Michael Payne – författare

Michael Payne--popular host of the hit HGTV''s hit series Designing for the Sexes--brings his unique talent and expertise to this beautiful and practical reference designed to help homeowners find stylish solutions to today''s most common and challenging home design dilemmas.

YOU ASKED HIM, NOW HE''S ANSWERINGThrough emails, internet chats, and attendance at his seminars, Michael''s fans have directly asked him to solve their most difficult design dilemmas. This beautiful reference delivers the answers they seek in a style that captures Michale''s trademark wit and charm. Questions range from the common to the outrageous, providing always informative -- and often amusing -- reading.

* Beautifully illustrated with 175 full-color photos* Features a logical room-by-room approach* Convenient format features each problem and solution presented across a single two-page spread* Covers living rooms, family rooms, master bedrooms, kitchens, bathrooms, work spaces, child''s room, and more* Packed with advice, ideas, and tips on lighting, upholstery, storage, and accessories* Includes an informative Basic Questions chapter

Payne channels the sages of Chinese, Japanese and Indian lore in preaching meditation for a new generation of spiritual seekers.

Paynes book seems to advertise a radical, new, edgy, anti-establishment project. Yet in some ways, thats far from the truth, since Payne peddles religious ideas whose roots stretch back thousands of years. For nearly a decade and a half, Payne has practiced the ancient art of meditation, which he now sees as a path toward peace and fulfillment. Thus, in around 60 short sketchessome poetry, some prosehe sets out to explain some of the many lessons hes learned while on his spiritual journey. As Payne notes, many of the lessons echo those taught by the great saints of Asian religion: Buddha, Lao Tsu, Shantideva and Bodhidharma. Payne teaches that attachment to things of this world is frustrating because those things are mere images that may change and pass away. Our grasping for these images is fruitless and pointless. Even the self is an illusion; In reality I does not exist, Payne writes, I, me and mine are wordless words. In the end, our misconceptions bring us pain. Yet meditation, which puts us in touch with reality, is a methodical forgetting of all this falseness: Meditation is a simple process of unlearning everything you have been forced to learn by others. The great value of Paynes slim volume is that he expresses such old lessons in sleek, punchy, modern prose. Those intimidated by classic Buddhist texts such as the Lotus Sutra might find Paynes contemporary message refreshing and enlightening. Perhaps the only drawback here is that in trying to express paradoxical truths, Payne sometimes falls back on stilted idioms: The world has become a business with its [sic] own board of directors acting like gods within the balance of things, only it is the minds of those within the world that are in the balance. Metaphors can only hold so much water.

Ancient teachings helpfully repackaged for a modern audience.

- Kirkus Book Review