California The Beautiful Download Free (EPUB, PDF)
As America stands to the rest of the world, so stands California to America - a shining promise of endless possibility. This exquisite celebration of the Golden State has been updated with a new introduction, new cover design, and an enlarged size to suit the grandeur of its subject. California the Beautiful is both a portrait of the state's diverse natural beauty and, through the incredible voices of its writers, a testament to the ever-renewing spirit that it has come to embody. Aldous Huxley, British author turned Hollywood resident, described the California dream as "this great crystal of light, whose base is as large as Europe and whose height for all practical purposes, is infinite." Among the other authors offering praise are Maya Angelou, Mary Austin, Ray Bradbury, Joan Didion, Gretel Ehrlich, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, M.F.K Fisher, Robertson Jeffers, Jack Kerouac, Clarence King, Jack London, Henry Miller, John Muir, William Saroyan, April Smith, John Steinbeck, Robert Louis Stevenson, Mark Twain, Nathanael West, and Walt Whitman.Land of innovation and opportunity, California is both dream and reality. California the Beautiful is a gift for all who have felt the lure of this dual promise and who have marveled at the unrivaled beauty of this quintessentially American land.
Hardcover: 160 pages
Publisher: Welcome Books; 2nd eidtion first printing edition (October 20, 2009)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 159962074X
ISBN-13: 978-1599620749
Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 0.7 x 7.6 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #136,032 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #83 in Books > Travel > Pictorial #115 in Books > Arts & Photography > Photography & Video > Travel #343 in Books > Reference > Writing, Research & Publishing Guides > Writing > Travel
The other review for this little book is flat out wrong, so I'll give mine. The photographs are why you want this. Galen Rowell is in my opinion one of the best nature photographers of the last century, and he knew California. He also knew how to show very clearly the feel of the state; you don't just get the visual image in his photos, you get a different emotion from each one. Every picture is amazing in its own way. The text isn't as stunning, but fits well, and the layout and typography are fitting to the photographs. I highly reccomend this for any coffee table or for any lover of California or photography or things of beauty.
I purchased a number of these books as "thank you" gifts for various friends we are going to visit in Europe. I was so excited about finding a picture book on California, I didn't read the description thoroughly -- note that the books are only about 7"x7". Even so, their small size makes them perfect to carry in a suitcase. The pictures are quite nice and, even though the coloring is enhanced a bit, they truly show how beautiful California can be. My ONLY complaint with these books is that the price is printed on the back of the dust jacket! This means that if you're giving them as a gift, there's no way to cover up how much you paid (or could have paid) for the book. (I guess I can come up with a cute stick-on label ... )
The photography is beautiful.The book catalogues the best of California through pictures. We take this book with us on our trips through out the state as part of our guide and potential itinerary. It makes every trip, a trip to a beautiful location.A great coffee table book.
This is a nice book, but I do have to say it was a bit smaller than I figured it would be considering that it was called a coffee table book. Usually coffee table books are larger. But overall it is a very nice book and has some great pictures in it.
Bought this for a house-bound friend who like to hike until his health prohibited it. Both he and myself found the pictures of California to be, truly beautiful. Printed on high quality glossy paper with excellent images.
This compact size coffee table book with outstanding photography by Galen Rowell makes a great souvenir for visitors to beautiful California. The diversity of this great state is depicted in all its spectacular beauty from the desert to the majestic mountain peaks; from minute wildflowers to the towering redwoods. Prose and verse from famous & not-so-famous Californians & visitors add pleasant reading which accompany the lovely images.
This book is well worth buying, but not for Galen Rowell's photographs (as they are "printed" here)...the text is actually more indicative of the power of California's beauty and meaning.Rowell's use of super-saturated colors, whether accomplished with filters or digital editing, only serves to show just how MORE beautiful these scenes, at these times of day, are in reality!Subtle was not in Galen's vocabulary, apparently, yet the beauty of nature is often extraordinary AND subtle. I guess my thought really is that Galen Rowell and his 35 mm cameras, found amazing sights (and sites), and took their picture(s), but the essence of many of those sights, he lost because he wanted them to be even more "perfect" than they "really are".Trust us, Galen, they're even more perfect without all the color saturation effects....
Again I was a little disappointed with the book. Wonderful pictures but this time it was totally my fault. When I placed the order I thought it was a calendar. I will donate the book to our local library.
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