King Books

Wonderful books for beginning readers. This box set is great value.
I bought the first set of these books for my 6 year old nephew. He lives in the UK where these books are not so readily available as they are here. He is enjoying them very much, so my plan is to be a very cool aunt and keep him supplied with them until he has a complete set.

The Magic Tree House Series is a great learning tool for children to pick up on history, science, etc mixed in with some adventure and fantasy.

Our five year old son is an early reader, and one of the problems we've had is finding good books that are challenging enough, yet age appropriate and interesting. A lot of the chapter books we found to be written more for children 7 years or older, and these didn't hold much interest for him, maybe because the material was too complex. On the other side, if the material was age appropriate they were written in a repetitive style using simple words that he found too boring. These books are just the right mix of interesting, exciting, and age appropriate, and we're glad to have found them. He was becoming bored with reading anything other than magazines, and these books have re-sparked his interest, which is exactly what we were looking for.

I bought the Magic Tree House books 1 through 16 for my eight year old daughter. She loves them. She reads a book in two days. She can relate to the stories and has an easy time explaining what she read. This is a great start-reader for children. Mary Pope uses a healthy combination of every-day words and with some more advanced verbiage. Though my daugter doesn't always understand the big words, she is introduced to them. This challenges her comprehension. I would recommend this series to parents of children ages 7 to 9.

Actually, I'm buying this series of books for two sets of grandchildren. When I started, it was to excite them about the world of books, rather than TV and video games. This series was recommended by my sister who is a teacher's assistant in a pre-school.

The endeavor has been successful so far. One of the grandchildren had stated that he never wanted to learn to read! Now he is doing very well reading in school and is developing a passion for books. He carries HIS books everywhere. Another reads the books to his younger brother and they both have improved their skills in school.

These books are great for starting children on a life-long path of reading!

Did you like the movie? (I loved it!) If yes then you will want this book ... it is all you want to know (and more) about King Kong 2005. A good read.

Having always been a fan of '76 version of King Kong and never having seen the original version, at first when I knew that Peter Jackson was making his updated version, I became excited because it was one of those iconic mosters from my childhood, and also because Peter Jackson's previous works with The Lord of the Rings, which was quite amazing.

This is one very detailed hell of a book!!! Really good technical stuff as well as concept work, I just wish there would have included more Kong pics, either concept art as well as any photo from the movie. But anyway, this stuff is great!!!!

This book is one of the best "Making of" volumes I have read - informative, interesting, intelligent, and with plenty of 'insider' views of the film making process. Refreshingly, the focus is less on the "let's chat with the movie stars" aspect, and far more on the complex process of pulling this huge movie together. A real salute to Peter Jackson and his team!

Very simple...a fantastic book from a fantastic film. Well written and concise. The photography is perfect and fills you in on the myriad of details that went into this stunning film. The parts on how Wellington, New Zealand became New York are worth the price alone. The detail is overwhelming. As someone who lives in New York I was amazed that Peter Jackson and crew captured the rows of piers that once jutted out into the Hudson, towards Hoboken, New Jersey. This didn't have to be put in...yet is a small example of the attention, pure attention to detail that went into the making of this film. This will not destroy the mystery behind the making of this epic...it will enhance it.

Having watched Peter Jackson's remake of King Kong three times already, I wondered so often during the film how they made it all look so real. I never doubted for a second that there was an uncharted island of the coast; it was all so real and vibrant I couldn't help believing. I wanted to know exactly how they created not only Skull Island and it's creatures, but the whole city of New York, the actor's takes on the movie, and Peter Jackson's vision. Having said so, I believe this is the best possible guide for the movie you could have.

Each page is a veritable explosion of color and detail as they take you through step-by-step, explaining the creations of miniatures and models, motion-capture of Andy Serkis, and blue and green screens suddenly turning into lush tropical jungles, or cold, dirty, city streets. They give histories into the Skull Island natives, personal actor narritations of their characters, and detailed explanations of the process of creating an image in the computer and bringing it to life on the big screen. This is one of those books with something for everyone, and you can skip around to whatever interests you most. Myself, I read the entire book and often went back to certain sections to just immerse myself in the creative genius of the people who made this production a reality. It also made me a bit amazed at times, when I learned that the famous log scene was conducted on a bucking constructed log in the middle of a sea of blue screens only 2 meters from the floor. Or that New York wasn't really New York at all. Or even that the biplanes were all reconstructed by hand from old blueprints, because there were no surviving ones. It also talked about teh detail put into the shop windows, where everything was bought or made by hand. After reading this, I had such a deep feeling of respect and amazment for the people who worked on this production, making it as realistic as possible. I know that sounds weird, because King Kong is a fantasy story, but with such heart and detail and life, it's hard to think of it as anything but real. In all, this is the perfect book for anyone who wants more insight into the world of Kong, or even wants to be entertained and amazed time and time again.

A great book for those who wants to learn about Argentinian way of life and traditions. If you can read it in Spanish Language you'll apreciate it more. Regards.-

I bought this edition of the unforgettable classic by José Hernandez (meaning, the one by iUniverse, ISBN 1-58348-811-1) misled by the review below that recommends it as including both, the Spanish original and the English translation, and as being extensively annotated. That review must refer to a different edition, for this one only includes the Spanish text (both parts, Martín Fierro and La Vuelta de Martín Fierro) and is NOT annotated.

It is a spanish editio

If you want to understand the life-style of the gauchos in Argentina by the begining of the century then this book is for you. Unfortunatly unless you read it in spanish you might lose 80% of it's value, since it is written in the gaucho's jargon.

THIS HARDCOVER EDITION IS NOW OUT OF PRINT, GET THE PAPERBACK HERE AT AMAZON: Martin Fierro.

This great King James Bible contains awesome devotions on faith, salavtion, healing, Holy Spirit etc. that will encourage you to study the bible even more. All in All a good Bible to have in additon with other bible translations and bible study books. Read the Word. Study the Word, Speak the Word. Live and trust the Word of God!
www.phm.cc

This edition of the Bible is very inspiring and brought peace to the soul. And the commentaries are excellent. The Bible came in perfect condition and speedily.

I've owned this bible in hardcover for a few years now, and was able to find it in leather, although only in bonded. This bible includes cross references, alternate and equivalent translations, language notes, literal translations, and short explanatory notes in the center column. In the text itself is a feature that I truly appreciate, which are old testament quotations indicated by small capital letters. I like to refer to the old testament quotes, and this immediately highlights them. The subject headings are within the chapters, not at the top of the page, which is a great help when trying to locate something. Also included beneath the subject heading are any applicable parallel passages. The typeface is listed on the box as "large print", and is dark and bold. The paper used in this bible is pretty opaque, so there isn't a lot of show-through of type. I use Micron Pigma pens to mark my bible and they do not appear to bleed through. The particular verses of scripture are color-coded to five themes, prayer, faith, healing, holy spirit, and the presence of God. This is a useful feature when working with people or witnessing. The devotions are fantastic, and have spurred me on to read more writings by their authors such as John G. Lake, E.M. Bounds, Smith Wigglesworth, Charles Spurgeon, Kathryn Kuhlman, and A.B. Simpson. There are indexes to the devotions and the topics they cover. Of course at the end of the bible there is a decent concordance with definitions of the words, and color maps. I really enjoy using this bible, as it contains all the features that I prefer, but is not big and bulky. In my opinion, this is a great Pentecostal bible.

We have quite a few bibles. This is one of our favorites. We love reading what the anointed evangelist throught revelation knowledge have to say. It should be read by everyone and in everyone's home. You will be blessed and fulfilled.

Some Christians still don't know how to Experience GOD. Let the Bible help you. Passages concerning Prayer, Faith, Healing, the HOLY GHOST and the Presence of GOD are highighted through the Bible and in the back there's a journal section for your experiences with each. Want my advice, get it and have yoursel a blast with the HOLY GHOST. Nothing mean or freaky about the HOLY GHOST. He's all class even though He's all fun and games.

This is one of the most beautiful combinations of poetry and art. The poem is really quite beautiful. The art is inspirational. I don't knwo that I'd give it to a couple for their wedding though, cause the poem is about a man who is cheating on his wife....So don't take the advice of the other reviewer, the couple might look at you funny!

It's a book filled with Chagall's thought provoking art and E.E. Cumming's whimsical and witty poetry. They are the perfect match for such a book. And if you have never read Cumming's "May I Feel Said He," you'll fall in love with its surprising and funny subject.

If you are a Chagall or e.e. cummings lover, this book is not to be missed. It is an absolute treasure and such a beautiful marriage of words and art! The images perfectly complement the text. Highly recommended, even as an introduction to either of these two artists.

Just got this book and I love it. I purchased it based on reviews that I read and they are 100% correct. Beautiful pictures and a touching poem. Great as a wedding gift.

A terrific combination of art appreciation classes and literature for reading outdoors--took me back some 35 years to college days in its content, and then back up to the present in its pervasive wisdom. A joy for the ear and eye, just like its message--lovemaking is for lots of ages and stages and a delight to the senses. Should be on every bookstore's front tables.

First revenge.


A chance encounter in a bar gives Gersen a lead on his first target, as does a fortuitous coincidence of transport.

He learns what Malagate actually is, and sets out to track down who he actually is, but has to deal with his henchmen first to get to him.

One thing Gersen has going for him is that your crimelord types aren't always nice to those around him, giving him a lever or two.


3.5 out of 5

If, as was all too possible during the years when this series was mostly out of print, you happened to have started at the wrong end of Kirth Gersen's quest for vengeance on the Demon Princes, the 5 crime lords responsible for the raid on Mount Pleasant that left all but Kirth and his grandfather dead or enslaved, you might have wondered how his quest could have taken him so long, since in the later stages he had amassed impressive resources and connections in gathering information.

Well, he didn't start out that way. (Obviously not, since he and his grandfather lost everything and everyone they loved in the raid.)

This book doesn't begin with the raid itself, or even with Gersen's grandfather shaping him as a tool for revenge (although Gersen's brooding on his memories serves to provide us with both). This phase of his lifelong hunt begins at Smade's Planet, owned and operated as the private preserve of Smade himself. (Practically speaking, it's a worthless hunk of uninhabited real estate, except for the area around Smade's Tavern itself, that legendary neutral ground where troublemakers are thrown into the sea - an advantage to running one's own personal planet, in this universe where interstellar law is nonexistent, certainly as far as the Beyond is concerned.) Gersen, making a precarious living as a bounty hunter while pursuing his private quest, meets Teehalt, a professional explorer who talks too much when he gets drunk. Teehalt has just found a world so beautiful that he can't bear to turn it over to his employer - Attel Malagate. Since Gersen has only just peeled back the layers insulating the Demon Princes from the Mount Pleasant raid, destiny seems to have presented him with his first target...

Malagate is unlike the other Demon Princes in several ways. The Woe is the only nonhuman among them, being a Star King - that ultra-competitive species who only leave their planet if they can pass for human, and have a chance to beat humans at their own game. He alone is neither flamboyant nor given to flights of ego - which, coupled with his alien mindset, don't ease Gersen's task of hunting him down. We see little of the terrible crimes Malagate has perpetrated, apart those affecting individuals such as Gersen himself.

Gersen's quest takes place in a universe wherein humans have had starflight for centuries - how many isn't at first apparent, but the reader learns from a passing weights-and-measures quotation that the calendar referenced throughout the book treats 2000 AD as its zero-point. Most chapters begin with a quote from some work within this universe - a Cosmopolis interview with Smade about his planet, for example. We learn that there is no interstellar government - and in the Beyond, the only large organization is the Deweaseling Corps, who exist to lynch all 'weasels' - agents of the Interworld Police Coordination Company (IPCC). All in all, Vance does an excellent job of creating a densely textured civilization - so much so that if the reader encounters an unfamiliar term, the best policy is to keep reading until Vance makes its meaning clear shortly thereafter (either from context or another helpful chapter heading).

This is not a science fiction series as much as an anthropological and sociological textbook. Vance posits a very plausible and non-utopian future. This future is detailed and so real you could well remark, "I could get killed in this book!" This is such a refreshing change from the dreary infantilism of "Star Trek". This book is, above all things, PLAUSIBLE. "Conservatives" might be expected to love this book and "liberals" to hate it. Here we have no enlightened and merciful elite but, rather, a number of contending circles and forces. No such thing as "The Federation"; simply not enough force to make a universal imperium possible. What'll get you hung on one planet will get you applauded on another. Humans remain humans, aye, but social mechanisms evolve to meet needs.

Kirth Gersen (sometimes called Keith Gersen) is a formidable bounty hunter and occasional secret agent/enforcer for an interstellar law agency. Gersen, however, has his own personal agenda: to seek out and kill the 5 super-criminals (known as the 5 Demon Princes) responsible for the raid on his home planet that left everyone but him and his grandfather dead or enslaved.

To that end, Gersen has been transformed by his grandfather into the ultimate instrument of vengeance. As his grandfather told him following the raid:

"Many fine things your father had planned for you: learning and useful work; a life of satisfaction and peace. All this is gone now, do you understand? But the learning you shall have - the use of your hands and mind. And useful work: the elimination of evil men. What work is more useful than this? Finally, I cannot give you peace, but I promise you ample satisfaction, for I shall teach you to crave the blood of these men more than the flesh of a woman."

True to his word, the old man forges his grandson into an unstoppable instrument of vengeance. In fact, Gersen often seems more a force a nature than a human being, more machine than man in his single-minded quest for revenge. His fighting prowess and physical abilities are without peer; likewise, his mind is sharp and focused.

In Gersen, Vance has created a hero in the classic mold: strong, skilled, intrepid and resourceful. Yet, he must be all of this and more as he hunts down the first Demon Prince, a member of an alien race known as "the Star Kings". The setting for all of this is the "Gaean Reach", which encompasses those areas of interstellar space to which man has gone. Gersen's agenda, however, takes him far beyond this realm into an area where man has seldom, if ever set foot.

When 'The Star King' waltzed away with the Hugo Award in 1963, John Holbrook Vance (aka Ellery Queen) was already a noted science fiction author. However, this first in the Demon Prince series was his first award. And for me and many others, their first exposure great science fiction. Vance has always been a world creator, and in this series he let his imagination run uncheck, creating world's, galactic topologies, entire cultures and countless creatures to go with them. This was a whole order more amazing than Flash Gordon and Superman, and in short order, I was a sci-fi junkie of the first order.

Forty years later, this first tale of Kirth Gerson and his quest for revenge on the five slavers that destroyed his people is still just as readable. Gerson's quest has led him to Smade's Tavern out in The Beyond. Gerson witnesses a killing that leaves him with the coordinates of an unclaimed world that is so beautiful that Attel Malagate (The Woe) is determined to have it. In a series of adventures and accidents, Gerson manages to engineer a confrontation with Malagate's henchmen and finally the Star King himself. I don't want to give away much of the plot because it's charm is in the reading, but expect many twists and turns as threads unexpectedly come together.

Gerson is a complex character. Formed by his grandfather's compulsive need for revenge, the hunter/killer has never questioned his reason for being. Now as the possibility for attaining one of his goals draws near, Gerson begins to realize that there may be life after vengeance. He is not completely comfortable with his own humanity, and this will increase in importance as the series develops. In any case, Gerson is not a pure hero. In some ways, he is as evil as those he hunts. Yet his strong, no nonsense approach to the hunt and a self-consistent set of ethics makes him an extremely attractive main character

Vance isn't happy to provide the reader with just a compelling plot and set of good characters. He likes to fill in all the details of the universe in which his story unfolds. Each chapter has its set of quotes, short essays, planetology reports and other tidbits that gradually build up the context of the books until it has a life of its own. In these jaded times we would no doubt find some of his ideas a bit naïve, but most are still every bit as good a literary device as they were forty years ago.

Vance is one of the few writers who does not bring out a sequel because it is a year later. Instead he waits until the story is ready, making a series that is consistently delightful. This is a piece of science fiction history as well as a pure pleasure to ingest. If you like hard science fiction so finely grained that it reads like fantasy 'The Star King' is something you will come to relish and reread.

I am gald I was able to get this book and it fit with my budget perfectly and I am glad that I got it.

After having this on my wish list for a couple of years, and I finally purchased it after another trip to the Detroit Institute of Arts. If you're interested in Diego and his contemporaries, this book is a must-have!

Read the editorial reviews first and if you are still not convinced that this book does a good job covering the Big Three than get individual books on each. The text is outstanding and puts the works of art into a political context of the time period. The author is analytical, insightful and definitely well versed in the subject matter.There is an exhaustive bibliography, extensive endnotes on each chapter and spectacular reproductions on thick quality paper stock. There are historical photographs of public works in progress and a varity of camera angles of individual murals to show the enormity of the works. I have seen many of these murals on location and this book does an excellent job of portraying them as they are. When you see a Rivera fresco on a wall at the National Palace live or in this case from a pulled out camera angle and see the railing leading to the next floor being dwarfed by the images it is truly impressive. Looking at the details within the murals is the ultimate visual experience where you can get lost in the picture and the meaning. The closeups and details of individual segments are superior. This is art for the peoples public viewing brought directly to you from Mexico to hold in your hands and examine at your leisure. There are several good books out there on Mexican Murals but this one for the money is outstanding. The three artists each had a distictive style but each brought a unifying nationalistic approach to the walls of public buildings. Is one artist better than the other? You be the judge, everyone has their own favorite. If you are unfamiliar with the works of the Big Three than check it out, you are in for a treat.

This is definitely one of the best books out there for anyone interested in Mexican art. Few books can inspire as much as this one, especially for people from Zapotlanejo, Jalisco. It's loaded with many pictures and chronicles the lives of these three muralistas and has in depth coverage of specific murals, i especially enjoyed the coverage on "History of Mexico" mural by Diego Rivera. This book is definitely worth the price and a great addition to any collection. Orale!

Shows a great variety of each artists pieces and movements through out their career.

This is a wonderful book by one of the great personalities of his time. I wish more people of my generation knew who this guy was, and would read this book.

I don't know whether I would have liked King if I had known him, or whether he would have liked me. (In egotists mutual liking is usually based on misunderstandings.) There was much in his life to cause anger, and there was much waste. King was a mercurial spoilt brat with enormous talent, great compassion, great selfishness, idiosyncratic tolerance and intolerance, impressive culture, totally variegated experience, a marvellous capacity for talking about it, and enormous charm. He raises serious doubts about some of what he says, but says it all with such natural conviction that I accept most of it as stated, and most of that without doubt and little reservation.

His is not the charm of the evil, but irresistable rake, nor is it the cutesy "I may be a spoilt brat, but am I not sooo lovable?" It is a talent for dealing with people in certain contexts, and many walks of life, combined with tremendous articulateness, a fine command of English (and, apparently several other languages) an eye for the intriguing, the ridiculous, the deep and the shallow. And a capacity for attracting the people and the disasters that he wrote about so inimitably.

King was artless about his talent. No bragging, no false modesty. The subject comes up repeatedly, but always in context and always naturally and inoffensively. (He was an artist and writer! What do you expect?) He had great wit and he had great humour. In all four of his autobiographies there are many passages that are dangerous to read with a full bladder and there is hardly a page without a light irony that never breaks surface as a grin. I shall not retail them here. I am not King. Read them yourself. And do not expect to read just another book of gags by a reminiscing humorist. King is beyond that. There is a great deal more of life in his telling, than I for one would have liked to live. The expressions he used, such as those quoted by other reviewers in this column, are plentiful, frequently creative, and apposite. But those are frosting on a very substantial cake.

I cannot understand why his books are out of print. Such a combination of entertainment, talent and charm, not terribly dateable in the sense of being tediously topical; I should have thought it to be an instant classic of indefinite appeal. His writing is rewarding at several levels, ranging from gags to art and sociological comment. If you read it without profit, then I am afraid I have nothing to say to you, for we are mutual aliens.

But for anyone who has read this far through this review, I recommend King's books urgently and without reserve. I meant every word of the title. I have thousands of books, but I frequently re-read King's four, usually beginning by dipping in, then growling about no time to spare, and re-starting from the beginning.

I am reviewing this book years and years after reading it because I was moved by the other reviewers. As a child I would sneak to the TV and watch the Jack Paar show, and just fell in love with the elderly Alexander King. His stories were so beautifully told and he was so very Viennese/New York Bohemian. Yes, as a 12 year old, I had a crush on this charming old man. When I managed to get hold of his books, a lifetime of love of the welltold story was given to me. This man, who always had a story, who made life seem like an adventure while telling of his cures for morphine addiction, life as a struggling artist in the 1920s, just should not be out of print. These were wonderful, wonderful books!

Mine Enemmy Grows Older is one of King's best books. As Mr. Kolpan stated in his review, no one could describe a doctor's voice more accurately when King said, "it sounded like marshmellow syrup being strained through a bra." King really could write very vivid descriptions about anything. He usually wrote about what he knew; which i feel made him great. One should remember that King learned Engilsh as a second language; he was born in Austria. He developed a fantastic vocabulary in a short time. He met all the big "shot" publishers, including Mrs. Luce. He was constantly being hired and fired on his way to the top as an artist for newspapers,etc. His "zany" stories are missing from the present day world of writing: no one talks like him anynore--and i find it "sad."

I read this book in the late '60's and it was a used copy even then. But absolutely no one can give you the feel of New York's Greenwich Village scene in the real bohemian days like Alex King. I had occasion to interview Al Hirschfeld, the caricaturist who was Kings best friend. He considered him the smartest man he had ever met. And only King could describe a doctor's cloyingly soothing voice as being "like marshmallow syrup strained through an old brassiere." All of King's four (!) autobiograhies are fun. This one is the best.

My son keeps checking this out from the library and I thought it would be nice to pick it up for him for Christmas or something. Yikes!

I can see why the cost is so high, though. This is a wonderful book. The illustrations are so rich and beautiful. The story is fascinating.

The little guy is 5 and it's his favorite book right now.

This is a fantastic short version of the Monkey King story with incredible illustrations. I used it to help some of my beginning and intermediate level Chinese ESL students. It makes a good format for them to learn English since they are already familiar with the story. Even though this book is written for children adults can certainly appreciate its beauty.

A nice intro to Monkey King & a beautiful book. I could see reading it to a 1st or 2nd grade class as part of an intro to China. If you've talked about collages & how Eric Carle does his books, this would also be a fun book to see. There are also differences the Adventures of Monkey King told by Cheng-En Wu to spot. (My 6 y.o. & I make a game of that at home as we read Wu's version first.)

"Monkey King," by Ed Young, is a visually striking children's book whose story evokes Chinese folklore. The art is a lot of fun; the collages burst with color and energy. The only unnecessary element is an unwieldy gimmick involving pages that fold out of the book. Fortunately, this fold-out gimmick is only a very small part of the book.

The many colorful characters in the book include Red Beard Bandit, Dragon King, Jade Emperor, and the monk Tang. The wildly multicolored title character is a trickster, magician, and likeable rogue. His character is nicely complemented by Guan Ying, the serene Goddess of Mercy. All in all, a good job by Ed Young.

Title: Monkey King
Author: Ed Young
Reading Level: 5-8

This is a great book. I would recommend this book for ages 5-8. This book is about a monkey that is clever and courageous, with an appetite for mischief and showing off. This book has many other characters. It is adventurous book with magic and fun. This is a good book. J

coward's longtime companion graham payn probably comes as close to coward as anyone ever will. he manages to artfully weave the details of his own life with a plethora of new anecdotes -- and old -- about sir noel. the added bonus is the appendices containing previously unpublished coward works, including a tenth play [!] written for "tonight at 8:30".

well worth your time...

Over the course of forty years, South-African-born actor Graham Payn shared the life, love, companionship, and generous wit of that "playboy of the West End world," Noel Coward. This book is a loving and often frank tribute to this great man, who made so many people laugh for so many years, and who, in life as well as on stage, was the very epitome of the word "style". Payn begins with his first audition for Noel and the play Words and Music in the thirties, takes us through the war years, to the decidedly unforgiving (to Noel) fifties, when the critics turned against him en masse, to the triumphant sixties and "Dad's Renaissance" to an adoring public, through Noel's death and the demise of Noel's personal assistant (and fellow biographer) Cole Lesley, up to the present (1993) and the unveiling of a special tribute stone for Coward in Westminster Abbey by no less a person than the Queen Mother. If this book ended after Graham's 250-page-or-so lovely memoir, it would still be worth five stars, but there is more. Much more. In the roughly hundred pages that follow, Payn provides us with the complete Coward writings on theatre, many of which first appeared in the Sunday Times (and which, for my money, prove conclusively that Noel Coward knew more about theatre than any other person who lived in the Twentieth Century). There are also interviews with actresses Judy Garland and Judith Campbell, brief but penetrating portraits on some of the many important figures in Coward's life (including Rex Harrison, the Lunts, and Sir Winston Churchill), and much more. My one caveat that goes with my otherwise-unqualified recommendation is this: please read The Noel Coward Diaries first, so that you get a clear understanding not only of how Noel saw himself, but how he viewed many of the key figures in this book. (Author Payn plays, not surprisingly, a significant part in the diaries.) With these two books by your bedside, you'll have the best and most delicious kind of reading entertainment for many nights to come, and you'll say of Graham Payn's life with Noel Coward: "What a life, indeed!!!"

I read and reviewed this book for my on-line theater magazine -- The new off-Broadway musical about Coward's friendship with Gertrude Lawrence draws much material from this book as well so I found myself referring back to it for my write-up of that show -- both show and book are particularly timely as the Coward centennial celebrations get into full swing.

"An engrossing portrait of this world famous and immensely gifted man,chronicled so frankly by his closest friend...A most vivid account of his career after the Second World war" - JOHN GIELGUD"I greatly doubt if anything written about the Master will ever be as fascinating,as perceptive,as amusing or as touching as Graham Payn's loving portrait." - RICHARD ATTENBOROUGH"It's simply terrific !...So funny and so sensitive." - ELAINE STRITCH"Stories I never heard before bringing Noel vividly to life." - LAUREN BACALL"I greatly doubt if anything written about the Master will ever be as fascinating,as perceptive,as amusing or as touching as Graham Payn's loving portrait." - RICHARD ATTENBOROUGH"It's simply terrific !...So funny and so semsitive" - ELAINE STRITCH"Stories I never heard before bring Noel vividly to life." - LAUREN BACALL

Don't read this book unless you want to fall more in love with Noel Coward than you already must be to read the book in the first place. Mr. Payn has assembled a quilt of memoir, unpublished theatre writings by Coward, photographs, a beautiful reminiscence by one of Coward's leading ladies, and a recorded conversation between Coward and Judy Garland. The whole of the book gives a tender, honest, delightful insight into Coward, the people he loved, the perils and pleasures of his work, and the places he most enjoyed. Lovers and students of theatre will find great rewards in these pages.

It is a generous book; Mr. Payn shares with the reader all of the real stuff of knowing Noel Coward so well and for so long. He does not share intimate details of their relationship, but does share his deep love of the man himself. In short, Coward himself was a man who treasured good taste and true sentiment -- and it is fitting that his life-partner should offer this book in his honor.