...three more books in the category "voted least likely to appear in a compilation of 1,000,005 books recommended by everyone and read by noone as found at your local bookstore".
Woman With Violin: The Autobiography of Ida Haendel (1970)
In my opinion, Ida Haendel is among the very best violinists ever to grace a stage. A Polish-born child prodigy, she won the 1st Wieniawsky competition in Warsaw at age 12 in 1935, before getting rave reviews at age 14 of her soloist performance in the Brahms concerto under Sir Henry Wood's direction in London. Ida Haendel became a naturalized British subject in 1940, and has remained so ever since. Her stunning virtuosity and mature musicianship led to Jean Sibelius composing a piece for her specifically. Suffice it to say that if you ever come across a record with Ida Haendel as a performer - buy it. For example - in one of the rare recordings ever made with legendary Rumenian director George Enescu ("listening to a record is like making love to a cardboard cutout"), Ida Haendel was again the director's first and only choice as soloist. Woman With Violin is a fascinating insight into Ida Haendel's development as a musician and as a person. First as a child prodigy, and then beyond to the level of Kreisler himself. It's definitely a book worth reading again and again if you're at all interested in (classical) music.
Ender's Game, by Orson Scott Card (1982)
Perhaps THE best science fiction book I've ever read. Excellent story, and the rest of the series (both the "Ender Quartet" and the shadow saga) is warmly recommended as well. Granted, the rest of the series lacks the effortless flow of Ender's Game, but still worth reading. What else is there to say....
J. Robert Oppenheimer: Shatterer Of Worlds, by Peter Goodchild (1985)
Excellent biography about one of the truly great scientific minds of the 2oth century - and also the recipient of one of the most thorough screw jobs courtesy of Joseph "Communist Inquisitor Extraordinaire" McCarthy following his denouncement of nuclear weapons post WWII. The man deserves a better legacy than "Father of the atomic bomb".
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A bit late, but here are three books that should be interesting for a wide and diverse crowd of people:
Bob Brozman - The History and Artistry of National Resonator Instruments
An illustrated history of all almost anything put out by the old National Company in the period 1927-1942 that had one or more cones in them. We are, of course, talking about the National guitar, those shiny old guitars made famous by people like Mark Knopfler, Chris Whitley, John Hammond Jr. and many more. The book is loaded with information about the company, the instruments, which include the most comprehensive serial no. listing available today. Instruments discussed ranges from ukuleles to mando's and guitars. The picture section shows the instruments in their full glory, from the high end chromed tricones to the cheap'n'funky Duolians and Triolians. A real study in art deco.
Billy F Gibbons: Rock + Roll Gearhead
An extensive presentation of the music of the legendary ZZ Top front man and his waste collection of cars and guitars. Of course, there is a hidden point about ego trip in there somewhere, but who cares, with an extremely Gibbons vibe, both in the visuals and written word, this is just pure fun to read!
However, if you for some reason do not like custom cars, this book might be the thing for you:
Yasuhiko Iwanade - The Beauty of the 'Burst
The Gibson Les Paul produced from 1958 to 1960 has become the ultimate collectible guitar, with their highly flamed maple top in sunburst finish. Even if you don't like to read, this is the book for you, since its 90% pictures. But those Les Paul tops are just stunning, and two of the infamous Billy F Gibbons guitars are pictured here, among them the legendary Pearly Gates.
It's been quiet here lately. Where are the highly controversial new posts, like "Evaluating Art. Part Quattro - Actors gone politicans", "Eurovision Song Contest: Hidden Musical Gem or Undercover Gay Festival?" or "Old School - Hopelessly Outdated or the new retro?"
Cool - have you checked out any of the books about Fender guitars? Have wondered about whether or not they're worth having. You can find books with galleries of custom shop guitars from NAMM and such, but it's not the same.
More seasoned (preferably competent AND famous) guitar players ought to publish books like the one by Rev. Billy G.
Hmmm......shiny Nationals, eh? That's funny - yours appear to have more of a "oxidation" hue if you catch my drift. Have you heard teh rumors about big rock acts having large empty Marshall cabinets for the look/image and all sound coming from small Mesa/Boogie amplifiers in the back? I personally think that Mark Knopfler's guitars are Fenders with some aluminum foil wrapped around them - how else would he sound that good (excluding use of Ibanez, Jackson, BC Rich, Tom Anderson or ESP guitars)?
Controversial posts? I wanted to make a post called "Confessions from a PC Thug" after reading some posts on several politically oriented blogs I clicked my way to - no more than two-three clicks away from this blog. Somehow I opted against it, though, seeing as how potential debates of this nature get really old, really fast. Especially over the internet, and even more especially because people who are active members of political organizations tend to lack a sense of humor when said humor is not directed against their political opponents.
More nonsense is sure to come, though. And closer to the election, maybe I'll break my self-imposed rule of not inviting political discussion on my blog.
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