Quiet Beauty: The Japanese Gardens of North America
"Visiting Maruyama Park in Kyoto, which he likes best on a misty late afternoon in November, Pico Iyer remarks that it seems "like a public monument to privacy." This is, perhaps, why the signature serenity of what Kendall H. Brown's new book calls "places to dream" has attracted so many Western gardeners. Just flipping through the pages ofQuiet Beauty: The Japanese Gardens of North Americawill instantly lower your blood pressure. And while you may not be able to replicate the teahouses and moon bridges in David M. Cobb's elegant photographs, there are plenty of details to be borrowed for even the smallest gardens: a simple bamboo fence, a perfectly sited stone lantern, a rough pebbled path that gently curves to create heightened suspense about what lies beyond."—The New York Times Book Review"Kendall Brown, professor of Asian art history at Cal State Long Beach and one of the experts to weigh in on the Storrier Stearn garden in Pasadena, has a book coming out this month. ItÆs titledQuiet Beauty: The Japanese Gardens of North America,and for this edited Q&A;, we asked about his fascination with Japanese gardens, how best to experience them and why our notion of Japanese gardens is not entirely Japanese."—LA Times"With an introduction titled "Places to dream," Kendall H. Brown extols the serenity of Japanese gardens, lauding their soothing environments in a world of "the cacophony of cities (and) the anonymity of suburbs." … The gardens, [Brown] says, can nurture, educate and stimulate creativity, andQuiet Beautycan do the same."—The Oregonian"In this lavishly illustrated book, art historian Brown and photographer Cobb act as tour guides to 26 such gardens—including the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park, Francisco Nitobe Memorial Garden in Vancouver, B.C., and Shomu'en (Pine Mist Garden) at Cheekwood in Nashville, Tenn.—that are accessible, historically significant, and compelling physical spaces."—Publishers Weekly"This compilation of images by photographer David M. Cobb, and information on the most beautiful and serene gardens in the United States and Canada features gardens from Seattle, Bainbridge Island and Spokane."—Seattle Times"By the end of this well-written and beautifully photographed book we realize that, far from being lost in transplantation, Japanese garden aesthetics and principals have been re-codified and adapted to create energizing, transformative works."—The Japan Times