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I have read this book and My Girl. I absolutly looove these books, and the movies are great too. I love reading the books and I won't ever set that book down, literally. Vada is such a cool girl and the book gives her a unique outsider taste to her. She is such and interesting girl and this book is the greatest book written to come for centuries!

I loved this book. It is adventourous,romantic, exciting, and partially sad. It was a 4 tissue story. The book is about a girl who is writing a report and has to find out information about her mother who died after Vada, the girl, was born. It was a great story. I think anyone that likes to search for new things and enjoys a little mushyness would enjoy this story.

A project another project, but this one is about someone she knew nothing about. Vada Sultenfuss is in English and the day is almost over. In the last few minutes of class, she was told that she had to do a project. When the teacher asked who she was going to do it on she said she would do it on her mother.When she sais that, the class was silent. The next week was spring break, so she wanted to go to L.A. to see if she could find anything out about her mother's life. After, finally persuading her dad to let her go, she was of to L.A. When, she got to the airport she was supposed to find a boy named Nick who would take her to her uncle. Lucky for her she finds him. Unlucky for her he has a bad attitude. Nevertheless, the two of them get a taxi and are off to her uncle's house. For the next five days of her search for information about her mother, nothing but misfortune cane her way. These adventures create an enjoyablebook that I think any girl who likes adventures will have trouble putting it down until the last page.

I just LOVE this book! A great sequal to the first book. It's mainly about a thirteen year old girl, Vada Sultenfuss, who has been assigned to do a project on someone she admires but never really met. Naturally, she chooses her mother, who died because of birth complications. Her dad's an undertaker, who remarried to Shelly, the lady that does the make up on the...uh, deceased people. Now Shelly's pregnant. It's not one of those fairytale stories, where Shelly's the evil wicked fairy stepmother, or anything. Really. Vada actually likes Shelly, but has mixed feelings about it. She doesn't mind there's a baby, but she feels bad about the fact that she'll have to give up her room, something her mom had chosen. Another thing is that she's afraid that Shelly might die too. In the mean time, she has her new friend Judy to think about, whose currently dating the oh-so-cool-and-totally-snott-faced...(drumroll, please)Kevin Phillips. Soon, she decides to go to L.A., her mothers bithplace, to find out more for her report. Once there, she meets up with her Uncle Phil, his girlfriend, and his almost stepson, Nick. It starts out as a bribery thing, really, with Uncle Phil paying Nick five bucks to take Vada from the airport, and ten to take her around the place. Vada finds Nick incredibly disagreeable and wonders why he tags along anyway, if he dislikes her so much. She finds out more about her mother, though usually dissapointing bits, but eventually confides in Nick pretty many things, such as her mood ring and Thomas J.They become friends, really good friends. Really, REALLY good friends. Dare I say, a little more? Then, she finds out about some guy her mother had already been married to, and begins to worry that this Jeffery Pommery guy could actually be her father. She finds out once she meets him, though, that she's wrong. Totally, completely, embarrassingly wrong. She even got to keep a vidio tape of her mother singing and acting. So, in one little Spring Vacation, she finds out about her mother, gets her ear pierced(barbaric customs, Nick calls it) and gets a sort of couisin, once Phil proposes. Not that they want to be couisins, they'd rather be... well, Vada doesn't say, but you know. Now, at the airport, she gets her first kiss. Second, actually, afterall, Thomas J. kissed her first in the first book, but that's another story. Anyway, guess who does it? Nick, of course. On her way back on the airplane, she finds a tiny box with the chandeleir earrings that she wanted, along with a note saying, "In memory of barbaric customs. Love, Nick." Intrigued by the "love" part? Too bad for you, that's basically the last we ever heard of Nick. Once home, she rushes to the hospital to find that she is now a sister. Stepsister. Whatever, you know what I'm talking about. I'm not about to tell you the end- okay, I already told you most of it, but still, it's REALLY worth reading!! Since most people will probably see how long this review is, they'll probably skip it. Well, there goes twenty minutes writing to a waste. Oh well. Just one last thing: YOU...MUST...READ...THIS...BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I love this book. The minute I started reading it, I could not put it down. Tonight I am renting the movie. I can't wait! I am going to read the first My Girl next. I heard that was really good also. I'll let you know how I like it.

Stephen King did a good thing by writing this book.The charcters and cast
are wonderful, This is one of my all time favorite, what goes on behind the walls of a prision.

After reading 85 novels, I finally read a Stephen King story. My friend who encouraged me to start reading had been after me to read him for awhile. I am really glad that I did. He is a great story teller and kept me in the story even when I wasn't reading it. As I have said before, a good writer is someone who can paint a vivid picture in the reader's mind's eye. This is done here in painting a picture of life in Shawshank Prison, Maine. This a great story of one man's strength to survive against all odds; we can all learn from this. It certainly should be told to all those who would think of breaking the law.

"Stand by me" - this is the most important sentence in the novel The Body written by Stephen King. The novel is about the natural and deep sense of friendship. Four boys are keen on experience an adventure, they take a long way to see a dead body in the forests of Maine. Alone on the way of excitement and fear, they are between childhood and adulthood. The story is easy to read and also to understand.

Reta hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption, was a great short story by stephen king. I enjoyed reading this book and even watching the movie. I was suprised how much the book grabed my attention and how I didn't ever put it down.

I recently watched both "The Shawshank Redemption" (with Tim Robbins and Morgan Freeman) and "Stand By Me" (with River Phoenix, Jerry O'Connell, Wil Wheaton and Corey Feldman) and this prompted me to dig out my old copy of Different Seasons. Most people are surprised when they learn that those movies were based on novellas by horror master, Stephen King, but he shows that he's not just into scaring the heck out of you.

The story cycle bases one novella per season, and each follows characters on a journey, whether it's one of hope, descent into corruption, coming of age, or life through offspring.

"Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption" takes place over decades, as a prison inmate retains his spirit and soul, while breathing life into a dark institution, and whose patient nature finally leads him to freedom. The story is told in first person from the point of view of old Red, the guy who can get you things, about Andy Dufresne, a young banker jailed for the murder of his wife and her lover.

One of King�s great strengths is creating a believable voice for his characters, and as you read this tale, it is like Red is talking to you. Other King strengths are providing back story and creating a world in which these characters live, one with a past, present and future, and it makes them three dimensional. One of King�s flaws is going off on tangents and digressions a bit too often, but he always comes back to the story.

�The Body� (basis for �Stand By Me�) is a coming of age story about four small town boys on the cusp of entering Junior High School. On the Friday before Labor Day, they set off to find the body of a missing boy. One of the four boys, Vern Tessio, overheard his brother talking to a friend about the dead body.

The characters fall into several categories: Gordon LaChance, who narrates the story as an adult, is the dreamer/writer whose older brother died earlier that year. Chris Chambers is athletic, tough but smart. wise beyond his years and the white sheep in a family of black sheep. Teddy Duchamp is the psycho wiseguy who wears thick glasses and hearing aids as the result of his war veteran father putting his head to a stove. Vern Tessio is the least intelligent, but plays a key symbolic part as the one tells the others about the body and also is the first to spot it.

Along their journey, the boys encounter adventures, such as Milo Pressman the junkyard operator and his dog, Chopper. There is a run across a high trestle as a train bears down on them, a swim in a culvert full of leeches, and a night in the dark woods with screaming wild animals. When they eventually reach the boys, they have a run in with a group of teenage hoods from their town. A major difference from the movie, is that this story details the aftermath of the confrontation after the boys return to town.

King does a nice balancing act with his adult narrative and pre-adolescent dialogue, making each voice unique and fleshing out each boy�s character to make them multi-dimensional. All four experience growth, but Gordon and Chris take this growth with them as they get older. Don�t let people drag you down. There�s a lot more to this story than just kids looking for a dead body.
My bumps here are again that King goes off on tangents and digressions, some to fill in background and history for the characters, but sometimes really straying far from the course. At one point he takes nearly a page to say that someone is dead, where �The kid was dead. The kid wasn�t sick, the kid wasn�t sleeping.� Would probably have sufficed.

I won�t go into a lot of detail about the other two stories. �Apt Pupil� is about a boy who discovers a Nazi war criminal living in his town, and blackmails the old man into telling him stories about the war in exchange for not blowing the whistle on him. The stories the boy hears slowly lead him into senseless acts of violence. In �The Breathing Woman� a �disgraced woman is determined to triumph over death.�

These four stories combine to make an interesting cycle, and demonstrate that Stephen King has writing talents that stretch beyond his horror work.

Derek Rydall talks about the ideas in his book on my spiritual entertainment talk show in a way that shows he's living the message in every fiber of his being. Reading his book renews my passion and confidence for my personal dream and vision of shining as a real light. He reminds me of my divinity and power in this magical play of life. He explains "oneness" like I've never grasped it before. He reveals the most important "it's who you know" metaphysical truth in Hollywood. He reminds me of my higher purpose and now I have a much deeper meaning to my work in television, and I'm able to articulate it to others so I can touch and awaken all those who cross my path on this beautiful journey. He enables us all to be true healers through the entertainment medium as we perform the real work of remembering and awakening wholeness in every heart on the planet. -- Tamara Henry, MA, Producer/Host, IN with Tamara Henry, Santa Monica News Anchor

In his second book, Derek Rydall attempts to provide an antidote for the cynicism, greed and rampant sociopathic tendencies which plague the entertainment industry. To counter these, he exhorts people to become `enlightened entertainers', who see the entertainment industry as a force for Good and who live their lives accordingly. A tall order, perhaps, but in the book he provides all the necessary information in order to set out on this journey of the soul.
Rydall starts off with the basics: identifying what enlightened entertainment is, and why audiences need it. He also provides the basic tools needed for the journey: types of meditation and soul-searching exercises. Next up is the big picture, a look at the realities of show business and the spiritual world, and how these contrast and (possibly) interact. Changing the business is something which can only happen one person at a time, so the rest of the book is devoted to developing the character of the reader. First on the purely personal level, then specifically as an artist, and finally as an entertainment professional. The final section of the book helps the reader create a career plan.
This book is definitely very New Age in style. If you're not into spirituality, the book won't do much for you - although many of the exercises are introspective ways of getting to know yourself better, and these will be beneficial for anyone. If you are spiritually enclined, Rydall's book will undoubtedly be inspirational and provide you with great insights.

Firstly, well done! Well done, congratulations and two thumbs up for writing There's No Business Like Soul Business. Not only was it an inspiring read for the spiritual warrior but a brilliant example of someone wanting to help other artists and pass on oh-so-valuable insights about not only life but the wonderful world of entertainment. Reading each chapter I could hear the lessons of Deepak Chopra shining through, as I have read many of his books, and then to apply them to entertainment breaking down the myths that people can get caught up in, and allow a new road to be paved for the "enlightened entertainer" who can then make the conscious decision to shift his/her attitude and focus on your inner being as the tool for transcedence is...well, awe-inspiring.

A must read for anyone wishing to follow their dreams in the wonderful world of entertainment!

Marshall Dunn (Sydney, Australia)

This book is not just for screen writers who want to go beyond simple entertainment to meaningful film, but for all writers who want to make a difference. The time for enlightened entertainment is now! This book is not only a stepping stone and good resource, it's invaluable. Read, learn, and profit.

Derek,
First let me complement you on your book. I really am inspired by every word. I did the visioning exercise today on the industry. I've know for some time that my purpose as an actor and writer is to wake people up to their humanity through the emotions evoked in my performances or my writing. Today I got so clearly that the essence of the industry is love and connectedness.

Thank you!
INSPIRED in 2007,
Traci Dority

When I bought this I was hoping for some form of indexing of the characters and plots of the novels. What I got was a compendium of author comments on the creation of their novels. Interesting, worth reading, I'm glad I bought it, but it wasn't quite what I was hoping I would get.

Hi all, if you read the star trek novels and have plenty of them this is THE STARTING POINT to figure out what books are placed where in the star trek chronology. Thuis one shows the books covers and gives a synopsis of each book - simply amazing. And its a thick book too, so perfect fot that rainy day to sort through your star trek novels = ) And the price if great too, so click that mouse and get it sent you - highly recomended!!!

Every serious Star Trek fan should have this book. It's interesting and fun.

I cannot imagine all the research that Ayers did to assemble this book. The book is far from complete, but still to track down all the various Star Trek book covers, get interviews, write up summaries is a phenomenal achievement that should help all ST fan writers track down the best in ST fiction.

The factoids concerning the various books are fun and interesting. I, myself would have loved to have heard more on Barbara Hambley's Ishmael where she combined two television shows into one novel.

Another missing fact. That there were major differences in the hard cover and paperback version to the Star Trek:Generations novelization due to the alterations in the last moment on how our beloved Kirk was killed.

Someone at Pocket Books should consider doing a similar type text for all the Star Trek comic books that have been written. Now, that would be a great book. In a few years, I do hope that there will be a second edition to this text, with some of the non-contributing authors telling their side of the story on getting their books out.

Excellent read.

JThree
[...]

Yes, this book indeed contains each and every volume of officially released StarTrek fiction and not only sketches their plots, but also presents b/w pictures of each cover. What makes "Voyages of the Imagination" more than just a simple bibliography is the stories behind the novels, that Jeff Ayers collected in many interviews with the authors. Just the job of conducting these must have been immense. Still more incredible is the time arrow that places every chapter of the fictional world created by the StarTrek novels in the right year since 5 billion years b.c. until 1 012 260. Compared to that, the presumably giant task of finding a nearly practical structure for the bibliography consisting of miniseries which are part of other miniseries that also correspond to tv series, seems small.

But I could think of many other features that I would have expected from this book:
* The plot summary of every novel or short story never tells the ending and usually isn't more detailed than the back covers. I don't like that since I really was interested in the whole story archs.
* There is never a critique of any of the fiction. "Voyages of the Imagination" doesn't tell the readers whether any of the books is worth reading or not so much.
* I would have liked summarizing articles on which characters from the TV and movie productions appear in print fiction and how they develop; who was newly invented by the authors; where are overlaps between the novels that exclude each other etc.

On my rating: Apart from a complete bibliography and some fun with reading the stories behind the stories, this book doesn't offer me anything of what I had expected. But it gets a big bonus from me for the incredible task done and for the fact that it's the first of its kind. Therefore, three stars.

Martin Jost


I originally wrote my review in German:
Ja, dieses Buch enthält wirklich ausnahmslos jeden Band von offiziell veröffentlichter StarTrek-Fiction und umreißt nicht nur kurz dessen Handlung, sondern präsentiert auch s/w-Bilder vom jeweiligen Cover. Mehr als nur eine bloße Bibliografie ist Voyages of Imagination durch die Hintergrundgeschichten der Entstehung, die Jeff Ayers zu vielen Romanen in Interviews mit den Autoren recherchiert hat. Die Arbeit, die allein dahinter steckt, muss unglaublich gewesen sein. Noch unglaublicher wirkt aber der Zeitstrahl, der in jedes beschriebene Jahr von 5 Milliarden Jahren v. u. Zt. bis 1 012 260 unserer Zeitrechnung kapitelgenau den Ausschnitt aus der fiktionalen Welt der StarTrek-Romane einordnet, in dem darüber erzählt wird. Daneben scheint die ebenfalls nicht hoch genug einzuschätzende Leistung gering, eine halbwegs übersichtliche Struktur für die Bibliografie zu finden, in der Miniserien mit anderen Miniserien verschachtelt sind und dabei noch einer der Fernsehserien zugeordnet werden müssen.
Mir fallen aber auch noch zahlreiche Features ein, die ich mir von diesem Buch gewünscht hätte und die bei so viel Vorbereitungszeit doch hätten machbar sein müssen:
-Die Zusammenfassungen der Handlung jedes einzelnen Romans bzw. jeder anthologisierten Kurzgeschichte verrät nie die Auflösung und geht selten mehr ins Detail als die Umschlag-Rückseite. Ich finde das schade, denn mich hätten die vollständigen Handlungsbögen interessiert, die in der Roman-Welt ablaufen.
- Eine Kritik der Bücher fehlt völlig. Mit dem Handbuch "Voyages of Imagination" lässt sich nicht entscheiden, ob irgendeines der Bücher lesenswert ist oder nicht.
- Zusammenfassungen wären interessant gewesen, aus denen hervor geht, welche Charaktere aus den TV- und Kinoproduktionen mitspielen und sich weiterentwickeln; welche Charaktere neu eingeführt werden; wo es sich ausschließende Überschneidungen zwischen den Romanen gibt u. s. w. Diese hätten am Ende jedes Kapitels in tabellarischer Form oder am Ende der Beschreibung jedes Plots hervorgehoben Platz gefunden.

Zu meiner Bewertung: Abgesehen von einer vollständigen Bibliografie und einigem Lesevergnügen über die jeweiligen Menschen hinter den Geschichten bietet dieses Buch nichts, was ich mir von ihm gewünscht hätte. Einen dicken Bonus erhält es aber für die gründliche und unvorstellbar umfangreiche Arbeit die drin steckt und dafür, dass es immerhin endlich das erste seiner Art ist. Unterm Strich also 3 Sterne.

Martin Jost

Love this book! Now I allways know what to pick at the video store! And LOTS of great movies. Thanks.
-Torfinn-

If you hate reading spoilers, don't read about any movie in this book unless you've seen it already. Duralde gives away FAR too much in his synopses, which are in my opinion completely unnecessary anyway. It is his commentaries that are the interesting element here, and motivate us to see the films. Why he chose to reveal plot turns, and thus needlessly deflate our enjoyment of the films is beyond me.

Love it, love it, love it - short, sweet, funny, smart. Or as I like to call it, "the best bathroom reading book ever."

Oh, and my copy of "Can't Stop The Music" is on its way from Netflix as we speak ;)

This is far more than a simple list of films that may be aimed at a gay audience. It is 101 hysterical fan rants from someone who has a wicked sense of humor and extraordinarily evolved taste in film.

This is a book that every film student should read because Duralde has a genuine passion for movies and the understanding of them to back up his opinions.

Many of Duralde's choices surprised and delighted me; he didn't go for the easy selections. Any book that mentions "Tarnation" and "Without You, I'm Nothing" in the same breath is aces by me.

101 Must-See Movies for Gay Men is a seminal tome in more ways than one. Well, actually, only one. It hasn't got any of the good pictures in it. But it does have 101 movies that are essential to a broad range of the gay aesthetic. It's got movies for drama queens, diva queens, show tune queens, bears, disco queens, grunge queens and size queens. The only gay subgenre it's lacking is the queer sports movie, and I'm sure once Duralde has seen Summer Storm and Guys and Balls he'll add something appropriate to Bride of 101 Must-See Movies for Gay Men he keeps promising (unless that what he's titling the lesbian companion piece he keeps promising as well, in which case he'll have to include Bend it Like Beckham or, better yet, Personal Best).

When I came out, I was told I couldn't get my queer card until I'd seen Torch Song Trilogy and Murder by Death. Both are missing from 101. I'm not going to fight too hard for Murder by Death which is simply a very good example of camp and not particularly queerly significant beyond that, but I will say that I can't imagine a list of queer movies complete that doesn't include Torchsong.

But what is in the book is delightful and insightful. I knew Fight Club is about the slashiest thing every made, but it didn't occur to me to put it in a list of must-see movies for the queer cognoscenti. But even the obvious choices - Whatever Happened to Baby Jane, Sunset Boulevard, Valley of the Dolls, Sunday, Bloody Sunday and many more - are given new life and new perspective with plot synopsis, evaluation of what's important to the queer viewer, quotes from the movie and an interesting visual classification system.

Duralde examines these movies with wit and sensitivity. He makes you want to expand your DVD library, and in some cases your VHS library, not only with the movies he lists, but with the movies he mentions in passing discussion about other movies.

And, for the record, I've seen The Broken Hearts Club and it isn't nearly as awful as Duralde makes it out to be, but it is awful.

I cannot remember the title or anyone who was in it, but it you're looking for a movie emblematic of what bad queer cinema is, the one with the fireman who begs his girlfriend for a threesome without specifying the gender of the third participant and then is horrified when she brings some guy from the neighborhood who's been crushing on him for years into the bedroom is the one to choose.

While I'm by no means into the industry yet, this book was an easy read and it contains invaluable information for the hollywood neophyte

Trouble is, Tony Martinez is no devil. He comes across, in fact, as the ultimate boy scout in a shark-infested business. Part instructional, part ever-so-careful not to offend anyone, Martinez writes in a conversational, run-of-the-milll average-guy style that allows you to skim to the sections that may mean more to you. On the one hand, it's banal and boring and on the other, there are nut n' bolts insights that should be helpful for a rank beginner.
As someone involved in the business for many years, looking for some hidden insights or juicy info, I was disappointed. But I DID learn a little more about the way pilot season works and for that reason alone, I found this very brief tome to have some worth.

This book is a must-read for any aspiring actor or aspiring agent and an entertaining book for anyone working in the entertainment industry. It's humorous, well-informed and succinct. It's not a surprise that this quick-witted and to-the-point agent provided the entertainment community with such a well-written book. His personal stories and antedotes complete this book. Do yourself a favor, and buy it.

An Agent Tells All by Tony Martinez is an excellent book that is very easy to read and hard to put down as it flows on very well.
Specific Contents that go straight to the point and excellent for the novice to clearly gain an understanding of the industry from agents point of view. Also Highly rate the Pilot Season Chapter!
Great Read.

I did a monologue in front of Tony Martinez at TVI Actors Studio, and he was generous enough to tell me what did and didn't work. His book just as helpful, only laced with his terrific sense of humor. I would say this is a must have for any actor and would probably be helpful for managers and workers in corporate America.

Having read most of the other books about Audrey Hepburn, a woman whom I respect and admired since my youth, I chose this particular one by Mr.Paris as the most engaging (besides the book by Sean Ferrer which I thought was essential). I could never tire of anything A.H., with that being said it was important to me that I had a sense of how she lived. This book was hard to put down and wasn't full of colorful writing like some of the other so-called biographies done on her. For me, it brought me closer to this person as if she were someone I knew personally and combined with her son's book provided me with an insight into the world that was Audrey. She was and still remains a huge inspiration for me, and this book should be read by every young 'actor' out there today. Kudos to Mr.Paris!

Audrey Hepburn (1929-1993) was born in Brussels the daughter of a Dutch woman and an English father. She was raised in Arnhem Holland suffering through the Nazi occupation. Audrey was a thin, sensitive child who excelled at ballet.
As a young woman she migrated to London appearing in British films until she was exploded into fame with her first US film
Roman Holiday (for which she won as Oscar as Best Actress)
Hepburn appeared in such films as "Charade"; "My Fair Lady"
(her singing voice being dubbed by Marni Nixon"; "Two for the
Road"; "Breakfast at Tiffanys"; "Sabrina: "Robin and Marion" :
"Wait Until Dark" and several other films.
Her gamin pixish face and figure was a revelation in the 50s era of Monroe, Ava Gardner; Sophia Loren and other well endowed film goddesses.
Audrey had a long but troubled marriage with stolid Mel Ferrer and had other husbands and a few affairs along the way most notably with film star Albert Finney.
She worked with such noted directors as Willie Wyler, George
Cukor and Stanley Donet. She lived in Switzerland in an isolated
village where she raised children and loved animals.
There is little dirt to plow in these pages1 Audrey was an
adorable and kind person! Her work with starving children on behalf of the UN is heartwarming.
Barry Paris (previous biographer of Louise Brooks and Greta
Garbo) does a fine job in this well documented biography.
The most exciting chapter deals with life in Holland during
the horrible Nazi occupation,
This is a good biography of the film star.

A book so well researched and written that it flows like a meandering river. The prose is wonderful. Very difficult to stop reading the book until the reading is completed.

May Audrey Hepburn be in the Kingdom of God as I surely want to meet her and talk with her.

A biographer shouldn't lower your opinion of the person they're writing about (as if you could ever
have a low opinion of Audrey Hepburn!) and Barry Paris certainly does a brilliant job of depicting
Audrey's life from age 15 until her death (age 64). The author blends his words so you don't loose
interest even once. The book has lots of quotes, from and about Audrey, and several pictures of
her throughout her life. There isn't a down side to this book, except for a few subjects where the author
should have elaborated on a bit more than he did. You can clearly see that Audrey was a truly
wonderful person, a real lady. After you read about what a hard childhood she had, in the middle
of WW2 and the miscarriages she suffered and basically being deprived of love from her parents,
it is amazing that she was still such a beautiful person, a beautiful soul. She traveled to countries to
help dying people and did things that few other people would do...she seems to have been an
angel, and certainly was to several people. This is a book that you don't need to read before buying, it's wonderful.

What is the true test of a biographer's skill? Creating a riviting, insightful book about a subject who had no scandal in her life and who seems to have be beloved by everyone. Material that, in lesser hands, could have been saccherine or written with the usual "movie star bio" template is instead moving, wise, very informative, and beautifully written. Check out Mr. Paris' other biographies of Garbo and especially Louise Brooks for more great writing.

Blade was .... completely different from the movie. The movie had more fighting and you didn't get to see the true meaning of the novel. The movie described Blade as a cold blooded slayer with no mercy. The novel describes Blade as someone who risks his life everyday to save the human race in spite of the fact that the human race thinks he's a murderer and wants him dead. He uses his powers to serve and protect the very species that depises and fears him-our own. He has the power of an immortal, the soul of a human, and the heart of a hero.

Another ride on the good ol' roller-coaster of adrenalin! Who says books can't raise your blood pressure? For those who think so: Read Blade! Awesome action, packed with vampire-slaying excitement, and intense fun! I haven't even seen the movie, though I'm about to. If all movie-novels were like Blade, Carmike Cinemas will be seeing me more often.

Blade is the tightest book you'll ever want to read!!! The movie and the book are amazing. I've been watching the movie a hella-lot of times and you'll also like the book. Buffy v. Blade??? Blade all the way! cause he's the #1 slayer!

Blade was a kick ass book, completely different from the movie. The movie had more fighting and you didn't get to see the true meaning of the novel. The movie described Blade as a cold blooded slayer with no mercy. The novel describes Blade as someone who risks his life everyday to save the human race in spite of the fact that the human race thinks he's a murderer and wants him dead. He uses his powers to serve and protect the very species that depises and fears him-our own. He has the power of an immortal, the soul of a human, and the heart of a hero.

I loved both the book and the movie. I was really surprised at how the book captured the manic energy of the movie and the complexity of the characters. The book really delves into the deeper areas of the characters and captures the feeling that it's hard not to admire Frost while you're hating him, he's an awesome villain. Even if you haven't seen the movie, read the book, it's an absolute must for anyone who's a fan of Anne Rice or vampires in general, as well as anyone who wants to read a well-crafted piece of literature.

A very well written biography of a very complicated man. From the Duke's childhood to his later years in Hollywood, you get the full picture of an American legend that was patriotic, controversial, opinionated, grateful, and a deliberate artist.

John Wayne: American takes you into Wayne's inner circle of friends, family, and co-workers. If you love John Wayne, or even kind of like him, you'll love this book. There are some shockers that reveal the man behind the curtain that is sure to be a water cooler discussion after you read the book.

I am French and a huge fan of John Wayne's career.
I've found this book very complete whithout having long movies résumés.
This book is more focused on anecdotes' movies.
Moreover, the life of John Wayne is not depicted only as a pure "American" cowboy (despite the title of the book)and the authors really want to explain the choices of John Wayne in politics or in his own life whithout trying to influence the reader.
That gives us the impression that John Wayne lacked confidence in his own life but barely never in his career.
I've been reading biographies for a very long time and I can say that this biography is really well written and as I was reading it, I watched several movies with John Wayne, just for pleasure!!

The acid test of any biography is does the personality of the subject come through the pages of the book? After the reader is finished, do they feel they have meet the man or woman they were reading about. Historians Randy Roberts and James S. Olson have done so with this book, which is very difficult for two distinct reasons: 1) Wayne left no papers; and 2) there is the legend of John Wayne that gets in the way of knowing Marion "Duke" Morrison, the man behind the famous stage name.

Roberts and Olson have given their readers a well-written, engaging study that is both traditional biography of the actor, but a study of his status as an American icon. The authors also show that Wayne was a talented actor in addition to being a movie star and deserved the Oscar he won, even though he expected to lose.

A decent and diligent son, he was never able to win his mother's love. For whatever reason, she showered her affections on her second son who was a mediocrity in life. Wayne was a conservative, but mainly because he was a classical liberal in that he believed in limited government that did little to impose on the liberties of individuals. Even though he was worth millions when he died, he had invested poorly and had gone bankrupt, squandered most of his earnings, and most of his fortune was the result of his having an honest business partner that had looked out for him.

He went through three marriages, but was a loving, if removed father. In many ways, he placed more value in his friends than in his family. Perhaps because his friends could never hurt him the way his wives had.

There will be other Wayne books, but it is difficult to see this book being surpassed anytime soon.

I had wanted to read a John Wayne biography for some time, but never got around to it until buying this book. I think I picked the right one. It is chock-full of interesting information regarding 'the Duke'. I was surprised to discover how nasty director John Ford could be to his actors, John Wayne included; and yet the two were good friends. Surely Wayne must have wanted to punch the guy out a time or two. Regarding Wayne's mother; I don't think the writers did an adequate follow through. In the first sections of the book, much was written about the relationship between mother and son, but there was no follow up later in the book. Did his mom ever come around and begin to appreciate him before she passed away, or did she remain cold and aloof until she died? As a reader, I felt like I was left hanging on this one. Otherwise, this was an excellent book, and I highly recommend it. The final sections, covering Wayne's last days were sad and disturbing, but the man left us with quite a legacy on film. There will never be another like him.

I enjoyed this book more than I can Say . Being 80 yrs. old ,

I have grown up with John Wayne , more so than any other movie

" STAR ". Buy this book , you will treasure it .

Jack Yannuzzi

THIS BOOK IS GREAT, REALLY GOOD AND FUN TO READ IF YOU ARE AN X-FILES OR GILLIAN ANDERSON FAN. I HIGHLY RECOMAND THIS BOOK

Straight from the cutesy title that X-Philes know and love as one of Scully's trademark phrases, Mulder, it's Me really hits the spot. Gil Adamson and Dawn Connolly's biography about the amazing Gillian Anderson is extremely informative without being invasive of Ms. Anderson's privacy. The well-written fourteen-chapter biography is only the beginning of this stunning masterpiece - the book also includes candid interviews, a comprehensive episode guide of the first four seasons of The X-Files, a section on the 1996 Burbank convention by the renowned Autumn Tysko, a listing of internet resources, and 16 pages of color photos. Whether you are a newbie or a veteran fan, Mulder, it's Me: The Gillian Anderson Files is the must-have biography.

This is the best Gillian Anderson biography on shelves today. But this isn't just a biography, this book also includes television and radio interviews with answers to some of the most frequently asked questions. You get to find out what people did when Gillian Anderson appeared at the X-Files convention and what questions her fans asked. It also includes the speech she made in Washington D.C. for public awareness about Neurofibromatosis, the disease her younger brother has been diagnosed with. This book also includes great Gillian Anderson Internet sources and an X-File episode guide with all the shows from season one to the end of season four. But best of all, this book includes a great section of full page color photographs of Gillian. If you are a Gillian Anderson fan, you have to get this book!

This book is great for people who want t get all the facts and want awesome color Photos .I think Gillian is agreat person and Actress and this book helps you realize that.AS well as info there is a great X-files episode guide section.Many thanks to the athur and gillian for being the great actress she is.

This book has, well, everything you wanted to know about Gillian Anderson (Agent Dana Scully on the X-Files) and more! The colour photo's are excellent, as well as the black and white ones. Each chapter has a unique title, and very good detail into herself, her daughter, and her work. A must have for any Gillian Anderson fan.