Robert Duncan Books

I've never been a huge heavy metal fan, but I do like rock guitar and play occasionally, and I found this book to be a surprise treat. It's primarily interviews with rock star guitarists who were big in the 70's and 80's. Because the interviews were originally in Guitar Player magazine, the emphasis is on the technical aspects of electric guitar playing rather than personalities (though personalities certainly come through.)

You get to find out things like how Eddie Van Halen used to hand-build his guitars and what components he uses; how Richie Blackmore modifies his amps; specific guitar playing instructions from Leslie West; there's a nice section on Jimi Hendrix, with an interview from him, plus commentary and insights from musicians who worked closely with him. Jimmy Page is here too, sharing his first-hand insights into the history of rock guitar. Then you have Ted Nugent bragging about playing so loud he's killed small animals with his amp (and admitting he's gone totally deaf in one ear.)

All in all this is an easy-to-digest, seminar on rock guitar playing that gets you inside the heads, equipment, and stage set-ups of some of the most successful rock guitarists in history. This won't teach you how to play guitar, but it will give some insight on the various approaches different players take. Any serious electric guitar player will likely get something of value out of this even if they are not a hardcore headbanger. And it's an easy, breezy read.

this book is a story from a first person point of view.and the auther tells it like you were there.this book is a 4 star rating.

Rotha's place in documentary history lies in the early days in Britain - as a colleague of John Grierson, a documentary film-maker and a writer about film. His influence remains strong, in spite of his books having been out of print for some years. Apart from Eric Barnouw and a couple of tthers, he is the only writer about documentaries capable of creating prose as stunning as the films themselves. Like the best film-makers, such writers make it look easy. Grierson would agree, as he wrote in his review of Rotha's 'Shipyard' in 1935: " (Rotha) is...our film historian; and he is the keeper of our conscience as much as the keeper of our records........ ". Incidentally, Grierson then goes on, in his usual blunt fashion, to criticise Rotha's films, calling them "impressionistic", a coda for "apolitical" and "superficial". (Grierson was wrong). Rotha was significant asa a film-maker in the thirty years from 1933 - his credits include 'Contact', 'Shipyard' , 'The Face of Britain', 'World of Plenty', 'Land of Promise', 'The World Is Rich' and 'The Life of Adolf Hitler'. For much of hat time he was at the centre of Britain's documentary scene and he took to upon himself to document the documentatrsts. Much of what we know about Grierson and others from that time comes directly or indirectly from Paul Rotha. Thus it is as a writer, critic and diarist that Rotha will be respected in the 21st century. From his seminal and contrarian 'The Film Till Now" (1930), through ''Documentary Film' (1935), 'Rotha On Film' (1958) and the breath-taking 'Documentary Diary: An Informal History of the British Documentary Film' , Rotha created not only a body of work but an essential part of the legend of the Grierson days. If documentary has a founding myth, Rotha was the shaman who interpreted it for lesser mortals. Petrie and Kruger's book returns Rotha's work to us after years spent searching second-hand bookshops. Most of the copies owned by film schools and libraries seem to have disappeared some time ago, lost to poor but obsessed students. It may not be the whole oevre, but this "best of Rotha" collection is a great start, with selecions from the major works, woven together chronologically within sections to form powerful linear narratives on 'The Art of Film', 'Cinema and Britain' and 'Film Practice'. The editors also give us a very decent, forty-page introduction to different aspects of Rotha work, plus excellent bibliographies and filmographies. Libraries will need this book because of its utility as a documentary film course book. A lot of industry professionals will want to to fill in the half-remembered fragments and remember why they entered the business in the first place. The next generation need to know the past to better create the future. (Docos)

Duncan/Prasse's Veterinary Laboratory Medicine book offers an easy to understand flow of laboratory changes in domestic animals, with an emphasis on their differences (cat, dog, horse, cattle). Their sections on systems (urinary, digestive system, liver, muscle, endocrine) are very helpful in organizing thought processes. There are also 28 cases in the back of the book to reinforce the learning objectives. Highly recommended for the student

A fast-paced suspense (more than pure mystery) novel about the Holy Grail and the secret societies (apparently a veritable Yellow Pages worth) whose goal is either to protect or expose it.

Good fun, although its statements about the verity of the Bible, the orthodox canon, and other apocryphal works are disturbing. In fact, my distaste for this part of the book, plus its fast-food-like lack of weightiness knocks it down a peg from the "Worth my Time" level.

Makes sense to me!! I loved this book! I know it was fiction but somehow I think he speaks a bit of truth in this book! You will love this book!

Dan Brown is an illusionist. It attracted, like all good writers successful thrillers American audiences. The ingredients are familiar: Action brutal murder in the singular and plural (serial killing), incomprehension, investigation, doubt, lack of knowledge, tenacity (alone against all), happy ending. Passion thrillers (see my listmania), I know the ropes most used to give the maximum chances of a successful sale. On the "thriller", "Da Vinci" is lourdaud.

Dan Brown is a forger doubled a liar. How can one argue that the Bible (and therefore the Old and New Testament) was a work commissioned by the Roman Emperor Constantine in the fourth century? How can you write that the "Priory of Sion is a secret society founded at the end of XI century by Godfrey de Bouillon" who knows the truth about marriage with Mary Magdalene and the descendants of Christ and therefore lies founder the Church? ... then it is a supposed French association under the 1901 law declared in 1956. And how many other pearls ... like the androgyny of Mona Lisa (Mona Lisa) ... I still laugh.

Dan Brown is a man who has faith hatred of the Christianity in general and the Catholic Church in particular. He is a descendant - representing heresies fought with accuracy since its inception by the Church. These are called heresies the arianism, Catharism and Jansenism. They say that God is a pure spiritual being therefore could not have had a Son of a similar nature to him. But Jesus Christ is fully man and fully God. That is what the Church professes, in full transparency, everyone. The profession of faith of the Church is radically opposed to any elitist philosophy - elected on the one hand and esoteric on the other.

Dan Brown has mixed genres: the thriller, the invention sometimes committed to history, sometimes lies, and hatred skillfully distilled the Church.

I invite the reader critical read the excellent book by Jesuit Father Bernard Sesboüé which dismantles this horror: "The Da Vinci Code explained to its readers." (in French)

Ok, I have neither bought nor read this 'book', and never will, but I read the excerpt.
If English is Dan Brown's first language, then he has major problems, unless he is a 10 year old slow learner. Ok, he has made a lot of money from this piece of rubbish, but why not take a quick course in creative writing beforehand to learn the basics of style.
The Hardy Boys books are advanced literature in comparison!

Dan Brown's second novel The Da Vinci Code has become a literary phenomena, spawning countless books related to the topic, a movie, a myriad of discussions, and so much more. But let's take a look inside this book shall we? The book starts with the murder of the head curator of the museum. Ah but that is just the beginning! The curator was able to leave clues for his daughter, who is a cryptographer herself, follows these clues to France and England, through the past and the present, Through cultured religion and the unorthodox searching for the Knight's Templar and the code the world's masterpieces hold. Dan Brown is a master of suspense and The Da Vinci Codes is just one more notch in this fabled author's cap. Beautifully written and without flaws this is one book I highly recommend!!

And for those who enjoy books on ancient cultures, I'd recommend: Fates

Twain spoils a promising premise with bloated preachifying, colorless prose, and an uneven, nigh-absurdist plot arc.

I have always received the best service when I have placed an order from you. Outstanding!!!!!

With each Twain novel I read, I am amazed at how he can be so funny while packing such astute insights about life. This novel is no exception as Twain strikes the balance between the two again here. The premise for this novel is perhaps Twain's most original idea (when did Tom Sawyer ever time travel?) and the story and characters satisify at every turn. While this isn't Twain's best work, I think that some of his funniest moments are in this novel. I recommend Tom Sawyer as the place to begin reading Twain, but if you are already a fan then this book is a must-read.

The title also happens to be the plot outline. Elements of the plot have been duplicated in countless books, TV shows and movies. Army of Darkness and MacGyver leap immediately to mind. The book is a fantasy, and if haters can set aside its numerous anachronisms (A man from 1900, for example, would never be able to understand the language of 6th century England), it's quite enjoyable.

The novel is considerably more adversarial than one might expect. The main character is uncouth, obnoxious, and a jerk, even more so than is necessary given the immensely frustrating ignorance of the 6th century people. I suspect Twain plugged himself in to the Boss character, and had a good old time writing this one.

The main character is out to get the established Church, not in a no-holds-barred, Philip Pullman way, but in a logical way that recognizes the value of faith while tearing down the humanistic and suppressive political and economic machinations of the Church.

Twain also takes shots at England through the ages, at its historically oppressive caste system and at the English people's long-running love of hereditary nobility.

Commentary on politics and on human nature abound, but A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court is still a great adventure story. These two elements step on each other's toes sometimes, but Twain pulls it off.

Clunky title. Great book.

RECOMMENDED

Although I usually enjoy Twain's writing style, and his sense of wry humor, there was something about A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court that was less than satisfying.

Some of the situations that the protagonist gets himself into are "classic" Twain. When the narrator is transported back to the time of Camelot, he begins to speculate about rituals, customs and general style of life. There is one part where the townspeople are convinced that he can perform great magical feats (he actually has Merlin as his rival), and when they corner him about performing one, he has to think of a way to please them or face punishment. He realizes that he can remember when an eclipse is going to come, and there is the way out of his situation. There are many adventures, where the narrator becomes critical of their ways, as a time warp will do. He is a fish out of water in many ways in this new world, not understanding, for instance, their need to have extravagant adventures: "Hardly a month went by without one of these tramps arriving; and generally loaded with some tale about some princess or other wanting help to get her out of some faraway castle where she was being held in captivity by a lawless scoundrel..." Because of his ability to perform great acts, he becomes known as the Boss, and helps to free some poor peasants from terrible punishments.

Maybe what made this less of a story was that it became too "preachy" and filled with social commentary. Although this is what usually makes Twain's novels, here it seemed to detract from the over all story. I was much more interested in hearing about the next adventure, but the narrator continued to rattle on and on about what he felt was wrong with this society. You get the feeling that Twain, not the narrator, is speaking after awhile. In the end, I guess it wasn't really the book I expected it to be. Still, it has its moments, and there are some parts that will have you chuckling to yourself as you read.

I consider Twain to be one of my favorite authors, but this is one of his lesser achievements.

Very good book. Excellent tips. Easy read but comprehensive. Enjoyed every page of it and learnt so much. Misleading title though. Couldn't put it down.

I have not completely read this book as of yet.... however it looks like I will find some interesting help

This book is definitely a must have for those who want to learn the world of real estate investing. I found it extremely helpful and very easy reading. I found it very inspiring and will definitely go back to it again and again for advice.

This was a good basic introduction on WHY real esate is a good investment...I don't personally think it should be 100% of a person's portfolio, so the reader needs to be very careful and not get carried away into thinking 'real esate is where it's at'! Just like the stock market, RE experiences cycles too.

Having said that, this book was very educational in terms of getting me to think outside the box. I wish we had this book prior to selling our first home that we bought. Our mortgage would've been low (less than $1k) in So. CA(!) and I'm sure we would've been able to rent it out for double that! Had I read this book, we would've either rented it out...or fire the sleazy realtor that ripped us off! We learned from that mistake and by reading these types of books...hopefully we'll make better decisions in the future. For this education alone, I'd recommend you read this, take it w/ a grain of salt (in terms of striking it rich ONLY in RE) and use this info. to make the best decision for your situation.

Dolf talks about how real estate blows the doors off other investment vehicles because of the leverage available. The book is a bit basic and conceptual, but for those investors either just getting started in real estate or thinking about it, this book will give you the push needed. It explains how the returns can be explosive on the capital invested because of the use of leverage. It's true, understanding how the implications of leverage affect total return is very important, however I would have likes more real life examples. In my book, A 20,000% Gain in Real Estate, I go over in detail deal after deal to illustrate this point.

Another key concepts covered are: productivity, and how it is affecting middle America, oceanfront or seaside property, and how it appreciates 50% more than other areas and the time needed to look at 100 properties before finding a real deal. All these are must know for the real estate investors of tomorrow.

This book as well as the others in the Rich Dad series are great starting points. I read all that were available while building my real estate company which went from $0 to $25,000,000 in holdings in less than 5 years.


By Kevin Kingston, Author of, A 20,000% Gain in Real Estate

This novel is a Ludlum "franchise" novel by Patrick Larkin.
The use of the sci fi DNA fingerprint virus as the main plot device
and getting Jon Smith involved one again in eastern Europe and
Russia makes this an action packed read.
Since I've read and seen most of the recent spy stuff I could find,
I have to say the hero getting scraped and abraded
,instead of having holes drilled,
kind of takes away from the realism.
It kept my attention enough to make my old eyes get sore.

Got started on the Covert-One series recently. I was able to locate all of the series books that I was missing on Amazon. Great service as usual.

A well told tale even though the plot is nothing terribly new. Patrick Larkin does a fine job of weaving suspense and building on good characters for this tale. Erik Bergmann's narration is spectacular. I wish he would narrate all of the Ludlum books and more. Fine job.

The magic touch of Ludlums input seems to be missing. Being a rabid fan of his (having read and re-read ALL of his offerings several times) while reading the latest of the Covert One series and waiting for the appearance of Marty Zellerbach and/or Peter Howell (neither of them occured) and frankly the the number of attempts on Jon Smith's life were, in my opinion, not only ridiculously contrived but resolved. Better luck with the next one (if there is one).

I am a fan of Ludlum but think most of the books farmed out under his name since his death are not exactly quality. The Covert One series however is an exception to that view however, possibly because they are upfront about it being inspired and organized by him but written by others so I'm not expecting Ludlum, just something in the vein of. This being said I have read all the Covert One novels and enjoyed them and this one is no exception.

However, of course there is a however, this book takes a bit of departure from the previous books in the series and suffers a bit because of it. In the earlier works of what I call a thriller-action series the accent was on the thriller. The protaganist, Dr Jon Smith, was basically a doctor and scientist with the US Army who, due to circumstances, became a part time intelligence agent in a very loose knit agency, Covert One, which basically was a number of people like Dr Smith tied together though the agency's head, Fred Klein. The stories progressed with Jon Smith using his intelligence and wits to try to find a solution to the crisis threatening the US and having enough physical ability and training, and some friendly help, to fight his way out of the occasional physical attempt to stop him to add some action to the thriller. The plot itself was mainly carried through the fact that as he progressed in solving the mystery he was usually dead ended somewhere along the line due to something or someone necessary to the next step disappearing, usually violently, and causing Dr Smith to backtrack and find another path. The suspense came from wondering how was he going to find the solution, was he going to find it it time to prevent major catastrophe (You know he's going to save the world but that doesn't mean thousands might not die before hand) and how was the seemingly omniscient villan was going to slip up. Also there is sometimes the fact that one does not know who is behind the plot to add to the suspense.

In this novel though the solving of the mystery is a lot more straight forward. THe suspense, instead of coming through the solving of the mystery is maintained by how Jon Smith is going to get out of the latest trap. Yes, as I said the action takes precedence in this book and instead of finding dead ends as he goes about his investigation Dr Smith usually finds a trap waiting for him. I think there are as many attempts on his life in this book alone as there were in all the previous novels combined. To me this plot device, while not making it a bad read, takes away from the premise. It causes Dr Smith to become more of a man of action, the typical spy protaganist, rather than the unique individual he was. It also starts to put a strain on believability. While one has to let one's imagination have free rein in reading any story like this one does usually have certain bounds and the hero escaping from too many attempts to kill him starts to tax those limits.

Also Covert One, in this novel, seems to become a more typical spy agency than it was in the previous books. While you knew it had to have resources and some full time employees they were behind the scenes, so to speak. The idea was presented that it was a loose knit operation of a number of people like Jon Smith, mobile cyphers as it were, who were mainly unaware of one another with full time professions elsewhere, who stepped up to the plate when called upon. IOW, a small highly secret organization used only for special occasions. In this book however, while not really overt about it Covert One seems to be becoming the more typical major type agency with the kind of payroll and resouces of the CIA or Ludlum's Cons Ops.

I don't know why the book took this turn as Patrick Larkin had written an earlier Covert One book. Could it be that the publisher's wish to switch to a more stereotypical formula figuring on greater appeal, that the action will draw more readers than the thriller? Guess we will find out in future books if these paths are followed. To me however, while still a good read it detracts from the uniqueness of both Jon Smith and Covert One themselves.

This was the first book I read by Nozick, I have yet to read "Anarchy, State and Utopia" (It is on my wish list). Let me begin by saying that while this book is much more readable for the layperson that other analytic philosophical works, I did find some chapters where I was losing interest. Maybe this is a deficiency on my part because there have been many other highly acclaimed classics that I have not been able to get through. My favorite chapter is "The Holiness of Everyday Life", there are times when you can pick up on Nozick's romanticism, "really, Nozick being romantic? It's true!". Nozick is certainly evoking Socrates' idea of the examined life and we are lucky to have this book written on this topic by so great a thinker. The only point that I want to make is that while Nozick is admired for this writing style, there is another Philosopher whose writing I find consistently thorough, effortless and readable. I am of course talking about Thomas Nagel.

Robert Nozick's first book, "Anarchy, State, and Utopia", has been widely touted as the philosophical bible of libertarianism in America, the most rigorous case ever argued against redistributive justice and the welfare state, the Summa of anarcho-capitalism. Here's what Nozicks writes in chapter 25, near the end, of The Examined Life:
"The libertarian position I once propounded now seems to me seriously inadequate, in part because it did not fully knit the humane considerations and joint cooperative activities it left roon for more closely into its fabric. It neglected the symbolic importance of an official political concern with issues or problems, as a way of marking their importance or urgency, and hence of expressing, channeling, intensifying, encouraging, and validating our private actions and concerns toward them.... There are some things we choose to do together through government in solemn marking of our human solidarity..." John Donne, of course, said something similar: No man is an island entire unto himself.

The Examined Life is a book of homilies - sermons - expressing the earned wisdom of a lifetime of philosophy. I'm not a devoted sermon reader, and I can't profess to find this book fun to read, but it is full of simply-expressed clear thinking. Perhaps a chapter a week - there are twenty-six - on Sundays would be serviceable. Nozick's goal, I think, is to sketch out a kind of secular morality or ethics, not based on religious myth but rather on shared humanity and empathy.

Chapter 20, entitled The Holocaust, impresses me as the most fearsomely cogent declaration of the fallen state of human progress that I've ever read: "I believe the Holocaust is an event like the Fall in the way traditional Christianity conceived it, something that radically and drastically alters the situation and stautus of humanity." Nozick declares taht he is not a Christian, and continues: "It now would not be a special tragedy if humankind ended... I do not mean that humanity deserves this to happen... but now that history and that species have become stained, its loss would now be no special loss above and beyond the losses to the individuals involved. Humnaity has lost its claim to continue." In relation to Christian eschatology, Nozick declares that humanity has desanctified itself. "There still remain the ethical teachings and the example of the life of Jesus before his end, but there no longer operates the saving message of Christ. In this sense, the Christian era has closed."
A few pages later, Nozick offers this: "Perhaps it is only by suffering ourselves when any suffering is inflicted, or even when any is felt, that we can redeem the species. Before, perhaps, we could be more isolated; now that no longer suffices.... If the Christian era has ended, it has been replaced by one in which we each now have to take humaity's suffering upon ourselves. What Jesus was supposed to have done for us, before the Holocaust, humanity must now do for itself."

It's not so rare to find a philosopher repudiating his earlier opinions, and perhaps more than once. To find Robert Nozick, however, repudiating his Ayn Rand hyper-individualism, meretricious free-market economic dogma, and opposition to social justice through government, is unusually satisfying. Here's a beaker of health to you, Professor Nozick! Live long and thrive!

I couldnt read this book beyond the first chapter. Long winding and boring. One of the dullest books on philosphy.

The Examined Life is the first I've read from Robert Nozick. I had read a review denigrating the book, one of his later works, as a mere "self-help book," but after flipping through it in a Borders' a few months ago, decided to give it a read. If nothing more than a "self-help book," it's one of the best of that genre. I feel expanded, even irradiated.

The title obviously comes from Socrates' famous line (challenge) in the Apology, and Nozick's answer is rich and full of blood. A set of meditations, touching upon one by one the significances of life, all flows forth and simply blooms from the opening line: "I want to think about living and what is important in life, to clarify my thinking-and also my life." The act of creation, sexuality, love (of parent, of child, of God), the nature of reality and its component dimensions, politics, eating, and much more are all probed, fleshed full and good.

The author's style is bold and broad: it charts new ground, it makes daring leaps from uncertain foundations. Yet, he remains modest and honest. Questions breed tentative answers and new questions: some are answered, some are ground into new questions once again. There is an unmistakable organic nature, and one is left with the warm reward of having more questions after finishing than one did when beginning. The meditations, each a chapter long, grow as crystalline lattices from little germs, pearls from simple sand. The prose is easy: the author, polite to the last, apologizes when brief incursions into metaphysics become necessary. And I, an atheist, was fascinated by these meditations on brahma and the Christian God, the creative guesses at age old paradoxes: why does He let evil things happen, and why is Enlightenment so hard to reach? And I, a libertarian, was intrigued by Nozick's own "betrayal" (if you will) of his previous positions, his investigation of political virtue and the noble-non-libertarian-whims of the electorate.

And I want to express just how much this book has changed me. I see things differently now; life itself is richer, holier, lighter. Paradigms have cracked. Possibilities are mossy and multiplied. One night I was miserable-why, I don't recall-so I flipped ahead a few chapters and read the meditation on happiness and then I was calm, content, and real.

Though the backbone is not obvious, one can sense a vague progress through the chapters, as Nozick develops his idea of the highest value, the multidimensional amalgam of "reality." What does it mean to be more "real?" How does one achieve more "reality?" What are the component parts and what are their relationships? He then attempts a grand, and-so he admits-very precarious assimilation of reality's dimensions into a rectangular matrix. When this exhausting work is done, the meditations turn to other intricacies that have been left unresolved: light and dark, the meaning of wisdom, a cute reflection on democracy, and the bittersweet conclusion, quiet and humble, sad in its finality, and positively verdant in (I don't use the word lightly) the love that shines forth.

And I loved reading his book. I hope one day I can repay the light he has shed upon me.

In an Introduction to Philosophy course students are usually introduced to a whirlwind of different philosophers each with very different views. Even when the views of various philosophers are best understood through a realization of how they differ one from another, it can be very confusing trying to imagine how the different philosophical positions might amount to something practical. It is for that reason that I have selected Robert Nozick's little book The Examined Life to use in my class as an example of how a philosophical point of view can be used to address the practical aspects of life.

Nozick is fairly conservative. I might even be being conservative in describing him as "fairly" conservative depending on your viewpoint. He is often depicted as the conservative compared to the liberal John Rawls "Political Liberalism." For the most part I feel my students are conservative and so feel there would be a good match. So far the feedback from my students has suggested to me that my choice has been right on the mark.

While you can certainly read this text through from start to finish for my course I select different chapters to go with different topics in the main text for the course. Some chapters might make better sense if read in order.

On Nozick on emotions: I suppose an awful lot of philosophy (one reason some mathematicians can't stand it) is a fight over how to properly use words in relation to one another. One mathematician I know likes to be very precise. Wittgenstein argued that most philosophical problems could be solved just by clearing up the language. Once we clarified our language we would see that the problems were pseudo problems - fake! But we don't use our words in clear ways especially when talking to lots of people who use language in different ways among themselves - some people will understand you one way and others another and still others won't understand a bit. I myself have had the fun of saying something only to be clearly understood by many people to have meant just the opposite of what I was intending to mean! But imagine what it would be like to try to get everyone to use words in exactly a certain way and no other. "Precising" definitions - well, I suppose that is what school is for! But is Nozick an authority? Actually, I prefer Damasio's use of "emotion" in "The Feeling of What Happens: Body and Emotion in the Making of Consciousness -- by Antonio R. Damasio.

Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (1/07)

"The Great American Songbook: The Stories behind the Standards" is a pleasure to read. The author Chuck Denison has researched the history of singers, musicians, lyricists, and composers and tells their stories here. He tells the history of these people and how their lives interacted with their music. Some of the people written about include: George and Ira Gershwin, Irving Berlin, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, Cole Porter, Paul McCartney and Frank Sinatra.

The majority of the people written about did not have easy lives, but it was the rough patches that these people lived through that gave their music an edge. Denison talks about the music genius that this people carried within them. He also discusses those that seem touched by a muse. He writes: "The muses, the supernatural forces of beauty, art and music capture us, and reveal themselves. In an instant, we hear the melody, catch the concept and dream the solution."

I enjoyed reading the stories behind many famous songs from the past. The ones that stood out to me included: "Silver Bells," "Mr. Ed," "Que Sera Sera," "White Christmas," "I've Got Rhythm," "Blue Moon," "Yesterday," "I'm in the Mood for Love," and "The Way You Look Tonight." By learning the background of the song, it increased my interest in what the music meant to the people creating it. I wish that I had had a book like this when I was taking music classes in high school and college.

"The Great American Songbook," is a great book for music enthusiasts. At only 111 pages, I wish that there was more to read about! Music teachers should definitely take note and consider this book as a supplement to textbooks. It will greatly increase the student's appreciation and understanding of the music.

Chuck Denison has collaborated with jazz photographer Duncan Schiedt to produce this compact collection of stories of the origins of some of our most popular songs.

This work is not an encyclopedia of, nor a complete history of American music. It is a sampler to demonstrate the impact music has had on American culture. These are stories about artists, composers, and lyricists, the genius who set these standards. The book is made up of entertaining stories and background information on Broadway hits, Hollywood movies, and the songs that made them succeed.

Denison covers the whole spectrum of music from "avant garde" to "be-bop." He takes us behind the scenes to share insights from the lives of George Gershwin, Billie Holiday, Cole Porter, Rogers and Hart, Paul McCartney, and dozens of others.

The author has created a nostalgic journey that takes us back in time to the early 1900's through the pre World War I days. He highlights the "Roaring Twenties" and takes us down memory lane with captivating stories from the days when radio was the center of family entertainment. The popular program "Hit Parade" was prime time entertainment.

He takes us back to the patriotic songs of World War II and the era that introduced the "Hollywood Musical". Denison likened the music of Paul McCartney and John Lennon, and Beatlemania to a quasi-religious experience for the 60's generation.

The collection of Duncan Schiedt's photography reveal moments of musical history "captured for all time, an image of a memory." These images enhance the importance of this excellent work.

The Great American Songbook is an anthology of entertaining true stories behind a medley of some of the most popular songs Hollywood, Broadway, and other favorite songs. Brief yet enjoyable and fascinating trivial about great singers, musicians, composers, and more fill this amazing, defly researched and entertaining collection, which includes tibits about such hits as "White Christmas", "Blue Moon", "Get Happy" and more. An excellent giftbook for popular music buffs.

The book covers about thirty songs. The one song that I know the history of is totally incorrect!! Jimmy Van Heusen told me in 1979 that he co-wrote the song that we know as "Nancy" with Phil Silvers on the 20th Century lot. It was written as "Bessie with a laughing face". Bessie was the wife of Jimmy's partner, Johnny Burke. Later they used it at birthday parties for other woman...and finally at little Nancy Sinatra's fourth B-day. Frank cried...thinking they wrote it for her. This author claims Frank co-wrote it with Jimmy and Phil for Nancy.

I was really disappointed with the book. I am an aspiring performer, and have been doing a lot of research on the standards. I thought this book would same me a lot of time. The great american songbook includes hundreds of standards -- this book covers only about 30 of them. You can get all of this information on the internet. Save the $9+.