Language Arts Books

I'm a college student and I just started taking accelerated classes. I can't even explain how this has helped me. They say that you learn as fast as you read and I see that I'm picking things up faster. It worked for me I read things faster and retain more info. Good for anybody

This is a simple way to increase your reading speed. Within twenty minutes I had more than doubled my speed. The draw back to speed reading for me; I always feel hurried and I have not mastered the retention section. So I've read it all but I still don't remember it all.

As I played the CD-ROM entitled REV IT UP READING by Abby Marks-Beale, I appreciated the fact that the information was presented in an easy-to-follow format that made the learning experience a positive one. The music and graphics proved to be very effective enhancements to the overall presentation of this accelerated reading program. I found myself intrigued by the simplicity of the learning strategies and how they ultimately proved to make a significant difference in my own reading speed.

As a former publisher, present-day author and book reviewer, efficient reading is the basic foundation for success in my business. The first time I used this program I proved, though my personal reading progress chart, that I more than doubled my reading speed. It is my opinion that, as I put the suggested reading strategies for expanding my peripheral vision into practice on a regular basis, I will see even more improvement. This is a wonderful investment for individuals and businesses; it isn't expensive and it yields immediate benefits. By taking advantage of REV IT UP READING, individuals will be able, among other things, to keep up-to-date with the reading of current events, have more confidence in school, and read the fine print faster. There will ultimately be less reading stress in all areas.

One of the objectives of this reading program is to provide three different options-learning strategies-for students to choose from. After learning and practicing all three, I found the one that was most effective for me; however, since everyone is unique, preferences will differ. This program is concerned, not only with the speed of reading, but also with concentration, comprehension and retention. As students continue to work the program and practice the exercises, most will see improved results in all areas.

I found it interesting that putting in the CD and starting the reading program was compared to putting a key into the ignition of a sporty roadster and starting up the engine. There are five gears or categories that equate to a person's reading speed-words per minute. At the beginning of the CD, when I tested my reading speed, I was in the average category; I was reading in second gear. After applying the learning strategies, doing the exercises, and even taking advantage of a special bonus section, I moved up to the above average category-this was fourth gear. When a person goes into fifth gear, they are in overdrive. This is my future objective-to be in overdrive as far as the speed of my reading.

Although this is designated as a thirty-minute learning program, I deliberately took longer to complete it. When it came to practicing the exercises, I found myself repeating them over and over, competing with myself in a way that was fun as well as effective. It is my hope and recommendation that individuals will take advantage of this entertaining and effective CD-ROM that has been made available to them.

I bought this program for my son but thought that I would try it ( I am already a fast reader).

I spend one hour on this program and improved my speed by 15%!!

I totally recommend this program to everyone who wants to improve their reading speed.

I sat down at the computer yesterday and gave it a try. I had no idea what to expect and was really surprised at how easy it was to increase my reading speed! I really raced through the cd and even as quickly as I went my reading speed went up from 243 wpm to 414! I am sure if I spent just a little more time with it I would really benefit from your innovative techniques. This is the perfect cd for busy people who want to read more rapidly and more effectively. The production quality is also first-rate - crisp, clean graphics and easy-to-follow directions make this a breeze to use.
I am sure our patrons will benefit from "Rev it up Reading."


Susan Smayda
Head of Community Services
Wallingford Public Library

This is another excellent book from Georgia Heard. As always, Georgia has provided ideas that can be applied immediately to one's own classroom. I highly recommend this book for anyone who is focused on improving writing in their classroom.

I have used this book so many times with my third graders. Heard has some fresh, creative ideas on the different types of revisions that come up in Writers Workshop. If you love writers workshop this is a great addition to your library!

This book is a valuable tool for any teacher of writing. It gives a number of ways for teaching writers to look at revision with leads, voice, setting, character and much more dealing with the craft of writing. Each activity is easy to implement and can be utilized to fit any teacher's classroom situation.

Georgia Heard communicates clearly - in her poetry, in her writing. This book is a helpful collection of strategies and reminders that are straightforward and clearly expressed. For example, it addresses the importance of verbs, as the driving force of sentences, and of using specifics when naming nouns and then provides simple techniques and examples for practice. My middle school students and I find it valuable.

I took many courses with Georgia Heard when I was a graduate student at Columbia University. She changed my life as a teacher and writer. I cannot stop writing poetry and fiction because of her. Nor can I squelch my desire to work with students (primary school through adult ed) on their own poems.

The products of my students' writing and my own writing knock the pants off practically anyone who has a heart. Thank you, Georgia, for helping so much fantastic stuff to blossom.

All of her books are jewels. This book in particular is a steamer trunk packed with a zillion ways one can look at the revision process.

Buy the book and use it. See Georgia in person when she speaks at conferences. Write your hearts out, then re-read this book and write some more.

It's why we're here on earth.

I have used "Rhetorical Criticism" in my classes for over two years. The book is a great resource for all students of rhetoric, at both the undergraduate and graduate level. The organization of the book is it greatest asset for students of human communciation: a clear explanation of the method, followed by sample essays both by undergraduate students and expert scholars of rhetoric.

Bassically, if you have to learn about Rhetorical Criticism, this is the best book. It makes even some of the hardest methodologies such as FTA, postmodern abnd more seem easy to understand. What is even better, this bbok will show you how to apply these theories to an artifact. Good Luck.

I have used Sonja Foss' RHETORICAL CRITICISM: EXPLORATION & PRACTICES as a textbook for my Rhetorical Criticism class in the past three consecutive years. Among many other choices of textbooks, I find this one to have more strength and most suited for my students and my teaching style. First, the layout of the book is very easy for students to approach. It proceeds from traditional to current modes of rhetorical criticism, which gives the reader a sense of theoretical development in the field of rhetoric and communication. It covers both the mainstream as well as marginalized ideologies and frameworks in rhetorical formulations. Second, for each mode of rhetorical criticism, Sonja Foss offers a lucid explanation of the rhetorical concepts, the purpose of the critiques, and steps to follow in writing a critical essay. While the procedure tends to be prescriptive, it also allows great flexibility in the writing process. Students like this approach, for it gives them a sense of direction as to how to analyze sysmbols and rhetorical acts as well as allowing them to be more critical and creative. Third, what students and I like most are the sample articles following each mode of criticism. These articles, written by scholars as well as Foss' former students, help the reader understand in depth rhetorical concepts and apply theoretical models to symbolic practices and real life situations. Finally, this textbook does not only teach our students rhetorical concepts and modes of critical inquiry, it also allows students to make a close connection between rhetoric and their real life experiences. By the time we finish each mode of criticism, students are all eager to write their own essays and find the process very meaningful and illuminating. In sum, I highly recommend Sonja Foss' RHETORICAL CRITICISM: EXPLORATION & PRACTICES as a college textbook for rhetorical crititcism class. I am sure once you start using the book, you do not want to change to another one.

Foss entices the reader to explore a variety of dimensions of the analytic activity known as rhetorical criticism. She captures the ingenity and imagination of seeing the world through a rhetorical prism of interacting symbols. Ranging from the analysis of images to music to language instrumental in shaping political discourse, the text provides an extraordinary guide to viewing the symbols that compel our public and private interests. The strength of her approach is exemplified in the sytematic procedures she offers to begin the practice and appreciation of criticism. Novices are given clear steps to follow and veterans can find new ways of examining artifacts and generating questions based on the goals of their inquiry. I give this text my highest recommendation; Foss'examination of artifacts and reseach questions continues to generate lively classroom discussions and ignites the imaginations of students who may not be eager initially to undertake the tasks of rhetorical criticism.

I have used Sonja Foss' RHETORICAL CRITICISM: EXPLORATION & PRACTICES as a textbook for my Rhetorical Criticism class in the past three consecutive years. Among many other choices of textbooks, I find this one to have more strength and most suited for my students and my teaching style. First, the layout of the book is very easy for students to approach. It proceeds from traditional to current modes of rhetorical criticism, which gives the reader a sense of theoretical development in the field of rhetoric and communication. It covers both the mainstream as well as marginalized ideologies and frameworks in rhetorical formulations. Second, for each mode of rhetorical criticism, Sonja Foss offers a lucid explanation of the rhetorical concepts, the purpose of the critiques, and steps to follow in writing a critical essay. While the procedure tends to be prescriptive, it also allows great flexibility in the writing process. Students like this approach, for it gives them a sense of direction as to how to analyze sysmbols and rhetorical acts as well as allowing them to be more critical and creative. Third, what students and I like most are the sample articles following each mode of criticism. These articles, written by scholars as well as Foss' former students, help the reader understand in depth rhetorical concepts and apply theoretical models to symbolic practices and real life situations. Finally, this textbook does not only teach our students rhetorical concepts and modes of critical inquiry, it also allows students to make a close connection between rhetoric and their real life experiences. By the time we finish each mode of criticism, students are all eager to write their own essays and find the process very meaningful and illuminating. In sum, I highly recommend Sonja Foss' RHETORICAL CRITICISM: EXPLORATION & PRACTICES as a college textbook for rhetorical crititcism class. I am sure once you start using the book, you do not want to change to another one.

My 3 yr old loves this book. It's a great introduction towards learning Spanish.

A librarian friend recommended this; the bright blue cover with a bull and red cape intrigued me. There are clever illustrations that go along with the Spanish words (I needed to use the glossary in the back for some words). This is a great introductory book for children, but also for someone who is beginning to learn Spanish. Adios!

This was an entertaining follow-up to the first "Hola to Spanish." The illustrations are charming, but the "flow" of the story was not as good as the first. Perhaps it bothered me more than my spouse since I'm the one fluent in both languages. He's the one learning Spanish and it doesn't bother him.

Although the Spanish word is bold and in a different font, I still found it a bit hard to read since there are no quotation marks around the word as you would expect with correct grammar. This also affected the flow when reading it to my daughter.

The pronunciation guide in back is very nice and my spouse found it easy to understand. It would be nice if the word was also on the story pages so the non-Spanish speaking reader could know how to pronounce it when reading it instead of having to flip back.

I would recc. this book to anyone wanting something akin to the rhyming Dr. Seuess books, or to anyone wanting a fun way to pick up some Spanish vocabulary.

Susan Middleton Elya has done it again! "Say Hola! to Spanish" was delight to read - aloud; "Say Hola to Spanish, Otra Vez" does not disappoint! On the contrary, students from kindergarten all the way through grade 8 delighted in Ms. Elya's catchy rhymes and plays on words. If you loved "Say Hola! to Spanish" the first time around, "Otra Vez" delivers... again and again!

My four year old daughter would not have anything to do with a Spanish book until I got this one. It's mostly in English, but mixes in over 70 Spanish words in rhyming sentences. The pictures are cute and amusing, which always helps to keep a child's interest. If you are learning Spanish yourself like I am, you'll probably pick up some new vocabulary (juala is cage and tijeras are scissors). But best of all, your child will definitely learn some Spanish. The other day I asked my daughter if she wants to go to the biblioteca and she said, "Oh, the library - sure!".

Fantastic book which should be taught in college. It's all about keeping meetings, presentations, and other things down to 6 minutes. You can keep that audience for 6 minutes, but often times not longer- even when the topic is interesting. This is a must for anyone who works in a company that loves meetings and wants to cut that drivel down. A true 5 star, no nonsense, business book that means bizness.

As a speaker and writer I am always interested in new ways of thinking and speaking and making things crisp and clear. This guy does it. And for those of you who attend way too many meetings, and especially for those like I used to be holding and attending way too many meetings ... this book is for you. It is a simple process the author lays out and anyone can do it f they will. Great advice and it is actionable the minute you read it. Worth the price and then some.

I teach a seminar on reaching the Motorcoach Travel Industry, and I make it a point to hold up a copy of Ron's most excellent book at every session, and encourage every attendee to purchase a copy for themselves. I can't endorse this book enough...in an industry populated with the "seven minute appointment" format for conventions, "Say It In Six" is just about flawless for proper preparation to sell in this marketplace. Highest possible recommendation!

I love this book. I am a college speech instructor, and this book is a great adjunct to my college speech text. The students have to give a number of speeches that must be short, and Say it in Six gives excellent justification for the short and to the point speech. This book speaks to the real world of public speaking. There is a great idea about the short speech to save your job. This is very practical in the world of down sizing. I have this book on my recommended list of speech books to purchase, and from time to time I quote from it. I tell my students to seek out the experts when they give a talk even if they think they know much about their topic. I may know much about speech, but Ron Hoff is my expert.
Jessica Kelpine

Mr. Hoff make's the point that most meetings are a waste of time and they are a waste because people don't come to the point.

Further, you can say almost anything worth saying in 6 minutes. And he proves it by timing how long it takes to recite his first chapter and coming in at 6 minutes and a couple of seconds, while clearly making his point.

If you can get your point across, clearly and forcefully, succinctly then you should. The amount of time wasted in excessive verbiage is staggering.

Step one to improving productivity by saving time in meetings and presentations is realizing there's a problem. Step two is figuring out how to shorten a presentation to make it more effect (not just shorter). Step three is motivating people to apply step 2.

This is a concise book on how to give a concise, effective, presentation.

This book provides excellent guidelines for keeping your writing fresh and moving along. It breaks down the mystery of keeping the reader in the moment and gives you exersize to put each idea into practice. If you are looking to make your writing more vivid or how to keep the reader in the moment with you. Then this is your book.

Ms. Scofield has written a book about the nuts and bolts of creating, identifying, and evaluating scenes, scenarios, and scenics. Other books I have read have tended to be too theoretical to be of much use. I will gladly re-read Ms. Scofield's book several more times to increase my understanding of the functions of scenes, scenics, and scenarios.
Why did I say that this book is not just for fiction writers? Every reader faces a book that just doesn't work for him/her, but perhaps it is difficult to put his/her finger on why. This book helps a reader understand a story's structure and why something works or doesn't work. A reader does not need to throw up his/her hands in frustration and declare "it just does not work for me!" Rather, this book gives the reader the tools needed to determine why a story "isn't quite right."

One of the hardest tasks of learning to write is learning to read like a writer. A carpenter sees a house differently than a real estate agent, an architect, or a homeowner. A writer must learn to read books not like an English major or a reader in an airport, but with an eye for breaking apart and studying aspects of his or her craft.

With her book, The Scene Book: A Primer for Fiction Writers, Sandra Scofield offers writers a step by step guide for skillfully crafting fictional scenes. "Events may be mentioned in summary," she writes, "even tossed away in the telling of a grand tale, but it is in scene that you capture the hearts and imagination of your readers."

While many books help writers develop three dimensional characters, improve setting description, learn to write dialogue or improve their plots, there are very few books that give writers the tools they need to create their own compelling scenes. The Scene Book gives you a language for talking with yourself and others about the components of a well- written scene. It also offers tons of great exercises to help you add layers of complexity to your own work.

In her first chapter, Scofield defines the terms she uses to break apart the different components of good scenes, the first step to demystifying a complicated art form. According to Scofield, every scene has event and emotion, a function, a structure and a pulse. It also has beats of action which keep the reader grounded in the world the writer is trying to create.

After Scofield defines her terms, she spends a chapter on each one, explaining their significance and analyzing published examples of the craft aspect she is trying to teach. At the end of each chapter, she provides exercises for coming up with your own scenes, using what you have learned.

Later chapters offer readers advanced skills, writing scenes with lots of characters, or turning a flat character into a more rounded one by having them respond in meaningful ways to what is going on around them. It is a character's response to the conflict in a scene that helps a reader connect. Scofield's well-written exercises guide writers into creating believable, moving, reactions for their characters.

Scofield's guide to writing scenes is so jam packed with strong- minded insight into the writer's craft, that it will more than likely take you the rest of your life to master everything in it. It is a book you will return to again and again no matter how long you have been writing. And each time read it, you will learn something new. The Scene Book will teach you to study the books you read like a writer.

Novelist Stephanie Cowell brought The Scene Book to my attention, and I'm grateful. Sandra Scofield packs her slim volume with essential and well-organized information on creating scenes with a pulse--the life-blood of engaging storytelling in print and on stage and screen. As both a novelist and playwright, I've gained useful insights from this book, which apply to my own writing, and I've quoted from and recommended "The Scene Book" to audiences at writing workshops.

Brief but full of information. Well organized and easy to 'get into and out of'. Presents scene construction and content analysis methods that are helpful and not esoteric. Examples of paragraphs and pages of published novels are plentiful.

Self-Help For Writers, Winners Show You How, written by Erna Holyer, a successful author of children's books who has signed her name to thousands of articles as well, offers sure-fire methods and examples to motivate and inspire either professional writers or students of writing. This book will interest anyone wishing to transfer their stories, beautiful thoughts or practical advice into salable material, as her students, who pocket thousands of dollars each year, will attest.

This book is written by a teacher who overcame great obstacles on her road to success and is an inspiration to her students. A native of Germany, Mrs. Holyer moved to the United States with her American husband. With unflinching determination and courage the would-be writer set out to conquer the english language. She pursued her studies in spite of physical handicaps due to a heart condition which had caused her to endure one of the first open-heart surgeries in Germany. Along this writer's journey, she endured a second, nearly fatal, heart surgery, a later cancer surgery, and the death of a spouse.

This book includes hundreds of examples taken from the files of this popular and successful teacher. An important facet in the early career of Erna Holyer was the study under the tutelage of successful, selling writers who shared their skills and techniques, which she now passes onto her students. This hard-earned education ultimately brought success as sales began to trickle, then flow in abundance in the form of hundreds of articles and at least one children's book per year.

Self Help For Writers, the culmination of a life-time of service to the writing community, is a memorial to the hundreds of students who have attended the classes of Mrs. Holyer and is a testament to her courage. Filled with remarkable insight, this book contains 116 pages of power-packed, technical details and hundreds of motivational examples. These remarkable nuggets of information will be a valued addition to the library of any college or writer.

This book is very enjoyable. It gives you courage to think about writing,sharing your ideas and experiences with others, and to experiment with your thoughts. I am no longer afraid of putting my thoughts into writing, I just write what I feel. For me, this book gave me a lot of confidence because of the fact that english is not my native language. I also liked the fact that the author brought up different people with different experiences, and how they overcame their personal fears of writing. I recommend this book to anyone interested in becoming a writer or improving their skills.

This book is very enjoyable. It gives you courage to think about writing,sharing your ideas and experiences with others, and to experiment with your thoughts. I am no longer afraid of putting my thoughts into writing, I just write what I feel. For me, this book gave me a lot of confidence because of the fact that english is not my native language. I also liked the fact that the author brought up different people with different experiences, and how they overcame their personal fears of writing. I recommend this book to anyone interested in becoming a writter or improving their skills.

I greatly enjoyed the many examples of writing success by "regular people," and how they achieved it.
A must read for writers who need encouragement, inspiration, and the prodding to persevere.

The author, Erna Holyer, is herself the epitome of perseverance, first overcoming her scant knowledge of the English language, then pressing on to follow her heart's desire to become a published author.

Five stars, for sure.

Erna Holyer's book, "Self Help for Writers: Winners Show You How", uses real life experiences from her students to motivate authors and instruct them in the craft of writing. Some of her topics are: Opportunities in your daily life, Write about your adventures, and Don't let handicaps stop you. Each of these topics help you see opportunities for stories or articles in the events of your daily life.
Other chapters encourage a professional approach to writing. Holyer inspires you to persevere in your writing and to do market research.
Holyer teaches with anecdotes, which makes her book easy to read and the points she make memorable.
This book is a useful tool for writers.

I'm writing this as someone with a lay (but serious) interest in Old Irish, who learned Modern Irish as a child, and has a reasonable fluency. I've also studied several languages over the years, ranging from Breton to Arabic. I've read the Lehmanns' book too, and compared to this, it feels like it's from another century. Oh wait, it IS from another century!

Seriously, this is a modern approach to Old Irish. I found it generally accessible, and the charts showing reconstructions all the way back to proto-IndoEuropean were interesting too. Where Lehmann provides a numbered list of sentences to be parsed or translated, during which the grammar is apparently expected to be assimilated by osmosis, Stifter provides actual prose describing the grammar.

The main shortcoming in my view, is that there's little comparison with modern Irish. What amazed me was how much of the structure has been preserved over the centuries, from VSO word-order to mutations to personal prepositions; even much of vocabulary has changed relatively little. Although students who are completely new to any form of Irish will find it strange in its grammar and orthography, much of that strangeness hasn't changed all that much over time, and will be perfectly familiar to anyone acquainted with modern Irish.

Personally I would have found it helpful to highlight the aspects that have REALLY changed or disappeared over the intervening millennium (e.g., deponent forms, dual forms, etc.) After all, as fascinating a link as Old Irish is to our ancient European roots, it's also the relative of modern Irish, which is still a living spoken language. I realise that this would satisfy a minor fraction of the readership, but it's so comprehensive, Stifter might have included it. Maybe in a future edition?

An well explained and methodical book about the old irish language. Easy to study and very complete study.

Best resource available for an amateur, but explanations are sometimes lacking. Still, you can't do any better.

This is THE book for learning Old Irish, period. Old Irish is a notoriously forbidding language, probably the most difficult of all the older Indo-European languages. Stifter makes it come alive, through his mix of detailed yet clear grammatical explanations, translation exercises, and quirky humor (gotta love those sheep cartoons!) As an Indo-Europeanist, I wish I had had such a textbook when I first studied Old Irish, instead of having to slog my way through Quin's workbook like the last three generations of students ("The hero hit the two birds in the two trees with his sword"...)
Perfect for those interested in Celtic and Indo-European languages or medieval Irish literature!

I've been studying Old Irish, with varying degrees of diligence, for over two years and I find this textbook to be the most helpful of all. Not only does David Stifter present the material in a logical manner, building gradually and explaining each step thorough, but he explains each of the rather esoteric grammatical terms commonly used for this complex language, a great help for someone not an accomplished scholar of linguistics.

A few things that I particularly appreciate: early introduction of a few bits of poetry to give a sense of the rewards of studying this beautiful language, the easy to read layout of the book, and the bits of humor contained in the small drawings of sheep, especially the one with a grimace subtitled "A sheep after having tried to master Old Irish orthography."

Old Irish is never going to be an easy subject and taking it one piece at a time, learning each one thoroughly before going on to the next, is the best method I've come up with. "Sengoidelc" is of great help on the journey.

I have several college Italian textbooks and have purchased many other books and tapes to aid in learning Italian (probably at the intermediate level), such as verb drills, pronoun reviews and general grammar reviews. (Sometimes it helps to have the same material explained and presented in different ways.) For me, Soluzioni! was the very best purchase I made.

Unlike some other material, Soluzioni! is thorough. That sometimes makes the grammar seem complicated (well, Italian grammar is complicated - and full of exceptions), but some books just don't cover more than just the basics. The book is well organized. I use it as for a general review as well as a reference to look up more difficult grammar problems. The book also has questions and answers after each section, which is very helpful for a few of us students who meet outside of class to review without an instructor present.

The low price of this book makes it a great deal, but it would be a bargain at two or three times the price.

This is hands-down the best grammar I've found for the Italian language, and is better than nearly all the other grammars I've used for other languages. Geared mostly for intermediate and advanced learners (although beginners can profit from it as well), the book provides great explanations of the subtleties and intricacies of the language.

By way of illustration, say a sentence in the novel you're reading has an obvious reference to the past, but you're not quite sure what shading of it the author's trying to communicate. This book tells you that "allora," "a quell'epocha," and "a quel tempo" refer to the distant past, "in quei giorni" refers to the distant past in relation to a particular event, "negli ultimi giorni (or tempi)" refer to the recent past, and "nei giorni scorsi" to the very recent past.

The book is full of examples like this that allow you to understand the nuances you might come across, in addition to more basic grammar. If you only buy one Italian grammar, get this one!

The title of my review says it all. Nicely organized, great tables and other design features. Nice dense source of information.

This book is a wonderful reference source for answers to grammatical questions. Generally written in english with enough italian examples to make it useful and easy to use.

E` buonissimo!

Soluzioni is the most compact, logically arranged, and therefore most easy to use of review books for Italian grammar; esp. helpful for idiomatic expressions. However, the reader must already be quite familiar with the Italian language to take full advantage of the volume. Now if they would just get rid of that tacky exclamation point in the title.

This book has been so helpful in my auditioning process. THANK YOU FOR PUBLISHING THIS!!

As a young actor currently studying Shakespeare in an acting conservatory, this book perfectly compliments the tools I am being taught.

It is full of information written in a clear, efficient manner and is never patronizing to the reader. The tone has a lighteness and joy that invites the actor into the world of classical text and removes any stodgy stereotypes that may surround the poet's work.

I recommend this book to any actor who is looking for some less performed Shakespeare monologues and comes equipped with an incredibley useful guide to understanding the plays themselves, as well as what is going on specifically with each monologue.

I would buy it as a gift for all of my acting friends.

Bravo to the authors.

Simply the best book ever to analyze Shakespeare's monologues: incisive, illuminating, deeply intelligent, always entertaining and sometimes brilliant. Experienced actors as well as those new to the craft will find this immeasurably helpful, and they will have plenty of company. Anyone who appreciates Shakespeare's words and work will find this wonderful book an oasis in a literary desert too often filled with mirages.

Learn the Speech! Actors need tools for their acting toolkit and not a day goes by here at my Writers & Performers Garage in Los Angeles that I don't mention this great new tool. With over 150 monologues, it's an essential for actor preparation. I can't think of any recent book I've read that is more useful for actors working seriously at their craft.

As a nonactor I'm in the midst of reading this book. Now for the first time I'm completely grasping the prose and verse. In the past I've tried to read Shakespeare cold, with no help, and as a modern English speaker you can pick up some things yes, but this book makes it all, and I mean all clear. We get well over 100 of his greatest monologues, and every unfamiliar word is fully explained, as well as multiple interpretations of the lines.

I recommend this book to students, actors, writers, and layman for it will unleash the magic of the verse. And when it does you can read or see a performance and grasp it all...and there is so much to grasp, and a good play requires a good reader, a good performance, a good audience, and this book will make you one.