Arts and Entertainment Books

This is not a book to read in one or two days, it is filled with information and details never known before. It gives you an altered view of the famous diva. It must have taken the author years of dedicated work to interview all persons that possibly had some information of value and to go through a lot of documents and newspaper reviews. In fact this is almost like an academic dissertation, but written in an understandable way. As a great Callas fan I can not put this bok away for more than a very short time, I leave other things behind to be able to return to the biography and all fascinating facts revealed.

This is by far the finest biography I have ever read of Maria Callas. So much of her life is still surrounded by myth (mostly propogated by herself and her hagiographers) that a fascinating, scholarly, non-sensationalistic book is truly special.
This book mostly covers Callas's early years in New York and Greece. Far from being an "ugly duckling" the photos and descriptions of Mary/Maria in this book suggest an attractive, ambitious young soprano who by the time she left Greece already had several lovers and admirers. Nicholas Petsalis-Diomidis somehow managed to interview every surviving neighbor, student, singer, soldier, and friend who knew Callas and her family "way back when" in Athens. He also did the impossible and got Callas's sister Jackie to speak candidly of her much more famous sister. The stories do not always match exactly, and Petsalis-Diomidis is remarkably sensitive to the viewpoints of all the sources. He is careful not to sensationalize anything. Even though the details are often horrifying (including Jackie's essentially becoming a semi-prostitute to support the family and Litsa's crude attempts to prostitute both her daughters) the tone of the book is always scholarly and respectful.
Maria Callas, even in her early years as a teenaged soprano in the Greek National Opera, tended to arouse strong feelings, both positive and negative. To her "enemies", she was crass, grossly ambitious, ruthless, mean, and worst of all, a collaborator with the occupying forces (Italians and Germans). To her admirers, she was enormously talented, intelligent, basically good-hearted, and a worthy investment of time and energy. I came away from the book feeling that both views were essentially right. Petsalis-Diomidis should be congratulated for writing such a fascinating, insightful, scholarly book.

Despite the volumes of material that have been written about her, Maria Callas remains a fascinating enigma both as a person and as an artist. Nicholas Petsalis-Diomidis has taken an important step in filling in some of the gaps that remain in our understanding by tracing in exhaustive detail the singer's early musical life in Greece, where she moved with her mother and sister in her early teens and remained until returning to the United States in 1945.

The perception that her Greek sojourn was a relatively unimportant preamble to her "real" career was in part propagated by Callas herself. Petsalis-Diomidis shows that the eight years she spent there were, on the contrary, an essential part of her musical development. It was in Athens that she received her first formal vocal training from Maria Trivella and Elvira de Hidalgo (the author is careful to give the former due credit in Callas' education), and sang her first leading roles onstage with the Athens Opera. Among her credits there were operas that would form the core of her later repertory, such as Tosca, and others that she would never sing again, such as Fidelio.

Perhaps even more fascinating than her musical history is the multitude of detail about Callas' personal life during this difficult time. Though he tries to be evenhanded, Petsalis-Diomidis is ultimately unsparing in his condemnation of Litsa, Callas' mother, whom he regards as an amoral and destructive parent. His collection of anecdotes about the hardships of war and the professional difficulties encountered by the young Callas make for fascinating reading. Occasionally his passion for research makes the narrative seem fussy and overburdened with detail (was it really necessary to give the diva's exact weight at various times in her career?), but in the main this carefully researched volume is an essential addition to the already voluminous collection of Callas writings. Credit must also be given to the fluent and readable English translation.

"The Unknown Callas" is uniquely devoted to Callas' early life as a child, student, and young professional in Athens during the 1930-1940s, and is without question, the finest biography of the singer ever. This powerful intimate portrait is essential to understanding the complex woman and musician of the climatic years in the 1950s and 1960s.

Petsalis-Diomidis researched this work like an archaeologist seeking every surviving document and artifact, but presents it in biographical form as a psychologist with a deep understanding of human nature. The whole is framed by discussions of the politics of the time and the harsh realities of daily life during the war. Though this is the work of a scholar, it is also that of an artist, where every care has been taken to paint a three-dimensional backdrop and recreate the atmosphere for each scene.

While much of the original research for this book consisted of interviewing every surviving person associated with the family, conservatory, neighborhoods, etc. in those years; the author never accepts statements mearly at face-value, always examining every angle. The search for truth is ever apparent, and though his devotion to Maria is unquestionable, he never gives her unearned benefit of doubt.

Beautifully typeset and printed with copious photographs, the book unfortunately does not include the many photographs of programs for school concerts and early opera performances that were featured in the original Greek version. Albeit many of these programs were in Greek, some were also printed in German and Italian during the war, and afterwards in English. Likewise, the index does not present proper names in their original Greek alphabet, so the original version is now a nice scholarly cross reference for this new English book.

But for those intimidated by scholarship, this book tells a moving story with just enough gossip to keep things interesting. For fans and detractors alike, it's a story of a girl with modest gifts and very modest beginnings, fighting to survive adolescence and make a name in the world of opera, a fight that would continue throughout her life.

This book has contributions from several of Warhol's factory insiders (Victor Bockris, Gerard Melanga) who were personally involved with the Velvet Underground's groundbreaking shows in NYC (in addition to their status as card-carrying members of Warhol's film-and-silkscreen juggernaut). Their recollections, letters, and photographs from their time with the band paint a vivid picture of a beautifully chaotic scene peopled by colorful, indulgent artists and hipsters in a shimmering New York. The city is a character in its own right; an actor of nearly perceptible intent.

The photos alone are worth the price of admission. They are beautiful and artful records in black and white of the band and the surrounding Factory maelstrom through the most vivid and productive period of their shared existence. Despite the insider access of the photographers, they do little to deflate the Velvet's dark mythology. Rather, they distill perfectly the self-created mythology of the band as they birthed it.

There are great stories here, too, that could only have been told by firsthand participants. They offer rich portraits of the band and supporting cast, with intimate details of the band throughout their existence. From Lou Reed's early influences, to Warhol's insertion of Nico as the band's icy continental seer of doom, to accounts of their wild psycho-sexual art-rock shows, to their uncomfortable role on the fringes of fame, to the deterioration of the relationship between Reed and Cale, this is an essential text for any serious fan of the Velvet Underground.

UP-TIGHT is an invaluable sourcebook for VU fans and those simply curious about the band that inspired their mere 10,000 fans to start 10,000 bands of their own, as the cliche goes. I'm delighted to see that it is back in print.

Bockris wisely lets the participants speak for themselves, for the most part. Since virtually all (save Lou Reed) had retreated from public life (that is, gotten straight jobs) at the time the book was written, they provide a refreshing perspective as compared to what one usually sees in this type of book.

The standard of writing and research here is much higher that your typical 'rock book'. Not only does it give Velvet Underground the serious treatment they deserve, it is also a worthwhile resource for those interested in Andy Warhol.

An intelligent and entertaining approach to one of the most influential (read: they didn't sell a lot of records in their heyday)rock bands ever. Great pix too. The Velvets epitomized a time when artists didn't feel narrowly compelled to practise any ONE discipline, but rather people were less afraid to combine ideas, cross genres and disciplines. The spirit of the time, to me, suggests Possibility. Yes, Warhol et al. could drift into pretention, but that's the price (and it's really not such a costly one) you pay for being daring. You may go too far sometimes, and by today's (stupid?) standards, perhaps some of the VU "happenings" might appear contrived. But I don't think so! Altogether, VU rules. Way ahead of their time, and before it too. And beside it.

Buy this book, but more importantly, buy into the Underground.

Some 20 years after it's first publication, UP-TIGHT remains the definitive history of The Velvet Underground, and is also one of the essential glimpses into the social and creative world of Warhol's Factory.

Very well illustrated, with many black and white photos documenting the era, Bockris compiles and edits an oral history of the time, with valuable input from all of the key players.

Highly recommended for those with any interest in the Velvets, or Warhol, and an essential snapshot of America's 60s cultural landscape.

-David Alston

An engaging,tremendously written account of the lives of two actors. Ed DeLeo's journey through the acting world was full of mishaps and never reached the success level that he'd hoped for but it is fascinating nonetheless. Al Pacino should feel lucky to have known such a seasoned person as Ed DeLeo.

"As David Sheldon and Joan McCall point out in "When I Knew Al," Ed De Leo entered Al Pacino's life when Al was at an early crossroads bordering on success or failure. I studied acting with Ed. He took great pleasure in his student's successes in the industry, more so than his own. He was a natural born teacher. VEE GENTILE, former student of Ed De Leo and actor ("Two Bits," "Gettysburg").

A must read for both actors and non-actors!!! Pretty helpful for aspiring actors as well!

This book gives a rare insider look at the life of Al Pacino. The journey this books takes you on shows how the choices people make influence their careers. If you want to see how two people starting off in the same spot can go in completely different directions while still remaining friends, this book is for you!

John Livesay
Author The 7 Most Powerful Selling Secrets

I have always been a huge fan of Whitney Houston. I read it a few years back before her divorce and new comeback. I hope they update the book or someone writes a new book. She is a talented artist and I found some things I never knew about her.

Whitney Houston is rarely out of the tabloids,so you may think you know all about her. Leave it to Mr. Parish to get beyond the headlines and give us a well-rounded look at this diva. This is not the just the story of Whitney Houston, but of her family, esp. mother Cissy and of the era of pop in which she came of age. From the projects to mansions, from ups and downs, it is a fascinating look at a great talent. It gives an in-depth look at her marriage to Bobby Brown, a marriage that continues to defy predictions of doom. Whether a fan or not this is a very enjoyable book.

This was one I could not put down untill I finished it. Completely up to date, covers her life,rise to fame,and ends on trip to Israel. Mr. Parish has walked the tightrope of keeping his feelings out the book, but still gives warts and all. Has a couple of pictures I never saw before, and is very quick moving as books of this type go. Learned some new things about my favorite DIVA!

Whitney Houston is rarely out of the tabloids, so it is tempting to think one knows all there is to know about her. Leave it to Mr. Parish to get beyond the headlines with a fascinating look at this major talent. It is a well-researched look at Whitney Houston, her family (esp mother Cissy) and an era of pop music in which she came of age. From the projects to mansions we follow every step of her rise to the top (including set-backs along the way). This is also a well-rounded look at her marriage to Bobby Brown, a marriage that has continued to defy predictions of doom. Whether a fan or not this is a highly readable book.

Winchell: Gossip, Power and the Culture of Celebrity is an historical biography of Walter Winchell, a lower class Russian-American Jewish boy who morphed himself from a teenaged vaudeville performer into a nationally famous gossip columnist and radio personality that helped shape Depression-era and World War II America.

Walter Winchell was born in Harlem on April 7, 1897. As an adult, Winchell recalled an unhappy childhood of poverty, deprivation and neglect, surrounded by people who insulted and reviled him because he was poor. Author Neal Gabler says Winchell's childhood made him antagonistic, suspicious and resentful throughout his life. As an adolescent, he found the attention he craved and the skills he would use later in his career on the vaudeville stage. From vaudeville, Gabler says Winchell learned the values of mass culture and how to appear to be incautiously independent, unselfconscious and liberated. In reality, he was none of these. Gabler maintains "vaudeville made Walter Winchell an entertainer for life and in life."

When he was 12, Winchell taught himself to dance and was hired as a "song plugger" at a decrepit movie theater across from his apartment building. Song pluggers sang new tunes before the movie began, often leading the audience in group singing designed to sell them sheet music. When he was 13, Winchell won an audition with six other boys to fill parts in a show called the "Song Revue" that toured the country for a year on the Orpheum vaudeville circuit. Winchell performed with vaudeville companies and in a two-person act with his first wife, Rita Greene, until he was 23 when he escaped the stage to the poorly paid world of trade journalism as an assistant editor of "The Vaudeville News." Gabler says there is no evidence Winchell ever thought about becoming a reporter. He had little formal education and certainly no training in journalism. Nonetheless, he was driven to find a way to earn a living more secure than that of a vaudevillian. Attracted by the power of publicity that was indispensable to a vaudeville show, he leveraged his stage training, distinctive voice and theatrical personality into a character that looked like a traditional journalist. Rather than report, analyze and interpret legitimate news, however, Winchell became a big-name media gossip with enormous impact in a crucial period of 20th century American life.

Winchell worked incredibly hard for his fame. By 1933, he was internationally famous for his Jergens Lotion-sponsored ABC radio program, his movie roles and newsreel narrations, personal appearances and his daily "The Column" in the New York Mirror, syndicated nationally by Hearst's King Features. Alexander Woolcott wrote, "I have never been able to get far enough into the North woods not to find some trapper there who would quote Winchell's latest observation." Winchell's power did not derive from his accuracy; he was often very wrong. He never admitted mistakes as his fault, never issued retractions. Gabler says "The Column" was so sacrosanct and café society's faith in publicity so devout that Winchell spoke and wrote with an oracular authority. "If Winchell says so, it's gotta be true," said Lucille Ball about a Winchell report she was expecting a child (she was). Journalist-turned-film-producer David Brown was shocked to read in Winchell one day that his wife was divorcing him, then heard from her lawyer the next morning.

Winchell built his huge radio and newspaper following with a quirky blend of serious news seasoned with trivial theatrical gossip, topped off with stinging personal comment. He wrapped it all in a pop entertainment package that imitated journalistic form. He would give the same urgency and drama to a story of 10,000 people killed in an Ethiopian earthquake as to one about a cross-eyed man whose eyes were uncrossed when he was hit by a truck. Winchell's loyalists patronized him for his vicious attacks on famous people and his implied promise to tell them what was going to happen before it actually occurred. His shtick irritated traditional journalism and disgusted intellectuals who stumbled into listening or reading him. Gabler says Winchell was successful in the 1930s because Americans in the Depression distrusted traditional authority. And he nails the main reason for Winchell's success: for most folks, Walter Winchell was fun.

His radio audience lived primarily in eastern states and in urban areas with populations over 50,000. New York Herald Tribune radio critic John Crosby explained Winchell as an anxiety-monger who brilliantly captured the national mood in times of uncertainty. He added, "There's a definite feeling of guilt connected with listening to Walter Winchell." Gabler reports Winchell was at the top of national radio ratings just after Pearl Harbor and for several months in 1947-48 as Americans faced the threat of another war, this time with the Soviet Union. At times, his radio audience was larger than those of Bob Hope and Jack Benny.

Walter Winchell enjoyed a deep insider relationship with Franklin Roosevelt's White House and considered FDR a father figure and his benefactor. Just like Winchell's back-scratching friendship with FBI director J. Edgar Hoover, the Roosevelt-Winchell association was a quid pro quo arrangement. Roosevelt guided Winchell politically for years, elevating him from the mud of gossip to occasionally credible political commentary. In return, Winchell flacked for FDR - and for Hoover - delivering the President's spin to Walter's massive radio and newspaper audiences. Roosevelt was also Winchell's apologist, lending him the power of the Oval Office when Walter needed protection. FDR's death marked the beginning of the end of Winchell's career.

Gabler compares Winchell to FDR's successor, Harry Truman and in the process, helps readers understand the real Winchell. He says Truman was the "quintessence of nineteenth century rural Midwestern America, Walter of twentieth-century eastern urban America. Truman was self-effacing, Walter self-aggrandizing. Truman was dispassionate, Walter the very model of hot unreason. Truman was a moderator by instinct, Walter a crusader. Truman was a private man thrust into a public role, Walter was a man without any private life at all, a man always on stage."

After bowing at Roosevelt's throne, Winchell found no majesty in Truman. He lacked the theatricality Roosevelt had in abundance that was so important to Winchell. What's more, Truman would never court Winchell as Roosevelt had and Walter resented it.

One of Winchell's sharpest critics was Time magazine. The magazine infuriated Winchell with steel fisted jabs wrapped in velvet gloves, asking him to show "a greater sense of responsibility in deciding what is legitimate public news and what is mere trouble-making gossip." Winchell was always happy to return the disrespect. As he became a strident, scare-mongering critic of Russian communism, he lashed out at Time. "Whittaker Chambers, Russian spy, started as top editor at Time mag in 1939 and not long after that (sic) mag could find nothing good about anything this American reporter wrote or said."

Because he'd been on the air, in print and in the national public eye so long, Winchell's audience had come to know what it could expect and developed a familiar, simple trust in him. Roosevelt's insider tips and interpretation of nuance had been extraordinarily important to Winchell in this regard. However after FDR's death, Winchell's naiveté and questionable judgment appeared with increasing frequency and America's trust in him declined. Two examples are telling. Shortly after Churchill's 1946 anti-Russian "Iron Curtain" speech at Westminster College in Missouri, Winchell wrote a piece praising Soviet dictator Josef Stalin, commending his "stern realism." Even though Winchell had always detested communism, it was hard for him to muster the same antagonism toward it as he had against Nazi fascism. Despite evolving into a staunch anti-Soviet, scaring America by calling for preparation for war against Russia, the Stalin piece weakened the Winchell mystique.

He pushed his own popularity over a cliff with strong support for Senator Joseph McCarthy. In fact, he was McCarthy's loudest cheerleader during the Army-McCarthy hearings. Winchell was later subpoenaed by the Watkins bipartisan congressional committee investigating McCarthy's communist witch hunt, interrogating him about sources for his "reporting." Winchell never revealed them, but word on the street made him a stooge for McCarthy and his committee's counsel, Roy Conn. While McCarthy faded from public consciousness, Winchell continued to defend him. As he did, Gabler says people came to see Winchell as a "crazy reactionary who destroyed careers, exacted revenge, baited alleged Reds, flung lies and half-truths and generally engaged in the worst excesses of this shameful period. And it was all true ... he had become a right-wing fanatic himself."

Toward the end of his career, Winchell confessed the fear that drove him constantly to self-promotion. "Who else will write about me?" he asked. Perhaps more revealing was Winchell's reaction to criticism that he'd talked too fast on one of his broadcasts. "If I slowed up," he said, "listeners would understand what I'm saying. Then they'd realize how unimportant it is and turn me off." Gabler says Winchell was always sensitive to the thin thread of celebrity, fearing it eventually would snap and banish him to the unknown. Rather than snap, though, Winchell's celebrity simply stretched into irrelevancy. Lonely and far removed from the center of public attention at the end of his frenetic professional and turbulent personal life, he died in California on February 20, 1972, a few months before his 75th birthday.

Walter Winchell entertained millions of Americans for decades by appealing to base human instincts. He was a far cry from a critical thinking, reflective journalist. On the contrary, he was a simplistic, opportunistic gossip who knew how to grab the public's attention. As a journalist, he lurked in the intellectual shadows of contemporaries Walter Lippmann, H.L. Mencken, Dorothy Thompson, Boake Carter and David Lawrence, each of whom overpowered Winchell with their insight.

Gabler's excellent book encourages a reflection on Winchell's legacy. He is the only American columnist / commentator ever to hold simultaneous top national broadcast ratings and print circulations in unrelated media properties and he did it for almost 20 years. His generation-long dominance of the American media-consuming audience of the day makes Walter Winchell arguably the most powerful individual voice in American journalistic history. In addition, he was one of the major characters who helped build U.S. radio. He was one of the first practitioners of tabloid journalism. Some would consider him the father of today's chatty, siren-chasing television content that masquerades as news.

There is no question Walter Winchell left an extraordinarily large footprint on 20th century America from the Great Depression through the years immediately after World War II. Tens of millions of Americans formed opinions reading and listening to him gossip, speculate and ridicule famous people. This legacy is why Winchell by Neal Gabler is important: the book helps us understand how a great deal of American public opinion was formed in a crucial time of U.S. history. Much of that opinion came from the typewriter and voice of Walter Winchell.

Although most of us remember Walter Winchell fo rhis rapid-fire narration for the old "Untouchables" television show, he was much more than that. Neal Gabler chronicles Winchell's career and life, but it's his analysis of Winchell's affect on his times and culture that makes this book transcend routine biography. Winchell's became a powerful voice for a time: businessmen wanted to be his friend, celebrities needed him, and politicians feared him. In fact, most people feared him. But somehow, Winchell created a definition of celebrity that has endured even today. Although he may be forgetton in our conscious memories, Winchell still looms large in our cultural memory. This is a stunning biography of a man who fought hard to get it all and fought equally hard to keep his fame and recognition as lost it in a blaze of self-destructiveness. One of the best books I've read in years.

This is a great story of a strange man. Someone who got power, defined the celebrity personal interest story, exploited the influence he developed, thought he was God, and ruined his own life. It is especially compelling reading when it becomes clear that our fascination with famous people and their love lives and personal faults is really whipped up by these media people. It is also great when talking about Lucille Ball and how the public embraced her. When you see Winchell making the fateful mistake when siding with McCarthy, it seems like karma. This is a fantastic book.

One has to admire Walter Winchell for he had it all: fame, power, money and beautiful women. Everything a man could want. And he had it for a long time (from the 1930s to the 1950s).

He also had an enormous ego which fostered many feuds with others he feared.

An outstanding book.

Wink is one of humanity's gems. A brilliant man, genius perhaps. Where would the world be without 'Gambit' I wonder? My only response to the question is a nervous shudder.

To many of us who are still in college, we may only know Wink Martindale from his gameshow "Tic Tac Dough". But there is a lot more to this very talented and gifted man.

Next to the 19 gameshows that he hosted, he had a very sucessfull career in radio, getting his very first start on his hometown's own radio station. He also went on to have a million selling single "Deck Of Cards". Then began his long and still current career as gameshow emcee.

He begins by telling of his childhood in Jackson, Tenessee. He mentions his love and fascination of radio, and his longing to one day be the one announcing the news and playing the music that was heard by everyone for miles around. He also tells of the major influence his brothers and sister had on him, as well as his parents. Also, he tells how he got his nickname of "Wink".

Without giving away too much, I can honestly say, that if you are a fan of Wink, that you will really like this book. Wink is a fantastic writer and keeps you glued to every page. When I first started reading his book, I looked at the clock a while later and didn't realize that an hour and a half had passed!

There are also A LOT of photos and a nice collection of color photos in the center of the book.

I give this book 5 stars, because of the many autobiographies that I have read lately, this one is not only informative, but also heartwarming and entertaining.

Highly Recommended

To many of us who are still in college, we may only know Wink Martindale from his gameshow "Tic Tac Dough". But there is a lot more to this very talented and gifted man.

Next to the 19 gameshows that he hosted, he had a very sucessfull career in radio, getting his very first start on his hometown's own radio station. He also went on to have a million selling single "Deck Of Cards". Then began his long and still current career as gameshow emcee.

He begins by telling of his childhood in Jackson, Tenessee. He mentions his love and fascination of radio, and his longing to one day be the one announcing the news and playing the music that was heard by everyone for miles around. He also tells of the major influence his brothers and sister had on him, as well as his parents. Also, he tells how he got his nickname of "Wink".

Without giving away too much, I can honestly say, that if you are a fan of Wink, that you will really like this book. Wink is a fantastic writer and keeps you glued to every page. When I first started reading his book, I looked at the clock a while later and didn't realize that an hour and a half had passed!

There are also A LOT of photos and a nice collection of color photos in the center of the book.

I give this book 5 stars, because of the many autobiographies that I have read lately, this one is not only informative, but also heartwarming and entertaining.

Highly Recommended

Wink Martindale is one of TV's best Game Show hosts! From the popular 70's "Gambit" (which I liked so much I used "Gambit" as my CB 'handle' back then) to the most recent "Debt", Wink has kept us playing for so many years! Hopefully we will see more of Wink as host in the future! Meanwhile, this book is a great read as it lets you get to know one of America's favorite hosts a bit better. It also gives you a great insider's look at TV game shows! (Chock full of exclusive "behind the scenes" photos!

It's 2005 and finally, finally an American woman film director has written her memoir, "The Woman Director: The Adventures of a Really Independent Filmmaker, Ages 6-36;" and brother, is this one REALLY independent filmmaker! This is one of those rare books - like John Sayles's "Thinking in Pictures" - that really lays out the difficulties of shooting on low budgets. It's both inspiring and, at the same time, will probably make a lot of women think twice about going for the director's chair. Jurgen Vsych survived physical attacks and unbelievable harassment. If things in Hollywood are better now than in 1973, it's because of women like Vsych, who gained ground by sheer artistic excellence. If nothing else, this book explains why there are so few women directors. This is one tough dame. Her nickname is "Rommel," and not for nuthin' - this woman is a tank, taking missile fire and staying on course. She'll probably be the first woman to win the best director Oscar.

She wrote, directed and produced "Ophelia Learns to Swim" (which you can get on Amazon.com) and the shorts "Pay Your Rent, Beethoven" and "Ralph Nader Crashes the Two Parties (they're only available on TheWomanDirector.com) - pure dead brilliant! She was obviously inspired by Buster Keaton and the great silent comedians, but dialogue is her true strength - she has a great ear (she's a professional musician, and her scores and sound effects are top-notch). She obviously likes actors (she even got a good performance out of Ralph Nader!), and she tells great stories about working with John Gielgud, Max Von Sydow and Dudley Moore.

The cover photo, like the book, is both funny and sad - a woman who has spent all her money on an Arri 35mm camera and has no money left over for a proper dolly, so she's forced to use a shopping cart. If Vsych were a man - or the daughter of a famous director - she'd be as famous as Steven Soderbergh, Alexander Payne and Sofia Coppola. I hope this book will help her get the recognition - and the budgets - she deserves.

This is the only memoir I've ever read that was written in present tense, which does really put you in the rollercoaster alongside Vsych (pronounced "Vy-zick," according to the handy pronunciation guide on her book cover); it makes the story seem like it's happening as you read it. My only beef is that it's way too short. Her diary at the time she wrote this book was 17,256 pages long. I hope she'll publish the rest someday. She's written a book about Nader's campaign - I'm counting the days 'til it comes out!

I hope Vsych one day writes a book about film technique - it would be The Missing Manual for young filmmakers.

The writer-director-producer-credit-card-goddess of the cult classic "Ophelia Learns to Swim" and 29 other films is the first American woman director - and only the third woman director ever -to write her autobiography. This is a historic book, a classic which not only describes her personal struggles, but illuminates the climate from 1973 - when women were unable to pass the Equal Rights Amendment and there were virtually no women directors - to 2003, when women were still only making 73 cents to a man's dollar and women directors were still viewed as an oddity.

Vsych was born in Hollywood, but never went Hollywood. Growing up in the worst place on earth for an independent film maker, she eventually escaped and made films in Scotland, England, Seattle and New York (she's now based in Washington DC, having worked as Ralph Nader's 2004 campaign videographer - she wrote and directed the brilliant "Ralph Nader Crashes the Two Parties," a mock debate with Nader debating Bush and Kerry [as portrayed by GI Joe dolls]). She did whatever it took to raise money for her films - digging for food in trash cans, living in her car, working as a bookseller, a butler and a bagpiper.

"The Woman Director" is written in the rarely-used present-tense, which puts you smack inside this most unusual brain. Vsych edited 17,000 pages of journals into 226 fast-paced pages - let's hope a publisher one day publishes the entire diary - it will be the Pepys Diary of its day.

Vsych is a true Renaissance Woman. Unlike many other memoirs, there is nothing whiney, self-pitying or self-indulgent in her book. Vsych will stand with Katharine Hepburn, Bette Davis, Olivia DeHavilland as one of the great women artists and role models in cinema history. I can't wait for the sequel, "The Old Lady Director: The Adventures of a Really Wealthy Filmmaker, Ages 37-97."

(Incidentally, I display this book on my bookcase facing out - the photo of Vsych in her shopping cart dolly is a great metaphor for women; no matter how high we climb, we always get stuck doing the shopping.)

"The Woman Director" is an insider's journey through the triumphs and tragedies of film-making for the love of the art - rather than for the love of the money. Our tour guide is the archetype-incarnate of a female Don Quixote, jousting with and jutting at the windmills of Hollywood.

Along the way she has encounters with several characters you will recognize, several prima donnas, a gaggle of weasels and even a few decent human beings.

Her travels to Scotland and Seattle, attempts at finding more supportive environments for her film-making, make for interesting travelogues and could have each stood alone as fascinating peeks into the veiled culture of the independent cinematic arts community.

But it is in Hollywood where our author, Ms. Jurgen Vsych, is able to show us the biggest obstacles in the way of the independent film maker as well as giving us a look we can not get anywhere else into how "indies" are made.

Ms. Vsych brings to her story the same combination of sharp - even piercing - social commentary and zany comedy as we find in her films. This is one not to miss if you are "in to" indies or wonder why there are so few women in that field. Oh, and by the way, this book reads like a novel; each page has something to titillate your fancy and keep you reading on to the end.

Jurgen Vsych must be the best-kept secret in independent films. Her memoir is just as original, funny and idiosyncratic as her movies. The writer-director-producer of the cult classics "Ophelia Learns to Swim" and "Pay Your Rent, Beethoven" is the first American woman director to write her autobiography. You don't have to have seen her films to enjoy reading about how she made 30 movies on shoestring budgets, under often nightmarish circumstances and against major parental objections.

This book is amazing work of art, with vivid details (and no wonder - Vsych had over 17,000 pages of diaries to jog her memory). It's also funny as hell. The photos and illustrations are great (most of them are by Vsych herself).

It has some hilarious stories about her encounters with Sir John Gielgud, Dudley Moore, Dr. Jonathan Miller, Terry Gilliam, Gene Hackman, Guy Green, John Sayles, Brian Cox, Spike Lee and Max von Sydow. I'm not surprised Ralph Nader hired Vsych to be his 2004 campaign videographer - a crusading director for a crusading presidential candidate.

Vsych's a fine role model. "The Woman Director" is a must for film buffs and students, and any girl who aspires to succeed in a male-dominated profession.

It's easily her best book yet, with wide-range appeal. It's sufficiently analytical and well-researched to pass muster with critics and academics -- I'm recommending it to my scriptwriting students at University of Houston - but it's also accessible enough to be a fun read for movie buffs.

"Marsha McCreadie 'gets' what it means to be female, and achieve some unique
niche in the arts/or any realm of success in our contemporary u.s.a.; she manages to
educate and entertain, her research solid, and her manner of expression deft,
informative, and entertaining"--
Eve Packer, poet/performer/nyc

As an American male, I developed an interest in the work of women filmmakers when I lived in Sydney and became something of an Aussie film booster. Gillian Armstrong and Jane Campion more than held their own against the Weirs and Schepisis as their early movies were released.

Two weeks ago, an aspiring screenwriter gave me Women Screenwriters Today, thinking I would enjoy it. And right she was-so much so that I bought copies for two friends. The author's choice of subjects is spot-on, her prose is eminently readable, and the personal histories are intriguing. Better still, the tips for novice screenwriters are worth their weight in gold. A very fine book all around!

Witty, insightful, and gutsy from the first line to the last, Marsha McCreadie's bird's-eye view, "Women Screenwriters Today, Their Lives and Words," is a must-read for female writers of any ilk. An amalgamation of interviews, commentary, and history, McCreadie focuses on these women's works, their process, and their experiences breaking into the male-dominated film "business" (or, as McCreadie points out, "art" if you happen to be from a country that actually supports art and film, i.e. those "little" countries like Canada, France, and Australia). I enjoyed McCreadie's multi-layered investigation into women's vs. men's stories, structure, and form, a discussion bandied about at least since Virginia Woolf, who declared in A Room of One's Own, "the nerves that feed the brain seem to differ in men and women." Speaking as a novelist, I wish that I had read this book years ago and seen the references to women's writing as "fluid" (Stacy Cochran), or crosscutting through time, as McCreadie reiterates. It would have saved me years of questioning my own approach and style.

It is unbelievable that I'm the first person to review this fantastic book. The book itself is also unbelievable in its intelligence, wit, depth, color, interest, and sheer genius. Alan Bennett is one of the rarest minds of the 20th/21st century. If you're a real reader and you don't have this book, you damn well better buy it.

If there is a spark of humanity in you read this book. Alan Bennett was part of the satire boom in early 60's in the UK and when neccessary has a caustic dry wit that can catch you by surprise sometimes. However for me what comes through in this book is his humanity.

The first section of the book where this is highlighted is his address at the funeral of Russell Harty, which only amounts to 7 pages. Harty was a successful TV show host and interviewer in the UK, who was hounded by the press in the 1980's over his sexuality (he was homosexual and never tried to hide that fact). Bennetts address is full of compassion and will either leave you crying or plotting a nasty end to some of the gutter press.

'The Lady in the Van' is a full chapter (45 pages) and a completely true story. At one point it was available to buy as a seperate book and is taken largely from his diaries. In the 1970's and 1980's outside Alan Bennett's own house in Camden, London, an old lady (Miss Shepherd) lived in a Van in the street. After a time the local council decided she could no longer stay on the street. Amazingly Bennett allowed her to move her Van into his garden and there she remained until she died. This is truly a remarkable story. Bennett of course is a marvellous observer of people and there is a side of me that says he only did it so that he could watch her. However read 'The Lady in the Van' in full and you are left in doubt that Alan Bennett couldn't have done it for that reason, because Miss Shephard's living conditions were frankly disgusting and the smell.. well enough said. Its a truly moving and poignant story.

The diaries constitute a major section of the book amounting to 180 pages. These cover the years 1980 to 1995. There is a section of prefaces to plays as well as articles on writers and filming. These other sections of the book are of the same high standard of writing as the two I mention above, if not all on quite the same emotional level.

In this country, I look for the least sign of God. It might be a dawn, the sound of music, laughter of an old person, giggling among my grandchildren, the prospect of the end of Bush's term, the golden silence of tv turned off, my wife's loving voice telling me to take out the garbage, take out the dog, take her out to a movie...and Alan Bennett's "Writing Home". What pleasure there is in this book. If you are literate and do not own it, reflect on what in your life has brought you into your miserable condition.

For those Americans who have never heard of Alan Bennett and are wondering wether or not to get this book...I say go for it. But if you're looking for something exciting you may be disapointed. Mostly subdued, sometimes hillarious stories of a life. Don't miss "The Lady in the Van"!

I loved this book; it was moving and written with an elegant grace, despite its dark content. It's difficult to write about mental illness with humor and charm, but Laura Love succeeds here where many others have failed. Excellent.

I've always found Laura Love's music and song lyrics to be thoughtful and profound, so it was no surprise to find this was a shocking but gripping true story. Frankly, I couldn't stop reading until finished and wished she had written more.

It's not a story for the fainthearted reader, because she tells all - warts and all. It's amazing that a woman could live through these experiences, yet end up with such a warm and compassionate sense of self! I also found it interesting to read about the times of Bobby Kennedy's assassination, the effects of race riots, and so many memories of the `60s and `70s from her perspective. Truly enjoyed the baby boomer nostalgia type memories. I would highly recommend this memoir!

I love a good memoir, and this book is among my favorites. The story of Laura Love and her sister Lisa is one I won't soon forget. Held hostage by a mentally unstable mother, the girls learn to tolerate a childhood of extreme poverty and insanity. The author has such a way with words, you feel as if you know her. With parts so emotionally overwhelming; I literally burst out into uncontrollable laughter, for lack of more appropriate emotions. A must read for all women or all races. A breathtaking glimpse into hell.

This book was like nothing I had read before. When I first picked it up I thought that I wouldn't be interested in it, however, once I started reading I couldn't stop. The things that happened to these little girls just breaks my heart and I had to know where their lives ended up.