This book provides the guidelines and fundamental methods of estimation and calculation needed by maintainability engineers. It also covers the management of maintainability efforts; including issues of organizational structure; cost; and planning processes. Questions and problems conclude each chapter.
#433510 in eBooks 2013-06-15 2013-06-15File Name: B00DG7VPFS
Review
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful. Decent survey of Jarmuschs work up to 2005; but a slim book and one that occasionally segues into postmodernist chicBy Christopher CulverIn spite of Jim Jarmuschs status as one of Americas great independent filmmakers; there arent many books out there on his body of work. This survey by Juan A. Suarez came out in 2007 and traces Jarmuschs career from the very beginning to his 2005 film BROKEN FLOWERS. The opening chapter describes Jarmuschs coming of age in New York City in the 1970s in a lively arts community that included not just film but also punk and new wave music; street art; and experimental theatre. From there; the book does on to describe each of Jarmuschs films up to 2005; and even treats his 1997 Neil Young tour documentary as of equal importance to any of his feature films.Suarez is an astute commentator on Jarmuschs aesthetic. His claims of how Jarmusch sees things might even be said to have "predictive power"; as one aspect Suarez points to would become the very center of Jarmuschs 2013 film ONLY LOVERS LEFT ALIVE. The book drew my attention to many moments on screen that will enrich future viewing experiences; and Suarez helps orientate Jarmusch fans among the vast canon of film and literature which Jarmusch has shamelessly drawn on in making films. Especially interesting are Suarezs comments on how DEAD MAN (much more than just the opening quotation) was inspired by the poet Henri Michaux.The book is filled out with Tod Lippys interview of Jarmusch; which was originally published in the journal Protections in 2000. Jarmuschs own comments on his work are a pleasure to read; as they are pervaded with a sense of humility and boundless curiosity for all the wonderful films; books; and music are out there.In spite of being published by a university press; this book will prove accessible to any cinephile who wants to better appreciate Jarmuschs films and their cultural context. However; a downside of the book is how at certain moments; Suarez segues from an straightforward writing style into a tiresome parroting of postmodernist thought. For example:"Yet homogeneous space is never absolute. It superimposes itself on what Lefebvre calls urban culture; where urban designates the city as a heterogeneous fabric of relations and conjunctions; an aggregate of absolute singularities that cannot be totally linearized and integrated into the networks of capital and exchange.""The author is; to revert to Ferdinand de Saussures terms; a form of parole in the language of history; a particular performance of the available cultural archive. In this respect; Jarmuschs texts will not be read as completely autonomous performances (that is; the emanation of a free-floating imagination) nor as passive reflections of the times but as selective actualizations of historically situated possibilities.For what its worth; I am a linguist and very familiar with the work of Ferdinand de Saussure; such as his langue/parole distinction; so I am not afraid of these concepts. However; these bits are so incongruous with the rest of the text that the reader feels Suarez was forced to include them for the sake of street cred among his fellow academics or to please the publishers anonymous reviewers.I have a few other complaints as well. Suarez doesnt mention the close relationship between Jarmusch and the Finnish auteur Aki Kaurismauml;ki in the late 1980s and early 1990s; a friendship that had an impact on the films of each; and is a good example of how Jarmuschs distinctly American focus proved remarkably accessible outside the country as well. And the book feels kind of lightweight; this reader would have liked more information about the shooting and editing stages for each film; not just what ultimately showed up on screens.So; dont expect from this a treatment of Jim Jarmuschs life and work that is as ample as; say; Richard Brodys biography of Jean-Luc Godard. Jarmusch still awaits such. But for fans of the filmmaker; this is worthwhile.