Television Books

Great insight, untold stories, and unseen photographs about an extremely private man. It was quite refreshing from the self-serving tomes that celebrities have put out and continue to put out about themselves. The one thing I've always admired about McQueen (besides his obvious acting talent) was his disdain for celebrity and the fact that he remained true to himself. This book drives that home.
Excellent.

Wow, the photographs are beautiful and highly personal. It's like seeing a private photo album from this marriage. Plus the text is informative and revealing. I'm so glad this part of Steve's life is now so well documented.

It goes perfectly on my coffee table.

A fantastic book on the last years of legend Steve McQueen! Great job by Barbara McQueen and Marshall Terrill! Touching moments! Great photos!

This book takes you into the very intimate and private world of Steve McQueen between 1977 and 1980.

Consisting of approximately 150 color photos (most of which were taken by his wife Barbara McQueen) and accompanied by Barbara's recollections of their time together.

Unlike some other photobooks where you sense you are watching the star pose, this book shows you the absolutely unguarded and relaxed side of the man as he goes about his daily life, talking to friends, tinkering on his bikes, dozing in an armchair or washing down the pavement outside his airplane hanger.

These are the sort of photos you would usually never see of a movie star - Steve in the morning before he has showered, looking drowsily over a hot mug of coffee, househunting in Montana with Barbara, or lying asleep on the living room floor with his pet dog lying on top of him.

You really feel like you have stepped into Steve and Barbara's house, it is that personal.

The text accompaniment is also very entertaining and educational as Barbara shares her memories of how Steve wooed her, the initial problems he had to overcome in winning her parents approval of the relationship, his personal lessons to her on how to dismantle and rebuild a motorcycle (sadly unsuccessful) or a gun (successful), how he came to propose, and many other intimate and fun moments. Overall it takes you through their entire relationship and serves as something of an autobiography in itself.

All these photos are beautifully presented in a high gloss large coffee table book format.

Released with the first limited edition run of the book is a 45 minute audio CD of Steve verbally working through the script of the film "Tom Horn". It is fascinating to hear him talk about his vision of the film, rework the script and plan his character. You get a real sense of the epic film he wanted Tom Horn to be (but was denied due to the studio slashing the budget), and you realise just how insightful he was with film and acting. The amount of thought he puts into his role should forever dispel the notion that he just played himself on film.

Steve McQueen - The Last Mile is a very special book and no fans collection will be complete without it.

Intimate, touching, insightful, sometimes hilarious passages into the life of The King of Cool, Steve McQueen. We live in such a visual, media oriented world that we tend to get preconceived notions of who movie stars are, based on what we see. The world saw Steve McQueen as the ultimate man- handsome, macho, cool, someone they could spend their hard-earned bucks on back in the day and get their money's worth at the theater. Barbara McQueen, his widow, saw the real Steve McQueen. She got to know Steve, the family man; Steve, the man who loved the great outdoors and his morning constitutional; Steve, the great mashed potato guru, airplane and motorcycle enthusiast. "The Last Mile" shows how little we all knew of his kindness and philanthropy; how little we knew of his yearning for happiness and how he ultimately found it. The photos in this book will enchant you, leave you wanting more. One of my favorites is one where Barbara embraces Steve from behind. That photo alone is worth the book to me. Beautiful model, handsome superstar, real people worn out from what life has dealt them. You can see it in their faces. It makes me sigh everytime I see it because there's not one person I know who hasn't been to that point and had nothing left but an embrace. You will love this book and you will want more. I guarantee you.

this is my favorite book. if anyone has similar taste to me then i highly recommend them to read it. i was getting so into reading it that i never wanted it to end. to last forever. so i tried to do so by reading a limit of pages each day. i live in NYC and by reading the book i had grown a stronger love for the city and thats another reason i loved the book. the down fall of the book? well, it was and made me sad. it was kinda a depressing book. you now. like a heart-acher.

it was indeed a pleasure to read and in the future, if you do read it, i hope you injoy.

thats my review! i hope i helped!

This book was written by a very eloquent author in 1922. At 23years of age, she carefully details her struggles of growing up inpoverty on the lower east side of Manhattan. This is one of a few books that deals with the difficulties faced by immigrants of to New York around the turn of the century. Her battles are those of a poor, Jewish girl growing up without a father in tenement housing. I thouroughly recommend this book to Jews, feminists and historians.

this is my favorite book. if anyone has similar taste to me then i highly recommend them to read it.

i'm going to describe it as a story of a girl growing into a women on the streets of the lower east side of manhattan. she tells of different jobs and the boarders that her and her mother board to help pay the rent. its very hard for me to describe becuase of 2 reasons 1) you can't describe it you have to read it 2)i read it a year ago.

i was getting so into reading it that i never wanted it to end. to last forever. so i tried to do so by reading a limit of pages each day. i live in NYC and by reading the book i had grown a stronger love for the city and thats another reason i loved the book. i also loved the stories she has of her childhood. the down fall of the book? well, it was and made me sad. it was kinda a depressing book. you now. like a heart-acher.

it was indeed a pleasure to read and in the future, if you do read it, i hope you enjoy.

thats my review! i hope i helped!

Streets: Memoir Of The Lower East Side was written in 1922 and published for the first time in 1955. This remarkable memoir of a young Jewish girl's coming of age in the tenement slums of New York's Lower East Side is gritty, candid, vivid, engaging, sensitive, and streetsmart. Bella Spewack overcame obstacles of gender, background, and religious discriminations to succeed as a celebrated journalist, playwright, and screenwriter. Streets is highly recommended, articulate reading and will prove of special interest to students of American Jewish history, Women's Studies, and biographies reflecting the triumph of the human spirit over social and cultural barriers.

This is a coming of age story depicting the harrowing early life of an extraordinary talent. Told with an amazing eye for detail and a highly developed sense of humor, this is one of the most moving autobiographies I have read. Bella Spewack writes of her thirst for knowledge and determination. In later life Bella invented the Girl Scout cookie, became a noted journalist and wrote successful plays and movies. Streets tells of the difficult circumstances of her childhood.

The Season 2 companion to Supernatural is a nice way to check back on certain developments you may have forgotten about different episodes and the characters. I also own Season 1 and plan to buy Season 3 - it's great to read about the behind the scenes goings on and how the cast and crew work around any drawbacks that occur.

I love Supernatural. Anything Supernatural gets an automatic 5 million in my book. I love the extra detail included in each companion that gives more facts on the creatures and the explanation as to why the writters decided to make the brothers go after them. Dean and Sam are the BEST!

Thank you for sending the book so timely and in the great shape it was promised that it would be. 5 Stars

This is an awesome book to have for fans of Supernatural!! I highly recommend it.

The Supernatural Season Two Companion is brilliant. Much like the first companion, it has lots of episode information, quotes, and behind the scenes looks. It also contains episode insights from Ackles, Padalecki, and Eric Kripke. The quick facts and episodic music listings are particularly my favourite. The "Did You Know?" bits are always insightful and really interesting. And, needless to say, the coloured image inserts are awesome.

Overall, I have been really happy with the seasonal companions so far. I look forward to the the third with great interest.

I had the cd version of this book, and it was excelent. It gave the most in depth information I have ever seen of them. Also, it was approved by oasis so we know it's official. A MUST have for anyone who wants to know the true oasis.

This book will definitely grab your attention if you're an Oasis fan. Fanatics will love the great color photos. Even if you don't like the band, the stories (following Noel and Liam's exploits from Oasis's conception to mid-1996) will provoke astonishment, laughter, and intrigue. The background information on everything from the development of the songs to the interband relationships are highly interesting. Along Oasis's monumental rise, the brothers share their strange and expected encounters with friends like Paul McCartney, Evan Dando, John McEnroe, Ringo Starr, Micheal Hutchence, Bono, Lars Ulrich and others. My favorite part is when Liam gets into a argument with a grunge fan at Oasis's first New York show who tells Liam he'll "never amount to anything".

This highly entertaining book captures not only the spirit of one of the most influential rock bands of the 1990's, but also gives an insightful look into the emotional conflict among the band members. Intelligently written by one who has had close, personal contact with the group from their emergence on the musical scene.

This book is so trashy! I loved it! It was written by a good friend of the band, so you KNOW he's not totally honest, but it's still an exemplary biography of a wonderful band. The two Gallagher brothers are arrogant beyond belief, and their characterizations make "Take Me There" all the more fascinating. I particularly liked the stories of Evan Dando, their celebrity tag-along, as well as Noel's admissions of which songs he ripped off. Overall, this book serves as a fine introduction to a band who CLEARLY think they're better than they are (which is admittedly great anyhow!).

At last a book about Oasis where the author knows what he's talking about! Paul Mathurs has been with the band from the start and they trust him which lays the solid foundation for the best book about Oasis to date.

This book is a must for anyone interested in Oasis and highly recommended for anyone who merely has a passing interest. It charts the band from their beginning to the release of Be Here Now (the interesting years!). It is a thorough and amusing account of the band's rise to fame and the downners along the way, especially with some of the tales form America.

Mathurs writes with a knowing, chatty and humourous edge which makes this book extremely addictive and you will no doubt be shocked and amazed by some of the antics covered! The sections where Robbie Williams pops up are simply unbelievable considering recent events. The constant banter of the Gallaghers highlighted in the book is great for the comic element and the comments on the bands music (always the most important thing with Oasis) are honest and truly meant.

A great read with highlights in every chapter. Buy it.

Taxi Driver was one of the seminal films of the seventies. It broke many boundaries with its use of violence, and it was critically applauded. It was, in my opinion, one of the best films ever made. The script is fascinating, especially to read the bits which were left out of the film.

taxi driver by martin scorsese is a true masterpiece of american cinema.the screenplay written by paul schrader,is one of the best screenplays ever written.the story is about a new york city cabbie who gets tired of seeing all the criminals and scum that the city has to offer.he's a loner who is just trying to make friends and help people out.as a result of all the madness he sees on the sreets,he grows violent and courageous.recommended.

O.K. we all love the film. Martin Scorcese's portrait of a loner slowly slipping into his own obsession with the horrors of inner-city life is seminal, and is still great viewing. De Niro's performance is brilliant as are his supporting actors. However...it is not until one reads the screenplay by Paul Schrader that the film comes to life. It is written almost like a novel, with directions that give the reader new insight and appreciation into the workings of the film and Travis' state of mind. Not only is it a great compliment to the film, it is actually better than the film. When I first saw 'Taxi Driver' I was blown away (along with all those pimps and drug dealers at the end), when I read the screenplay a new appreciation of the art of screenwriting was revealed to me. If you ever want to give someone who is interesting in writing films a present, give them this. Give them the film too. Make them watch the film, then make them read the screenplay, then watch them weep.

Travis Bickle is a social pariah. He can't sleep and needs something to do, so he decides to work the night shift as a New York City cabbie. Travis ruminates (in his journal?) about his difficulties making companionships in his life as well as his dislike for all the filth on the streets. Travis's loneliness, a more concrete manifestation of his alienation problem, is a driving force for his nose dive into psychosis. He hates what he sees in the city until Betsy (Cybil Sheppard) appears as a beacon of light on the street dressed in white. His pursuit of Betsy describes his manic quest for unobtainable companionship and purity. Yet, while his behavior indicates his loneliness, Travis consistently doesn't really know why he keeps behaving badly and often sabotages his own attempts to end his loneliness. For example, his date with Betsy is made unbearable by poor choice of movie. Loneliness is the emotional manifestation of the alienation Travis experiences; it is both a source of great pain and a source of psychosis. He does not understand common social topics, such as popular music, politics or love. His failed attempt at conventional companionship with Betsy leads to his warped effort to be a knight errant for young prostitute named Iris (Jodie Foster).

Travis's descent into psychosis descent ends in a trail of destruction and blood. To save Iris from her life of prostitution, he becomes an army of one. All pimps and Mafiosos in his way die a brutal death. After an unsuccessful suicide attempt, Travis dies quietly on the couch as the authorities enter the building. Then, the strange denouement begins. The ending must be seen as a brief flash of his life. The closing scene reflects how Travis would like his life to be remembered. Director Martin Scorsese utilized a similar method in "Last Temptation of Christ" when Jesus sees his life as would be if he got down from the cross. In movie time, the scene takes about a half hour, but the scene only takes a flash to play in Jesus' head prior to his actual death on the cross. Similarly, Travis does not really become a savior or hero, but dies in a self-induced blood bath. During last scenes of Taxidriver, Travis dreams himself as a hero who makes amends with Betsy, receives a grateful letter form Iris's parents and makes friends with his fellow cabbies. The last scene is just a pre-morbid flash in his mind before his lights go out for eternity.

Taxidriver is set in the pre-Giuliani streets of New York, depicted with all its sin and psychosis. Nighttime in New York is filled with explosive violence, pervasive cynicism, and ubiquitous prostitutes. Director Martin Scorsese even indulges himself in such small details as a depiction of a street drummer, traveling gun salesman, and failed store robbery as side trips in Travis's long journey. Travis's disgust for the streets is depicted in his need to clean the semen and blood off his seats after his shift is over.

Several small events act as act harbingers to his own violent rampage. Travis is made to listen to a customer's (played by Martin Scorsese) ravings while the philandering wife's silhouette is visible from the street. The customer discloses to Travis the merits of the 357 magnum and what it will do to his wife when he shoots her. Also, while innocently shopping at a local grocery store, Travis successfully breaks up a robbery.

Awesome movie. What a cast: De Niro, Shepherd, Albert Brooks, Harvey Keitel, Peter Boyle. But the best character may be the streets of the city themselves. Scorsese gives the cold pavement of New York an actual living presence in the movie. Smoke, water, blood, grit.

This positively has to be one of the best written screenplays of all cinematic history. In this text lies a story of desperation, loneliness, and insanity. Paul Schrader has not only captured the mentaility of a sociopath, but the emotions and profound thoughts of a man, driven to insanity by not being able to understand a world unlike his own. If you love well written screenplays, Taxi Driver is a must have!

A fantastic book about the fastest growing area of DVD releases at the moment, TV series! With breakdowns of cast and guides to the best episodes and releases I only hope enough credit goes to the website [...] who helped TV Guide put this book together!

Fantastic resource for anyone who likes watching reruns and is interested in contemporary tv culture. There are loads of forgotten facts in this book for all the classic tv shows and new ones for current programs. This is an inheritently readable book that belongs next to everyone's tv!

The descriptions of the shows are priceless--they brought back so many memories! And the guide covers a lot of shows that are new or still running, like 24 and ER. I'm not even a serious DVD collector, but the book gives great trivia about all my favorite shows (when they aired, what the names of the original stars were, which episodes went down in TV history). This book is really a history of TV in America, and it covers so many different categories that it really does solve the gift problem for just about everyone on my Christmas list. They won't be able to read just one or two of the listings; once they start in, the trivia will have them hooked. It's organized like a reference book, but It reads like an entertainment magazine.

If you are a tv junkie like me, this book is a blast. It's a handy offline reference to all the shows now available on DVD, and it's filled with lots of trivia and lists. Be ready to shop because the book will make you want to buy even more DVDs for your home library...

This book isn't perfect (I'd rather have more pictures of DVD set covers than old TV Guide covers, for instance, and the descriptions are a bit dry in places), but it IS cool to have a handy-dandy reference like this to use when you can't get online to look up the info. Good to take to the store or keep next to the TV. And if you read the fine print, you'll see that this book was made with the help of data from TVshowsonDVD.com, which is the best place I've seen online for that sort of info. Cool 'dat, and maybe for the next edition of the book TV Guide will work more with that website's staff to talk more about what's new, what's not out (any hints as to why), and what's expected to come soon. You know, show more of the TV-DVD enthusiast in this book...there's a lot of us out here!

I came across this book through a recommendation. I'm so pleased I did.
As an admirer of Duke Ellington's work, I knew of Adelaide Hall, mainly through her connection and early recordings with Ellington, but knew little about the lady herself or her significant achievements in the world of entertainment.
In the books preface, the author, Iain Cameron Williams, claims Adelaide Hall appears in many jazz anthologies as a mere footnote, whilst others abandon her career altogether. With "Underneath a Harlem Moon" Williams attempts to set the record straight by documenting comprehensively her exact relevance and role in the History of Jazz and, in my opinion, succeeds admirably.
Williams's familiarity with his subject clearly demonstrates the amount and depth of research he made in order to unearth the facts. One gets the distinct impression that during the process he left no stone unturned, so detailed is his descriptive. Although Williams's 20-year friendship with Hall must clearly have helped him in appraising his subject's temperament, it must also have allowed him the privilege to see an intriguing side to her character that her fans would not normally have seen. This becomes apparent the deeper one delves into the text.
The book charts in rich detail the life and career of Miss Hall during the frenetic Harlem Renaissance and documents all the colourful characters to emerge from this movement, most of whom worked with Miss Hall at some point in her career. It also gives a fascinating insight into the social history of the Twenties and Thirties when Prohibition, real-life gangsters and sophisticated nightclub culture ruled the sidewalks.
Overall, a hugely enjoyable read made easy by Williams's approachable style of writing and keen interest towards the characters he portrays within the text. A must for all jazz and popular music buffs. The book also contains a sizeable gallery of superb photographs (including one, which must be of great interest to all Ellington fans, a rare previously unpublished photograph of Adelaide and Ellington together, circa 1930.)

With a glittering International career that brought her into contact with such icons as Rudolph Valentino, George Gershwin, Maurice Chevalier and Al Capone, not to mention all her renowned fellow black musicians and colleagues from the Harlem Renaissance, one wonders why the name Adelaide Hall is still relatively unknown or charted in our history books.
Her talent was pure ... untarnished by the ravages of [chemicals] and alcohol. She claimed that she was born to sing and entertain, and with an astonishing career that spanned eight decades how prophetic were those words.
To say I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book would be an understatement. The book has been written in such an appealing way that at times I actually felt as if I were part of the story as a member of the audience, so realistic were some of the events and dramas that occur within its pages.
I wholly recommend this book and can truthfully say that it's the best biography I have read this year.
5 stars for the writer.

I can only applaud the writer for the depth of research he obviously engaged upon in order to put forward Adelaide Hall's story and subsequently, I think this book is an important one.
During the 20s and 30s Hall stood alongside giants in the entertainment world yet today, for some unfathomable reason, she is almost forgotten.
Whilst reading Underneath a Harlem Moon I had an uncanny feeling of discovering hidden treasure that has lain buried for centuries. Thankfully, the writer�s intent to inform rather than lecture makes for an engaging and rewarding read. I certainly had no knowledge of the fact that it was Adelaide Hall who helped create the whole genre of jazz singing and, remarkably, that Ella, Billie and all the other jazz diva�s that are nailed inside our history books, only followed in Hall�s steps.
Williams accounts vivid stories of the glory, persecution, pain and happiness Hall encountered in order to achieve her goals and in the process brings the subject's forceful personality, talent and human nature to light. Hall's focused ambition, drive and tenacity, along with the extraordinary eventful circumstances of her life will drive anyone's interest. Her painful contact with racism, the wrath of her impresario and mentor Lew Leslie, the continual envy she experienced from her colleagues and many of her so called friends, along with the tiresome neglect she endured from her philandering and money grabbing husband all led to an isolation Hall appears to have suffered from continuously throughout her life. Her only escape was to tread the boards, for it was here she felt at home and could bask in the real warmth, love and affection she received from her audience. The stage became her drug and, from the volume of work Hall performed, one feels it was an addiction she had no intention of ever giving up.
Energetic reading with thought provoking facts and the most fascinating account of the Harlem Renaissance that I have ever come across. Williams has done a great job of packing this book with valid information without making it overly wordy which makes for an easy read that fairly flies by.
I hope I'm correct in saying that Adelaide Hall�s prospects could very easy change with the publication of this book.

By documenting Adelaide Hall's early career, which ran parallel with one of the most fascinating and culturally rich era's in American black musical history, the writer not only paints a vivid and well written account of the real first lady of Jazz, he also cleverly portrays the whole spirit and ethos of the Harlem Renaissance and all the wonderful characters that helped create this movement. "Underneath a Harlem Moon" is one of the finest books that I have read about the 20s and 30s Jazz Age and one that I thoroughly recommend.

When we are asked of jazz vocal pioneers, the names Ethel, Billie, Ella, and Dinah roll off our tongues without contemplation. However, Iain Cameron Williams, in his book Underneath a Harlem Moon, introduced me to a diva who had been omitted from the history books. This diva is Adelaide Hall.

Born on "the rough side of Brooklyn" and raised in Harlem, Adelaide Hall became one of the most famous black Broadway and cabaret stars, rivaling the legacies of Florence Mills, Ethel Waters, and the like. Williams traces her journey from an ordinary gal from New York to a famed singer, dancer, and actress, the world over.

Williams, a friend of the late Hall, has definitely done his homework. I could tell that he had sat with Adelaide many a time while she related her stories to him in great detail. While I understand that Williams was trying to set a backdrop for Adelaide's story, I felt as though too much time was spent on the histories of her surroundings and her contemporaries, such as Al Capone, Josephine Baker, and even the Duke himself.

I feel like the proverbial wool has been lifted from my eyes about where female jazz vocalists really began. I took the time to research Adelaide further, and even got a chance to listen to some of her recordings. I can now see clearly, after having read Underneath a Harlem Moon, getting to know Adelaide, and hearing her crooning voice, the profound effect she had on divas past and present.

Reviewed by CandaceK
The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

When I first saw Visions of Armageddon on sale at the bookstore, I often found myself looking at it more and more. So, finally, I bought it.

This has to be a great book on the 1998 blockbuster film. It contains information on all subjects from the film's genesis to final production. Hundreds of lavish photographs and drawing make it even better. It includes interviews with the cast and crew.

However, for people looking for a good book to read, ignore this. The information skips back and forth. One moment they are telling you about how the film began. Then they are telling you about how the special effects were made. Then they are telling about the genesis and so forth. But the lack of definite timeline does not at all hurt the story of the most overcritized film of all time. As Michael Bay said "There is nothing wrong with entertaining people."

If you love the movie, you might want to have it as one of your book collections. It shows the making of the movie & its illustrations. There are also some nice pictures of the cast for those fans who love Bruce, Ben & Liv. Don't miss it!!!

i love this book. it is printed on wonderful paper. it
will last & the fotos are GORGEOUSE! it explains a lot
the stuff behind the scenes & how it was done. more than
just a quickie movie-tie-in. it is worth having on it's
own!

One word on the movie: bad. Still even though the movie sucked, I found myself just peeking at the book while at bookstores. Needless to say I bought the book, and I enjoyed it ten times more then I did the movie. So if you have a choice between the book and the movie, buy the book. You won't regret it.

If you saw the movie, and loved it, go get Visions of Armageddon because it was so good and shows Dreamquest and Vfx how they did those spectacular Special FX. Great pictures from the movie. Jerry Bruckheimer and Michael Bay makes a great team for a fun, high-paced, action-packed movie for the summer! One of my favorite movies of the summer, IF YOU HAVEN'T SEEN ARMAGEDDON GO SEE IT AND YOU'LL BE FEELIN' LIKED YOU GOT OUT OF AN KICK ASS ROLLER COASTER RIDE!!!!

I have always been a fan of Orson Welles on radio and television. Having collected a ton of radio broadcasts on CD and audio cassette and having watched most of his movies, I appreciate the genius of his work. I picked up a copy of this book recently and am amazed at the amount of research put into it. An aspect of Welles rarely discussed is his magic career. At the Mid-Atlantic Nostalgia Convention this September in Aberdeen, Maryland, I plan to attend the presentation about Orson Welles and his magic career so I can watch rare footage and films with Welles, and get an even deeper insight to his trickery. Book comes recommended.

Everyone knows that Orson Welles made _Citizen Kane_, possibly the most audacious and most analyzed movie to come out of Hollywood. And then what happened? He had been called a "boy genius", having made the movie (co-written, directed, and starred) when he was but twenty-five years old, but within a decade the term was used with sarcasm, and Walter Kerr wrote that Welles had become "an international joke, and possibly the youngest living has-been." Welles had been knocked down, and in the view of many, he never got up. Certainly, he never made anything like a _Kane_ again, but that isn't really fair: no one has. It is true that he never produced the sorts of films that were Hollywood-popular, but he did not at all disappear. Joseph McBride, a film historian who knew Welles, has answered the title question in his book _What Ever Happened to Orson Welles? A Portrait of an Independent Career_ (The University Press of Kentucky). The answer, quite simply, is that Welles worked and worked for decades in film, writing scripts, making movies, and (perhaps because few would bankroll him) doing things his own way. It's a sad story, in many ways. No one could doubt Welles's genius, and there are so many "if only" episodes in this book that it is often a depressing account. But Welles was not a tragic figure; he reflected years later that he might have made a mistake in staying in films (rather than, say, returning to the theater in which he had previously made his mark). But he would not have had it any other way: "I'm just in love with making movies," he said, and indeed, it was only death that stopped him.

McBride necessarily describes the problems that beset Welles immediately after _Kane_, when Welles could no longer get anything close to the full control of a film which he had practiced on his first movie. Still wanting to make movies, he left Hollywood to continue in Europe. McBride makes the case that contributing to Welles's decision for self-exile was his fear that he would be called to testify in the Communist witch-hunts. Welles loved shooting films and he especially loved editing them (as anyone who has seen _Kane_ can tell). There are plenty of pictures Welles worked on whose footage has been lost, but many others have the footage saved by fans or by creditors, and they frequently propose bringing out a finished version, hiring someone to pull the scenes together into a finished movie even so long after Welles's death in 1985. One producer mentioned she'd like to see a particular film screened not as an unfinished work by Welles, but as a film the way he might have finished it; but she says, "Finished by whom? Who can you substitute for Orson Welles?"

McBride does not go deeply into Welles's inability to finish things. Certainly it was attributable in a large part to Welles's way of skin-of-his-teeth filmmaking, whether or not it was some deep-set psychological disability. Welles could have written a magnificent autobiography, but when he got advances for such a work, he always returned them to the publishers. McBride writes, "Welles was deeply ambivalent about reminiscing, perhaps because he would have had to address issues he usually found too painful or delicate, such as his sexuality, his family life and some of his more traumatic experiences in Hollywood." Some of the stories of incompletion here, however, are extraordinary. His finished negative of _The Merchant of Venice_ was simply stolen from Welles's production office in Rome. The Iranians held funding for his meditation on filmmaking in the sixties, _The Other Side of the Wind_, and then the Shah was overthrown. "It's hard to imagine a movie career more littered with sensational catastrophes than mine," Welles admitted. He seldom admitted that he was the source of the less sensational catastrophes; a cameraman who worked with Welles late in his career said that Don Quixote was never completed because Welles "moved around too much, stuff got lost." For sensational and unsensational reasons, the losses recounted here are staggering. Nonetheless, McBride shows that they cannot be blamed, as some critics say, on Welles's being lazy or dilatory. The decades were filled with work for him, and he was pounding out a manuscript for a brand-new project on the night he died. As an independent filmmaker, Welles may have never fully lived up to his potential, but with a record of films that includes _Touch of Evil_ or the supremely weird _Lady from Shanghai_, his pattern of incompletion must be a minor sin. Much of McBride's personal account comes from his being an actor in _The Other Side of the Wind_ (of course, never finished) as were such droppable names as John Huston and Dennis Hopper. McBride's story won't re-make Welles's post-1950 career, but it isn't just a story of loss and lost opportunities; it is one of real movie history and at least some genuine artistic success.

Along the cinema's history - from time to time - the lucid conscious tends to appear in certain regions of the world. If Griffith gave the first step with (Intolerance and the Birth of a nation), Stroheim made the same with Greed , Robert Wiene with Dr. Caligari, Lang with Metropolis, while the comedy counted with Chaplin and Keaton, then Renoir with The rules of game and The grand illusion and Jean Cocteau emerged as if the same spirits of the Greek dramaturges would have reappeared with his wild mythic expression. Then came Orson Welles , while Kurosawa, Ozu and Mizoguchi showed us unknown facets of Japan, Luis Buñuel , the lavish son of the Surrealism in the cinema, half Spanish, half Mexican but France would have among his most sharp and talented artists as the portentous and unique Robert Bresson, and other not less relevant figures such as Marcel Carne, Max Ophlus, Rene Clement; Denmark with Dreyer, Italy would count with De Sica, Visconti and Fellini , Russia with Tarkovsky, Sweden with Bergman and Germany would have to wait until the early sixties for Scholondoff, Fassbinder, Wenders, Herzog, Von Trotta sisters and Hauff. And so, during the early eighties in Italy the brothers Taviani, Bernard Tavernier in France, Kaurismaki in Finland, The Coen brothers in North America , Quedraogo in Africa, Angelopoulos in Greece, Jarmush, Lars von Triers, Kim Ki Duk, Shohei Imamura and more recently Alexander Sokurov in Russia. Because more than artists this constellation of artists-filmmakers had something to say and how they did it.

But the case of Wells is particularly worthy to pay attention, because he embodied like nobody else the status of Shakesperian tragic personage, his ceaseless mind, his countless projects that never became materialized, the enormous efforts he had to do to make a film without abdicating in his ethic principles.

His devotion and everlasting admiration by Griffith, his sharp opinions, profane irreverence, mordacious opinions, his gastronomic excesses, among other singularities gained him respectable and unsaid enemies who neither didn't share nor understand his vision of the world. It's not easy to fit his hat, but the true of the case is he appealed to many filmmakers around the world, (Fuller, Casavettes, Allen, Saura, Almodovar, Waters, Loach, Huston, Roeg among so many others) to make the humanity would be aware (and I borrow a famous Buñuel's statement) we are not living in the best of the possible worlds. A biography that will absorb you from start to finish.

This excel essay allows us to approach the creative universe and the effervescent mind of a propulsive human being, who refused to accept outer impositions, filming what he wanted along his lifetime.

"A filmmaker is really great when the camera is an eye in the mind of a poet."
ORSON WELLES

Mention the name Orson Welles and his most famous involvement - with the radio scare 'War of the Worlds' - immediately comes to mind; but for a deeper understanding of Welles' life and career you need What Ever Happened to Orson Welles?: A Portrait of an Independent Career. His later projects were largely self-financed and erratically distributed, but film critic and biographer Joseph McBride has a personal familiarity with Welles from previous projects worked on with him and here shows how the Hollywood studio system forced Welles out of the industry. Its value thus is twofold: as a biography for Welles fans, and as a history of film industry operations and politics.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

While I might be biased because a many parts of this book included stories about my father, Gary Graver, this is not something you want to miss out on if you have any interest in Orson Welles or the inner workings of the Hollywood movie industry. I knew Orson when I was a young boy and teenager during the time my father worked with him, but my memories are nothing compared to the vivid details and thoroughness of Joe's writings.

This book taught me a lot about a man whom I admired and feared. He was rather scary from the perspective of a ten year old, but he often took time to have me sit with him while he taught me card tricks. I am so grateful that these stories are now available for everyone to read. Thank you Joe for your commitment in documenting what no one else ever has and sharing these wonderful stories.

Well, okay Im not sure if this book is true existentialism, but it is a fascinating glimpse into a natural philosopher's "consming obsession to understand the nature of sound".

I was delighted when I discovered that Butch Robins had written this book. I never knew him personally, but when I was a teenager at Beanblossom I remember being on the edge of a conversation where he discoursed on Bill Monroe, Peter Rowan (whom he called "the original space cowboy") and zooming down the road listening to Eric Clapton while still channeling the ancient tones from the last set he played.

I was captivated, and always wished I could have hung around and gotten to know this incredible banjo player with the deep thoughts. This book has been that chance, and it is every bit as fascinating as I always thought it would be!

What with popular culture, social promotion, and computerized spell checkers laying waste to the quality of mass media, one might be forgiven for wanting books to be the last line of defense against the total corruption of the English language. Some books fulfill that desire. "What I Know `Bout What I Know" does not. It is chock full of misspellings, orphaned clauses, arcane editing, meandering ideas, and home language. But those are the only indulgences that author Butch Robins allows himself.

"What I Know..." is Robins' musical autobiography. At first glance, it seems depressingly typical of the genre -- family dysfunction, prodigious talent, epic struggles with a tyrannical boss, hard partying, famous friends, emotional pain, death of a loved one, chemical dependency, mental illness, professional exile, rehab, redemption. On closer examination, "What I Know..." reveals itself to be anything but typical. Robins never descends into self pity, and never blames others for his mistakes. He is critical of others, but views his own shortcomings with an equally unsparing eye.

His adventures are hilarious and painful by turns. Fun is "Unkle Butchie's" true north (A recording session is only successful if a party ensues), which makes his subsequent excursions into the heart of the darkness (via his journal entries, copied verbatim here) all the more jarring. His tale of time spent in the Carter White House will have you rolling on the floor, and wondering why he doesn't link his encounters there with a later tax audit (Maybe the law of unintended consequences has made him a bit more circumspect?)

By his own admission, bearing witness to pain is not exactly Robins' superpower. But bear witness he does, no matter how tough it gets, and his emotional discipline yields some piercing insights. His pithy post mortems on Bill Monroe and Jimmy Martin, though not without empathy, are breathtakingly accurate.

Insightful as he is, Robins is a musician first and foremost. His descriptions of the music he makes are so joyous that one wonders why he hasn't cut a deal with eMusic to release his work (much of which is out of print) for downloading.

As Unkle Butchie's Wild Ride comes to an end, he has endeared himself unexpectedly, even as he puts his new found sobriety in doubt. For all his eccentricities, Butch Robins turns out to be a remarkable, even admirable man who has written a remarkable book.

This is a controversial, but I believe to be truthful book by one of the great living banjo players of our time. It engendered a lot of vitriol among bluegrass fans, as Butch is at times unkind in his assessment of some well-known bluegrass stars who were less than kind to him and others over the years. It's a great read for those familiar with the bluegrass ideom and who can let their star-worship fall by the wayside long enough to experience a bit of truth.

Butch Robins is a great banjo player. His writing style may be somewhat unorthodox, but he shares a wealth of information about what he knows - bluegrass and the people (including himself) who helped to shape it.

In this book you will find some tidbits about some of the "stars" of bluegrass music that you are not likely to find anywhere else. Robins also attempts to put to rest some myths about the father of bluegrass through personal observations made during his tenure with the Blue Grass Boys.

The avid fan of bluegrass will want to read this. Be warned, however, that the English language takes a beating and misspellings are rampant. (Jesse McReynolds' name is mentioned often throughout the book and is spelled correctly only a couple of times.) This work could have - should have - been edited a bit more rigorously. Also, be warned that Butch has no reservations about using words that some might consider offensive - hey, we're all adults here - right!?!?!

If the book had been edited a little better, I could have given it five stars just for the information it contains. But with these problems a weak "four star" rating is about all I can muster. Folks who are hungry for anything bluegrass shouldn't let it stand in their way though - buy it!

The first professional job I had playing Bluegrass was with Charlie Moore way back in 1972 and Butch was his banjo picker.I can say without a doubt that what Butch says about Charlie is true right down the line.I found my self shaking my head yes to all the things I had experienced while working with Mr. Moore that Butch wrote about.A lot of people don't seem to like all he stuff about drinking,drugs and the flaws in their heros--truth be known Butch's book only scathes the surface of what you could write about many of the band learders and side men of professional music of whatever genre. Not all are that way,thats true,but many more than you may think. I had no problem with the way Butch writes nor was spelling a problem. The whole thing is the information he delivers. I was also glad to see that Butch has come a long way to burying his demons.I will be coming out within the next 18 months or so with my own book that will cover more of Charlie Moore as my time was 1772-74,78. Plus, there will be a lot about many other lesser bands, musicans and personal insights on Bluegrass in General.I am looking forward to reading Butch's new book.