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As a screenwriter and a professional editor and writing coach, I highly recommend this book. It has already helped me personally in a quick turnaround re-write I needed to do. The book provides clear guidance while not prescribing formulaic cliches. The examples are excellent and the information invaluable. Chiltlik strikes a balanced tone of the work required in rewriting and the humor required in getting oneself to do the work. A true gem of a book.

It took Thomas Edison over one hundred tries to perfect the light bulb. Perfection - It's very unlikely for one to have perfection on their first try, and screen writing is no different. "Rewrite: A Step-by-Step Guide to Strengthen Structure, Characters, and Drama in Your Screenplay" is a manual for screenwriters that already have their screenplay written - but want to do everything they can to make it flat out the very best it can be. Seeking to improve your writing by improving the little aspects, as the little details can be invaluable in selling a story. "Writing is Rewriting". "Rewrite: A Step-by-Step Guide to Strengthen Structure, Characters, and Drama in Your Screenplay" is highly recommended for any screenwriter who wants to hammer out all of the kinks in their screenplay for community library collections catering to writers.

Rewrite has more dog-ears and post-it notes and highlighter markings in pink and yellow and green than any book I own. After writing 110 pages of screenplay this is the toolkit to bring out and make everything work.

Wheras most writing books have a conceptual approach to disseminate, Paul's approach is hands-on tactical. Get into those pages and make them work.
Valuable tools like the 7-step outline help me test ideas to see if they even have legs to make it to the end. And applying this same 7-step concept to the B-story and C-story. Great!

Alone the definition of B and C-story is worth the price of admission. B-story is the relationship that must be created or mended, and C-story is the character's arc. After much focus on getting the A-story...the plot down, rewriting for me, is getting the B and C-story in focus and putting some heart into the script. Love it!

Rewrite: A Step-by-Step Guide to Strengthen Structure, Characters, and Drama in your Screenplay


REWRITE is an essential for every screenwriter!!!! REWRITE is not only a book, it is a screenwriting course. It's not even just a screenwriting course, it is your own private tutorial. Paul Chitlik states and explains each step in the screenwriting process in a well defined and understandable manner. He then literally waits for the writer to complete the task at hand, before moving on to the next step! You feel like he is in the room with you, guiding you and patiently waiting while you use his tools. And, boy, is he patient! Using his tools might take a minute, an hour, a few hours or even a day. But he is right there, when you return!


Paul Chitlik's book is not solely for rewrites. This book should be used before you even begin to write your first draft. REWRITE is a user-friendly and well-organized "workbook" pared down to the essentials.


This is one of the most accessible books on screenwriting that I have ever read. Paul Chitlik uses words that are simple and clear; he follows up each screenwriting step with perfect examples; he then explains how to deal with the issue at hand. Sometimes dealing with an issue means taking a break from your writing, and he even tells you how to do that!

The examples he uses address the most difficult of scenarios. What if your protagonist dies in the end? THELMA AND LOUISE takes care of that. You will refer to REWRITE for examples and solutions to basically all of your needs. He's covered it all.

Paul Chitlik makes sure that every step in the screenwriting process is covered. The unique trait of his book is that it is relevant whether you are writing your first script, rewriting your first script, writing your 7th script, or rewriting your 10th script. You will keep this in your library forever. You will refer to it each step of the way, on any and every draft you will ever write.

REWRITE is compact. If you have a quick question, you don't have to wade through pages and pages of rambling prose. You can go straight to the page you need, review the element on which you need to work, and follow as his guide explains how to take the first step in solving your issue. He doesn't stop there. Once you take your first step, Paul Chitlik makes sure you continue working until the problem is solved!

REWRITE, using the 7 points of screenwriting, is written like a perfect screenplay. Everything Paul Chitlik tells you to do in your script, he has done in his book. He has focused on only the essentials in a structure that flows. He has made the reader the character in his book. He even addresses us as "you"! And he has cut out all excess.

This book is personal, accessible and a valuable asset to every screenwriter - be it a novice or a highly paid professional. IT IS A MUST!!!!!!!!!!!!

At the paltry price of a paperback, Paul Chitlik's REWRITE guides you, step-by-step, to revise your screenplay with the attention of an experienced script doctor. The book's tone is amiably authoritative -- the author has many years' experience teaching MFA workshops in screenwriting. Here are samples of the "To Do" items, chapter-by-chapter.

1. Clarifying Story and Structure for Impact. "To Do: Briefly outline your story in terms of seven points" (p 11): Ordinary Life; Inciting Incident; End of Act One; Midpoint or Turning Point; The Low Point; The Final Challenge; The Return to (the Now-Changed-Forever) Normal Life. Next "To Do" is to write a beatsheet or list of the scenes in your screenplay. The appendix presents an excellent example of a 67-item beatsheet with subheadings corresponding to the seven points.

2. The Powerful Protagonist. "Write your premise now. Do not tell the story, only the idea of the truth you want to prove." Does your protagonist help prove your premise? If not, adjust his profile. Ten more "To Do" items include the protagonist's apparent goal, what the goal changes to at the midpoint, and the personality flaw.

3. The Worthy Antagonist. "Write one line saying what your antagonist wants" (p 43).

4. Ensuring Dynamic Scenes. "Go through your beatsheet and examine each scene for conflict. Write what, exactly, is the conflict of each scene under your description of the scene. If there is no conflict, there is no scene. Sometimes you'll need to group several beats to make a whole scene, so not every beat will have conflict" (p 47).

5. Making Descriptions Leap Off the Page. "Go through the descriptive paragraphs in your screenplay and see if you can take out all the adverbs and as many adjectives and nouns as possible. Shorten your sentences. Shorten your paragraphs" (p 61). "To Do. Find a scene that is heavy in dialogue and try to express it completely in action and description" (p 62).

6. Life Support for Your Protagonist. "Go through your story an identify the supporting characters who are most important. Beef up their screen presence by giving them a quirk of some sort. Make them stand out. Have the quirk relate to their personality or function regarding your protagonist or your antagonist" (p 67).

7. Paring It Down. "Choose a ten-page excerpt from your script that you think is pretty tight already. Now cut a page from it. Use any tricks you can think of, but get it down to nine pages" (p 72). Chitlik presents an example from his own screenwriting: an 11-page excerpt pared down to 9 pages.

8. Where Am I? The "To Do" item asks you to complete the suggested Script Status Report on your rewrite.

9. The Right Look. The "To Do" items include standard formatting, correcting grammatical errors, and culling out camera directions.

10. Finishing: The "To Do" item is to go back and rewrite. How many rewrites? "A professional writer might revise a script 30 times.... In fact, a script isn't done until the final cut is made, an it goes into wide release. Even then some writers would like to do more" (p 111).

An eminent script doctor in paperback, Chitlik's REWRITE merits five shining stars.

-- C J Singh

This book is full of great information on how to make it in the industry. It is by no means extensive on any one subject, but it gives you a wonderfully helpful overview of what steps you need to take to make it in Hollywood. If anyone asked me what they needed to know about the business, I would tell them they needed to read this book. This is one of the aspiring actors most helpful tools. This and "The Camera Smart Actor" are the two most useful books I've read so far about acting (this being all you need to know about the industry, the "Camera Smart Actor" being all you need to know about a set and the technical aspect of shooting). Acting technique is one thing, but knowing the practical stuff is a horse of a different color, and equally valuable if you hope to become a working actor. I am planning to move to LA next year and I feel like this book has given me an invaluable inside scoop. Not only does Rif Haffar lay it all out for you in a step by step process, but the plan he bases it all on his own experience of trying to make it as an actor.

Anyone who thinks they can go to Hollywood and based on looks or talent alone start making big bucks will have their illusions shattered. Haffar shows that with perseverance after a year he was a SAG member and making enough to live on - but barely (a little under 10,000 - and much of that went to SAG membership, an agent, and headshots). He also shatters the image that many have of Hollywood being a glamorous, mean place. He illustrates that most people in the business are down to earth and how much of a team effort this work is. Overall this is a fabulous book, written simply and with a sense of humor. I would recommend it to anyone!

Roadmap To Stardom: How To Break Into Acting In Hollywood by Rif K. Haffer is an informative introduction to the professional world of Hollywood filmmaking and how to secure work as an actor. Deftly compiling a comprehensive and "user-friendly" body of practical advice and "insider information" on becoming an actor for any project from small independent productions to big budget studio projects, Roadmap To Stardom offers aspiring actors sound and essential information on such aspects of the industry as TV, film, features, shorts, commercials, industrial films, union, and non-union productions following. Based upon the authors personal experience and seasoned expertise, Roadmap To Stardom is very highly recommended reading for anyone aspiring to a career as a screen actor and searching for practical and "user friendly" guide to getting started in their chosen career.

If you want to arm yourself before plunging into the works here in Los Angeles, you should read this book. No, actually you must. The author details the Hollywood system and gives a touching account of his experience getting gigs in commercials, TV, and film. I had the pleasure of reading the writer's first book and went to this one to see how his humor could entertain me more. It delivers. My friends trying to make it in the business are getting a literary stocking stuffer.

Rif Haffar dives into the acting world with gusto and reveal secrets that every Hollywood hopeful should know. His humorous and unpretentious writing style makes the reader feel at ease as he takes you on a tour of the strange land of auditions, managers, unions and 'La-La-Land' in general. He not only succeeds in his acting goals, but he proves that as a writer, he's a star!

This book is a must for anyone looking to "make it" in the Hollywood industry as a performer.It gives a very thorough inside look at what goes on behind the scenes and helpful information for what is needed when starting out. The fact that the author is writing this as he is trying to start out himself allows you to feel as if you are experiencing it along side him. "Roadmap to Stardom" helps to give a real perspective on what can be expected and I highly recommend it for anyone that is serious about coming to Hollywood.

With web sites such as imdb and allmovies, a book of movie credits may not be necessary anymore.

It should be in libraries, though.

Still, the best of its kind!

Screen World 57 is a valuable collectors item for the movie buff to the film afficiaado. It contains reviews of every major film released in the U. S. and abroad. I have purchased this book every year since 1972. I wonder what this collection could be worth?

In one printing or another, this latest edition bring my collection
up to date.

If movies are your thing (and they are mine) this is the book to get to remind you of the past year in movies. We are talking indies, foreign, b movies and of course Academy Award winners. Volume 57 already? Can't wait for #58!

The 2006 edition of the Screen World Film Annual is a wonderful treat for anyone crazy about movies. The book is beautifully laid out with statistics and over 1,000 photos of movies released in 2005. Screen World includes domestic and foreign film releases, promising new actors, biographical data and obituaries. This is the 57th volume and I am proud to say I have every edition. I highly recommend Screen World, it's the best film annual there is!

This is an excellent walkthrough of Skype all the way from getting started to using special phones and other VoIP appliances. I'm impressed by the depth of the coverage, and the quality of the writing. This is easily the best book I've seen on Skype.

"Skype Me" is an excellent book for both beginners and advanced users of this free Voice over IP (VoIP) application. With easy instructions for downloading, installing, and using on any system, Skype is remarkably effective, but simple. It allows you to talk by voice in computer-to-computer conversations, conferencing, and even video capabilities with the necessary security features to protect your conversations.
This "family and friends" phone plan could put the phone companies out of business - except to bring us the DSL line. I've seen my wife use Skype to conference with her local partner and their Australian customer.
While basics are great, there's plenty here for the more advanced users including using Skype with other hardware and software (eg, wireless devices like cell phones). The authors also walk you through the security aspects of Skype - absolutely necessary these days.
Overall, a great book to own and keep handy as a reference for expanding your cyber knowledge.

Skype is a simple to implement Voice Over IP (VOIP) solution for the average computer user. If you are tired of long-distance charges, want to be able to tell when someone is online and you can call them, chat in a secure, encrypted environment, engage in video chatting with others, or call someone who has a regular phone system at substantially reduced rates then Skype may be the product you need. This book covers installation, configuration, and basic usage as well as configuring advanced features and personalizing your Skype. While this is useful, I found the software to be so user friendly that it was easy to figure out most of this by just exploring the basic options of the system. That being said Chapters seven and eight were well worth the price of the book by themselves. These chapters cover software and hardware add-ons that can greatly enhance your Skype system and make it work the way you would like it to. The final two sections of the book cover setting up Skype in a business environment and writing custom interfaces to it by accessing the Skype API. This section includes important information on how to set up Skype behind a firewall. Skype Me is a highly recommended purchase and a great way to access the VOIP world for anyone with a computer and good Internet access speed.

Skype Me! is a book that everyone needs to have. It's less technical than Skype Hacks, which makes it more accessible to non-techies. Gough starts off with basic lessons about VoIP, Peer-to-peer technology (as it's used in VoIP), even Skype security. These basics will help anyone who is looking at setting up Skype in their home.

Installation is covered in Chapter 2. Gough gives detailed instructions on testing individual computers setups to make sure that Skype will work properly, and shows how to install Skype on Windows, Pocket PC, Mac OS X, and Linux. Then, in chapter 3, he covers the basics of using Skype.

Gough spends a lot of time on using Skype from Pocket PCs, even Pocket PC cell phones and smart phones. This is something I'd never thought about, honestly - my cell phone bill is pretty small, and we've got a good family plan. I can see where people who use a lot of cell phone minutes each month could save some money.

Skype Me! also goes into detail when it comes to implementing Skype in a business setting. This is one area where I think that Skype is being under-utilized. There's a perception that Skype is for home users, but isn't powerful enough for enterprise use, but it's clear that Skype is a lot more powerful than people think. There's a lot of potential for business use - especially when you look at the call center hack that I mentioned in the review of Skype Hacks.

One disappointment I had with Skype Hacks was that it didn't really talk much about the Skype API. Skype Me! does this in chapter 14, and goes into enough detail that people with a computer background will be able to take advantage of the API in customizing their own installation of Skype. Skype Me! also goes into more detail in discussing the various Skype-enabled devices that are available, or will soon become available. Gough includes mini-reviews of a lot of popular Skype hardware add-ons that will make your Skype experience much more pleasant - and productive.

For new users, Skype Me! is a valuable addition to their library. The fact that Michael Gough is the guy who runs SkypeTips.com and is constantly adding material at that site is just another reason to get this book.

Skype Me! is the perfect introduction to Skype for users of all skill levels. It could serve as an example of how to write a product-centric book that delivers real value. The text is well written, clear, and focused. The material becomes progressively complex as the reader moves from learning about Skype, to installing it, to using it, to extending it into areas I hadn't previously considered. Anyone who wants to get the most out of Skype should read Skype Me!

I believe Skype is an incredibly intuitive and simple piece of software. I didn't spend much time with the first four chapters of the book, since I think the ease of installing and using Skype is one of its main attractions. Beginning with Ch 5, however, author Michael Gough started expanding my sense of what could be done by Skype. With advanced features in Ch 6, software add-ons in Ch 7, and hardware accessories in Ch 8, I was entering new territory. The material was well-covered.

I have no real concerns with Skype Me! I have a minor issue with the author's suggestion on p 270 that using a 900 MHz cordless phone is a sign they need to be "upgraded". A 900 MHz cordless phone is a great way to avoid interference in the 2.4 GHz range used by modern wireless networks and newer cordless phones. I would have also liked some expert commentary by a security professional regarding controlling Skype in the enterprise.

Overall I highly recommend Skype Me! I would feel comfortable sharing this book with my parents as a way to encourage them to try Skype. I would also share it with friends who want to tinker at the edges of traditional Skype usage.

keen insight and well written. going to go back to movies thinking a little differently going forward.

What books were to previous generations, movies are to the present one; their ability to teach and shape our view of reality is unparalled by any other medium. Christians can't afford to be ignorant of the content and power here, and "Through a Screen Darkly" provides an excellent guide.

Jeffrey Overstreet expertly guides readers on a cinematic journey, thoughtfully raising questions and broaching issues to help Christians and non-Christians alike challenge their traditional views on art, faith, culture and cinema.

Overstreet demonstrates remarkable skill in providing a comprehensive and thoughtful reflection on a wide variety of films. He discusses them in fresh ways, displaying cultural relevance in his interpretation while also dramatically illustrating the spiritual principles and biblical truths that surface in the themes of each film.

Overstreet's masterful work will offer you a fresh look at beauty, truth, evil and redemption in the movies. A must-have for any film lover!

If you love the movies, you'll enjoy this lively and informative tour of more than 200 films--reviewer Jeffrey Overstreet's favorites, plus some of those he cites as the most culturally significant. Speaking to a generation raised by looking at screens, Overstreet helps the reader identify the core values and key ideas reflected in contemporary cinema.

He does so as a Christian writer. Scarcely a few decades ago, the phrase "Christian movie reviewer" might have seemed an oxymoron: entire denominations and churches shunned the theatre, believing it to be evil per se. Overstreet is a much-needed voice that helps postmodern Christians and others be fully engaged with their culture, yet move beyond its limitations to produce high-quality films. Emerging young film producers such as Dallas Jenkins, Aaron Beckum and Blake Nelson point the way toward a future in which Christian moviemakers may populate the screen with excellent, must-see fare.

The dialogue between Christianity and a secular culture draws and holds Overstreet's attention. He discovers and explores Divine images and themes in the films of Martin Scorsese, Krzysztof Kieslowski and others, finding values in these films that may not reflect the conscious decisions of the filmmakers. Overstreet is at his best as he highlights the moral conflicts and ethical choices that movies exemplify--which serve as perfect launching points for group discussions and coffee-shop conversations.

Jeffrey Overstreet draws on more than a decade of reviewing films: his work has been noted in TIME magazine and is often featured in Christianity Today. Reading through this carefully-researched and extremely well-written book is like taking a college-level course in film studies--from a Christian perspective.

Armchair Interviews says: You'll enjoy the experience of this book's message.

As a filmmaker and a Christian I am always striving to find an articulate voice able to handle the spiritual as well as the cinematic. With Jeffery Overstreet's Through a Screen Darkly I have found a strong one. The book traces Overstreet's own experience with cinema as an artist, a Christian and a human being. The book serves to open readers' eyes not only to their own experiences, but to the larger questions of artistic as well as moral excellence. Highly recommended.

This is a 100% recommended novel! Especially if the movie is not available in your area, this is to die for!

I devoured this in under two hours! Not only do you get a wonderful read, and stunning photographs...you get a terrific interview with Mr. Haynes. Real insight into the world of glam! If you loved this film half as much as I did, you must have this. It is fantastic!

I read the screenplay in one sitting, it's just as engrossing as the movie! What I really loved was seeing some of the parts that were edited in the movie version and seeing some of the written words. The screenplay also helped to answer some questions and made things more clear; everytime I watch the movie or read the screenplay I see something new - it's amazing. The screenplay also includes quite a few black and white stills as well as a few color stills.

The interview with Todd that is included in this book provides tremendous insight into the creative process that took place when he was writing this film. I loved the movie before I read this......now I'm awestruck.

The screenplay leaves you almost more empty and desperate than the movie.

I love it.

This screenplay illuminates many details in the movie that are sometimes missed by the bright glittering images. It is busy, no doubt. In reading the screenplay, it is much easier to slow down and read through pieces overlooked in the movie, no matter how many times you watch it. Somehow reading it, not just hearing it, will completely shatter your heart. This was definitely done beautifully. Vision can be distracting when played against such poetry. Watch The Velvet Goldmine, read this screenplay, and watch the movie again. You will be completely sucked in, and transformed for that period of time. The movie was fun; the screenplay will break your heart.

I highly, definitely, suggest this piece of art to you.

This is a great reference movie/DVD book for all those far out films of the Psychedelic Era. From GET SMART to AUSTIN POWERS. A little flare for the 50's and 60's, CASINO ROYALE, Peter Sellers, VALLEY OF THE DOLLS and BEYOND...If you collect films from the likes of BREAKFAST AT TIFFANY'S or IN LIKE FLINT, you'll need this reference book to see what you're missing.

Fantastic! Haven't been able to put it down.

I keep this book near. Its a great read front to back, or to just randomly flip through. Lots of insight into the wonderfully weird world of film. A must for all cinephiles.

I was attracted to this book after recognizing the author from his movie reviews on the radio. It is the perfect beach companion. I was amazed at the movies Mr. Slifkin included, many obvious selections with new insight. Others were obsure titles that I had all but forgotten seeing. Perhaps best are the movies that I have never seen, but feel compelled to do so after reading this book. Any fan of this era will love this book. In addition it introduces the unique charm of these groovy pics to a whole new audience who weren't even around the first time they hit the screen.

This book is so Groovy! If you lived through the Psychedelic era or would have loved to, this is THE GUIDE to those movies that were the center of it all. From Bond to Shaft to 2001, from Fearless Vamipre Killers to Top Secret it has it all. This book not only has those movies from the 60's and 70's but those that spoofed that Far-out time. 5 Stars

I've used this GREAT book before my last trip to the USA. It's amazing the difference it made to my english. I had several business meetings with Americans and I understood everything, I mean everything they said. That didn't happen to me before using "Waddaya say?". I also learned to use reduced forms to improve my speed. But the most important thing is the almost magical change in my understanding. A suggestion is to follow carefully the instructions, then listen each conversation an repeat it many times. The book is also great source of expressions and uses, not just reduced forms. A must have ! Thank you Nina !!!!!

My students told me that they can finally understand spoken English. This is the best listening book for that. One student said, "It's like magic. I couldn't understand people speaking English last year, and now I can."

This is an excellent book - tape for those who want to learn how to understand American/Canadian "everyday" language.
It is very clear in the way pronunciation is explained and the practice material is fun!

It is a good book for those who never learned how to say "what do you want to do?" in a natural way. This book shows you 20 and only 20 most common short forms. The content is well organized. But it is pricey for a book that has only 68 papges. For the most part, you may do a search and find them somewhere in the internet. But then again it is a good deal for those who do not care about the price.

I've used the First Edition of Whaddaya Say for almost twenty years. Nothing I've used to teach students to understand spoken English has ever been better. I was very pleasantly surprised to use the Second Edition, which was published in 2001, and find that all of the lessons that made listening comprehension easier for my students were included along with an additional ten lessons. The fun conversations are even better, and the tapes are really great. I didn't know tests could be useful as well as funny, but there's a wonderful test at the end of the book that was a lot of fun. I want my students to know how English is really pronounced (*wanna for "want to", *hafta for "have to", *gonna for "going to + verb", etc.). When they don't know the real pronunciations, they have a really hard time understanding spoken English.

I'm amazed by one thing in particular -- although the Second Edition of Whaddaya Say has 30% more pages and there are three cassettes now instead of two, the price hasn't gone up. I don't know why the price hasn't increased, but it seems like a great bargain to get a beautifully updated bestselling listening book for the same price as the prior version!

I don't see how anyone can really learn listening comprehension without this book.

I used this book for a recent Special Needs training I facilitated at South Carolina University in Sumter, SC. The Preschool teachers loved it because it got over and sealed the point I was trying to make. "Don't change the child, change the environment in which the child is in." It gave them a more open mind of how to adapt their classrooms for the children in which they serve.

We have had this book for years and I just purchased it for my daughter's Kindergarten classroom, it is such a fun book, I love the illustrations and it is one that I can read again and again and still enjoy it.

The book was received in good condition and in a timely manner. I would recommend this site to others.

We simply adore Winnie the Witch at our house... by we I mean me (38), my husband (44), and our 2 and a half year old daughter. The humor appeals to every age, as do the fantastic illustrations. I recently ordered the three story collection and was not disappointed. Take a chance on Winnie.

This is, I think very much more for a child from 2-4 than anything else. The language is simple as are the concepts. It is very good humoured and beautifully illustrated. This is a book my 2 and 4 year old love to look at.

There are quite complicated illustrations of Winnies house which is a large castle - it is all in black. The problem is that Winnie's cat is also black, she can see the cat when its eyes are open, but when they are closed she keeps tripping over it - so she changes the colour of the cat.

It is a simple story, just a couple of plot elements, a little bit of problem solving and a happy ending (as you would expect) It is a nice book for discussing how to solve problems with children - (for instance what would you do if you kept tripping over the cat? what colour would you like best here? and so on) Its a nice book for opening up dialogue, and also for leading into art and creativity.

It is also a nice book just to read - and it is a favourite with my two at bed time right now. I think the cat is the most appealing thing in it, which is well drawn and a bit leggy, the illustrations remind a lot of Ronald Searle/Quentin Blake style.

I see there are more books in this series and I am keen to get hold of them for the girls before they grow out of them

I picked up this book at my local Borders. I was there on a whim, browsing the art section, when I saw this gem. After noting the VERY attractive price, I decided on the spot it had to come home with me, as I'm a fan of Giger's work.

As I perused this volume, I fell in love with more than just the art (admittedly, Giger is just not to everyone's taste...if you're not a Giger fan, then this book and this review will do nothing for you, and it's not an attempt to convince you to otherwise). Designed and penned by Giger, it contains prints of finished art and sketches, photographs, selected images from Giger's personal collection of art (that is, art by other people that he collects)--which I think is VERY insightful; it's interesting to see what kind of art an artist appreciates.

As an artist, myself, I revel in the collections of sketches... Sketches can be a chronicle of how a finished work comes to be, and it's interesting to get a glimpse of how other artists--especially masters, such as Giger--work through their ideas and arrive at a final product. Sometimes sketches are just a fleeting idea that gets caught on a page. These are just as fascinating, because they are an insight into how an artist captures a thought and translates it into something visual. Excellent stuff!

Another detail I want to elaborate on are the "3D" versions of a few of Giger's paintings. I hesitate to say "Magic Eye", because those are often horribly muddy, chaotic and nonsensical when viewed normally, and the Giger images in this section are not at all like that. These images are crisply defined and look "normal" at a glance, but nevertheless have that 3D "popping" effect when you view them correctly. Of course, they're accompanied by commentary from Giger. It's an unexpected and delightful treasure to find tucked away in these pages.

Overall, if you're a fan of Giger's work, this is a very worthy addition to your collection. I've poked around, and there are other versions of this title available, some of which are very limited (and expensive) editions. If you haven't the luxury of purchasing one of those, this "no frills" edition is still very solid, and will be a pleasure to thumb through again and again.

While browsing sale books I found an amusing little item. With a title like WWW HR GIGER COM I was intrigued.

This book was designed by H.R. Giger and contains commentary from the artist about his various interests and his art. Among the pages of art and commentary is a section devoted to the Giger Bar in Tokyo. Giger designed all of the furnishing from the front door all the way to the lavatories. Now, I don't know about you but the idea of being in a building designed by H.R. Giger while getting drunk sounds like a hair raising experience.

This book, having been designed by the artist, is a bit different than others portraying Giger's work. If anything, this one is superior in the detail it provides. I recommend this book to Giger collectors and if you can't find a copy just log on to www.HRGiger.com like the title suggests.

Mr. Giger, I have experienced your biomechanical drawings and such from your book. The theme "Tracing Thoughts" came to me from your drawing of No. 625 Pump Excursion, when suicide was an option. Then I gotten control of myself by expressing my thoughts, feelings, and for free lance of my own personal amusement. It inspired me (No.625) to pick up biomechanics and hopefully get the chance to meet you in person. Because of the biography on you, your intellect seems avanced to were I would enjoy an intelligent complex trade in art expressionism. Well life is short and so shall this review. Continue the well deserved talent and rake in the DOUGH .Signed, fellow artist Eric Everett.

I own the first print of www.HRGiger.com book & I wasnt sure if I needed buy this updated edition but after scanning thru the entire book I realized the answer was Yes! Lots of cool new stuff has been added & the book is laid out better & even more informative not to mention the amazingly cheap price of this book. I own every book Giger has ever put out including the hard to find stuff from the 70's I've been collecting his stuff since the mid 80's. If you're new to HR Giger there is no book better than this one as a starting point into his creative genius. Buy Now!

This book have the personal design of Giger, and the quality of Taschen Books. The book includes very rare pieces like the first giger`s drawings and oleos, and explores every side of his work. The stereograms include Li II, and The cascade, in 3D.