gia's family, friends, photographers, agents, fellow models, and other New York artists. He presents these narratives in a compelling story of the tragedy surrounding a lost girl searching for love and acceptance on the streets of New York.
Can get VERY annoying...........2007-07-05
OK great book i have to say that .... but I recall that Fried referred to the fact that Gia was not interested in every little fashion "minutiae", so then WHY WHY WHY must the author have to write about every little "minutiae" that ever happened in the fashion world!! I thought this book was supposed to be about Gia! Yea it's good but geeezzz all the detail can become very draining and throughout most of the chapters I'm wondering, "and what was going on with Gia during this time?????"...
I love this book.......2007-02-20
This back is on my shelf, the pages are dirtied and the book is worn and used. I've read it nearly 3 times. Everytime I cry (I'm such a girl).
I think that anyone who has made mistakes will connect with this book.
It tells a beautiful story, of tragedy. A gorgeous girl who lost it all.
I loved it.
heartbreaking.......2006-12-30
beautifully written! it will break your heart and gives a great insight to life of Gia Carangi devoid of pity.
Such a tragic story, but I couldn't put it down.......2006-12-07
Hats off to author Stephen Fried, who has undertaken what may be the most exhaustive investigative reporting effort to produce a biography that essentially covered a little more than a decade. The story of the late supermodel Gia Carangi is known by many, but only on the surface. "Thing of Beauty" captures the essence of how a beautiful, but wayward persona can self-destruct when mixed with the capricious intensity of the fashion modeling industry. Sad as Gia's story may be, this book is a great read, and covers not just the storyline of modeling phenomenon, but also of a segment of modeling evolution from the 70's to the 80's.
Given the wide range of choices in characterizing Gia's personality, Mr. Fried could easily have written her off as a hopeless, nut-case, junkie who just happened to be beautiful ... or as an impertinent teenager who never grew up ... or even as an overnight sensation who couldn't handle fame. He didn't. Instead of clinging to demeaning stereotypes, the author brings the reader closer to Gia through countless hours of interviews with friends, family, fellow artists and noteworthy modeling industry personnel. Along with the excellent documentation of Gia's life, how the modeling business took shape during the time when her life was unfolding adds a fantastic complement to this tragic story. For each marker that Mr. Fried plants during Gia's story, I couldn't help but think back to what I was doing at exactly those times from the mid-70's to Gia's death in 1986.
Some say Gia would have self-destructed no matter what; others say that a BS job in a superficial industry wore her down. Far be it for me to judge, but you don't have to be a fashion/model fanatic to enjoy this book. It's simply a fascinating, moving biography.
Book Description
It's 8:00 A.M., and you've got a big day ahead. Face to face with your closet, you pull out the suit that's needed altering for two years, the blouse that doesn't go with anything, and the shoes that...why did you buy them, anyway? With the reject pile rising as fast as your frustration, you shout the lament of women everywhere:
"I DON'T HAVE A THING TO WEAR!"
Stop the material madness! Let two top fashion experts show you what's really hiding in your closet: a true reflection of your inner self. Now you can
- understand your attitudes and beliefs about clothes and shopping
- dress for your real life -- not the past or the future
- identify your fashion persona (hint: it's not what you think!)
- avoid impulse buys and other shopping traps
- make every item in your closet work for you!
Practical and fun, with revealing quizzes and other great tools, I Don't Have A Thing To Wear sheds light on the darkest corners of the closet -- and lets you shine!
Customer Reviews:
Great for people overwhelmed by their closets!.......2007-08-24
I just got this book, and although I haven't finished reading it, I love it! I have a lot of clothes, but most them I don't wear, and this book breaks down why that is! I'm really looking forward to downsizing my wardrobe while increasing the amount of things I love to wear!
Just what I needed!.......2007-07-15
I highly recommend this book! I'm a bit challenged when it comes to fashion and knowing what to pick for myself. I have always tended to go with the 'safe' goes-with-everything and classic choices.
The book starts off with "The circle of your life game" where you make a pie chart according to your lifestyle, work and activities, then you evaluate your inventory of clothes to see how they fit into/correspond with your pie chart. -Then you work on fixing it. It also tells you to create a clothes diary. I don't know that I'd actually do that, or if I did, I'd probably modify it to make more of a list or outline of things I need to work on getting. I mean, how often do we go to the store without a list or plan or outline and look around hoping that some great outfit will call out to us?
I found a lot of helpful advice all through this book! "Building a wardrobe from the bottoms up" was probably my favorite. There are quizzes throughout and some charts. The illustrations are hand-drawn with a wimsy-flair to them, and there's fashion quotes sprinkled throughout.
I think this is a great book to have and to give as a gift!
The Purple Ink is a Bit of a Turn-Off.......2007-06-03
I got this book from the library after seeing it here on Amazon. The book is printed entirely in dark purple ink with purple line drawings. There are no photographs of any kind in the book. After a cursory inspection, the book appears to be a workbook to help you determine the right clothes for your life and personality. You'll have to do the exercises and quizzes in the book to get much out of it. If you want to invest the time, this might be a great book. I'm too lazy and would rather have a book with full color photos so that I can get the information quickly and visually. Dress Your Best is quick and easy. How Not to Look Fat is concise and is written with good information in a conversational style, but does not have photos, either. The In Style books have great photos so that you can flip through quickly and absorb information rapidly.
Another string in your bow.......2007-04-19
This book is actually pretty good. It contains a lot of information, some of it very specific and helpful and quite different to other style manuals. Especially if you really want to look at your closet, or shopping habits, or have trouble choosing what to pack for a trip, or want to understand how to dress according to your proportions. The book is not just psychological, it is very PRACTICAL and motivates you. It also speaks to the reader in a way that makes you understand..despite not having color pictures!! This was why I forgave the book for having superfluous stories and a few silly chapters. It is best used in conjuction with the "lucky shopping manual" to see clothes. Then use "The Science of sexy" or "Pocket Stylist" and this book, to dress for your body. This is because each one of these books, including "Psychology of Your closet" has a different approach to dressing your body type,and takes into account something that the other books have not. So, each of them is valid and WILL help you. Almost everyone will find something of value in this book. It is definitely another string in your bow (just don't use it alone).
Closet Psychology.......2007-01-07
Reading this book I'm really enjoying the 'why' we make fashion mistakes and looking a the cause of the problem. Other books have the rules covered nicely and this happily skims over them in working out the cuts to look for that are most flattering. There is no getting around it - clothes are an emotional purchase. Once you've worked out what you need to make your closet work and why its not working at the moment you have a much better chance of having the right pieces to put together a suitable outfit for any occasion. This book points you in the right direction for working out that puzzle.
Customer Reviews:
A Book Every Woman Should Read.......2005-09-30
I really enjoyed this book. It contains many quotes from fashion icons as well as helpful hits. You will be able to learn what is appropriate to wear and when it is appropriate to wear it. I read through the whole book and loved every page. Every woman should read this book and they will always be in style.
great way to put your priorities in place.......2005-09-04
This book is full of many things we instinctively know... but it helps to hear them spelled out in plain English.
So if you have a tendancy to splurge on purple bell bottoms on sale and green fluo platform sandals (that spend 3 years in the back of your closet never worn until you chuck them), this book is for you.
I find it a good reference every now and then, to help keep my fashion priorities in place. And when I encounter a fashion victim hottie, it helps me to keep perspective and not go out and buy those pink suede cowboy boots.
cofee table fashion.......2005-06-14
this is not a terrible choice of a style guide for those looking for a classic movie star icon sort of style. it is excellent for bathroom decor and can serve as a beginning for someone looking to cutivate a style similiar to audrey hepburn, grace kelley, jackie o, or marilyn monroe. a word of caution, it is written in a very brittish vernacular.
Don't take it so seriously.......2005-03-29
This is intended as a jokey gift book, not a style manual, so if you're looking for the latter this isn't it. It is a very light read, agreed, and yes, it's from a British publisher and a British perspective. But if you want a small, glossy present for a wannabe friend, or just want something stylish to keep in your bathroom, this isn't a bad choice.
Save your money!.......2005-03-10
.............and buy just about any other book. This book is poorly organized and I can' think of a single bit of information I haven't read many times. Spend your money on something else.
Book Description
An inspiring guide for women who aren't afraid of 40...but want to make their most of their 30s first!
From #1 to #101, women approaching the big 4-0 will learn how to enter the decade with a bang with age-appropriate-and sometimes age-defying-experiences they'll want under their belts...
Quit your book club.
Eat the worm.
Make out with the best man.
Discover your superpower.
Boycott February 14th.
It's the ultimate checklist of goals-hilarious, heartfelt, and wise-for every woman under 40.
Book Description
A handbook of style for men, both witty and practical, based on the hugely popular "Things A Man Should Know..." series in Esquire magazine.
Do women notice shoes? Should khakis have pleats? Is there any level of fitness that justifies wearing a tank top in public? What, exactly, is a "dickie," and would it be a mistake to be caught dead with one? While there are many aspects of life about which men are confident, assured, even brilliant, unfortunately style is not always one of them. And when it comes to dressing and comporting oneself well, life is too short to feel unprepared--laughably unprepared--in the face of so many sartorial options. So remember: Wearing a suit does not make you a "suit." Casual Friday does not excuse the visibility of chest hair. And what should you do if someone calls you a "dandy"? Open closet. Remove contents. Begin again. Most guys might not admit it, but what they don't know about style could fill a book. This is the book.
* From Esquire magazine--renowned for its style and wit
* A highly original approach to the subject--disarmingly witty and extremely practical at the same time
* The perfect gift for the man who needs a little guidance--or the mom, sister, wife, or girlfriend who wants to give it to him
* Filled with black and white photos of Pedro, the book's adorable bulldog mascot
Customer Reviews:
ESQUIRE'S Things A Man Should Know About Style.......2007-07-19
I think this book is puffery at its best. Some of the advice is very pedestrian and even a bit cocky (in an effort to be amusing). Most men who have any real style at all -- or know anything about clothes -- will find it boring. Speaking of boring, has anyone seen the suits that are featured these days in ESQUIRE? Tight-fitting rigs that show a big belt buckle, too many buttons, tight legs, and probably being worn by some young guy with a three-day growth. Experts on style? There are far better books on classical, quality dressing than this mediocre, eight-year-old rhubarb. Save your money.
Save your money.......2006-08-16
Sorry, this isn't a very good book at all. It is just a few lines and paragraphs strung together. Some of the information is OK but some just reflects an attitude and not real style. Better to get Clothes and the Man or Dressing the Man. Those are great books about dressing and style.
Helpful and Humorous.......2005-11-29
The authors got their facts straight, but this book is more useful as reinforcement of sound style principles than it is as a reference tool. The opinions are overwhelmingly correct, but there is no indexing to help a reader find specific subjects. Still, for an overview of what every gentleman should know about how to dress, reinforcement of the rules offered by a more spartan guide, or a humorous refresher for those who have fallen from the true faith, this is a great little book.
Highly recommended!
Perfect intro to style.......2005-07-16
It's a great coffee table or bathroom book to have laying around. It certainly doesn't go in-depth, but it gives you the average person some good, basic principles of style. It gives the person who can't afford to shop anywhere other than TJ Maxx or Marshall's a decent education on what to buy and how to put it together. I think this book is worth every penny.
What a waste of a couple of hours.......2005-07-03
If Amazon had 'negative' stars, this book? would get -5...
I enjoy Queer Eye, but apparently the Fab 5 are only 'Fab' if all together. I was wanting a book about style, not a tepid attempt at humor. Leave that to all the out of work comedians.
Hey Ted, look in the mirror: long face and square glasses...read your book.
AWEFUL !!
Average customer rating:
- Definitely for BEGINNERS.....
- Bad Book
- A Great Little Book
|
Usborne Book of Hair Braiding (How to Make Series)
Lisa Miles
Manufacturer: E.D.C. Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Fashion
| Art
| Arts & Music
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
Crafts & Hobbies
| Arts & Music
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Reference & Nonfiction
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
How Things Work
| Science, Nature & How It Works
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Ages 9-12
| Children's Books
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Fashion
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Art
| Arts & Photography
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
General
| Fashion
| Arts & Photography
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Ages 9-12
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Fashion
| Art
| Arts & Music
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Crafts & Hobbies
| Arts & Music
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
General
| Reference & Nonfiction
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
How Things Work
| Science, Nature & How It Works
| Children's Books
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
All 4-for-3 Deals
| 4-for-3 Books Store
| Stores
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Easy Braids, Barrettes and Bows (Kids Can Do It)
-
Beautiful Braids: The Step-by-Step Guide to Braiding Styles for Every Occasion and All Ages
-
Girls' Style: Fabulous Hair
-
Braids and Bows (Klutz)
-
Hair: Styling Tips and Tricks for Girls (American Girl Library)
ASIN: 0746023219 |
Customer Reviews:
Definitely for BEGINNERS............2001-12-25
I bought this book in order to find "new" and "unique" braids for my daughters hair. I was disappointed when it arrived. It really only contains instructions for common braids that I assume most are familiar with. I suppose my expectations were too high. This would be a good choice for someone who has never braided. The instructions are easy to understand, the photos are clear and detailed. If you are already familiar with a simple 3 strand braid and a french braid, don't bother purchasing this book. The other braids are just simple variations of the above mentioned.
Bad Book.......2001-06-11
This book said it would teach me everything I needed to knowabout hair braiding. Boy, was I wrong? Thanks to this ... book my sister (the one whose hair I braided following the instructions in this book) now has horrible knots in her hair that won't come out. Tomorrow mom is taking her to the salon so they can cut them all out. My sis's hair is going to have to be cut like all short. Thanks ... person for making me feel bad about ruining my sis's hair because you wrote [this]... book!!!
A Great Little Book.......1999-09-19
This is a great little book either for kids, or for kids and their moms, who want to try some new things with their hair. The book is loaded with photos and simple, clear instructional diagrams (all in color), which makes it GREAT for beginners. Most of the styles are fairly simple, but there are a couple that are more challenging, one which even reccomends an extra person to help hold some of the hair! The styles included are: Simple Braids, "Hippie" Braids (which incorporate embroidery floss), The Top Knot, Knotted Bunches, simple braids incorporating cords and ribbons, Princess Styles, Crossover Braids, Six Braids, Flipovers, Braids for shorter hair, Mini Braids, French Braids (both standard and "inside-out"), Crown braiding, The Five-strand Braid (very cool, I thought), The Rope Braid, and last, The Fishtail Braids (The single being exceptionally attractive). This book is perfect for people who are just getting started with styling hair.
Book Description
A crafty girl knows that true style comes by way of vision and daring-along with a healthy dose of sequins, fake fur, and funky fabric. Enter Crafty Girl: Accessories, the next book in the winning Crafty Girl series, and the grooviest-ever guide to making bags, hats, hair-wear, and more. From the pretty to the punk, it s positively packed with projects to brighten up any wardrobe. Too cool for school? Not too cool for the Bohemian Backpack. And Starlet Sparkle shades make it easy to go incognito on those days when a crafty girl just can t bear the paparazzi. Kitten Mittens keep the paws toasty, and a Milkmaid Kerchief tames the tresses. With more than 40 projects and handy stencils at the back, Crafty Girl: Accessories is the ultimate handbook for creating sparkly, spangly fashion masterpieces.
Customer Reviews:
Great book for young crafters!.......2007-10-07
This book is very basic and certainly for the beginning crafter. The ideas are not especially original and are quite self-explanatory. This book seems like it would be a fun gift for a pre-teen or early teenager but not someone with any truly developed crafting skills, or anyone with mature tastes. I am a 21 year old college student with pretty colorful tastes in wardrobe- and these crafts are way too 'young' for me.
Still, a fun book and probably a great introductory gift for a starting crafter. I bet I would have loved this when I was 12. Could be a great gift for someone!
Wonderful!.......2004-12-26
I loved this book! SO many wonderful accessories! I really love the first craft, the cuff bracelet thing. I made about a million! I love it, love it, love it!!!!!!!!
good for advanced.......2004-05-25
this book is full of excellent ideas that make wonderful gifts. i think this book is more targeted towards creative teens who do lots of arts and crafts. for example, not every idea in the book is completely spelled out on what to do, and there arent a lot of pictures to help. someone who is making these things needs to know how to improvise and not always go by the book. also, consider the book more of a springboard of ideas to help you get started. i made the magazine beach tote for a friend, but i mostely just used the ideas and improvised a little. plus i had to buy more materials because the instructions were wrong. some of the ideas in the book were kind of dumb, just things that you dont need a book to tell you how to do, but other than that its got great ideas that you can really personalize for yourself or for others.
A little something of everything..........2002-05-26
What my favorite part about this book was that it had a little chapter dedicated to school supplies, and how to spice things up in your average work day, but that wasn't all I liked.
There's a chapter dedicated to just jewelry, or "nightlife necessities" for the nights on the town.
Why did I buy this book in the first place? Because I wanted a cool, fresh, original way to spice up my wardrobe without crashing my cash. What's great about making your own things, is no one else will have the exact same thing as you.
I gave this book four stars because it kind of repeated some things that almost everyone knows how to do.
I recommend this book for someone who cares for oddball bags and jewelry, which could be everyone I guess.
Crafty Indeed!.......2002-05-22
This book is chock full of creative, inventive, fun ideas. It's a great activity book for pre-teens and the accessories you can make are really great.
Customer Reviews:
as good as fiction gets!!!.......2007-07-25
I sincerely believe this book to be one of the greatest works of fiction. Incredible book this and I have read it many times over. In contrast to Maugham's callous hero in the "Moon and Sixpence", Paul Desmond is the normal likable chap. The book provides a psychological window into his mind - his fears, his idealism, his weaknesses and his passion to paint. Though he meets with much opposition in pursuit of his passion, ultimately his talent prevails and he triumphs - even while he is alive.
book is also available as crusaders tomb.
Books:
- A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
- A Thomas Jefferson Education: Teaching a Generation of Leaders for the Twenty-first Century
- A Woman in Berlin: Eight Weeks in the Conquered City--A Diary
- Adventures Of Marco Polo
- Alexander Hamilton
- All But My Life: A Memoir
- Amazing Grace: Lives of Children and the Conscience of a Nation, The
- An Ordinary Man : An Autobiography
- Andrew Jackson
- Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Red Mafiya: How the Russian Mob Has Invaded America
- History: Fiction or Science
- This is Not Your Parents' Retirement: A Revolutionary Guide for a Revolutionary Generation
- A Guide to Forensic Accounting Investigation
- Consider Your Options: Get the Most from Your Equity Compensation
- For Men Only: A Straightforward Guide to the Inner Lives of Women
- Earned Income Credit: Opportunities to Make Recertification Program Less Confusing and More Consiste
- Vademecum Para El Perito Contador - 2 Edicion
- A General Equilibrium Analysis of U.S. Foreign Trade Policy
- Medicinal Plants of the Mountain West
Does This Make Me Look Fat?: The Definitive Rules for Dressing Thin for Every Height, Size, and Shape
What You Wear Can Change Your Life
The Pocket Stylist: Behind-the-Scenes Expertise from a Fashion Pro on Creating Your Own Look
What Not to Wear
Dress Your Best: The Complete Guide to Finding the Style That's Right for Your Body
