Reviews Written By: A1IDKGFVLFOP7Aprovided by Amazon.com |
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 | Wanderlust: A History of Walking | |
 | "Read this Book, and Go for a Walk" | 2006-06-04 |
| Solnit has her flaws. She tends to make a mistake common among critics, that of confounding a powerful metaphor with literal truth. She sometimes over reaches. And I suspect that her research may get some details wrong. That said, she is intellectually gifted, a good writer, has her heart in the right place, and is always interesting to read. Read this book, and escape for a while the future that is rushing towards us with an earbud for a phone or Ipod always plugged in. There's great pleasure to be had in a contemplative walk---and in this book. | ||
 | River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West | |
| "Interesting Reading" | 2006-06-01 |
| Solnit has some interesting things to say about Muybridge's photography, and about how photography, our self image as a society, and even California's culture of rebirth, innovation, and redemption are tied up. But even apart from such heady stuff, Muybridge was a rascal who lived an interesting life (besides his photography, he murdered his wife's lover and invented the technology that is the basis for movies). So read this book, you'll enjoy it, and maybe learn a bit too. | ||
 | River of Shadows: Eadweard Muybridge and the Technological Wild West | |
| "Interesting Reading" | 2006-06-01 |
| Solnit has some interesting things to say about Muybridge's photography, and about how photography, our self image as a society, and even California's culture of rebirth, innovation, and redemption are tied up. But even apart from such heady stuff, Muybridge was a rascal who lived an interesting life (besides his photography, he murdered his wife's lover and invented the technology that is the basis for movies). So read this book, you'll enjoy it, and maybe learn a bit too. | ||
 | 100 Flowers and How They Got Their Names | |
| "Wonderful, charming book" | 2006-04-26 |
| This is a wonderful, charming book. Each section provides an interesting anecdotal essay about the flower it covers. However, do not expect completeness (of course, there are many more than 100 flowers out there, and more than could be said about each than is possible in a page or two). Also, don't look for consistent information about flower naming or morphology. Rather, these are very personal essays on each flower. The essays usually include some historical information that has to do with how the flower was named. At times, this format feel forced--I would have liked the author to be able to paint with a broader brush, as I sense she wanted to. And I also think that of the 100 flowers there are a few she doesn't really like that much. (Well, me too!). These minor objections to the form of the book aside, it's really incredibly sweet, and very educational. 5 Stars plus. | ||
 | World Is Flat: A Brief History Of The Twenty-first Century | |
 | "Stating the Obvious" | 2006-04-22 |
| This is a glib, annoying book that states the obvious as gee-whiz fundamental revelations. Yes, all sorts of jobs are being outsourced to India and China. Who'd have thunk it? Yes, even tasks like taking orders in the fast-food restaurant car queues are being aggregated in offsite call centers linked to the restaurants by the internet. Gee whiz! (And, yes, audio quality sometimes isn't so good.) Somehow, to generally increase my sense of annoyance with this book, author Friedman manages to insert himself into each "story" about outsourcing and flat-earthiness. With all the statement of the obvious at great (and narcissitic) length, there's no real examination of the fundamental causes of the trends (other than the abundance of cheap fiber and cheap, educated labor in India and China). I'd like to see some discussion of the changing roles of corporations-as-states, the impact of Wall Street's requirements on these trends, and what these trends say about companies and their committments to customer service. You won't find anything about this in Friedman's book, and you probably won't find anything you don't already know. | ||
 | Mastering Digital Printing: The Photographer's and Artist's Guide to High-Quality Digital Output | |
 | "More about how to spec printing equipment than about making prints" | 2006-04-20 |
| This handsome volume badly disappointed me. I think the proper rating for the book is about one and a half stars, but I gave it two out of generosity. If you don't have a printer and are looking to buy one, it gives a pretty good round-up of the choices, technologies, and papers. The problem with this kind of thing, of course, is that it is necessarily dated--so it can't really serve as a buyer's guide. If you already have a printer--I have an Epson 4800--and a source of digital images, you won't find much information here about how to make great prints. The only section on the actual print making process shows the dialogs for one printer, probably the author's. Totally unhelpful unless you have that printer (and you've probably already figured out how those dialogs work if you have that printer). The section on RIP software is way overview, and doesn't provide any decent guidance on how to proceed with it. I'm not given to writing negative reviews, and I don't often return books (as I am with this one), but in the face of all the positive feedback for this book I feel compelled to provide my opinion. As I said, if you are looking to buy a printer, this might help you understand the basic technology issues (although the models have changed since the book was written). Otherwise, the only use I see for it is as a "gee whiz" coffee table book for would-be digital printers rather than a serious reference manual. | ||
 | Mastering Digital Printing, Second Edition | |
| "More about how to spec printing equipment than about making prints" | 2006-04-20 |
| This handsome volume badly disappointed me. I think the proper rating for the book is about one and a half stars, but I gave it two out of generosity. If you don't have a printer and are looking to buy one, it gives a pretty good round-up of the choices, technologies, and papers. The problem with this kind of thing, of course, is that it is necessarily dated--so it can't really serve as a buyer's guide. If you already have a printer--I have an Epson 4800--and a source of digital images, you won't find much information here about how to make great prints. The only section on the actual print making process shows the dialogs for one printer, probably the author's. Totally unhelpful unless you have that printer (and you've probably already figured out how those dialogs work if you have that printer). The section on RIP software is way overview, and doesn't provide any decent guidance on how to proceed with it. I'm not given to writing negative reviews, and I don't often return books (as I am with this one), but in the face of all the positive feedback for this book I feel compelled to provide my opinion. As I said, if you are looking to buy a printer, this might help you understand the basic technology issues (although the models have changed since the book was written). Otherwise, the only use I see for it is as a "gee whiz" coffee table book for would-be digital printers rather than a serious reference manual. | ||
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