2 comments about The Voice Book.

1. I found this book to be very detailed, technical and while a professional speaker might appreciate it, the beginner would most probably not. Michael McCallion is recognized by many as an authority in the field, as I discovered later, and he painstakingly touches every area one needs to know about voice. However, I felt disoriented with my reading. I needed something to guide me through the complexity of the book and help me set out a plan, but I found none of that. Metaphorically speaking, it was as if instead of a fitness guide, I was reading a medical book.
   
   I found the book too dry to go through all details because I did not know which detail is relevant to me. I kept wondering which exercise I should do, in what order and which ones are suitable for me. In my view this book does a much better service for the initiated such as actors or public speakers or at least people that went through voice training programs before. If you are one of these people, the book offers good material to choose from, including voice exercises.
   
   Another aspect that I found missing from the book was any form of relationship between the author and the reader. There wasn't anything in the book to refer to personal experience, encouragement or advise or something to give you an indication that you will do well (or not), even if you are not a professional speaker. Confidence is a huge factor in any personal improvement enterprise.
   
   The first 100 pages talk about Body, Breathing and Tuning. Most of this is about the anatomy of the body, in a rather scholastic tone. I read it with difficulty mainly because I could not see how I fit into this and I could not identify which part is important for me. The author seems to be very professional and knowledgeable, I suspect he didn't miss much from all the mechanics of voice production, but he did not offer too much help for the reader to make a decision and self-assess the situation.
   
   The next 70 pages are about Speech. After a few pages with technical terms (diagrams showing how the vowels are produced), to my relief, I found finally some practical exercises.
   
   The final section of the book, Using Your Voice, describe in the usual very detailed style, what to do with your voice and how to take care of it. It advises actors, teachers, radio presenters, etc what to do to warm up, on stage and in between.
   
   Overall, I believe this book is more useful for professional speakers (actors, radio presenters, etc) speech trainers looking for inspiration than to uninitiated people.



2. I'll have more time to expand on this review later on. I'm a podcaster/storyteller who has been looking for tips about how to do voice recording and how to develop good voice control. I checked out various voice books, and this is the only one that provided the breadth and practicality that I needed.
   
   Even if you're not in the "business," you'll find the anecdotes interesting and helpful. He explains things well and suggests good exercises for making your voice sound great.
   
   For the speaker/trainer/radio producer/podcaster who hasn't had any voice training, this book is priceless. For singers and actors who probably already had extensive voice training, I imagine the book will cover mainly familiar territory, though there still will be good tips.
   
   The 1998 edition has about 60 more pages than the 1988 edition and seems to incorporate more personal anecdotes and more feedback from readers. I haven't had a chance to compare them side to side though.
   
   but I personally found the advice in this book so valuable that I want to have the latest definitive version.

4 comments about Lolita: A Screenplay.

1. Ok, I'll admit it, I am another Nabokovian and my curiosity was spurred when I found out VVN's screenplay was published by vintage. My real curiosity was in what kind of insight the screenplay could offer to VVN's original novel, and it did render some of that insight. This is a fun read, not as delightful as the novel by any stretch of the mind but it is still very delightful. What makes it so insightful is the fact that the screenplay is meant for view, not necessarily to be read, and using the points that Nabokov emphasizes in the explanations of the scenery, behaviorisms, and so forth, again are extremely helpful to anyone trying to get a better grasp of the novel. In working on a piece of criticism on VVN's earlier novel The Defense, I actually used the screenplay because the Annabelle Lee theme is emphasized more than in the novel and is easier to use in a critical study.
   
   As a work of art, it is most certainly a great piece by itself, but to readers who are expecting this to be another masterwork like the novelized Lolita or Pale Fire, this pales in comparison.



2. By his own account, only about 20% of Nabokov's 213 page screenplay ended up in Kubrick's film. Even so, the author's opinion of Kubrick's end product was high, and the screenplay itself is a fine cinematic representation of the novel.



3. Lolita: a Screenplay is recommended reading for anyone who loved the novel and appreciates Nabokov's wonderful sense of humor. The story goes that Nabokov presented his screenplay to Kubrick, who told him, "Look, regardless of how brilliant it may or may not be, it would take eight hours to film." So it's unfilmable; if Borges can write literary criticism about books which don't exist, surely it's not so radical to devise screenplays which are never meant to be filmed. Nabokov adds much to his existing work, including a psychiatrist who speaks directly to the camera and a cameo for himself. One wishes that Adrian Lyne had added a few of the humorous elements of the screenplay to his film, which is fine but perhaps a bit too reverent which it should be audaciously funny. All in all, I highly recommend picking up what amounts to one of the 20th century's great geniuses playing hooky.



4. Its not the book, and its not the film. So what is it? Its the screenplay of course! Chances are, if you are reading this, its either because you saw the film and liked it; a fan of Stanley Kubrick: director of the film; or you read the book Lolita and the Annotated Lolita and figured "I might as well read the script;" or just a big fan of Nabokov and its the one book you dont have in your collection. Whatever the reason may be, it falls between the book and the film. This is Nabokov's version of the script that was cut, recut and then edited by Kubrick (incidentally, Nabokov still recieved on-screen credit for the screenplay). It may hold water on its own, but in comparison to either the book or film it cannot stay afloat.

No comments about The Cambridge Companion to Arthur Miller (Cambridge Companions to Literature).

4 comments about Midnight at the Palace: My Life as a Fabulous Cockette.

1. Pam Tent accurately captures the spirit and craziness of the Haight/Ashbury and of San Francisco during the Summer of Love. Her book is full of details and insights from one who lived the life to its fullest. It is an amazing story proving that you can be as "far-out" as you wish and survive to tell the tale.



2. This book is worth a read for the outfit descriptions alone. This book made me want to invest in gallons of glitter. Fascinating: these folks depended and thrived on a system of families and communes rather than a "straight" lifestyle of jobs and paychecks. Not only did they thrive, but they created a troupe of performers whose antics I wish I had been around to experience. The Cockettes lived their art, which seems like a rarity in these icky conservative times.



3. This important seminal era of avante garde theater and queer history circa 1968-74 was almost lost to posterity due to the AIDS deaths of so many of its' important voices. Thank Goddess it has been lovingly and meticulously posited in history/herstory in a tangible way in this book by one of the Cockettes best suited for the calling - Sweet Pam. Her tone IS sweet, but hardly naive. The author deftly weaves the significance of this cultural watershed throughout her priceless juicy gossipy gutter level dish. For those of us who were too young to be in SF then and who want to know more, the book provides a detailed chronological survey of the evolution of the Cockettes. The book serves as the perfect step child to the great documentary film about the Cockettes that came out a couple of years ago.



4. Pam Tent's voice in her writing of this unusual and culturally important story is much more clear, incisive and organized than the subject she is dealing with. Her letters home provided the basis for a period that many of us, because of the indulgences of the time, have forgotten. It's so interesting to relive it (or see it for the first time) through her eyes. She's such a good story teller and was right in the middle of the whole thing. We are lucky she is still around to tell it-many others have died. I'm sure you'll enjoy "Midnight at the Palace" and will recommend it to anyone interested in the late 60s/early 70s and how that brief cultural explosion affects us today.
   Robert Burnside, founder of the "no science fiction, thanks" book club

5 comments about Eleonora Duse: A Biography.

1. The difficulty of describing delicacy in acting is one that Helen Sheehy has not entirely overcome, but otherwise she seems to have read and swallowed everything written about the great Duse and here, in this big Knopf biography (a genre all its own) she arranges the facts in that big sumptuous Knopf manner, with creamy photographs and the touch of class big book buyers love. Basically a conservative book, this book leads us to believe that no one of today is fit to tie Duse's shoes.

   Sometimes Duse was foolish about men and about writing, and according to the standards of the day she was a bad mother, but other than that, she was sublime in every way. Sheehy claims that her appeal was a plastic one, that her rich warm smile illuminated her face, and took away the slightly doughy and overdone shadows her photos cast in composure. She loved to walk, to relieve stress, and she made one half-hour motion picture, back in the days before exhibitors' demands froze the motion picture into being more or less ninety minutes long. Sheehy says it's great, but by this time, the reader isn't sure whether or not to believe her, because everything is so superlative the tone is pitched too high.




2. I've been a fan of the many theatre books published in recent years by Knopf under the astute editorship of Victoria Wilson and other editors at Knopf. This is not one of their more compelling. Even allowing for the absence of living witness interviewees still available for biographers of, say, the Lunts, I persistently sensed the writer of this book coalescing her picture of Duse from a psychological "mezzanine," rather than "front row," perspective. It is a strangely cold, unhumanized retelling of a striking human being that was anything but. Sheehy is either too awed and respectful of Duse, too afraid of the pitfalls of the so-called pathobiography, or just too uninsightful to bring Duse to life as a three-dimensional personality. She settles for a textbook writer's air of intimate remove, of calculated decorous unfamiliarity with the personality, rather than a biographer's symbiotic fusion that makes the reader feel emotionally with the biographee, whether the biographee's character is admirable or disreputable. Her quotation of Charles Chaplin describing a performance of Duse is in a few paragraphs a far clearer evocation of what specifically and technically made Duse compelling as an actor than anything Sheehy writes of Duse anywhere else in her book. The testimonials she recites of Lee Strasberg, Chekhov, et al. are offered as thirdhand hearsay, generalities to be taken on faith rather than evoking for the reader a clear, singular picture like Chaplin's. The book also reads somewhat desultorily and does not endow Duse's life with a sense of driving drama-- quite a shortcoming for a book about such a great actor. I started to read this book with great expectations and hopes and finally abandoned it more in disappointment than in anger, just wishing it had been better.



3. My interest in the art of Eleonora Duse grew urgently while I studied the theater of Gabriele D'Annunzio. Strangely Duse's legend had not done more than tantalyze me hitherto. Vague photographs in sepia written words in passing had so far only configured a distant actress that was oddly lackluster. My fascination had remained with the likes of Adrienne Lecouvreur and with Rachel long dead players at the Comedie Francaise. I had lusted for Andromaque and Athalie living feverish candlelit nights among Corneille Moliere and Racine. I had imagined attending one of Sarah's histrionic performances. It was while I read 'La Citta Morta' and 'Francesca da Rimini' that D'Annunzio made me glance closer at the great Duse, shy and transparent with her understated genius for acting. Unhurriedly this seemingly intangible donna assoluta was letting me know that Eleonora Duse was no theatrical bandwagon. She now haunted me a fascinating dove in flight. Her's she claims with a grin, is not the boom enchantment one orders with a Byzantine impetuosity the enraptured hand to the brow. Or the hot stage tear that streaks the bright rouged cheek. That in a scene all Duse is willing to offer is a sigh. Her signature is a beguiling penchant to vanish. This biographical account by Helen Sheehy is like her masterful biography of Eva LeGallienne, a triumph. Both biographies are the product of an inspired and consummate writer. Please look up her life story of LeGallienne if you want quality. Other sources are 'Duse' by William Weaver and 'The Mystic in the Theatre' by Eva LeGallienne herself a great actress and writer. Eleonora wants to say that her's and her's alone is the thespian refinement you invoke with a glance and the faintest of tragic smiles. Many believe Duse to be the parent of modern acting. Both Sheehy and LeGallienne narrate how Eleonora started in the theater from the smallest age, playing with her family of itinerant actors. Duse's was a ragged and browbeaten Commedia dell'Arte peddling town to town in late nineteenth century Italy. I believe poverty and this early perambulating scarred her. There were times when Eleonora watched local urchins tormenting her father, who was neither talented nor enterprising. Her first liaison was with Arrigo Boito who along with Verdi wrote for the opera. They had a daughter. Then soon appeared Gabriele D'Annunzio a genial master of words who enraptured Eleonora with his exquisite theater. Perhaps he loved La Duse he clearly benefitted from her for by the time their convoluted idyll paled she was the most discussed actress in Europe. The philandering playwright and the sublime actress were now both monstruously famous. Sheehy narrates brilliantly her support and torment for Gabriele, as well as her theatrical conquest of America. How lucky are we cinematography captures today in perpetuity the inspirations of our gifted actresses. Locked in a box for all to watch. How sad that time a beast has gobbled up the classical performances of the great Rachel and the incomparable theater of Eleonora Duse. The Italian actress who wore neither makeup nor camellias while portraying Dumas fils. The humble woman who inspired Chekhov and resurrected Ibsen. The one who showed Stanislavski what acting should be. All those theater nights are lost. But if you hold your breath and close your eyes you can see her. How easy it is to imagine Elenora on stage, betrayed and broken as Silvia Setalla in D'Annunzio's 'La Gioconda' Eleonora so evocative in 'La Femme de Claude' droll pert sinewy as Mirandolina in Goldoni's comic 'La Locandiera'. Duse, playing her beloved Ibsen in 'A Doll's House' and 'Hedda Gabler'. Later, an ecclectic and transcendent Eleonora as if transformed by the ocean in 'The Lady from the Sea' Go ahead, go on, you can do it, she'll again appear magically within your mind. Take a deep breath close your eyes and you'll soon find her, fey deft doomed wistful unforgettable, a devastating Marguerite in 'La Dame aux Camellias' a darting cloud in chiffon. Amid applause triumphing and shining, among tremedous curtain calls glowing, so evoking every French romantic nuance as she takes many bows. Regaling a teary audience with tragic glimpses and she gives up Armand. So naturally sketching every enchantment emoting every painful heartbeat. After Isadora Duncan's children died in Paris the dancer went about Europe desperately, hearing words of sympathy urges to be strong. Then she went to stay with Eleonora in her villa in the vicinity of Viareggio. By then Duse was semi-retired notorious for her books and a penchant for solitude. Cry cry, Duse told her, I'll sit by you in silence and won't interrupt your tears. I find this Helen Sheehy's biography, as well as Eva LeGallienne's account of the Duse she knew personally, the best informed and most sensitive protrayals of this unique woman.



4. Lee Strasberg, Charlie Chaplin, George Bernard Shaw, and dozens if not hundreds of others who had the privilege of seeing Duse on stage describe it as if they saw a saint, someone supernatural in her ability to convey thought, feeling, emotion, subtext and that extra something that's finally indescribable. The name Duse has been synonymous with the highest possible attainment in acting, even though she is little known outside the theater. Helen Sheehy has written a detailed, even scholarly biography that stands head and shoulders over the other previous bio in English, by William Weaver. Sheehy succeeds, as far as one can, at analyzing and dissecting otherworldly Genius. But the excellence of Sheehy's book also makes it an unbearable tease. Duse was a stage actress. No traces of her greatness remain, save one thirty minute film that is maddeningly difficult to obtain; for some reason, showings of the film are as rare as UFO sightings. In my mind the film has attained the status of a relic. And I've yet to see it. Frustration aside, Sheehy does much to unveil the very private views of her subject on art and life. I certainly wouldn't recommend this bio to anyone with only a casual interest in acting or theater; however, for anyone with a substantial interest in dramatic art, this bio is simply a must.



5. As the New York Times has called this an "exemplary biography", there seems little reason to add a review by the average reader. However, you do not need to be an expert in theatre history to find this book a great read.

   I had never heard of Duse before Sheehy's work, yet the author makes a convincing argument why the Italian actress is one of the founders of modern acting - a woman who presented a powerful, natural style of acting that George Bernard Shaw, Charlie Chapin, and John Barrymore found overwhelming to behold. Duse created a compelling counterpoint to the highly stylized form perfected by Sarah Bernhardt and she presented a standard of a new acting for all performers in the twentieth century to emulate. Today, we are unaware as we watch film or television, that we are watching Duse's heirs.

   Sheehy goes beyond her central thesis of Duse's acting career to describe a very flawed woman. Sheehy enumerates Duse's poor choices in lovers, her neglect of her daughter because of the girl's physical resemblance to Duse's discarded husband, her indulgence in self-pity and hypochondria, and her manipulative use of society friends for favors and loans. Sheehy does not shy away from her hero's defects, but neither does she wallow in them.

   This book is of obvious value to people of the theatre or with special interest in Italian culture. For the general reader, it is an artful biography of a compelling and important cultural figure.

No comments about Devising Theatre: A Practical and Theoretical Handbook.

No comments about The Art of Lap Dancing.

1 comments about Fat Chance.

1. I read the book because I've been a Stephen Fry fan for years and had not heard about the event the book describes. Gray writes clearly and beautifully, brings you with him into the theatre world as he tells his side of the story, with some (understandable) frustration but without recrimination. I intend to read more of Gray's work.

5 comments about Vincent Price: A Daughter's Biography.

1. I considered myself a fan of Vincent Price since I was a small child. His voice, his height, his choices of roles, I was hooked. However, after having read Victoria's account of his life, I no longer consider myself a fan. Her views on his politics were not necessary. In my opinion, the comments bordered on hate. I wish I had selected a biography written by someone other than Victoria, then I would not have been so disappointed.



2. The one thing you could always count on from Vincent Price was a good performance. Price always gave his all to whatever character he played, be it Brigham Young or Dr. Phibes, Mr. Manningham of Angel Street or Egghead of Batman. He was a professional, through and through.
   
   This biography of Price by his lovely daughter Victoria would certainly have made Vincent proud, for it is also thoroughly professional. The author's prose is about as polished as it gets, which makes reading the book a joy. And the editing is nothing if not top notch.
   
   The book starts with interesting information on Vincent Price's early life in St. Louis, then moves on to his college years (Price graduated from Yale), to his overseas travels, his work in London theatre, his eventual return to the United States and work on Broadway, his marriages to actress Edith Barrett (who bore him a son, Vincent Barrett Price), to designer Mary Grant (who bore him Victoria), to Vincent's work in Hollywood, to his eventual final marriage to actress Coral Browne, and much more.
   
   We learn much about Price's great love for art and of his desire to make art affordable for everyone (which led to Price's work for Sears); of his contributions to various art galleries and his efforts to have a permanent gallery of his own (he had one, for a time, but had to close it); of his travels to exotic places around the world; of his gourmet cooking; of his love for animals; of his extensive work in film (Price made a number of horror films, but most of his work in film was not horror related), of his extensive television and stage work; of his incredible solo show as Oscar Wilde and of his many speeches; and of his relationships with many of the biggest stars of his day, many of whom became his close personal friends.
   
   Some of the most interesting parts of the book were those in which the author wrote of Vincent's relationships with people in general. Although Price was a big star, he apparently treated everyone with the same genial kindness, be they celebrities like himself or mere street sweepers.
   
   So as not to make him into too much of an angel, Victoria also tells of her father's occasional angry outbursts, of his affairs, and of his two divorces. She tells of his insecurities, and of his all-consuming desire to be liked.
   
   Vincent Price has been gone for a few years now - gone but not forgotten. His work remains, as does his spirit in the hearts of his family, friends and fans.



3. Although written in tiny type, it gives a great overview of what Dad Price was all about. I also got some insight into life in the 50s and what a Hollywood star does with his off-time. A bit too detailed at times, such as describing Art life in Hollywood -- I would have liked to have seen more written in other areas than his horror genre -- which was there, just not enough. Overall, good job, a good paced read.



4. Victoria Price has written a book that i feel is a double edged sword toward her father. i've read it many times and prior to buying the Lucy Chase Williams book on Vincent, i'd pull out Victoria's book as a reference for something obscure or whatever. well, those times are over. it is no secret that Vincent was a liberal politically. his interest in art, conservation, and theatre among other things are stereotypically liberal that we didn't need his daughter to hammer the point home because there's some fans out there, like me, who could care less about their favorite actor or singer's political views and i get offended when it comes across that Republicans like myself shouldn't be a fan of Vincent's because "we're bad and want to destroy public TV and arts programs", which is how i took it from reading this book. politics you might ask? it's true! Victoria at times brings up the liberalism that she and her parents lived and practiced but she intentionally or accidentally makes people who don't live that way or think as her friends do as being strange or abnormal...in addition, Victoria goes into detail about his successful career on the stage in playhouses all over the United States and abroad and to me this was informative because most people focus on his horror career only. but, here comes another problem, the lack of information on his horror career and his movies in general. what we're treated to are her accounts of what critics or her father had to say about the movies...she offers no first-hand knowledge and SHE IS HIS DAUGHTER so she should know things we don't already...and by the time this book arrived she had PLENTY of time to watch his horror films and get an opinion of them. but, Vincent's dramatic films are also given very little discussion. if we're to believe her, none of her father's films are worth watching unless they recieved high praise from a nationally known critic or were box office successes. she paints a picture that her father's films can't be open to anyone's viewpoint once a critic has stamped it a bomb or whatever. i've seen quite a few of his so-called flops and they were GREAT! near the end of the book we're told about his career on TV and in commercials. his 1981-1989 run as the host of the PBS classic show "Mystery!" is also touched upon but once again, Victoria showers the chapters with second and third-hand information that family should already know first-hand. the pictures in the book are great!! i love the one where he's with his peers: Karloff, Lorre, and Rathbone during a photo shoot in the early '60s. there is a segment in the book that details Vincent's artistic flamboyance, and she brings up the silly rumors that Vincent was bi-sexual. first off, Vincent's sexual behavior isn't interesting to me! when i'm watching him stare at someone with that menacing look or if he's laughing at some devious scheme he's cooked up, i'm certainly not thinking about who he's sleeping with or who he finds attractive off-screen and so i find this section of the book silly and uncalled for and a MAJOR distraction to what the book was suppose to be, a biography of her father through HER eyes and NOT through the eyes and opinions of critics and industry insiders, which is basically what it turns out to be as a whole!! the only time i see that she gets personal and really says how she feels is when she talks about Vincent and his life with Coral Browne {near the end of the book since the marriage came in 1974}. now, i don't expect Victoria to drop to her knees and kiss the ground her step-mother walked on because after all Coral wasn't Victoria's mother, but at the same time, Corale couldn't have been that awful or else Victoria would've said something DECADES ago to a tabloid paper!! i give this book 3 stars because Victoria doesn't seem to realize that her father's fans aren't interested in rumor, gossip, and alleged communist involvement that were never proven because the accusations were flimsy and had no weight, so it's baffling as to why she'd plant those kind of thoughts about her father to potential new fans who ONLY know of Vincent through Batman re-runs {Vincent played "Egghead" on a few episodes}.



5. Victoria Price's book was a big disappointment. Price's own autobiography covers his early years, and the films are throroughly and more acurately covered by Lucy Chase Williams' book. Victoria's book is long, but the only "new" information would have been better left unsaid. Much of it is republican bashing from both father and daughter, at times it's hard to tell which is actually speaking. To them, it's heroic to oppose fascism, but those who opposed communism as well are "villains". The conservative bashing extended to trying to prevent the John Wayne Cancer Center from getting money Coral Browne willed them!

No comments about A Century of Russian Ballet.