5 comments about Round About the Ballet.

1. This item was purchased for someone else, but she LOVED it. The book was in excellent condition.



2. This book is easily one of my favorite books. For the true Balletomane, this book is a MUST! And for the rest of the world I also highly reccommend it.
   The Photographs by Roy Round are MAGNIFICENT! The grain, (clarity), is something seldom seen in the world of ballet photography where it is so diffucult to photograph the suject in a moving or semi-moving position or even in a "posed" photograph.
   With all of his subjects, and he chooses several contemperary dancers including Nikolaj Hubbe, Julie Kent, Angel Corella, Wendy Whelan and my favorite in this book, Ethan Stiefel, the color saturation, (the natural look of color), is BEAUTIFUL!
   My best advice to you, dear Reader, is run don't walk to Amazon to buy this GREAT book! The cover alone is worth the price of admission. And what follows between the boards will simply amaze you.
   Gary R. Brown



3. The stars of top New York City ballet companies have been selected by dance photography Roy Round for profile in Round About The Ballet, a visual treat and an effort to capture the movements and artistry of ballet in photo book format. But Round About The Ballet isn't just visuals alone: interviews with the dancers probe their achievements, lives, and dancing challenges alike, covering such diverse topics as how ballet competitions have changed their lives, how associations with particular companies have influenced their dancing styles, and both physical and psychological dancing challenges. A 'must' for any serious dancer, especially for fans of ballet.



4. I've always been a fan of Roy Round's pictures. I never imagined text could rival their command of my attention, but these interviews are fabulous.
   
   If you can't find out what you want to know about these dancers by chatting with them over lunch, reading these interviews is almost as good.



5. I have been going to the ballet seriously for 35 years. Nothing gets into the heart and soul of dancers the way this book does. And the photographs of the fifteen individual dancers simply take the breath away -- especially the one on the cover.

3 comments about Producing and Directing the Short Film and Video, Second Edition.

1. For a person curious about creating a short film, this book will help you. This book breaks down the function and importance of each individual person involved in the making of a short film, how certain problems were encountered and resolved, provides websites for other film affiliated tools and/or questions and answers, and points you to certain short films which can inspire you. A plus for anyone willing to get into movie production on short films.



2. As an actor, interested in all aspects of film, I cannot imagine a more detailed and succinct introduction to this world. David Irving and Peter Rea have found a way to clarify all the difficult areas of film direction and production in one small wonderful book. All film students will be grateful.



3. As an actor, interested in all aspects of film, I cannot imagine a more detailed and succinct introduction to this world. David Irving and Peter Rea have found a way to clarify all the difficult areas of film direction and production in one small wonderful book. All film students will be grateful.

5 comments about Lucille: The Life of Lucille Ball.

1. I had been looking forward to this biography, and found myself quite disappointed by the result. The first red flag was a rookie mistake located on the second page of the introduction, and then another on the third (Buster Keaton didn't work for Sennett - five minutes of research would reveal this to a conscientious writer; nor were Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance the first female comedy team - Hal Roach gave us Todd & Pitts a good 20 years prior to Ball & Vance). When these clear mistakes are at the very beginning, one has to wonder what else is in error throughout the book (the topless photo purported to be Lucille, but clearly not, for instance).
   
   Aside from that, this book paints Lucille in a fairly monstrous light, with only glimmers of her generosity and kindness. She herself indicated that she wasn't a funny person, but that it was her writers who made her work SEEM funny, so that's not what's at issue here. The discussions of her seemingly endless tantrums, fits and petty jealousies are piled on until Lucille reads like "Lucy Dearest." Desi, Sr. and her children don't come off much better, and even Gary Morton, who loved her for the last 28 years of her life, doesn't emerge unscathed.
   
   I wanted to read an even-handed biography of Lucy, and a complete one, one that covered her early career in some detail and dealt with her life after I Love Lucy in more than just glancing copy. The bulk of the book is made up of her admittedly iconic 1950's series, but I don't feel as if I learned anything more about Lucille Ball than I knew before I opened the pages, and even more problematic, I don't know what, if any, of the work I can believe. This one is for the completists, I'm afraid, and not to be read as a definitive work on the complex woman who was Lucille Ball.



2. "Love Lucy" was a great book written by Lucille Ball and so was
   "Laughs, Luck...and Lucy: How I Came to Create the Most Popular Sitcom of All Time", by Jess Oppenheimer. "Lucille" by Kathleen Brady told the same stories that L. Ball and J. Oppenheimer told, but she gave more body to the characters and gave many more details in general. I've been listening to the book as I do my household chores and I'm enjoying the book so much that I'm performing quiet chores so I can resume listening to the biography. It's very good and so far I have only found one tiny flaw...Lucille Ball said that Vivian Vance did have to stay plump for the I love Lucy show (if I remember correctly) and Kathleen Brady said that Vance's agents claimed that was an untrue rumor. So either the agents knew it was true and didn't want to disclose the fact, or Lucille Ball told an untruth which doesn't make sense or K. Brady reported it incorrectly. I don't think it matters but I would guess that Vance's agents just didn't want to admit to the fact that their client agreed to stay overweight to keep the focus on L.B. For such a huge book...that's an insignificant detail so I think the book is honest and a great read or in my case a great listen.



3. There are some minor factual errors with regard to some of the TV series indicating that the author--an obvious admirer--was not a fan per se. This actually helps in terms of objectivity. The book is unflinching but warm, and is the sole book to really go in depth about Lucille's childhood and teen/young adult years. "Ball of Fire" and many others are shockingly un-new in their stoties and historical references. No one can really know "Lucille" after the fact but this book, and "Desilu" come as close as you canget.



4. When I was ten and heard that Lucy and Desi were divorcing, I was devastated. No one in my little village had ever divorced, and I did not know anyone who knew anyone who had. So, Lucy and Ricky, who were interchangeable in my mind with Lucy and Desi, were the first people I "knew" who took that drastic step. I couldn't figure out how they could be so happy on TV and still want to split.

   A few years later, when Lucy returned to television, along with Ethel, rechristened as Vivian, I kept longing for DesiRicky to show up. Of course he didn't. Later, I saw some of her early movies and became one of the three people in the US who loved her on the screen as Mame. Even though I appreciated her skill and talent, for me, she was always Lucy Riccardo. Somewhere along the line, though, I realized that Lucille Ball was more complex than her TV counterpart.

   Of the half-dozen books I've read about Lucy, which include the newly-released "Ball of Fire", a couple of the books about the series, and Vance's biography, Kathleen Brady's is my favorite. She comes closest to cracking the code, finding what drove Lucille Ball to the top of her profession.

   Brady treats her subject tenderly, but does whitewash the harder side of her character. Rather, she tries to bring the apparently incompatible parts of her personality together into one whole, very understandable person. As much as is possible, she succeeds.

   Where she is sure of details, she gives them. Where she is not, she offers alternate possibilities, for example, the unknown cause of Ball's paralysis that sent her home from NY and to bed for months or, on the more humorous side, exactly what happened the night that Tallulah Bankhead decided to disrobe during a production meeting of the LucyDesi Comedy Hour.

   Well-researched and well-written, this is mandatory reading for any die-hard Lucy fan and an excellent choice for anyone who intends reading only one book about America's most famous comedienne.




5. The Lucille Ball in Kathleen Brady's book, "Lucille: The Life of Lucille Ball" is a study of contradictions. Partly an homage to a star she clearly adores, partly an expose on Lucy's dark side, this book paints an incomplete and unsatisfying picture of America's premiere television comedianne.

   The Lucy in this book comes across both as a scrappy fighter early in her career, and a hardened soul at the end of it, which may very well be true, or not. It was difficult to discover the viewpoint of Lucy that the author was trying to take. At times, it was clearly injected with personal opinions and commentaries not warranted in the biography of someone else's life, both glowing and scandalous. And whereas the majority of the book takes up the years of Desilu's powerhold on the television industry, from I Love Lucy to Star Trek, it shortchanges both her early career and later career, almost as insignificant bookends to her highest pinnacle in the 1950's. Certainly, Lucy had a full, complete life, only some of which is shown here.

   However, there were some parts I did enjoy. Lucy's less-than-impressive movie career which eventually gave birth to her TV persona was interesting, as you root for her to make the transition earlier. Her undying devotion to Desi in the early years, despite mutual fits of jealousy and rage, made for a deepening look at their marriage. And the occasional parts that show her softer, kinder side were warm to read.

   Which leads to this thought. Clearly Lucy is loved country wide; were we ready to learn some negative things about the woman we cherished? Certainly not unknown, nor surprising to anyone who's read other things. The issue perhaps comes in balancing all viewpoints to present a clearer one, rather than being all over the board haphazardly.

   As for Lucie and Desi Arnaz, Jr.'s objections to the book were clear to me as I read through to the end. Kathleen Brady seemed to have a personal vendetta against these two, as she paints them very unfavorably as spoiled Hollywood rich kids. Nary a kind word was said about these two, which leads me to think they offered no assistance in creating this book, so a price was paid for their silence.

   In the end, I did not feel closer to Lucy than I had before reading this. I may suggest grabbing a bowl of popcorn, putting up your feet, and watching some classic episodes of I Love Lucy, to remember Lucy the way she wanted us to remember her, with a smile and a laugh.

1 comments about It.

1. In this book Roach takes some fascinating subject matter - the mystery of celebrity, what's behind the magic, and how we interact with it - and drops snippets of it in a meandering, barely organized elegy to Samuel Pepys, Charles II, and Elinor Glyn. He is far too much in love with these people to be objective, and waxes romantic about romance when he should be analyzing it. His terms are often weakly defined - I've had to do several involved research sessions to determine how he might be possibly using phrases like "the It-Effect" and "synecdochical." The book is interesting and provokes a lot of thought, and is worth reading if you're willing to slog through it, but have a dictionary handy and be prepared to slog.

5 comments about The Charlie's Angels Casebook.

1. To review this book I will divide it into two parts.
   
   The first part is the story of Charlie's Angels from it's very first inception when it was about three "freelance crimefighters" calling themselves The Alley Cats to the final days of shooting when the show closed it production for good. There are a lot of interesting backstage tell-alls going on here featuring just about everyone connected with the show. We also have some pretty objectionable opinions on storylines and the direction of the series, as well as some pretty honest quotes from those that were involved. Very little was held back which makes this book an interesting read, but on the negative side there were a few cases which, unfortunately, sounded like one-sided gossip.
   Example #1: the book, of course includes the story of Farrah Fawcett's abrupt decision to not return for season 2 and her subsequent lawsuit settlement which required her to make six more appearances. When she returned to film those episodes, she was "not warm to anyone," according to Cheryl Ladd. "She did not want to be there." Unfortunately, Fawcett was not interviewed for this book, therefore her side of the story was not included.
   Example #2: Kate Jackson became increasingly unhappy with the direction of the show and by seasons 2 & 3, she started making a lot of demands which added a lot of tension to the set. Additionally, she apparently was not happy with the hiring of Ladd and the two actresses did not get along very well throughout the two years they filmed the show together. However, Jackson was not interviewed for this book, therefore her side of the story is not included.
   In fact, one of the authors admits to having been friends with Jaclyn Smith for many years, and perhaps that is why the book is full of current quotes from Smith and Ladd, while anything from Jackson and Fawcett were lifted from previously published interviews printed while the show was still in production. Suspiciously, the story of how the network wanted to fire Smith after the pilot episode (and Aaron Spelling's fight to keep her on) is missing.
   Anyhow, the book is still an interesting read, including the sections featuring Shelley Hack and Tanya Roberts. There are also brief resumes done on everybody associated with the series in their respective chapters. Kudos to that!
   
   The second part of the book is an episode guide followed by commentary featuring small trivia and tidbits. The description of the episodes read more like an extended description you'd see in TV guide: enough to set up the plot but leaving enough out to not give anything away. In this case, I think that was wrong and made this section a very boring read. The authors should have included full synopsis from each episode (from beginning to end) - there'd be no need to fear that they would be spoiling anything since anyone who buys a book like this would've seen all the episodes anyway. Still, the commentary is interesting, making notes of notable guests stars and small little tidbits that you never knew, like: only in ONE episode of the entire five year run did all three angels appear in bathing suits together in one shot. Now that's trivia for the thinking man.
   
   The bottom line is that the book should probably be taken for the same amount of entertainment that the TV show should be taken as - some shallow storylines mixed with some really good ones making for some guilty pleasures.



2. This is a great book. I'm a huge fan of the series and Farrah Fawcett. It's a great book for fans of the hit TV show,from the actresses profiles to the series episode guide and commentary. Great pictures too!



3. If you are a Charlies Angels fan, then this book is a must. It is full of everyhting you need to know about the show and the beautiful ladies that made the show a hit. Oh and let's not forget Bosley "David Doyle". I loved this show from the day it debuted til the last episode. I have also been a longtime pen pal to one of the authors Jack Condon Who I know for fact has met each one of the Angels personally and is friends with Jaclyn Smith. So I truly recommend this book to all Angels fans because, trust me Mr. Condon knows his Angels.



4. Ok I love Charlies angels as much as the next... but this book is lame. Just as I watched each week enjoying yet hoping the plots would get better this book is the same. Just reading and waiting for it to get better.
   Basically there is nothing you havent heard before. I would sell my copy for a buck plus shipping.



5. This is such a fun book! Lots of rare photos of all cast members. I really enjoyed the stories and anecdotes from all the personal interviews with the different cast members. This book obviously took lots of time and effort to compile.
   I was won over in the first few pages where proper hommage is paid to the Angels' predecessors in female crime-fighting : Anne Francis as Honey West and Diana Rigg as Emma Peel. Charlie's Angels was perhaps ground-breaking but these 2 women broke the ground for the Angels in the previous decade. After this bit of history, it was evident that the author really knows his subject matter.
   Just tons of fun facts in this book! Nice filmographies of each cast member and a very cool reference section on all the merchandise created for the show.
   There is also a review of each episode of the show. This may be my favorite part as the author points out various bloopers or script inconsistencies that make the show all the more endearing. I didn't know that Rossano Brazzi was an Olympic athelete! The only drawback about his book is that it's so much fun to read that it leaves you wanting more! Thanks for a job well-done Jack!

5 comments about Ingrid: Ingrid Bergman, A Personal Biography.

1. Having had a close, sweet friendship with Ingrid the last 12 years of her life, I can easily say that Ms Chandler's remembrances of Ingrid, marked by numerous interviews of family, friends & collegues rings very true!
   Being privy to many personal aspects of Ingrid's life, visits to Choisel, dinners in Paris & London, etc., I was swept with nostalgia & memories of dear Ingrid as I read this marvelous story picturing Ingrid as she really was in her life.
   Following a less than nice review of a play in London, Ingrid was appearing in, she wrote to me about that notice & said: "Let the dogs bark
   the caravan moves on!" Typical Bergman.
   Unpretentious, caring, sweet, natural, I loved Ingrid dearly, as a friend!
   This book says it all!



2. very disappointing no new facts or interesting untold published background on the star.



3. This book was purchased as a gift, and the recipient was very well pleased.
   It has great interest to people, women particularly, who were living during the period of Ingrid Bergman's stardom and scandal.



4. This book tells a very human story about the life of Ingrid Bergman from the time of her parents before she was born, to her early life after her mothers death, to being an actress in Sweeden Hollywood and Italy to being a wife three times and mother of four including Isabella Rossalini.
   
   Great Book, Very interesting life!



5. This was a well-written story about Ingrid Bergman...I had seen her in several movies but did not know about her background. Just things I had read and heard about her. The author really captured her fascinating life in detail from her birth until her death...and revealed how Ingrid Bergman felt about the things that were happening to her throughout her life. I thought the book was a page turner and I couldn't put it down.

5 comments about Wired: The Short Life and Fast Times of John Belushi.

1. there is a reason why Judy and the Belushi family have shunned this author and this book. this is not a true reflection of what John is and as a lifelong fan of John (and James) I will not read this and I suggest you stay away. Read judys books about John those are the true reflection



2. 1,000 friends and family members were at the funeral. So many were such a big part of his life. They loved him and would do anything for him, but they didn't do enough. None could or would save him from himself.
   "Wired: The Short Life & Fast Times of John Belushi" by Bob Woodward takes a good look at the events of his life that led him to sudden fame and his fast spiral downward of fast living and drugs that led to his death much too early for this brilliant and much loved comic genius.
   
   You may learn more then you want to know about some pretty big names in the entertainment industry, that either unwittingly helped Belushi or partied hardy with him on his road to self-destruction. I admire them for stepping up and telling their stories to Author Woodward(even the drug dealers themselves have some interesting accounts), and although some actually lectured John on the evils of what he was doing to himself, and at one point a self-professed anti-drug enforcer was hired to help out,I was dismayed by the lack of courage on any of these giants, and those closest to him, to take drastic measures to save his life. Many times the interviewees say, he was headed for death. Woodward does an excellent job of supplying the details of his life and times,his fast rising career, the attitudes of his friends, the movie studio execs, his family and even his Doctors. No one could say NO to him.
   
   It is clear that alot of time,hundreds of interviews, and extensive research has gone into this book, making it a must read for fans. John's bigger then life personality, his constant demand and need for artistic freedom and control are a very big part of this story. My problem came in about the first third of the book. To be honest I found this part a bit tedious and repetitive. Adoring fans, need not be reminded of nearly every line he spoke or wrote for the Saturday Night Live sketches. Long ago, we already made his famous phrases our own("Cheezbugga, Cheezbugga".... "But Nooooooo...." ), and we could probably still recall in great detail, all the great moments he gave us. I did however find the look behind the scenes of this great show, and the movie ranglings most interesting. Each film he did or had a script for is talked about in detail, along with his state of being during that time.As the book goes on though, and especially towards the end where we are with him every one of his last hours on earth, we get a very good look into the craziness his life spiraled.
   
   By the end I was saddened once again by the loss of one of my favorites, and thought about all the laughs the world has missed out on. I also felt angered by the lack of help he received from all those close to him, and thought there were some matters that were just sluffed off by the particiapnats and not detailed enough by the Author, for example the police investigation.The book also has numerous pix..my favorite..John in his Samauri warrior costume.
   
   An interesting read, one that may stir fans to say:
   
   "'Bluto'....you have been truly missed" .....Laurie



3. He guzzzled some JD in Animal House and pretended he was a zit; he also sliced some things up, over and over, in virtually the same skit repeatedly on SNL. Blues Brothers? Give me a fricking break already; he himself even advises you on one recording to "go out and buy all the blues you can" because he felt guilty making so much cash ripping off true artists.
   
   He was a second-rate "performer" and major-league cokehead who happened to be at the right place at the right time. Apologies to his family, whom he apparently had no feeling or respect for, no one really misses him.
   
   Hope some Playboy Bunnies are slurping coke off your sweat-drenched, bloated face now John; at least you're not boring everyone in Continental Divide.



4. I read the book when it was first published and feel as strongly that it is a must read twenty years later.
   
   John Belushi in many ways defined Saturday Night Live and was one of the first cast members to emerge as a prime time player in a string of successful movies. His success did not happen overnight and his tragic death was not caused at the final raucous party.
   
   Bob Woodward leads the reader through Belushi's life and times, which in many ways defined the Wild West of the 1970s with celebrities and the many drugs of choice.
   
   Woodward has been taken to task over the years by friends and family members of Belushi; typically with the criticism that Woodward relied too much on hired researchers to gather material and the portrait presented is not of the person they knew. At times I wonder if it's criticism of guilt, not of the finished work.
   
   Wired remains my favorite book and I strongly suggest that you find a copy on Amazon or through a second-hand bookstore.



5. The problem with this book is not that Woodward is too tough on Belushi. He's too easy on his sources. The breakdown is this:
   
   Belushi, being dead, can't tell Woodward what happened to him. However, there are (literally!) hundreds of dope pushers, groupies, strippers, bikers, has-been comics, bar flies, scum bags, scrounge artists, movie directors, session musicians, and network television executives, who are HAPPY to sit down and tell Woodward THEIR version of John Belushi. And each and every one of these people has only ONE objective -- cover his own rear end. In other words, EVERY person here has to explain how HE didn't make John flip out, it was those other guys! The book reads like this for two hundred pages --
   
   "Joe Blow had never made it as an actor, but now he liked to think of himself as a dope dealer with heart. It caused him a lot of pain to see John out of control, begging for more dope. Joe felt bad about selling to him, but what could he do? If he didn't, some other guy would -- some guy not as talented and well meaning."
   
   Or it goes more like this --
   
   "Harvey Katzenberg knew there was a good chance John would die before the film wrapped -- he was doing too much dope. On the other hand, if Harvey complained about the constant dope, the crowd of bikers and strippers, John might get mad and leave the set early. Then Harvey would be out millions. It was better, he thought, to let John keep on doing his drugs, at least until the film wrapped. At least then the film would get made and Harvey's daughter could get that new Porsche."
   
   The book is so dry that you can't tell if Woodward is allowing these slimy parasites to kid him along -- or if he's laughing at them the whole time. I did read a fascinating PLAYBOY interview with Woodward some years later, where he indicated the whole Hollywood community hated him for showing them up --showing how they let their good buddy John kill himself right in front of them. Problem is, the book itself is dull because Woodward never imposes any kind of authorial voice or objective truth. All we get are 101 lying parasites rationalizing away, with Belushi's corpse stinking up the back room.

3 comments about Psycho: Behind the Scenes of the Classic Thriller.

1. Psycho: Behind The Scenes of the Classic Thriller is a book a lot of people have been waiting a long time for. Janet Leigh provides a detailed, behind-the-scenes look at almost all the aspects of the filming of Hitchcock's masterpiece. She provides stories and anecodotes as well as remembrances of others connected with the picture, including rare words from John Gavin. It's written in a memoir style, with Ms. Leigh discussing aspects as they occur to her, which is refreshing. Importantly, she also sets straight many of the rumors and misinformation surrounding this movie over the years (DID Hitchcock or someone else film the famous shower scene)? A wonderful book on the making of a classic. You'll enjoy it if you're a huge fan of the movie, Ms. Leigh, Hitchcock or just filmmaking in general. My only complaint of the book is the fact that it weighs in at under 200+ pages, thus I felt the price was a little on the high side. Well worth the price in the end, however.



2. As an admirer of the work of actress Janet Leigh and a fan of the director that was Hitchcock, it only seems fitting that someone with the know-how of Ms. Leigh could create a book that not only is a font of insights into the classic film that is "Psycho", but also a fitting tribute to the legend of Hitchcock.

   With co-author Christopher Nickens, Ms. Leigh takes you through the various stages of events that made up the phenomenon of "Psycho". She takes you through the brainstorming of the picture, casting, the brilliant editing and photography that Hitchcock wanted to create with his film--everything you could ever want to know or had been curious about. With thorough research that included interviews with cast and crew members, and many photos, some from the personal collection of Ms. Leigh, the reader gets a sense of what creates a masterpiece that has reached such a cult status. Ironically enough, when the film first came out, it wasn't the critical success it is now.

   For an admirer of the film itself, the work of Ms. Leigh or Mr. Hitchcock, or anyone with an interest in the art of movie making and what goes into creating a classic, this book has it all.




3. To the massive wealth of writings on Hitchcock and his most influential film, add this slender but invaluable piece by the movie's star, Janet Leigh. By now everyone knows that Leigh hasn't taken a shower since she met Norman's mother "out on the old highway," but this book is filled with many other tidbits -- like Hitch refusing to use expensive costumes for his star, but instead insisting on cheap outfits from a discount store (to match the character's profile!); and the fact that in the famous roadside scene with the highway cop, Leigh was never on location; her scenes were filmed in the studio and blended seamlessly with location footage involving the cop. For Psycho fans, this book is a MUST.

No comments about La muerte y la doncella: Death and the Maiden, Spanish Edition.

5 comments about Cold Reading and How to Be Good at It: An Authoritative Book Vital to the Career of Every Actor.

1. This fast read (54 page `booklet') amounts to what you would expect to hear from a seasoned pro from an extended interview.
   
   Basil presents his brief insights in a question and answer format jumping form topic to topic without getting all boggled down in any one of them.
   
   Six of the 54 pages are BW stills from his previous work, that really do not add anything to the subject outside of reminding you of who this guys is / was in films you might or might not have remembered him from.
   
   While there is some to be gained in terms of a "cold script reading primer," the book is a bit over priced at 12.95 which is to say that the material is probably worth half that much if not much less.
   
   Having said that, it is well written and I do find myself re-reading it haphazardly from time to time because he does manage to walk you through what auditions feel like.



2. I was looking for a book about cold reading as is done by fortune tellers, etc. and bought this book about auditioning, as in cold reading of a part in a play, by mistake. It should be understood that this book is not about mentalism, magic, psychology or any related art.



3. This book has been grouped in with psychic titles in the "people who bought this also bought". It is not a psychic book but an acting book.



4. I think this book would have been really helpful if I had read it when I first moved to LA to pursue acting. The entire first section is almost a glossary of words and phrases that are helpful to know when starting out and the cold reading info is great if you're new to auditioning. Overall, if you've been in LA for a bit and have done casting workshops or have gone on auditions, this book will be too basic for you.



5. This book is a good book for actors who want to fill in some of the industry information. However, I do not recommend this book above personal experience gained by going to auditions and casting director workshops in Los Angeles -- because there are a number of details that are now dated in the book, and only your experience "by getting out there" will help you identify those dated details. I read this book after being in Los Angeles for a year and a half. By then, I was able to identify which information from the book would help me and which would not. The helpful information really filled in some jargon, technical, and business gaps for me. So, under the conditions I have noted, this is a great business book for actors.