Beck Books

The most fully illustrated book on every Looney Tunes cartoon to date.Every single Warner Bros. cartoon from 1930 to 1989.

Highly recommended!

This book is a great resource to read about these classic Warner Brothers cartoons. It would have been nice if the book had included more groupings by characters in the index. The book is 390 pages long, so it seems that they could have included a few extra pages to list all of the appearances of Elmer Fudd or Yosemite Sam.

Here is an illustated guide to the Warner Bros. cartoons commonly known as LOONEY TUNES AND MERRIE MELODIES. Every cartoon was either a Looney Tune or Merrie Melodie. These include both the short subjects and feature films. One of WB's biggest cartoon stars,Bugs Bunny appeared in tens of cartoons in a 25 year period,1940 to 1964. Bugs' first official appearance was in 1940's A WILD HARE. A few earlier cartoons such as PRESTO CHANGE-O,HARE-UM SCARE-UM and ELMER'S CANDID CAMERA(featuring Elmer Fudd) featured a similar-looking prototype. WB's other big stars include Daffy Duck who debuted in or around 1938. The star's name appeared in some titles of his cartoons such as DAFFY DUCK & EGGHEAD,DAFFY DUCK IN HOLLYWOOD and DAFFY DUCK AND THE DINOSAUR. Same thing with Bugs Bunny(BUGS BUNNY AND THE THREE BEARS,BASEBALL BUGS,BUGS BUNNY RIDES AGAIN and BUGS BUNNY GETS THE BOID). Also Elmer Fudd(ELMER'S CANDID CAMERA,ELMER'S PET RABBIT and GOODNIGHT ELMER). Other big stars are Sylvester,a mean-spirited cat always wanting to kill sweet little canary Tweety. Later stars include Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote,Speedy Gonzales and Foghorn Leghorn(Foghorn first appeared in the 40's). There's also Porky Pig who first appeared in the 1935 Merrie Melodie I HAVEN'T GOT A HAT. Porky starred in many black and white Looney Tunes since that cartoon. This book lists synopses for every cartoon produced by WB. It also gives release dates and production credits with directors. I like the awesome concept of the variously colored rings bordering the beginning and end title cards. Over the years,they changed colors. The sizes changed also as did the studio logo(the original light blue changed to red). Some cartoons made between 1937 and 1940 featured multi-colored rings. WB still produces short subject cartoons occasionally but does more feature films today. This book went to press before the 1996 release of SPACE JAM,a semi-animated film starring basketball great Michael Jordan and featuring WB's cartoon stars. I dedicate the book to the memories of longtime director Chuck Jones,actor-director tex Avery(Jones and Avery later went to MGM),Mel Blanc(voice of Bugs Bunny) and actress Bea Benaderet who later appeared on TV's The Beverly Hillbillies and starred on Petticoat Junction.

I have had a quest to see(and act out)all of the cartoons of Wile E. Coyote and Sylvester. But some episodes appeared on cable networks more than others, and others I saw, but missed the episode name. So I purchased this book to find out which cartoons I've actually seen. It describes the episodes with details such as the ACME products in each episode, the methods the villain uses, and other interesting facts. Buy it if you wish to see all the Warner Bros. cartoons of all or one of the characters!

It's easy to sit back and watch the re-runs of Warner Brothers cartoons and just let them wash over us, but that would ignore all of the work that went into them. We would not get an appreciation of the sheer number of cartoons produced. Luckily Beck and Friedwald were obsessed enough to pull them all together in one volume. Going on a year by year basis, from Bosko cartoons of 1930 to the last gasps of 1969 (and the reawakening in the 80's) the authors provide a landmark reference showing the premiere date, the credits given in the openings, and a thorough synopsis of the action. But of course any reference like this would be an oddity if it was just a listing. But we are provided with two ways to find information - a title index showing the entry (all purpose for grabbing when watching that cartoon), and an index based upon appearances of 15 of the most popular characters. Want to find out when did Marvin the Martian appear? It's here. (1948 - Haredeveil Hare). Wonder how many cartoons starred Daffy Duck - count 'em up. (a whole lot) Just sitting back and reading synopses shows the breadth of jokes and settings that the artists were able to take advantage of. You can also see the repetition that occured when the writers fell into a rut. Just a great book to have on the shelf to pull down when you want and a great guilty pleasure!

Another book my grand daughter needed or college. She tells me it was just what she needed. If you are thinking along the lines of some kind of music related business this book, she tells me is worth the purchase.

If you're a songwriter or composer with a growing collection of marketable songs, you'll want to read this book and learn the best way to get AND stay in the music business. You'll learn that the best way to get "signed" with a great publisher is simply to become one. This important point is covered in the first chapter so you won't miss anything.

Read it carefully, take good notes and apply the basic principles. You'll be glad you did and you'll be on the way to becoming your own "best" music publisher! If you have quality material you'll be in a strong position to negotiate licensing deals for your songs while keeping full control of your own publishing. This is especially important if you're producing "hit" material whose value will increase over time.

As a self-published music composer and producer I can tell you that this book, "Making Music Make Money", has really helped me apply and understand the things I've been doing with my own music publishing and licensing ventures. Don't sell yourself short, learn how to copyright, publish and license your own music. This book will show you how and save you years of trouble and wasted time. Publish your own music and join the new Music Biz 2.0!

Great ideas for starting your own publishing company, but the book is more focused on the song plugger. A better book for publishing company start-up is "Start & Run Your Own Record Label," by Daylle Schwartz.

Has some insight about how to get put on, but not much more than I already knew about.

This book is a must read for anyone that's serious about starting their own music publishing business. It's full of good advice on how to become a music publisher and the roles that a music publisher fills. Eric makes you really think about the course you want your business to take.

I highly recommend it!

I like this one it was as good as the last Disney Fairy book I read, A Masterpiece for Bess, but it was nice. It was nice to see what happen with her an Peter Pan in this one although it the is no continuity to other Peter Pan stories by Disney, like Peter and the Starcatchers. There was no real lesson in this one and the other if fact I don't like the fact that it was okay for Tinker Bell to not ask for help and keep everything to herself that didn't seem right.

We own all of this series! Started reading them when my daughter was 4 (she just turned 5 now), and they are age appropriate. Not too scary and always a happy ending. One book only takes us about 4-5 nights worth of reading together. The longer ones are good too "Fairy Dust and the Quest for the Egg" and "Fairy Haven and the Quest for the Wand", but they are a little bit scarrier than the short books (more appropriate for ages 5-7 I would think).

While I found much of the plot frustrating (why doesn't Tink just tell everyone she lost her hammer? What's the big deal? ...), I found the scene between Tinker Bell and Peter Pan fascinating. Since their relationship is part of such a much bigger mythology, I found it surprising/odd that we would see Peter Pan in one of these chapter books (as opposed to, say, in the hardcover books by Gail Carson Levine), but I thought the author captured Peter Pan well, and my 6 year-old daughter was delighted by the humor in the scene between these two iconic characters. For me, that scene was "worth the price of admission," and, as usual, the illustrations are gorgeous as well ...

I like this book, due to the broad spectrum of Tinkerbell's nature and revealing her naughty side. My daughter is fully engrossed with the book, since she likes everything Tink.

I read TheTrouble With Tink.The Trouble With Tink is a book I love.I love this book because it makes me curious about whether Tink will lose her talent or not.I wonder this because I read'', So it's true,Tink thought. Everone is saying I've lost my talent''.This helps convince me that it was a good book!000

At first page I could not believe we were going to follow Blaine Dunhill for this full book. During the first book, "It Had To Be You", Blaine was a main character and during book 2, "He's The One", he faded to the background. I was worried because I was not sure I wanted to be a part of Blaine's drama again. I however by the end of the first chapter was in love with all of my family of characters again. I cried with Blaine and even learned a few things about myself. I do not think you can understand how the team of writers that make Timothy James Beck (4 writers) can make these characters attach themselves to your heart until you read the three books in this series. I am sold on this writer and will be happy to take any journey with them. I just hope they bring back the Wisconsin/New York family I love sometime in the future.

I say this is a series that is a true gay soap opera with plenty of romance and inner soul searching. Please pick these books up for the summer and enjoy as much as I do.

OK, I admit to being a bit of a snob. Not that I am in to high art, but I always liked to think of myself as above the new glut of mass market gay paperbacks. This series of books, and you should read all three, proves me wrong. They are well written and highly entertaining. I was compelled to move on from one book to the next, and was disappointed when I hit the end of the series.

Then came the real mindblower. At the back of this entry in the series, it comes out that the author of the book is actually authorS! Four of them who write together via mail. I wish I had known this before hand, as I would have looked for changes in voice - in retrospect, it all feels seamless.

Go for it, and have a good time.

This book picks up where IT HAD TO BE YOU left off. As a sequel to IT HAD TO BE YOU, the author fleshed out the character Blaine Dunhill and made him the primary focus of the plot line. The saga of the star-crossed lovers, Daniel and Blaine takes an annoying turn in the story. Daniel and Blaine are alienated from each other, appear to have broken up as a couple, and are attempting to juggle their shared friends while proceeding with their own lives. Their effort to succeed on both fronts, friends and self, are confounded by a pregnancy, a wedding, an evil ex-wife, a wicked gossip columnist, and, unfortunately, the rather mercurial and explosive personality Daniel has devleoped. In the first book, Daniel was a very sympathetic figure; however, in this "episode" of the Daniel-Blaine love epic, Daniel becomes a character who is totally unlikeable. Blaine is, as I said earlier, "fleshed out", however his character becomes annoyingly tepid when dealing with Daniel.

I'M YOUR MAN does explore some interesting new areas such as gay parenting, corporate posturing, the soap opera "industry", transgenderism, and contemporary "coming out tactics". These areas were so engaging that I, as a reader, would like to see how they develop within the context of another sequel. It's time for Daniel-and-Blaine to "grow up", move beyond back biting and quibbling, and take on some of the areas eluded to earlier. I do believe if Mr. Beck writes another "episode" or "chapter" to this story, he will most assuredly have a winner.

This is the third book. I could not believe it when I was reading that Daniel and Blaine broke up. I think that this book is true to life in many ways. I can really see this happening in the gay world. Even my straight friends could related to it.

For a while I was mad at Blaine for not just telling Daniel how he felt. We go on this roller coaster ride with them. The part of the book that Daniel and Blaine go to the fundraiser that Blaines assistiant doesn't want him to go to made me cry. When the assistaint tells Daniel how much Princess 2DI4 ment to her. I felt like Daniel for a moment.

I hope that the writing team of Timothy James Beck get the chance to write more stories about these friends. I feel like it's about time that there are gay novels for adults to read that are filled with characters that we can relate to.

Hunky, cocky Blaine found the love of his life -- and threw him away by over-reacting to some news his honey should have told him himself. Daniel plays his cards too close to his chest and lost his honey when he withheld important information he should have shared early on. They were both thoroughly guilty for the break-up: one made stupid, inaccurate assumptions when he heard part of the information his honey withheld from him. Both remained deeply in love with the other, but neither had the courage to say "I'm sorry" and bring about the reconciliation. I was so frustrated with the inability of either to start the inevitable conversation and the dependency of the plot line on neither communicating well. Yet, by the end of the book, I'd decided that it was better that they didn't reconcile quickly, because the pain and aloneness forced Blaine to grow up (as Daniel told him to do). One of the joys of the book (in addition to the final scenes) was watching Blaine learn about himself and grow to be a big enough man to deserve Daniel at the end. I look forward to the future books in this universe.

I've always heard, "Don't judge a book by it's cover," but this cover is the ultimate in horror and so is the book! This book is full of very entertaining bits of trivia. It covers history and drama when it comes to great horror films. It is a very fun book to challenge your knowledge and reminesce on the movies of your childhood. It really inspired me to catch up on some movies I haven't seen. Luckily,I caught a few of them around Halloween time on television! Good thing I had this amazing, colossal book around!!!!

I'm no expert; my main claim to fame in this area is that Psychotronic Video printed my letter correcting them about US distribution of Italian exploding-Brussels-spouts-opus Alien Contamination. Oh, and I like horror movies an awful lot.

This book is a delight. Some chapter titles ("Dracula and Other Vampires") are obvious but necessary; others ("Screams of Laughter," "Deadlier Than the Male") are quirkier and more inspired. If, like me, you saw most of these films as a kid, The Amazing Colossal Book is a great refresher course. If you haven't seen the films, this book should whet your appetite, as the photos alone are worth the price of admission.

Why isn't it in bookstores everywhere, or piled all over convention tables everywhere? I dunno. The "answers on next page" (rather than buried somewhere in the back of the book) format is a stroke of genius, making it impossible to stop turning pages long after midnight.

I am such a Horror movie buff that I did notice a few of my favorites that were missed but my bother and I had a great time of asking each other questions and I am happy to report we did great........... if you love horror movies this it the book for you................please note that this book contains older movies so you have to be a true fan all the way back to the 1930's...................you will love it.....

It's incredibly gratifying to know that three writers from Tennessee -- long denounced as a hotbed of ignorance and incest -- who are writing about horror movies, no less, can still be bothered to use the Queen's English to do so. It's very well written and quite interesting if you're a fan of the genre. If you're not, well, don't buy it, because you won't understand.

This is just a list of 1,000+ questions about a limited number of horror movies, with answers on the next page. I guess you're supposed to ask them at parties or something for "hours of fun." The questions are certainly trivial -- eliciting a response of "who cares" rather than "isn't that fascinating" -- and it is tedious to constantly turn to the next page to find the answers. It felt a good deal like reviewing for a 5th grade geography test.

Thousands of facts are available, but many are perfectly useless and utterly dull, so why devote a book to them? If the goal of this book is to spark interest in the films or in the horror genre, it has utterly failed. My copy is going into the garbage.

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible

The "Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible" by David Noel Freedman, in my experience, is an excellent resource for Bible scholars. I have been a Judeo-Christian Bible scholar for 40 years and can appreciate the scope and research that this dictionary represents. Although a scholarly reference book, it is non-the-less easy to read and is not pretentious in any way. I find it invaluable in my studies and research.

After reading dozens of reviews on Bible dictionaries, I settled on Eerdmans to add to my graduate-student library. Later, I found that two of my professors in my graduate program were contributors. I found this to be an excellent resource; I used it for a number of exegesis papers (biblical interpretation, etc., etc.) and found the entries to be both adequate and concise. For a one-volume dictionary (as opposed to the New Interpreter's series...part of which is forthcoming), this is a very fine choice. In fact, a fellow student who had access to several reputable dictionaries except for this one asked me to look several things up for her: none of her sources had entries, but Eerdmans did. So, whether you are looking for one main dictionary for your library or another addition to add to your collection, this is an excellent choice.

Generally speaking the book contains a great deal of historical biblical informations and is to some degree an assest to bible study. However, the overall flavor of this book seems not to be faith based. The perspective approach is a scholarly one but at times lacks a critical ingredient for believers. Small matters of disagreement between historians (such as whether the book Matthew or Mark was written first)seem to indicate that much of the writing is from a historians viewpoint vs that of a believer.

I purchased it for an incarcerated felon at the Christian Prison in Richmond, TX. The Chuck Colson Prison Fellowship Ministries 18 month pre-pelease program of "Inner-Change Freedom Initiative (IFI)" is conducted at the Carol Vance (Jester 3) Unit of TDCJ. I mentor ex-offenders prior to release and 6 months after. He says: "I use it daily".

Excellent one volume bible dictionary. Treats a tremendouse amount of topics from books of the bible to people, places and things in the bible, and more. Probably the best one volume bible dictionary available. Very up to date research backs the articles, pespectives range from moderate to conservative.

I have very mixed feelings about PINK PANTHER: THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO THE COOLEST CAT IN TOWN by Jerry Beck. On the one hand, I've enjoyed the book quite much, and usually get it out when I'm watching a Pink Panther film. On the other hand, I believe it has some serious shortcomings. It covers both the live action films, such as those with Peter Sellers, as well as the animated Pink Panthers. I wish the balance were more in favor of the live action, but that's a personal preference, largely dependent on which aspect of Pink Panther you enjoy the most.

Originally, the Pink Panther animated character was created just for the credits of the Peter Sellers films, but later the animated Panther took on a life of his own. So some people are more into one, some more into the other. I love both, so I'm glad the book covers both. However, some of the live action films are given really short shrift here. A few get pretty decent 4-page treatments, but some get only 2, with much of that taken up by graphics and photos. Those graphics and photos are well-chosen, but they don't leave much room for information. And as many reviewers have noted, "Return of the Pink Panther" with Sellers is absent entirely, which is unfortunate to say the least. At the other extreme, the 8 pages given to the 2006 "Pink Panther" with Steve Martin as Clouseau is way too much, as that film deserves less, rather than much more, attention than the Sellers films. Today I'm finally watching the 1969 "Inspector Clouseau" starring Alan Arkin as the Inspector, and while this book has 2 pages on the movie, there's no explanation of the strange situation that neither Blake Edwards nor Peter Sellers were involved in making the movie, and an entire page is devoted to clips from the animated opening credits. On the other hand, many pages are given to quite minor characters from the animated Pink Panther films, such as The Blue Racer, Hoot Kloot, Crazy Legs Crane, and others. Now, if you're mainly into the animated Pink Panthers, this is great, but I'm baffled as to why the book was done this way. A longer book than the 144 pages this one is could have solved these problems.

Probably the biggest strength of the book is the overall look of it. The graphics are great and bountiful, with many good photos from the films, Pink Panthers galore, and lots of fun merchandise shown too. The book is much fun to look at, over and over. While there's not a huge amount of information here, it's still substantial, including a nice homage to Mancini's music, info on the making of the films, and a general history of the whole phenomenon. The data pages on the animated films are also very helpful. Furthermore, I don't know of any better book about the Pink Panther empire, so while I've been critical of some aspects of this book, I still recommend it with reservations to Pink Panther fans.

This book has lots of great pictures, full color, and info on episodes and the creators. One of the best books on the Panther.

This is a fun guide for anyone interested in the Pink Panther movies, cartoons, and all the DePatie-Freleng cartoons that came after the cool cat. It has at least two full pages on each of the cartoons--and there are A LOT of them. Some I remember seeing from my youth (The Pink Panther, of course, The Inspector, The Ant and the Aardvark), others I've never heard of.

The book follows the Pink Panther and his friends through the decades with history, all sorts of tidbits of information, full color screen shots of cartoons & the inspector movies, and photos of period memorabilia. My favorite part of the book is at the back where it offers an episode guide, including release dates and brief synopses of all the cartoons--which is even more useful as they are starting to release some of these cartoons on DVD. The cartoons featured are:
The Pink Panther
The Inspector
The Ant and the Aardvark
Roland and Rattfink
The Tijuana Toads
The Blue Racer
Hoot Kloot
The Dogfather
Misterjaw
Crazy Legs Crane
A great book to curl up with and admire all the wonderful photos and illustrations celebrating the history of "the coolest cat in town." If you like The Pink Panther and those charming classic cartoons (as well as the inspector movies), this book is a must! It is 144 pages beautifully put together with tons of photos, episode guide, and index.

I bought it after groing up going to the theater and watching all of the Pink Panther cartoons brfore the main attraction. As a fan of animation just loved watching all these cartoons and laughing all over again.

This book tells of much information about The Pink Panther. It gives many historical information and how The Pink Panther cartoon/movies progressed, and it is VERY detailed. I think you should buy this book if you're a Pink Panther lover. He is definitely an all-time favorite and classic.

very helpful and informativ

I am a late 20 something male with a number of late 20 something friends who are getting a little concerned. I leave copies around my beach house for the late 20 something women to help themselves to. So far they like it. All who have picked it up have liked it so far. Good luck.

My suggestion to other readers is do not waste your time or money on this book. I saw the two authors on several talk shows when this book was first published. They seemed likable and very much like people whom I could relate. So when the big 3-0 began to approach I ordered it from Amazon. I couldn't wait to tear into it. Unfortunately, I was very, very dissapointed. The best part of this book is the cover, and that's no lie. I ordered this book thinking I would get good information. Instead all I learned was that you can string together pages and pages of quotes from other people who were published years - even decades before you, and if you are lucky enough to get it published you can make alot of money and appear on several talk shows. With the constant quoting and paraphrasing this book reads like a college term paper. A bad college term paper

You are on verge of 30 - you are looking for some guidance on how to deal with the crisis you feel you are going through. Read this book!! Wow - what a breathtaking book it is. It touches on every major issue going through your mind during this time. I found it the most helpful starting at the "Brooding over Breeding" chapter and from then on to the end of the book. I know in my heart of hearts that I will survive this - this book reinforced it and validated all of my feelings. Great for your mind, body, and soul.

Now I know what might be happening to me --- my mind and my body. Before reading Facing 30, I thought I was just one of those people who over analyzes everything rather than listening to gut instincts. This book made me think twice about quitting my job, buying an apartment and leaving my boyfriend all in the same month. Not that it excuses negative behavior or patterns, it simply gave me perspective on why I might be feeling and doing things the way I do.

Crazy Fingers, Annette Carson's outstanding book about that guitar icon known as Jeff Beck, is not filled with stories of sex and drugs, debauchery, or other tabloid trash. Instead, the author focuses her energy on the man and his music. Gearheads will love this book because she includes lots of talk about GUITARS (Mr. Beck plays the git fiddle, doncher know?): How Jeff acquired them, modified them to suit his taste, which guitar he uses on which numbers, and some general discussion about how he gets his different effects. But make no mistake. If you do not actually play guitar or indeed any musical instrument, you will still be pleased by Carson's breezy, very readable writing style (sometimes including her own wry commentary on certain albums; for example, she ranks Paul Rodgers seminal classic roots album Muddy Water BLues, a disc where Beck guested on three tracks, much higher than the original newspaper reviewer.). Plenty of information is also included about Jeff's formative years, his relationships and family life, and most important, his career from Yardbird demigod to jazz-rock heavy, and his relations with peers and backup musicians (including several discussions on his hot/cold friendship with fellow Jeff Beck Group alum Rod Stewart.) Jeff even finally answers the lingering "Spinal Tap" question himself: Is he or is he not the model for Nigel Tufnel, wildman guitarist extraordinaire in the cult classic movie This Is Spinal Tap? (Hint: Jeff LOVES classic cars, and Nigel is seen during one scene in the film reading a hot rod magazine. Hmmmmm!) In short, an excellent, informative read, great for musicians and non-musicians alike, and one which will deepen your understanding of the crazy man that is guitar legend Jeff Beck. As Bill Haley once said: "Crazy, Man, Crazy!!!"

If you want to read about drugs, groupies and gossip, don't buy this book. Although Jeff Beck has influenced countless guitarists for the last 40 years, the average person doesn't recognize his name. He always preferred to restore his collection of antique cars, instead of recording new albums or touring. In my opinion, he is probably the most versatile and innovative electric guitarist ever recorded. Beck has played on sessions for artists including Tina Turner, Stanley Clark, Mick Jagger, Paul Rodgers, Jon Bon Jovi, Wynonna Judd, Chrissie Hynde, Donovan, and Stevie Wonder. His solo albums have always broken new ground and his playing has never gotten stagnant. Beck's only weakness has been choosing inferior songs to fill out his albums. Carson describes one incident when Beck seriously injured his thumb while working on one of his cars. Instead of immediately going to a doctor, he fell asleep and was fortunate not have had any permanent damage done to his hand.

Annette Carson's incisive,comprehensive and interesting Jeff Beck biography, unveils the reasons why Jeff Beck is so enigmatic. Even though Brian May, David Gilmour, Slash, Eric Clapton and Jimmy Page have stated that Jeff Beck is the greatest living guitarist, he remains relatively obscure. This is because he prefers working on hot rods amidst his majestic British estate that is home to countless dogs, cats and Mr. Beck's female companion. However, Beck's volatile and magnificent music career is thoroughly covered by the author. She does a great job via enumerating all the guest appearances Jeff Beck has made on other artists albums. It is amazing how ageless Jeff Beck is and his last three albums are just as spellbinding as "Blow By Blow" and "Wire". He can perform a 110 minute captivating concert without a vocalist and without saying a word to the audience. It was interesting to learn that Jeff Beck has been vegetarian since the late 1960's and that he recorded an animal rights song titled "Skin Thieves". It is no surprise that Jeff Beck is Chrissie Hynde's and Brian May's guitar hero.

"Crazy Fingers" suffers from a disease in common with most unauthorized biographies, in that endless personal gushes combined with magazine interview snippets don't make up for the lack of in-depth access to the subject. However, it is a comprehensive look at Jeff's career, and fortunately gives equal press to early, mid-year and recent history, all the way up through Guitar Shop. Nice binding, too.

Having been a massive fan of the great one since 1965, I was pleasantly suprised to read the many stories behind his more published achievements and musical milestones. A nicely assembled biography with a good balance of interview clips (many humorous), technical guitar talk and tons of tales surrounding sessions, performances, misunderstandings, artistic dilemas and so on. Annette has done a good job of focusing on what's important about this treasure of a guitarist. A discography and many good photos round out the book. What came over most strongly was just how much this man is respected and how he has largely avoided compromise. Most fans will find new and little known facts in this book.

This is a classic, step-by-step police procedural which holds the reader's interest throughout. Martin Beck is a well-developed character, as are the other police and the fascinating characters who flit in and out of this novel. The authors don't waste words, nor do they lead one on wild goose chases. They often paint the police as Keystone Kops and they can't resist getting their little socialist digs in wherever possible. I found this off-putting, but only mildly so. All in all, a good piece of work.

'The Locked Room' is a rather curious book which seems to be more of a statement about the human condition in Sweden during the late 1960s rather than crime story. The authors are clearly a bit left wing and *extremely* critical of their country. Strange, and all this anger about the Swedish social condition does get tiresome, but is works.

As for the story, two rather unusual crimes (a locked room murder first viewed as a suicide) and a bank robbery/murder baffle the Stockholm police force. But as the story unfolds we understand these two incidents are related. The conclusion is surprising and *very* cynical.

My only complaint with the book is that it has a dated feel to it, and the prose (or translation?) is a bit flat. For example during the bank robbery the robber says "hands up!" and the teller says "you'll never get away with it!". Not very original, eh?

Bottom line: a curious but forgotten mystery novel. Not worth seeking out but certainly an interesting diversion.

you can grasp hold of it and show off what you can do." Mickey Friedman


There is no mystery formula more traditional than the locked door mystery. It is almost as old as the genre itself. So, when an author(s) writes a book in which the central plot device is a murder committed in a locked room it can best be judged not for originality but for the panache (or lack thereof) with which it is carried off. Per Wahloo and Maj Sjowall get high marks for performance in "The Locked Room".

"The Locked Room", published in Sweden in 1972 and in the U.S. in 1973 was the eighth in a series of ten Martin Beck mysteries written by the Swedish, husband and wife team of Per Wahloo and Maj Sjowall. The plot and structure of the four Beck mysteries I've read to date do not deviate from the standard format found in any well-written police procedural. In fact, and as noted, this plot seems to pay homage to police or detective procedurals generally. What sets the Beck mysteries apart is their location and character development. Naturally enough, each book is a small window into Swedish life and culture in the 1960s and 1970s when the books were written. Further, as the series develops the character of Beck and his colleagues evolve and the reader slowly obtains a real feel for Beck and his fellow police officers. At the same time the characters, especially Beck, remain far from predictable. However, they are already fully formed in the authors' minds and for that reason I suggest reading these books in order. (Unfortunately, although Vintage Crime/Black Lizard has republished some in this series a few of the books are currently out of print.)

In "The Locked Room" Inspector Martin Beck has just returned from an extended leave while he recovered from gunshot wounds. (The shooting takes place in The Abominable Man) and is tasked with investigating the death of a man found dead in a locked room. At the same time, the rest of his squad are investigating a bank robbery in which a masked, robber has managed to shoot and kill one of the bank's customers. The investigations are, or appear to be, unrelated and the rest of the book is devoted to the parallel investigations.

One of the pleasures of reading these Martin Beck stories is the way in which the reader sees the process of the investigation. There are no Sherlock Holmes-like flashes of genius. Rather, we see how Beck and his colleagues struggle (sometimes comically, sometimes incompetently) to put together the jigsaw puzzle of a crime. At the same time we catch glimpses of Beck's personal life and the lives of his fellow detectives.

Like a good gymnast "The Locked Room" succeeds is showcasing how well Sjowall and Wahloo can work within a tried and true formula. The ending, which I found a bit surprising and thought-provoking, was more than satisfying if more than a bit ironic. Highly recommended. L. Fleisig

Detective Martin Beck is back at work after a near-fatal event at work. A team of colleagues is attempting to solve a series of bank robberies that they are convinced are related. Beck is in the process of solving another case. His work and conclusions are more intriguing than that of the others and finally solved but not prosecuted. All crimes eventually can be all tied together even though they are not officially solved. The crimes are set in the Stockholm of the 70ies and integrated in Sweden's social problems of that era.

While I was expecting a masterpiece along the lines of Henning Mankell's criminal investigator Wallander this book did certainly not live up to my expectations. The stories are very fragmented, the sudden shifts from one story to the other are deliberate but destructive to the reader. I did not get hooked onto the book at all - because of its fragmentation it totally lacks suspense. It is hard to relate nowadays to the social problems of the time and they seem to overshadow the story lines in many instances. I concluded for myself that I could not get interested because of too many contemporary references, which will not make this mystery a classic of its genre. While Martin Beck fills the role of an interesting inspector he is pushed to far into the background even though he is supposed to be the novel's hero.

The seventh Martin Beck novel. Recovering from his misadventures in "The Abominable Man", Beck takes up a seemingly unsolvable case: a friendless, elderly miser, shot one time in the head in a one-bedroom apartment, with locked doors and locked windows, and no gun in sight. Meanwhile, his colleagues are investigating the high-profile shooting of a security guard during a daring bank robbery conducted, apparently, by a beautiful blonde woman.

Although the authors begin to get a little too heavy-handed in their social commentary, this is still one of the better Beck novels (in fact it is regarded by many as the best, though I think its predecessor is better.) The dual plot structure and the improbable connection between the crimes make for a great thriller. The characters are engaging, and the ending is wonderful. Read it.