Interviews Books

I couldn't put this book down once I started to read it. It reveals how art historians do their work in a highly readable and insightful format with wonderful images. The book is beautifully designed. It is the result of interviews with a number of the most prominent art historians in the world. For students of art it is essential. For anyone interested in art, it is wonderful reading. The authors have protected the anonymity of their interviewees (darn it!) but the quotes will keep anyone knowledgable in the field guessing.

This book provides a glimpse into one of the most esoteric, but interesting of fields--art history. Some of the greats in the field were interviewed and their work analyzed. It is fascinating reading for anyone who loves art. It also shows what a challenge it is to do this work well. It is an excellent, informative read.

This is absolutely essential reading for fans of the enigmatic and reclusive Bunuel, whose career in motion pictures spanned 50 years. He is interviewed, and at times interrogated, by his friends, allowing the discussion to veer into his personal life and various obsessions with good humor and mutual understanding. The verbal sparring is a joy to observe.

The book has been compiled in a chronological order and it will give you a good sample of his long life, from his friendship with the key Surrealists like Salvador Dali, to his amusing anecdotes of Hollywood. An easy and entertaining introduction to the life and art of a complex genius, and a fantastic guide to each of his film -- Criterion has reprinted some of these as supplements to their new DVD editions.

This is probably the best collection of interviews with a filmmaker ever published. It is not some retread to "My Last Sigh" but a great read full of insight, intelligence, that typical Buñuel style and of course, a study of great cinema. It's a fascinating book, where Buñuel discusses his life and works and how he came to be inspired to make some of his greatest films like "Un Chien Andalou," "Viridiana" and "That Obscure Object Of Desire." And it's also great to read as Buñuel discusses his philosophies of life and surrealism. The interviewers create a great conversation with a genius and take us into his mind. Some of the classic works of the cinema are dissected here in intricate detail and Buñuel offers some sly humor to the discussions. A surprise is that you realize that Buñuel's personal life is as interesting, fascinating and incredibile as his movies. Some people may not want to take a look at this book after reading "My Last Sigh," thinking it's basically the same stuff, well, it's not. Luis Buñuel was a very complex man in his thinking and this book gives us a good tour of the man. A must for lovers of great cinema and fans of surrealism and Buñuel. Lorca, Dalí, and the surrealists are all discussed here, even the gruesome, fatal fates of the two actors of "Un Chien Andalou." Great book.

I was featured in this book along with my mother(pg.22)and I remember when it was just a homework assignment in elementary school. When I was told it was a book I was amazed to see all of the people I knew and the moving stories it consisted of. I enjoy that book everytime I pick it up. It is especially easy for children to read because it was written by people aging 10-14. I especially love the foreword that was written by Rosa Parks herself. Very insiteful.

There are many wonderful stories told within the context of this rather difficult subject. For those who use writer's workshop . . . this is an excellent example of the use of interviews and other nonfiction techniques.

An intelligent and affectionate tribute to one of Hollywood's great directors. The photo collection is an amazing scrapbook of a career that seems impossible, but lasted for almost a century. He worked with everybody! Robert Trachtenberg has meticulously chronicled the life of this remarkable and gentle man and captured the magic of movies through familiar images that now have even more relevance. Is this the same "R. Trachtenberg" -- the photographer, whose name I've seen in magazines? His artist's eye is as keen as his choice of subject. George Cukor is an American treasure. You will treasure this book that celebrates his life and work.

When I first saw this book I asked myself, "is it just another standard Hollywood biography?" However, after a few minutes into it, I realized this is the kind of book one encounters rarely and values enormously -- provocative, highly literate, engaging, terrifically insightful, beautifully constructed (in its writing and art direction, including some magnificent photographs of Cukor and his actors). It truly gives the impression that you are not only "inside" Cukor's elegant, complicated mind ... but inside one of his classic movies. It's a perfect Christmas gift for anyone interested in Hollywood.

Having listened myself, again and again, to the stories of several Holocaust survivors I have been and am privileged to know, I can attest to the strength of this important book, even as the numbers of survivors dwindle.

I bought this book on the eve of an important last trip to a lifelong friend, a survivor, whose birthday I shared, and who (because of that, and much more) called me her "adopted kid."

There are many important messages here. But one of the most key is that for survivors, healing comes through their repetition, to sympathetic listeners, of the horrible details of their suffering. Very often, the minutia are precisely the same, down to the very words.

And yet, at times, little points, never before made, are uttered for the first time, releasing a burden carried for 60 years, or more.

The benefits, for both tellers and listeners, are beyond description. Listening is the greatest gift one can give these heroes and heroines--and to oneself. For those able to grant it, giving this gift is also one of the greatest possible mitzvot.

--Alyssa A. Lappen

Most texts concerning the collection of Holocaust testimony seem to indicate that large-scale work is best, that the experiences of the many can be distilled into one message about the event. But Henry Greenspan, a University of Michigan psychologist, feels differently: he believes strongly that the term "recounting" "better connotes the provisional and processual nature of retelling" (xvii), and therefore, he thinks, talking again and again to the same few people yields more noteworthy results and information. This philosophy, spelled out clearly and easily for even the reader unfamiliar with the field of Holocaust testimony-taking, makes "On Listening to Holocaust Survivors" both compelling and important, and provides a uniquely fresh perspective on the Holocaust and those who survived it.

I picked up the book for the great photography of the beautiful individuals! Yet, after I got the book home, I began to read....and the enjoyment was so satisfying. Delightful tidbits of real life secrets for us all, no matter what age we are experiencing. In a society that does not honor the elderly, this book gives the reader insight into the real jewels of life we forget to honor.

Ever read a travel brouchere and wish you could be there? That's what reading this book is like in two ways: You want to step into the pages and hug the characters, and you also gain a desire to share their experience of living to 100! Great photography and even better stories. This book will make you laugh and make you cry. Above all, it will inspire you to a more meaningful life.

Thanks to Steyn we get a closer look at one of the most fascinating persons in modern history. Nelson Mandela demonstrates most convincingly that integrity and respect for fellow human beings of all levels is not a sign of weakness but rather the ultimate demonstration of greatness. This book ought to be mandatory reading for every person in a leading position, be it in the political or any other field. Thus, let us hope that it becomes more readily available outside of South Africa!

An excellent book! This book was very well written and contained in depth information about executive and personal protection that few people have the intimate knowledge to find out about. I was especially drawn to the special relationship that formed between Mr. Steyn & his protectee, President Nelson Mandela. This book also contained some very humerous passages, such as the incident where the driver for Mr. Mandala's principal car accidently locked the keys in the car, with the president's helicopter inbound a due to land in a few minutes! I would recommend this book to any protection specialist in the field and others alike.

Michael Toms in his introduction to this book states that Campbell "possessed the rare gift of distilling wisdom from a bottomless well of information and knowledge". I would agree and add further that it was also Michael Tom's own high level of knowledge and (more importantly) his warm and genial personality that make this series of interviews more like a fireside dialogue.

Campbell was (and still is) considered one of the greatest scholars of mythology possessing a blazing and intuitive mind. That he was able to communicate his specialist knowledge with an attitude of joy and fun is remarkable. These conversations are also available via audio file, where Campbell's Homeric laugh is a tonic, and Tom's gentle tones are a pleasure. Making fertile work of such topics as literature, philosophy, politics, religion, love, and the great angst of humanity - the meaning of life - this book never preaches, is devoid of dogma and is a pure joy to read.

I recommend it to anyone.

I love to listen to Joseph Campbell, and this book is the next best thing to that. The questions are insighful, and of course Joseph is as relevant today as when he was interviewed. This book includes conversations over many sittings and a great many interesting topics.

This book consists of interviews with about a dozen CENTENERIAN women (women 100+ years old!) in Montenegro compiled in 1990 by A Serb-American. One woman is a Serb muslim, the other a Catholic Albanian and there's a Muslim Albanian and the rest are Serb women.

The women all think back to the Balkan Wars, WWI and WWII. This book shows what Serbs were really about at the turn of the century and what the forces that invaded Serb Montenegro (Turks, Austrians, Germans) were really like.

You hear detailed stories of wars, death, hunger, torture, decapitation. You think the Balkans are a scary place on the news now? Listen to a dozen women 100+ YEARS OLD tell you about how bad it was when they were young.

Only in this book, you get to hear about the cruelty inflicted ON SERBS not by Serbs for a change. Those called "Turks" are in fact Serbs whose ancestors converted to Islam, today's "Bosnian Muslims" and "Austrians" refers to Croats and these same
"Turks" who - together with the Austrians descended on Serb Montenegro in WWI.

The book also talks about how patriarchy made life a grueling nightmare equally for all the women: Serb, Muslim, Catholic Albanian and Muslim Albanian women. You honestly have to read it to believe that women were actually treated this way by husbands and other family members. It is the ugliest side of Balkan life told by those who experienced it personally. The women are so candid, frank and forthright that you really get into their head and sort of grasp the outdated mentality with which they saw the world until their very last days. These women were young when the greatest technological marvel their mountaineer society could ever see was the wonder that is the sowing machine.

Made me so proud to be a Serb.

This is an exraordinary book that reminds women everywhere of the unbelievable struggle of our ancestors to survive. The women in this book could have been from anywhere in a different time, enduring the worst that the world had to offer, yet they emerge from these pages with a unique strength and dignity in spite of it all. I'd highly recommend this book, not simply as an athropological study, but to anyone seeking where they came from. Because this is a book about the history of us all.

Take a step back into time with the daughters of Confederate veterans. The war will not seem like such a long time ago when these recent narratives bring you into the lives of these men.

This book was such easy reading of historical facts. The information was written in such a way that you could feel you were a part of the speakers memories. I would highly recommend this book.