When Art Really Works


Andy Pankhurst - 2012
    All are works of art that stand out from the ordinary because of their originality, their ability to convey powerful emotions, their technical brilliance--distinctive qualities that unmistakably touch them with intimations of immortality. Discussions focus on examples from across the millennia, and include-- The Lascaux cave paintings (circa. 15,000 B.C) Italian Renaissance masterpieces by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo Paintings that demonstrate revolutionary use of color by J.M.W. Turner Impressionist masterworks by Monet and Degas The action painting of Jackson Pollock The Pop Art of Andy Warhol, and many other memorable artists and their works The book is filled with color illustrations

He Done Her Wrong


Milt Gross - 1930
    Sharing the same goofy, over-the-top comic mayhem that was Chaplin's trademark, and preceding the expressive, cartoony art style of MAD magazine legend Harvey Kurtzman, all of He Done Her Wrong's hilarious slapstick, tragic heartbreak, heroism and villainy, character development, high emotions and raucous thrills somehow manages to take place, astonishingly, without a single word of text, or conversation, or even a footnote.The story follows the convoluted misadventures of a naive frontiersman with superhuman strength exploited by a larcenous robber baron who eventually double crosses our hero and steals his girl. The pursuit leads to New York City where a sordid cast of cantankerous salesmen, officious government bureaucrats, bumbling hospital attendants, a lusty widow with a defensive Chihuahua and one angry barber wreak more havoc in our characters' lives than a hundred Little Rascals in a Marx Brothers film.Born in the Bronx in 1895, Gross would go on to spend his teenage years working as an office assistant at the Hearst publication The New York Evening Journal. He befriended the paper's renowned comic strip bullpen that included such early 20th century comics legends as Tad Dorgan, Cliff Sterrett, Harry Hershfield and Tom McNamara, who allowed Gross to cut his teeth drawing background and dialogue lettering jobs on their strips. He eventually won space on the paper's sports page for his first large daily strip titled Kinney B. Alive, making its debut in 1916. The strip only lasted for one week, but subsequent efforts such as Frenchie, White Feitlebaums in the South Seas, Count Screwloose of Toulouse and the best-selling books Hiawatta Wit No Udda Pomes and Nize Baby asserted more staying power. Gross' stylized cartooning won the public devotion of such noteworthy fans as President Calvin Coolidge and Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes. According to The Comics Journal, Gross's skillful work displays a "Fast-action style Furiously tangled line work A freewheeling onslaught of immensely droll squiggles apparently done at top speed Inspired slapdash like nothing else in the cartoon art of his time [Gross] was a master of graphic invention and a one-man comic riot."He Done Her Wrong is a classic comics work, legendary among aficionados, and arguably the 20th century's first graphic novel. Fantagraphics Books is proud to put this back into print in a facsimile edition, unabridged, with newly designed covers.

Gaudier-Brzeska: A Memoir


Ezra Pound - 1916
    An enlarged edition, including thirty pages of illustrations (sculpture and drawings) as well as Pound's later pieces on Gaudier, was brought out in 1970, and is now re-issued as an ND Paperbook. The memoir is valuable both for the history of modern art and for what it shows us of Pound himself, his ability to recognize genius in others and then to publicize it effectively. Would there today be a Salle Gaudier-Brzeska in the Musée de L'Art Moderne in Paris if Pound had not championed him? Gaudier's talent was impressive and his Vorticist aesthetic important as theory, but he was killed in World War I at the age of twenty-three, leaving only a small body of work. Pound knew Gaudier in London, where the young artist had come with his companion, the Polish-born Sophie Brzeska. whose name he added to his own. They were living in poverty when Pound bought Gaudier the stone from which the famous "hieratic head" of the poet was made. Pound arranged exhibitions and for the publication of Gaudier's manifestoes in Blast and The Egoist. And he wrote and sent packages to him in the trenches, where Gaudier––a sculptor to the last––carved a madonna and child from the butt of a captured German rifle, just two days before he died.

I'm In the Band: Backstage Notes from the Chick in White Zombie


Sean Yseult - 2010
    The band became a multiplatinum, two-time Grammy nominee with the release of their 1992 album, La Sexorcisto. But while most people will remember their bizarre look and macabre lyrics, what many failed to realize was that their lanky, high-octane bass player was a woman.I’m In the Band combines eleven years of tour diaries, flyers, and personal photos and ephemera to chart White Zombie’s rise from the gritty music scene of New York’s Lower East Side in the eighties to arena headliners during the nineties. It also shares the unlikely story of a female musician who won the respect and adoration of male metal musicians and fans. From 1985 to 1996, Sean Yseult was the sole woman not only in White Zombie, but in the entire metal scene.With I’m In the Band, Yseult has created both a coffee table book and a striking visual memoir. Her personal memorabilia offers fans a unique vantage on the life of a mega-band during rock’s last golden age.

All I Need to Know I Learned from My Cat


Suzy Becker - 1990
    "Know all the sunny places.""Flaunt your hair loss.""Get mad when you're stepped on.""Take some time to eat the flowers.""Be tolerant-but not overly accommodating.""Make your own hours.""Scratch when it itches.""Depend on others without losing your independence.""Avoid company you do not like."Altogether, here are over 90 simple life lessons, irresistibly illustrated in full-color. Proving what all cat fanciers suspect about their own pets, Suzy Becker's cat is a fount of wisdom. The book covers everything from grooming, health, and diet to being completely well-adjusted, and imparts perhaps the most valuable piece of advice a cat could give: "There is always time for a nap."

Lessons Life Taught Me, Unknowingly: An Autobiography


Anupam Kher - 2019
    It has drama, comedy, romance and even action! Who knew that a boy from a small town in India would one day become one of the most recognized actors in the world and go on to win various national and international awards for his contribution in the fields of cinema and the arts? A powerhouse of talent with over 530 films (and counting) in his repertoire, Anupam Kher stands out not only because of his iconic bald head, but also for his forthright views and opinions, however controversial they may be. He has always been distinct and offbeat. His autobiography is, too... for it is not just another chronological account of his life with behind-the-scenes looks at both Bollywood and Hollywood. It's also peppered with incredible life lessons that are bound to resonate with every reader. Here is a kaleidoscopic peep into the life and times of a true genius and forever entertainer.

Art of Atari


Tim Lapetino - 2016
    Since its formation in 1972, the company pioneered hundreds of iconic titles including Asteroids, Centipede, and Missile Command. In addition to hundreds of games created for arcades, home video systems, and computers, original artwork was specially commissioned to enhance the Atari experience, further enticing children and adults to embrace and enjoy the new era of electronic entertainment. The Art of Atari is the first official collection of such artwork. Sourced from private collections worldwide, this book spans over 40 years of the company's unique illustrations used in packaging, advertisements, catalogs, and more. Co-written by Robert V. Conte and Tim Lapetino, The Art of Atari includes behind-the-scenes details on how dozens of games featured within were conceived of, illustrated, approved (or rejected), and brought to life! Includes a special Foreword by New York Times bestseller Ernest Cline author of Armada and Ready Player One, soon to be a motion picture directed by Steven Spielberg. Whether you're a fan, collector, enthusiast, or new to the world of Atari, this book offers the most complete collection of Atari artwork ever produced! "For me, revisiting the beautiful artwork presented in this book is almost as good as taking a trip in Doc Brown's time machine back to that halcyon era at the dawn of the digital age. But be warned, viewing these images may leave you with an overwhelming desire to revisit the ancient pixelated battlefields they each depict as well." -- from the Foreword by Ernest Cline, author of READY PLAYER ONE

Doodle Invasion: Zifflin's Coloring Book


Zifflin - 2013
    This big sized coloring book is a challenge for all ages.If you are a fanatic doodler and obsessed with filling in and coloring doodles then this is definitely for you.Or you can just admire the detailed art.The book is filled with 50 unique and extremely detailed work of art by the master of doodles Kerby Rosanes.

The Ansel Adams Guide: Basic Techniques of Photography, Book 1


John P. Schaefer - 1999
    360 photos, 42 in color. 94 line drawings.

Sgt. Piggy's Lonely Hearts Club Comic: A Pearls Before Swine Treasury


Stephan Pastis - 2004
    Piggy's Lonely Hearts Club Comic, the first Pearls Before Swine treasury-supersized for your enjoyment.But this is no ordinary cartoon treasury. Like the influential Beatles album that inspired the book's title, Sgt. Piggy is full of surprises. In addition to collecting all of the Pearls cartoons that appeared in BLTs Taste So Darn Good and This Little Piggy Stayed Home, cartoonist Stephan Pastis takes readers on a VIP backstage tour of one of the most successful comic strips in newspapers today. In Sgt. Piggy, Pastis explains the genesis of Pearls (hint: it didn't begin at an artist's easel), why he was initially reluctant to show it to newspaper syndicates (and the surprising reason he changed his mind), the unexpected responses from readers to his work, and which Pearls strips worked and which ones didn't (and how he would have corrected the ones that didn't). The result is a rare and revealing glimpse into the world of Rat, Pig, Goat and Zebra. Full of humor and insight, sardonic asides and unexpected truths, Sgt. Piggy's Lonely Hearts Club Comic is a book that comics fans everywhere can enjoy anytime-even when they're 64!

Writing Poetry To Save Your Life: How To Find The Courage To Tell Your Stories


Maria Mazziotti Gillan - 2013
    In order to write, you need to get rid of notions about language, poetic form, and esoteric subject matter ? all the things that the poetry police have told you are essential if you are to write. I wanted to start from a different place, a place controlled by instinct rather than by intelligence. Revision, the shaping and honing of the poem, should come later, and, in revising, care always needs to be taken to retain the vitality and electricity of the poem. Anyone can learn to craft a capable poem, but it is the poems that retain that initial vitality that we remember; these are the poems that teach us how to be human.

Catholic Prayers: Compiled from Traditional Sources


Thomas A. Nelson - 1998
    Part II contains over 25 especially powerful prayers: to Our lady, St. Joseph, St. Anne, St. Jude, St. Philomena, St. Anthony, etc. Part III contains miscellaneous favorite prayers: e.g., Morning Offering, Prayers to Our Lady, to St. Joseph for Purity, to overcome a bad habit, for grace, the Te Deum, Consecration to the Holy Ghost, etc. And Part IV contains various other "favorite prayers," such as for a happy death, the choice of a state of life, for priests, Fatima Prayers, for safe delivery of a baby, for the dying, for the dead, for the Poor Souls, etc. For a small package, this little Prayerbook is dynamite, and should be carried by all!

Vermeer: A View of Delft


Anthony Bailey - 2001
    In 1653, the twenty-one-year-old son of an innkeeper, the artist Jan Vermeer, registered as a master painter with the city's Guild. Vermeer married well, had many children, and enjoyed a respectable local reputation as a painter until his death in 1675. But it was not until the mid-nineteenth century that his genius was widely appreciated. Today, Vermeer's thirty-five paintings are regarded as masterpieces.In Vermeer, Anthony Bailey presents a compelling portrait of Vermeer's life and character, long lost in history. Bailey re-creates the atmosphere of the times, introduces Vermeer's contemporaries, and portrays his domestic life in vibrant detail. Drawing on period documents and his own intense curiosity, Bailey sheds light on the science and artistry behind the glorious, almost mystical, paintings. Meticulously researched and elegantly written, Vermeer will stand as the classic work on Vermeer for years to come.

The History of the NME: High Times and Low Lives at the World's Most Famous Music Magazine


Pat Long - 2012
    The fights, the bands, the brawls, the haircuts, the egos, and much more—the definitive book about the infamous music magazine. For 60 years, since it was founded in 1952, the New Musical Express has played a central part in the British love affair with pop music—and has been essential for American connoisseurs to remain in-the-know as well. This authoritative history is an insider's account of the high times and low lives of one of the world's most influential music magazines. It explains the stories behind the stories that kept readers coming back week after week—the office brawls, the former staffers who launched their careers there (Tony Parsons, Julie Burchill, Nick Kent, Mick Farren, Steve Lamacq, and Stuart Maconie), and the bands who owe their success to the magazine. Snotty, confrontational, enthusiastic, and sarcastic: the new issue of the NME was the high point of any music fan's week, whether they were listening to The Beatles, Bowie, or Blur.

Sketchy Muma: What it Means to be a Mother


Anna Lewis - 2017
    Breastfeeding nightmares, eating dinner with one hand, soft play hell and chronic sleep deprivation - but also the sheer beauty of falling in love again and the amazing discovery of what it's like to have a family - these are all captured in Sketchy Muma's glorious drawings.This is the perfect gift book for both young and experienced parents. Anna Lewis understands the light and shade that comes with motherhood, and it is those universal truths that will connect all those parents who delight in her sketches.