Music Books

Seriously. This lady apparently never threw away ANYTHING. She didn't even throw away the "Glorious Aryan Motherhood" medal she got from the Nazis in 1938 in an effort to entice her back to the Third Reich, though she was much offended by the "award" and described her displeasure in pithy terms. Conversely, she proudly told her daughter, Maria Riva, that whereas most daughters inherit medals from their fathers, Maria would inherit medals from her mother, and these decorations (including the U.S. Medal of Freedom and two degrees of the French Legion of Honor) are displayed in one of the book's many color photographs.



This splendid book is a Marlene Dietrich museum all by its lonesome. Gorgeous photographs from every stage of her career (including some very sexy and risque ones displaying her famous legs to best advantage!) are coupled with a visual catalogue of the most interesting of her clothing and possessions, including her famous good-luck rag doll, which appeared in several of her movies, and a pair of matched pistols she received from General George Patton (with whom she is rumored to have had an affair) during World War II.



Speaking of which, Marlene's WWII service, one of the great defining experiences of her life, gets full attention in this book, with many very striking photos of herself at the front. My favorite pictures from this period show her watching a training drop by the 82nd Airborne Division, the unit closest to her heart, in Holland in early 1945.



Marlene, of course, is famed as one of the great style-setters of the 20th century, and we see many, many photos of her outfits and accessories, both as display items and when she was wearing them.



Can I use the word "splendid" twice in one review? :) Because that is exactly what this book is. It's a bargain at any price you care to name, and one of the best retrospectives on any great film star I've ever seen.

This is a dream of a book. Full of glorious photos and facts. I highly reccommend this to all Dietrich and film fans. All public figures should be the subject of a book like this.

A delicacy! The best book of photographs I have seen on Dietrich and a compendium of beauty, not only hers but all that was created through and with her. A must have book.

I simply had to have this book when I first heard about it, being the huge Dietrich fan that I am. I couldn't wait for it to arrive, and when it did come in, I ripped the box open. The book was truly worth the wait! Filled with photos of incredible costumes, rare "in-life" moments, private letters from lovers, this book helps create an understanding of "Dietrich", the person. No book, no film, no insight could ever truly capture all the many mysteries that exist in each and every person. In Dietrich, there seemed to be many more than usual. While not going into great depth as to why she had all those lovers, or how she learned to create and control her incredible image, the book does offer an amazing trip down Dietrich Lane, which any Marlene fan will absolutely adore. The book is well worth the price, as it fills 260 pages with 289 photos, many not seen before. A must-have for Dietrich fans!

If you were a fan of Dietrich and were allowed to own only ONE book about this woman, then this should be the book to own. To reiterate another reviewer's thought -- it is EXQUISITE.

I read this book from cover to cover and only set it down when I got tired. Each night I would set aside some time to join adam on his adventures growing up playing the harmonica. He talks about love gained and lost and how he first became a harp player, including some of his influences. He has a captivating writing style and brings alot of imagery to his writing. I really felt he poured his soul out onto the page and you really kind of get to know who Adam and Satan are. Not the Prince of Darkness but Sterling "Satan" Magee. The overall story really is about the awkward white boy putting himself out there to play a soulful style of music and how he went through pain and heartache to pay his dues with with his friend and bluesmate, Mr. Satan. I would highly recommend this piece of work by Adam. You should also check out their 3 albums: Harlem Blues, Mother Mojo, and Living on the River.

I could hardly put this book down to perform activities of daily living, let alone going to work. "Mr Adam" has created a masterpiece of American musical literature. Being a blues lover of many years, I was bored to death by the almost clinical approach of most writers on the subject. Not so, Mr. Gussow! He delivers a passionately honest and heart felt memoir filled with wonderfully alive and vibrant individuals, sharing with us the one true American music, the blues.

It is an amazing thing when an artist (in this case, Gussow, a writer/blues harp player) can somehow manage to make their mark despite all the confusion and hard knocks life throws at them- and they sometimes throw at themselves. This is a moving story about a burgeoning blues musician captured with excellent dialogue... Gussow has made his characters come alive and jump off the page the way writers are supposed to.

Not only is it Gussow's personal memoirs of his early years in music, but a riveting biography of one of the most unique and original blues acts in recent years- Satan & Adam. Gussow's accounts of his early music/life mentors (such as the underexposed harpist Nat Riddles) with sincerity and genuine emotion is fascinating. The telling of Mister Satan's story is a valuable contribution to blues history that could well have been lost in obscurity.

There are issues explored in this book that have rarely been expounded upon with any meaningful insight in any musician interview or book I can remember. The passages in the book where Gussow is in the middle of Harlem grappling with the rift and misunderstanding between black and white is especially poignant, particularly from his perspective as a young, white, Princeton educated "bluesman".

Although this book isn't an instructional course on technique or musicianship- for those who aren't aware- Adam Gussow is considered by many blues afficionados to be one of the best harmonica players alive today. So he's paid some dues and he knows what he's talking about.

Adam Gussow had the good fortune, the talent, street smarts and the heartfelt focus to get out there and live it- become an apprentice to a bluesmaster- just like most traditional art is passed down from accomplished teacher to eager student. I admire him for it. Mister Satan's Apprentice is a must read for any struggling musician or blues fan- it just might get you thinking about your own life's journey.

Recently it was my privilege to see author and harmonica player Adam Gussow at my local huge independent bookstore here in the Eastern US. I rarely do commercials, but if you can't catch Adam, you can check out his new novel "Mr. Satan's Apprentice". Adam calls it "a blues memoir", and so it is. The guy is a no-shit, kick-butt, street-smart harp player! FYI, I have fairly high standards in this realm. If you've seen or heard the New York duo "Satan and Adam", you'll know what I mean. The guy is ALSO a juicy and creative, energetic, sexy writer - something I'm also picky about. Princeton Ph.D. candidate - English.

Adam's book describes a journey that a few of us know, but most do not. The musician in you will relate to the tale of the emergence of deep and powerful music from the little instrument - and the romantic in you will throb with the ways the emerging harmonica player and boundary-crosser discovers the things he needs to grow musically and personally - and then sometimes fearlessly, sometimes not, sets out to acquire them. You'll meet his teachers and mentors, and like it or not, you'll see life through the eyes of this seeker of musical and personal connection. You'll go with Adam on the romantic roller coaster as loves come and go - and you'll travel with him to Paris to play in the Metro and on the street; to the American South, and to other places exotic and otherwise - including a hitch with the road company of Broadway show based on Mark Twain's Sawyer and Finn. Later we get into the recording studio with Mr. Gussow and Mr. Satan - the Harlem street mystic and one-man band who becomes Adam's main-man mentor and muse, the Mr. Satan of the book's title. Throughout the book you'll find Adam the street intellectual examining his position as a white man among black men (and black women) in this blues-filled world - an examination in which Mr. Satan plays a key role.

A book for players and lovers - of the spirit of the music, of the street; of the endless forms of beauty and love, as they are found ALL over the place. The author is one who knows, and magically, describes, many of the gut experiences we players know; to my knowledge no one's ever written quite this way about these things before. Like the performing moments, the pulling out of all the everything you've got and then some, when the audience is on it's very EDGE, right there with you; when you are truly and purely the great IT! Blowing and drawing deep, and deeper, and then high and higher; and the room is all whoops and smiles, and all there in your hand. A good player knows these things, and believe me, in a blues band, nobody gets that kind of juice but the harp player.

OK, so maybe you don't know the peak of performance grace and light - but you know your peaks, and Adam's telling can stir it back into view...

Adam Gussow writes of music, romance, conflict, and awakening in an intimately physical and heart- connected way. As a player, I'm rocked. -"Harmonica Jack" Merrylees (JMerrylees@aol.com)

In "Mister Satan's Apprentice," street musician extraordinaire Adam Gussow has left in just about everything, and it's about 40 percent too much; the book would have read far better at a sleek 250 pages. But the good stuff is really good, and the book is well worth reading despite its distractions and digressions. In his early 40s, Gussow is currently a doctoral candidate in Princeton's English department. But thousands know him as the harmonica-wielding half of the "progressive gutbucket blues" duo Satan and Adam -- three-CD recording artists, photogenic subject of any number of newspaper and magazine features, and cameo stars of the U2 movie "Rattle and Hum."

In his autobiography, Gussow gets deep inside blues, and his relationship to it, and manages to successfully translate the music into language. "Blues harmonica played well was a miniature tongued slalom, a tornado swallowed and contained," he tells us, and his words capture every bit of excitement that the grooves and notes have to offer. "Mister Satan's Apprentice" is about much more than the blues, though -- it's a provocative meditation on race from a white man immersed in a traditionally black genre, neighborhood and world. Playing around with his first harmonica, in 1974, Gussow contemplates the subtleties of playing blues. "It had something to do with being a black guy," he muses.

As the protagonist in his narrative, Gussow pales (no pun intended) next to two marvelous characters: his two mentors, Nat Riddles and Sterling "Mister Satan" Magee. Twenty-two years older than his protégé, Mister Satan is as colorful as they come. He's a visual artist and apocalyptic numerologist with a murky music-industry background, and a font of, if not wisdom, then brilliantly idiosyncratic aphorisms and soliloquies. A Harlem fixture when Gussow approaches the guitarist to jam along, he shouts and hollers, runs hot and cold, towers over other men. Mister Satan looms larger than life, but harmonica player Nat Riddles is entirely real, an odd-job taxi driver with a dazzling smile and soulful tone. "He was perpetually on the verge of becoming the blues world's Next Big Thing," Gussow writes. "A young black harp-player with the Sound." Riddles flits in and out of fortune, showing up unexpectedly to astound a New York club, phoning from somewhere in the South, destitute and desperate, surviving gunshot wounds only to eventually succumb to a cruel wasting disease.

It's the music, finally, that counts most -- Gussow gives his story its own soundtrack, one of restlessness and yearning, of his struggle to capture the Sound: "The Sound was Southern-bound, it was cocky, playful, manic, chucking, resentful, edgy, comforting, relentless. It took incredible lip strength and finesse to produce. It was sexual. It was the haunted, restless feeling of a guy's apartment late at night after the woman who used to live there had moved out. It was whatever nasty things she was doing with the other guy-a virile sensitive soulmate-this very minute. It was the best way of beating those visions back into the ghoulish cave they had crawled out of. Working hard at the Sound was a socially acceptable way of sobbing, raging, and primal-screaming from a hot heart while pretending merely to be practicing." A little of this kind of writing goes a long way, and there's an awful lot of it here. Granted, it's a real challenge to maintain a level of excitement in writing about music page after page, particularly about blues, a genre built on the same few chords locked in a repetitious groove. So it's forgivable that Gussow often leans out a little far: "The sidewalk scene dissolved; I was wandering in a garden of earthly delights, hands cupped against the sweet cold fluid air. Every bent note was a pitch-perfect arrow puncturing the gray dusk. You only live now. Blue notes danced and spun, lines endlessly unfolding like so many wrapped gifts laid bare." You have to remind yourself that he's talking about a harmonica, one of the more prosaic of instruments.

For all Gussow's breathless adjectives and action verbs, he's frustratingly vague about the technical aspects of the duo's "huge raw perfect sound." The book's photos show Gussow with effects pedals at his feet, but he makes no mention of them; he doesn't mention the basic information that he plays in "cross harp" style until page 386; Mister Satan's "phase-shifted guitar wash and deafening clatter" is described pretty much only in metaphorical terms, as, for instance, "an endlessly unrolling Persian carpet with gristle and clanks added." Gussow is so good at getting inside his playing that the narrative sags whenever it moves to other topics. A hefty amount of the bloat deals with his failed relationships. We meet mercurial crackhead Robyn and inconstant ex-fat girl Gail, but mostly there's erratic, irritable hyperfeminist Helen. Gussow tells us on page 30 that Helen left him back in 1984, so we're predisposed to dislike her, and we indeed do. "Most men had a girlfriend," he writes. "I had Aphrodite crossed with Kali the Destroyer, She of infinite ravenous limbs." Worse, the book's artfully jumbled narrative, with short sections ordered sort of sequentially on several tracks, dooms us to read about Helen over the entire course of the book. We think we're finally through with her, and then: "1983. Things with Helen had turned out surprisingly well . . ." Enough already!

In the late '80s and early '90s, a period when racial violence kept flaring up in the outer boroughs of New York City, Satan and Adam's young-old, white-black novelty made a splash, but momentum slipped away. "Minor celebrity beckoned, then faded," Gussow writes. And despite the book's vibrant cover photo of the pair, they no longer perform, according to an e-mail Gussow sent me. "[I]t's impossible to keep the act together," he wrote, noting that Mister Satan now lives in south-central Virginia and has no telephone. That's a real shame.

My 1-1/2 year old loves this record. It relaxes her and helps her rest and for some reason she seems to respond to this record more than some of the other relaxation records that I have.

I often find myself nodding off with her in my arms as I play this for her, so it also works for those of us who are a bit older also.

I purchased this for my new grandaughter and my daughter thinks its great for naptime. She said the music is lovely and very relaxing.

Purchased this for my 7 month old grandbaby...she loves it and she puts herself to sleep while listening to it, nice long playing time...much better than the 5 to 15 minute wind up or push button crib mobile/toys. Very soothing and gentle. Highly recommend

I gave this as a Christmas present, and with all the noise and lights of the party my 9 mo. old nephew couldn't get to sleep. It was way past his bed time and all he could do was cry. So, his father put in the cd and the baby's body relaxed in his mothers arms, he blinked a few times, took a deep breath and went fast asleep in the middle of the party.
Everyone was pleasently stunned.

Our 3 month old daughter loves music, and I have several classical CDs that we use at night for her, but this one is my favorite. When we put her in the crib and turn the CD on, you can actually see her calming down and drifting off to sleep. Even when she's wide awake and we put her down, the music seems to work its magic. She'll lie there, eyes open, but she doesn't cry because she's too busy listening to it. Within 15 minutes, she'll be asleep. My husband jokes that it works too well because it makes him want to sleep while he's still holding her!

November 14, 2008 -- UPDATE: My daughter is now almost 13 months old, and she STILL loves the CD and so do we! We put it on for her every night because it works better than the other ones we have!

There are several things that stand out upon even a preliminary acquaintance with the book. The tasteful presentation of the book, the Klimt on the cover, the quality of the paper the book is printed on all exhibit careful attention to fine detail. But there is an additional quality, which I found particularly appealing.

The author unabashedly centers her attention on eternal values, such as beauty and higher aspirations of the soul. These Òold-fashionedÓ values which the author takes as given and forever relevant, our societyÑat least that part of it which expresses itself most loudlyÑdeems irrelevant and out of fashion. The bookÕs tone, with its unhurried soft-spoken concern for beauty and lofty values, strikes me as bold and courageous. For our time is interested in flashy, quick, loud and digital (that is, small and fractured and flat and two-dimensional). The society is much less interested in the quiet, the subtle and the deep, which this book espouses. The book is set against the background of the fin de siecle, only this time it is OUR own 20th centuryÕs fin de siecle! The message, whether conscious and unconscious, that the book delivers, becomes a counterpoint and an antidote to our culture.

If you know nothing or everything about music, read this book to open up a whole new world. Draper's simple, elegant writing and natural approach to her subject will inspire readers to pay attention and listen to music with a fresh approach. This is a great gift for yourself, your children, your parents, your new amour. Listening to the cds and reading the accompanying text with friends is a wonderful reason to have a series of dinner parties.
Thanks, M. Draper, for bring music back into my life through another door I didn't even know was there.

This book is full of love of music and inspiration for musicians of all ages and levels. For the historian, there are many lesser known, interesting facts. For the music student, there are words of wisdom about keeping the inspiration and love in daily practice. For the music lover just beginning to build a listening library, there are wonderful suggestions for starting a CD collection (not limited to classical music). This is a book to be read slowly, to be savored and contemplated. This book invites the reader to experience music in a very sensual way, not with ears alone, but with one's whole body, mind and spirit. It is an exploration of the possibilities of music as a mood setter, a mood enhancer, or a mood anti-dote. It is about music as a healer of physical and emotional disharmonies. It is an exploration of what is universal in music and what is highly individual.
There is something for everyone in this book. I highly recommend it as a gift to anyone interested in music.

Maureen McCarthy Draper's book is an invitation to return to the joy of listening to music in a way to set moods, to mark days of the week or to simply relax and be transported by musical experiences. This invitation includes examples via the carefully selected selections of music on the accompanying CD's which depict each of the examples of how music can soothe the soul within, or elevate the awareness of beauty in a way that no other medium can. This book reminds those of us that love music of its importance, but invites us to consider it at another level of perception and gives us the suggested methods to add to our perception.

It also makes a lovely gift to anyone who loves, and loves to share the joy of music....

Maureen Draper`s book is a jewel! In today`s time of high technology and speed, she slowed me down, called the voice of my heart and reminded me to listen to my body and to my soul. She did it all with classical music - speaking of it with great simplicity, and although i am a professional classical musician, i felt like i was entering an unknown field and wanted to know EVERYTHING about it! On the two cd`s that she recommends buying together with the book, she has chosen less known pieces, which allowed me to discover my own feelings and sense of the music, undisturbed by the familiarity of more famous pieces. She guided me through the many different landscapes of music and patiently showed me, with great knowledge and passion and tenderness, all their beauty, encouraging me, at last, to be alone in them, to observe and to fully sink in the emotions they elicited in me.

This book is an unusual, unique look into the depths of music and it makes a wonderful gift. Thank you, Maureen!

I am an adult who read this after an 8th grade boy tried to explain the plot to me. Although I knew what the "surprise" ending would be at the start of the book and the story line was so predicatable, for teens I would highly recommend it.

Fast but not manicked pace and good dialogue (although it seemed a bit forced at times for cuteness sake when the main character spoke to his parents). Character developent was thin but the old man was quite well done.

Good read. Some nice lessons. Funny. I enjoyed it.

In Notes From the Midnight Driver, the titular "Driver" is Alex Gregory, a teenage boy with divorced parents, who in a fit of bad judgment takes a drunken drive to his father's house, resulting in Alex's arrest and the decapitation of a lawn gnome. As punishment, Alex is sentenced to community service with the elderly and ailing Solomon (Sol) Lewis who is notoriously hard to put up with. Alex's daunting task is to both teach and learn a "life lesson", but Sol seems only to want to criticize and mock his newest volunteer. Eventually, however, the unlikely pair open up to each other. Through a series of letters between Alex and his sentencer, Judge Trent, Alex's progress towards maturity is revealed. He loses his selfish exterior and is able to understand friendship, love and family in a way that creates a ripple effect into the lives of his friends, his parents, and even the rough-talking Sol Lewis.

Jordan Sonnenblick, author of Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie, proves once again to be an expert at mixing serious and sad situations of teenage life with dry wit and sarcastic humor to provide an engaging and powerful story. Sonnenblick's teenagers are detailed and realistic and he does a great job of creating likable characters that are easy to relate to, while avoiding cliches and stereotypes that run rampant in other young adult novels. Though not a true sequel, Steven and Annette from Sonnenblick's Dangerous Pie also make an appearance as back up characters in Midnight Driver and the theme of music as an outlet for teenage emotion also runs through both novels. Overall, the mixture of laughter and tears, sadness and sarcasm make the book a delightful and poignant story.

It's not often that a feel-good story with its moral out in the open gets away with a 5-star rating, but Jordan Sonnenblick's NOTES FROM THE MIDNIGHT DRIVER manages to pull it off. Simply put, the novel follows the progression of a high school junior named Alex who must do community service in a convalescent home to make amends for his drunk driving conviction and suspension of license. The cantankerous old Jewish gentleman he's assigned to (named Sol) makes life miserable for him at first, but then some revelations begin to take place, with ramifications that go beyond the convalescent home and into every aspect of Alex's young life.

Yes, you can argue that the "set-up" is a bit contrived -- having your impulsive protagonist get rip-roaring drunk, driving to his estranged father's house to tell him off, and never making it due to an unexpected date with an unfortunate lawn gnome and the emergency room of a hospital -- but all is forgiven thanks to the winning chemistry of Alex and Sol, who are like fire and ice, oil and water, nasty and naive.

As subplots, Sonnenblick provides the marital woes of Alex's parents and his own attempts to convert a "just friends" relationship with a blackbelt beauty named Laurie into something romantic. And although there's some typical YA, school-side bullying episodes, the heart of this book is in the convalescent home where aspiring guitarist Alex eventually brings music and new life to an old man stricken with emphysema (overtly) and grief (covertly).

I was ready for a predictable ending and got it -- but with a twist I did not expect. In any event, it all works and readers will buy it. It's always good to read YA fiction that's carried by characterization and not plot alone. No, not YA no one under 18 will read, but YA that they will -- and willingly. This is a great addition to any home, school, or classroom library. Recommendation: buy.

Notes from the Midnight Driver is narrated by your average teenage boy (Alex)- its bound to be funny. But when an accident brings Sol, a grouchy man, into Alex's life, the story takes a heartwarming turn. At first Alex and Sol don't see eye to eye- Sol constantly verbally slams Alex, they argue- but after a while they find one thing that holds them together- music. It's a good read for all ages- it's got old people, cars, a little romance, and lawn ornaments.

Jordan Sonnenblick keeps getting better. NOTES is the story of an angry adolescent - even angrier than most! Alex's parents have gotten divorced and after drinking an excessive amount of vodka, he's going to just drive over and tell his dad how angry he is. Luckily, he doesn't hurt anyone when he crashes the car, but now he is even angrier, because he has to spend time at an old folks' home talking to possibly the crankiest man in the whole place - Sol. Sol's tough love is hilarious, poignant, and ultimately effective. Great book, great read, great for kids just starting to drive or even just thinking about starting to drive. I'm using it with my ninth graders right now, and they love it!

When I picked this book up from the library I was not sure it would be one that I would enjoy,but I was surprised how into the story I got and could not put it down! I am not going to tell all the details of the book but I will just say that if you want a book that will not only capture you mind but your heart as well than you will enjoy this book and even be sad when it ends cause you just want to keep reading!

Maurine F. Dahlberg.... wow can you ever write. This is one of my very favorite books of all time and I swear that I have read WAY to many books. Right now I am doing an Independant Novel studu on it and have to do a bibliography on you. I can't seem to find information but kids and/or Adults if you ever need a good book to read, I suggest you pick up a Play to the Angel and dig in!

" Austria 1938. War is coming. But Greta only cares about her music." What if suddenly you were practicing in your piano professor's apartment. When a loud banging comes from the door. You open it to see starched uniforms, shiny boots, pistols, swastikas, and lightning bolts. The Nazis are at the door.
This was just one of the many scenes from Pay to the Angel. Where words of cheerfulness and depression burn a seeping image in your mind. This author really sets the scene. Maurine Dahlberg wrote the magnificent and extraordinary novel.
Greta Radky loves to play the piano. But her mother does not want her to play. She threatens to sell the piano. But luckily, a piano teacher moved into the apartment not far away. Se learns how to play the piano from a Herr Hummel. But while at a party with her friends Mutti (the mother) finds out! But in a last desperate attempt by Herr Hummel and Greta, she decides... to keep the piano. So Greta plays better and better and eventually she is invited, by Herr Hummel, to a Recital at a huge musical academy, in front of a large audience! She had never done this before. And more than anything she wants Mutti to come. But at the end of the recital she is not there. When she leaves the academy, she why Mutti had not come. The Nazis had taken over Austria! But that's all I'm going to tell (I hate Spoilers).
One day, Greta was practicing on Herr Hummel's piano Sunday morning. Herr Hummel was never at his apartment room come Sunday morning. So he had given Greta a spare key to the room. Then a knocking came from the door. Too loud to be Mutti, Herr Hummel, or any of the neighbors. She opened the door, and the hall was filled with Nazis. Then they swarmed the room, tearing it apart, looking for signs of the unidentified Herr Hummel.
The theme to the book is that things aren't what they seem. Like cold- hearted Mutti, turns out to be, happy, loving, caring Mutti. And like Herr Hummel's identity. And how no one seemed to think that the Nazis would invade Austria.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes books with mystifying people. And anyone who loves to read about history. This is a very creative story. If you wish to find out about Herr Hummel's secret past, Mutti's true feelings, and the story of Greta Radky, you will have to read Play to the Angel.

When I started to read this book, I was captivated. It is interesting and provides a good insight to musical life to someone who is musically challenged. I thought Herr Hummel, or Karl Von Engelhart, was very well-done and interesting. When I finished this book I suddenly wanted to go to Austria and see what it was like. The only thing I didn't like was it ended on a cliff-hanger, and I really tortured myself thinking about if Greta ever saw Lore or Erika or Karl von Engelhart (Herr Hummel) again.

One thing I disagree with in the review above: they say that Doris Ogel's The Devil in Vienna is better than Play to the Angel. It is not! I read about half of TDIV and I was totally bored and disinterested, although I finished it. It was shallow and the emotions of Inge were very undeveloped. Though I'm getting off the subject. Read Play to the Angel and you won't be disappointed!

Greta was a piano player in Vienna, Austria in 1938. Her brother Kurt died about a year before and her mother is starting to get insane migraines. But those wont stop Greta from dreaming of becoming a famous pianist. She is different from all the girls in school. And now that her best friend Erica has moved to America, she truly feels alone sometimes. Even her neighbor Frau Vogel can't help her that is until she tells Greta about a piano teacher that lives in the apartment next door. She goes to the apartment one day but no one is there. She walks in to find a beautiful grand piano. She takes out some music and begins to play when Herr Hummel startles her. They eat and start to talk. By the time Greta leaves she has agreed to take piano lessons from him for free. She keeps this a secret from her mother for a while but when Herr Hummel brings up that he wants Greta to play at the Academy of Music and Performing Arts. Greta begins to practice music from Scarlatti and Mendelssohn for her recital. Finally the day of her performance comes. Her and her mother had gotten in a fight earlier that day but Greta had hoped that she could still make it. To her surprise her mother didn't arrive. When the recital was over Greta and Herr Hummel were rushed back to Herr Hummel's apartment where they found Frau Vogel and Greta's mother with an injured ankle. Apparently the Nazi's had invaded Austria and while Greta's mother was running out of the shop where she works she sprained her ankle. Soon one of Herr Hummel's old students Rudolf Beck, who Greta and Herr Hummel had seen while they were in the city, has sent the SS for Herr Hummel. Greta is in Herr Hummel's apartment when the SS came in tearing the place up looking for things. That is when she finds out that Herr Hummel is actually famous pianist Karl von Englehart, and that he is wanted for helping Jews escape the Nazi's. When the SS men leave Greta remembers the money and passports in Herr Hummel's desk and takes them across town to the Academy where he is with one of the directors. He tells Greta that he is going to Prague and that he will contact her when he is safe. Later Greta receives a letter from him saying that he is on his way to America. Greta and her mother escape the Nazi's by going to live with family in Switzerland. This book is good for students who like to learn about the affects of WW2 and who study music. This book shows students that no matter what they can always make their dreams come true.

In the beginning of the book Greta has suffered a great lose in her life, her brother Kurt, who also played piano, died and her mother is becoming very irritable. Her mother used to always have fun with them and enjoy listening to Kurt play the piano but now every time Greta touches it she says she has a headache and wants to rest. Also her mother almost sold the piano and Greta began to greatly doubt she could ever become a concert pianist.

Greta also doesn't fit in with many girls in her school. For one of her papers she has to write about the best day of her life and she writes about one where she spends it alone playing the piano but her fear of being made fun of lowers her self esteem and makes her nervous about her upcoming recital.

After her recital Greta realizes that many people believe in her and that she can accomplish anything she wants to. Her mother risked dying to see her play at the Academy and Herr Hummel risked being captured by the Nazi's to help her succeed with her playing. And she even makes a new friend, Lore, who likes her for who she is and what she does. Greta realizes she has nothing to be shy about and that her brother would be proud that she is accomplishing what he couldn't.

This book can truly teach students many things about the world around them and themselves. I recommend this book to students of all ages that would like to learn more about the piano or more about the affects of war on people.


T.Shene

i could not put this book down.as big as it is,i read it in 2 days.so far i have read 3 books about burlesque and this one tops the cake.i rented this book from the library but now i will purchase it.this is a book you must own and the details in the book are priceless.

I just received this book in the mail, and i have only one word for it - Stunning.

This book is full of beautiful photos and sketches of original costumes, and there's a wealth of written information to go with the pretty pictures!
Even the presentation is lovely, i'm really impressed with the matte pink binding - it'll look great in my book case ;)

Go ahead and order this book, you won't be disappointed.

the book is very dazzling ,and it would be my ture love for the passed Age.

If the book title sounds familiar, it's because Liz Goldwyn's HBO documentary of the same name aired in July 2005 to much acclaim, covering the history of American burlesque. If you think you've seen it all in the show, think again: the book holds much more! Here are personal stories, career overviews, and biographies of some of the most talented genre stars. Burlesque history comes alive here as in no other collection, making PRETTY THINGS a 'must' for any holding strong in American arts history, from general-interest to college-level libraries.

An artistic design layout provides the reader with lots of photos and scrapbook pages of original costume sketches, fabric swatches, letters, postcards, and lots more. This visual collage is a wonderful piece of film toward understanding the life these women lived. Their attitude and sex appeal as we know it only disguised the reality of their life, tough working conditions and a career contingent of youth and beauty eventually leading these women to fall on hard times and in the end forgotten.

Good Book, what can I say? I was and am a fan and enjoyed the book.

Jeffery Buckner Ford has written a wonderful story of his journey as the son of Tennessee Ernie Ford. This is a must read for all of us who experienced his father's great musical talent on the radio and television. Jeffery describes the interesting business details of his father's career as well as his family's personal triumphs and heartaches. Jeffery makes you feel as though you are right there experiencing his life with him. The author tells the story with a heartfelt range of emotions from humor to saddness.Thanks Jeffery for writing about your interesting life as the son of Tennessee Ernie Ford.I will be buying the book for Christmas presents this year. I highly recommend this book to all of you!

What a talent! Its a shame he didn't have time for himself, or his wife. A very honest review of the life of Ernie Ford. For me there were several surprises in this book. It has to be placed in the "Must Read" catagory.

Reviewed by Carol Hoyer for Reader Views (7/08)

Jeffrey Buckner Ford has written an amazing book on the inside of his family's life from the beginning of his dad's start to fame to the downfall of the family. While most of us think that the rich and famous have no problems, Buck Ford shows us that is not true.

Tennessee Ernie Ford started his career as a radio announcer in Knoxville, Tennessee. As Buck recalls, his father always said he didn't go looking for fame; he just fell into the business. In 1942 he married Betty Ford and had planned on a quiet, simple life. Into the marriage came Buck and Brion Ford, who thought their family was the greatest. Although the boys did not always seem to fit up to their dad's standards, they still loved him greatly.

During the course of the marriage, Betty Ford became very friendly with the bottle; this gave her the courage to say the things she felt she should say without any apologies. Over the years her drinking would increase, she would abuse prescription pills and verbally lash out at anyone who stood in her way. Her behavior was never addressed in private or public. The relationship with her husband turned sour. After many suicide attempts and embarrassing behavior in public, it took its final toll.

Tennessee Ernie Ford was a kind gentleman; he had a style of his own and everyone wanted a piece of the action. Little did he know that his advisors were steering him in the wrong direction. After several failed businesses and selling his property, it finally got the best of him. After his wife died, he married Beverly Wood Smith, three months and ten days after burying Betty Ford. She was not what she portrayed to be. She immediately took over all Ernie Ford's business projects and left his sons without any knowledge of what she was doing. When Tennessee Ernie Ford died, she didn't even let them know where he would be buried.

"River of No Return" by Jeffrey Buckner Ford is a very interesting story if you like to know the personal background of the Ford family. It covers the ups and down's of a stars life. I personally thought it was well-written, easy-to-read and a page-turner. However, I would like to remember Tennessee Ernie Ford as the icon he was.

Ernest Jennings Ford was at heart a family man devoutly devoted to his wife and two sons. At the very peak of his Hollywood success, the man who will forever be known as "Tennessee Ernie" Ford, the radio character he created for himself, decided to walk away from all the glamour because of his concern for what the Hollywood lifestyle was doing to his family. The great irony of his life is that Ernie Ford would die in October 1991 under the care of a second wife who was determined to deny his two sons any part of his legacy, financial or otherwise, a woman who even tried to deny them access to their father's funeral.

In River of No Return, Jeffrey Buckner Ford, eldest of the Ford sons, mixes his fond memories of growing up next door to Bob Hope and of the several successful television series that his father hosted with sad recollections of how alcohol and pills ended up destroying both his parents. He speaks frankly of the addictions and dissatisfaction with her life that resulted in his mother's suicide after several earlier attempts had failed, and he speaks just as honestly of how his father failed to do the things that might have saved her life. Perhaps saddest of all is his disclosure of how Ernie Ford's decision to protect his sons by moving them from Hollywood was doomed to failure because of what the boys witnessed in their own home, wherever it might be located.

Betty Jean Heminger met Ernie Ford when he was stationed at Victorville Army Air Base in California, where she worked as a secretary; she was only nineteen years old when they married. Betty Jean, an avid reader and an accomplished artist, was at first content to be labeled simply an entertainer's wife but, as the years went by, she seemed to grow frustrated with her role, turning to alcohol and drugs to get through her day. Ernie and her sons sensed when she was losing control, but though they did their best to protect her from herself, they were not always successful. As the couple grew farther and farther apart, Ernie turned more often to alcohol to ease his own pain, a decision that would eventually lead to liver disease, severe memory loss, and ultimately his death.

But River of No Return is not just about the bad times. Jeffrey Buckner Ford celebrates the good times as well, and his pride in and love for both his parents are evident. He remembers the times when being around his parents was sheer joy, days spent on the set of his father's television shows, his brief encounter with Bob Hope when he crawled through the hedges dividing their property in order to sneak a picture of Mrs. Hope, whom the neighborhood boys insisted swam in the nude in her backyard, and days spent basking in "celebrity" as only the child of famous parents can.

Ernie Ford was a spectacularly successful entertainer, a man with the voice and talent to sing any style of music but who, almost by default due to his "Tennessee Ernie" image, became best known as a country music singer. At the peak of his career, he was world-famous and played to particularly large audiences in England. As so often happens to a singer, today he is probably best-known for a single recording, "Sixteen Tons," which in 1955 became the fastest selling single in the history of the record business. Ernie Ford received numerous honors during his career, but four of them particularly stand out because they reward his decades as an entertainer: the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1984, induction into the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1990 and the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1994, and three stars on the famous Hollywood Walk of Fame (one each for television, recordings and radio).

Jeffrey Buckner Ford presents the contrast between Ernie Ford's public success and the frustrating failures he experienced in private in what is often a conversationally ironic tone, an approach that makes the sadness of Ernie's life especially vivid. Longtime fans of Ernie Ford are certain to find River of No Return a gratifying experience despite its sad revelations about his personal life. Those not as familiar with Ford as a performer will likely read the book more as the cautionary tale it is but might, at the same time, find themselves compelled to investigate his musical history. They will be better off for having discovered why Ernie Ford is still considered to be an American music legend.

This unique book follows the Stones from their earliest years as a struggling band through their early fame, as recorded by photojournalist and Stones friend Bent Rej. Many of the photos are more intimate than the typical stuff shot of the band, because Rej knew the members. The book is chronologically arranged, with sections on each individual original member as well. The text is informative and serves as a good backdrop for the photos.

What amazes me is that this fifty dollar book is available on Amazon for under five bucks. What is everyone waiting for!? Jump all over this one.

fantastic book. Awesome pix of the Greatest Rock band ever!!! not enough WOW words to describe this book. Especially love the photos of my favortie musician ever Brian Jones!!

I AM ALWAYS INTERESTED IN THE EARLY STAGES OF ROCK'N'ROLLBANDS I.E. THE BEATLES,STONES AND THE WHO.
THIS BOOK IS A KEEPER FOR ME; WITH GREAT PHOTOS AND INFORMATION OF THE STONES.IF YOUR LOOKING FOR A TREASURE TROVE OF EARLY STONES PHOTOS YOU HAVE TO GET THIS BOOK!

Este libro contiene hermosas y documentadas fotografias de los Stones durante el periodo 65 y 66 en momentos que gracias a su single Satisfaction acaparaban la atenciòn mundial. El acceso exclusivo que tenia el Danes Bent Rej como fotografo permite conocer la intimidad de cada uno de ellos, como grupo y por separado ( llama la atencion el hogar de Brian Jones con su coleccion de discos de vinilo).
Los anexos a cada fotografia estan escritos por Rej o por parte de la banda, un libro con tapa dura y hermosa presentciòn. Lo recomiendo escuchado la discografia 65 al 66, de seguro te transportaras a otra epoca, a una donde la vida era màs sencilla y donde la historia era entregada por el rock y guitarras.

Bent certainly captured the uniqueness of Brian Jones and his Stones in this collection. Much humor was filmed that many can say is absolutely priceless! Especially Mr. Jones camping in his undergarments. Those were the days!

At the Last Supper, steamed mutton was served, along with bread and wine; during which time, Jesus of Nazareth delivered his well-known "Eat My Flesh" sermon, which begins, "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man, and drink his blood, you have no life in you..." (John 6:51-56). Here, then, is the single most famous metaphysical conundrum in all of Christian theology: When the Twelve ate the flesh of Jesus that night, and drank his blood, was that literal? or only figurative?

Protestants say it was just a metaphor. Catholics say no, they really did it, the Twelve really did drink Jesus' blood and eat his flesh.

Since the fifteenth century, millions of Christians have been killed by their brothers in Christ in the endless quest to discover which answer - literal? or figurative? - is the correct one.

Jesus said: "My flesh is meat indeed, and my blood is drink indeed" (John 6:56). If his meaning were perfectly clear from the outset, and not ambiguous, Christians would not have had to kill one another over it. Some readers suppose that Jesus was just kidding: it has been noted that this is the same fellow who said, "Zeal, for the House of God, hath eaten me up" (John 2:17) - which sounds like something that could only happen in a novel by Stephen King; and it could not have been literal, or Jesus could not have said it, because by that time he would already have been bitten off, chewed up, and swallowed by Mr. Zeal.

Turning to the Old Testament, we find that whenever Yahveh forced His chosen people to eat the "meat" or "flesh" of human children, which was quite often, whether they liked it or not, He never allowed them to drink the children's blood (Deut. 28:53-57, Lev. 26:29, 2 Kings 6:26-29, Jer. 19:9, Ezek. 5:10, Lam, 4:10). So the Protestants, who usually have a batting average of about 50% on theological issues, may seem, once again, be half-right on the transubstantiation controversy: the Eucharist may be the literal meat of Jesus' flesh, but not his literal blood. And yet, if I had to place a bet after reading Vinny Flynn's book, I'd go with the Catholics. History has shown that the Catholics usually have better arguments, and the Protestants, better weapons. Flynn's book is a case in point.

Indeed, in this amazing Tell-All book about the Eucharist, Vinny Flynn not only settles the debate, he reveals things I never knew before, and things that most Protestants never even imagined possible. "Secret #1: The Eucharist is alive" (p.7 ff.). You'll never hear THAT from a Protestant pulpit! And when your average Protestant finds out the truth, he will be shocked, I guarantee it--not unlike some rock star (Marilyn Manson is a case in point) who believes he's been eating a chicken sandwich, or KFC original recipe, only to discover he has just bitten off the head from a live chicken.

Flynn saves the most startling disclosure for last. "Secret #7: There's no limit!" (p. 81). When you attend Catholic Mass or Protestant communion, you are allowed to eat as many bites of the body of Christ, and to take as many swigs of his blood, as you can eat and drink, until you feel stuffed. Flynn writes: "When I announce this secret during a talk, I usually pause and look around to see how people are reacting. I get some strange looks. Some people even shake their heads as if to say, 'That's not true!'" (pp. 81-2).

A bonus secret appears in the Afterword, which is something that you almost never hear spoken from either Protestants OR Catholics: the Eucharist can be tasty as well: Vinny Flynn refers to the bread and wine of the Mass as "Father Hal's Grits!" (p. 103). (Father Hal was "a wonderful Jesuit priest from New Orleans," albeit with the suspiciously Jewish-sounding name, "Harold Cohen," and yet he walked to church every morning for his "Jesus Grits" (p. 104). "Once greedy for grits, Fr. Hal now became greedy for grace, and the prayer most often on his lips was 'More, Lord, more!" (p. 104).

There is an important lesson to be learned from these secrets: Church attendance by professed Catholics has dropped from 40% a quarter-century ago, to 15% today. That's a catastrophic decline. In March 2006, the Vatican disclosed the secret that Muslims now outnumber Catholics worldwide. This loss in the membership rolls has made it increasingly difficult for the Church to compensate victims of clerical sex abuse. Flynn's book therefore drives home an important point: if the Church wants to meet its financial obligations, we had better find new ways to make people cry out, with Father Hal, "More Lord, more!"

What the world needs today--in Protestant no less than in Catholic churches--is a better recipe for the Eucharist. The Protestants on this score do no better than the Catholics. In America's evangelical Protestant churches, which is most of them, they don't even give you bread and wine, they give you fragments of Saltine crackers, or diced white Wonder Bread, along with a shot-glass of Welch's Grape Juice.

Last Saturday, at St. Martin of Tours Catholic Church in Martinsville, Indiana, I attended a pancake breakfast. The food was heavenly. Those folks have the right idea! If the Pope is serious about catching up with the Muslims, he should stop quoting John 6:51-56. The church marquee should read: MORNING MASS! TRUE GRITS!

- L.

This is a great book to renew or discover an appreciation for the Blessed Sacrament.

This book gives a simple yet profound explanation of the Eucharist. Although thought provoking, it is easy and relaxed reading. It is truly a book you will read over and over again!

If you are a Director of Catholic faith there can be no greater gift that you can purchase for your teachers as the 7 Secrets of the Eucharist. This book makes you take a complete look at yourself and the way that you previously celebrated the Eucharist. You will never beable to celebrate the Eucharist like you did before you read about the 7 Secrets of the Eucharist. This book is a must for all catholic families.

I purchased this book for myself and after reading I purchased extra copies as a Christmas gift for all of my Catechist.

I love the book. But I'm sure the author knows more secrets. It's interesting that a book like this should eminate from a layman.-- Not surprising but interesting. Give us more, more more.
Jack