California Books

Best Big Sur Hiking/Backpacking Book Out There! I'm a local, I try to get into the mountains whenever possible & this book is the bomb. I've checked out a few others & this is the best by far.


It has detailed topographic maps with trails drawn in & great descriptions of each trail including elevations @ points along each trail. Elevations are critical because the Sur is all about elevation 0-5150 ft.

Great book, if your considering a book about all Big Sur has to offer beyond Highway 1 this is the book.

This is a great book. A friend and I had a trip to Big Sur planned and the book came several days before so that I was able to study up and enjoy the area even more!

This book isn't great, but it is very good.

Pros
1. It is inspiring. I feel like I want to go do the hike after I read the description
2. Good pictures. Some have people in them and these are done very well.
3. Good descriptions. These aren't little one page jobs.

Cons
1. Pictures - The pictures are black and white, not color and I think color pictures can mean everything. But this does not detract that much from this fine book

The book was wonderful to have on our trip to the Central Coast. Objective information with enough opinion and subjective information to help us decide where, how, when for each hike. The back of the book with the top list organized by theme was very helpful. One way the book could have been better is with a cross-reference chart... so if you want both "ocean" and "redwoods" as themes you could look it up, instead of a bunch of page flipping. The author does a good job appealing to a wide range, level of hikers, rare in a guide book.

Shirley and Jeff Lawrence worked for years in the entertainment industry and share their experiences in this 420 page book. The book contains 3 sections: Part 1 "My Story - His Story - Our Story". This section shares their collective and individual experiences. How they got in the business, people they worked with etc. Part II "Working in Movies". This section describes films in the beginning, the life of film extras, casting couch stories and stunt work etc. Part III "Extras, Directors and Stars". In this section Shirley and Jeff share more stories about people in the industry.

The book is written in a an easy to read style, with the names of the stars, extras etc in bold black text so they pop out.

It's a very interesting read. Shirley and Jeff name names and share the good, the bad and the ugly. Because of the era they worked in most of the names would be recognized by many baby boomers but not by today's younger generation. But though the names of the famous have changed the scenarios have not. Shirley and Jeff describe what it is like to work in the business with an emphasis on what it is like to be an "extra". They describe how extras are may be treated poorly, taken advantage of and not given that break because they uphold good values.Though I had heard about the "casting couch" in Hollywood, I never realized that it was so prevelent. They vividly describe the heartache and ups and downs of the business. One minute you think you have a deal and the next you don't.

It's an eye opening read and highly recommended if your intent is to try and make it in the industry or if you want to read about what goes on behind the scenes in Hollywoodland!

~Lee Mellott

Your wonderful book about Hollywood was by far THE most enjoyable, engrossing, delightful, romantic (J & S), funny, shocking book I have ever read! A real page-turner. Your style of writing is first class. I enjoyed every page!
Elaine Baum

Entertaining, easy to read, episodes in the lives of two Hollywood extras. Reveals facts and heresay about many famous movie personalities, actors, producers, directors, etc. It is refreshing to read of two people who fell in love and felt that living in accord with moral principles was more important than a quick way to success.

Barbara Morse

This is a fast enjoyable read. Through their eyes, we are exposed to a very different Hollywood. Vastly different from the one we fantasize about. Through the eyes of Hollywood extras, we are shown what it takes to "break" into show business. The ancedotes are light and entertaining, but also offer a darker picture of the realities of an actor. Many of the Hollywood elite consider an extra a moving prop. It is through Shirley & Jeff's eyes, that the every day humaness of the extra is shown to us.

It's amazing that the following mistakes appear in this book:

1) A reference to Cecil B. DeMille's "Sunset Boulevard".
It's Billy Wilder's and Leigh Brackett's picture. DeMille had
a cameo in it.

2) Donna Douglas (of "Beverly Hillbillies" fame) is referred to
in a caption as "Donna Dixon" and in the accompanying text as
"Joey Heatherton".

3) Joanne Woodward and Paul Newman, in English riding clothes,
are described as wearing "Western gear".

4) Sammy Davis Jr's ex-wife, Mai Britt, is twice referred to as
"May Britt".

Did anybody edit this book, or were Garrett's reminiscences taken
on faith because he, of all people, should know?

I have had the priveledge of knowing Murray Garrett for over 25 years as a business associate and friend. I was completely blown away by his incredible talent as a photographer and writer. This book captures a Hollywood that I remember as my home town and really was the entertainment capitol of the world. The pictures are unique, and definitely candid. Murray's comments about the stars shed new insights into the personalities and quirks of some of the most loved and famous celebrities of the era. A beautiful collection of memorys from a man who approaches Hollywood from an honest, compasionate and humorous point of view. Highly recommended.

This is a wonderful compilation of photographs and text taken throughout the years by Murray Garrett. All of the Hollywood golden age stars are featured: Marilyn Monroe, Elizabeth Taylor, Jean Simmons, Natalie Wood, Ava Gardner. The photos catch the personal side of the stars, such as the photo of Richard Burton strapped into an airline seat along with his daughter's doll, as well as their entrances into glamourous events. He also adds his personal recollections such as Ava Gardner's love of jokes, off color or not, Eve Arden's love of her daughter, the secrecy of Natalie Wood's 21st birthday party. The stories are fascinating. The pictures are beautiful and unique. I am glad Murray decided to share them with us.

I had the privilege of seeing much of this book in pre-press form and knew it had to be a knockout. The pics are all exceptional but Murray's anecdotes and insight make this much more than a celebrity puff-piece. The finished book is even better than my early predictions. Great stuff!!!

To think that this book was written in 1993. I remember seeing the author on Oprah, talking about all the stuff in the book and how some people believed it wasn't true. Sure enough years later, it all turns out to be true, from O.J., to Downey, Sheen, Rod Stewart, et. al. I liked it.

This book takes you into the party and nightlife of Hollywood. I actually felt I was there in the clubs with this guy. I will never look at Stallone the same way again.

This book is the first book I have ever read that names names and places. It is about time someone gave us a truthful take on Hollywood and the Hollywood life. It appears no one knew Hollywood like Rayce Did. The funny thing is that 11 of my friends have read my copy. Everyone wants to read it.

The most truthful book about Hollywood ever. I could not put it down

This item was purchased as a gift and as such I will never read it but it was a book that the recepient really wanted.

Travilla became a Hollywood star thanks in large part to his client Marilyn Monroe, gaining fame for his design of her costumes - but his art graced many familiar forms, and Hollywood Costume Design By Travilla provides an excellent display of his original sketches and creations. Monroe fans and Hollywood fans alike will relish this display, lavish with color reproductions of Travilla's art.

This book is so well written! Very entertaining info on the man, the industry & the personalities. Tons & tons of great photos & sketches!

This is another well-designed, well-presented book from Schiffer, known for its volumes appealing to collectors of various types of memorabilia. (I also own _Harrison Fisher: Defining The American Beauty_ and Kristina Harris' _Victorian and Edwardian Fashion for Women_ from the same publisher, both high-quality paperbacks.) Travilla may not be as instantly recognizable a name as Edith Head, Adrian or Helen Rose in the field of movie costume design, but his costumes are very definitely ones the viewer will remember. That sexy white dress Marilyn Monroe wore in her most iconic scene, in "The Seven Year Itch"? That's a Travilla design, and his sketch for the outfit graces the dust jacket of the book. The book is full of artwork, much of it in full-page format; photographs, both color and black-and-white, and sketches of notable designs. Travilla's most famous (and, judging from his remarks, his favorite) client, was Marilyn Monroe, but he designed outfits for many other actresses - and a few actors - from the 1940's through the 1980's, starting with Ann Sheridan (whom he became so close to that he nicknamed her "Aunt Annie") and going on to Emma Samms. This book isn't cheap new or used, but take that as a sign of its quality and desirability and do make the investment if you're interested in this field!

I really enjoyed this cookbook and all of its stories. I've tried a couple of the recipes (including the turkey for Thanksgiving) and they were as easy as promised. I'm glad I bought it and now I'm going to buy some for gifts.

It's about time that Hollywood's best celebrity caterer wrote a book. His food has been fabulous everytime I have had the opportunity to savor it. With these concise recipes, even a "room service only" musician like me can attempt to rehearse some of his world class cusine at home.

Great recipes and wonderful stories about Nick Grippo's experiences in Hollywood catering for celebrities. He answers the questions I'd ask, such as what did he make, who did he make it for, and what was the experience REALLY like. The book is fun to read and I received it as a gift recently. The photos of the food are just beautiful, the candid shots with the stars are fun and informal and there is not a stuffy tone to the book, which is why I like it. It was also quite candid and revealing -almost as if Nick is "Everyman" in an apron. The layout was most unusual. It's quite a beautiful and deliscious book and gave me a few insights into Hollywood, along with a lot of laughs and a few tears when i read it..

This book is a culinary tour de force that features a variety of tastes that will whet anyone's pallet! A must read as well as a must use. I highly recommend this book to anyone whose interest reach beyond the den of their house. Enjoy-I did!

While Harry Medved is clearly a movie maven, it isn't necessary for you to be one in order to appreciate what his great guidebook has to offer. For folks who live in California, there will be lots of those "oh yeah, I remember that" moments when Medved explains where a particular scene in a movie was filmed, like the carousel scene in "The Sting" for example (Santa Monica Pier.) But Medved goes far beyond the beaten track, recalling scenes from "Grapes of Wrath" on the Needles Bridge, and even making a stop north of Santa Barbara to El Capitan State Beach for "The Frisco Kid." The many places that are discussed are generally interesting in and of themselves, Hollywood aside. I certainly wasn't familiar with all the films mentioned here, especially the older ones, but the descriptions of the various destination points, supported by hand drawn maps and photographs, have piqued my interest to get out and explore some of the more obscure and overlooked spots around our state.

This book is thoroughly researched and also a fun read! Even if you live in Timbuktu and have no intention of visiting these movie locations, the trivia and backstories about the films and cast & crew are interesting and funny! I strongly recommend this both for film fans and anyone living in or planning to visit So Cal as an off-beat reference source and tour book.

Great book for people interested in movie lore and making a trip to LA or who live there and like to make day trips. Lots of information and the organization of the material makes it very user friendly, and easy to find again when you are driving or trying to show a friend.

I bought it for my husband who is a history buff and he loved it! In California our history is limited sometimes, but this opened up Southern California for him.

Armchair movie aficionados beware! Leave your remote control behind and visit hundreds of famous movie locations in person! This one-of-a-kind travel guide (very few authors can claim that) is the result of exhaustive research covering hundreds of film shooting sites and is a must have for anyone who loves movies and the great outdoors. I liked this book so much, I bought TWO copies - one to keep clean and one whose margins are already filling up with notes as I visit the places featured. Get this book and go touch Hollywood history in person!

This book is well worth the price for just the flyers alone. It is thick and large and in full exploding rock and roll color!! Many good Los Angeles bands are featured (Janes Addiction), and a few that never broke big but are still around (Rebel Rebel), and that is what makes this book the bomb. A Box Set CD and DVD companion will be out in 2005, featuring all the bands in the book. This book lets everyone in on the lifestyle that was the Sunset Strip during that time the 80's to 1990. I'm sorry I hadn't thought of the Idea first!!!

Great Pictures of some of the great forgotten bands of the 80s. This book is a must for people who lived or was in a band through the era and for people who would love to know more on those underground Glam Sleaze Bands. Well worth it.

You would be better off going to Metal-Sludge for this one! They sell it for same price, and you don'thave to get it special ordered. Try out Jizzy Pearl's books too! They are great!

I knew this book would be cool, but after opening it I really felt like I was living on The Sunset Strip all over again... I had to get my husband to go in my storage and bust out my Guns and Roses T-Shirt and my studded belt....
Anna

this is a fun guide to the wonderful city of Pasadena and the territory around it--excellent advice and comments about a city full of history, beauty and community

Hometown Pasadena: The Insider's Guide Writer Colleen Dunn Bates, a friendly Pasadena woman nearing 50, thought she had a good idea: to put together an upscale guidebook about her city -- a kind of travel book for people who live there. And given the intensely local focus of the project, rather than dealing with a big New York publisher, she decided to publish it herself, producing it out of her den and delivering it to stores from the back of her car.

Almost a year later, "Hometown Pasadena" has not only sold 10,000 copies, it has also turned into a small empire: Local bookstores, both chain and independent, Costco and even a hair salon now carry it, and Bates is branching out to other cities.

Bates' formula for the books is simple: "It's about how to really live in a place, and be in a place, and understand a place, even if you've lived there for 20 years," she said recently. "I've never seen anything like it. My model was to not have it look like a Fodor's guide."

Bates' book taps into the growing desire to conduct the business of one's life as locally as possible, in an era of crazy traffic, expensive gas and worries about the effect of a sprawling lifestyle on global warming. As Sara Nelson, editor of Publishers Weekly, noted, books about local topics and niche themes are thriving nationwide, helped in part by digital technology that makes it easier to self-publish books with a professional look.

"I think people are interested in themselves. As everything gets more global, the local stuff seems quaint and personal," she said.

"Hometown Pasadena" features well-illustrated sections on eating and drinking, cultural offerings, and where to take the kids, as well as less-typical features: several pages on the Metro Gold Line, a chapter on public and private gardens, and page-long interviews with key local players, such as architectural historian Robert Winter and Pasadena Playhouse artistic director Sheldon Epps. Bates and her four co-authors also know enough to treat the city as the bull's-eye of a cluster of communities that includes Sierra Madre, Eagle Rock and most of the San Gabriel Valley.

Bates' decision to publish on her own press comes from her experience with the New York publishing world, beginning in the early '80s when she edited a series of French-originated guidebooks for Simon & Schuster...
By handling "Hometown Pasadena" herself, she was able to use local talent not only in its creation but in its sales and promotion. One of her co-authors, Sandy Gillis, has kept the book supplied at her hairdresser.

Even more surprising, Bates has gotten the book into a Pasadena Barnes and Noble, despite the difficulty of small presses reaching the chains.

Bates also handles her press' non-bookstore distribution, which for months meant hauling boxes of books into her Subaru and driving them around town.

"I did it all," she said, "and have the chiropractic bills to prove it."

Some of the secret lies in Pasadena itself, the author believes.

"It's a very literary community, very educated," Bates said. "We have, outside of Powell's, the healthiest independent bookstore on the West Coast. There's educational institutions and culture and art and architecture. And food, and neighborhood identity. It has everything that makes for a complete community: There's a 'there' here."

Either way, it takes the right balance of size, cultural sophistication and local roots -- and possibly insularity -- for a city to be right for one of her books, Bates said. San Diego, for example, is too large and sprawling.
"Pasadena has a healthy self-image," she conceded. "It's in love with itself, and that helps."

Scott Timberg, Los Angeles Times

I was surprised by this complete guide. It was so well written and amusing that I found myself reading it for fun! I thought I knew this town, but I learned so much about it's history, places I've never been etc.. I'm giving it as Christmas presents to my partners at work. I think they'll love it and it's great o have on the shelf for guests. X Chris

LA/So Calif travel books have always given this gem of a city only a cursory glance. It's about time Pasadena got its own book! This glossy new guidebook is chock full of everything Pasadena; it is beautifully detailed and highly entertaining. I am a Pasadena native who thoroughly enjoyed reading about my favorite haunts and discovering new spots to explore. Highly recommnend this for visitors or ex-Pasadenans who want to reminisce about their beloved hometown.

The title says it all: not only does this book tell you what a movie technically is made of (differences between film stocks, sound recording techniques, etc), it also tells you how the movie is shot (lighting, lenses, special effects, etc) but finally it also tells the deeper meaning of certain shots or sequences. Especially that last part is very interesting: with examples from Citizen Kane, Close Encounters Of The Third Kind and many others, the author explains how the composition of the picture, movements and sound can communicate concepts like mood, emotion and relationships.

How Movies Work is an excellent introduction to the process and techniques of filmmaking. For any aspiring filmmaker or movie buff, it will introduce all of the intricacies from pre-production to post-production. Usually, the author's style is clear and comprehensible for the layman; however, there are moments when the text is burdened by the minutiae of the trade: trying to comprehend the definitions of film developing and editing practices is nearly impossible. Nevertheless, these moments are few and far between, and any dutiful reader will leave the book with a valuable wealth of knowledge regarding filmmaking.

What is disappointing, however, is that the book deliberately sidelines even a cursory overview of what the author terms "film theory." Admittedly, Kawin does not disguise the fact that he presents a bare-bones overview of the specific, concrete details regarding filmmaking, but a few pages on the psychological and abstract components of film theory would surely have supplemented the book nicely. Kawin argues that the most in depth analysis of film construction cannot be accomplished without a thorough knowledge of the production process, which is certainly true. While his book elaborately details the production process, it may not satisfy those who are interested in the theoretical constructs that deconstruct cinema.

As a final note, the illustrations are almost always beneficial. The text is, however, considerably dated. Films before 1986 are not included. The text discusses nothing about digital photography and very little about computer-generated imagery. Personally, however, in the age of DVD extra features, there is already a superfluity of this information easily located in the world of cinema, and the text does not suffer considerably from its absence.

You must buy this book if you want to find out how movies work, i.e., how they enrich our cultural experience and how they are made. Kawin's textbook is pleasantly readable by anyone interested in the cinema. It contains a wealth of information from film appreciation to film production (including explanations of various special effects!) to film studies. Every aspect of the cinema is clearly explained and illustrated with examples, and the book contains many still photographs, 96 of which are in color.

I think this is exactly how a "how-to" book should be written. I only wish it had been updated to reflect advances in the 1990s -- this book was first published in 1987 and reprinted in 1992.

Kawin is by far one of the brightest minds in film literature and theory today. His text brings the background of film to light and stresses the importance of all aspects of the cinema. This text is an excellent resource for any student of the cinema.