Dance Books

This is by far my favorite Marilyn book ever! There are so many photos, that you don't have to face that anxiety of looking at the last one! This is a several sitting book, even if you are just using it as a coffee table book..

I found this book to be a very special one on Marilyn Monroe and her "platonic" relationship with a special fan/friend. This book spans an eight year relationship with the author. You get a "back-seat" view of how Monroe's personality was, whether it was happy, gloomy, or sad during their "friendship" period. I truly enjoyed reading this book. It should be considered a "must read" and "must have" copy for for all Monroe's fans' and buffs' libraries alike. As the previous reader stated, this book was written from a perspective of someone being very close to Miss Monroe; somewhat placing this as a "unique" and interesting bit of MM reading. Lastly, the author gives the reader a "touching" bit of his own soul, when he describes his very last meeting with Miss Monroe before leaving for California.

If you can get this book, get it. Mr. Haspiel was a teenager when he met Marilyn and he stuck with her. His information is first hand, as opposed to authors who cash in on researched material. James Haspiel is the source writers went to for their magazine articles and such, and his book is wonderful. He even has pictures of Marilyn, proudly displayed, without make-up on.

This book is a revealing account of Mr. Haspiels friendship/relationship with Marilyn Monroe ("Mazzie" as he affectionately calls her) during the last 8 years of her life. Not just another historical perspective of Miss Monroe's life, the book is written from the viewpoint of someone who was obviously quite close to Miss Monroe as the many photo's and documents substantiate. The candid revelations and thoughts concerning the author's and Miss Monroe's friendship is what makes this book unique. A highly recommended book especially for those interested in a more personal account of the life of Marilyn Monroe.

Service was exccellent. Exactly the book with the exact description was recieved, with-in excellent time frame. Great work!

I use this book in my television production class and I must say it is a great book. It is easy to read and easy to understand. The photos and up to date articles make it even better! A+ for this book!

This book has been very helpful and interesting. I teach Communications at a Community college, and this book will be a great addition to the fall curriculum. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in a good communications book. I would also like to thank djtom33; the book I bought from him was in excellent condition and was delivered swiftly.

This book is the best text book I have seen in years. With easy and fun to read chapters, color photos and the CD aide, you can't go wrong with this book. Wheather you are using it for a class or just want to learn about Mass Media, this is the book for you.

This book is a most delightful and remarkable look at a mother/daughter relationship during the pre-teen years, that time of delicate balance between dependance and curiosity. When a child isn't at the rebellious stage yet but is ready to expand their horizons beyond the apron strings.

Hollywood, with all it's perils and pitfalls, provides a perfect metaphor for this age. For Gigi acting is a means to experiment with her own emerging independence and sense of individuality. For her mother it's a roller coaster ride of love, hope, a bit of anxiety and, of course, the occasional bout of exasperation.

But most of all this book is real, nitty-gritty and gutsy. At times, Gigi's diary entries paint such an exact picture adolescence, everything from hair crises to the playful use of exclamation points, that it'll make any woman smile with reminiscence and empathy. Her mom's entries hold nothing back, she's obviously not trying to come across as perfect. Just tells it as it is, warts and all, but with honesty, warmth and rare wit.

Individually these are wonderful stories. Interwoven they present a unique portrayal of what it is to be a family.

I loved this little book. What a great adventure for an eleven year old and her mother. Because the book was based on private journals, it has a special freshness and honesty that most books lack. My only criticism is that it is too short. I wanted to read more and I hope a second book in the works. I want to find our what happens to Gigi's movie career. It will be interesting to see if the next book can keep its freshness and honesty.

This book is great for families. Especially ones that include a teen or pre-teen. It is written by a child and her mom. The kid is Gigi. An 11 year old angel/devil. This book deals with the ups and downs in the family. It is outragously honest and incredibly funny. I would suggest this to book everyone and their mom.

In the thoroughly enjoyable "Me, My Kid and Hollyweird", down-to-earth mom, Chartreuse Braun proves that not all stage mothers are frustrated wannabe performers forcing their children into the limelight. Chartreuse and her daughter, Gigi, bravely pull up their Florida roots and transplant themselves in Los Angeles pursuing the not-quite-teenage girl's dream of becoming an actor. Gigi has decided she wants to be a, "kid actor not an adult actor", so time is of the essence...

The book includes their practical experience about a child actor's world; headshots and agents, acting coaches, auditions and contracts. The story is told through candid, mother and daughter diary entries and follows the excitement and anxiety of these two as they learn together about show business and the business of growing up.

The book was brand new and was the one I needed for class. I couldn't find it in our book store, but luckily enough, amazon had it! Thanks!

Up in Manhattan's Morningside Heights and its Dominican analogs all over the US, salsa is edged out by the magnificently manic beat of the merengue, whether stirred into Dominican rap and house (the most original as well as the least known versions of the genre) or in the tear-em-down accordion of Fefita La Grande. Austerlitz has all this and a lot more, all the way from the luckless Toma' back in the 1840s (read the book!)Austerlitz covers merengue from rural to hi-society in all its fierce joviality. Read this book and you'll know there's one good thing Trujillo did for the Dominican Republic!

John Storm Roberts

If you are looking for a quick yet thorough coverage of this topic then this is the book for you. It is a relatively short book, coming in at 167 pages (not including bibliography but including notes section), yet it covers the whole spectrum of the national music of the Dominican Republic.

Mr Austerlitz covers the beginnings of this music all the way through to its current state. It also spends time on Merengue's development during the Trujillo era (a particularly interesting topic to anyone who studies the Dominican Republic).

Mr Austerlitz also does a good job of addressing the sociological issues that arise from music and manages to blend well the merengue of the campo with that of the salon.

A good read and it even comes with a CD with some very good campo (country) merengue. If you are looking for merengue at its roots then this CD should please you.

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

1.Introduction

PART 1: THE HISTORY OF MERENGUE 1854-1961. 2. Nineteenth-Century Caribbean Merengue. 3. Merengue Cibaeno, Cultural Nationalism, and Resistance. 4. Music and the State: Merengue during the Era of Trujillo, 1930-1961.

PART 2: The Contemporary Era, 1961-1995. 5. Merengue in the Transnational Community. 6. Innovation and Social Issues in Pop Merengue. 7. Merengue on the Global Stage. 8. Enduring Localism. 9. Conclusion

Let me know if you found this useful.

Enjoyed the insight into the history of Merengue and its cultural context. This book has a place on my bookshelf along with "The Latin Tinge" and "The Brazilian Sound."

I read this book last year and I really enjoyed it. It is one of the best mysteries. The librarian Miss Zukas is dragged into a murder of the curator of rare Native American books. I Loved Ruth too and the story is easy to read and understand. Some mysteries are complicated and involved with too many characters but not this one. I couldn't put this one down. The Ravens dance is a rather enjoyable story.

Miss Zukas, a librarian in Bellehaven Washington, is asked to catalogue a collection of Native American books and memorabilia in the new Cultural Center. She is replacing Stanley Plummer whose dead body was found in the ladies' restroom at the Center, having been stabbed by a spindle-wielding murderer. She is not particularly pleased at having been "loaned" to the Center without her consent and is somewhat apprehensive as to whether she may be the next target of the murderer. In self-defense, and armed with her usual curiosity and powers of observation, Miss Zukas carries on her own investigation. As usual, her sidekick, the freewheeling artist Ruth, assists Miss Zukas in her pursuit of the killer. While working at the Center, Miss Zukas learns a lot about the Indian culture and meets some very interesting characters. With this book, Jo Dereske produces another delightful and entertaining "cozy" in her Miss Zukas Mystery Series.

I'm hooked on this series. The sleuth, Helma Zukas, is a librarian in the public library of the fictional town of Bellehaven, WA. Although a complete amateur she is unwittingly dragged into a murder investigation by the murder victim himself.

The murder victim was done to death by a paper spike in the women's washroom at a Native Cultural Centre. He was the curator of a collection of rare Native Indian books. And his death brings in Helma who takes over where he left off and then some.Quite a clever story really.

And Helma's side-kick Ruth is fun. The characters of Ms Moon, Eve and other caricatures of the library world seem all too familiar to a public library patron like myself. And the Native Indian characters are quite decently drawn. I liked Young Frank, Audrey and Juiliana.

Really a good mystery.

Besides, I've never seen the Vancouver Public Library in a mystery before and in the Raven's Dance it gets a cameo.

I read this on vacation under Hawaii's sun and was ever so grateful not to be in the gray and rainy Washington town with Ms Zukas. As a librarian, I enjoyed the librarian detective, but hope my profession isn't peopled by too many as spacy as "Ms. Moonbeam" or as hidebound and routine-driven as Ms. Zukas. Young Frank was appealing, and Ms. Zukas's free-spirited friend was beguiling. When I got back to town I went to a bookstore and purchased another paperback in the series. I guess I'm hooked.

I got this book for my two month old daughter and she loves it!!! I thought it would be a great book for her to grow into - Right now she's just captivated by the vivid colors and hearing the sound of my voice as I read it to her... But I'm sure that as she grows a little older, it will be a book she will not only love to read out loud but also always love to look at. And just a side note, the age range for this book should start much earlier - It has very simple words making up very simple sentences.

As far as the rating goes, I would have really given this book 4 stars because like another person said, it is just not as great as it could be - the page space could definitely be utilized a little better. But because my daughter loves it sooo much, it gets all five stars.

My personal issue with the book is that each page has only two very short sentences which really should be constructed as one sentence with the two parts separated with a comma or semi-colon.

All in all though, I'm extremely happy with my purchase and not disappointed one bit :)

We got this book for my son's 1st birthday. He loved it. The illustrations are beautiful and really keep his attention. The book is about dolphins, but he learned his colors with it too. It has sparkly colored parts on it and they make a tiny krinkle when you touch them. I bought this book for a friend and her daugher loves this book too.

My son adores this book, it is beautiful and very sturdy. He likes to flip through the pages over and over, the book is made of cardboard with sparkly metallic material that shows through cut outs in the pictures, my son loves to tilt the book back and forth and point to the sparkly parts. The text is very soothing and serene without being overly "childish" - we highly reccommend!

I bought this book because I already had Rainbow Sea, also a Sparkle Book by Lassen, and it is gorgeous! The pictures in Moon Dance are beautiful! But many of them are the same pictures as in Rainbow Sea.

Moon Dance is constucted of cardboard and has sparkly paper underneath Lassen's beautiful pictures of dolphins, whales, coral reefs and other breathtaking sea life. The only reason I gave this book four stars instead of five is because the poetry is a little lacking, and it takes up half of the page where a picture could be. The way it is formatted is a little strange.

If you are thinking of purchasing this book and you don't have Rainbow Sea, I would suggest getting that one instead. If you already have Rainbow Sea, I would pass on Moon Dance, it has the same pictures in it, so it will not be anything new for your child to enjoy.

I just love this book! The illustrations are great and the plot line is so cute. Can't we all relate to the routine of daily life and the excitement of an adventure that changes our old, boring routine? Oh, this book is great! The words are very rhythmic which makes it fun to read to children and as an adult! Great fun and highly recommended.

This is a wonderful book for all ages! Although it's a children's book, it has such a fun and universal message. The drawings are fantastic, and the main characters (Sherman and his dog) have perfect expressions. It's a lot of fun to read to children or just read yourself!

What delightful characters! Sherman and his dog take flight and look estactic! The joy of it all it so well expressed! Buy this for you and your child.

This is truly one of the finest children's books I have ever read. It is charming and completely unique. The story is so well written that you could almost put the words to music, and the illustrations perfectly capture the exciting images that fill your mind while reading this story. This book can take the imagination of any child and lead it to wonderful places. I highly recommend it to anybody.

as a historic document and as a practical guide to working with body sensation, movement, emotionality, and communication in the theatre, this book can't be beat.

Es un excellente libro, pero es necesario haber tomado clases de la enseñanza de Lecoq para entederlo mejor.

A very good book for any person who loves theatre, the real one.
Many exercises to learn how to control and then express yourself through your body.

Superb text. Worked out of this book, page by page with 10 college theatre students. Highly recommend it for academic use and for personal reading. Very solid text helpful in gaining a strong foundation in movement theatre that is rapidly overtaking the mainstream. Many of LeCoq's ideas are visible everywhere in the NY theatre. Pig Iron Theatre Company is a great example of a group of LeCoq trained performers, and is also a resource for learning more, if you are in the Philly/New York area.

"Music Makes Memories" is a wild ride from high school to thirtysomething. If you've ever partied or still party you'll enjoy this book. Many things you may not be able to "put your finger on" when introspecting your past and present life are described in detail here.

Growing up in the eighties was a desolate time for many of us. Of course, some of us didn't realize we lacked direction. We had friends and ecstasy and parties.. The very distractions we sought became barriers to our future.

"Music Makes Memories" helps to validate those times and still encourage us to move on, face your demons and fall in love.

Can't wait for the follow up!

This is a wonderful piece of work! I literally could not put it down! I read the book from cover to cover in 6 hours!

While the book is quite graphic in the beginning, you will want to keep reading! This book has lots of rewarding twists and turns!

I found myself identifying with one or more of the characters each step of the way. Who among us hasn't done something we later regretted? Something we wish we could "take back"? Who hasn't made just an outright bad decision?

The transformation of each and every character "took me back" to the mental and emotional struggle of transitioning from teenager to adulthood. I found myself running through a series of emotions: laughing, crying, anticipating, wishing, hoping...You will be rooting for all the characters.

A definite recommended read to anyone you know from those early years! There is something in this book for everyone!

Note to the author: Hurry with the sequel!

Includes all the essential elements to keep one absorbed - sex, violence, drugs, love, death, ALL 7 deadly sins, shock value, paradoxes...a clear page-turner. But the real enjoyment of reading this book is identifying with the characters. Not with their actions and particular circumstances, but their emotions and the humanness of their feelings. They encounter fear, love, hate, lust, sadness, anger, all of it. At times you'll loathe them and other times feel sorry for them when they have to face their own demons and tragedies due to their actions or inactions.

The author sums it up early in the book: "The world does keep spinning...and life does go on, just not human life. It's about emotion; it's about feelings. This is the root cause of all that is in our world. Emotion, feelings, sentiment, personalities...these are the things that drive economies, these are things that fuel war machines, these are the things that move mountains. It all comes down to feelings...emotions to be more precise."

Every character acted out of either fear or love. When they acted out of fear, their fundamental flaws shined through every time. Proves the old adage that people don't change. Put any of them in a similar circumstance and they will react similarly because they can't seem to conquer their fundamental fears. It was interesting to see them mature and attempt to overcome those fears.

The narrator's actions were always motivated by selfishness. Even when he helped people, it seemed more to glorify and appease himself. It's hard to like him, even toward the end when he was maturing. Becoming a radio DJ was fitting for him.

But there were many more characters to pick from and LOTS of character development - you get so caught up!

Very rarely are readers offered the opportunity to view a slice of life in its true, unabridged form. Music Makes Memories...The Pilgrimage offers us that rare glimpse into the writer's soul.

Written about a time of personal upheaval, the character development and the motivations (or lack thereof) of the participants gives us a look into the 1980's culture with all its good and bad portions.

The ability of the author to paint word pictures is frankly startling! Written in a first-hand narrative form, the reader is transported into the group of friends and at times actually becomes immersed in the interplay of the group.

If you are seeking an entertaining and, most importantly, unique insight into a generation that now is part of the mainstream they fought so hard against...Music Makes Memories is a terrific portrait by an exciting new author.

When does the sequel come out?!

This book is a must have!! It lays down a foundation for liturgical dance in a powerful and scripturally rich way. The revelations and insights revealled are precious and I greatly admire her love towards others and imparting such wisdom into others who desire to establish liturgical dane in their area.

I would recommend that every dance ministry operating in the church should buy and read this book. It's worth having in your collection.

I am very excited about this text becuase it is not written just for the dancer or the sacred artist, but for anyone who desires an encounter with God in their temple. It contains the clearest, easiest-to-understand material regarding the purpose and power of movement ministry. Leadership and laity alike will experience and comprehend how the WORD can become flesh and delivered to the Body of Christ in a movement message. They will learn how, through the body (our temple), God allows the Word, to shatter the windows of darkness, pierce the principalites, and bring deliverance to souls in our nation and the world. I would highly reccommed this text to everyone because of it's sound biblical teaching on the call of dance as ministry , and the rightful place of the Arts in the Body of Christ. Enjoy!

This book by far is SUPERB! I consider it my dancer's bible because Rev. Stephanie provides the sacred artist with so much vital information for our body temples, spirit man and call to the ministry of the arts. Every dance leader should have a copy in their own personal library. Even if you are not a dance minister, worshippers alike will appreciate this book.