Product Description
Madonna - 16 stunning new images of the unparalleled Madonna remind you why the best-selling female artist has become the style and image icon that she is. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

all Madonna all the time
Madonna's 2011 official calendar includes many current and classic pictures of the superstar through many of her iconic phases. This calendar captures the magic and the beauty of Madonna's photographic image, like none other. Each picture is like a mini poster, all pictures are black and white and are the size/length of 2 pages.

I really like the cover, it includes a dramatic picture of Madonna during her Dolce & Gabbanna photo campaign from earlier this year. I also especially love the Jan. picture, this is a period shot of Madonna during the "Erotica" era in her jeweled body suit.

here is a rundown of all of the other pictures in the calendar:
(and be sure to check out the scan that I posted and labled of each picture, too)

Sept. 2010-Dec. 2010
Dolce & Gabbana new picture, peeling an orange

Feb. 2011
classic boytoy era with leather hat

March 2011
Herb Ritts Immaculate Collection - another one of my personal favorites

April 2011
Blond Ambition era/white turban

May 2011
recent Confessions era picture

June 2011
Classic Herb Ritts JML - another one of my favorites

July 2011
Dolce & Gabbana new picture, this picture is also promiently seen on the back of the calendar

Aug. 2011
very sexy True Blue picture, another classic by Herb Ritts

Sept. 2011
Truth or Dare/Erotica promo picture in retro

Oct. 2011
Truth or Dare promo picture

Nov. 2011
candid shot from the boytoy/LAV era

Dec. 2011
Herb Ritts shot, close-up of Madonna, this was also the cover of Harper's Bazaar from 5-94

Besides Herb Ritts (may he rest in peace), some of the other photographers include: Steven Meisel, Steven Klein, Peter Lindberg, Ken Ragan and Patrick Demarchelier.

This is the official US calendar manufactured by MWV Office Products/Daydream and licensed by Madonna's company, Live Nation. There is also an official A3 calendar put out in the UK which includes the same pictures as this one. The calendar also includes important dates and holidays (religious and secular) for both the American, Australian, Mexican and British markets.

As someone that has collected every single Madonna calendar since 1986 I can tell you with all certainty that the twenty-eleven calendar is truly Madonna's very best calendar in years, because like Madonna it is timeless, beautiful, classic and extremely dramatic. Remember, don't invent yourself, re-invent yourself.

Calendar???
If you want a bunch of Madonna pics, then this is a good buy. If, however you want a calendar (as I did!) then forget this one!! Numbers are distorted and, well to be honest...it's about the worst "Calendar" I have ever owned-sad to say :( ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (6)

I wanted to like it but it was just OK...
I don't often write reviews of books that for me, are "just ok", but that is what I must say about this one.I am quite interested in South Africa and Zimbabwe, and from others' reviews, I really thought I would like this book. The story originates with a historical event, the trial of the Excelsior 19 - 19 African women are imprisoned, to be tried and called as witnesses against their white Afrikaner sex partners for the crime of miscegenation.The women are induced to withdraw their testimony with empty promises, and the rest of the novel chronicles their lives and those of the children, both black and coloured, of these couplings.

Each chapter begins with a lyrical description of paintings by the Oblate missionary priest, Fr. Frans Claerhout, whose work can be found and perused online.In the novel, the paintings sound rather like Van Gogh, but actually they are rather different and less colorful, at least from those I was able to view.Fr. Claerhout is here referred to as "the trinity," in an oblique poetic way which typifies Mda's writing style.He is a source of strength and employment for the women who serve as his models;his presence provides unity and atmosphere as well as an unclouded view of the beauty of the country and its people.

Other reviewers have written well of the novel's portrayal of South Africa's relinquishing apartheid, the various ways that Mda's characters react to these changes, and the way that the revolutionaries, as always, are seduced by the same lust for power and possessions that characterized the white rulers.These societal layers are quite well drawn.

Yet, I found myself unmoved.As the novel progressed, I became impatient with each chapter's predictable poetic descriptions, and I found it hard to really care about the characters themselves.I kept reading for the sake of the societal situation - not because I was wrapped up in the novel itself.Perhaps Mda succeeds in creating more vivid characters in other books - I may be curious enough to try his first and see.In this particular book, I think Mda's concept of using the history as a basis for the action and the paintings as poetic glosses impeded the success of the book as fiction.If you are looking for a good read, skip this one.If you want to know more about South Africa, then go for it, but be prepared...

Loved it
I have read this book twice because I love the story- Zakes remains one of my favorite African writers-

Reality's Rich Colours
Fiction does not always facilitate or augment the understanding of complex realities of time and place. Zakes Mda, however, has achieved this mixture admirably in this novel of his native South Africa. The political events of pre- and post-Apartheid periods take a central place in the story. Yet he manages to avoid being overly heavy on facts and details as he builds the narrative around the impact of one specific event and its aftermath on one small community, Excelsior. He captures the essence of life under Apartheid and the difficulties awaiting all when the regime ends. Old prejudices and tensions remain and the transition to the new SA adds new challenges and conflicts, including among the black political leadership.

Mda uses the 1971 case of the Excelsior 19 as the focus of the first part of his account. A group of white men and black women were charged with violation of the Immorality Act that prohibits intimate relations across race lines. The primary character is Niki, one of the Excelsior 19 women, whose life story is a symbol for this time and place. As a naïve, pretty 18 year old, she attracts the attention of a white Afrikaner who assaults her and keeps pursuing her. Escape into marriage is some protection and also results in her confidence growing. Life is good with a husband and her son, Viliki.Never questioning her role as a servant and second class citizen, a humiliating incident with her white woman boss changes all that.

Her rage leads her to take revenge. Realizing her power as a black beauty and the hold it has over white Afrikaners, she applies it deliberately. The mixed-race daughter Popi is evidence of the hushed-up relationship. Despite the indisputable evidence of children like Popi, the charges against the Excelsior 19 are withdrawn.Still, those implicated and their families have to somehow work out their lives and their various relationships: within families, among neighbours, between Afrikaners, English and Blacks and Coloured.Niki and her children also suffer the consequences. As the narrative of their lives continues, the focus shifts to Popi and her extraordinary beauty. Her features increasingly reveal her parentage to everybody in the community. In the new SA she can play an important role in the community despite the continuing suspicions against mixed race people, who are "not black enough".

Mda does an excellent job of bringing diverse individuals to life. We see them from different angles, we empathize with them and comprehend them as part of a larger reality being is being played out.Nothing is black and white (excuse the pun!), nobody is all "good" or all "bad". Mda acknowledges that Afrikaners maintain their dreams of returning to power and depicts realistically the political conflicts within the black leadership.He introduces two kinds of observers to the novel: Father Claerhout, the Belgian priest-artist living in the region and a knowledgeable "we" narrator.The "trinity" (man, Father, painter), as the Father is referred to, is fascinated by black "madonnas" who sit for him in all their nude loveliness and grace. Niki becomes a preferred subject, mainly because of beautiful young Popi.

The chapters open with the description of one of the trinity's paintings.They create an imaginary world with blue or purple madonnas in lush robes or naked, sitting in yellow corn fields, among surreal bright sunflowers or surrounded by pink and white star like blossoms. The child of the heavy-set full-breasted Madonna is of a lighter shade of brown and with delicate features.Sometimes other elements are added, creating portraits of life in the rural community. Semi-abstract and dreamlike, the paintings are reminiscent of van Gogh.They are always a lead in to the chapter and often the protagonists literally walk off the canvas. The transition between bold imagination and reality is fluid. We, the reader, follow with curiosity and emotion. To complement the trinity's visions,the "we" observer steps in to reflect on people and events.Assumed to be witnesses of Popi's generation, they follow her closely and comment in particular on the attention and mixed feelings she draws in the community. Sometimes critics, sometimes voyeurs, they establish the connections between the paintings and the reality of this microcosm that represents South Africa.

Mda's novel is wide-ranging and multifaceted. While it moves fast through time and events, it allows pauses to ponder scenes and portraits of life and invites reflection of decisive historical events in modern South Africa. You will come away enriched and keen to read more by this remarkable author.[Friederike Knabe]

IT IS NOT SO BLACK AND WHITE...
South African writer Zakes Mda takes the notorious "Immorality Act" of South Africa's apartheid history, as well as a true event in South African history, which flowed from a violation of this law, and loosely weaves a fictionalized tale that will keep the reader turning the pages of this thematically complex book.

The "Immorality Act" was legislated to prevent miscegenation and ensure the purity of the races. In 1971, in the Orange Free State of South Africa, nineteen of its citizens, both white and black, were arrested for violating this law. The fictionalization of this event serves to contrast the old Afrikaner minority dominated South Africa in which apartheid was the law, and the new South Africa in which blacks are now the ruling majority. The author takes the reader through the transition from the old to the new South Africa through the fictionalization of the then notorious violation of the "Immorality Act".

Niki, one of the main protagonists, is an under-educated black woman living in white Afrikaner dominated South Africa in the township of Excelsior. She lives a life that is regulated byapartheid. She lives in substandard housing, works for Afrikaners for subsistence wages, and is at the beck and call of her employer.Moreover, she is easy prey for those Afrikaners who, despite the "Immorality Act",would forcibly subject her sexually. When her employer's wife forces her to submit to a humiliating invasion of her privacy, Niki fights back the only way she knows how, through the sexual enslavement of this woman's husband, her employer.

When she, along with a number of other native black women give birth to children that are clearly of mixed racial parentage, trouble ensues, and arrests under the "Immorality Act"are made of both male Afrikaners and native black women, of whom Niki is one, causing great scandal in the township. This incident is to leave a great mark on Niki's family, as it ensures the demise of her relationship with her husband, Pule, a miner whose irregular visits home, coupled with bouts of domestic violence,contribute to their estrangement.It affects her son, Viliki, who grows up rebellious, a political activist seeking to wrest political control of South Africa from the Afrikaners. It also affects Popi, the beautiful child of her illicit tryst with her employer, who forever seems to be in denial of her mixed race heritage. The book is not only about Niki's travails in white Afrikaner dominated South Africa under apartheid, it is also about Viliki's and Popi's coming of age in a post-apartheid South Africa in transition.

As the old Afrikaner rule in South Africa gives way to the new black majority rule in South Africa, one begins to realize that the issue is not so black and white. It boils down to power, who has it, and who has not.This is ultimately a story about those who are just trying to live their lives as best they can, as South Africa tries to reconcile its past with its present, while looking forward towards a more hopeful future.

"The sky was bereft of stars."
In sensuous, intensely visual language, author Mda depicts the life of Niki, a black South African, showing her day-to-day struggles to survive under apartheid and raise her children, but he also depictsFr. Frans Claerhout's idealized vision of her in his paintings--as a colorful Madonna figure, the mother of children who will eventually change the world.Niki has posed for many of Fr. Claerhout's paintings, a job which has helped her to feed her black son and her half-white daughter, even though she has often had to walk thirty-five kilometers to his studio in order to pose. Niki's story, from her teen years to old age, becomes the story of South Africa itself during the last half of the 20th century, a novel told from the perspective of a black author, and quite unlike the novels of Alan Paton, Nadine Gordimer, and J. M. Coetzee, though they cover the same time period.

Excelsior, the township in which Niki lives, is almost entirely black, yet all power in government and business rests in white hands.Without resorting to melodrama or clichés, the author shows in incident after incident, how black women are regarded as chattel, regularly harassed and even raped by their whitebosses, town officials, judges, and even clergymen.Yet Niki never yields to self-pity, even when she and eighteen other women and the men who have used them are put on trial for violating the Immorality Act, a violation which has produced Niki's daughter Popi.Imperfect, sometimes angry, and often calculating, Niki comes alive as a woman determined to hang on to her pride, using the only power she has, her sexual power, to control those who would control her.

Vivid scenes of South African life from the 1970s to the present bring Niki and her children to life.As the children grow and become deeply involved in political movements, Mda gives us a clear-eyed picture of South Africa's transition from a restrictive, white-ruled government to a democratically elected government with room for both races.The black people here are real, not idealized, people with hopes, dreams, and strategies for survival, and they evoke enormous sympathy from the reader, especially as their personal limitations and faults become clear.Concentrating less on the national violence and battles for survival, and more on the individual conflicts of people in Excelsior, many of whom the reader has come to like and respect, he presents complex issues in a clear, uncomplicated narrative which throbs with life and offers both hope and caution for the future.Mary Whipple ... Read more

Product Description
It’s vacation time again and all the English Roses have exciting plans. Nicole and Amy are off to attend a creative arts camp in Wales. And Charlotte’s off to her family’s villa in the south of France. And Grace has invited Binah to come to Atlanta and visit her cousins. Binah is so excited for her first holiday overseas, and she can’t wait to meet her friend’s family. But her trip gets off to a bad start, with a terrible bout of motion sickness on the flight across, followed by jet lag and homesickness once she’s on the ground. Can Grace and her brothers save Binah’s vacation? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Great book!
We love all of the books in the English Roses series! Perfect for girls as young as 9, especially if an older sister reads this to a younger sister. Wonderful!

Madonna can do everything!
Madonna is not only a singer, a mother, a model, a showwoman, an actress, a dancer,a woman who dealt with great humanitarian causes (Malawi, Haiti, Brasil, Italy), she is also an author of 6 pictures books for kids and 12 chapter books for kids too.

Unfortunately, this is the 11th one out of 12. It means that the collection is almost finished.

Let us hope that another one will be create in the future! ... Read more

Product Description
Amy’s absolutely thrilled when her mum gets her an after-school job working behind the scenes at Marks & Spencer Teen Fashionista week; it seems a perfect opportunity to polish her design skills and cultivate her true passion for fashion! But when a talent scout convinces Amy that she should actually appear on the runway as a model for the big show, things start to fall apart. Suddenly, Amy finds herself hanging with the beautiful people, and her head gets more than a little inflated as a result. What’s worse, she begins ditching the English Roses to hang with her fashionable new friends! The Roses have to wonder if she’s getting a wee bit big for her designer britches! Will Amy abandon her four best friends to follow the fashionista crowd forever? ... Read more

Product Description
Madonna has long been accepted as a pop culture icon, but this text postulates a greater cultural importance by analyzing her as a postmodern myth.

This work examines how Madonna methodically discovered and constructed herself (often rewriting her past), the nature and extent of her ambition and the means she used to reach her goals. It also details the way in which she organized her own cult (borrowing from the gay community), devised her artistic output, and cunningly targeted different audiences. It also studies the fundamental contradiction—virgin or vamp? saint or prostitute?—that fuels Madonna’s career and describes how Madonna reflects today’s society, its contradictions and its attitudes toward sexuality and religion. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Very Interesting But Too Analytical
"Madonna as a Postmodern Myth" By Georges-Claude Gilbert is a very interesting book. The author analyzes the phenomenon of Madonna from a sociological and intellectual point of view. Not only is Gilbert a professor, he's also a Madonna fan, which explains the passion and enthusiasm he writes with. Gilbert dissects Madonna's several aspects of career (videos, music, films, performances, interviews)and explains why she's "postmodern". Postmodernism came about in the mid-20th century and involves the use of irony, ambiguity, pastiche (references to past works of art) and a sense of distance between the artist and the audience. All of these qualities are present in Madonna's work and various personas to some degree. Many passages in the book were very insightful. Gilbert explains Madonna's relationship with the gay community, how she channels stars of the Golden Age of Hollywood, how she crosses cultural boundaries and seeks to bridge the gap between sex and religion. He's quite accurate in these assessments, since Madonna herself has spoken about all of those themes in interviews in the past. However, sometimes he takes his analysis a bit too seriously. He gets too analytical at certain points, breaking down every minute detail of Madonna's work and sometimes even her life. He comes across as one of those people who believes everything about Madonna is calculated, including her personal life. I doubt that, for example, Madonna named her son Rocco after a porn star as a "postmodern reference". Gilbert adds to the myth with this book of Madonna as this master of manipulation who calculates every detail of her career and life, instead of an artist full of creative impulses and the desire to explore new territories. It's true that she does capitalize on cultural waves and attitudes in order to make an impact but even Gilbert himself said, in the introduction, that it would be unfair to believe that Madonna calculates everything she does. (A statement that he contradicts throughout the book with his somewhat cynical assessments.) Nevertheless, I'm a huge fan of Madonna and found this an engrossing read. It provides evidence of her artistic brillianceand high intelligence and reasons behind why she seared herself into the collective unconscious and stayed there for so long. However, if you want a more humanized intellectual view of Madonna and her artistry, I would recommend Lucy O'Brien's "Madonna: Like an Icon".

Madonna on par with Cleopatra
The Queen of the Nile will soon be battling for historical significance with the Queen of Pop very soon. A unique take on the influence of Madonna beyond just hit records to a whole social expression that inspired other artists, feminism, and what it means to be an ambitious woman without apology.

Makes Madonna Make "Postmodern" Interesting
Like so many, I find Madonna interesting. And I agree with the positive reviews of this book -- I really like it. The unique contribution here is the way the author discusses Madonna in ways that make "postmodern" an interesting, understandable, ans useful concept. And believe me, I am no fan of academic writing of or about the posrmodern. But this book can be highly and widely recommended.

Very Interesting Overview of Madonna
Madonna:alot can be said about Her but Boring isn't one of them.thsi Book Explores the Many things that relate too the Artist&personna that is Madonna.this Book is Challenging&also puts Madonna into a Complete Perspective from start too finish.just like the Woman Herself it will keep you wondering more&what lays around the Corner.

Final evidence of Madonna's superior intelligence
In this book GC Guilbert shows how absolutely everything Madonna has ever done is packed with clever references. He doesn't mean that she's a plagiarist, far from it: she just uses her vast knowledge of (popular) culture, in a "postmodern" way. A fascinating read. ... Read more

Product Description

When an elegant French antiques dealer dies in her adopted hometown of New York City, her son, Misha, is astonished to learn that she owned a priceless, uncataloged Titian known as The Gypsy Madonna. Misha wonders how she could have kept such a secret from him, bonded inseparably as they were since his childhood in German-occupied France. Now with the discovery of the Titian masterpiece and the loss of his mother, he must at last journey back to Bordeaux to uncover the truth about The Gypsy Madonna -- and himself. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Interesting concept, but poorly executed.
Repetitive sentence structure, odd use of simile and a breathtakingly whiney main character tarnish the original concept of this book. If your looking for literature, go elsewhere. Harlequin Romance material.

Yes, yes, yes!An exquisite masterpiece of restrained prose....
Every sentence is perfectly, sensitively, lovingly presented like a gift.This is one of the most beautiful books I have ever come across.I, too, feel lucky to have found it.I will sing its praises to my friends, and cherish it as one of the delicious "finds" of my life. I hope it becomes a classic among people with literary taste.It makes me ill that the most stupid, clumsy, awkwardly-written books are best-sellers, and this little gem is barely noticed.I hope that is not the last word on The Gypsy Madonna, which deserves as much (if not more) of a place on the NYT list as the mildly interesting The Memory Keeper's Daughter.(Never overestimate the taste of the American public!)In any case, those of us who love this book, let's make sure it gets known, heard and read (the audio CD is exquisite).What really thrilled me was the author's ability to truly understand, in the most delicate and heartwarming way, the heart and soul of a six-year-old boy; especially how the young are capable of soaring feelings of romantic love and friendship.Read it!You'll love it!

Could not put this book down!!!
I stumbled upon this book while searching for a novel to help me through a small infection. It was a WONDERFUL find. The prose is beautiful, and although I normally detest both coming of age stories and first-person narratives, I was captivated from the first page and was not able to stop reading --- except to take care of essentials like meals --- until the very last page. The experience reminds me of my favorite reading experiences, and the book reminds me, with its exquisite sense of place, of THE ENGLISH PATIENT. This author is AMAZING, and this book is the best I have read for ages. Thank you S & S for bringing this author to American audiences! I am appalled by the PW review. The reveiwer must be either too burned out or too immature to recognize good fiction. This skilled novelist creates such psychological and emotional tension in this story that it intriques as well as any page-turning thriller.

BRAVA, Santa Monetfiore! I can't wait to read your other books! ... Read more

Product Description
This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923.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

Customer Reviews (1)

Washington D.C. in May
I found "A Modern Madonna" to be a delightful tale a little over a century since it was first published.Margaret Varnum is a naive young woman who marries Victor De Jarnette.While at first it is a marriage of idyllic proportions, old family history seems to repeat itself from the ghosts on the De Jarnette family tree.What begins as a romance evolves into a tale of marital betrayal & abandonment, a murder, a wild escape, cloak and dagger disguise and finally a day in court.The tale makes you feel the urgency of the suffragette movement.Set in Washington D.C., a law is on the books that a husband can will his children away from their mother.This sets up the cat & mouse game between sister-in-law & Victor's brother Richard.Touchingly, Margaret's son Philip becomes the battleground over a struggle for parental rights of women that is played against the background of the United States Senate and is complicated by unexpected illness and a young sick woman named Rosalie who as fate would have it is closer to the events than we might at first believe.One of the most touching chapters is when Mammy Cely tells about her days as a slave when her daughter was sold away from her.It is a moving tale, startlingly well told, one I am glad to have dusted off & experienced.Its themes, while set in the context of their day, seem still relevant here a century down the road.Then as now, Washington D.C. is exquisitely beautiful in May.Enjoy! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (227)

Fairly written.
I am a huge Madonna fan and was very interested in reading this. I think this was written in a very unbiased way by Christopher. Every celebrity has faults and talent and I think we should all stop and think about what our brothers or sisters or best friends would/could write about us before we critique this or any other biography of a celebrity. There were things in here I did not want to read because I am a huge fan of Madonna's but she is human just like the rest of us and there are two sides to every story.

Not insomnia -- MANIA
Madonna has pretty much run out of fake personas (aka the False Self of the narcissist, designed to attract constant attention) to project to the world.She systematically cut off her family and, now, she has no significant other. Loneliness will continue to be a problem for her. Through adoption, she assured herself a continued source of narcissistic supply. But she also increased the chances that one of her kids will grow up to write a book about life with their famous, narcissistic/bipolar mother.

Interesting But Tainted
Interesting read. Basically confirms all the things you thought you knew about Madonna and how difficult she could be. You do get the feeling that her brother carries a lot of annymosity toward her and that definitely taints his perspective. I felt sorry for him that so much of his success was tied to her. I wanted him to be the hero at the end, but I walked away just feeling sad for him.

Another narcissistic personality disorder horror story
I have a sibling with NPD so I can relate to the searingly hurtful and mind-boggling betrayal expressed in Christopher's story. Madonna is a very cruel woman and her spirituality is as fake as the English accent she faked while married to Guy Ritchie. Her lack of empathy for her own brother is awful. I went to see Truth or Dare with a boyfriend back in the early nineties and after it was over, he remarked how cold and mean she was to her brother Marty. That's what I thought too. In the book, when she pushes Christopher into rehab and is acting like she knows more than the therapist, I wished Christopher would tell her she is the one who needs therapy! She was trying to make him seem like the one with the problem so she could skate. Narcissiists require scapegoats. And people with personality disorders don't change behavior because the very disorder is all about their being perfect and maintaining their childish defense mechanisms. I hope Christopher makes a lot of money, finds peace and confidence within himself and stays away from her. Narcissists are poison. They seduce and control others, use them, drain them, blame them, drive them crazy and then systematically devalue and ultimately discard them.

Seems to me, Christopher is the authentic artist and spiritual person. She's a fake. Very wooden actress. I like some of her music, though. But knowing how she exposed and inflicted upon her own sensitive, helpful and caring brother so much psychological pain without caring about the impact on him makes me never want to hear her voice again. She's harsh, exploitive and lacks nobility of spirit. Christopher seems like an emotionally generous, good human being.

Interesting Author, But Ultimately Disappointing
I am intrigued by Madonna's public persona, but indifferent to her talents. I've only heard Madonna's music by accident, and I've never seen her act. I thought Christopher Ciccone's story would be interesting, and it was. Unfortunately, Christopher never takes full responsibility for his dependence on his sister. He laments that he can't be appreciated for his own talents, but that's not precisely true. He could have lived his own independent life anytime he insisted on it. He could have changed his name [as Paul McCartney's brother did] and stayed away from show business. If Christopher had done this, he would have led a quieter life. In that life, there would be no super models, no snorting cocaine with Donatella Versace and Courtney Love, no dinners with Sting or Warren Beatty. He had every right to choose life with the glamourous crowd, but it's bad sportsmanship to complain afterward that he was used by his bitchy, stingy sister. He knew, better than anyone else, what to expect from her. He wanted into her party, and he knew the price of admission. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

AWESOME!!
Very happy with my purchase, and seller was very fast, and friendly.Great item, came as described,super fast.. ... Read more

Product Description
Deeply rooted in Polish history and culture for the past six centuries and extolled by Polish and foreign artists alike, the Paulite Monastery at Jasna Góra, where the famous picture of our lady of Czestochowa has been preserved, continues to draw both pilgrims and art connoisseurs. 192 color photographs, many full page plates. Sixteen pages of text. ... Read more

Product Description
These essays on the brain leap from the philosophical to the comical, from the scientific theory to mundane events of everyday life.The Throwing Madonna provides a window through which the average person can peer into the elusive world of neurobiology and find greater understanding of the human race. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Throwing Madonna
I read this years ago and wanted to read it again - it's very interesting and gives some insight into why we do the things we do.Excellent read.

Interesting, informative, and enjoyable
William Calvin is one of my favorite writers and thinkers on the brain. I don't always agree with his ideas, but he's creative in a way I enjoy and his ideas are always provocative and even pathbreaking in the way he integrates diverse areas--from linguistics to climatology--with the evolution and development of the brain.

This books brings together some of his best essays, covering a diverse array of topics. For those of you who aren't familiar with Calvin, this is an excellent introduction to his thought, which I can highly recommend.

Since we're on the subject, I thought I'd make a few comments on one of Calvin's interesting ideas--which is the proposition that spear-throwing was specifically the motor action that provided the stimulus for the subsequent evolution of the cerebral cortex and greater encephalization of the human brain. While I like this idea, and also am excited by the possbility of pinpointing such an important causative agent in our evolution, I also feel it's very difficult to isolate or pinpoint a specific action that could be responsible, but I'd like to consider it nevertheless in the light of what we do know about the development and nature of motor control in the human brain.

If you look at the pyramidal cortex, which has the most complex motor capabilities, we see that it's mainly specialized for fine hand movements and coordination. For example, typing or playing the piano or a musical instrument gets mediated by this area--or the fine control required by a surgeon's hand.

Rhythmic movements, even very fast ones, oddly enough, are not necessarily a highly evolved capability and in fact, if I remember right, are mediated by the cerebellar vermis, a structure in the cerebellum, or at least some portion of the cerebellum. We know from brain damage studies that people lose this ability from damage to the cerebellum. It has the tongue-twisting name of dysdiadocochinesia.

But getting back to the spear throwing capability, much of the eye-hand coordination for this sort of thing is in fact still mediated by the cerebellum. For example, it is known that scale transformation of muscle movements and velocity prediction occurs in the cerebellum in hard-wired circuits that are basically using tensor matrix multiplication to handle the scaling issues and mapping issues between sensory and motor control functions.

Speaking of "hard-wired" capabilities, I recall from my own studies of synaptic connectivity that the pyramidal cortex neurons have an average of about 3000 synapses with other neurons. Contrast this with those of the cerebellum, which are thought to have 100,000 connections, a truly staggering number. But this makes sense when you consider that it controls so many functions that have to be very quick and essentially automatic with very low time latencies and time constants.

And if you've ever seen the mathematical studies in the area of occulomotor control theory, which mostly looks at the optic tectum and superior colliculus areas, you know how complex that can get even though it's technically not a cortical area. Mathematically, it is using Voltera-kernel based integro-differential equations for predictive target tracking and so on.

So if you consider how advanced even the more primitive motor areas of the brain are, you have to find something pretty complex to require the intervention of the cerebral cortex.

And we haven't even talked about the last major motor area, the basal ganglia yet, which are just below the cortex, the putamen, caudate nucleus, and the globus pallidus. These structures are mainly responsible for the dynamic regulation of muscle tension through various neural pathways and feedback systems, mainly the gamma motor efferent system to the golgi tendon organs in the muscle fibers and the alpha motor pathways going to the intrafusal fibers of the annulospiral endings of the neuromuscular spindles.

Well, I didn't mean to wax so nerdy but anyway, that's about all the motor physiology I remember. :-) That wasn't my strongest area, exactly, being basically a sensory neurophysiologist and limbic system guy.

But anyway, to sum up, from what I recall, much of the coordination in throwing a spear would still be mediated by many of these more primitive areas below the cortex. It was the fine hand and finger manipulation movements and requirements that seem to me to have been responsible for the evolution of the more advanced pyramidal motor cortex.

However, all that having been said, Calvin could be right if the spear-throwing thing first got the evolution of the cortex going, and the pyramidal area then evolved later--which is basically what he's saying. My only problem with that is whether that ability requires the sort of control required by increasing encephalization. My understanding is that chimps don't have a pyramidal area, or at least a very highly developed one, and they can throw things just fine, but they couldn't play the piano, so that's another thing that sets us apart in addition to the language areas like Broca's and Wernicke's areas and so on, which they don't have to the same extent either.

I had one other topic I thought I'd comment on, which is a little off topic, but it pertains to the present sorry state of humanity and to the relationship between our current lifestyle and what we are basically evolved for, which, especially in the case of advanced western countries, with our sedentary jobs and lifestyle, is very different our evolution.

If you consider that chimps survive quite well with a brain of about 400-500 cubic centimeters, and the human average is almost four times that, all that extra brain power has just enabled us to get into more trouble. It seems clear to me that homo sapiens has evolved a brain much bigger than he needs and that accounts for his current sorry and unhappy state. :-)

To elaborate a bit, consider the difference between a typical Homo sapiens and a typical Neanderthal. Homo sapiens is a more "gracile" species, with longer, slighter, straighter bones, lighter musculature, but faster, more agile, and more active. The difference is much like that between a runner and a wrestler. Of course, there are groups that are somewhat more naturally heavier boned and heavily muscled, such as certain northern European groups, but they're the exception to the rule.

Basically, we're supposed to be chasing woolly rhinos and mammoths through the brush with fire-hardened and flint tipped spears rather than sitting at a computer screen all day totally sedentary, eating Pringles and drinking Cokes and not geting any exercise and getting fat. We're clearly evolved for a more active lifestyle and yet most of us, at least in the west, have jobs and lifestyles that are sendentary and relatively inactive.

All this leads to lifestyle-related diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes, atherosclerosis, and so on, notwithstanding the fact that psychologically we're not suited to just being that sendentary either and I think that contributes to a lot of individual and social malaise and unhappiness, especially if you consider that, according to health statistics, 50% of Americans over the age of 40 are overweight.

Anyway, just a few thoughts on one of Calvin's interesting recent ideas. ... Read more

Book Description

Photography and introduction by Guy Oseary

Every time I do a show, I die a little bit, but no shit is worth doing unless you¹re willing to die for it. --Madonna

Madonna Confessions is the first official, inside book on the most famous woman in the world since the 1992 release of the landmark monograph Sex.

With over 250 never-before-seen images taken by Guy Oseary and personally approved by Madonna, the photographs featured here showcase the provocative themes of her live performances -- from equestrian to urban Bedouin, and from glam punk to disco fever -- and celebrates what The New York Times called "the sheer spectacularity of her physical form." Enhanced with Madonna's short, sassy interspersed quotes, Confessions is a matchless, must-have record of one of the highlights of her career.

Product Description
Nicole’s partner for the Science Fair turns out to be another superstar student, and they become inseparable. But rumors swirl that she and Jackson Elliot might be—gasp—more than friends! Will Nicole let gossip tear her new friendship apart? Can the English Roses (and Miss Fluffernutter, who’s feeling the blush of love herself!) save Valentine’s Day? ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Books for Girls
Bought this book for my 10 year old granddaughter. She is enjoying the series about the "Roses". Illustrations are wonderful. Prose is appropriate for her age and grade level of reading. ... Read more

Product Description
Since time immemorial women have been cast into two opposite categories - either the 'Madonna', respectable wife, mother, daughter, sister, or the off-limits mistress, vamp, or common whore. This book traces the so-called Madonna/whore syndrome from its roots in the Judeo-Christian tradition to the present day. Drawing on works of art, literature, and the theater, we find that every age recreates the two principle feminine archetypes in its own image. As mirror images of the ways in which society views and treats women, they remain deeply buried within our collective unconscious, shaping men's perceptions of women and women's perception of self. Neither a feminist nor a religious polemic per se, this book considers several especially timely issues. Jesus' strikingly liberal stance on women, their active role in the Jesus movement and early Church pertains to the current debates on the ordination of women. Similarly, the discussion of Jesus' position on sexuality, marriage, celibacy is especially pertinent to the critical debate about celibacy and the priesthood today. Ultimately , however, by stripping away layers of mythology and restoring the 'two Marys' to their original vital roles - wife, mother, lover, creator, nurturer, scholar, teacher - they become complementary rather than separate categories, a holistic view not only of woman, but of our universal and fundamental humanity. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

"The Avengers-The Celestial Madonna"...needed more "Mantis"
"She CANNOT marry a TREE!And even if she could, she could never become a Madonna because they could not have a child!"

Only in the bronze age of comics could you read a line like that delivered straight and with complete sincerity.And it's that unabashed, kooky charm that helps make the sometimes crude, unorganized and incomplete story "AVENGERS: Celestial Madonna" a little more palatable.

"Avengers: Celestial Madonna" includes Avengers issues 129-135 and Giant Sized Avengers 2,3 and 4.There are some problems with this trade.Firstly, it's less of a "Mantis" story and more of a "Kang" story in that several key Mantis appearances needed to help flesh out and give depth to the Celestial Madonna saga are not included such as Avengers #112 (first appearance of Mantis) and Avengers 120-123 (first origin of Mantis, Libra and the "Zodiac War" storyline) as well as other key Mantis plot points such as her budding relationship with The Swordsman that developed in the issues leading up to "Celestial Madonna".Since those early Mantis appearances are even harder to come by than the ones collected in this trade, this is extremely disappointing to say the least.Without those stories, the only real relevant "Mantis" story in this collection is the final entry...Giant Size Avengers #4.

However, there is also much to enjoy here.Some fine artwork by Sal Buscema, Dave Cockrum and George Tuska for example.And the Steve Englehart/Roy Thomas scripted story packs in everything but the kitchen sink.We get one of the most classic battles between Kang and the Avengers in which the Avengers discover the true nature of Kang, Pharaoh Rama-Tut and Immortus as well as Kangs plot to capture the Celestial Madonna.We also get a rather intriguing battle between The Avengers and Kangs "Legion of the Un-Living" a team of previously dead heroes and villains that includes Frankenstein, The original Human Torch, Baron Zemo and Wonderman.In Avengers 130 the Avengers travel to Viet Nam and end up battling Crimson Dynamo, Radioactive Man and Titanium Man.Over the course of the story The Avengers are witness to the origin of the Human Torch and The Vision (elements of this story were retconned in the classic and epic Busiek story Avengers Forever).We also get the tail end of a subplot involving Scarlet Witch, Agatha Harkness, Dormammu and his sister Umar.

And of course in the final issue of this collection, Giant Size Avengers #4 (the classic issue with the Vision-Scarlet Witch/Mantis-Swordsman double wedding) we finally discover the origin and identity of The Celestial Madonna which anyone who's even remotely familiar with Avengers or Guardians of the Galaxy (or anyone who looks at the cover to this trade) already knows.Unfortunately, GS Avengers 4 is the weakest entry of the collection from a visual standpoint.Don Heck was one of Marvel Comics "workhorses" but his art tended to be a bit crude at times.

Contemporary fans might find this collection of Avengers tales rather quaint compared to later works by Busiek and Perez and that's a valid criticism.While I can't recommend putting this at the top of anyone's buy list, I do recommend it to those Avengers completists out there as well as those looking to read some classic Avengers history or for those looking for a little Bronze Age nostalgia.

This trade needs a recoloring BADLY
I'll let others argue over the quality and merits of the story. For myself, the big downfall was the near-constant misuse of colors.

Just a brief rundown: Scarlet Witch spends about half the book with the pink sleeves and leggings of her costume colored with a fleshtone. In some panels Vision's face is also fleshtone instead of its normal crimson. The blue-skinned Kree (identified as such in the text!) are consistently colored as Caucasians. The Cotati Swordsman, identified as green in the text, is blue half the time. Other little errors abound in nearly every panel, hitting every character multiple times.

Considering that we're dealing with comics that have been "restored" with new colors, and that there are reprint editors and such, I find this inexcusable. I was pulled out of the story several times due to characters suddenly having an entirely different palette applied to them from one panel to the next. It's frankly atrocious work, and obvious that the colorist had no guidance or familiarity with the source material. I have no doubts whatsoever that the comics would have been better off with their older, faded coloring, or in the B&W of the Essentials (this entire trade can be found in Avengers vol. 5 or 6). If you're going to re-color the comics, take the time, make the effort, and do it RIGHT!

Marvel, Mantis, Magic, and Mahem...
Looking back, what was so important about being the Celestial Madonna?

One would think that an event of such magnitude would still have reprecussions in the Marvel Universe today.It has not.Mantis' spawn has yet to make a significant contribution nor has the offspring done anything to be a factor in any storyline since.I say this as the Death of Captain Marvel is still brought up, as Adam Warlock has fought Thanos, and as Steve Rogers has since passed this mortal coil.

The Celestial Madonna has not made an appearance since the Silver Surfer had some involvement with her in the early 90's.

There are only two somewhat significant events that happen within this storyline.1)The ultimate fate of the Swordsman and 2)the revealed truth about Rama Tut and his repeating fate.

Other than that this is filled with the superhero bickering that was the trademark of Marvel in the mid 70's along with a convoluted storyline that didn't seem to go anywhere.

It took you three days to read this?
I mean, its 180 pages with nothing but word bubbles and pictures! O.k. well, since I think the message of Mantis marrying one of the cotati is sort of hard to grasp, I can spell it out. She was destined to marry this cotati, and so the Swordsman is ressurrected but with this cotati's consciousness to facilitate the mechanics of making the prophecy of the Celestial Madonna work.

As for Kang, stories that feature him as the main villian are the most often purchased, most well-reviewed, most memorable Avengers stories. Peruse Amazon for an hour and you'll see this. Convoluted? If you're anyhting of a Marvel historian, you'll see that this story actually ties up a lot of questions posed in other stories; "The Last Avengers Story," and "Avengers Forever" come to mind.

"Did he just tell her to marry a tree?" If you wanted, you could see all comics as this. Captain america has cloth wings on his face. Batman dresses in horns and tights and swings around with minors. Its not the specifics that give comics their appeal, its the story being told, often through metaphoric device.

As for all of those extra characters showing up in the story, that's what Marvel does. They make up characters and then use them. In stories. Like this one.

Did He Just Tell Her To Marry A Tree....?
Ever since I was a kid in the late '70's, I've heard comic fans speak in hushed, reverential whispers about the classic "Celestial Madonna" storyline in The Avengers. So of course, I couldn't buy this book fast enough. In the agonizingly long three days it took me to read the book, I learned a very valuable lesson that I will carry with me for the rest of my life: You really CAN'T go home again. Or, more precisely, just because something was good almost thirty years ago, that doesn't mean it'll stand the test of time.....

Celestial Madonna is awful. Just awful. I can't say enough bad things about it. The book is tremendously overwritten, in typical '70's Marvel style, by Steve Englehart & Roy Thomas, with art by some true Marvel greats, that is unfortunately marred by Marvel's tendency of the time to match pencillers with inkers that didn't compliment their style. The Don Heck art in the last chapter is particularly atrocious looking. The story, such as it is, revolves around the character who, to me, is the kiss of death to any Avengers story: Kang the Conquerer. Where Kang goes, convoluted storytelling follows. He attempts to abduct the female Avenger who will become the fabled "Celestial Madonna" so he can mate with her and conquer the universe. Too bad for him he doesn't know which lady Avenger the Madonna IS, so he abducts Mantis, The Scarlet Witch, and the 80-something-year-old Agatha Harkness(!)........Ewwwwwww. From there, the writers throw in averything but the kitchen sink, as the waters are made more and more muddy by the inclusion of The Frankenstein Monster, The Kree, The Skrulls, living plant-people, The Flying Dutchman, Rama-Tut, Immortus, Ultron, The Original Human Torch, Dormammu, Quasimodo The Living Computer, I could go on and on. I consider myself pretty well-versed in Marvel Universe history, and not only did I find myself reeling under all the references to past stories, but after a while, I just stopped caring. As I said, the book is waaaaayy too text-heavy, and it's just a chore to read. The end is a big anti-climax, as we learn nothing about the true role of the Celestial Madonna......But I give the book 1 star anyway, since I've never seen anyone tell a woman she had to marry a tree before......... ... Read more

Product Description
In 1977,Madonna Louise Ciccone moved from Michigan to New York City, re-christening herself simply ‘Madonna’. Six years of hard work in the clubs of Manhattan with a succession of bands propelled her to the forefront of the New York scene. In 1983, her self-titled debut album was released, and the hit singles ‘Holiday’ and ‘Borderline’ soon followed. Then came seventeen consecutive top ten hits, a further ten albums, and roles in nineteen feature films, from her debut in the 80’s classic Desperately Seeking Susan to the steamy thriller Body of Evidence. Multitalented, controversial in her own proud sexuality and a dedicated campaigner for sexual tolerance, Madonna is one of the great Millennial Icons, a one-woman pop phenomenon who has pushed back and blurred the boundaries of the music, film and fashion worlds.

‘Madonna in Art’ is a celebration of the Pop Goddess at every stage of her career. A testament to her unique global impact, it features work by over a hundred artists, including Andrew Logan, Bruni, Sebastian Kruger, Al Hirschfeld, Donna Lief and Peter Howson. These images range across every role Madonna has played on the world stage, from erotic dancer to the dignified figure of Eva Peron in Evita. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Madonna IS art!!
Fantastic hard-cover book with work by artists all over the world. Some of the stuff is really beautifully done - you've gotta have this!

More than just a "coffee table" book! Don't judge this book just by its cover!Devour it... bon appetite!
I am a librarian.Over the decades, I have had many art books pass through my hands. The compilation of fine artists by the author is glorious! The author's rigorous research in finding the artists whom he chose to be included within, certainly substantial.
In particular, the artist Susan Victor of murrrbeast.com, is
included in this book.It is about time that someone recognized her exceeding works.I would highly recommend this book -- especially to those in academia; the field of commercial art;
and anyone who simply loves art.

A Must for Madonna Fans - Fun for Art Lovers
I bought a book in 1984 called "Marilyn In Art". I always loved to every now and then flip through it because it was so much fun to see the different ways these artists drew or painted (etc) the same subject. I happen to be a longtime Marilyn fan.
From what I understand, the author (compiler) of this book, Mem Mehmet, is friends with the author of the twenty year old Marilyn book, Roger G. Taylor (who also did an "Elvis In Art"). I had the paperback version of the Marilyn book, but was lucky enough to get the hardcover version of "Madonna In Art". I am also a Madonna fan (not as much as a Marilyn fan, but...), this book is a MUST for any fan of Madonna! Fantastic, fun renditions of Madonna in every style imaginable, which also makes it great for any artist or art lover. Along with each piece of art is a quote from Madonna herself or a celebrity or author, etc. about some aspect of the superstar which is fun to read. Unlike my paperback "Marilyn In Art" book, the hardback version of this is of the highest quality. Beneath the attactive book cover, the name is embossed in silver metallic ink (which is used throughout the book). Would make a wonderful gift for Madonna fans, artists, art lovers!!! I'd scoop up the hardcover before it's only available in paperback!

Even a non-Madonna fan will enjoy this book
I've never been a fan of Madonna's music, but have admired her willingness to constantly re-invent herself. This new art book shows how others in the art world have viewed Madonna throughout her career. There are sketches, water colors, oils, and works from many other mediums with the artist's unique view on who (or in some cases, what) Madonna is.

If you love art, or love Madonna, this is the book for you. And it makes a perfect gift as well! ... Read more

Product Description
"My Lady” in Italian...evokes memories of magnificent paintings over the Christian centuries, each artist trying to convey an impression of some aspect in the mystery of Mary, the woman chosen by God for a special relationship in His Incarnation, and through Him to all His people. There have been many Madonnas through the ages, but only one Mary, Mother of Jesus. Like the mystery of her divine Son, her participation in the rightness of divine Truth can only be contemplated by our limited minds from a great variety of approaches. The subtitle, "Mary in the Catholic Tradition” implies that no matter how her image may vary from one generation or culture to the next, our faith is focused on the authentic Mary of Scripture, Tradition and infallible Church teaching, revered not for herself but as the Mother of Christ. By Frederic M. Jelly O.P. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Thorough and Accessible
This book is remarkable for how much it packs into such a small space. The author author begins with the biblical foundations for the various Marian dogmas. He continues through the unfolding of Christian history, from the patristic period right up to the present. He draws out the flow of Marian teaching in the Church and notes where it has been corrected, and where growth might still need to happen. This book was useful, because the chapters are relatively short and easily digestible. The list of discussion questions in the back would also make it a great resource for a book group. I also appreciated the thorough bibliography.

Madonna:Mary in the Catholic Tradition
Very informative.A bit more like a textbook than I expected.I was looking more for a good read.

Helped this Protestant greatly!
Jelly's work is both readable and well researched.While it is written for a Catholic audience, it helped this Protestant understand the Marian dogmas for better than I did before.

Madonna: Mary in the Catholic Tradition
Excellent book. Starting with the Old Testament, through the New Testament, through Patristic, medieval texts the author provides a faith-filled and reasonable account of how Mary has been viewed in the Catholic Tradition. A pleasure to read. I recommend it highly. ... Read more