(1) Miss Prim At Clear Creek (The American Conservative)
“It is a simple tale that speaks of something that has been in the human heart since always: the search for paradise lost, that indefinable nostalgic sense that we all have engraved in our hearts. A nostalgia that at times savors of childhood, and which neither noise, nor frenetic activity, nor the massiveness of a world that no longer has time to reflect about the perennial ancient questions, can completely muffle.”
(2) The Art of _______________________
The Limestone Library (on libib) features a nice collection of these books and I’ve listed a couple of my favorites. The one missing is the ‘Art of Kingdom Hearts Universe’ which has never officially been published.
The Art of Robotech – This is the first ‘art of’ books in my library and special because it was acquired on a trip to Boston with my Dad. Robotech remains one of my favorite anime series. The story was great and the characters remain some of the most memorable (e.g. Miriya Parina Sterling) in all of anime.
The Art of Cuphead – A relative newcomer in the library. The story of Chad and Jared Moldenhauer is very inspirational.
The Art of Atari – Nolan K. Bushnell is one of my heroes. The intro of this book was written by Ernie Kline. The history of Atari is an amazing story and features Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. The book is like a companion to Atari: Game Over. I would include this title in my history of computing curriculum with the others like Hackers: Heroes of the Computer Revolution by Steven Levy. Is there a link between Rick Guidice and Claudio Mazzoli?
The Art of Empires – A visual companion to Age of Empires 3.
The Art of Cars / The Art of Cars 2 – I love cars (even anthropomorphic), signs, postcards, and classic advertisements (even fantastical). These titles wouldn’t be included in my history of computing curriculum but the foreword was written by John Lasseter and The Pixar Touch: The Making of a Company by David A. Price would be.
The Art of the Disney Parks / The Art of Walt Disney World Resort – I’ve tried to scan every page in these books. The latter includes work by Herbert D. Ryman and Mary Blair.
The Art of Miyazaki’s Spirited Away / The Art of The Wind Rises / The Art of the Secret World of Arrietty – A troika of books linked to Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli.
The Disney Art of Animation – There are probably hundreds of similar titles but this modest work by Bob Thomas is a decent primer.
The Art and Flair of Mary Blair – Mary Blair was named a Disney Legend in 1991. Her mural at the Contemporary Resort is awe-inspiring.
The Art of Disney’s Musical Years – This title includes some rare sketches from a Hans Christian Andersen project that predated the Little Mermaid.
I didn’t include The Walt Disney Film Archives. The Animated Movies 1921–1968 from TASCHEN. This is a gorgeous book and the Land of Symphony / Isle of Jazz from Music Land (Silly Symphonies) were inspiration for the Inkwell Islands in Cuphead.