Customer Reviews:
a very interesting book to page through.......2007-07-18
Kenneth Anger's hollywood babylon is the kind of book you can pick up and put down at any time.. I find it interesting to page through before or after I watch one of the older movies of hollywood's golden age.. I can't get enough of this sort of look into the dumpster of tinseltown.. the scandals and episodes that have been brushed under the carpet or just are no longer known about.. The list of characters that populate these pages are as colorful as they were glamorous.. and also at times hideous..
This is not very heavy reading but it is endlessly fascinating..
Thumbs down on the (myth-ridden) text, thumbs up on (some of) the pictures.......2007-07-12
What saves the sensationalistic - not to say trashy and in many places inaccurate - _Hollywood Babylon_ from being a total failure is the huge number of pictures, many shocking and some downright grisly (as in the picture of poor Thelma Todd lying done to death in her car), but mostly fascinating if sometimes nauseating (I'll talk about one of the worst offenders shortly). Which is a good thing, because frankly I want to take a bath every time I read the text to wash off the grime. We all know that Hollywood in its "Golden Age" was a long way removed from the image of saintly morality painted by its self-appointed guardians, the studio moguls - very many of whom had guilty secrets among them - chief among them, but Kenneth Anger seems to take a little too much delight in the sordidity and scandal for my own taste. What makes it worse is that he passes on a number of urban legends rather than do the boring work of get at the truth.
One of the most objectionable myths he fosters in this book, in my view, is the story that Jayne Mansfield was decapitated in the auto accident that took her life in 1967. This is simply not true. There is a ghastly photo in circulation on the web - I won't link to it but those who really want to know can Google for it - that makes it clear that her injuries, while fatal, did not result in the removal of her head. What you see on the car's crumpled hood in that photo (that Anger claims was Mansfield's noggin) is actually her wig. (And did we really need to see that photo of her dead Chihuahua? Ugh.)
If people want a really good book on Hollywood scandals, I strongly suggest they go find James Robert Parish's well-researched, evenhanded, brightly-written _The Hollywood Book of Scandal_ instead. (And that book doesn't contain any photos likely to make you lose your lunch, either!)
Juicy delicious!.......2007-05-19
If you think today's stars are misbehaved, wait til you read this! I couldn't put it down and read it in few days. Anger's style of writing is witty, sarcastic, and will compltely put you back into another era. The book focuses mainly on early, pre-code Hollywood up until Jayne Mansfield's death in 1967. There are so many juicy stories and even morbid details in this book, and tons of awesome pictures. (Although be warned- picture of Jayne Mansfield's car crash and dead dog are depressing and bloody). Includes everyone who was ever anyone- Clara Bow, Carole Landis, Carole Lombard, Marilyn Monroe, Valentino, Novarro, Judy Garland (who died on the toilet), Gary Cooper, William Randolph Hurst, Jayne Mansfield, Charlie Chaplin, etc. etc. etc. All the old legends are in here. Completely worth the price. I just wish there was a newer version.
great book and wonderful gossip.......2007-02-18
if your the type that is intrigued by anna nichole , michael jackson, brittney spears and paris hilton then get this book these people were the real hollywood deal the stars from the 20s 30s and 40s make todays stars seem like cub scouts. this book has it all sex , glamor , drugs all the stuff that will make you not put this book down . you couldnt make this stuff up if you tried .
VERY ENTERTAINING.......2007-01-12
I love reading the trash & gossip about the stars and this book provided it all. It was hard to put down and I was sorry when I finished it.
Great reading!
Book Description
Starting on September 10, 1955, and continuing for more than 600 episodes over the next twenty years, Gunsmoke ruled the airwaves. Never in the history of television had a show so captured the hearts of the American public. Each week, Marshal Matt Dillon and his friends would face a new threat to the peace and lawfulness of their frontier home of Dodge City, Kansas. And each week, goodness and determination prevailed. In recognition of this, the show's golden anniversary, author Ben Costello has produced a remarkable testament to the on-screen and off-screen individuals who made the story lines come alive.
Customer Reviews:
How fun would it have been..........2007-05-10
How fun would it have been to have been on the set of this amazing show? This is a great book with a lot of interviews, anecdotes, and pictures. I wish more shows today had the quality of Gunsmoke...maybe I'd watch them more than the Gunsmoke reruns!
Certain to be a popular addition to any community library American Popular Culture collection.......2007-04-07
In "Gunsmoke: An American Institution Celebrating 50 Years of Television's Best Western", author Ben Costello has provided the legions of fans for America's most popular and long-running television western series with an exhaustive compendium showcasing and celebrating all twenty seasons (comprising a total of 635 episodes) of Matt Dillion and his many friends and foes. Profusely illustrated with literally hundreds of photos about what went on both in front and in back of the cameras, "Gunsmoke" covers the major cast members, as well as the producers, writers and directors, and features an especially insightful interviews with Dennis Weaver, Buck Taylor, and Burt Reynolds. There are even sections featuring Dean Martin Celebrity Roast Highlights; reminisces of distinctive guest stars; Gunsmoke memorabilia, the post-television series Gunsmoke films, and so very much more. Certain to be a popular addition to any community library American Popular Culture collection, "Gunsmoke" is a 'must read' for anyone who grew up with Matt Dillion, Miss Kitty, Doc, Chester, Festus, and all the other denizens of Dodge City and the Old West.
Gunsmoke Fan.......2007-01-10
This book is a pleasure to read. The background stories and photos really enhance the episodes presently shown on TV Land cable channel. The volume is both informative and entertaining.
Great book!.......2007-01-03
This about covers every aspect of that 20 year phenomenon "Gunsmoke"The personal insights from everyone associated with that show from the writers to all the great and soon to be great actors.As a die hard fan of this show I was incensed by some of the decisions made by a couple of producers who made I think,some very bad decisions based on personal feelings and insults made to some key actors.
But the bottom line is thats what a good book does.Gets the reader wrapped up in the story and triggers emotions of both good and bad.This book did all of that and if you are like me and still enjoy watching all the re-runs then you should buy this book and put it all in a wonderful perspective..
Now a note to all that stations that are airing these shows:Where are all the black and white episodes?
Wonderful Tribute to THE Classic TV Western!.......2006-04-07
Tons of baby boomers grew up with 'Gunsmoke.' As a youngster I can vividly remember Marshall Dillon stalking through Dodge City's Boot Hill in the show's opening moments, commenting on the tragedies that made up frontier life as mournful music played in the background. As I grew up I and my family were loyal fans, marveling at the wonderful characters and plots presented year after year. 'Gunsmoke' set the standard for TV westerns. Now, at last, it has a proper tribute in Ben Costello's oversized volume dedicated to what he terms 'an American institution.'
This is a great book, well-researched, well-written and well-illustrated. The show and its marvelous cast of characters comes alive again in this warmly affectionate volume. It is a shame someone didn't undertake this years ago when Milburn Stone and Amanda Blake were still with us. And I was disappointed that James Arness apparently chose not to contribute but perhaps he feels he has told his story in his recent autobiography. In any case, we should be grateful for the work Costello did. The book is filled with wonderful reminiscences from so many 'Gunsmoke' alumnus along with tons of photographs. You couldn't ask for a finer tribute!
Highly recommended!
Product Description
This book contains detailed bios, photos, and filmographies on 315 men who played outlaws, bandits, and polecats on the movie and TV western screen from 1930 to the 1960s. Written and exclusively researched by three noted western movie historians -- Boyd Magers, author of "Western Clippings" Magazine, "So You Wanna See Cowboy Stuff," "The Films of Audie Murphy," "Westerns Women," and others; Bobby Copeland, author of "B-Western Boot Hill," "Trail Talk," "Johnny Mack Brown: Up Close and Personal," "Roy Barcroft: King of the Badmen," and others; and Bob Nareau, author of five books on Bob Steele, "Bits and Spurs," and "Kid Kowboys."
Customer Reviews:
Badmen Unveiled.......2007-04-02
This book might be called a "Coffee Table" book. The brief biographies, however, are very interesting. Your are introduced to and get to know many of the lesser known faces seen in movies and TV over the past 70 years. I did not know that Iron Eyes Cody was not a First American. He was in fact Italian. Truly fascinating book.
Best of the Badmen.......2006-03-25
If you are a fan of the film and TV westerns, this is a must-have addition to your library! Featuring one-page biographies of over 300 American character actors who excelled as blackhat baddies, it is a book you both dip into for reference of a specific actor you may want to know more about, or just read through and enjoy the photos and listings of their respective most notable bad-guy roles. In-depth, accurate research has been carried out for every actor included in this book. Highly recommended.
Bad and sometimes sad..........2006-02-01
BEST OF THE BADMEN is the title of a 1951 RKO Western film starring Robert Ryan and a whole herd of the character actors who are the subject of the book under consideration here. Bob Nareau and Bobby Copeland have obviously spent a good deal of time striving to dig up biographical information on around 300 (!) often very obscure actors who worked in films from about 1929 to the early 1950s, and at times could still be seen in many filmed 30-minute Western TV series broadcast from 1956 on to the mid to late 1970s. Some of these actors, in consequence, had movie careers that spanned 50 years! As I understand the division of labor, the actual text was mainly written by Boyd Magers, who also supplied the many stills.
The actors generally form two groups, with some overlaps. There are the actors who began in films in the silent era, often playing lead roles, then shifted to character parts when talkies came in, typically vanishing in the late 1940s, and then there are the actors who began in films after WW II and made a fairly smooth transition to TV Westerns, vanishing only when the Western series also vanished from network TV. Problems with alcohol, other self-destructive behavior, and various personal tragedies, befell many of them. Life-spans as short as 40 or 50 years were not too unusual. And as you can surmise from the title, all of these actors made some mark playing "the bad guy," usually in B-western films. There are actually three categories of bad guy in the B-western. There's the "brains heavy" or "dress heavy," who wears a suit and often a pencil mustache. He's the banker or lawyer or mayor or crooked sheriff or wealthy rancher who has evil designs on the hero and heroine. There's the "non-com heavy," who takes his orders from the dress heavy, and there's his gang, a gaggle of five or ten "dog heavies" who do the dirty work. Even a fairly low budget B-western thus offered parts to up to a dozen character actors who could project or personify villainy.
So what you are getting here is usually short (often three or so paragraph) biographies of each of these generally unsung actors, and also for each, a short list of films, a "suggested sampling" of their heavy roles. If that's what you want and expect, you'll get it and consider your circa $40 well spent.
However, the book has some defects, and with due respect, I haven't seen such problems previously in the books or articles I have seen by any one of the three authors working solo. Have too many cooks spoiled the broth? I won't try to guess, but here are the problems that will annoy many potential readers to a greater or lesser degree.
(1) Poor photos. Poor photo reproduction is a problem with quite a few Empire Publishing efforts I have seen, but it's worse here than usual. Photos tend to be washed-out, fuzzed-out contrastless arrays of blobs. Example: on facing pages 214-215, good old Kermit Maynard has one eye and one nostril but the rest of his facial features must be guessed at, and Lew Meehan has only a hint of a mustache and a hint of a lipline, nothing else. Since many potential readers of the book will not know the actor's name and try to recognize him from his photo, the photo choices often present a real obstacle. I would never recognize Robert Wilke from the snapshot of him on p. 307.
(2) Odd omissions. For example, the entry on Robert Barrat completely omits any discussion of his B-western career, though that is the whole point of having an entry for him. It simply jumps right from the point where he makes his first Western, directly to his death 35 years later.
(3) Not written in english. A far-too-typical sentence, from p. 133: "Taken out of school at 15, the family covered the East Coast racing circuits." Almost every third or fourth sentence in the book has this structure, and very frequently it is a structure that is completely broken, a total grammatical trainwreck. Too often the break is not just annoying, but actually confusing, as terrible grammar generally is. For example, on p. 73, "Born July 29, 1888, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, his father, James Chesebro, was from Connecticut and his mother, Margaret Grant, was a native of Kentucky." It was the subject of the entry, George Chesebro, who was born in 1888, not his father!
I also encountered some really confusing misprints or suspect arithmetic. For example James Coburn was "born 1928" but "at 60, in 1978," was felled by arthritis. Numbers are also a problem when the authors casually refer to a given actor as "one of the five best," or "one of the ten best" screen heavies... with usually no hint whatsoever as to who were the other four, or other nine! On a personal note I was surprised to find actors who stood 6' 2" and weighed 190 pounds described as "hulking brutes." Things must have changed a bit because I stand 6' 2" and weigh about 190 pounds and I look like good old Wally Cox!
On this same page you should also find the standard non-review by "Mr. Jim," which just transcribes the table of contents and dust jacket or cover blurbs, and moves on to the next item, just as do all of his other 1,500 (or whatever the total is now) "reviews," so I won't need to get into that.
"The Leader of Western Movie Books...Empire Publications ~ Best of the Badmen (2005)".......2006-01-08
Empire Publishing presents "Best of the Badmen", by Boyd Magers, Bob Nareau and Bobby Copeland telling the inside story in depth about some of the bad guys, the heavy and the villain who rode against the law and the heroes of our B-Westerns era...detailed bios, filmographies and photos galore of 325 actors who played outlaws, bandits and polecats on the big screen and small tube of westerns from the '30s through the '60s...every page has the breath and life as only the authors and these film historians can deliver through pen and paper...many of the chapters interview the actors, directors and other cast members who worked closely with the actors in this wonderful book...this tribute was written from the heart and it shows.
Table of Contents (Chapter, Title and Page Numbers)
Acknowledgments - 5
Dedications - 7
Foreword - 9
Introduction - 17
The Badmen: 20 through 317
The Rest of the Gang: 319 through 342
Bibliography - 343
About the Authors - 345
My favorite villains of all time were and there were three, Harry Woods, Charles King and Roy Barcroft...all three men set the standards for being rotten to the core, and you loved every minute they were on the screen...gave us the impression they were having the time of their lives committing all those dastardly deeds in every scene...please note, on page 8 Johnny Mack Brown gets the drop on the "Best of the Badmen" Harry Woods (left to right), Roy Barcroft and Charlie King in Universal's "West of Carson City" (1938, gotta love it .
BIOS:
1. Harry Woods (aka: Harry Lewis Woods)
(Woods was considered the dean of western heavies)
Birth Date: 5/05/1889 - Cleveland, Ohio
Died: 12/28/1968 - Los Angeles, California (uremia)
2. Charles King (aka: Charles Lafayette King Jr)
(He was the heavy we loved to hate)
Birth Date: 2/21/1895 - Hillsboro, Texas
Died: 5/07/1957 - Hollywood, California (cirrhosis of liver)
3. Roy Barcroft (aka: Howard Clifford Ravenscroft)
(King of the Badmen- one of the nicest people in the business)
Birth Date: 9/07/1902 - Crab Orchard, Nebraska
Died: 11/28/1969 - Woodland Hills, California (kidney cancer)
Hats off to Rhonda Lemons and her staff at Empire Publishing, the authors Magers, Nareau and Copeland putting down on paper without a doubt the best book commemorating the actors and their rare talent that helped make the B-Western great...sharing many facts inclusive within their own individual sections in the book...we now have answers to the many questions about the B-Western era and the actors who chose to play the heavy...If you're into the memories of the B-Western, this is the one you've been anxiously waiting for...another winner from those early days when the western villain made it clear where he stood and Empire Publishing has captured the moment...just the way we like 'em!
Total Page: 352 ~ Empire Publishing 0-944019-43-6 ~ (11/30/2005)
Customer Reviews:
YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK.......2007-02-12
"Evenings with Cary Grant" is the most incredible book. A sort of documentary on paper, Nancy Nelson uses an interview/intercut format and cleverly weaves a narrative through the most revealing and often amusing anecdotes. Cary Grant talks and then Gregory Peck. Katherine Hepburn says something, and then we hear from Audrey Hepburn. As one reviewer said, "When you get to the end, you feel as though you've lost a good friend." Nelson uses no conjecture or supposition. All her sources are primary. An announcement in a recent Sunday "New York Times" said that Nelson will speak about "The Cary Grant Few People Knew" at The Metropolitan Museum of Art on June 15. I've got my ticket!
A beautiful life........2006-08-16
It is no easy thing to become so successful in one's career and yet be universally loved and respected as Cary Grant was in his lifetime.
Thanks to the author for focusing on the good of the man and ignoring the rest. He was a good man and that is enough. Ms. Nelson does a good job in giving us an idea of who the man really was--a gentleman who was loyal to his friends, if not his wives...but in the end, even THEY still loved him after it was over.
My only disappointment (not the author's fault) was to find out that Cary Grant hated "Arsenic and Old Lace," one of my favorite movies.
Cary Grant - Excellent actor, excellent man.......2006-08-13
Like other reviewers, I'm a big Cary Grant fan. I usually hesitate to read about the personal lives of actors because they often lead disappointing lives. But Nelson's collection of stories and personal accounts from Grant's friends introduced me to the wonderful man behind the handsome movie star. I'm looking forward to watching his movies again after reading this book -- there is information from him and co-stars about some of the films that will make it fun to watch them again.
One of the best out there.......2006-08-13
I absolutely love old movies,old stars, new movies and their stars, but I LOVE Cary Grant!!! So I wanted to get a book about him and I always check up on the author and how much they knew about the person they are writing about,and when I saw this book and I had to get it.This Book shows the life of Archie Leach (we know him as Cary Grant)his life growing up,and his rise to stardom,his love life,his friends, and his wonderful sense of humor.I was so happy to find out that the man we all fell in love with was the same in real life that he was onscreen.I don't want you to have to read a long review but I just wanted to say how much I love this book and the writers style.Every body should own this book.It's worth reading more than one time.
Marc Elliott should have read this book first before writing his!.......2006-03-17
So many of us are admirers of Archie Leach... a.k.a. Cary Grant... and are always interested in learning more about the man, the individual, the actor... Well, Evenings With Cary Grant: Recollections in His Own Words and by Those Who Knew Him Best proved to be an enjoyable read, sans the Hollywood rumour mill that many of the other publications (i.e. Marc Elliott's recently published biography on CG) tend to promote. It's so easy to fill a book's pages with hearsay, especially when the subject is no longer even on the earth to speak for his/her self
I was pleased to find Nancy Nelson's book filled with stories from Cary Grant himself and so many of his friends who shared time with him both professionally and personally. If you are looking for a good read... a book that captures the essence of not only the Hollywood legend, but the man himself, I strongly suggest you grab a copy of this book and settle in for an informative and enjoyable experience!
Average customer rating:
- Johnny Depp Biography
- dont waste you money !!
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Secret World of Johnny Depp: The Intimate Biography of Hollywood's Best Loved Rebel
Nigel Goodall
Manufacturer: John Blake Publishing, Limited
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Johnny Depp: The Illustrated Biography
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Biography - Johnny Depp
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Johnny Depp
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Depp
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ASIN: 1857825977 |
Book Description
Johnny Depp, Hollywood's most famous outsider, is one of this generation's most impassioned, highly praised stars. Nigel Goodall looks at his often turbulent life, his love affairs, and his extraordinary career in film.
The star of some of the best and most unconventional American films in recent history, Johnny Depp has also been a source of media fascination since the nineties. His film roles have always been idiosyncratic, earning him international respect and adoration—from Edward Scissorhands, Ed Wood, and Donnie Brasco to his Oscar-nominated turns as Captain Jack Sparrow in the Pirates of the Caribbean films and as J.M. Barrie in Finding Neverland. His good looks, oddball charm, and tempestuous love affairs have helped push him into the limelight and kept him there. Now, in this updated biography (originally titled
What's Eating Johnny Depp?), Nigel Goodall looks at his bad-boy image, his rise to fame, and his high-profile romances.
Customer Reviews:
Johnny Depp Biography.......2006-11-10
This is a well written book by someone who is quite familiar with his subject. There are things inside the book I had not known before even though I am a very big fan of Johnny Depp. The book is very well researched and written in a friendly knowledgeable manner. I really enjoyed it and it is an asset to my library of Depp books.
dont waste you money !!.......2006-07-13
if you are interested in reading about the plots for all of johnnies movies i suggest you buy this book---to call it an intimate BIOGRAPHY is a joke---i can find more interesting info about johnny depp browsing the internet. there were of course a few facts about his life sprinkled in among the details of his movies---i SAW all of his movies i didnt need a synopsis of them all over again----look around, folks, i am sure there is something much more interesting than this book.
Average customer rating:
- I was a National High School Institute "Cherub"
- from a musical loving fanatic...
- Not Just Razzle-Dazzle
- Dramarama
- A deliciously fun take on summer theater camp
|
Dramarama
E. Lockhart
Manufacturer: Hyperion
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0786838159 |
Customer Reviews:
I was a National High School Institute "Cherub".......2007-10-01
Just burned through Dramarama, a young adult novel by my friend and neighbor, E. Lockhart. It's about a yearning Midwestern girl's experiences at a summer theater institute, which hit rather close to home since I had attended such a program at Northwestern University the summer before my senior year of high school. I was really cringing at the main character's initially obnoxious exuberance because it so closely mirrored mine. The wind gets taken out of her sails almost immediately when she blows her audition pieces and is assigned a minor role in the only non-musical show, the loser show that nobody wants to be in. This didn't quite happen to me, but close enough! I had wanted to be one of the hookers in Hot L Baltimore, but instead wound up playing an old lady in an adaptation of an Isaac Bashevis Singer story. It could have been worse. When I actually saw Hot L Baltimore, I was horrified that this one girl's part consisted entirely of roller skating on stage with a pizza box, saying, "Pizza," and then clumping up the stairs to deliver it to the whore who'd ordered it. Oh, the shame! The unfairness of it all! Ms. Lockhart does a masterful job of capturing all that, along with the casual cruelty of teachers intent on showing teenagers the cold realities of the biz, and sweet thrill of dormitory romance. Plus, I was very gratified that an anecdote I had regaled her with when she was writing the book made it into the finished work. Think of me when Sadye (nee Sarah) is scapegoated by her acting teacher for the crime of having a tense foot. Oh the humanity!
from a musical loving fanatic..........2007-09-08
This book was wonderful. Throughout the book, tape recording sessions take place between Sadye, Demi, and their friends they meet at summer drama camp.
Sadye is torn between friends, lies, and auditions, and the overall storyline was good.
It's only four stars because the ending was definitely not resolving. You never find out what happens to the characters, which is very disappointing.
It's definitely still worth reading though.
Not Just Razzle-Dazzle.......2007-09-01
DRAMARAMA tells the story of Sadye and Demi, who escape their boring lives in Brenton, Ohio when they apply to a summer theater camp at Wildewood Academy. Now, I didn't expect to really like this book. Although I'd enjoyed a couple of E. Lockhart's previous novels, I'm not a big fan of musicals or theater people, and I thought most of the characters were annoying caricatures of real people at the beginning. But just as in real life, gradually and without my even realizing it, the characters evolved from being who I thought they were to being interesting, likeable, and most importantly, real people. Everything about the novel rings true -- from the fascinating details about music and acting classes and Broadway directors to the intricately woven relationships between the characters felt like it could come from a memoir. What I loved most about this book was how it felt like real life: things didn't always wrap up neatly, it wasn't always satisfying, and I didn't always expect what came next. An interesting story of love, trust, jealousy, true friendship, and letting your true self out.
Dramarama.......2007-08-12
I really liked this book. At first I thought it was going to be so predictable... Sadye gets into the drama camp, Sadye doesn't get the part she wants, Sadye shows the teachers her true potential, Sadye goes on to be a famous actor... But it wasn't like that at all. Meaning it wasn't predictable. Some parts actually surprised me, which is great because I don't like reading a book that I can guess everything. This is definitely a unique book, so if you're looking for something fluffy but 'inspirational', and different, I would definitely reccommend it.
A deliciously fun take on summer theater camp.......2007-06-27
Before she meets Demi, Sadye is just Sarah, a big-nosed, five-foot-ten "supersonic, hydrophonic, gigantic person, only no one could see it." The only time she ever feels alive in her boring as Cream of Wheat hometown of Brenton, Ohio, is at Miss Delilah's School of Dance. Sarah loves to dance, sing and watch musicals, but her real life is "seriously razzle-dazzle deprived." When the announcement is made that Wildwood Summer Institute will be holding auditions, Sarah knows it could be her ticket out of town. She chops her hair in the style of Liza Minnelli and goes on a shopping spree for mini-skirts, knee-high boots and glitter sweaters.
At the audition, she meets Douglas Howard, aka Demi. Demi also goes to Brenton, but she has never seen him like this --- decked out in "a skintight silver shirt over red workout pants" and a bowler hat. Demi is "a spirit made of equal parts ambition and razzle-dazzle." He also feels out of place at school, especially because he's gay and black. They instantly hit it off and become friends. Demi calls Sarah's look "Gawky-sexy. And that means that you are not Sarah." They rename her Sayde. A star is born! Demi and Sadye are inseparable for the rest of the school year and are thrilled when they both get accepted into Wildwood.
But at Wildwood, everything is different. Boys' and girls' dorms mean that Demi and Sadye won't be as inseparable as she expected. Sadye's roommates are Iz, who goes to a specialized arts high school in San Diego; Candie, who has "no filter" and is obsessed with the oddball musical "Jekyll & Hyde"; and Nanette, who has been on Broadway since she was seven. Sadye realizes that being accepted into Wildwood is just the first part of the process. There will be another audition and then they will be placed in their selected plays and roles.
While Demi shoots to stardom and popularity at camp, Sadye finds herself in a not-so-glamorous spot and begins to feel out of place. Is she as razzle-dazzle as she had thought?
E. Lockhart's DRAMARAMA is a deliciously fun take on summer theater camp. The colorful cast of characters pops out of the pages and are as lively as the songs mentioned throughout. The technique of intermingling the transcripts of microcassette recordings made by Sadye and Demi adds a wonderfully satisfying in-the-moment-feeling to their adventure. This reader and ex-drama club member especially appreciated the clever musical references and dead-on details of drama life.
--- Reviewed by Kristi Olson
Amazon.com
American comedian Andy Kaufman (1949-1984) was a performer like no other--a rule-breaking iconoclast who blurred the line between performance art and comedy, at times between life and art itself. Misunderstood by the public at large during his lifetime, and embraced by a cult of fans that has consistently grown since his premature death from cancer, Kaufman is the perfect counter-cultural martyr, ripe for a Gap khakis ad. Like Lenny Bruce before him, Kaufman chafed at the reigns of comedy; he didn't always want to make people laugh, in fact he wished to make them uncomfortable. One might consider those notorious French bad-boy playwrights Alfred Jarry and Antonin Artaud (who pushed the envelope of good taste and thoroughly enjoyed confusing their audiences) to be Kaufman's spiritual predecessors, though this might be taking things too seriously. His most well-known routines--the inept stand-up comedian "foreign man," the basis for the character Latka Gravas on the hit sitcom "Taxi"; the grizzled, professional lounge lizard Tony Clifton; and the reigning world champion of inter-gender wrestling--all hinged on making the crowd squirm. Life was a show for Kaufman, who began staging elaborate shows for friends and family at the age of 7; everything was a put-on and yet totally, dead-on serious.
Judging by Bob Zmuda's book (released in anticipation of a biographical movie starring Jim Carrey), Kaufman wasn't the easiest guy to be a best friend to. But, as Zmuda tells things, he rose to the challenge--letting Kaufman confide that he had a daughter he'd never seen, keeping his mouth shut at the appropriate times, and otherwise fulfilling best-friend duties with aplomb. Andy Kaufman got the friend he deserved in his lifetime, but this is not the biography he deserves; it is written in a well-meaning though hackneyed and hard-to-digest style. Simple points are made again and again, as if the two(!) authors were attempting to fuse a poorly-written college essay with a USA Today article. And Mr. Zmuda makes the mistake of assuming that his own history will be of much interest to the reader, who is ostensibly reading a tell-all about Kaufman, not his best friend. There are tremendous anecdotes here; about half the book is filled with glorious tales of artful mischief, hijinks, pranks, and funny stuff that Zmuda and Kaufman pulled on friends, crowds, and strangers. Fans will undoubtedly want to pick this one up, while those with a more casual interest are cautioned to perhaps look elsewhere for a less clumsily written tome. --Mike McGonigal
Book Description
Best known for his sweet-natured character Latka on Taxi, Andy Kaufman was the most influential comic of the generation that produced David Letterman, John Belushi, and Robin Williams. A regular on the early days of Saturday Night Live (where he regularly disrupted planned skits), Kaufman quickly became known for his idiosyncratic roles and for performances that crossed the boundaries of comedy, challenging expectations and shocking audiences. Kaufmans death from lung cancer at age 35 (hed never smoked) stunned his fans and the comic community that had come to look to him as its lightning rod and standard bearer. Bob Zmuda, Kaufmans closest friend, producer, writer, and straight man, breaks his twenty-year silence about Kaufman and unmasks the man he knew better than anyone. He chronicles Kaufmans meteoric rise, the development of his extraordinary personas, the private man behind the driven actor and comedian, and answers the question most often asked: Did Andy Kaufman fake his own death? A movie about Kaufman starring Jim Carrey, directed by Milos Forman, and co-executive produced by author Bob Zmuda and Danny DeVitos Jersey Films, is scheduled for national release in fall 1999.
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Kaufman's closest friend breaks his 20-year silence about the star and unmasks the man whom he knew better than anyone, chronicling Kaufman's meteoric rise, the development of his extraordinary personas, and the private man behind the driven comedian.
Customer Reviews:
I agree: Mr. X himself is worth your time.......2005-09-30
If "Man on the Moon," which depicted the trite TV reruns of Kaufman's wrestling shows bored you, you should read this book. Milos Foreman probably believed that Zmuda's insights were unappealing to mass movie audiences... which is why his film failed.
...and I must write that I have read biographies about Napoleon Bonaparte, Benjamin Franklin, Friedrich Nietzsche, etc... but no one fascinates me quite as much as "Mr. X." When I read Zmuda's descriptions about him, I laughed so hard that I almost literally could not breathe. Zmuda did not diagnose him, but allow me: a paranoid schizophrenic who has a seemingly bottomless war chest. He is "carpe diem" gone absolutely insane.... and a part of me hopes he is alive.
A Must-Read!.......2005-09-02
Andy Kaufman was a fascinating man who proved to be more complex than any of his maddening performances. Now, Andy's best friend and confidant ever, has given us a first-hand account of what Andy was really like and how he pulled off his greatest skits. Zmuda traces out Andy's career, from when he first started playing local comedy clubs, up to the appearance of Tony Clifton a year after Andy's death, and provides plenty of laughs as he describes how fearlessly Andy toyed with his audiences.
If you are searching for information on Andy's home and family life, you won't find it here (and if that is what you want, I suggest Bill Zehme's "Lost In The Funhouse"). Zmuda focuses primarily on the experiences that the two shared. But the stories he shares are pure gold and you learn much about how they wound up in the entertainment world and how they turned it completely upside down. Andy didn't just put on a show, he yanked his viewers into his own reality where he was both puppet master and behavioral scientist. This book really captures that spirit.
Unsung Hero.......2003-11-04
I first learned of Andy Kaufman after seeing Man on the Moon, featuring Jim Carrey starring as the late "song and dance man." I use the term song and dance man, because Kaufman never thought of himself as a comedian, he was only a song and dance man - an entertainer. This book provides an in-depth look into the mind of Andy Kaufman through his best friend and producer, Bob Zmuda. I never thought I would be so inspired by this book. The way that Andy saw the world was so different that he influenced many comics that perform today. He thought of audience entertaining him, and himself being their audience. It is really hard to explain how amazing this book is without actually reading it. If you saw Man on the Moon and liked it, you will no doubt love this book, because it takes the movie to a whole new level. I only wish Andy were around today to keep influencing others and changing comedy as we know it.
Then again, maybe he is still alive. I guess we'll never know...
Revisionist History.......2003-10-01
While this book is certainly a must read for diehard Kaufman fans (myself included), as it offers a few tidbits on Andy not found elsewhere, it serves mostly as a vehicle for Zmuda to attempt to overcome his feeling slighted at not receiving enough credit for Kaufman's work. Apparently, Zmuda was the brainchild behind most of Kaufman's schemes. I don't doubt that Zmuda was an important person in Andy's life and collaborated with Andy, yet Zmuda makes it known that Andy wouldn't be anything without him--an idea I find ludicrous.
A better book is Bill Zehme's biography of Kaufman, Lost in the Funhouse, which seems more even handed in its treatment of Zmuda's and Kaufman's collaboration.
So, read Zmuda if you must, but know that Zmuda's book is of firstmost importance to Zmuda himself.
A rebuttal to the review by Mike McGonigal.......2003-09-30
I read this book twice so far, and it is one of the most inspiring and informative pieces of work on Andy Kaufman. He is an idol of mine for reasons beyond his "comedic" ways. But instead of me raving about Kaufman, I would like to comment on some things written by Mike McGonigal in his review. He states that Bob Zmuda made a bad decision to inform readers of his friendship with Kaufman; and also personal happenings and whatnot. Basically, he's saying Zmuda shouldn't have included stories of his own history. Mike McGonignal also states that the reader "is ostensibly reading a tell-all about Kaufman, not his best friend". Perhaps true for some, but I don't appreciate being told why I read a book. And perhaps I'm overreacting, but my point is, I prefer to hear Zmuda's history and any other personal bits of information he decides to tell about. This is also a good writing tactic because it's a way of showing credentials for their history and friendship. McGonignal also stated that "Simple points are made again and again, as if the two(!) authors were attempting to fuse a poorly-written college essay with a USA Today article". I may not be a so-called professional writer as of yet, but I've been writing for a while and study closely to styles of writing and comedic ways. With that, Zmuda's biography about his best friend was meant to be more of an informative and personal piece of literature; opposed to a masterfully written piece that McGonignal was maybe making an excursion for. The way it was written, I felt like Zmuda and I were just chilling out in a room and he was telling me stories of what went on, and how they planned and organized certain "bits", if at all. Zmuda took a personal journey into his past, his mind, and into his best friends unexpected short life. He uncovered secrets that were kept for many years by Kaufman and Zmuda's most trusted family and friends; only to be told when the time was right. Unfortunately the right time followed Kaufman's death. If readers only wanted facts and stories about Kaufman and his many antics, or only had a "casual interest", then they could simply tune in to the television and catch an Andy Kaufman special which document those such things and tend to dwell on the Foreign Man character or his dead-on Elvis "empression". Readers that want to find out the roots of these characters, hijinks, pranks, bordello-outings, inter-gender wrestling, and so on should read this book; and will appreciate it.
Average customer rating:
- The story of a true American and patriot; inspiring
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The Best Years of My Life
Harold Russell
Manufacturer: Paul S Eriksson
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
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Performing Arts
| Arts & Photography
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| General
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General
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ASIN: 0839710267 |
Customer Reviews:
The story of a true American and patriot; inspiring.......1998-02-04
For anyone who is a fan of the 1946 movie "The Best Years of Our Lives", this book will be thoroughly enjoyed. Mr. Russell is clearly the one "star" of the movie for whom everything was most difficult, and whose wonderful portrayal was sadly under compensated by the producer. Given a motto of "it's not what you've lost but what you have left that counts" during his rehab period, Mr. Russell applies that philosophy throughout his life as a very pragmatic and realistic individual. He is a role model for anyone to emulate and admire. His anecdotes and revelations about the process of filming the movie itself are also fascinating.
Customer Reviews:
disappointed.......2007-05-30
As a long time fan of this Lady, I was just very disappointed in her cynicism. For an actress who was so powerful and wonderful on the screen, it distressed me to read so much dessension in her book. She certainly is opinionated and that's good, but disparaging of fellow actors, I believe makes her seem simply petty. I have to say, she admitted to things that would make her unpopular, but she deserves credit for being brave enough to expose her foibles. Also, because the writer is not objective, we're missing information, such as; the details of the filming process. While she may have taken the process lightly, we the reader didn't get the opportunity to enjoy her view on the filming of her movies. Personally, I would loved to have read some behind the scenes documentation of my favorite film of all time, "The Best Years of Our Lives" That movie will always stand alone. It captures the post war era better than any film ever. And like the writer, I wished she had continued acting. Finally, just as Angela Lansbury, Virginia would have been fabulous to watch later in life.
A great book!.......2003-02-09
This is a wonderful auto-biography, that Virginia Mayo has written. She tells about her life on Hollyood and at home with her family. She tells about her beloved husband, Michael O'Shea, who passed away. Also about her daughter Mary whom she adores, and who feels the same way about her mom.
The work as well as the rewards and joys of working in Hollywood during the Golden years. Also her book contains many wonderful photos of her. Such a large and generous selection of them. I am a big fan of hers, and she is a beautiful and talented actress. She is also very kind and gracious and has written an enjoyable and delightful book. I very highly recommend it to anyone. Also Virginia provides insight into other Hollywood stars and what they were like to work with, and the ones that she got to meet. Very informative and interesting. She is truly a lovely and kind lady.
Book Description
The book looks at the phenomenon of stardom in the cinema, focusing on over 160 stars of the silver screen from the heyday of Hollywood, when stars such as John Wayne, James Stewart and Doris Day showed us a bright glossy view of America, through to contemporary idols as a George Clooney and Nicole Kidman, the book gives an insider's view of each actors personal and professional lives.
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- Looking Like the Enemy: My Story of Imprisonment in Japanese American Internment Camps
- Love Is a Many Trousered Thing (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson)
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