Frames of Evil: The Holocaust as Horror in American Film

Book Description

Challenging the classic horror frame in American film

American filmmakers appropriate the “look” of horror in Holocaust films and often use Nazis and Holocaust imagery to explain evil in the world, say authors Caroline Joan (Kay) S. Picart and David A. Frank. In Frames of Evil: The Holocaust as Horror in American Film, Picart and Frank challenge this classic horror frame—the narrative and visual borders used to demarcate monsters and the monstrous. After examining the way in which directors and producers of the most influential American Holocaust movies default to this Gothic frame, they propose that multiple frames are needed to account for evil and genocide.

Using Schindler’s List, The Silence of the Lambs, and Apt Pupil as case studies, the authors provide substantive and critical analyses of these films that transcend the classic horror interpretation. For example, Schindler’s List, say Picart and Frank, has the appearance of a historical docudrama but actually employs the visual rhetoric and narrative devices of the Hollywood horror film. The authors argue that evil has a face: Nazism, which is configured as quintessentially innate, and supernaturally crafty.

Frames of Evil, which is augmented by thirty-six film and publicity stills, also explores the commercial exploitation of suffering in film and offers constructive ways of critically evaluating this exploitation. The authors suggest that audiences will recognize their participation in much larger narrative formulas that place a premium on monstrosity and elide the role of modernity in depriving millions of their lives and dignity, often framing the suffering of others in a manner that allows for merely “documentary” enjoyment.

Celluloid Soldiers: Warner Bro.'s Campaign Against Nazism

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Films Warns Against Nazism
WARNER BROTHERS MOVIES PAVE THE WAY FOR USA WWII ENTRANCE
Well-researched on an important subject

Celluloid Soldiers: Warner Bro.'s Campaign Against Nazism
Michael E. Birdwell
Manufacturer: New York University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Projections of War

ASIN: 0814798713
Release Date: 2000-12-01

Book Description

"Contributes significantly to our understanding of how Warner Bros. crusaded against fascism from the middle 1930s to Pearl Harbor. Drawing on extensive archival research, Birdwell provides particularly lively discussions of Alvin York's conversion to interventionism during the making of Sergeant York and of the 1941 Nye-Clark Committee investigations of 'premature anti-fascism' in Hollywood."
--Charles Maland, University of Tennessee

"Will be a lasting contribution, not only on the impact of media on our nation's policies--a topic of concern for most thoughtful people--but also for academics in popular culture studies."
--Peter Rollins, Editor-in-Chief, Film & History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Film and Television Studies

During the 1930s many Americans avoided thinking about war erupting in Europe, believing it of little relevance to their own lives. Yet, the Warner Bros. film studio embarked on a virtual crusade to alert Americans to the growing menace of Nazism.

Polish-Jewish immigrants Harry and Jack Warner risked both reputation and fortune to inform the American public of the insidious threat Hitler's regime posed throughout the world. Through a score of films produced during the 1930s and early 1940s-including the pivotal Sergeant York-the Warner Bros. studio marshaled its forces to influence the American conscience and push toward intervention in World War II.

Celluloid Soldiers offers a compelling historical look at Warner Bros.'s efforts as the only major studio to promote anti-Nazi activity before the outbreak of the Second World War.

Customer Reviews:

Films Warns Against Nazism.......2001-03-18

"Celluloid Soldiers: Warner Bros.' Campaign Against Nazism," by Michael E. Birdwell, New York: NYU Press, 2001. A book review by Harvey Karten, film_critic@compuserve.com.

Politicians pursuing the "family" vote regularly chime in like critic Michael Medved about the harmful effects of film on theatergoers, particularly the young. "'The Basketball Diaries' has led to an increase of heroin use in teenagers," says one. "'Pulp Fiction' shares the blame for the increase of gun use in junior high schools," asserts another. "James Bond encourages the drinking of martinis, shaken not stirred," insists a third.

Motion pictures influence our thinking. How could they not? We sit in a darkened space, focused on little other than our popcorn and the big screen, as heroes from Humphrey Bogart to Tom Cruise spin their tales across the celluloid. But to what extent do they influence the way we actually act? Pondering and debating that unresolved issue should give us something to talk about at cocktail parties for years to come. Do filmmakers actually WANT us to behave in a certain way? Probably: to the extent that they supply us with propaganda, or, what theater people call agitprop. One of the best examples of passionate partisanship involves the case of Harry Warner, one of the founders of the illustrious Warner Bros. studio, who, during the 1930's, was so incensed by Hitler's actions in Europe and so disgusted by the isolationist views of the American government and a majority of its people that he set out to influence everyone from F.D. Roosevelt to backwoods 'billies to see that the policies of the Third Reich endangered this country as well as the continent of Europe.

While the other major studios pandered to the German fascists by doing business with them throughout the thirties, Harry Warner exploited his celluloid soap-box for all its worth, backing up his lobbying efforts with at least four motion picture productions unique in their evocation of Germany's evil. The heroism of this lone ranger might not be remembered by today's world had Michael E. Birdwell not written "Celluloid Soldiers: Warner Bros.' Campaign Against Nazism."

Birdwell's prose makes the heart beat faster as we join the author in loathing groups that had their own axes to grind in the U.S. during from 1933 to 1945--organizations whose names may have changed but whose professional haters

even today spew their venom against immigrants, Jews, African-Americans and other minorities whom they consider at the very least not to be 100% American. Some of Birdwell's scholarly but passionate statements might be describing activities in the year 2001 rather than movements that should have died a lingering and painful death during the thirties. Birdwell states: "Many Americans knew that Jews played a prominent role in the film monopoly. [One] vicious handbill read, 'Boycott the Movies! Hollywood is the Sodom and Gomorrah!'" What's missing in today's more subtle broadsides against Hollywood is the mention of Jews as the target of abhorrence, but The Pacific Coast Anticommunist Federation of that time had no problem declaring "international Jewry controls vice--dope--gambling. Buy Gentile. Employ Gentile. Vote Gentile."

Birdwell discusses Harry Warner's attempts to counteract the malice by his productions of anti-fascist movies, the most

arresting being his analysis of the film "Sergeant York," starring Gary Cooper as the title hero of World War I--an uneducated Tennessee mountain person who killed more Germans than Vassily Vaitsev but who turned pacifist immediately following the war to end all wars. When Alvin C. York came to his senses in the late thirties, he stumped for intervention. As Warner saw the prospect for waking up the world community to the dangers of Nazism, he convinced a reluctant York to give his permission for a portrayal of his life. "Sergeant York," one of the most influential archetypes of agitprop cinema, emerged. President Roosevelt may have been more affected by the attack on Pearl Harbor than on this movie, but both Harry Warner and Alvin York deserve monuments for their work in splashing cold water on the faces of a largely indifferent America. In the same manner, Birdwell--and the NYU university press, must be commended for its short but thoroughly researched study about the impact of media writ small on politics and American thinking in general... film_critic@compuserve.com

WARNER BROTHERS MOVIES PAVE THE WAY FOR USA WWII ENTRANCE.......2001-01-23

Dr. Michael E. Birdwell of the University Of Tennesse's Center For The Study Of War And Society has authored an interesting, detailed, and scholarly yet readable book about intentional efforts by Hollywood's Warner Brothers Movie Studios to encourage USA entrance into World War II during a pre-war period characterized by massive social and political opposition to war entry by still famous groups such as the Charles Lindbergh led America First group, and also by more than 300 other anti-war entry groups identified by the Roosevelt administration's pro-war FBI in 1938.

Dr. Birdwell explains that the Warner Brothers' effort to encourage hostility to the German government through use of Hollywood movies began in the early thirties, and was particularly the result of the fervor of Harry Warner, the "head" Warner brother, a devout religious Jew who tried without success to purchase Germany's largest movie studio called UFA, producer of famous 1920's German silent classics including THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI and METROPOLIS. As Dr. Birdwell tells the tale, Harry Warner was just about to close the UFA purchase deal when the Nazis came to power in 1933, and stopped German business dealings with Jewish owned and/or dominated companies like Warner Brothers.

Harry Warner became very angry at this rebuff, and began his own personal war with Germany which, Dr. Birdwell argues, resulted importantly in the USA decision to join and support that war, which went on to cost more than half a million American lives.

Anti-war politicians of the 1930's put many roadblocks in Mr. Warner's way, including especially the Neutrality Act of the mid-1930's, which forbade negative characterization of America's then trading partners, in which ranks Germany numbered prominently. This did not deter Mr. Warner whose efforts began with a 1936 Warner Brothers cartoon, and then with a live action movie titled BLACK LEGION about one of the many anti-Black, anti-Jewish political groups active in the 1930's. All seven of the major Hollywood studios of the 1930's were owned and run by American Jews (the Disney studio was not, but was tiney compared to the others, and could not be called a true peer of the "majors" in 1930's Hollywood).

The Harry Warner anti-German campaign included movies such as DR. EHRLICH'S MAGIC BULLET (about the Jewish research scientist who found a cure for venereal disease) and others which celebrated accomplishment by Jews. It also included a series of short subjects, shown in movie houses along with cartoons, etc. to supplement feature films, titled the Old Glory series, which identified Jews prominent in American history, including Chaim Solomon who helped finance the American Revolutionary War, and the Levi family who bought Thomas Jefferson's Monticello mansion, lived in it for almost 100 years, then set up the foundation which still operates and makes tours of Jefferson's home available to the public.

Feature movies of various types were also produced to support the pro-war entry cause, including SERGEANT YORK (about a conscientious objector during WWI who changed his mind and became a winner of the Congressional Medal Of Honor) starring Gary Cooper (who won an Academy Award for his role) and CASABLANCA (about an expatriate American in Morocco who distains politics, but suddenly is converted to the anti-German cause in the last moments of the film) starring Humphrey Bogart (the film won an Academy Award for "best picture," and interestingly includes Conrad Veidt starring as the German villain, "Major Strasse," 20 years after Veight starred in Germany's most famous movie of the 1920's, THE CABINET OF DR. CALIGARI, a UFA production).

Movies which celebrated England and partiotism on England's behalf (such as ROBIN HOOD and THE SEA HAWK, both starring Warner Brothers Australian born movie star, Errol Flynn) were produced to overcome American antipathy, then widely prevalent, for helping England maintain her Empire.

After USA entrance into the war, the efforts of Warner Brothers (and other studios) to support USA war activity continued, and included the participation of a Warner Brothers contract player (in a movie titled THIS IS THE ARMY) who later became the President of the United States, Ronald Reagan.

Dr. Bridwell's book is worth reading. It is an important addition to the literature of books published over the decades, and longer, about the place of propaganda in propagating and encouraging participation in wars, even when those wars are unpopular, as WWII was in the eyes of many Americans before USA entrance into WWII.

Well-researched on an important subject.......1999-05-05

Dr. Birdwell, an authority on popular culture, has written with fascinating insight about the role of Warner Brothers in their efforts to expose the conditions inside Nazi Germany during the years between the wars when no one else was paying much attention.. The book also delineates the viewpoints of two popular heroes, Charles Lindbergh and Sgt. Alvin C. York, and their influence on public opinion. This book is a "must" for those interested in the subtle ways that Hollywood molds our attitudes toward moral and political issues.

The Holocaust in American Film (Judaic Traditions in Literature, Music, and Art)

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The Holocaust in American Film (Judaic Traditions in Literature, Music, and Art)
Judith E. Doneson
Manufacturer: Syracuse University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0815629265

Films of the Holocaust: An Annotated Filmography of Collections in Israel (Garland filmographies)

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Films of the Holocaust: An Annotated Filmography of Collections in Israel (Garland filmographies)
Sheba F. Skirball
Manufacturer: Taylor & Francis
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 082405847X

Live Fast, Love Hard: The Faron Young Story (Music in American Life)

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The Beauty of Truth
One Of The Best Biographies Ever!!! WOW!
Great On Facts, a Bit Short On Music

Live Fast, Love Hard: The Faron Young Story (Music in American Life)
Diane Diekman
Manufacturer: University of Illinois Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0252032489
Release Date: 2007-08-13

Book Description

As one of the best-known honky tonkers to appear in the wake of Hank Williams’s death, Faron Young was a popular presence on Nashville’s music scene for more than four decades. The Singing Sheriff produced a string of Top Ten hits, placed over eighty songs on the country music charts, and founded the long-running country music periodical Music City News in 1963. Flamboyant, impulsive, and generous, he helped and encouraged a new generation of talented songwriter-performers that included Willie Nelson and Bill Anderson. In 2000, four years after his untimely death, Faron was inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

Presenting the first detailed portrayal of this lively and unpredictable country music star, Diane Diekman masterfully draws on extensive interviews with Young’s family, band members, and colleagues. Impeccably researched, Diekman’s narrative also weaves anecdotes from Louisiana Hayride and other old radio shows with ones from Young’s business associates, including Ralph Emery. Her unique insider’s look into Young’s career adds to an understanding of the burgeoning country music entertainment industry during the key years from 1950 to 1980, when the music expanded beyond its original rural roots and blossomed into a national (ultimately, international) enterprise. Echoing Young’s characteristic ability to entertain and surprise fans, Diekman combines an account of his public career with a revealing, intimate portrait of his personal life.

Customer Reviews:

The Beauty of Truth.......2007-09-05

What appeals to me as a reader -- and what I admire about Diane as a writer and biographer -- is that Faron is revealed as a "man in full." Faron possessed a magical voice, a gift for entertaining, an appreciation for his artistic abilities, but he apparently was also possessed by the demons of depression.

Years of research, and a compassionate understanding of the man behind the music, gives readers (and history) a book wherein Diane examines Faron's life and death, never hiding sad truths that sometimes leave a reader reeling, but yet we know she loved and respected the man and his art.

~ Gary

One Of The Best Biographies Ever!!! WOW!.......2007-08-26

This is one of the best biographies I have ever read about anyone. This book is very well-written, as it portrays Faron Young as a person first. Many biographies about musical artists talk way too much about the music, and not enough about the person. Faron Young's music speaks for itself. However, no one has ever known that much about his life, other than that he was a colorful character who sang country music, used salty language and drank too much. Diekman paints a much more detail picture of an outwardly simple, yet internally very complex man. As you read this book, you will feel the tremendous highs and lows that Young went through in his happy yet often painful life. You will also feel the alternating sense of fun and nervous tension that friends and family felt around him. Once I started reading this book, I could not stop. And while I like Faron Young music, I am not what one would consider to be a die-hard fan. This book took me back through Young's life, as well as the lives of those around him. It is also sad to see how such a super talent died so sad and bitter. But after reading this terrific book, I understand why he died as he did. I have read thousands of bios on everyone from John Adams to Patsy Cline. This is definitely in the top three. It is simply WONDERFUL................It reads great, and paints such a illustrative picture of a man who, I thought I knew a little about........but after reading this book, I realize how little I really knew! I'm gonna read it again, and then go out and buy some Faron Young music. BRAVO!

Great On Facts, a Bit Short On Music.......2007-08-24

This book is extremely informative on Faron Young's life, all the way to his horrible death. The writer got to know Faron while he was alive and she did a prodigious amount of research. And she's extremely fair in giving all sides of this complex, troubled performer.

Where the book surprisingly falls a bit short is in conveying the magic of his music. Faron made some great--even iconic--records. As one example, I looked up "Wine Me Up." Diekman recounts that Faron recorded the song and album, but the account is flat: there's no indication of how he hit it out of the ballpark, coming out of nowhere to record what's arguably the greatest drinking record of the '60s. Or "It's Four In The Morning", Faron's last number 1 hit. The writer does not attempt to convey what a great record it was.

That's a small complaint. As someone--Was it Elvis Costello?--said: "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture."
For anybody interested in classic honky tonk country, this is a great book.

Popular Culture and the Shaping of Holocaust Memory in America (Samuel and Althea Stroum Lectures in Jewish Studies)

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Popular Culture and the Shaping of Holocaust Memory in America (Samuel and Althea Stroum Lectures in Jewish Studies)
Alan L. Mintz
Manufacturer: University of Washington Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0295981202

Book Description

The Holocaust took place far from the United States and involved few Americans, yet rather than receding, this event has assumed a greater significance in the American consciousness with the passage of time. In the depths of the 1940s and 1950s, when the term Holocaust as we now use it had not yet been invented, when survivors were silent and stigmatized, and when the destruction of European Jewry did not figure in public discourse, who could have predicted that the Holocaust would move so forcefully to the center of American culture? Yet today the Holocaust has been admitted into the mainstream media and has become the subject of profitable and high-profile film and television projects. Survivors have become sought-after authorities, whose stories are told not only in books but aloud before respectful audiences on special days of remembrance, and vast projects have been undertaken to interview survivors on videotape before their testimony is no longer available. As a window into the process whereby the Holocaust has been appropriated in American culture, Hollywood movies are particularly luminous. Popular Culture and the Shaping of Holocaust Memory in America examines reactions to three films: Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), The Pawnbroker (1965), and Schindler's List (1992), and considers what those reactions reveal about the place of the Holocaust in the American mind, and how those films have shaped the popular perception of the Holocaust. It also considers the difference in the reception of the two earlier films when they first appeared in the sixties and retrospective evaluations of them from closer to our own times. Alan Mintz also addresses the question of how Americans will shape the memory of the Holocaust in the future, concluding with observations on the possibilities and limitations of what is emerging as the major resource for the shaping of Holocaust memory--videotaped survivor testimony. The Holocaust will undoubtedly continue to occupy a place of prominence in the American psyche. Popular Culture and the Shaping of Holocaust Memory in America examines some of the influences behind the broad and deep changes in American consciousness and the social forces that permitted the Holocaust to move from the margins to the center of American discourse.

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Witnesses to the Horror

Shoah
Claude Lanzmann
Manufacturer: Pantheon
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0394551427
Release Date: 1985-10-12

Customer Reviews:

Witnesses to the Horror .......2006-04-25

Lantzman talks with a wide variety of people , including survivors and researchers of the Shoah, but also ordinary Poles even anti-Semites. There may seem a certain incoherence in the presentation but what emerges valuable evidence of the greatest Evil Mankind has ever committed against Man.

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Holocaust Books and Films/0068
Judith Muff
Manufacturer: Anti Defamation League of Bnai
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Very useful

A simple and effective way to learn basic endgame technique

Hone your endgame technique

Excellent!

Make your endgame study fun.

Endgame Challenge
John Hall
Manufacturer: Hays Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Silman's Complete Endgame Course: From Beginner To Master

Mastering the Chess Openings: Unlocking the Mysteries of the Modern Chess Openings, Volume 1

Sharpen Your Tactics

The Ultimate Chess Puzzle Book

Endgame Tactics: A Comprehensive Guide to the Sunny Side of Chess Endgames

ASIN: 1880673983

Book Description

Everything the chess players needs to know about endgames will be found in this book. It contains over 500 examples of all types of endings that the player might encounter. Many endgame books are boring and difficult, but not this one! Each diagram asks the reader to try to solve it, and gives a hint of the answer. Each problem is graded 1)Easy 2) Moderate, or 3) Difficult and the student can keep score of his progress as he goes through the book. A chess player who knows what is in this book will be better than most tournament players in the endgame.

Customer Reviews:

Very useful.......2007-02-15

This is a book that I would recommend to those who want to improve their endgame skills, by learning through a "do it yourself" method.
Not recommended for beginners: to find most of the solutions the reader must deal with some subtleties that require some experience on the game.

A simple and effective way to learn basic endgame technique.......2006-09-15

One of the basic advices is that you should study tactical puzzles repeatedly to improve in chess. I wonder way this advice is not given for other parts in chess, for instance endgame. Hall's "Endgame Challenge!" consists of 451 endgame puzzles. My belief is that by going through these puzzles over and over again, will dramatically improve your endgame understanding. You can buy yourselves an endgame reference book, like Muller and Lambrecht's "Fundamental Chess Endings", but in addition buy Halls puzzle book. When you have reached a rating over 1800, you can start to study "Fundamental Chess Endings more deeply. Until then, use it only as a reference in addition to Hall's "Endgame Challenge!".

Hone your endgame technique.......2006-06-04

This book contains 451 endgame puzzles, grouped together by endgame themes. These themes cover the almost all major subheadings of endgame theory: king and pawn endings, knight and pawn endings, bishop and pawn endings, rook and pawn endings, bishop vs knight endings, rook and minor piece endings, and queen endings. Each section contains about 60 endings, arranged three to a page. Each puzzle is accompanied by a verbal hint and a rating of the complexity of the puzzle - one of easy, moderate, or difficult. Comprehensive solutions to each puzzle are presented at the end of each section.

Through its puzzles, the book is able to convey much of the basic theory of endgame study. Many of the "standard" endgame positions can be found within such as the Philidor position in rook and pawn endings and "Reti's Idea" in king and pawn endings.

Endgame puzzles are a great way to increase ones calculation ability, and this book isn't short on puzzles which require 7 or 8 moves of accurate calculation to reach a favorable outcome.

Studied alone, this book is sure to increase ones endgame understanding. However, I prefer to use it as a supplement book. I'll follow each chapter of endgame theory from a more comprehensive book with a series of puzzles from the equivalent section of this book. In this way, the lessons from the theory book are reinforced through exercises.

Excellent!.......2006-03-05

The endamge is the least studied (and least exciting) parts of the chess game. While the opening and middlegame depend upon a player's style and tactical/strategic considerations, the endgame is usually a matter of technique. It is difficult to read a weighty tome (such as Fine's Basic Endings, or the Encyclopedia of the Endgame) and feel that you are consulting a reference work, not a how-to manual. This guide changes that. Endgame Challange! is excellent for those who learn by doing as opposed to mere study. Hour for hour, using this book is the best investment that you can make in your endgame technique. The problems start out simple, and get very complex. Readers of this work will be greatly rewarded!

Make your endgame study fun........2001-03-27

Most of the Chess world considers the endgame boring. And most of the Chess world never studies it. This book Endgame Challenge can make you an endgame master. Not only with the basic principles, but calculation and visualization too. Endgame problems do just as much as middle game problems do if not more. This fun book will make you work for the answers, but when you find them you'll be pround of yourself and the work you put into them. Find the beauty in the endgame and make the small investment. You'll be happy that you did.

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studies explained in detail
Quality work, butý there are better ways improve endgame!

Endgame Challenge
John Nunn
Manufacturer: Gambit Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1901983838

Customer Reviews:

studies explained in detail.......2005-03-13

Not an explicitly instuctive book, but a detailed explanation of 200 high quality studies. For those who value beauty and tactics in chess.

Quality work, butý there are better ways improve endgame!.......2002-09-24

Content:
Nunn has selected 250 studies, checked them thoroughly using the best chess engines and annotated the positions in great details (approx. 75% of the book is just solutions). Majority of positions look like something that can happen in the real game, however, there are several "weird" looking setups. I consider myself very experienced in practical studies. I believe that solving clever practical study will improve your Endgame knowledge as well as enhance your calculation skills. I have constantly utilized studies in my personal training as well as with my students. I have to admit that the of the number of studies that I tried to solve from Nunn's book, almost all were very challenging and not as entertaining as I would expect.

Quality:
Certainly, this book is very high quality - both presentation and content. Nunn claims to have extensively check every study using the latest and strongest chess software available.

Who will benefit:
Composition/studies aficionado will enjoy this book. Also, extremely high rated player (GM or close strength) who run out of challenging studies to work on.

Overall:
I think that 99% of active players - from beginners through GMs will benefit much more from studying various Endgame books (including some of Nunn's own) then by studying this particular Nunn's book. The reason is that all good endgame books include practical studies and eliminate weird once, while mixing in some important theory. Also solutions are a lot more realistic and involve some strategic planning in addition to pure calculation that is common to studies. Thus you would improve your endgame skills and train calculation skills at once.

When I saw a title "Endgame Challenge" I was expecting a work similar to the book by John Hall with identical name. While not perfect, that book is one of my favorite Endgame exercise books. All of my students own it and utilize it a lot. In addition, you should have a good theory book - works of Fine, Averbach and Alburt (depending on your level) are among my favorite. Also, new book Fundamental Chess Endgames looks very interesting. I would also strongly recommend "Studies" CD from ChessAssistant.

Book Description

Here are 111 instructive, quirky, surprising, and fun tactical chess problems to improve anyone's game, created by renowned chess teacher Bruce Pandolfini. Designed to promote creativity and imaginative play, all the problems are endgame miniatures, with seven or fewer pieces on the board.

· Every solution has two parts, the setup and the requisite tactic, each of which also reveal broader lessons on general game play
· Points are awarded with each solution, so players can track their progress as they work through the book
· Answer pages offer descriptions and explanations of the winning procedure employed
· Problems are organized thematically, to reinforce the lessons they impart

Customer Reviews:

A book with both good and bad points.......2007-08-03

This book's strong point is that it contains 111 chess puzzles for you to solve. This book's weak point is that it also contains a great deal of Mr. Pandolfini's inaccurate, facile writing, which cheapens everything it touches. Had he just collected 111 tactical puzzles and presented them without a word of his own, it would have been a much better book.

For example, consider his definition of Zugzwang: "You are IN ZUGZWANG if every move you could make would lose, either immeditelly or eventually". So by this "definition", when you lose your queen to a knight fork, you are "in Zugzwang" since being a queen down means you will lose "immediatelly or eventually". Pandolfini confuses Zugzwang with having a lost position.

Even the title is inaccurate. When one studies an endgame, it usually means to study how to convert a positional advantage one side has (active king or bishop, outside passed pawn, rook on the 7th rank, etc.) into a more immediate winning advantage, e.g., by queening a pawn. The problem is that many of Pandolfini's examples have nothing to do with this, and are mere tactical excercises that just happen to take place in *the* endgame--that is, in a position when most material has been exchanged.

Or consider Pandolfini's vacuous praise for those who manage to solve the puzzles. An equivalent of a 1800 rating (400 points, in the books point system) is considered "exceptional", and that of 1600 "excellent". Well, that is roughly my rating, and if *I* am an "exceptional" and "excellent" chess player, the chess world is in dire shape indeed. Even achieving the equivalent of a 1000 rating--meaning, in practice, only missing mate in one half the time--is praised by Pandolfini as "not bad". I wonder who Pandolifini considers a *bad* player.

If you must have this book, read it for the puzzles. Just ignore Pandolfini's writing around them.

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Challenges In The Endgame
Robert Brieger
Manufacturer: Chess Digest
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Book Description

Today's world is all about convenience. Supercenters are popping up every day, selling everything from toothbrushes to clothing and from milk to tires for your car. Even software programs are sold in "supercenter" type packages, or "suites." That is why Sams Publishing has printed Sams Teach Yourself Adobe Creative Suite All in One, your one-stop-shop for learning the Adobe creative suite of programs. Learn to create professional graphics and designs with Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat, GoLive and InDesign through this all-inclusive reference guide. This book is sure to answer all of your current and future questions as you move towards software proficiency with each of these programs. Get up to speed quickly and easily with Sams Teach Yourself Adobe Creative Suite All in One.

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Customer Reviews:

Disappointed.......2007-06-21

I've never left a review before although I've been a long-time amazon customer. I felt compelled to leave one for this product.

It is more of a reference that reviews the features of the software, not an instructional guide.

I bought this along with the Teach Yourself Flash 8. The Flash book covers "Try it Yourself" tasks, exercises and tips.

I was so disappointed I threw the book away - something I rarely do. Adobe's Classroom in a Book is much better for someone trying to learn Adobe.

A brief overview of the CS2.......2007-03-05

This book is ok. It didn't go into much detail per application, but you can't expect to learn everything about all of the CS2 products in one book. For me, having this book in addition to one or two books covering individual applications I use most (GoLive or InDesign for example) is a good mix.

5 Stars no Doubt.......2006-12-05

Thank you Mordy Golding for making this Huge package from adobe so easy, This Book is a "Must Read", there is nothing left to discuss after reading the book, every Question you have ever thought off regarding the suite and those many applications is covered in detail.

i read the book in 4 days, the minute i wake up i go stright to where i fell asleep reading last night, it was a joy.

Photoshop CS2, Illustraitor CS2, Indesign CS2, GoLive CS2, Acrobat Professional, etc.. are all covered, and what i really like about that is you know what to use and how to use it for a certain task, i used to do everything in Photoshop, i was wrong!

Now, i am able to use every application in the suite to accomplish stunning results, you cant go Wrong buying this book, youll wish you never get to page 744.

Thanks again Mordy Golding

Excellent choice for newcomers to Adobe products.......2005-09-19

If you always wanted to know more about Adobe amazing applications but were afraid to ask your geek friends, this is the book you were waiting for. It doesn't go deep into every possibilities those programs can achieve - after all it covers the entire Creative Suite package! - but it's absolutely perfect for Adobe newbies who need to be introduced to that awesome world of digital imaging, website design and desktop publishing. Mordy Gording's sense of humor is another asset. Must have!

The Suite explained.......2004-10-05

Someone had to do it, and it's Mordy Golding, one of the few people suited for the task. Educator, author, consultant, and guru, Golding has written the first decent all-in-one Creative Suite book. Although there are other books, none probably have the scope and breadth of this one.
Adobe Creative Suite All in One is divided into three parts:
The first deals with the Suite as a whole and discusses the creative process and how this unified set of tools can be a complete solution for multipurpose design.
The second section explains the applications, giving each about 100 pages to describe the basic functions and review the programs' capabilities.
The last part applies the knowledge to several projects, all centered around an imaginary business, outlining how to use the applications to create a corporate identity, a brochure, an ad campaign, Web banners, Web pages, and a business presentation. There's also an appendix that covers getting your work to a printer.
The section on Version Cue is perhaps the most extensive review of this small utility, while the InDesign section is perhaps the lightest section of the book. It is a formidable task to write such a book, making it relevant and informative, while not just rewriting the manuals. Mordy Golding has stepped up to the task, and done a smashing job. I highly recommend this book.
PC Graphics Report

Sams Teach Yourself Adobe Creative Suite 3 All in One (Sams Teach Yourself)

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Sams Teach Yourself Adobe Creative Suite 3 All in One (Sams Teach Yourself)
Mordy Golding , and John Ray
Manufacturer: Sams
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 0672329344

Book Description

In just a short time you can learn how to use all the components of Adobe Creative Suite 3 (Design Premium Edition) to design, create, and edit graphics, publications, and web pages of all kinds–everything from simple brochures to entire integrated ad campaigns.

Using a straightforward, step-by-step approach, each lesson in this book builds on the previous ones, enabling you to learn the essentials of Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Flash, Dreamweaver, Acrobat, and Bridge from the ground up.

“This book should be required reading for every introductory digital graphics course. Mordy has packed this book with great information for folks at all levels of expertise!”

– Sharon Steuer, author of The Illustrator CS3 Wow! Book

Mordy Golding has played an active role in the design and publishing environment since 1990. He worked at Adobe as the product manager for Adobe Illustrator and is currently a consultant and trainer specializing in Adobe Creative Suite. A production artist for both print and the Web for many years, he is an Adobe Certified Expert and Adobe Certified Print Specialist.

John Ray is a senior business analyst and developer for The Ohio State University Research Foundation. He provides custom network, security, and programming solutions for clients across the country, including the National Regulatory Research Institute and the Brevard Metropolitan Planning Organization in Florida.

Learn how to…

Choose the ideal Creative Suite 3 application for the job
Make accurate selections
Manage complex compositions with layers
Apply filters, effects, and transformations
Control color and type precisely
Manipulate vector objects
Paint, draw, and animate objects
Prepare images for use on the Web
Create websites
Display and print your work anywhere–exactly as designed
Design brochures
Develop an entire integrated ad campaign

Category: Graphics/Web Design

Covers: Adobe Creative Suite 3 Design Premium Edition–Adobe Bridge CS3, Photoshop CS3, Illustrator CS3, InDesign CS3, Flash CS3 Professional, Dreamweaver CS3, Acrobat 8 Professional

User Level: Beginning—Intermediate

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