The tragedy of Tupac is that his untimely passing isrepresentative of too many young black men in this country....If wehad lost Oprah Winfrey at 25, we would have lost a relativelyunknown, local market TV anchorwoman. If we had lost Malcolm X at25, we would have lost a hustler nicknamed Detroit Red. And if Ihad left the world at 25, we would have lost a big-band trumpetplayer and aspiring composer--just a sliver of my eventual lifepotential. From the Foreword by Quincy Jones The real story of Tupac's murder may not ever emerge. This maybe the only lasting testament to the many faces of Tupac Shakur--ofa life lived fast and hard, of a man cloaked in contradictions. Ayoung man who was just starting to come into his own. "I believe that everything you do bad comes back to you. Soeverything that I do that's bad, I'm going to suffer for it. But inmy heart, I believe what I'm doing is right. So I feel like I'mgoing to heaven." Tupac Shakur, June 1996

In 1931, Diego Rivera was the subject of The Museum of ModernArt s second monographic exhibition, which set new attendancerecords in its five-week run. The Museum brought Rivera to New Yorksix weeks before the show s opening and gave him on-site studiospace. There he produced five "portable murals" --large blocks offrescoed plaster, slaked lime and wood that feature bold imagesdrawn from Mexican subject matter and address themes of revolutionand class inequity. After the opening, to great publicity, Riveraadded three more murals, now taking on New York subjects throughmonumental images of the urban working class and the city duringthe Great Depression. Published in conjunction with an exhibitionthat brings together key works made for Rivera s 1931 show, thiscatalogue casts the artist as a highly cosmopolitan figure whotraveled between Russia, Mexico and the United States and examinesthe intersection of artmaking and radical politics in the 1930s.Illustrated with reproductions of each panel as well as r

Whether they listen to Mozart or Duke Ellington, Aaron Coplandinvites readers to ask two basic questions: Are they hearingeverything that is going on? Are they really being sensitive to it?With his provocative suggestions, Aaron Copland guides readersthrough a deeper appreciation of the most rewarding of all artforms. Show More Show Less

An invaluable guide for both casual opera fans and afficionados,this volume contains act-by-act de*ions of operatic worksranging from the early seventeenth century masterworks ofMonteverdi and Purcell to the modern classics of Menotti andBritten. Written in a lively anecdotal style, entries includecharacter de*ions, historical background, and much more.

The bible of the music biz--now fully revised with newcontacts, fee info, trends, tips. Want to know how to set pricesfor a gig? Want to be ahead of the curve on new trends in music?Want to have all the latest contact information on hundreds ofindustry pros? Have we got the book for you "The Musician'sHandbook," already the industry bible for working musicians, hasbeen thoroughly revised and updated with the answers to all thesequestions and more. New interviews with music-business leaders, newpricing and legal structures for the digital age, new how-to tipsfor independent and do-it-yourself musicians--it's all in here.Fees, royalties and advances, live performance, touring,merchandising, working with managers, lawyers, and agents, spottingnew opportunities--all these topics and many, many more are coveredin depth in this indispensable guide to becoming successful inmusic and in business.

One of Victorian Englands most charismatic characters, DanteGabriel Rossetti painted and wrote with equal passion. He wassimilarly passionate in his personal life: his etherealartist-wife, his earthy blond mistress, and the ravishing JaneMorris are al

These free-wheeling, often exhilarating dialogues—which grewout of the acclaimed Carnegie Hall Talks—are an exchange betweentwo of the most prominent figures in contemporary culture: DanielBarenboim, internationally renowned conductor and pianist, andEdward W. Said, eminent literary critic and impassioned commentatoron the Middle East. Barenboim is an Argentinian-Israeli and Said aPalestinian-American; they are also close friends. As they range across music, literature, and society, they openup many fields of inquiry: the importance of a sense of place;music as a defiance of silence; the legacies of artists from Mozartand Beethoven to Dickens and Adorno; Wagner’s anti-Semitism; andthe need for “artistic solutions” to the predicament of the MiddleEast—something they both witnessed when they brought young Arab andIsraeli musicians together. Erudite, intimate, thoughtful andspontaneous, Parallels and Paradoxes is a virtuosiccollaboration.

Antonio Stradivari (1644—1737) was a perfectionist whosesingle-minded pursuit of excellence changed the world of music. Inthe course of his long career in the northern Italian city ofCremona, he created more than a thousand stringed instruments;approximately six hundred survive, their quality unequalled by anysubsequent violin-maker. In this fascinating book, Toby Fabertraces the rich, multilayered stories of six of these peerlesscreations–five violins and a cello–and the one towering artist whobrought them into being. Blending history, biography, meticulousdetective work, and an abiding passion for music, Faber takes usfrom the salons of Vienna to the concert halls of New York, andfrom the breakthroughs of Beethoven’s last quartets to the firstphonographic recordings. This magnificent narrative invites us toshare the life, the intrigue, and the incomparable beauty of theworld’s most marvelous stringed instruments.

What do you getwhen you cross a snail with the Indianapolis 500? If you’reDreamWorks, then the result is Turbo, an uplifting—andgear-shifting—story about the ultimate underdog, delivered with thedigital mastery, storytelling skill, and spellbinding imagery we’vecome to expect from the studio behind the Shrek and Madagascar.

Japanese woodblock prints of the Edo period (16151868) were the products of a highly commercialised and competitive publishing industry. Their content was inspired by the vibrant popular culture that flourished in Edo (Tokyo). At any given time scores of publishers competed for the services of the leading artists of the day. Publishers and artists displayed tremendous ingenuity in finding ways to sustain demand for prints and to to circumvent the restrictions placed upon them by government censorship. Japanese woodblock prints have long been appreciated in the West for their graphic qualities but their content has not always been fully understood. In recent years, publications by scholars in Japan, Europe and the United States have made possible a more subtle appreciation of the imagery encountered in them. This book draws upon this recent scholarship to explain how those who first purchased these prints would have read them. Through stunning new photography of both well-known and rarely published work

Few artists have created as much controversy or survived itwith greater fame than Edouard Manet. In his day, the avant-gardewas not only a challenge to the traditions of art, but it was alsoa gunshot fired at society as a whole. With his painting Olympia(1869), Manet was to become, to quote Degas, as famous asGaribaldi. Yet how the urbane and diffident son of a bourgeoisfamily became the father of both Realism and Impressionism is acomplex and fascinating story that has too often been reduced totextbook clichés. As Manet has become recognized as a touchstonefor historical change but also for interpretations of how thatchange came about, his individual story has become all the morerelevant to the study of art history. Moreover, far from being anartists to shrink behind his work, one of Manets mostcharacteristic practices was to leave an indelible trace of his ownpersonal identity within his paintings, as illustrated throughoutthe volume by eminent scholar James H. Rubin. This lavishlyillustrated volume

“The standard of photography is absolutelyamazing.”— Practical Photography The third editionof Reuters: Our World Now captures the key events from2009 in more than 350 powerful photographs. Organized into foursections that represent the four quarters of the year, the imagescover the full range of global reporting: politics, commerce,conflict, the environment, natural disasters, faith andfestivities, entertainment, celebrity, and lifestyle. The photosoffer a fresh take on the year’s most memorable events as well asplenty of less-familiar stories. This completely new edition includes special “Witness” features:in-depth photo essays from around the world, many of them createdby local photographers with unique access and insight. The bookprovides an indispensable visual record of our times. 360 color and10 black-and-white photographs.

The world of the fashionista is brought to vivid life with 101introductory lessons on such topics as how a designer anticipatescultural trends and "sees" the fashion consumer, the workings ofthe fashion calendar, the ways a designer collection is conceived,the manufacture of fabric, fashion illustration, and more. Illustrated in the distinctly unique packaged style of thebestselling101 THINGS I LEARNED IN ARCHITECTURE SCHOOL, this newbook on fashion design will be a perfect book for any fashionschool wannabe, a recent graduate, or even a seasonedprofessional.

Just as its title indicates, "National Geographic SimplyBeautiful Photographs" plumbs the depth of National Geographic'srenowned Image Collection to highlight the loveliest and mostappealing photographs from this impressive archive. The result isan experience of visual delight, whether from stunning landscapes,magnificent wildlife, fascinating people, or quaint locales.Award-winning National Geographic photographer Annie Griffiths Belthas chosen remarkable images from all of the Society's core missionareas: exploration, wildlife, cultures, science, nature. Eachchapter showcases a specific aspect of what creates beauty in aphotograph, whether light or color, or motion, and illuminates thatquality in a splash of large-format images --most of which readerswill be able to purchase as prints. Musings on visual beauty fromscholars and poets enhance the experience, making this gorgeouscollection a pleasure to look at again and again.

The moral of this book is that behind every great engineeringsuccess is a trail of often ignored (but frequently spectacular)engineering failures. Petroski covers many of the best knownexamples of well-intentioned but ultimately failed design in action-- the galloping Tacoma Narrows Bridge (which you've probably seentossing cars willy-nilly in the famous black-and-white footage),the collapse of the Kansas City Hyatt Regency Hotel walkways -- andmany lesser known but equally informative examples. The line ofreasoning Petroski develops in this book were later formalized intohis quasi-Darwinian model of technological evolution in TheEvolution of Useful Things , but this book is arguably the moreilluminating -- and defintely the more enjoyable -- of these twotitles. Highly recommended.

"This book charts my relationship with some of the mosttalented people in fashion throughout my career. It makes me veryproud to see gathered together all the great designers and housesI've worked with over the years. Looking through my personalarchives has been a real trip down memory lane and it is thefashion that brings back moments and memories of the lasttwenty-five years. I can't wait to share this book with the world."(Kylie Minogue). Published as part of the K25 celebrations thisyear, "Kylie / Fashion" is the official book celebratingtwenty-five years since Kylie burst onto the music scene with TheLocomotion and I Should Be So Lucky. From the very beginning, thefashion she has worn has been key to Kylie's persona andperformances: her status as style icon is unassailable. Thisdazzling book celebrates her numerous and ground-breakingcollaborations with the world's great fashion designers. Producedby Kylie in close collaboration with Thames Hudson, anddrawing on her personal archives, it showcases Kyl

Whether Gould's subject is Boulez, Stokowski, Streisand, orhis own highly individual thoughts on performance and creation ofmusic, the reader will be caught up in his intensity, intelligence,passion and devotion.

A spotlight on French landscape painters of the first half of the 20th century which is a true hymn to nature Eight French painters born after 1870 are brought together for the first time in an exhibition that highlights their mutual affinities and charts their respective influences and evolutions. Aside from Gaston Balande (1880-1971), who is well known for his art deco wall murals designed for transatlantic ships, and Paul Deltombe (1878-1971), who benefited from a retrospective exhibition in 1970, the work of the other painters collected here has remained uncelebrated for far too long. The present exhibition and its catalogue aim to repair this oversight, as well as to reignite the study of this generation of French painters who, without turning their back on the avant-gardists, concentrated primarily on the traditional genre of landscape, and to a lesser degree on still-lifes. The 80 works of art, mainly painted between the wars, are at the crossroads of the many influences of this creative period,

Now in paperback, the fascinating, quirky, highly acclaimedbook about that indispensable object, the pencil. Petroski tracesits origins back to ancient Greece and Rome, writes factually andcharmingly about its development, and shows what the pencil canteach us about engineering and technology today.

For more than 100 years, National Geographic has set thestandard for nature, culture, and wildlife photography. Now, inThrough the Lens, 250 spectacular images—some famous, others rarelyseen—are gathered in one lavish and beautiful volume. Through the Lens is dividedinto geographical regions—Europe, Asia, Africa and the Middle East,the Americas, and Oceans and Isles—with a special section devotedto space exploration. Each geographical section features anoutstanding array of photographs that exemplifies the area’s uniquepeople, wildlife, archaeology, culture, architecture, andenvironment, accompanied by brief but informative captions. FromBarry Bishop’s heroic Mount Everest climb in the 1950s to theglorious wildlife of Asia and Africa, from ancient Maya culture tothe Afghan girl found 17 years after her piercing green eyescaptivated the world, these are some of the finest and mostimportant photographs ever taken. Featuring master photographers fromthe late 1800s to today, including Fr