Product Description
Thomas Eakins` extraordinary rowing pictures-some of the most celebrated and recognized images in the history of American art-appear together for the first time in this beautiful book. Fascinating information about the sport of rowing and its heroes, about Eakins` development as an artist, and about nineteenth-century social, cultural, and artistic concerns accompanies the twenty-four oil paintings, watercolors, and drawings of this extraordinary series. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Eakins on the Schuylkill River
Any opportunity to study the works of Thomas Eakins is a pleasure.This small book from Yale University focuses on only one aspect of Eakins' work - The Rowing Pictures. Though there are only twenty-four true paintings of the Rowing Series, these paintings are so extraordinarily fine that having fewer of them makes the all the more precious.The creators of the book, based on an exhibition that started at The National Gallery of Art, are a solid group: Helen A. Cooper, Prof. Martin A. Berger, Christina Currie, andProf. Amy Werbel have included the many sketches and perspective drawings upon which Eakins depended and added commentary about the artist's life and times- always a tricky door to open depending on the audience!

There is considerable writing about the sport of rowing, the areas where the paintings were based (the Schuylkill River), the particular rowers such as the Biglin Brothers, and Eakins fascination with the mechanism of the sculls - whether meant for one or two rowers.But the real glory of this series of paintings lies inthe art works themselves.There is a majestically beautiful use of light and reflection as well as some closely observed muscular involvement required by this sport.The only flaw in this book is its rather small scale; making the book bigger and thus allowing better reproductions of the paintings would have enhanced this otherwise superb survey of one of the many branches of the art of Thomas Eakins.Grady Harp, August 10

An American Masterpiece
Thomas Eakins is in my opinion the greatest artist that America's ever produced. His work is absolutely sublime. I saw some of his works at my local art museum. It's incredible, they paintings look almost like photographs, they're so lifelike. ... Read more

Product Description
This book seeks to redress the balance of reporting in the sport's literature which has always favoured the activities of aquatic gentlemen at the public schools, Oxford and Cambridge Universities, Henley Regatta and on the River Thames. This study focuses on the many who helped instigate and nurture the sport but who have been forgotten due to their not being associated with the elite of the sport. ... Read more

Product Description
When married couple Debra and Andrew Veal entered the 3,000 mile Ward Evans Atlantic Rowing Challenge they believed that their profound knowledge of each other would give them the edge over the other - mainly male- competitors. Yet during their first night in open waters they were confronted with a discovery that would leave their transatlantic bid in tatters: Andrew, an experienced rower, was suffering from an uncontrollable fear of the ocean. Try as they might to overcome this, by day eight Andrew's distress had become unbearable for both of them. After a night of soul-searching, Andrew resolutely decided to give up. Debra could have bowed out of the race with her husband and team-mate but she was relishing the journey and wanted to see how far she could go as a solo-rower. Word of Debra's adventure led to international press coverage which generated thousands of text messages from well-wishes who keenly followed her progress. After 112 days Debra completed the voyage and landed in Barbadoes. 'Rowing It Alone' is Debra's deeply personal account of her epic adventure - both in terms of distance and emotional growth. She explores her motivation and the reserves of solid determination that literally kept her afloat in the face of physical dangers and emotional lows. She shares her moments of sheer peace and happiness, away from the bustle of modern living. Debra's honesty and warm personality shine through in this inspiring story. She reveals how her achievement has affected her life - and marriage - and talks about how it feels to succeed against the odds. This is so much more than a book about rowing - it is about the adventure of life and love and the challenge of commitment. ... Read more

Product Description
This book is a complete history of rowing. ... Read more

Product Description
This is an EXACT reproduction of a book published before 1923. This IS NOT an OCR'd book with strange characters, introduced typographical errors, and jumbled words.This book may have occasional imperfections such as missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. that were either part of the original artifact, or were introduced by the scanning process. We believe this work is culturally important, and despite the imperfections, have elected to bring it back into print as part of our continuing commitment to the preservation of printed works worldwide. We appreciate your understanding of the imperfections in the preservation process, and hope you enjoy this valuable book. ... Read more

Product Description
Sport is a major social phenomenon of this century with political, cultural, economic, spiritual and aesthetic dimensions. Rowing, a minority sport compared with some, had managed to erect two controlling bodies by 1890, when sports and games began to be more organized. This organization was needed as an increasing number of people had more time to enjoy games and the greater ease of travel reinforced the need for everybody to accept agreed rules for whatever game it might be. This study traces the sport's influences, its champions, and the history of the amateur-versus-professional debate. A belief in the virtues of amateurism and of the need to play a game for its own sake, the author argues, meant that professionalism was to be avoided because victory became its own reward and the means often used - fouling and cheating - were to be resisted. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (2)

Inspiring
I truly enjoyed this book. Althoughthe subject matter is definately masculine, there is a soft, gentle, beguiling thread running through all of the stories. The decsriptive images will stay with me for many years. I never thought of seeing a 'splash of dust' but I understood exactly what was happening.

I read it in 2 days.. I conclude how boring the 9-5 world really is. This man has live a passionate, scary and fullfilling if not fruitful life. Very enjoyable.

Making Waves
During those inbetween times when I am unable to travel myself (woe is me), then I travel on a vehicle of words - and oh, how satisfactory is this one! McLennan is new to writing, or so he claims at the opening of this book, but I struggle to believe it. He tells of moving to Estonia with his Dutch wife (she surely has courage to marry such a wanderlusting man), a writer, and when he struggles with boredom, she encourages him to put his snappy stories to the written page - and this is the result.

If he's not practiced, he certainly is gifted. A comparison made by a Granta reviewer (under the publisher's umbrella, but I'm not arguing) to Hemingway is not unwarranted. McLennan's travel stories are filled to bursting with male bravado, much like Papa's, and he knows how to write spare when needed, spiced when it serves, lavish when the story requires it. "Rowing" is nearly impossible to put down, if only to eye the road oneself.

McLennan comes from Australia, but calls the world, the road, his home. The title story is probably my personal favorite, if only because good-sized chunks of my own wanderlusting heart still reside in Alaska, haunted by my own memories which he so well brought to life again. It is a tale of two men rowing 1,000 miles from Seattle to Alaska, and if the author wasn't sworn to lifelong adventure seeking before then, he was by the time he completed this journey.

McLennan writes (in no particular order, in 15 travel essays) about a long list of improbable jobs (bank clerk, gold panner, boat skipper, bartender, wild pig hunter) and places he has experienced by full immersion: Australia, Costa Rica, Pacific Northwest, Nicarauga, London, France, Spain, Estonia. His rich language brings to life great adventure without arrogance (well, maybe a little, in his belt notching adventures with the opposite gender), not sparing himself or anyone else in his path an honest and colorful appraisal. He takes on dangerous expeditions as if it never occurred to him not to do so, not a question or hesitancy in his mind, and travel becomes his rites of passage into finding purpose outside the routine everyday too many rest of us accept.

"Rowing to Alaska" itches beneath the skin and hammers in the heart for anyone who wants something more out of life - in either the living of it or even just the reading about it. ... Read more

Product Description
This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishings Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the worlds literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone! ... Read more

Product Description
This story's protagonist is a feisty little girl who not only loves to play with her favorite doll but also enjoys riding her bike and skateboard, proving that those are not "boy's things." ... Read more