Arts and Entertainment Books

This book can let people know what kind of singers that this cute and good band is that they are voting for! And also lets the fans get to know a little bit more about the people who inspire them!!IT ALSO HAS VERY ACCURATE PICTURES!

This bok is one ofthe most accurate and most informative out there. It gives us fans an intimate look into the boys. The picturese in the book are fantastic

I take ballet as a supplement to my gymnastics training. This book is a great help, and has thourougly guided me along the way. All ballet dancers will find this book has a fantastic resource, with tons of helpful info and advice. My favorite part, like always, has to be the section with all the ballet moves. It provides detailed instructions with full-color photographs to explain each move. This book also has advice on what to wear, which ballet school is right for you, and how to sew ribbons on pointe shoes. It also includes a chapter on pointe work skills. All and all, this is a terrific book, and I think all ballet dancers will love it.

This book is great for children with a dream of being a ballet dance good for boys and girls!!!! I give it 100 stars!!

This new examination of the history of the Beatles considers just how the Beatles and their manager Brian Epstein pioneered not just their music, but the modern music business itself. From how they promoted and sold records to playing concerts, making films, and setting up their own recording companies, BEATLES FOR SALE provides a very different focus from the many books which have revealed their music and lives, making it a top pick not just for popular music collections, but for business libraries as well.

As someone who's read just about everything out there on the Beatles, I was pleasantly surprised by the latest offering from John Blaney (Lennon and McCartney: Together Alone, previously published in separate iterations). There have been a few books out there addressing the business, as opposed to the musical end of the Beatles' career. But none has offered the amount of detail and insight while remaining steadfastly readable as this one.

Blaney takes us on a thorough investigation of how the Beatles became the success that they were in terms of their business dealings, be it through their club dates, their merchandising, their music publishing and so forth. At first glance, such a potentially "dry" study may seem to be of limited interest, but Blaney is such a masterful researcher with a sharp eye for the kind of minutia that fans find irresistible that you'll find yourself drawn in, as I was, to learn the nuts and bolts of how it all happened. (Did you know that the Beatles pioneered the concept of the tour bus?)

Another strength of the book is how it dissects and clarifies long-held myths about their history. The Beatles literary canon is replete with hearsay, but Blaney has done a great job in going back to the original sources to brush aside the shrouding fog of nostalgia, contextualizing their achievements (which only serves to make them more remarkable).

I highly recommend this work for anyone who's been baffled about the ins and outs of their business affairs or Brian Epstein's efforts on their behalf. The good, the bad, and the ugly is laid out in crystal-clear detail - this eminently readable work will stand as one of the more worthy additions to anyone's Beatle bookshelf.

I cannot imagine my life without the influence of Jack MacGowran as a crucial part of it. Young does an excellent job of bringing this amazing actor's life and work to the reader. But, after reading the book, please take the time to discover what Jack did best: Bringing the works of Samuel Beckett to life.

My interest in Irish theatre brought me to this book. What a find! A fascinating look at a fascinating actor. The author brings alive the work and times of MacGowran. A well-researched and thorough work recommended for any student of theatre. I was especially impressed with the variety of interview subjects. Made me do a search for MacGowran's available work on video. While not a big fan of Beckett, I was impressed by the relationship between the playwright and this ultimate interpreter of his works.

Though he died, sadly and miserably, before I was even born, the greatness of Canada Lee cast a long shadow over my early life on Long Island (a suburb of New York). Lee was but one of the victims of the tragic blacklist, and the HUAC hearings which tore apart the country, especially the entertainment world in which many well-meaning folks had taken part in various charitable organizations before and during World War II only to find themselves suspected of Communism or merely "premature anti-Fascism." It was a time in which, to paraphrase playwright Lillian Hellman, you had to cut your conscience to suit this year's fashions, and such a time may be coming around again. If so, the Canada Lees of today are going to come to a terrible end.

What a world! And yet, as Mona Smith shows us, there is redemption for even the most miserable of us, and Lee was able again and again to triumph over the ingrown and casual racism of the film world by finding parts that made him more than just a grinning servant a la the underrated Stepin Fetchit. He refused to play a servant and thus suffered many privations and was debied many roles, along with his better known compatriot Paul Robeson, also a famous athlete before turning to acting.

Lee's greatest films included Hitchcock's LIFEBOAT, in which he plays the only sane man in a lifeboat filled with hysterical excuses for human beings. This film, written partially by John Steinbeck, is one of those movies that seem more and more central to Hitch's career as time goes by--to Steinbeck's too.

Mona Smith's account of how she came to write the life of Canada Lee, as set forth in her preface, is heartbreaking. Unbelievably, Canada Lee's widow was still alive and was able to share with Ms. Smith a mountain of personal papers. It is trily one of the miracles of the archival process, and it makes her book not only a showbiz biography, but a study in civil rights and in American history and human endurance.

I recommend this book to everyone, of all ages, who wants to learn about redemption and sacrifice.

The story of Mr. Canada Lee is complex and great to read, I had heard of him growing up and I remember watching "Body and Soul" when it came on tv as a child and my family telling me all the great things he had done, and the fact that history until now has reported very little about him, gets me. He contributed a lot to helping others who were not treated fairly. And he also made it possible for stars today to not have to be limited to certain roles. He was a man of courage and stood firm in what he believed, even when others around him abandoned him, he never gave up. I can only hope I can be that strong in my own life.

Gene D. Phillips's "Beyong the Epic: The Life & Films of David Lean" comes at a time of renewed interest in David Lean and his films, and puts perhaps the definitive stamp on this filmmaker's achievements. Though it often goes over the same ground as previous books have on Lean--especially the excellent biography by Kevin Brownlow (1996)--Phillips's book has assembled a mass of material from biographical, critical and other sources, including personal interviews with actors, colleagues and filmmakers who knew Lean, and has integrated these materials into an admirable whole, lucidly and painstaikingly evaluating the opus of Lean in its entirety. At last, Phillips offers the Lean devotees--and a broader audience--a remarkable book that places the cinematic achievemnts of David lean into proper perspective, balancing all the elements of a director whose directorial style and methods both attracted and repelled viewers and critics, some of whom still have not accorded Lean the high place he deserves among twentieth century filmmakers. Massive and minutely authenticated, tackling the knottiest problems head on, "Beyond the Epic" redresses critical lapses, and, without being maudlin or worshipful, presents an image of David Lean as, deservedly, one of the greatest narrative film directors of the twentieth century.

The film historian Phillips brings out the person, the immense talent, and the consummate skills of the director about whom one film critic wrote that David Lean's films were "too mammoth in scope and Olympian in style" for moviegoers, even students of the artistic genre, "to get an impression of the man behind the camera." Lean was an extraordinarily ambitious and skilled director who brought his particular, uncompromising touch to any movie he made. Among his movies are the panoramic classics "Dr. Zhivago" and "Lawrence of Arabia"; "Great Expectations" and "Passage to India" adapted from major novels of different centuries; and the war movies "In Which We Serve" and "Bridge on the River Kwai." Lean worked with Alec Guiness, Katherine Hepburn, Omar Sharif, Charles Laughton, and Julie Andrews--all of whom acknowledged his indelible impact on their performances as well as the finished movie even though viewers were not distinctly aware of the director behind it, as they are in a Woody Allen or Alfred Hitchcock film for example. Phillips hones in on Lean's particular style and accomplishments by close readings of many of his 16 films. The author analyzes details of scenes from the films to cast light on Lean's techniques and masterful intentions; and he often notes commentary and critiques by critic, actors, and others for additional perspectives and appreciations of Lean's work. As his major, most memorable films show--"Lawrence of Arabia," for example--Lean was able to create and project romanticism, expansive emotions, genuine characters, and variously the sweep of history or the genius of literature without sensationalism or sentimentality. This is his characteristic, extraordinary, achievement in the world of film.

Everytime my mom comes to visit me she loves doing the crossword puzzles in my TV Guide's. So, I got her this for Mother's Day.

I use to buy the monthly TV Guide Crossword puzzle whenever I could find it in my local grocery store. That's if I was lucky enough to get my hands on it before it sold out. Now with 300 puzzles from the past 40 years, I'll be occupied for quite some time. The crosswords break down like this: crosswords from the 60s, 70s, 80s, and 90s; theme puzzles; and modern classics. also, throughout the book you'll find 10 Brain Teasers, i.e. matching the TV parent with its TV show, cool, huh? Anyhoo, if you love crosswords, hell, if you LIKE crosswords then order this book now, you won't regret it.

there is nothing like Black Comedians. I mean without Humor in this Country a Brother would truly be hopeless. through the struggle&all the Ism that went down back in the day&that still is happening now. laughter has always been the Best Medicine&it always hits the spot ten fold. this Book is tight. Interviews,etc... a Fantastic Book. very soulful&RIGHT ON!!

This book goes through the history of how black comedy became what we know it as today. Eddie Murphy, Sinbad, Cedric the Entertainer, Chris Rock, Damon Wayans...these are all successful black comedians that are common names around US households today. This book tells the stories of those that came before them. This book has wonderful quotes as well as short biographies of various comedians. It's a great read and I highly suggest this book to anyone who finds many of todays African-American comedians funny!

This is a wonderfully written autobiography. Very interesting reading of a interesting life. You will learn a lot about the spirit of different times and places. The relation of Hemmings with Britten, Antonioni... Every page is a treasure.

David Hemmings was an excellent actor who just never seemed to have gotten that one part that let him really shine. So he made the most of the parts he got, even the stinkers. But even that aside, he was an interesting fellow with a VERY interesting life, who directed a lot of series and movies that people might not even be aware of, and fans of Hemmings, especially, will find this book overflowing with lots of juicy details straight from his own mouth. He wrote this book shortly before his death, and luckily for us he took the time to pen his thoughts. It is also the sad tale of an alcholic who never quite beat the disease. There are many classic moments of pranks he pulled that are uproariously hilarious, as well. It's a well-made autobiography from beginning to end, and an interesting read even for people who aren't serious Hemmings fans, but it is definitely a must-own for any fan of this charming, talented actor.

This one's definitely worth reading. You get a very human version of Hope, a lot of respect but no mindless worship. And Strait knows how to tell a story and write for an audience in a way that keeps you constantly entertained.

This is an excellent tribute to Bob Hope written within months
of his death. The work has many memorable pictures of Bob with
Dorothy Lamour, James Cagney, Lucille Ball, Charlie Chaplin,
Bing and the famous USO Tours which were a trademark for the
performer. The author describes Bob's early work in Cleveland,
performances with the Jolly Follies, the Ziegfield Follies of '36,Casanova's Big Night and various co-host performances for the '56 Academy Awards, Christmas caravans and virtually every tour of any consequence. This work is a fitting tribute to
Bob Hope. It will be treasured by his many fans throughout the
USA and the world. The book would make a great gift for any
of his many fans .