1 comments about The Ark's Anniversary.

1. In this book, the legendary Gerald Durrell (author of The Amateur Naturalist) uses the occassion of the 'birthday' of his zoo and conservation trust to reflect on a long career of adventures and misadventures with animals (human and otherwise) in the service of saving the planet. There are many laugh-out-loud funny moments, many triumphs, and a few depressing failures looked at with head-on honesty. A recommended read for all Durrell fans and animal lovers.

5 comments about I Am Jackie Chan.

1. I Am Jackie Chan My Life in Action 1998 5/5
   Written by :Jackie Chan & Jeff Yang
   
   Easily one of the best books I have ever read. This books contains 398 pages of pure joy. Seriously I read this book In one sitting . I was already a fan of Jackie Chan now I have so much respect for him. The copy I own includes a extra chapter, I would say it's worth buying again to read that extra chapter. Jackie Chan had a very interesting upbringing filled with beating and let downs. I mean he was abandoned by his parents who essentially sold him to the Peking Opera. Where they had the power to punish him up till death.
   
   In here Jackie talks about the makings his earlier films. I really enjoyed this book as much as I enjoy his movies. Jeff Yang has said in interviews that there is works to release a second volume. Lets hope for that!



2. my wife's english is not good. but she found that it is very easy to understand this book as Jackie's movie. She has fun with it and use it to prove her english.



3. A fascinating insight into the mind and career of the world's biggest movie star. With exhaustive (and exhausting!) descriptions of Jackie's brutal Peking opera training and early days as a stuntman and actor, almost everything you want to know about Jackie is here.
   
   Not that there aren't omissions - his illegitimate son Jaycee, now trying to make a name for himself as an actor, is never mentioned. Jackie is also quick to take credit (he claims 'Half a Loaf of Kung Fu' and 'Snake in the Eagle's Shadow' were the first kung fu comedies, which they weren't) and slow to give it out (he describes his opera brothers' film 'The Prodigal Son,' arguably the best kung fu movie ever made, as "solid"). But Jackie's charisma and determination shine through on every page, and you can't help but admire the guy. A must read for Jackie fans and aficionados of Hong Kong cinema.



4. Dood tottally I'm not kidding, Jackie Chan is like a god amongst men, a god who makes flawed movies in his old age (flawed is polite considering the horrible movies he's currently putting out). Man Jackie Chan is so great it makes my balls sweat whenever I think about it, in this book he talks about how he and his crew broke into an amusement park to steal... not money but bread crumbs!!! Becuase Master wanted his students to work hard, this is not a book for weaklings, they will fret and feel weak as they learn of the heroic and disciplined exploits of my man JACKIE FING CHAN! Man in this book he talks about how some dudes wanted to fight, but he didn't cuase Master taught him only to fight for show and not fight for violence. Man the world would be a better place if we all had to read this book. Mandatory reading for High Schools this should be.



5. Jackie Chan has had a very eventful life. When he was a child he lived in on an ambassadors mansion in Hong Kong. Soon he was sent to a Cantonese Opera school, which was a boarding school where he was trained, day and night for over 10 years of his young life, in the ways of Chinese Opera. Chinese Opera is not the same Opera you and I may think of it as, but instead is a very acrobatic physically demanding show. He then went into the stuntman business, which was a very difficult road for him. For many years he struggled with finding work but he soon became a much wanted stuntman. Eventually he went into small acting parts, which led to bigger acting parts. Soon enough he was a huge success in Hong Kong, and eventually got married to a famous Chinese actress. Jackie still travels a lot and his wife is a stay at home wife who raises his son.
   I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys reading. It is full of constant action and keeps your attention. I Am Jackie Chan is an easy read and fast paced I was unable to put it down, except of course when class was over.

5 comments about Love, Janis.

1. once i started to read this book i couldn't put it down until it was finished, was sad to see it end. it gives alot of detail into janis joplin's early family life as well as school and friends and the start and finish of her music career. would recommend this to any joplin fan, a must have!!



2. Laura is no Balzac. She doesn't share the reality of her sister's life in a way that makes it as important and real the way a master would. But, what can a person expect? She does share and reveal much. It's way too much to ask that she (Laura) could write a book that truly reveals the depths of Janis' life and times such that it will influence people for ages to come. I would like such a work because I feel that Janis' life should not be forgotten. If you have feelings for Janis like I do then this book is a must read. If someone someday takes what Laura has written and makes it into a book that captures all of the emotion and reality of Janis' life and times so that even a casual reader will be amazed then that will be an amazing book. I think Laura would agree.



3. I WAS PLEASANTLY surprised at the way this book showed us the real Janis. I was expecting a glossed over version of her life, but Janis's sister told the good and the bad. Through it all you can sense the love and affection her family had for her. Laura Joplin is an excellant writer and her insights on why Janis did the things she did was very refreshing. I was 13 years old when Janis died and had already begun to be a part of the rejected "hippie" crowd. My crowd was the first in our school to be a part of that culture. I identified with alot of what Janis went through and I remember buying her albums and listening over and over. I loved her. I remember the days of pot and LSD and speed, and my personal favorite, quaaludes. The drug culture was much different then and much safer. I thank God for a praying Grandmother and for a fear of needles, or I could have gone further and ended up like Janis. Few of our group ever experimented with injecting, but I could understand how Janis got caught up in it. This book showed a side of Janis that was so much like us and showed that she was really an insecure girl wanting acceptance like the rest of us.
   Thank you Laura, for giving us insight to the real person your sister was.



4. I thought this book was outstanding. Not only does it give good insight on what made Janis tick, it gave a very indepth history of the hippie movement from it's earliest conception. I found it fascinating.



5. Janis' sister, Dr. Laura Joplin, provides the reader with special insight to many core concepts of Janis, such as Janis' mission of encouraging freedom of expression for all, on every subject, as well as her passion for ending racial and all other forms of discrimination. Janis so humorously exposed hypocracy and so wonderfully raised questions that many are afraid to ask. What irony that her gifts to the human race were cut off so prematurely by some of the traps of life.

No comments about Sows' Ears and Silk Purses.

2 comments about Down Thunder Road.

1. Read the Library Journal review above. They've got it right. This is junk, pure and simple - a hack job designed to let Mike Appel, one of the vilest men in the music business, whine about Bruce. There is no substance here, no real thought, certainly no real biography. I wish I could give it zero stars - even that is more than it deserves.



2. Down Thunder Road is presented on the back cover as somehow contreversial and anti-Springsteen. Well, as a Springsteen fan, I did not found this book outrageous at all, but on the contrary fascinating. It is an amazing journey in the development of a new artist that will eventually become a popular music icon. Down Thunder Road is not only the recount of an adventure, it is also a music business case, full with a copy of the contracts, record company memos and court orders. Fascinating !

No comments about Stark Naked.

No comments about The Life of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Biography).

No comments about There's a Country in My Cellar.

2 comments about A Joy I'd Never Known (Audio Pages).

1. Jan is a tremendous inspiration to all women struggling with control issues but are not admitting it to themselves or others. Her insights into how being in control controlled her life is truly a gift from God. Ms Dravecky pulls from the bottom of her heart strings in order to share her life's struggles and triumphs. I read this book last summer after having lost the job of my dreams on short notice and without prospects of another one. Feeling her pain and rejoicing in her ability to get to the other side because of her strong spiritual beliefs enabled me to gain strength in my own battle. Being in control is not always in our best interest is the lesson here, as difficult as that may seem to most women in that position. A great book !



2. Jan is a tremendous inspiration to all women struggling with control issues but are not admitting it to themselves or others. Her insights into how being in control controlled her life is truly a gift from God. Ms Dravecky pulls from the bottom of her heart strings in order to share her life's struggles and triumphs. I read this book last summer after having lost the job of my dreams on short notice and without prospects of another one. Feeling her pain and rejoicing in her ability to get to the other side because of her strong spiritual beliefs enabled me to gain strength in my own battle. Being in control is not always in our best interest is the lesson here, as difficult as that may seem to most women in that position. A great book !

No comments about In the Heart of the Country (Reminiscence).