2 comments about Associated Press Reporting Handbook.

1. This book seemed to be speaking mostly to war correspondents or extreme journalists. Much of the information was not helpful to a small town journalist who is just looking for tips on how to interview and ethics.
   
   Most of the book consisted of examples of great writing. All you have to do is pick up the front page of any large newspaper and you will get high quality examples of journalism. I thought this was completely unnecessary. Not what I expected.



2. The "Associated Press Reporting Handbook" is not so much a how-to handbook as it is a series of glimpses behind the scenes to see how reporters work and what it takes to create the magic that makes it into print.

   Rather than acting as an all-knowing instructor, Jerry Schwartz treats the reader as a fellow journalist who might be able to learn from the other reporters he introduces. The majority of the book reads like a collection of human interest stories in which the subjects are the reporters and specific examples of the stories they produced. Every chapter begins with an AP article and is followed by the story behind the story as told by the journalists themselves. This makes the book both enjoyable and incredibly informative because it gives real world examples of what it takes to be a good journalist, what goes into a great story and many of the factors and circumstances a non-journalist would never even consider.

   Schwartz does a good job of covering different types of stories and situations (overseas reporting, investigative journalism, etc) so just about every journalist should be able to find something useful.

   Those considering a career in journalism will probably benefit most from this book as will those new journalists just learning the ropes or trying to find their niche. Seasoned pros may enjoy reading the experiences of other journalists and may even pick up some ideas, but I think those who will benefit most from this book will be the rookies.

5 comments about Howard Hughes: The Untold Story.

1. After finally watching the Aviator, I wanted to know more about Howard Hughes' life but wasn't sure which book to get since there were so many out there to choose from. The Untold Story turned out to be one of the most moving books I've read. I previously only knew him according to the reputation he had in his final years: bizarre recluse, deranged, weirdo, bilionnaire.
   
   Howard Hughes was an ace pilot. The 200 ton Spruce Goose was his personal triumph. This books brings to light his outlandish reality and his extraordinary and adventurous personal life: the many movies he produced, and his amazing influence on Hollywood censorship, purchasing the most Las Vegas resorts owned by one person, the McCarthy era, even Watergate and the fall of Nixon. It covers the many famous actresses he discovered, his womanizing and dating nearly every leading glamor queen. Jean Harlow, Ava Gardner, Giner Rogers, and Katharine Hepburn all dated this handsome playboy. It explains his passion of aviation, perilous record breaking flights as well as his three plane crashes, and his development of commercial flights (TWA). Howard Hughes was a genius inventor and head of a giant corporation which produced oil drill tools (which he inherited from his father). The book reveals his emotionally incestuous ties to his mother. his addictions, breakdowns and recoveries, disappearing acts such as when he locked himself in a studio room, didn't bathe for months, and watched the same movies 30 times in a row, eating only Hershey bars. His now-famous but then unknown obsessive-compulsive disorder produced full blown food fetishes such as counting chocolate chips in each germ-free cookie and eating his peas with a small rake. Who knows what might have happened, and how history might have changed, if doctors knew about Prozac in those days?
   
   The circumstances of his death remain mysterious and puzzling - to this day, no one is sure about how he died. Like his life, it was covered in a wall of secrecy. A compelling, sympathetic, and well-researched story (nearly 400,000 pages of court documents, 2,000 pages of FBI reports, and 600 interviews were used) about one of the most controversial, intriguing and extraordinary people.



2. After a while I got really tired of all of these starlets stories. I couldn't stop thinking " what a jerk" and how stupid all of these girls, and worse yet, their parents were.



3. I had read an earlier book on Hughes, Empire: The Life, Legend, and Madness of Howard Hughes, and remembered it as a fascinating book. I purchased recently this newer book on Hughes, Howard Hughes: The Untold Story.
   
   It, too, was fascinating in its own National Inquirer kind of way! This particular book dealt more with Hughes' womanizing more than with his business empire. We are treated with endless stories of Hughes' conquest of Hollywood actress beginning in the early 20's up until his final pursuit of women in the late 1950s.
   
   The stories are truly fascinating to read and Brown's and Broeske's writing style certaining kept me engaged. One just has to wonder how one would have acted in Howard's place as he pursued women on a daily basis while in Hollywood. Simply amazing!
   
   The one drawback about this book that I was not anticipating was what made it so interesting: its dedication to his lothario lifestyle. In other words, by the time the story of Jean Peters (his last wife) rolls around, along with his last attempted affair with the starlet Yvonne Shubert, one starts to tire of reading exclusively about his sexual conquests.
   
   I found myself wondering how all of this tied in with his businesses. The authors did throw in just enough about his businesses for it all to make sense, but I don't think there was enough. In other words, this book dealt almost entirely with his sex life than anything else. There were enough tidbits about his paranoia, his germophobia, his Hollywood movie making, and his aviation exploits to keep the book moving.
   
   I recommend this book to read about the personable side of Howard and the book, Empire, to read about the business side of Howard. Both are excellent.



4. I watched Martin Scorsese's "The Aviator" and was immediately interested in learning about the "real" Howard Hughes. This book more than satisfied my curiosity. I wasn't aware of the non-aviation contributions made by Hughes; satellites, seek and destroy missles. All very important to our national security. I had never heard of Hughes' connection to the Watergate scandal until I read this book.
   
   This publication was a page turner about a man that we'll most likely never learn the full truth about. A great read!



5. I first read this book to see what Howard Hughes was all about. I was not disappointed in the writing or information. It was well written and a page turner.
   
   I read bio books to learn more about the personal side of people - their lives & feelings/views on matters, how they handled personal situations more than just facts of their accomplishments. So therefore, this book was a great fit for me.
   
   A few reviews have said the book should have focused more on the specifics of how he handled his business affairs. This to me would be much more boring. There is just enough details of how and why he came up with his inventions, mechanics of flying, and drive to make profits without putting us to sleep.
   
   Enjoy a great read and learn about a fascinating person at the same time!

3 comments about My Children! My Africa!.

1. Here is a painful play about the hope of a country and it's people falling by the wayside under the mad rush of anger and rage and frustration.
   
   There are only three characters here: Mr. M, a black teacher in Brakwater, called "the location," the black town outside the white town of Camdeboo. Thami, also black, is a leading young student, and protege of Mr. M. And Isabel, a white girl Thami's age, who befriends both of them after an interschool debate.
   
   Together the three of them agree to prepare for a competition which may represent the best and brightest of a new generation of South Africans. One that is marked by a union between blacks and whites, in the spirit of education, knowledge and words. Such is the hope. But the hope ultimately gives way to the heart wrenching evil of apartheid as it cuts the three apart. Mr. M and Thami diverge about how to fight apartheid and Isabel struggles as her new friendships crack, and spirits wane.
   
   Painful. Spiritually uplifting, then crushing. Eye opening.



2. My Children! My Africa! was the first book I've read ever to make me cry--so much towards the end that I had to put it down. It is the touching tale of a white South African girl who befriends a black South African boy and his teacher, amidst a time of strong racial tension. Their teacher helps them to learn that even though others may be at war, they still have the chance to pave the road to a new, better Africa. Fugard's best play ever!



3. In My Chindren! My Africa!, Fugard tells the story of a white South African girl who becomes involved in debates with a black South African boy and his teacher, but as the racial tension increases, tragedy becomes inevetable. Fugard tells a powerful story which not only addresses the racially charged South Africa he is from, but race relations and the need to realize the differences between people of race are only skin deep.

No comments about The Basics of Communication Research (with InfoTrac ) (Wadsworth Series in Speech Communication).

5 comments about Broadway Babylon.

1. Lots of Broadway dish and fun. I couldn't put it down. And I will re-read it many times. Hooray for this book!



2. This is a must have for every broadway fan. It tells the stories behind the hits and misses on the great white way. If you think you know the story wait until you read it here. How close some hits came to being misses! I could not put it down!



3. This book by Boze Hadleigh is GREAT FUN! He always entertains without being really nasty in HIS comments about celebrities talking trash about other celebs.He let's THEM do it! His focus in this book is Broadway and if you love Broadway, you should find this book entertaining. Some quotes of stars are "repeats" from his other books, but they are well-placed and relevant to what is his focus.Don't expect any bombshells but DO expect to enjoy!
   Note: If "Show Biz" is of no particular interest to you, you might want to skip Boze's new work.



4. A mix of rather humorous, sometimes outlandish, sometimes unbelieveable quotes from various Broadway personalities and stories about the Great White Way, Boze Hadleigh's book is rather trashy, but entertaining to read on a rainy day when there's nothing better to do.
   The book spends much too much time on the topic of homosexuality and the horrible AIDS crisis. Of course, this topic cannot be ignored as much of Broadway's community consists of gay men and AIDS was a disease that killed an entire gerneration of brilliant talents, but much of this becomes redundant and sometimes sort of bitchy.
   On one final note, you could find plenty of these stories and one liners in other books as well. For the David Merrick section, Hadleigh seems to use bits from Jerry Herman's lovely memoir Showtune and for the Michael Bennett section, repeats of stories from Ken Mandelbaum's book appear. This could be said for numerous other chapters. Honestly, if you'd like to spend some extra cash, buy those various books instead of this one.



5. This is a weird little scrapbook promoted as a book.
   
   Hadleigh has two goals.
   
   One is to make sure we know that a great many people working on or around Broadway are gay. Even when he is addressing topics unrelated to sexuality, he must get in that such-and-such was -- Wow! -- gay. But how many people who would buy this book have missed that there is a certain nexus between the gay world and the theatre world?
   
   The other goal is to just dish, and that could make for a fun book. But what Hadleigh wants to dish about often makes him seem like someone who stepped out of a time machine from 1986.
   
   This is a book most excited about the likes of Carol Channing, how bad CATS was, Michael Bennett, and AIDS. Except for the coverage of RENT, this book reads as if it was written two decades ago-plus by a show music fan of a certain age. Mary Martin? Harold Lang? THE BOYS IN THE BAND?
   
   I suppose there is value in getting the nuggets Hadleigh has mined from dishy conversations in piano bars and after cabaret shows down in print, and I am sincere in that.
   
   But readers going from the title will be disappointed. This book is largely a meandering anthropological survey of the Broadway scene from about 1948 to 1988. Special attention is paid to who was gay and which among them died of AIDS. Special attention is paid to performers and shows most of interest to people who were attending to the aforesaid scene during those years, and thus chapters on the controversy over Jonathan Pryce in MISS SAIGON, whether or not Ethel Merman was nice, and magnificently "floppish" shows (a cultish in-joke cherished largely by fans the age of Ken "Not Since Carrie" Mandelbaum).
   
   One chapter follows another for no apparent reason; it's like a transcript of a conversation you could have with an august old gent at Don't Tell Momma's.
   
   If you wouldn't mind having that conversation, pick this one up. Otherwise, be under no impression that this is, in the true sense, a book.

5 comments about Careers in Technical Theater.

1. This is a very compelling and informative look at careers in technical theatre. Anyone interested in entering this field should read this for a realistic look at what you will be doing and what you will get paid! As a theatre technician, I can vouch for the reliability of the information presented. It is thoughtfully and clearly written. The interviews are interesting and helpful. Mike Lawlor never loses the sense of humor that is attached to a career in the theatre or to the people who have chosen to make it their livelihood.



2. This is a must read for anyone in technical theatre or has interest in the Theatre at all. I have selected this book to use in class to explore and discuss the many oppurtunities that technical theatre holds and to learn what skills are necessary. I highly recommend this book!



3. This is a good book for those just starting out in the industry to get a feel for what these titled individuals of the production staff do. Even I, a "seasoned" pro, learned more than a thing or two.
   
   If I had one criticism, it would be that the salary/wages information is not specific enough; I understand that it's hard to gather this data, but as someone entering into the full-time staff world for the first time, it's hard to know what I should expect when negotiating.



4. 
   Careers in Technical Theater could have been a feature in our Arts section, but is reviewed here for its overview of the American professional theatre's job market opportunities - a rich listing of opportunities for any who would work in the theatre. It surveys everything from how to be a Broadway theatre technician to becoming a sound designer, makeup artist, company manager or consultant, surveying job duties, how to locate on-the-job training as an intern to break into the industry, and how to narrow a career focus to specialize in a desirable area. As such this is a top pick for any collection strong in career guides, whether it be a public lending library or a performing arts collection.



5. This is an excellent guide for anyone wanting to pursue a career, or just generally interested in theatre, "behind the scenes". It offers very well-rounded descriptions of the different types of jobs one can explore working backstage. Each type of job has its own section with compelete job descriptions, culled from a variety of working professionals. The descriptions include what one can expect in different working conditions and even what might be expected concerning pay scale. It is a very realistic view of a life in the theatre and does a particularly good job of painting the diverse conditions that exist within the American theatre landscape. It offers lots of additional sources for researching ones further interests, via publications, websites, etc. It also offers some very helpful advice about finding college and university programs, or if that is even advisable. The writer obviously has a wide body of experience and has presented the information in a very succinct and engaging manner

5 comments about The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family.

1. This is the ultimate Simpsons fan's book. It has all of The Simpsons seasons 1-8 in air-order, so you won't have any problem finding them. There are a lot of pictures and colors as well. There are even a list of Homer's D'ohs, Couch Gags, and Chalkboard Gags for every episode. This is well worth the money you pay for it; definitely should be bought by any simpaholic.



2. I bought this book when it first came out, and have re-read it often (fully, and partially) since then. It is an excellent reference for any "Simpsons" fan for the first eight seasons of the show. The pages are full of episode summaries, quotes, and trivia facts from the show. It also offers profiles of characters, and a list of who does what voice. A great source if you cannot remember what guest celebrity voiced a character or any other information like that. I recommend this book for anyone who enjoys the "Simpsons" and wants to know more about the episodes.



3. Almost everything you could ever think to ask about The Simpsons is in this book. What was Bart writing on the chalkboard in "that one episode"? It's in here. The plots, inside jokes, behind the scenes tales and more await in this excellent resource for fans. This book harkens from the Conan O'Brien-era prime of the series, up to about the late 90's, when the quality (sadly) slipped big time. This was the golden age of The Simpsons, back before the series "became a cartoon." (Anyone who was a fan back in the day knows just what I mean.)



4. The Simpsons: A Complete Guide to Our Favorite Family is probably the best book on the Simpsons that I've read. It includes, and I am taking this right from the cover, characters, episodes, and secret jokes you might have missed from seasons 1 thru 8. The book was created by Matt Groening and edited by Ray Richmond. It details each episode and even has extras: The Shorts; Homer Says, "D'oh..."; Homer Says, "Mmm..."; Couch Gags; Seen around Springfield; An Itchy & Scratchy Filmography; Who Does What Voice; and Merchandising, Thy Name Is Krusty.
   
   The books dedication even reads:
   TO THE LOVING MEMORY OF
   SNOWBALL I:
   WE HOPE THAT
   THEY CHANGE YOUR CATBOX
   IN KITTY HEAVEN MORE OFTEN
   THAN WE DID DOWN HERE.
   
   My favorite saying in the book is on p. 64, "When Flanders Failed":
   "Hey, Barteleeboobely, care for a steak-a-rooney?" Homer, to Bart as he cooks on the grill that used to belong to Fladners.
   
   I definetly reccomend purchasing this book.



5. It is hard pressed to find anyone who does not like the animated series "The Simpsons". "The Simpsons" is one of the longest running tv series and one of the funniest tv series in history. Unfortunately the last few seasons have been rather inconsistent and lacks the creativity and magic of the earlier episodes, nevertheless the show is a lot smarter and cutting edge than most tv series nowadays. Thank heavens I can relieve the earlier episodes with this official guide to the popular tv series. "The Simpsons: a complete guide to our favorite family" covers the first eight seasons. This is a really excellent comprehensive guide to the show. As a big fan of the first several seasons, I love this book. I loved reading all of the couch gags from the first eight seasons. I didn't realize there was so many until I read them all. I also dug reading the highlights of each episode. I also loved reading the brief bios on the lesser known but equally funny characters like Cletus, Tattoo Annie, and Lionel Hutz. There is a great list of the actors and the cbaracters that they give life to. If you love "The Simpsons" and the first eight seasons, this book is a must have. It is a true testament to Matt Groening as well as the legacy of the show.

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.

2 comments about Scene Design and Stage Lighting (with InfoTrac ).

1. Working backstage? Asked by your local community theatre to pitch in doing props? Foolishly said, "Of course I can build a tree(Silly fool only God can)! Here are the helpful hints and clues that will point you in the right direction without looking like a total fool. Design, construction, lights and sound- Oren Parker has it all. This latest edition is my third copy! They just keep getting better and better. This "rumor" best explains the abilities of one of the authors. A colleague once related the story in which Oren Parker showed up in the university scene shop in a three piece suit, painted a full back drop and walked out without a drop of paint on the suit. I'd be interested in knowing how true this is but not any less impressed with how informative this book has been for me. Well worth the exorbitant price.



2. I can't tell you how often I've found myself saying "I'm a carpenter, not a designer!" when asked to design a set. I've always muddled through, but now, with this book in hand, I've found 100% more confidence in my designs. Invaluable for the lighting designer who wants to better understand scenic design, and for the scenic designer who wants to understand lighting design. Buy it!

5 comments about Mike Nelson's Movie Megacheese.

1. I may have enjoyed this book a bit more if I was familiar with more of the subjects discussed inside. Several of the films I'd never even ehard of. The writing is funny, but it can get a bit old periodically, especially in the second to last segment which (haha) deals with "The Blair Witch Project." Mike Nelson's going on about how the witch trying to make friends with the students was trying. I have to say, his history of the names that the witch has been known as through the years was funny, especially since it addresses the differences in name between the actual town of the filming and the fictional area of the movie.
   
   Read the excerpt here on Amazon, which pokes fun at the movie "Volcano." The rest of this book is more of the same, looking at TV shows as well. Nelson even critiques "MST3K: The Movie" which is the best part of the book.
   
   There's some great moments here, but you really have to be familiar with the topics and, as I try to avoid a lot of bad television, do not.
   
   Check out Nelson's "Mind on Matters" and "Death Rat" before picking this up. I finished "Death Rat" last week. Thoroughly enjoyable.



2. "Movie Megacheese" is a perfect book for a rainy day:it's hilarious,and Mike Nelson has tried-heroically-to transfer his snarky remarks from his Mystery Science Theater 3000 to the book world.
   
   Mike Nelson provides insights into "The Saint" (why doesn't Val Kilmer's character use the alias St.John Eudes?),"Action Jackson" (explaining why the hero doesn't have the surname Paulson or Thibedeau),and "Star Trek:Generations" (the villain dresses like Sting&wants to get hit by a dryer spark). His comedic assessment of Food Network is as relevant as ever-though Rachael Ray and Bobby Flay are notable omissions. His digs at Emeril Lagasse are worth the price of the book. Bam!
   
   Mike Nelson's take on "Bridges of Madison County" is a disappointment,but his send-up of "Patch Adams" pretty much sums up the current state of Robin Williams' career (though "Happy Feet" and "Night at the Museum" weren't made yet). "Movie Megacheese" is mostly humorous,and it works as bite-size comedy. Unfortunately,it's too short. Considering how many awful movies have been made since the book first came out,it's time for an extended edition or a sequel.



3. Being a rabid MST3K fan, I must confess this book was a bit of a letdown. Maybe my expectations were too high. There is humor here, but there were way more half-smiles than hearty laughs, and some of the swing-for-the-fences jokes definitely ended up in the catcher's mitt. Whenever you can guess the punchline before finishing the sentence, things are a little stale. I couldn't recommend paying retail price, but if you find it used like I did, you'll get your money's worth.



4. Having watched Mike on "Mystery Science Theater 3000" for many years, I had an idea of what to expect. Yet, "Mike Nelson's Movie Megacheese" blew me out of the water with its laugh-out-loud reviews. Nelson is a gifted writer with a sharp tongue and an even sharper rapier wit. My only complaint is that he doesn't do enough of these! Who wouldn't pay $20 to see him tee off on "Gigli" or "Norbert"? We need another hit of the 'cheese, Mike! Overall, an enjoyable read from cover to cover!



5. Thanks in large part to my exposure to "Mystery Science Theater 3000", I am now a stark-raving-mad cheeseball cinema aficionado. So it was a no-brainer that I'd eventually get around to reading former MST3K host Mike Nelson's essays on several big-budget cheddar-fests that the show could never hope to afford licensing rights to. I figured buying a copy of Mr. Nelson's book (from Amazon, `natch) and reading it would be the best way for me to pay the guy back for making me laugh occasionally at his not-half-bad-or better quips and put-downs. Sure, it took me over five years to finally up and get the book, and used from one of the Amazon Marketplace dealers no less. But hey, better late than never...
   
   Most of the movies Nelson takes on go about as far back as the mid-80s to just before the tome's 2000 publishing date. He goes after a few of the usual suspects ("Anaconda", "Independence Day", and "Action Jackson" are but a few examples), as well as a few not-so-obvious flix ("The Bridges of Madison County", "DragonHeart"). He even goes so far as to use the horrid "Batman & Robin" (which he declares is "not the worst movie ever", but "the worst THING ever") as a springboard to rip into the entire Burton/Schumacher "Batman" franchise in one essay. In some cases he teams up two or more particularly cheddary flicks that are connected by a theme, like "Action Jackson" and "Stone Cold" because of the movies' main stars' former careers in pro football.
   
   But it's not just movies this former Satellite of Love co-denizen takes apart with his usually straightforward but occasionally rambling manner and incendiary wit that occasionally enters the realm of naughtiness, but rarely in a particularly overt manner. As opposed to, say, a subtly overt manner. Or (horror of horrors) an overtly overt manner. About the worst you can expect from him is the reason he is now "(unable) to eat any smoked pork products" since seeing Kevin Bacon's goods in "Wild Things." And I can't say I blame him. Kinda makes me wonder if he swore off loaves and fishes after seeing Graham Chapman lettin' it all hang out in "Monty Python's Life of Brian", doesn't it?
   
   The second-worst you can expect from Mr. Nelson is his description of the cast-off crud coming offa Clint Eastwood's character during a shower scene in "The Bridges of Madison County." While the words he uses to describe the "soupy gray runoff" of shower water that contains "all manner of skin oil, dirt, dander, and body hair" aren't particularly nasty or obscene in and of themselves, their overall arrangement and vivid power of description meshed together in a hellish literary tag-team kept me from finishing off the steak dinner I was eating whilst reading that particular passage. Eh, I could stand to lose several dozen pounds, anyway...
   
   Also hit are notable TV shows that were running at the time, like "Xena", the Kvin Sorbo "Hercules" series, and "Savannah". The latter show has Mr. Nelson visualizing the anguish that producer Aaron Spelling's going through with the show's relative lack of success compared to the Spelling-produced contemporaries "90210" and "Melsrose Place". An anguish he tries to eliminate by tossing a few more additions to his obscenely opulent estate. "Do you realize how many rooms he has to build on the South Wing to begin to stanch the wound?", Mr. Nelson asks the reader. Quite frankly, I don't think I can even begin to realize such emotional torture, nor would I want to...
   
   Also given their just desserts (so to speak in the former case) is the Food Channel and Cartoon Network. It's pretty apparent from his writings that Mr. Nelson actually enjoys the Food Channel, but isn't too keen with Cartoon Network, which had a lotta Hanna-Barbera shows on heavy rotation at the time the book was published. Although he cites "Speed Racer", "Woody Woodpecker" and "The Smurfs" as examples of the CN's crappiness, I'm pretty sure it was the Hanna-Barbera stuff that really pushed him over the edge. Mainly `cuz just about alla Hanna-Barbera's `toonage sucks razor blade-studded hot coals smothered in Tabasco sauce. Well, that and he lets the reader in on the lameness of "Scooby-Doo", "The Flintstones", and "The Jetsons." `Course, in the five-plus years since this book came out, CN's line-up hasn't really improved all that much; I'd much rather endure Yogi's umpteenth insipid pic-a-nic basket pilferage than watch five seconds of "Aqua Teen Hunger Force"...
   
   Anyhoo, Mr. Nelson also takes it to several notable Hollywood personalities whose contributions to film have made many folks rather cynical and jaded about the moviegoing experience, myself included. The woodenness of Jean-Claude Van Damme and Keanu Reeves (his response to Reeves' role in "Speed": "... (a) member of the L.A. bomb squad?! I wouldn't trust this man to sell me a stamp."), the hilarious yet awful screenplays of Joe Eszterhas, and the existence of Carrot Top are but three among a crop of (usually) rather obvious, riffed-on-to-death targets that even the most third-rate of third-rate standup comics abandoned years ago for fresher material. Like William Shatner's infamous method acting for example.
   
   On the upside: at least the author admits in his bash of Carrot Top that the pastime of Carrot Top-bashing has become a rather hackneyed and tiresome one... but after viewing "Chairman of the Board", he just can't help it. And I can't say I blame Mr. Nelson, though I must admit his shots at the fire-tressed prop comedian are ironic in a way, seeing as how he ("he" as in "Mike Nelson", not as in "Carrot Top") replaced Joel Hodgson on MST3K, who was himself a prop comedian, and took advantage of his mad skillz to assemble those silly doo-dads he'd show off to Dr. Forrester and Boob-Tube Francis during those "invention exchange" sketches. `Course, it'd be more ironic, not to mention downright hypocritical, if Nelson were a prop comedian himself while ripping on Mr. Top. Thankfully, his parents ("his parents" as in "Mike Nelson's parents", not as in "Carrot Top's parents") apparently gave him enough hugs and applied a tiny bit of corporal punishment on him when he was a lad, thereby sparing the world the agony of another Gallagher-wannabe...
   
   As for Nelson's writing style: in some ways, it's reminiscent of the stuff he'd come up whilst locked in the SOL's screening room with his AI-endowed compatriots. While both Crow and Tom Servo had the ability to throw out an intellectual and/or esoteric reference or two, Mr. Nelson's references were by far the most intellectual and/or esoteric. Which is the main reason why I laughed at the robots' put-downs far more often than I did Mr. Nelson's. Fortunately, I was able to grok about 92.34% of these sometimes-laugh-out-loud-funny MENSA-level put-downs... which was about the rate of grokkery I had when I came across similar sometimes-laugh-out-loud-funny MENSA-level put-downs in this tome. Still, that 7.66% that I needed Google to figure out-- and had me letting out a staccato "D'oh!" whilst smacking the palm of my right hand to my forehead when I finally figured it out-- has been playin' hell on my self-esteem for a few days now...
   
   But seriously: while I got a pretty good laugh at times from "Movie Megacheese", there were a few areas where Mr. Nelson's efforts at humor read like a cross between Larry King's insipid USA Today columns, and something Dave Barry would come up with whilst trying to overcome a really bad case of writer's block. Which is almost as corny and unfunny as Dave Barry withOUT writer's block. I mean, okay, every once in a while he'll will toss out a quip in his weekly column that gets a light chuckle from me. And his annual "Stupid Christmas Gift Guide" is kinda amusing in its own dumb little way. And that Harry Anderson sit-com that was loosely based on Barry's columnar ramblings had a few cute moments. But is he really all that and a side of curly fries? I think NOT! I will admit, however, that he's a little bit funnier than the Sunday comics... but that's only if the Sunday comics doesn't carry "Garfield." Otherwise, all bets are off.
   
   But, I'm getting away from the main subject matter at hand, sorry about that. I go on weird tangents some times... which is something Mr. Nelson also does on occasion in "Movie Megacheese", albeit not to nearly the lengths that I do in some of my product reviews. He also throws out an agonizingly drawn-out (albeit usually amusing) analogy on occasion, like Dennis Miller without the smarm, and with only a small fraction of the obnoxious pomposity. Fortunately, the book's truly laugh-out-loud bits-- of which there were more than a few-- more than made up for the groan-inducing corny parts.
   
   Bottom line: if you're into trashy movies & TV shows, as well as the personalities who have made those movies and TV shows so memorable (no matter how hard you try to forget), and you actually enjoy watching "Road House" for its cheeseball appeal whilst believing that Adam Sandler and Jim Carrey are demons set forth by Satan to destroy the genre of slapstick comedy as we know them, you might do well to pick up a copy of "Mike Nelson's Movie Megacheese." And may be even read a few pages while you're at it...
   
   `Late