Movies Books

Un des livres sur le cinéma qui m'a le plus enthousiasmé. Une écriture très divertissante et des réflexions sur les films et leurs artisants qui captent notre intérêt au point de ne plus pouvoir arrêter notre lecture.

I can't say enough good things about this book. It has ended the difficult search for movies that please both the kids and the adults. It has inspired my family to get at least one pre-70s movie every week to watch together. It's been an education. Through this book, we've found a few movies that we all unequivocally adore, and others that we enjoy but have sparked some important deeper conversations. His ideas on why older movies are good for our children are very thoughtful.

My daughters are nearly the same age as his daughters were when he wrote the book (9 & 11), so the book is particularly on target for us. I love how Burr describes his daughters' and their friends' reactions to old movies. I am surprised by how much negativity about older movies he says has received from some of his children's friends and their parents, because my children and their friends have always been completely receptive to older and black & white movies. But we don't move in mainstream circles (we are secular homeschoolers), so I will take his word for it.

If you enjoy watching movies with your children, you need to own this book.

Excellent Book--I have given it to all of my grown up children. Just reading through it is a trip down memory lane.

Our family enjoyed this book--we got lots of ideas for movie nights, and we also got a kick out of reading the author's entries on movies we've already seen with our kids. It also kick-starts your memory for movies that Burr didn't write about--we were surprised that John Wayne's "True Grit" didn't make the cut for tween girls, and that the Julie Andrews' "Cinderella" wasn't mentioned in little girl musicals. Altogether, this is an engaging and fun book that I would also recommend for adults who are looking to educate themselves about classic cinema.

I came across this book in my local library, and after reading it, am going to purchase a copy for myself, and perhaps give it out as gifts for friends that have young children. This is an amazing movie resource. Ty Burr writes in such a familiar, easy-to-read style, and despite his motives [trying to get us to expand our young ones' movie viewing experiences through old movies/classics], never once comes across as condescending or snobbish.

The fact is that children these days are really being fed a steady, and not so healthy diet of the same type of movies that have spawned sequels, mass merchandising, and dare I say movies that don't really promote great role models [I have had enough of those tween movies with young Hollywood starlets in them]. Ty Burr provides great tips and ideas on overcoming this problems by suggesting old movies, or rather classics that will appeal to the toddler set[Meet Me in St Louis], the tween set[The African Queen], and also teenagers[Metropolis]. There are also old movies he doesn't recommend you watch with your children. The best part of the book is the comprehensive list of old movie titles in the different categories such as comedy, drama, musicals, action, adventure & westerns, horror, sci fi and fantasy, & foreign movies.

All in all, I'd highly recommend this book to readers who are interested in expanding the movie viewing experiences of the young children in their lives, and even for one's own viewing pleasure [there were titles in here that I had never come across and plan to check out!].

David Robinson has written the definitive biography of Charlie Chaplin. It is largely the basis for the movie "Chaplin" because it was authorized by the legend himself and thoroughly explores his life to a greater extent than his autobiography. It is truly a moving and informative work.

Robinson begins his chronology of Chaplin's life in his childhood. He was largely orphaned by his alcoholic father and was only allowed to spend time with his mother while she was mentally healthy. It was through a failed performance of his mother than he got his first taste of acting as a child. From this point, he would devote almost all of the rest of his 87 years to entertainment. In his youth, he specialized in the stage productions which entertained England. He got his first taste of America on one of these traveling tours. On a later tour, he was offered a contract by an American film company. Chaplin agreed to honor his stage contract before beginning his film career.

The book documents with reasonably precise details the process of each film he released in addition to one the public never saw and the final project he never started. Through this filmography, we see the development of "the tramp" character. With each film, the character moves closer to the final product we know.

Chaplin's personal life is well documented. Unlike the autobiography all four wives are addressed, even the one Chaplin was not very fond of discussing. The fact that his first two wives were young is not avoided. However, it must be put in perspective that people did marry and have babies a lot sooner in those days. It is only unique in Chaplin's case because the husband/father is famous and much older. Despite his work for America during war time and a professed love for the country, the slanderous allegations of McCarthyism, also known as the 1950's witch hunt for communists, forced him to finish his life away from the country he loved. Truly the red scare is made to be a more terrible embarrassment to America by this result.

Today's cinematic audience has little appreciation for the roots of the art form. Charlie Chaplin was a revolutionary and founding father in the film industry. Reading about his life is only a step in appreciating his brilliant work.

Robinson is the premier researcher on the life of Charles Chaplin, and this book is the result - a fact filled, balanced book that allows equal focus on Chaplins films and personal life. Most books tend to focus on WAY too much personal life and innuendo, but Robinson avoids this problem, and makes a good book that truly encompasses the entire life of Chaplin.

Robinson's book includes a well detailed filmography, scripts from several early Keystone films, excellent appendices, and many rare pictures. My only complaint is that many of the pictures could be printed much better, and larger too.

Superb reading!

David Robinson's book is the finest biography extant of this indispensable genius of movies. I first read this monumental book 22 years ago and it has remained an indelible part of my understanding of movies and of the life and work of this complex, infuriating, somewhat naive but always questing and humanistic comedian, whose movies are finally being issued on DVD in luminous copies of his own carefully preserved originals.

At the time of Robinson's book, and for a number of years after, Buster Keaton was the preferred choice in silent comics. To take nothing away from Keaton, whom I regard as sui generis ("The General" is a masterpiece, and "The Navigator" is the funniest movie I've ever seen) this may have been more a reflection of the then-current attitudes of "cool," reacting against Chaplin's perceived sentimentality, than an argument for Keaton as the greater artist. Chaplin has recently become of greater interest, and at present his star seems much more firmly fixed, due in large part I think to the recent availability of his work on DVD. Robinson himself, in tandem with the silent cinema scholar Kevin Brownlow, is partly responsible through his access to Chaplin's mint copies of his own movies, which resulted in the superb Thames documentary "The Unknown Chaplin." In any case, it's much easier now to see and to recognize Chaplin's innate (yet painstakingly arrived-at) genius for mixing uproarious physical comedy and subtle pathos; if there is a more moving finale in all of American movies than the last moments of "City Lights," I'm not aware of it.

Robinson's approach is both scholarly and eminently accessible. And he dispels a great many erroneous "facts" that have accrued to Chaplin over the decades, many of them directly attributable to Charlie's own myth-making. The author also refutes some aspects Chaplin's late (and appallingly egocentric) memoir "My Autobiography," whose appearance in the 1960s shocked and saddened many of his former creative collaborators, who found themselves conspicuously absent from Chaplin's over-stuffed tome. If this book is not definitive -- and who can say what future writers may produce in the fullness of time? -- it is at the very least the one fixed starting point for all serious Chaplin research.

There are only two books necessary for the true Chaplin fan; "My Autobiograpy", by Chaplin himself, and this book by Robinson. While there are scores of other books on the market concerning Chaplin's life, Robinson's is THE definitive work.

If Charlie had been around to read this work, he might have amended his famous phrase from "If you want to know me, see my movies," to "If you want to know me, see my movies and read this book".

This book, though thicker than brick, is a swift and fascinating read. You'll wish you'd known old Charlie, you really will. Robinson doesn't care for those who don't care for Chaplin, and that's a little too evident. It's hard to blame him. Overall, a stupendous piece of work.

If there was going to be a Charmed movie, this is the story they should use.

I guess I'm just a huge fan no matter what, because I love ALL the Charmed books, and own them all! Each one has a great and unique story, I'm addicted to collecting AND reading them!

I watch the show every day, sometimes twice a day, every episode, haven't missed one yet, and don't plan on it, ever. I would love to get all the books on the series, especially shadow of the sphinx. That sounds so good. I give the series books 5 stars, cause its the best show on tv except for wwe raw and smackdown.

This book circles around the 3 new strangers who are close to each of the sisters, and each time they meet, something strange happens. Piper's emotions are unruly, Paige seems to be exhausted for nothing and Phoebe has short-term memory loss, and all 3 of their powers are getting weaker and weaker. Just like that. And the more times the sisters meet these "strangers", their sudden-weaknesses seem to be worsening (both magical and non-magical). At last, they discover that there is something sinister going on, and they have to pit against these strangers to defeat them AND get their powers back, as all the Ks (strangers) want in revenge, to what happened to their ancestors nearly 3000 years ago. Dark Vengeance indeed.

Find out what happens to this awesome story penned by Diana G. Gallagher. Definitely worth your money and your time to read it. Happy reading!!

this is my favourite charmed book!!! this is mainly because it gives each of the sisters an equal part bringing them all together at the end to kick but. although there are parts in this book that mirror the crimson spell this book has more levels plus a good twist at the end plus the charmed ones get a few good one liner jokes in. although the bad guys are pretty see through the ending is pretty solid.

overall this is a great book even if your not a mjor charmed fan and if you are it's better

It's Friday night, you're tired after a long work week, and you're wandering the aisles at Blockbuster looking for a good family film. No need to go through the brain damage of reading millions of obscure DVD sleeves when you have Michael Booth's fine book, which recommends some little-noticed but still-great films appropriate for the schoolkids in your house. Screenit.com is OK if you have a specific idea for a rentable movie, but Booth's book is much better when you need recommendations (and for the fun writing, too).

This book is both helpful and enjoyable to read. The commentary addresses its audience with insight and intelligence. Best Family Films has been really helpful - particularly with concerns on the wide range of whether PG-13 movies are more of a PG or an R rating. This book has taken away parental angst.

Booth has a great feel for which movies work for which audience/age group. His recommendations have been 100% when selecting movies for our family.

Michael Booth is the thinking person's alternative to that other Michael (Medved) who professes an interest in family films. Booth's reviews are informative, helpful, witty, and a real pleasure to read. Highly recommended!

This guide's succinct reviews are really useful. Every review is on one page, with an entertaining tidbit, age-appropriateness and run-time on the facing page. I found several of my all-time favorites, but what's better is that I found a few gems that weren't on my list yet.

I don't normally write reviews, however in this case I felt compelled to do so. If you're looking into the topic of family films, let me save you some time. Get this book. As others have noted, Mr. Booth's reviews are entertaining, informative and spot on. His selections include films off the beaten path. Good stuff!

New York after the Jewish Holocaust in Europe. Herman Broder lives a frantic life between 2 wives, and soon to be three. He writes books for a rabbi. His life is a lie, a big lie to which he's grown used. His mind is a mess, just as his life is. The women around him are products of their survival experiences in Europe during the war, as he is too. Religion is present in every page, almost every line, whether it's mentioned with hate or with hope. Things Jewish are ever present: one gets to learn a lot about Jewish customs and terminology.

The story, however chaotic and improbable, almost ridiculous, doesn't fail to be interesting. The author sure knows how to move on between scenes and keep the pace of the changes in Herman's life. The overall impression is of confusion in all areas of live: sentimental, business, psychological, and of course, religious.

These characters behave so weird after their painful experiences, their loss of loved ones, and their witnessing of so much suffering, that they don't believe in anything anymore, not even in why they keep living. Seems they are bewildered and just make most of what they've got at that very moment: which for Herman is most of the time sex. But that is a temporary refuge from insanity, not permanent. People here are lost, drifters melting into the human masses of New York City.

The book is readable, well told, but the story ain't much fun. Herman just annoys me. And the others aren't very likable either. It's a mess of a book that leaves a sweet-sour taste.

In New York

The hotel staff

gave me the chair

that

Isaac B Singer

used to

lean his back against


years before he died




custom made


produced

out of gentle wings of butterflies


that circled his first wife's head


every day and night in Treblinka


before she finally

went

up in smoke




So

I went down at the front desk


A weird occurence

of

that strange and powerful thing

I certainly

wanted to bring to their attention



Of course they say


I. B. Singer

never stayed here

never had a first wife

nor she died in the concentration camp



But what's metter?



My back

feels better


way better



ever since

Isaac Bashevis Singer writes a novel of sheer absurdity and yet, page by page, he makes it very believable.

Herman Broder is a Jew who managed to escape the gas chambers of the Nazi Holocaust by living in a hayloft with his mother's servant Yadwiga from Poland for three years. His wife was not so lucky.....she and her children were all killed by the Nazis......at least that is what we (along with Herman) are led to believe early on. Herman manages to make it to the United States where he marries the peasant girl servant Yadwiga out of sheer gratitude for her saving his life, not out of any kind of a love or fondness for her. And while he is married to Yadwiga, he is carrying on an affair with Masha, who also went through her own camp horrors in Russia. Herman identifies more with her, not to mention the fact that an attraction also exists there, both physically and intellectually.

But just when you think the suspension of disbelief Singer creates cannot get any more bizarre, it does, when Tamara, his ex-wife, shows up in New York, after surviving the Nazis. Herman now has two and sometimes three women after him, and still he is unable to commit to any one of them. Singer creates a novel of absurd proportions, and then has the temerity to keep it growing! And the arrant brilliance in it is that it works on the reader to the very end.

Along the way the characters reveal thoughts which make one think more of a philosophical treatise than of a novel, a mark of a great writer and one of the reasons I could not put this book down:

"How peculiar that a panful of brains should be constantly wondering and not able to arrive at any conclusion! They were all silent: God, the stars, the dead. The creatures who did speak revealed nothing."
-Isaac Bashevis Singer, from the book "Enemies, A Love Story"

There are few writers such as Oscar Wilde to whom I can say they are unequivocally brilliant......Singer is certainly one of them.

How does one cope with such a thing? You know? The Holocaust.

It was the Holocaust that took Herman's parents, wife and two children. He manages to survive by hiding in a hayloft. For three long years, a former servant in his home, Yadwiga, a plain, uneducated but loving Polish woman, keeps him hidden and alive. After the war, we find Yadwiga and Herman married and living in Brooklyn. For other Holocaust survivors, Brooklyn represents opportunity, a sense of re-birth. All around him, new families are being formed out of what is left of old ones. Old customs are being renewed. The old prayers are said. Feasts are held. Traditions prevail. Life goes on. The future is hopeful, but not for Herman. Herman merely exists. He has a job as a ghost-writer for a famous rabbi. Herman is good at writing inspirational messages, messages of hope. But, Herman is not a believer. Not anymore. Not since the Holocaust. To Herman, God is either dead or an enemy. God is out to get him. Herman has a mistress, Masha, a camp survivor. His life is complicated. Then, as it turns out, his first wife who supposedly died in the camps, she's alive. Now Herman has two wives and a mistress. Complicated. They all want a piece of him. Emotionally, he retreats to the hayloft. But, emotionally, Herman is already dead, as dead as he would have been had he been found and sent to the camps, as dead as the rest of them, as dead as his faith in God. In the hayloft, minute by minute, day by dragging day, Herman was exterminated.

There are reasons that Isaac Bashevis Singer won the Nobel Prize for Literature, and all of these reasons are apparent in ENEMIES, A LOVE STORY.

Though he is not the only Jewish author to have won the Nobel, he is the only author whose primary writing was in Yiddish. Hence, the version of ENEMIES that I read was a translation.

Still, the simplicity of his prose shines through the novel. His storytelling skills are spellbinding.

Mr. Singer perfectly captures the undertone of desperation and doom connected with those who endured the Nazis and survived.

This novel will shock and it will sadden but it never will be less than writing at its finest.

Coach Grant Taylor's life seemed to be running in reverse. As a high school football coach, Grant had yet to have a winning season after 6 years. Angry parents were pushing for him to leave.
On the home front, things weren't much better. The Taylors' attempts to start a family had failed. They had financial problems,their house was in constant need of repair, and their old car left them stranded more often than not. After an encouraging conversation with an older man who had been praying for the school and the students, Grant decided to give it all over to God. I won't spoil the story for you by revealing what happened after that, but believe me, things did begin to happen!
I am not a big sports fan so I didn't know how much I would like "Facing The Giants". I didn't see the movie until after I read the book. Wow was I ever surprised! I LOVED this book! I laughed, I cried.....it is so much more than a sports story. It amazed me to see what really is put into motion when an individual,then a whole football team,gives their best to God and trusts Him for the outcome.

Eric Wilson is best know for suspense novels with historical backgrounds. With each novel he's shown growth and depth as an author and a man. His first four novels were very different and yet revealed trademarks of the Wilson signature.

Now with the release of Facing The Giants Eric stands everything you've known about him before on it's proverbial head and shows he's no one trick pony. Not only can he come up with imaginative plots and characters that are at once real and larger than life, but he can also take someone else's work and make it his own. This he's done with Facing the Giants.

Originally a grassroots successful film depicting the real life struggles of a high school football team, their coach and community, Eric Wilson's novelization takes that framework and builds his own story brick by brick. Yes, much of the book reflects the original movie, but Wilson adds depth and meaning where a film-goer might be left to wonder.

Admittedly, this isn't my kind of story and I've told Eric so. I much prefer suspense. However, it is a great read and a reminder of God's faithfulness even in the darkest night of your life. As always Eric brings characters and situations to life, raw with emotions, heart, courage and weaknesses.

Next up for Eric is the novelization of another film, Flywheel--coming in April. And then, in October, Eric will change everything again with the release of book one of the Jerusalem's Undead series. Book one is called Field of Blood. Think 1st century Jerusalem and vampires. How can you not want to read that?!

I loved reading this book. It even made me cry! The part where he makes the player crawl the entire field with the guy his back is incredible! I even loaned it to two of the boys I babysit who love football and the loved it! Great book! I would recommend it to anyone!

Herein lies the rest of the story.

These days every successful movie is either preceded by or followed by a companion novel, but many novelizations fail to stand on their own. Poor or lazy writing, failure to understand the onscreen characters, failure to add something new to the original--these errors and others weaken the majority of movies-turned-books. FACING THE GIANTS suffers none of these troubles and stands to widen the movie's already sizeable audience.

Wilson's novelization of Stephen & Alex Kendrick's screenplay is as enjoyable, moving, and inspirational as the original film, and it provides an excellent way for fans to re-experience FACING THE GIANTS for the first time and for first-timers to finally jump on the bandwagon. What's more, the book version not only expands a few scenes and adds a few others, but allows the reader to see inside the heads of several key characters--something even the best actors can't perfectly convey.

Just as Dan Reeves said about the movie (see front cover), this story is one that every Christian, athlete or otherwise, should experience in one media form or another.

It is all about the motive. It is all about the heart.

I received this book Saturday and read it all the way through today, after watching the movie again yesterday. I think the book and the movie make a great combination. I had seen the movie several times, and I think the book added some details that are not seen in the movie. While I was reading the book, I was able to visualize what took place in the movie. Eric Wilson did a wonderful job of putting the movie on paper. I will often return to the book, when I need encouragement, and probably later on watch the movie again.
I think it is important to understand the whole plot before jumping to conclusions. It's easy to think this is nothing more than a feel good Christian book/movie, but after a couple times, you start to get the message. I found myself actually identifying the emotions where I was hyped up at times (especially the game for the state title), but the extra details in the book really helped; for example when Larry Childers wheeled himself to the end zone and stood for his son when David was about to kick a field goal to win the state championship. From the book, I could see the encouragement a father provided for his son, and that gave David the encouragement to give it his best. I could say much more, but I was very happy to see this in print.

This book is an awesome book. I remember reading Famous Monsters of Filmland back in the 60s. The quality printing of this book is incredible. I love that they had printed a hard bound version. It's well worth the money. The color of the paintings pop right of the page.

this book is great.Very happy to included this one in my collection.Already have a tattoo planed of bride of frankenstein.

I'm in agreement with another reviewer that mentioned the book could have been better written. That being said, it is well worth the price for all the fantastic paintings and drawings. A must for every fan of horror and sci-fi art.

Even without text, this book would've earned 4 stars, just for the impressiveness of Gogos' work. Within this book are large, crystal-clear repros of his most famous monster cover paintings, as well as samples of his illustration work.
The only setback for this book is its lack of depth in the text. It seems that whoever was sent to interview Basil didn't ask too many questions, didn't want to really know too much about him except for his general acheivements, and didn't ask him for a demonstration of how he works. Among all of the great pics, some candid ones of the artist would've been nice, most notably a pic of his studio.
Still, the images are so rich in color and character. Worth it!

First of all...Like so many reviewers before me have said; almost every boy that grew up in the '50s & '60s anxiously collected our 35 cents every month so we could go to the local candy store & buy the latest issue of Famous Monsters of Filmland. This magazine became our bible & 4E Ackerman became our surrogate father. More than 45 years have passed; but I can still remember those magnificent covers as though it were yesterday. Basil Gogos painted the cover of the Gorgo issue which had a blue background & also the Vincent Price issue which had a white background,etc. This Book displays all of Basil Gogos outstanding cover art which graced the cover of FM for so many years. Don't take my word for it...ask Stephen King, Rick Baker, George Lucas, Stephen Spielberg, John Landis, Rob Zombie & a host of others..This book is an absolute delight for the senses & like fine art is meant to be treasured,

Didi Conn's book is OK for fans of the movie "Grease". Most interesting is her behind-the-scenes info on everything from famous scenes from the movie(like the "Greased Lightning" musical segment) to the premiere of the film. Some of her interviews with the stars are insightful and some of the photos are OK. But Conn should have perhaps hired a ghost writer as her style is a bit weak. Also, it would be nice if there were more color photos in here as well. True Grease fans will appreciate this book.

If you love the movie Grease this is a book you have to have. It is full of behind the scenes information about the cast,play,and movie. It also is full of candid pictures from cast members. It also tells about the casting and production,and is an overall wonderful book!

This book is all a Grease fan needs except the video.Full of rare B&W and color pictures.Bio's+interviews with the cast.General info and lots more.I recommand that book to not only Grease fans but also Olivia,Didi,Stockard,Jeff and John fans.

There's not a lot of new information in this book, unless it's about what the stars are doing now. There are lots of cool photos, although they're in black & white which is pretty disappointing. There are maybe a page or two towards the end, which are colour photos, but the black & white photos don't seem too clear for some reason.

There's not much reading to do either, and it took much about an hour to read right the way through. Didi Conn (Frenchy) was the perfect person to write a book about Grease. Whether she's babbling on about how drop dead gorgeous John Travolta, or that the actors were only a "little bit older" than the characters they were playing, she does it in such a bubbly way that you smile right the way through.

This is a terrific book, and well worth hunting it out on Ebay, or buying it used from Amazon. Mine was brand new, and managed to entertain me for a morning. But you have to be a serious fan of Grease. There is not a lot of new information, but the pictures are well worth it.

This book is full of rare information that the average Grease fan would love to know! The photos and facts are very interesting and fun to look at and learn. I would recomend this book to anyone that loves Grease, Olivia,Stockard,John,Jeff... It is truely the best asortment of information,and pictures I have ever read and or seen of the movie Grease!

I really like this book, it goes way back to the radio programs...
I love seeing and reading about the people who played the parts years ago and have since passed away or left the show.
It is a great book for Guiding Light fans.
If you don't have it GET IT!

i have the hardback version of this book. This magnificent book came along in 1997 when "Guiding Light" was celebrating it's then 60th Anniversary. This month marks the show's 67th Anniversary {it having began on radio in January 1937 as a 15 minute sermon from various reverends from the Little Church in Five Points}. The radio show expanded to traditional serial melodrama by 1948 with the introduction of the German immigrant Bauer clan, a family that's STILL a part of the show to this very day, plus a host of other families. The book talks in-depth about each and every storyline that had a major impact or is at least memorable to fans. Admittedly, the first generation of fans who recall when the show was on radio are either no longer with us or are in their 80s or 90s by now. And so, this book, as i see it, was also designed to highlight the radio years for the contemporary fans of today who might've started watching in the mid '80s or the early '90s and afterward. The show moved to TV in June 1952 (continuing on radio until 1956). By now the Bauers were the focal point and the storylines were written to revolve around the Bauers and the conflicts they had with each other and the community. Bert was a social climber at first but she out-grew it by the early '60s after she had a pap smear, one of the first storylines in a soap opera to deal with such topics; Bill was a womanizer and an alchoholic; Papa Frederich was the German immigrant patriarch; and as the decade grew, Bill and Bert's son Ed became a doctor and an alcoholic while brother Mike became a womanizing lawyer. The book really gets "juicy" when the '70s section rolls around. 1971 was the debut of Michael Zazlow as Roger Thorpe, the scheming corporate ladder climber who was always being over-shadowed by nemesis Ed Bauer. And so, the '70s were dominated by the quadrangle of Roger Thorpe/Holly Norris/Ed Bauer/Peggy Fletcher. Storylines like that, plus the 1977 arrival of the wealthy yet sinister Spaulding clan would prove to be the show's success, causing ANOTHER very popular triangle of Alan Spaulding/Elizabeth Spaulding/Mike Bauer. The book gets vague in the mid '80s section because i recall things that the book leaves out: like 1986's return of Alan Spaulding. The book says Alan made his return with help from Baron von Halkein...which is true. But the book leaves out Alan's missing years (1984-1986) and never lets the reader know that Alan had been living life as 'Gregory Samuels' in San Rios after having been shot and presumed dead by the FBI, who were hot on his trail in early 1984. Alan had managed to seize control of several emerald mines and use an alias to avoid detection. If fans see this review they'll now know about Alan's missing years. Apart from that bit of history left out of the book, i have no complaints. The back pages of the book give histories of the families that were currently on the show: Bauer, Spaulding, Lewis, Reardon, Chamberlain, and Cooper. There are two tributes to the two most popular characters: Roger Thorpe and Reva Shane. Charita Bauer, the actress who played Bertha "Bert" Bauer from 1949-1984, is also given high praise. All of the awards from the industry to fan-voted are also shown. There's even a section where favorite couples are highlighted: Phillip and Beth; Mike and Elizabeth; Rick and Abigail; etc. Jerry ver Dorn gives the introduction and he holds the record for second longest running cast-member. He's played attorney Ross Marler since 1979. The record holder is Charita Bauer, of course, with 35 years as Bert. The other person with the most consecutive years behind Charita's 35 and Jerry's 25, is Tina Sloan...she's played Nurse Lillian Raines since 1983, this is her 21st year on the show. This book is dated, of course. A lot has happened on the show since late 1996/early 1997. seek out back issues of Soap Opera Digest for re-caps of action post 1996. This book is a must for all fans of the show both young and old. Until someone comes along with a potential 70th Anniversary book in 2007, this 60th Anniversary is an excellant introduction to the show.

Great book! Lots of information about GL. I enjoyed reading what happened in the episodes before I was an avid watcher.

Hopefully, there will be future update editions of this wonderful missive on the history of daytime's oldest soap. Not just for fans, either!

I have been a huge fan of GL for a few yrs now..the only thing that sux about this book is that all the great gl stars have left.. wendy moniz as dinah marler and cynthia watros as annie dutton will greatly be missed..

it is a great show...but the WRITING DESPERATELY NEEDS to improve...but the memories from 1990-1997 were truly spectacular...finally we see THE LIGHT!

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!