Welcome to the Bitchen Industries Online Bookstore, in association with Amazon.com. This is an excellent opportunity for you to pick from a wide range of books sharing our interests at really good prices.
Amazon has a great service offering millions of books, but they don't have the ability to review every book they carry. That's where we come in, particularly in the subject areas on this site. We currently feature 75 titles, with reviews for each book. Watch this space for more titles as we go.
How it works -- Read our reviews and simply click on the links below for the books you want, and Amazon will do the rest. They will process your order, bill your credit card, fill the order, and ship it, just as if you ordered the book directly from them. The only difference is that we get a commission for the books sold, which will allow us to keep our site going, and donate a small portion of the proceeds to charity.
Use the Amazon search engine below:
Or, you can just jump directly to the main Amazon page from here.
What we're offering -- Basically, we're listing books from the subjects we're interested in: political areas like drug policy reform and civil rights, art and graphic design, beer and homebrewing, graphic novels, humor, and other areas. If you have a favorite book in any of these topics you think should be on this list, let us know, and we'll add it immediately.
Note: pricing information is available when you click through. While we do our best to accurately list discounts on all books, any pricing or discount information listed on this site is superceded by Amazon's current price and discount level.
Last Modified: 21 May 1998 Comments? Suggestions?
Watch this space for new additions and new reviews.
20 May 1998 -- New Sci-Fi section; 20 November -- 7 new titles (75) 07 November -- 8 more titles on Drug Policy and Freedom (68) 06 November -- Added new Graphic Novels section, with 43 new books. Also 2 more Drug Policy titles. (60) 26 September 1997 -- Added Beer and Brewing and Weird History sections. (15 books now) 21September 1997 -- Initial launch of the site.
Real World Scanning and Halftones David Blatner and Steve Roth
An extensive practical guide on the subject of scanning and halftoning. If you've ever been confused at the distinction between dpi and lpi, or have gotten less-than-satisfactory output from scanned photos, this book will be a great help.
Not tied to any particular operating system or software, this book describes how to choose scanning resolution, how to prevent banding, moire patterns and other problems, and how to correct your images using filters.
Very specialized topic, but a thorough treatment. Well worth the cost if you do a lot of scanning or prepress work.
ISBN 1-56609-093-8 296 pages, Peachpit Press
Order in Paperback(20% off list)
Basic Pose 1152 : Volume 1 : 1152 Yuko Nakajima
This Japanese book of reference photographs is somewhat on the pricy side, but is particularly valuable in that the (all female) models are not only photographed from several angles, but are also photographed in the same poses while nude, in lingerie, schoolgirl uniforms, business clothes, and casual clothes. If you flip adjacent pages, starting from the back, it's sort of like X-Ray specs.
Certainly you need a book like this if you plan to do anime -- the requisite schoolgirl poses are there, after all, but what I find valuable about this book is that it teaches you how different types of clothing drape on the human form.
This book is one of a series of similar books, some of which you can probably find at better art stores, but usually at list price. Those books which are discounted here are a pretty good deal.
Note that most all the text in the books, with the exception of headings, is written in Japanese.
162 pages Books Nippan Order in Paperback (currently backordered)
Couples 1: Basic Pose 891 (Couples, Volume 1) Hisashi Eguchi
Another in the Books Nippan series of artist reference books, this one with couples.
Not yet reviewed.
160 pages Books Nippan
Order in Paperback (save 20%)
Couples 2: Daily Pose 437 Hisashi Eguchi
Second volume of couples poses. Not yet reviewed.
Daily Pose 1007 Hisashi Eguchi
This reference book includes female models in everyday poses: brushing teeth, dressing, putting on makeup, reading the paper, phoning, wordprocessing, at dinner, dancing, changing clothes, and bathing. In each case, the models are shown wearing one or two types of appropriate attire -- no nude karaoke, thankfully. Attire includes business wear, pajamas, lingerie, school uniform, casual wear, jeans, nothing, and (in one of those unfortunate translation gaffes -- it's listed as "undress") sundress.
Once again, there's an interesting looking forward, all in Japanese, with examples of these poses adapted to make finished art. Kind of pricy, so the Amazon discount's a great deal.
167 pages Bijustu Shuppan-Sha Order in Paperback (save 20%)
Moving Pose 1223 Hisashi Eguchi
Contains more dynamic poses. All female models. Not yet reviewed.
160 Pages Books Nippan Order in Paperback
Perspective for Comic Book Artists How to achieve a professional look in your artwork David Chelsea
Artist David Chelsea has put together a great guide to the principles of perspective in drawing. Written in a comic-strip format inspired by Understanding Comics, David presents what he calls "the first user-friendly book on Perspective." The plot here isn't particularly harrowing -- David's friend Mugg, who sort of looks like a realistic Too Much Coffee Man, is having problems getting his superhero slugfests to come out right. And no wonder -- his perspective is all wrong. Enter David to save the day with example after example of the techniques of constructing one-point, two-point and three point perspectives, and short cuts to "fake" perspective.
Very nicely illustrated, with lots of elaborate examples, and a great testament to Chelsea's ability to use his visual gifts to teach a complex subject.
176 Pages Watson-Guptill Order in Paperback and save 20%
The New Complete Joy of Home Brewing Charlie Papazian
This wasn't the first book I ever read about home brewing, but it remains the best as an overall treatment of the subject. Papazian's information is well-organized, and more up to date than other books, which often include old methods, and underemphasise the importance of sanitation. This new edition includes more up-to-date info, and an index, a big shortcoming of the original edition.
Papazian's approach to brewing is laid-back -- he coined the phrase "Relax, Don't worry, have a homebrew." He's right -- brewing isn't that complicated, and is a lot more fun when you aren't obsessing over every step. With a few simple precautions, you can insure that your beer will be just so much better than most commercial stuff.
The book has plenty of advice for beginners and experienced brewers alike, along with a lot of recipes. Just don't be put off by the recipe names like "Toad Spit Stout" and "Goat Scrotum Ale."
Order in Paperback (30% off list)
The Home Brewer's Companion Charlie Papazian
Papazian's second book on homebrewing. Not as whimsical as Complete Joy; actually, it's a bit more reflective. Between the lines lies a deep appreciation for the transformative qualities of beer and good dining. Papazian, trained as a physicist, stumbled onto the path of homebrew guru many years ago, and in between the pile of new recipes and new technical information, you get the feeling that this journey has changed him. Also, the state of the homebrewing art has changed dramatically since the first book -- new products and techniques are making homebrewing even more accessible and sophisticated.
If you think you've read it all about brewing, perhaps you do need this book, as it will reconnect you with some of the magic surrounding good food and drink.
Order in Paperback (20% off list)
The New World Guide to Beer Michael Jackson
Michael Jackson is perhaps the best-known writer on beer and brewing, and justifiably so. This new edition of his classic, the World Guide to Beer, is an extensive journey to the beer-brewing regions of the world. The best part of Jackson's talent is his descriptions of the brews he samples; you can almost smell and taste the beers he describes.
Lavishly illustrated with photographs and label art. A coffee table book for those who would rather have a Guinness.
Order in Hardcover (30% off list)
The Case for Legalizing Drugs Richard Lawrence Miller
Historian Richard Lawrence Miller has assembled a remarkable discussion of modern drug policy with this book.
Miller asks the obvious questions about drug abuse and its effects: What do drugs do to users? What do drug users do to themselves? What do drug users do to others? Who is the drug problem? What are the myths surrounding drug abuse? What are the experiences with legalization?
In each case, he persuasively argues that our current approach to solving the problems of drug abuse is making the problem worse; that illegal drugs are no more harmful than many legal ones, that the subculture and illicit market which surrounds these substances makes them far more dangerous, and that Prohibition of drugs has corrupted our legal system.
An indispensible book for anyone concerned with drug policy, with over 75 pages of bibliographic references alone.
ISBN 0-275-93459-4 Praeger
Order in Hardcover(30% off list)
The Emperor Wears No Clothes Jack Herer
Jack Herer's book is the starting point for the modern hemp legalization movement. He examines the history of the hemp plant in agriculture from ancient times, and examines the reasons behind its prohibition.
Be forewarned -- there's a touch of the conspiracy theory in these pages; along with his well-documented claims of racism as a motivating factor in hemp prohibition are less-substantiated claims about DuPont and William Randolph Hearst suppressing hemp to protect their forestry and chemical interests. Whether a conscious plot, or an unfortunate combination of unrelated events, the fact remains that hemp was removed from American life at just the point where it was poised to become a billion-dollar agricultural industry. New machinery which would allow economical harvesting of hemp for the first time in American history and the discovery of Nylon came at about the same time, and statements from the DuPont shareholders' reports of the time indicate that they were at least aware of the impact hemp prohibition would have on their sales.
Whatever the real reasons for making hemp illegal, there is certainly a large body of evidence that the plant would be an extremely useful addition to American agriculture, and Herer perhaps goes a little overboard in this direction, too. Hemp can be used for fabric, fuel, paints, food, and paper. Whether it can save the world is debatable, but there is clearly much more to Cannabis Sativa than marijuana, and there appear many substantial economic and environmental benefits to relegalizing agricultural hemp.
Includes chilling testimony from the Congressional Hearings which made marijuana illegal, as well as a number of clippings from newspaper articles of the time.
ISBN 1-878125-00-1 Queen of Clubs Publishing Order in Paperback
LSD: My Problem Child Reflections on Sacred Drugs, Mysticism and Science Albert Hofmann
Autobiography of Swiss chemist Dr. Albert Hofmann, discoverer of LSD. Dr. Hofmann's research into ergot by-products at Sandoz Laboratories led to his discovery of the psychedelic LSD-25.
Hofmann's account helps to diffuse the hysteria surrounding LSD -- he describes exactly his experiences while self-administering the drug during his research, and his subsequent explorations into the history of use of natural psychedelics in religious rituals. Sandoz did market the drug for use in psychiatric treatment under the trade name Delysid.
The title of this book suggests Hofmann's ambivalence about his discovery. On the one hand, the discovery of LSD has opened new frontiers connecting science and mystical experience; on the other hand, the culture of recreational drug use which popped up around such famous LSD experimenters as Dr. Timothy Leary greatly troubled Hofmann, who beleived the drug was best administered under careful supervision, lest it be abused.
ISBN 0-87477-256-7 St. Martin's Press, New York
Out of print/hard to find -- Click here for Amazon to find the book for you
Marihuana: The Forbidden Medicine Lester Grinspoon, M.D., and James B. Bakalar
A timely book from Lester Grinspoon, associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
The bulk of this book consists of anecdotes from patients using medical marijuana to treat their symptoms. In each case, the use of medical marijuana has been a last resort, when conventional treatments have failed. In most cases, the invasive treatments and inconveniences suffered by these patients on the road to treatment are nothing short of shameful.
While much has been said about the lack of non-anecdotal evidence of marijuana's effectiveness in treating disease, this book suggests that we can do no less than to start earnestly researching the question as soon as possible.
1995, Yale University Press, New Haven and London
Order in Paperback
With all the controversy surrounding this issue, and in the aftermath of California's Prop. 215 legalizing Med MJ, a revised edition is due in Sep. 97.
Order in Paperback(new edition available Sep. 97) Order in Hardcover (new edition available Sep. 97)
Marihuana Reconsidered Lester Grinspoon, M.D.
Dr. Grinspoon's earlier work on medical use of marijuana. More detailed review to come.
Our Right to Drugs The case for a free market Thomas Szasz
Szasz, professor of Psychiatry at SUNY Syracuse, is well-known as a rabble-rouser when it comes to issues of psychiatry, addiction, and mental illness.
This book sets the War on Drugs in its sights, and he brings along a great deal of historical ammunition. Until 1914, most drugs were readily available over the counter, including opiates and cocaine. Contrary to the effects of today's illegal market, abuse of these substances was relatively contained, and generally limited to middle-class housewives.
Contrast this with the situation 80 years later. Szasz does that, but also talks about the ideas behind drug laws. Mired in racism and class paternalism, prohibitionary policies are doomed
to fail, and are instead the cause of increased crime. Szasz advocates deregulating most all classes of drugs, including most prescription drugs, which would dramatically lower medical costs, and give people greater power and privacy in their own care.
Order in Hardcover(save 30%) Order in Paperback (save 20%)
Diseasing of America : How We Allowed Recovery Zealots and the Treatment Industry to Convince Us We Are Out of Control Stanton Peele
Challenges the "disease model" of addiction theory, and suggests we take a more rational approach to dealing with addiction with emphasis on responsibility and realistic goal-setting.
Discusses how the disease model has so ingrained the treatment industry that people are being sentenced for compulsary treatments regardless of their real situation. This model of "it's not my fault -- I have a disease" has spilled all over our society, to the point where PMS is considered a defense for murder, etc. The corollary -- "if I take another drink, I'll be unable to control myself" also becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy; if you judge the outcome of addiction treatment against the standard of total abstinance, most treatments fail.
In reality, the outcomes of people entering substance abuse treatment are statistically no better than those who do nothing. This fact alone makes the conventional wisdom of forcing people to undergo AA-type treatments suspect. Addiction progresses differently in different people, but it appears that a significant number of people improve as they mature, or as they are removed from stressful circumstances surrounding their addiction. The relapse rate of heroin-addicted Vietnam Vets is actually very low, for example, because of the difference in setting.
An interesting take on the issues of treatment, one that suggests that one size does not fit all in drug treatment, and that we provide treatment options based on coping skills and self-empowerment.
Paperback
Marijuana Myths, Marijuana Facts A Review Of The Scientific Evidence Lynn Zimmer, John P. Morgan
A new book refuting the most-commonly beleived myths about marijuana. Not yet reviewed.
Paperback, 264 pages. Lindesmith Center
Drug Warriors and Their Prey From Police Power to Police State Richard Lawrence Miller
New from the author of The Case for Legalizing Drugs. Not yet reviewed.
Order in Hardcover
Smoke and Mirrors The War on Drugs and the Politics of Failure Dan Baum, Roger Donald (Editor)
Order in Hardcover Order in paperback
Ain't Nobody's Business If You Do The Absurdity of Consensual Crimes in a Free Society Peter McWilliams
An ambitious tome of over 700 pages examining the issue of consensual (aka "victimless") crimes such as drug use, prostitution, gambling, etc. McWilliams, author of such books as Life 101, Do It!, and The Personal Computer Book, has a breezy, entertaining writing style, and the book contains a pithy quote from someone famous on nearly every page, as well as a wide range of entertaining illustrations.
Persuasive arguments abound -- we'd be better off as a society if we minded our own business about consensual crime, most consensual crime laws are very selectively enforced, and there simply isn't a moral justification for protecting people from themselves.
Despite McWilliams' obvious ambition, the book could be about 300 pages shorter without suffering -- there are long passages arguing about religious doctrine which are really unnecessary to his premise, and which have long been better argued by such folks as Mark Twain . Still, this book is well worth reading, and contains a lot of great ammunition in the debate for personal freedoms.
ISBN 0-931580-53-6 Prelude Press
Order in Hardcover (30% off list) Order in Paperback (20% off list)
Why Government Doesn't Work How Reducing Government Will Bring Us Safer Cities, Better Schools, Lower Taxes, More Freedom and Prosperity for All. Harry Browne
Harry Browne, 1996 Libertarian Party Presidential candidate, and author of "How I found freedom in an unfree world," lays out a platform for acheiving a better America through a smaller government focusing on basic Constitutional rights. He makes the argument that in a diverse nation, government cannot effectively advocate the political goals of everyone. After all, many people's political beliefs are directly in opposition. The government cannot be all things to all people, and is doomed to fail in all but the most universal of its functions, such as defense.
You may not agree with all he has to say, for example, I always wonder about the libertarian reliance on the "free market" to fix things, but then, if you look at things closely, we don't really have anything remotely resembling a totally free market at present. Believer or not, however, you'll find this an interesting alternative to the assumptions under which our current leaders and their lookalike parties operate.
Order in Hardcover (save 30%)
How I Found Freedom in an Unfree World Harry Browne
Browne's seminal work from the early '70s is now back in a new edition. A combination of self-help book and political statement, the gist of this work is that you can be free by freeing yourself from destructive "traps" in your thinking.
Amazon still lists the book as being out of print, but a new edition is now available from Laissez-Faire Books. Laissez-Faire is a reputable firm offering books about freedom, drug policy, etc., and I recommend them highly.
(Amazon's out of print version...)
Point Blank: Guns and violence in America Gary Kleck
Florida State University criminologist Kleck set out to calculate the social costs of private gun ownership. What he found changed his mind about gun control, and it may change yours as well.
According to Kleck's research, handguns are typically used for defensive purposes -- to stop crime-- 2 million times a year in America. In most instances a shot is not fired; the presence of a handgun alone can dissuade most criminals.
This book is widely quoted by gun rights advocates, and is essential reading for those interested in the subject.
The Samurai, the Mountie, and the Cowboy Should America Adopt the Gun Controls of Other Democracies? David B. Kopel
Indispensible comparison of the historical and cultural differences driving handgun policy in Japan, Canada, the United Kingdom, Switzerland, and Australia. Makes a convincing case that duplicating the policies of other lands is a foolish approach, as there is little hope of acheiving the same results. Also makes the historical case that gun control policies are often used to aid oppression of minorities and lower-class populations. As examples, Kopel examines the American South, where gun control laws facilitated the KKK's reign of terror, and the U.K. events following WWI, where the government rushed to disarm returning veterans, lest they balk at returning to the coal mines.
Order in hardcover (save 30%)
Healing our World The Other Piece of the Puzzle Dr. Mary J. Ruwart
Makes the case for a humanitarian and philosophical basis for libertarian philosophy; i.e. that force is an immoral way to acheive social goals, and that only cooperation can produce long-term improvement in the human condition.
Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds Charles Mackay
Written in 1841, this book shows that misplaced groupthink has been around for ages. Among the subjects covered by this book are the tulip speculation craze of the 17th century, linguistic fads from 19th century England (including a varient of the currently-popular "Not" idiom), and other schemes, fads, and scams.
An enlightening glimpse into how human nature remains unchanged, for better or worse...
ISBN 051788433X Crown
Sodomy and the Pirate Tradition English Sea Rovers in the Seventeenth-Century Carribean B. R. Berg
With all the bruhaha over Disney's revisions to their Pirates of The Carribean ride, this book reminds us that they never even got close to the *whole* story.
A history thesis dolled up with a lurid title -- the original title was something like Sodomy and the Perception of Evil -- this book can be a bit dry to read. Arid style aside, what it says is fascinating. The pirate subculture was overwhelmingly homosexual, a result of the demographics of Carribean slave-labor industries (while many slave women were imported, few women came to settle willingly in the Carribean, and they tended to be quickly betrothed to landowners), the obvious byproducts of an isolated population of men at sea, and remarkably enough, the recruitment tactics of the British Navy, who pressed young men into service from Oliver-Twist-like roving bands of urban beggars and theives.
This population of young men, cast out by their parents and unemployed, had so little contact with women of their class (who could easily find husbands or sell themselves into prostitution), that few of them had any heterosexual experience. The pirate population was mostly made up of Navy deserters from these ranks.
This information, then, puts an interesting spin on pirate lore in general. Public records from the Carribean show few records of crimes such as rape attributed to piracy. Many pirate crews took female hostages, but were more interested in the ransom; similarly, few of the most notorious of the pirate captains were interested in women, and those who did marry tended to have a lot of marital problems.
Read this book -- then rent "Captain Blood". You'll giggle yourself silly.
Footfall Larry Niven, Jerry Pournelle
This is an entertaining, feel-good novel about how we take back our planet from an invading alien army. The storyline is quite interesting, as half of it is written from the aliens' point of view, exploring their motivation for coming here, the technology they use to get here, and their radically "different" culture, which results from following a recognizable, but different evolutionary path than humans. (I'm talking real "Herd Mentality" here.) Lots of hard science, no fantasy. Very amusing, as the authors came up with a most implausible and unexpected alien force to invade the Earth: imagine looking up in the sky one day to see dozens and dozens of parachuting ELEPHANTS hell-bent on taking control of your planet!
ISBN: 0345323440
Order in paperback
Big Secrets The Uncensored Truth About All Sorts of Stuff You Are Never Supposed to Know William Poundstone Order in Paperback (20% off list)
Bigger Secrets More Than 125 Things They Prayed You'd Never Find Out Order in Paperback(20% off list)
Biggest Secrets More Uncensored Truth About All Sorts of Stuff You Are Never Supposed to Know Order in Paperback(20% off list)
The three books in this trilogy are essential reading if you've ever figured they were out to get you. If specialization is for insects, this is the path back to humanity, as you learn:
Culled from public records, personal research, and other sources are a wide variety of trade secrets, such as the recipe for Coca-Cola, the secret herbs and spices in KFC, and the story behind Dr. Bronner's Soap. Great stuff involving secret societies, the trade secrets of Scientology, and a ton of behind-the-scenes information about credit cards, fire-walking, and other facts so essential to survival in the modern world.
A great reminder that we live in a complex world.
Thanks for visiting. You are visitor number since 3 Oct 1998. All reviews ©1997-98 Bitchen Industries. All Rights Reserved.