Entertainment Books

It has been a long time since I've read a sports manga this good! Everything is so awesome, and the funny moments are hilarious too. How Hanamichi seem to embarass himself as an amateur basketballer yet gain fame thru it is puzzling but that makes the manga better. I thot I saw the best when I watched the anime, but after reading the manga, it was a whole lot more interesting.Seriously. The anime stops around the time when Shohoku qualifies into the national. But the manga goes on and on till the 2nd round of the national against Sannoh. That is the best game played in the manga besides the one against Kainan. I mean, it took up almost 7-9 volumes just for that game against Sannoh! Very beautiful game, and there are tremendous changes in Shohoku's players (read: between Kaede Rukawa and Hanamichi Sakuragi)

I can't praise this manga/anime enough. People who are wondering how good this is should really read this or watch the anime. It is hilarious and yet have crying moments. It has it's ups and downs just like the real life. It cuts through you when you read it. Very enjoyable. Very addictive and yet not for the faint of heart. Did I say very addictive? It is impossible to have one dose of this.

This manga is known as one of the best mangas of all time (alongside with Dragonball). While it was running in the manga magazines (which was quite a few years ago), it spawned a basketball craze in Korea. The storyline may seem quite cliched, but the way the story is told cannot be beat. It has sold over 100 million copies in Japan and still is a steady seller. If you have not seen this, you need to, because after it every other sports manga will seem like a pale imitation of it.

I just started reading mangas a while ago, and the first one I ever read was Slam Dunk. I treid to read it during school, but it turned out to be so funny and catchy that I was laughing out loud (and falling down stairs cause i couldn't put it down) for the rest of the day. After i finished it, I continued with other mangas, but I can't seem to find one like this. It's hilarious, but also is really true in the ways it describes teenagers. If you had to read one manga, this should DEFINATELY be the one.

Oliver Sack, MD called this book, "a remarkable account of what it means to be paralyzed, speechless, incapable of communication yet fully conscious... and to struggle back, over the years, to an active and creative life."
I was fascinated by this feminist film maker's candid account of her devastating stroke, and learning to live with disability after seeking out a variety of therapies. You see her struggle with depression, overcoming access barriers, dealing with insensitive hospital staff, and coping with the details of bodily disfunction.
It helps me to understand the experience from the inside view. Quite enlightening.

This book should be required reading for anyone in the field of rehabilitation. And it is a tremendously inspiring story for all of us who wonder how we could ever manage if we were struck with a disabling illness. If it were fiction it would be a great read. The fact that it's a true story gives one goosebumps as well. Bonnie Klein suffered a devastating stroke. This book is about her recovery - both physical and psychological - and the wonderful love and support she received from friends and family, especially from a wonderful husband. It also shows the predjudice and meanness of some people when they are faced with a person who is "different". And the ignorance and arrogance of some of the rehabilitation "professionals" she encountered along the way. It is a story of terror, hope, the tremendous importance of love and support, and how one finally comes to terms with being less facile physically than one used to be. Bonnie Klein is a hero. Her family and friends most loving and genuine. It is a great read.

Ms. Klein establishes important rules to live a fruitful, productive lifestyle, despite a chronic illness: Live life by celebrating life. Independence is control over one's own life measured by the quality of life sustained with whatever help is needed. Sometimes dispair can lead to depression. Sometimes, it can be motivating.

This is a great book! I have read a number of books written by stroke survivors and this is one of the best. This may well be because the book was completed several years after the event. This time gave Ms. Klein the chance to gather and refine her thoughts and experiences.

I am also a stroke survivor. Her acknowledgement that she experienced progress long after the stroke was especially encouraging to me. The medical world says that all progress stops in 3 months to a year. My experience is that the body is a living entity, which is forever changing. So, it makes sense that it would not stop changing because of any medical condition.

The book has humor and is written in a warm and caring context. I would recommend it not only for stoke survivors, but also for caretakers and for health professionals

This book will keep you running to the next story. Some of these are 1st time authors and they did a very good job.

Love and Fate, This Christmas and The Big House with the Island Stove and Shayla story were my favorites. I would like to see all of these as a full novel.

Job well done to Amiaya Entertainment for this talented authors on there team.

This collection of stories were the bomb. My favorite was A Big House with an Island Stove. The ending was crazy. I liked Shayla's story too it made me want to cry. I would definitely recommend this to others; it was a great read!

I must say that all the stories in the book were good. But the best story was Shayla story. I had to read that story about 3 times because it was so good. It was about a girl who falls in love with a drug dealer from the block and her mon would do anything to keep them apart. She leave town with a secert that she thought no one knew about. Does the secret get told or do she hold on to it for life. If you want to know get the book

This is a book full of short stories... I enjoyed all of them but "LOVE AND FATE ...UNCLE KENNY" it makes you wonder about the saying don't bring no other women around your man.

"THE BIG HOUSE WITH THE ISLAND STOVE" lets just say that Claudia "mama Jonesy" dreams came true in the worse way.

"THIS CHRISTMAS" let's you know fast money aint good money and how far will you go to take care of you family when times get hard.

Ask the average person to name a song by Duke Ellington and if you get a response it's apt to be 'uh, A-Train'. Wrong, since it has long been known that Strayhorn wrote it. But who wrote which parts of 'Black, Brown and Beige'? Unknown generally until now; Strayhorn wrote Beige; Ellington wrote Black and Brown.

All true fans of Duke Ellington know of Billie Strayhorn, but few know anything of his real contributions across half of the Dukes career. This book has gone back to the original manuscripts and studied the handwriting to see who wrote what parts. The results of these studies and massive other research provide a true look at the work of Strayhorn. This is not a biography; 'Lush Life : A Biography of Billy Strayhorn' by David Hajdu is a wonderful companion to this book. This book is musically oriented and has some discussions way over my head; none the less its a welcome addition to my library and one that I read non-stop. There is lots of fine data in apendicies as well.

Superb! Thank you, thank you, Walter Van De Leur.

After reading this book you will have a technical understanding of why Billy Strayhorn's music sounds so good and why Strayhorn needs to be recognized as one of the giants of American popular music. After having spent over 10 years performing in depth research and examining over 3,000 manuscripts Walter Van De Leur seperates Billy Strayhorn from Duke Ellington and analyzes how their musical styles differ. The book provides the reader with a technical dissection of a number of Strayhorn's and Ellington's music and gives, from a musicologist's point of view, the uniqueness of Strayhorn's music. Anecdotes about Strayhorn and Ellington are infrequent and instead Van De Leur provides a scholarly examination of one of the most important of American composers. However, Van De Leur can be eloquent in his examination of Strayhorn's work and this belies the love he has for his subject. Analyzing Strayhorn's Day Dream Van De Leur writes " The introspective Day Dream is less radical in its harmonic and melodic design, although chromatic chord relations again play an important role...On beat three this flat supertonic for the target proper, which now functions as the delay for the dominant E7, for A. Turning this pattern into a sequence, Strayhorn again liberates the music from its tonal gravity..." That last sentence says it all, Billy Strayhorn liberated music from its tonal gravity!

This book is a landmark is jazz scholarship. The way van de Leur mixes few biographical details, business forces, archival reserach and music analysis helps to better understand the art of Billy Strayhorn as a personal and individual composer and arranger. With a smooth literary style, van de Leur opens to us the gates of an unknown and underrated musical genius, and help us to distinguish the true from the false, the right authorship of compositions and arrangements and the way the Strayhorn musical style changed throught the years; more, it helps to distinguish him from Duke Ellington and to better understand Ellington, too. From;these pages, Strayhorn emerges as a major composer with a distinguished musical personality.
The four appendixes are one the most useful tools in jazz reseraches appeared in last years.
This book is a reference one for any jazz researcher or learned amateur. A masterpiece in scholarship, an enlightning effort in understanding a great musician and an enjoyable reading. A must.

There are not enough stars that can adequately rate this book. Van de Leur has given us the first truly thorough analysis of a composer of jazz (although Strayhorn was much more than a jazz composer). You do need some musical knowledge to understand what he is talking about, but his discussion and analyses of Strayhorn's music are clear, concise and well-reasoned. The appendices alone are worth the price of the book, where he lists every scrap of music currently known of Strayhorn's, where it is, when it was recorded, and what was played (in many cases, Ellington only used parts of Strayhorn's arrangements of pop tunes). The sheer amount of work it took to complete this project is startling and awe-inspriring.

For years we wondered what Strayhorn's real role was in the Ellington organization. Now we know without any doubt. Bravo Walter!!!!

I picked this book up out of curiousity. Jerome Robbins was legendary aong those who enjoyed Broadway musical theater. His best known acheivement was probably "West Side Story". In any event, I figured a bit of time spent learning about Robbins' life would be interesting.

Well, yes it was - and it was also a bit of a slog.

Amanda Vail has produced a hagiography of Robbins. Considering that Robbins never did anything really, really, really nasty, that is no sin. However, it is a reflection of Robbins' narcissism that Vail had such massive archives to draw from. 539 pages of biography, followed by just less than 100 pages of notes and bibliography. No one can accuse Vail of inadequate research.

The result is a mind-numbing recitation of what seems to be every day in the life of Jerome Robbins from birth to death. It isn't boring, but it won't be stimulating either unless you really, really are a Robbins fan who just can't get enough.

For me, the reward wasn't in learning far more than I wanted to know about Robbins' sex life, but about his contributions to the development of American dance. Robbins truly was a genius and while perhaps overly detailed, this is the kind of thorough biography Jerome Robbins deserves.

Jerry

My dance teacher raved about this book in class and so I had to buy it. I haven't read it all but it shows valuable insights into Mr. Robbins. Although he was a difficult person, he was a genius, as my dance teacher said, and so he was and he made dance so much bigger and better for us all.

The mercurial brilliance and personal shortcomings of choreographer extraordinaire Jerome Robbins are captured with equal amounts of compassion and objectivity in Amanda Vaill's comprehensive biography. His impressive resume represents some of the most arresting work in dance and theater - "On the Town", "High Button Shoes", "Call Me Madam", "Gypsy", "Wonderful Town", "Bells Are Ringing", "The King and I", "Peter Pan", "The Pajama Game", "Funny Girl", "Fiddler on the Roof", "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum". Robbins' most famous work is the stage and screen versions of "West Side Story", his legendary collaboration with composer Leonard Bernstein and then-prodigious lyricist Stephen Sondheim. Yet for all these accomplishments, he was reviled as much as he was revered. Stellar results notwithstanding, his vaunted perfectionism and Method-style approach were taxing to many, and it would often come under the guise of brutality and verbal abuse. Although Vaill's book is the third Robbins biography to be released in the last five years, hers reflects access to the subject's personal diaries before his death at age eighty in 1998, which lends the book a voice that one could easily imagine approximates Robbins' own.

The author dives deeply into Robbins' childhood to seek answers to his personal dichotomy, and she pieces together a vivid if somewhat pat portrait of self-loathing. Robbins' mother comes across as a vindictive woman who used her deep-rooted insecurity as a lightning rod for attention, while his father seems weak-willed and foolish. The combination of their personalities already reinforces Robbins' incurable sense of self-doubt due to his shame over being both Jewish and gay. His resulting bisexuality gave way to a string of lovers of both sexes, though his most intense and enduring relationships were with men including a two-year affair with a young Montgomery Clift. Ironically, he was able to translate these passions into some of the most beautiful male-female duets in musical theater. It is in Robbins' professional triumphs and failures where Vaill's book soars highest. She meticulously documents the process of creating his ballet works, in particular, 1944's "Fancy Free" (the basis for "On the Town") and 1969's "Dances at a Gathering", and how George Balanchine acted as both supportive mentor and demonic taskmaster. Obviously, Robbins applied Balanchine's split-personality approach to his own work when he drove performers, whether chorus dancers or ego-driven divas, to tears with his exacting demands.

In spite of his self-assurance in staging and choreographing specific scenes, he would remain steadfast in experimenting with endless versions of the same moment no matter how long it took to satisfy his vision. Feeding into the already rampant insecurities of his cast, Robbins would often have two or more people learn the same part and urge one to shadow the other as he did his solo. In rehearsing the Broadway version of "West Side Story", he would instigate gossip in order to raise the ire of the dancers playing the gang members. Such alienating, frequently self-serving techniques came at a price, for instance, he was fired from the film version of `West Side Story" in mid-production due to his insensitivity to the resulting budget overruns. The darkest moments of his life are almost a carbon copy of filmmaker Elia Kazan's, as they revolve around his guilt over his 1953 testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee and the seven people he named who apparently recruited him for the Communist Party. Vaill is insightful enough not to judge Robbins for this infamous act, especially ironic given the value he placed on loyalty throughout his career. Her extensive portrait of Robbins should satisfy not only those fascinated by his legendary life and career but also those interested in knowing one of the most profound influences on musical theater and ballet in the second half of the 20th century.

If Jerome Robbins had only directed "West Side Story" that would have been enough to establish his legend on Broadway...if you read this wonderful biography by the very skillful Amanda Vaill you will discover that almost every production from the Golden Era of Broadway had the Robbins touch. Mr Robbin was also a member of the American Ballet Theatre and created many celebrated dance pieces. A complex individual, at times; a son of a bitch, he always got the best from his performers and his collaborators. West Side Story, High Button Shoes, Peter Pan, Gypsy, Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum, The King and I, Fiddler=Robbins

You send me a message saying the whole order (Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, French, was undeliverable.
Why?

I just returned from South America (Bolivia and Chile). This book was great to have with me over the past month. There are many instances where it came in handy. It is easy to pack and to carry. I recommend it to anyone traveling abroad to a Spanish speaking country.

I'm studying spanish in college as a prospective major, and am traveling to spain in less than a month. This book has tons of sayings that are very useful. Most of them are everyday expresions that native english speakers would not say very colloquially. It's divided up into different sections for easy access to a certain aspect of conversation. It is aimed at European(Spain)spanish and includes a few pages on Basque, Catalan, and Galician sayings. Great for a quick reference.

Bought the book before a vacation in Madrid. It was very useful and well organized. When I needed to look up a phrase, I found the book very easy to use. It gave more information that I needed!

I bought this book on a whim before traveling to Spain for a summer study abroad trip. It turned out to be one of the most important things I brought with me! Particularly helpful was the food dictionary, which was frequently passed around the table during lunch and dinner (it may save you from ordering baby squids! Unless you're into that sort of thing). It is really a time saver to be able to quickly look up a phrase such as " Do you sell stamps?" instead of studying your spanish dictionary for 20 minutes. I highly recommend that anyone traveling to Spain who is not fluent in spanish take this book with them!

This is a great book. The Green Goblin is one of the greatest villains ever created, one of my personal favorites. It's a good compilation of Spidey's encounters with the Goblin, showing some major points in Green Goblin's attacks on Spidey. It's a nice compilation book to look at and hold in your hands. I recommend it highly.

Spider-Man has fought many villians, but none so evil as Norman Osborn aka the Green Goblin. This collection contains Amazing Spider-Man #17; one of their early battles, Amazing Spider-Man #96-98; the famous drug addiction story, Amazing Spider-Man #121-122; the death of Norman and Spidey's first love, Gwen Stacey, and Spectacular Spider-Man #200; the death of Norman's son after he takes over the guise of the Green Goblin. The latter story remains one of the most powerful comics in comic history, and the book is worth buying just for that. But you also get 3 other great stories.

This tpb reprint all of issues in the Death of Gwen Stacy
storyline where the Green Goblin is kills Gwen, and where he dies, and you also get a few more issues with the Green Goblin. This book shows Harry Osborn as the Green Goblin too. If you like Spider-Man at all, you should get this book.

Here it is Spidey fans, the best early matchups between the webslinger and my favorite villian, the Green Goblin. The comics reproduced here are Amazing Spider-man #s 17, 96-98, 121-122 and Spectacular Spider-man #200. Check out the appearance of the Human Torch in AS #17. Classic Spider-man that's not to be missed. If nothing else, it'll save you the trouble of pulling out your priceless copies of these masterpieces.

Hoagy Carmichael's college roommate, Hank Wells, claimed all his life that Hoagy, consciously or subcon- scioujsly, stole Star Dust from him. People in his home- town of Lake Bluff, Ill., said that this "broke his heart." Wells visited back and forth with the parents of a friend of mine, and she personally heard him tell this story. He played piano at her wedding..
I have read Hoagy's own words about Star Dust quoted in a book and they are cryptic. He does indeed imply that the song came out of nowhere into his mind.
Two facts: (a) What if a man wrote one great song that was unusual and never wrote another? Why is that?
(b) Why could one man write such a great song and then
never equal or exceed it in his long writing career. Why?
Only one set of facts fits that scenario. Hank Wells, heartbroken, never wrote again. Hoagy couldn't write anything so good on his own.

CCarf

Whatta life! From poverty to great wealth based on musical talent of creating songs as well as a wonderful actor. He had many highlights writing songs and acting but after rock & roll took over the musical scene his talents went for nothing as no youth were interested.

Mr. Sudhalter covers Hoagy's entire life and an interesting one it was. The writing in many places is of a "text book" nature, but the content of relating Hoagy's life puts the reader in the center of life as it existed in the 20's through the 60's. Apparently Hoagy's type of music is gone forever which is a loss without question. New generations continue on and what was usually stays behind as merely history.

We owe Richard Sudhalter for preserving the often-forgotten history of America's early jazz pioneers and composers. His subjects are white musicians, but he doesn't write about them with a nasty political agenda. He just doesn't want their contributions to be forgotten. Along the way, he pays warm tribute to the black musicians who led the musical revolution. Unfortunately, politically-charged reviewers refuse to see this.
I especially love this Sudhalter work. Sadly, Hoagy is becoming a forgotten genius of American song. Duke Ellington once called him America's greatest songwriter, and Sudhalter goes a long way in providing the evidence to such a claim. I especially enjoyed the focus on Hoagy's home state of Indiana, which was an amazing hotbed for jazz in the 1920s. One should take this book and drive around Bloomington, Indiana, and find all of the haunts described in rich detail by Sudhalter. Then go to Indianapolis, and Richmond, Indiana. Sudhalter really did us all a huge favor in providing such a wonderful document.

My father, Bud Dant, is prominently featured in this book, as a man who helped Hoagy write down Stardust and I grew up hearing about the stories and now here they all are in a book...not just a book, but what I know is an extremely accurate and real account of Hoagy's life...the writing is terrific and Richard's obvious love of the music and times shows in his accounts...I know for a fact he researched this material exhaustively...it shows! It pretty much dwarfs all other books on Hoagy.

"Start A Business Teaching Kids" is a good place to look for information from starting your business, finding locations, advertising and publicity to keeping the kids coming back for more. This small book offers much valuable information. One of my favorite parts would be valuable to anyone wishing to market a skill ~ Publicity Kits. The author, Stephanie Quinn, provides a detailed list of everything your kit needs to include (bio information, description of the lessons, press releases, etc.). She explains what elements a good press release should contain and how to get your information to the public. "Instead of `advertising' your lesson program, emphasize the benefits of it. Make the story interesting and entertaining." There is much practical advice given regarding most everything from workshops to dealing with parents. "Start A Business Teaching Kids" is a well-written book and an excellent place to begin looking for information. Good luck with your business teaching kids!

Start A Business Teaching Kids: How To Start A Business Teaching Private And Group Enrichment Lessons For Kids by Stephanie Quinn is an explorative introduction of the beneficial process of teaching kids in a more personal and fulfilling atmosphere than is typically available in the traditional public school classroom. Quinn's approach to the child education ideal is highly researched and poignant in its progressive attitude for its application. Start A Business Teaching Kids is an informative study giving a direct and valid depiction of the format necessary for the constructive learning of young people and is very strongly recommended to all parents of home-schooled children as well as aspiring private or group-schooling teachers.

Start A Business Teaching Kids: How To Start A Business Teaching Private And Group Enrichment Lessons For Kids by Stephanie Quinn is an explorative introduction of the beneficial process of teaching kids in a more personal and fulfilling atmosphere than is typically available in the traditional public school classroom. Quinn's approach to the child education ideal is highly researched and poignant in its progressive attitude for its application. Start A Business Teaching Kids is an informative study giving a direct and valid depiction of the format necessary for the constructive learning of young people and is very strongly recommended to all parents of home-schooled children as well as aspiring private or group-schooling teachers.

Reviewed by Sondra Fowler for Reader Views (3/06)


"Start a Business Teaching Kids" is a how to book that helps the reader plan and execute a small business teaching supplemental lessons. Quinn runs the reader through the concept and planning stage, and then seamlessly addresses the scouting out of location, and principles of effective advertising. There are good common sense notions and anyone who has had a small business will recognize the soundness of the advice. She points out and explores the idiosyncrasies that are native to dealing with children and parents on a business level. The book would be an asset to anyone who is unfamiliar with starting a business especially anyone interested in teaching a skill.

The only real bump in the book relates to emphasis of the performing arts while almost ignoring the marketing opportunities of other venues of enrichment education, such as the visual arts and scholastic education.

Steven Spielberg: Interviews is a great book on many levels. It's probably one of the only books about Spielberg that shows his more personal side and manner of speaking. The interviews give us a different different perspective of the man and show that he is not what everyone (or me at least) envisioned him to be.

Interesting, information, and with its own of sense of humor, this is definitely a must-read for Spielberg fans, filmmakers, and people period.

Steven Spielberg is undoubtedly the greatest movie director of our times. ALL his movies have been box-office hits. He is brilliant and dedicated to his craft! And people adore him! He's way cool ...

That's why it's so exciting to read a book by him, describing the last 25 years of his life. Awesome material!

Can't wait to see more of his movies! Many reviewers are saying that my TOONIES book would make a great movie ... a la Spielberg. I should be so lucky, but was lucky enough to meet and pose with Clint Eastwood many moons ago, so perhaps I'll get lucky again. Hint! Hint!

With all his fame and fortune and he still remains a very "nice, dear, down-to-earth" man. More of the actors should emulate his example.

Go, Steven!

There's a lot of really good stuff in here.

First, the interviews span some 25 years, so you get a sense how he's matured and yet how he's stayed the same.

Second, Spielberg is very candid, so interviews with him tend to reveal more than many others.

Third, there's just a lot of good stuff in here, some of which you may have heard and some not. For instance, I had never heard the story of how, as an awkward 12 year old, he and a mentally retarded boy were dead last in a school race and their peers cheered the retarded boy to beat young Spielberg. Spielberg describes how he knew he had to let the boy with without him realizing it and did just that. And then he describes how after the race, after the others carried the retarded boy on their shoulders, Spielberg was both devastatingly happy and sad.

Or there's the anecdote about his encounter with Stanley Kubrick -- how the master was not as stand-offish as one might think, and yet how he sized up Spielberg with "his probing, questioning eyes, always looking at you to see if you're true or falso. To see what you're made of, to see what you have upstairs. His chess player's eyes. Real surgeon's eyes."

There's lots of other examples I can bring but if you have any interest in Spielberg or movies just go out and get the book. It's a great read about a fascinating man whose own character arc and maturity as a movie-maker is the stuff great stories are made of.

I've been waiting a long time for a book like this. Populist filmmakers like Steven Spielberg are too often ignored by publishers who would rather print in-depth literature on the likes of Coppola or Scorsese, so it's nice to see a meaty tome such as this on the bookshelves. Spielberg lets rip on all the stuff you often wondered about whilst watching his films, and proves himself to be rather adept at delivering hilarious anecdotes. Unlike the George Lucas Interviews book, Spielberg isn't shy when it comes to discussing his private life. All in all, an enlightening read. Jolly good.