5 comments about Wit : A Play.

1. Simple, poignant and funny. I saw the movie starring Emma Thompson and was moved to read the original play. Highly recommended!



2. I read this book for a nursing class I am taking. It's a wonderful depiction of hospitalization, giving accurate portrayals of doctors, nurses and patients, which is surprising being written by a lay person. It was an easy read, about 45 minutes. I would recommend this book.



3. This play is still appropriate, years after being written, as a keen insight into several challenging facets of the medical world, suffering, and difficult and long illnesses. It asks questions about how science and medicine interact, about how people and the science of medicine interact, and how that is portrayed and presented to the patient.
   
   It's not just a controversial play on the philosophy of science and medicine, but it is also an examination of the relational and social aspects of one very successful academic's life and struggle with her cancer. It attempts to make very poignant remarks on who is important, why, and how, and generally succeeds in making the reader think deeply about how the end might look with friend, family, and others.
   
   The HBO movie is a great visual representation of this play. Read the play first, then watch the movie.



4. Vivian Bearing is a PH. D, and that is very important to her. She must remind everyone about it most of the time. But in the place and position where she is, that doesn't count too much. She is not in the command of the situation. She is not the "Doctor" of this situation, this position belongs to a MD, and not her, since she is sick in a hospital. This is probably the first feeling that striker the character early in the play "W;t", by Margaret Edson.
   
   Vivian has lived her whole life as the commandant, now, facing an advanced metastatic ovarian cancer, the character is forced to re-exam a lot of things in her life. For one, she must start to open up. That shell where she has lived her whole life isn't a protection anymore. Highly intellectually, a John Donne scholar, she is forced now to deal with emotional issues - things she has always avoided.
   
   In her journey towards death and self-discovery, Vivan becomes another person. The reader/audience of "W;t" is invited to go in a painful, but beautiful, journey alongside the character. Not only does she bare herself physically, but also metaphorically, once the character has to come to terms with problems she assumed forgotten.
   
   Edson writes the play astutely, placing it mostly in the hospital where Vivian is taking her treatment. Some flashbacks are useful to give more insight of who is the Professor and why she has become who she is. Donne's poems are efficiently used since the poet wrote exactly about what the main character is going through - the metaphorical experience of abandoning life and moving towards death. In one of his poems discussed in the play, the difference between life and death is just a simple comma, as if the punctuation mark represents the last breath itself.
   
   The play writer has a special gift to portray the internal life and anxiety of her characters using monologues. The text never comes as boring or fake. Vivian's pain and joys are as real as her condition. "W;t" never becomes corny, and it is extremely beautiful and emotional. Edson has succeeded in blending both heart and mind, bringing to life a very complex character. The back of the book informs that she has worked in the cancer and AIDS unit of a research hospital. This background is very helpful to her to make believable the whole routine and Vivian's state of mind and body.
   
   For its complex and powerful portrait of a soul, "W;t" was awarded with the Pulitzer Prize and many other prizes when it was staged. All kudos are more than fair to this magnificent work, that just like Donne's poems will become a classic, to be studied and reverenced for many years to come.



5. Six years ago, when I was living in San Francisco and attending high school, a friend of my family's took us all to see a production of 'Wit' because it was making a highly anticipated debut there after a run in New York. I remember this experience not because I thought that the play was good, but because it had made me so uncomfortable. I just didn't get it; perhaps I was too young. Last week I found myself in a bookstore, browsing for a new read, when I stumbled upon a lone copy of this book on the shelf. I skimmed through it and was intrigued by the play. I bought it and gave it another chance, and I am so glad that I did. Frankly, I was stunned by how beautiful -- and sadly truthful -- Margaret Edson's play is. Perhaps its that in the years since I saw "Wit" performed I have had a cancer scare in my family, and have seen a lot of what she has captured in her play firsthand. Whatever the reason, I could no longer deny the power of the story because it made me uncomfortable to think about such things. I would highly recommend this play: it says so much about humanity, fear, loss, regret, and life in under a hundred pages -- truly an incredible feat. It would take most writer's at least double that to say half of what Edson conveys so easily.

5 comments about No Acting Please.

1. This is like the handbook version of the Being and Doing book by the same author. Something like a fist-aid kit in case of an "emergency" on stage or during a take. Break glass before storming off the set in disgust.



2. This is one the of the best approached to acting. It makes everything clear.
   Also an easy read.



3. I am personally an Eric Morris actor. I live in Los Angeles and I attend his workshop weekly. Having actually experienced his Craft personally and by watching hundreds of others come and go, and succeed and fail: it has become strikingly obvious to me that his Work works. One of the elements of this uniquely personal Craft is that it can be very overwhelming and emotionally draining. Through my two plus years of experience in the Work, I have found that very few Eric Morris actors actually uses the Craft exactly as it is intended. I believe as do many of my contemporaries that the Craft provides the actor with a limitless supply of "acting" tools, which encourage the actor to experience truthfully. It is painfully obvious that "truth" or an organic expression of impulses and emotions is severely lacking in theatre, television and on screen. There is not one person who has come to class and gone on stage who has not gone through a substantial growth. Being a student of acting my entire life, on a constant pursuit of truth in my work, and having over 25 teachers since first grade: I have found the one teacher on the planet who can answer all of the difficult questions actors ask about the mysterious art of acting. If you have a thirst for truth in your acting and in how you live your life, you foolish to remain ignorant of Eric Morris.



4. I'll admit that at first glance Eric Morris's System can seem scary and misaligned. But I believe it to be a very misunderstood system.
   
   I too was skeptical in the beginning, but after studying this technique (with Eric, but mostly with Anthony Vincent Bova in NYC, Eric's protégé), and after seeing the difference from "acting" and what this Work creates, there's no way I'd ever go back to the "acting" form.
   
   Eric Morris teaches the actor how to react honestly and in the moment, including everything that's going on inside and out-the other actor, the props, the imagined objects that one might be working for-that impels you to "do" whatever the character is required to "do", but out of a real reaction, not just because you're doing it.
   
   I've studied Adler, Strasberg, Meisner, and with Robert Lewis. I've hashed through the process of verbs, actions, objectives, obstacles, and onward; and they're all good and dandy for figuring out what's going on in a script, what the characters are doing and why; but other than that, these techniques never helped me figure out HOW to make it real to ME... How to get to a place where I'm actually functioning from a real, organic, truthful state ... How to get to the point where I am "doing" all the script tells me to do, fulfilling the "actions," out of an honest REACTION to what's going on.... Not just "playing" as if I am; how, in essence, creating the realities of the character....
   
   No matter where you go, all the great teachers (and actors) say the same thing, "Acting is reacting." Even the most used and cherished word in the actor's language, LISTENING, is about focusing outside of yourself and REACTING to what is there. This Work trains the actor to create the stimuli that will fulfill the demands of the piece, specifically, wholly, and with Truth.
   
   For the most part, plays and movies are imagined circumstances, and we as actors, have to create stimuli to react from, so we're not just faking, or indicating our performance. I'd rather watch two people have a relationship on film or on stage, than two actors reciting words, no matter how well they "act" it. If they don't believe it, I won't. This System trains you to create those stimuli and REACT to them honestly, fully and truthfully.
   
   A crucial part of Eric's System is based on Instrumental Work, which is the process of identifying blocks and fears and tensions to expression and, one-by-one, through the use of hundreds of exercises, eliminating them. It's really about self-awareness-learning about yourself and how you function, so you can "get out of your way" and function truthfully on stage or film and get to where you need to get to in a scene. I think this is the aim of every method, but I feel that this System is the only one to address the issues of the actor on a personal level. If I'm tense and depressed (in real life; me the actor), I'm not going to be able to REACT truthfully in a scene where the character has just won the lottery and is jumping with joy. If I push for the emotion, I'll be faking and will "act" that I'm joyful. If this is enough for you, then Eric's work is definitely not your thing. But if you're looking for creating reality and REACTING with truth, nothing surpasses this Work.
   
   I know that Meryl Streep, Brando, Ed Norton, Johnny Depp, Jack Nicholson, Al Pacino, Robert DeNiro, and a handful of other amazing actors don't fake it, don't just indicate the realities of the character and the circumstances. They create them. Be it imagined stimuli they are creating, or through the available stimulus around them, they open themselves up and REACT truthfully to everything -the other actors, the set, the space, the props, the object or person via Sense Memory, etc. I KNOW they do this for a fact! They've talked about it for years.
   
   Eric helps you get to the place that they do-where you can function truthfully, where your instrument is accessible and available, where you are open and are willing to go where the character needs to go, emotionally, psychologically, and physically.
   
   My advice is read Eric's books. If they pique any interest in you, if they strike a cord, study with Eric or Anthony, or at least contact them for further information about the system. I think you'll be quite surprised and utterly amazed at the tools this Work can provide you as an actor.



5. I give this book a fairly high rating because all acting technique is personal. An actor's job in receiving training is to simply find the approach that works best for the individual. Method acting simply means to find one's own method. While responses to acting texts, approaches and classes are always subjective, one should always remain open for new ideas.

   That said I reject Eric Morris' approach to acting on a personal and professional level.

   As every actor knows (or at least should know), his/her job is "to do nothing more than to be believable while telling the best possible story that serves the script" (Bruce Morris). Or as Stanislavski defines acting: "Acting is living truthfully under imaginary circumstances". The root of an actor's technique must always be action. Again with Stanislavski: "while on stage, an actor must always be enacting something". Action verbs are the basis of all acting/storytelling craft. An audience does not pay precious money to watch an actor have an emotional moment, but rather to have the moment themselves.

   All the great acting teachers, building upon the work of Stanislavski, have stressed the importance of finding and playing an action as opposed to an emotion. Robert Lewis, Sanford Meisner, Stella Adler, Uta Hagen, Michael Checkov and even Lee Strassberg (although he ventured too far into the emotional realm) all taught students to find the appropriate action and embrace that reality as the basis for their storytelling craft. Emotions are the by product of a person engaging in an action and either failing or succeeding in the quest to fulfill that action.

   Eric Morris' approach, centers on "Being" exercises. He asks his students to simply get up in front of a group of people and simply "Be". As related in this book, he proceeds to grill them about their day and call them on the carpet for any false emotion as he dredges for some emotional moment. Morris' approach, at least to this reader, comes off as simply another example of acting teacher "power tripping" as well as pseudo-therapy hidden in the guise of acting. This approach simply leads to the teacher holding such power over his/her students as they become obsessed with pleasing the teacher as opposed to truly pleasing the audience.

   This approach leads to emotionally crippling an actor. Actor's become obsessed with evaluating their acting on the basis of whether or not they "felt" the scene. If an actor finds they cannot reach the emotion, they immediately fill themselves with a great sense of guilt and personal disgust at their inability to produce an emotion. Acting should ultimately be a freeing experience as well as a fun and celebratory bit of life. Many acting teachers and actors, bowing under the weight of thousands of years of social stigma feel that they must deny the "fun" factor of acting and make it a painful and serious affair.

   As any director or acting teacher can attest, when one simply asks an actor to "be" on stage, one will watch an actor squirm, blink and fold inside him/her self. Put an actor on stage and ask him/her to push a giant stone up a mountain, one will watch a fantastic story filled with all the emotional truth an audience could ever hope to find.

   The key to acting is not "being" it is in fact "doing". Apparently Morris has a workbook that combines the two concepts. I will certainly read that as well- again the justification for the high rating. I am still learning my craft and I pray I will always continue to do so.

   NO ACTING PLEASE is certainly worth reading and worth trying though so that one can form their own opinion. After trying Morris' approach, this review is simply my opinion. Proceed with caution.

5 comments about Hollywood 101: The Film Industry.

1. if you are already in filmmaking you might know all that this book covers. if you are not, i don't see how this book could help you to get in. maybe if you have no idea of what you want to do in the business... but even than...



2. I purchased a number of "get into film/hollywood" books and this one was by far the most helpful. While it doesn't have much of the typical career advice (how to write your resume, cover letters etc.), which are better covered in more general job hunting books, it is the perfect book to read to get a sense for the jobs that do exist in Hollywood. If you're interested in the industry, but find it something of a "black box" or are unsure exactly what type of position to try and look for, this book is the ideal starting point. Levy walks through the entire industry, from agencies to studios, to actors, directors, costume designers etc. Given the wide canvas, none of the positions are covered in too much detail, but I think the book ideally serves as an excellent starting point from which to know where to pursue more information.
   
   Finally, the tone of the book is excellent - one of excitement and encouragement. While it's a small point, dry and depressing hollywood career books abound - it's refreshing to find one that's has an enthusiasm and optimism to match your own.



3. The book is great. If you want to get in the to industry (that's what people call the film industry in Southern California), buy the book. It gives a complete break down of all the people that are required to make any movie. So next time when you watch the ending credits, you'll know what a key grip, best boy, art director, first assistance director does and be able to tell your friends as they walk out of the theater asking, "What's a best boy?"



4. It was informative and not at all boring. A must-read for those who are new to the Industy. Explains the steps of advancement for nearly every job in the entertainment industry. Excellent resource for goal-setting/ career management.



5. I am an entertainment buff and I thought this book was great for people who want a survey of jobs they can pursue. It gave an in depth look at a lot of the positions in the film business. If you want a general look at the possible jobs, get this book. If you are more interested in television, this book is a great start, but it doesn't say anything about that since its primarly about film so look for another book for further reading. I would recommend this book for anyone who wants to break into the business, it was really helpful for me.

5 comments about Theater Games for the Classroom: A Teacher's Handbook.

1. This was on a list of suggested reading from a class I attended with Second City. I bought it hoping to use some of the ideas for my middle schoolers. There are many ideas in the book for younger kids, like songs. There are some good ideas that can be adapted into a middle school room.



2. I teach sixth grade math, and have a group of students for an exploratory class. We talk about current events, esteem building, community building, fun non-academic skills with an emphasis on social awareness. I have been using this book for most of the year so far, and my students look forward to it,a nd ask for it. I don't have a background in theater, but this book has several premade units that have a focus on different skills. The one I am just completing focuses on community building for the group and concentration and focus for the individual. I find it easy to use, and I like the skills that it is building and reinforcing in my students. If you don't want to do a whole unit, the individual exercises and warm-ups can be set up and completed in 5-10 minutes. Great,and quick!
   I strongly recommend this for any classroom!



3. I teach drama/theater in a low income public school. I bought the book because my school has very few resources and I thought this might be useful. As it turned out the book was hardly used during my first year teaching. My biggest problem with this book is that it is not very user friendly for a teacher who just wants to add some fun to a class but not a complex game. In other words the book needs to make the games simpler so the kids can pick them up faster and have more fun. This might not be problem for teachers in high school as your students might be more mature and able to handle more complex games. But for middle school teachers tread lightly. Also if you have a bunch of behavior problems in your class then forgot about it. In my experience I found the worse the behavior the better they were at spoiling fun classroom games. Be warned.



4. EXCELLENT!! Inspiring. Well Organized. So many great ideas for the new or seasoned acting teacher.



5. As a teacher of drama to many low-income, urban, and "difficult" adolescents, this is the book that I find most useful, alive, and inspiring! Simply wonderful for anyone trying to bring the best out of young actors!

3 comments about Interpersonal Communication: Everyday Encounters (Wadsworth Series in Communication Studies).

1. This book is wonderfully accessible and serves as a great introduction to interpersonal communication and preparation for upper-level coursework on relational communication. I have used this textbook for 4 years at a community college and 2 years at a state university and the students have always rated this textbook very highly. Although they do state that the chapters are a bit long, they feel it is very accessbile and easy to understand. The students also report that they like the examples/blurbs from other students that pepper the chapters, and many of them bring up those examples or Wood's personal examples in relation to their own lived experiences during class discussion.

   Thanks to the students' positive responses to the text, I have been able to explore more options in teaching besides reiterating the text in lecture format and have developed quite an array of exercises and projects that push my students to understand some difficult concepts better, to learn more sophisticated materials, and to improve their interpersonal communication skills through practice.

   I praise Julia Wood for creating a textbook that allows students to be in charge of their own learning and teachers to go outside the expected routine.




2. This text was required reading for an interpersonal communications course I took. It provided a ton of valuable information, very helpful insight, sample conversations, and examples which helped me to acctually apply what was learned. However, the writing style was highly repetitive, and each new section repeated earlier ones then built on them instead of starting with completely new information. While this did help me learn better, it was also somewhat boring. I would still recommend this book for it's ability to make abstract terms much more tangible. Hope this helps!



3. Ms. Wood is intelligent and provides a lot of good information in this textbook. This was chosen for the course I teach before I took the position and if I had my way, we would have found a different book. It is not that the information is bad, it is just that Ms. Wood becomes very repetitive. About half of the first six chapters seem to drag on and most of the time restates the same thing from an earlier chapter or from the same chapter. I like what she has done with discussing multicultural issues, but some of it seems to be patronizing to the reader. I think another edition should be done and making the chapters shorter and more readable (Chapter 1 goes on for 78 pages -- which lost my attention, so I know my students had the same problem.) In the course review, the textbook generally gets a poor or below average rating. I can not give you a recommendation, as I am in the middle of searching for a better option.

1 comments about Communication Between Cultures (Wadsworth Series in Communication Studies).

1. This is an excellent book that begins with what culture is and how deeply ingrained cultural values are in us all. You will learn the different factors involved in the inculturation process and how the way we perceive and communicate in the world is shaped by the values we hold important. The book has plenty of examples of values many cultures consider important and how this effects their communication. I really enjoyed reading this book. If you communicate, you should read this book!

5 comments about William Shakespeare Complete Works (Modern Library).

1. The RSC Complete Works is a wonderful addition to anyone's library even if you already have another version of the Complete Works. As other reviewers have pointed out this edition follows the sequence and format of the First Folio making it somewhat unique in the selection of Complete Works that are available.
   
   The Text is easy to follow and the introductory material is first rate.
   
   ALso the price at Amazon is really a bargain for a book of this quality.
   
   I still have my Bevington edition, that I enjoy but this is a great second version to use as a comparitive text..



2. As a non-english major whose only acquaintance with Shakespeare was to see some or the plays a number of times and reading some of the plays in HS and college. I have to say the concept of this work attracted me and the notes, and essays were a great help to understanding this work. I like the idea of having a recreation of the first folio with all of it in one volume. The quality of the paper is fine to me and the size of the volume makes it possible to read without too much trouble. For an average reader who wants all of Shakespeare in one place with useful explanations and notes along the the historical idea of the first folio its a perfect combination. Also the price given the size and quality of the work is reasonable. The chronology notes are especially interesting as they provide details beyond when it is thought a play was written.



3. To would-be purchasers: At the library or bookstore, see for yourself if you can really deal with all the physical drawbacks of this book, if it will really meet the demands of how you read and for what you intend to use this book. It should hold up okay for occassionaly pulling off the shelf for a point of reference. But if you need to handle it often, if you really want to get into the text, then I don't see how this book can hold up.
   
   The 1 star is for the publisher of this edition. My complaint is to the person (or persons) who gave the go-ahead for the production specs. They are unworthy of the words of Shakespeare and the work of the editors. The production and printing are truly paltry. All the other review negatives are legit -- cumbersome size and weight; toilet paper thin paper, subject to easy tearing; ink bleeding through recto/verso pages (and in my copy, there's an ink splatter on p. 1438 and several splotches throughout); as well as the binding, which is a non-signature fake sewn binding, glued together like a softcover. As such, this book cannot endure much handling, and over time, as we know with such books, no matter how careful we are, the glue will stale, the spine will crack, and pages will dislodge like rotten teeth. This is absolutely not an edition you can hand down the generations; and depending on your use, it may or may not last even a few years. This edition purports to be a study/working edition, but the book as a physical object precludes any of that. I can't imagine a student or actor lugging it to class or the theatre and trying to recite with a nearly 5-lb 3-inch thick book cradled in his/her arm. Let alone making notes in the generous margins -- the low-grade paper causes text on each side of a page to seep through often clearly enough to be read so that would make scribbling notes difficult; and this paper could not possibly properly absorb notes in pen or highlighter (either would mark and indent right though the other side; light pencil or post-its might work though).
   
   After purusing a few essays and notes, I give the editors 3 stars so far. The scholarship may be serious and exemplary (per other reviewers), but I've read better insights and more extensive notes elsewhere (with etymology, cross-refs, annotations). Here, the footnotes are rudimentary (for example, "fearful" is "frightened", "false" is "dishonest, disloyal", "maim" means to "wound, damage") -- perhaps the target audience starts at age 8. Stage directions of sorts are added here and there; they seem to clarify what's already rather obvious in the text proper. The "Key Facts" are easily digestible, but I can only trust that the editors got all their facts and dates correct, as I have yet to come across any sourcing or even a ref list.
   
   But the main thing is that I simply can't get around the physical inadequacies of this book, so I'm returning my copy for a refund. Instead, I'll check out my public library's copy because I still want to know what all the introductory essays have to say.
   
   I have all the works in various single-volume Quatro-based editions, so I thought it would be interesting to have a volume with the Folio-based text intact. Hopefully, the publisher will come to its senses and re-issue this edition based on previous Modern Library editions, that is, dividing the works into 3 or 4 volumes at a paper size and quality that can be used by human hands and read with human eyes -- even at a higher price, that I would purchase and keep. By the way, I own the two-volume 1938 "Complete Greek Drama" (also published by Random House). Those 70-year-old used books have held up far better than this 2007 new complete Shakespeare ever will. Perhaps this Shakespeare edition is a prime indication of the state of the book publishing industry today -- the bottom line served Will ill.



4. For anyone who wishes to work with Shakespeare's plays (actors, directors, students), this is the edition to own. The single column format makes it extremely easy to read. It also means there is no wrapping of iambic lines like in many two column editions.
   
   Annotations are plentiful and more verbose than most. The generous whitespace means plenty of room to add your own notes as well. I have been shopping for an updated text to replace my old Complete Works and found this version to be a joy.
   
   The thin paper is a downside, but necessary to maintain some usability in a book this size. It is, however, surprisingly durable.



5. This is a really good book to buy if you are interested in Shakepeare. I have only read a couple of book by W.S. and I plan on reading all of them. The paper is a little thin, I'm kind of scared of it getting torn, but I am careful with my books, so it's really nothing I can't work around. The cover and binding are really good, very sturdy. I think overall it was worth the price I paid.

5 comments about The Viewpoints Book: A Practical Guide to Viewpoints and Composition.

1. I have worked with both Anne Bogart and Tina Landau and grew to appreciate their unique approach. It is good to see their way of working in print finally. The book is a great resource for all who have some appreciation for what goes into making a piece of theatre. It will especially pique the interest of those who see the physical nature of the theatre as paramount. The book outlines an way to replicate the work of these two great theatre artists in their own process. Dancers and choreographers will perhaps find a new perspective on what they do in this book.



2. I wanted a good, basic look at Viewpoints and this book has been exactly what I hoped it would be. It is to the point but still offers enough explanation to make sure the reader understands each viewpoint. If you want a good, basic background of the work this book does well.



3. This book was highly recommended to me by a dancer friend, and I've found it to be extremely useful for dance improvisation sessions I'm leading with a group of non-dancers. The authors offers numerous exercises that groups can build on, experiment with, and use to generate skill and teamwork. If you're looking for inspiration for your own performance project or creative ideas for group activities, you will find them here.



4. This book is a must-own for actors looking to learn about the physical traning of Viewpoints.
   
   It's great, and practical, and you'll find yourself learning.
   
   A must for every actor's shelf.



5. It took forever to finally arrive.. both in the sense that it kept getting delayed, but more importantly as a director who has trained with Viewpoints and wanted to impliment them into my work.
   
   The book is very accessible to even those who have not taken any Viewpoints classes with a laid out ground plan for how to introduce each Viewpoint as well as how to use them in rehearsals and creating new pieces. The end of each section includes several options to eithe expand or replace, making the plan fit perfect for whatever you're doing. I read it cover to cover in a sitting and will be referencing it in the future as I direct those new to Viewpoints as well as those previously exposed.

5 comments about Acting: The First Six Lessons. (Theatre Arts Book).

1. I'm not sure why this book has so many positive reviews. I read it a few years ago for an acting class,and was neither engaged or inspired by this book. While some of the techniques are helpful you could find the same info in another acting book. I would advise going to a bookstore first and reading parts of it before you decide to buy it online.



2. This is an excellent book that I call a handbook because it must be returned to over and over. The lessons are in the form of dialogues/conversations between teacher and student.
   
   The lessons are: Concentration, Memory of Emotion, Dramatic Action, Characterization, Observation and Rhythm.
   
   This is a very basic yet infinitely deep series on the tools that an actor needs, which Boleslavsky draws out of his pupil, here called The Creature. The antiquated nature of the relationship seems of the time, 1933, and though that may distract from the substance, it rapidly becomes as much a device as the dialogue/conversation format used to express the lessons.
   
   I could pick this up and open to any lesson and mine that for a time. These lessons are not mastered, rather they are practiced.



3. I recently took a scene study class, and the teacher used this book as our reading material for the course. This is a great book to get if you want to find out what it takes to be a serious actor. The book teaches the basic foundations of acting, for example Concentration and Characterization and more.
   
   It is told in a story type format with the Teacher meeting "The Creature" and her aunt and other people in her life. The characters in the book talk about the fundementals of what it takes to act. Because it is told in this format, the ideas in the book are very easy to follow.
   
   I did find that the Teacher refering to his student as "The Creature" was somewhat demeaning. But then you have to consider how long ago this book was written and the time period it was written in. This was probably typical of the period. Even though the actual book was written so long ago, it is a classic for the acting student. And the techniques and methods the Teacher speaks about are things even modern day actors must learn.
   
   If you are interested in the Craft of Acting, this is definately a book you should read.



4. At first, I thought this book would just skim the subject. Wrong! It is the nuts & bolts of acting without which you may as well forget it! This book truly is the "bible" of acting.



5. I just finished reading this book as a part of an acting class, and I highly recommend that anyone with an interest in acting check out this book. It's an amazing resource. Boleslavsky shares from his amazing wealth of knowledege of the stage, and it would be foolish not to take advantage of the knowledge provided here.

5 comments about How to DJ Right: The Art and Science of Playing Records.

1. I got this book at a store the sales lady recomended it to me it tells it all about equiptment and voicing and keeping the crowed hyped and and just the fundementals of djing from mixing to beat matching I would recomend this book for and aspiring Dj



2. a handy book for a learner, this can actually make a DJ out of you. Simple and easy explanations and illustrations make it seem like have your own tutor beside you.



3. This book has everything you would ever need to know about how to dj. I am just starting and almost everything in there has helped me learn everything from quing to picking the best records. buy this book!



4. Although I'm a digital dj and laptop performer and this book is more "turntablist" oriented...I found it very interesting, every page you open has something to teach you...



5. I found the book to be very insightful and easy to understand. I would recommend this book to both the beginner and the advanced Dj.