Work: The World in Photographs


Ferdinand Protzman - 2006
    We see cowboys and clowns, dancers and dog groomers, miners and models. On one page, drill sergeants bark orders to U.S. Navy recruits; on another, young Tibetan monks study Buddhist scriptures; and on another, Kenyan women spread coffee beans to dry. Work is a subject that is both worldwide and personal. It is a shared endeavor at the very core of our identity. From the glamour of a Parisian fashion show to the grit of an African diamond mine, there are countless ways to make a living. The book illuminates scores of them many in never-before-published photographs offering revealing glimpses into various eras and cultures and engaging the reader with entertaining text and informative captions. With a wonderful mix of the utterly unexpected and the instantly familiar, this vivid panorama takes an essential human activity and shows us myriad ways in which work is at once universal and delightfully, unforgettably unique."

The Art of Bolt


Mark Cotta Vaz - 2008
    This heartfelt Disney computer-animated film follows Bolt on a cross country journey as he learns his entire life has been fake and discovers he doesn’t need super powers to be a hero.The Art of Bolt is a beautiful collection of more than 250 pieces of concept art created for the film, including storyboards, sketches, color scripts, full-color illustrations, as well as material from the fabled Disney archives. Quotes by the director, producer, and artists contextualize the art, and thoughtful essays explore Disney’s past, present, and future in animation.

Tattoo Machine: Tall Tales, True Stories, and My Life in Ink


Jeff Johnson - 2009
    As the proprietor of the legendary Sea Tramp Tattoo Company, he’s inked gangbangers, age-defying moms, and sociopaths; he’s defused brawls, tended delicate egos, learned to spot and avoid bunnies, and made it his mission to perpetrate ingenious and awful practical jokes on his fellow Trojans. He’s a true swamp panther: He knows all the tricks of the trade and, more important, he knows how to keep his legendary shop in Portland, Oregon, from becoming the scene of a nightly bloodbath. In Tattoo Machine, Johnson lifts the curtain on an art form that has undergone rebirth and illuminates a world where art, drama, and commerce come together in highly entertaining theater. A tattoo shop is no longer a den of social outcasts and degenerates–it’s a workshop where committed and schooled artists who paint on living canvases develop close bonds and bitter rivalries, where tattoo legends and innovators are equally revered, and where the potential for disaster lurks in every corner. Discussing everything from his days as an apprentice to some of the greatest inkers in the trade to the incredibly vivid nightly spectacular over which he presides, Jeff Johnson has written a sometimes riotous, sometimes harrowing, and always riveting memoir about what it means to be on the front lines of a global art revolution.

Ponyo Picture Book


Hayao Miyazaki - 2008
    One day, Ponyo's curiosity takes her far from home. After accidentally hitching a ride on a jellyfish, Ponyo washes up on the shore and is found by Sosuke, a kindly human boy. The two become fast friends and are swept away on an incredible adventure.Ponyo is a sweet-faced goldfish from a magical realm under the sea. One day, Ponyo's curiosity takes her far from home. After accidentally hitching a ride on a jellyfish, Ponyo washes up on the shore and is found by Sosuke, a kindly human boy. The two become fast friends and are swept away on an incredible adventure.

Uncovered


Sarah Darabi - 2016
    She was the eldest of eight children in an impoverished, Muslim family. As many as 13 family members slept on a cement floor in a two-room apartment with no furniture and no flush-toilet. She was set upon as a child by the elders of her own family when she refused to cover herself in a burqa. She stood up to agents of the Ayatollah Khomeini when they demanded she spy upon the Swiss Embassy where she was employed. Uncovered is a guided tour of the torturous ordeal of her journey from childhood in Pakistan to her ultimate success in America.

Modern Art: Art Essentials Series


Amy Dempsey - 2018
    Starting with Impressionism in 1860, art historian Amy Dempsey explains the essentials of Modernism, the postwar New Disorder, and beyond.Carefully arranged material explores seventy essential topics of modern art in a practical and easy-to-navigate structure. Each boldly designed topic feature includes a clear definition; a list of key artists, attributes, media, and collections; and expertly curated illustrations with explanatory captions. A reference section includes a useful glossary of modern art terms.

Cool Gardens


Serj Tankian - 2002
     Like System of a Down's platinum-selling second album, Toxicity -- hailed by Rolling Stone as "a bouquet of smart rock and ardent social argument" and by SPIN as "the sound of now" -- Tankian's poetic style is willfully eclectic. Sometimes introspective, sometimes direct and cutting, these poems deal with subjects as wide-ranging as euthanasia and the nature of time itself. Featuring original artwork created by Sako Shahinian, a young Los Angeles­based artist, Cool Gardens is honest, heartfelt, and humorous -- a talented artist at his uncompromising best.

Miss Garnet's Angel


Salley Vickers - 2000
    Soon overwhelmed by the sheer beauty of the city and its magnificent art, Miss Garnet’s English reserve begins to melt away. For the first time in her life she falls in love—with an art dealer named Carlo—and her once ordinary world is further transformed by a beautiful Italian boy, Nicco, and an enigmatic pair of twins engaged in restoring the fourteenth-century Chapel-of-the-Plague. Most affecting to Julia, though, is her discovery in a local church of panels depicting the ancient tale of Tobias and the Angel. As Julia unravels the story of Tobias’s redemption, she too strives to recover losses—not just her own but also the priceless painting of an angel that goes mysteriously missing from the Chapel along with one of the twins restoring it. His name is Toby. And Miss Garnet herself may prove to be an angel, but nowhere in this haunting, beautifully textured and multilayered novel is anything quite what it appears to be.

This Is Not a Book


Keri Smith - 2009
    With intriguing prompts, readers will discover that the book can be: A secret message—tear out a page, write a note on it for a stranger, and leave it in a public place. A recording device—have everyone you contact today write their name in the book. An instrument—create as many sounds as you can using the book, like flipping the pages fast or slapping the cover.This Is Not a Book will engage readers by having them define everything a book can be by asking, “If it’s not a book, what is it then?”—with a kaleidoscope of possible answers.

Angles of Attack, An A-6 Intruder Pilot's War


Peter Hunt - 2002
    For the next six weeks, Hunt executed dozens of bombing missions into Kuwait and Iraq, including all-weather low-level attacks, A-6 Intruder missions so hazardous that they would never be flown in combat again. Whether Hunt was dropping laser-guided bombs on precision targets, supporting the Marines on the ground, or conducting attacks along the infamous “highway of death,” America’s mission was clear – to force the invading Iraqi army out of Kuwait.Operation Desert Storm - America’s first full-scale conflict since Vietnam - proved to the world that the U.S. military was still battle-ready after decades of Cold War and set the stage for military interventions for years to come. Hunt’s gripping depiction of A-6 Intruders in combat is a thought provoking account of what America asks of her military every day.This…Gulf War memoir is excellent; it really does put the reader in the cockpit...Peter Hunt’s enthusiastic account is one of the best of the type this reviewer has read in recent years. Peter Mersky, The Hook – Journal of Carrier Aviation Book Review, February 2003.

Light the Dark: Writers on Creativity, Inspiration, and the Artistic Process


Joe Fassler - 2017
    Each writer begins with a favorite passage from a novel, a song, a poem—something that gets them started and keeps them going with the creative work they love. From there, incredible lessons and stories of life-changing encounters with art emerge, like how sneaking books into his job as a night security guard helped Khaled Hosseini learn that nothing he creates will ever be truly finished. Or how a college reading assignment taught Junot Díaz that great art can be a healing conversation, and an unexpected poet led Elizabeth Gilbert to embrace an unyielding optimism, even in the face of darkness. LIGHT THE DARK collects the best of The Atlantic‘s much-acclaimed “By Heart” series edited by Joe Fassler and adds brand new pieces, each one paired with a striking illustration. Here is a guide to creative living and writing in the vein of Daily Rituals, Bird by Bird, and Big Magic for anyone who wants to learn how great writers find inspiration—and how to find some of your own.CONTRIBUTING AUTHORS: Elizabeth Gilbert, Junot Díaz, Marilynne Robinson, Jonathan Lethem, Michael Chabon, Aimee Bender, Mary Gaitskill, Stephen King, Neil Gaiman, Roxane Gay, Angela Flournoy, Jonathan Franzen, Yiyun Li, Leslie Jamison, Claire Messud, Edwidge Danticat, David Mitchell, Khaled Hosseini, Ayana Mathis, Kathryn Harrison, Azar Nafisi, Hanya Yanagihara, Jane Smiley, Nell Zink, Emma Donoghue, Jeff Tweedy, Eileen Myles, Maggie Shipstead, Sherman Alexie, Andre Dubus III, Billy Collins, Lev Grossman, Karl Ove Knausgaard, Charles Simic, Jim Shepard, T.C. Boyle, Tom Perrotta, Viet Than Nguyen, William Gibson, Mark Haddon, Ethan Canin, Jessie Ball, Jim Crace, and Walter Mosley.“As [these authors] reveal what inspires them, they, in turn, inspire the reader, all while celebrating the beauty and purpose of art.” –Booklist

I Wrote This For You: 2007-2017


Iain S. Thomas - 2017
    Ten years ago, I started writing this for you. I wrote it for you and only you. Since then, millions of other people have read it, but none have understood it the way you understand it. I set out to find you a long time ago and today, I'm so glad I finally have. Thank you for reading these words.***I Wrote This For You is a collaborative photography and prose project. (Almost) every day, the photographer sends the writer a new photograph from wherever he is in the world. The writer creates a poem or short piece of prose inspired by the photograph and focused on whoever might be reading the work, or "you." The writer and the photographer have never met.  I Wrote This For You: 2007-2017 is a collection of the best poetry and photography from the first 10 years of the best-selling project. It contains new work, old work, work that's never been seen before and a selection of fan-made work inspired by the project. With hundreds of thousands of copies sold, millions of interactions and spanning three existing books, I Wrote This For You has forged a remarkable relationship to its readers over the first 10 years.

Vermeer to Eternity (Kindle Single)


Anthony Horowitz - 2015
    They call in an old acquaintance from university, an imperious art historian named Goodhart who is the world’s greatest authority on the painter. Soon expertise and expectations collide – with astonishing results. An exclusive Kindle Single from the world-renowned author.

Hullo Russia, Goodbye England


Derek Robinson - 2008
    and qualifies to fly the Vulcan bomber. Piloting a Vulcan is an unforgettable experience: no other aircraft comes close to matching its all-round performance. And as bombers go, it's drop-dead gorgeous.But there's a catch. The Vulcan has only one role: to make a second strike. To act in retaliation for a Russian nuclear attack. Silk knows that knows that if he ever flies his Vulcan in anger, he'll be flying from a smoking wasteland, a Britain obliterated. But in the mad world of Mutually Assured Destruction, the Vulcan is the last--the only--deterrent.Derek Robinson returns with another rip-roaring, gung-ho R.A.F. adventure, one that exposes and confronts the brinkmanship and saber-rattling of the Cold War Era.

Nikon D5100 for Dummies


Julie Adair King - 2011
    Coverage explores the on-board effects, low-light settings, and automatic HDR shooting. Clear explanations detail the ways in which you can use the new features of the Nikon D5100 to add unique shots to your portfolio while an explanation of photography terms gets you confident and savvy with this fun DSLR camera.Covers basic camera controls and functions, shooting in auto mode, setting photo quality, and navigating menus and the view screen Introduces the basics of photography, including the settings that control lighting, exposure, focus, and color Addresses the new low-light and HDR settings Encourages you to use the new onboard effects features and shares tips for improving images with editing software Get a grasp on the fun Nikon D5100 with this fun and friendly guide!