F. Murray Abraham Books

This coffin box Set Is a great addition to a collection of vampire Memorabilia . Open the lid (flap) to see who is inside. you can pick who is in the coffin, One is the child vampire and the other a dark haired male vampire.

Anne Rice is the best modern writer on vampires. I have read them all and she rocks. The coolest scenarios and she reads like an intelligent airport paperback book writer. Her writing goes down easy like a comic book. I have written a book on vampires too if you are interested. It's called Seamus and Emer. It's available on Amazon so take a look. Good Luck! Bye Bye!

... a fine set of Vampire Chronicles by Anne Rice. What a refreshing point of view and burning light to see vampires in. Rice gives us vampires with feelings - why shouldn't a vampire feel joy, pain and regret? Yes, bottom line is they are merciless killers, but this is the all-too often typecast image of vampires that Hollywood likes to betray. These immortals don't just sweep in with a dramatic flare of their capes (most of the time they don't even wear one), kill then leave - we experience their agony, hunger, happiness and turmoil before and after each kill. Anne Rice gives us so much more - imagine YOUR fears, regrets and hopes from your lifetime spread over an eternity. Would you really want immortality? What is right and what is wrong? Good and evil? The devil and God? Leave your humdrum life behind for a while and bury yourself (literally) in a world of fascinating, real characters in sumtuous, historic or sordid surroundings. Enjoy, but remember to put the lid back across when you're finished...

I would have preferred to have been able to buy these audio books on cd; however, they were unavailable. Since I had read them all so long ago, it was time to delve back into them. Buying audio books to bring on vacation, was the perfect idea! (I didn't have to worry about getting any suntan lotion on the pages!)

I knew about Anne Rice, but I had never read any of her books before. I read Interview With The Vampire, and I couldn't put it down! It's one of the best books I've ever read. Now I'm reading the whole set. It was great!

Classic Plays is what audio theater ought to be.

producer/director Yuri Rasovsky proves he is an audio showman and this is a showcase for his great talents in the audio medium. These spoken works function so well in the audio medium with the scholarly manuscripts, astonishing period music and the sumptuous cast.

Such names in the cast of these plays include John Glover (Smallville), Tony and Emmy winner Fritz Weaver, Barry Morse (Space 1999),Oscar Winner F. Murray Abraham. They lends their voices to these classic achievements.

Those who currently say there are mostly DREK in the audio marketplace, needs to have our teenage children be exposed to these pieces of audio history.

Yuri, you did good! And these productions will stand the test of time

Bennet Pomerantz AUDIOWORLD

I love this book it is so interesting and the characters seem so powerful and somewhat sexy. I couldn't put this book down, I read it all in one sitting. Everyone who loves vampires should read this and all the rest of The Vampire Chronicles. If you like this book you will also enjoy Love Returns Through The Portal of Time

If you like vampire stories, this is the vampire story of the stories! I love Anne Rice's writing and would sugest all her books in a heart beat!

The "Interview with the Vampire", is a title that literally goes with this epic life story of a vampire named Louis. Anne Rice re-writes her own version of vampire tale. Filled with love, betrayal, loneliness, and a never before felt hunger, a young plantation owner named Louis is turned into a vampire who is distraught after losing his brother and giving up on life himself. The vampire Lestat who gives him the choice to die being nearly drained of all his blood or as he states "drink from me and live forever", takes Louis under his wing, teaching him of what he knows when Louis makes the choice to drink.



This whole book is about one man interviewing Louis as he has grown to be a vampire that is 200 years old. Louis tells of all that was changed when his rebirth took place and how his new broadened senses brought him to see the world as he had never seen or experienced it before. As Louis is taught by Lestat, he is to feed off of living creatures and their blood in order to have strength and survive. Louis chooses to stick with feeding off animals for a while, and is later bended by Lestat to accepting his "Killer" nature and begins to get used to feeding off humans.



Louis later in the story makes the mistake of feeding of a young child and then Lestat turns her into their vampire "daughter". Her real name is never revealed but Lestat decides to name her Claudia. Louis at first does not agree with this act, but begins to love and care for her as if they were family. Claudia becomes a fast expert at her new life and is just the cute and innocent looking little girl for the job. This is a great book to take a bite out of, and I myself did not want to put it down and the ending was definitely worth the wait.

I'm not sure if this book was any good or not. I haven't finished it. I couldn't. I never thought there would be a book that I couldn't finish, no matter how bad. I could never leave a book unfinished...until I read this. It bored the pants off me. It's still sitting on my bookshelf right now. Vampires are a very interesting subject...when Anne Rice isn't writing about them. Probably not worth the $0.29 my friend paid for it at Half-Price Books.

People are going to hate me for this review, I know it. This book started the WAHHHmpire genre. Thank you, for not writing about vampires anymore, Anne!
So, it's a vampire's life story. A very whiny life story. I don't know why everyone is so gaga over this book, because it actually....SUCKS!
Horrible pun intended.
The pace will quicken and you'll be flipping pages only to have it return to a sloth's crawl.
The characters blend into each other and muse pointlessly about existence.
Also, where's the eroticism I keep hearing about? J have read this series many times hoping to deepen my appreciation fot the VC. Hasn't worked yet.

Although the book is a bit dated, it is still a fun book to read. I thought he presented a somewhat plausible initial scenario to explain the reason for the war. Too often in wartime books the "why" aspect is completely ignored in favor of excessive heroics and impossible scenarios. What was nice about this book is that the initial "why" played a pivotal role throughout the story. It wasn't a war just for the sake of war.

It was also good for bringing back the old cold-war jingoistic feelings. During some of the more intense parts of the book I couldn't help but think "U-S-A, U-S-A!"

Additionally, the "bad guys" aren't simply bad guys. There is a sense of humanity on both sides of this conflict that made it more interesting than just a plain war book. I've read it more than once and one day when I'm bored I will probably pick it up again.

It's a great airplane/vacation book. It's broken up enough that you can pick it up and put it down often, without losing what is going on in the story. And it's long enough that you won't finish it on one plane flight.

I bought this book right after I reported to Germany in 1987. Wow, what a read. Like a few others said, it did start a little slow but it didn't take long to cause me sleepless nights getting through it. Never strayee from my mind when I was pulling duty up on the East German border or reacting to an alert, going to the ammo point and drawing a combat load of ammo for who nknew what?? Riveting book, made me feel like I was in it. Old school combat for us old school soldiers. Buy it now, maggot! Then drop and give me 20 pages!

Probably one of the best of Clancy's books, before he went into mass production of hyper-chauvinistic fantasy pulp fiction.

I'd admit it. I used to love this book when I was like 13. Now I'm 21. 8 or so years of military amateurism and general maturity growth has changed my view. It is with the latter heart that I write this.

First, Clancy's strength - Technical. Superficially, it looks good, but closer looks suggest otherwise. If there's a fuzz zone (particularly common in Cold War texts), it is used for NATO's benefit. Soviet subs have no towed arrays, fighters have no IRSTs, tanks don't have dedicated loaders (autoloading or human) nor ammo that can penetrate early M1s (DU-armored tanks are years in the future). NATO of course has deadly fire control, God's-eye-view, near unjammable Intel assets .... etc. All of it adds up until the real miracle is that the Soviets are advancing at all. This is not only UNrealistic, but does nothing to promote exciting battles where all have a real chance.

Tactics. Kinda same as Technical. NATO made maybe 2 "real" mistakes without being made to pay the full price. The Soviets slowly fritter advantages away, and in contrived ways. Western theory holds that the Soviets lack of initiative will hurt them. Clancy seems to agree. Fine, let's see how it is implemented.

1) 3rd Shock Army schedules an attack. The commander of the Western TVD fires 3rd Shock commander for lack of progress. Instead of just sticking to the plan and attacking at the scheduled time, the deputy does not give the call. This is, actually, an act of initiative (though utterly stupid), and of course it buys the Germans a chance to counterattack.

2) A Soviet motor-rifle division NEARLY blows a hole through the American lines. An extra regiment is required. The only one close by happens to an OMG unit, and thus unmovable without talking to Moscow. Alekseyev mutters about Soviet inflexibility. This is not Soviet inflexibility, guys. If an American formation was declared out of bounds by the Pentagon, American commanders will be equally forbidden to move it. This is contrived stupidity to delay the attack, allow the Americans to reinforce, and wipe out the rest of the motorized rifle division and the tank regiment.

3) A division rushes through a hole in the advance. They fight their way towards bridges. A short-sighted Sov regimental commander calls for artillery to fire ON the bridges to stop the NATO escapees. In Soviet theory, he should only have direct and rapid access to his regimental arty group (a battalion of light howitzers). Soviet centralization should at least stop his stupidity at that level, since the divisional arty would be under divisional control, especially since they have their own fire missions already assigned and executing. But of course, the Soviets CAN'T be given that advantage, so divisional arty drops its own fire missions and fires on the bridge with rockets.

This stuff adds up, and the Soviets are defeated. Is anyone shocked?

Characterization: Cardboard cutouts. Protagonists are at best one and a half dimensional, goody-goody personalities. Subprotagonists like Sgt Mackall (commander of an Invincible M1 Tank) are maybe zero dimensional. Worst of all, you quickly get the idea they won't die. So much for sympathizing with them.

Conclusion: Read this off the library. Then read something like "Red Army".

I have just recently re-read this book (the first go around was back in high school, some 15 years ago) and I was once again enthralled by the extremely vivid descriptions and very tense environments created in this book.

Red Storm Rising describes a scenario for World War Three, between the Soviet Union and NATO. Keep in mind this was written in the mid 1980's, when the Soviet Union was still alive and kicking. The scenario is very well thought out, well researched and developed, and somewhat plausible. The political machinations of the Soviet Politburo prior to the conflict is described, as are the military preparations and the justifications for starting the war.

The character development necessarily must focus on only a small handful of characters in the book, but I did not think that was a detriment, because to flesh out several dozen characters would have made the book 2000 pages long, which I'm sure nobody would be brave enough to read. Of course, if you want to read this book, it's probably because you enjoy books about war in general and understand at least a little bit about tactics and strategy, but if you're looking for an easy to digest read with complex characters, you're going to be disappointed. If you're looking for a taut, suspenseful, well-written thriller, than I definitely recommend this book.

Even though it's a long read, it's well worth it.

The mask, the music, the dark mysteries, and the tortured, deformed genius who just wants love. "The Phantom of the Opera" is so well known that its story needs no explanation.

But Gaston Leroux's novel is still a spellbinding experience, full of atmospheric horror, a sense of gothic mystery, and lushly evocative language. But its crown jewel is Erik: a magnificently tortured anti-hero who inspires more horror, pity and sympathy than the rather flat hero and heroine.

The Paris opera house is said to be haunted by a ghost with a "death's head," who demands a small salary and a reserved box. Despite the sightings and fears of ballerinas and stagehands, the new managers are determined to stamp out this ridiculous story -- despite threatening letters and increasing accidents that happen around them.

Meanwhile, budding diva Christine Daae is taking Paris by storm, although nobody quite knows who taught her how to sing. And when her childhood friend Viscount Raoul de Chagny pays her a visit, he hears a passionate exchange between her and a man -- but there's no man there. She credits her new vocal abilities to the Angel of Music, but of course, that self-same Angel is the opera ghost.

As the Phantom becomes even more attached to Christine, Raoul soon finds that the ghost is actually a half-mad, horribly deformed musical genius named Erik -- and that after Christine saw his true face, he made her become engaged to him. The young lovers plan to run away together, but the "Angel of Music" isn't about to allow his beloved Christine to leave him...

Apparently there actually were some odd events -- including rumours of an opera ghost -- happening when Gaston Leroux began writing "The Phantom of the Opera." And it's a credit to his imgination that he was able to spin a some odd facts into a harrowing, heartbreaking love triangle that's based on music, obsession, adoration, and a bit of pity. And, of course, a frighteningly sympathetic "villain."

Admittedly the style is very "penny dreadful": melodramatic and overloaded on prose. But Leroux's talent shines through -- he drapes the book in a haunted atmosphere, full of snowy graveyards, dark opera backstages and underground labyrinths, all with Erik's presence hovering over it. The plot is mostly a slow, satiny procession toward the inevitable blowup, but Leroux does tinge it with scenes of romantic drama, a feeling of dread, one shocking action scene, and even some quirky humour at times.

And Leroux's writing is simply astounding as he describes the corpselike appearance of Erik ("... tore his terrible dead flesh with my nails") and his "death's" head appearance at the party. But he also excels at the more poignant moments -- Erik's final, rambling monologue to Christine after she kisses him is heartbreakingly clumsy and saddening.

Though Christine and Raoul are the hero and heroine of the book, they're actually kind of flat. Erik is the real star -- an arrogant genius who is also pitifully lonely. And insane. Despite his crazed behavior -- which results in at least two deaths -- it's hard not to feel sympathy for someone cursed with such a ghastly appearance, and so starved for human contact that a single kiss changes his life ("... he tried to catch my eye, like a dog sitting by its master").

Despite being a bit overblown in the style of its time, "The Phantom of the Opera" is a triumph of atmosphere, horror, and one of the most memorably sympathetic "villains" that you can find on the shelves. Magnificent.

I read this novel for the first time about 4 years ago and I knew then I just had to teach it. I've been using this particular translation in my 8th grade classroom for the past 3 years because, in my opinion, it is the best one out there. The language is beautiful, and there is so much that can be analyzed and discussed. I look forward to teaching it every year! Each year the students whine when I give them such a long book, but when they have finished it, they admit that it was actually good! Then when we compare it to the 2004 Andrew Lloyd Webber film, almost all of them say that the book was much better!
This novel is also great to read for fun. There is something for everyone because Leroux includes a bit of everything -- horror, murder, obsession, romance, melodrama, mystery, suspense, tragedy, action, history, gothic elements, supernatural elements... There is a convoluted plot that twists and turns, and Leroux successfully reveals just enough information to keep you reading. In the end, all is explained and the reader is amazed at how Leroux was able to weave together such an interesting cast of characters and a complicated plot.
The setting adds to the story. What setting could be more interesting than an underground lair that is on the edge of a subterranian lake beneath the famous Paris Opera House?
Character development is fantastic and the readers clearly see how Christine could be torn between her love for Raoul and her love for the phantom, Erik. Because Leroux portrays Erik as a very complex character, the reader will have a difficult time answering the question of "Should Erik be pitied or cursed?"
I highly recommend this book!

Some of my students were asking questions about the book that I was reading. It was Gaston Laroux's, The Phantom of the Opera.
A few tried to read it when I was finished, but many of the references were lost to fourth graders. I ordered this one and they love it! Now, they want me to buy the young reader editions of all the books I read.

This review is about the book the Phantom of the Opera I hope you like it.In the early years of the phantoms life's he was s beaten and jeered at home,how could the phantom get away.

The only way for a getaway the phantom could see was to run away.One day the phantom [who always wears a mask] went into a freak show and was offered a job.His act was called The Living dead boy.He soon made himself star.

He was one day asked to perform for a king!The living dead boy performs so well that he and and the boy become friends [or so he thought].One day he heard the king talking to a guard telling him to kill the phantom.The phantom got out as fast as he could.

The phantom was now called The phantom of the opera.The phantom of the opera now lives in a opera.He is feared and because of this he gets money and free seats.[He is feared because people think he's a phantom. He soon falls in love for a girl who sings in the opera.

The phantom at the opera soon finds out that the girl loves someone else this makes the the phantom of the opera almost kill the girl's love and blow-up the opera house but, he comes to his senses and let the lover go and does not blow up the opera house but his love for the girl kills him in the end.

I like this book and I recommend it to people who like good books that keep them guessing till the end.So get this book, don't come home with out the phantom of the opera.

(I am 14 years old) The Phantom of the Opera in the Modern Library version was much better than the 2004 film. I loved the film but then I wanted more so I read this. Gaston Leroux characterizes the Erik (The Phantom) so differently from the Don Juan-ish charcter in the film. Erik is just searching and longing for someone to love him as himself, he's not overly lustful or seducing as in the movie. He also isn't attractive beyond his face, but more described by some as a "living corpse." This new idea about Erik made my parents approve of the book more than the movie (they haven't read the book but they said that Erik was too "creepy" in the movie). I love how Leroux tells it as almost a documentary or a report, I haven't read a book told like that before. Although it seems that it would be so much more descriptive and attention holding if he told it as if he were there. Nonetheless I am very satisfied with this book and I will re-read it in the future! I highly recommend this book to adventure/love/suspense/not-so-gruesome horror story lovers! Enjoy!

I found this 'classic' slow and distasteful. I could not identify with any of the characters and did not like a single one, except for possibly Mr. Lockwood, whom the story is being told to. The one redeeming quality was the death of the 'hero,' that his charges may have peace.

I used express delivery and it left the warehouse the same day I ordered it and I received it promptly. Thank you for an exceptional sale. I will do this again.

Haven't had a chance to read the book yet. But, it looks like it will be a great read. The book came as promised. It is a paperback - but a high quality one. If you are looking for this classic, I do recommend this printing.

I have very mixed feelings about this book. While it's a beautiful book, and I will probably read it again, I could not stand the story! All of the characters are horrible people, in my opinion, and the only thing that kept me from throwing the book across the room was the last two chapters. If I had not had to read this for class, I would not have finished it at all - though I am certainly glad I did finish it.

If you're looking to read the Classics, definitely do read this. Same goes for if you're looking to read a classic romance, or one of the Gothic classics. However, if you're looking for a "good" book, one that will leave you happy or going "aww," you're at the wrong book.

I was kind of skeptical of this book in the beginning, after all, a book that has like three generations of families, half of them with the same name is really confusing. In addition, it seemed that I could find any good characters in this book. Even the main character has faults that I would look down upon. This book centers around the revenge of the main character Heathcliff. After trudging along several chapters I found this book to be quite interesting.

This book incorporates a lot of gothic elements within the book. Emily Bronte conveys a deep horror and arouses our morbid curiosity with this. One will find many supernatural elements and suspenseful atmosphere within this book, and even a ghost! Because Bronte writes this book through the eyes of several characters, it is hard to judge the objectivity of the story, forcing readers to determine for themselves whether or not certain actions were justified. In the retellings through one character who used to care for Heathcliff's lover, she consistently paints him as the antagonist, emphasizing his faults and his actions against the family. This makes the book that much more interesting to read.

The story of Wuthering Heights is a really complicated love story that focuses mainly on Heathcliff and Catherine Earnshaw. Through Bronte's appeal to pathos, she is able to convey and build up the romance between Heathcliff and Catherine. When she dies, Heathcliff, literally becomes a monster mentally, and Bronte applies this to a figurative level, describing him as a monster too. This also reveals the inner turmoil he experiences upon her death.

Emily Bronte definitely writes on par with her sister Charlotte Bronte. Emily's work on Wuthering Heights, with her use of pathos and figurative language definitely makes it a classical gothic romance novel with a novel storyline.

It is a beautifully written book that is full of human emotion from the seemingly cold and calculating Heathcliff. After the death of Catherine he burns for revenge. It is a great book, one just needs to get through the first couple of chapter to realize this. The conclusion is also satisfactory and provides for a good release of tension and an epiphany-like ending.

I find this book to be a good read, because it has some adult themes, I would not exactly advise little kids to read it, but I am sure that anyone who appreciates literature would be "wowed" and amazed by this book. Give it a chance, and you will find that this book is worth every single penny!

I rally did like this move, I love the Muppets but, I was very surprised that they said Gonzo is an alien. Only because I remember the Jim Henson movie, "The Great Santa Claus Switch" (1970, I was born until '82 but have still seen this movie). This is the FIRST time Gonzo was ever featured. Anyway, in that movie they say he is a Frackel (no not Fraggle) he was a bit of an outsider to the Frackles because he did not have the trademark large teeth, and lived in a cigar box. It's said that Jim Henson liked the little outsider so much he added him as a permanent cast.
So..what is Gonzo....

Jim Henson is sorely missed.

A "Muppets in Space" segment within a half-hour Muppet Show repeat has more laughs. I actually could not believe the violence (including a karate chop to the groin) in a Muppet entertainment. In typical modern movie fashion, there were even men with automatic weapons running around.

This is a Hollywood bastardization of family feel-good quality entertainment that Jim Henson always strived for. Henson would definitely not have approved.

A talented supporting cast is wasted, as well.

We end up not really caring about anyone in this very thinly-plotted disaster. I saw this today on HBO, and frankly stopped paying attention after 45 minutes.

A huge disappointment to someone who could not miss a weekly Muppet Show episode when he was growing up. This movie is simply not that funny.

You just have to love the genius of Jim Henson. This movie brought back fond memories of my childhood. It's true the movie star cameos can be cheesey but they are funny and just add to the movies charm. If you are a Muppet fan you have to have this movie to complete your collection.

Good for all ages. You can't go wrong with the Muppets.

The story is cute and has some pretty good SFX too. But what idiot is still chopping widescreen movies down to fullscreen??!

This is quite a book by an obviously gifted author. It is not, in my opinion, as great as the vast majority of the people who have contributed reviews here seem to think. This is the story of a town, a people, and a family that I hope is NOT representative of the South American experience. The story is difficult to maintain a grip on because of the confusion caused by giving the same name to multiple characters. There are over 20 characters with the name Aureliano. I found depressing the way the story seems to continually turn back on itself, the way the characters keep repeating not only their own mistakes, but the mistakes of their forebearers as well. Everybody and everything ultimately lived a meaningless, pointless, depraved, and stupid life. There was no one and no thing to love in this book. Everyone and everything was poisoned from the start. Even the parts that many seem to have found humor in were usually rooted in tragedy or were the consequence of one characters cruelty to another.

Garcia Marquez is a masterful writer as I have stated earlier. He has told a story that is intelligent, beautiful, and moving while being dumb, ugly, and disgusting. This book was not an easy read, but once started it compelled to be completed.