Dance Books

I tend to do things without paying as much attention as I should, like buying this book without researching it's details.

I bought the book because my 5 year old daugher loves to draw, and because she's nuts over the Lion King at the moment. I figured it would be great for her to see not just finished work (like what winds up on television) but to also see sketches, concept drawing and paintings, and the like.

So I bought it. When I received it and saw it's pocket size I was so happy! It's absolutely the perfect size for a little kiddo like her, but the content is professional, serious and mature as I had expected. It's hard cover, totally full of pictures, and has glossy pages printed on high-quality paper. Some folks might have been put off by the size but for my purposes it was more than perfect!

We have great fun looking through it together and looking at all the different styles of artwork. If you or your kid likes to draw or paint, and likes this movie, You'll really be sorry if you don't buy a copy. No I don't work for Disney or Amazon. I just like to encourage and support my childs love for art any chance I get, and boy was this a great addition to her library.

"The Lion King," Disney's 32nd animated film proved to be a smashing success, appealing to young, old, and those in between. As it filled movie houses, Disney mania swept the country again. The breathtaking visual effects that fascinated so many are brought to stunning life in "The Art of the Lion King" by Christopher Finch.

This lavish folio-size volume traces the creative process utilized in making the film, from black and white sketches to glorious full-color reproductions and even splendid fold-outs, one exhibiting the surreal beauty of the African natural world.

Actor James Earl Jones, the voice of Mufasa the Lion King in the film, contributes the foreword, while the text is by Christopher Finch, author of "The Art of Walt Disney."

Those fascinated by the art of animation and those touched by the story of Mufasa, Simba and Scar will treasure this color and fact filled memento.

- Gail Cooke

Apart from the fact that my copy was close to pocket size, i thought that this book was fantastic. Not only does it come filled with amazing concepts, it also is accompanied with the Lion King Storyline. As an illustrator and student animator, it is a wonderful addition to my resources. The sketches through to the complete full colour images are for any Lion King fan, artists or just someone wanting a beautiful coffee table book. If your from overseas like myself and cannot get these kind of books in Australia, i reccommend Amazon and their associate stores. Buy this, its great.

I received this book as a birthday present last month. To say the least, I was overwhelmed with all the artwork in this book. I love it! The artwork and production animation is breathtaking! It's a really awesome book, I'd get it if I were you! You can't go wrong with "The Art of The Lion King"!!!

This book is one of the most exquisite things to come out of The Lion King. The graphics are beautiful. Most of the pictures are ones that are used for the storyboard and layout scenes. I reccommend it to anyone who loves The Lion King, or just Disney in general. Order with confidence - the book is worth much more than its price tag. It is also much more convient than the larger, more expensive version which I believe is no longer being produced.

"As Seen On TV" is a fond look back at those Kitschy products and their even tackier commercials for products as diverse as the Chia Pet to K-Tel records. These products would make household names out of people like Ron Poeil, Billy Mays, and Susan Powter as they pushed products to enhance yourself, your cooking, or your home. These 50 products, most of which are still on the market today and still being seen on TV were the forerunners of the dreaded infomercial which made their way into our homes back in the 1984 when the FCC loosened regulations on TV advertising. You'll chuckle as you read about these products, many of which you probably haven't thought about in years.

The book is arranged by product type including Kitchen Marvels, Fashion and Beauty Wonders, Fabulous Fitness, Entertainment Breakthroughs, Home Improvement Miracles, and Get Rich Quick. A history of each products is provided along with details about its use, inventor, and other interesting facts as well as photos. Ron Popeil is certainly the godfather of these products who got the ball rolling with the Veg-O-Matic, actually invented by his father. Popeil's list of products is long and often notorious and includes things such as GLH Formula #9 spray for balding men, as well as the Pocket Fisherman. The book includes a lengthy interview with Popeil as well.

Other items in the Kitchen gadget category include the legendary Ginsu knives...and who doesn't fondly remember those commercials where they sawed through knives and aluminum cans? Then there is a modern classic as former boxer turned pitchman, George foreman introduced the grill bearing his name.

There's the Blue Blocker glasses, Hairagami, Thigh Master, Matthew lesko's books on free Government money, Dean Martin Celebrity Roasts, The Clapper, and Life Call Alert in which Edith Fore uttered those words that would become grafted into American lexicon, "I've Fallen...AND I CAN'T GET UP!!!" But perhaps my all-time favorite for pure cheesiness would be Mr. Microphone. Who can forget the goof in the convertible telling the girl walking on the street, "Hey Good Lookin', We'll be back to pick you up later!" It was the epitome of tackiness back then and would probably get him arrested today.

Oh...and the book is informative as well. I never knew that the K-Tel in K-Tel records stood for Kevis Television named after its founder Phillip Kevis. A true pop culture treasure trove!

Reviewed by Tim Janson

If you recognize this catch phrase from the Mr. Microphone ad, you'll love this book. Indeed any child of the '70s or '80s can appreciate the nostalgia and humor of the infomercial era, which is vividly and humorously captured in "As Seen on TV". It's all here, from Abtronic to Zamfir, Master of the Pan Flute. If you have any doubt about whether your money would be well spent on this gem, then to paraphrase Ron Popeil: "Just forget it and GET IT!"

What a fun book! I definitely recommend this book to anyone who has ever gotten caught up watching infomercials or home shopping channels. It's fascinating to read about products that became hugely popular, even though in some cases, you look at them now and say "what were they thinking?".

It was especially fun for me because... as I turned each page, I had to wonder if the next product was one I've bought. LOL
Yes, I have succumbed to the "power of the pitch" and bought into the hype. And yes, I have purchased a few of the items in this book (George Foreman Grill, Steamer, etc... and I LIKE the Dr. Ho's Muscle Massage System!) but I'll never admit to how many.

Anyone who has heard "and that's not all" will enjoy the fact that a section with that title is included AFTER the index.

I only gave this book 4 stars because I wanted more products to be in it! It was so fun to read, I wanted more of it.

This book read itself!

I bought this trip to entertain myself for a long drive home from Wisconsin to Florda. (Don't worry- I was the passanger, not the driver. Gusee I should've used the word 'ride' but I'm too lazy to backspace!)

I think the ultimate compliment to a book is when your constantly interupting other people around you to read the next wonderful thing you've read. I lost my voice from this book.

There's not too much to tell in this review. You've simply got to read it for yourself. It is so much more than just a list of goofy things sold via infomercials and TV ads. We get interviews, product history, trivia and much, much more.

We also get the lowdown on what was legit and what wasn't.

So the next time your using the flow-bee and screw up so badly your running to the store for some GLH (if you don't know what that sentence just meant, buy the book)... think of this book. It'll help ya.

And if you're just looking for some easy entertaing reading... this is it folks!

Did folks buy this stuff? They sure did, by the millions according to Harry and Stall. Some of these products would really be hard to parody, the Chai Ceramic Pet that grows vegetation, the Turbi Twist, a hair towel with an elastic loop (with the predictable AS SEEN ON TV on the box) the Copper Tongue Scraper, PROVEN EFFECTIVE was the bold statement on its packaging but it really does look just like a piece of bent metal! Each product has a spread with photos, copy and several colored panels (more on these later) containing background material and other trivia. I liked the Product panels best with their Description, Availability, Claimed Innovation, Upside and the Downside, just read the Downside to each product and really get the truth.

The six basic chapters are Kitchen Marvels, Fashion and Beauty, Fabulous Fitness, Entertainment Breakthroughs, Home Improvement Miracles, and finally Get Rich Quick, between these chapters are some interesting features, pages 122 and 123 cover the rise of the home shopping channels where you will be amazed to find that QVC have studio tours (yours for only [x ammount of dollars]). Ron Popiel, the founder of Ronco, has four pages explaining the background to the infomercial techniques he uses to shift the goods. Incidentally the Ronco story is covered in 'But, Wait! There's More!' by Timothy Samuelson, lots of product photos, vintage ads and packaging and a fairly accurate history of the Popiel family. Ever wonder what happened to yesterday's celebrities, check out pages 74 to 79 to see the Top 100 infomercial-land stars from Allen (Debbie) to Zappa (Dweezel) you'll be surprised who's listed, well, perhaps not. 'As Seen On TV' is a fascinating and fun book covering a subject that most of us would hardly think twice about.

But, wait! There is more! DON'T TOUCH THAT DIAL! Buy this book and get absolutely FREE hundreds of words that only come out in daylight! The book's designer (unfortunately) decided to use pink panels, on many of the product pages, with text in light blue. Big mistake, because it is very hard to read in a normal domestic lighting environment and the type used for the headlines on these panels is hard to read even in daylight!

There were a few poems that didn't seem to fully blossom but the vast majority are exciting, some shockingly good. Some of the absolute best poetry I've read in years.

Georg Trakl is the greatest German poet most english readers have never heard of. Most of his best poetry dates from the period just before and during his service in the Austrian Army during the First World War and this makes him a brief contemporary of Rilke. However, while Rilke's verses are each a world of incandescent beauty and spiritual profundity, Trakl's are intimations of death, decay and expressions of a world trapped in a cycle of hell. His poems are intensely expressionistic, dark and powerful. Simko's translation is excellent; though he makes a few word choices from the German that might be open to debate, he does an excellent job of preserving the poems' structure while transmitting their power in English. My only quibble is that I would have liked it if the selection of poems was broader.

Fans of German Expressionism owe a debt of gratitude to Simko for this book. Trying to find a book from this era can be extremely difficult. Other famous authors of the period (Gottfried Benn, Georg Heym) are almost impossible to find.

The book presents both the original German text, and a very good English translation. Trakl's poetry is bittersweet, the meter almost hynoptic. The reader confronts a collage of colors and emotions in a Trakl poem.

Trakl died young, a victim of WWI. No bullet killed him, but rather he killed himself while working at a military hospital. Although his poems reveal his grief, and his despair, the reader finds himself somehow empowered by them. Out of his suffering came some of the most beautiful poems in the German language.

Trakl strolls through the dream of a child decaying under blood-red leaves. Silver waters shimmer and recieve the sky's terrible unction. In the elderbush, a wolf devours an Angel, or an Angel expires like the sigh of a golden flame falling into a mythic well whose pit is the open mouth of the man gasping as his murderer confronts him. In the knife is reflected the compassionate face of your melancholy sister, or is it a vengeful God's purple laughter? Your face goes cold as the child speaks your name.

This is a very fine book of translations. To read Georg Trakl in German, of course, is far better. His German is extroadinarily beautiful. Trakl was a magnificent poet; I would say one of my absolutely favorite poets. His techniques are marvelous. He comes from, and surpasses, the lineage of such master technicians as Edgar Allen Poe, and Charles Baudelaire. He wrote poetry as if he were composing music, modulating colors and emotional content rather than tones and harmonies. One has the sense that he was divinely inspired. His work is miraculous.

This fun to read and well researched book explores the rise of Bachata from its obscure beginning as a musical style of the rural and urban poor in the Dominican Republic to its eventual international popularity. It is the only book of its kind in english and a must read for anyone interested in bachata's roots.

Hernandez delves particularly into social conditions and class issues which impacted bachata's formative years. The book traces back the Dominican Republic's musical and social climate beginning from the period of the repressive Trujillo Dictatorship (1930s-1961), and through bachata's humble beginnings in the 1960s to its attainment of international popularity by the early 1990s.

While the subject matter is complex, the book flows easily and is actually difficult to put down. Interviews with musicians, colorful anecdotes and plentiful song lyrics all help to bring to life the humor, candor, and also the pains, of the people who created bachata.

An excellent companion to this book is the classic bachata compilation CD Bachata Roja: Acoustic Bachata From the Cabaret Era - the accompanying booklet features an introduction by Hernandez along with many of the photos she took while researching.

I'm glad to have gotten this book, but the cover photo of Raulin Rodriguez is somewhat misleading. I'm a huge fan of Raulin and I was hoping to read more about his impact on the popularity of the Bachata in the DR. There is still a lot of stigma attached to the Bachata as music suited for bothels and shantytowns and the emergence of Raulin and Antony Santos has done much to make this form of music legit in the public view. The bachata of today is very different than the political songs described in the book. It also seems to me that most of the research took place in the Santo Domingo area rather than on the north coast where the Bachata is far more popular. Just as you wouldn't research country music in NYC, it seems odd to research the Bachata in the DR's largest city. A full follow-up book on the Bachata of today would be great that includes the Americanization of the form by such groups as Aventura and the current complexity of the music's guitar form.

Un curioso estudio, un libro de bachata. La primera vez que lo vi no me anime a leerlo. Pensé como todo mal dominicano con el complejo de gazcue que un libro sobre una música que no me gusta no merecía que le dedicara tiempo. Tuvo que pasar un año y un despertar de mi entendimiento para saber que no importa que la música no me guste o que sea de clase baja o que sea vulgar y yo solo escuche música clásica o rock; lo importante es que es nuestra música, nuestra identidad nos guste o no. El libro como una disección cuidadosamente hecha por una antropóloga trata el tema no con la frialdad de un descubrimiento arqueológico sino con la calidez de un tema humano, bueno con toda la calidez que puede hacerlo una norteamericana. Ella trata el tema de la bachata desde la historia de la etimología de la palabra. No sabia y ahora sé que la palabra bachata significa jolgorio, reunión en que las personas tocan música con guitarras. Las influencias de la bachata según la autora provienen de cuba.

El método de investigación de la autora consistió en residir en Republica Dominicana por un tiempo, mientras entrevistaba a los bachateros de radio guarachita, a artistas famosos, a historiadores y sociólogos. El libro escrito en ingles, también posee unas cuantas letras de bachatas famosas con su respectiva traducción, una galería de fotos de bachateros y merengueros y muestra el avance de la música y su aceptación final al llegar bachata rosa de Juan Luis Guerra al escenario y darle un impulso internacional a la bachata. La autora después de este acontecimiento tuvo que cambiar su foco narrativo, porque esta música lentamente se empieza a aceptar en la radio y ha dejado de ser marginada. Me agrada mucho ver que de todas estas cosas salen estudios, libros, análisis y que mi país esta bien representado. Ojala que autores dominicanos se enfrenten a la labor de exaltar lo nuestro y dejemos nuestro complejo gazcuense, nuestra exaltación de lo extranjero sobre lo nacional y nos pongamos a escribir sobre mas cosas de nuestro país.

Luis Méndez.

Deborah Pacini Hernandez offers an excellently researched, intelligently written, and amazingly detailed history of the Dominican Republic's Bachata music. Be forewarned ... this is not an easy book to read; this is not a glib magazine article with a superficial history of Bachata. On the contrary, Ms. Hernandez analyzes the growth of Bachata from a socio-economic / political and cultural point of view and her discussions and overall presentation often read like a doctoral dissertation.

Despite the book's academic tone, it is a wonderfully rich, engrossing study of Bachata and I highly recommend it. The book covers the birth of Bachata (circa the early 1960's) and traces its growth up until the early 1990's. I would like Ms. Hernandez to write another book that covers the explosive growth and popularity of Bachata from the mid 1990's up to the present. Ms. Hernandez is to be commended on her extraordinary research and intelligent presentation. I rate this book: A+.

This is a great book, one that challenges white male assumptions about class and its relation to music. A valuable book for anyone interested in combatting stereotypes, and patriarchal and racist interpretations of 'popular' music. I was reading a somewhat pompous academic's book about hiphop musical culture by someone named Russell Potter, and it almost made me swear off academic books about music. But Deborah Pacini Hernandez is unusual in that she understands, appreciates, and identifies with the best of Dominican popular music. What a great book!

I highly recommend the Black Dog opera books. They're the perfect way to learn about an opera: They include cd's of the opera by outstanding singers, photos of performances, historical and critical commentary, a scene-by-scene summary of the plot, and the complete libretto in both English and the original language, so you can play around with the translation if you're interested. They can't be beat.

This is a wonderful study score to Rossini's wonderful masterpiece. The story of a Barber named Figaro, who is the person that everyone comes to seeking advice.
It's easy to read and the size is standard (9in x 12in). It lies easily on a music stand or desk. It's low price is great for the starving music student. I highly reccommend this for professionals and opera-goers alike.

Be aware that the book shown when you take a "Look Inside" is NOT the book you get. What they show is a bound copy of the musical score with the libretto added. What you get is the libretto described in the written review, no musical score. That having been said, the book you get is useful and of interest, and the CD is a great recording.

One of Rossini's best operas, the Barber of Seville, is immortalized here in another one of Dover's fine scores. From the fast-paced overture to the "Figaro" aria (both made famous in old Bugs Bunny cartoons), this opera is nonstop greatness.

As usual, Dover has provided us with a book of the highest quality: they sew their books instead of gluing them so as for them to stay bound and be flexible, and they print legibly. Unfortunately, legible print is becoming disappointingly rare in modern scores, but Dover is the exception.

For a great score of a great opera at a great price, you can't go wrong with Rossini's Barber of Seville.

This book and CD set are the perfect combination for those who are new to the world of opera and not fluent in foreign language. Better than just a synopsis, the libretto in English lets you read every word so you won't miss the humor or pathos. As a homeschooling mom, I really appreciated this set as a teaching tool. I hope to increase my collection of The Black Dog Opera Library series.

Most Oscar-related books offer only limited pictures and focus on winners, not also rans. This excellent reference volume corrects those two oversights. It is filled with pictures representing the best of Hollywood--all contenders for Oscar's Best Picture are featured with a movie poster representation. Includes some rarely seen poster art, foreign posters, and multiple sized images. Excellent reference and enjoyable volume to pick up over and over.

This beautiful collection of colorful poster art provides a history of Hollywood and American popular culture in a volume that's a delight to leaf through. As with all of Bruce Hershenson's poster books, this one is a tremendous value!

All of Bruce's books are full of wonderful images, but this one offers something extra - a history of ALL the films nominated for the Best Picture Academy Award. If you are a film buff, or you just like beautiful images you will love this book. Every year since the inception of the awards is listed and each nominee is displayed in brilliant color. A wonderful refrence source.

A must-have volume for any cine-buff and film historian! This book, along with its companion first volume, "Academy Award Winners' Movie Posters" is part of movie poster maven Bruce Hershenson's exhaustive multi-volume series of books highlighting the history and beauty of what much of mainstream America has only in the last ten years begun to recognize. And that is movie posters are a "popular art" form that can stand proudly next to all other styles of art from gothic to modern, from expressionist to impressionist. Great film art borrows from all of these styles and this volume, which focuses only on posters associated with Academy Award-nominated films, illustrates innumerable examples. A fine book for any collector (get the hardcover edition if you can, it's harder to find; if Amazon doesn't have it, it's available from Mr. Hershenson directly at mail@brucehershenson.com)!

Like all of Mr Hershenson's books of film posters, this one is full of great reproductions of classic film posters. Movie poster collecting is both popular hobby and big business. For dealers and collectors alike, Mr Hershenon's books give all those interested in the hobby and business of movie poster collecting a ready-reference to images of great film posters for great and sometimes not-so-great films.

One of the best books every written about the Broadway Theatre. Lots of little known facts, lots of pictures. A fountain of knowledge and a must have for every Broadway buff.

This is an amazing book that covers from Gilbert and Sullivan to (almost) present day.
It is very much worth it's weight in gold if you love Broadway and Music Theatre.

This book is great for anyone - from the Broadway musical savant to the average curious person to the theatre student.

If you've seen the PBS television series, Broadway: The American Musical, this book acts as a fantastic companion and will look great on your bookshelf or coffee table!

It's virtually exactly the same as the DVD in terms of following the chronology of the development of Broadway but the great thing about it is it seems to come with additional pictures not seen in the series and great quotes. Forget about flicking on your DVD! If you need a quick reference you could turn to any page and find something interesting about Broadway to read about.

If you enjoyed the series and are passionate about Broadway, I would thoroughly recommend this book as it has everything in there that you'd need to know. Enjoy it!

If you're into theatre, this book is a must-have! You won't find any other book that gives you such a detailed and accurate history of Musical Theatre. The pictures are great and the reading is outstanding!

The 4th Edition of the Camera Assistant's Manual by focal press author David Elkins is a must have for the beginner as well as the seasoned pro. From how to set up a darkroom, to threading diagrams on all "in use" cameras, to lifelong useful tables and charts, this edition has it all.

Nothing comes close to David Elkins' book. It's that simple. This is the best, most complete book on the job of the camera assistant. PERIOD. If you are new to the job of the camera assistant, this book is an absolute must have. If you are a seasoned "vet" who has years of experience working on motion picture sets, again, this book is an absolute must have. Elkins' total description of every aspect of the AC's job is so consise, it's like a classroom in a book. Loaded with every conceivable diagram and chart, and covering every motion picture camera currently being used, this book goes well beyond your typical "job description" type tome.

The bonus materials alone make this book invaluable. Along with the companion website, the reader has vast amounts of precious material available for when the job calls for it...label templates, charts, manufacturer links and contacts, the list goes on and on and on. The best part is the writing style is clear and informative, almost like Elkins himself is teaching you as you go.

Look no further than this book. It's all here.

The Camera Assistant's Manual is a must have reference book for both beginners and experienced professionals in the camera department. If you are a beginner, this manual will teach you all of the basics as well as the advanced details of camera assisting. Although not a substitute for actual experience, author David Elkins also coaches you on how to act efficiently and professionally on a set. This can save you countless embarrassing blunders on your "first barbeque." But before learning all of the AC's duties, the reader is introduced to the basics of cinematography and a complete overview of the camera department. This is extremely helpful - allowing the beginner to understand the "big picture" first. If you are an experienced professional, Elkins gives you hundreds of tips and suggestions that will add to your knowledge base and help your job go smoothly. This 4th edition contains the most complete and up to date camera diagrams, tables, and formulas of any single reference source. Imagine your relief when you have to load and thread a new camera for the first time. The Camera Assistant's Manual is worth it's weight in gold.

I bought this book when I was hired to AC for a project on equipment I had never worked with before. For one of those, "Holly crap! I agreed to do a job I only know how to do part of!" moments, this book is great. Every question I could think of was answered thoroughly and I mean THOROUGHLY. If you want to learn exactly what the responsibilities of an Assistant Camera Person are and how best to execute them read this book! If you are a working AC and want an easy to read, text-book style reference this is it.

David Elkins's The Camera Assistant's Manual, Fourth Edition is the best technical book around, and one of the best books on movies, period.

Dave manages to cover every aspect of an assistant's job, no matter how obscure or infrequently encountered. But the completeness is only one aspect which recommends it to any aspiring or working cinematographer.

Written in a clear, conversational manner, Dave manages to demystify both the jargon and the sometimes strange job of an assistant. His accounts of procedure for both first and second assistants clarify what we in the business call "industry standard": the accepted, professional way of conducting yourself and doing a job. Outside of a job on a
Hollywood set, it is nearly impossible to learn these classic, time-saving routines. And unless you've been a pro in the business, you're not going to know about such things as the relative merits of Magliner and Rubbermaid carts for hauling equipment.

The book covers the general characteristics of film, cameras, and lenses in such a way as to give a general technical education. Dave also gives a valuable overview of the camera department and its place in film production overall.

What many readers will find most useful are the sections on troubleshooting, the diagrams and threading patterns of every currently used camera, and the wealth of forms and lists to organize the on-set work.

I've tried to give a good idea of what the book covers, but it contains much, much more. I've been using The Camera Assistant's Manual since the first edition. This is the biggest and the best version. I only wish that, when I started as a camera assistant, I had had access to such a clear, helpful book.

This is an excellent book covering almost every aspect of not just chanting but understanding what all those lines, dots and wiggles surrounding the text in the chumash mean. There is a complete rundown of every te'am and how it fits into the context of the verses, and there is an example in a later section on how each te'am is chanted, basically in the Ashkenazi tradition. There is also a lot of interesting history of the development of the Torah scrolls and history on Torah and Tanakh traditions and also a section on pronunciation.

One word of warning. In order to understand the significance of the te'amim in the context of the verses, you need to have a fairly good knowledge of biblical Hebrew, both vocabulary and grammar. The context of the words in a verse determines which te'amim is assigned to their accents. This is, of course, separate from the te'amim that are assigned to indicate the vowels and pronunciation.

If you want to know absolutely everything about chanting Torah, Haftarah, or one of the Megillot, this book is for you. Every special circumstance is discussed, every rule of reading is discussed and the history and evolution of how and why we chant the way we do today is discussed. It is a wonderful resource for those who teach trope.

This book is a must for anyone seriously studying the nuances of cantillation. This large tome includes chapters on grammar, punctuation, and epistemology. I recently heard a lecture on the meaning of the trope (musical notation)in relation to the meaning of the Hebrew words; amazingly, they informed each other. Such information fills these pages. My son, who studies old manuscripts elaborating some of these topics, was thrilled to receive this book as a birthday gift. The author, Joshua Jacobson, is also the director of a chorale, specializing in Jewish music and his CDs are well worth the price. He's a master in many areas of music and I was fortunate to attend a conference recently where he was the keynote speaker. He's an outstanding scholar and a mensch.

I know of no book that can even compare to the scope and depth of this one, therefore I cannot give it anything but 5 stars. It is a thorough reference of the history and melodies of the cantillation, including a CD and musical notation of all cantillations used for public reading. It is appropriate for all levels of knowledge--from a beginner to an experienced reader.
The grammar he presents is not quite up-to-date and there are minor problems with the phonetic notation he gives certain letters and vowels. However, all in all it is quite excellent.

It is a great book that finally shows that the cantilation is not arbitrary, how it contributes to the sense of the text, how
it works with grammar. Instead of teaching the Taamim as
a dogma, it actually shows how one can understand a text and
put the Taamim himself. It also reveals the grammar of the texts.
I bought four more for my friends.

This book is a real treasure, filled with love, deceit, friendship and strength. The Greek-American sisters Nicole and Theodora, struggled with the family values they believed in and the real world they lived in. The beautifully interwoven Parsenis family, provided support and guidance for each other.

Theodora had to come to terms with an adulterous husband and her alcoholic Mother in law. While Nicole's character developed, she began to understand the difference between and infatuation and love. These sisters had such a wonderful caring relationship with each other. It was this family's love that guided the protagonists to grow and make wiser decisions. Family members can have a positive impact on each other's lives as did the Parsenis.

This is one of the best books I have read over the past year. The story is incredibly real. In this book the reader finds joy, sadness, tragedy, wisdom, and the ultimate resilience of the human soul. This book is a real tour de force.

This is a great read. It lets the reader get totally involved with this family and experience all of the love, tradition, culture, politics, heartbreak and faith that the family experiences through life. It also gives the reader a good understanding of the expectations of one another in an ethnic family.
The descriptions of the Greek island and the time spent with their grandparents brought tears to the eyes. This is a beautiful book, one you want to read more than once.

After having met the authors, Lynne and Valarie Constantine, in person at a "Latte and Literature" book-club meeting, I can see a little bit of both of the main characters, Greek-American sisters Nicole and Theodora, in them. I thoroughly enjoyed reading their book about the close-knit Parsenis family. The love and warmth that they felt for one another was quite obvious. Theodora had to come to terms with an adulterous husband, and Nicole was in a relationship where she was the other woman and wavering about what to do. They both had to deal with the death of a parent. The sisters were strong women who were always there for each other. Family was first and foremost for them. I was hooked after reading the prologue. I read it in two days; couldn't put it down. Circle Dance is a story to be enjoyed by all nationalities, no matter what your ethnic background. Looking forward to a prequel, sequel or maybe both. How about it, Lynne
and Valarie?

Gloria Lockwood Evans
Fairfield, CT

First-time authors Lynne and Valerie Constantine capture perfectly the heart-tugs that are so keen for two young women claiming their adulthood in a Greek American family that is steeped in the tradition and values of another culture. There is a lot of wisdom shared in these pages, as well as subtle humor and a surprising amount of drama. The two main characters are drawn with piercing yet compassionate insight as they come to understand and appreciate at a new level the value of family, integrity, and tradition. If you are from a close family (Greek or not), you will enjoy this book; it lovingly portrays the interplay between three generations and the way a rich Greek heritage permeates this spirited family. This was the kind of book that compelled me to keep the light on way past my bedtime. The two sisters are lively and real in their struggles with both internal and external demons. It was fascinating to watch the older sister, who despite her obvious perspicacity was led astray by her heart (even as she watched her sister's life almost derail because of her blind love for a man). The writing actually gets sharper as the plot unfolds. A thoroughly worthwhile read!