Rating: 
Summary: For The Love of Old American Things
Review: "Hidden Treasures" is a friend for anyone whose pulse has ever reacted to the sight of a grand piece of antique furniture. For those who have ever become breathless or teary-eyed over fruniture, it should be required reading. The most appreciated surprise of "Hidden Treasures" is how generous the Kenos are with their knowledge -- reading this book is almost like being enrolled in an advanced course in American furniture complete with field trips and historic background. There's even a textbook like glossary for quick reference to terms.The world of the Keno brothers is one of extreme privilege and yet, as we travel from their modest and nurturing childhood to the decisive playgrounds of the wealthy -- Sotheby's, Christie's, and the Winter Antiques Show -- we feel welcome, if not at home. That is, perhaps, the most endearing charm of these identical gentlemen -- they are seemly unaffected by their palacial world -- driven primarily by their passion for historic masterpieces of American furniture and a childlike enthusiasm for the hunt. The honesty and power of their passion ignites every page of their book as it does everyday of their lives. And, it is so infectious that many will be inspired to begin plotting their first five, six, seven, or eight-figure purchase of Americana. My only slight disappointment was with some of the writing. The masterful talent of Thatcher Freund, author of "Objects of Desire" could have been put to good use on this project. I only wish he would have been part of the team. Then, the book would have been perfect -- an American Masterpiece.
Rating:
Summary: A FUN ADVENTURE
Review: A fun,educational read for anyone interested in antiques,the antiques roadshow or collecting.Its well written and the excitement builds to a big finish.It reads like an adventure and could make a good movie.Not what you expect in this genre.
Rating: 
Summary: Their Passion is Inspiring
Review: Even if antiques isn't your 'thing', you may want to take a look at this combined life history in the realm of antique dealing.
Why? Because their passion for what they do comes shining through. Their dedication to the craft catches up with the reader and sweeps him/her away. It is this type of passion and dedication which almost inevitably brings success to people in any walk of life. In fact, possessing this level of passion IS success in life. Highly recommended for those who want to simply enjoy a story about two unique brother's experiences in rising to the height of their profession.
Rating:
Summary: A Treasure of a book
Review: How many of us can say that we knew at age 12 what we wanted to be and then accomplished our goal? Leigh and Leslie Keno can. This treasure of a book is as much a story of their journey from a small upstate New York town and country antique shows to the glamour of New York City and Sotheby's, as it is about "masterpieces in American furniture.". The twins - already celebrities from PBS' Antiques Roadshow - have penned a fascinating book that will appeal to antiques experts and those, like myself who have only a passing knowledge of the subject. In the interest of full disclosure, I should point out that I am originally from the village next to the Keno's home town and that their father - mentioned frequently in the book - was my highschool art teacher. It was an added pleasure reading of their references to their family and New York's Mohawk Valley. It is clear that Leigh and Leslie have never lost that boyish enthusiasm they developed hunting for hidden treasures in the farmland that surrounded their home. That enthusiasm permeates the book. I cannot close this review without commenting on the beauty of the book itself. From its attractively designed slipcover, to its high quality paper stock and rich photography this book is a pleasure to display as well as read.
Rating:
Summary: Super Keen on Keno book
Review: I am astounded. Did I really go to the dollar store and come home with this gorgeous book by the Keno twins? Is it actually a beautiful book with gorgeous color plates? Is it one of the most readable books I have ever read? A resounding triple "YES"!!! I purchased this book and thought, "Oh well, only a dollar, and looks like it is at least worth that." Then I browsed through the photos once I got it home. And on the third day of ownership, I began reading the Keno saga, a non-fiction journey of avid treasure hunters from their youth in the countryside of New England where they grew up, to their professional work in the world of Americana antiques. These guys are versatile with a capital "V" and with the help of Joan Barzilay Freund, they have put together a wonderful set of chaptered adventures that each center on a separate discovery of very special Americana antiques. Freund is the author of a book on the collection of Americana furniture of Mr. and Mrs. Adolph Henry Meyer; so she obviously knows her stuff. The Townsend desk from the Meyer collection is featured in one of the Keno book chapters. This is just plain good reading. And without intending to do so, I am swept into the education they afford me as the reader who learns from eager teachers, lovers of their work of discovery. The same élan one sees in Leigh and Leslie on TV pours out of these pages in their own voices. Certainly I have loved seeing Leigh and Leslie on "Antiques Roadshow" and on their own PBS series, "Find!" The gentlemanly enthusiasm of these brothers is infectious and makes me feel like I might just make a great discovery in my antiquing adventures, too. Whether or not I do, I have certainly loved reading their book and highly recommend it to any reader. Without intending to, you will be swept along into the Keno brothers' lives and inadvertently learn a lot about the glorious craftsmanship of American cabinetmakers and the surviving products of their hands. What an exciting read! Now, if I could just find a few more copies for friends!
Rating:
Summary: Super Keen on Keno book
Review: I am astounded. Did I really go to the dollar store and come home with this gorgeous book by the Keno twins? Is it actually a beautiful book with gorgeous color plates? Is it one of the most readable books I have ever read? A resounding triple "YES"!!! I purchased this book and thought, "Oh well, only a dollar, and looks like it is at least worth that." Then I browsed through the photos once I got it home. And on the third day of ownership, I began reading the Keno saga, a non-fiction journey of avid treasure hunters from their youth in the countryside of New England where they grew up, to their professional work in the world of Americana antiques. These guys are versatile with a capital "V" and with the help of Joan Barzilay Freund, they have put together a wonderful set of chaptered adventures that each center on a separate discovery of very special Americana antiques. Freund is the author of a book on the collection of Americana furniture of Mr. and Mrs. Adolph Henry Meyer; so she obviously knows her stuff. The Townsend desk from the Meyer collection is featured in one of the Keno book chapters. This is just plain good reading. And without intending to do so, I am swept into the education they afford me as the reader who learns from eager teachers, lovers of their work of discovery. The same élan one sees in Leigh and Leslie on TV pours out of these pages in their own voices. Certainly I have loved seeing Leigh and Leslie on "Antiques Roadshow" and on their own PBS series, "Find!" The gentlemanly enthusiasm of these brothers is infectious and makes me feel like I might just make a great discovery in my antiquing adventures, too. Whether or not I do, I have certainly loved reading their book and highly recommend it to any reader. Without intending to, you will be swept along into the Keno brothers' lives and inadvertently learn a lot about the glorious craftsmanship of American cabinetmakers and the surviving products of their hands. What an exciting read! Now, if I could just find a few more copies for friends!
Rating:
Summary: --Living in the world of antiques--
Review: I've enjoyed the Antiques Roadshow for a number of years, and have been intrigued by the various people who are specialists in the different fields of antiques. How did they learn their subjects? What education did they pursue? Those were a few of the questions that were of interest to me. The twins, Leslie and Leigh Keno are an attractive addition to the Roadshow. I especially like the fact that they are always polite and kind to the people who bring in the antique items for evaluation. The Keno brothers never appear to be condescending to the visitors, and their enthusiasm about the antiques is catchy. Well, HIDDEN TREASURES was a pleasure to read. In this autobiographic form, Leigh and Leslie tell about growing up in New York and how they became interested in learning about objects that they found around the old family farm and how that interest turned into a love of American antiques. They also relate some interesting stories about their experiences in discovering, and being involved in the identification of some rare and unique pieces of furniture. They both write well, and I found the book to be very entertaining. You don't have to be an antiques expert to enjoy this book.
Rating:
Summary: --Living in the world of antiques--
Review: I've enjoyed the Antiques Roadshow for a number of years, and have been intrigued by the various people who are specialists in the different fields of antiques. How did they learn their subjects? What education did they pursue? Those were a few of the questions that were of interest to me. The twins, Leslie and Leigh Keno are an attractive addition to the Roadshow. I especially like the fact that they are always polite and kind to the people who bring in the antique items for evaluation. The Keno brothers never appear to be condescending to the visitors, and their enthusiasm about the antiques is catchy. Well, HIDDEN TREASURES was a pleasure to read. In this autobiographic form, Leigh and Leslie tell about growing up in New York and how they became interested in learning about objects that they found around the old family farm and how that interest turned into a love of American antiques. They also relate some interesting stories about their experiences in discovering, and being involved in the identification of some rare and unique pieces of furniture. They both write well, and I found the book to be very entertaining. You don't have to be an antiques expert to enjoy this book.
Rating:
Summary: CALLING ALL "ANTIQUES ROADSHOW" FANS!...
Review: If you are familiar with Leigh Keno and Leslie Keno, the charming, identical twin brothers who often appear as appraisers on the popular "Antiques Roadshow" television program, then you will undoubtedly enjoy this audio book. While authors do not generally make good readers or narrators of their own works, the Keno twins are the exception to the rule. Just as they do on the "Antiques Roadshow", the twins convey their unbridled enthusiasm for antique American furniture. Their passion is contagious and makes one a truly captive audience. I had purchased this audio book for a road trip and could barely tear myself away from the car until I had finished the audio book in its entirety, as it is so interesting and entertaining. Born in rural, Mohawk Valley in upstate New York, the twins developed their passion at the feet of their parents who had dabbled in this field. At a very young age, searching for old objects with a history was a hobby that developed into a passion. As teenagers, flea markets were their stomping grounds. As they grew up, they developed by inclination and education into worldly and sophisticated connoisseurs of beautiful rare objects, specializing in antique American furniture, a niche in which they are now foremost experts. The audio book takes you on the hunt of some of their most prized acquisitions. With an insider's look at the wonderful world of collecting antique American furniture, the twins take the listener on a journey that few would otherwise be able make, as many of their most prized acquisitions bring in six and seven figure sums. The excitement of the hunt, the thrill of the discovery of a valuable piece of antique American furniture, the history of its provenance, and the loving description of the beauty of that piece, all provide a fascinating peek into the rarified world of antiques in which the twins work. The tone of the book is conversationally chatty and educational. The twins have a wonderful, innate ability to draw the listener into their exclusive world. Their down to earth charm is a delicious counterpoint to the exquisite and rare pieces that they have come across, all of which they share with the listener in detail, lovingly describing the craftsmanship that went into making these beautiful pieces that are so collectible today. This audio book comes with a full color pamphlet that pictorially details the pieces that are the focus of this abridged audio book and serves to enhance this most enjoyable listening experience.
Rating:
Summary: Frogs, snails, and puppy dog tails
Review: In deliberately alternating voices, twins emerge as two clear and distinct identities as they share their passion, enthusiasm, and expertise in early American furniture: Leslie Keno, the Senior Specialist and Director of Business Development for Americana at Sotheby's, New York, and Leigh Keno, the more sensual and sanguine, independent dealer who owns and operates Leigh Keno American Antiques in New York City. Those who pick up this book and are familiar with the Kenos by way of being "Roadshow groupies" will no doubt receive a satisfying fix. However, be prepared as the brothers turn it up a notch and go well beyond the scope of the celebrity status afforded by their regular participation in the PBS series. Through the writing of Hidden Treasures, the authors have selected an adequate medium which displays and secures for the general public their highly regarded reputation in this esoteric field. Clearly that reputation has already been well established in the world of antique collecting. The amusing anecdotes present chronologically, allowing readers to document and measure the area under the authors' personal and professional learning curve that eventually adds up to their deserved position in the field as scholars and experts. So, too, are the pages lush with historical and technical information, beautifully supported by photographs in color and black and white, that this contribution (however commercially publicized and marketed) becomes a serious and useful reference for those readers with a casual interest in Americana as well as those with a more active bent. Particularly fascinating are the descriptions of what may well be routine, yet painstaking, labor intensive processes to dissect and determine the history and authenticity of the furniture before them. The Kenos are eloquent, yet unashamedly enthusiastic with each piece they appraise; their approach to each table, each armchair, each highboy is with surgical precision, yet youthful excitement. If there is a disturbing development revealed in Hidden Treasures, it is the definite and deepening divide between the haves and the have-nots. Indeed, the situation teeters on the ridiculous and surreal when the authors relive the moment a polo-playing businessman plunks down over half a million dollars for a card table, in part because his supermodel wife shares the same last name with the Boston cabinetmakers responsible for creating the piece. Still, perhaps because that gap is so profoundly etched, we can stand behind our soul brothers and sisters in their ability to appreciate beauty and preserve a heritage manifested in craftsmanship (as long as they don't begrudge us the joy of a recent home furnishings purchase from Target). Unfortunate, too, is the behind-the-scenes look at Antiques Roadshow itself. It is not so much that the onscreen results and reactions are not spontaneous, for they are. The disappointment lies more in the amount of manipulation that occurs with each show's production. The unexpected treasure, however, is revealed in the early pages of the book where the authors allow a glimpse into their own childhood and early love for antiques. Photographs of pages from their shared pre-teen/teen diary document not only their progress to becoming antique dealers but serves as an eerie forecast of the future. The effect is simply charming, yet powerful. That the Kenos are able to recapture those moments of magic found in a child's world of discovery becomes at once a gift of retrospection, introspection, and revelation particularly for anyone in the throes of parenthood. It's not an unfamiliar battle deciding whether to invest in a child's latest interest-Is it a fleeting (sometimes-expensive) fancy or a potential lifelong passion? Whatever and however we respond, this is in fact a calling of parents in life: to either fan or extinguish the burgeoning flame of an interest in our children. It is this subtle component of the Kenos' book that is surprisingly the most compelling. Although possibly written to inspire a trip to the basement or attic, wonderfully, Hidden Treasures has the charm and power to lure readers down another path that may lead to gold if they are able to recognize what truly glitters.
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