Entertainment Books

I had read this book years ago and like so many other things, you lend it out and never get it back. sigh. I was happy to find this online and ordered it straight away. It was ordered at the same time as my Amazon stuff (through a reseller) and it beat my Amazon order by a good 3 days! lol

This is a fantastic inverview. I only wish an audio were available. Maybe someday.

I think that this book was very good. It took the reader in to the private lives of both John and Yoko. It gives us an inside look on what their own private lives were really like. That being when John was with The Beatles and his life afterwards and up to the end of his life. I recommend reading this book. It takes you into John's thoughts about life!!

I love John lennon so i started reading biographys on him and interviews, etc to learn more about him. When I read "The Playboy Interviews With John Lennon and Yoko Ono" I HONESTLY COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! I couldn't believe it; i started reading it in the afternoon and didn't put it down until late at night where i finished it! It is a wonderful, wonderful book with John's sense of humor and yoko's too and their insight into the world. It really is my favorite book because it is close to a John Lennon autobiography as the world will ever know. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!

This is the definitive book regarding John Lennon. He reviews almost every song he wrote with or without Paul McCartney, which alone is worth the price of admission. In addition to that, he provides insights into his personal philosophies and world views. One could call it the perfect companion to the recent Beatles Anthology book. Crucial reading. How sad he had to die a little over 2 months after these interviews were conducted. Unfortunately out of print, do yourself a favor and try an out of print book search; you won't regret it.

I first read this book back in 1983, to gain a little insight of John...and it quickly became my favourite book. Although I don't think Yoko was or is everything he thought, this was a man who truly loved his wife, and believed with his whole heart and soul in their marriage and life together. He was enjoying making music again, so much (this interview was done in September of 1980) and was looking forward to the future...hoping he'd be there with us. His love for his music, his wife, his sons, and even the Beatles are all there. He gives his opinions on every subject he can think of, both positive and negative, in his usual witty, straight-to-the-point manner that we all know him for. The interviewer did a great job, and was clearly a man who admired John Lennon as much as I do. He did a great job in this book, and it is my absolute favourite, out of all of my collection. Anyone who wants a peek into what John thought and felt and wanted you to know, should read this book...you will treasure it as I do.

My brother's book has 6 stories about me. I drew illustrations. This stories is true. I stole a french fry are McDonald's and cut my own haircut. Other stories about Cheez Puffs, our dog Duke, my bicycle and flying beetle. The people where I work like my book. There is a poem about Mrs. Post, my aide at my old school. I drew illustration of her. I drew a dogs, my family, animals and my own cartoon characters. I like how the book is turn out. It's nice when the people read about me and see my illustrations.

Hats off to Richard and Kevin Carlson! This book is a must read for families who have loved ones on the autism/Asperger's spectrum, educators, all professionals. In short, this book is for everybody. This book serves as a bridge linking people and knocks down walls that were once said to enclose people on the spectrum. Like Joshua with the ram's horn, the walls are knocked down by the brothers Carlson.

This collaborative effort features several anecdotes involving Richard and Kevin. Kevin's illustrations bring the world as he knows it and the sensory issues he confronts on a daily basis into sharper focus. Richard provides an equally clear and strong voice. The bond between this pair is very heartwarming.

Please read this book. You will be so glad that you did.

Richard Carlson is to be commended, along with his brother Kevin. The drawings throughout this book are delightful, as are the stories told with such direct simplicity. This book, along with others in the Richard Carlson collection, should be required reading in schools. Children will love it. Every one of the stories will grab their interest. It will make a terrific present.

Carol Kluz is a coauthor of Carol Randy suspense and solo author of fantasy.

Suggested for young readers age 6 to 10, yet involving and highly recommended reading for all ages, Poems And Short Stories About My Brother Kevin Who Has Autism by Richard W. Carlson Jr. is a unique and compelling collection of six true stories and six poems about the author's autistic younger brother, Kevin. Fifty simple black-and-white line drawing illustrations by Kevin illustrate and enhance this straightforward, heartwarming account which offers young readers a unique perspective into what it's like growing up with an autistic sibling, and the special challenges and responses therein. "Most boys would like bugs a lot./Because he has autism he does not." Also strongly recommended for school and community library collections is Richard Carlson's previous book: My Brother Kevin Has Autism.

This book was great! It has some poems and short stories from MY
BROTHER KEVIN HAS AUTISM and there are new ones. I
felt lots of emotions reading this book like when Kevin fell in the icy
cold water and he couldn't swim. I felt really bad for him.
There were funny stories too. There was a lot of information about what
Autism is and now I understand it a little better. I would
like to meet Kevin to tell him what a great job he did with the
illustrations. I think this is a wonderful book for kids of all ages. I really enjoyed it, you will too!

Great book full of common sense and insight into the man. Proof that when you look up American in the dictionary, it says 'see John Wayne'. Why didn't we ever make this man President?

I've been a fan of "Duke" for over 30 years and I've read a lot about him, and I can say that "The Quotable John Wayne - The Grit And Wisdom Of An American Icon" by Carol Lea Mueller is one of the finest. Not simply another boring biography like many other books, this book succinctly gets to the 'True Grit'...the spirit behind the legend of the man. Chock full of interesting anecdotes,memorable quotes and tasty tidbits regarding Duke's attitudes about God, America & family values, it's all here. Good job Ms. Mueller!

I just picked up The Quotable John Wayne - The Grit and Wisdom of an American Icon, compiled and edited by Carol Lea Mueller. This isn't exactly a Western book. John Wayne was an actor, not a cowboy, but he was a true westerner.

This small book can be read in an hour, but it begs rereading. The compiled quotes are not lines from Wayne's movies; they're his comments in private life. They show Wayne to be quick-witted, a warm human being, and of a consistent character with the roles he played in the movies.

The quote on the back cover that grabbed my attention was, "Don't even for a minute make the mistake of looking down your nose at Westerns. They're art - the good ones, I mean... the facination with the Old West will never die."

Each chapter starts with quotes about John Wayne and then proceeds to give his opinions on the chapter subject. As you might guess, his statements are never mealy-mouthed.
The Shopkeeper

The John Wayne fanatic in our family (who, by the way, has nearly everything John Wayne) was excited to receive this as a gift.

This book has real American Ideals from a True American Icon, from a time when being a proud American was a good thing. This book has come out at a perfect time to remind Americans that it is okay to be patriotic.
This is something that any fan of John Wayne, westerns or American Ideals, should have on their shelves.
I highly appreciate Carol Mueller for reminding us that John Wayne was a True American and publishing it in time for John Waynes 100 year anniversery.

The author was a schoolmate of mine from Montana. I sent the book to another classmate knowing she would enjoy it as much as I did. She loved it! Pat

After reading her wickedly satiric THE SERIAL, I decided to spend some time with some other authors before diving into this. This one's the Pulitzer nominee, so I assumed something even more hilarious. Instead, I got reality. Still wickedly witty, but factual rather than satiric.

(Same thing? Maybe. Don't make me think too hard or I'll never finish this review.)

It's a very different animal, showing us that McFadden has quite a range. She lived a very interesting life with a very interesting family, and here it is. She's observant, insightful, clever, and well worth reading.

I've read many memoirs and enjoyed them while I read them, then forgot them a week or a month later. Heck, I can't remember most of my own memoir these days. But this is a memoir I will remember. It's a great book. That's all I have to say. If you want to know why, read some other review. I know they're out there. I'm just agreeing with them, okay? It's what I do.

Yay! Cyra McFadden's memoir is back in print! I had snapped up all the used hardcover editions I could find a few years ago when I heard it was out of print. But why?

Because this slim memoir is the kind of story that unfolds in the reader's head like a gorgeously-shot film, one that's perfectly cast and shot on locations that evoke the internal emotions of its characters to stunning effect. Cher once actually owned the movie rights on this book, then I heard nothing more of it. Her instincts were right on. If there was ever a book that cried out to be adapted into a film or a play, this is it.

McFadden grew up in the West, the daughter of Cy Taillon, a legendary rodeo announcer and his wife Pat, a one-time showgirl with charisma enough to match her husband's. Cyra grew up a little cowgirl gypsy, as the family roamed the Western rodeo circuit together by car in the 1940's.

McFadden's eye for detail in regard to smells, sounds and her childhood consciousness is extaordinary, as is her realistic depiction of her parents' tumultuous love for one another that is the basis of the story and McFadden's adult questing. The smell of cattle, the sonorous voice of her father, the taste of all-hours road food and the touch of sequins on her mother's old costume gowns....this book is filled with details that will linger in your imagination for years. Old family photos accompany the text and they are intimate and haunting. All is told in a voice that is unsparingly honest, as well as sympathetic. McFadden cherishes her vagabond childhood and gives us a technicolor look at the richness of its place and time.

Buy this book if you love a well-written memoir. Or buy it because you love the West. Buy it because you love cowboys and showgirls and all-night trips down dusty highways. But buy it, and many copies of it, because you will want your friends to experience its cinematic poignancy after the movie in your head ends.

Obviously, one of my all-time favorite pieces of writing. Woefully under-read and underappreciated, I encourage English teachers to consider this in a curricula on memoir writing. It is lasting stuff.

It's about time this book was back in print. In my opinion, "Rain or Shine" is the gold standard for memoir writing. I read it back in 1986 when it was first published (and a finalist for the Pulitzer that year) and reread it again just recently. Even though I have little or no interest in rodeo announcing, trick-riding, or the old (or even recent) west, I have an addiction to good writing. "Rain or Shine" is so luminous (and humorous) that it immediately captured my attention. And held it. This one's a sleeper. It would make a great movie. It reads like one already.

The story of Ms. McFadden's parents, Cy and Pat Taillon, comes to life immediately and everything they do seems fraught with such passion and abandon that we know, before they even realize it themselves, that this couple will not end up in rockers at 80 talking about the good old days together. He's a rodeo announcer who likes a drink. She sublimates her own ambitions and becomes a trick rider to be with him. Early on, we are told by members of the supporting cast (chiefly, Pat's sister, Ila Mae, and Cy's best friend, Roy) that Cy and Pat Taillon are starcrossed and mismatched, recklessly piloting their Packard down Satan's driveway and taking their vulnerable little girl with them. However, we don't quite see it that way, as young Cyra is always in her backseat bedroom (they live in the car on the road), humorously showing us that there may be a little envy involved as Cy rises to the top of his game early and stays there. Slowly, the family begins to enjoy some measure of success. Inevitably, setbacks occur.

The couple's eventual flameout is a shock, even though it isn't particularly unexpected or spectacular. One day, Cy Taillon simply unhooks his Packard from the family trailer and drives away, leaving mother and daughter sitting by the side of the road. As the Packard disappears on the horizon, Cy's "best friend" Roy materializes and hooks the trailer up to his car, taking both mother and daughter home with him. Roy has an ulterior motive. He and Ila Mae have been diligently attempting to wrest Pat away from Cy so that Roy can have Pat for himself. It works -- Pat's emotions and security are in disarray. She needs a steady hand, something concrete in her life. Cyra, on the other hand, is never fooled by Roy's betrayal and ulterior motive. She's astonished at how easily he stuck the knife in her father's back. Soon Roy and Pat are married and thus begins one of the most hilarious sections of this memoir -- life with Roy. In a reversal of lifestyles, young Cyra must now adhere to a strange set of rules and regulations intended to foster good health, including the proviso that each bite of food is to be chewed exactly 28 times "to get all the goodness out of it." It is clear, in her shaky state, that Pat has settled for Roy, who is about as boring as he is devious. But is Cy completely out of the picture? Ila Mae and Roy's plan to snatch Pat away and save her from eternal damnation looks like it has run into some kinks.

Cyra McFadden was Cy Taillon's first born child, his namesake, a female replica of him. She was blessed with his almost-impossible-to-feminize name (pronounced "Sigh'-rah"), which is actually quite nice. He loved her and she adored him. Who wouldn't? Not only was he a respected, handsome man, he had the most soothing voice west of the Mississippi, possibly even west of the Atlantic. As a little girl, Cyra could be found at his side, a minature version of him in custom made cowboy boots, her father's jacket over her shoulders to keep her warm as he announced the cowboys. By the 70's, however, Ms. McFadden was marching for peace in San Francisco while her father was promoting the Vietnam war from the crow's nest at rodeos. They hardly spoke. When they last saw each other, father and daughter argued about racial intermarriage, politics and the whole range of topics that fractured families in the early 70's and still does today. After a long estrangement, they made up. On his terms, of course. Cy was a stubborn man, as stubborn as his daughter, and he now had a wife and two sons who treated him in a way his daughter couldn't, with blind respect. It seemed that, in the end, Cy Taillon settled for less just as his first wife had. I found it heartbreaking that, when he died a wealthy man in 1980, he erased his only daughter out of his life so thoroughly that his will, in which she was left nothing, arrived at her home postage due.

Far from depressing, "Rain or Shine" is absolutely hysterical. Ms. McFadden seamlessly weaves actual correspondence into the text that not only advances the plot -- Ila Mae sends out a stream of letters full of moral judgment and condemnation -- but is screamingly funny. When it turns out that Ila Mae isn't exactly a tower of moral rectitude herself, the reader wants to say "I told you so!"

Fans of Cyra McFadden remember "The Serial" from the mid-70's (a rich and enlightened left hook to the rich and enlightened folks in Marin County). She brings the same humor, airtight prose, and bullseye characterizations to the proceedings here as well.

"Rain or Shine" is simply a classic.

The reference in the title is to the dedication of the author's father, a celebrity rodeo announcer, who never missed a day's work because of the weather. It's also a shorthand reference to the old song "I'm gonna love you like nobody's loved you. . ." Her book is not only a tribute to her famous father but an account of a difficult father-daughter relationship that soured from worshipful love to bitterness and eventually to a kind of grudging respect in his last years before dying in 1980.

The book is also a family memoir, characterizing the lives of those awkwardly related to her by blood or marriage: the author's mother and stepfather, an older aunt and her husband, and her father's second wife. Each of them is as vividly drawn as the larger-than-life Western luminary at the center of the story - Cy Taillon, whose golden voice and gentlemanly manner won the devotion of rodeo cowboys and fans from San Francisco's Cow Palace to Madison Square Garden from the 1940s to the 1970s.

Not surprisingly, what the author's story reveals casts her father in a somewhat different light, first as the hard drinking, gambling, womanizing ne'er-do-well who married the author's singer-dancer mother after a one-day courtship. Following the rodeo circuit out of a home base in Montana, they fought and loved each other passionately, a Scott and Zelda of the Western plains, and then broke up. Following a spectacular crash at an air show in Great Falls in 1946, at which Cy used the microphone to calm the startled crowd, he became the hero he was destined to become. Assuming a life of rectitude with a new devoted wife and two new sons, he was finally launched in the career rodeo people will always remember him for. Meanwhile, his first wife languished in a miserable second marriage, and his daughter grew up, loving her absent father deeply while stubbornly unwilling to come to terms with the man he had become.

Thanks to the University of Nebraska Press for reprinting this wonderful memoir. It offers a fascinating window into the world of the rodeo circuit, at least as it once was. For rodeo-going readers, it does much to explain the evolution of the role and persona of the rodeo announcer and the elevation of rodeo cowboying into a kind of gallantry. It's also an entertaining story told by an author with a gift for both sentiment and satire. With her eye for the absurd detail, she can unerringly find the irony in an often rueful story. The many family photos are also a wonderful addition to the book.

This book never fails. Every time I show it to a new person, they can't help but laugh out loud. Each word is dead on - no guy should ever say these! And the example sentences crack me up. I can hear them coming out of someone's mouth! The best part is everyone who reads it wants to contribute their own words. It makes for a really fun conversation starter. Definitely keep this one in your living room or give it to the "real man" in your life who may or may not be a culprit of using these words. It's a guaranteed laugh!

As a single guy I need all the help I can get out there. Thanks to the folks at Real Men Don't Say Splendid, I now have an extra wingman. Not only do I use it to prep for a date, but its small enough to fit in my blazer pocket. "Real Men..." is the perfect date companion.

I've spent the last 6 months mastering volume one, but I can't help thinking that there may still be words in my vernacular that are not acceptable. Don't send me out there ill-prepared!! Where's volume two??

Very smart idea!! Great book! Totally on the mark. I get alot of "of course me never say these words." from alot of my guy friends. Great gift.

Very funny book. Michael Gorman really has a unique talent. I am looking forward to his next book.

Swingers meets Man Laws! The perfect black book to keep us all in line. Every man needs to order a copy. What are you waiting for?

I read it over a period of two days and found it very hard to put down. The essays on each star were fairly short, but they gave an insight into their lives off the movie screen and out of the pages of the fan magazines. More of a "where are they now..." kind of book.

I have a touch of envy too. I would have loved to have done what David & Tom did - travelling to Hollywood in the summer to interview stars of the Hollywood golden age. I have a keen interest of what went on behind the scenes & afterwards, almost as much as the finished products themselves.

Reel To Real is an anthology of celebrity interviews featuring big names in entertainment from vaudeville to movies and TV. Various interviews take place in different years, spanning 25 years total. The Featured individuals include Harry Delmar, Fred Astaire, Charlton Heston, Janet Leigh, George Burns, William Shatner, Mel Blanc, Mel Brooks, and many more. Each interview has a down-to-earth tone and offers plain-terms insight into the business of bright lights and mass-media, from celebrities' reactions to government cutting of arts funding to the simple trials and tribulations of growing up and striving to make it big. An inset collection of black-and-white photographs of the interviewees rounds out this engaging slice of the stage and silver screen life.

Reel to Real is a history of 20th century entertainment. If you're a film buff and appreciate the "Golden Age" of Hollywood, the interviews in this book are for you. The Frank Capra chapter is funny and informative. Spencer Tracy's story about Hemingway is amazing. And Milton Berle talking about dressing in drag for the first time is a real hoot. I couldn't put this down!

For anyone who loves candid, facinating anecdotes about the way Hollywood used to be....from the stars and directors who were there and made history, this book puts it up front.

It contains tons of information that I have never heard about before. For instance, I never knew Frank Capra gave Irving Berlin the idea for the musical "Holiday Inn" staring Fred Astaire and Bing Crosby. I always thought that Berlin came up with the idea himself. The Lucille Ball interview was also very cool as were many others.

The pictures really rock. I especially loved the Milton Berle gag photo where he poses with a cigar sticking out like a bucktooth beaver......and what's with songwriter Sammy Cahn posing sans shirt? Bizarre!

The interviews are often very funny and sometimes border on the irreverent, so this isn't some kitchy Hollywood cream-puff book. Yet, though it all, you can tell that Fantle and Johnson have deep admiration and respect for the clasic stars they interview.

The year was 1974 and "That's Entertainment," the compilation film of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studio's most wondrous musical moments had just opened wide at theaters nationwide. For David Fantle and Tom Johnson, two St. Paul, Minnesota teenagers, it was a galvanizing experience.

When "That's Entertainment" opened, their interest in the movies and the stars that were in them was piqued. Not only did they become film buffs, but in 1978, just liberated from high school, they made their first trip to Los Angeles to interview Fred Astaire, Gene Kelly and George Burns. The celebrity floodgates opened.

The pair began publishing their interviews in the Minnesota Daily, the University of Minnesota newspaper and have interviewed more than 200 celebrities the past 25 years for publications throughout the world.

Reel to Real: 25 years of celebrity profiles from vaudeville to movies to TV represents the authors 60 "best" interviews with such legendary names as Astaire, Kelly, Burns, James Cagney, Lucille Ball, Gregory Peck, Bob Hope, Charlton Heston and Frank Capra.

The book also features forewords by Cyd Charisse and Shirley Jones and 24-pages of rare and candid celebrity shots, most taken by the authors.

I have read everything there is to read about Ricky and I found this book the most interesting, inspiring, fun and cool. Get this one!

Please help me in obtaining a copy of Ricky's book coz i just LOOOOVE his music and him too. But I would like to know more about him. My name is Surie and I am from Lusaka, Zambia. in the Central part of Africa.

Ricky,

Why do you have only young women in you shows dancing with you. There are differnt type of women that buy your CD for their children. I think, personally that if you held a contest for a mother, as to why they allow or buy your CD for their child, you would have a larger audience. Why you ask because people would want to know! Anything that promotes you people will will listen to! I for example, am a 36 year old mother of three. Why would a person think that I would not like your music? You are a young person and if you would want your popularity to follow you then I personally think it would be wise to think not only of the young "teens" out there. I like your music, your voice, if I did not I would not let my CHILDREN buy your music. I know that this will not ever get to you personally befor your "agents" read it first, but you have to think of where the money is coming from for your success. WHAT CAN YOU DO TO PLEASE A FAN? HAVE YOUR AGENTS WRITE BACK AND SAY WHAT? THANK YOU FOR INPUT. WHICH I HAVE CC TO MY OWN EMAIL. GOOD LUCK. KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK. A BUYER AND A FAN FROM MY DAUGHTER.

With so many gorgeous photos, plus inside scoop on Ricky's off stage personality -- desires, activities, ideas, values, this is THE book to buy on Ricky (and I've seen 'em all).

Wow, what a hunk of an inspiration!

If you are a die hard fan of Ricky Martin this is one book you should definitely get your hands on. The book is filled with fabulous pictures of the singer from his hey days in the teen group Menudo through his years as the latin heart throb in General Hospital and all the way to the international mega star he is today. Besides the great pictures what I liked the most about his book was the way it was written, nice and simple and with a positive outlook all the way. A few things you should definitely look at when you buy this book are the trivia tid bits and the time line which are included. The quick information you learn here will make you seem like Ricky's number one fan. I truly recommend this book as a gift to anyone from the age of 10-100.

You're watching an old black and white B picture and about to change the channel to something less cheesy and low budget. You notice a lanky, whiny, oatmeal-faced guy with beady eyes, who looks menacing, especially when there is an attractive female nearby. This guy is trouble. He's no good. But you can't turn away. You're hooked.

He's wearing a bad costume: a 1950's leisure suit, a safari jacket, or more happily, a trench coat or a uniform. He looks awkward, slouching like he's embarrassed to be so tall.

He's ruggedly handsome. Energy flashes from his eyes, his tense almost hysterical voice, his powerful physique. He's like coiled steel, a simmering cauldron, a smouldering oil well. A valve that's about to blow sky high.

The ladies go to pieces around him. They do stuff they shouldn't do, things they'll regret in the morning.

You notice he contributes a lot to good and not so good films even when he's got everything going against him. He doesn't need to be a likeable character, or have good lines, or a good costume, or anything. He infuses engergy and raw power into the movie, he makes it personal. Maybe they used him sparingly because they didn't know what they were dealing with.

The Wild Bunch: Ryan turns up sporadically but his role is central to the plot. Best scenes: He and fellow outlaw William Holden are entertaining two scarlet women in their hotel room. Ryan, in a fancy waistcoat, is worrying that the law is in pursuit so he's not even paying attention to his female companion. Is that fair to the girl? Later, he is shown being flogged in prison -unfortunate, but an opportunity to see him with no shirt on.

On Dangerous Ground: as a tough cop, he questions a hooker. She practically begs him to mistreat her: 'are you gonna squeeze it out of me with those big, strong arms?' You betcha. In another scene, he tries to flirt with a girl, is rejected for being a cop, and the frozen pain of rejection on his face is raw, as if he got sucker punched with an ice berg.

Caught: he is a narcissistic neurotic millionaire who mentally torments a silly golddigger played lovably by Barbara Bel Geddes. Best line: 'What's wrong, don't you think I like you?' As usual he's in comically silly, Thurston Howell the Third type outfits, and as usual he rises above it all.

Crossfire: preachy stuff about the evils of bigotry but worth enduring for Ryan as the least laid back guy ever in a Hawaiian shirt.

The Naked Spur: not to be confused with The Naked Gun, in this Western he's an outlaw with a price on his head and cute little Janet Leigh as his girlfriend. Jimmy Stewart is taking him in for the reward money, and to get the girl as well. He puts Ryan on a burro, not only to hinder his escape but probably also to emasculate him in Leigh's eyes. Ryan is a rotten, dishonorable character, but Leigh seems mighty reluctant to part company with him. I wouldn't wonder...

The Set-up: Ryan is a has-been boxer who- don't sweat the plot, you see him in boxing trunks, that's all you need to know.

Beware My Lovely: Ryan is compellingly creepy but beware, my lovely, the plot is el bizarro.

Clash by Night: Ryan mixes it up with bad-girl Babs Stanwyck while also flirting around the edges with young Marilyn Monroe. The fact that you get to see him in a sleeveless undershirt has nothing to do with my endorsement of this movie.

About Mrs. Leslie: Shirley Booth in a dreary tale enlivened by brief glimpses of Ryan in flashbacks, including a romantic scene on the beach, he's either wearing a white robe or white swim trunks or I just added that detail out of wishful thinking.

Odds Against Tomorrow: silly heist movie overburdened with heavyhanded antiracism theme. Just watch for the scenes between Ryan and the irresistible Gloria Graham - talk about sadomastochistic overtones!

Bad Day at Black Rock: a good message movie starring Spencer Tracy, with Ryan as (of course) the detestable townie wearing an idiotic red baseball cap as the character's pathetic phallic symbol -still, Ryan almost steals the movie from Tracy.

City Beneath the Sea: watch for the scene where he is really an s.o.b. to a dance hall girl, but somehow in a very provocative way. Hokum plot, awful outfits, such as a striped shirt, bandana and skipper's hat. The wardrobe mistress was surely hoping he'd get mad, storm the costume department, grab her in his arms, and...oh, sorry, I was daydreaming there.

There's one movie where he's a mob boss guy who, in the middle of buying off judges or having people bumped off or whatever mob bosses do, nags his younger brother about doing well in college, and chomps on an apple!

The Dirty Dozen: He's not one of the dozen, nor is he the lovable leader played by Lee Marvin. He's a martinet that no one likes, and he eats it up in the few scenes he has.

Fire and Ice! Two great, elusive movies featuring Ryan.

Inferno: Shows up on cable occasionally, he's a pain in the duff heir who has to survive on his own in the desert, it's just a great movie. He actually gets a good costume for once, he looks terrific in dusty white, loose-fitting khakis

The Iceman Cometh: One of Ryan's last performances, unavailable for years but came out on DVD not long ago. Depressing tale about barflies but powerful acting with Lee Marvin, Ryan, and a very young Jeff Bridges all making the most of their choice lines.

Comparing him with other great actors Ryan holds his own. His characters were multi-layered, intense, real, and somehow always likable - even the "bad guys". They were oddballs - harsh yet anxious, uncomfortable in their own skin.

I don't think Robert Ryan ever got an Oscar nod. Many wonderful actors and actresses never get nominated for an Oscar. After all, what really lasts are good performances.

Offscreen, Ryan was kind, reserved, quiet, and bookish. He wasn't into making the Hollywood party scene, preferring privacy for himself and his family. The most dramatic thing he seems to have done was when he and his wife, an unforgivably perfect partner for him since she was tall, gorgeous, and brainy - helped start a local grade school so their kids could get the best possible education. The school is still in existence today.

Nevertheless, he made quite an impression in person.

Somewhere in the book there is a description of him meeting a friend for lunch. When he enters the crowded restaurant, despite his unassuming demeanor, he draws awestruck stares from every woman in the room. Whether due to his height and rugged good looks - or also the hint of untold depths of passion that seemed to emanate from him?

You watch his B movie to the bitter end. The character Ryan created on screen had an inner life, something that reaches out to you. A man of passion, of mystery, wearing an ugly knit cap. Tormented by inner demons, he haunts a seedy waterfront bar where one foggy night you just happen to walk in wearing nothing but high heels and a trenchcoat, looking for trouble...

Robert Ryan, one of the most brilliant and versatile actors of his time, created a gallery of unforgettable characters during his thirty year career, yet never received the recognition he deserved. Franklin Jarlett's Robert Ryan: A Biography and Critical Filmography goes a long way towards filling this void; it is a fitting tribute to a great performer, who by all accounts was as good a man as he was an actor.

Jarlett's fascination with Robert Ryan began in childhood, as he watched Ryan's films on TV, and his "obsession" continued as he matured. Jarlett was especially mesmerized by Ryan's portrayal of Claggart, in Billy Budd, seeing it as "a chapter to an elusive text of which I did not know the title." Through college and graduate school, Jarlett continued his "quest" for the mysterious qualities which made Ryan so extraordinary. This book is the result, and the author's three years of extensive research, interviews with Ryan's children and many friends, and his in-depth study of the 77 film Ryan made during his prolific film career make this a fascinating and readable must for any Ryan fan's library. Written with an eloquence of which the very literate Ryan would surely approve, the book is loaded with photos as well; stills from nearly all of Ryan's films illustrate the book.

By an ironic twist of fate, Robert Ryan, a quiet, self-effacing man, who often graciously accepted second billing to far less talented co-stars, is suddenly "Hot," thanks to cable television, and to the proliferation of VCR and DVD players, which make older movies new again.. Turner Classic Movies' recent "Star of the Month" tribute to Ryan certainly had legions of his blissed-out fans manning their VCR's, and won him many new fans as well. Ryan's Westerns and his war films play endlessly on TV, and he is such a film noir icon that many of the excellent books on the subject devote entire sections to discussions of his artistry.

Jarlett's book is a perfect source for anyone who wants to know more about this complex and very private man who was such a compelling presence on screen. Ryan was a man of paradoxes. He graduated from Dartmouth with a degree in English Literature, but reigned as the undefeated heavyweight boxing champion throughout his four year college career. Though the product of a relatively prosperous family, Ryan sought out tough and demanding jobs: he worked as an engine room janitor on an African- bound freighter for two years, and as a cow puncher on a ranch in Montana, among other jobs, before finally finding his niche in acting. Ryan's World War II stint in the Marine Corps, though honorably served at Camp Pendleton where he was a drill instructor, sent him back into civilian life with distinctly pacifist leanings. Though Ryan could portray vicious, ignorant bigots with an almost frightening intensity, he himself was a tolerant, compassionate man, so dedicated to liberal causes that he was sometimes targeted and threatened by Right-wing fanatics. And unlike many in an ego-driven industry, Robert Ryan was a modest man. He was thrilled beyond words when he had an opportunity to work with such greats as Spencer Tracy and Frederic March, and never suspected how much younger actors, like Lee Marvin and Ernest Borgnine, valued the experience of working with him.

The biographical section of the book is arranged chronologically, with each section corresponding to an important period in Ryan's life. Jarlett's meticulous research uncovered many hitherto unknown or forgotten facts, and they make fascinating reading. He discusses the founding of the Oakwood School, a progressive educational establishment started by Ryan and his wife Jessica when their own children were small, and still flourishing today. In the l960's, Ryan spent some time in England, and with the support and encouragement of actors John Neville and Paul Rogers, his co-stars in Billy Budd, he appeared on provincial and London stages in works by Shakespeare and Eugene O'Neill. After moving his family to New York, Ryan appeared in many television dramas,and did a number of narrations and voice-overs for various projects. He played the lead in The Front Page and other plays, both on and off Broadway, co-starring with Katherine Hepburn, Helen Hayes, and other renowned leading ladies, to great critical acclaim. But films continued to be the primary outlet for his talent, and he worked steadily in them until his death.

The second half of Jarlett's book is a complete filmography covering all of Ryan's work, from his earliest "walk-on" days at Paramount through his last three movies in l973, the year of his death: The Iceman Cometh, Executive Action, and The Outfit. Jarlett reviews each film, and supplies a complete cast list, as well as notes on critical and audience reception and other pertinent data. The book also contains notes on Ryan's stage performances, television appearances, narrations and recordings, an essay on Ryan as a film noir figure, and a listing of his films available on videocassette. Chapter notes, an extensive bibliography and an index complete this terrific volume. Though this book was originally written as a library reference guide, it has been reincarnated in a very portable paper back form, complete with a fabulous cover photo of Ryan as Montgomery in Crossfire.

Jarlett's book is clearly a labor of love, and perhaps this is the dominant impression. Far from being undervalued or unappreciated, Robert Ryan seems to have been revered and deeply loved by most of the people he came in contact with, and his talents have always been held in high esteem by those who value excellent acting. And those of us who know him only through the many films made unforgettable by his presence, can only be glad that the man himself was as fine as we have always imagined him to be.

Although most Ryan devotees focus on his more famous "film noir" vehicles as evidence of his skill, Jarlett illuminates his performances in scores of less known films. In Horizons West, Ryan's interpretation of a disgruntled ex-Confederate major achieves more in his portrait than the sum of the film's parts.
Return of the Badmen also featured Ryan's grim portrait of a cold-blooded bank robber that elevates an otherwise pedestrian horse opera to something nearly sublime. Other choice Ryan vignettes can be found in such early Ryan enterprises like Marine Raiders. Made in 1944 when America was fighting the Japanese, Ryan gives a stout performance that achieves real range, again raising a programmer to cult status. The author provides detailed film critiques from major publications (Time, The New York Times, Variety, etc.), providing readers with a glimpse at what critics of those time periods said about Ryan. I was pleased to note upon reading critical reviews of Ryan's character in Marine Raiders that film critic Manny Farber of Nation magazine compared Ryan with Gary Cooper, though in all honesty, Ryan easily outclassed Cooper as an actor. Perhaps Farber was referring to Ryan's quiet magnetism.
Jarlett addresses the question of Ryan's status as the cinema's epitome of the "noir" protagonist, noting his contributions in such "noir" gems as The Racket, Act of Violence, The Woman on the Beach, Beware, My Lovely, Caught, On Dangerous Ground (John Houseman lauded his portrayal of a disillusioned cop as a "disturbing mixture of anger and sadness"). I cannot think of another actor who deserved a book devoted to his life and works besides Ryan. Kudos to Franklin Jarlett for giving us his gift.
Jarlett illuminates the off-screen actor's life, noting that the actor and his wife founded the Oakwood School in California, which stills remains viable today as a solid, academically oriented institution of higher learning.
Besides the fifty or so movie stills, Jarlett's book features interviews with those closest to Ryan, and a glowing preface by John Houseman, who worked closely with Ryan on various stage productions before they became a fad.

When I saw this book at a local book store, I was ecstatic. I had long hoped that someone would write a biography on Ryan, and wondered why this amazingly talented actor never was recognized for his range, versatility, and talent. The picture on the book's cover grabbed my attention immediately: it was none other than Ryan's psychopathic Montgomery from the film noir gem, Crossfire. Oh great!!! I thought; someone finally decided to take on the task of researching material for a book about Ryan.

After purchasing the book, I rushed home to read it, along the way quickly perusing the scores of stills the author included. I was in my glory, since Ryan was my favorite actor growing up. The book is a fully researched tome that seems to have gotten to the heart of the matter. Yes, the book depicts a man whose performances seemed to exemplify the "art" of film-making, rather than the glitz of fame. Herein one can find definitive examples of Ryan's "art". Read Jarlett's reviews of early Ryan gem performances to understand just how great he was: Act of Violence, The Woman On The Beach, Caught, Beware, My Lovely were just a few examples of film as art, and the author seems to understand the ethos that drove Ryan.

I marveled at the author's ability to write with the same sort of artistic merit that Ryan endorsed: the book contains reviews culled from scores of cinema retrospectives on Ryan's films, including Cahiers Du Cinema, Films in Review, and so on. Jarlett's sources of information were first-rate. Who can deny the opinion of John Houseman, whose preface lauds Jarlett's acumen in discerning Ryan's talents?

I agree with one amazon reviewer who noticed Ryan's subtle touches of brilliance in The Racket, a film which portrayed him as a ruthless racketeer who nevertheless garners a degree of pity. The scene where Ryan's Nick Scanlon jauntily munches on an apple while trading words with Robert Mitchum's stalwart cop was a sublime melding of actor and prop.

But The Racket is just one of countless films in which Ryan lent his talents to make good films better. I wondered why Ryan never went after the blockbuster roles that contemporaries landed. Jarlett clarifies this point: Ryan simply didn't care about them, instead searching for artistic expression. The book discusses the great Hollywood directors with whom he worked, in classics such as House of Bamboo, The Naked Spur, On Dangerous Ground, Lonelyhearts, Odds Against Tomorrow, Billy Budd, The Wild Bunch, and his last most trenchant portrait in The Iceman Cometh. Who else but Ryan could have been better as Eugene O'Neill's anarchist Larry Slade?

The book is a one-of-a-kind, definitive exposition of Ryan's life and films, and I applaud Jarlett's commitment to finally bring the actor's life to the forefront. My only regret is that Ryan was not alive to have placed his imprimatur on Jarlett's superb biography.

Having seen most of Ryan's films when I was a child, I was again drawn to seeing them after purchasing Franklin Jarlett's authorized biography. I saw the book at a local book store, attracted by the book cover featuring the familiar scowling features of Ryan from 1947's "Crossfire", which earned him an Oscar nomination as Best Supporting Actor that year. Before purchasing the book, I perused the fifty or so stills from his films, and the detailed filmography, which convinced me that I had made a smart buy. I can happily report that the book is an inspired piece of writing: Jarlett's literary skills make one want to read more. He obviously has gotten to the quick of the man, drawing from scores of film critiques from Cahiers Du Cinema and other esteemed cinema circles.
I read Jarlett's book with fascination after many years of waiting for someone to write a book about Ryan, who was one of the most undervalued talents in Hollywood. I always found it curious that although Ryan came up through the ranks at RKO as one of its contract players from the forties, along with Kirk Douglas, Burt Lancaster and Robert Mitchum, he never garnered the stardom that they achieved, as least with mainstream audiences. Jarlett amply elucidated the reasons for this phenomenon: Ryan simply didn't care that much about fame; he would rather appear in a film for artistic merit instead of for box office success. I only needed to look at Ryan's films from the forties, which Jarlett reviews in detail, to see what an amazing list of films there were. He obviously spent long hours researching the book, which contains behind-the-scenes stories that Jarlett elicited from Ryan's close circle of friends (John Houseman, John Frankenheimer, Lamont Johnson, Robert Wallsten, Arvin Brown and Millard Lampell).
I noted one Amazon reviewer to remark that the author captured the actor's essence in such performances as the racketeer in The Racket. I was likewise mesmerized by Ryan's quirky interpretation of the psychopathic ex-G.I. in Crossfire. I especially liked Jarlett's analyses of Ryan's other unsung gems, such as in House of Bamboo when Ryan says to his friend after killing him, "Why did you tip the cops, Griff?", or Beware, My Lovely, Act of Violence, The Naked Spur, to name a few. Another interesting fact that Jarlett brought out was that Ryan was the "film noir" king, with fourteen trenchant portraits in that genre over the years. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to delve underneath the surface of Ryan's screen presence since in real life he was the opposite of what he portrayed on the screen.

This is a great book! Very easy to read and an interesting story. Roone is so creative and you really get to know him in his memoir. I enjoyed all of the behind the scene stories about Monday Night Football, Wide World of Sports, boxing and World News Tonight. He had to deal with a lot of difficult people -- mostly in the news division -- but he knew what he was doing and always succeeded. This is a success story. The greatest story is how he got started when he was a waiter in a restaurant. It's too bad that the kids working in the restaurants, fast food places and retail stores don't read this and apply themselves to their jobs because you just never know who might be your customer! Roone was always a pro and that's why when fate intervened, he succeeded. I highly recommend this enjoyable and well-written book!

Every once in a while there is a book that you hate to see come to an end. Roone: A Memoir is one of those books.
The reader races through his busy days right along with him. The reader gets the inside jokes and snickers at the absurdity of many situations that were common place.
He does not allow you into his private life. He mentions the break up of his first marriage and casually introduces his second wife. So casually, that I missed it and had to go back and find the reference.
The stories about current TV personalities and those who have passed are captivating. His experiences during the Munich Olympics brought back memories of that horrific nightmare.
This is a book that will definitely be a gift to the sports minded people on my list this Christmas.

Every once in awhile you find someone who loves their work. They don't mind putting in 18 hours a day on the job, because it's their life and it's what brings them happiness. Such was the case with Roone Arledge. Roone not only brought happiness to his own life but he brought a lot of happiness to viewers too.
His recent death probably wasn't all that surprising because he had come to the end of a very long and productive career. The end of the career in many ways was the end of his life.

His work in building ABC Sports and News will live on for decades. Millions of people tune in every night to watch Peter Jennings' newscasts or to watch Monday Night Football or Nightline. All of it can be traced back to Arledge's innovation and this book details how it all happened.

What I liked best about his book is that he was able to delve into the personal curiosities of many television personalities but he does it without rancor. For example, Howard Cosell and Frank Reynolds were probably not the easiest people in the world to have working for you. This book delves into those challenges but still does it in a positive way and you come away with respect for everyone in the book.

It's a great read and also a great resource regarding the history of television.

This was a fascinating look at the life and times of one of the most innovative minds in television history. This man originated a lot of the things that modern viewers take for granted. There was also some great background on a lot of the network stars, past and present, that made the book even more interesting. It is very enlightening to look inside some of the ridiculous egos that dominate the profession. If Arledge had been alive to promote the book it would have been a bestseller, no question.
This book was a terrific, highly entertaining read because the reader gets the inside scoop on so many stars and how so many concepts, like instant replay, were invented. Definitely worth the time-highly recommended!

Roone Arledge wastes no time sharing the fun of producing sports, first at NBC and then to ABC. He proudly tells how he helped land groundbreaking contracts for NCAA football and then several Olympic games. It's a fun ride that gets faster as he takes on ABC News, known to the competition as "Almost Broadcasting Co."

The book is all about personalities: the executives, the on-air talent, the producers and directors -- Arledge seems to relish in the trials and triumphs of his dealings. Also, Arledge always mentions which restaurants in which negotiations occurred -- the food and the atmosphere rank as importantly as the people. His final scene in the book, a reunion of ABC teammates, is painted with details of a popular New York eatery.

As Arledge tells it, the process of people management and kicking the competition while doing it is the real fun. And when you get to hang out with Peter Jennings, Barbara Walters, Diane Sawyer and even Sam Donaldson, it's always going to be interesting.

The book's second half takes a darker tone as bean-counting executives from Capital Cities buy ABC in the 1980s. The high-rolling days at ABC and other nets came to a close as leveraged buyouts gave investors the chance to own chunks of the Fifth Estate, and the heritage of ABC's Leonard Goldenson and CBS's Bill Paley quickly faded. It wasn't about broadcasting anymore, it was just about money. Having worked in local television during this time, I found much of Arledge's account to be familiar with my own career experiences.

Arledge doesn't spend much time describing the mood after Disney bought ABC in the mid 1990s, but it's clear that Disney was an immediate improvement over the CapCities reign.

Of course, Arledge fought cancer and other ailments late in life, and he died in late 2002 before the book hit shelves. For me, the book lacked much substance about his personal life, his faith or outside interests or accomplishments. True, his work impacted important stories involving U.S. and USSR relations, race relations in South Africa and other milestones. But, if his life was consumed by the TV biz, to the exclusion of family, other causes and loves, this story reads a bit like a tragedy. Broadcasting is a very exciting but always changing product; Arledge's lifelong accomplishments are fading daily into the new visions of management at ABC.

To my abject shame, I confess that prior to reading this biography, I knew Ponselle only vaguely as a "name" from the Golden Age. (Since reading the book, I've acquired dozens of her recordings and viewed her screen test!) What great fun this book is! And what a life to chronicle. Miss Ponselle is shown to be a complex, fabulous, contradictory, and sometimes infuriating human being, a woman of enormous stamina and determination. Her struggles would seem trite and unbelievable in one of those Hollywood faux-bio movies once so popular, yet she did struggle and triumph in the best screen tradition. Without resorting to any phony sensationalism, the author skillfully kept me poised on the edge of my seat, waiting to see what was going to happen next. This may have been partly because I was unfamiliar with Ponselle's career, but I think it would be true for all readers. A rich and totally fulfilling book.

If Flaubert was in love with Emma Bovary, surely James Drake must be in love with Rosa Ponselle. He has made her live for us, just as Flaubert made Emma flesh and blood. For me, opera singers are made of glass; they shine, and they may even seem transparent, but rarely do they seem human. Through the clear, admiring eyes of James Drake, Rosa could be our next-door neighbor. The dignity of Drake's writing, his clear love and respect for his subject makes her life shimmer like crystal. This book one of the best of the summer

Biographies of the great opera singers are not plentiful. The truly good, well-written biographies are even more scarce. The biography of Rosa Ponselle by James Drake belongs in that handful of well-written and well-reseached biograhies that are not only readbale but are difficult to put down (to sleep). This is not a reprint of the earlier book written by Ponselle with Drake but is an entirely new volume drawing on interviews and documents that were either unavailable or suppressed by Ponselle in "A Singer's Life". Drake constructs his narrative judiciously and fairly giving us a complete (or, rather, as complete as possible) picture of one of the greatest sopranos of this century. In addition, it also provides fascinating glimpses of some of her colleagues such as Caruso (with whom she made her Met debut in 1918) and Martinelli as well as the rigors of making records during that era and the everyday workings of the Met. This is a fascinating volume that belongs in every opera lover's library. My only quibble is that Amadeus didn't include a CD with the book (as does Baskerville Publishers). No, not of Ponselle's recordings. Those who buy this book will find her complete recordings readily available on Romophone in superb sound. Rather, it would have been nice to have been able to listen to some of the interviews used throughout the book rather than just read them. Having met Ponselle, it was a delight talking to her and that comes through on the recorded interviews. Despite this small quibble, I can't recommend this book strongly enough. But, be forewarned, it's as hard to put down as a good Agatha Christie!

James Drake's previous biography of Rosa Ponselle (styled an "autobiography," but in fact written entirely by Drake), was an excellent book and, until this new offering, served as the only biogrqaphy of an artist many consider the greatest opera singer America has produced, and one of the greatest, of any nationality, of all time. Prof. Drake's new book on Ponselle is not merely a rehashing of his earlier effort, but in fact entirely supersedes it. Unorthodox in organization, it gives us a complete picture of Rosa Ponselle, both as artist and woman. Prof. Drake has given us one of the finest biographies of an opera singer ever written.

Each chapter in the book is divided into four sections. First, there is an introductory overview, by Drake, of the period of Ponselle's life covered in that chapter. Next comes "The Interview," which is a transcript of interviews Ponselle gave to various persons (including the author) in the later years of her life, again dealing with the period of her life covered by the chapter. Here, Ponselle herself speaks. Then follows an account by some other person closely associated with Ponselle, dealing with the same events - her manager, Libbie Miller; her secretary and longtime companion, Edith Prilik Sania; her husband, Carle Jackson; and a close friend, Lena Tambourini. Finally, there is "The Written Record," which looks at what was actually written about Ponselle at the time of the events in question - reviews, articles, interviews, etc.

The overall effect of this sequence is to give a full, well-rounded and sometimes conflicting account of Ponselle's life. Not infrequently, Ponselle's own spoken recollections will be contradicted either by the recollections of others or by the written record. Perhaps the most important contribution of this book is to scrutinize - and in part, explode - the "Cinderella" myth surrounding Ponselle's "discovery" by Caruso and her subsequent engagement by the Met. Edith Prilik Sania's account gives a fascinatingly different perspective on these events. (She was there when they happened.) Another example of a fresh and varied perspective is the account of Ponselle's relationship with her manager early in her operatic career, William Thorner. Ponselle always maintained that Thorner never gave her any voice lessons ("I wouldn't have let him touch my voice!"), contrary to his own claims, and she downplayed Thorner's role in her engagement by the Met. Ponselle's recollections were no doubt colored by her personal antipathy to Thorner. (She later sued him, and one gets the impression that she never forgave him for steering her to Columbia records, rather than to Victor, where she would have been able to record with Caruso). What the written record and Edith Prilik's recollections show, is that Thorner may in fact have given Ponselle some voice lessons (he was a well-known vocal instructor at the time), and he had a lot more to do with Ponselle's "discovery" than she later let on.

Perhaps the major difference between Prof. Drake's old book and the new one, is the extent to which this new book gives us an unblinking look at Ponselle's personal defects, only hinted at in the "autobiography." Ponselle was apparently a very high-strung, almost neurotic individual. She could be petty, mean, greedy, and very difficult to live with. (Admittedly, not uncommon caracter traits among opera singers generally.) She also had many positive qualities, including loyalty to her family (she supported most of them), and she obviously inspired considerable devotion in her friends.

What there is no dispute about by anyone in this book is Ponselle's greatness as a singer. Her magnificent voice, unique in its dark, voluptuous timbre, apparently conquered all who heard it, and her recordings, technically primitive though they are (and which Ponselle herself disliked), are her passport to operatic immortality. Prof. Drake's excellent new book gives us a good look at the life and career behind the indescribably beautiful sounds one hears from a Ponselle recording. "Rosa Ponselle: A Centenary Biography" is fully worthy of its glorious subject.

James Drake's previous biography of Rosa Ponselle (styled an "autobiography," but in fact written entirely by Drake), was an excellent book and, until this new offering, served as the only biogrqaphy of an artist many consider the greatest opera singer America has produced, and one of the greatest, of any nationality, of all time. Prof. Drake's new book on Ponselle is not merely a rehashing of his earlier effort, but in fact entirely supersedes it. Unorthodox in organization, it gives us a complete picture of Rosa Ponselle, both as artist and woman. Prof. Drake has given us one of the finest biographies of an opera singer ever written.

Each chapter in the book is divided into four sections. First, there is an introductory overview, by Drake, of the period of Ponselle's life covered in that chapter. Next comes "The Interview," which is a transcript of interviews Ponselle gave to various persons (including the author) in the later years of her life, again dealing with the period of her life covered by the chapter. Here, Ponselle herself speaks. Then follows an account by some other person closely associated with Ponselle, dealing with the same events - her manager, Libbie Miller; her secretary and longtime companion, Edith Prilik Sania; her husband, Carle Jackson; and a close friend, Lena Tambourini. Finally, there is "The Written Record," which looks at what was actually written about Ponselle at the time of the events in question - reviews, articles, interviews, etc.

The overall effect of this sequence is to give a full, well-rounded and sometimes conflicting account of Ponselle's life. Not infrequently, Ponselle's own spoken recollections will be contradicted either by the recollections of others or by the written record. Perhaps the most important contribution of this book is to scrutinize - and in part, explode - the "Cinderella" myth surrounding Ponselle's "discovery" by Caruso and her subsequent engagement by the Met. Edith Prilik Sania's account gives a fascinatingly different perspective on these events. (She was there when they happened.) Another example of a fresh and varied perspective is the account of Ponselle's relationship with her manager early in her operatic career, William Thorner. Ponselle always maintained that Thorner never gave her any voice lessons ("I wouldn't have let him touch my voice!"), contrary to his own claims, and she downplayed Thorner's role in her engagement by the Met. Ponselle's recollections were no doubt colored by her personal antipathy to Thorner. (She later sued him, and one gets the impression that she never forgave him for steering her to Columbia records, rather than to Victor, where she would have been able to record with Caruso). What the written record and Edith Prilik's recollections show, is that Thorner may in fact have given Ponselle some voice lessons (he was a well-known vocal instructor at the time), and he had a lot more to do with Ponselle's "discovery" than she later let on.

Perhaps the major difference between Prof. Drake's old book and the new one, is the extent to which this new book gives us an unblinking look at Ponselle's personal defects, only hinted at in the "autobiography." Ponselle was apparently a very high-strung, almost neurotic individual. She could be petty, mean, greedy, and very difficult to live with. (Admittedly, not uncommon caracter traits among opera singers generally.) She also had many positive qualities, including loyalty to her family (she supported most of them), and she obviously inspired considerable devotion in her friends.

What there is no dispute about by anyone in this book is Ponselle's greatness as a singer. Her magnificent voice, unique in its dark, voluptuous timbre, apparently conquered all who heard it, and her recordings, technically primitive though they are (and which Ponselle herself disliked), are her passport to operatic immortality. Prof. Drake's excellent new book gives us a good look at the life and career behind the indescribably beautiful sounds one hears from a Ponselle recording. "Rosa Ponselle: A Centenary Biography" is fully worthy of its glorious subject.