Clunas (SOAS, U. of London, UK), who has written extensively about Ming Dynasty art and culture, has written a fascinating account of the dynasty's most well-known painter that explores in detail his social and professional relationships. Wen Zhengming (d.1559) produced his paintings and calligraphy as part of a system of gift exchange (the 'elegant debts' of the title) important in Chinese society. The nature of gifts, patronage, friendship, family, and political ties are some of the themes that Clunas explores as he recounts the evidence found in Wen's letters to his son and other primary sources. The volume, which is beautifully illustrated with color and b&w plates, contains a bibliography and an index of Chinese names, but no subject index. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Buffalo, New York owes much of its fame to the Erie Canal, which ushered in unprecedented growth and prestige to what was at its peak the nation's eighth largest city. Burgeoning railroads and grain, coal, and lumber exports dominated this industrial giant through the dawn of the twentieth century, culminating in the city's crowning moment of glory, the Pan American Exposition of 1901. As industry declined and residents fled to the suburbs, perceptive citizens recognized Buffalo's vast architectural treasures and rescued many landmarks with the intention of preserving the community's heritage.

Il libro contiene la biografia del chitarrista Joe Satriani. Considerato uno dei moderni maestri della chitarra rock, la sua attivitą didattica ha lasciato il segno nell'ambiente heavy rock americano. Virtuoso e conoscitore del suo strumento, sperimentatore e perfezionista allo stesso tempo, Satriani č un punto di riferimento nell'evoluzione della chitarra contemporanea.

Picture this: "A most extraordinary painting in which a young girl wearing a short blue smock over a rust-colored skirt sat in profile at a table by an open window." Susan Vreeland imagined just such a humble domestic scene, suggested it was created in 17th-century Holland, and attributed it to Jan Vermeer. Then she wrote a beguiling novel about this canvas, which so closely resembles the 35 extant works of the Dutch masterthat it might as well be one of his--long, lost, finally found, and as exquisite as ever. The artistic journey Vreeland recounts begins in present-day Pennsylvania, where a schoolteacher claims he owns an authentic Vermeer, a legacy from his late father, who acquired it under heinous circumstances: a Nazi officer, the father had looted it from the home of Dutch Jews.

Moving back in time and across the Atlantic, Vreeland traces the treasured painting from owner to owner. In doing so, she demonstrates the enduring power of art in the face of natural disaster, political upheaval, and personal turmoil. Ultimately, she ends the odyssey in Delft, where the painting's haunting subject is identified and tells her own poignant story about the picture's origins.

Each of the eight linked chapters has an irresistible painterly quality--finely wrought, artfully illuminated, and subtly executed. Together, they constitute a literary masterpiece, one that the New York Times Book Review praised as "intelligent, searching, and unusual... filled with luminous moments; like the painting it describes so well."

E' una biografia atipica, quasi un romanzo, anche se a scriverla č Mingus stesso. L'elemento auto-ironico č reso pił facile dall'uso della terza persona. Completano il libro una discografia e una bibliografia.