Tuesday, April 10, 2012
Tuesday, February 21, 2012
Free ebook "Paris 1935" for 60 days
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Book Review of "Paris 1935"
PARIS 1935: DESTINY’S CROSSROADS
Paul A. Myers, Paul A. Myers Books, 2011, $10.99 pb/$2.99, e-book, 261 pp, 9780982596074
“. . . Art illuminates politics . . .” says Marcelle Lambert, one of the lead characters in Paris 1935. This summarizes Paul Myers’ approach: writing used as a vehicle to understanding period politics. As Marcelle and Dexter Jones meet and fall in love, a world that desperately wants to avoid another world war makes the missteps that will make one inevitable. Upper-level civil servant Marcelle is detailed to the office of the premier and foreign minister of France, Pierre Laval. Dexter, a savvy young diplomat, stands on the sidelines watching senior diplomats from France and England (Laval and his British counterpart, Sir Samuel Hoare) jockey to save Ethiopia from Italy, protect their national interests, and oh, yes, fulfill their League of Nations commitments as well. The result is the Hoare-Laval Agreement, which then (and now) can be alternately viewed as an act of base appeasement or, as Churchill put it, had it been invoked, “a shrewd, farseeing agreement which could have saved . . . Abyssinia (Ethiopia).” Meanwhile, Adolf Hitler watches intently—and re-militarizes the Rhineland. Marcelle and Dexter plan their wedding. But will they marry, for Marcelle vows she will never desert France?
Paris 1935 is a complex book that takes us into the back rooms of high-level officials, writers, and media stars in order to understand why events happened as they did. The book's presentation, both cover and printing, is professional, with the artwork consisting of period reproductions. Involved and intriguing, Myers' work definitely is worth reading. --B.N. Peacock Historical Novel Society Online Review Feb. 2012.
Friday, December 16, 2011
French Sketches: Cap Ferrat and Somerset Maugham
My second French Sketch featuring a profile of English novelist Somerset Maugham and his gilded existence living on the French Rivera at Cap Ferrat is not available at Kobo for $.99. Here's the link.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
Scripps Fine Arts Foundation Lecture
The Fine Arts Foundation of Scripps College listened to Williamson Gallery director Mary McNaughton give an erudite and interesting (a lecture can be both, as rare as that sounds) on "Clay's Tectonic Shift." Professor McNaughton, an art history professor at Scripps, described how ceramics went from a craft to a major art form during the 1950s and 60s under the guidance of Southern California artists John Mason, Ken Price, and Peter Voulkos. Scripps College, an acknowledged leader in promoting ceramics since the 1930s under the dynamic direction of Millard Sheets, was part of this revolution. The lecture was given on Wednesday, December 14, 2011 in the Hampton Room of Malott Commons on the Scripps Campus. The exhibition opens at Williamson Gallery on January 21, 2012 with an Opening on Saturday evening at 7 PM. The exhibition is part of the Pacific Standard Time initiative sponsored by the Getty Trust.
In short, ceramics evolved from pottery towards sculpture, from the beautifully designed utility of practical ceramic pottery to large and increasingly abstract sculptures comprised of fired pieces of clay fitted into large objects.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
First Sale Amazon Germany
Tuesday, November 22, 2011
Cap Ferrat up at Diesel
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