Brian Books


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Brian Books sorted by Average customer review: high to low .

Brian
Pretty Brown Face
Published in Board book by Red Wagon Books (1997-02-01)
Author: Andrea Davis Pinkney
List price: $6.95
New price: $3.76
Used price: $0.01

Average review score:

Great way to appreciate heritage but needs slight improvement
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2006-04-22
It is a wonderful book to help children appreciate their heritage. The text is well-written.

The people and closenes in the illustrations are beautiful. However, I am disappointed in the quality of the illustrations.

I hope they make a new edition with better illustrations by the time we have our second child.

Positive Toddler Book - a must have
Helpful Votes: 10 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2002-02-05
My son, Maxwell, loves this book. We brought it for his 1st birthday. His dad reads it to him often. It's a positive reinforcement of the uniqueness of being African American. This book does a great job at highlighting the beautiful features of African American children. Maxwell smiles and laughs when he sees his own pretty brown reflection at the end of the book.

Perfect for Little One's
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2005-12-27
This book is great. I bought this for my son shortly after he was born. 11 months later, this is his favorite. It's a great depiction of a father and son and it's a good way for baby to start learning about himself (i.e. Eyes, Lips, Hair, etc.) And the last page has a reflective mirror so he can look at himself. He was physically drawn to his own reflection. Now when he gets to the end, he looks at his face and laughs. You and your little one will love this book!

Great Surprise
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 6 total.
Review Date: 2004-11-27
Based on the editorial written above I passed on this book. I was surprised to find it at a used book shop and after reading it just once to my 14 month old son it became his favorite. He will hunt through about 50 books on his shelf to pull it out. He has started touching the parts of his face as each one is mentioned in the story and even kisses the baby when the book comes to the lips kissing. Of course the mirror at the book is greeted with smiles.

Colorful Love - I Love This Book!
Helpful Votes: 8 out of 8 total.
Review Date: 2005-06-02
This delightful story with equally delightful illustrations is a rare gem. I like the way the baby is taught about having a pretty brown face. I love the loving way the father and child look at one another and interact. It is for all races and it does an excellent job of showing love for a baby and many children will want to explore their own faces after reading and/or hearing this lovely story. Be sure to check out "Baby Dance" by Ann Taylor, et al. as well.

Brian
Raptors of Western North America: The Wheeler Guides
Published in Paperback by Princeton University Press (2007-07-02)
Author: Brian K. Wheeler
List price: $29.95
New price: $19.57
Used price: $16.00

Average review score:

Raptors
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-11-05
The text is technical and takes some work to understand but the effort pays off. The pictures are beautiful and flesh out the text. A wonderful aid to getting closer to some amazing creatures.

the very best
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-03-09
This guide is more like a textbook in its attention to detail, and I rate it the best raptor guide I have seen and read. The photos are great, showing various poses and the way the birds look as juveniles and as adults of both sexes, and the text covers all the traits, habitat, morphs, etc. to help I.D. and understand the birds.

Photos, photos, photos...
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-02-28
This book is wonderfull. With dozens of photos for each bird, this REALLY helps an amateur identify a bird. The best in it's class!

Best of the West
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-28
This is the most comprehensive guide available. The species discussions include practically everything you need to know (molts, morphs, subspecies, habits, etc), and covers Western variants rarely covered in other works. The range maps by Economidy and Wheeler are the gold standard and will, it is to be hoped, encourage others to produce such extremely precise maps. It is a reference work, too large to fit in a pocket, but is indispensable. Keep this in your vehicle and Clark & Wheeler's Hawks of North America in your pocket, and you've got our western raptors covered.

Great book, but what's with PUP?
Helpful Votes: 10 out of 10 total.
Review Date: 2004-02-06
Brian Wheeler has created what are likely to be THE standard guides to these taxa for the foreseeable future. Excellent photos, tremendous detail--a heroic effort with incredibly helpful results.
But what is wrong at Princeton UP? First they mess up Olsen's _Gulls_ to the point that the entire edition is pulped; and now Wheeler's text in both books is marred by what you would think would be embarrassing editorial errors. Wheeler's prose, for the most part serviceable, was obviously never read by an editor, and there are entire passages that make no sense (fortunately, they only rarely include identification matters). The very first page of the author's introduction has a shameful printing error, an entire half-line left blank.
This is a great book, I own it, I use it, I recommend it every chance I get; but the editorial and production slips make me wonder if Princeton has given up on its birding program--or whether it maybe ought to.

Brian
Redwall Winter's Tale
Published in Paperback by RED FOX BOOKS (RAND) (2003)
Author: Brian Jacques
List price:
New price: $10.68
Used price: $7.44

Average review score:

Charming Book!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-06-05
My children adore this very thoroughly illustrated Redwall tale! It gives faces to all of the creatures they have grown to love from reading the Redwall series.

A delightful representation of the world of Redwall
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2003-07-01
This short tale is illustrated by Christopher Denise, who also illustrated The Great Redwall Feast. Denise does a wonderful job of capturing the characters and mood of the Redwall
world. In this tale, traveling players visit the abbey and perform at a feast marking the last day of autumn. The dibbuns hear a bedtime tale of the Snow Badger, the lord of winter. Later the Snow Badger visits the abbey grounds with his army of snow hares to bring the first winter's snow. This is a "winter's tale," the kind of tale that might be told around a fireplace on a cold winter's night, and it includes an example of a winter's tale, the tale of the Snow Badger. A winter's tale typically involves some supernatural elements (See Shakespeare's Winter's Tale for another variation on this genre or Isak Dinesen's 7 Gothic Tales.)

Charming illustrations and wonderful writing
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2003-04-26
Illustrator Christopher Denise does a superb job of bringing a visual feast of animal characters to life in Brian Jacques' "A Redwall Winter's Tale." Amazingly talented artist.

A Glimpse at the World of Redwall
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2005-06-29
This short tale is illustrated by Christopher Denise, who also illustrated The Great Redwall Feast. Denise does a wonderful job of capturing the characters and mood of the Redwall world. In this tale, traveling players visit the abbey and perform at a feast marking the last day of autumn. The dibbuns hear a bedtime tale of the Snow Badger, the lord of winter. Later the Snow Badger visits the abbey grounds with his army of snow hares to bring the first winter's snow. This book should be enjoyable to fans of the series and the TV show.

A great introduction to the world of Redwall
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2002-02-22
A traveling group of entertainers arrives at the Redwall Abbey on the last day of Autumn. The travellers put on a big show, and the Redwallers provide a huge feast. When it is time to put the Dibbuns (youngsters) to bed, Mighty Bulbrock Badger tells a bedtime story. Who brings the wintertime snows? Why, the Snow Badger, of course! But is the Snow Badger real, or just a fairy tale told to the Dibbuns? You'll have to read the book to find out. The pictures are wonderful, perfectly complementing the story. Like Brian Jacques' previous picture book The Great Redwall Feast, also illustrated by Christopher Denise, this is a perfect introduction to the Redwall series for younger readers and a great book for all ages.

Brian
Requiem: Diana, Princess of Wales 1961-1997 - Memories and Tributes
Published in Hardcover by Arcade Publishing (1997-12-17)
Author: Brian Macarthur
List price: $22.95
New price: $2.29
Used price: $0.45
Collectible price: $29.99

Average review score:

HOW THE WORLD STOPPED TO MOURN HRH DIANA, PRINCESS OF WALES
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-10-02
Yes, this book is now 10 years old. And it's been 10 years since Princess Diana died, but this book is a very vivid reminder of that horrible week following her death. That week where I, and I'm guessing millions more, stayed glued to the TV not quite believing what had happened. This book brings the chaos of that tragic time back, but gives us the most beautiful remembrences of the late princess from people she touched. People she visited at hospitals where she shined her brightest helping people.

I was hoping there would be pictures in this as well, but the picture on the cover is the way I'd like to remember her. Beautiful, happy, radiant. And really I wouldn't want to see pictures from that week anyway. It was too sad to remember it just reading about it. This book captured that one week in a tiny time capsule in a way I've never seen any book on history do. Because now that is what she is believe it or not-history.

During the 10 year memorial stuff my 5 year old niece asked who the pretty blonde woman on the TV all the time was. We told her she was a princess who was very kind to sick people and cared for others, but had died before she was born. She looked up at me and asked, "A REAL princess?" When she's older I'll gladly give her this book to show her how the entire world stopped to grieve over the most amazing woman in the world. And tell her how one ordinary person CAN change the world. Princess Diana was proof of that.

So YES! This is a book for anyone's collection!

Emotional and Moving!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-08-23
I think Princess Diana was one of the most loved royal family members of England and the world and this book proves that! I felt like she connected with everyone she met. I never met her but I was in a car traveling through the streets of London once and her royal auto passed by, it seemed to glow with her warmth. Review written by the author of Bruised But Still Strong which contains a poem about Princess Di called HRH.

FORGET THE HYPE, THIS IS DIANA
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 1998-08-24
THE GOSSIP AND SNIPING THAT SURROUNDED HER IN LIFE IS CUT TO THE QUICK BY THE HONESTY THAT CAME THROUGH HER DEATH. THIS BOOK PROVIDES A REALISTIC LOOK AT DIANA. A MUST HAVE FOR DIANA COLLECTORS AND DEVOTEES.

this is the most moving book I've ever read
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 1999-09-18
at least in a very long time. I picked up the book as soon as received and had a difficult time putting it down. Its been a long time (over 2 years) since Diana's passing but this book made it feel like it was last month. All the feelings and emotions came flooding back & made me remember what a great loss this was to the world. Obviously the writers of the essays etc had very strong emotions towards Princess Diana. The feeling of love for this lady comes pouring out of each story.

One of the best Diana books i've read and ive read some!
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 1998-11-17
While dozens of pictorial testimonials to Princess Diana have already appeared Requiem offers more than eighty written tributes and recollections. Dont buy this book for pictures it leaves that to others. But this 43 year old does not mind saying the tributes and recollections moved him to tears. If you are a Diana fan this book is a must have.

Brian
Resilience Thinking: Sustaining Ecosystems and People in a Changing World
Published in Hardcover by Island Press (2006-08-22)
Authors: Brian Walker and David Salt
List price: $50.00
New price: $35.97
Used price: $60.95

Average review score:

A very accessible book
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-10-31
A very accessible book as an introduction to concepts of resilience. Nice use fo case studies which means that an educated layman can get the concepts, and see them applied. I'll be buying several copies as gifts this year for this express purpose.

Todd Davies
www.resilientfutures.org

Resilience in the environment
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-10-05
This is a fascinating and very timely book. Easy to read and understand with many examples from real life.
Makes one understand why the serious problems in our world's environment will not go away unless we fix them. And some very practical ways to do that.

Resilience in a nutshell and put simply
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2008-04-05
Brian Walker, Program Director Resilience Alliance and a scientist with the CSIRO. Canberra Australia, has, with the assistance of science writer David Salt, written the best and most straightforward work on ecological resilience entirely suitable for a wide audience of readers; activists, teachers, scientists from any number of disciplines, interested in gaining a familiarity with a study area that is of critical importance in this present world of catastrophe, forever changing with the calamitous onset of climate change and where stategies of adaptation are quite indequate mechanisms for survival in the white-water world we will have to navigate.

It is not a scientific treatise but a work from which all interested readers will benefit substantially no matter what their background or credentials. This is a twentyfirst century production coauthored with a skilled science writer and a model for any NGO or scientific group who wish to influence and inform policy makers with something they can readiliy understand.. Resilience capability and building such capacity is perhaps the best, but still uncertain, way to buffer social-ecological systems--your everyday environment--from unpredictable, disastrous events and accompanying change. Adaptation and models based on orthodox science are unfortunately inadequate to meet such crises. I recommend this book to any concerned person no matter their level of understanding. They will find something new and enlightening here.

Gem of Useful Education
Helpful Votes: 5 out of 5 total.
Review Date: 2008-02-25
This is a gem of an educational book. Mixing case studies with elaborating chapters on key concepts, it's as a good a volume as I have found for teaching undergraduates, graduates, and practitioners (farmers, factory managers, investors) the core ideas needed to restore a sustainable social-ecological system.

Highlights for me:

+ Optemization is a false premise, simplifies complex systems we do not understand, with the result that we end up causing long-term damage.

+ Resilience thinking is systems thinking. I cannot help but think back to all of the excellent work in the 1970's and 1980's--the authors were simply a quarter century ahead of their time.

+ In a nut-shell, resilient system can absorb severe disturbance.

+ System resilience is affected by context, connections across scales of time and space, and current system state in relations to threshholds.

+ Fresh water, fisheries, and topsoil depletion are major failures.

+ Drivers of environmental degradation are poverty, willful excessive consumption, and lack of knowledge (from another book, I recall that changes to the Earth that used to take 10,000 years now take three, one reason we need real-time science).

+ Key concepts are threshholds and adaptive cycles. Adaptive cycles have four phases: Rapid Growth; Conservation; Release; and Reorganization.

+ Redundancy is NOT a dirty word (just as intelligence--decision support--should not be a dirty word within the United Nations)

+ Ecological networks cannot be understood nor nurtured with a tight linking and understanding of the social networks that interact with the ecological networks.

+ Subsidies are a form of social denial, as they subsidize unsustainable practices and prevent adaptation and change.

+ Lovely--absolutely lovely--chart on page 89 about time-scales of climate and natural disasters like major fires.

+ One size does not fit all--solutions for one social-ecological network, e.g. in the USA, will not be the same as for another, e.g. in Norway.

+ Diversity is the key to regeneration.

+ Governances must be able to see and act upon key intervention points.

+ A Resilient world would be characterized by:

1. Diversity
2. Ecological variables
3. Modularity
4. Acknowledgement of slow variables
5. Tight feedbacks
6. Social capital
7. Innovation
8. Overlap in governance
9. Ecosystem services

Within this small and very easy to absorb book one finds a great annotated bibliography of recommended readings, a fine reference section, and a very solid index.

Other books that come to mind as complements to this one (limited to ten links by Amazon):
The leadership of civilization building: Administrative and civilization theory, symbolic dialogue, and citizen skills for the 21st century
Society's Breakthrough!: Releasing Essential Wisdom and Virtue in All the People
Ecological Economics: Principles And Applications
Natural Capitalism: Creating the Next Industrial Revolution
Green to Gold: How Smart Companies Use Environmental Strategy to Innovate, Create Value, and Build Competitive Advantage
Cradle to Cradle: Remaking the Way We Make Things
The HOK Guidebook to Sustainable Design
High Noon 20 Global Problems, 20 Years to Solve Them
Pandora's Poison: Chlorine, Health, and a New Environmental Strategy
The Blue Death: Disease, Disaster, and the Water We Drink

Good Case Studies, poor writing
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2007-12-11
This book is Latour's actor network theory in another guise, with the physicalization of Kuhn's paradigm shift thrown in for good measure. It is a very interesting book on an emerging way to look at environmental crises (note, not the environmental crisis. We seriously need local knowledge and local experience to manage each individual ecosystem).

My major issues with this book are twofold. One is that it is not well written, though not altogether poorly written, you can simply tell when the science writer came in to jazz things up. Secondly, the authors spend a little too much time trying to convince the reader that resilience thinking is NEW, DIFFERENT, SUBVERSIVE, and the like. We get, on page 29, something that I just cannot stand: a little briefer than brief history of challenge to dogma. Galileo spoke out about the Copernican model (which was still perfect circles, Kepler had it right but Galileo ignored him) and the church shot him down. Darwin dared to say species change and the world exploded! Now, we, the humble new scientists bring you a new challenge to the dogma of ecology today. Give me a break! I would have thought a science writer on the team would have had the experience to leave out this trite nonsense. Just tell me about your idea and spare me the drama! Sorry, but poor history of science is a real pet peeve. :-)

But either way, this is still an important book that should be read by ecology students, politicians, resource managers, and anyone interested in new ideas. The case studies are really informative and clear, and the message is properly urgent

Brian
The Saddest Little Robot
Published in Hardcover by Soft Skull Press/Red Rattle Books (2004-02-06)
Author: Brian Gage
List price: $16.95
New price: $4.98
Used price: $0.98
Collectible price: $16.95

Average review score:

Simple, yet oddly profound
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2006-02-11
I ordered this book for my kids on the recommendation of a friend. Although it wasn't as "classic literature" as I was expecting - I found the book to be one of the best offerings for children I've read in a long time. Gage really does a fantastic job of exploring a vast sociological allegory within an interesting and fast moving plot. But that's an adult talking - my kids just loved the book and really related to the ugly duckling premise centered around the misfit robot Snoot. Very entertaining for the whole family, and highly recommended.

Great All Ages Book
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2004-04-07
This is one of the best kid's books I've read in a long time. Great for kids and interesting enough for adults due to deeper themes the author is using.

the next harry potter!
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2004-03-02
I heard about this book through a great review in last week's LA Times and decided to pick up a copy for my 11-year-old brother. However, when the book arrived, I couldn't help reading it myself! It's a really fantastic story - something both kids and adults would enjoy. In addition to the great illustrations (think Star Wars meets Harry Potter), the story itself has really fun and interesting characters, a suspenseful plot, plenty of twists and turns, and a really sweet ending to tie it all together.
What I liked most though was the message. Whereas some kids books are so over-the-top preachy that you want to roll your eyes, this one has a much more subtle and intelligent analogy... it's actually quite relevant to today's issues!
Apparently, this book is the first in a series, with another book coming out in a couple years. I'm looking forward to it!

A hit with my whole family
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2004-03-01
my whole family: me, my 2 kids, and husband have throughly enjoyed it. even my eldest who's 11 and doesn't read all that much really loved the book. it's very charming, has a great story, and a great main character. I think the last time my kids were this excited about a book was when I first read them Harry Potter.

A moving story, told on a grand scale
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2004-04-12
Brian Gage's The Saddest Little Robot is an impressive work of children's literature about an ordinary little Drudgebot, unhappy in his endless labor in the depths of the Cylinder that powers the light in the great Dome City. Curious about what lies outside his world, he journeys outside, makes unlikely friends, and meets with a great Makerbot who inspires him to return to his home and liberate his fellow Drudgebots. A moving story, told on a grand scale and wondrously illustrated by Kathryn Otoshi, The Saddest Little Robot will prove a welcome and much appreciated addition to school and community library science fiction collections for young readers.

Brian
Second Life: A Guide to Your Virtual World
Published in Paperback by Que (2007-08-31)
Author: Brian A. White
List price: $34.99
New price: $15.00
Used price: $13.57

Average review score:

Very helpful
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-05
This book is very helpful when you are trying to learn how to use Second Life.

Second Life "manual" -a must read!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-01-14
I love this book!! It rocks!! It really helps you get around in Second Life (SL) as a struggling "Newbie" those first few days and weeks. The book is beautifully presented, with high quality illustrations, great tips, and the author's Avatar; "Ansel Gasparini" is a cool dude : ) It really enhanced my whole SL experience.
After you read the book and get on Second Life, go visit the in-world site where you can see some of the stuff in Brian White's book. I highly recommend this book to anyone wanting to start their Second Life adventures..! Let's get this party started... let the adventures begin!!

See you in Second Life!! : )

Excellent read, high praise for the hands on easy to read tutorials
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-11-10
I've read many books on Second Life but none come as close to being the perfect book as this one in terms of helping a newbie understand this exciting virtural world, and how to make the most of the environment, the community, and the economy. Each chapter starts with an overview but quickly gets down into practical applications of the chapters topic and then adds a step-by-step tutorial on how to use that feature or principal to get real stuff done inside of Second Life using common building tools already available to most residents. I just wish I had started with this book instead of having it be the last one of many. A must read for anyone wanting to get the most positive experience out of Second Life. And technical enough for even those who have been residents inside of SL for awhile to learn new concepts and how to apply them.

I highly recommend reading this book if you are even the least bit interested in finding out about Second Life and how it works. And for the verteran an overview but also practical steps to making your experience even richer inside Second Life.

If you want only one book to read for Second Life this is your book.

Excellent starting point for Second Lifers
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-08-09
This is an excellent first book for those who have signed on to Second Life, fooled around some, and have lots of questions. My advice is put a few hours into Second Life, then read this book. The presentation level was just right for me as an intro. But start by going on Second Life, THEN read the book.

Best Intro to SL
Helpful Votes: 1 out of 1 total.
Review Date: 2008-03-05
A good intro that is well illustrated. Almost all the tutorials work like they are supposed to. Much better than the Official Guide.

Brian
Sex, Intimacy, and Business
Published in Paperback by Brilliance Press (2005-09-06)
Author: Lindsay Andreotti; Brian Hilgendorf
List price: $19.95
New price: $12.00
Used price: $1.86
Collectible price: $20.00

Average review score:

Good Edgy Metaphor
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2007-01-06
Likening sex to building and managing a business makes you think of the basics we all want in life, recognition, respect, and feeling human. Good fundamentals in a quick read, a great reminder of what we should be doing to each other if we are truly in touch with ourselves.

What management should know
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2005-12-11
I thoroughly enjoyed this fresh look at the corporate world, especially the examples of how successful businesses treat their employees. It all makes a lot of sense, and gave me some real insight into how management could improve employee performance.

The Reality Of Today's Workplace
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2005-11-28
The nature of people and business has changed so drastically in the past 25 years, even in the 15 that I've been around, that anybody who is not their own boss NEEDS THIS BOOK.
SIB puts into words my unverbalized feelings of today's working world. It opened my eyes to how people communicate, what roles each of us play, and even helped me strategize my own career paths.
We have more means of, but fewer skills for, communication in this technological age. By getting back to the basics of real, intimate communication, we get "naked" with each other, which is both frightening and empowering. In the wake of Corporate Scandals, the Next Wave Of Business will thrive on honesty, openness, and emotional leadership. Unless SIB has been brought into the curriculum, the business will do "okay." Those who care, and know how to show it, will be miles ahead of those who fear change.

From customer service agent to CEO....
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2005-11-28
There truly is something to be learned by people at any stage of the corporate game. This book was nice because it didn't speak over my head. Instead, it gave me honest-to-God INSIGHT as to how I can institute changes in my professional relationships. Don't let the metaphor throw you off!

Insightful Analogy and Great Book!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2005-09-28
I generally don't to gravitate to books about the world of business -- I'm one of the "disillusioned" ones. And, I don't usually buy books with the word sex in the title either! But this book.....WOW! The metaphor (intimate relationships-business relationships) is very well-developed and makes for a very understandable, easy, and humorous read! As I read it, I found myself readily applying what I was learning to both business and personal relationships! I definitely recommend this fresh, new, approach to solving some of the many problems plaguing personal and businesss relationships these days!

Brian
Smile When the Raindrops Fall
Published in Hardcover by The Scarecrow Press, Inc. (1997-12-23)
Author: Brian Anthony
List price: $47.50
New price: $38.49
Used price: $33.85

Average review score:

Not just a great comic performer
Helpful Votes: 12 out of 13 total.
Review Date: 2001-01-05
Until this book appeared, there wasn't much information available on Charley except in Leonard Maltin's book on sound shorts. This great book will illustrates the life of both Charley (Parrott) Chase and his brother James Parrott. Their lives were intertwined, and when one of them had problems it certainly affected the other. While Chase always had a jolly face on, this book illustrates both his triumphs and his failures. Chase worked with many great comics like Charlie Chaplin, Roscoe Arbuckle, Laurel & Hardy, Thelma Todd and the Three Stooges. Chase also directed and/or supervised many good comedies where he did not appear on-screen. There is a very detailed filmography (and musicography) in the back that includes the lyrics to many of the songs that Charley wrote, his many directing credits, and other film appearances. Sure this book is expensive, but if you love silent comedy or early sound shorts you will not be able to stop reading it.

A fascinating and affectionate tribute to a great comic
Helpful Votes: 13 out of 14 total.
Review Date: 1999-03-08
"Smile When the Raindrops Fall" is a fascinating and affectionate look at the career of the vastly underrated motion picture comic Charley Chase (1893 - 1940). It's hard to imagine that Chase, whom time has mostly obscured, could be so vividly portrayed. However, through interviews with Chase's family, friends, and associates, the authors ressurect the comic in a biography that lovingly alternates between hilarity and heartbreak. Calling Chase one of the comic greats is no exageration: this brilliantly inventive and prolific figure contributed to over 300 films as writer, director, or actor (sometimes all three) before his untimely death at the age of 46. Chase worked with almost every major name in early film comedy, including Charlie Chaplin, Fatty Arbuckle, Harold Lloyd, Laurel & Hardy, and the Three Stooges. The reader is taken on a nostalgic tour of silent and early sound comedy, its evolution paralleling the career of one of its pioneers. Excellent photo's and a detailed biography are included. An important piece of Hollywood history has finally been documented, and done justice, in this fine biography.

A great bio on a forgotten comedian!
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2006-04-13
Well, it took me awhile to track this one down through my local library but it was worth it!! Charley Chase practically invented the situation comedy!

This wonderfully concise and well-written bio traces the life of Charles Parrott/Chase from his early days as a entertainer on the East Coast to his move to California and his two-reel comedy career. The book also focuses on many aspects of Charley's personal life, from his protective/co-dependent relationship with his brother, comedy director James Parrott to his own bouts with alcohol. The book is also full of wonderful photos and stills from his films. My favorite parts of the book are the chapters that pertain to his career at his final comedy home, Columbia Studios, where he not only churned out some excellent comedies (THE HECKLER, THE BIG SQUIRT, THE WRONG MISS WRIGHT), but directed other two-reel comedy players of the day, most notably The Three Stooges.

Charley left us all too soon at the age of 47 in 1940, but his legacy of great comedy is out there for all to enjoy!

A Very Well-Researched Book
Helpful Votes: 3 out of 3 total.
Review Date: 2003-05-27
I was introduced to the comedy of Charley Chase by a film collector friend of mine back in college and have always appreciated his unique style. Brian Anthony's and Andy Edmond's book does justice to this far underrated and nearly forgotten talent in a way that is readable and as entertaining as Charley himself. In fact, the wealth of material here is so great, one wonders why no one has mined it for a film. In any event, if you're into early film history, or even if you are just curious about a man who was a powerhouse both in front of and behind the camera, you owe it to yourself to check this book out.

Fine bio of underrated Chase, can be enjoyed again and again
Helpful Votes: 6 out of 7 total.
Review Date: 2002-03-19
I just finished re-reading "Smile When the Raindrops Fall" (third time, I think) and I second the opinions of the other reviewers. Very few authors have ever discussed the films of Charley Chase in print, and nobody has ever delved into the prolific comedian's personal life in so much detail. Brian Anthony and Andy Edmonds have done Mr. Chase proud, amply demonstrating how he created many clever and amusing movies, and how his private life sometimes colored his work. There are many rare and charming photos, including a memorable candid shot from his final days: his camera crew has just presented the new grandfather with "Gramp's Chair." If you've only been casually acquainted with Charley Chase, here's your chance to get to know him. Great reading for movie buffs, and well worth the publisher's price tag.

Brian
Standing In Two Circles: The Collected Works of Boyd Rice
Published in Paperback by Creation (2008-10-02)
Author: Boyd Rice
List price: $22.95
New price: $14.45
Used price: $7.22

Average review score:

Diverse and entertaining!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-10-26
People often assume for various reasons that I'm a big Boyd Rice fan, but the truth is that I'm a latecomer who has been influenced by others who Mr. Rice has inspired. And for the latecomer, "Standing in Two Circles: The Collected Works of Boyd Rice" is an outstanding introduction to this seminal artist whose inestimable influence on musicians, misanthropes and even boozehounds is driven home by Brian M. Clark's detailed biography.

I enjoyed reading "I'll Call You Abraxas," Rice's engaging recounting of his visits with Charles Manson, as well as "Hitler in Zimbabwe" and "Dystopia" while celebrating diversity at the San Diego Department of Motor Vehicles. There is a wry character to Rice's prose, and if you've listened to any of his spoken word recordings you can almost imagine his voice and intonations as you read through his essays.

Of particular interest are excerpts from a previously abandoned project called, "Physiosophy," a series of never-before-released essays written to clarify some of this enigmatic creator's worldview in the 1990s.

BOYD RICE IS ONE HEAVY FREAK!
Helpful Votes: 0 out of 0 total.
Review Date: 2008-10-11
THIS BOOK BLEW MY MIND AWAY. SO MUCH TO DIG. THIS BOOK IS DEFINITELY FOR ANYONE WHO LOVED, "BEAUTIFUL THOUGHTS", BY TINY TIM. IT'S LIKE A PERFECT COMPANION PIECE TO THAT. MORE BEAUTIFUL THOUGHTS...INDEED!

--THE PARTRIDGE IN THE PEAR TREE

Contextualizes the significance of the enigmatic Boyd Rice
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2008-10-06
Boyd Rice is one of those figures whose name seems to pop-up in the most unexpected and seemingly random places, but it's never been entirely clear why he is famous (or infamous). This book helps to contextualize Rice's significance, and illustrates how the whole man is more interesting than the sum of the parts.

Exaustive And Enticing
Helpful Votes: 2 out of 2 total.
Review Date: 2008-10-01
Boyd Rce is an enigma...sort of.
Only people in certian circles really know about the things Boyd has done, and this work of collected essays and lyrics is the definitive collection. Most of the essays were published on Boyd's website in a different form, and most of the magazines and books that were the original sources are hard to find
The essays, like Rice himself, cover a broad spectrum, from pranks, to occult esoteria, as well as Gnosticism and long forgotten pop culture, and also Unpop culture. The entire book is packed with an exaustive amount of information by, and about Boyd Rice, including his lyrics and photography work
Highly reccommended

Put This High on Your List
Helpful Votes: 4 out of 4 total.
Review Date: 2008-10-01
"Standing in Two Circles" is a survey of the writings, lyrics and art of Boyd Rice. Surrealist. Realist. Social Darwinist. Dadaist. Satanist. Vanguard Activist. Philosopher. Pioneer of Aesthetic Martial Terrorism. There's lots of fun stuff and food for thought in the ~35 writings.

Rice and editor Clark have included writings on the topics of: individuation, causes of social decay, mass de-evolution, drinking, extreme budget travelling, film, remembrances of forgotten friends and soap fads of the 1960s. These enlightening essays and musings come from the untoward pen of Rice. To the Rice enthusiast, the several previously unpublished writings are a delight.

The writings are sandwiched between the first complete Boyd Rice biography, penned by the capable editor Brian M. Clark, and a catalogue raisonne of Rice's photography. His photography ranges from the sort of Duchamp context-twisting in the "Documentary photographs" to an appetizing blend of eroticism and Man Ray in the "Erotic and "Things that Don't Exist" photos. Perceptual psychedelia is the overriding theme in his paintings.

And if you're like me and wondered about the wildly divergent lyrics of Boyd Rice's audio-recorded works, the sources are given in the last section of the book.

There is nothing beneath excellent about the inclusions of this work. Outside of Clark and Rice's control, perhaps it would have been great to see more of the "Found Photographs" exhibit.


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