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books tagged “illustration”
books tagged “illustration”
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The Adventures of Don Quixoteby Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra, Tobias George SmollettISBN 0374519439 (0-374-51943-9)
Softcover, Farrar Straus & Giroux
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Adventures of Don Quixote'Book summary:The adventures of Don Quixote and his squire Sancho Panza continue as he carries on his quest for chivalry and romance. Part 2. (Nine 90-minute cassettes) [via]
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The Adventures of Don Quixote De La Manchaby Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra, Tobias George SmollettISBN 0374142327 (0-374-14232-7)
Hardcover, Farrar, Straus, Giroux
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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finnby Mark Twain, George SaundersISBN 0375757376 (0-375-75737-6)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn'Book summary:?Introduction by George Saunders
[via]
Commentary by Thomas Perry Sergeant, Bernard DeVoto, Clifton Fadiman, T. S. Eliot, and Leo Marx
?"All modern American literature comes from one book by Mark Twain called Huckleberry Finn," Ernest Hemingway wrote. "It's the best book we've had." A complex masterpiece that spawned controversy right from the start (it was banished from the Concord library shelves in 1885), it is at heart a compelling adventure story. Huck, in flight from his murderous father, and Jim, in flight from slavery, pilot their raft through treacherous waters, surviving a crash with a steamboat and betrayal by rogues. As Norman Mailer has said, "The mark of how good Huckleberry Finn has to be is that one can compare it to a number of our best modern American novels and it stands up page for page."More editions of The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn:
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The American Centuryby Harold Evans, Gail Buckland, Kevin BakerISBN 037570938X (0-375-70938-X)
Softcover, Alfred a Knopf Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The American Century'Book summary:Although most of this sprawling book is set in the 20th century, it begins on April 29, 1889, when Benjamin Harrison commemorated the first centennial of American government. This 11-year jump-start allows Harold Evans to write about the last major push to settle the Western territories, the gradual dwindling of Native American societies, the rise to prominence of William Jennings Bryan, and other quintessentially American moments of the 19th century.
But make no mistake about it--The American Century is very much rooted in the modern world. Evans's tight, journalistic prose marks the significant events and personages in America's rise to superpower status and offers several educational surprises, such as a two-page spread on too-little-known naval historian Alfred Mahan, whose The Influence of Sea Power upon History shaped foreign policy in America and several European nations. His treatments of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s and the Watergate crisis are substantial highlights. Juxtapositions such as Ralph Nader and Rachel Carson or Jimmy Hoffa and Cesar Chavez make for a lively overview. The book essentially ends with the inauguration of George Bush in 1989, although brief mention is made to some of what has happened since then. Filled with photographs and contemporary editorial cartoons, The American Century is an excellent one-volume chronicle of a rather momentous 100 years. [via]
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The Art of Star Wars Episode I : The Phantom Menaceby Jonathan BresmanISBN 0345431081 (0-345-43108-1)
Hardcover, Random House Publishing Group
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The Art of Star Wars, Episode II, Attack of the Clonesby George Lucas, Mark Cotta Vaz, Jonathan HalesISBN 034543126X (0-345-43126-X)
Softcover, Ballantine Books
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Asimov's Annotated Paradise Lostby John Milton, Isaac AsimovISBN 0385079923 (0-385-07992-3)
Hardcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
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Black Holeby Charles BurnsISBN 037542380X (0-375-42380-X)
Hardcover, Pantheon Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Black Hole'Book summary:The first issues of Charles Burns's comics series Black Hole began appearing in 1995, and long before it was completed a decade later, readers and fellow artists were speaking of it in tones of awe and comparing it to recent classics of the form like Chris Ware's Jimmy Corrigan and Daniel Clowes's Ghost World. Burns is the sort of meticulous, uncompromising artist whom other artists speak of with envy and reverence, and we asked Ware and Clowes to comment on their admiration for Black Hole:
"I think I probably learned the most about clarity, composition, and efficiency from looking at Charles's pages spread out on my drawing table than from anyone's; his was always at the level of lucidity of Nancy, but with this odd, metallic tinge to it that left you feeling very unsettled, especially if you were an aspiring cartoonist, because it was clear you'd never be half as good as he was. There's an almost metaphysical intensity to his pinprick-like inkline that catches you somewhere in the back of the throat, a paper-thin blade of a fine jeweler's saw tracing the outline of these thick, clay-like human figures that somehow seem to "move," but are also inevitably oddly frozen in eternal, awkward poses ... it's an unlikely combination of feelings, and it all adds up to something unmistakably his own. "I must have been one of the first customers to arrive at the comic shop when I heard the first issue of Black Hole was out 10 years ago, and my excitement didn't change over the years as he completed it. I don't think I've ever read anything that better captures the details, feelings, anxieties, smells, and cringing horror of my own teenage years better than Black Hole, and I'm 15 years younger than Charles is. Black Hole is so redolently affecting one almost has to put the book down for air every once in a while. By the book's end, one ends up feeling so deeply for the main character it's all one can do not to turn the book over and start reading again." --Chris Ware
"Charles Burns is one of the greats of modern comics. His comics are beautiful on so many levels. Somehow he has managed to capture the essential electricity of comic-book pop-art iconography, dragging it from the clutches of Fine Art back to the service of his perfect, precise-but-elusive narratives in a way that is both universal in its instant appeal and deeply personal." --Dan Clowes 
Questions for Charles Burns
Amazon.com: Cartoonists are about the only people today who are working like Dickens did: writing serials that appear piece-by-piece in public before the whole work is done. What's it like to work in public like that, and for as long as a project like this takes?
Charles Burns: There were a number of reasons for serializing Black Hole. First of all, I wanted to put out a traditional comic book-- I'd never really worked in that comic pamphlet format before and liked the idea of developing a long story in installments. There's something very satisfying to me about a comic book as an object and I enjoyed using that format to slowly build my story. Serializing the story also allowed me to focus on shorter, more manageable portions; if I had to face creating a 368-page book all in one big lump, I don't know if Id have the perseverance and energy to pull it off.
Amazon.com: One thing that stuns me about this book is how consistent it is from start to finish. From the first frames to the last ones that you drew 10 years later, you held the same tone and style. It feels as though you had a complete vision for the book from the very beginning. Is that so? Or did things develop unexpectedly as you worked on it?
Burns: I guess there's a consistency in Black Hole because of the way I work. I write and draw very slowly, always carefully examining every little detail to make sure it all fits together the way I want it to. When I started the story, I had it all charted out as far as the basic structure goes, but what made working on it interesting was finding new ways of telling the story that hadn't occurred to me.
Amazon.com: Some of the very best of the recent graphic novels (I'm thinking of Ghost World and Blankets, along with Black Hole) have been about the lives of teenagers. Do you think there's something about the form that helps to tell those stories so well?
Burns: That's an interesting question, but I don't know the answer. Perhaps it has more to do with the authors--the kind of people who stay indoors for hours on end in total solitude working away on their heartfelt stories... maybe that kind of reflection lends itself to being able to capture the intensity of adolescence.
Amazon.com: In the time you've been working on Black Hole, graphic novels have leapt into the mainstream. (I think--I hope--we're finally seeing the last of those "They're not just for kids anymore!" reviews.) What did you imagine for this project when you started it? What's it been like to see your corner of the world enter the glare of the spotlight?
Burns: When I started Black Hole I really just wanted to tell a long, well-written story. The themes and ideas that run throughout the book had been turning around in my head for years and I wanted to finally get them all out--put them down on paper once and for all. I've published a few other books and while they sold reasonably well, they didn't set the publishing world on fire. I was pretty sure I'd have some kind of an audience for Black Hole, but that was never a motivating factor in writing the book. And my corner of the world is still pretty dark. I guess I'll be stepping into the spotlight for a little while when the book comes out, but I imagine I'll slip back into my dark little studio when it all settles down again so I can settle back into work.More editions of Black Hole:
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Blake : A Biographyby Peter AckroydISBN 0345376110 (0-345-37611-0)
Softcover, Random House Publishing Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Blake : A Biography'Book summary:"MARVELOUS . . . A first-rate biography of an extraordinary man." --The Wall Street Journal
"SUPERB . . . Ackroyd writes with clarity and ease: His book is consistently intelligent, entertaining and affectionate. One closes its pages full of admiration for Blake and eager to study his pictures and read his poetry. . . . Ackroyd emphasizes Blake the visionary Londoner, like Turner or Dickens, and convincingly relates the poet's work to the social upheavals of his time. . . . Above all, [he] makes Blake live for the modern reader."
--The Washington Post Book World
"LYRICAL AND ILLUMINATING . . . Ackroyd is a masterly storyteller and interpreter of Blake's writing and art."
--Chicago Tribune
"THE WORK OF A WRITER AT THE PEAK OF HIS LITERARY POWERS . . . It is one of the great strengths of Ackroyd's writing that he reminds us that every individual life and cast of mind has a tradition behind it, a context of other lives and minds which is half forgotten or not remembered at all. As a writer, he is always letting his bucket deeper and deeper down the historical well."
--The New Yorker [via]More editions of Blake : A Biography:
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Brave on the Rocks : If You Don't Go, You Don't Seeby Sabrina Ward HarrisonISBN 0375756639 (0-375-75663-9)
Softcover, Random House Publishing Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Brave on the Rocks : If You Don't Go, You Don't See'Book summary:"In the continuum of life and trying to discover my true self, Sabrina reminds me, through her brave, insightful, and heartfelt honesty, that we are all connected in this journey. We are connected through an intertwining sameness called the struggles and joys of finding and becoming our authentic selves. When I read her words, I felt acknowledged for my journey and for being a woman in these complex times... Thank you, Sabrina, for sharing your gift with us. May we all continue to share our journeys together so we know we are not alone."
--from the Foreword by Hilary Swank, actor
From the acclaimed twenty-five-year-old author/artist of the stunning visual memoir Spilling Open comes the all-new multimedia installment of her intimate journey Brave on the Rocks: If You Don't Go, You Don't See.
Picking up where Spilling Open left off, Sabrina Ward Harrison tells us about the surprising reaction to her first book. Via her readers' letters and e-mails, she realized that through her journal she had become an identifying voice for women around the world. However, along with recognition came a certain pressure to uphold her new image. Overwhelmed by her attempt to live up to what she thought she had to become, Sabrina decided to head out on her own. She chose as her destination Italy, a place she had always dreamed and written about, a place she felt she could go to "recolor" herself. In her journey she discovered a universal identity with other travelers and a particular kinship with the women she met. But back home she struggled to keep her newfound confidence intact as she navigated her life.
Harrison writes and illustrates with a powerful and creative voice. Her thoughts are real and brave. She explores with sensitivity questions of love, faith, growing pains, being true to oneself, and what it means to be unique. With unfaltering honesty, she allows us to witness and share in her reconnection with herself, her growing and reaching, and, ultimately, her voyage home again. [via]More editions of Brave on the Rocks : If You Don't Go, You Don't See:
Canterbury Talesby Geoffrey ChaucerISBN 0385000286 (0-385-00028-6)
Hardcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
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Canterbury Tales of Geoffrey Chaucerby Geoffrey ChaucerISBN 0385098693 (0-385-09869-3)
Softcover, Bantam Dell Pub Group
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The Cat In The Hatby SeussISBN 0375834923 (0-375-83492-3)
Softcover, Random House Childrens Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Cat In The Hat'Book summary:He may be an old standby, but he never lets us down. When in doubt, turn to the story of the cat that transformed a dull, rainy afternoon into a magical and just-messy-enough adventure. There's another, hidden adventure, too: this book really will help children learn to read. With his simple and often single-vowel vocabulary, the good Doctor knew what he was doing: hear it, learn it, read it--laughing all the way. The Cat in the Hat is a must for any child's library. [via]
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Changesby Anthony BrowneISBN 0374411778 (0-374-41177-8)
Softcover, Farrar, Straus & Giroux
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Charlie and the Chocolate Factoryby Roald Dahl, Quentin BlakeISBN 0375815260 (0-375-81526-0)
Hardcover, Alfred a Knopf Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Charlie and the Chocolate Factory'Book summary:Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and its sequel, Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator, along with Roald Dahl's other tales for younger readers, make him a true star of children's literature. Dahl seems to know just how far to go with his oddball fantasies; in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, for example, nasty Violet Beauregarde blows up into a blueberry from sneaking forbidden chewing gum, and bratty Augustus Gloop is carried away on the river of chocolate he wouldn't resist. In fact, all manner of disasters can happen to the most obnoxiously deserving of children because Dahl portrays each incident with such resourcefulness and humor.
Charlie and the Chocolate Factory is a singular delight, crammed with mad fantasy, childhood justice and revenge, and as much candy as you can eat. The book is also available in Spanish (Charlie y la Fabrica de Chocolate). (The suggested age range for this book is 9-12, but nobody this reviewer has met can resist it, including New York City bellhops, flight attendants, and grumpy teenagers.) [via]
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- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: ISBN 0375831975 (0-375-83197-5)
Hardcover, Random House Childrens Books - Charlie And The Chocolate Factory: ISBN 0375834605 (0-375-83460-5)
Hardcover, Random House Childrens Books - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: ISBN 0375915265 (0-375-91526-5)
Hardcover, Random House Childrens Books - Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: ISBN 0375815260 (0-375-81526-0)
Hardcover, Alfred a Knopf Inc
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory: ISBN 0375831975 (0-375-83197-5)
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City of Glassby Bob Callahan, Paul Auster, Art Spiegelman, David Mazzucchelli, Paul KarasikISBN 038077108X (0-380-77108-X)
Softcover, HarperCollins Publishers
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› Find signed collectible books: 'City of Glass'Book summary:I cannot possibly offer enough praise for David Mazzucchelli and Paul Karasik 's adaptation of City of Glass. While some critics found it to be a dry choice of books to turn into a comics, I think the interplay between image and text only heightens the original metafictional narrative. The treatment of the first speech by the crazy antagonist, Peter Stillman--in which the word balloons trail from random objects such as a broken television and a bottle of ink--is brilliant. Neon Lit: Paul Auster's City of Glass deftly illustrates why comics is a perfect format for exploring fictions about text: the words become visible objects of the story. [via]
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The Complete Guide to Middle Earth : Tolkien's World from A to Zby Robert Hill FosterISBN 0345324366 (0-345-32436-6)
Softcover, Random House Publishing Group
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The Complete Guide to Middle-Earthby Robert FosterISBN 0345449762 (0-345-44976-2)
Softcover, Ballantine Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Complete Guide to Middle-Earth'Book summary:For the millions who have already ventured to Middle-earth, and for the countless others who have yet to embark on the journeyhere is the one indispensable A-to-Z guide that brings Tolkiens universe to life.
EVERY CHARACTER
From Adaldrida Brandybuck to Zaragambaevery Hobbit, Elf, Dwarf, Man, Orc, or other resident of Middle-earth is vividly described and accurately located in proper place and time.
EVERY PLACE
Colorfully detailed descriptions of geographical entries allow you to pick up the action anywhere in Middle-earth and follow it through all five volumes.
EVERY THING
From stars and streams to food and flora, everything found in Middle-earth is alphabetically listed and, when necessary, cross-referenced.
HERE IS TRULY A MASTER KEY
TO TOLKIENS MIDDLE-EARTH
[via]More editions of The Complete Guide to Middle-Earth:
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The Complete Guide to Middle-Earth : Tolkien's World from A to Zby Robert FosterISBN 0345465296 (0-345-46529-6)
Hardcover, Random House Publishing Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Complete Guide to Middle-Earth : Tolkien's World from A to Z'Book summary:For the millions who have already ventured to Middle-earth, and for the countless others who have yet to embark on the journeyhere is the one indispensable A-to-Z guide that brings Tolkiens universe to life.
EVERY CHARACTER
From Adaldrida Brandybuck to Zaragambaevery Hobbit, Elf, Dwarf, Man, Orc, or other resident of Middle-earth is vividly described and accurately located in proper place and time.
EVERY PLACE
Colorfully detailed descriptions of geographical entries allow you to pick up the action anywhere in Middle-earth and follow it through all five volumes.
EVERY THING
From stars and streams to food and flora, everything found in Middle-earth is alphabetically listed and, when necessary, cross-referenced.
HERE IS TRULY A MASTER KEY
TO TOLKIENS MIDDLE-EARTH
From the Trade Paperback edition. [via]More editions of The Complete Guide to Middle-Earth : Tolkien's World from A to Z:
Complete Works of Lewis Carrollby John TennielISBN 0370005074 (0-370-00507-4)
Hardcover, Random House Inc
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Cowlick!by Christin Ditchfield, Rosalind BeardshawISBN 0375835407 (0-375-83540-7)
Hardcover, Random House Childrens Books
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Creepy Susie: And 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Childrenby Angus OblongISBN 0345433009 (0-345-43300-9)
Softcover, Ballantine Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Creepy Susie: And 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children'Book summary:Creepy Susie. Mary Had a Little Chainsaw. Milo's Disorder. Rosie's Crazy Mother. The Siamese Quadruplets. Emily Amputee.
Your mother never told you these stories.
She didn't want to scare you.
But Angus Oblong is not your mother.
If Edgar Allan Poe and David Lynch wrote a book, it might be as warped, wicked, and perversely funny as this treasury of twisted tales from childhood's Twilight Zone. So don't be alarmed if you find yourself screaming . . . with laughter . . . until the day you die. Which may be very soon . . . [via]More editions of Creepy Susie: And 13 Other Tragic Tales for Troubled Children:
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Crowsby Heidi HolderISBN 0374416109 (0-374-41610-9)
Softcover, Farrar Straus & Giroux
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Crows'Book summary:Crows--the most intelligent of all birds--are the inspiration for a counting rhyme that Heidi Holder first heard from her grandfather. Full-color illustrations. [via]
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Danny the Champion of the Worldby Roald Dahl, Quentin BlakeISBN 0375814256 (0-375-81425-6)
Hardcover, Alfred a Knopf Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Danny the Champion of the World'Book summary:: "My father, without the slightest doubt, was the most marvellous and exciting father any boy ever had". Danny feels very lucky. He adores his life with his father, living in a gypsy caravan, listening to his stories, tending their gas station, puttering around the workshop, and occasionally taking off to fly home-built gas balloons and kites. His father has raised him on his own, ever since Danny's mother died when he was four months old. Life is peaceful and wonderful ... until he turns 9 and discovers his father's one vice. Soon Danny finds himself the mastermind behind the most incredible plot ever attempted against nasty Victor Hazell, a wealthy landowner with a bad attitude. Can they pull it off? If so, Danny will truly be the champion of the world. Danny is right up to Roald Dahl's impishly brilliant standards. An intense and beautiful father-son relationship is balanced with subtle escapades that will have even the most rigid law-abider rooting them on. Dahl's inimitable way with words leaves the reader simultaneously satisfied and itching for more. (Ages 9 to 13) --Emilie Coulter [via]
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Don Quixoteby Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra, Tobias George SmollettISBN 037575699X (0-375-75699-X)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Don Quixote'Book summary:Widely regarded as the world's first modern novel, Don Quixote chronicles the famous picaresque adventures of the noble knight-errant Don Quixote de la Mancha and his faithful squire, Sancho Panza, as they wend their way across sixteenth-century Spain. Milan Kundera calls Cervantes the founder of the Modern Era and Lionel Trilling observes that it can be said that all prose fiction is a variation on the theme of Don Quixote.
This Modern Library Paperback Classics edition reproduces the acclaimed Tobias Smollett translation; as Salman Rushdie declares, To my mind, this is the only English rendering of the Quixote that reads like a great novel, a novel of immense daring, much wildness and many colours. It releases Don Quixote from the grey academic prison of many more recent translations, unleashing him upon the English language in all his brilliant, foolish glory . This edition also contains new endnotes. [via]More editions of Don Quixote:
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Don Quixote of the Manchaby Miguel De Cervantes Saavedra, Walter Crane, Judge Parry, Edward Abbott ParryISBN 037540659X (0-375-40659-X)
Hardcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Don Quixote of the Mancha'Book summary:The story of the Spanish knight whose devotion to tales of chivalry leads him and his faithful squire, Sancho Panza, into a series of bizarre adventures blends fantasy, comedy, and drama in a way that has gripped the world's imagination for centuries. This edition has been abridged and adapted for children, and enhanced by the delightful illustrations of Walter Crane. [via]
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Emmaby Jane AustenISBN 0375757422 (0-375-75742-2)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Emma'Book summary:Of all Jane Austen's heroines, Emma Woodhouse is the most flawed, the most infuriating, and, in the end, the most endearing. Pride and Prejudice's Lizzie Bennet has more wit and sparkle; Catherine Morland in Northanger Abbey more imagination; and Sense and Sensibility's Elinor Dashwood certainly more sense--but Emma is lovable precisely because she is so imperfect. Austen only completed six novels in her lifetime, of which five feature young women whose chances for making a good marriage depend greatly on financial issues, and whose prospects if they fail are rather grim. Emma is the exception: "Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her." One may be tempted to wonder what Austen could possibly find to say about so fortunate a character. The answer is, quite a lot.
For Emma, raised to think well of herself, has such a high opinion of her own worth that it blinds her to the opinions of others. The story revolves around a comedy of errors: Emma befriends Harriet Smith, a young woman of unknown parentage, and attempts to remake her in her own image. Ignoring the gaping difference in their respective fortunes and stations in life, Emma convinces herself and her friend that Harriet should look as high as Emma herself might for a husband--and she zeroes in on an ambitious vicar as the perfect match. At the same time, she reads too much into a flirtation with Frank Churchill, the newly arrived son of family friends, and thoughtlessly starts a rumor about poor but beautiful Jane Fairfax, the beloved niece of two genteelly impoverished elderly ladies in the village. As Emma's fantastically misguided schemes threaten to surge out of control, the voice of reason is provided by Mr. Knightly, the Woodhouse's longtime friend and neighbor. Though Austen herself described Emma as "a heroine whom no one but myself will much like," she endowed her creation with enough charm to see her through her most egregious behavior, and the saving grace of being able to learn from her mistakes. By the end of the novel Harriet, Frank, and Jane are all properly accounted for, Emma is wiser (though certainly not sadder), and the reader has had the satisfaction of enjoying Jane Austen at the height of her powers. --Alix Wilber [via]
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Ethel & Ernest: A True Storyby Raymond BriggsISBN 0375714472 (0-375-71447-2)
Softcover, Pantheon Books
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Fantastic Art of Boris Vallejoby Boris VallejoISBN 0345352092 (0-345-35209-2)
Softcover, Ballantine Books
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Fantastic Mr. Foxby Roald Dahl, Quentin BlakeISBN 0375822070 (0-375-82207-0)
Hardcover, Alfred a Knopf Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Fantastic Mr. Fox'Book summary:In the tradition of The Adventures of Peter Rabbit, this is a "garden tale" of farmer versus vermin, or vice versa. The farmers in this case are a vaguely criminal team of three stooges: "Boggis and Bunce and Bean / One fat, one short, one lean. / These horrible crooks / So different in looks / Were nonetheless equally mean." Whatever their prowess as poultry farmers, within these pages their sole objective is the extermination of our hero--the noble, the clever, the Fantastic Mr. Fox. Our loyalties are defined from the start; after all, how could you cheer for a man named Bunce who eats his doughnuts stuffed with mashed goose livers? As one might expect, the farmers in this story come out smelling like ... well, what farmers occasionally do smell like.
This early Roald Dahl adventure is great for reading aloud to three- to seven-year-olds, who will be delighted to hear that Mr. Fox keeps his family one step ahead of the obsessed farmers. When they try to dig him out, he digs faster; when they lay siege to his den, he tunnels to where the farmers least expect him--their own larders! In the end, Mr. Fox not only survives, but also helps the whole community of burrowing creatures live happily ever after. With his usual flourish, Dahl evokes a magical animal world that, as children, we always knew existed, had we only known where or how to look for it. (Great read aloud for any age; written at a 9- to 12-year-old reading level) [via]
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Fellowship of the Ringby J. R. R. TolkienISBN 0345339703 (0-345-33970-3)
Softcover, Ballantine Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Fellowship of the Ring'Book summary:The prequel to The Lord of the Rings- The Hobbit- is now a major motion picture directed by Peter Jackson THE GREATEST FANTASY EPIC OF OUR TIME The dark, fearsome Ringwraiths are searching for a Hobbit. Frodo Baggins knows that they are seeking him and the Ring he bears-the Ring of Power that will enable evil Sauron to destroy all that is good in Middle-earth. Now it is up to Frodo and his faithful servant, Sam, with a small band of companions, to carry the Ring to the one place it can be destroyed: Mount Doom, in the very center of Sauron's realm. Thus begins J.R.R. Tolkien's classic The Lord of the Rings, which continues in The Two Towers and The Return of the King . [via]
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Flight 3by Kazu KibuishiISBN 0345490398 (0-345-49039-8)
Softcover, Ballantine Books
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A Gift Of Gracias: The Legend Of Altagraciaby Julia Alvarez, Beatriz VidalISBN 0375824251 (0-375-82425-1)
Hardcover, Random House Childrens Books
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The Grass Is Always Greener over the Septic Tankby Erma BombeckISBN 0345471725 (0-345-47172-5)
Softcover, Fawcett Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Grass Is Always Greener over the Septic Tank'Book summary:"She is marvelously funny, direct as a hypodermic, a virtuoso in the field of suburban living....Lovely stuff."
VOGUE
It's the expose to end all exposes--the truth about the suburbs: where they planted trees and crabgrass came up, where they planted the schools and taxes came up, where they died of old age trying to merge onto the freeway and where they finally got sex out of the schools and back into the gutters. [via]More editions of The Grass Is Always Greener over the Septic Tank:
The Great Fishby Peter ParnallISBN 0385045891 (0-385-04589-1)
Hardcover, Doubleday
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Happy Birthday to You!by Dr. SeussISBN 0375823115 (0-375-82311-5)
Hardcover, Random House Childrens Books
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The Hobbitby J.R.R. Tolkien, David Wenzel, Charles Dixon, Sean DemingISBN 0345445600 (0-345-44560-0)
Softcover, Ballantine Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Hobbit'Book summary:"In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit. Not a nasty, dirty, wet hole, filled with the ends of worms and an oozy smell, nor yet a dry, bare, sandy hole with nothing in it to sit down on or to eat: it was a hobbit-hole, and that means comfort."
The hobbit-hole in question belongs to one Bilbo Baggins, an upstanding member of a "little people, about half our height, and smaller than the bearded dwarves." He is, like most of his kind, well off, well fed, and best pleased when sitting by his own fire with a pipe, a glass of good beer, and a meal to look forward to. Certainly this particular hobbit is the last person one would expect to see set off on a hazardous journey; indeed, when Gandalf the Grey stops by one morning, "looking for someone to share in an adventure," Baggins fervently wishes the wizard elsewhere. No such luck, however; soon 13 fortune-seeking dwarves have arrived on the hobbit's doorstep in search of a burglar, and before he can even grab his hat or an umbrella, Bilbo Baggins is swept out his door and into a dangerous adventure.
The dwarves' goal is to return to their ancestral home in the Lonely Mountains and reclaim a stolen fortune from the dragon Smaug. Along the way, they and their reluctant companion meet giant spiders, hostile elves, ravening wolves--and, most perilous of all, a subterranean creature named Gollum from whom Bilbo wins a magical ring in a riddling contest. It is from this life-or-death game in the dark that J.R.R. Tolkien's masterwork, The Lord of the Rings, would eventually spring. Though The Hobbit is lighter in tone than the trilogy that follows, it has, like Bilbo Baggins himself, unexpected iron at its core. Don't be fooled by its fairy-tale demeanor; this is very much a story for adults, though older children will enjoy it, too. By the time Bilbo returns to his comfortable hobbit-hole, he is a different person altogether, well primed for the bigger adventures to come--and so is the reader. --Alix Wilber [via]
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The Hobbit or There and Back Againby J. R. R. TolkienISBN 0345339681 (0-345-33968-1)
Softcover, Ballantine Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Hobbit or There and Back Again'Book summary:NA [via]
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Homer: The Odysseyby Homer, Robert FitzgeraldISBN 0385050402 (0-385-05040-2)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Homer: The Odyssey'Book summary:Here is a new Loeb Classical Library edition of the resplendent epic tale of Odysseus's long journey home from the Trojan War and the legendary temptations, delays, and perils he faced at every turn. Homer's classic poem features Odysseus's encounters with the beautiful nymph Calypso; the queenly but wily Circe; the Lotus-eaters, who fed his men their memory-stealing drug; the man-eating, one-eyed Cyclops; the Laestrygonian giants; the souls of the dead in Hades; the beguiling Sirens; the treacherous Scylla and Charybdis. Here, too, is the hero's faithful wife, Penelope, weaving a shroud by day and unraveling it by night, in order to thwart the numerous suitors attempting to take Odysseus's place.
The works attributed to Homer include the two oldest and greatest European epic poems, the Odyssey and Iliad. These texts have long stood in the Loeb Classical Library with a faithful and literate prose translation by A. T. Murray. George Dimock now brings the Loeb's Odyssey up to date, with a rendering that retains Murray's admirable style but is worded for today's readers. The two-volume edition includes a new introduction, notes, and index.
[via]More editions of Homer: The Odyssey:
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The Iliadby Homer, Robert Fitzgerald, Andrew FordISBN 0374529051 (0-374-52905-1)
Softcover, Farrar Straus & Giroux
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Iliad'Book summary:Anger be now your song, immortal one,[via]
Akhilleus' anger, doomed and ruinous,
that caused the Akhaians loss on bitter loss
and crowded brave souls into the undergloom,
leaving so many dead men-carrion
for dogs and birds; and the will of Zeus was done.
-Lines 1-6
Since it was first published more than twenty-five years ago, Robert Fitzgerald's prizewinning translation of Homer's battle epic has become a classic in its own right: a standard against which all other versions of The Iliad are compared. Fitzgerald's work is accessible, ironic, faithful, written in a swift vernacular blank verse that "makes Homer live as never before" (Library Journal).
This edition includes a new foreword by Andrew Ford. -
The Iliadby Robert Fitzgerald, HomerISBN 0385059418 (0-385-05941-8)
Softcover, Knopf Publishing Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Iliad'Book summary:This translation of The Iliad equals Fitzgerald's earlier Odyssey in power and imagination. It recreates the original action as conceived by Homer, using fresh and flexible blank verse that is both lyrical and dramatic. [via]
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Indian Diary, 1952-53by Edward ArdizzoneISBN 0370305256 (0-370-30525-6)
Hardcover, Random House Inc
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Ingri and Edgar Parin D'Aulaire's Book of Greek Mythsby Ingri D'Aulaire, Edgar Parin D'AulaireISBN 0385015836 (0-385-01583-6)
Hardcover, Doubleday
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J.R.R. Tolkienby J. R. R. TolkienISBN 0345340426 (0-345-34042-6)
Softcover, Ballantine Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'J.R.R. Tolkien'Book summary:Four book set includes the Hobbit and Complete Lord of the Rings; the Fellowship of the Ring; The Two Towers; The Return of The King. [via]
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Jane Eyreby Charlotte Brontë, Diane JohnsonISBN 0375757600 (0-375-75760-0)
Softcover, Random House Publishing Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Jane Eyre'Book summary:Initially published under the pseudonym Currer Bell in 1847, Charlotte Brontë's Jane Eyre erupted onto the English literary scene, immediately winning the devotion of many of the world's most renowned writers, including William Makepeace Thackeray, who declared it a work "of great genius." Passionate, dramatic, and surprisingly modern, Jane Eyre endures as one of the world's most beloved novels. This Modern Library Paperback Classics edition includes a new Introduction by Diane Johnson, the National Book Award-nominated author of many novels, including Le Mariage and Le Divorce.
The timeless story of Jane Eyre has arrived on Broadway as a spectacular new musical from an all-star production team, consisting of John Caird (Les Misérables, Nicholas Nickleby), who adapted and staged (with Scott Schwartz); composer Paul Gordon; designer John Napier (Cats, Les Misérables, Sunset Boulevard); costume designer Andreane Neofitou (Les Misérables, Miss Saigon); and lighting designers Jules Fisher and Peggy Eisenhauer, six-time winners of the Tonytm Award.
Jane Eyre: The Musical, live at the Brooks Atkinson Theatre
www.JaneEyreonBroadway.com
Original cast album available from Sony Classical [via]More editions of Jane Eyre:
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Jay's Journal of Anomalies: Conjurers, Cheats, Hustlers, Hoaxsters, Pranksters, Jokesters, Imposters, Pretenders, Sideshow Showmen, Armless Calligraphers, Mechanical Marvels, popby Ricky JayISBN 0374178674 (0-374-17867-4)
Hardcover, Farrar Straus & Giroux
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Jay's Journal of Anomalies: Conjurers, Cheats, Hustlers, Hoaxsters, Pranksters, Jokesters, Imposters, Pretenders, Sideshow Showmen, Armless Calligraphers, Mechanical Marvels, pop'Book summary:A dazzling tour through the world of singular entertainers, con men, and unusual phenomena.[via]
For the past four years, the multitalented Ricky Jay (sleight-of-hand artist, author, actor, film consultant, and scholar of the unusual) has published a unique and beautifully designed quarterly called Jay's Journal of Anomalies. Already a coveted collector's item, the complete set is gathered here for the first time. A brilliant excursion into the history of bizarre entertainments, the journal covered such subjects as dogs stealing acts from other dogs, an anthropological hoax involving the only survivors of a caste of ancient Aztec priests, and the ultimate diet: ingesting only air.In a delectably deadpan and winning style, Jay conveys his admiration and affection for the offbeat that characterized his bestselling Learned Pigs and Fireproof Women. He explains how wags since the sixteenth century have cheated at bowling; he explores the ancient relationship between conjuring and dentistry; and he chronicles the exploits of ceiling walkers and human flies. Crammed full of illustrations drawn from the author's massive personal archive, Jay's Journal of Anomalies will baffle, instruct, and, above all, delight.More editions of Jay's Journal of Anomalies: Conjurers, Cheats, Hustlers, Hoaxsters, Pranksters, Jokesters, Imposters, Pretenders, Sideshow Showmen, Armless Calligraphers, Mechanical Marvels, pop:
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Just So Storiesby Rudyard Kipling, Meg Rutherford, Robert MathaisISBN 0382092996 (0-382-09299-6)
Hardcover, Xs Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Just So Stories'Book summary:Kipling began these stories in Vermont, to amuse his daughter when they were living in his wife's home town. The comic explanations, such as "how the camel got his hump" and "how the whale got his throat", are complemented by the author's illustrations, with their extensive and ridiculous captions. [via]
Mirageby Boris&Doris VallejoISBN 0345344057 (0-345-34405-7)
Softcover, Ballantine Books
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The Monster at the End of This Bookby Jon Stone, Michael SmollinISBN 0375805613 (0-375-80561-3)
Hardcover, Random House Childrens Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Monster at the End of This Book'Book summary:Many adults name this book as their favorite Little Golden Book. Generations of kids have interacted with lovable, furry old Grover as he begs the reader not to turn the pagefor fear of a monster at the end of the book. Oh, I am so embarrassed, he says on the last page . . . for, of course, the monster is Grover himself!
This all-time favorite is now available as a Big Little Golden Bookperfect for lap-time reading. [via]More editions of The Monster at the End of This Book:
- The Monster at the End of This Book: ISBN 037582913X (0-375-82913-X)
Hardcover, Random House Childrens Books - The Monster at the End of This Book: ISBN 0375804013 (0-375-80401-3)
Hardcover, Random House Children's Books - The Monster at the End of This Book: ISBN 0375805613 (0-375-80561-3)
Hardcover, Random House Childrens Books
- The Monster at the End of This Book: ISBN 037582913X (0-375-82913-X)
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Moominpappa's Memoirsby Tove Jansson, Thomas WarburtonISBN 0374453071 (0-374-45307-1)
Softcover, Sunburst
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Moominpappa's Memoirs'Book summary:Before he had a family, before he met Moominmamma, Moominpappa led a life of adventure and intrigue. But he's never told his story until now.[via]
Now Moominpappa has a bad cold, and it's the perfect time to remember his youthful endeavors and to ponder the Experiences which have made him the remarkable Moomin he is. As he reads each chapter aloud to Moomintroll, Snufkin, and Sniff, they, and we, learn of his triumphs and tribulations, and his momentous meetings with the Joxter, the Muddler, and a cast of other characters too incredible (especially Edward the Booble) to list here.
"Moominpappa's Memoirs" has never before been translated into English, and Farrar, Straus and Giroux is proud to be able to add this title to its other Moomin books.More editions of Moominpappa's Memoirs:
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My Name Is Redby Orhan Pamuk, Erdag M. GoknarISBN 0375706852 (0-375-70685-2)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'My Name Is Red'Book summary:From one of the most important and acclaimed writers at work today, a thrilling new novelpart murder mystery, part love storyset amid the perils of religious repression in sixteenth-century Istanbul.
When the Sultan commissions a great book to celebrate his royal self and his extensive dominion, he directs Enishte Effendi to assemble a cadre of the most acclaimed artists in the land. Their task: to illuminate the work in the European style. But because figurative art can be deemed an affront to Islam, this commission is a dangerous proposition indeed, and no one in the elite circle can know the full scope or nature of the project.
Panic erupts when one of the chosen miniaturists disappears, and the Sultan demands answers within three days. The only clue to the mysteryor crime?lies in the half-finished illuminations themselves. Has an avenging angel discovered the blasphemous work? Or is a jealous contender for the hand of Enishtes ravishing daughter, the incomparable Shekure, somehow to blame?
Orhan Pamuks My Name Is Red is at once a fantasy and a philosophical puzzle, a kaleidoscopic journey to the intersection of art, religion, love, sex, and power. [via] -
The Odysseyby Homer, Robert FitzgeraldISBN 0374525749 (0-374-52574-9)
Softcover, Farrar Straus & Giroux
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Odyssey'Book summary:(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)
One of the supreme masterpieces of world literature, the Homeric saga of the shipwrecks, wanderings, and homecoming of the master tactician Odysseus encompasses a virtual inventory of the themes and attitudes that have shaped Western culture. The tale of Odysseuss encounters with such obstacles as Calypso, Circe, Scylla and Charybdis, the Sirens, and the lotus-eaters, and his dramatic return to Ithaca and his patient wife, Penelope, forms a prototype for all subsequent Western epics.
Robert Fitzgeralds much-acclaimed translation, fully possessing as it does the body and spirit of the original, has helped to assure the continuing vitality of Europes most influential work of poetry. This edition includes twenty-five new line drawings by Barnaby Fitzgerald. [via] 
One Gorillaby Atsuko MorozumiISBN 0374456461 (0-374-45646-1)
Softcover, Farrar, Straus & Giroux
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Peanuts: The Art of Charles M. Schulzby Charles M. Schulz, Geoff SpearISBN 0375714634 (0-375-71463-4)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Peanuts: The Art of Charles M. Schulz'Book summary:This beautiful album will dazzle fans of Charles M. Schulz and his art, providing an unprecedented look at the work of the most brilliant and beloved cartoonist of the twentieth century. Here is the whole gangCharlie Brown, Lucy, Linus, Snoopy, Peppermint Patty, Schroeder, Pig-Pen, and all the others from the original Peanuts strips.
More than five hundred comic strips are reproduced, as well as such rare or never-before-seen items as a sketchbook from Schulz's army days in the early 1940s; his very first printed strip, Just Keep Laughing; his private scrapbook of pre-Peanuts Li'l Folks strips; developmental sketches for the first versions of Charlie Brown and the other Peanuts characters; a sketchbook from 1963; and many more materials gathered from the Schulz archives in Santa Rosa, California.
The art has been stunningly photographed by Geoff Spear in full color, capturing the subtle textures of paper, ink, and line. The stripswhich were shot only from the original art or vintage newsprintreveal how, from the 1950s through 2000, Schulz's style and the Peanuts world evolved. The book features an introduction by Jean Schulz and has been designed and edited by renowned graphic artist Chip Kidd, who also provides an informed and appreciative commentary.
This celebration of the genius of the most revered cartoonist of our time is a must for anyone who has ever come under the spell of Peanuts. [via]More editions of Peanuts: The Art of Charles M. Schulz:
Punk Farmby Jarrett KrosoczkaISBN 0375824294 (0-375-82429-4)
Hardcover, Random House Childrens Books
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Reflections and Shadowsby Saul Steinberg, Aldo Buzzi, John ShepleyISBN 0375505717 (0-375-50571-7)
Hardcover, Random House Publishing Group
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Return of the Jedi Sketchbookby Joe Johnston, Nilo Rodis-JameroISBN 0345309596 (0-345-30959-6)
Softcover, Ballantine Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Return of the Jedi Sketchbook'Book summary:1983: by Joe Johnston and others- Original drawings from the most exciting chapter in the greatest space fantasy of all times. [via]
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Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymesby Roald Dahl, Quentin BlakeISBN 0375815562 (0-375-81556-2)
Hardcover, Random House Children's Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Roald Dahl's Revolting Rhymes'Book summary:I guess you think you know this story.
You dont. The real ones much more gory.
The phoney one, the one you know,
Was cooked up years and years ago. . . .
With his famous wicked humor and the cunning of a big bad wolf, master storyteller and satirist Roald Dahl retells his six favorite fairy tales. Get ready for Dahls diabolical version of what really happened to Cinderella, Goldilocks, the Three Little Pigs, Jack and the Beanstalk, Snow White, and Little Red Riding Hood.
From the Hardcover edition. [via]
The Royal Book of Ozby Ruth ThompsonISBN 0345315847 (0-345-31584-7)
Softcover, Ballantine Books
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A Sand County Almanacby Aldo Leopold, Charles W. SchwartzISBN 0345345053 (0-345-34505-3)
Softcover, Ballantine Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'A Sand County Almanac'Book summary:Published in 1949, shortly after the author's death, A Sand County Almanac is a classic of nature writing, widely cited as one of the most influential nature books ever published. Writing from the vantage of his summer shack along the banks of the Wisconsin River, Leopold mixes essay, polemic, and memoir in his book's pages. In one famous episode, he writes of killing a female wolf early in his career as a forest ranger, coming upon his victim just as she was dying, "in time to watch a fierce green fire dying in her eyes.... I was young then, and full of trigger-itch; I thought that because fewer wolves meant more deer, no wolves would mean hunters' paradise. But after seeing the green fire die, I sensed that neither the wolf nor the mountain agreed with such a view." Leopold's road-to-Damascus change of view would find its fruit some years later in his so-called land ethic, in which he held that nothing that disturbs the balance of nature is right. Much of Almanac elaborates on this basic premise, as well as on Leopold's view that it is something of a human duty to preserve as much wild land as possible, as a kind of bank for the biological future of all species. Beautifully written, quiet, and elegant, Leopold's book deserves continued study and discussion today. --Gregory McNamee [via]
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Secrets of the Gnomesby Rien PoortvlietISBN 0345308611 (0-345-30861-1)
Softcover, Ballantine Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Secrets of the Gnomes'Book summary:An account of the life and work of gnomes, based on first-hand observations by the author and artist, who, themselves turned into gnomes, visited with gnomes in Lapland and Siberia. [via]
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Spilling Open: The Art of Becoming Yourselfby Sabrina Ward HarrisonISBN 0375756485 (0-375-75648-5)
Softcover, Villard Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Spilling Open: The Art of Becoming Yourself'Book summary:Readers of both genders and all generations will find timeless innocence and age-old wisdom in the scrawling, sprawling words of Sabrina Ward Harrison. The format here is a personal journal in which Harrison allows readers to be privy to her colorful pages of free-flowing collages, photographs, and wildly handwritten words. Harrison explores many of the typical questions, confusions, and insights that accompany the journey from adolescence to womanhood. At times her angst feels a tad clichéd ("I am afraid to show you who I really am, because if I show you who I really am, you might not like it--and that's all I got."), but her gutsy presentation and honesty make her words feel fresh and hard-earned, especially in passages such as this:
I think God leaves me alone to let me find my own strength because no one else can give it to me. Sometimes it is very lonely. But I know the lonely times teach me the most. I must let go in order to let anything in. No one can love me, for me. Take a big walk protected in the trees. I miss the time before today.
Harrison is a gifted writer with an inspiring amount of heart-on-her-sleeve honesty. She even has the maturity to quote two of the big Ws--Walt Whitman and Woody Allen--with equal panache. But more importantly, she earns her readers' trust and hearts. As a result, Harrison is a woman to watch and a writer to follow. --Gail Hudson [via]More editions of Spilling Open: The Art of Becoming Yourself:
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Star Wars Episode I : The Making of the Phantom Menaceby Laurent Bouzereau, Jody DuncanISBN 0345431111 (0-345-43111-1)
Hardcover, Random House Publishing Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Star Wars Episode I : The Making of the Phantom Menace'Book summary:An Imperial Star Destroyer plus a doughnut equals a Neimoidian battleship. So reveals Phantom Menace design director Doug Chiang, as he's discussing how the previous Star Wars films influenced the conceptual planning of Episode I. Fans of Star Wars, of course, love to get this kind of skinny, and The Making of Episode I doesn't disappoint. In this comprehensive account of Phantom Menace's origins, packed with page after page of behind-the-scenes sketches and set photos, you also learn about the many hairdos of the Jedi, how Huttese is based on the Incan language Catua, and what a huge influence Young Indiana Jones had on Episode I's seat-of-the-pants, guerrilla-style production.
All the films in the Star Wars saga share unusual origins, but Phantom Menace may take the prize with its ground-breaking technology, nonlinear digital production process, strenuous casting demands, and, of course, the idiosyncratic style of Lucas himself, with his focus on editing and collaboration with actors and designers. The veterans of quite a few "making of" books and documentaries, Laurent Bouzereau (Star Wars: The Annotated Screenplays) and Jody Duncan (Cinefex magazine) don't miss a trick, combining exclusive Lucas interviews with blow-by-blow recountings of every stage in the process, from initial script development and casting to storyboarding, costume design, and set-building through to shooting, editing, and scoring. --Paul Hughes [via]
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Star Wars : The Art of the Phantom Menaceby Ballantine Books Staff, Jonathan Bresman, George LucasISBN 034543109X (0-345-43109-X)
Softcover, Random House Publishing Group
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Star Wars : The Art of the Phantom Menace'Book summary:Star Wars owes a lot to its details. George Lucas made his world so believable and compelling by getting all the little things right, whether it was a chip in Vader's helmet or the sand on a Stormtrooper's boots. Of course, this feat was no accident--extensive conceptual planning and design went into all the Star Wars movies, perhaps most so for Episode I: The Phantom Menace. This excellent "insider story" art book by Phantom Menace researcher Jonathan Bresman pulls together a wealth of these preliminary paintings, sketches, and computer animatics. Starting in early 1995, the Episode I art team sweated out nearly four years in a renovated attic at Skywalker Ranch, and Bresman's book gives an eye-popping account of their efforts, a sweeping survey of the movie's "evolutionary record," what Bresman calls "the unseen art that serves as the foundation for the film."
Divided into sections covering each of the movie's major locales (e.g., Theed, Coruscant, Otoh Gunga), The Art of Phantom Menace gives detailed illustrations of many of the creatures, structures, and vessels that made the final cut to film. But even more interesting are those that never left the sketchbook or hard drive--what fan wouldn't want to see a bulky, bipedal droideka or Padmé's horned, reptilian "swamp horse"? Call-outs alongside the art reveal the untold story behind many characters, like how Jedi Council member Yaddle really did begin as a sketch of a young Yoda, and how Jar Jar at one point had a wacky "dog" sidekick named Blarf. (Lucas and crew thankfully dodged that bullet.) --Paul Hughes [via]
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Star Wars the Making of Episode 1: The Phantom Menaceby Jody Duncan, Laurent BouzereauISBN 0345431197 (0-345-43119-7)
Softcover, Ballantine Books
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Stardustby Neil GaimanISBN 0380804557 (0-380-80455-7)
Softcover, Harpercollins
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Stardust'Book summary:De Féerie, le pays magique, les habitants du petit village de Wall savent peu de choses. Il faut dire qu'un grand mur les en séparent. Un mur dans lequel est ouvert une brèche, une brèche bien gardée, par laquelle ils n'ont droit de passer qu'une fois l'an, le jour de la grande foire de Wall. C'est ce jour-là, justement, que le jeune Tristram Thorn, décidé à conquérir le cSur de sa belle, part pour le pays de fée afin de lui ramener une étoile filante. Mais dans un pays magique, rien n'est comme ailleurs. Les distances sont immenses, on y croise nains et licornes, des chasseurs d'éclairs naviguent sur des bateaux volants et l'on est jamais à l'abri d'un mauvais sort qui pourra vous transformer en arbre, en chèvre ou en rat. Un monde plein de dangers et de merveilles que Tristram est loin d'imaginer, comme il est loin d'imaginer que son étoile filante est une belle et pure jeune fille, dont la présence ici-bas va éveiller la concupiscence des sept seigneurs de Sromhold comme de quelques vilaines sorcières...
Neil Gaiman est aussi à l'aise dans la BD (Sandman), que dans le roman (Neverwhere). Un talent inépuisable qu'il confirme une fois de plus ici en revisitant avec bonheur l'univers des contes de fées. À la fois drôle, merveilleux et volontairement naïf, Stardust est une réussite. --Georges Louhans [via]
The Tree of Lifeby Peter SisISBN 0374456283 (0-374-45628-3)
Hardcover, Farrar Straus & Giroux
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Unauthorized Portraitsby Edward SorelISBN 0375702040 (0-375-70204-0)
Softcover, Knopf Publishing Group
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The War of the Worldsby H. G. Wells, Arthur C. ClarkeISBN 0375759239 (0-375-75923-9)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The War of the Worlds'Book summary:This is the granddaddy of all alien invasion stories, first published by H.G. Wells in 1898. The novel begins ominously, as the lone voice of a narrator tells readers that "No one would have believed in the last years of the nineteenth century that this world was being watched keenly and closely by intelligences greater than man's..."
Things then progress from a series of seemingly mundane reports about odd atmospheric disturbances taking place on Mars to the arrival of Martians just outside of London. At first the Martians seem laughable, hardly able to move in Earth's comparatively heavy gravity even enough to raise themselves out of the pit created when their spaceship landed. But soon the Martians reveal their true nature as death machines 100-feet tall rise up from the pit and begin laying waste to the surrounding land. Wells quickly moves the story from the countryside to the evacuation of London itself and the loss of all hope as England's military suffers defeat after defeat. With horror his narrator describes how the Martians suck the blood from living humans for sustenance, and how it's clear that man is not being conquered so much a corralled. --Craig E. Engler [via]
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Wild Partyby Joseph Moncure March, Art SpiegelmanISBN 0375706437 (0-375-70643-7)
Softcover, Pantheon Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Wild Party'Book summary:"Spiegelman's drawings are like demonic woodcuts: every angle, line, and curve jumps out at you. Stylishness and brutishness are in perfect accord."
-- The New York Times
Art Spiegelman's sinister and witty black-and-white drawings give charged new life to Joseph Moncure March's Wild Party, a lost classic from 1928. The inventive and varied page designs offer perfect counterpoint to the staccato tempo of this hard-boiled jazz-age tragedy told in syncopated rhyming couplets.
Here is a poem that can make even readers with no time for poetry stop dead in their tracks. Once read, large shards of this story of one night of debauchery will become permanently lodged in the brain. When The Wild Party was first published, Louis Untermeyer declared: "It is repulsive and fascinating, vicious and vivacious, uncompromising, unashamed . . . and unremittingly powerful. It is an amazing tour de force." [via]More editions of Wild Party:
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The Witchesby Roald DahlISBN 0374384576 (0-374-38457-6)
Hardcover, Farrar Straus & Giroux
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Witches'Book summary:"This is not a fairy tale. This is about real witches." So begins one of Roald Dahl's best books ever, and, ironically, it is such a great story because the premise is perfectly plausible from the outset. When the narrator's parents die in a car crash on page two (contrast this terribly real demise with that of James's parents who are devoured by an escaped rhinoceros in James and the Giant Peach), he is taken in by his cigar-smoking Norwegian grandmother, who has learned a storyteller's respect for witches and is wise to their ways.
The bond between the boy and his grandmother becomes the centerpiece of the tale--a partnership of love and understanding that survives even the boy's unfortunate transformation into a mouse. And once the two have teamed up to outwitch the witches, the boy's declaration that he's glad he's a mouse because he will now live only as long as his grandmother is far more poignant than eerie.
Of course, there's adventure here along with Dahl's trademark cleverness and sense of the grotesque. Dahl also communicates some essential truths to children: if they smoke cigars, they'll never catch cold, and, most importantly, they should never bathe, because a clean child is far, far easier for a witch to smell than a dirty one. (Ages 7 to 10, or read aloud to younger children) [via]
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The Wizard of Ozby L. Frank Baum, Charles SantoreISBN 0345335902 (0-345-33590-2)
Softcover, Ballantine Books
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› Find signed collectible books: 'The Wizard of Oz'Book summary:In the 100 years since L. Frank Baum first published his Wonderful Wizard of Oz, countless authors and illustrators have adapted, interpreted, and retold this story of Dorothy and her unusual companions, the Scarecrow, the Tin Woodman, and the Cowardly Lion. But for sheer opulence and sumptuous color, award-winning artist Charles Santore's 100th anniversary edition takes the cake. Santore's large, fairy-tale style watercolors feature ominous, shadowy forests, magnificent but deadly poppies, the whimsical, green-tinted landscapes of Oz, and the golden gray fields of Kansas. Each page is awash in color; many of the two-page spreads have no text to distract readers from the illustrations' myriad details--not-yet-blooming poppy buds, the Tin Woodman's watering can head, and the radiant good witch, Glinda, posing on her ruby-encrusted throne. The text is condensed rather than adapted; so virtually every word is Baum's own. Although some scenes have been left out, Baum's classic story rings through, loud and clear. Sharing this lush edition with a favorite child would be the perfect way to celebrate a century of Oz. (Ages 4 to 8) --Emilie Coulter [via]
Wuthering Heightsby Emily BronteISBN 0375756442 (0-375-75644-2)
Softcover, Random House Inc
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› Find signed collectible books: 'Wuthering Heights'More editions of Wuthering Heights:
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