5 comments about Rita Hayworth: A Photographic Retrospective.

1. Rita Hayworth is one of the most beautiful and glamourous women ever to have lived. Though her life was marked by tragedy, particularly her Alzheimer's affliction and death at a relatively young age. This book, however, is mainly devoted to celebrating Rita's happier times. Her life is viewed chronologically in both popular and rare photographs. There are so many beautiful photos that it is difficult to take in all at once! My favorite pictures (and just a sampling of the pictures you will find in this book) are: Rita (when she was still Margarita) with her dark hair dancing in a beautiful ruffled dress (p.28), glamourous Rita smiling brightly while reclining on a couch (p.87), Rita clowning with Orson Welles (pg. 114), Rita getting her hair touched up (p. 119), Rita tickling her daughter Rebecca (p. 126), Rita walking solitarily on the beach (p. 140), Rita being welcomed home (p. 165), and Rita in 1981, in declining mental health, but still looking every inch a movie star. If you love Rita and her movies, do not hesitate to buy this book!!!



2. "Rita Hayworth: A Photographic Retrospective" features a zillion photographs, many never before published, of one of Hollywood's most enduring sexual icons.

   The book was a labor of love for author, historian and collector Caren Roberts-Frenzel of Minneapolis, who reportedly kept pestering publishers for years to get their attention.

   "But you're wrong, Rita has not been forgotten," was her mantra, as skeptical publishers elsewhere wondered aloud if a market remained for a book about one of the great beauties of the 1940s.

   Caren's persistence finally paid off, resulting in one of the most luxurious "picture on every page" books ever produced, supplemented by breezy, well-written and information-packed text.

   Unlike "been there, done that" books about Hayworth, this one specializes in numerous "candids," that is, unposed photos taken outside of the studio, at work, at play, on the set, whatever.

   For once, here's a volume that doesn't feature the same darn publicity photos you've seen a million times for sale on the Internet or at flea markets.

   The deal about Rita is man oh man, unlike sexy sirens named Grable or even Monroe, Hayworth's beauty is timeless and undated. Unless someone told you, you'd never know, for example, that her world famous pinup shot -- taken on the bed by Life Magazine photographer Bob Landry -- was shot more than 60 years ago!

   The same holds true for the nearly 300 other photos that grace this book, some recaptured in all of their Technicolor glory.

   Get "Rita Hayworth: A Photographic Retrospective," before it disappears! I understand only a few thousand were printed and yet the reviews in the papers and in places like People Magazine have been terrific.




3. Caren Roberts-Frenzel is the president of the Rita Hayworth Fan Club and this book is her dream project come to life. Caren's appreciation of every facet of The Love Goddess is evident on every page. It was so good to see someone who knows and cares about Rita create such a labor of love. Caren doesn't whitewash the blemishes in Rita's often tragic life but rather allows them to complete an honest and ultimately loving portrait of this gentle woman.

   Like its subject, this book is breathtaking in its beauty. It contains scores of genuinely rare photos and they are a treasure. I own many books on Rita but "A Photographic Retrospective" is easily my favorite.




4. I have collected all the books ever written about Rita Hayworth. I have to say that this is the BEST photobook I have seen to date. Who else but a Rita Hayworth fan can put their heart in such a big project and create such a lovely photo tribute to Hollywood's most glamourous movie star of the classic era. Not only is there a collection of rare photographs, but there is lots of interesting information on Rita's life, trivia and more. If you're a fan of Rita Hayworth, then this is the book you must buy! Simply beautifully done!



5. When I picked up this book, I excpected it to have a good amount of photos, many of which I had already seen. But, I was hoping for a few I hadn't and a decent narrations. However, this book blew me away. I have purchased photograph-focused books on celebritites before and been disappointed by their flimsy commentary. This book does an excellent job of conecting the photos to Ms. Hayworth's life. It's not just a collection of pictures, it's a pictorial biography. Admittedly, a traditional bio would get into greater detail, but this book is a great intro to her life. Not everyone wants a tell-all book filled with intimate details. This book delivers impeccably reproduced photos and a satisfactory bio. At first I was a little put-off by the price, but I feel it was well worth it, after reading it. A great read for anyone interested in this arrestingly beautiful and glamourous woman.

5 comments about Reel Spirituality: Theology and Film in Dialogue (Engaging Culture).

1. PRAISE: What I enjoy most about this book is its attention to good interpretation, and an interface between theology and spirituality. Balanced appeal to critical and aesthetic reflection.
   
   SUMMERY:
   Robert Johnston argues for the positive attitude of the Christian towards film, particularly in virtue of its unique quality as an art form but also as a medium of cultural connectedness.
   
   In the first chapter, Johnston introduces the subject by recognizing film's place in contemporary culture highlighting its relevance, but also recognizing that, while many may see film as mere entertainment, it has the potential for transformative value. As examples he tells how the movie Schindler's List allowed a security guard of a Swiss bank to recognize, understand, and reveal documentation of property stolen from Jews during World War II; of how the Disney movie Beauty and the Beast helped a young girl grieve her mothers death, and how the movie Becket brought Johnston himself perspective and inspired him to go in ministry.
   
   The second chapter illustrates a brief history of the relationship between film and the church. It highlights the religious usefulness of film from its beginning at the turn of the century, through the controversial use of the illicit and the continuing confrontation with the church. This chapter continues to the evolution of the rating system (originating within the Catholic church), and the challenge behind identifying tasteful art.
   
   Chapter three is an overview of theological approaches to film. It begins with avoidance, the now unpopular view that sees film (at least some of it) as corrupted and having damaging effects. The second approach is caution, the careful encounter with movies "from a clearly defined ethical and religious stance."(45) The third approach, what Johnston calls dialogical, is first recognized, differing from the previous two, by the willingness to view the movie on its own terms and "let the images themselves suggest meaning and direction."(49) Appropriation is the move of allowing movies to add to one's perspective of human reality and only then move on to a fuller theology, and finally divine encounter recognizes film's sacramental power in its artistic expression.
   
   In chapter four, Johnston gives five reason's for a Christian's engagement with movies. The first is that recognition of God's common grace that present throughout human future. The second is that theology should acknowledge the Spirits work in the world, that "If the Spirit is active in and through the human spirit, then the potential for the sacred is present across human endeavors."(69) Third, that Christians ought to hear God's voice within and among non-Christians, just as God used the Assyrians to speak to Israel. Fourthly, God communicates through image as well as word, though many may see image as idolatrous and also hold reverence to the rationality of word. Fifthly, theology's narrative shape makes fruitful interaction with the story of film, and finally the nature of constructive theology is that of dialogical exchange between God's story and our story.
   
   Chapter five argues that film is an art, and as art it has a sacramental quality. Chapter six continues this theme by identifying film as story. As a story, a film has a kind of structure in its flow from crisis to resolution, as well as characteristics - character, plot, atmosphere, and tone - with different characteristics being emphasized within different movies. Movies also have unique story-telling capabilities that are shaped by the editing, the framing, the sounds, and the special effects. Finally, as story - and indeed as a work of art - film exists in relation, or in dialogue, between filmmaker and viewer. A critical approach to film involves an understanding of the filmmaker, the viewer, the film itself, and the worldview that shapes the story within the film. All of these elements ought to be taken into account to aid understanding of the film and to preserve its intention, to join in the communion with the filmmaker and his/her intended audience, and appreciate its intended insight.
   
   The seventh chapter looks at critiquing film. Again, the aim is to better appreciate the art of film, and avoid misunderstanding the intention behind it. Johnston introduces genre criticism, auteur criticism - understanding the film in terms of its creator(s), usually director; thematic criticism, and cultural criticism.
   
   Chapter eight talks about responding to movies theologically. Theological criticism involves the experiences of transcendent realities, but also critically assessing the theological importance of those experiences.
   
   Finally, chapter nine takes a look at the movies of Peter Weir as an example. It brings together all the elements discussed, from Weir's cultural concerns and his story telling praxis, to theologically responding on the experiential and critical axis.
   
   
   SOME REFLECTION (OR PERHAPS RAMBLING)
   
   An important element brought into discussion by Robert Johnston is the recognition of the sacred among common everyday life, as well as the importance of cultural literacy among Christians. Central to these themes is the depiction of art as an essentially human endeavor, and the power of story within the human encounter with God and neighbor. All of this involves a way of doing theology that is counter-intuitive to much contemporary Christianity that separates church from culture. Johnston's way of doing theology reflects a spirituality that arguably returns to existential authenticity as well as community.
   
   Johnston's move of allowing a work of art to speak for itself, on its own terms, represents a responsible exegeses. This move argues for an expression of authenticity in humbly letting the human subject be affected by art, thereby letting God be God by leaving the human subject open to discovery. It also admits one's humanity by acknowledging (not just imposing) one's interrelatedness to others. This is seen in divine encounter and in the dialogical nature of art.
   
   Johnston contrasts this exegesis by identifying a disposition towards cultural eisegesis. He understands what it means to come to a piece of literature - in this case film - with some prejudice. In discussing theological approaches, he notes that "Theologians who articulate an avoidance strategy do so from an ethical posture...and always move from their given theological perspective to the film under consideration, not vice versa."(42) Note that this presumes a perspective to be maintained instead of opening up to be informed. It may also presume that perspectives are static and necessarily competitive in nature. The avoidance approach is somewhat paradigmatic within most Christian reluctance towards appreciating the value of film today as well as all kinds of artistic expressions. This paradigm represents a posture the supposes that one cannot learn from an other. Hence, "[s]ince Christians, as they watch a film, already have the 'truth,' they will be tempted to chose from the movies they watch only those insights that illustrate their independently established viewpoints and ignore the rest."(71) This attitude is rooted in one's theological predisposition, perhaps well illustrated by Johnston's allusion to J.I. Packer who "concludes that God communicates best through word, not symbols", and that this conclusion is shared by "Noll, Wells, and Plantinga, who spoke of the need to avoid the entertainment culture in order to get back to reading and thinking."(75)
   
   It is suggestive that the dominance of word over image represents a kind of logo-centrism, which allows the predominance in 'rational word' a dogmatic trust in one's own perspective (as words really are perspectival in nature). Therefore, this particular word over image privileging represents perhaps an intellectual gnosticism (special knowledge in one perspective) grounded in metaphysical dualism, resulting in a social gnosticism (our perspective verses their perspective) centered on special knowledge in the definable word. Hence a detraction from learning from others.
   
   Johnston counters against this theological position by recognizing (1) the evocative power in art, and therefore of film, to put one in the presence of the transcendent, and (2) the dialogical nature of art, and therefore of film, which then dictates the importance of understanding film for the sake of cultural literacy and connectedness. In this connectedness, film as art brings back authenticity, instilling community and a sense of transcendent presence. The Christian ought to find further encouragement to engage film as an aspect of culture by understanding God's active and loving presence within culture.
   
   The dialogical method, then, that gives primacy to the aesthetic represents a theology that allows a person to be more authentic. The inclusions of the dialogical method (in the admittance to the exchanges between the Bible, Tradition, Local church, Experience and Culture), the understanding of art, spirituality, human nature, and the centrality of story may facilitate an interface with theology and spirituality. To have art and to tell story is part of what it means to be authentically human. Of course even this is best understood within the context of community. Again, consider that a logo-centric theology may detract from this and hence from an authentic and communal spirituality. It is exactly that point that represents growing tensions between transformative and static theologies today. Theologies of engagement with culture is best understood with a strong sense of God's active presence which guides one's theology and spirituality into that engagement.
   
   
   All of this being said I feel it worth adding that I hope that Christians can learn to encourage the literacy of multiple forms of media.



2. I enjoyed this book. I was glad it wasn't too academic or too technical since I am not an expert on film making or movie criticism. There was good historical information and many examples from a variety of films to help illustrate the author's point of view. I agree Christians need to become more critical consumers of film. Since 95% of people see at least one film per year, it shows that there is tremendous potential for spiritual dialog with friends and family by talking about film. I plan to think through some of the concepts in the "Theological Approaches to Film Criticism" and "Becoming a Film Critic" chapters as I continue to grow in my understanding of film making.



3. Rob has a wonderful grasp of the topic of putting Theology and Film into dialogue with each other. I encourage you to read this book if you have any faith in Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior. God is in the world and we are missing out of Him if our eyes are not fully open. Please open your eyes to a God that is bigger than everything the eye can see.



4. This volume by Fuller Seminary professor Robert K. Johnston is a readable introduction to film criticism from a thoroughly Christian perspective. Johnston is evangelical in outlook, and yet does not sacrifice his love for cinema to a fearful, fundamentalistic disdain for human culture. Rather, from the outset, he affirms the Christian truth that God's grace is to be found everywhere (what theologians have called 'common grace') and that cinema can be an occasion for a 'revelatory event'. Just as all life is 'sacramental' (that is, every aspect of the world has the potential to show us God), so the movies can help us to transcend to a deeper understanding of God and humanity.

   Johnston rightly affirms that a film must first be approached on its own terms (as opposed to viewing it through the lens of a preconceived agenda). Once the audience has participated in the world of the film, then is the appropriate moment to begin the dialogue with theology. For this reason, Johnston's approach is to walk us through the basics of film criticism before applying that to the Christian study of film. On a few occasions, I worried that the author was taking us too far away from the book's stated intention (ie. a book about theology and film in dialogue), but Johnston always seems to be able to bring the material back round to assessing its relevance to the task of theological application.

   His examples are far-ranging: theologically, his sources draw from every stream of Christian tradition; his choice of films to be analyzed is eclectic. He frequently homes in on a specific film (eg. Shane, Smoke Signals, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest) or set of films (eg. the films of Peter Weir) in order to illuminate and illustrate the points he makes. Overall, Johnston exhibits a healthy attitude towards film, and is a breath of fresh air in an evangelicalism that too often regards films with suspicion and a superficiality that is likely to oversimplify issues of content and theme (such as sexuality and violence).

   This book helped me to clarify my own method in approaching film. I have long been a lover of the cinema, and have sometimes found it hard to escape the incongruity of some aspects of this with voices from my fundamentalist past. Johnston is a man after my own heart, and seems able to encapsulate my feelings about film and how the movie experience is essential to the formation of my theology. In one chapter, Johnston addresses this role of cinema in theological method, and provides useful comparisons with various models of theological method (such as the Wesleyan quadrilateral).

   I can also credit this book with changing some of my views. For example, I have long had a suspicion of mainstream cinema, almost amounting to a disdain at times. Johnston showed me the fallacy of associating commercialism with artlessness, however. After all, he reasons, didn't Michelangelo paint the Sistine Chapel on commission? In a sense, my aversion to mainstream cinema (or, perhaps more accurately, the mainstream of the mainstream) was a kind of misconceived snobbery. Johnston's appreciation of film from every corner of the film industry helped me to see my own short-sightedness in this regard.

   This is a book I would recommend not just for film-lovers, but for theologians whose knowledge of film may not be particularly wide, but are willing to let the pursuit of the knowledge of God lead them into dialogue with other possible sources of inspiration, namely, the cinema. Johnston presents an accessible overview of film criticism and, in doing so, demonstrates how films can be, in a broad, but real way, means of grace for a Christian wanting to let the knowledge of Christ invade his experience of his culture.




5. Despite the rather "punnish" title of the book, this is a thoroughly academic work, and as such it is not what one would call easy reading. Yet, it is enlightening for all who would take time to grasp the concepts presented here. The author advocates first attempting to understand what a movie is trying to convey on its own terms and then reflect upon it theologically. Basic concepts of film criticism are covered, as well as different theological approaches one may take to evaluting films. A good book for those who want to look at movies at a deeper, less superficial level.

2 comments about The Three Sisters (Dover Thrift Editions).

1. The 'Three Sisters' is another Chekhov depiction of life's pains, disappointments, hopes , illusions and moments of beauty. It is once again as in the 'Seagull' life in the provinces which is a central villain depriving the heroines of what they believe would be a fuller more realized life in the city. Each one of the sisters does not come to the Love and realization in life that they dreamed. Olga the schoolteacher ends up as the mistress of her school, but this is not her heart's desire. Masha longs for a richer kind of love with one wiser than the husband she has outgrown .Irina dreams of an escape she can never make. Their brother Andrei who marries the peasant woman Natalya and has two children with her , sees her take over his life and drive out the sisters from the ancestral home.
   The characters as is usually the case with Chekhov are not one- dimensional but are complex mixtures .Though the play ends in the seeming failure of all , a speech of sister Olga suggests that 'hopelessness' is not the last word for Chekhov, but dream and delusion maintain us to the end.
   
   "We shall be forgotten, our faces will be forgotten, our voices, and how many there were of us; but our sufferings will pass into joy for those who will live after us, happiness and peace will be established upon earth, and they will remember kindly and bless those who have lived before. Oh, dear sisters, our life is not ended yet. We shall live! The music is so happy, so joyful, and it seems as though in a little while we shall know what we are living for, why we are suffering... If we only knew--if we only knew!"



2. Checkov was a master of composing life's largest problems into beautiful language and ordinary situations which the entire world could understand. Granted he wrote them a long time ago but the underlying situation exists everywhere today. Here are three sisters completely unable to move on with their lives. They are unhappy, they are desperate for a change of scene, they are forced to give up anyone they love to someone else but yet they remain glued to the exact place where all of this occurs. Olga has passed her prime, Masha loves someone other than her husband, and Irina has no idea what could possibly make her happy and all they do is talk about change, but never do anything active. And in the end it all comes full circle and we as an audience, a reader, need to decide how to not fall into such a life rut, to learn by their actions as we do from Aesop's fables. This play is just written a great deal better, with a little more comedy and tugging at the heartstrings.

5 comments about Warped Factors: A Neurotic's Guide to the Universe.

1. I don't think I've ever read a memoir or autobiography that didn't shine most in its early pages, when recounting the author's childhood. It's certainly true of this one, though perhaps I'm biased, because I too grew up in NYC, attending public schools that, even 15 years after Mr. Koenig's experience, bore a spooky resemblance to his, down to the sadistic second-grade and mannish fifth-grade teachers. On the other hand, I'm not sure I've read another autobiography that began to fray quite as quickly as this one did. My complaints, briefly:
   
   1) The edition of Warped Factors I read was published in 1997 by Taylor Publishing Company. Let's hope Taylor has a fantastic distribution system; that, or it took absolutely no cut from the income on this book other than printing costs--because I can't see that it did anything else that publishers ordinarily do, such as discuss coherence and continuity with the author, correct errors in grammar and vocabulary, or even read through page proofs. (There are lines in the book which lose their flush right margin all of a sudden, for no reason that I can see.) While the jumpy margins are just a strange printing phenomenon that might cause a reader to question an author's judgment but not literacy, literacy does become an issue over things like misspellings ("wildlife," not "wild life"), word choice ("formidable," not "formative," personality) and misquotes (I won't embarrass anyone here because I'm sure both the author and the publisher have had it pointed out already; if not: it's the quote that starts out Shakespeare and ends Robert Burns, and if that's still not enough, see me after class). Is it Los Angeles (see more below)? Is it that on The Coast, away from New York's literary elite, Mr. Koenig could not find anyone--a writer for the Simpson's, maybe?--who'd zip through his oeuvre and point out errors and awkwardness? Or, a more ominous thought, did he just want to do it his own way?
   
   2) This leads to the more dismaying point--the author himself. And here I have to confess to being one of those 12-year-old girls who thought Mr. Chekov was the cutest thing since Davy Jones. I continue to be impressed with his wit and humor. However, I am left with the strong impression that he is too smart for Hollywood, and his book--deliberately, I think--gives no clues to why he stayed, except to keep insisting that he's neurotic and loves the craft of acting. Another reviewer made a comparison of Mr. Koenig to Woody Allen, and there's some truth there. I grew up with boys like Woody and Walter in the back of my classroom (that would be PS 169); they were kids who'd today be zonked out on ritalin or the equivalent; they were funny (to the kind of girl who appreciated the Three Stooges) and smart, even if they were underachievers--Bart Simpson with brains. Of course they were neurotic kids; the world and their mothers didn't know what to do with them. But most of them figured things out. By high school they were hitting their stride and maturing. That's what it boils down to: A 6-year-old boy is cute; a 46-year-old boy is . . . not cute. I read the autobiography of Grace Lee Whitney, who played Yeoman Janice Rand; she had bigger problems and fewer advantages, and yet she seems to have made some forward motion towards growing up. (Yes, I know Woody Allen's line: "I used to be a heroin addict; now I'm a methadone addict.")
   
   I'm going to give Mr. Koenig the benefit of the doubt here. I'm going to assume that in private he's just as thoughtful, solid, grounded, and wise as any other man nearing retirement age. He made a decision in writing this book to eliminate information that would embarrass his family and friends but that might give the reader a clue to his personality and motivation as an adult. The result is a frolic of wacky anecdotes about a hapless, non-observant Jewish actor from New York who finds himself in Hollywood and who just never learns his lesson.
   
   It sounds like a life in sitcom form. Maybe it's time for the Koenigs to relocate somewhere where if life is going to imitate anything, it will be art, not TV.



2. Everybody knows that all the actors in Star Trek did their autobiographies, so , I thought, why not read this one? I was in for a surprise! I usually don't comment a book I didn't finish but maybe Mr Koenig should have seen a psychiatrist longer than in his youth. Why write something like that? Jokes are cheap, writing is erring at best, thoughts are at random (an editor,please!!!!) not much to say, really... He does have an interesting career but must he explain all his doubts and neuroses too? It is honest , I know, but I prefer to read about Career & Life...
   I got fed up ... I would have read DeForrest Kelley instead...
   If you want something really interesting to read about the less "principal" characters in Star Trek OS, go to Takei's or Nichols books: THAT is worth it!



3. Walter Koenig writes candidly about his experiences with Star Trek and many other topics regarding his career as an actor and writer. His recollections of his years on the TOS is quite interesting and provides quite a bit of "behind the scene" glimpses of certain episodes..Being a die hard Trekkie, I found this book to be a very enjoyable read! I have also read the other supporting cast member's books and feel that Walter's is one of the most articulate and amusing..some of his recollections of his "life on the road" with James Doohan and George Takei making video store appearances are hilarious!
   
   Walter also write deeply about his feelings toward William Shatner and reveals how hurt he felt on a couple of occasions..
   After reading the other cast member's books you can't help but feel that there was "something" going on there...It's kind of like if you worked for a company for many years and are treated as if you were "nothing" and just a body to kick around..
   
   I'm sure in life there are many who are placed into this role who feel extremely stressed and down..it's no different with actors I'm sure..However, Walter seemed to maintain his dignity throughout..sometimes in life you just have to live by "the golden rule"..Treat others as you would like to be treated.." I think if everyone followed this simple principle life would be grand!
   
   Star Trek has given pleasure to many fans around the world and it is quite interesting to read the memoirs of cast members to truly see how the show has affected their lives and to laugh at their interesting anecdotes! There are plenty to be found in this book and asides from talking about Star Trek, Walter talks about his career as a struggling actor in the beginning and his later career as a writer. Walter writes very well and I feel he should write more books on other topics! He definitely has a talent in this area!
   
   I've never watched Babylon 5 so I'm not familiar with his role as Alfred Bester but I have seen all 79 TOS episodes and all 6 of the films so I am quite aware of his work as Chekhov..It would be interesting to see Walter in some of his other work..As an example..I recently saw George Takei in "The Encounter"..a classic Twilite Zone spisode and was blown away by his acting! George's role was very powerful however, you were never really able to witness it much in Star Trek..I think that's why some of the other supporting cast members held some resentment towards Shatner because they felt that he was trying to minimize their contributions..hearing Shatner's take on it in the wonderful documentary, "Mind Meld" with Leonard Nimoy..you feel as if Shatner felt these claims were trivial and that he truly did not understand what these actors were going through..I really have a hard time believing that...Walter, although hurt by Shatner's behavior over the years still has a begrudging respect for him as do the others with the exception of perhaps..James Doohan.
   
   Anyways, if you are a Trekkie this book is a must read and an important one to have in your collection! It's very entertaining and insightful!



4. While a decent portion of the book focuses on Star Trek, most of it does not. This is a book about Walter Koenig, a self-admittedly neurotic actor. For me, this difference made the book very enjoyable. Here you will get a humorous look into the actor's life, complete with looking for work, working as a hotel package boy, dealing with agent's lies, and more. This book was a lot of fun.



5. I've just got into Star Trek and decided to read some of the books the cast wrote. The first book I read was Walter's book. He told some hilarious stories, but yet he told about the serious stuff too.

   I've heard that some, if not all of the cast had issues with William Shatner. Walter could've made this a dirt book and tell about every dirty thing Shatner ever did to him. Walter didn't do that. He let it be known that he wasn't happy with some of the things Shatner did it on the set, but the whole book wasn't about that. I've read other books where stars and costars just let out all the bad feelings and the book turns out negative because it turns into 'I hate him because he did this and that, this and that, this and that- etc' I repeat that Walter's book ISN'T like that. It's worth a read if you are a Star Trek fan.

1 comments about Timon of Athens (Folger Shakespeare Library).

1. I would not presume to review Shakespeare. This is not one of my favorites, but it is still Shakespeare and beyond my criticism.

5 comments about The Fixers: Eddie Mannix, Howard Strickling and the MGM Publicity Machine.

1. What a wastes of money,glad I got it at the library.Where to start with this mess of a book?I've collected books about early Hollywood for two decades and this may be the worst.A great concept was ruined by sloppy writing,countless errors and disrespect for iconic actors.Of course not all stars were admirable in private life ,but PLEASE,not all were as the author portrays them, alchohol& drug-ridden wrecks who slept with everyone,every gender,every place.Oh,did I forget to add murderers to the mix?All this scandalous content,yet the book is still a snore.If even 10% of this tripe was true,Hollywood would have been a walking STD.Seems only Lassie was virtuous(although,come to think of it,Lassie WAS a boy...but I digress!) Another issue are the countless factual errors ,many within pages of each other.How can you believe a book that varies subject's ages as well as dates of pivotal events from page to page?There seems to have been no fact-checking.David Stenn's wonderful "Harlow" & "Clara Bow" were a pleasure to read.Jeanine Basinger's "The Star Machine"is amazing,covering the same stories as Fleming but she gets it right with heavy research and depth.Her book is one you hate to finish while "The Fixers" leaves you feeling like you need a shower.Mannix & Strickling were not well served by this boring,mistake-ridden book.If you must ,wait to find it at Goodwill,$35 is a ridiculous amount for this silly paperback.Or, get "Hollywood Babylon" if you need a fun,trashy,over the top Hollywood book.



2. The Fixers is one of the best books I've ever read. I've reread it a few times and each time I find it more riveting. EJ Fleming is right in what he's written about Eddie Mannix and Howard Strickling. I've known people in the industry and they agree, this book is a must read and all true. Variety earlier this year raved about it. It's worth the buy!



3. I have been waiting 30 years for this story to be told - now that I have read it, there are some things that probably should have remained in the dark, if only for memories sake! The author did a superior job of researching his information and presenting it in an unbiased fashion- weighing in when he felt it necessary to lodge his own conclusions. As a long time student of this period in Hollywood with a large library of books to support it, I haved learned many of these "secrets" in my travels through the non-fiction world that has been available through the years but I must admit that there were some unpleasant surprizes in this book that had only been hinted at in others and many times, incorrectly. If the movie "Hollywoodland" had not traversed the George Reeves murder so thoroughly, this telliing would have mined a lot of clues by itself. In "The Fixers", many a rumor has now been put to rest.



4. Initially I enjoyed reading the book although I did find the author's style of writing a little annoying. However I quickly became concerned about the level of research the author had conducted for each scandal that was discussed. In some cases it seemed to be fine and quite well thought out, for example his take on Clark Gable's involvement in a couple of road accidents and then at other times he seemed to rely solely on another persons' book for his research. The worst example I came across which really irritated me was his take on the death of Thelma Todd, the extent of his research seems to have been that he read Hot Toddy and has taken it as Gospel. I have read Hot Toddy and it had no list of references to help prove that Thelma Todd was murdered in fact it read like a completely fictionalised biography. From this point on I noticed just how often the author made reference to other people's books for his research and I began to think that this book was little more than a cobbling together of all the racy and interesting gossip from lots of other books. To be honest this wouldn't have bothered me as I quite enjoy reading a real hatchet job of a book about film stars, reading all the gossip and comparing books about the same person. However I don't think that this was what the author set out to do and I feel cheated that he didn't look more closely at each story and assess them properly which is what I thought he was going to do, comparing different takes on a scandal or piece of gossip and then giving his own opinion and research.
   
   Considering the book is about Strickling and Mannix they do not really come across as the main focus of the book. I don't feel that I know much more about them than I did from reading other Hollywood books. There are very few pictures of them, in fact the best one of each of them is on the cover. There are no personal pictures of them with their families or of their wives. There are quite a few pictures in the book but they are all standard black and white pictures and seem to be stock photos of the big Hollywood stars. I know what they look like! I would have liked to have seen photos of the other people that were involved in the scandals or pictures taken at the time the scandal occurred. For example why talk about Lila Leeds' beauty and not bother to include a photo?
   
   The book was very expensive for what it was.



5. I have been purchasing hard to find books from another company for several years...this time around I used Amazon, found the book, found it cheaper and got it faster. This book, which is hard to find and came to my attention while researching some other issues, was a great read and loaded with facts which were well documented and sourced. In other words, very little gossip. It was an easy and enjoyable experience to take in this book.

5 comments about Hot Seat: Theater Criticism for The New York Times, 1980-1993.

1. I am so tired of the cliché response to critics those who can't do, blah blah blah. As if it constituted some sort of argument. Here's another cliché saying for you: You don't have to be a chicken to smell a rotten egg.
   
   As to the example of Rich's venality, let's walk through the argument:
   
   1) Rich writes a somewhat favorable review in which he discusses things he think would make it a better play.
   2) The producers make those changes.
   3) Rich thinks it's a better play.
   
   What a monster!
   
   Also, I love the hypocrisy of "mindless drones." Don't read reviews to figure out what to think...unless of course it's my review of Rich's book. Talk about mindless.
   
   Rich is a fine writer with true insights and provocative opinions. You don't like them? Fine.



2. While Rich's book may be a somewhat useful book of reviews he created for the New York Times, it must be remembered how he nearly ruined Broadway by writing hostile reviews of shows written by creative people he didn't like and glowing reviews for his personal favorites. He and his soon to be wife (Alex Witchel) who wrote the Friday Broadway column in times gave new meaning to the words "conflict of interest" and nearly destroyed Broadway in the process.



3. i miss frank rich's reviews so much. they were brilliant and insightful and funny. i loved re-reading them in this book. i love you frank!



4. What better way to view 10+ years on Broadway than through the eyes of a theatre critic? The so-called "Butcher of Broadway" has collected a large number of his reviews in this volume, and it is a must-read for anyone who remembers the theatre of the 1980s, or wants to experience it for the first time. Rich's reviews are insightful, well-written, and succeed very often at drawing you into the shows, and making you feel like you are part of the audience. The addition of editorial comments, from a modern day perspective, helps put some of the events his reviews and articles detail into an even greater context. Whether you agree with everything Mr. Rich says or not, there are few better windows into the twelve or so years of New York theatre while he was the theatre critic for The New York Times.



5. This is one of the best purchases I've made in a long while. I sat up way past my bedtime pouring over this wonderful book. Frank Rich became the NY Times Theatre Critic shortly after I began making annual pilgrimages to NYC and staying abreast of what was happening both on and off-Broadway. Consequently, almost every show I've seen over the years is reviewed somewhere in this book. And how wonderful it is to re-visit some of those cherished experiences through his eye! Reading Rich's reviews of "Dreamgirls", "Amadeus", and "Angels in America" again gave me chills. His reviews of "Moose Murders" and "Carrie" had me laughing out loud. And his review of the 3,389th performance of "A Chorus Line" left me in tears. But more than just these isolated moments, the book as a whole provides a rich, varied overview of the commercial theatre during the last decade and a half, obviously written by a man who loved his job and knew what he was talking about. It's a must!

No comments about Between Worlds: Contemporary Asian-American Plays.

2 comments about The Playbill Broadway Yearbook: June 2006-May 2007: Third Annual Edition (Playbill Broadway Yearbook) (Playbill Broadway Yearbook).

1. A friend asked me to order the book for him. He collects that series of books. He was in New York City, the beginning of November 2007, and was unable to find the book in the stores he went to check. He told me he was very happy with the book, and also the cost. $23.00 versus $35.00 in the bookstores. He highly recommends the yearbook.



2. This is a great yearbook, showing all of the years performances and reviews of the casts as well as photos of the actors and interesting comments. A must for any playbill collector!

1 comments about Hula Dancers & Tiki Gods.

1. There's no way this book should be listed under Home and Garden. Someone tell me why it is. Hula Dancers and Tiki Gods boasts over 500 color images of Hawaiiana collectibles. Pfouts' purpose is clear: It's all about fun. He claims he's not out to teach anyone anything. And then he goes ahead and does it anyway. Hula Dancers offers a great store of information and photos. Pfouts gives a clear picture of how the hula dancer and the tiki god came to symbolize so much to so many. He covers a wide range of Hula collectibles through four sections: flat hula treasures that includes postcards, paintings, pulp art, cocktail napkins, carnival sideshow art, decals, playing cards, tattoos, etc; the three-dimensional section brings the lovely ladies to life as figurines, salt and pepper shakers, plaster sculptures, drinking vessels, killer lamps and more; the vintage crank girls in the third section offer the reader a rare chance to see dainty little ladies who shimmy with a quick twist and the Hollywood section show how movie posters, album covers, photos and sheet music brought the hula into greater public view. The tiki gods portion of the book offers up information and photos on everything tiki, including swizzel sticks, mugs, pendants, bookends and furniture to die for. Combined with his entertaining commentary and assessments on what some of these collectibles are worth today, Hula Dancers and Tiki Gods leaves a lasting impression of the depth and availability of Hawaiiana out there.