Book Description
Val's Blog "A tremendously useful field guide specifically written for developers down in the trenches...waiting for the killer solution..."
Web users are getting tired of the traditional web experience. They get frustrated losing their scroll position; they get annoyed waiting for refresh; they struggle to reorient themselves on every new page. And the list goes on. With asynchronous JavaScript and XML, known as "Ajax," you can give them a better experience. Once users have experienced an Ajax interface, they hate to go back. Ajax is new way of thinking that can result in a flowing and intuitive interaction with the user.
Ajax in Action helps you implement that thinking--it explains how to distribute the application between the client and the server (hint: use a "nested MVC" design) while retaining the integrity of the system. You will learn how to ensure your app is flexible and maintainable, and how good, structured design can help avoid problems like browser incompatibilities. Along the way it helps you unlearn many old coding habits. Above all, it opens your mind to the many advantages gained by placing much of the processing in the browser. If you are a web developer who has prior experience with web technologies, this book is for you.
Customer Reviews:
Clear Concise, with Practical Examples.......2007-10-10
This book is a little outdated at this point, but provides clear and practical examples of using AJAX. It was very easy to understand, and most of the content still remains up to date.
Shines over the rest ..........2007-04-23
Somehow I got hold of my first book on AJAX: Head Rush Ajax (Head First) and sure it gave me an intro to XMLHttpRequest - but that's all it did. I browsed through the informal/conversational writings of the book in one evening. And wondered, is there all to it? The current web-world is spinning around Web2.0 and AJAX technology - there must be more than that. Then I went back to the store and picked this book up - I am glad I did. It covers many more areas that an AJAX programmer must equip himself/herself, topics relating to MVC pattern, working with the server side programs and performance, security, as well as the basic topic: building standalone RIA using CSS, DOM and DHTML.
This one definitely shines over the rest on the topic, however, for a hands-on programmer (that's me), I would appreciate more code samples will help.
Good At What it Does--But Not About AJAX.......2007-04-04
Finally, I am so happy to see what some other reviewers say. This book is not really that much about AJAX. I feel that I have wasted my AJAX budget. Sure, there is lots of valuable stuff here but the percentage of this book that is about AJAX proper.
I would say that 5 of the 13 chapters are about AJAX but that of course means that 8 are not at all about AJAX. At the same time, I got "Pragmatic AJAX" by the always funny Ben Galbraith. If you need to focus on AJAX--read Pragmatic AJAX.
Ajax in Action.......2007-03-12
It does more than introduce ajax to the reader. It also covers a little bit of programming methodology and some things to keep in mind when writing even a simple application. Overall it is a good book, but not if you are new to programming and especially if you are new to JavaScript.
It's About Web Architecture... Buy it for that reason.......2007-03-05
I also will agree with the comment: "Principles of Web architecture and design... and a few words about Ajax". However, I find it to be an incredible book. It goes in depth about the Model View Controller, Design Patterns, and Refactoring. All terms that I did not know in depth. I actually skipped over a lot of the how-to AJAX stuff and read about the design theories. I can't wait to read it again.
The Appendix on how JavaScript works is worth the price of the book alone. NOW I understand how that crazy prototype works.
Average customer rating:
- Exactly what I hoped for, and more
- Top-notch tome
- Excellent
- Basic libraries coverage with a good example application.
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Prototype and Scriptaculous in Action
Dave Crane ,
Bear Bibeault , and
Tom Locke
Manufacturer: Manning Publications
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ASIN: 1933988037 |
Book Description
Prototype and Scriptaculous are libraries that extend standard Ajax. They make it easier to program Ajax and provide powerful features like drag and drop and animation. In this book, developers learn by playing and see how the libraries work in the real world.
As experience with Ajax increases, developers want the standard Ajax capabilities they repeatedly use to be preprogrammed for them--and that's exactly what Ajax libraries do for them. They reduce the pain of handling cross-browser inconsistencies, they add useful language features, and provide sophisticated functionality. Of these, Prototype is the most popular JavaScript and Ajax framework for low-level user interface features such as animation, drag and drop, and pre-built widgets. Together, they free the developer up to concentrate on building the application. They make a rich user experience easy to achieve.
This book guides the reader through the Prototype and Scriptaculous libraries feature-by-feature. In just 350 pages, readers will find over 100 small working examples to help them explore the libraries. As well, they will develop a web-based image gallery that teacher them how to use Prototype and Scriptaculous in the real-world.
Customer Reviews:
Exactly what I hoped for, and more.......2007-10-11
I'm not even halfway through this book yet and I'm already satisfied with my purchase. I look forward to reading about Scriptaculous, but to me the book is already worth it for (a) the treatment of JavaScript in general and the details on object-oriented JavaScript, JSON, and especially JavaScript prototypes and function closures, (b) Prototype, especially how prototype extends JavaScript itself by modifying various object prototypes, and (c) AJAX, including historical perspective, details and gotchas of AJAX request/response versus traditional GET or POST via browser, and the utilities Prototype offers to ease AJAX communication. Additionally, I know this book will make a great reference for it's coverage of the DOM basics and it's appendices on HTTP basics and traffic. There's even some useful contrasting of different server-side options (PHP versus servlets/JSP, etc.) I don't mean to sound like I'm fawning over this book but it's exactly what I hoped to find after working for the first time with all these technologies on a recent project; I wish I'd had this book during that project.
Top-notch tome.......2007-06-25
Javascript has exploded onto the web development scene in the last few years, and powers much of the web 2.0 and Ajax revolution. Every web developer now needs to know how to do common Ajax tasks. Thankfully, Prototype and Scriptaculous In Action makes it both easy and enjoyable.
This is a comprehensive book. The size (510 pages) was initially intimidating, but Prototype and Scriptaculous In Action is exceedingly well written and a genuine pleasure to read. The thorough and thoughtful organization of the book provides some real structure to the discussion, making complex subjects easily digestible. This is the defacto bible of Prototype and Scriptaculous, and these days I turn to this book more than anything else on my shelf.
The book is divided up into four multi-chapter parts, any of which could stand on it's own as a definitive guide. The chapters are full of useful examples, and there's strong emphasis given to migrating existing sites to Prototype and Scriptaculous, which is a major plus. You could turn to any section of the book and immediately see how to inject some new behavior into your existing application, but if you take the time to read from cover-to-cover you'll be rewarded with some deep understanding of both the libraries and Javascript itself.
I'll summarize the four parts of the book:
Part 1, Getting Started, introduces the Prototype and Scriptaculous libraries, focusing heavily on Prototype and Ajax. There's a lot of information on re-designing an existing site for Ajax. Two full chapters are devoted to Prototype's Ajax features. You can get up and running VERY quickly after glancing through these chapters. There's also a lot of depth, and consideration is given to the pervasive effects Ajax has on architectural issues and the new ways that an application will have to manage HTTP traffic.
Part 2, Scriptaculous Quickly, covers effects, controls and drag-n-drop. This is hands-down the best Scriptaculous documentation currently available, anywhere. The core effects are explored and tweaked, and there's lot of very practical examples demonstrating some of the niftiest stuff, like running effects in parallel versus sequentially. And the drag-and-drop coverage is incredibly clear, making it easy, almost trivial, to implement. The Scriptaculous coverage is indispensable, and you'll return to it again and again if you implement Scriptaculous-enabled pages.
Part 3, Prototype in Depth, explores Prototype's Javascript-oriented features. There's a fantastic chapter on functions contexts, and the discussion of closures is one of the best I've seen. There's a lot of information about Javascript fundamentals, and how Prototype can be used to implement inheritance, address arrays, and manipulate the DOM in the browser.
And finally, Part 4 Advanced Topics, has two unrelated chapters. The first chapter overhauls an example app, giving it a Prototype and Scriptaculous makeover. The last chapter is about integration with Ruby on Rails. Prototype was initially written as the Ajax interface to Rails, so there's some strong integration.
As a long-time enterprise web developer, dealing with Javascript has always been a chore. But now I actually (gasp) look forward to tasks that involve Javascript. I'm a convert, and I have Prototype and Scriptaculous in Action to thank.
Excellent.......2007-05-22
I wrote a longer review that Amazon has apparently lost. Oh well. This is an excellent book, very well written. The authors are the rarest kind of technical author: they can actually construct prose that is pleasant to read, not deadly boring, but which works well as a reference book later. The book's organized thoughtfully--it's certainly much more than just an API reference. There's also quite a lot of general advanced Javascript information here, too.
There's at least one other book on these libraries in production from Pragmatic Programmers. If you're considering that, I strongly suggest downloading the sample chapters of both books and comparing. The Crane book is much more appealing to me (not to mention it's available now, not in six months).
Basic libraries coverage with a good example application........2007-04-19
This book lacked detailed coverage of the programming techniques and advanced topics of prototype and scriptaculous. The authors covered the basics by discussing only the API's of the libraries (more attention was given to scriptaculous API's, even though its usage is obvious and prototype API's are more extensive). With 500 pages and the libraries as the title, I expected details about the inner workings of the API's and discussions about its usages/ applications. Instead, 150 pages were devoted to verbose repetitive coverage of scriptaculous' API, which could easily have fitted into 50 pages at most. ALL of the info on scriptaculous could easily have been read online at its wiki site - the book provided no further insight (ch. 5 is especially useless)! Prototype's coverage was decent, but lacked details on several parts of its API. Although prototype and scriptaculous are tightly integrated with Rails, there was only 1 chapter devoted to its discussion, which served more like an overview than a usage guide. Based on content on the libraries alone, I would give this book 3 stars. However, if you're in need of an example application, then it may deserve 4 stars. This book provides a good example of applying prototype's ajax and scriptaculous web 2.0 techniques to a photo gallery website. It shows the advantages these libraries have over plain javascript and dhtml. The extra 100 pages wasted on scriptaculous would better serve Rails' RJS templates or a more complete/ thorough discussion of prototype. Of course it can be argued that the book is not titled, "Prototype, Scriptaculous, and Rails in Action," but it should be.
Book Description
It has long been said that clothes make the man (or woman), but is it still true today? If so, how has the information clothes convey changed over the years? Using a wide range of historical and contemporary materials, Diana Crane demonstrates how the social significance of clothing has been transformed.
Crane compares nineteenth-century societiesFrance and the United Stateswhere social class was the most salient aspect of social identity signified in clothing with late twentieth-century America, where lifestyle, gender, sexual orientation, age, and ethnicity are more meaningful to individuals in constructing their wardrobes. Today, clothes worn at work signify social class, but leisure clothes convey meanings ranging from trite to political. In today's multicode societies, clothes inhibit as well as facilitate communication between highly fragmented social groups.
Crane extends her comparison by showing how nineteenth-century French designers created fashions that suited lifestyles of Paris elites but that were also widely adopted outside France. By contrast, today's designers operate in a global marketplace, shaped by television, film, and popular music. No longer confined to elites, trendsetters are drawn from many social groups, and most trends have short trajectories. To assess the impact of fashion on women, Crane uses voices of college-aged and middle-aged women who took part in focus groups. These discussions yield fascinating information about women's perceptions of female identity and sexuality in the fashion industry.
An absorbing work, Fashion and Its Social Agendas stands out as a critical study of gender, fashion, and consumer culture.
Customer Reviews:
A scan read.......2006-01-08
overly distracting language, which constantly repeats itself in several chapters. There are good points within the book it just takes a while to reach them!
no class.......2002-01-31
this author has a serious misconception of class. this book is also extremely american-centric.
A superbly written, scholarly survey of fashion history........2000-09-09
Clothes choices and fashion style often dictate the creation of the self and its image: but how? Crane offers a somewhat scholarly exploration of fashion trends from 19th century France to modern America, drawing important links between style and social change. This approach will interest not only art libraries, but schools offering social science studies.
Book Description
Little is known about the print artist Koson, whose career commenced at a time when the Ukiyo-e print tradition was dying out and the shin hanga ('new print') movement had not yet begun. He received little recognition in Japan but many of his prints of birds and flowers, characterised by their peaceful charm, were sold abroad, mainly in the United States and Europe, where things Japanese found an eager market. Japan only recently honoured Koson with an exhibition, organised after the discovery of some valuable material, including many of his original paintings and sketches. This book about Koson is the first Western publication of his oeuvre of prints and paintings, based upon a private Dutch collection. It provides all known information on the artist's life and work, his teachers and publishers, facsimiles of his signatures and seals and illustrations of an estimated ninety percent of his total print output. The definitive reference book for Koson collectors.
Customer Reviews:
Koson, Shoson or Hoson.......2007-01-11
It is not offen, even in the world of Japanese woodblocks that one finds an artist with three different names but here he is. Family name - Ohara. Artist name - well, that depends on who was publishing his prints. He used the name "Koson" (taken from his teacher Suzuki Kason) in the early years when his works were published by Kokkeido and Daikokuya. When he worked with publisher Watanabe, he used "Shoson" and then finally "Hoson" for the prints published by Kawaguchi. This book has a brief but good review of his career. Koson's work is almost entirely focused on the natural world. There are 179 annotated color plates in the main body of the book. These are all from the collection of Jan Perree and while not a complete collection, they are representative. What makes the book a complete catalogue is the checklist section which lists all the known woodblocks with a thumbnail of each, usually in color. The final section on signatures and seals is most helpful.
Love Ohara Koson, but would have liked a better book.......2003-07-15
Instead of trying to include so many smaller photos of the artist's prints, I would have loved to see some larger photos. This is more of a catalog of Ohara Koson's work, instead of a great way to see the work in all it's glory.
Love Ohara Koson, but would have liked a better book.......2003-07-15
Instead of trying to include so many smaller photos of the artist's prints, I would have loved to see some larger photos. This is more of a catalog of Ohara Koson's work, instead of a great way to see the work in all it's glory.
Love Ohara Koson, but would have liked a better book.......2003-07-15
Instead of trying to include so many smaller photos of the artist's prints, I would have loved to see some larger photos. This is more of a catalog of Ohara Koson's work, instead of a great way to see the work in all it's glory.
Average customer rating:
- Unless You Can Program Yourself: STAY AWAY
- Disappointing, given the price
- Multimedia as serious reserch tool
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Perseus 2.0: Interactive Sources and Studies on Ancient Greece: Platform-Independent Version, Concise Edition
Gregory Crane
Manufacturer: Yale University Press
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Binding: CD-ROM
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ASIN: 0300080913 |
Book Description
Named for the Hellenic hero who explored the world's most distant reaches, Perseus is the award-winning digital resource that is revolutionizing the study of ancient Greece. Now available for the first time for PCs and Windows-based computers, Perseus continues to expand the ways in which ancient Greek literature, history, art, and archaeology can be examined.
Customer Reviews:
Unless You Can Program Yourself: STAY AWAY.......2007-02-21
Kreutzer's review was very helpful. unfortunately, I bought the stupid cd anyway. it's worthless. I only bought it for the quick morphological analysis. the software displays SGreek, but it won't use it for morphological analysis (yes, I was using the proper accents - I noticed the chicago and german mirror PP sites were fussy about that as well). why is this a problem for me? well...because I don't know the keystrokes for Athenian, the default font. it's not a complete loss. I can still cut 'n' paste Greek words from any text that is in the collection, and the morphological analysis tool works properly then. but $160 is a heck of a lot of money to waste on such user-unfriendly software. I'm using the "platform independent" version. I'm sure there's a map for that stupid Athenian font somewhere. I just have to find the stupid thing and hope it works w/o the programming tricks Kreutzer mentions (that're beyond my computing skills).
Disappointing, given the price.......2006-03-25
I am a classical student. I use Perseus Online almost daily. I decided to buy the CD version, because I am moving to an apartment without Internet connection. I bought the Perseus 2.0 CD Concise Edition for 165$ (including shipping + taxes) from the official Yale website. (The Concise Edition is the Comprehensive Edition without 3CDs of images. If your work focuses on texts, there is no need to buy that expensive Comprehensive Edition.) I am happy with the CD, but there are many disappointments: 1) There are no Latin resources on the CD. The texts and the linguistic tools are Greek only. Furthermore, the Greek texts are without commentaries. The Greek dictionary is the Intermediate Liddell-Scott, and not the complete Liddell-Scott-Jones. 2) The Morphological Analysis tool requires you to type the precise accents and diacritical marks. What is worse, the Perseus CD does not use Unicode, but a GreekKeys font. Therefore, you cannot use the Greek Polytonic keyboard to type. In order to type Greek accents, the help file says to buy (!) the GreekKeys program. However, the GreekKeys website states that their Windows version is not supported and not for sale since 1999, because everyone nowadays uses Unicode. I sent an email to Yale support and never received response. I decided to solve the problem myself by editing the source code of Perseus. Modify the following three lines in the file MORPH.TCL, so as to make the Morphological Analysis tool accept latin input:
set form [$::perseus::greek2beta convert [$w.form get]]
set form [$w.form get]
$w.form insert end [$::perseus::beta2greek convert $form]
$w.form insert end $form
entry $w.form -font [pfont greek]
entry $w.form -font [pfont large]
The only advantages of the Perseus CD versus the online version are faster display and advanced text search; for instance, you can search words in proximity of others. (Final note: During the installation, once you have run Fonts.EXE, you have to open the Windows Fonts folder, so that the new fonts are recognized. This is not in the installation instructions but without it, Perseus will not display the Greek text correctly.)
Multimedia as serious reserch tool.......2001-03-09
Perseus is represents a major innovation in how to access information about the classical world. A collaborative effort developed by specialists who have taken pains to present vast stores of information usually only available in major museums or research libraries is now are accessible to any enterprising novice student. The heart of the Comprehensive Edition is the huge picture archive especially of sculpture and illustrated pottery that makes close study of visual and textual sources. The Concise Edition provides the full textual and interactive resources but only provides thumbnails of the picture library this can inhibit serious study of the visual record. This work is an indispensable tool for any serious study of Classic Greek culture and history. The variety of approaches to linking the content makes Perseus an effective interactive teaching tool. And research resource that exhibits the fuller potential of multimedia.
Average customer rating:
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Luck (Outdoor Adventures)
Jean Craighead George
Manufacturer: Laura Geringer
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ASIN: 0060082011
Release Date: 2006-04-25 |
Book Description
After a girl saves his life, Luck, a young sandhill crane, begins the long migration north to Siberia with his parents. Luck and his parents use a special song to find one another: Crackaarr! While his parents depend on rivers, lakes, and mountains to guide their way, Luck memorizes man-made objects -- windmills, sunglasses, and a baby carriage. Soon thousands of cranes join Luck and his family on their timeless journey. Follow Luck's challenging flight through the voice of master storyteller Jean Craighead George and the art of the critically acclaimed Wendell Minor.
Book Description
This definitive work by world-renowned bee authority Eva Crane offers a fascinating account of bees and their complex relations with both humans and animals. Comprehensive, absorbing, and lavishly illustrated, this scholarly, yet accessible volume explores how bees, honey and other bee products have been gathered and utilized throughout the world.
Beginning with the rock paintings of the Mesolithic cave dwellers, readers will learn about the variety of methods used by human beekeepers, the stratagems used by animal honey-hunters, and the multitude of products humans have derived from bees. The first in-depth book on the subject, the World History of Beekeeping and Honey-Hunting is the ultimate work on bees for scholars in biology and the life sciences, professional and amateur beekeepers, and anyone who is interested in bees or the collection of honey.
Customer Reviews:
Great on detail, not an easy night's read........2007-07-05
If you are scientifically-minded and love lots of little details, this is a great book for you. Eva Crane has well-documented her resources, and if you can get through all the details, you find great stories as to the origin and development of beekeeping in different cultures. However, this is not a storybook, or a book you might expect a child to read - it is stock full of info. I personally love this book, and think it is well-worth the high price. However, it is not a book for everyone.
The world history of beekeeping.......2007-05-12
If you are at all interested in bees or you are a beekeeper this is the book for you!
Eva Crane has just about left no stone unturned in her research for this book and has covered all four corners of the Globe.
The evolution of beekeeping is fascinating and this book cover an increadable time line from early man right up to present time.
The illustrations are plentiful and very well presented throughout the book.
A must for any beekeepers library.
Book Description
Winding its way like a long dragon through 4,000 miles of mountains, desert, and grasslands, The Great Wall of China was built entirely by hand, taking hundreds of years and millions of workers to complete. Thats just one of the myriad wonders of China children will discover in this far-reaching book. D is for Dancing Dragon brings Chinas history and culture alive by describing its unique customs, art works, music, foods, geography and wildlife. Children will learn, for example, that paper, ink, printing, umbrellas, kites and fireworks are all Chinese inventions. Theyll find the secrets of how silk is made, how chopsticks work and why you should never cry on the Chinese New Years Day. They will even learn a few Chinese words, as well as which astrological animal sign belongs to them. This captivating book is sure to be of special interest to anyone curious about this beautiful and mysterious land.
Customer Reviews:
Beautiful Book.......2007-04-02
This is a beautiful book with a lot of good information. My daughter, even at 2 loves to look at it. It has large type for easy reading out loud, with more in-depth text on the side for when the child gets larger. A great book for those with adopted Chinese daughters.
Another Chinese Alphabet book - a terrific book for your home library!.......2006-11-10
I have about 3 or 4 of these Chinese Alphabet books and this book is a definately up there as an awesome book about China A through Z with lots of interesting facts that some books do not have. I actually learned several new facts that I had not know prior. The way this book was done allows for the book to grow with your child as they grow. There is a picture representing the letter which I believe is done in oil paint and a few sentences of information. Then if you look to the left hand side of the page there is much more detailed information.
Here is a break down of each letter. I hope this is helpful to you.
A - Acrobats ( showing Lion dancers)
B - Bejing ( shows the Forbidden City, Summer Palace)
C - Chopsticks
D - Dragon Dance
E - Ehru pronounced Ay-roo ( an old musical instrument that only has 2 strings) this page also talks about the Chinese instruments.
F- " Four Treasures of Study - brush, ink, paper and ink stone used for Calligraphy which is a must for every child to begin to learn since the Chinese language has no alphabet but characters that are for each word.
G - Great Wall
H - Himalayan Mountain range & Mount Everest
I- Inventions - paper printing, compass, abacus, wheelbarrow & fireworks
J - Jasmine Flower
K - Kites & dough
L - Lanterns ( also talks about the fifteenth day of the Spring festival marking the end of the Chinese New Year celebrations which is the Lantern Festival.
M - Mongolians
N - Chinese New Year
O - Opera & shadow puppets
P - Giant Pandas
Q - Qin Terra-Cotta Warriors
R - Rice Paddies and terraces
S - Silk Road
T - Transportation
U - Umbrella
V - Vegetables
W - Wok
X - Xie, Xie Mandarin for THANK YOU ( pronounced She-eh She-eh)
Y - Yangtze River
Z - Chinese Zodiac ( painted to look like paper cuts of the 12 animals)
Book Description
How an average musician put aside his "there" guitar and reinvented himself as Björn Türoque, the take-no-prisoners future of air guitar.
The true story of how mildly successful guitarist and New York Times writer Dan Crane relinquished his instrument and became Björn Türoque (pronounced "b-yorn too-RAWK"), the second greatest air guitarist in the nation. This exploration of the international air guitar sub-culture addresses the issue of dedicating oneself to an invisible art in order to achieve the ultimate goal of "airness"-that is, when air guitar transcends the "real" art that it imitates and becomes an art form in and of itself.
Customer Reviews:
A Rock Solid Book.......2007-10-12
Bjorn Turoque and "To Air is Human" have done with air guitar what Al Gore and "An inconvenient Truth" have done with climate change.
This book is quite difficult to put down, as it drills you to your seat: leaving you to wonder why you're not the one rocking on an invisible instrument.
Great book. Couldn't put it down. .......2007-07-04
When reading this book lovers of music will appreciate the passion that Bjorn and his fellow air guitarists have for all things music. Lovers of peace will respect the greater message that air guitar promotes - that if every person in the world were to hold an air guitar then they would not be able to carry a gun. Bjorn Turoque's air guitar journey which started innocently enough but then quickly escalated to odd proportions is both riveting and hilarious.
An improbable but ultimate quite funny book.......2006-10-06
I was in a hurry to pick up some books for a transatlantic flight and I picked this book up, without much expectations. After all, how good could a book be about one man's quest to become the world champion in "air guitar" play? Then I started turning the pages...
In "To Air Is Human: One Man's Quest To Become The World's Greatest Air Guitarist" (304 pages), author Dan Crane brings the improbable tale of how he decided on a whim to enter the 2003 NY regionals and subsequently the world championships, and what happened next. The book is "co-authored" by Crane's alter-ego, the air guitarist Bjorn Turoque (get it?). With tongue firmly planted in cheek, Crane tells of his encounters with (semi)celebraties like Carson Daly and others along his way to try and become the world champ. Most of the tales are quite funny, which is what kept me turning the pages. Some of his observations are so off-kilter (such as "Air guitar, I had learned, is about commitment. It's not unlike love, really") that I just couldn't stop smiling as I was reading. Many of the better moments in the book are about the many side-characters that pop up.
In the end, this book was much better than I expected it. Of course, I had low expectations to begin with. But this book is funny and irreverent from begin to end. If you are in the mood for that, this book is for you.
The Dubious Has Been Converted.......2006-09-19
I thought I had no interest in Air Guitar. I just didn't get it. (I'm
referring to the rise of public air guitar competitions, not unselfconscious, instinctive standing-on-the-bed performances). I couldn't believe it wasn't an ironic, nostalgia-addict-generation trend that would flare up, then die out. I thought it sprang from the same impulse that drives people to watch endless episodes of their seventies childhood tv shows.
After Crane's hilarious page turner I am schooled. I won't say what the impulses are that leads one, or at least the subject of this book, to perform in front of an audience with nothing but their bare hands, because that would spoil the author's eventual revelations, and the adventure of coming to those revelations with him is part of the fun of this read. And it is a pretty much non-stop fun read.
But not entirely airy; like any good book it taps into the human condition, as the title promises.
Crane had me hooked from the first competition; I read the book practically in one sitting. He's got perfect comic timing, an addictive voice, and an immensely likable persona --even if you're not drawn to any iteration of [...], narcissistic rock n' roll endeavors, air or otherwise, you'll find it hard not to identify with Crane's struggle to find some place in life that isn't freighted with self-seriousness, corporate-banality, or deadening adult legitimacy. It's a little bit like Bridget Jones in that it makes you feel better about your own [...] dissapointments.
Fellow female [is that an oxymoron? ed.] readers: there's a great scene at a strip club that lifts the veil over what really goes on in there (and in the male brains) that will have you horrified but hanging on every word. Scandalous! Even, maybe, sad.
Another added bonus: for anyone who's been feeling kindof out of it (suddenly finding oneself with children, or locked at work, or locked into a disturbingly lasting depressive stupor) To Air also serves as a crash course in what the kids are up to these days. With quick, deft, lol sketches, Crane captures a demographic ethos in an inclusive way that leaves you feeling cheerfully in the know.
My only complaint: I wish he'd given more than just tiny peeks into his failing relationship. The book returns repeatedly with little butterfly-wing brushes to interpersonal juicyness issues -- is Bjorn stealing away from commitment and Air Guitar is just the getaway car, or there another reason the romance ends? -- but never fully explains what happens.
But maybe this was enough generous self-exposure for one book. If so, I look forward to the next.
AIR-inspiring..........2006-09-16
Bjorn Turoque has given his audience a Roque solid, chAIRsmatic, and hilarious tale of his determination and perseverance to not only become the "World's Greatest Air Guitarist", but to also emulate the true spirit and message of Air Guitar - World Peace.
I'm eager to see Air Guitar and it's competitive circuit sweep the nation and hope that America will embrace it as the Finns have!
Book Description
With the rise of Abstract Expressionism, New York City became the acknowledged center of the avant-garde. Diana Crane documents the transformation of the New York art world between 1940 and 1985, both in the artistic styles that emerged during this period and the expansion of the number and types of institutions that purchased and displayed various works.
Crane's account is built around discussions of seven styles: Abstract Expressionism in the forties; Pop art and Minimalism in the sixties; Figurative painting, Photorealism, and Pattern painting in the early seventies; and Neo-Expressionism in the early eighties. Demonstrating that the New York art world moved toward increasing acceptance of dominant American cultural trends, Crane offers a fascinating look not only at the intricacies of New York's artistic inner circle but also at the sociology of work and professions, the economics of culture markets such as "dealing art," and the sociology of culture.
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