Customer Reviews (2)

Publicité surfaite
«Le maître des illusions» de Donna Tartt est intéressant.C'est un bon divertissement.Toutefois, il ne présente pas le suspense annoncé.Il y a des longueurs, notamment lors des recherches pour retrouver un des personnages.Dans la version française lue, la traduction de Pierre Alien n'est pas bien faite.À plusieurs reprises, j'ai senti que j'aurais dû lire l'oeuvre dans sa version originale.L'édition de poche comporte plusieurs erreurs orthographiques, grammaticales et d'impression.Cela m'a agacé.Un bon point toutefois, l'auteur a su créer plusieurs images non évidentes du «maître des illusions».

Publicité surfaite
«Le maître des illusions» de Donna Tart est intéressant.C'est un bon divertissement.Toutefois, il ne présente pas le suspense annoncé.Il y a des longueurs, notamment lors des recherches pour retrouver un des personnages.Dans la version française lue, la traduction de Pierre Alien n'est pas bien faite.À plusieurs reprises, j'ai senti que j'aurais dû lire l'oeuvre dans sa version originale.L'édition de poche comporte plusieurs erreurs orthographiques, grammaticales et d'impression.Cela m'a agacé.Un bon point toutefois, l'auteur a su créer plusieurs images non évidentes du «maître des illusions». ... Read more

Book Description
A comprehensive anthology of The Oxford American's most memorable pieces published during the first decade of the magazine's existence, these articles prove provocative, opinionated, and irreverent. The Oxford American has served as an incubator and archive for the most promising and most established voices in contemporary Southern writing. It offers up an extraordinary range of perspectives on a multitude of subjects, while always avoiding the hackneyed notion of the South as the exclusive province of the gothic or the sentimental dominion of moonlight and magnolias. Collected here are the magazine's stellar fiction and poetry offered alongside its best commentary, profiles, photography, comics, and reporting on politics, history, religions, art, books, film, and humor. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Excellent
The only element lacking in this collection are re-issues of the prized "Southern Music" CDs which appeared with the annual "Music Issue" of the Oxford American. Otherwise, for those who have not archived each issue of the magazine, this is an excellent selection.

Sadly, the Oxford American's precarious financial situation perpetually places it in the southern `lost cause' cliché. Would that some subscribers of other moribund New York-based `literary' magazines, which perpetually lurch around the elite graveyard of memory for its existence, abandon the shell and support the living, and the future. Intelligent readers will both want to own this volume, and subscribe to the Oxford American.

The New Yorker of the South
The demise of The Oxford American magazine is a tragedy! Thank goodness a person can still sample its pages in this wonderful compilation of fiction, essays and reviews. Tony Earley's essay, Letter from Sister: What We Learned at the P.O., which concerns Eudora Welty's great short story, is probably the best thing in the book. It doesn't stop there however; there is a sample of John T. Edge's great writing on southern food, Hal Crowther's review of Erskine Caldwell, Donna Tartt's thoughts on Willie Morris and so much more. This book, like the old Oxford American itself, is pure bliss.

UPDATE:Spring 2005."The Oxford American" is back!!I suggest that everyone with an interest in the American South spend some quality time with an issue!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

perfect for reading on the go
The idea of "the best of the Oxford American" brings out a lot of expectations.This magazine has been the home for a lot of special writing.This book provides some of those moments.I especially enjoyed the narrative of the small town photographer burdened by the unwelcome insights of his coworkers and the blank misunderstandings of his Disney World roadtripping friends.I think that the criticism by Tony Earley would have made just as good an introduction to this book as did Rick Bragg's more metaphorical observation that this writing is "heavy on the salt."
I would recommend this book for anyone that wants to read about the South as it actually is -- unique, history-addled, and genuinely "salty".

Truly the best of the best
This collection of works--fiction, nonfiction, poetry, reportage--by the biggest names writing in or about the South is a real treasure. For those already familiar with "the New Yorker of the South" it will remind those what have made the magazine so special for so many years, and for those who have not discovered the magazine, BOA will be a great introduction to the best in Southern belles lettres. The book, like the magazine itself, is a little trad and not good on commenting on the lives of blacks, gays/lesbians, and immigrants to the South, but there is much for everyone to enjoy here. ... Read more

Product Description
7" x 4 1/2" x 2" paperback; a very thick mass market (size) paperback ... Read more

Book Description
Described as "the closest thing to a rock star" in graphic design today (USA Today), Chip Kidd is universally recognized as an American master of contemporary book design. At the forefront of a revolution in publishing, Kidd's iconic covers, with their inventive marriage of type and found images, have influenced an entire generation of design practitioners in many fields.Chip Kidd: Book One collects all of his book covers and designs for the first time, as well as hundreds of developmental sketches and concepts-annotated by Kidd and by many of the best-selling authors he's worked with over the years. The result is an important contribution to the design canon today as well as a visually dazzling (and often hilarious) insider's look at the design and publishing process.The book also showcases Kidd's work with comics and graphic novels, including his collaborations with leading artists and writers in the field. Featured are projects for DC Comics, including Batman and Superman, as well as Kidd's award-winning exploration of the art of Charles M. Schulz. Chip Kidd: Book One is sure to enthrall design aficionados, book lovers, pop-culture fanatics, comics fans, and design students. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Great Book
This is a great, great book. If you're a fan of Kidd's work, by all means buy this book. If you are at all interested in truly inspirational graphic design, this book is a must-have.

PROS: having so many of Kidd's designs in one place is worth the price of admission, inclusion of the development and back story of each cover is interesting and elucidating, stories of his adventures in the trade are well-written and fun to learn about.

CONS: the cover is awkward, the shape of the book makes it hard to hold while reading- you really have to put it on something flat - it's sometimes difficult to decipher exactly which pictures the captions are referencing.

There is a definite form-over-function issue with the book, but the content is what counts - and that gets 5 stars from me without a quibble.

Chip Kidd's Jacketdesigns
I HAD to buy this book after having read about it in another forum. Kidd's artworks are superb!

Why are you reading this itstead of buying the book?
This book is bound with a split hardback/softback cover, so if you appreciate design -- which I assume you do since you're considering a compilation of book designs -- the book is worth buying for this odd cover arrangement alone.

FUN COVERS
This an excellent ,colorful book with very useful and informative comments,they are also humorous.Kidd mentions that he shows failed designs when he lectures to show that even a successful designer has failures.Unfortunately,in my opinion,the jacket for this volume falls in this category,its clever but not practical.because the cover is split in two parts its an irritation to hold and eventually the cover will be bent when laying down or storing in shelf.Still a must have in this genre.Now how about a Susan Mitchell collection?
ps.i followed my advice and bought the hardcover .Amazing its even more unwieldy,the cover is half hard and half soft,yikes!I ended up buying the soft cover to keep and treat it very carefully ,was that the point of this nutty design?I guess this cover will enter the hall of fame and certainly will be a collectors item if its never opened.Argghh!!!

Excellent book on the process of graphic design.
I highly recommend this book to any graphic designer. He details nearly every cover design, and its great to hear the back story, and see preliminary designs and alternate final designs. Ironically, my only complaint about the book is its cover. I have the paperback edition, the cover only covers half of the book, and this makes flipping through the pages kind of unwieldy. The cuteness of this cover design wears off quickly. It will be interesting to see how he rates this cover in the sequel to this book in 20 years. ... Read more