Television Books

Anthony Rapp was in on the creation of the masterpiece which became the Broadway sensation "Rent," almost from the beginning. He has written his memoir of that experience with great sensitivity and insight.

This book is a riveting tale about the creative process, how a play goes through its evolution to get to Broadway, and how every once in awhile a theatrical miracle can happen which changes everyone's lives. "Rent" is such a miracle. I just saw the play once again on Broadway this past weekend. I took my teenaged daughters to see it. After eleven years, it is finally closing down some time this year. If you cannot get to New York to see the play, rent the movie. It's not as good, but almost.

I loved this book, and recommend it to anyone who has ever overcome adversity to pursue a dream.

This book is amazing. It's a great read, easy to follow and really hits at your heart. I would reccommend it to everyone.

I am a fan of Anthony Rapp's and a major fan of Rent, so I felt the need to pick up this book. It gives you such great insight into Anthony as a person and there was a lot in here to which I could relate. Plus, you get to follow along with the backstory behind Rent, which I also found very informative and entertaining. But above all, Anthony pleasantly surprised me with his writing talent. I thoroughly enjoyed this read and I hope he continues to write in the future.

At first when I wanted to get this audio book I went to Barnes and Nobles. Figured, Hey, might as well save on shipping and handling. They never told me a price and told me it'd be in soon. TWO months go by and still no book! I go in every week and ask them, do you have my audio book yet?? they say No, we can't find it in any warehouse anywhere. Finally I say take me off the list, I'm going to Amazon.com. I also ask them what was the price? They say "about $70" I am so glad that I never got it from them!! I saved FIFTY bucks with amazon.com and also got it in TWO DAYS!! And that was with the cheapest shipping they have! It made the entire process worth it. And the audio book is simply amazing, I read the book about two years ago and now I listen to the Audio Book in the car while I'm driving. It's extremely relaxing and Anthony's voice is so soothing and I don't feel alone when I drive alone at night.

Since I'm a big fan of Rent, I enjoyed this a lot. A revealing look at Jon Larson and his cast in the early days.

This is a beautifully put-together and remarkably detailed book for hard-core fans of the STAR WARS films. Purporting to be a dictionary, it is really more of a picture guide to the characters, monsters, gadgets and weaponry featured in all six episodes of the series. It also provides a small amount of character backstory not mentioned, or only hinted at, in the movies, but almost completely ignores developments in the "expanded universe", which was fine with me since I personally have little interest in it.

It is organized in chronological order, with one chapter each for each SW episode, beginning with EPISODE I: THE PHANTOM MENACE and ending with EPISODE VI: RETURN OF THE JEDI. Each chapter is a self-contained unit, so there are multiple entries and bios for recurring characters like Palpatine, Count Dooku and, Obi-Wan Kenobi and of course, Darth Vader, each one dealing with the character at that particular stage of his life. However, single-movie characters like General Grievous also get their just due. Accoutrements and weapons are explored in equal detail, for example, the lightsaber, the Jedi fighter, the AT-AT walker, etc. In adidtion, there is a great deal of information about stormtroopers (Republican and Imperial) and the battle droids of the Confederation of Independent Systems.

The DICTIONARY is gorgeous but not perfect. The book is of the coffee-table variety, meaning it is too large for the standard bookshelf, and fans of the original series will be annoyed by the fact that the chapters dealing with the original three movies are given short shrift compared to the prequels - the entries for MENACE, CLONES and SITH are twice the length of those for A NEW HOPE, EMPIRE and JEDI. Aside from that, however, the book is enjoyable and probably a must-have for fans.

The Complete Visual Dictionary of Star Wars: The Ultimate Guide to Characters and Creatures from the Entire Star Wars Saga Was exactly what my 7 year old son was looking for. Great pictures and descriptions, he spends hours looking through it. Would be a must have for any Star Wars fan.

Great detail & very clear pictures of everything Star Wars- my 4 yr. old loves it as well as my 30+ husband & myself too!!

My son loves this book. It was shipped fast and in time for his birthday.

I bought this encyclopedia for my nine year old who is a Star Wars freak. (My brother and I were born in the 70's so we are pretty much star wars freaks as well.) The book is engrossing - it's hard to walk away from it once you start flipping through the pages. The amount of detail given is incredible. Most fans will find they learn something new about the Star Wars universe from this book. This book covers characters, weapons, vehicles,plot points, worlds, etc. from all six movies. It is heavier on the most recent three however. So, our main complaint (and the reason this book does not receive 5 stars from us) would be that there is not enough information on episodes 4-6.

I really enjoyed Harlan Hogan's book VO: Tales and Techniques of a Voice Actor. I read it early last year, and have gone back to it several times since for wisdom and tips in my own Voice Career!
The format of the book made it an easy read. Chapters from Harlans life and experiences mixed with Tips and Tricks of the Trade.
A book for any aspiring Voice Over Library!

Harlan Hogan provides a lot of explanation of how things work in the VO world (or at least as they did in 2002, when this book was written). He gives great advice while lightly touching on subjects like running your business, jargon, union vs. "pre-union", etc. However, he also offers some insight that beginning voice actors aren't likely to find in a lot of other books. Harlan does this by recounting stories from his own experience that not only entertain, but relate to the major points of each section. He also lets the reader in on inside jokes of the trade like "Blooper's Soap" and the infamous Findus Foods session with Orson Welles. Sure, they're easily Google-able, but how are they woven into the fabric of the industry?

I've done radio for a dozen years, switched to the computer tech side
for another half-dozen and now I'm studying and working on figuring out
where I will best fit into the VO market. This book not only confirmed
a lot of things I felt instinctively, but it also helped me to not
listen so much to the "what if" voice that we all carry with us.

I really enjoyed this book, it is really informative, entertaining and gives and inside look at voice over acting. This is one of the few books that I will re-read becouse of all the usefull information, a must read for anyone starting out or considering a career as a voice actor.

This book is excellent. It's packed with information about what one should expect if he/she wants to work in the Voice Acting industry, and it also includes many tips & tricks that voice actors could follow in order to advance in their careers.

It's hilariously entertaining yet down-to-earth informative - a rare combination achievable in books.

On top of that, it's easy to read, so you don't see much of those long-worded-jargons-which-you-will-find-in-technical-books for instance. Instead, you get cute cartoons replacing the too-much-information type of thing.

As I've mentioned in the title, I'd give this book 100 stars if I could.

This book truly is one of the BEST purchases I've EVER made.



~ Jessie

If you're someone who's always felt they had the talent to do voiceover work, and had no idea where to start, you simply can't go wrong with Harlan Hogan's excellent book. Mr. Hogan's writing style is light and humorous, which makes the book a very unintimidating way to get acquainted with the world of voice acting.

Mr. Hogan relates his path to a VO career with memoirs and humorous anecdotes (you can tell he really enjoys his work!), while providing separate "techniques" sections throughout, covering all the aspects of the voiceover profession from getting the work to doing the work to accounting for the work. Yes, even the section on bookkeeping and the IRS is fun to read, while providing critical information to prevent common mistakes.

As an added bonus, you also get clued in to the VO profession's shorthand and lore. Do you know what "wild on the last line" means? Have you ever heard of Blooper's Soap, or know why you can crack up just about any professional VO simply by saying "IN July"? You will after reading Mr. Hogan's book!

Whether you're a clueless wanna-be (like me, at this point), a newcomer or an established professional, Mr. Hogan's _VO: Tales and Techniques of a Voice-Over Actor_ is a must-read!

Will Crowder

This book is a wonderful glimpse into the personal life of the Irwin family. It shows the passion and drive of not only Steve, but of his wonderful wife, Terri. It also shows the strength he instilled in her, and her amazing ability to cope with this tragedy, for herself, and her two young children.
I feel honored to have read it, and to have been invited into this very personal and loving family.

Anyone that loved Steve Irwin will love this book. Terri did a great job writing this and I could actually feel her emotion for this man. We miss you Steve. Cricky!!!

This is truly a beautiful modern day love story about not only the love of two people with the same passion combined with the love of family and friends. But also, the love of nature and all its diversity.

I have always been fascinated with Steve Irwin and wanted to know more about his life with his family - this book delivers - and Terri writes in an incredibly easy to read fashion.

If there were EVER 2 people who were truly destined to be together, it was Steve and Terri. While reading the book it is almost as if Terri is talking to you. The love they shared for each other,for animals and ecology is truly heartfelt and genuine. It breaks my heart to think that Steve is gone but how proud he would be of Terri and their children who are caring on his work.Theirs is a true love story. Thank you for sharing it with us Terri.

Fairy tales are usually about a young man who becomes a hero by battling the most dispicable enemies and achieving his heart's desire. In the end, despite great odds, monsters are vanquished, villainy is given the heave-ho, the princess' heart is won and great treasure is acquired far from the eyes of the Internal Revenue Service (which is how you can tell this is a fairy tale).

"The Making of Star Wars" is just such a fairy tale, but it's not about the one up on the screen. This big, beefy, bouncy delight tells in 360 eye-squinting pages of type and hundreds of photos the story of how George Lucas, armed at first with nothing more than a bare bones script and a reputation for interesting, if not money-making movies, devoted more than four years of his life, bet his precarious career, and came up with a movie that not just redefined Hollywood blockbusters, but reimagined heroism and other virtues that touched a generation made cynical by the upheavals of the `60s and `70s.

How he did it -- as described in this book -- should give all writers, artists and other dreamers pause to reflect on the value of preparation, hard work, a willingness to absorb ideas from others, and going into a project knowing that you have not only no idea how it will come out, but that bad luck will doom you no matter what you do.

It's amazing that "Star Wars" was made at all, when it becomes clear in the book that the executives in charge at 20th Century Fox were more interested in busting Lucas' chops instead of making a movie. As one of Lucas friends notes: "There was a lack of respect for George. The movie industry is a very vituperative and petty industry most of the time -- and part of the negotiations was just to see how much they could push George around because they felt like they could."After getting Lucas under contract cheap, before the success of "American Graffitti," Fox proceeded to fritter away their leverage by withholding the contract for "Star Wars." To keep the project going, Lucas was forced to invest his own money, and in the end, had to threaten to stop filming to get the contract. By that time, the project was so far along that Fox was faced with either agreeing to his demands, or letting the project go to another studio. Hence, was born the most lopsided contract in history, giving Lucas say over final cut, plus control over all sequels and merchandizing.

Considering that "The Making of Star Wars" was published nearly 30 years after the movie's stunning debut, going back and putting together this history is a major accomplishment. Fortunately, J.W. Rinzler had access to interviews conducted during the production of `Star Wars," when people were in the midst of the work and uninfluenced by its future success. This fills the book with episodes and incidents of such detail that it's possible to fall into the pages and imagine yourself, back in the mid-'70s, where hair was blow-dried, collars and pants were wide, Gerald Ford and Jimmy Carter were atop the political pyramid -- reflect on that when you look at Obama/Clinton/McCain!

For the two weeks, I was in film geek heaven, boring my wife at lunchtime with details about alternative casting (Christopher Walken as Luke! Jodie Foster as Leia!), alternative storylines (Luke was a girl at one point and named Starkiller; the robots were originally bureaucrats working for the Empire; Lucas toyed with filming it all in Japanese, with subtitles), sources for names (Han Solo? From a brand of paper cups) and those small incidents that acquire greater meaning (an out-of-work James Earl Jones spending a day in a studio to record Darth Vader's lines for $7,500). And don't get me started on the models and special effects; we'd be here all week.

But the heart of the story is George Lucas, and while I've always respected the man, my heart went out to him once I understood the impossible odds he worked again. "Star Wars" was made because he willed it into being; he was the Jedi who rescued his movie.

Lucas created a fairy tale for our times, but his story had a fairy tale twist as well. After laboring for years, fighting the studio executives and impossible deadlines, Lucas got his movie out. But he thought he had failed: "When I saw the first cut, my only opinion was that I did a terrible job, but it works. It doesn't work very well, but it works. ... And then when I finally saw it with an audience for the first time, I realized that no matter how far short I fell and how far short all the departments fell from what I wanted, the film did work for an audience. ... They all laughed at the right place and they believed it."

So the hero wins after all, but not in the way you'd expect. That's the hallmark of all good stories.

Having seen all 3 original trilogy movies over a hundred times a piece, (I paid theater admission for most of those viewings, no video back then), I was and still am interested in the behind the scenes events that took place during the making of the movies.
I have read all three of the "Making Of" books about the original trilogy. This book is definitely the most thorough and indepth with the technical aspects and day to day events on set. I enjoyed the interviews with George Lucas and the other people involved in the film. On the lighter side, (Being a huge Luke/Mark Hamill fan) I really enjoyed the candid photos of Mark Hamill and the other cast members on set.
The true Star Wars fan will enjoy the unlimited access to George Lucas' earliest thoughts about the trilogy and a detailed look into his film making style. This book is a must have for all who have ever dreamed of "a galaxy far, far away....

I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the making of Star Wars. The author covers all aspects of the movie and is chock full of paintings, photos, manuscript pages, and poster art. The story unfolds chronologically and after each chapter the author lists the new elements of each draft of the screenplay as it progresses toward the final version. Lots of great trivia and insight into the epic struggle to make Star Wars.

I got this for my 14 year old son and myself. I can't get over how cool this book is !! So much behind the scenes info. I worked at a theater for the initial release of Star Wars and this book gives me information about a movie that I thought I already knew everything about.
Buy it !!!

I am not reviewing this book based on the content as I did not purchase it to read. I purchased it as a gift for my husband - a Star Wars fan from his youth.

I'm sure this book would make a great gift for the hardcore Star Wars fans (although I expect they would have already purchased it for themselves.) I would particularly like to recommend this book as a gift to more casual fans of Star Wars and fans of books on the film industry in general. My husband has read quite a few Star Wars books, but has said that this is among the most interesting of the non-fiction books he has read on the topic and he was constantly stopping me to read quotes from the book on various aspects of the production history.

It's a very heavy, very large book and makes great presentation on the coffee table - much too nice to be left sitting on a shelf. :)

The author changed a lot of what were supposed to be direct quotes and 'Briti-cised' them. I don't have examples off the top of my head, but I remember one quote being attributed to Brian that included very British phrasing. That's not a direct quote, that's paraphrased.

I don't even think I finished the book. I'd have expected the 'Official' Bio to be put together more like a lot of the UNofficial ones.

Also, a LOT of American fans are not going to understand British terms. Honestly, you're better off collecting the unauthorised bios...

I've read about 18 or so books on this group. And of all of them, if you're going to get one, get this one. It has good details of the boys' life before the group, and area which other books tend to lack in. It has pictures of them when they were kids that I haven't been able to find anywhere else. And it has info on the person who started the group, another thing I find hard to get good info on. This is definately one to buy if you're a major fan.

I think this is the best backstreet boy book ever written. I loved all of the stories. It was so much fun to read about how the backstreet boys first got together. If you have not read this book yet and you are a fan you must have it! Even if you just like to listen to their music you should read it. I think that anyone who wants to be a popstar should read this too. Well I could write 20 pages of this book. I'll leave now but before I do I'd like to thank AMAZON.COM and their customers. Because with out them I wouldn't of known about this book. THANKYOU EVERYONE!!

As a former BSB fan, whom owns the book, I still take a look at it from time to time, because it are honest and true facts of the boys their life before they became the Backstreet Boys and the beginning of it all. It has good pictures, but you can find them on almost every website and the biography must have been copied loads of times as well, so it's up to you!

Great Book!!!
It contains pics when they where baby's SOOO CUTE!!!
If your a true BSB fan you gotta have it!!!

Who wants to remember 35 years of people robbing, cheating on each other, stealing money, jumping in bed with someone else when they were already married, the search and holding on of power. These were not nice people they were all distrubed human beings who belonged in jail or the sick house.

When the series finally left the air, it was a sign of sanity.

This is now a great retrospective of a great show that is now defunct. It is one of the best types of this book (though it is not as well done as General Hospital's). It should be in every collector's bookshelf.

This book is a must-have for any fan of the much-missed soap opera Another World- hundreds of photos, detailed year-by-year recaps, and interviews with the actors all make for a great tribute to a wonderful show. If there are any complaints, it's that some of the plot synopsis have been condensed a little too much, and more information about spin-offs Texas and Somerset would have been welcome, as well as more behind the scenes information. Still, this is an incredible book that should appeal to any fan!

For the first 10 years of watching AW, I was a loyal, but hardly passionate fan. The last 5 years, leading up to the cancellation, I developed a passionate attachment. This book has made dealing with the loss of this 15 year old friend so much easier. I treasure this book in so many ways. If you are or were a fan, this really is a must have. No doubt.

Anyone who watched this soap will enjoy this book. Since this soap was taken from us on the 35th anniversary, this book has even more meaning. You will get to relive the highlights and story lines now missing from our daily lives. I get mine out about every 6 months - or whenever I need a Bay City fix. Looking through the book always manages to bring tears or laughter to me.

I watched THE NANNY and I like her performance a lot then I read this I know that show is the real her.

Fran Drescher is obviously an extremely talented woman. Sharp and witty, she was not only the star and co-creator of the '90s show The Nanny, but also served as one of its producers, writers and directors. Her book Enter Whining is a funny, gossipy tale of her ascent to the stratosphere of Hollywood stardom, but we're not talking Kitty Kelley here. Readers who already love Drescher will adore this book, as it's full of sweet, happy stories and profiles about the author's adventures as a struggling actress and her eventual success.

Drescher comes across as being very down-to-earth, still the starstruck chick from Queens who probably still has to pinch herself now and then, unable to quite believe how far she's come. She writes pretty much the way she speaks, with her occasional Yiddishisms and the trademark, "Meanwhile..." She offers an especially moving chapter about the rape she suffered early in her career, and while she refrains from providing the details, it's a harrowing read all the same. It's the only time in the book where she moves away from the lighthearted tone she adopts elsewhere, but she manages to seamlessly integrate it into her story without indulging in self-pity.

There's a lot of backstory about the making and filming of The Nanny, but readers seeking lots of behind-the-scenes anecdotes will be disappointed. This is Drescher's story -- and a good one at that -- so we'll have to wait for another book on The Nanny show itself, hopefully to be written by Drescher and Jacobson.

By the way, everyone knows that Drescher and Jacobson separated and then divorced in the late '90s, a few years after this book was published, so it does leave a somewhat bittersweet taste in one's mouth in the end. Drescher writes affectionately and lovingly about her husband, their long courtship and marriage; it's obvious they were devoted to each other and considered each other soulmates.

A great, quick read and a must for any Drescher fan.

This 1995 book tells the story of how Fran Drescher made it to the top of the TV sitcom business. Her humor and kindness come through very well in a writing style that evokes her very unique voice. Perhaps not as frank as her 2003 book about fighting uterine cancer, it still provides a lot of insight into what makes this woman tick. You feel that you would really enjoy knowing her.

This book is all about Fran Drescher's extremely interesting and unique life up to 1996.In it, she writes in a humorous vein about almost everything that happened in her life, from the highs like meeting and later marrying her husband, creating and starring in the hit tv show "The Nanny" and later meeting "God's gift to all little Jewish girls in need of a leader", Babs herself, to the lows like discovering a growth in her body.But with the help of family and friends, she didn't let the negative things get her down.We should all be strong enough to follow her example. She also provides some interesting tidbits like how "The Nanny" was produced and about talk shows and their hosts.Sure, she goes on quite a bit on her worries about her weight and her looks, but she's just human like the rest of us and a lot of people have the same worries.The book has some nice black & white photos of her, her family and her friends in almost all the chapters.I enjoyed reading the book very much even though it's short.I can't recommend this book highly enough to not just the fans of her work, but to all fans of comedy.

The book Enter Whining, by Fran Drescher, is a biography. To me this book was very entertaining, it told all about her life and how she got from being a little child to where she is at today. The book also has many pictures in it so you can see and picture what she is talking about while you are reading. The way it is written is like she was writing to herself in her own diary, but towards the end she addresses it to her mother.
How the book starts out is when she was little and how she first got started being on television. Fran started when she was around ten, she was in commercials at first then she moved up to be in the background of some movies. When she got to be in the background for the movies she always thought that she was actually in the movie so she got really excited, but it ended up that she was just in the background.She was still happy to be in the background though, intill one day when she was the actual star of the movie and that changed her whole life because then she got to star in any movie that she got a chance to. Ever since that first time starring in a movie then she moved on to being in a television show called ''The Nanny''.
Throughout the biography she writes about this guy that she has been seeing for a while now and she doesn't really mention his name at all intill she starts getting into detail about him. His name is Dave which come to find out, is her husband. Fran has been with Dave for most of her life now, she states that it is hard for her to have a husband and be moving all of the time. To me Fran has a very fun filled life and is happy with what she does for a living.

If you're into the space program and what happened during this era, then I can't think of one reason why this shouldn't be in your library. It's one of my all-time favorite books.

This book was the basis for the movie Apollo 13. America had become complacent about our space shots by this time, which is something I still do not understand. But that may be because I worked so long at the Kennedy Space Center and always knew and still understand how dangerous each and every launch is. Apollo 13 was to have been the fifth mission to the moon. But two days into the trip, on April 13, 1970, the oxygen tank exploded in the command module, placing the three astronauts in grave danger. Lovell describes those terrifying days as astronauts, contractors, and Mission Controlled struggled to bring Apollo 13 safely back to earth. If you want to read what really happened by someone who was there...this is the book for you.

As someone who has been fascinated with space flight since childhood, and who well remembers the real Apollo 13 from his teenage years, I found this book a fascinating reminder of history. However, this book is about much more than the aborted flight of Apollo 13. It includes historical flashbacks that involved astronaut James Lovell. One chapter describes Lovell's teenage years as he launched homemade rockets. Another summarizes the early years of space exploration in the wake of Sputnik 1. Still another describes the selection of Lovell as an astronaut in late 1962. There is also a chapter on the Apollo 1 fire. Some of Lovell's closest friends perished in that needless tragedy. There is a fine description of the historical flight of Apollo 8, that Christmas lunar orbit in 1968. It included a reading from the Book of Genesis.

Now on to Apollo 13. In preparations for potential in-space emergencies, no one had imagined the simultaneous loss of both main oxygen tanks and all three fuel cells. This left the Odyssey itself with only a few hours of remaining oxygen, water, and electricity. Lovell and Kluge note that mission rules forbid a lunar landing if only one fuel cell becomes inoperable, even if nothing else is wrong. But the "Can the moon landing be saved?" quickly gave way to "Can the astronaut's lives be saved?"

The initial belief was that a meteoroid must have hit the ship. This later was discounted when the blown-open side of the service module became visible shortly after being jettisoned prior to re-entry. Clearly, the explosion must have originated from within the service module itself. Later investigation pointed to a confluence of factors, none decisive in and of themselves, that had combined to precipitate the near-tragedy. To begin with, the wrong-power fuses were being used within the oxygen tanks. When overloaded, they simply melted, allowing the overload of electricity to pass through. During assembly, the oxygen tank had been dropped, damaging an exit tube. During launch-pad exercises, the liquid oxygen was drained past the damaged exit tube by applying extra heat and driving the oxygen out another way. The sensor was not designed to warn of overheating above 80 F. Meanwhile, this procedure had unknowingly raised the temperatures to impossible levels, burning the insulation off much of the wire inside the oxygen tank. The first two times the stirring fan was turned on in space, there was no problem. But the third time, a spark must have flown and ignited the damaged insulation in the pure-oxygen environment, causing the explosion. The explosion itself damaged a tube connected to the second oxygen tank, thus draining it.

The book provides good detail about the dangers and challenges associated with the abort procedure itself. The decision was made not to attempt to fire the service module engine in order to reverse the flight direction in a deep-space abort, if only because the damaged service module might be unable to take the strain of the engine's thrust. The first critical burn of the lunar module's descent engine, done some six hours after the explosion and designed to change the hybrid trajectory back into a free-return trajectory, would have caused the Apollo 13 to crash into the far side of the moon if done incorrectly. Without the burn, however, Apollo 13 would be stuck in a 40,000 by 240,000 mile elliptical orbit around Earth. Thoughts were entertained about jettisoning the useless service module and using the lunar module's descent engine to accelerate the ship considerably--returning it from the vicinity of the moon to Earth in only some 36 hours. But this was not done out of fear that exposure of the command module's heat shield to the temperature extremes of space might damage it.

Everything on the ship had to be powered down--a strategy that worked, just barely. The severe cold aboard the ship, a secondary consequence of the powering down of all nonessential equipment, is described. The astronauts had a frosty breath. Some got urinary infections. They had a hard time getting comfortable enough to sleep.

The astronauts were slowly being poisoned by their own carbon dioxide. This was solved by the jury-rigging of the lithium hydroxide "scrubbers" of the command module to get them to fit into the circulation system of the lunar module. Just before re-entry, there were the challenges of successfully reviving the systems aboard the command module, and jettisoning both the service and lunar modules in a completely unconventional manner.

This well written book is a great time line of what really happened. I also enjoy the movie and this book fills in the gaps that were not covered in the movie. Also gives detailed accounts of nearly everyone involved in this mission.

Jim Lovell's dreams of landing on the moon were literally blown away in April 1970, when an oxygen tank aboard Apollo 13's service module exploded less than a day away from lunar orbit, forcing the crew to limp home under perilous circumstances. More than two decades after surviving that mission, Lovell (with his co-author Jeffrey Kluger) has written an excellent account of that ill-fated moon flight.

LOST MOON is one of the best of the Apollo books I've read, especially one concerning a single mission. This is also one of the best books about the work of mission control, who were the key figures behind the successful return of the crew. It is as complete a description of this mission as we are ever likely to see. The attention to detail is on a very high level, and the amount of transcripted dialogue is plentiful, well presented, and from a myriad of sources. There are a number of slightly testy exchanges between Lovell's crew and mission control, highlighting the tension of the situation in an honest and unapologetic manner. The examination of exactly how the accident happened, as told in the epilogue, is covered exceptionally well.

An aspect of the book that bothered me was the decision to use a third-person narrative throughout (which is defended unconvincingly in the author's notes). I had never before read any autobiographical account in which the central figure is treated in the third person. Basically, I was looking forward to reading Lovell's descriptions of events using his own voice and experience, and that didn't quite happen. To read Lovell -- one of the most engaging personalities of all the early astronauts -- diminished by such an impersonal, veiled perspective was disappointing. It adds nothing to the writing, and ultimately I felt it was a disservice to the book, though a minor one. If the authors had their doubts about mixing third-person and first-person perspectives successfully, they could have taken some cues from Apollo 11 astronaut Michael Collins, who wrote two books in that style and who is regarded as perhaps the best writer among the former astronauts.

Despite its compromises in narrative style, LOST MOON (or APOLLO 13, depending on the format) is an outstanding biographical account of the failed 1970 moon flight. It is potentially a five-star book if the writing had been appropriately personal when it counted the most.

I picked this book up in a used book store. Although I am not a huge fan of his music I picked the book thinking it may be interesting. I was actually surprised to find out how good this book was to read. DMX discloses so much of his personal life in this book. He is very candid and does an excellent job telling his life story from his passion for pitbulls to his problems with drugs.

There aren't many people who possess the energy and resilience that DMX has. He connects with his audience in ways beyond belief. I met him at a recent performance, was on stage with him the whole time, and was literally blown away. He is one of the greatest performers in the industry today and should be recognized as such. I appreciate his honesty in his book and in his life. What a great man!!

I just grabbed this book out of curiosity. I knew of DMX and his music but no fan. Wow, was I impressed. To be completely honest, I figured it wouldn't be so good because frankly, how good of a story can a ghetto playa bring to the table?
Well, a very good one in fact. My favorite part of it was that he didn't restrain himself from sounding intimate. He would describe how he was living with nothing and then he had bought a little bouncy ball and that was the shiznit! lol I love that. He appreciated the small things. He still had a heart and needed love no matter how roughed up he was. I got mad respect for him and I feel his story was genuine. DMX did not try to make the projects seem cool or anything. I had a picture the entire time reading it. Dark, gloomy, dirty streets and bad vibes. I recommend this book. Seriously, just read it with an open mind. WOW.

Never could have imagined what a rough life DMX had. He has truly defied all odds!

This book offers nothing positive at all. DMX lived a negative life and he speaks negative rap. He robbed people (mostly women) as a youngster. He robbed other kids by using his dog. He stole cars. He stole for the thrill and because he wanted nice things without working for them. And he didn't care who he stole from. He stole a chain from his friend (TQ). He would offer his home made tapes for sell to people, take their money and not give them anything. He promotes violence. He spent most of his life victimizing people in and out of jail. At one point in the later chapters and in one of his raps, he implies raping men in jail. He summarizes quickly what his jail time was like, he avoids going into alot of detail about those years. He's showing you the slice of his life that he wants to show.

He spends too much time on the earliest years of his life which are uninteresting. He doesn't really cover the parts of his life that most people are interested in. He doesn't talk much about the actual business of music. He doesn't talk about how his life changed with the music business success. He doesn't talk about how he grew as a person or what he learned from his incarcerations. Did he spend his time in jail doing anything positive? Or was his jail time just fighting people and rapping about it?

I do appreciate his talent, but not his messages. There were alot of DMX songs that I used to listen to. After reading this book, I see him more vividly now. I see him as a horrible person who I would want nothing to do with. He isn't a person that should be celebrated, he should be ashamed for the life he has led.

You shouldn't buy this book. You shouldn't even borrow it. It's a waste of time to read, there are much better, more positive things that you could be doing with your life.