Arts and Entertainment Books

This extraordinary biography by Kevin Brownlow, reflects the life and inspiration of one of the great artist in movie screen history.
Page by page, we can take a look along the David Lean?s mind and the way he was inspired by the subjects and the way a big project became alive.
From the black and white to the beautiful color, from the photography created by Frederic (Freddie)Young to his partnership with Maurice Jarr? and the insistence from Lean to
compose the exact music for Doctor Zhivago.
Every important film, such Zhivago, The bridge on the river Kwai and Lawrence of Arabia, were written through many chapters and the conception of those films as unique, the casting and the making of those titles are unforgettable.
Also, we have David Lean as a human being, with his failures
as father and husband, but the intimacy of his life is only
upgrade by his conception of his films.
Every moment in his films was special.
He directed every dialogue and moment as unique and all those
were the equivalent of the best.
This great book written by Brownlow is one of the best biographies ever written.
The heart and soul are alive along the pages and there is no moment when the book becomes slow or uninterested.
The same proportion we have in David Lean movies.

I adore this book. I have been reading it as of late, and I love the book (and David Lean) even more. I have always detested biographies of filmmakers that are far too academic in their tone; that professorial tone where they analyze the films ad nauseum, and are constantly talking about symbolism and other completely useless things. This book spares us of that. It is meticulously researched, with great antedotes and quotes from the master himself. It talks about Lean's childhood, and you realise what Lean had to overcome to become one of the greatest filmmakers ever. It's a shame this massive book is out of print. Like a reviewer said earlier, we're constantly given fluff pieces of talentless whores like Spears, Lohan, etc., but here is a real artist whose films still inspire people today. Thank you, Kevin, for writing such a great book, and, of course, to David Lean himself...

What a pity it is when "biographies" of no-talent flashes-in-the-pan like Madonna, Ashley Simpson, Brittney Spears, ad naseum, are ubiquitous, but Kevin Brownlow's fascinating and throughly-researched biography of a true genius is out of print. What does this say about our culture's priorities? Not much. Oh well . . . fortunately a few copies of this marvelous book survive. If you're interested in great movies ("Lawrence of Arabia," "Doctor Zhivago," "Summertime," "Great Expectation," etc.), great stars (O'Toole, Sharif, Katherine Hepburn, William Holden, Robert Mitchum, and a host of other great stars -- AND great actors), or, perhaps, one of the greatest film directors of the twentieth (and probably any other) century, do whatever you have to do, but grab up a copy of "David Lean: A Biography" as quickly as you can before the remaining copies disappear altogether.

A simply marvellous biography of a cinema titan. It's the product of many conversations between Lean and the author, a great film historian and no mean director himself, having made the gorgeous Silent Era documentary "Hollywood" (is that ever coming out on DVD?!). For this reason the tone is very chatty, with so much quotage from Lean himself that it's nearly an autobiography; and Brownlow's knowlege of real-world production lets him know just what questions to ask. It rather reminded me of "Hitchcock/Truffaut", another filmmaker-to-filmmaker conversation. Mind you Truffaut didn't bother quite so much with Hitchcock's love affairs, but one can always skim. It looks intimidatingly massive but this is more because of the lavish illustrations than excessive wordiness. Great read, inspiring and full of useful tidbits.

Kevin Brownlow touched all bases of David Lean's life, providing insight into the films and his unconventionally fascinating life, making this one of the finest film biographies I have ever read about a cinema giant about whom I had longed to learn more about. Brownlow divides Lean's career into two distinct phases, 1) the British period in which he worked at home and captured the true essence of his people and, 2) the international phase in which the master film craftsman lived in hotels and moved from one country to another in producing a series of internationally spectacular movies such as "Lawrence of Arabia", "Doctor Zhivago" and "The Bridge on the River Kwai."

Brownlow begins with Lean's roots as a restless youngster in the London suburb of Croydon. His lack of curiosity and penchant for traditional school learning coupled with the stolen hours he spent sitting inside darkened theaters in a state of fascination revealed where his adult years would be spent.

Once that Lean began following his dream he quickly became established as Britain's foremost film editor. In that context Brownlow expunges a canard that was carried all the way to obituaries after the great director's death in 1990 that Noel Coward gave the aspiring director a leg up in teaming up with him to co-direct the brilliantly done war film about the British Navy, "In Which We Serve," in which Coward also starred along with Celia Johnson and John Mills. It turned out that Coward's move proved to his personal benefit as Lean did most of the directing and Coward was concerned mainly about his own scenes, after which he would generally leave the set, entrusting the basic direction of the film to Lean. We also learn that Lean, unlike Sir Carol Reed and other prominent British directors, turned down a chance to begin his directing career on low budget "quota quickies," deciding instead to wait for a major opportunity, which came with "In Which We Serve." Later that same year one of Lean's greatest films, the epic love story "Brief Encounter" with Trevor Howard and Celia Johnson, hit the screens and the young director's career was away in a flourish.

After achieving prominent worldwide status as a great international director, Lean's sensitivity resulted in overreacting to the criticism of tart New Yorkers at a Round Table session at the Algonquin Hotel. Lean was sharply criticized for "Ryan's Daughter," which American critics such as Richard Schickel and Pauline Kael believed was well below the high standard he established with "Brief Encounter" and continued with other films. According to Brownlow, Lean was sufficiently wounded to take a sabbatical before doing his last film, the highly acclaimed Indian epic "Passage to India" based on the E.M. Forster literary classic.

Brownlow does a superb job of depicting the period and the films from Lean's prolific career. Lean's was a mastery of style and entertainment, enriching story telling with beautiful visual imagery and word economy in the best sense, making the language all the more meaningful. This book does his career justice while enhancing our knowledge of a great man.

One of the most famous - and infamous - letters in all of literature, De Profundis is a strange little piece of work: either much more than it appears on the surface, or much less. It is something I think everyone should read, if only for its insight into the human character, particularly that of one under great personal suffering. Wilde wrote this extraordinarily long letter from prison to Lord Alfred Douglas, his friend, lover, and the man who - by all accounts - was the reason Wilde was in jail in the first place. Despite repeated assertions in the first few pages alone to the contrary, Wilde seems reluctant to blame himself. He clearly blames Douglas to the hilt, and harbors a certain bitter resentment towards him. And yet... he clearly still hold much dear affection toward - and even loves - Douglas. He still seems to be asking for forgiveness - despite the fact that, by all accounts hardly excluding his own, he was the man wronged. It is quite clear from reading this letter that, desite the view history holds of him, Wilde was clearly a man of very high moral character. Certainly, one would not put Wilde atop a pedastal as the zenith of ethics - he himself says that morals contain "absolutely nothing" for him, and clearly admits - and is proud of - his having lived the high life to the hilt during his youth - but Wilde was a man of principles, and he stuck to those principles to the tragic, bitter end. Perhaps you might say he carried them too far. One gets the sense in reading this letter - or a biography of Wilde - that, not only could he have stopped his immiment imprisonment, but could have severed his ties with Douglas completely - had he wanted to. Apparently, he had his own utterly compelling reasons for not doing so. Whatever the case, Oscar Wilde is one of the most fundamentally and perpetually interesting characters in the whole of history. A self-described man of paradoxes - Wilde was subsequently the true essence of his time, while also being far ahead of his time - De Profundis makes for required reading by one of the most endlessly fascinating individuals you'll ever read about, and also provides a startling - indeed, perhaps too much so - insight into human nature.

De Profundis, though long for a letter, is not a long work in the conventional sense. Consequently, as many editions of Wilde's collected works are available, buying this on its own may be deemed questionable. I highly reccommend purchasing a Collected Works of Oscar if you have not done so already - it's well worth the price - but, should you desire to have more compact editions of specific works, an edition such as this will be privy to your needs.

This is a very moving account of a heartbroken man who was betrayed by a person he loved dearly. The pain, the trauma, the love, the anger, the frustration is evident in every single well-written sentence. This book is not only a window into the mind of one of the best British writers of the late 19th century. It is also a timeless lesson on what can happen when one falls in love with someone who doesn't truly appreciate what they have before them. Of course there are other lessons to be learned in this book but rather than point them out here, I'd much prefer you pick up a copy of "De Profundis" as soon as you can.

Not actually a "letter," though it had to be originally presented as such for him to be allowed to write it while in prison, *De Profundis* is Wilde's masterpiece--one has to have really lived and really, really suffered to have written it and it's amazing that he achieved it.

I only very recently read it--and "got" it. It rings true to me, and is very, very moving and "profound." It ain't summer beach reading.

Wilde is still and will probably always be best known as a "Personality"--that and the author of a couple of decent period plays, a short novel, a few stories, and lots of forgettable poems and such. But THIS--THIS is IT.

He really WAS a great writer, it turns out, after all.

So many people concentrate on De Profundis' accusations cast towards Alfred Douglas. Yes, it's true that the letter was written to him and that Wilde is ruthless in letting Douglas know exactly what he thinks of him but that's not why De Profundis is a great piece of work. It is great for three reasons. Number one - It contains the best account of the life of Christ. Christ as the romantic artist is the only account that has moved me to tears and the only account I can personally embrace. Number two - it is chock full of the Oscar Wilde voice and wit and as a result it reverbates as a true work of art and number three - It is ultimately a work that celebrates the things in life worth feeling - failure, love, injustice, strength and forgiveness.

Don't waste your time with the accusations towards Douglas. He is unimportant. Oscar Wilde is what's important and De Profundis is Oscar Wilde bare.

Ah, me...one doesn't know which to be more irritated
and exasperated with: whether it be Walt Whitman doing
his dissembling shuck-and-shuffle about the children
he had sired (to throw off a probing, serious John
Addington Symonds) -- or Oscar, in this "j'accuse," which
he should have spoken while looking in a mirror, rather
than writing it on paper to Lord Alfred.
This is without doubt a fascinating, horrifying,
and yet in places humorous, "piece de Miserere mei"
(to combine a bit of French with Latin).
If one chooses to believe Oscar, his only fault
was weakness in "giving in" to Lord Alfred. Oh,
come now. Blinded by Eros, reason flies out the
door...if ever reason was in control. There are
some sentences which are devastatingly revealing,
but Oscar doesn't seem to see it. "The trivial in
thought and action is charming. I had made it
the keystone of a very brilliant philosophy expressed
in plays and paradoxes." Ye gods, and little fishes!

And this man dared to call himself a "Classicist?!"
Yikes!!!
The best exercise for the reader is to just take
many of the things which Oscar accuses Lord Alfred
of, and turn them toward the self-blind, self-
justifying Oscar, to see their devastating hitting
of the mark. Never having met the young man, but
only having the "benefit" of hearsay (mostly from
Oscar's literary defenders) Lord Alfred seems to have
been calculating, temperamental (using anger to get
his way), manipulative, etc., etc., etc. The best
description of him may be Wilde's referring to him
with the lines from Aeschylus' play AGAMEMNON,
about the lion cub being raised in a house and
being let loose to wreak havoc and ruin.
But Oscar bears his share of blame -- more than just
that of the "sin" of weakness which he constantly falls
back upon in his own justification. Even in the midst
of what purports to be some sort of penitent cry from
the depths of hell...Oscar still is ever the poseur:
"And I remember that afternoon, as I was in the railway
carriage whirling up to Paris, thinking what an impossible,
terrible, utterly wrong state my life had got into, when
I, a man of world-wide reputation, was actually forced
to run away from England, in order to try and get rid
of a friendship that was entirely destructive of everything
fine in me either from the intellectual or ethical point
of view...." Er, when was the last time that the
"everything fine" had last seen the light of day?
Was Oscar an "Artist," as he consistently claims?
Was he the wronged, harmed Artist? Perhaps only the
reader can decide that for himself. Without doubt
he was witty, acerbic, funny, cute, clever, perhaps
even charming (to some -- sort of like a Pillsbury
Dough Boy with flair and a clever tongue), perhaps
stylish (in a frumpy, velveteen sort of way). Was
he wronged by a predatory clinger and manipulator,
and a hypocritical social prudery and class power
play (Oscar is no Socrates--that's for sure!)? He
hardly seems worthy, in some ways, of being a poster-boy
for Gay Pride parades. More likely, he is a better
warning poster boy for the self-excusing, and never
take-responsibility-for-your-own-actions crowd.
But this is an incredible piece to read and think
about. There is some of it that is mordantly hilarious.

A thorough, carefully researched biography of the infamous Mama Cass. Through interviews with Cass' family and friends, the author debunks the Ham Sandwich Myth which has been urban legend for years. If you want a detailed biography of this talented woman, this is a great one to start with. Cass never really wanted to be a folk-rock/pop singer; she was a Broadway Baby and her love was Broadway musicals. But without her, The Mamas & The Papas would not have had the success they did have in the 1960's, in my opinion. Her larger-than-life figure and personality, plus her knockout voice really made that group.

I like the book I recemend it to anyone who is a mama and papas fan

This book was very good, but it was sad to find out how really pathetic these talented people were. John Philips was the worst of the group, what a egotistical and controlling as*hole! I was totally blown away by the actions of this famous group! I understand that this was the 60's , but not everyone was doing drugs and laying around stone out of their minds. Cass Elliott brags that she dropped acid 5 times during her pregnancy and her daughter turned out perfectly normal! She was considered a "good" mother by her friends?!! (I have to wonder what her daughter really thinks about that.) To me, being very talented is not an excuse for being irresponsible. I'm glad I read this book, It was a real eye-opener about who the Mama's and the Papa's really were.If you Love this group you HAVE to read this.

For me, a good celebrity biography has several qualities: it makes me feel I know the person better, it feels credibly researched, and it makes me glad I am NOT that person.

This is a simply wonderful biography of a great, flawed, unfortunate, amazingly talented person.

My mom went to Forest Park High School in Baltimore. Cass Elliot went there also. There is a picture of her in my mom's yearbook, 1959....Who knew? Love you Cass, always have, always will!!!

Almost like a brief history of the era and new insights into how those movies were made. Enjoyed the ancedotes of fellow artists.

One of the reasons Wayne was so popular was that he symbolized everything America wanted to be; strong ,brave,loyal,savvy and honest.His character was a fighter who never backed down when he knew he was right. He was a role model to millions, his screen actions were a roadmap to manhood. That was John Wayne,Icon.
But there was another side to Wayne. He was a real man,flesh and blood, and he had real thoughts and feelings,strengths and weaknesses. He was as brave as his larger-than-life screen persona in his real life,such as in the way he faced up to cancer, and very very human.This is John Wayne,the Man.
This book does an excellent job of showing both sides of the John Wayne coin,Man and Icon. It does it with stories told by people who really knew him. After reading this book you actually feel like you've had a bull session with Duke's friends and co-workers. It's got a very amiable feel to it.
The book also reminds me of Studs Terkel's books. Studs would just turn on a tape recorder and let his subjects pour their hearts out. The author here uses a similar approach. Each story is like a piece of a jigsaw puzzle and at the end of the book you can put all the pieces together to get a clear picture of the Duke.
After I finished reading, I wished I had known him too.

With John Wayne's 100th birth date coming up I started looking for books on him that I have not read. This book is very enjoyable reading. You learn alot about the man from his fellow co-workers and friends. I would recommend this one to any one.

Critics complain that he was a Johnny-One Note who played the same person over & over, & wasn't very good at it. I say this is Baloney.

The annecdotes & observations of the people who lived & worked with him that are found in this book show that he was able to do so much, physically, & emotionally with the characters he played.

You come away with a better sense of why you cheered, laughed, & cried under the spell of his performances. Whether you agreed or disagreed with the actions of his character, you still cared for him & cared about what happened to him

His friends, family, & co-workers loved & admired him & it shows very clearly in this wonderful book.

Sure, he drank, & smoked, & was a staunch anti-commie, but he was also a loyal, funny, kind & gentle family man who worked hard to perfect his craft & cared about his co-workers.

Read this book & understand.

I am a huge fan and relative of Herb's writings. He has a true gift for the written word and I have enjoyed all of his books. Herb, my prayers and thoughts are with you during these very trying times. I am thinking of you incessantly and the entire family prays for you daily. Godspeed.

This is a brilliant book, beautifully written by a very knowledgeable and passionate dancer and instructor. It draws us in with its exquisite photographs and descriptions of belly dancing. For those who don't belly dance, it will bring depth of appreciation to this art form and may encourage them to give it a try. For those who belly dance, there is insightful information on how to progress to that next level. Other dancers will also enjoy this book for the parallels it draws between belly dancing and their genres.

There is something in here for everyone. A truly enjoyable read!

I am a stickler for quality and professionalism. This book is exquisite. Beautiful full-color photography, depth of perspective on technique and choreography, extremely well-written and laid out in a manner to captivate and hold your attention. This is a great text for a master class or university dance course, a tool for dance teachers and students, and a beautiful gift as a coffee table book for anyone valuing classic beauty - all in one. It is exceptional to be able for one book to serve well in all of these diverse areas. Quite a feat!

Ramona has done an excellent job at breaking down how to figure out choreography. The book is clear, well-written and has lots of photos and diagrams to supplement. I would recommend this book to bellydancers of all levels - from beginners tackling their first performance to seasoned dancers with hundreds of choreographies under their belt. There is something in here for everyone - it is a pleasure to read!

This is a book that I think is the first in its kind in the realm of belly dance and one that certainly delivers its point of giving you what you really need to go from beginner to real dance-making. It is also gratifying to know that the author is a really accomplished lady that not only is a belly dancer but has scientific and academic training. That made my wife very happy, as she struggles herself into choosing his career (she studied forestry) and belly dance performing and teaching. Now she knows that doing both, and doing them well, is possible.

This is a great book for any level of belly dancer who wants to create their own improvised and/or choroegraphed dances. Whatever style of Middle Eastern or bellydance you do, you will find that the advice, theory and practical exercises can help you develop your own dance and enhance your performance. The author touches on musical interpretation, presentation, considering the audience, design concepts, individual expression as well as different ways to organize a dance performance. There is so many ideas and excercizes in this 157 page book that it would take me several months, maybe years of practice and experimentation, to exhaust all the concepts.

The writing is clear, friendly and easy to read and the book is peppered with photographs and diagrams. I foundthe book very well organized. The author is very generous in sharing her personal perspective on the subject, and she includes a list of numerous resources the reader can use to further explore the material.

My wish for future material from this author would be a dvd companion to demonstrate some of the concepts and lead me through some of the exercises and a book has certain limitations. In the meantime, IAMED's dvd "Star Power!" with Amaya offers content on a similar subject from a slightly different perspective. I personally find that the two together have really helped increase my confidence and awareness of the performance aspects of this dance.

If you like giant monster movies, and want to know more about how they were made, this book is for you. Not many photos of the monsters (there are other books out there for that) but there are behind the scenes photos. Learn the biographies of the men who made films you still love after all these years. Not much has been published in the West about them, but here it is! Well written and laid out. 2 page essays about certain film makers by noted Western Kaiju lovers. Worth the price, and thankful that it was printed.

This is a wonderful coffee-table size book that contains beautiful photos and interesting commentary. If you are a fan of Godzilla and/or Eiji Tsuburaya this is the book to get!

This book is a meticulous, thoughtful, well-written, and beautifully laid-out tribute to a true master of special effects. It is a fascinating look, not only into Tsuburaya's life and career, but also the way the film industry works in Japan. An interesting read for non-fans; a must-have for fans of the genre.

Phenomenal book. Great quality, design, and content. If you have any remote appreciation for this kind of film making and monster design, this book is an absolute love letter... A must have!

Tsuburaya Eiji was the Japanese special effects director who was behind so many monster movies that came out from Japan during the 1950s and 1960s. This is a pictorial biography of Tsuburaya Eiji that proves to be very well written and informative. I found the book to be rather insightful as the author included inserts written by men who worked with or worked under Tsuburaya Eiji during his career. The book also comes well illustrated with photographs and movie posters on almost every page as it traces the life and time of Tsuburaya Eiji's career. It was interesting to note that during World War II, he made a movie made from miniatures that showed the attack on Pearl Harbor. It was so realistic that during the initial post war period, Americans thought it was the real thing. Tsuburaya Eiji was also the man who made Godzilla what he was and creator of the Ultraman series that is still going on to this day.

Overall, this book is definitely worth your time and money to read over and treasure. Tsuburaya Eiji is one of the great pioneers of motion picture industry regarding special effects and his influence help shape this industry to this day. His influence in the science fiction genre will remains pretty strong as monster movies like Cloverfield still hit our theaters and on DVD to this day. The book strongly reflects the heydays of Japanese monster movie era history and it will remind many of us, the fun and wonder these movies brought us during our younger days. And it will inform otherwise misinformed that there is more to these movies then just a "guy in the monster suit" concept.

(And yes, I am writing the subject's name in Japanese style...sur name first always...Tsuburaya Eiji is the way you would address him if he was still alive today...as you would with any Japanese national.)

I grew up poor (though not as poor as the Presleys). There were 6 people in our family, Mother, Father, 2 boys and 2 girls in a 2 bedroom house. If my Mother had put the 2 young girls in the same bedroom with 2 teenage boys, the child-welfare people would have been knocking down the door. Instead, we slept in their bedroom, to the detriment of their marriage. That Elvis slept with his parents (it gets cold in northern Mississippi and Tennessee) doesn't really shock or surprise me.

What does surprise me is that someone like Dee Stanley, who put her own sons in foster care so she could pursue Vernon Presley, would condemn them.

I am also not surprised that Elvis was never able to form a long-lasting relationship with a woman. Most of the women I have read about seemed only interested in what they could get from him. not what they could give to him; a total contrast to his Mother. And let's face it, most men are looking for someone like Mom when they get married.

I thought Elaine Dundy did a masterful research job. Too bad the history books kids use in school don't usually match this level of dedication to facts.

This book is not just about Elvis, it is about poverty and how it shapes people and stays with them throughout their lives.

Buy this book, you will treasure it.

Just loved this book it was fascinating about Gladys and Vernons background. How poor they were and the sadness of the birth of Jesse Garon and Elvis it's to much to tell every Elvis fan needs this book. You will be amazed on how much understanding of the Presley family you will have after reading this book. This is why Elvis had such a kind and gentle way about him and a giving heart it hurts me to know that the people he loved the most used him for there own fame and fortune. All i can say is buy this book you will not be disappointed and you will come to know Elvis a lot better than before it's a must for every Elvis fan.

I've read quite a few books about Elvis and this one is excellent. The author spent a lot of time with people who knew Elvis back then and uncovered some very interesting and heart-warming stories. I learned a lot about his childhood and school days that I hadn't heard before. I'd recommend it for any Elvis fan.

What impressed me most was the account of Elvis' intense, enduring interest in performing beginning at an early age. She cites his participation in school shows, contests and courthouse jamborees, his involvement with entertainer Mississippi Slim, and his 240 mile hitch hike to compete at the Jimmie Rogers Festival. Elvis's association with Bill Black, his first bass player, occurred long before that famous Sun session that produced his first hit. Those who think that Elvis was just a truck driver that lucked up on a record hit are sadly mistaken. Elvis was into the music scene from the get go. He may have been lucky, but like they say, you make your own breaks. He was there, prepared, looking for the opportunity and taking the initiative.

The life of Gladys and her influence on Elvis are well documented. I've read several Elvis books, and none provides a better description. Gladys had her own dreams of stardom which filtered through to Elvis.

The author does a thorough, excellent job of researching and developing her own independent conclusions. For the most part, her logic rings true. In a very few instances, she may infer too much.

The author, Elaine Dundy, not only tells the story of Elvis and his mother, she traces back several generations into the history and psyche of Elvis' ancestors: the Scotch and Irish who settled the Southeast and tamed the Mississippi Delta. Although she is British, her extensive research and comments about post-Civil War Southern society, customs, lifestyle, and mindsets are dead-on. I grew up in the rural Deep South and many of the influences peculiar to the South that Dundy sites in this book were still a part of my mid-20th century experiences.

The reader closes the book with one thought about Gladys (and Vernon) and that is that these two parents loved their son more than life itself and that they simply did the best they could. They were handicapped from the beginning by poverty, ignorance, and also quite possibly genetic pre-dispositions towards depression, obsessive/compulsive disorders, and addictions. It was not uncommon throughout the 19th century and into the 20th that first cousins would marry and have children. The inter-marriages within the Smith and Presley families were pervasive and no doubt exacerbated genetic tendencies.

Gladys' relationship to Elvis was very close in that she put his needs above everything else in her life. She was the only person who could have ever "saved" Elvis from his excesses. But unfortunately, she succumbed to her own drinking habits early on. Once she was gone, his life spiraled out of control.

Elaine Dundy leaves the question unanswered: If Elvis had such a close relationship with Gladys, why wasn't he ever able to form an equally enduring and intimate relationship with a lover? The answer comes from the reader's personal conclusion that the mother-son relationship was close to the point of crippling to Elvis. Just as he reached young adulthood his fabulous success story began. He was stretching out for independence and Gladys figuartively and literally abandoned him -- through death. Elvis was always able to keep the "enduring" part of a relationship going (i.e. he could never let Priscilla go) but his love affairs seemed to mirror his relationship with Gladys in bizarreness, obsessions, and misery.

THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFULLY COLLECTED PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN OF MISS MONROE AT HER VERY EARLY CAREER. A TIME WHERE IT WAS PRIOR TO HER "HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE" AND "GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES" SUCCESS, WHICH LAUNCHED HER TO ETERNAL STARDOM. THIS IS A "MUST" FOR ALL MARILYN MONROE AFFICIONADOS. IT IS TRULY A BEAUTIFUL BOOK THAT I ENJOY READING AND REVIEWING MANY TIMES OVER.

'Niagra' is known for the movie that made Marilyn Monroe a star, and this book shows every moment of her life during the filming. As a true Monroe fan, I'm more interested in the casual candid photos of her more so than the made-up studio photography. My favorite photos of her in the book are the pictures taken of her while she was learning how to smoke a cigarette for the film. She had never smoked before and had to look like a natural within a few hours. These are photos you wouldn't see on a billboard or in a magazine. They show her true nature. They show her being a real person, vulnerable and timid.

Wonderful, oversized hardcover book with lots of black and white images of Marilyn while at Niagara Falls, shooting her first mayor movie "Niagara" in '52. I enjoy all the photographs, my favorites are where Marilyn practices smoking. There are also pictures of her with Joe Dimaggio before they were married, pictures of Marilyn without her make-up on and her face covered with vaseline as she liked to do. Reading her script while relaxing in bed. These are priceless photographs, showing Marilyn at the very brink of superstardom.

At 26, Marilyn Monroe was on the brink of stardom as she filmed her first leading role in Niagara. Canadian photojournalist Jock Carroll spent weeks with her at Niagara Falls during the on location shooting, and took almost 400 photographs. He also interviewed her throughout these weeks, and captured a lot of her activities on and off the set. He was preparing for an article called "Marilyn's Not So Menacing" that appeared in an August 1952 issue of Weekend Magazine, Canada's largest periodical at the time. You will see more candid photographs in this book than in any other source. Mr. Carroll died in 1995, and these photographs were located then. The photographs are well reproduced in this book, and bring her to life in both her glamorous and nonglamorous roles.

I was attracted to this book when I realized that it contained extensive interviews of Marilyn Monroe when she was 26, just before she reportedly drafted My Story. That autobiographical book has come in for many challenges concerning its authenticity and the strong stories contained in it. Reading the interviews in Falling for Marilyn provides a useful contrast in terms of what she says about herself and how she says it.

I was surprised to see that the stories she tells are almost identical in both books. That similarity argues for either for her being the author of My Story, or Mr. Carroll being the author. Interestingly, she tells a story here of having been recognized in school for her fiction as a child, and wanting to become an author. The most significant difference between the books was that here she claims to have needed the $50 she got for shooting the famous nude photographs to pay rent while in My Story, the money is used to retrieve her repossessed car. A minor discrepency comes in her asking Mr. Carroll a lot about Korea because she was thinking about doing a USO tour there. In My Story, she claims that this came up for the first time after she and Joe DiMaggio were in Japan on their honeymoon. There could be truth in both versions of these two stories.

There is a Zsa Zsa Gabor story here that is almost word-for-word the same as in My Story. This is true, as well, for one about being molested as a little girl by a boarder who paid her a nickel to keep quiet.

To me, the most telling comparison was in what Mr. Carroll observed about her. Even though she was making a fine salary at this point, she was always short of clothes while he was with her. This is something that she talks about a lot as being a function of her poverty in My Story. She also was always studying scripts or reading intellectual books, which is consistent with My Story also. She also made self-destructive comments about sleeping pills to Mr. Carroll as she does in My Story.

What was a pleasant surprise for me was Mr. Carroll's descriptions of his reactions to her. Those are missing from most books about Ms. Monroe. He had just come back from his own honeymoon a month before. He found himself strongly attracted to her, despite this. "The effect on me was cataclysmic." " . . . [W]hen she looked directly at you, it made you feel as though . . . you were sharing some naughty secret."

The photographs themselves are certainly sexy, but not revealing in the sense that we think of revealing today. They were daring, however, for 1952 in showing a little cleavage, a loose blouse, and sometimes erect nipples through her clothes.

She consciously worked on achieving this effect for these photographs. During a tour of a silverware factory, "Marilyn brightened [these] . . . photos by loosening the straps of her blouse, leaning over . . . to give . . . a good view of her breasts . . . ."

On the other hand, she was very protective of her relationship with Joe DiMaggio who did not want any publicity. She refused an interview where the interviewer was trying to worm in questions about the Yankee slugger.

My favorite photographs in the book include:

Reading script in bed (two page spread), located in the book's very beginning

Posing in front of the falls, p. 19

Visiting the silverware factory, p. 33

Combing her hair, p. 48

Arranging her hair, pp. 52-53

Laughing, pp. 84-85

Looking at Jean Peters' suit, p. 87

Smiling, p. 102

Seeing the vibrancy of this woman makes the sadness of her life all the more poignant. Be sure to read My Story to pick up on that contrast. Regardless of who wrote it, that is how Ms. Monroe saw herself and her life.

Consider how you can lift someone's spirits every day. Look for the hurting heart behind the naughty or haughty eyes . . . or any other strongly affecting mannerisms you notice. They are just part of the cover up.

THIS IS ONE OF THE MOST BEAUTIFULLY COLLECTED PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN OF MISS MONROE AT HER VERY EARLY CAREER. A TIME WHERE IT WAS PRIOR TO HER "HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE" AND "GENTLEMEN PREFER BLONDES" SUCCESS, WHICH LAUNCHED HER TO ETERNAL STARDOM. THIS IS A "MUST" FOR ALL MARILYN MONROE AFFICIONADOS. IT IS TRULY A BEAUTIFUL BOOK THAT I ENJOY READING AND REVIEWING MANY TIMES OVER.

I was an 'Angel of Light' from 1973 and I love this book. It is beautiful. It is honest. And it is real. It also expresses
the group's belief in peace and art and the spirit of free theater.

Adrian praises geniuses and the Light but shows the ugly Dark side too. He had to. If not, this would be a coverup
but he is fair about a scene that only a few people ever saw from the inside. I was one. And he was too. After 1974,
he was one of the big stars and a tremendous positive offstage influence offstage.

San Francisco was the world capital of Gay Revolution in the 1970s and the 'Angels' were shamans. As a performer
and scriptwriter, Adrian helped the group out of anarchy and helped channel our greatest triumphs that were political,
gutsy, funny, transforming and beautiful. All done in a spirit of love and celebration.

The era comes alive as Adrian also shares his poems for the first time since the Seventies. They are as wonderful
as his other writing. If anyone wants to know the inside story about the art vanguard in San Francisco before AIDS
they should read this book. I salute it. And I'm as proud to be in it as I was to be an Angel of Light.

Tony Angel
San Francisco

I first met Adrian Brooks where this memoir begins -- in Inverness in the early 1970s. It was the early days of gay liberation, and San Francisco was alive with creativity and imagination. This memoir captures that time, looking at a cultural phenomenon called the Angels of Light. The Angels began with the break up of the Cockettes, and I attended many of the early Angel shows, before Adrian's involvement. Those were mad and wonderful and completely undisciplined. I also saw some of the later shows, and Adrian, a writer and artist, brought some sense of order to the madness, without diminishing its wonderful creativity.

Adrian casts an honest look at that time, noting both its glories and its roughness. He is as rigorous in viewing his own actions as he is in viewing others. He reminds us of some of the beautiful people who populated that world, such as Pristine Condition, who he describes accurately as a "human valentine" - although it is true that Prissy could act in ways that made people refer to "The Condition."

It was sex, drugs and rock and roll, for good and ill, and Adrian has given the story of at least part of the post-Summer of Love San Francisco that I don't think has been told before. A must read for everyone interested in the gay artistic community of the `70s. Thank you, Adrian.

This amazing and beautifully written memoir is by Adrian Brooks, best known as a first generation
gay liberation social activist, poet, performer, novelist and, most recently, non-fiction writer.

Illustrated with many historic photos by Dan Nicoletta, 'Flights' allows us direct insights into the era's
most radical underground subculture- the San Francisco 'Angels of Light'- in which Brooks starred
from 1974- 1980. During his tenure, the Angels experienced their greatest triumphs in the epic shows
he scripted, though he scrupulously disclaims sole artistic credit for this. True to the troupe's collective
nature, he attributes such successes to the communal harmony that prevailed, (although one can't help
seeing that this spirit of good will existed only when he was a guiding force and was absent when he was).

As the first 'insider' account of both the positive and negative aspects of that explosive age by someone
central to creating the culture, 'Flights' includes portraits of many complex, fascinating artists, the majority
of whom are celebrated and extolled for their often unrecognized or unappreciated gifts. But Brooks takes
another audacious step by candidly exposing his own faults and errors when he and his ilk were young and
too swept away by hard won (and new) self-confidence to imagine any backlash, or tragic consequences to
life in the punishing fast lane. In revealing this, his honesty is harrowing and his truth-telling, impeccable.

Brooks' poetry and journal entries from a era when he was, also, an Angel and celebrated poet, and before
he turned to novels, serious drama and non-fiction, permit us a unique glimpse into a vanished culture that
changed Society. When he bestrode that glittering circus world, it triumphed. After he withdrew in late 1980,
'the Angels of Light' caromed from failure to failure until their final disintegration in 1985. The rest is silence.

Let me be as candid as author Adrian Brooks is in this amazingly layered snapshot of San Francisco during some of its most culture-creating years (1973-1981), and admit that I was strongly biased to pick up this book and love it. And I did both.

My bias: I have co-published one of Adrian's novels, Roulette, and I'm giddy to publish another, Black and White (and red all over), in the fall of 2008.

But why I loved Flights of Angels was not simply a knee-jerk "I love anything Adrian Brooks" writes response.

Yes, Adrian is an author who knows how to create an authorial voice--all the while juggling those of many characters--and work it. In other words, he can tell one hell of a story. And yes, there are parallels between the wild bunches of misfits making incredible communities in both Roulette and Black and White (and red all over) and what the Angels of Light were trying to create on- and off-stage in San Francisco. And yes, there are over-the-top antics in all three books--though fact is way wilder than fiction. But what really makes this memoir so much more than just a tell-all of a zany troupe of artists and activists and now and then a lot of drag queens or even of San Francisco itself, is the relentless and often ruthless scrutiny with which Adrian Brooks looks at himself and from there, the events and the times around him.

In fact, when I finished Flights of Angels, this memoir was no longer a memoir to me. It was a piercing first-person look at San Francisco during a time where much of the good, the bad, and the ugly there was a refraction of what was going on and what was to come on the larger national and world stages. And San Francisco from the mid 1960s on was not for the faint of heart, or art. It was more like a social and cultural particle accelerator--where tiny specs of energy smashed together on the stage, on the streets, and in the sheets to make incredible explosions of light and energy-- surrounded all around by shadows and the dark. And all of that is here in this book. And perhaps all this messy complexity is best wrapped up in the tragic story of the little boy Sham, the group's living mascot and totem, whose beauty and pain comes to embody the best to the worst of both the Angels' and the greater seventies peace, love, and happiness visions and their crashing failures.

But as ponderous as I'm making the book sound, it's incredibly readable and enjoyable because we come to it through Adrian's wild ride from scion of a Mainline Philadelphia family to bohemian black sheep to a world-traveled artist with a ramrod-straight spiritual spine who looks back unflinchingly at the times he and his fellow angels looked the other way so they and their bedazzled audiences could only see beauty--fleeting but transformative--onstage.

And I have to add that nothing enhances that very real beauty like the photos of Dan Nicoletta. His collaboration with Adrian makes this book an amazing time capsule for those of who could not be there (I was a tween in Tulsa, Oklahoma myself).

Finally, as a writer, I really appreciated how Adrian Brooks contextualizes the creation of each poem in the post-epilogue section of the book. It was a fascinating way to add yet another layer to this study of San Francisco's art--from its more measured fits and starts in the poetry scene to its most brazen soaring and crashing with the Angels.

As a fellow "survivor" of the Drugs, Rock 'n Roll, and the San Francisco free-spirited Gay Sexual Revolution of the 70's....I feel we are very fortunate that Adrian Brooks has the insight, awareness, and writing talents to document the Beauty, Madness and Theatrics of the phenomenon called "The Angels of Light"! Not only was Adrian a keen-sighted observer...he was also an integral participant who had the first-hand opportunity to enter and exit the very vortex of this creative cyclone.
His book ""Flights of Angels" is a tell-all...good-bad...beautiful-horrific...that is a "must read" for any one truly interested in this "once-in-a-lifetime" exotic living theater troupe. Adrian's unflinching portrayal of those involved(including himself)shows his brutally honest approach to this entertaining and mystifying cast of characters. If he stepped on some HIGH-heeled toes...or ruffled some of the gaudy plumage..SO BE IT! His end result in this Book is both very entertaining and A JOB WELL DONE!!!

ps For some good laughs...read his book "Roulette". And...for an erotic book...read one of his earliest works "The Glass Arcade" (an intriguing creation of book that is highly erotic...yet devoid of blatant sex scenes).

A very intimate portrait of Francis Albert, giving us a different perspective of his begginings through photos as provided by his family, creates a more human appreciation of the greatest pop singer of our generation. A must for Sinatra fans and collectors.

Being an avid Frank Sinatra fan, this book had some great pictures I have never seen. I recommend to any Sinatra fan.

My dad is a big fan and already has lots of books so I was afraid this might not appreciated. But he loved it. He thought that it was a copy of photos in a real family album.

Excellent book by Charles Pignone, noted Sinatraphile. Charles does a fabulous job in putting together this great family albulm of great photos and remarks, this is a must have book for all Sinatra fans and collectors.
Frank Sinatra is and will always be the greatest singer in the world and this book shows you a little bit of how he got there over the years in pictures. Awesome.

He's one of the true icons of the entertainment industry as well as one of the most renowned stars ever. Ol' Blue Eyes...Frank Sinatra. His name is still synonymous with stardom. Sinatra is one of those stars who will never fade away. It's not just that he left an enormous body of work in music, film, and television when he passed away, lots of stars did that. But Sinatra has something only a handful of celebrities had, true charisma and a certain aura to him. It's what separates Sinatra and others like Marilyn Monroe and Elvis, from the pack.

With Christmas fast approaching, Little Brown & Co., has released a book that is sure to be a hit this holiday season. Frank Sinatra: The Family Album is a glimpse into the personal life of this legendary performer. As the title implies, this book is photo album of Sinatra's life. His family has graciously supplied most of the photos in the book, a gift to his legions of fans. The book contains over 100 color and black & white photos, tracing his life and career every step of the way. Writer Charles Pignone provides the informative captions as well lively anecdotes that include comments from Sinatra himself as well as various friends and family members, all sharing their memories of Frank.

What must assuredly be the most rare Sinatra picture shows as an infant, lying naked on a blanket, and even at that age, the eyes were already striking. We see Frank as a kid on the streets of Hoboken, New Jersey, riding his bike and also visiting the beach with friends along the Jersey shore. My only regret is that we didn't get to see Frank more as a child and the album quickly moves into young adulthood with his marriage to Nancy in 1939. The happy couple are shown walking down the steps of Our Lady of Sorrows Church in Jersey City. It's evident that Frank and Nancy were deeply in love as evidenced by the joyful photos. Nancy notes that in those early days they were together 24 hours a day as Frank traveled from show to show for his blossoming career. There's also lots of pictures of Frank and his children having many fun times together.

Much of the book is focused on Frank's careers from his days as a big band crooner and later with his film and television career. Frank is shown at lavish parties with a who's who of Hollywood including Jackie Gleason, Milton Berle, Jack Benny, Tony Curtis, Dean Martin, and many more. Frank's life truly lived up to the type of a legendary star! Oddly though, there were no pictures of the Rat Pack together as one might have thought.

The book comes full circle as an older Sinatra becomes a Grandpa. Frank's status as a true family man is cemented as he plays with his granddaughters Angela and Amanda, building snowmen, sledding, and hanging out in the swimming pool. Amanda reveals that Frank was a big fan of the "Jeopardy" TV show. A star to the very end, this book presents a unique and personal look into the life of one of the 20th century's greatest stars. A fantastic tribute to Ol' Blue Eyes!

REVIEWED BY TIM JANSON