Product Description
Bjork is the most successful radical rock experimentalist of her generation. Contrary, inimitable, and gloriously her own, she has awed her famously dedicated fans for more than a decade with a swooping, querulous voice that has been likened to a glass not quite breaking. Bursting onto the Icelandic musical scene with a precocious album at the age of 11 and a series of releases in the 1980s that notably include her work with the Sugar Cubes, Bjork soon found herself gaining international renown as she released the jazzy Gling-Glo and her breakout solo album Debut. Since then the superstar wordsmith has continued to produce idiosyncratic, well-received works. In 1995 Bjork combined hit-making tunes with her maverick sounds to produce Post, and then after working with an army of collaborators, Telegram. Two years later, Homogenic took listeners on a compelling journey through the outer reaches of electronica. Again abruptly switching directions, Bjork starred as a blind mother in the critically acclaimed Dancer in the Dark, producing the renowned Selmasongs soundtrack. Returning to explorations of herself the next year, she produced Vespertine, an intimate and sensual fan favorite that continues to sell well. Drawing on years of experience covering Bjork and her industry, music journalist Ian Gittins explores and celebrates the creative processes and motivations behind her amazing career and musical history. With 70 color and black-and-white photographs, Bjork is a must-have for her legions of devoted fans. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

Maybe 5 stars, hard to say
I've always thought that Bjork was just the loveliest lady, but I haven't seen or heard much of her.Yesterday I picked up this book at Barnes and Noble for $4.98, yes that's four ninety-eight, and it is just chock-full of so many pictures and clear tidy text that I am very impressed.It may not be the most in-depth work about her, but it seems fairly accessible, and she is not terribly well-known beyond a certain reputation as being a bit "out there."She's an artist, not a commodity like so many musicians, and it's not what we expect, and people forget to look beyond the far-out sound bite or video clip.

The Words Of Bjork
This is a good reference book if you want to know what Bjork is saying AND meaning in her songs.This book has helped me understand some of her Icelandic accent, which I think is awesome.Some of her songs get so twisted in my head, (I am always changing lyrics anyway) that I have to use this book to know what she is really saying.I have lots of fun with the English language, Bjork does speak very well, but if you have a hearing problem like I do, this book will make for good reading.
This book has mostly all of her songs, the reasons why she wrote them, it opens up a whole new realm for any Bjork fan.
The photography is great, also.Bjork is a Beautiful Icelandic Princess with much talent.

there's more to life than this
my mom brought this book back for me from london, because at that time (last november) it was next to impossible to find in the states. the book looks nice on the outside. nice oversized book, with thick glossy paper. and the idea of the book is nice, the story beihnd every song + info on the cubes/gling-glo and early stuff.

however, the book does fall a little short, content wise. the information gathered is mostly pretty well known (keep in mind i am a total björk dörk :p ) but the pictures in the book totally make up for the (lack of) content! there were so many pics i have never seen before, and huge, oversized glossy pictures! i was in heaven :)

i was really hoping for more information about the sugarcubes, which is why this book didn't get a 5 star rating! they only talked about the 'cubes, and didn't get in to the meaning behind the songs.

a fine start for a curious wannabe bjork fan
I guess since I've been a Bjork fan for a while now, I was hoping to find some new insight into her songs through this book. If you want to learn the intentions and meanings behind Bjork songs, you're better off going to her website or searching online for interpretations or interviews. This book, while providing some solid background information about Bjork, does not provide too much information about the songs themselves. It seems that the author took random quotes and tried to apply them to the songs as he saw fit. The timeline is useful, and pictures are gorgeous. The descriptions for each song are not more than a couple of paragraphs each, far too short to even get an introduction for a Bjork song. It is a good collector's item--that's why I bought it. But if you're looking for some answers, like, what do those bjorkish words mean?, look somewhere else...like the 4um

Bjork Fans Need This
A fine overview of Bjork's career, with lots of good photos, and a track-by-track discussion of each album, beginning with her pre-teen "Bjork" effort and concluding with "Vespertine." (There's also a discussion of all B-sides and collaborations.) Mr. Gittins is apparently not a musician--he can't tell a recorder from a flute and describes a sitar as "Indian strings"--but he's otherwise well-informed and appreciative of Bjork's genius without going overboard. Highly recommended to Bjork fans. ... Read more

Product Description
The third edition of this popular introduction to the classical underpinnings of the mathematics behind finance continues to combine sound mathematical principles with economic applications.

Concentrating on the probabilistic theory of continuous arbitrage pricing of financial derivatives, including stochastic optimal control theory and Merton's fund separation theory, the book is designed for graduate students and combines necessary mathematical background with a solid economic focus. It includes a solved example for every new technique presented, contains numerous exercises, and suggests further reading in each chapter.

In this substantially extended new edition Bjork has added separate and complete chapters on the martingale approach to optimal investment problems, optimal stopping theory with applications to American options, and positive interest models and their connection to potential theory and stochastic discount factors.

More advanced areas of study are clearly marked to help students and teachers use the book as it suits their needs. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Only a Minor Update But Still an Excellent Book
If you own the second edition of Arbitrage Theory in Continuous Time, I don't think owning the third edition will add substantial value.The two major chapters that were added are the martingale approach to optimal investment problems and optimal stopping theory.Apart from this, the book looks and reads like the second edition.

However, if you do not own the second edition, this book provides an excellent elementary treatment of asset pricing.The mathematics is quite reasonable, and does not require a substantial understanding of heavy math machinery from the reader.Many of the mathematical tools are explained in adequate detail in the text as well as in the Appendix.However, the reader should be comfortable with calculus and probability theory.The discussion on options is particularly good, especially the treatment of the binomial approach as well as Black-Scholes.However, this is not unique to this book.

I would say that this book would be a good supplement for students that are taking their intro level Ph.D. asset pricing course.In particular, I think this would be beneficial to those who would like to get a little bit more intuition than what they can get from standard Ph.D. level texts.Bjork's writing style may be helpful in that respect.

This is how quant fin should be tought
Having been a student of professor Bjork and having studied that book and solved every exercise there is in, i say a big WELL DONE. This is how quant finance should be tought to people who do not aspire to become mathematicians. If you are a general finance phd, a practitioner, someone who wants to jump to finance this is the ONLY required level of maths that you need to understand and apply the subject. It gives the necessary rigor without sacrifising time to numerous technicalities which obscure rather than clarify.
Great job

Nicely Prepared Intermediate-Level Treatment
The author has put together an excellent text that will take readers of an elementary text like Hull's Options, Futures, and Other Derivatives to the next level. In the author's treatment, the power of stochastic calculus is brought to bear on the options pricing problem from the point of view of modern martingale theory, if not the complete mathematical rigor needed to establish all the results.

The text contains 26 chapters and 3 appendices. There is simply too much here to give a blow-by-blow account. So I'll try to hit the highlights.

The author gives intuitive definitions of some of the more heavy concepts from measure theory/Lebesgue integration, measure-theoretic probability theory and basic stochastic analysis. For the rigor, one need only look to the appendices, but the treatment is intuitive enough that can still follow along with only the occasionally glance to the back of the book.

Readers of Hull's text will find the first couple of chapters quite familiar, but starting in Chapter 4, stochastic integrals are (somewhat) formally introduced, along with the multi-dimensional version of Ito's change of variable rule. This is not overkill as the development of multi-factor term structure models later in the book benefits from this early development.
We note that these formulas are stated without proof, although they are motivated intuitively.

In the next chapter, stochastic differential equations are introduced and the Feynman-Kac representation is established as a nice application of Ito's rule. The chapter winds up with an intuitive treatment of Kolmogorov's forward & backward equations.

For the remainder of the first half of the text, readers of Hull will feel themselves in quite familiar territory, as the author develops the solution for the options pricing problem, studies the Greek letters and establishes parity using the now classical approach.

The second half of the text delves into martingale methods for mathematical finance. As a consequence, the sophistication level jumps considerably. The reader is well-advised to get the basic analytical toolkit in hand before delving too far into the second half of the book. I recommend Rudin's Real and Complex Analysis.

Heavy machinery is pulled in from functional analysis to establish the first and second fundamental theorems of mathematical finance. Without some basic understanding of Hilbert and Banach space theory, the reader will understand very little of this treatment. A good reference for this is Rudin's Functional Analysis

The next highlight is the Girsanov Theorem. The author actual provides a proof in the scalar case, and presents (without proof) the Novikov condition to test when the Girsanov transformation is indeed a martingale (so the theorem holds). As a nice application, the Black-Scholes theory is revisted and re-established via these martingale results.

Another highlight is the study of the Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman model for stochastic control, along with a small catalogue of cases under which the HJB equations can be solved. As a nice application, Merton's mutual fund theorem is established.

The last several chapters of the book deal with martingale methods for term structure models. There is a nice survey and study of the 1-factor short rate models before loading up and doing the k-factor model framework of Heath-Jarrow-Morton.
The martingale setting makes for a very rigorous treatment.

The book ends with a really nice treatment of the Libor Market and Swap Market Models. Pure finance students may feel that the mathematics at the end unnecessarily overwhelms the intuition, but students of mathematical finance will appreciate the analytical treatment and may even feel inspired to implement their own LMM.

There are a ton of terrific exercises at the end of each chapter. The exercises really solidify the understanding of the presentation and they make great technical interview questions as well.

intuitive introduction to option pricing
I agree with several reviewers above that the book is written in a style very helpful for students to understand the material.

It doesn't contain a lot of small details of financial markets like Hull's book, but the approach is very systematic. The derivations of formula for Barrier optionsis a nice example, Hull only lists a set of formula. The focus is on the theory, not on the practice. (No numerical method in the book). Bjork's book is very valuable for a student with very good math skills but want to learn the reasoning style for optionpricing.It is a quick and enjoyable read.

A huge plus side of the book is to describe strategy before writing down all the proofs. This helps greatly.Itcan be contrasted with Duffie's book "Dynamic Asset Pricing Theory", which is written like a dry math book (well, I have to admit thatDuffie's bookis not an intro book)

Only thing I can think of that can be improved is typo in the book, too many wrong formula, especially in the second half of the book, luckily enough, they are obviously wrong so that one can still understand the topics. I also find that using SEK and mentioning street name of Britain are amusingfor a student in U.S.

Hell, I should have rated it 5 stars!
If you're going to be introduced to Derivatives pricing and Quantitative finance in continuous time, you need some basics in probability theory, an elementary introduction to stochastic calculus and you need "bjork". It tells you the equation and how to understand it.

It's the best source for a complete understanding of the basics of arbitrage free pricing in continuous time; whether it's in complete or incomplete markets.

The best feature of this book is how the author invariably provides an "intuitive interpretation or explanation" to convey critical concepts. {Things like market price of risk in the context of interest rate modelling, change of measure etc...}

Why I rated the book 4 instead of 5?
I will not forgive "Tomas bjork" not to have covered the Libor Market Model; it's "THE" model and therefore should be covered in great details by any book of this calibre. A new edition of this book with the libor market model is needed.
Having said that, the coverage he gives to the popular short rate models is worth every read!

Guy,
Msc Financial Engineering at ISMA Center, Reading - UK. ... Read more

Product Description
Linnea has visited Claude Monet's garden! In Paris, she got to see many of his actual paintings. Now she understands what it means for a painter to be called an Impressionist. This innovative art book for children contains full-color photos of many of Monet's famous paintings.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (23)

Linnea in Monet's Garden
Engaging story and beautiful illustrations!My third graders loved seeing photos of Monet and learning about his later years.

A dream come true
My father in law gave this to my daughter when she was in grade school. We read it over and over and both loved it. When my daughter was 9 we went with her grandpa to Washington DC to the National Gallery to see as many Monets as she could. Just like Linnea she got close to the paintings and then moved back for perspective. Her dream was to go to Monet's garden.

In 2000 my father in law died suddenly. Still the dream lived on--hers and mine to see Monet's garden. This year, when she graduated from college, she and I took a trip to London and Paris. And we took the train to Vernon and went to Giverny. It was the hottest day I ever remember surviving but I have to say that the beauty of the gardens were beyond our expectations.

While there we lived many "Linnea" moments, including my getting a picture of her on the famous Japanese bridge. It felt like my father in law, Linnea and Monet were with us all day.

Linnea sparked the dream and we learned about art along the way!

Linnea's World
I purchased this book for my daughter and the doll a number of years ago. She loved the story. What was really amazing is that we had an opportunity to visit Paris and then to Monet's Garden. My daughter followed the trail of the book. The author used actual places. We found the small hotel with the portrait of Esmeralda dancing. It is across from Notre Dame. The old tree was there. We finally made the journey to Monet's home and Garden in the Normandy region. It was better than I could have imagined. I recommend the trip to anyone. The house, the flowers, the flowers, the flowers with the bridge and pond. I was amazed at the interweaved willow branch lining on the banks of the stream to prevent erosion. Buy the book and perhaps a dream will come true.

Linnea in Monet's Garden
I bought this book for my granddaughter to accompany a small doll I had bought while visiting Monet's home and garden back in 2001. The book was educational in regard to how he painted as well as entertaining. It was a little long for a 7 and 1/2 year old but she still seemed to enjoy it.

A Wonderful Book
When I was in elementary school, I used to check this book out of the library weekly. I absolutely adored it and still do...It is a great introduction to art and in addition, a look into travel and culture appreciation.

Some of the pictures in this book have stuck with me for years, especially the transition of Monet's Japanese Bridge painting from 1899-1923 when he'd lost most of his eyesight due to cataracts.

If you're looking for a charming book to introduce the idea of art to your children, or you specifically enjoy Monet, this is a great purchase.

... Read more

Product Description
An intimate look at one of the most creative artists at work today.
When it comes to making music, Björk needs no introduction. She has always been at the vanguard, exploding convention and leading her listeners down the uncharted paths of a haunting and harmonic trip through sound. Last year, she starred in Lars von Trier's acclaimed Dancer in the Dark, and took home the coveted Best Actress award at Cannes. A true artist whose work has consistently transcended creative and geographic borders, Björk turns every medium she touches to gold.
Her next project is a gorgeously produced, stunningly beautiful collection of photographs and text that is being published simultaneously around the world. Designed by Björk and m/m, the celebrated Paris design firm that has already collaborated Balenciaga, Visionaire, and Yohji Yamamoto, the book boasts contributions from the world's top photographers, fashion designers and video makers as well as original writing and artwork by Björk herself.
A breathtaking photographic odyssey through Björk's career, a stunning visual and literary companion to one of the most original performers of our time, Björk promises to be like no book you've ever seen. Coinciding with the release of her new album, Vespertine, and the supporting tour, this book is a must-have for Björk's admirers as well as anyone craving a touch of beauty for their bookshelf. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

A worthy experiment from the most unique celebrity I know of.
Björk is as unique as a person can be, yet still be famous. She is like pure imagination, with barely any reality. I'm exagerating, of course, but she is an ultimately original creature with seemingly endless curiosty in everything.

She has a noble idea behind this book. Many celebrities aline themselves with other famous people in their collaborations. That's 'the thing done'. But Björk has seen past that, and realized that collaborating with like-minded individuals makes alot more sense. Even so, her abilty to organize her ideas is a work in progress. As, this book is quite messy and confusing.

The back cover (shown here at amazon.com to represent the item) is absolutely beautiful. It is one of my favourite pictures of her, if not my outright favourite. The glossy finish is perfect. Unfortunately, the inside photography didn't follow suit with the glossy treatment. The photos were given a grainy look, which is more suitable to photographs of antiquity, not futurism. And the graininess doesn't bring out a person's features in portraits as well as a smooth finish does. I did buy this book believing that the inside photography would also be glossy, and still am sure it'd have been alot better had it been. (subjectivity allowing).
NOTE: Amazon.com's representation of the other photos inside the book suggest they're similarly glossy, but they're not.

Björk is amazingly creative, but lacks organizational skills. (Evident in the fact that she does require many collaborators even in the music studio). In this book, it's difficult to know when a submitted piece of work is by Björk, or by one of her friends. I often can't tell what a text is about, even. Are they talking about her? Is this text by her? Or is it random writing?

One problem consistent throughout all of Björk's projects, is they never reveal enough about her. I know much is revealed through her music and her photos, but rarely is there enough content straight from the horses mouth in interviews. I want to know her philosophies, her upbringing, and some life situations. I don't expect her to reveal anything too personal, but I'm always disappointed at how little I find out about her after buying a product of hers. I've heard her suggest that people wouldn't be interested in hearing about her outside of her art, which is for me a mistaken belief. (I'd love to know more about you as a person outside of your art, Björk). And this book continues the frustration for me, which began with the DVD collection I bought. There is a book about Björk by Ian Gittins. It is not a good book, in reality. For a start, it is hell bent on insulting a member of the Sugarcubes, which is poor form, even if you dislike a person. But, it certainly provided more quotes from Björk than this one did. I learnt quite a bit from that book. But this book here is, of course, a much better keepsake.

There is an interview 'by' Björk of David Attenborough (the nature documentary narrator and host). These two make a seemingly unlikely match, but infact are totally kindred when it comes to the natural world. They have a great respect and curiosity for nature. Unfortunately, it seemed that they may have had busy schedules and just squeezed this interview attempt in between engagements. I'd love to see a second attempt at this, where they start a recorder, and simply just talk for a couple hours. They are very insightful and refreshingly curious about the world.

I'm personally not fond of the artworks by Björk's friends, but I appreciate the idea. This kind of experiment is what got her where she is. She doesn't rest on regulation procedure. But overall, this book didn't work for me. No context is given to the works by her friends, so it's hard to appreciate where they are coming from, (if indeed one knows who a page of work is even by). Oftentimes, context makes the difference between enjoying a piece of art, and not.

In all, you get to know Björk through her art, and her sharing of her friends' art, but there still isn't enough material here that 'directly' reveals her to us. I respect the thought put into this book, but as with all original people, sometimes it's hard to know exactly what they set out to accomplish. But if you don't mind the obscurity, you will, as a fan, like this book anyway. Even though this book didn't strike a chord with me, the artist herself has, and I fully respect the attitude behind this project.

Great Artistic Direction
I'm an art student in college and would like to think that I am very dedicated to the work I do. Over Christmas I was preparing myself for a college interview in February and was told that the college likes to see my personality reflected through my interests. First thing that popped to mind? Björk. No one else quite moves me or holds my attention like this little genius, and the thought of doing sketchpad work on her 'art' brought a smile across my face, I can tell you! Okay, it might sound a bit self-indulgent, but I think I can afford to be in the case of Björk.

So over Christmas I produced sketchpad work on her 'art.' I was interested in exploring the way she communicates with her audience, and how she does this through music, video and fashion. Everything in her career is methodically thought out by herself. She isn't controlled by her record company, because you can't control people like her. Everything from remixes, photoshoots and videos are well-thought out to create elaborate works of art, so my aim was to research and analyse this, before somehow using it to make my own piece of art, using her level of artistic intelligence, based on this. That's where this book came in useful!

I ordered this book over Christmas and was delighted with it, because it has many things in it that I can use for my project. There isn't much text at all in this book apart from a few interviews so if you're expecting massive essays about her career and in-depth interviews then this probably isn't the book for you. However, if you're interested in visual communication which is thought-provoking like myself, then I would recommend this to you in a second. Perhaps one of my favourite sections of the book is a collection of cartoon drawings of dreams that Björk used to have as a child. I found this to be just adorable and very personal for her to communicate with her fanbase in such a way as to let them into her childhood dreams.

There are also many, many interesting photos of Björk, most in black and white, of her in just 'ordinary' situations. I think these are much more interesting than glamorous photoshoots of just an ordinary pop star. These photos make you think - or they make me think - about just what on earth she's trying to communicate with us. Is she trying to communicate anything at all? Perhaps not, but it's interesting to think about these things. I also really like the full colour reproduction of the "Homogenic" album cover, and also the CD cover to the single "Bachelorette." The large double-page screen still capture of the "All Is Full Of Love" is also very cool, with the two robots gently kissing.

This book has almost 200 pages in it, so I think you get your money's worth. It's a rather minimalist book though, and there are many blank pages with just a few words in the corner. This is how the book has been constructed, though, so you should respect Björk's artistic decisions. The cover jacket of the book also features an incredible story about Björk, which is hard to read at first because the font which has been used is the one which was used on the track listing of the "Vespertine" album. Overall I think a great product to add to your Björk collection, but perhaps not for everyone.

An emotional book
This is a gift to every Björk fan in the world. Every single page is an emotion, every page tells you a little story, and that helps you to collect them in major story that will describe Björk. Even though the book has not many words, those words make you think, those words urge you to ask yourself things that will make you meditate about your real connection with Björk and what is your real situation in it. Perhaps is not a book for everybody, but it works for me.

If Photos Will Satisfy You...
Even though I'm a huge Bjork fan, this book still dissapointed me.The book is a collection of some wonderful photographs of Bjork, including many intimate and beautiful ones.For readers (not lookers), there is nothing to be offered - the editors seem to have felt that they should throw some arbitrary text in the middle written by arbitrary authors - and they really shouldn't have.The centre articles offer no insight into Bjork's thoughts or life; they are simply a collection of why the authors think Bjork is special (and who needs to know that!).After the halfway point, some very strange and "arty" pictures are included to finish off.Buy this book only if you are interested in some wonderful photo's of Bjork and if you don't mind the relatively steep price for what you're getting.

Review
The book definitely was great. It was a bit pricey, but it was worth it.
I would give it four and a half stars only because it was a little disappointing. There could have been lots of things included as well. I only reccomend it to good Björk fans, due to the inner simplicity of it that is hard to understand at first. I really like it a lot and reccomend it to the serious consumer. It was truly awesome. ... Read more

Product Description
The life and music of Iceland's Björk Gudmundsdottir, from her origins as a burgeoning child star and her days spent training on the battleground of Iceland's notoriously seditious punk scene to her eventual emergence as one of pop music's pioneering figures, are explored in this comprehensive biography. Punk extremist, teenage mother, fashion iconoclast, fierce independent, emotional conduit, feminist antihero, reluctant actress, unabashed music geek, and lover-no side of the complex artist is left unexamined. Described are Björk's merging of naturalism with technology, self-empowerment with unflinching vulnerability, and elements of avant-garde and experimental music with her own irrefutably unique sensibilities. Containing a detailed songbook and more than 30 exclusive interviews with close family members, past band mates, and frequent collaborators, this is an exhaustive and revealing look at the life, music, and philosophy of one of modern music's most compelling innovators. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Enjoyed (pun intended)
I like the diversity of subjects this book covers -- her evolution, music, personal journey, sociology. I learned a lot about where she came from, her driving forces, and other things that were inspirational. Björk is a very inspirational person and musician, and any fan will definitely enjoy this book. Mark Pytlik researched his topic with excellence, and he is a great writer. I'd love to read a sequel Mark.

i've been wow'ed and fluttered ;)
first, let me start out by saying, i've been a björk fan for 10 years now. many unofficialy "björkgraphies" have been released over the years, and i've read every one of them. when i first noticed "wow&flutter" on amazon earlier this year, i thought to myself .. another one, meaning, another björk book i will read, and kick myself for not writing one myself ;)

when i got "wow&flutter", i quickly flipped through it to look at the pictures. saw several that i didn't have, flipped through the pages, noticed it had a song guide and a mini discography. so far i was impressed.

but tonight, i decided to read the book. i really wanted to since none of my friends had the book, and no one on the bjork.com 4um had the book either. so i would be the first in my circle of friends to explore.

the book covers björk from her birth to present day, even talks about the birth of her daughter this past october. the author, mark pytlik, i can tell is like me. he is a fan. not just a casual fan, not someone who just knew her as "the lady who wore the swan dress". that's what made reading the book so exciting. it is a book i can relate to.

while i don't want to "give away" everything in the book, i will tell you that reading this has made me even more excited about her (i didn't think that was possible!) i know this review probably sounds a little corny and a lot obsessive, so i think i'll just stop here :) ... Read more

Product Description
The ultimate guide for flying skillfully and safely

Now, in one comprehensive volume you can get both step-by-step instruction in basic piloting skills, and FARs that every pilot must be able to reference and understand. Piloting Basics by Lewis Bjork truly packs all the detailed, profusely illustrated how-to information you need. From total preflight preparations to takeoffs and landings, it's all here: basic instrument flying…transitioning to multiengine airplanes…navigating…reading standard and supplemental visual charts…flying in special-use airspace…working with transponders…operating in class B, class C, and TRSA airport environments…what to do in an emergency – and much, much more. You learn vital facts about terminal radar approach and departure control facilities, air route traffic control centers, and Unicorn and Multicom airport radio communications. What's more, this pilot's information powerhouse puts at your fingertips the expertise ofsix bestselling references:Love's Flight Maneuvers and Light Airplane Navigation Essentials -- plus must-have aviation classics including Illman'sPilot's Radio Communications Handbook, 5th Edition; Lankford'sUnderstanding Aeronautical Charts, 2nd Edition and Frazier's ABCs of Safe Flying, 4th Edition.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great for basic info.
I ordered this book as a supplement to another title to help me study for the AFOQT (Air Force entry exam). While it doesnt really talk about the AFOQT at all, it contains basically everything you need to know about the aviation section on the test. Its a bit lengthy so I had to skim some parts, but if you want to further your flight knowledge or even just a basic introduction, you cant go wrong with this book. ... Read more

Product Description
Can such techniques as sleep learning and hypnosis improve performance? Do we sometimes confuse familiarity with mastery? Can we learn without making mistakes? This book addresses these and other key issues in learning and performance and presents leading-edge theories and findings from a wide range of research settings, from pilots learning to fly to children learning about physics by throwing a beanbag. Common folklore is explored and promising research directions are identified. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (6)

"The Music of My Perpetually 16 Year Old Self" by Bill Martin
This is one of those glorious non-fiction books where ultimately you learn more about the author-- his or her personality, pet peeves, neuroses, excruciating autobiographical vignettes-- than the actual subject they're supposed to be writing about.Another wonderful example is the stellar tome "Fish Cookery" by one Russ Lockwood-- a truly mesmerizing read.

Bill Martin is essentially writing a self-indulgent love letter to the music of his youth here with little regard to anything outside his narrow range of reference.To put the prog rockers Yes on a pedestal as the gods of "avant-rock" (a loaded term, I should mention, that Martin fails to unpack despite his hyperbolic verbosity) is ridiculous.To mention them 25 times (sometimes in great length and pseudo-analysis) in the course of a 250 page book is even more ridiculous.If Martin is so fixated on the idea that progressive rock=avant-garde, maybe he should have focused more on Fred Frith than Steve Howe.

Yet as Fripp says in his hilariously contrived and pretentious introduction, Martin's heart really is in the right place.He really has pure convictions about the music he loves, and is genuinely zealous about spreading the gospel truth about what he thinks the avant-garde is all about.But Martin is so out of touch with the developments in the underground experimental music scene that his efforts are painful to read.I just want to take him to a No-Neck Blues Band improv set, or a Boredoms drum orgy concert, or hell, even a Residents show (how could he fail to mention THEM?!?!?!?) and say, "Look-- There is life beyond 'Works Vol. 1'!"Oh Bill . . .

Philosophy meets prog
The strength of this book? Doubtless the first rock guide written by a philosophy professor (DePaul U., Chicago) steeped in humanistic Marxian and anti-capitalist social critique. This grounding in a field far removed from conventional music criticism-- which too often mixes hyperbole, b.s., trivia, and gossip-- gives Martin's observations in his opening apologia for prog and the avant-garde freshness by their intellectual diversity. As a bass player, his thirty years of playing allow him to comment on the music as a practitioner, informing his comments on what he hears and analyzes. His comments on punk are thoughtful; he succinctly targets the contradiction of a movement using technology to challenge the mass media. Finally, although I have not the slightest liking for many of his chosen bands-- notably Yes whom he slavishly admires (I know, we all have our favorite musicians whom others despise!)-- he does explain the appeal of progressive rock's "generous synthesis" (74) of varied influences into intelligent (well, depending often on your own tastes) music that challenges audiences and rewards the committed fan. It's pointless for me to cavil with his specific favorites; suffice to say they do go beyond whatever limits the poorly chosen subtitle suggests. (By the way, Martin does the near impossible for many readers; he defends Yoko Ono's artistic mission persuasively.)

The lists begin well prior to the full impact of the Beatles, by the way. If only Martin could have known at the time of writing of Matthew Barney and Bjork's future alliance-- this might have extended the cultural critiques within another fifty pages!! Why Merzbow but not Acid Mothers Temple? Any reader is doomed to pose similar questions. Still, a few of his choices, especially Scott Miller's bands Game Theory and The Loud Family, show that his interests, for once, intersect with mine! He remembers a very low-profile group like The Method Actors, and his range while uneven does show he listens to a lot of music across the innovative fringes, not only the keyboard-laden acid-tinged epics circa 1973 that one might suspect from the attention given the heyday of prog in the earlier 70s. Like any good critic, Martin allows you to understand his rationale for what he likes and dislikes even if you do not share his particular choices marshalled as support.

Weaknesses, however, make this book far less than it should have been. Typos and superficial errors mar the copy. This lack of proofreading discourages readers expecting that an established professor and author of Sartrean, Derridean, and postmodern philosophical studies would deliver a solid, carefully prepared manuscript. While I do not mind the easygoing nature of his prose, the more exacting academic may find Martin's laid-back style insufficiently rigorous, and the less brainy fan may find Martin's formidable intellectual references less than immediately comprehensible. Martin's decision to trudge year-by-year in the middle of his book with a list of pertinent albums annually released followed by his comments on them makes for scattershot coverage. It's as if part of a record guide fell into an Open University primer on the Frankfurt School.

Bjork, Coltrane, Glenn Gould, Cecil Taylor, Miles Davis, and King Crimson (the latter you'd assume as Robert Fripp contributes a brief forward) gain considerable attention (as does Yes en passim) at the expense of the lesser known, often indie releases (such as those by Scott Miller's bands mentioned above, or Faust and Pere Ubu to take two random examples) that need increased exposure to the audience that would read this book. I know one progresses from the more to the less familiar in engaging details that the general reader can follow, and Martin needs to build his investigation upon better-known musical inventions. However, he does not move into less explored territory, where less-heralded artists keep experimenting, enough. The connections between the more famed and the still overlooked needed to be drawn tighter and plotted more clearly. Instead, it's a jumble of musicians you've heard of and ones you haven't. Not bad in itself, but how the two groups intersect remains too sketchy.

The more prominent musicians here have much ink spilled and bytes devoured already devoted to their every recording; the amount of detail that Martin gives over to the "stars" of progressive rock and its offshoots often makes the familiar artists seem too familiar by critiques that rehash what a diligent fan would already know. This book falls between two chairs: it will tell the prog fan much he or she already knows, but it will frustrate the curious who wish to delve deeper. It's too shallow a guide to what the less-familiar musicians actually sound like. Many of the lesser-known musicians receive but a nod in passing. Thus the choices of less-familiar music will remain uncertain and the curious will likely stay only that. Repeatedly, the bias towards these name artists leaves the obscure artists he includes with often only a bare mention or an aside much too vague. The focus of his analysis, if it was to capitalize upon the mention of works famed and overlooked, needed to stay on the lesser-known musicians at least as steadily alongside those that any prog or avant-garde fan would already be more or less aware of. By alluding to more obscure works without explaining their appeal, Martin does those musicians needing attention too small a favor.

The critical forays that mark the last third of the book show his academic side returning. While his points on "sci-fi medievalism" (223) and the rise of a "screen mentality" (226) shared by students and musicians employing the Net deserve hearing, this portion is-- perhaps inevitably?-- not as accessible as the opening and middle sections, thus leaving the book rather disjointed into its three sections. It's also far too scattered, wandering from Deleuze & Guattari to Radiohead to chess to cognivitist vs. emotivist ethics. Martin mixes personal reflections with rock criticism and intellectual digressions. Certainly not a mix usually found in pop music writing, and for this fusion of intriguing fields, Martin's attempt deserves recognition. However, this book I suspect will be much improved upon by the efforts of future scholars-- if they can have the advantage of academic training, a steady post at a university, and enough time to pursue a love of music and a passion for thinking.

In our late capitalist times indeed, such a combination afforded a privileged few critics (or even more those rich enough to buy all the records and keep up with all of the trends that far surpass output in the 60s) becomes rarer to find in our corporatized universities, bottom-line suppression of pursuits such as philosophy, and lemming-like chain-store herded instincts towards buying a SoundScan success. Martin may bemoan his paycheck, but he occupies a key position in academia that bridges musical practice, pop music, and sophisticated critical analysis; may he use his power well. Although he seems here rather undisciplined as a writer and the book lacks cohesion, he shows a lively mind able to bridge connections to examples as disparate as Larry Bird, "Frasier," and Courtney Cox in a "Friends"-related video!

He also cites William Gibson's novel All Tomorrow's Parties on urban spaces for alternative subcultures and their decline due to their being "harvested" by commodification before they could "ripen." This analogy supports Martin's claims well, but he abandons it too early and he drifts back into arcane philosophical debate. I wish Martin had expanded his conclusion considering the dispersal of music and musicians due to computers and the effect this has on band cohesion and the marketing by photogenic "faces" of musicians. These intriguing points are mentioned, but too briefly elaborated. In the questioning of mass culture vs. a subculture placed in opposition to it that claims itself more authentic, this circles back, naturally, to the opening of Martin's book and its positioning of counter-hegemonic musical forces within as well as beyond a mass media marketing monolith. I do admire the associations Martin makes between his bass and his brain, his ears and his tomes. He must be quite a lecturer, for the book shows an ease with handling quite disparate pursuits. But the handling slips, and the seams are left half-stitched. It'll be intriguing too to see how blogging critics in our wireless, MySpace, iPod era that seems to have already superseded that he writes of a mere four years ago will expand upon the theoretical and musical directions that Martin's trailblazing, flawed but brave report suggests.

An admirable effort, but...
Sonic Youth. Jim O'Rourke. Yes. Bjork. Get used to these names right now, because Bill Martin is going to repeatedly ram them down your throat until he is certain you've gone out and purchased their entire discographies. Although perhaps I'm being too harsh - I can think of worse artists for Martin to focus on. However I am inclined to agree with what's already been stated - Martin tackles this book with a disturbingly narrow scope. There are two main reasons why Martin's book does not rise above an average rating.

1. Bill Martin himself. While the man clearly knows a great deal about music, I don't think he is necessarily the right man to write a book about such an all-encompassing term as "avant rock" (more on that later). As I said before, Martin's personal bias intrudes on almost every single page on this book. In fact, as soon as I read on the back of the book he had written books both about Yes and about progressive rock, I knew there would be trouble. I have no qualms with the inclusion of progressive rock in this book, as it has obviously made extensive contributions to the avant rock genre. But when the name Yes appears on twenty nine pages and, say, the Boredoms (who are THE band that jump to mind when I think of avant rock) appear on zero, I think there's a bit of a problem. Just leafing through the index will tell you who Martin's favorites are simply based on sheer numbers of pages they occupy; not whether or not they were crucial to the avant rock scene.
As he approaches the end of the 90's, it becomes increasingly clear that save for a few of his favorites, Martin has lost touch with whatever avant rock scene might exist. For example, in his list of essential avant rock albums for 1999, Rage Against the Machine's Battle of Los Angeles is included. Perhaps fitting if this were a book about the history of nu-metal or rap-rock, but horrendously out of place in a book such as this.
Or how about including bassist Kev Hopper's Spoombung in his 1998 list (which is just one of a meager five albums he feels noteworthy enough to list)? Would it surprise you if I told you that Martin himself is also a bassist?

2. The title. In choosing "Avant Rock" as the title to the book, Martin is basically free to drop the names of whatever musician he feels like without even having to justify their inclusion. Artists like Merzbow, John Cage, Cecil Taylor, Arnold Schoenberg,John Coltrane are discussed at length, and while all are outstanding musicians with obvious contributions to the avant-garde, I don't see how their connections with rock music are so deep as to warrant such extensive discussion at the expense of other musicians (perhaps no one transcends the avant-garde and rock/pop music like Mike Patton, yet he is relegated to a blurb in Martin's rambling making-up-for-lost-ground essay at the end of the book).
This book could have been (and still can be) done with someone who is a lot more involved in the avant garde scene. Martin's heart is indeed in the right place (as Robert Fripp's foreword states), but he just doesn't have the knowledge of the genre that this type of book demands.


I gave this book three stars because it is a sort of "winner by default" book. There are not too many other comprehensive guides to this kind of music, so Avant Rock would probably be a great place to start if you are just getting into the genre and want to do a little exploring. Experienced fans, however, will find it harder to look past Martin's glaring omissions, blatant idol worship, and awkward topic- and chronology-jumping.

Engaging, but chock full of errors
There are several facts that just aren't right in this book, and it bothered me. I mean, saying that Sterling Morrison is still teaching "to this day" should have been a showstopper (memo to the author: he died some 5-6 years before the book was published). And "Sweet Ray" ain't a VU song (though from the context it's pretty obvious he meant "Sweet Jane"). I'll stop here, but there's plenty more. Greg Kot and Jim Derogatis supplied blurbs for the back cover; did these guys actually read the book? I can't believe they would have let these obvious bloopers slide.

On the positive side, I did enjoy reading it and it's great to see someone who champions new rock from Tortoise and Jim O'Rourke and is unafraid to connect them to "prog", and not just the "prog" that's considered "cool" (King Crimson) but the "uncool" stuff like Yes and ELP.

One last thing: why no mention of My Bloody Valentine? "Isn't Anything" and "Loveless" were avant rock milestones arguably just as important as "Sister" and "Daydream Nation", but they didn't even merit a sentence in this book.

From Yoko Ono to King Crimson and beyond
At first glance the term "avant-garde rock" may be a contradiction in terms, but upon further reflection it provides an umbrella term for trends which emerged through the cultural and political upheavals of the 1960s. From Yoko Ono to King Crimson and beyond, Professor Martin's Avant Rock cogently analyzes both artists and groups, offering new insights into the emerging styles of this musical genre. ... Read more

Product Description
Wearing thick glasses, speaking in her thick Icelandic accent, and, well, seeming a touch thick, Bjork stormed the public consciousness in 2000 as an unlikely heroine in the experimental musical film Dancer In the Dark. Army of She is an in-depth look at the woman who first took the public stage twenty-three years ago, analyzing her rise from child prodigy to punk anarchist to New Wave novelty (as member of the Sugarcubes) to hit soloist to film star.

... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

not so bad... come on guys...
I couldn't help but smile while reading this book. I found it to be a fresh outlook on Bjork. Instead of hearing someone who knew everything, we see Bjork through the eyes of someone who started out knowing nothing about her. It's a first hand evolution of the bjork fan. I find it to be almost a representation of the crossing over into that place where it is hard to return. Once I became a fan, I was a fan for life, and I admire this author for sharing this raw, intimate experience she had. I enjoyed the book, and I feel it only brought me closer to Bjork's music. I think every Bjork fan could relate to this book.

Double yaaaaaaaawn
While I must admire the author for trying to write a book about Bjork, I began to wonder if she really was, or was just trying to write about her social view towards God knows what.I mean I know it's trendy and all but Labeling this and that conservative and calling former mayor Rudy Guliani an ---hole was not only in bad taste but has nothing to do with the book.If she wants express her liberal ideology kaka she needs not look far, just don't put it in a biography about Bjork, who is quite the fox I might add.

Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawn.........
Wow, who would of thought a book about the awesome BJORK would be dull. Instead of getting some interesting facts about Bjork, all we hear are the author's opinions over and over and over and over. It's like this, "Yadda yadda yadda yadda yabba dabbo do!" Boring!!Like fans don't already know how great she is. I put this book down after the first two chapters. All the information that IS in the book you can get from the Bjork webring. Don't waste your money, instead just buy the OFFICIAL BJORK book. Great stuff! heheheheh. ... Read more

Product Description
Author Mark Bjork is deeply committed to the study and performance of chamber music. He is recognized internationally as a leader in the field of Suzuki Talent Education. ... Read more

Product Description
The story of Bjork which charts every detail of her life and musical development, from a bohemian childhood to her years with the Sugarcubes, and on to solo success. Interviews with those who knew and know her best are included. ... Read more

Product Description
Vendela has long been fascinated by Venice, where the streets are canals, the cars are boats, and the houses are palaces. Finally her father takes her on a special spring trip to the city, which turns out to be every bit as fairy-tale-like as he has promised. Vendela visits her special friends, the four golden horses in St. Mark's Basilica. She hunts winged lions, meets a terrible dragon, and explores colorful candy stores and samples almond-syrup milk.

But there are more floods in Venice every year. Will it still be there when Vendela grows up? As did Linnea in Monet's Garden, Vendela in Venice offers a wonderful introduction to the excitement of travel, art, and culture. Inga-Karin Eriksson's lovingly detailed illustrations of Venice will fire the imaginations of young readers and their parents whether they read the book at home or take it along on a trip to Italy.
... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

love this book
One of my all time favorite books.A great read regardless of the readers age.The pictures and story are wonderful and make you want to visit Venice.

Fun Souvenir of Venice for Children and Adults!
I cchecked this out of the library to share some of the magic of Venice with my tweleve year old.She's been at me because I go on and on about La Serenissima, and having read the book, she now understands a bit of why I came to love this city so.I bought the book to keep with my Venice souvenirs as it gives so much information about the city and her sights.

Outstanding!
This is the best child's book I have seen so far.I read it to my 7 year old son and I loved it as much as he did.I have been to Venice and I learned a lot of new things that I did not know.The story is interesting in a travelogue sort of way and the illustrations are wonderful and varied.The only similar book that comes close would be The Three Golden Keys about Prague.As a previous reviewer stated it would be great if there was a book about every city like this.Although a child's book it is quite substantial, beautifully produced, and well worth the money.

Vendela made our trip to Venice
My 8 year old son read Vendela over and over before we went to Venice. His familiarity with the city made our trip - he recognized sites from the air on the way in based on the book! The author weaves facts and history into the narrative so we didn't realize until there how much we had learned about history, art, statues, bridges, cats, lions, and getting around -- my son even figured out where we were lost one time based on an illustration he remembered. We based much of our visit on what Vendela had done, since it felt familiar (and magical for dad & boy). Vendela is part of our scrapbook now; terrific book. I wish such a work were available for every city.Beautiful illustrations, too!

Must-Have book!
Vendela in Venice is a must for anyone, young or old, heading for Venice for the first time.My 5 and 7 year olds love it, but older kids, teens and adults will appreciate it too.Vendela provides a great introduction to the city along with interesting historical facts and lesser-known stories that make the city come alive.If you are taking kids to Venice, you shouldn't go without this book! ... Read more

Product Description
This book was written by a layman for people throughout our Christian church. This book actually reveals the true identity of Jesus Christ! Many people don't comprehend who He really is. It is incerdible to realize that the man, Jesus Christ, was also God the Son. We often look at a picture of Him or read about Him and don't realize, or forget, who He really is. this really changes our prospective of Him and should drive us to comprehend how important it is to be able to show from Scripture the truth of His identity. The main purpose of the book is to do just that. This truth is shown from many different angles, using the Bible.

How good are we at defending the TRUTH? Jesus came and died for us and we should stand up for Him. this book developed from a desire to write down many verses from the Bible in a systematic manner. You may have many verses to add that you have found because the Bible is full of wondeerful truths about Jesus Christ. It is His Book. Please be encouraged to learn more about how to defend the truth, that God the Son came down to earth and suffered and died for our sins. There is nothing more important thatn this!

God's Name Is Jesus is a personal testimony of a man of science, gripped by the power of God's Word. Dr. Ralph Bjork bears witness to the Divine nature of Jesus of Nazareth through a compliation of God's Word that is destined to impact for eternity the life of any open minded reader. ... Read more

Product Description
This book provides the first music-based account of Icelandic singer-songwriter Björk's solo work to date. She is internationally recognized for her unique and innovative musical style, as well as her collaborative working relationship with artists, musicians, and engineers. Her work blurs boundaries between club and dance culture and "high art." Björk has won many awards, including Best Actress at the Cannes Film Festival for her role in the film Dancer in the Dark, for which she also wrote and scored the music. Nicola Dibben presents an analysis of audio and video tracks, live performances, and recorded sound, viewed through the critical reception, fanzines, and interviews that surround Björk's music. This analysis reveals recurrent cultural themes: landscape and identity, the relationship between humans and technology, song as a vehicle for emotional expression, and female autonomy. Additional chapters on Björk's compositional process--with newly gathered interview material--and on the critical-musicological approach adopted in the book round out this original study. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great analysis
This is a unique book, no doubt. The author has really given me some interesting perspectives on Björk's music. She travels to the depths of many aspects in the artist's albums and songs, as well as using things outside of the music production, to make her case about what the different albums and songs represent and how they came to sound the way they do. Basically, the author's main objective is to illuminate to us how things in the artist's life and her environment affect the music she makes. She succeeded, and her theories are impressive. The author's theories on the symbolism found in Björk's music are quite interesting.
As a musician and a fan of the artist, this was an important read. I recommend you read this if you love her music, for you will obtain understandings that can't derive from any other book. You can't fully understand her music without understanding how her environment shapes it with each album. ... Read more

Product Description
Examines the Victorian childhood of a young girl named Alice Liddell, who was the favorite child friend of math teacher Charles Dodgson, the man who penned Alice in Wonderland. By the author of Linnea in Monet's Garden. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Inspires more research regarding Lewis Carroll
I love this book, and it's been the source to inspire me on other bios regarding Lewis Carroll.The presentation is beautifully done, fully illustrated in color, thorough, and reads in small sections for breaks.It's a great book for reading at bed-time or on outings.Yes, it's for young people, however it does not disregard some of the more questionable issues between Carroll and Alice.Author simply recommends other reading!And there a pages of maps and reference materials, all of which are excellent.Makes for a considerate gift to any fan of Alice.

ABOOK THAT HAD TO BE WRITTEN
This is about the real life child who inspired the stories:Alice Liddell,and her connections to Charles Dodgson as she and her family then knew him.It also focuses on the Liddells in order to introduce plenty of Victorian history which is presented in a very easy to digest form.
Full of pictures both photos and original art from Inga Karin-Erikkson.
Its where to start if you're new to Alice and it would make anyone want to collect Alice/Lewis Carroll.
The earlier Beyond The Looking Glass by Colin Gordon explores the same subject in minute detail for anyone who wants more
Highly recommended

A childrens' book with great appeal for older readers
This is a book for children (with wonderful illustrations) that attempts to tell the story of the friendship between Alice Liddell and "Lewis Carroll".It is written is a somewhat episodic style.The episodesare chosen, for the most part, due to the bearing that each one has onilluminating characters and situations found in the "Alice"books.The author does not completely avoid the controversial, and this issomewhat of a pleasant surprise. Though originally written in Swedish, itreads very well in translation.I found the book to be both poignant andscholarly (i.e., well-researched), and with great adult appeal for achildrens' book. (Even if the text were less rewarding than it is, the bookwould be worth keeping for the illustrations alone)

Beautiful telling of the true Alice in Wonderland story
Although The Other Alice is technically a children's book, any fan of Lewis Carroll will find it rewarding. The meticulous art work, showing Alice Liddell and her sisters and Charles Dodgeson [Carroll] and many Oxford settings is superb. The book is also includes many actual photgraphs of Alice, her family and Dodgeson's other child friends. Although this is a book for children, it does not shy away from the rather sad life and obsession which drove Dodgeson, nor does it give an artifically happy ending to the story. If you wonder where many of Dodgeson's plot developments came from [e.g. the Dodo, the wet 'caucus race' you'll find it all here. The author [who also wrote the delightful Linnea in Monet's Garden] and illustrator deserve kudos for this book [translated from the Sweedish, there is apparently a different translation avaiable in England under the title Alice's Oxford Adventure]. Well worth reading in a more adult approach is Staphanie Stoffel's Lewis Carroll in Wonderland [which includes some of the paintings done by Erickson for this book] both are better reads [and far more fun] than Gardner's Carroll biography. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Exciting Conclusion To The Holme Trilogy
This is the final book in the Holme trilogy, a saga about a Viking thrall and his family. The book starts out with the aftermath of the destruction of the Christian church by Holme. He leads other thralls in an uprising for freedom, which ends in disaster. Once again, Holme is in trouble and must flee again. Holme goes to see the sympathetic king, and becomes his personal blacksmith. Holme's wife Ausi and daughter Tora move onto the king's settlement as well.

The family who originally owned Holme and Ausi is down to its last two surviving members - the old chieftains wife and their son. The old woman still wants vengence, meaning she wants to own Tora and Ausi once more. She's too afraid to want to own Holme again...he's far too dangerous. However, the son Svien has other ideas. He loves Tora and wants her to be his bride of her own free will. Svien works things out with Holme and things go well with Svien and Tora.

The clash between Christians and the worshippers of the old wooden gods comes to a head, and the battle between thralls and freemen continues. This is a very untraditional tale for the genre, written throughout with virtually no dialogue. Fridegard is a first-class storyteller, and infuses beautiful descriptions of wildlife and settings like a true master. The trilogy is a truly brilliant work of artistic literature. ... Read more

Product Description

This Handbook examines the interplay between metamemory and memory. Each contributor discusses cutting-edge theory and research that, in some way, showcases the symbiotic relationship between metamemory and memory. Together, these chapters support a central thesis, which is that a complete understanding of either metamemory or memory is not possible without understanding their mutual influence.

The inspiration for this volume was the life and research of Thomas O. Nelson, whose pioneering and influential research in the fields of metamemory and memory consistently highlighted their integrated nature.

Product Description

The chapters in this volume are testament to the many ways in which Robert Bjork’s ideas have shaped the course of research on human memory over four decades. It showcases the theoretical advances and recent findings by researchers whose work and careers have been influenced by Bjork.

The first group of chapters explore the idea that forgetting is an adaptive response to the demands of a retrieval system fraught with competition -- an idea that has helped recalibrate conceptualizations of memory away from one in which in which the computer is the dominant metaphor.

Several chapters then review the application of research on learning and memory to enhancing human performance, reflecting Bjork’s staunch commitment to translating his findings and theories to real-world settings.

Later chapters address topics that are relevant to the translation of cognitive psychology to human performance, and in particular recognize the critical role of metacognition in such problems.

The final chapters cover a variety of issues related to how remembering can be enhanced, and how research on remembering can be profitably guided by the use of mathematical modeling.

This volume will appeal to researchers and graduate students of human learning, memory, and forgetting, and will also benefit an audience working in applied domains, such as training and education.