California Elegance


Book Description

An intimate look at the extraordinary figures and natural beauty of California, the world's pacesetter for the twenty-first century, in all its diversity. Through the photographs by Aranda and a combination of profiles and stories by Suppes, a lifelong Californian, the pair depict the unique personalities and natural beauty of the state, as well as its significant sites. Profiles and portraits include Governor Gavin Newsom and First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, politicians Willie Brown and Jackie Speier, actor Kirsten Dunst, Glide Memorial Church pastor Cecil Williams, fashion designers Laura and Kate Mulleavy and Johnston Hartig, Queen Sugar author Natalie Baszile, young NASA scientists, social activists, farmers, firefighters, and award-winning astronomer Enrico Ramirez-Ruiz. From San Francisco's most significant players to the innovation hub of Silicon Valley and the creative buzz of Hollywood, California Elegance brings you the very best of the Golden State. The changing landscapes of San Francisco, the redwood forests of Humboldt, the sands of Death Valley, the wonders of Yosemite, the slopes of Lake Tahoe, the bustle of Silicon Valley, the glamour of Hollywood and so much more are chronicled by Frederic Aranda and Christine Suppes.




Electric Fashion


Book Description

Fashion editor and electronic journal pioneer Christine Suppes shares her personal collection of late 20th and early 21st century costume in photographs by Frederic Aranda.




The New Elegance


Book Description

AD100 and Elle Decor A-List designer Timothy Corrigan shares his secrets for creating rooms that are elegant and comfortable, luxurious yet livable. Throughout his career, Corrigan has established a look that is layered and detailed, while always suitable for the way people live today. His distinctive approach encompasses practicality as well as beauty, merging European refinement with California comfort. Here, Corrigan shares homes in which he has defined a new contemporary elegance, including a John Fowler-inspired London townhouse, a Hollywood Regency-inspired Los Angeles Colonial, an art-filled Chicago apartment in the sky, and Corrigan's own Paris pied-à-terre. Corrigan includes advice throughout on how to adapt classic design principles and traditional forms to make them work for busy modern lives. Between each chapter are instructive interludes in which Corrigan outlines the building blocks of successful decoration, with fundamental topics such as scale and proportion, symmetry, architectural details, and working with color.




Rustic Elegance


Book Description

A collection of breathtaking log cabins where everything new is old again, from the author of Ralph Kylloe’s Rustic Living. Exuding luxury and comfort, history and innovation, here are thirteen newly handcrafted log and stone homes that surpass all expectations of quality and creativity. All are the creations of Larry Pearson, AIA, who is recognized as a leader in rustic design. These luxurious cabins from Montana, Wyoming, Connecticut, Wisconsin, Minnesota and California are replete with hand-hewn logs, dry-stacked stone, artistic doors and staircases, and furnishings that meld modern convenience with age-old beauty. Pearson Design Group was the recipient of Mountain Living Magazine’s prestigious 2009 Home of the Year Award and has been featured on HGTV’S Spectacular Homes.




In Pursuit of Elegance


Book Description

What made the Sopranos finale one of the most-talked-about events in television history? Why is sudoku so addictive and the iPhone so darn irresistible? What do Jackson Pollock and Lance Armstrong have in common with theoretical physicists and Buddhist monks? Elegance. In this thought-provoking exploration of why certain events, products, and people capture our attention and imaginations, Matthew E. May examines the elusive element behind so many innovative breakthroughs in fields ranging from physics and marketing to design and popular culture. Combining unusual simplicity and surprising power, elegance is characterized by four key elements—seduction, subtraction, symmetry, and sustainability. In a compelling, story-driven narrative that sheds light on the need for elegance in design, engineering, art, urban planning, sports, and work, May offers surprising evidence that what’s “not there” often trumps what is. In the bestselling tradition of The Tipping Point, Made to Stick, and The Black Swan, In Pursuit of Elegance will change the way you think about the world.




Nathan Turner's I Love California


Book Description

Enjoy the California lifestyle with recipes, stylish interiors, and entertaining tips: “A must-have for locals and visitors alike.” —Architectural Digest Designer Nathan Turner’s style is synonymous with the easy glam of California living. His first book introduced readers to his casual American style and chic design sense. Now, he’s written a love letter to his home state in I Love California. This book is a journey up and down Highway 1 that takes you from the redwoods of northern San Francisco to the mountains of the Sierra Nevada to the beaches of Southern California. Simple recipes and tips for entertaining are featured alongside never-before-seen interiors. Lavish photographs capture the homes, people, and food of each unique location in glorious, sun-drenched detail. This book even includes Turner’s signature recipes for California comfort food, like his family’s Cioppino, Marinated Tri-tip Steak, Mexican Chocolate Cake, and more. I Love California is a celebration of the Golden State of Mind—for those interested in cooking, entertaining, décor, or just a little getaway to the sun-dappled coast.




California Country Style


Book Description

Style expert Diane Dorrans Saeks opens the doors to California's most exclusive and inspirational rural residences. From Pebble Beach to the Napa Valley, California's country homes pair gorgeous natural surroundings with a simple elegance, whether for lounging by the pool, reading under the redwoods, or walking the vineyards. Socialite Denise Hale's country hacienda marries antique treasures with adobe walls. A visit to Leslie Rudd's winery estate reveals French furnishings at home with American vintages. And the famed French Laundry restaurant puts a rustic garden on the decorating menu. With 220 bold color photographs, this is a collection sure to please designers, decorators, and style watchers. Diane Dorrans Saeks' comprehensive text not only reveals elite sources for unique furnishings, but paints fascinating portraits of the homeowners and designers who are a compelling as the spaces they create. California Country Style is an ode to great taste.




The End of the Golden Gate


Book Description

Capturing an ever-changing San Francisco, 25 acclaimed writers tell their stories of living in one of the most mesmerizing cities in the world. Over the last few decades, San Francisco has experienced radical changes with the influence of Silicon Valley, tech companies, and more. Countless articles, blogs, and even movies have tried to capture the complex nature of what San Francisco has become, a place millions of people have loved to call home, and yet are compelled to consider leaving. In this beautifully written collection, writers take on this Bay Area-dweller's eternal conflict: Should I stay or should I go? Including an introduction written by Gary Kamiya and essays from Margaret Cho, W. Kamau Bell, Michelle Tea, Beth Lisick, Daniel Handler, Bonnie Tsui, Stuart Schuffman, Alysia Abbott, Peter Coyote, Alia Volz, Duffy Jennings, John Law, and many more, The End of the Golden Gate is a penetrating journey that illuminates both what makes San Francisco so magnetizing and how it has changed vastly over time, shapeshifting to become something new for each generation of city dwellers. With essays chronicling the impact of the tech-industry invasion and the evolution, gentrification, and radical cost of living that has transformed San Francisco's most beloved neighborhoods, these prescient essayists capture the lasting imprint of the 1960s counterculture movement, as well as the fight to preserve the art, music, and other creative movements that make this forever the city of love. For anyone considering moving to San Francisco, wishing to relive the magic of the city, or anyone experiencing the sadness of leaving the bay—and ultimately, for anyone that needs a reminder of why we stay. Bound to be a long-time staple of San Francisco literature, anyone who has lived in or is currently living in San Francisco will enjoy the rich history of the city within these pages and relive intimate memories of their own. • GIVING BACK TO THE COMMUNITY: A percentage of the proceeds will be given to charities that help those in the bay experiencing homelessness. Every copy purchased offers a small way to help those in need.




The Golden Shore


Book Description

From the first human settlements to the latest marine explorations, The Golden Shore tells the tale of the history, culture, and changing nature of California’s coasts and ocean. David Helvarg takes the reader on both a geographic and literary journey along the state’s 1,100-mile Pacific coastline, from the Oregon border to the San Diego–Tijuana international border fence and out into its whale-, seal-, and shark-rich offshore seamounts, rock isles, and kelp forests. Part history, part travelogue, part love letter, The Golden Shore captures the spirit of the California coast and its mythic place in American culture.




An Elegant Woman


Book Description

“A portrait of self-creation in the vein of F. Scott Fitzgerald”,” (The Wall Street Journal) An Elegant Woman is “a rich exploration of legacy and memory” (Entertainment Weekly) that follows four generations of women against the sweep of 20th century American history. Drawn from the author’s own family history, this powerful, moving multigenerational saga from National Book Award finalist Martha McPhee masterfully explores the stories we tell ourselves, and what we leave out. As Isadora, a novelist, and two of her sisters sift through the artifacts of their forebears’ lives, trying to decide what to salvage and what to toss, the story shifts to a winter day in 1910 at a train station in Ohio. Two girls wait in the winter cold with their mother—the mercurial Glenna Stewart—to depart for a new life in the West. As Glenna campaigns in Montana for women’s suffrage and teaches in one-room schoolhouses, Tommy takes care of her little sister, Katherine: trapping animals, begging, keeping house, cooking, while Katherine goes to school. When Katherine graduates, Tommy makes a decision that will change the course of both of their lives. Told “with an easy grace many historical novels lack” (Los Angeles Times), An Elegant Woman follows one woman over the course of the 20th century, taking us from a drought-stricken Montana farm to a yellow Victorian in Maine; from the halls of a psychiatric hospital in London to a wedding gown fitting at Bergdorf Goodman; from a house in small town Ohio to a family reunion at a sweltering New Jersey pig roast. Framed by Isadora’s efforts to retell her grandmother’s journey—and understand her own—the novel is “sharp, precise, and, yes, elegant” (The Boston Globe) in its gorgeous depiction of one hundred years in a family’s history.