5 comments about Times We Had.

1. M[[ASIN:034532739X "Times We Had]"]Marion Davies
   
   A most fascinating detailed account of a talented actress and a complex man William Randolf Hearst



2. Okay so Marion Davies couldn't act. She was a great humanitarian. Read this book and find out. This book is well written and covers everything you would ever want to know about Marion Davies life. Highly recommended.



3. Not the most well written, but it follows through fairly well and y0u get a good dose of the glorious times of Hollywood



4. I liked the book quite a bit, I seem to have a slight fascination with Marion Davies and Wm. Randolph Hearst so this was a must when I read the other reviews. I am just surprised that Marion Davies just didn't seem to have any focus or passions in life. She just bounced around in life and let it happen, which maybe is the way it's supposed to be??? Lots of nice photos and it certainly seems to be a truthful book.



5. 
   A flimsy, repetitive and disjointed book that manages to mildly entertain at first, before the ennui sets in. It's a series of vignettes rather than a narrative, and whilst I don't think Marion herself would have made any grand claims for it, the editors (whose presence is constantly felt) seem to be trying to elevate Marion Davies to a level of literary and historical importance that just isn't justified.

4 comments about Decoding Wagner: An Invitation to His World of Music Drama (includes 2 CDs).

1. This well writen book has an analysis of all Wagner operas. I found it helpful, used together with the Metropolitan Opera site.



2. I used to be an opera singer and I have to say this is a fabulous book for any fan of Wagner. Tom May has done a terrific job of making this difficult material accessible, and the accompanying CDs help considerably. Even if you feel you have read everything there is to read about the maestro, you will find this book absorbing and very illuminating. Plus you'll probably want to buy a new recording of Tristan und Isolde as well [maybe the most beautiful music ever written, in my humble opinion]. I think Amazon may sell that too. LOL



3. I found this to be an excellent overview of Wagner and his operas in a book of only 200 pages or so. This book is for someone who is fairly familiar with the plots of Wagner's operas -- no plot summaries are presented -- and gives a good sense of how Wagner developed as both a composer and dramatist. The book is written mostly around the ten major operas wrote -- a chapter for each with an extra chapter to introduce the Ring. Although the book is relatively short, the reader learns a lot about Wagner's sources, his use of these sources, and key features of the individual operas. A portion of the discussion of the operas is tied to the CDs - one for the Ring and the other for the non-Ring operas. The CDs are primarily "greatest hits" - from the operas, with text making reference to different points on the CD in terms of timing.
   
   This book is probably not the first book you read on Wagner -- I would recommend "Wagner Without Fear" by William Berger as an introduction to Wagner and his work. For other readers, this book really provides quite a bit of diverse information in a small space. The book is well-written and meets the needs of many readers in that it written around individual operas. A reader can go right to the opera of interest, but I think may will also want to read through the entire book to better understand the context of individual operas and their place in Wagner's development.
   
   The book has a good bibliography (though it would have been nice to have some annotation).
   
   The book is a good value as is, but with the 2 CDs (primarily BMG recordings), it becomes an excellent value. Any reader interested in Wagner should consider owning this book. 5 stars.



4. This is a terrific read: entertaining and briskly paced. May considers historical and social factors in Wagner's work without bogging down the reader with theory or dull historicism. In fact, this work brings me a greater appreciation for Wagner than I thought possible (I'm not, my apologies, an opera fan). I would recommend it to the casual theater goer, the fine arts critic, opera fans, and anyone interested in music or 19th century theater.

1 comments about Associated Press Broadcast News Handbook.

1. Most journalists would be familiar with the Associated Press Stylebook and Briefing on Media Law, better known as the "AP Stylebook". Well, this is the broadcast version.

   The back half of this book will look very familiar to those of us who have seen the stylebook, but the front half is all new, giving good tips on how to write good broadcast stories. As a broadcast journalism student myself, I would especially recommend this for broadcast journalism students, it will REALLY help you out.

1 comments about Acting is Believing.

1. This was our assigned text in beginning acting. I was first skeptical about how much one could learn about from a book. The answer is, "quite a bit." The book, in spite of its slim appearance, holds a good amount of information and is packed with acting exercises. All in all, a good supplement to anyone's shelf.

3 comments about A Doll's House and Other Plays (Penguin Classics).

1. While "Penguin Classics" are generally reliable when it comes to editions, paper-type, or publications in general, with Ibsen's masterful plays, it falls pitifully short in terms of collection. This collection gives us three plays - one less than the usual four per collection that can be found. While this may overall seem like quite a bit, it is not, in fact, worth much.
   
   Yes, "A Doll's House" is still the intriguing, fascinating play it always is. As a play, "A Doll's House" is highly recommended. Just don't get it HERE. Why? Well, mostly because of what ELSE is offered. The first play here is the strange, confusing "League of Youth". It unfortunately did not reach Ibsen's level of mastery as found in the later plays. Too many characters and nothing particularly interesting just had the play stop and stall.
   
   While all of Ibsen's plays are worth purchasing (if only for study), the problem here is the edition. For the same price (or less), one can get "A Doll's House" with much better plays with four per collection. A personal recommendation is that of Oxford's World Classics, mostly due to the presence of the incredible "Ghosts". Signet Classics also has an edition, for those who want something cheap and easy, though it has "The Wild Duck" (not as good as "Ghosts", but still so much better than "League of Youth"). Both editions also have "Hedda Gabler" and "The Master Builder". When given a choice between four plays or three, four is preferred, especially when they are the better works.
   
   Turn elsewhere.



2. In this interesting play, Henrik Ibsen sets up a scenario of a married couple with three children that seem to have a good relationship with each other. This couple is Nora and Helmer (called Torvald by Nora). They always seem to have romantic conversations with each other, but soon, we learn that years ago Nora had to take a loan from Nils Krogstad, in order to pay off a lifesaving medical treatment for Helmer. He doesn't know this and thinks that the money came from Nora's father, who has passed away.

   Helmer, who has just been named a manager of a bank, is always treating Nora in such a sweet manner, such as "Is that my little lark twittering out there?" or calls by another bird's name. She always gets little money from Helmer, but never gets large sums because Helmer is worried he thinks she doesn't know how to manage her money wisely. In the beginning, Nora treats Helmer with overwhelming respect although Nora is hiding her loan that she is paying off on a regulaly with some of the money from Helmer. Nora doesn't want Helmer to think she took a loan since she thinks it could affect their relationship.

   There are three other supporting characters in this play: Dr. Rank, Nils Krogstad, and Christine Linde. Dr. Rank is a friend of the family who is seriously ill. Nils Krogstad a worker at the bank, who is about to his job to a friend of Nora's, Christine Linde, a woman who recently moved back to the area because her husband died.

   At the end of Act II, we find out Nora forged her father's signature on the loan. Krogstad had written a letter to tell Helmer about the loan. Nora is worried that Helmer will read the letter Krogstad wrote.

   This play is about a woman trying to understand her marriage, and always wanting something wonderful to happen. With Helmer, she finally realizes that she isn't being treated the way she wants, and nothing wonderful seems to happen. Nora had no trouble making the decision of leaving her family, but perhaps she would have had a hard time recovering from this rare type of circumstance in this time and age.




3. As I very clearly stated above, this is a read-worthy book, though not my favorite or one of the best books that I have ever read. If you're in the mood for some feminist action or any politics, go ahead, pick up the book. This is, however, NOT a book for anyone who's looking for comedy.

5 comments about Blockbuster Plots: Pure & Simple.

1. Blockbuster Plots: Pure & Simple is my security blanket for writing novels, short stories, and speeches. Through Martha Alderson's guidance, I am able to create page-turners with confidence. My undying gratitude to the author/teacher.



2. I first learned about this book from my critique group. Several members had it and after borrowing one, I just had to have a copy of my own. The book's techniques for plot at both the scene level and the overall story level has helped my deepen my plot in ways I could have never imagined on my own. I am forever grateful for the book.



3. I find this book very useful, easy to understand language and examples of ideas are given. Have revised one writing project using this method and it now has more scope and depth.



4. This is my first time giving a review for a book. I was compelled to do so because my expectations for the book were high based on past ratings. Was the book and the author's tools for plotting helpful? Yes and No. Let me explain my take on it. The scene tracker, although simplistic, listed some areas that one should chart in order to be aware of gaps that one may have in certain scenes. I especially liked the concept of tracking the emotional change and how important it is to have "change" and "conflict" in each scene or it needs to be reevaluated or discarded. I give the book 2 stars just for learning that aspect/tool in scene tracker. There is more to scene tracker, however, I will not give it away. You'll have to buy the book. The scene tracker makes the purchase of the book worth it.
   
   On Plot Planner, the only thing I found helpful was connecting individual scenes together above & below the plot planner to make a line if only each consecutive scene can be connected thru cause and effect. If not, then again, those scenes need to be reevaluated or discarded. For bringing that "Aha" into light, I give the book another star.
   
   However, the book notes under the PLOT PLANNER section on how to plot THEME and EMOTIONAL Development. The author only records those aspects under scene tracker. SHE DOES NOT track it under the PLOT PLANNER. Unless I failed to understand her diagrams; theme and emotional development are not tracked on the PLOT PLANNER. She refers back to her SCENE TRACKER for those 2 aspects. So in essence, it is not the PLOT PLANNER that is tracking them but Scene tracker. I guess that would be fine with THEME, as you can make a connection with all the Theme points for each scene and come out with an overall sense of what the theme is or what scenes support the theme. But I fail to understand how the Emotional Change in each scene can demonstrate the protagonist's character arc or journey of emotional changes on the whole through the scene tracker (although it works for each individual scene). But the author's premise is that it is tied into the PLOT PLANNER and I didn't see where she connected those aspects into that tool.
   
   What is recorded under PLOT PLANNER is just a visual of individual scenes divided by the beginning, middle, and end sections of the story. All in all, still a valuable tool, but I already had some knowledge of this.
   
   However, throughout the book, the author spreads out tidbits of basic information on plot and the such which is helpful for the novice which I would have liked if she had delve into more detail. She tickled my palette for more knowledge.
   
   I guess the supposed beauty of the book lies in it's simplicity. However, she gets off tangent in several areas (saying that she has gotten ahead of herself) and if you seek clarification of what she is talking about she refers to you to her DVD or website or she just barely touches the surface on it. In fact, almost every other page, along the side bars, her DVD is mentioned. The book at times seems like a disguise for marketing her DVD. I understand that authors need to self promote, but the amount of self promotion in this book became distracting. Perhaps just putting a footer on each alternate page with her website address would have been more appropriate than on the sidebars.
   
   In addition, she left alot of white space on the sidebars which could have been utilized more efficiently to dispell more information.
   
   If anyone has seen her dvds, please post a review and let me know how you liked it. I'm tempted to buy one, hoping that she does go in deeper with her tools. I think she made a very good attempt to what she was trying to accomplish when she started the book with the SCENE TRACKER (EXCELLENT tool that can be really tailored to suit your needs and she does emphasize that). But once she got into the PLOT PLANNER, I think she needs to clarify it a bit more and make the examples at the appendix more coherent in the sections of theme and emotional development.
   
   Overall, its a good book to have for a reference. The scene tracker is excellent and having more developed examples of the plot planner with more detailed explanations would have been golden.
   
   Her website and Blog has a wealth of information that is basically a reiteration of about 1/3 of her book.
   
   I have emailed her requesting clarification on some of the above and will update my review according to her response.
   
   ***********UPDATE - October 12th***********
   
   Martha Responded to me on her Blog! She explained how the Character's Emotional Development & Theme can be tracked through the plot planner. It was so simple that I simply overlooked it. Along with her website, her book delivers! It is great to see an author who supports what they have written in such expedited fashion. If Amazon would give me the ability, I would upgrade my rating from 3 to 4 stars. Not 5 you may ask? Well, the self promotion needs to be cut a bit (lol) and it would be more helpful to have color examples of her tools to see how she tracks the different aspects of plot, and for her to expand a bit more on what she delves in the book (like how she does on her site). There's just so much good stuff in her book, but she doesn't go into it as deeply as I would have liked. But overall, I am very pleased. Any further explanation you might need, you can find on her site and blog. Her tools are excellent. I highly recommend.
   
   2 other books that I would also recommend to supplement with the Plot Planner is Dara Mark's "Inside Story: Power of the Transformational Arc". Also, a great book on Endings which also gives an overview to story structure is Drew Yanno's "The 3RD Act". It is simple and to the point and the 30 question checklist at the end of the book makes it a good investment!
   
   Happy Plotting!



5. Any artist worth their salt has to have a solid working understanding of the rules of their craft. A painter has to know about brushes, colors, shapes, lines and light. An oboe player has to know how to cut a reed in addition to learning to read music and play with others in the orchestra. For some reason, though, writers seem to start out thinking they don't need to know anything more than how to put words together, that the story will simply come out of their imaginations full-fleged and wonderful.
   Baloney.
   Whether you're just starting your novel, or working on the third draft, you need this book. Ms. Alderson has a great system to teach writers the complex struture of good plots. She's also an incredible teacher. If you get a chance to come to California or to attend a writers conference where she'll be speaking, I highly recommend her class.

5 comments about The Big Book of Broadway, Third Edition.

1. Bought this along with the definitive Broadway for my teenage daughter. Thorough compilation and she was thrilled



2. This is a great book of show tunes. There is quite a bit of variety here. Many new songs are included, along with plenty of old favorites. The music is challenging to play, but you can always fake it, if you're a piano hack like me!



3. I "read" this book because I'm a big fan of broadway and have always wanted to learn new showtunes. This book is great if you want to learn lyrics of great songs. Many of the songs in this book are popular such as "Memory" from Cats.

   There is quite a bit of variation in this book. there are songs from all sorts of musicals. If you want to learn the tunes of the songs in this book, it helps yo play the piano or quitar. The songs are mostly in b flat. There are many time signatures too. I play violin, and I could learn tunes by playing violin using the music in this book too. If you are looking for some songs to sing for an audition, or to play for an audition, or just for fun-this book is great!




4. I am a singer and many of the songs I sing come from this book my favorite is "Being Alive". It's got a lot of songs from very familiar Musicals like the King and I and Sound of Music. Also most of the arragements are not bad either.



5. I am a singer and many of the songs I sing come from this book my favorite is "Being Alive". It's got a lot of songs from very familiar Musicals like the King and I and Sound of Music. Also most of the arragements are not bad either.

5 comments about Dream Lovers: The Magnificent Shattered Lives of Bobby Darin and Sandra Dee - by Their Son Dodd Darin.

1. Reading this book made me realize how malignant a place Hollywood is to a black widow -who eat and abuse their young- this is the mother of Sandra Dee. It's amazing her son Dodd-who wrote the book-turned out as normal as he did. Bobbie Darin while talented was a self absorbed narcissist-who care nothing for others, but the real tragedy was Sandra Dee. Raised by a mother who was as sick and selfish to literally give her 8 year old daughter to her new husband sexually-for financial profit-and who is may have also slept with her son in law-Bobbie Darin. It is no wonder that Sandra Dee degenerated into the pathetic anorexic falling down drunk. Such a pretty women-such an awful putrid-sordid life. Hollywood...her mother is too often the type of stage mother it attracts and also the projected image of Sandra Dee -the Hollywood manufactured myth was just smoke and mirrors-hiding human misery.



2. It must be so hard for some of the offspring of Stars to front their demons. I do believe these two stars loved greatly but coming from different backgrounds was always going to be difficult.Their working days were completely opposite which had to cause friction. However I have passed this book around for others to enjoy. Unfortunately Sandra's addiction to alcohol would have been difficult for Bobby as he did not like this scene. His problems lay elsewhere. Nonetheless two great talents produced a loving son. Great read.



3. This book is a touching recollection of the glorious, yet shattered lives of Sandra Dee and Bobby Darin, the Dream Lovers of the title who were entertainment superstars during the late 50s and 60s. Their son Dodd along with his co-writer Maxine Paetro did a terrific job in telling his family's heartbreaking story by getting input from many of the people closest to his parents. I would also recommend picking up the DVD of Bobby's last TV show in 73 "Mack is Back" along with reading Dream Lovers. They go well together.



4. I read this book cover to cover in a day. From a son's perspective, it was hard to see the progressive decline in his parent's lives through his eyes. Still, I believe it was told with as much objectivity as he could muster. I'm still fascinated with the Darrin/Dee relationship after all these years.



5. I fill Dodd Darin wrote a very tragic and truthful story of both of his parents. I felt he captured their inner feelings of joy and of heartbreak. He also showed his love for both. I have and would recommend this book to others

5 comments about Lulu in Hollywood: Expanded Edition.

1. What made Louise Brooks interesting beyond just the typical celebrity she was unusually intelligent. She was an extraordinary beautiful woman but if that were all - she would have been just another face in the Hollywood crowd albeit a striking one. Her life was not so much one of just ups and downs but most generally straight down starting at the top. Lucky to have so much success early in life but maybe unlucky for her vision as to witness the folly of those who gave it. Louise's insights and critical assessment of her life and those around her were a " blessing and curse" but then again she had no choice but to follow her own mind as it played out to the end. She was certainly not one to parlay her attributes as a cunning femme fatale as it were but she existed as a passing player through a masquerade of "bread and circuses" orchestrated by those with lesser sensibilities. No, Lulu could have never been satisfied with the status quo, the mundane of the hoi polloi, the trappings of the superficial she was an individual who saw life in its raw form and played no game and for those who did not understand Louise - missed - that her only glory was the truth and its price to pay. She was an intriguing and talented woman who deserved more but would not sell her soul to gain it. Her book tells of her life and times and the pathos within it.
   I will recommend highly Barry Paris' biography of Louise Brooks as a necessary read for anyone interested in reading about the life and times of Louise Brooks. The book is excellent and engrossing. It gives a most informative detail of all aspects of Lulu's life. Actually Paris' book should be read first to gain a comprehensive overview of Brook's life before reading "Lulu in Hollywood." A better biography you could not read.



2. This book will be helpful for anyone interested in silent film. Brooks' insights about certain aspects of Hollywood are original. She has no fear of revealing some of the ugliest secrets of the past, and also has valuable things to say about why she believes certain directors and players created works of art. However, in my opinion she could have been a better writer if she'd had more education and/or editorial experience. Some of her essays are rambling and disorganized, and a number of her claims are unsupported. (e.g., that many actresses were pulled from the screen not because of the arrival of sound, but because they couldn't live up to Garbo, p.88.) She also tends to make bold generalizations (e.g., "Every actor has a natural animosity toward every other actor"), which, depending on whether you agree with them, are either smart and charming or arrogant and imprecise.
   
   Some of Brooks' cleverest comments are reported in the introduction by Kenneth Tynan, not in her own writings. My favorite was her joking suggestion that she and Marlene Dietrich write each other's memoirs: "'Lulu' by Lola, and 'Lola' by Lulu".
   
   Note: this is a collection of essays, which don't necessarily follow a sequence. The brief history of her family and childhood given in the first chapter fooled me into thinking this book would be an autobiography, but Brooks leaves much of her own story untold. (In fact, the epilogue is titled, "Why I Will Never Write My Memoirs.") Tynan's introduction fleshes out a little more of Louise Brooks' history, but fans will probably want to keep looking for other writings and biographies after they've read this one.



3. This book is a collection of Brooks's autobiographical essays together with an interview by Kenneth Tynan.
   
   It shows a Louise Brooks as a fiercely independent character, as well as her failure as a social creature, because of her open critic of people's false faces.
   But at what price? She survives as a kept woman by three lovers and ends in poverty, rejected and lonely.
   
   She characterizes her work in Hollywood's film factory as slavery and throws a shrill light on Hollywood's morals (the casting couch) and cynicism: the end of the silent period served as an excuse to terminate all contracts.
   
   The all important feature of her life was sex, not love: 'I have never been in love.' But, 'A person's sexual loves and hates and conflicts ... It is the only way the reader can make sense out of innumerable apparently senseless actions.'
   She considers that 'the most fateful encounter in my life' was a sexual one with George Preston Marshall.
   Nevertheless, she had some regrets: 'How often do we change the whole course of our lives in pursuit of a love that we will have forgotten within a few months.'
   
   She never wrote her biography because 'I am unwilling to write the sexual truth that would make up my life worth reading.'
   
   Barry PARIS did it for her, admirably. His book contains also a few corrections on Louise Brooks's statements in her book.
   
   A moving text with admirable pictures.



4. I remember when this book came out, but, unfortunately, it took me over twenty years to read it. Though Louise Brooks is far from a household name, in film scholar circles, she is an icon. Her rememberances here of certain individuals and events from her years in the "Dream Factory" are brilliant. Aside from the fact that these are names that most are familiar with, Bogart, Hearst, Pabst...it is her writing style and unique observations that make these recollections interesting. Where as someone as, say, Adela Rogers St. John, a famous reporter and contemporary of Brooks, wrote accurately of that long ago time, her dusty rememberances would only interest the most devoted of film student or fan. But Brooks writings are so fresh and witty and humourous, often at her own expense. She is not only unimpressed with most of silly society, but, she was equally unimpressed with her status as film icon. In those pre Hepburn-Davis times, she was a true rebel, who was more than willing to saboutage her career rather than do anything she didn't want to do. There is no remorse detectable in her memories of her fall from status. Though it would be unfair to imply that most film stars would not be expected to be good writers, it was surprising, then and now, to find that Miss Brooks was such a highly intelligent and captivating writer. In my review of her most famous film, "Pandora's Box", which isn't so much a review of that film as it is a homage to our Miss Brooks, I recounted my having met her more than once, when I delivered her prescriptions to her in my hometown and her final, adopted city of Rochester, New York. I was very young at the time, and though I had been told that she had once been a famous actress, which fascinated me, I am sorry to have to honestly admit that my memory of her is only of a shadowy figure who I remember with intimidation. How I would have loved to have been a little older, to possibly converse with this great lady, though she may have found what undoubtedly would have been my reverence to her "legend" as film icon to be obnoxious at the least, silly at best. Well, never mind. She was and is wonderful. And, as this book attests, a scathingly intelligent lady. Celebrities of her league are no more, now we have tarts, thugs, and arrogant, illiterate self-important jerks showing off their bling-bling. How sad. If you want to hear the entertainingly clever views of this great lady who, though she went from brilliant star to near- pauper obscurity, yet never lost her class, intellect, nor pride, then read "Lulu In Hollywood." One wishes she had written much more, and, left behind more films where her inate brilliance reaches out from the screen eighty years later. But, if all we have is this book and "Pandora's Box", that's legacy enough.



5. I am unimpressed by Emily from Seattle's harsh words, which are both snotty and inaccurate. Tynan was the finest theatre critic of his time--and not bad on film, either. His profiles of stage and screen actors, recently collected in one volume, are masterpieces of the genre. In particular, his profile of Brooks was an indelible portrait of a brilliant and beautiful woman. Brooks herself, though not a great actress, was indeed a great star--exquisitely beautiful, highly charismatic, and powerfully erotic. To the best of my memory, Tynan describes her only in these terms, never as the creator of naturalistic film acting. (Incidentally, none of the women named by Emily--Crawford, Davies, Bow, and the insufferable Shearer--could properly be described as an actress. They were merely stars--and distinctly inferior to Brooks in talent, intelligence, and beauty.) Finally, as everyone here (including Emily) acknowledges, Brooks was a first-rate writer herself, and the essays in this book are required reading for anyone interested in silent film.

3 comments about Communicating in Small Groups: Principles and Practices (8th Edition).

1. This was a used book. Our instructor didn't know that the 8th edition was out, so didn't recommend we get that one. The 7th edition has served our purpose.



2. This book had very simple principals which can be applied to a number of different environments.



3. I used this book in my small group communication class. The book was very helpful and easy to read. There is a website that supports the text.