Dance Books

We use Margie's books in our classes at yourACT Acting Classes in Atlanta, and Margie herself comes to teach her Advanced Intensive once or twice a year. We were impressed with the book, and even more impressed with Margie. I have been acting for more than 3 decades, and she taught me things about auditions and cold-reading that I had not learned anywhere else. In particular, her "Phrase Technique" allows actors to "take it off the page" without trying to memorize the text as they go. It's revolutionary and freeing.

This is a very worth while book for anyone studying drama. I purchased it for my 17 year old grandson who has great talent and a strong will and determination to enter the acting profession. He followed it step-by-step and set about passing the tasks presented. We live in a very small town without much offered (except for a high school teacher on her own time, as he graduduated early from high school) that is working with him privately. This book was like being in a class and receiving assignments in his junior year while he homeschooled himself, only better. Pauline Adamson

This book gives alot of practical information about the Audition process and the actors interview. Also in the book is the "The Harber Phrase Technique" specifically created by the author. There is advise on your pictures and resumes and more.
I really liked the real-life stories given by popular actors and actresses about their audition experiences.
This a is a great book for any actor who want to have better auditions and get more call-backs.

I LOVED this book! We actors all know what it's like to not prepare the way we need to for an audition. In reading Margie's book, I realized it's not just fear (masked as paralysis or procrastination) that keeps us from preparing. It's cause we aren't sure what questions to ask -- questions that will REALLY stimulate and plug us in when we only have 10 minutes, an hour, a day -- at any rate, not 4 nice, long weeks of rehearsal -- to bring life to the role. Just by reading this, I felt like I had taken a course. For seasoned actors as much, if not more, than for beginners. A handbook of what we could all stand to be reminded of. This book has made auditioning FUN again.

As a talent agent, I always recommend this book to both new and working actors. Margie is one of the best acting teachers in LA. Her book is written in a no nonsense manner and the advice is very valuable. It's the next best thing to being in her class. This one's a must have.

As a baby boomer who grew up watching Lucy, this book is a treasured companion to all those nostalgic memories.

Lucy fans: You have to see it to really appreciate it. No question, you must have this book for your collection. It is phenominal -- a treasure that you will enjoy forever.

This book is great. I think it's like Lucille Ball's actual scrapbook about the show. It has really cool reproductions of things that you pull out of envelopes - like tickets to things and certificates and contracts. You feel like you are really reading her scrapbook.

For the collector, this is a must and so much fun!

Great book and interesting facts. I am a huge fan of Lucy and a great book about her show.

product was ordered on 11/27,but do to canada post office,i finally receive a few days before christmas.wonderful book,which made the person very happy.thank-you

All's I can say is I forgot that this book was just reproductions of the actual items and I could look at this book for hours.

This book served as a guide to go from not knowing anything about iMovie to being able to create a large slideshow project. I ordered another guide first and couldn't get off square one. This guide allowed me from starting at no knowledge to understanding well enough to get my job done. The iMovie icon sat on my desktop for years before this book opened it's utility. A small and worthwhile investment to get the most out of this software. It has even given me the bug to get a camcorder and move from photography to videography.

I love this book. Its so easy to read and informative that it'll suit any age! Its an easy way to get the know-how on Imovie and Idvd and also helps seasoned ammatures (like myself) brush up on the commands and answers any questions you might have.

As digital video cameras spawn in the hands of you, me, parents and tourists like cockroaches in my kitchen we find ourselves needing the kind of technical and aesthetic help not really seen since the advent of `desktop publishing'. Once again a `Missing Manual' has come to my help. `iMovie 3 & iDVD: The Missing Manual' is an excellent book.

I previously reviewed iPhoto2: The Missing Manual and said "The target audience for this book would probably be a little less technical than myself, however when I find myself in a field I don't understand well I don't mind a little stuff for the absolute newbie" -- and once again this is true. iMovie 3 & iDVD: The Missing Manual finds me in an area where I am technically inferior. Once again I truly appreciated this book and its style.

The book is broken up into four sections, one devoted to video cameras and shooting a movie, a large one on editing in iMovie 3, and smaller sections on exporting out of iMovie 3 and on using iDVD. At the end are two useful appendices: the first is a menu-by-menu look at iMovie 3, and the second is an iMovie 3 troubleshooting guide. The latter is often needed and always useful -- iMovie 3 still has more than one bug.

The first section gives a great deal of incredibly useful information about video cameras and how to use them, including hints on various types of shooting such as sporting events, interviews and weddings. The technical information on cameras is perfect if you have yet to buy a camera, including a guide to which features are essential and which unnecessary as you can do the same thing (only better) in iMovie 3. When it goes on to the `how to shoot' section, you get pretty much the same advice you'll get anywhere, but since we didn't really read all of from the last book on video we read (and forgot half the bits we did read) it's nice to have it there again.

The second section does a good job of explaining the details of iMovie 3, even down to some of its shortcomings and bugs. I also appreciated the way it spent as much time on improving the quality of the finished film as it did telling me how to use the various parts of the software. It follows a logical sequence through the movie-making process, giving good details on how iMovie does the job, how to get the best result and what sort of things to avoid -- particularly useful for things like transitions and effects when less is best.

The third section, titled "Finding Your Audience," is a bit more of a problem. It really has nothing to do with finding an audience and a lot more to do with QuickTime. The section first spends ten pages telling us how to get our edited film back onto the camcorder or onto a VCR, then it spends a lot of time dealing with exporting to QuickTime, including posting movies to the web and some info on using the QuickTime player, including some "tricks" with QuickTime Player Pro.

The attention to the finished product in the second section carries through to the fourth section on iDVD, though the writing here is not quite as good. It is incredibly informative, however. I learned a great deal about putting together all sorts of iDVD projects, including ways of customizing almost every aspect of the finished product.

O'Reilly have the usual marketing stuff on their website while Pogue Press have the handy little Missing CD section with links to all the free and shareware software mentioned in the book. Neither has a sample chapter or the table of contents.

One of the drawbacks of getting free software is that we don't get good free documentation. One of the benefits of free software is that we can choose which `documentation' to buy. Some people might prefer the style of the `Dummies' books, others the style of Peachpit's Visual Quickstart Guide. I've had a look at all three and like the balance of depth and explanation that Pogue has in his `Missing Manual' series. I once again find myself recommending a `Missing Manual' to everyone. While catering to the beginner, this book goes deep enough that all but the most long-term user of these two pieces of software will find something to learn in this volume.

Yup. This book really made using iMovie for the first time a walk in the park.
Wiht absolutely no prior experience in this sort of stuff (the closest I've come is Photoshop Elements), I was able to, on the first try, make a music video of my son's first christmas.
I was then able to convert an old videotape from the late 70's into a gleaming, groovy DVD.
The book is well laid out, easy to navigate and above all, usable.
It's a five-star manual, no doubt about it.

I bought this book as an afterthought when I started using I-Movie. At first, like most of us, I thought--hey, I can use I-movie intuitively without a manual...but after my Imovie 3.0 crashed and corrupted the movie I'd been working on for 100+ hours, I was eternally grateful to have it nearby. This manual is wonderfully organized, very easy-to-understand, and answers virtually every question you could have about I-Movie and I-DVD. It walks you through everything from how to shoot footage that is eye-appealing...to editing it to a work-of-art in I-movie...to converting it to a Quicktime video and/or burning it to DVD. It is honestly one of the best manuals I've ever used for anything---clear, concise, yet comprehensive. Thanksfully, you don't need to read the whole book in order to "get started" with I-movie; rather, it's a great tool to pick up on an "as needed" basis while you're editing. This book is definitely worth the small investment. It truly is "the missing manual" for I-movie. O'Reilley has done it again...great job!

Inside Ballet Technique: Separating Anatomical Fact from Fiction in the Ballet Class

The product is excellent

Well researched and referenced and very well written in an almost conversational type tone. I'm a folk based dancer and would recommend this to not just ballet dancers but anyone interested in debunking some of the movement myths we get fed in the dance world that are misleading and sometimes downright dangerous. The book is set out in a logical manner which makes the material easily digestible and the writing is non pretentious, making it accessible to those that may not be up with all the proper anatomical terms associated with dance kinesiology.

Ballet is being taught incorrectly all over the world today except for in a few great institutions such as the Royal Ballet School. Valerie Grieg has brought to light the lies that fill so many ballet classrooms today. She explains the technique of ballet simply and clearly and why and how it works. As a student of ballet, I have been incredibly fortunate to have had a teacher who cares about the technique immensely, and it is comforting to know that people such as Grieg still care about the art's technique! If you are either a teacher or student of ballet, this book is a must read! You will benefit greatly from what Grieg has to say.

This book is great to give you the ins and outs of why we do the things the way we do as dancers. It gives you a better understanding of how the parts of the body work together to achieve the skills we need.

I was assigned this book in college for Dance Pedegogy and found it to be a great resource to understanding anatomy as it relates to dance. It gave me many new insights into allignment, the foot and the hip flexor and not only opened up new posibilities as an instructor, but as a dancer as well.

I've been interested in popular Japanese culture for a long time, so I was pleased to see this new exploration of the interface between Japan and America, . . . though I was somewhat put off by the use of the pejorative word "invaded" in the title. That seems to have been a marketer's contribution, though, because the half-Japanese author, who has become something of a professional explainer of Japanese and Americans to each other, seems not to reach value judgments about the wide popularity of manga and anime in this country, nor about the much more longstanding popularity of everything American in Japan. It's largely a generational thing, though; most Americans over the age of thirty have no idea what Gundam is, nor what "otaku" and "cosplay" mean. And while anime has become increasingly popular in the U.S., it remains deeply Japanese. There's really no such thing as "American anime." Though he comes to no strikingly original conclusions, Kelts does a good job of explaining things to those who are new to the subject.

Mr. Kelts' book about the popularity of Japanese culture in America is first rate. He discusses more than just anime and manga and provides the reader with an easy to understand analysis of Japanese popular culture both in Japan and as it appears in the US. It should be in the collection of any Japanophile.

As an American who is fascinated with Japan, but frustrated with books about the relationship between the two countries, I found Roland Kelts' "Japanamerica" to be a welcome breath of fresh air. Kelts focuses on the growing popularity of manga and anime among Americans, and the "mobius strip" of give and take between the two cultures, but his focus inevitably widens to address the broader mutual fascination between these two worlds. I love the fact that, as an American with a Japanese mother, Kelts avoids the two hazards of Japanophilia and Japanophobia. There is a refreshingly grounded and sensible middle ground in his analysis, a realism that seems to lighten things up and make it all more accessible and welcoming. Perhaps best of all - and this is a miracle in the world of cultural analysis - Kelts is delightfully unpretentious and his prose is as clear and comprehensible as it is filled with fascinating ideas and observations. Never for a moment do we doubt that Kelts knows what he's talking about it - and he brings it all across with infectious enthusiasm.

For those who have been to Japan or have an interest in anything Japan, I highly recommend this book. The author does a wonderful job explaining Japanese pop culture and how it relates to Japanese society and culture. IT was a very easy, entertaining, and insightful read.

I read this book after a Village Voice critic called it "a Wired Magazine article on steroids," and Ain't It Cool News said that it was "an imperative resource." Then Bookforum called it "an amazing ride," and The Boston Globe raved.
Then: Even Pete Townshend of The Who endorsed it!
I am skeptical of books trying to capitalize on trends, and very skeptical of books on Japan. But the chorus of praise from so many different voices was enough for me.
This book is written in lucid, carefully crafted prose--telling you everything you need to know about transcultural entertainment and the psychological and spiritual traumas embedded in pop culture, and also precisely what makes Japan so sexy to Westerners in the 21st Century. It is also hip and smart, and very accessible. I only wished it were longer.
The author is no geek, but a writer of considerable talent and range. Get Japanamericaa now.

heart crushing lareene McDaniel book last Dance is about a 12 year old girl Rachel Deering she loves to dance in fact she dreams of becoming a pro.Lately she isn't felling to hot shes always tired and her mouth is so dry shes so thirsty and she spending more than 2 hrs. in bathroom.Anyway while shes practiceing for BIG tryouts for dance she passes out and she wakes up in the hospilal to find out shes diagnosed with diabeties and to make matters worse she has to take 2 shots a day just to live she questions her self "will i ever dance agin?". thats when she meets another diabetic hunck Shawn who teaches her its better to love and to live life with adventure and a few bumps than to not live it at all.Will she controll her diabeties? will she ever dance agin?Will she live life looking on the bright side with love and compation?

i love lurlene mcdaniel's books. they are tear jerkers because they hit so close to home for many.

Rachel Deering loves to dance. She lives in Miami, Florida. Rachel went to school like a normal teenage girl does, she does her homework, hangs out with friends, and most of all loved to dance. Someday Rachel hoped to become a professional ballet dancer. When her ballet teacher tells her that the Christmas Ballet performance was coming up she got so excited she started rehearsing right away. One day when Rachel was at dance she passed out, then she was transported to the local hospital. When Rachel gets there she finds out that she has been diagnosed with diabetes, and thinks that her life has to come to an end until she meets Shawn when she meets Shawn he changes everything. Shawn was so nice to her that he showed her that even though she has diabetes she can still follow her dreams. To find out the rest of the story you should read the book. I really like this book I thought it was a great book.

Rachel loves to dance and dreams of being a professional someday - and an invite to dance in New York seems to begin her dream, until an incurable illness threatens everything she's worked for. LAST DANCE considers career, life, and the unexpected changes ill health can bring - as well as the new lease on life it can offer.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

Originally, this book was entitled "When Dreams Shatter", and was released in the mid-80s. After going out of print for awhile, I'm glad to see that it's made a comeback!

Something is wrong with Rachael Deering. She's constantly thirsty, can't stop going to the bathroom, and she's losing weight. Then after passing out in ballet class and being rushed to the hospital, the doctor delivers a devastating diagnosis, Type I diabetes. Her pancreas has quit producing insulin and as a result, she has to give up sugar, count every calorie, and give herself two shots a day just to survive. Before her diagnosis, Rachael had dreams of becoming a famous ballerina. Now she and her parents aren't sure whether or not she should pursue her dream. When she meets Sean, a fellow teenage diabetic and a soccer player, Rachael might just realize her dream after all...

Knowing that Ms. McDaniel has a son who has been diabetic since the age of three, I believe that the majority of this story is based upon her experiences as a parent. I think she did an excellent job of dealing with such a tough subject, especially tough for a young person to deal with. I have been reading her books since I was eleven and I still continue to enjoy them now, as an adult.

If you are discovering or reliving the music of the master composer, the epitome of tango, Astor Piazzolla , than you have to have this book. I cannot over emphasize the clarity it lends to the music La Camorra as you listen Tango: Zero Hour and read simultaneously about one of the great 20th century musical figures. This book is fantastic. It is a journey that begins in Mar del Plata, south of Buenos Aries and traverses the globe, highlighting the life of Astor Piazzolla as he spread and expanded his musical vision of the tango worldwide. The authors present a book that begins somewhat dense and challenging at first but than draws you into the magical world of Astor's humble beginnings, continues as he he spreads his tango vigor with evangelical zeal and an untiring work ethic that resulted in over 3,000 compositions; all the while as he rubs elbows with all the major dignitaries and artists of his time and goes through several mariages and many bands with different musicians from different genres.. The authors who colloborated on this great book, about an even greater man, Maria Susana Azzi and Simon Collier, give us a glimpse into Astor Piazzolla that is both intimate and scholary at once; the balance lends itself to the character of the subject. They both have extensive credentials when it comes to tango and Latin America. The portrait of the man revealed is not sugar coated, as the various first hand accounts of dealing with the sometimes troublesome and difficult genius indicates. This is a complete book and a great compliment to Natalio Gorin's Astor Piazzolla: A Memoir that is even more detailed. The book is divided neatly into three parts, Part I Struggle, Part II Man and musician and Part III Fame. the first part deals with his early life up to the mid-seventies and fame takes it from the mid-seventies until his death in 1992. As you can see, from the years indicated, that most of his life was a struggle. As there are many different versions of his compositions recorded, the book serves as a good reference point to distinguish the players or different groups that made the recordings. This is one of the interesting , strong points of the book that helps you understand the music of Astor Piazzolla. The classical-jazz-avant garde-traditional sound of maestro Piazzolla's tango is brought to the forefront with explanations as to the goings on in his life that resulted in such wonderful compositions and the varied interpretations. The book also has several "extras" like a foreward by Yo-Yo Ma Soul of the Tango: The Music of Astor Piazzolla, a family tree, a glossary of South American terms, sources and notes and some great photographs that include some from the family archives. Essentially, this is about as a complete a book as you can find on Maestro Piazzolla and not to be be missed. If you are fan of the tango and the man who furthered the evolution of the soul of the music of Argentina than you need this book. Recommennded for people who want to know more about the controversies and music associated with Maestro Astor Piazzolla's tango.

Piazzola means tango for many people. The first tango music I ever purchased was Piazzola's music. His music dominated Sally Porter's movie, "Tango Lesson." This is a man that you must know about if you like tango, the dance and the music. Even if your interest is 20th century music, you will be fascinated. The story of Piazzola's life is a story of how cultures, music, and people are interrelated. As a person who was born in Argentina, his music was tango; as a kid named "Lefty" who grew up in Manhattan, he felt the influence of jazz. As a musician known as "El Gato," he built on the tango traditions of Troilo, Sarli, and Pugliese.

He began his musical career as a musician who could not read music. Anibal Troilo hired Piazzola because he had memorized the band's repertoire. He studied music and composition while playing in tango groups, and went on for more formal training in Paris. Piazzola loved everything from the classical music of Rubenstein to the jazz of Gershwin. Although we think of Piazzola in terms of tango, many of his contemporary tango aficionados hated his music because it was nontraditional, evolutionary, and avant gard.

This book was of value to me because it increased my understanding not just of Piazzola, but also of the major twentieth century tango musicians and composers. It may not make me a better dancer, but the increase of knowledge added to my appreciation of the music not just of Piazzola, but also of Pablo Ziegler, Romulo Larrea, and Felix Leclerc. It was a fitting complement to "Tango!" a collaborative book by Simon Collier, Artemis Cooper, Maria Susana Azzi, and Richard Martin. You don't have to be a serious student of music to enjoy either book. It will add to your appreciation of tango.

This is the best and most complete document about the life and work of Astor Piazzolla. The authors inter-link Piazzolla's work with the major events of his life and the artistic and political context of the time. If you are really interested in learning about Piazzolla, you should go ahead and buy this book.

Piazzola means tango for many people. The first tango music I ever purchased was Piazzola's music. His music dominated Sally Porter's movie, "Tango Lesson." This is a man that you must know about if you like tango, the dance and the music. Even if your interest is 20th century music, you will be fascinated. The story of Piazzola's life is a story of how cultures, music, and people are interrelated. As a person who was born in Argentina, his music was tango; as a kid named "Lefty" who grew up in Manhattan, he felt the influence of jazz. As a musician known as "El Gato," he built on the tango traditions of Troilo, Sarli, and Pugliese.

He began his musical career as a musician who could not read music. Anibal Troilo hired Piazzola because he had memorized the band's repertoire. He studied music and composition while playing in tango groups, and went on for more formal training in Paris. Piazzola loved everything from the classical music of Rubenstein to the jazz of Gershwin. Although we think of Piazzola in terms of tango, many of his contemporary tango aficionados hated his music because it was nontraditional, evolutionary, and avant gard.

This book was of value to me because it increased my understanding not just of Piazzola, but also of the major twentieth century tango musicians and composers. It may not make me a better dancer, but the increase of knowledge added to my appreciation of the music not just of Piazzola, but also of Pablo Ziegler, Romulo Larrea, and Felix Leclerc. It was a fitting complement to "Tango!" a collaborative book by Simon Collier, Artemis Cooper, Maria Susana Azzi, and Richard Martin. You don't have to be a serious student of music to enjoy either book. It will add to your appreciation of tango.

Nearly ten years after Astor Piazzolla's death, the debate still rages about whether or not his music is "tango". Well, some of it is, and some of it isn't. But the roots of all his music lie deep in the tango tradition and whether or not a particular piece is or isn't tango is of no real importance. The fact is that Astor Piazzolla composed some of the finest music in any genre and all Argentines can take pride in that. I have been a fan of Astor Piazzolla for nearly 30 years but only knew the music. After having read Le Grand Tango, I now feel as though I know the man. Having "met" him, my understanding and admiration of both the music and the man has increased exponentially. Azzi and Collier have authored an easy to follow, entertaining and informative book about El Maestro. One learns not only about his music but about his forceful personality and the forces which shaped Piazzolla and drove him to be the most dazzling musician of the 20th century. His life, his loves, his triumphs and his failures all spring to life here. Though most readers will likely be hardcore fans of Piazzolla, its flowing style makes it an engaging hagiographical read for anyone who has even a mild interest in music history or in the forces and personalities which have shaped and regenerated tango throughout second half of the 20th century.

Recuperating from major surgery last year, I did not feel like reading much or watching television. The only book I read from first to last page and enjoyed enormously was this one. It's likeable, well-written, personal, and totally genuine and honest. All the gimmicks and sensationalizing which we find in many of today's biographies are absent here.

The author's sincerity and vulnerability are disarming and engaging. A charming coming-of-age memoir and a real treat for us readers. I recommend it highly.

Frank Mario Calabria is a man who defies his age and what can be done in life with pizzazz,a good mind and quick feet. It also helps to have a charming partner who lets you believe that you are leading the 'tango'.

His book "Let It Be A Dance" tells the story of a brash young man torn with the hormones of youth and the strict upbringing of an old world Roman/Catholic Italian family. His life is one of hard work, joy and adventure, and some times misadventures. As he traces his family and his own history through the temptestuous times of the mid 20th century, he paints a canvass of life with vivid color and clear memory; perhaps according to Angela, his wife, too clear.

One can find the passion of youth and the struggle to make a life that is above the ordinary. He does so with physical ability, charm and tenacity. His academic career, as a professor of psychology, is almost over shadowed by his passion for music and the wondrous ability to dance. Not the ordinary jazz and foxtrot of the forties, but all kinds of dance wherein he instructs the rhythmic nuances of motion to music.

This literary effort takes the reader inside a passionate and quick mind. A must read for anyone that has ever tapped their toes to a tune and loved the chase as well as the catch .....

In this wonderfully rich autobiography of a second-generation Italian-American boy growing up, I laughed out loud as Frank relates the humiliating experience of being "beaten up" by, of all things, a girl....even while wearing his beloved aviator cap. This episode was told with such reality; I felt I was there and I rooted for him. Alas, he was KO'd by Mary. All of the endearing adventures he encounters are laced with wit and humor. He doesn't pull any punches (no pun intended) when he talks about the oddities and eccentricities of his beloved family. He waxes eloquently about them, even nasty Uncle Frank, the godfather to our author, and his comic aunt who brings laughter to the dinner table with her "machine" to produce the melodic sounds of flatulence. As an Italian-American, I could relate to so many of the funny and, sometime, poignant vignette's Frank describes. A must read and so dearly enjoyed, it will be done in one or two sittings. You will not be able to put it down until Frank closes with his views on the "afterlife".

From a graceful waltz to an exotic tango, it can all be found in "Let it be a Dance." Frank's magical way with words delivers you to the very streets of his childhood, returns you to the uncertainties of adolescence, young love, adventure, and the marvels of fullfillment with career and family. His wit and honesty allows the reader to accompany him on his many heart felt adventures. I found myself gallantly reflecting and returning to times past, in my own life, and recognizing the splender of those times.
He travels a warm and uplifting journey through life's myriad of disappointsments, confussion, and exhilarating adventures, and invites us to come along. I couldn't put this page turner down. It was a gently reminder of all the warm and truely wonderful things life has offered all of us and how truely grateful I am to have had the opportunities to travel my own journey. If I am given a choice to sit it out or dance, I'll dance.

"Let It Be a Dance" is an extraordinary little book that has universal appeal. It transcends age, culture, and education and goes straight to the heart! At first blush this is an honest and touching autobiography of one man's life journey. The stories feel warm, ordinary, and hauntingly familiar. Calabria's descriptions are simple yet exquisitely vibrant. He speaks in pictures that enable the reader to literally envision his memories as if watching an old time movie. He paints an image of the neighborhood where he grew up that is so vivid you can almost see the houses, hear the music and smell the aromas of an Italian family meal.

It is a pleasure to read this story. Calibria is able to draw out your emotions as if he were playing a musical instrument. His wit is quick, unexpected, and hilarious. In an instant his stories can move you to unexpected tears or crack you up with laughter. This is a book that is likely to have a profound impact on it's reader but at the very least, everyone will enjoy the read and wish that Frank Calabria was their grandfather.

The magic of "Let It be a Dance" is that the author has managed to make the insignificant significant. He reflects on his life experiences with such deep respect that the ordinary becomes profound. Awesome stuff! His lesson is simple yet possibly life-altering. Learn to treasure both the sweet and the bitter sights, sounds and hidden memories of your life. Calabria is a master teacher; his lesson is there for the taking.

Critics describe Crooker's poetry here as "a sublime tonic against the darkness" or "spilling over with energy and movement" or "exquisite." The work in Line Dance is all that, of course. Such critical praise is justified and deserved, but leaves out two important aspects readers need to know. One, regardless of topic -- death, autism, failure, loss -- Barbara Crooker distills beauty from it. Two, her joyous words will be easily understood by readers. She welcomes readers into her world and makes them feel at home.

In "Blues for Karen" Crooker reaches out to a dead friend the best way she knows how, through words and images:

How could you die? We weren't done talking yet.
So I am trying to call you using the morning glories,
whose blue mouths are open to the sky,
whose throats are white stars,
thinking those tendrils could trellis upward,
hand over little green hand, so tenacious,
they hang on in any storm...

Crooker's use of metaphors is reader-friendly. We can all relate to her descriptions with a sense of wonder. This excerpt from "Zero at the Bone" takes us to a frozen place where the wintry season joins the unwritten lines of the heart:

The scouring light of winter
scrubs whatever it falls on,
the bright whiteness revealing
all the small incursions,
marks and stains of another year.
In the bare bones of trees, we see
old nests, broken branches, bagworm,
gall, all that was hidden by summer's
green scrim. Now we are at the heart
of things, the bone chill
of zero, the closed eye
of the pond. No secrets.

Buried within "The VCCA Fellows Visit the Holiness Baptist Church, Amherst, Virginia" is one of the sweetest, most touching and comforting ruminations on death I've ever read:

...a deacon speaks of his sister,
who's "gone home," and I realize he doesn't mean
back to Georgia, but she's passed over. I float
on this sweet certainty, of a return not to the bland
confection of wispy clouds and angels in nightshirts,
but to childhood's kitchen, a dew-drenched June
morning, roses tumbling by the back porch.

These poems represent "the thin rind of memory" protecting the juicy pulp that is Barbara Crooker's life and poetic mind. Highly recommended.

Barbara Crooker's poem are easy to like. She has a flair for words and images that touch the heart. It helps to read this book from beginning to end becuase she has organized the poems so beautifully around the central poem, "Line Dance."

In this, her second collection of poems, Barbara Crooker explores the territory of what brings us joy, of what breaks our hearts. Grief and love. "Grief and heart could be the same word," she suggests. "Both have / five letters; both rhyme / with blood." It's not sadness that occupies these poem, rather the idea that in spite of grief, there is joy in the simple things life offers: the swelling bud of a pink peony, grey juncos at her bird feeder, the autistic son who surprises her, the dead who dance at a wedding. Crooker has the ability to bring light into the darkest spaces; her poems burst with color: lemons and the lavish light of yellow, red hearts in windows facing a snowy landscape, brown-eyed sunflowers. There is music in these poems, in her deft use of language, in the surprising and oh-so satisfying way Crooker can bring in that last image, like a bow at the end of a performance. You will leave these poems dancing and satisfied, too, that you were allowed a few moments in the world of her extraordinary poetic ear and eye.

I'm riffing on the warm air, the wing beats of my lungs
that can take this all in, flush the heart's red peony,
then send it back without effort or thought.
And the trees breathe in what we exhale,
clap their green hands in gratitude, bend to the sky.

What Crooker has done with "dance" is splendid, so much so I will never see the word in the same manner for the rest of my life. Every poem is excellent, and all of them seamlessly unified with "la danse de vivre." Bravo to her!

Larry D. Thomas
2008 Texas Poet Laureate

Close to twenty years ago, I read a Crooker poem, "Raspberries," in the collection, The Lost Children. Until then, I had never found such erotic beauty in a fruit ... and beauty/redemption in what scars our lives, as in "Christ Comes to Centralia," from the same collection.

With Line Dance the simple beauty remains, but each seems filled with particulars, e.g., in describing the Pennsylvania mountains, Crooker reveals: "... Blue, Allegheny, Kittatinny / Tuscarora, this big-muscled, broad-backed / hunk of a state." Or in listing the winters of impressionist artists: "Caillebotte's chimneys exhale like glamorous / women in a cafe."

Crooker's strong metaphorical language inhabits the lines, but the poems seem airy and natural. Each word is perfectly placed; the line endings are natural--not straining toward the jarring/illogical effect of much contemporary poetry; and the final lines are lessons for anyone who has ever wondered how to end a poem.

Other reviewers have mentioned the "autism poems," and anyone who reads such poems as "45s, LPs" will understand how, as in other fields of endeavour, less is more! The "less" in this and other poems that deal with the autism of her son, breaks our hearts--less is more.

And, perhaps, in this amateur review, I should end with less: Buy and Read this Book.

A nice book with the screenplay of the movie, some photos from the backstage and a very small interview to most of the main characters. For all the people (like me) who have loved this movie and its marvellous all-star cast.

WHAT IT IS
This is one of the best presentations of a script I've purchased in recent months. There's loads of extras in this paperback including some queries with the principle actors, bascstories on characters, cut scenes and storylines, great photos (behind the scenes as well as infront of the camera) and of course, the full screenplay.

WHY I PURCHASED IT
In general this is one of my favorite movies, but I am also an aspiring screenwriter and am currently using this screenplay to assist me with formatting my own intersecting lives in my screen play. It's a relief to see a screenplay with such depth be easily read and translated by enve a novie like me. Love Actually is proof positive that the best screenplays are rewritten, not written. Thank you Richard Curtis!

amazing movie, soundtrack AND book. i love love love it. when i got it i basically flipped out and sat down and read the whole thing through. this is a must have for anyone who loved the movie!

This is a film for people, like myself, who like movies that make them think, but occassionly need a feel-good flick with just enough complication to keep it interesting. I laughed, I cried, I got up on my feet and danced, I clapped my hands and I'm telling everyone I know that Love Actually is, actually, a must see movie!!!! And, so the screenplay is, also, a must read!

Richard Curtis is a genius! Although I haven't seen the movie version yet, Love Actually the screenplay heightened my excitement for the movie. The screenplay will leave readers giddy with excitement, eagerly anticipating the turnout of every character's story.

All characters are very human and everyone is looking for love in different forms, which anyone can easily relate to. Readers will find themselves rooting for all characters. The book is also complemented with photos of the movie and budding scriptwriters can pick up points on how to make a screenplay.

The book is masterfully written and it is a great read for those who are looking for love because, as Hugh Grant's character says in the opening scene, "I've got a sneaking suspicion you'll find that love actually is all around."