Arts and Entertainment Books

This book is fantastic. Connie has managed to put into words what most people just think. It is great to read a book with such witty humor and deep insight. Bravo Connie, my hat is off to you.

I give Connie Cronley 5 glittering stars for this enchanting book of essays about all the things we experience but are often too busy to stop and observe. She has recorded most of these essays (first heard on Public Radio) and what a recording it is. Listening to it over and over is like visiting with a good friend.

I don't usually read non-fiction to escape and feel good, but Ms. Cronley's collection of essays gifted me with a wonderful afternoon of humor and insightful commentary. I adore this collection! Order this book, curl up with your cat and your favorite glass of wine (or two), and prepare to have a wonderful time.

This book may make you see things differently. You may see cats differently, or flower gardening, or bright moonlight nights, or crisp spring days. Ms. Cronley's gift for imagery makes this an enjoyable reading experience. Her wit is a bonus. I experienced many giggles and a few really good laughs while reading it. I couldn't decide whether to buy the book or the audio cassette, so I bought both, and I'm glad I did. I enjoy the book at home and the cassette in my car.

Connie Cronley's "Sometimes a Wheel Falls Off" is a collection of wry observations and smothered giggles. Each piece, originally drafted for NPR, has a deft and gentle humor reminiscent of the Talk of the Town brief assays from the New Yorker. Ms. Cronley describes the small universe of her home and cats, her cosy neighborhood, and the larger world she visits when she travels. But some essays are more worldly than these perfectly crafted intimate essays. She provides wise and thoughtful analysis of well known authors and their work. The best part of this collection is the voice of a friend, admiting fraility and finding gentle humor in the vagaries of her life. It's a thinking person's inspiration. I bought twelve copies as Christmas gifts and I realize that I need few more.

It was the most intriguing and interesting book, I felt like I was right there at the circus.The stories were so informative and at times very funny. It was hard to put this book down.

This book is a veritable delight! It is all at once humorous, credible and compelling. The authors' use of language creates a visual mind picture that is like an outing with a friend. An easy , interesting look at the thought processes that we can all relate to at one point in life or another. Definitely 5 stars!!!

This book is the genuine experience! The author has an incredible knack for triggering each of the senses as she describes with vivid, page-turning detail the life she actually lived and observed first-hand in the circus. Anyone who remembers attending a classic, tented circus as a youngster will find most compelling her ability to virtually bring you back there again, but this time with the privilege of an extended personal tour that completely bypasses the ticket office. With the close of its last page, you'll feel that you, too, have actually lived the experience, and that you personally know each of the personalities who formed its fabric.

As thoroughly dazzling as this book is, it is NOT fiction, making all the more engaging the author's candid illustration of every facet of circus life. Surprisingly, the author also has a great deal to say about the far broader world at large within which the circus existed, told with a perceptive and poignant honesty and frankness, but also with an acquiescent reverence and humor that's accepting of the persuasions of that era. These observations were as engaging as those of the circus -- like watching vintage film footage of a 1930's baseball game but being just as intrigued by the look and dress of the audience in its stands.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to truly visit, or re-visit, the bona fide circus of yester-year. The author realistically tells of a time and place that you'll want to step back into and hang around in long after you've finished reading it...and as authentically as this author captures it, you'll feel that you easily can.

C. B.

"Spangles, Elephants, Violets and Me" by Victoria Cristiani Rossi her intelligent memoir is the best circus book since "I Love You Honey But the Seasons Over." Victoria Cristiani Rossi born into the Famous Cristiani Riding Family while her family was touring with the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. From Ringling a very young Vickie moved with her family to another huge railroad show under the Big Top - Cole Bros. Circus. The Cristiani Family occupied an entire railroad car that was specially built for the family. Victoria takes us not only behind the Big Top but her days attending privates schools away from the circus. Our author spends her late teens on the Cristiani Circus Family Circus. She writes about 1958 tour from Sarasota to L.A. via Chicago and her near fatal Hollywood accident that landed her in the L.A. hospital and romancing her future husband Ben a featured cowboy roper and rider on her families circus. Ben within a short time also had a circus accident and was omitted to the same hospital. The (Ozzie & Harriett) Nelson Brothers Rick and David were regular hospital visitors. This is all great reading that once you pick "Spangles, Elephants, Violets and Me" up you won't put down until completion. This book is about real circus and elephants by someone that actually lived the story...Victoria's book is a significant circus memoir. The book is correspondingly an account of her own search for the "violets" in her life.

I found out about this new circus book on Buckles Blog which is a fantastic information source on the circus.
So I ordered this fantastic book and it was so good I could not put it down until I finished it.
It is about the famous Cristiani circus family who were on many famous circuses and who had at one time the largest tented circus that traveled the United States.
They flipped backwards from horse to horse with four horses going around a circus ring. This feat has not been repeated as they were the best ever.
The author who is a daughter of the famous group takes us step by step up their success ladder.
She was there and was part of this famous circus group and she tells us all about it.
There is a great section of photos that covers the Cristiani's career.
If you are a circus enthusiast like I am, this is a must.
You will really enjoy this great book.
Harry Kingston
Circus Fans of America

Hoagy Carmichael was one of the most influential jazz composers of the 20th century and wrote some of the great standards from the accepted "American Songbook." When we fall in love with the songs of any great songwriter, we often forget the negative factors that shaped their lives. This biography offers a fair portrayal of a great artist, but also a man with very human failings. Learning of his early feelings of inadequacy and insecurity only made me hear his music with a greater sensitivity to its beauty.

Hoagy Carmichael's college roommate, Hank Wells, claimed all his life that Hoagy, consciously or subcon- scioujsly, stole Star Dust from him. People in his home- town of Lake Bluff, Ill., said that this "broke his heart." Wells visited back and forth with the parents of a friend of mine, and she personally heard him tell this story. He played piano at her wedding..
I have read Hoagy's own words about Star Dust quoted in a book and they are cryptic. He does indeed imply that the song came out of nowhere into his mind.
Two facts: (a) What if a man wrote one great song that was unusual and never wrote another? Why is that?
(b) Why could one man write such a great song and then
never equal or exceed it in his long writing career. Why?
Only one set of facts fits that scenario. Hank Wells, heartbroken, never wrote again. Hoagy couldn't write anything so good on his own.

CCarf

Whatta life! From poverty to great wealth based on musical talent of creating songs as well as a wonderful actor. He had many highlights writing songs and acting but after rock & roll took over the musical scene his talents went for nothing as no youth were interested.

Mr. Sudhalter covers Hoagy's entire life and an interesting one it was. The writing in many places is of a "text book" nature, but the content of relating Hoagy's life puts the reader in the center of life as it existed in the 20's through the 60's. Apparently Hoagy's type of music is gone forever which is a loss without question. New generations continue on and what was usually stays behind as merely history.

We owe Richard Sudhalter for preserving the often-forgotten history of America's early jazz pioneers and composers. His subjects are white musicians, but he doesn't write about them with a nasty political agenda. He just doesn't want their contributions to be forgotten. Along the way, he pays warm tribute to the black musicians who led the musical revolution. Unfortunately, politically-charged reviewers refuse to see this.
I especially love this Sudhalter work. Sadly, Hoagy is becoming a forgotten genius of American song. Duke Ellington once called him America's greatest songwriter, and Sudhalter goes a long way in providing the evidence to such a claim. I especially enjoyed the focus on Hoagy's home state of Indiana, which was an amazing hotbed for jazz in the 1920s. One should take this book and drive around Bloomington, Indiana, and find all of the haunts described in rich detail by Sudhalter. Then go to Indianapolis, and Richmond, Indiana. Sudhalter really did us all a huge favor in providing such a wonderful document.

My father, Bud Dant, is prominently featured in this book, as a man who helped Hoagy write down Stardust and I grew up hearing about the stories and now here they all are in a book...not just a book, but what I know is an extremely accurate and real account of Hoagy's life...the writing is terrific and Richard's obvious love of the music and times shows in his accounts...I know for a fact he researched this material exhaustively...it shows! It pretty much dwarfs all other books on Hoagy.

The first maybe six or seven chapters of this book were really tedious for me as they really didn't seem to delve into the life of Mr. Perry as much as they explored the "times" of Mr. Perry. It wasn't until around chapter 8 or so that I was able to enjoy the book as it went into more detail about Mr. Perry's life in and out of show-biz. Mr. Perry was a character, to say the least. Flamboyant with his riches and fame, but seemingly not so smart about his future. I just don't understand why some don't see just how much of a contribution Mr. Perry made to the world of Black cinema. Yes, he perfected the character of a slow-footed, shuffling, mealy mouth, but had he not made those enroads in film, would there be the Poitiers and Washingtons of today? I wish that there was some way to actually view In Old Kentucky and Hearts in Dixie so I can actually see the character Mr. Perry created and watch as his talents were displayed. Given the times that Mr. Perry and others of his generation had to work within, I'd say that he did what he had to do. Watkins does a fine job of providing us with a fact-based and well-documented glimpse into the life and times of Mr. Perry.

This book was well researched, and provides an entertaining and enlightening insight into an era that could not exist since the civil rights movement of the 60's. It speaks to social justice and inclusion, bias and the ability to transcend existing norms to earn a living at a time when, for black America, second class citizenship and economic hardship were the norm. Mr. Watkins is the professor and we are his students.

A Fascinating Character"

I'd heard the term "Stepin Fetchit," but I didn't know that there was a real person (Lincoln Perry) or movie star who used the name. So when a friend suggested I read this book I was leery. But after a few pages I was caught up in the times and in Perry's struggle to break into films and establish himself as a star. What surprised me most is that he was apparently an intelligent, gifted performer who was nothing like our picture of the "Uncle Tom" that the name is associated with. Who knew that Perry wrote for the Chicago Defender, fought for higher pay and better roles for black actors, hung out with the heavyweight champ Jack Johnson as well as Muhammad Ali, and, for years, lived such a lavish life in Hollywood. Watkins gives us a rich, detailed account of this complex, talented black comic actor. And when one reads about the racial restrictions and circumstances of black actors in the 1920s and 30s, the reasons for his being cast in the cartoonish movie roles he played become clear. He was a man before his time. I finished the book thinking that Perry, with his ambition and outrageous knack for publicity and self-promotion, could have been a star today. It seems that Perry had more flair and attitude than many of today's biggest stars.
This is an entertaining, eye-opening book - a great read. I recommend it for anyone interested in entertainment history or the bumpy road that black actors had to travel to become accepted in Hollywood, and for everyone who wants to be introduced to one of the most fascinating characters I've ever read about. Lincoln Perry's achievements need to be reevaluated and "Stepin Fetchit" definitely deserves * * * * * Five Stars.

Lincoln Perry, the man the world came to know as Stepin Fetchit, was a complex man. After reading this book, I realize I have childhood memories of seeing Fetchit in films on television. I also remember some of his imitators. Mel Watkins brought to mind cartoons like "Who Killed Cock Robin?" where a Stepin Fetchit type character was being beaten by the police. I asked my sister to quote our deceased mother using the title of this book. She said, "Stop acting like Stepin Fetchit." That made us laugh. But I also remember being taught by my elders who were the great grandchildren of ex-slaves, the subtle form of "playing dumb" to avoid being oppressed by the oppressor. Unfortunately, when "the oppressor" saw Stepin Fetchit movies, he didn't get the joke because it was at his expense. Therefore, forward thinking black people had to cringe watching some of movies movies in mixed company because they knew that this comedians "act" was being accepted as typical black man behavior. Mel Watkins did a fantastic job of explaining Lincoln Perry and the time in which he lived.

Chances are you don't know who Lincoln Perry is, and chances are you do know who Stepin Fetchit is, even though you may never have seen any of Fetchit's movies. Fetchit was Perry's stage persona, famous for playing the "shiftless darky," the slow-talking, drowsy shuffler that was the comic bane of his white masters. Perry was as full of contradictions as the character he portrayed, and both get a full biography in _Stepin Fetchit: The Life & Times of Lincoln Perry_ (Pantheon) by Mel Watkins. Watkins has previously written a history of African American comedy, and so is well acquainted with Fetchit, his fellow performers, and the social changes of the twentieth century that led to the changes in feeling about Fetchit's screen character. This biography is not just about the man and character, but about a particular aspect of twentieth century American race relations.

Perry was born in 1902 in Key West, Florida, and followed his father into performing, working tent shows, carnivals, and eventually vaudeville. Movies were not a career that black performers considered at the time, because if depicted, blacks were played by whites in blackface. Perry may have taken a job as a porter at MGM, and in 1927 he acted in _In Old Kentucky_, his first film appearance, one which got him some critical notice. Perry did not invent Fetchit's "torpid physical presence and halting, meandering speech," but he performed the role with meticulous attention and timing. When onstage before an audience, a key part of his act (it sounds like the sort of transformation for which Andy Kaufman was famous) was to come meandering out, looking lost and confused, and start a whining, incoherent monologue. He would then suddenly burst into a spirited dance that showed that the sloth and stupidity were nothing but pretense. Watkins makes the point that on the screen, there was no such transformation; Perry's sluggard, always performed with skillful languor, was the only role he got to play. He became the first true black movie star, and one of the first to have a studio contract. Like so many actors of his time, he spent lavishly and foolishly. Throughout his movie career, he would irritate studio executives so much that he would get fired from a movie or from his contract, whereupon he would go back to the road for work on the stage. He was criticized by the civil rights movement in the 1940s, and was unemployable because of it, although he could have made a comeback in drama in the sixties. He died in a home for Hollywood actors in 1985.

Watkins has provided a full picture of a complex man of real talent who used it in a timely way, a way that simply became unfashionable as times changed. Perry's aggressive demands to be treated (and paid) like white stars branded him a troublemaker. His fame opened doors for other black actors in less controversial roles, but his name stands for a now-regrettable image. This entertaining biography shows that there was more to him than the image.

This audio book surpassed my expectations! The life of Ed Feldman was wildly entertaining and Christian Hoff does an incredible job. I feel such an appreciation for the hard work of a producer and value each movie I watch that much more. I would like to thank Ed Feldman for allowing us to step into his life and enjoy his stories of some of our favorite actors. I couldn't of thought of anyone better to narrate than the brilliant Christian Hoff. How does he do that!John Wayne was my favorite.
I recommend this beautifully written story of Ed Feldman's life to everyone.

Ed Feldman has been a distinguished producer for many years. He spent several years in advertising, and various aspects of the motion picture industry on his way up, met many of the "greats". He tells his story in a lively and convincing manner. His "7 rules" extend beyond producing and can apply to many aspects of life. I particularly enjoyed his discussion of his meeting and marrying the girl next door.

I just finished, Tell Me How You Loved the Picture and really liked it. Feldman worked his way up the Hollywood ladder from pr guy to producer and has very funny experiences along the way. The book covers Feldman's Hollywood covers antecdotes from Liz Taylor to Jim Carrey filming The Truman Show. I've never read a better book for understanding what a producer actually does. I highly recommend Tell Me How You Love the Picture.

I've heard the book twice now. I obtained the CD set initially looking to hear Christian Hoff's Guinness world-record 241 voices, which are amazing, but I was treated to a wonderful story by publicist/producer Ed Feldman, with collaborators Tom Barton and Jimmy Merrill, as well.

The audiobook took me through the last half-century, concentrating as much on Bette Davis, John Wayne, Cary Grant and Barbra Streisand as on Harrison Ford, Eddie Murphy, Jim Carrey, and Glenn Close--with wonderful backstories about Murphy in "The Golden Child" and Close in "101 Dalmations."

The stories were thrilling, so much so that I sat in my parked car not wanting to interrupt the wonderful story-telling of the antics on the set of "Whatever Happened to Baby Jane?" or the casting challenge of Barbara Streisand in "Funny Girl." Christian Hoff brings Bette Davis and Joan Crawford back to life, and does a magnificent Streisand inflection.

And I also finally learned exactly what a producer does, as Ed (Christian) takes us through his own wonderful experience of producing Harrison Ford's and Kelly McGillis's "Witness", from having no major studio interest to 8 Academy Award nominations, including one for Ed himself.

I also finally learned what a "producer" actually does. Basically, he "fixes" problems and is the general manager of the film. One thing a producer doesn't do, though, is put his/her own money into a production! Funny, all these years, I've thought the producer was putting his/her monies at risk along with mine!!

But the best part of "Tell Me How You Love the Picture" is personal, describing how Ed met and married Lorraine, literally the girl next door in the Bronx as Ed was growing up, and how they've now been together for 53 years.

Great job, Ed, Tom and Jimmy. And absolutely marvelous story-telling and voice creation, Christian. These stories are a great and wonderful education in the movie industry over the past 50 years. Worth every penny.

Ed Feldman's "Tell Me How You Love the Picture: A Hollywood Life," written in collaboration with Tom Barton, is a fascinating, behind-the-scenes account of a Hollywood movie producer. Feldman, who started out in the movie business as a publicist for 20th Century Fox and worked his way up the ladder to produce big time, blockbuster hits, recounts in his book the tricky path that a movie producer frequently must walk between investors, studio executives, directors, actors and sometimes even puppy advocates in order to get his picture in the neighborhood cinemaplex. Readers, especially Hollywood movie fans, will enjoy the many humorous stories and delightful reminiscences about big named actors such as Elizabeth Taylor, Glenn Close, Jim Carrey, Harrison Ford and Eddie Murphy.

Since I enjoy acting and actors, I was given this book out of my grandfathers vast collection of books. I knew Katharine Hepburn was a popular actress, and Spencer Tracy stared with her in a few films. I had seen 'The Aviator' film about Howard Hughes, from Martin Scorsese. Cate Blanchett is incredible in her role as Katharine Hepburn. I'm so thrilled she won the Academy Award for her portrayal of someone who really didn't thankfully act like a star. She was just an ordinary person, and that is a great aspect of these fine actors. While this book only touches a little on that aspect of Katharine's life with Howard Hughes, it is the witty comments from Spencer Tracy and really a great friendship and love between this special pair of actors that is examined and admired here. Before reading 'Tracy and Hepburn' I read 'Audrey: Her Real Story', by Alexander Walker. The two Hepburn's are quite different and really don't have anything really in common. That isn't a bad thing at all. Except for the same last names, and acting in the Golden Age of Hollywood. 'Tracy and Hepburn' is a rare book. It is luckily authored by Garson Kanin, who has worked with and been wonderful friends with the acting duo, and neighbour to Katharine Hepburn for many years. Katharine certainly seems like an admireable woman and understandable risk taker. She, like her family isn't really content to just do nothing. She makes things happen. She also likes to skateboard and has even attempted surfing. Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn loved to have a meal with friends at home and chat. 'Tracy and Hepburn' shows us a simplier life in those days. I didn't live through the Golden Age of Hollywood with all of these seemingly wonderfully talented people, but we should all aspire to be like them. I really haven't seen many Katharine Hepburn or Spencer Tracy films. I've seen most of the great 'Guess Who's Coming To Dinner', with the two of them. I've seen 'Boy's Town' with Spencer Tracy. I've seen Katharine in 'The Philadelphia Story', and 'Little Women'. That's really all I've seen of these two great actors. I am a fan of Humprey Bogart and Lauren Bacall and both love Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn, so I was very glad to read about 'The African Queen'. Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy keep it real. There isn't anything fake about them. I understand their appeal to others in the movie business, and those out of it. So I'm now a fan. I remembering prefering 'High Society' with Grace Kelly over 'The Philadelphia Story', but I'm certain to enjoy both films equally now. I'm not sure if I'd read another book on Katharine Hepburn or Spencer Tracy, but I'll never say never to it. I'm really not sure what would be the best aside from this book. I'm sure there are many that expand from this book, because Katharine is still alive at the end of this book. If there are any favorite books Katharine Hepburn fans enjoy please contact me and let me know. I'm very interested. I'm not sure if there is any truth about Katharine not enjoying the lack of privacy about her life in this book, but I'm sure nothing hurtful was meant by Garson Kanin writing it. He has captured these two real-life characters beautifully. Katharine also hated doing interviews but loved to travel and make plans. Keeping her life in order, and staying fit and healthy. She also loved to give gifts, but her birthday seems unknown. My Mum was born on the 12th May like Katharine so there's something special I can take from reading about Katharine Hepburn. I'm glad I share both Katharine Hepburn's and Spencer Tracy's love for acting. These two special people from the Golden Age of Hollywood are irreplaceable, but how fortunate and enjoyable for all of us that we can still watch them shine on screen. I love the immortality of cinema. Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy really must be the best in the business. I'm so glad I've shared the earth with some extraordinary people. Thank you both for such happy productive lives and thank you Garson for recounting it for others to enjoy.

I enjoy this book immensely, but I wish Mr. Kanin hadn't constantly been upstaging himself throughout. One review I read of this book said (aptly, I thought) that the title of the book should have been called We Three. I'm sure that he and his wife Ruth Gordon were good friends of Tracy and Hepburn's; I'm also sure that Tracy and Hepburn had other friends they were close to as well. I do know that the invasion of privacy made Katherine Hepburn furious when this book came out - she refused to speak to Mr. Kanin for several years as a result. I don't know - the stories are good, but it puts a bad taste in my mouth all the same.

This is a delightful book filled with anecdotes about Kanin, his wife Ruth Gordon, and their relationship with Tracy and Hepburn. But, of course, no mention is made of the fact that Spencer and Katherine were having an affair and no hint of the "A" word (adultery). This is a cleaned up version of reality, but nonetheless ceaselessly entertaining. Tracy, however, comes off as he usually does: melancholy, dark, and troubled. Only Kanin's affection for him redeems Tracy in the reader's eyes. The parts about Hepburn are the real treat here; she must have been a riot to have as a friend.

And I've probably read it 12 times. Spencer Tracy's abrupt nature is described in great detail, but with real affection by Garson Kanin. By the end of the book, we understand why Bonaventure was more than just Tracy's middle name. Hepburn's unwavering love and willingness to put Spen-SAH first often seems hard to reconcile with her solid will and staunch intellect. Through Garson Kanin's eyes, we see why the couple's differences made for a fascinating life together, on and off screen. No slouch in the talent department himself, Kanin's asides on his and Ruth Gordon's antics with the formidable Tracy and Hepburn could make for an exquisite book, in and of themselves.

Garson does a great job showing off Tracy and Hepburn in this delightful book. You get to take a look inside Kate's life from a good friend of hers. Garson passed away in March of this year and he left many wonderful things behind. This book just being one. He also wrote several of the screenplays that Tracy and Hepburn stared in. This book is a must for all.

As an avid horror fan, I must say Vincent Price is the long-standing king of horror. When I think of horror movies, he immediately comes to mind. Finally, a book that specializes in the work of a true master who truly loved his work. Having recently purchased this, I look forward to mulling through its contents and watching the many films of "The Master of the Macabre." Long live Vincent Price!!!

True fans of Vincent Price don't really care whether or not we're watching something badly made like SCREAM AND SCREAM AGAIN or some auteur-approved masterpiece like TOMB OF LIGEIA. As long as Vincent Price is in it, hamming it up and acting all others right off the screen we are in hog heaven. It's a strange, fervid fraternity and way back when someone started calling us The Price Club and the name just stuck.

Denis Meikle has given us a book that clears up some of the myths surrounding Price's career, but he seems determined to create a new one, based somewhat on Victoria's great book. His thesis is that the McCarthy hearings and the "graylist" of which Price was the victim made him scared that he would never work again, so that afterwards, from the mid 1950s on, he consented to appear in any piece of schlock if the "price was right." Again and again he evinces this theory to explain, for example, why VP appeared as "Egghead" on TV's BATMAN. Price himself often stated that he wanted money to but more modern art with, but Meikle discounts this simple explanation.

I am the proud owner of a signed copy of Price's awesome book THE ART IN MY LIFE and I think that he indeed loved art and that he wasn't just "running scared" from the HUAC police.

But everyone deserves a forum for their views and Meikle makes a good case for his.

When I was a kid way, way back in the late sixties to the early
seventies I never failed to catch a great Price film on the late night Creature Features. This book is hard to put down.
Dennis Meikle does'nt white wash the Master of Menace, nor present him in any unfavorable light. All of Price's successes
and failings are told here in a very respectful manner. As a
matter of fact there were some parts of Price's life I did'nt want to know. This is the story of a great actor the likes of whom we will never ever see again. Well illustrated. A really
excellent book.

I just finished reading this excellent book on Vincent Price. It concentrates just on his work in the horror film genre which is primarly what he is remembered for. Denis Meikle follows Vincent's career chronologically film by film, giving details of the production as well as what was going on in Price's life at the time. While this is not an exhaustive work on this wonderful actor, it makes a great companion piece to his daughter's book "Vincent Price: A Daughter's Biography" which covers his personal life and Lucy Chase Williams' excellent "The Complete Films of Vincent Price" which covers all his film output. All together, these tell the story of one of the last true renaissance men. Recommended.

Vincent Price came into horror films by way of the studio system. His body of work is amazing, and he showed a fine sense of comedic timing in His Kind of Woman, with Robert Mitchum and Jane Russell, playing an OTT hammy actor. Later this tough for droll comedy would show in two gems - The Raven and The Comedy of Terrors. However, he really gathered attention in 1952 with House of Wax. After that wonderful performance, it was non stop fun all the way.

Many of his films were for William Castle or Roger Corman, and often considered Drive-In fodder - such as The Fly, The Bat, House on Haunted Hill. It was the series of Poe movies that firmly linked the word horror to Price - and I think it was a term he enjoyed completely. At the time the Corman-Price-Poe series of movies - The Pit and The Pendulum (with Scream Queen Barbara Steele), House of Usher, Tomb of Ligeia, Masque of the Red Death, Haunted Palace (which was really Lovecraft not Poe, but what the hey...) were often dismissed. But looking back, you will see finely crafted horror films that are still a pleasure to what now, with many of Price's wonderful performances.

Even later, he continued to seek out this same spotlight with the campy Theatre of Blood and the Dr. Phibes duo of films or the more serious Cry of the Banshee and Conqueror Worm (one of his most underrated performances).

He scared us with a gentle boo, mesmerising with that voice, thrilled us with the wondrous menacing laugh, enchanted us with his devilish twinkle in his eye...he entertained us cooking fish in his dishwasher on Johnny Carson.

His legacy lives and this is wonderful tribute to the master! Loaded with pictures, it is a must for Price fans.

Probably the only work available that pairs a film scholar/interviewer with the masters of the screen. Obviously a must for any film enthusiast.

VOICES FROM THE SET is a MUST READ for all film historians, film students and cinephiles. Macklin gains amazing insight into the working lives of such screen legends as The Duke, Altman, Beatty and Peckinpah, all captured in rare form. This is an excellent read.

When teaching film and television in Los Angeles, I had the luxury of having top industry professionals visit my classes. This is simply not possible at universities distant from the major centers of production. However, with Tony Macklin's unique and special tome, I can have many of the all-time greats "visit" my class anywhere. VOICES FROM THE SET will be required reading for all future "Masters of American Cinema" courses I teach-- anywhere...ever.

Voices From the Set is Tony Macklin's collection of interviews from the magazine he edited, the Film Heritage series. Exploring an underappreciated era in film, the early to mid 1970s, Macklin gathered interviews with directors, actors, producers, writers, even film critics who blazened a trail for independent cinema between the twilight years of the studio system and the birth of the blockbuster. The book is meant to be savored one interview at a time, and should give you a great list of films to rent if you're not familiar with them. In his introduction, Macklin calls this particular group of interviews "precious cameos that gain more value as time passes." His discussions include several maverick filmmakers still influential today, such as Martin Scorsese, Robert Altman, Sam Peckinpah and Warren Beatty. Voices also captures the essence of legendary directors and actors Alfred Hitchcock, Howard Hawks, Charlton Heston and Macklin's favorite, John Wayne. Macklin artfully probes below the surface and discusses the artists' feelings and visions, not just dry facts and dates. In the Scorsese interview, Macklin asks him for his opinion on "the new Hollywood" during the early to mid '70s. Scorsese talks at length about this group of influential filmmakers graduating from universities, himself numbering amoung them. He succinctly sums up the era and the reason for reading this book: "They [the old Hollywood] took it as a job...we come in from a whole different level...The old day is dying out, and there is a new Hollywood..."

Tony Macklin's collection of interviews, Voices from the Set, provides us remarkable reflections by some of Hollywood's greats--reflections of a Hollywood balanced at the crossroads of its artistic Golden Age and the modern-day blockbuster. Macklin's interviews with such influential film greats as Hitchcock, Altman, Scorsese, Heston, Hawks, Peckinpah, Wayne, and Beatty give us a fresh look at many of old Hollywood's most powerful, while providing us a peek at some of new Hollywood's up-and-comers.

Macklin, in skillfully eliciting responses that are compelling, honest, and human, allows us to witness a side of Hollywood that is rarely seen. Voices from the Set's subjects are willing to talk to Macklin, and Macklin is willing to give us the full transcripts of his interviews. No sound bite answers here. Macklin asks the tough, thought-provoking questions and we are rewarded with direct, insightful answers.

Both fans and students of film will not be disappointed in this book. Virtually every interview in Voices will sing to you.

Studs Terkel is one of the great historians, letting the stories be told by those who actually witnessed the event. Terkel is one of the foremost oral historians, and these interviews are only a mere insight into the amount of work he has done and recorded.

Memorable interviews with the most affable interviewer. A lovely way to spend some time.

Even today, when celebrity revelations droppeth like the gentle rain, Studs Terkel stands head and shoulders above other interviewers. He had a knack. He could get people to say things they hadn't planned on saying. Terkel knew precisely what to ask, and how to ask it. Those are my words - the Chicago Sun Times said it better:

"Studs Terkel (gets) people to say things in such a way that you know at once they have finally said their truth, and said it better than they ever believed they could say it."

Trained as a lawyer, experienced as an actor, and a best-selling author, Terkel spent half a century on his Chicago based Peabody Award winning syndicated radio program. He brought together people from all walks of life, artists, writers, philosophers, inventors, and visited with each of them as they recounted their triumphs and failures.

Now, 48 of these original interviews have been gathered for our enjoyment - it's a treat to hear the stories of those who influenced our world in their own voices. We hear R. Buckminster Fuller, Woody Allen, Gore Vidal, Eudora Welty, Dorothy Parker, Bertrand Russell, Leonard Bernstein, and a host of others.

Exemplary listening pleasure!

- Gail Cooke

Studs Turkel is a wonderful interviewer, and over the past five decades he has interviewed many of the great thinkers, writers, and doers of our time. The ones he chose for this collection include Aaron Copland, Oliver Sacks, Margaret Mead, Daniel Ellsberg, Maya Angelou, Pete Seeger, John Kenneth Galbraith, and dozens of others. All together, they provide a fascinating portrait of the last half of 20th century. Highly recommended!

Having grown up in Chicago and spent a chunk of my adult life there as well, perhaps the thing I miss most is Studs Terkel and WFMT, the best
FM station in the country. I learned as much about life and the never-ending struggle for human rights from Studs' interviews as I did from any
professor or priest. Hearing these wonderful chunks of those conversations again fills me with nostalgia and recharges my batteries for my own twilight struggle against the world's ills.

Cookie's book is one of those 20 or so of the many books I have ever read that I really treasure and recommend to my friends unreservedly. By the end of the book you have something of an insight into this fascinating and wonderful person. I just hope it gives each new reader as much pleasure as it did me when I first read it!

wonderful book!!! every lady needs to read this! cookie mueller rules!

I found out about this book & jumped at the chance to read it. Cookie tells some of her experiences being an underground Film star & Adventuress. I always loved Cookie in John Water's films, but I never got that chance to read her work, But Now I am a big Fan. She never whitewashes her experiences with Drugs, Sex, hippies, farming, whatever. I hope her other collections are reprinted and well distributed very soon. Meet back up with an old friend, you might not have really known, through this great collective memoir.

I really identified with Cookie Mueller, the author of "Walking Through Clear Water." We were born a few months apart, lived our lives travelling back and forth between coasts, probably attended events together in 60s era San Francisco, East Village, NY, etc. One thing for sure, after reading this book, I wish I had known her and feel like I did. She comes across as so alive and vibrant on the printed page, that when I learned in the "about the author" page at the end of the book that she had died of AIDS in 1989, I felt as though I had personally lost a friend.

Do not let that depressing bit of information in any way dissuade you from reading her story, or to get the impression that this book is at all morbid or maudlin. This is one of the funniest accounts of life on the fringes of American culture I've read in many a moon. She has such an enagingly humorous conversational style, that even when she is describing truly horrifying scenes such as an attempted rape in the backwoods of Maryland, the effect owes more to Rabelais, than to Peckinpah.

Mueller reminds me a lot of a female version of Ken Kesey. Her prose moves along with the same sort of wild energy and the incidents she describes never get bogged down in needless detail. She has great writers' instincts. She sees life in the same tragi-comic vein as does Kesey, as well. Perhaps they both had run-ins with the same Cosmic Joker, at one time or other. Whatever the personal histories, they were certainly kindred souls, who had a look at the full spectrum of humanity and were able to get their impressions down on paper in thoroughly memorable ways.

This is as easy and enjoyable a read as you are likely to come across. I'm by no means a fast reader, but was able to breeze through it in just a few hours. I can unreservedly say that I couldn't put it down, and I find that rare these days. Spend a few hours with Cookie Mueller. She'll probably make friends with you, too.

BEK

Cookie Mueller was a goddess inflamed. Her stories are hysterical, beautiful, outrageous, and heartwrenching. It's true what they say above; we're lucky she took notes.