Susan Sarandon Books

Stanley Lombardo strives to bring a classic to the hearts and minds of a modern, disinterested audience, an audience which may regard this epic as a relic of ancient times. As language mutates over time and the meaning of words change, a point is reached at which literature becomes unintelligible except to an elitist educated minority. We see this happening in Shakespeare right now for example. Similarly, translations of Ancient Greek classics from 80 years or more ago now sound 'archaic' in style. Lombardo attempts in his translation to bring the Iliad into an 'ultra-modern' idiom, and he does this with the heart of a poet himself.

His search for the poetic message in the modern idiom comes at some slight cost in translational precision, too much for some purists. However there can be no doubt that Lombardo possesses a profound insight into his subject material and he has chosen his words deliberately and carefully. For those interested in the sound of the original language, Dr Lombardo has, to my mind, his simply wonderful recitation of the first book of the 'Iliad' in Ancient Greek on the internet. When Chryses speaks, one visualises the old man and when Achilles and Agamemnon argue, the emotions sound fully authentic. So too he achieves emotional integrity in this recording. The technical quality is excellent, with clarity throughout.

Although an introduction of some sort is probably mandatory in a recording of this nature, and Susan Sarandon's introduction is fine, I found her preamble to each book of the 'Iliad' quite annoying. These are nothing more than a plot-revealing, in fact plot-diminishing summary of what is about to happen. What point in this when Lombardo's translation rings so lucidly to the modern ear? Perhaps they are placed out of fear of monotony developing in so long a tale. Also the music, which initiates and concludes each Book is unvarying and a little too long at 60 seconds every time. Such are the decisions made by the marketing people these days. I side-stepped annoyance by down-loading only the Lombardo tracks to my mp3 player. (My apologies to Ms Sarandon, whom I admire as a fine actor.)

If you are interested in a modern recording of an ancient classic, then I would recommend this without reservation. After listening to Lombardo, he has won me over and I'm a big fan.

Ably translated and expertly narrated by Stanley Lombardo, Iliad is a flawlessly recorded, complete and unabridged audio presentation of the timeless and classical Greek tale of the Trojan War ascribed to the blind poet Homer. Enhanced with an introduction read by Susan Sarandon, this audio book edition of the Iliad fully captures the epic nature of this story of an ancient tragedy. A "must" for school and community library audiobook collections, this Parmenides Audio 12 CD, 15 hour edition of the Iliad is enthusiastically recommended for all listeners searching for an engaging, entertaining, and memorable reading of the classic work. Also very highly recommended as translated by Stanley Lombardo and featuring equally insightful synopses from Susan Sarandon, is Homer's Odyssey (1930972067, $42.00, 10 CD, 12.5 hours, unabridged, Parmenides Audio).

The fact that this title wasn't considered for the Pulitzer the year is came out is a sham. Susan Sarandon is hot, white hot. Trying to chronicle and describe her dynamic life is like trying to explain a unicorn to a blind man. You can try, but you'll both end up confused. Shapiro has this woman down! Those of you looking for nudity will be disappointed. I've read it 5x and each time I pick up on some of the allegory and subtleties that Shapiro mixes into the biography. Very skillful!

This Biography of Susan Sarandon Is the most wonderful book I've ever read.
Marc Shapiro has done a great job writing this book. It's shows all the sides of susan. You don't even have to be a Susan fan to like this book.Most people only know she's a great actress but she's so much more. She's a wonderful activist, a mother and a beautiful woman.

It's really cool to read. Shapiro derscribes her whole life from her childhood till this moment.

This book shows the life story of a never comparable beautiful woman.

In this fascinating biography, Betty Jo Tucker avoids those dreary details that fill the pages of so many movie star bios and gets right to the nitty-gritty. Tucker includes interesting details of Sarandon's amazing career, aspects of her love life, past and present, and includes a extensive list of sources for digging deeper into the magic of Susan Sarandon. This book covers each of Sarandon's movies, allowing the reader to revisit those great characters from Annie Savoy from Bull Durham to Louise of Thelma and Louise. We learn about Susan's passions, what her peers really think about her and just enough of her personal life to satisfy. Tucker takes the reader behind the scenes to those private causes that touch Sarandon's heart and motivate this otherwise private movie star to speak out. If you love biographies but flip past those tedious chapters recalling the subject's childhood in endless detail, this is a must read. If you love movies, you will enjoy it even more.

Film Critic, Betty Jo Tucker, has done a fabulous job outlining Susan Sarandon's career and life behind the scenes. In this uniquely different biography of sorts, we hear from colleagues, friends, family and other movie critics about Sarandon and her works. Tucker has done her research and includes Susan Sarandon's filmography from 1970 to 2003, websites of interest, famed movie reviews, and even a bibliography of information on Sarandon. Tucker's work is interactive as well as it provides a quiz at the beginning to test your knowledge before you delve into this expertly written bio. *****

Chapters Include: Why Susan?, Recognizing a Maverick, Balancing Act: Family and Career, Roles of Distinction, Her Colleagues Speak Out, Ah, Men!, The Myelin Project, Her Critics Speak Out, and A Woman of Substance.

Tucker is donating her author royalties from this book The Myelin Project, a multi-national organization formed to support research on diseases like the one depicted in the inspiring film Lorenzo's Oil featuring Susan Sarandon.

Susan Sarandon: A True Maverick is one of the best star profiles to come along in a long time. It is a wonderfully light and entertaining look at one of films greatest stars.

Compulsivly readable, it is not really a biography but more of a Sarandon file, filled with information about her life and career. We get to see Sarandon from the point of view of her work collegues, her friends, her family. We get to know the whole Susan, not just parts of her.

What I loved most about this book was it's wonderful writing and it's set up. Betty Jo talks to us, rather than at us, like most biographies. Instead of being boring, reptetitive and boring, Betty Jo presents us with a beautiful look at Sarandon the movie star, the friend, the activist and the mother.

If that's not good enough, Betty Jo has also compiled what is most likely the first annotated filmography of all of Susan Sarandon's films as well as selected film reviews of her work by various other film critics, a look at Susan's career, and opinions of Susan from people who have worked with her or known her.

Susan Sarandon: A True Maverick is no cardboard cut out biography. Instead, it is a treat to read, full of wonderful information about one of, if not the most beautiful woman working in film today. An amazing read and one that I will read again and again.

I may be a little biased...my film review of The Witches of Eastwick is in the back! But I'm not biased really. Aside from my review, Susan Sarandon: A True Maverick is just one hell of a great read.

Vivid retelling of a great, underknown fairy tale with gorgeous illustrations. Sarandon is above average in the recording, while the musical accompaniment is evocative and supportive. Lovely Russian elements to both the music and the artwork. Both my daughters -- aged 2 and 4 -- love it, and it's sent me searching for comparable audio tales from Rabbit Ears.

The adventures of how Ivan the archer and his wise "Horse of Power" survive the greed and selfishness of the czar make for an excellent adventure. Our 8-year old (knight loving) son and 5-year old (horse and princess crazy) daughter loved reading the book and listening to the audio version while we were traveling in the car. This is an entertaining way to pass time while zipping down the interstate and makes for good "quiet" time with the kids at home.

Lombardo's translations of Homer are brilliant, energetic, and fun to read. While other translations are as dry and dusty as ancient Greek itself, Lombardo remarkably manages to bring it all to life, and reading both the Iliad and the Odyssey are as interesting and exciting as reading the most fascinating and lurid novel you've ever had in your hands.

The best thing about this edition is that it has MAPS in the front, and NAME GLOSSARIES in the back (for both the Iliad and the Odyssey). This edition is abridged, but I found that only long, tedious descriptions of preparations for battles seemed to be missing.

This is the ideal student text. (If you are looking for the best FULL edition ever, Lombardo's entire translations of the Iliad and Odyssey are also available.

If I could give it six stars, I would.

I had to use this book for a school project. This version by Stanley lombardo is great, and the refreshed modern day speaking makes the book easier to get through. Furthermore, the character guides and reference to other books in the back proved to be very helpful!

This product can lead to a waste of time and money if you are not careful.

It is a difficult product to review. The subtraction by addition of Susan Sarandon generally starts out with all the wrong ideas. Her contribution is screechy, preachy and inartistic.

It is also exhausting and irritating to listen to a translation when someone thinks that Anglo-Saxon profanity adds anything to a work that was not first written in Anglo-Saxon profanity.

The product packaging, finally, is out of date because it is awkward to add in an iTunes digital/music database system.

Lower costs by not spending the money for a CD version, and download at a lower cost. Perhaps in a downloaded format it will also be easier to shed the useless appendage of the Sarandon commentaries -- which give a tacky "Bull Durham Effect."

Mr. Lombardo has a decent translation, but he is also far too amateur at voice and diction to read his own text. His voice is strained and flat. Much poetry is sacrificed to the delivery.

There are better versions of this classic by other authors. So, look around before buying this one.

I purchased this to accompany the class set of "The Odyssey" for my 8th grade Reading students. I thought the reading was excellent, and my students loved hearing it aloud, as it is meant to be enjoyed. It helped their comprehension immensely-they rarely had questions when listening, while they asked numerous questions when trying to read alone. There are a few places where the book and the cd do not match exactly, but it's never more than one word at a time. The introductions are, however, often not quite accurate-the information is not always with the proper chapter. The information is correct, just misplaced.