Television Books

The title of the book, which became Mr. Sayers' credo throughout life, comes from a quote he saw on the desk of one of his coaches: "My God is first, my friends and family are second, I am third." Mr. Sayers tells the story of a man who lifted himself out of the ghetto with such a love for football, his friendship with Brian Piccolo (one of the very first pairings of a black player and a white player in the NFL) and his near-career ending injury. It is an inspirational story that does not get preachy. He tells of his friendship with Brian Piccolo without getting maudlin (Mr. Sayers and Mr. Piccolo were loyal friends and deeply respectful of each other.) He relates his triumphant return to the Chicago Bears after a knee injury that had almost everyone writing him off (except Mr. Piccolo, who urged him on during rehabilitation.) It almost seems as if Al Silverman turned on a tape recorder and let Mr. Sayers talk. Rather than being pretentious, the way a lot of sports biographies are one gets the feeling that Mr. Sayers is sitting down in an easy chair and is talking directly to each reader. The book, however, was written more than thirty-five years ago and ends before Mr. Sayers' final two (albeit disappointing) seasons. My hope is that Mr. Sayers will either update this book or write a sequel to tell us of his successes after football.

Bought this as gift for my husband. His reveiw: It was okay, interesting about Gayle Sayer's life but not extremely well written. It had little to say about his relationship with Brian Piccolo.

I am third
By Gale Sayers

Devon Hurley

My book is called I am third and itýs written by Gale Sayers. The price of the book is $...and u can find this book in any book store.
I am third is about the football player gale Sayers .He plays football with his friends every day. He grew up in a poor house with barely any food. That didnýt stop him from playing football though. He played no matter what. One time he tried to tackle some one and he got kicked in the mouth and he was spiting out blood his brother played football too. He was older then Gale. Gale was a starter on the high school football team with his brother he only got to play with his brother one season because he was a senior when Gale was a freshman. Gale was a good player. He was like1st or 2nd best in the country. He wanted to go to a four year college to play football. Mississippi State was in other sports besides football like track and basketball. He broke the long jump record for track. His mom and dad were always working on something. Galeýs dad was tall and had long legs. His dad worked hard every day and only got 40 dollars a day. His mom was at home watching all the kids. All the kids in the neighbor hood were on the football team. After gale went to college he was going to go to the pros either the chiefs or the bears. on draft day the Chicago bears picked Gale Sayers the first day of summer training he met Brian piccolo. Brian was a white person and Gale was a black person they didnýt really get along at first of race but after they started playing together. The coach put them in the same room partner. When gale was voted rookie of the year Brian starts to get sick and has to go to the hospital and he finds out he has cancer and has to stay in the hospital for the rest of the season. Later he goes home and is recovering but he gets cancer again a in his chest and dies from cancer. later gale plays the best game of his career he scores 6 touchdowns.

This review is on the book called "I Am Third". In this book it tells mostly about Gale Sayers' football career and some of Brian Piccolo's or Pic. The reason this book is called "I Am Third" is because he says that "God is 1st,my friends are 2nd,and I am 3rd". To understand this book you might have to know a little about football. If you like football stories I would reccomend you read "I Am Third".

I really never liked sports, but this book really moved me because it was a story of two men very different yet very alike. They were both very talented, over the past few months i've been doing so much research and Gale and Brian. I also am planning to do a important report on them, the frienship that they had was great. BUY THIS BOOK!! and the movie Brians song!I loved both. I love Ya Gale and Brian GOD BLESS!

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.

i thought this book was great and also pretty sad at the end but i enjoyed it.from the first time i started reading it i could'nt put it down.

Vada is eleven years old and her mother died when she was born, and Vada thinks that it is her fault her mohter died. Her dad owns a funeral home and thats where Vada loves. Her best friend Thomas J. is allergic to everything. Thomas J. and Vada are always doing something together, like riding bikes, or playing at the lake. One day this lady named Shelly shows up at Vadas house in a camper wanting a job at the funeral home and be the person that when someone dies she puts on the make-up and does their hair. She gets the job. Vada likes her and everything is going great. SO one day Vada and Thomas J. ran into their teacher, Mr. Bixler Vada wants to marry him, and he had told them that he was going to be having a writting class in the summer, and Vada wants to go. So she has to try to find money and her dad won't give it to her so she takes it from Shelly. Then Shelly and her dad start dating. Then one day her dad said they were going to get married. So now Vada hates them both. So she tells Thomas J. and they go to the lake and they find a bee hive and they try to hit it with rocks, THomas J. collects them, they finally hit it and bees go everywhere.

Vada Sultenfuss is a typical 11 year old girl who has to learn to face her fears and get on with lfe even when bad things happen. She lives in a funeral parlor and has a boy (Thomas J.) for a best friend. Her mother is dead and she only has a father. Living in a funeral parlor for all her life, Vada keeps thinking she has cancer and is going to die, and her father could care less about this issue. One day Shelly comes in and ends up working for Vada's dad. Their marriage takes Vada by surprise, and when her best friend gets stung by bees she learns to cope with Shelly even though she doesn't have her best friend to always ride bikes and play with her anymore.

Vada is 11 years old and she has never met her mother and her dad is a caretaker and her bestfriend Thomas J never wants to come into the house because it is a funeral parlor. Thomas J and Vada are always riding around town on their bikes and Vada thinks that she has cancer in her throat. Though everytime she goes to see the doctor about it he says she is just fine. All the time Thomas J and Vada go sit up in a tree and one day they were going to the tree and saw a bee hive. Thomas J wanted it because he had a wasps hive and he wanted a bee hive to go with it. They were throwing rocks at it and knocked it down and bees started swarming and they ran and jumped in the lake, but before they did Vada realized she lost her mood ring and the next day Thomas J went back to where Vada had lost her ring and he got it, but when he went back the bees attacked him and of course Thomas J is allergic to everything he got stung and died from it. After Thomas J's funeral Thomas's mother went to Vada's house and gave her the ring. And though Vada was sad about Thomas J she just pretended that he was at summer camp or on vacation. Vada new that Thomas J would be taken care of because her mother would take care of him. She new that she would see him again.

I really enjoyed reading this book about my favourtie movie of all time. If you loved the movie My Girl I would deffenently recomend this book because it follows the movie so well. Pick it up today you'll be glad you did because it is such a marvelous book.

I originally bought this book at the Star Trek Experience in Las vegas, and I gave them as gifts to a lot of my friends and neighbors whose kids have never known a world where "Star Trek" did not exist and for those of us who have been around for all the Trek experiences this is a treasure of a book, Humor, wisdom and even gidance is written in these pages...open any page and somewhere on it will be something "that will make you think"...a grand experience on all levels

I love this book! It takes all of the best Trek lines, and cross-references them by speaker, episode and theme.
The only other thing I would like to see would be an updated volume, with the rest of the DS9 and Voyager episodes, the Enterprise series and the last two movies. Then this wonderful book would be complete.

This is the best possible book they could use with star trek quotes. It includes tons of different catagories of quotes, from all of the series and movies. It also has the For the Fans which has some of the first quotes that were used in Star Trek and other momentous occasions for us obsessive star trek fans :)
A must buy if you are even remotley addicted to star trek.....a great book for the trekkies :)

As many of the previous reviewers said this book has many quotes from the original series, to The Next Generation, to Deep Space Nine, to Voyager, and all the movies. It is a light book that you can pick up and put down or as another reviewer said read it lazily under a tree.
Also as other reviewers stated it has great cross-referencing in the back by speaker or theme. The quotes are all placed into different chapters by general subject but several of the quotes are repeated in several places since they may cover more than one area.
The book also lets you see how the overall Star trek series has evolved over time by the types of quotes that were used and in what specific series. It is interesting to see how some quotes are re-used with slightly different wording from series to series to hammer home a point about the essence of star trek.
(Note: This book does not include anything from the animated series or Star trek Phase II. That is fine since the bulk of Star Trek is included)

This book is a treasure. Something to be sampled in small doses, to stretch out the experience. Another reviewer was right -- the quotes live up to the blurb on the back. Jill Sherwin did a great job. This is an absolute must-have, or at least must-read. P.S. The pictures are pretty good, too.

I loved the characters in this book and the way Stacey wrote about them. I felt like I knew Lily and all of her friends. That could have been my friends that she was writing about, they were down to earth and REAL!!

Stacey has such an entertaining way of telling a story. . .I could not put this book down!! I was definitely laughing out loud throughout the book.

I had to re-read pages as they made me laugh out loud! Stacey has cleverly captured the life of a single gal in the great city of Chicago. Lily is a loveable character.....self-deprecating yet confident....a real woman. I think I know her.....
READ IT! BUY IT!
And Stacey, I can't wait for your next book!!!!

fast, easy read but why didn't the woman on the cover match the main characters characteristics?

On a trip to visit family for Thanksgiving, I started this book. One of my family members was sitting on the couch reading and I thought it was a perfect opportunity to join them. I got through the acknowledgments section and 2 pages of the book before I was kicked out of the room for laughing out loud!

This book is so much fun. It's chick lit with substance and humor. With the added enticement of reality television.

Stacey Ballis is so much fun, and I'm looking foward to more of her books.

This was my first book by the author. Once I started, I couldn't put it down. Finally a real story about 30-something women trying to balance their personal life with work. The author did a great job on tackling the "still single in your 30s" issue and exploring the fears of allowing yourself to be vulnerable in a relationship.

I just recently drove on Route 66, through New Mexico and Arizona. When I got home I reread ROUTE 66: THE TELEVISION SERIES 1960-1964. I enjoyed the book even more the second time! It is a fun look back for me and the other "baby boomer" fans at the television series ROUTE 66. The show featured excellent writing, acting and it was filmed against the backdrop of America. It was a show about the varied people of our country and that is what made the series so unique. Buz Murdock (George Maharis) and Tod Stiles (Martin Milner) were handsome, appealing characters who were concerned and caring men. The Corvette represented a "sense of independence and a spirit of adventure."

Jim Rosin's book contains many interviews with the two stars - Maharis and Milner, guest stars Anne Francis, Nehemiah Pursoff and Nancy Malone, Media Historian Mark Alvey, Production Executive Sam Manners, and Directors Arthus Hiller, James Sheldon and Alvin Ganzer. Their comments are smoothly mixed with text information. I especially enjoyed the photographs and behind-the-scene snapshots.

Rosin certainly did his homework by including a Biography section of all the actors, writers, directors, and production staff highlighted in the text. Some of the other books I have seen on vintage television series may have been a bit more in-depth, but I like the simplicity of this book. Enjoy the ride with Tod and Buz!

Thoroughly enjoyed this trip down Memory Lane. For Route 66 fans or anyone who enjoys those breakthrough TV series of the 60's, this book is a Must-Have. Comprehensive with summaries for every episode, commentary from stars and many (surprising) guest stars, and many others behind the scenes. Lots of pics! Enjoy the memories!

Wow...talk about your trip down memory lane.
Even if you don't own a Corvette you can reminisce about your favorite TV Series, Route 66 with Jimmy Rosin's new book. Tod and Buz didn't need cash to have a great experience and neither do you when you read this well organized, artfully crafted book. A treasure trove of information for Route 66 fans all over the world. TV at its best and reading at its bestest!

I enjoyed reading Route 66: The Television Series 1960-64 by James Rosin and found it to be a nice companion book to the recent DVD release.

It is full of interesting commentary from series stars Milner and Maharis plus others, which include directors, producers and several guest stars. It also contains lots of promotion and still photos that reproduce nicely, and a good bio section at the back that includes all the people associated with the show that contributed to the book. The plot summaries for all 116 episodes are one page, and fairly concise and to the point. It looks like some were written by Rosin and some were drawn from studio press releases when he might not have been unable to see the individual show. I noticed that in some of those, there were minor plot details that differed from the completed show I watched. Maybe they were revised during filming or left on the cutting room floor, but in no way did they detract from his overall summation and my understanding of the storyline (and again they seemed minor). While there may be some who would prefer more analysis and review of each episode, I actually prefer to read the story outlines and decide which ones I would like to watch and get into. This book allows the reader to do that. It's an easy read and a nice little book for your coffee table.

It is indeed high past time that "Route 66", possibly the finest drama ever produced for the medium of television, had a book devoted to it just as many other classic television series have had. However, while author James Rosin has finally filled that long-empty niche, his effort somewhat falls short of what one might have hoped for.
While Rosin does give us an excellent introductury essay, full of useful background information and utilizing a plethora of quotes from a variety of sources, this term-paper length chapter (along with a very nice photo section) pretty much consists of the sum and parcel of the entire book. There is an epsiode guide with detailed plot summaries for all 116 episodes, but Rosin appears to have copied this verbatim from Columbia/Screen Gems promitional material. Since those original materials were based on shooting scripts and story outlines and not on the actual on-screen results, many contain inaccurate plot details and plot elements unpresent in the actual episode. Rosin acknowledges this when he gives notice ""A conscientious effort was made to ensure that each episode summary was as accurate as possible. However, in some instances, minor plot details and descriptions may have been revised that I was unaware of." Huh? Has Rosin seen all the episodes or not? One would expect an author writing an in-depth study of a television series to do the following: (1) Attentively watch each individual episode of that series, (2) Write their own episode summaries for the book and not just copy them from pre-extant sources, and (3) provide their own observations and critical commentaries on each individual episode. This is what good televsion scholars such as Marc Scott Zicree, Ed Robertson and John Kenneth Muir do with their respective highly-polished and thorough books on various television series. Rosin's book comes out looking very deficient when compared with one of those three authors.
I don't wish to be to terribly negative as I am excited that there is ANY book out there devoted exclusively to this marvelous and unjustly-neglected program. However, I felt it incumbent upon me to point out the relative lack of substance it contains. I've read an as yet unpublished manuscript of a book on the series by another author, and that one does a much better job of analyzing each individual epsiode and the cultural impact of the series as a whole. This particular Route 66 fan can't help but wish that that one had been the manuscript issued between the professionally printed covers instead.

Most for-sale screenplays are just that -- screenplays. Emma Thompson, who wrote the screenplay for the delightful Jane Austen film "Sense and Sensibility," chose to include journal entries throughout the filming of the movie as well, in addition to the winning entry of a contest to see who could write the best letter from Fanny to Elinor.

There is wit in the descriptions and the photos, all well-captured. The journal entries are entertaining and a good look into the making of a movie. Although be forewarned -- because they dress like the characters of S&S, they do not talk like them. There is definitely some verbal crudeness in the book, men and women alike, but if you can overlook that (or are used to it) then this book will be a delightful read for any Jane Austen fan.

There are three separate parts to this fine volume; introduction, script and diaries. The producer of the film, Lindsay Doran, opens the door for us with her wonderful introduction. At age 13, she was determined that not only was "Jane Austen a very stupid writer," but also she would "never, never read one of her stupid books again."

Fortunately for the rest of the world, Ms. Doran changed her mind, and some twenty-five years after that first erroneous conclusion, has brought us this wonderfully witty, and extremely faithful film version of this first novel by Austen. As producer of the Kenneth Branagh/Emma Thompson film, DEAD AGAIN, she became acquainted with the woman who was not only a phenomenal actress, but also a gifted writer-one with a sense of humor and a strong romantic bent. These two qualities had proven to be the stumbling block over nearly ten years of searching for the right scriptwriter for Sense and Sensibility.

It took nearly seven years to come up with something close to a shooting script, sandwiched as it had to be between Thompson's many award-winning acting chores. Serendipity was obviously at work, however, and eventually, a budget was established, and casting accomplished.

Many of the actors Emma had envisioned in various roles had participated in a read-through the year prior to the filming; they were all in the film, in those same roles.

While the Dashwood ladies are all suitable beautiful, it is the men who are truly gorgeous. ("Repellently so," writes Ms. Thompson in the diary portion, referring to Hugh Grant. "He's much prettier than I am.") With his look-alike Richard Lumsden, they are the brothers Ferrar, Edward and Richard, with Greg Wise as the fickle Willoughby. Alan Rickman (be still my heart!) brings maturity and virility to the role of Colonel Brandon. The sets and costumes are sumptuous.

Interspersed with the actual shooting script and the diaries are some 50 photographs, 36 of them in luscious color. One script looks pretty much like another, but this one allows Ms. Thompson's wry wit to shine, especially in some of the non-spoken words. Of course, not every scene from the book could be included; the movie would have been more than six hours had they been. But the essentials are here, along with all the major characters. Providing testimony to just how perspicacious was the choice of writer is the number of awards garnered by Thompson for this, her first film script.

The diaries portion begin with a production meeting on January 15, 1995 and continue through July 9 of that year. A very small mention is made of Hugh Grant's visit to California, where he'd gone for his next film project after the completion of filming his scenes in England. A final two pages describes the 'location' houses chosen to represent those lived in by the families in the novel.

It may come as somewhat of a surprise to some readers to discover rather explicit language in the diaries. In addition to an apparent fascination with the alimentary process, our Emma has a bit of a potty-mouth, as do some of the gentleman involved, and their words are recorded, one presumes unhappily, all too accurately. They seem curiously jarring and out of place in a book otherwise devoted to the pristine words of Jane Austen.

Nevertheless, this is a lovely, hefty book; one which will bring the reader back to it time and again. There is always a new and enjoyable nugget to be mined from its various depths.

If you read Jane Austen's "Sense and Sensibility" before or after seeing the 1996 film version then I think it is pretty easy to conclude that Emma Thompson's Oscar for Best Screenplay adaptation was richly deserved. After writing and performing a series of short skits for British television, Thompson was approached by producer Lindsay Doran to write the screenplay. Thompson began by dramatizing every scene in the novel, which resulted in 300 hand written pages to be followed by 14 drafts as the 1811 novel was crafted into the final script. The result was a script that manages to be not only romantic and funny, but also romantic and funny in the best Austen sense of both words.

Be aware that this is the Original Script, not to be confused with the Shooting Script. This should be clear as soon as you beginning reading, because originally Thompson had the scene shifting back and forth between Mrs. Dashwood and Elinor/John and Fanny Dashwood (credit for this revision must go, I believe, to Film Editor Tim Squyres, who recut the scene so that we get all of one side and then the other instead of alternating back and forth as in the original script). Overall the strengths of Thompson's script are in two main directions. First, she manages to convey the scope of the novel in a two-hour screenplay, no mean task. Second, the little details she adds to Austen's story are simply marvelous. For example, her use of Shakespeare's Sonnet 116 ("Let me not the marriage of true minds"), which Marianne and Willoughby share to their great mutual delight and which Marianne repeats standing in the rain looking at Willoughby's new estate. In fact, Thompson revised the first scene to make it even better, having Willoughby misquote a key word in an elegant bit of foreshadowing. Thompson also makes one nice little change at the end. While Austen has Elinor bolt from the room to cry outside during the happy ending. Thompson creates a wonderful moment by having her stay in the room and having the rest of her family flee. There are not too many scenes where you are crying and laughing at the same time, but Thompson certainly created one (and has the added virtue of relying on herself as an actress to nail the performance as well). All of these are marvelous examples of playing to the strength of the cinema to bring Austen's novel to the screen.

But we get much more than just the screenplay in this volume, because Thompson includes excerpts from her diaries kept during both the writing of the screenplay and the actual production of the film. It would be nice if there was more insight into what she was thinking when writing the screenplay as I am always interested in how decisions were made and where inspiration comes from, but Thompson makes up for that with her little tales of working with director Ang Lee and the rest of the cast in making the film. Finally, in the Appendices, there is a very choice little treat, namely Imogen Stubbs' Prize-Winning Letter, written to Elinor from Lucy. Do not worry; by the time you read it you will understand why it is so hysterical. There is also a list of the fine homes and estates where "Sense and Sensibility" was filmed if you happen to be roaming around England and are interested in looking for such things.

I truly enjoyed this work by Emma Thompson. Not only is the screenplay included, with pictures, but also there are diary entries by Thompson that give insights into the making of the movie. If you loved this movie, you should read this book. I really enjoyed it.

The screenplay itself is a must-read for anyone wanting an education in bringing a well-loved story to life. Emma Thompson does an ingenius job of crafting scenes that are faithful to Austen's original while inventing more that add character development and plot intrigue. I especially like her diary, though. For those who wonder what to include in a memoir of an experience, this journal is a rich model of self-disclosure and humor. I heartily recommend it!

A very nice throughly researched book on the early days of live televised science fiction. Throughout the book the author compares Space Patrol with Star Trek although the series has much more in comon with Irwin Allen's Lost In Space tv series of the mid 1960s since Star Trek served little more than a political platform for Gene Roddenberry's extreme radical liberal views.

Some might think it's a waste of time to read a book about a television show that one never saw. But, although I never saw an episode of "Space Patrol" (it had gone off the air before I was five years old), this is one of the best books I've read in years. A 20-year labor-of-love, it clearly reflects the author's interest and dedication to the subject. She managed to interview virtually all of the surviving cast and production crew members, and their anecdotes bring the story of this live-action television series from the early 1950s to life. It's packed with details about the characters, the performers, the production challenges, the sets, the special effects and the marketing of spin-off toys. Even better, it examines the positive effects that "Space Patrol" had on children of the time, some of whom, inspired by the show, grew up to be NASA engineers, "rocket scientists" and astronauts. Back in the days of clear-cut moral values and before political correctness reared its ugly head, the "Space Patrol" crew served as excellent role models for the first of the baby-boomers. Reading this book will transport anyone who grew up in that era back to a simpler time when the world was a more pleasant place to live and when there were well-defined good guys and bad guys. It's a great read about a fascinating subject--highly recommended.

This is a very nice book for those of us who grew up watching Space Patrol. Well written - information on the show, its production, the cast as well as the products that you could get by sending in 'box tops', etc.

Wonderful photos of the cast, as well as models of the sets/rockets and props. A chronological listing of the TV shows as well as the Radio ones. Very nice addition to a collection of information on Science Fiction on the airwaves.

Bassior's book is an intimate slice of history. On the surface, it may seem trivial to examine the story of a hit TV show from half a century ago, but in her two decades of unrelenting research, the result of Jean-Noel Bassior's dilligence (while maintaining her career as a top-level journalist) is a book that set out to document an ephemeral pop culture phenomenon, and became a supremely positive inspiration to a generation who went on to live lives by a sincere code of ethics, and some of whom made Neil Armstrong's "small step" possible. Inside the story, the star of the show, Commander Corry turns out to be actor Ed Kemmer, a bona fide World War Two hero.

In short, this book is a unique, intimate look at a pop culture phenomenon, and the remarkable people who made it happen.

At first I thought that the price of the book was excessive, however, upon deciding to spend the money I feel it was well spent. If you, like me, grew up with early television this book will take you back to a time when the world was simplier and TV was a miracle.

The author of "Space Patrol: Missions of Daring in the Name of Early Television" has taken a long and loving look at one of the best Sci Fi programs of the 1950's. The information gathered is informative, refresing, and above all (to my knowledge) never before put in print. The interviews with former cast members is a delight, and the behind the scenes look gives you and idea of how the then infact television industry operated.

I recommend spending the $49.00 and take a trip back in time and re-live your youth with Buzz Corey, Cadet Happy, Carol Carlyle, Major Robinson, and Tonga... its worth it.

If you are serious about becoming a screenwriter, this book will be a valuable addition to your professional library. Lucy goes into depth on subjects other authors ignore or treat lightly. Usually if you can learn one or two things from a screenwriting book, it's worth reading. This book clarifies subjects other authors fail to explain. Lucy not only explains all the loose ends, but ties them together. There are a lot of good books on screenwriting, and this is one of them. Cynthia Whitcomb has a couple of books on screenwriting that you might also want to read.

This book should be a mandatory read for writers of all types and all levels. Story Sense offers the tools to develop an entertaining, clever plot with emotionally and psychologically dimensional characters. It takes you step by step through idea, plot, and character formulation, as well as explains how to develop structure, dramatization, and everything else you need to write the perfect screenplay or fictional story. You will find yourself highlighting passages and constantly refering back to this "bible" throughout your writing journey. Keep this book close by, it has all the answers you need as a writer.

This should be required reading for any type of writer--novelist, screenwriter, playwright. The sections on plot and character development are worth double what this book costs.

Too many "how-to" books on writing perpetrate the image of a writer as a conduit for mysterious creative forces. While I'm not entirely discounting that image, there needs to be a balance between writing as an art and writing as a craft. This book falls firmly in the craft column. It demands you cast aside any artistic pretensions and get down to the plumbing of creating a story. And it doesn't stop with the obligatory pep talk--Lucey shows you how it's done. And he shows it better than any other writing how-to out there.

If I could give this ten stars I would. Highly recommended.

When ordering several books on screenwriting this book caught my eye because of the high ratings afforded it by others. After reading it I fully concur with what others had to say. I went out and purchased DVDs of the four main example films (The Verdict, Terminator, Sleepless in Seattle, and Witness) that Mr. Lucey focuses on and they allowed me to pick up the fine points described in the text. His vast experience in script writing shows through in each of the topics discussed. I cannot recommend this book highly enough. For a detail-oriented individual such as myself, this book met all my expectations. If you are interested in this topic, this book is a "must have" by all means.

I have read many screenwriting books and this is the most complete. It takes you by the hand through each step of the process. I would recommend it to anyone interested in screenwriting. The book even states that if you follow the steps in the 12 chapters it should take you 120 hours and would be equivelent to a college course. No need for any other training. This book is it!

Alex McNeill's "Total Television" is one of those reference works which is useful both for settling trivia arguments at parties and for helping those engaged in serious scholarly study of television programs and their impact upon popular culture. As of this review, "Total Television" is in its fourth edition.

The book is basically an alphabetical encyclopedia of thousands of television programs in every possible genre: dramas, sitcoms, game shows, cartoons, and more. Each entry lists the series' air dates, principal performers, and other relevant data.

In addition to the main body of encyclopedic entries, the book includes a wealth of supplemental features: lists of Emmy winners, a chronological gathering of one-shot specials, and more. Particularly interesting are the programming grids, which show the nightly lineups on each network for each night of the week. You can turn to a season (say, 1951-52) and see what choices the American TV viewer had each night! This feature is great for historians.

Although most of the entries on each series are brief, McNeill spends more time and space on certain series of outstanding impact. These extended articles on "All in the Family," "CBS Evening News," "Dallas," "The Ed Sullivan Show," and more are truly fascinating.

TV has been derided by many with such epithets as "the Boob Tube" and "The Idiot Box." On the other hand, it was praised in an episode of "The Simpsons" as "teacher, mother. . . secret lover." McNeill captures TV in all of its facets: from the depths of inanity to the heights of cultural significance. This book is a great achievement whose reputation, I believe, will increase with future editions.

This reference is superb in it's completeness. Anything you want to know about any program broadcast from 1948-1996 is in this 1251 page book. The 88 page index of names of performers appearing during those years is unbelievable. It includes specials, miniseries and the top 20 rated shows for each of those years. I use this reference at least 2 to 3 times a week.

Where this book is not as easy to use as Brooks and Marsh's "Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows"(see my review for this one), it offers more-as far as the addition of daytime shows and more explanation of the entries. I like the other guide mainly because it's a good quick reference for prime time. However, if I'm really interested in detail or, again, a daytime program-like some Saturday morning cartoon of my childhood-then this is the one to get. I have both books, actually-for reasons specified here.

First, we might note that "... To the Present," in the book's title, means through late 1995. So nothing in the last ten years is included. For years, I have enjoyed "The Complete Directory to Prime Time Network and Cable TV Shows, 1946-Present" by Brooks and Marsh. I prefer the format of the Brooks and Marsh book to that of the NcNeil book--e.g., the cast is in list form, which makes for easier and quicker reading; the showing time is also included. The chief advantage of the McNeil book is that it includes daytime TV, which the Brooks and Marsh book does not.

Alex McNeil's "Total Television" is the Mother of all TV reference volumes. If you can't find it here, it ain't worth knowin' about. How he was able to compile all this information covering 50+ years of TV is beyond me. Crack open this book at any page and you will be reading for hours, probably days.