1 comments about Expressionist Texts (PAJ Books).

1. This is a good primer on Expressionistic writing. It's a tad bit dry for my taste but if you are the literary-scholarly type into Expressionistic writing you might enjoy it. There isn't much published on this subject to begin with.

4 comments about What's Eating Johnny Depp?: An Intimate Biography.

1. Another book for a collection if you are a true johnny fan. good read



2. Okay, so the book isn't that well written. It's pretty bland and is organized a bit confusingly.
   But, then again, there are gorgeous pictures of a gorgeous man, and we get to learn about his life, so do we really care about the literary content?
   Nope.
   
   If you love Johnny Depp and just want to learn some more facts about him (and look at lots of good pictures of him!), you'll enjoy this. But if you're looking for a biography that's a good read, this isn't it. Go read...something else that isn't this.;-)



3. Really disappointed in this book! Too much jibber jabber going on! Who cares? I wanted to read about JOHNNY! Way too little info on HIM!! too much junk.



4. i loved this book and it is a great biography for johnny depp fans and admirers.

5 comments about The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook.

1. Schechter has done for Judy and Liza what Koeschel has done for Wolfgang. It's all here: the mood, the method, the magnificence, in two encyclopedic texts that detail the lives and good works of two of the most fascinating and talented women of our time and all the ages--the Fantastic Garland and her equally incredible Daughter Liza Minnelli. Schechter has not only written two great books, he has done the world a terrific service in collecting some of their TV appearances on DVDs that have given a permanent showcase to material that otherwise might have been gone and forgotten forever, to the great loss of all of us. Colorful, informative, and fascinating, these two books on Judy and Liza, as well as the DVDs that constitute exhibits A-Z, should provide fans and would be admirers alike with endless pleasure and information, as they make an incalculably important and significant archival contribution to our heritage. Not to be missed. Martin Kantor, MD. Author of My Guy: A Gay Man's Guide to a Lasting Relationship and Together Forever: The Gay Man's Guide to Lifelong Love



2. and I would call that thing "a burning, selfless love." No, not the love you'd find between a man and a woman or a confused grad student... but the love and respect you might find between two bitter rivals who look at each other with a knowing nod and hint of a smile.
   
   Liza's never been hotter than she is now and this scrapbook is just the thing you'll want to read to get you caught up on her deepest desires and secrets.
   
   I know Liza is trying to put that awful David G. (I refuse to write the name "Gest") episode behind her and possible find love with someone who's less into getting bad plastic surgery and looking creepy.
   
   I once met David Gest at a Rest Stop on the Jersey Turnpike. He was hitting the vending machine because his Fiery Habanero Doritos corn chips were stuck between the glass and that little spinny thing.
   
   I was nice enough to help him out. I bought another bag of the corn chips and his dropped down. Unfortunately, my bag became lodged the same way his had. He didn't even say thank you. He just grabbed his chips and walked out. And I was the one the security guard yelled at! Can you believe it?



3. If you are a fan of one of the greatest performers we have had, this book is for you. It includes many rare photos and a chronicle of her professional life over the last 40 (!) years. Schector, a long-time fan, has finally done the professional tribute to this star that needed to be done. You won't find what's in this book anywhere else!



4. The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook is the most loving and complete biography available today. Mr. Schechter succeeds in revealing the TRUE Liza, an incredibly talented, charismatic legend in her own right.



5. Thanks to the Liza fans for all the kindness and support of the book.
   
   Here are some of the professional reviews the book has gotten to date :
   
   
   
   From Booksoup.com :
   
   Liza Minnelli has mesmerized her audiences with her remarkable talent and pure joy of entertaining for decades. Her appeal is universal and timeless. For those us who have had the pleasure of closely following her career, no other performing artist can compare. "The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook" is a comprehensive pictorial history. Schechter has done an amazing job of chronicling Liza's career accompanying his research with pictures both familiar and new to the avid Liza fan. For longtime Liza fans like myself, the book is treasure of Liza remembrances and certainly the ultimate Liza "reference" book.
   
   ****
   
   From NYTheatre.com
   
   http://www.nytheatre.com/nytheatre/bookshop.htm
   
   
   The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook
   by Scott Schechter
   
   Perfect for any fan, The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook is just that - a scrapbook of an almost five-decade career. With a fond foreword by Billy Stricth, this book chronicles Liza's life by decade. There are brief overviews of each ten-year span, and then details and at least a brief synopsis on every movie, television show, Broadway show, and recording Liza has ever done. Furthermore, as if that was not enough, there are billions of pictures - pictures with other celebrity friends, cameos from various television and movie stints, covers of playbills and recordings, etc. The book is so indubitably complete in its coverage of Liza's career that there is even a picture of Liza with Kermit the Frog from her episode on "The Muppet Show!" This is an incredible, cohesive, and all-inclusive record of Ms. Minnelli and is a must have for any fan because of its comprehensive coverage and plethora of pictures.
   - Seth Bisen-Hersh
   
   http://www.nytheatre.com/nytheatre/bookshop.htm
   
   ****
   From GENRE magazine, January-February 2005 issue, "The Feed" Column : "audio / film / PAGES," Editor (and reviews by) Michael Liebermann :
   
   "The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook" Scott Schechter, Kensington, Biography, 242 pages, $22
   
   "If you're looking for objective criticism of Liza Minnelli's storied career in music, film and theater, or an expose of her latest missteps in love, then keep on browsing. But if you fancy a stroll down gay memory lane -- from growing up Garland through 'Cabaret'to the oft-forgotten 1980 TV spectacular 'Goldie and Liza : Together' -- you can't do much better than this true fan's scrapbook."
   
   ****
   
   From OUT magazine, January 2004 issue; "OutFront" Reviews : "What's New and Hot" : "ETC" (Page 27) :
   
   "A must-have for Liza fans, Scott Schechter brings us 'The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook' (Citadel, $21.95), a vibrant volume about her career, with over 200 rare and never-before-seen photographs."
   
   ****
   
   
   Featured on November CNN "American Morning" Show
   
   ****
   
   GREAT write-up on the InSightOUT Book Club's webpage :
   
   CLUB REVIEW
   
   From Cabaret to her recent stint on "Arrested Development," Liza Minnelli has never let the scandal that seems to run in her family's blood taint her dazzling career. And her life in showbiz, which spans five decades, is celebrated with this scrapbook of photos, facts, and diva pride!
   
   "The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook" takes you back to the beginning of the dynamic performer's life as the daughter of Judy Garland-and her first public appearance at age 2 1/2! From there, she launched a career that garnered her Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards, and it's all covered here! Along with page after page of fantastic photos, the scrapbook looks at Liza's illustrious career: New York, New York, Flora the Red Menace, Liza at the Wintergarden, and The Act. There are essays about every major performance she's ever given, including her sold out appearance in Victor/Victoria. Plus, you get all the trivia and facts you could desire-and need! Everything Liza, including discography, videography, lists of awards and much more. Photos throughout. 242 pages, 8 1/2" x 11", softcover.
   
   
   THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER -- Tuesday, November 16th, 2004
   
   Reuters via Yahoo! News, Mon, 15 Nov 2004 4:13 PM PST
   
   'SCRAPBOOK' DELIVERS THE GOODS (Headline)
   
   By Robert Osborne NEW YORK
   
   Liza Minnelli has certainly had her share of publicized woes of late, but something's on the horizon that should cheer her considerably.
   
   Scott Schechter has compiled a magnificent book on the one aspect of L. M. that always seems to get short shrift or is altogether ignored these days, i. e.,her years of delivering the goods in front of cameras and on stages throughout the world. That work has won her, to date, an Oscar (1972), three Tonys (1965, '74, '78), an Emmy (1973), a Grammy (1989), two Golden Globes (1973, '86) and an ever-loyal fan base, something Schechter covers in monumental detail in "The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook," in bookstores this month via Citadel Press, with a foreword by Billy Stritch.
   
   No stone is left unturned in looking at the career of Minnelli and, for a refreshing change, no stone is hurled at her, either; here, it's strictly Liza's professional life and accomplishments that the author is emphasizing. And nothing goes unrecorded, be it a TV "Match Game" appearance on NBC in 1967, a 1987 concert in Stockholm, Sweden, or, this year, singing "Oscar" and "God Bless the Child" at a private party at the Ars Nova Theatre in New York. Besides being a dandy reference guide for anyone hunting for a Minnelli fact,"Scrapbook" also includes plenty of interesting info on
   Minnelli projects that came close to happening but didn't. She was announced, for instance, in 1975, and again in '77 and '79, to star in the film version of "Chicago," playing Velma to Goldie Hawn s Roxie Hart (with, at one point, Allan Carr producing, Frank Sinatra playing the lawyer, Nancy
   Walker as the prison matron and Carol Channing and Ann Miller as competing newspaper reporters); later, in 1992, it was rescheduled but with a
   difference: Lewis Gilbert was to direct, with Liza switched to the role of Roxie and Goldie as Velma.
   
   We all know how that turned out. In 1982, Liza tested for what was to be an "Evita" directed by Ken Russell; she sang "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina," causing Russell to publicly comment, "We had found our Evita"; the entire venture, however, was KO'd until it was finally made 14 years later with a different leading lady. Schechter also lists dozens of other projects that
   almost happened ("Sunset Boulevard," "The Carmen Miranda Story") and, carrying out the "scrapbook" motif, there are miscellaneous color photographs, candids and reproductions of Playbill and album covers and Liza-related ads. One thing comes through loud and clear: The lady may like
   to play, but she has also worked.
   
   ****
   
   The NY POST -- "PAGE SIX" -- Sunday, November 14th, 2004 :
   
   HITS THE SPOT :
   
   IT'S not all bad news about Liza Minnelli, who was just hit with a lawsuit by her former chauffeur. At the book party for Scott Schechter's "Liza Minnelli Scrapbook" tribute tome, the author announced Minnelli's first theatrical movie since "Stepping Out" in 1991. Liza will play an offbeat self-help seminar leader who helps Parker Posey on her quest to find her G-spot, in "The Oh in Ohio." It co-stars Danny DeVito and Mischa Barton.
   
   ****
   
   The SECOND Review of "The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook" this one by Phill Hall of Boston's EDGE and also to appear in the NY RESIDENT paper in a few weeks :
   
   "The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook" by Scott Schechter
   Grade: A+
   by Phil Hall
   EDGE Literature Critic
   Monday Nov 1, 2004
   
   Just from the title alone, "The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook" seems predestined to find a place on the coffee table of many gay homes. But forget the stereotypical gay worship of this show biz icon and zoom in on the rich contents. Scott Schechter's extraordinary tribute to Liza with a "Z" is brilliantly researched, lavishly illustrated and endlessly entertaining. It is impossible to come away from this book without possessing a deeper love and respect for Minnelli.
   
   Schechter breaks down Minnelli's career in a neat manner: a decade-by-decade career-based mini-biography (all scandals are removed from print), followed by a chronological appreciation of Minnelli's theater, film, television, recording and concert careers. Schechter uncovers a wealth of long-forgotten facts and photographs which will delight Minnelli's fans: Minnelli dancing on stage with then-unknown Elliott Gould in a touring company of "The Fantasticks," her simultaneous Time and Newsweek covers for "Cabaret" (and you thought Bruce Springsteen was the only entertainer to accomplish that?)
   
   The book is also rich with Minnelli trivia, including unlikely appearances such as a concert for the inmates of a Chicago jail (two months after she won the "Cabaret" Oscar). There is also an unexpectedly large amount of little-known data on projects which Minnelli either turned down (including the role of Daisy in "The Great Gatsby" opposite Robert Redford) or which fell apart before production began (including the film version of "Evita" under Ken Russell's direction).
   
   Schechter is uncommonly generous to Minnelli, to the point of presenting the most glamorous and flattering photographs available; later-life tabloid photographs which show Minnelli's problems with weight control are conspicuously absent. Yes, "The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook" is a love letter to the great star. And honestly, what's wrong with a love letter to someone who truly earned the love of her fans?
   
   Citadel Press, $21.95, 228 pages
   
   ****
   
   The FIRST REVIEW for "The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook"
   
   LIZ SMITH : NY Post -- Friday, November 5th, 2004
   
   "DEDICATED TO Liza Minnelli's artistry." That's what it says on page one of Scott Schechter's "The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook" (Citadel Press). This is a glossy valentine to the great star, concentrating on her long, award-laden stage, screen and recording career. The sensation of her "private" life is not emphasized. Tons of previously unseen photos and plenty of Minnelli minutiae. (Her first reviews, even as an awkward teen, are a thrill to read; she had style from the start!) Flip through this and be reminded that Liza is an artist, one whose commitment to her audience never wavers.
   
   ****

2 comments about The Dark at the Top of the Stairs..

1. 
   Dark at the Top of the Stairs is not William Inge's most popular play. It is overshadowed by Picnic and Bus Stop. The family drama relates more closely to Inge's sad "Come Back Little Sheba".
   
   The 50's play is set in the 20's as a Midwestern family, with various personalities, problems, fears, anxieties that encompass the darkness that exists in everyone's lives. And, not to mention that with any family unhappiness, the children's difficulties are meshed into the adults tribulations.
   
   A family man, Rubin Flood, and his wife, Cora, endure a short separation over discussions about his unwillingness and fear to advance technologically in his employment. He is a harness salesman in the age of the coming of the vehicle. Cora is bringing up two children with their own personal and private issues. Cora remains strong while getting her daughter ready for a date and yet dealing with a son who lives in a fantasy world of Hollywood stars.
   
   The film focuses on marital discord, separation, prejudice, suicide, and adultry. There is a film version that starred Robert Preston, but to get the full depths of the darkness, read the play.....MzRizz



2. Very good play. Lots of layers. Dramatic with touch of tragedy yet redeemed by optimism. Unselfconscious, intelligent.

No comments about Student Workbook for Jaffe's Public Speaking: Concepts and Skills for a Diverse Society, 5th.

5 comments about Special Effects: The History and Technique.

1. This is a good book to overview the special effects for making movies. It includes history and technics for almost everything but not details. However it is impossible to include details in a book so readers need to find out the details from other resources. Overall this is a good book for gaining knowledge in special effects.



2. I got the book for my boyfriend. He loved it.The book has a lot of interesting and useful information even if you are just a movie-lover, not a movie-maker



3. Yes there is great history and education in here, but the mass of photographs tells a truly beautiful tale. The artists illustrated here are for the most part the true pioneers of creating magic on film. Going into a project with truly no proven technique must have been terrifying and adrenaline pumping. Our techniques have greatly improved but since the advent of fully cg fx, the pioneering aspect is minimal. It is very well written but I can't call it a page turner since I spent so much time staring at the pictures. Great for fans and professionals alike.



4. I'm a film studies tutor and reccommend this title to all of my students. Why has the publisher/author allowed it to go out of print? This is the best book ever written on special/visual effects and one of the best introductions to film making and film technology generally. PLEASE REPRINT THIS BOOK and ideally, make a softback edition at a price my kids can better afford. THANKS!



5. Special Effects is THE BEST book you could wish for on the subject. I have a shelf full of old, an mostly inaccurate books about special effects, but with this new book I could throw the rest away. Also, don't bother with magazines like Cinefex anymore, which are very dry and heavy going. this book is a pleasure to read and has interviews with everyone who is important in the business. There are hundreds of cool photos as well which makes it very good value. Anyone who works in special effects, or is just interested in the movies should read this book. Congratulations to the author Mr Rickitt who has condensed 100 years of movie magic into a single lavish book. Dont take my word for it - BUY IT!

No comments about New Playwrights: The Best Plays of 2006 (New Playwrights).

2 comments about Architecture and Film.

1. I didn't really notice cinema's similarity to architecture until I read Architecture and Film, edited by Mark Lamster, the senior editor at Princeton Architectural Press. What we have here is a collection of essays by film fanatics who also happen to be architectural critics or architects. There is not one film-studies scholar among the contributors; that alone is unusual for a collection of film essays.

   The other big surprise is that the writers don't focus on architecturally striking films in the vein of Ridley Scott's Blade Runner or Fritz Lang's Metropolis. Instead they write about more obscure films, such as the hysterical Cary Grant film Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House, Robert Quine's Strangers When We Meet, and the campy film version of Ayn Rand's arguably campy novel The Fountainhead. All three films feature either an architect as a main character or the nature of architecture in a commercial world as a principle theme. The Fountainhead in particular is probably one of the most ridiculous films ever made about art and commerce. Such ideas aren't bad in and of themselves, but the fascistic and sexual overtones in Rand's book and film are so over the top that both come off as soft-porn pieces. But I like this film, as it brings up the question of architecture as an art form: Does it only serve its purpose as a structure of necessity?

   The most unusual segment in the book is the essay by Eric Rosenberg: "Architecture and the films of the Beatles." In this short essay, Rosenberg comments on the nature of space and structures in keeping the Beatles isolated from the external world, with consideration to their fans. Other subjects covered include set directors, such as the great Ken Adam, who worked on all the early James Bond films, designed the fantastic war room in Stanley Kubrick's Dr. Strangelove, and also worked on Barry Lyndon. I found the essay on Adam particularly interesting because I am a big fan of his work. Adam talks about his disappointment in Barry Lyndon because a lot of the shots were based on paintings of that period; Adam preferred to use his own imagination for his set designs. In Dr. Strangelove, for example, he essentially used his mind's eye in building the war room. But fiction can greatly intrude upon fact -- when the newly elected President Ronald Reagan asked to see the government's war room, he was disappointed that it wasn't like the one used in Dr. Strangelove. As you see, films are better than real life. And so is the architecture in films




2. This examination of the way architecture and architects have been portrayed on the screen provides fourteen essays which analyze selected productions. Their authors are set designers, architects, and film producers who use their backgrounds to analyze the presence and importance of architectural props in film production.

5 comments about Why We Make Movies: Black Filmmakers Talk About the Magic of Cinema.

1. I found the various filmmakers stories to be very interesting. I would recommend this book.



2. Flashback to 1974. That was the year movie critic Donald Bogle wrote his seminal book, "Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies & Bucks", and suggested that these five African-American stereotypes were used everyday in the mass media and in particular in the cinema. Bogle's five main stereotypes were based on his research of the images that white Hollywood directors and movie audiences advanced about African-Americans. Now fast forward to 2003. Today many of these same images are still reinforced, reshaped and even rewind by black filmmakers, many of whom were interviewed in George Alexander's fine book, "Why We Make Movies: Black Filmmakers Talk About the Magic of Cinema." Still I highly recommend this book for anyone interested in understanding the philosophies and perseverance strategies of this creative colony of artists, activists and scholars. Lots of war stories. And for the most part, they did not shy away from discussing racism in Hollywood. The book is easy to read, and although not billed as a scholarly treatise, wears very well its key words of film and African American/African studies. In fact media and communication scholars will have little problem finding examples of agenda setting theory, propaganda, social responsibility theory and spiral of silence. But even more important, laypersons, movie goers and aspiring filmmakers will enjoy Alexander's ability to present these filmmakers and artists as approachable and genuinely a part of the larger African world community. I am an "index person" and "summary person," therefore, I think these two elements would have added greatly to this book. But I appreciated the fact that whenever a movie was mentioned, the date was included. Journalist George Alexander likes movies and his book provides us with a nice snapshot of many of the industry's black participants as scholars, mainstream filmmakers, documentarians and just plain old entertainers - flaws and all.



3. It is always a treat to read a work by an author who masters his subject and yet is very humble about his achievement. George Alexander's knowledge of movies comes from exposure to the magic of film at a young age, but also through learning the craft of screenwriting, and filmmaking in general, after college. His book is a gold mine as far as learning about black filmmakers and black filmmaking is concerned; it is almost an alternative, outsider's take on the American Film Industry and beyond. What makes it invaluable though is more that the reader is granted access both to the "Usual Suspects" of black filmmaking fame and the talented, less well-known and upcoming black filmmakers. Furthermore, one of Alexander's major achievements is to have managed to create a space where these two categories of black filmmakers could give us "a master class" in filmmaking.

   Given the dynamism, diversity, and ever growing number of black filmmakers making movies successfully nowadays, it was always going to be difficult for Alexander to decide who would be featured in "Why We Make Movies": no criticism focused on why he did not include so and so cannot be taken seriously. But how do you conceptualise such a book? Alexander does a brilliant job here because he manages to propose a structure based on chronology, genre, filmmaking potential, filmmaking achievement, and crossing over, to name but a few. Yet Alexander seems to have no other ambition than taking the reader on "an odyssey across the plains of Black America's contributions to the magic of cinema".

   The inclusion of Prof. Manthia Diwawara as the exception that confirms the rule in Alexander's book is more than justified. It is beyond the scope of this review to elaborate on Diawara's extraordinary body of work, e.g. his contributions to African/Black Diapora Studies. However, I would say that with Diawara, Haile Gerima, and Euzhan Palcy featured in "Why We Make Movies", for future editions Alexander might want to widen its concept so as to cater for Black Diaspora Cinema more strongly, and to refocus its central thesis in order to make it less casual. I am putting forward this latter point because "Why We Make Movies" is already a scholarly book, yet one in a position to be improved a great deal. No one interested in (black) cinema can afford to miss it: "that's the truth rruth".




4. George Alexander's book is a winner! Two thumbs up. One of the best books on Black film available. Look for Alexander to becoming the next great film reviewer. Take it from me - buy this book. You will enjoy it!



5. Lovers of film, and especially those individuals who are interested in the behind-the-scenes action of movie making, will be thrilled by George Alexander's Why We Make Movies. Not only does the book get up close and personal with 35 or so of the most notable filmmakers of our time, it also serves as a historical context for black film, and provides information not commonly known about our favorite actors (including how Tupac got his first role in Juice), scripts, budgets, television productions, and the many problems encountered and conquered when it comes to filmmakers such as Spike Lee, George Tillman, Keenen Ivory Wayans, Robert Townsend, John Singleton, and many more.

   The book is upfront about the racial and discriminatory issues that plague the industry and how, perhaps, one should approach filmmaking once they are aware of all the long standing issues. You get to read which scene Spike Lee regrets out of the dozens of movies he's made; you get to read what kind of power, if any, do successful black filmmakers have; you get to know their feelings about the current slate of movies that are being released, how directors prepare for shoots, just a wealth of vital information and tidbits that will broaden your knowledge about the industry.

   Although the age range, gender, and backgrounds of the interviewees vary, one common bond is their love for film. Why We Make Movies is an important, eye-opening account that will cause your view of the magic of films to be enhanced.

5 comments about Twelve Step Plan to Becoming an Actor in LA: From Your Town to Tinseltown.

1. I read Dawn Lerman's book after a chance meeting with a good friend of mine who had been speaking highly of her work. I went to Barnes & Noble one day, sat down for three hours and read the whole book. The Information in this book is highly valuable to the young and old alike starting out in the biz. Although the book is mostly catered to L.A. the information on classes, networking and the hollistic approach to acting can be used for anyone anywhere to acheive success.
   
   Currently I reside in NY and have found great success here. When the timing is right this will definitely be in my carry on when I take that trip.



2. This book is an absolute gem
   I found it at LAX newly arriving from ohoo
   I have been folloeing the steps and I have ser up a great new life for myself and am working alot in theatre and doing my own web show .the theatre tips were especially helpful. I recommend it to anyone who does not have a good grasp of LA. It def will help prepare you for starting out your career



3. I moved out to LA from NYC and found the whole acting business very intimidating. It was my good fortune that a fellow actor I met at a commercial casting recommended this inspiring book to me. It is filled with valuable information that all actors new to this city need to have at their fingertips. Dawn Lerman practically takes you by the hand and walks you thru all the things you can do to promote your success in an incredibly competitive industry. She writes not only with the saviness of an actor who has learned to hustle to manifest success but the heart and care of a drama therapist. I appreciate Lerman's diligent study of how to take as much control as possible in a career where you can feel so powerless. Many thanks to the authors!



4. Two never-employed wannabe actors write a book on "Becoming an Actor"? How good can their advice be if it didn't work for them? Look for other hot titles like "Financial Independence" by a guy who is on welfare and "World Hotspots" by some lady who has never left Reseda.



5. for a nanosecond of my life..i thought about pursuing acting as a career, either thru stage or tv/film. so i decided to do some research about doing it. and i came across this book and decided to give it a try. very easy to read and very informative. i only gave it 4 stars because i chickened out and decided to not try to be an actor..so i dont know if these things are true that they wrote about. but none the less very entertaining! the only thing that i remember from the book was..dont do porn if you want to be taken seriously! hahaha i guess traci lords should have read this book first.