No comments about Cybill and Bruce: Moonlighting Magic.

5 comments about Everything but Money.

1. I came across this book when I was in high school amongst a pile of old books. I ended up rereading it several times. It is an excellent book, extremely funny, and wise. It gives a very good picture of what life was like in the past, when people were much poorer than they are today but before they absorbed what I call the culture of resentment. Levenson's parents were jewish immigrants from the old country. His father worked hard but never made much money. But they were proud and self reliant and the children all grew up to partake of the opportunities in America.



2. Sam Levenson in person was a small round bespectacled forever- smiling warm human being. He was a great television- star in the early days of the medium and made numerous guest appearances on Ed Sullivan and Johnny Carson shows.
   This book tells the story of his growing up as one child in a family of eight in a very very materially poor family. Levenson very early makes it clear that in the really important things, the love of parents, the caring relations between siblings, the warmth and humor and love which pervaded the family, the respect for hard work, the respect for other human beings and real appreciation of them the family was anything but poor.
   Levenson writes especially warmly about his mother who kept the whole show running at home, and his father, a hard- working tailor. For Levenson's family education, was the way up and out of poverty. He tells us the story of each of his siblings. He also gives a wonderful picture of another time in America, poorer in some ways but so much richer in others.
   Levenson is funny even when he is not trying to be. And this book is just a great great pleasure to read especially in the first narrative part before he provides solutions for 'world- problems' in the second section.
   Here are some of the funny things Levenson said through the years. The List is taken from the entry on him in 'Wikipedia'.
   
   "It's so simple to be wise. Just think of something stupid to say and then don't say it."
   "Any beast can cry over the misfortunes of its own child. It takes a mensch to weep for others' children."
   "It's not the sugar that makes the tea sweet, but the stirring."
   "Any kid who has two parents who are interested in him and has a houseful of books isn't poor."
   "Insanity is hereditary; you get it from your children."
   "I'm going to stop putting things off, starting tomorrow!
   "The reason grandparents and grandchildren get along so well is that they have a common enemy."
   "You must learn from the mistakes of others. You can't possibly live long enough to make them all yourself."
   "It was on my fifth birthday that Papa put his hand on my shoulder and said, 'Remember, my son, if you ever need a helping hand, you'll find one at the end of your arm!!'
   "I admit that: my wife is outspoken, but by whom?"
   "Don't watch the clock; do what it does. Keep going."
   "Happiness is a by-product. You cannot pursue it by itself."
   "If you want to know how your girl will treat you after marriage, just listen to her talking to her little brother."
   "We should not permit prayer to be taken out of the schools; that's the only way most of us got through."
   One of the most heimishe mensch that ever doubled as a stand- up- comedian.



3. The first half of this book is a humorous retelling of Levenson's childhood as the youngest of a large immigrant family in New York in the first quarter of the 20th century. I found this part very entertaining. I laughed and smiled throughout and considered it a very "light" read.
   
   The second half talks about issues of race, children, and education today. It's a little outdated, but I found that most of the things he mentions are true today. He has ideas about child-rearing and education that are not practiced, and should be. This nonfiction book is very humorous, smart, well-written, and has the potential to be influential if enough people are willing to read it.



4. Ever felt like not having enough money. Read this once and you will realise that money and happiness are two separate things.

   The book makes you laugh while it teaches you lessons in true human psycholgy - specially applied to children.




5. This book will be old dog eared and cherrished. Your hardest problem will be keeping it for yourself as you will most likely lend it out and lose it along the way. Better to have two of these books. One personal and another for everyone else.

No comments about The Cambridge Companion to Tennessee Williams (Cambridge Companions to Literature).

No comments about Performance Studies: The Interpretation of Aesthetic Texts.

3 comments about Dumbstruck: A Cultural History of Ventriloquism.

1. Does it come with a ventriloquist dummy... AND a ventriloquist?



2. This book is an example of psuedo-intellectual overthinking of the highest order. It's dense, wordy and unreadable in every way. Why would any writer spend what appears to be LOTS of time and energy on this of all subjects: Ventriloquism's effect on CULTURE?!
   
   The resultant product amounts to little more than an uninteresting mess.
   
   Skip it.



3. I enjoyed this text, recommended by a colleague, for other reasons, but thought of it immediately when the possibility of George W. Bush's use of a wire and "ear" during the first debate with John Kerry began to surface on the internet in the last day or so. Talk about the "vocalic uncanny"! Is "wiregate" merely(!) a part of the trend of increasing technological possibilities for problematizing the relation between voice and body?
   Are you talking to me?
   Is this thing on?
   Steven Connor should write the next chapter. Meanwhile, read his deft connections and analysis of diverse phenomena associated with "cultural ventriloquism" and think about the (allleged) voice in our president's ear, and what that does to the (alleged) significance of his speech as he (allegedly) addresses the citizenry.
   Is ventriloquism more acceptable if we are in on the trick?
   Are we in on this (alleged) trick, anyway? I mean, we all know how packaged and predicted and rehearsed the responses to the questions posed in the debates are anyway--but a line has been (allegedly) crossed here, and that's the line Connor's book charts. Good stuff, and timely.

2 comments about Intimate Nights: The Golden Age of New York Cabaret.

1. If life is truly a cabaret, than James Gavin has written a spectacular history of that night life. This updated edition of Gavin's 1992 book of the same title concerns the history of cabaret in America--and it's a real dazzler.
   Beginning in the speakeasies of the '30s and progressing through the glamorous '40s and '50s to the repressive '50s, the book takes us to the wide-open sexuality of the '60s and '70s, the devastation from HIV of the '80s and early '90s to where we stand today. It's a show-biz history of an admittedly small niche in American entertainment, but an extraordinarily rich and creative one. From Bobby Short and Mabel Mercer through Phyllis Diller and Barbra Streisand and Peter Allen to the Callaway sisters, Barbara Cook and Ute Lemper, there is something here for all tastes and all moods.
   The art of cabaret--and be sure it is an art--is the experience of sitting in a quiet club, some glamorous, some sewers, and listening to a singer perform . . . seemingly just for you. Old standards are reinterpreted, new material marveled at, forgotten songs recalled. The audience in encouraged to feel, think--and maybe have a drink or two. Scrupulously researched, Gavin has managed to not only create a chronological history (including the stars, and the genius accompanists, crafty presenters, scummy landlords and adoring fans) but lovingly describes performers and performances. But be forewarned: The discography at the end of the book is incredibly comprehensive, and by the time you've finished reading about these legendary talents, you're going to want pull out the charge card and hit amazon.com
   So stop sitting alone in your room, buy this book, and discovers just how much more music you can hear play, if, old friend, you come to the cabaret.



2. Gavin has done a lot more than just research the time period he covers with such liveliness in this comprehensive book about New York nightclub entertainment. He really seems to have immersed himself in the world that he describes, and his enthusiasm shines through on every page. This is a wonderful introduction to an essential part of entertainment history.

1 comments about Tap Roots: The Early History of Tap Dancing.

1. In January 2004, Tap Roots: The Early History of Tap Dancing was given the Choice Award for Outstanding Academic Text by the American Library Association. The book was selected for "excellence in scholarship and presentation, the significance of its contribution to the field, and its value as an important treatment of the subject." The Choice Award is given to titles that the American Library Association considers the "best of the best."

1 comments about The Culture of Spontaneity: Improvisation and the Arts in Postwar America.

1. Whether your interest is in improvisation, spontaneity, creativity, performance, popular culture, or modern history, this book provides necessary background in understanding origins of much of the creativity that defines the lives we lead in the Western World today. Mr. Belgrad's work is academically rigorous and beautifully written at the same time. The connections among and between the people who have often previously been thought of as individuals or members of subcultural cliques is amazing. Belgrad's list is long and impressive and beautifully researched. From the beat poets and writers (Keroac, Ginsberg, Leroi Jones), to the abstract impressionists (Pollack); from the Zen potters to the modern and improvisational dancers (Merce Cunningham); from New York to Black Mountain College to San Francisco, the era of Post War America was explored by amazing people. This book links and weaves the lives, ideas, work, and play of these people as no one has ever done before. Mr. Belgrad's reference list is a gold mine of research directions. If you are seriously involved in Improvisation at any level this is absolutely required reading.

No comments about Listening to Radio, 1920-1950.

2 comments about Edie: An American Biography.

1. "She cries . . . just like a woman . . . but she breaks just like a little girl" (Bob Dylan) - the intoxicating beauty and youthtful enhilaration of a young woman named Edie Sedgwick inspired the american troubador of the 60's Bob Dylan to write, "Just Like A Woman" . . . but even just glancing at the photographs of Edie printed in this biography shows just "why" this young woman could be the catalyst for inspiration. She was the incarnation of "the spirit of the sixties" in a way that perhaps the British model Twiggy embodied the "mod feel" of the Brit influence on that same time. There was just a certain "magic" about Edie's person that captivated.
   
   Artist and film-maker Andy Warhol saw that magic and so Edie became a part of his art as well . . . and so Edie became Warhol's underground "superstar".
   
   This biography is, like Edie herself, a captivating read . . but a sad one. One can "sense" the sad and tragic ending almost from the first pages, even if you hadn't known anything about Edie Sedgwick before you came upon this book.
   
   But despite that it is a book more than worth reading, because it does retell the life of a person worth knowing. Edie mattered . . . she mattered to those who knew her . . . she mattered as well to those who knew her only from a distance through her photographs and films and celebrity associations . . . and she matters still.
   
   Reading this book you will feel as if you had yourself known her . . .and that makes her end so much sadder in its effect.
   
   One of the saddest "icons" in this book appears on "page 426" (of the hardcover) -- it is a photgraph of the memorial stone grave marker which stand over the plot where Edie was laid to rest. It reads: "Edith Sedgwick Post - Wife Of Michael Brett Post -- 1943-1971" -- she lived a mere twenty-eight years. When one reaches that page in this book, near the very end page, and looks at that cemetery stone -- silence.
   
   Edie made mistakes in her life . . . and finally a mistake that ended her life. But Edie also "lived" . . . and she touched the lives of so many others . . . and we can listen to Dylan still singing "Just Like A Woman" and see Edie's smile . . . and then . . . there is this book . . . and for a short time, reading it, Edie comes alive again, if only in the flow of words retelling her short life.
   
   Edie, thanks for that short sunburst of smiling beauty in our world . . . it still lingers on.



2. Back Cover - An American Dream - Her dazzling beauty lit up the neon nights. An American aristocrat, she sprang from wealth and timeless tradition. Girl of the Year, Youthquaker, her unique, evanescent image leapt from the pages of Vogue to inspire a generation. An American Tragedy - She was going where the action was. Society's darling, she became Warhol's Superstar, Queen of the Underground Art and Fashion World. She was everything we wanted to be at a moment when all the rules were being broken - when it was everything to be young and beautiful and free. Then the lights began to dim, the nights turned dark, and she became a legend - the legend of a darkly troubled time. Dead at 28 of a barbiturate overdose.
   
   I enjoyed this book - it is the story of Edie Sedgewick's life told in a series of interviews with people she knew. Edie lived during the 60's & was one of Andy Warhol's protegees - she starred in several of the low budget films he made at the factory. She also dated Bob Dillon at one time. This book gives you insight to what it was like to live life in the fast lane (and die young) during this time. I have heard a movie is being made about Edie's life - hope that's true because I would love to see it.