Characters Books

THIS BOOK IS GREAT, REALLY GOOD AND FUN TO READ IF YOU ARE AN X-FILES OR GILLIAN ANDERSON FAN. I HIGHLY RECOMAND THIS BOOK

Straight from the cutesy title that X-Philes know and love as one of Scully's trademark phrases, Mulder, it's Me really hits the spot. Gil Adamson and Dawn Connolly's biography about the amazing Gillian Anderson is extremely informative without being invasive of Ms. Anderson's privacy. The well-written fourteen-chapter biography is only the beginning of this stunning masterpiece - the book also includes candid interviews, a comprehensive episode guide of the first four seasons of The X-Files, a section on the 1996 Burbank convention by the renowned Autumn Tysko, a listing of internet resources, and 16 pages of color photos. Whether you are a newbie or a veteran fan, Mulder, it's Me: The Gillian Anderson Files is the must-have biography.

This is the best Gillian Anderson biography on shelves today. But this isn't just a biography, this book also includes television and radio interviews with answers to some of the most frequently asked questions. You get to find out what people did when Gillian Anderson appeared at the X-Files convention and what questions her fans asked. It also includes the speech she made in Washington D.C. for public awareness about Neurofibromatosis, the disease her younger brother has been diagnosed with. This book also includes great Gillian Anderson Internet sources and an X-File episode guide with all the shows from season one to the end of season four. But best of all, this book includes a great section of full page color photographs of Gillian. If you are a Gillian Anderson fan, you have to get this book!

This book is great for people who want t get all the facts and want awesome color Photos .I think Gillian is agreat person and Actress and this book helps you realize that.AS well as info there is a great X-files episode guide section.Many thanks to the athur and gillian for being the great actress she is.

This book has, well, everything you wanted to know about Gillian Anderson (Agent Dana Scully on the X-Files) and more! The colour photo's are excellent, as well as the black and white ones. Each chapter has a unique title, and very good detail into herself, her daughter, and her work. A must have for any Gillian Anderson fan.

What can I say? Max Lucado is a gifted writer who takes spiritual concepts and puts them into understandable and easy-to-grasp stories illustrations.

Max Lucado is a premier story teller. The message that Christ knows how we humans feel and that he is close enough to call on whenever we need him is uplifting and comforting.

i haven't read max lucado books in awhile and I have read quite some of them. I have to say that this is one of his best written. The chapters are short but they are meaningful, each one of them that applies to different people.

This a great book. I love the way Max writes. It's very unique and refreshing. He really brings the stories to life.

This is my first Max Lucado book and I loved it! It took me a while to read it because I don't read that often but something made me keep coming back to try and finish it. He made everything so simple and easy to understand. The real life examples were great! I would recommend it to anyone!

It arrived very soon and was in perfect condition and was just what I wanted

We are big Doctor Seuss fans and are attempting to get the entire collection for our daughter. Like the book, just too similar to Fox in Socks. Nothing but tongue twisters and no real story.
Great to have if your trying to collect all Dr Seuss books. If completing the collection is not important to you, I would only chose this if you don't already have Fox in Socks

Great book for my 1st grader, he loves the rhyming words throughout.

This book captures literary genius in the form of childish tongue twisters. It proves to be an excellent practice of diction and reading rhythm while providing extreme entertainment for the little listener. The love of words is the beginning of all great literary accomplishment, and this child's book is a step in the right direction.

This book was one of my husbands favorites when he was growing up, and now that we are expecting a child he wanted our son to have the same experience. He was so excited when it arrived that he read it to me as a bedtime story. The riddles start out easy, but by the end of the book your tongue is so twisted it's hard to say anything!! It's a lot of fun and we really look forward to hearing our son try to say these riddles when he learns to speak.

The entire redemption series is amazing. It touches a woman's heart and soul. I cried and rejoiced along with the Baxter family. I recommend this to all Christian fiction readers.

I really enjoyed Karen Kingsbury. I happened upon her by mistake. I first read the Firstborn series which I found out later was the next series after the Redemption series. I was so intrigued by the "Baxters" that I had to find the "beginning". Karen has a way to make you cry, laugh, and cheer for everyone. She has brought me peace in my life and I thank God for her ability to write with such emotion. I will cry the day her series with the Baxters comes to and end. I feel that they are a part of my family. Thank you Karen and keep up the good work.

I'm 50 years old and have never been interested in reading fiction until I was introduced to Karen Kingsbury's books. I just finished the Redemption series and am looking forward to starting the "F" series!
Katie
Tennessee

I had to reorder this for I thought it was on CD, but it was on tape which I couldn't listen to. I ended up buying it on CD so that I could listen to it. I enjoyed the CD for it was in a series about the Baxter's and their family. In this one a granddaughter almost drowns but is saved by the grace of God. There are family problems but they are worked through and weddings take place which could ony happen because of God.

I cannot begin to tell you how it has enriched my life by reading these books in series order. I have had some of the ups and downs mentioned in normal lives of her characters and not only read them for entertainment. I find myself praying over scripture references about situations close to my own realm of life. She will touch and gladden you heart but remember start at the beginning and know the Baxter family!

This is one of the three Edwards works every Christian should read, along with Sinners in the Hands of an Angry God and The Prevailing Notion of the Freedom of the Will... (the original title was a mile long!). Sinners is the shortest read, then this, then Freedom. This will help you understand the Great Awakening from Edwards perspective, while kindling in you a passion to know God more intimately.

I went to a Sarah Vowell talk. She talked about American History. She had a fascination with Puritans. She disparaged "Sinners in the hand of an Angry God" and Edwards. I wanted to ask her if she will read any other book by Edwards. If so, she would realise that his portrait of the beauty of God and of Holiness is far more powerful than his view of Hell. He is one of the greatest thinkers that the North American continent has ever produced and Vowell was judging him on one short sermon.

Don't get me wrong. This book is dry in spots. The language is a little convoluted. He is so systematic and precise, I wanted to skip ahead, but that would have been a mistake. It took me forever to get through it. I read it because Piper recommended it, but I stuck with it because my soul was being fed. Even in the first few chapters where he is setting up his argument, he throws out sentences about how we should enjoy God, how we should not judged others, and how we can better live the Christ life. He taught me how I should enjoy God and how I should more accurately view salvation. Every body should read this book and read it slowly. The prose lulled me to sleep and then he gave me another insight into the Christian life I never thought about before.

I like Piper, but this book is far better than anything Piper has written. This is one of the main sources where Piper derives his "Christian Hedonism." People criticise Piper because they think he is flippant. They think Christian Hedonism doesn't address suffering and other aspects of the Christian life. They should read this book. Our enjoyment of God and our desire for God is what sustains us in our suffering. It is a thirst we will never fully quenched. It is a well in which we will never reach bottom. Piper's theology is not new and it is not shallow. He draws his theology from the deepest and most thoughtful writers of Christian history. "Religious Affections" will deepen your walk with God.

The Religious Affections is probably the most profound analysis of spiritual experience ever written - and by the most brilliant philosopher/theologian to ever come from North America (and possibly the English language).

Jonathan Edwards wrote this book after the Great Awakening with which he was closely involved. He wrote as both a friend, defending the authenticity of revivals - and also as a critique, warning against putting trust in things which were not certain signs of genuine Spirit-wrought affections.

His treatise takes three parts. In part one he defines his terms and gives twelve reasons why genuine religion (i.e. Christian spirituality - "religion," in Edwards day, did not have the negative connotations that it carries today) consists much in the affections. The affections, for Edwards, are more than mere emotions - they are the strong and lively inclinations of the will, seated in the human heart.

Part two discusses twelve things which are not certain signs of true religious affections. These are things which Edwards warned should not be trusted as evidences of grace OR discarded as evidences that the Holy Spirit has NOT worked in a saving way. They are not indicators one way or the other.

Part three is the most lenghty and examines twelve things which are signs of a true work of the grace, wrought by God's holy Spirit in the heart. This is where Edwards is at his best - carefully, logically, biblically, and passionately describing the true evidences of regeneration. His analysis is keen, his thoughts clear, his argument orderly, his scholarship extensive, his knowledge of Scripture profuse, and his understanding of the human heart profound.

This particular edition - produced by Yale and edited by John Smith - is the best critical edition in print. The introduction and notes on the text are very helpful, as Smith summarizes Edwards' arguments and backgrounds the Puritan writers and their books which Edwards quotes in Religious Affections. This volume also includes Edwards' related correspondence with Thomas Gillespie from Scotland - this being the first time the complete correspondence has been printed in the same volume with the Affections.

This is not an easy book to read. Edwards takes getting used to. But it is very worthwhile. I'm currently reading it for the third time and I continue to find it useful. I highly recommend it for pastors and preachers and all Christians who yearn for a personal and corporate work of the Spirit in revival and spiritual awakening.

This is one of the great devotional Christian classics of the 18th century, but it still packs a mighty punch today. It began its life as a series of sermons preached by Edwards to his Northampton congregation in 1742 and 1743, and was first published in 1746. Edwards discusses the place of religious fervor and feelings in the Christian life. For those who prefer a more staid and serene Christian existence, Edwards discusses the prevalence of such scripturally based affections as love, joy, desire, compassion, and zeal. He concludes this opening section by asking how can people sit and hear about "the unparalleled love of the innocent, and holy, and tender Lamb of God, manifested in His dying agonies, His bloody sweat, His loud and bitter cries, and bleeding heart, and all this for enemies, to redeem them from deserved eternal burnings, and to bring to unspeakable and everlasting joy and glory, - and yet be cold and heavy, insensible and regardless! Where are the excesses of our affections proper, if not here?"

After this stirring salvo, Edwards then addresses those who have gone overboard in emphasizing emotional experiences by giving 12 false signs which are thought by many to be indicative of someone who is experiencing true religious affections from God. Many people trust in the depthness of their emotions, the zeal for doing churchwork, the experiences they have had when a scripture verse came to mind, the appearance of love in a person's life, etc, but these things in and of themselves are not conclusive proof of God's divine grace.

Then in the body of the book, Edwards discusses 12 clear signs that God is at work in the life, and the chief sign is that there is a greater appreciation and love for God for who He is and not primarily for what you can get from Him.

Another sign that you are expression truly divine religious affections is that you continue to live for Christ every day. If you have one or two days in church where you feel genuinely inspired and then go back to living a life of sin, then you have not experienced a genuine awakening from God, because when God awakens you, you will be changed forever. Everything you do in life will be motivated by a selfless love for God and for His divine qualities and a selfless love for others.

This book was a shattering read for me because I have often looked upon the religious experiences in my life as proof that I was 'in the Lord,' or proof that I was walking with the Lord, when in actuality, a changed life is the proof.

I should also say that the book is a bit wordy. Many sentences are almost a whole paragraph long. You really have to concentrate to get the main idea in certain portions of the book. The reader not used to 18th century writing might have to adjust to these long and sometimes meandering sections.

But you will be greatly rewarded if you give this book the time and study that it deserves.

An essential work on Christian faith and its natural manifestation in human emotion. Written by arguably the greatest Calvinist preacher to ever live.

In THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL, the third book in the Colton Parker Series, Brandt Dodson engages us once again with suspense, murder, and corruption. When Colton Parker is hired to find the illegitimate son of a dying multimillionaire, he is faced with sorting through back alleys, biker gang hangouts, and the offices of a political official in order to get to the bottom of what seems to be a tangled web that has no boundaries.

Colton Parker is a modern-day gumshoe. He uses his tough exterior and dry humor to cover the pain he feels at the loss of his wife and his constant struggle to maintain a relationship with his teenage daughter. There's not a lot of flash or fancy dialogue in this series, just good old private investigative work. Though Brandt hints at Colton's feelings for his former FBI partner, Mary, there is little romance played out in the Colton Parker Series. These novels are definitely geared toward the armchair detective who wants to follow along as Parker pieces together faint clues and barely-there evidence. A great read. Especially for men who want a straight forward suspense novel without getting bogged down with the romance that most women readers prefer.

I loved this book. I have read all of the Colton Parker books through this one. They are suspenseful and very well written. I am looking forward to The Lost Sheep!

Marilyn Fitzgerald
Carlsbad, CA

This new series are thrilling mysteries. Colton, as a detective, does not hold back in getting information from potential witnesses and he's not easily intimidated. Very much nail biting, humorous and action all rolled up in one. I recommend all four books in this series. I'm currently reading the 4th.

Detective Colton Parker is back for a third time in Brandt Dodson's hard-boiled detective series. Parker is still low on cash, struggling to find a bond with his teenage daughter, and full of attitude. The novel opens with Colton hired to by Berger Hume. Hume is rich, old and dying. In his youth, Hume fell in love and fathered a child, but never married the girl. Now, on his deathbed, Hume wants that long lost son found, and believes Parker is the man to do it. The man he is looking for, Miles Poole, is a thug operating at the fringes of the law and is involved in motorcycle gangs. One particular gang, Satan's Posse, wants Poole, also know as Pork Chop in gang vernacular, killed. Parker faces the problem of letting Hume know he has found his son and not bring Poole's problems to Hume. To make matters worse, Parker finds himself right in the middle of the action when he and his daughter are threatened.

I really enjoy this series, it is easy to read and Parker is a great character, full of tough guy attitude and action yet with a soft heart for his daughter and former co-worker FBI agent Mary Christopher. To me, THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL, struggles in the area of plot. The connections between the bikers and the Hume family and other shady characters seemed confusing at times. The book excels during the personal moments, when Parker has to reconcile his violent profession with the disinegrating remnants of a family life.

Dodson ties up all plot threads at the end and some good things actually happen to Parker for a change. I have the LOST SHEEP (4th book in the series) sitting on my shelf at home and can't wait to read it. THE ROOT OF ALL EVIL is a good book, but probably the worst in the series because of the confusing plot. Of course, with so many 5-star reviews, maybe I was the problem and not the book.

"The Root of All Evil" is the 3rd in the Colton Parker series. I liked this one very much. It has lots of plot twists and turns and interesting characters. There may be a bit more violence in this novel than the first two, but it is done in a non graphic manner and is fitting to the storyline.

I recommend this book.

Great discussion of the self and grace, and of what constitutes healthy Christian spirituality. Good for the spiritually tired...His other book about family is very good too...Highly recommend his writings.

I am a Christian counselor and I originally bought this book so I could recommend it to clients...but wow has it impacted the entire way I view reality. I now understand my own and others problems in an entirely different light. So much of therapy is dealing with low self esteem, performance orientation, etc. This book made me realize why....beucase we're asking the wrong questions..and thereby looking in the wrong places for answers. It isn't about what I can DO to get better or feel better about myself or live up to expectations...it's about WHO I am IN CHRIST.
So much of the New Testament makes sense to me in a deeper way now.
I cannot recommend this book highly enough! I believe that it will be a book that I continually return to.

If you are tired of trying to please all of the people all of the time and discovering that it is never enough... this is your book. Be free of shame.

I heard about this book at a time when I was being overwhelmed by the pain of my past. At first, I didn't think I had shame. But as I read this book for the second time, it changed my life.Through Jeff's honesty and compassion (having walked this road himself) I was finally able to feel that someone understood what was raging inside of me and he gave me permission to rest.......what I needed most He told me it was OK to feel what I was feeling...at last someone could identify what I couldn't seem to verbalize.
I have been and still am in therapy, but this book was a catalyst in my understanding of who I am, how I got this way, and how to get better. If you are struggling emotionally, even if you think that this book won't help you, take the chance. Don't deprive yourself of something that could be the best $10 you ever spent.......your emotional well being is priceless.

How can the book's description say that you do not have to be a Christian, yet: "discover the liberation of the gospel of grace in Jesus Christ and the rest that comes through what Christ has done on the cross"?

I do not get it. I bought it and was very disapppointed. I do not believe in anyone's divinity. How can I relate to the book's teachings?

Yet, I am glad many Christian readers did. BUT AMAZON, PLEASE GET THESE DESCRIPTIONS MORE ACCURATE. I LOST TIME AND MONEY.

"If those signs match your experience, this book is for you. The author is not trying to get you to behave in a "Christian" manner. If trying hard were the key to the victorious Christian life, you'd probably be in the hall of fame by now, don't you think? This is a message to help you unmask the lies that keep you on a works-righteousness treadmill, to help you discover the liberation of the gospel of grace in Jesus Christ and the rest that comes through what Christ has done on the cross."

This is Louis L'Amour at his finest. There are so few fine books about our pre-nation time. This work of fiction takes you to a wilderness time. As always L'Amour has a deep respect for the first nations people. The interaction of the people of the land is an education. This audio book is well read with rich thought, stirring action, and satisfying plot twists. This is simply a well written saga which is verbally acted out with real talent.

Barnabas Sackett's life from his evasion of the Queen of England in Europe to fighting and befriending different tribes of Indians North of Jamestown and South of Plymouth. Makes a long drive seem much shorter! John Curless has a perfect voice for this story. One of Louis Lamour's best!

I discovered books on CD from a coworker. Having a one hour and ten minute commute each way makes listening to books on CD a great way to enjoy the travel time.
I found this book very well written and very well spoken. One person having to read the voice of many characters is probably not the easiest thing to do. This reading is well done. I found myself sitting in the company parking lot just to finish a chapter before facing my workday. This was my first L'Amour book on CD and it was very enjoyable.

Sackett's Land and To the Far Blue Mountains make a complete story of the life and times of the Sackett progenitor. The combination is entirely satisfactory. L'Amour had the ability to tell the story well, and he developed that ability with years of work and research. It is probably fortunate for Sackett enthusiasts that he wrote the first books in the series later in his writing career. We benefit from his seasoned skills.

As in his westerns, in this book L'Amour focuses on what he finds interesting and what he thinks the reader will like to know. For the most part, he doesn't go into the technical detail that some authors pursue, but he paints a clear picture. The reader has a feeling of being there, or the strong sense that they could be there, right along with our hero.

The Sackett family saga is the story of an American family. Like all of L'Amour's work, it is wholesome and educational. He consistently hits on themes that his readers recognize, the importance of education and critical thinking, respect for our fellow creatures and the world in which we live,loyalty to family and friends, and taking positive action to shape one's own life. All that and a fun story too, for the cost of five bucks.

Dramatically narrated by John Curless, To The Far Blue Mountains is an flawlessly recorded audiobook presentation of yet another of Louis L'Amour's classic western novels featuring the hardy endurance of the Sackett clan as they addressed the challenges of life in the Old West. To The Far Blue Mountains follows Barnabas Sackett, who is on the run with his steadfast wife Abigail and his only escape is to the west. This is a superbly written adventure story of earning a life for oneself on the frontier, surviving all manner of hazards both human and environmental, and eventually prospering despite the hostilities of nature and man alike. To The Far Blue Mountains is an enthusiastically recommended audiobook for personal and community library collections!

This was the first Adrian Mole book I read. I loved it! I went on to read all the others, and still think this one was among the three best ones.

Is it the last volume of the Adrian Mole saga? Of course not. I doubt it very much. There is no end to a good recipe, a ratatouille or a beef and kidney pie. But we'll see. This volume is extremely interesting. For our Adrian Mole is still Adrian Mole. He is naïve and he is sending to us a very simple-minded vision of the world that is absolutely disarming - a must with the title we know - in naivety and vanity. This vain naivety or naïve vanity is his trademark and it is marvelously refreshing. It could probably not break a man's arm, but it can break, even smash, a man's despair. And this here volume is still a perfect example, at the age of 35, nearly middle-aged, of this entertaining village philosopher from Leicester. The book is also fascinating because we are in 2002-2004 and the central problem is the war on Iraq and Blair's support, till the day when he acknowledges there were no WMDs. The political question is systematically shown through the opinions of various people. Adrian is pro-Blair and he supports his own son when he is sent to Iraq, though he is frightened by the prospect of his son's death for and with no cause, and actually the son's best friend is killed by shrapnel. Pandora is against the war and she resigns from Blair's government. And between the two we find all kinds of shades. The dramatic dimension of the problem is strong because of the son's position in the armed forces. At the same time the book criticizes all kinds pf shortcomings of Blair's policy and of capitalistic greed. Adrian and his father are confronted to the National Health Service, and Adrian is suddenly thrown into bankruptcy by greedy banks and various store- or credit-card providers as well as by his vain desire to live over his means. The book is also fascinating because of the love life or rather non-love and/versus love lives of Adrian. He finds himself trapped by a false pregnancy and ends with a real third child born in love. Finally the book is fascinating because of the numerous vignettes it provides on various characters and situations: the independent bookseller, the local would-be or wanna-be writer, the protection of Her Majesty's swans, the Koran, Chinese restaurants, baby-boomers, vegetarian or bio-friendly people, etc... There you feel a high level of irony, humor, sarcasm, and that is so English, so brilliantly English.

Dr Jacques COULARDEAU, University Paris Dauphine, University Paris 1 Pantheon Sorbonne & University Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines

I was in high school (in London) when the original "Adrian Mole" books came out. In fact, we read them in English, went to London's West End to see the play etc etc. The books were original. The sequels worked, at least for a while and I don't believe that there is anyone who was a teenager in the UK in the 1980s who doesn't remember Adrian Mole.

It was by chance I came across this latest addition to the collection while browsing in a very well-known bookstore. I was further surprised to find it here in the US. I'd always thought that the situations and characters were very "English" and wouldn't translate well. Besides, I'd read the original book as a teen, so why buy this one? But the book was on sale so I picked it up...and devoured it, quite literally and found that Adrian had grown up too.

Adrian is now in his 30's. He's a little more worldly-wise but still has the air of "naive nerd" about him that we knew two decades ago. Ms. Townsend has worked in all the characters from books past so, if you're looking for a little trip down memory lane, welcome back. Pandora, Adrian's only true love is now a successful politician, his mother and father...heck even Nigel is back!

The political overtones are there for all to see and the author makes no attempt to hid them. The book is titled "Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction" and the underlying current in the book is Adrian's devotion, continually tested and challenged to "New Labour" and Tony Blair. He firmly believes that the "coalition" will find the WMDs as they prepare to invade Iraq. Perhaps this undertone is a reflection of Ms. Townsend's personal beliefs. In previous books she brought current events and figures into play and relevent as part of the background. In this book, she seems to be trying to make a bigger statement, while "keeping it funny" and I'm not sure it works this time because it's a little too close to be comfortable.

However, that doesn't detract from the story. I was pleasantly surprised to find myself chuckling as I reminisced with an old friend who I'd left in the UK many years ago. I found that I wasn't out-of-touch and many of the stereotypes, situations and characters were as relevant today as they were back then.

If you're an A.M. fan then you should definitely read this one. It's nice to find a book you don't have to think too hard about.

So, why only 3 stars? Because it's an "okay" book. Perhaps I'm being a little harsh, but I don't think I'd have bought it if it weren't on sale. Maybe I'm not such a great friend after all...

Dave

Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction by Sue Townsend was one of those library books that attracted me due to the quirky title and unusual cover. Having no background with Townsend's work or any other Mole novels, I really didn't know what to expect. What I found was an incredibly funny English novel that I was unable to put down until I was finished.

Adrian Mole is a 34 year old single guy living with his parents and working in a second-hand bookstore. He has a couple kids by different women, but the relationships didn't work out in the long run. In order to live the style of life he envisions for himself, he buys a flat on Rat Wharf and proceeds to spend himself into an incredible crushing load of debt using credit cards. His life starts to spiral downhill when he dates a mousey "organic" lady by the name of Marigold Flowers. Her parents are into "natural living" to the extreme, and he quickly figures out that this is not the family and lady he wants. But he has a hard time saying no, and pretty soon he's engaged to be married to a woman he doesn't love and that is apparently with child. To complicate issues further (as if they weren't already warped), he's madly in love with Marigold's sister, a fashionable public relations woman who is as wild as Marigold is sedate. He knows what he needs to do, and everyone else can see what he should be doing. But knowing and doing are separated by an ever-widening gap...

This story is told in diary fashion, with Mole writing in the first person. In many ways, it's like watching a reality TV show. Mole has a much more important view of himself than what really is the case, and it's a hoot watching the train wreck unfold. There are a number of current event themes running through the couple of years covered by the diary, mainly centered around the start of the Iraq war. I'm sure having a good grasp of British life would make a few of the things more clear to this American reader, but it really doesn't matter. It was all too funny and felt all too real...

My next step is to check out the first four Adrian Mole novels... If they are anything like this, I'll be losing a couple more weekends to these pages.

Firstly I wanted to clarify for people that might want to know, exactly how this series runs. I have bought and read all the books in the Adrian Mole series and I was dissappointed not to find anywhere to tell me which ones to get. So as a result I have them all.

US Versions
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4
The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole
Adrian Mole: The Lost Years
Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years
Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction

British Versions
The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole Aged 13 3/4
The Growing Pains of Adrian Mole
True Confessions of Adrian Albert Mole
Adrian Mole: From Minor To Major
Adrian Mole: The Wilderness Years
Adrian Mole: The Cappuccino Years
Adrian Mole and the Weapons of Mass Destruction


So, as for the review these books are great. I love the entire series and I just couldn't stop reading them all the way to the end. The one thing I might suggest is to keep in mind that with most series of books the first is always the best, which is probably the case here too, but if you like it and are a fan of Adrian Mole, there is no reason why you wouldn't want to read the rest.

I like the fact that is it written in diary form for easy reading and it is very clever how the story is told from the point of view of Adrian himself but you can see things about his life that he cannot.

Overall an excellent read for all ages from teen to adult.

I'm an anesthesiologist who goes to NYC every year for the US Open Tennis. While in NYC we try to suck up a little Kulture and always attend a few theatre offerings. I found the book not only informative but entertaining and it also gave me some new insights into theatre-going and watching films.

Reading "Architecture of Drama" will definately enhance your cultural experience in both the theatre and film.

Whether the information of THE ARCHITECTURE OF DRAMA is new to you as an emerging theatre artist or whether you have spent a lifetime in the theatre forgetting the essentials, this book is invaluable in stating the universals of drama, and stating them in a way that all can comprehend and use in both theoretical and practical ways.

It is impressive in its economy, stylish in its presentation, and entertaining in its prose. The sidebars on artists and productions are fascinating.

An extraordinary amount of information in a very brief and easy read.

THE ARCHITECTURE OF DRAMA is an exceptional resource.

Tom Moore
Director
Broadway: 'night Mother, the original GREASE, MOON OVER BUFFALO, etc., Extensive Regional Theatre.

"The Architecture of Drama" is a terrific book. If you're a student, it will be one of the few books you take with you after graduation and reread. If a teacher, you'll know you have the real deal, something no class will be able to dismiss as just another textbook. The three authors speak with one voice in straightforward language about the dramatic experience -- be it "Jaws" or "Macbeth" or "The Wizard of Oz". The result is an exhilarating celebration of theatrical biodiversity. The book is born from a passion for theatre, not tenure; it talks to you, never lectures. In a discussion of mixing genres, it cites Kazan's feeling that his film "A Face in the Crowd" was unsuccessful due to his mixing satire and drama. But it goes on to cite The Moscow Art's "misinterpretation" of Chekov's "The Cherry Orchard" as tragedy when the author saw it as comedy -- but which became the theatre's greatest success. The book's comment on the contradiction? "Go Figure!" When has a textbook dared imply even great theatre is part crap shoot? The authors use specific productions as points of reference. In the Broadway staging of John Patrick Shanley's "Doubt", they question whether Sister Aloysius' final line "I have doubts! I have such doubts!" has been set up properly to make it believable. The timing of Father Flynn's following entrance is offered as a possible explanation of why the line caused confusion for some. Through discussions such as these the reader comes to appreciate theatre as something more than text, to realize a production is indeed an interpretation, and that what "works" can be as fragile as an entrance half a beat too soon. If I had come across a book like this when I was studying theatre in college, it would still be on my bookshelf, underlined and much the worse for wear.
Peter Simon is an actor who worked mainly in daytime serials: Dr. Ed Bauer on "Guiding Light" for many years. Nominated for Daytime Emmy, Best Leading Actor. Worked Off Broadway, Regional, and for The New York Shakespeare Festival

This very approachable book offers a fresh alternative to most of our familiar textbooks on drama, dramatic structure, and the essence of theater experience. With an emphasis on down-to-earth discussion, the book starts with a conversation suited to a more introductory look at the "architecture" of dramatic literature. This develops into discussion of drama as brought to life via acting, directing, design, and audience response which will also have appeal and power for readers with more advanced familiarity with drama and theater production. The three-source authorship and insight is intriguing and, in particular, this chance to capture Joe Stockdale's views and teachings in a text is not to be missed. Over at least the past fifty years, I know of no more brilliant, essential, and passionate voice about the heart and soul of playwriting and the art of the theater than Joe's.

After an MFA in stage design from Yale School of Drama and 50 years of designing for the Stage and Television--starting with ten years for the Ed Sullivan Show--it was interesting to look at the whole theatrical experience as architectural. I've been dealing with the visual architecture of theater my whole life, but there is no question that all the elements fit into an architectural framework. This book is a refreshing study of that total framework. It was fun for me to see it from another perspective. I would recommend "The Architecture of Drama" highly for any one involved, in any capacity, in the production of theater or film.

Bill Bohnert