Laetrice Eiseman certainly hit on some common questions and answered them very well. This book should be read in conjunction with her other books, especially "Colors For Your Every Mood". These books are complementary.

I can't seem to get into her Color Word Association Quiz, which she has also used in another book. I like all the colors depending on context. Maybe it just isn't relevant to me yet or I'm too left-brained. It's a great concept if it works for you.

I use the Pantone Textile System for interior design. Homeowners should buy the vastly cheaper consumer version at http://www.therightcolor.com. Latrice's books are grounded in the Pantone systems and you will find her book more relevant if you make a small investment in the full color guide.

- jim

As a book by a high-end designer about her work this is a fantastic peak into her inner design thoughts. For the huddled masses who will never be able to afford such designs there is excellent general guidance in the extensive list of questions in the last section. As with almost all design books, there is no direct help with designing for a modest home. That is partly because the interior design profession, by its own admission, only reaches about 4% of their potential market, and that 4% rarely includes modest homes.

However, if you have the imagination and creativity required for interior design then this book will stimulate ideas for modest homes. If you don't have artistic talent then buy the book, hire a qualified designer, and point them to the photos you like. Most of the effects presented by Clodagh can be done inexpensively. You don't need to order a $17,000 couch to have a living room that fits your desired mood.

- jim

This book is a quick read and packed with creative ideas for the homeowner and interior design students. It is not an indepth study of lighting but more of a useful handbook. The organization of the information by room brings the reader right to the point without a lot of information clutter.

I would also recommend this book to computer graphic artists who want the basics of residential lighting for their projects.

- jim

Over the past couple of months I've read a small pile of computer graphics books from the "Inspired" and New Riders [digital] series and others. I would put 3D design in the position of being one of the first practial how-to books a beginner should work with. Each section is clearly laid out, doesn't confuse with too much detail, and helps you gently step into CG. This book will get you oriented and everything after this will just be deeper studies in specific areas.

I've now read through a small pile of CG books and I found that my self-studies would not have been complete without Parrish's excellent book. I wish I discovered it earlier when I first started struggling with 3D modeling and rendering software. I would recommend this as the first book a beginner in computer graphics should read; but also worth reading if you are a bit farther down the road.

I'm new at computer graphics and this book gives me the start that I found no where else. While I say this book is definately a buy if you want to make great textures, there have been a few places where I wish it was more informative for the newbie. I'm having trouble grasping all these "maps" and what they are. Nothing in the index on maps so I hunted around. There are explanations, but still nothing about what most of the maps physcially are or how to create some of them. Computer graphics is complex with its own lingo so expect, even with this book, to have a steep learning curve. I can't imagine how steep the learning curve would be without this book!

- jim

I have the book and it fits a nice niche in my AS library. I also have MX books: ASDG2, the Friends of ED "ActionScript Reference", and Joey Lott's "Complete Flash Remoting MX" as my reference library. Of course I have tutorial books such as "OOP with AS" by Hall and Wan and a variety of earlier MX books by Macromedia. There is some overlap of course, but often the different perspectives on the problem and solution can be enlightening. "AS Cookbook" gets to the point a little faster than other books I have or seen. Joey has been great about helping out in the newsgroups and forums and I'm sure that is where he developed much of his material.

- jim
Santa Clara, CA

I fought Prop 13 in California and predicted the demise of the once number 1 California school system. It is now rated number 49 by most metrics. I fought against the Reagan FTC efforts to gut the accounting profession and lost. We now have Enron, Worldcom, etc. - exactly as predicted.

Fareed weaves these and hundreds of other issues into a fine tapestry of intellectual composition that clearly points to a threat to our liberty. Yes, liberty and democracy are not the same. As was discovered long ago in a few city-states in Greece, democracy can crush liberty. We are re-discovering that in California with the recall as I write this. Not just a recall, but two emotional propositions are included on the ballot. We are taught that democracy is all-good. Pure democracy, which my native California is flirting with, is not good for anyone but lobbyists - and that limits our liberty. Fareed gets it like the founding fathers of the US did.

OK, most people reading this could care less, but Fareed brings in some of my favorite historians and political thinkers from the 60's. How he ever found guys like Richard Hofstetter I'll never know. His research is thorough. His thoughts are complete. Now, if we could just get fellow intellectual Kissinger to understand what happend in Nam...

One more point. I had an office in the Soviet Union and was involved with the State Privatization Committee and the Central Bank of Russia to a minor extent. I emplored the powers to be not to privatize so fast and to forget democracy for years. My advice then is exactly what Fareed proposes for Iraq and the Middle East. I was quickly eclipsed by the Harvard boys such as Jeffrey Sacks and USAID consultants who wanted democracy immediately. Russia will suffer for a long time for developing backwards to the processes that Fareed so clearly states. This book is a must read for anyone interested in local, national, or international politics. Keep it by your bed with the Federalist Papers :-)

- jim preston
Former organizer - United Farmworkers Organizing Committee
Former leader in the Draft Resistance.
CPA, entrepreneur, businessman.

Ms. Saeks did a reasonable job, but the book is close to worthless if you want to design your house in a recognizable California Wine Country style. Katya and I suggest developing a color palette from the book, but after tens of hours of studying it we can not determine a quantifiable style. Consider this book as a raw first start; a survey of modest importance. The interiors are all over the map. The only commonality is their location in California. Worth buying - yes, but only to understand the diversity possible. Is a more serious study necessary - yes. California wine country is a combination of Tuscan, Provencal, and Spanish Colonial/Early California, with Asian influences. Themes and moods vary. Pretty much freestyle designing. However, certain rules will give you a recognizable style. We're working on it.

- Jim and Katya Preston

Unlike most interior design idea books, this book actually has a fair number of interiors that are relevant to normal size homes and rooms. I would say that about half this book is useful for homes that aren't mansions. This is unusual, because most design books only have a few plates that are relevant to anything less than a Hearst manion. Definately a buy.

- jim and katya preston