St. Johnston claims that his book fills a gap in the documentation of dance history and confesses he knows of only three books on the subject, those by Gaston Vuillier, Edward Scott, and John Weaver. The work contains much of the same information found in numerous other historiographies of the era. The author considers the birth of stage dancing to be Kate Vaughan's "Skirt Dance." Another opinion expressed by St. Johnston is the erroneous notion that the quadrille was one of the dances that directly followed the minuet. As was common during this era, the author maintains a strict western bias with chapter titles such as "Quaint Dances in Civilized Countries."

Kathryn is on her way to becoming a successful teacher. In her last year of practice teaching, just months away from receiving her teaching credentials, she experiences a serious psychological setback triggered by a Ouija board contact with someone calling himself Nicholas. Kathryn seeks help from a psychologist, Dr. Jensen, but is hesitant to tell Dr. Jensen about this new love in her life, for fear he will think she is crazy. Kathryn is convinced Nicholas is real, however, because she sees him in her dreams. And he gives her evidence that convinces her he truly exists. As he becomes ever more real to Kathryn, it is hard to tell if Nicholas is just a figment of her imagination, or if they have been romantically linked together over hundreds of past lives. When Nicholas invites Kathryn to join him in the other dimension, shes unsure about how this will be achieved. However, she is receptive to his suggestions. Is Nicholas really looking out for Kathryn, or will he lead her to disaster?

When we drew as children, we never worried about making mistakes—we took risks and trusted ourselves, and had fun in the process. But as we become adults, anxiety steps in: “Am I doing this right?” “What is expected of me?” “This is wrong!” And from drawing, we can extrapolate into the rest of our lives. The fear of making a mistake hinders us from being as creative as we could be. Deborah Putnoi’s interactive sketchbook helps us reconnect to that open, nonjudgmental state, which she calls the “drawing mind.” Her bold, lively drawings and encouraging instructions lead you on a process of self-discovery, first reclaiming the freedom to express yourself through drawing and then learning how to take that freedom into the activities of your daily life.

An indispensable resource on Samuel Barber's complete oeuvre-more than 100 published and nearly twice as many unpublished compositions-with an abundance of information on song texts, first performances, genesis of composition, duration, revisions, editions, arrangements, selected discography of historical and contemporary recordings, and detailed description of the hundreds of holograph manuscripts, sketches, drafts, and significant publisher's proofs founded in libraries and private collections throughout the United States. Illuminating quotations drawn from Barber's letters and diaries will be of special interest not only to scholars but conductors, composers, performers, and the general music enthusiast.