2 comments about Radio City Spectacular: A Photographic History of the Rockettes and Christmas Spectacular.

1. got it for mom as a gift. we have been to the show. mom was absolutely thrilled.



2. I have the Rockette's Dance through Time, and I would say that, all though it's good, this book is much better. It's a fairly big, glossy, hardcover thing, with a lot of amazing pictures. Though it covers a lot of history, it isn't full of dreary black and white pictures. So I'm basically saying that, despite the low price, the book is quite flashy. If you already have Dance through Time, you'll recognise a lot of the pictures, but the best shots are ones I've never seen before. For any fan of the Rockettes I recommend this highly.

1 comments about King Henry IV, Part 1 (Cliffs Notes).

1. Overall, I would rate this book a failure because it made me more confused about the play than actually reading it outloud like it was meant to be. I wish I would have never spend the money on it.

5 comments about The Official General Hospital Trivia Book.

1. Hyperion released this book in October 1997, and it includes the "GH" spinoff, "Port Charles." Its author, who says he's been a "GH" fan since 1978, has also written "The Soap Opera Book of Lists" and "The Soap Opera Encyclopedia." Calling it a "trivia book" would seem to reduce its relevance and substance, as it really is a wealth of behind-the-scenes info about the show. The book includes black-and-white stills from ABC scattered throughout (it's sanctioned by ABC Daytime Press). Chapters feature celebrity appearances on the show, famous fans of the show, real-life romances of the stars, real-life names of the stars and more. The book's contents are also indexed at the end. (Oh, and there ARE a few "trivia" quizzes at the end of chapters!)



2. This book has a lot of the show history along with trivia questions. Yes, the answers are included *grin*. If you are a long time viewer, you will enjoy going back over the highlights thru the years. The trivia questions are fun to test your knowledge of the soap.

   For new viewers, this is a great way to catch up on past story of your favorite characters. See why Luke and Cassadines have fueded. Learn about Laura and her mother Leslie. There are several pictures from the show, but be aware, they are black and white.

   I am the list owner of a GH fan group and I use this book to give weekly questions to the list. The members love seeing who will send in the correct answer first. Some who have viewed for many years have been stumped on occassion.

   If GH is your show, this book is a must. It would make a really nice gift for someone you know who is a fan, too.




3. I heard of that abc T. V. show called, "General Hospitol."

   It is a book called The Official General Hospitol Trivia Book from the hit abc T. V. show like All My Childeren & Who Wants To Be A Millionaire my favorite T. V. shows.

   I will love General Hospitol that the book will remind you of the book Son of Black Beauty by author Phillis Briggs like Mary Kate & Ashley Olsen's videos Billboard Dad, How The West Was Fun, The Case of the Logical I Ranch & The Case of the Hotel Who Done it the ones that would be cool.

   I'll love that book.

   It would be just like Rodeo Bloopers 2 & 9 the videos.




4. Being the "expert" GH fan, I will have to say that this is THE VERY BEST GH Book out there! It contains interesting factoids, trivia you may have never even know (I know I didn't) and so much more! This is a MUST HAVE for any GH fan out there... a first time watcher or people who have watched GH since day one! Hurry out and buy it today!



5. Wow! Your pulse will race! Your palms will get sweaty! You will not be able to get this book out of your mind (not until youv'e read it cover to cover at least twice anyway). The Official General Hospital Trivia Book is your ticket to the best roller coaster ride on daytime - and without those long expensive trips to an amusement park. The Trivia Book contains all the necessities for being a true fan: on-screen tales, backstage stories, and other minutia. So rush to get your own copy (or 2 or 3) then sit back and enjoy the ride!!!

1 comments about Successful Stand-Up Comedy: Advice from a Comedy Writer.

1. A great book from a great comedy writer! Mr. Perret's book is a great motivational book for one thinking of entering the field of stand-up. Here's a book from a comedy writer who carved out the wittisisms for the greats and a behind the scenes look on what it takes to get started. This book should be in every stand-up or beginning comedian's library (or comedy writer).

2 comments about House of Games.

1. As far as screenplays go, House of Games is a work of great cutting quality; written in Mamet's recognized concise style, House of Games permeates with a foreboding, volatile aura. When a too structured and career-driven yet refined and scholarly Dr. Margaret Ford, psychiatrist and author of the best-selling self-help book, Driven, is duped into helping Billy Hahn, a young man with a gambling addiction, she gets more than what is bargained for. She is led into the seedy underworld of the con man and all the baggage associated with him: drinking, unabashed gambling, lasciviousness, intricately woven lies, extremity upon extremity. But it is all cleaverly camouflaged by the many defrauders whom she encounters as exciting danger, rebellion against the smothering laws that only "good" citizens adhere to and being on the outer fringes of decency, good breeding and highbrowism. Ford, who gravely lacks any form of enjoyment in her life, is immediately drawn to the pulsating raw truth and "think quick" lifestyle of the brazen swindlers, for they gradually convince her-through a series of cons-that all humanity are imbued-one way or the other-with absolute cold indifference, for if you get bamboozled, it's your own fault and you probably deserved it. Dr. Margaret Ford exemplifies that for everybody. But she does not merely epitomize as a victim, she typifies it, through her own unsettling metamorphosis, as a kleptomaniac, murderess, and ultimately, a con woman. She evolves from good, introverted intellectual and respectable doctor to a cunning, manipulative, vindictive killer with a proclivity for thievery. So then the question is posed: Was Dr. Ford inherently a repressed criminal or was she the product of the sleezy environment and those in it? As Ford penetrates to what she genuinely believes is the psychological core of the sharpie personality, she is led by the leader, Mike, into a smoothly orchestrated plot that eventually bilks her out of $80,000; soon after, the scheme goes terribly awry when Mike holds a mirror to Dr. Ford's face, a mirror that she long avoided looking into.

   Mike: I "used" you. I did. I'm sorry. And you learned some things about yourself that you'd rather not know. I'm sorry for that, too. You say I acted atrociously. Yes. I did. I do it for a living. (He gives her a salute and starts for the door.)

   Ford: You sit down.

   Mike: I'd love to, but I've got some things to do.

   She cocks the gun.

   (Of gun:) You can't bluff someone who's not paying attention.

   Ford shoots him. He falls.

   Mike: Are you nuts? What are you...nuts...?

   Ford: I want you to beg me.

   A radical turnabout occurs whereby the aloof victimizer becomes the casuality of his own folly, only to be replaced by Ford, who progresses onward to hone and define his criminal teachings, meticulously making them more her own. Ford's criminality is even more severe, for she turns into one of the criminally addicted patients that she (by her medical practice) is designated to help; her overall presence is refined, classy, learned, delicate, vulnerable, unsuspecting. Those are the worst kinds of lawbreakers: A friendy face on the outside, and something entirely different on the inside.




2. There came a moment in House of Games, in the movie, where I knew I'd heard something. I rewound, played, heard it, rewound played, heard it, and found that about the fourth time around, I was patting my thigh, in tune with something or other; the Mamet-speak. It's rhythm.

   And then the script. I read that same scene (it's the one: "you gotta tell. Your telling which hand the coin is in") and the same thing. Aha! yes. But I had heard the scene. I remebered the scene. What about the others? Back to page one. The same thing. And then it became not what they were saying, but how they were saying it, and then it became WHO was saying it. And sometimes I wished they hadn't said it. But then the thought occurs with starry eyes: "thank God they did".

   You like the movie, read the script. There's soemthing to be said for just you and the pages.

1 comments about The Importance of Being Earnest: And Other Plays (Modern Library Classics).

1. I think that there is nothing that I can say about Oscar Wilde that has not already been said by others (and probably in a more eloquent way). So why should I bother to review this book?
   
   Because I want to tell you that I like it. Before picking up this Modern Library edition of `The Importance of Being Earnest' I had no experience with Wilde at all, save for the fact that `The Portrait of Dorian Gray' bears the distinction of being on my book shelf, unread, in the neighborhood of 8 years. That is really no distinction at all.
   
   So why is it that upon finishing this book I immediately picked that one up and tore through it?
   
   Because Wilde is that good.
   
   Wilde was the original bigger-than-life-gay-man entertainer (someone compared him to an early Elton John). He lived with flamboyance and, more importantly, wrote with it. His plays exude humor, the characters fighting out delicate word-sword-plays using finely honed wits that jab, stab, and pirouette away, leaving the audience (in this case, the reader) feeling dizzy and delighted. There are classic one-liners ("But I don't like German. It isn't at all a becoming language. I know perfectly well that I look quite plain after my German lesson") or more witty exchanges between characters (Cecily: "I hope your hair curls naturally, does it?" Algernon: "Yes, darling, with a little help from others.") Of course, these are all the more funny when piled upon one another; I can guarantee you that by the end of `Earnest' you will be rolling on the floor.
   
   Each of the plays is great, each in its own right. `Lady Windermere's Fan' is an almost cloak and dagger play, with people dodging out of sight while others step forward to take their fall in the spotlight, proving their worth perhaps only to the audience, who is able to appreciate what they've done, if no other can. `An Ideal Husband' illustrates the two sides of judgment; that it can be reversed in such a quick manner that you may wish to watch yourself and your opinions of others. `Earnest' probably needs no explaining; it is, quite simply, one of the best plays written in our language.
   
   Content aside (shame on me for saying that others said better and there I go, talking...) the Modern Library indeed delivers on it's namesake: this book is handsomely bound and the introduction by Terrance McNally helps to introduce the new reader (me!) to this prolific writer, orienting him/her to be able to tell whether they would rather read `Dorian Gray' or `De Profundis' next. It also gives a sketch of the writer's life, filling in the details that might not be known to those who have never had a proper introduction to the writer.
   
   Bottom Line: Some form of this play belongs in any serious literary collection. Get it!
   
   -LP

1 comments about Spark Notes The Glass Menagerie.

1. "Spark Notes The Glass Menagerie" is helpful, but since the play is very self-explanatory, some readers may not need them. But, it does a good job in explaining the symbols, themes, and motifs. I recommend.

3 comments about Tchaikovsky: A Listener's Guide Book/2 CD Pack Unlocking the Masters Series (Unlocking the Masters).

1. This is probably the first book that I have ever read where I had to keep a dictionary next to me. It's been a while but I recall that I was averaging about one dictionary lookup per page. Oeuvre, twee, elegiac on the first page of the introduction.
   
   Two CD's come with the book and you can follow selections on the CD's with chapters in the book. I've done the first selection, Romeo and Juliet Overture, and it was very educational and enjoyable.
   
   So, overall, I recommend the book but, as the author states, it is not Tchaikovsky for Dummies.



2. Tchaikovsky was a composer of lovely melodies rooted in his personal angst: TCHAIKOVSKY: A LISTENER'S GUIDE blends prose to music by offering two accompanying cds from classical music cd publisher Naxos to accompany author Daniel Felsenfeld's exploration of his most notable works. The pairing of text from a music writer and composer with the master pieces of an artist makes for a particularly involving production perfect for newcomers to Tchaikovsky's works. Perfect for high school-level music libraries or any general lending collection handling cds and text alike.



3. To listen to great music and to enjoy it is one thing. Yet the professional student of classical music sees/hears/understands so much more than the rest of us.
   
   In this book Daniel Felsenfeld, a prolific composer and music writer has written what he sais agimes to give 'the interested but potentially uninitiated listener' the tools he or she needs to lsiten to Tchaikovsky's music and to become more comfortable with classical music overall. This provides an insite that most of us, particularily those of us living in remote areas, can never see.
   
   I never imagined that you could see so much in this music.
   
   The book comes with two full length CDs.

5 comments about The Sopranos: A Family History.

1. I loved this book. I poured over it so many times that I have just about worn it out. It has been like a Bible of sorts to me. Very interesting. Anyone who is a true Sopranoholic like I am will love this book. I just wish they would make an updated version of it. I am going to be so sorry to see the season end and just thinking about the series ending is too much for me to comprehend.

   Think of this book as one big Soprano History/Dictionary/Vocabulary book and that is what you can expect. Worth every cent.




2. Great book to have if you are a die hard Soprano fan like myself. Gives you great insights on the Soprano family tree and it also gives Soprano fans a guide on things that you might have missed out on. Overall, a excellent book! Don't keep this book too far away when you're watching the show because it comes in handy



3. I have been wanting this book since it came out a year or so ago. It did NOT disappoint. There is so much in this book that doesn't come from the show. I remember writing a thesis on this show in college, stating that the website actually becomes a supplement to the show and by doing this, it actually pulls the viewer into the show, breaking the fourth wall. This book does that times two. Are the Sopranos based on actual people? Is it truth or fiction? By the time you get done reading this, you won't care. This is a must read.



4. I'm a big Opera fan, and my grandmother bought me this book because she thought it was about great Italian singers. You can imagine my disappointment when I realized this book was about the characters from a TV show focusing on the Mafia. I don't have a TV, so I'd never seen the "Sopranos" show. Reading about something I had no knowledge of, or interest in, seemed dumb at first, but I had the book so I thought "What the heck! I'll read it". Once I started, I couldn't put it down. It is a very entertaining read, and I would recommend it to anyone, even people with no TVs like me, who enjoy a fun book. Highly Recommended! (Note: I have since seen the show at a friend's house, and frankly I must say I liked the book better than the progam.)



5. A stellar examination of the past, present, and portents of "The Sopranos"! Wow! From the die-hard Soprano fans to all those interested schlumps, this book is the must-read needed on their bookself. An entertaining, voyeuristic, and compassionate look at the Sopranos' lives that mix reality and myth into a remarkable anthology of today's most famous mobster family. The show earned its Emmys and then some; the book compliments the show with its photos and commentary on what will become the most talked about series for years to come. In my opinion, there are only a handful of shows that truly deserve such an in-depth perspective as this one does- and this one hits the mark! Two enthusiastic thumbs up and a congratulations going toward the talented and witty writer, Allen Rucker, the only one who made this fantastic book possible for all Soprano aficionados to thoroughly enjoy. Rucker brings an unique standpoint to the Sopranos' family and lifestyle that I never knew existed. I hope he writes the next updated version! If not, "I have friends, you know!"

5 comments about Take Me Out: A Play.

1. Greenberg is an intriguing playwright, erudite, bright, urbane, witty...the superlatives go on and on. I have been a fan for years. He is unpredictable and worthy of our sustained attention. I didn't like this play, but I have loved others by him and you will, too. This play has one terrific virtue: it celebrates baseball, but more importantly, it celebrates the baseball convert. It is crucially about the intellectual guy, the nerd, the sissy, whatever, who comes to baseball late in life, who doesn't know the rules, the players, the history, the mythology, the anti-sports snob type who gets turned on and falls in love with baseball. It's nice. Very well done, very well said. It happens after all, and I can't think of anyone else who has touched it. The naked baseball players in the shower is pure vaudeville, pure Las Vegas, pure exploitation. I suppose Greenberg let his handlers at the Public Theater get to him; no doubt their craven greed pointed in this direction. As a result, we have here a Chorus Line type entertainment masquerading as a play. Well, everybody has to pay the rent. No doubt this has served as a meal ticket for all involved, but don't let them fool you into thinking this is a drama.



2. I normaly don't like sports and try to dtray away from sport books. But this cought my eye, it spunded so inturesting, i had to read it. I instantly fell in love with it. it is very belivable and i love all the characters, including Shane Mungitt. I could see his point of view on the whole situation and how scared and confused he is. But my all time favorite character was Mason Marzac's character. He was what made me see baseball in a diffrent light. U still don't like basball, but it made me think for a minute, which was good. You don't have to know baseball to read this, whice is always a good thing. All in all a very good show. HBO shout turn this into a movie, I would watch it.



3. Richard Greenberg's play is adventurous and thoughtful. The play begins after an outing and continues to take you on an unexpected journey. This play is a great read and I am sure even more exciting in person.



4. Darren Lemming, the star player for the New York Empires, matter-of-factly announces that he's gay during a post-game interview. Told by his teammate Kippy Sunderstrom, the play follows the days, weeks and months after the announcement and the effect it has on the Empires. The team seems to take it. No arguments; no in-fighting between Darren, the management or any players; life proceeds as normal. Until a racist and homophobic pitcher -- Shane Mungitt -- is brought up from the minor leagues, and his interactions with Darren lead to tragic consequences.
   
   I think playwrite Richard Greenberg tried to meld two stories into one: a love for baseball as America's game and being openly gay in a overly macho place. I briefly understood the love for the game through the character of Mason Marzac, Dennis' gay business manager, but barely caught a glimpse of how tough it is to be gay in such an environment. The team doesn't seem to have a problem with Darren's homosexuality; that strikes me as odd. Only one person from the team has a problem with him in the showers, but nothing ever really comes of it. His best friend Davey Battle does have a problem with it, but he's a stereotyped Christian who finds Darren's sexaulity ugly. The character of Shane Mungitt is stereotyped, as well, made to be a dumb and idiotic redneck, and no one from the team will even speak to him when he joins the team. Darren Lemming is overly arrogant and unlikable, and through an unprovoked action on his part, causes Shane to commit his tragedy.
   
   As a gay man, I couldn't get into the play or the characters -- all of which seemed very two-dimensional. Maybe it translates better on the stage, but in book form, I did not enjoy it.



5. I participated in the cast of this play last July 2005. One of the best experiences I have ever had doing theater.
   
   The play is excellent. In general, I think the play is sad. The lives of the characters take a drastic turn when Darren Lemming, a baseball superstar, announces publicly that he is gay.
   
   Take Me Out is a play about self acceptance, prejudice, taboos, homophobia, racism, hate crime. Raw and honest, it exposes many things that have been known for a long time but that everybody prefers to keep to themselves.