Music Books

While I don't own this product (yet - have just ordered it), I can tell you all from actual experience that Marjorie Persons, the woman who created this lovely series was my music and piano teacher many years ago. I have a friend from back in those days who I still talk to and many times over the years, we have discussed and marveled at how much information we have retained over the years due to the way this marvelous woman taught us about music.

I have learned the most from her in all of my classes in school because of this method she has transferred to this series.

Buy this series, watch in amazement as your child's mind expands and hold on tight to this series and never let it go!

My boys love this CD! I use the book/CD in our homeschool with my 5-year-old. My surprise was when my 3-year-old autistic son started singing along! If I play the CD, they both come running! Thanks, Classical Magic, for introducing my kids to the beautiful world of classical music!

I have two boys, ages 4 and 6, and they are always asking to play the cd that goes with this book. Although I haven't used the book much, the cd itself was worth the money. A few days ago, my 6 year old was watching tv and suddenly said, "Hey mom, that was Beethoven's fifth," after hearing the music on a commercial. Each theme plays twice on the cd, one time with lyrics, one time without lyrics, and my boys usually sing along as best as they can. This cd plays at bedtime, in the car, and during the day when we are doing legos or play-doh. I actually have a hard time keeping track of it! The book contains short biographies of each composer, as well as the music for each theme. The combination of the book and cd are an excellent introduction to classical music and appreciation for it. I would highly recommend this book to homeschoolers who wish to add music education to their curriculum as well as to parents and teachers of preschool and elementary children.

I am an early childhood teacher with experience using Classical Magic in the pre-kindergarten, kindergarten, and special needs classroom. It is a exciting way to expose children to classical music. Through lyrics Mrs. Persons has written to classical pieces, young children learn to sing the lyrics and in turn learn the composer and the title of the piece. Parents have come to me in amazment that their 4 or 5 year old can tell the family what piece Bach, Mozart,or Sousa wrote and then proceed to sing it for them! The best part is that the children ask me almost daily, "When are we going to do classical magic?" They love it! I recommend this concept of learning classical music to teachers, parents, and grandparents. Never underestimate the ability of young children!

I am a music teacher who works with students ages 3 through adult, both privately and in classrooms. I really appreciate both Volumes I and II for their clever lyrics, short lengths to engage even the most wiggly children, stories that can be presented as plays, and especially the CD that allows one to quickly find any track when under pressure! I have used the Four Seasons by Vivaldi in Volume II as a art/listening project. The children drew pictures of the four seasons and learned the lyrics at the same time. They loved the Fall especially--"watch that spider!" Boys and girls alike will enjoy Saint Saens' "Danse Macabre," Stravinsky's "Infernal Dance," and the challenge of the high speed lyrics of Chopin's "Valse Brilliante." Even if the children are too young to read the lyrics, believe me, it won't take them long to learn them. Just take this CD with you on a car trip and you and your children will know classical music like never before! The older children and adults especially appreciate the humor that sails over the younger ones' heads. It doesn't come off as silly or juvenile, for which I am so grateful. It is especially appropriate for those times one gets caught teaching all ages at the same time.

I cannot wait for Volume III. Thanks for a great classroom teaching aid I will use over and over.

I wouldn't consider myself a huge fan of Adrienne Barbeau, but this book was a great read. In fact, I had a hard time putting it down! The book was very engaging, genuine, and fun to read. Ms. Barbeau is a definitely a class act; and she seems like a good, down to earth person. That's hard to say about many actresses these days.

I have always enjoyed Adrienne Barbeau's acting, but this book has transformed me into a bona-fide fan. Ms. Barbeau shares stories of her Hollywood travels and her journeys toward personal identity and healthy relationships. It's an amazing read -- I hated putting it down!

This book is definitely of a higher caliber than most Hollywood tell-alls, and Ms. Barbeau exudes class, authenticity and humor throughout. After reading it, one will want to sit down and get to know this remarkable lady.

Also, Ms. Barbeau has signed a book deal to write mystery novels! So we will have more books from this amazing writer. Yay!

Adrienne Barbeau's first book is a wonderful testament to a life lived. Good, bad or indifferent she propels her readers to LIVE.

Memoirs are always tough, and Barbeau nailed it! Even if I did not know her voice, from the many films, plays and TV shows she has been a part of, her written voice comes through so clearly. It is simultaneously kind, comic and sad without ever being maudlin.

Barbeau has a wonderful ability to take the reader in as if writing each reader a note about the day to day, and then she turns things that note around. You are reading a note from a friend and then realize that: Yes she was married to one of the most notable directors of horror in the U.S, yes she had an affair with Burt Reynolds. And yes she has had many loves in her time. Wow! But rather than delivering a tell all revealing the warts of others - although we do read a bit about those warts - Barbeau manages to undauntingly keep the focus on herself. While laughing at herself, and her foibles as a person with loves gained and lost, she takes the comic and imbues it with such heart the reader can visualize how double sided comedy is within each us; as when we laugh at ourselves, there tends to be some sadness lurking - conversely she explores her own tragedies such as the passing of her mother and her best friend, and reveals hope.

When reading this book, I was reminded of being lost on occasion. In THERE ARE WORSE THINGS I COULD DO, the reader, along with Adrienne, takes a journey. Barbeau reminds us that when we are lost we seek acceptance, regardless of what that acceptance might mean. But as we lose ourselves amidst gaining acceptance, we discover how within that losing, we can all find ourselves anew.

What is so fantastic about this read is Barbeau's refusal to be consumed by circumstance.
She keeps on going, keeps living, and keeps growing. For me as a woman, what is so particularly compelling about this book, is that she lets all women know that age truly, does not matter. And she does this simply by revealing her life, not by being pedantic. This is a message to all of us, to keep on keeping on. Ultimately she finds the love she so deserves, and rediscovers her muses: her children. Still, Barbeau reminds us that each day is a blank slate. and although Adrienne has found her muses, she keeps working at her life - understanding that with each day, ones life may need some reconfiguring. And that reconfiguring is a good thing...

I was lucky enough to hear Barbeau read passages from the book, and the reading added a wonderful dimension to my understanding of her experiences. Her timing is impeccable, and I hope her publisher will push extensively for a nationwide tour with the author.

Adrienne Barbeau's "There are Worst Things I Could Do" is not your standard kiss-and-tell Hollywood memoir. Although she writes wittily about her affair with Burt Reynolds, her marriage to cult filmmaker John Carpenter, her liaisons with various Hollywood personalities, and behind the scenes mayhem during the filming of "The Fog", "The Swamp Thing", "The Cannonball Run", and her hit television sitcom "Maude", her memoir is more about her personal journey as a wounded woman who ached for peace and joy in her relationships with men.

Her candor is refreshing. She does not flinch from sharing with the reader intimate details about sex, psychics, gurus, and her quest to heal the trauma of being abandoned by her father when she was still a child. The forty or so chapters around which she has arranged her material reveal a vibrant woman who wanted to experience life fully, to learn from her experiences, to heal her wounds, and to grow as an actress and woman.

Though she deals candidly with "heavy" subjects, her style is never maudlin or judgmental or self-pitying. She is able to find humor and farce even in the most intense situations of life.

So read this book as a Hollywood memoir full of juicy revelations if you wish. But the pleasure I got from it was not reading about her career arc but her personal journey as a woman through the rapidly shifting zeitgeist of the past five decades.

In time, her well-rounded memoir will grow in stature.

+++++

"I went from being a musical comedy performer to a sitcom actress to a scream queen to a mother and a TV talk-show host and a book reviewer and a voice-over performer, and then back to the stage and back to musical comedy and back to television and concert halls and more films, and even into the recording studio for a CD and into my office to write this book."

This is an excerpt from this page-turning autobiography by Adrienne Barbeau, a candid, funny, and self-deprecating autobiography that covers sixty years of her life. It is based on the journals she kept which she "began in 1955." She "wrote every day for the next forty years."

The above excerpt tells you generally what the book is about. Along the way, Barbeau tells us about "relationships and love affairs, emotional highs and lows, friendships and loss."

Highlights of this book include talking about her two hit TV shows ("Maude" and "Carnivale"), her major movies ("The Fog," "Escape from New York," "Swamp Thing," and "Creepshow"), her relationship with 1970's superstar Burt Reynolds, and her two marriages (the first to horror and science fiction director John Carpenter).

The title of this book is the title of a major song Barbeau sung in the original Broadway production of "Grease" which was "a major turning point in [her] life."

This autobiography is well written. What I especially liked was Barbeau's directness and the fact that you could easily follow the timeline of her life story.

Included in the book's approximate center are over forty black and white photographs. My favorite is the one that has her character in the movie "The Convent" gunning down nuns (or as she says "blowing away nuns").

Barbeau throughout her book doesn't come off as self-absorbed or an airhead. Instead she comes off as a smart, witty, loving, and giving person who, as this book chronicles, is a survivor.

Finally, I did find a few problems:

(1) I felt that Barbeau was holding back on certain details of her life story. For example, we are not told anything about the book's provocative cover photograph (shown above by Amazon). I learned that this is Barbeau's 1978 pin-up poster that actually rivaled Farrah Fawcett's poster of the same decade. Why are we not told anything about this?
(2) Many of the stories in her book are not followed up and this might be frustrating for some readers.
(3) She tends to sometimes flip-flop back and forth between present and past tense.

In conclusion, this is a good, solid, witty, and revealing autobiography about an actor who has been in the "biz" for more than four decades. It is definitely better than the standard actor autobiography!!

(first published 2006; introduction {entitled "The Journals"}; 40 chapters; main narrative 335 pages; acknowledgements {entitled "Thank You"})

+++++

If you, like me, didn't know much about this great guitarist...read this book.

The fact that he never got famous is really his own fault....but you'll want to hear his music.

Very satisfied with product purchased from this seller. Fast delivery, honest description of product per seller and packaging was great. I bought this book for my husband and he enjoyed reading it. Thank you!

"Unfinished Business" by Ralph Heibutzki is a great read and provides great insight into the life of a not-so-well-known American guitarist. I was a fan of Danny Gatton before his untimely death and own 8 CDs by him. After reading Ralph's book, I ordered the other half of Gatton's canon (8 CDs and an instructional DVD) including a live soundboard recording by Evan Johns from the period when Danny was playing with Evan.

As I was one that always wondered what would cause a "normal" guy like Danny to take his life, on the heels of Roy Buchanan taking his own life, the book provided much insight into those dark days. It also provided insight into his glory days, his love of classic cars, and his struggles with the music industry.

The book was so captivating that I took it everywhere with me. I doing so, many folks inquired about it ... and more people in my town knew of Danny than I ever imagined. One friend was so impressed with my overview of the book, he requested to read it when I finished with it. Because I want to keep my signed copy intact, I'm buying him a copy as a gift.

If you have any interest in Danny Gatton or any interest in an amazing American guitar hero, "Unfinished Business" is his story.

The book reinvigorated my interest in DG. I had a couple cds of his and knew him to be a hot shot guitarist, but never concentrated much focused listening time on his music. Reading the book has gotten me on a DG binge, and I've picked up a few more cds and some live recordings (Fat Boys 1974!) and have listened alot more closely. Before reading this book, I didn't know about his death or anything about any interfamilial squabbles, but the author presented them very even-handedly. I knew Gatton was a well respected and influential guitarist but I was still surprised to read about some of the other musicians who were influenced by or impressed by his music. And being a guitar player myself (big surprise) I feel motivated to try to learn a lick or two of his myself. Thanks for the great book!

As a musician, I was very fortunate to know Danny personally as he played in one of his earliest DC bands with my uncle, Rick Harmel. I recall that he took time to show me a few practice scales almost everytime I ran into him - no matter how busy he appeeared - and he was a warm-hearted, generous guy to the core.

This book balances the abrupt, tragic end of Danny's life with the highs and motivations that made Gatton a player's player. It also spotlights many of the people (like Arlen Roth) that contributed their loyalty and friendship to Danny. Thank you Ralph for a great homage and superb, thorough account of the life of the Master of the Telecaster. A "must read" for all guitarists - and anyone else who enjoys a moving account of an accomplished human being.

I am becoming so much more aware of my body in all of my life and also a much better piano teacher. It will help you to be a healthier and happier person if you take it to heart.

Very informative book. I have to read it again and consult with a physiotherapist. But as far as I understood, it is an extention of Alexander Technique and it further explains all what is used on piano technique. It further explain forearm rotation which is essential for proper piano technique. It also demystifies wrong picture about fingers, wrists, shoulders. In simple words it's a musthavebook.If there is a BODYMAPING course in area where i live, i would already be on that piano class.

Update, I have just finished the book. All pianists should have this book. I am anxious when they release DVD Video related to this book. There is a VHS version for purchase but i'll probably wait for digital one.

This book contains a great deal of useful information for all kinds of pianists so the name is actually quite apropiate : What every pianist needs to know about the body. And that's exactly what it is. Unfortunately I discovered this book late, but fortunately, not too late; I've just recovered from a injury that's kept me away for over half a year from playing my beloved instrument. Now I know what I did wrong, and also how to correct it. I'm not saying I'm already done, I will need some rereads of the book. Taking in the process some notes to apply to my daily playing. It won't be easy but it will surely be worth it. I reccomend this book to everyone interested in not just recovering from injury, but also to everyone interested in improving their technique.

I am a 17-year-old pianist from New Jersey. I am almost finished with reading this book, and I found this book very useful for mapping my body and applying it to my own playing. This book is not just for pianists, but every musicians. You will be satisfied, and this book will make your playing easier, freer, and more expressive. You will enjoy reading this book. This book will lead you to better playing and you will be aware of your body movements. This is a very well-written book that deserves not just 5 stars, but maybe 10 stars! A wonderful guide.

I'm seeking a way to return safely to piano after recovering from bi-lateral tendonitis. Several approaches stand out: Taubman Institute, Feldenkrais, Alexander Technique, and body mapping. I want an approach that is safe and effective, specific to piano, and economical (everything else being equal). Mark's book is my first purchase: the book is piano-specific, exceedingly cheap relative to the full $800.00 Taubman 10 DVD set, and sufficiently packed with accurate anatomy to impress my occupational therapist (hand specialist w/ Ph.D.). So far, so good . . .

Now for the fine print: the book is 90% anatomy, not piano playing. There are isolated pointers based on anatomical facts, but the emphasis is, "Musician, heal thyself." The methodology is for the musician to learn their body, listen to their body, trust their body, obey their body. I'm looking for a recipe book (it is safe and effective to play scales like this, arpeggios like this, reach with your thumb like this, . . .), not a book about how to grow my own ingredients.

This book has merit and value, and I'm glad I bought it, but it is not enough by itself to get me back in the saddle. Looks like I have some Taubman videos in my future.

Klein has written a definitive bio of Woody Guthrie. He portrays Guthrie in his full humanity with flaws and all. As a result, this is a rich real portrait in which Guthrie is illuminated as a human that was able to achieve in-human feats during his life time. This book is a must for anyone interested in understanding this seminal figure of American history and culture.

Woodrow Wilson Guthrie wasn't the most talented of musicians, but few people have had more influence on the landscape of American music. He was an incredibly prolific writer and the grandfather of the 1960s folk music revival, hero to the Dylan, Baez and the like.

Woody was to music what Steinbeck was to literature, capturing the California story of the thousands of "Okies" who emigrated to California looking for employment when dust storms devastated their farms during the Depression. But unlike Steinbeck, Guthrie was one of the people he sang about, leaving his poor Texas panhandle home and hitch-hiking, riding the rails, and singing his way across the country. Along the way, he listened to stories and felt the disenchantment of the other wayward wanderers. He captured those stories and sentiments, then put them to music. Woody quickly found an audience in his fellow immigrants, first around campfires, then on the radio. His character was more authentic than the slick corn-pone caricatures Hollywood had created. The large new audience could relate to Woody. And more importantly, he was voicing frustrations they could relate to.
Woody Guthrie's life was situated at the nexus of American music and American politics. He spent much of his life as a Communist (most people forget that, though not a threat to take office, the Communist Party had a sizable membership in America pre-WWII), and was one of the first people to use music to encourage political rebellion. He played the picket lines, helped organize rallies and played at Communist party meetings.

While his songs sound happy and simple to us today, the lyrics are often packed with anger and irony, expressing frustration at an America not living up to its promises. There was talk, for a while, of making Guthrie's "This Land is My Land" the national anthem. But in truth, the original "This Land is My Land" is far from the patriotic ditty schoolchildren learn today. It was actually a response to Irving Berlin's "God Bless America," a song Woody found to be full of false hope. Along with the fourth verse, the final verse of Woody's version is typically exorcized:

"One bright sunny morning, in the shadow of the steeple
By the Relief Office, I saw my people -
As they stood hungry, I stood there wondering if
This land was made for you and me."

Personally, Woody was a complex guy, full of good intentions, but falling short on many counts. For all his success as a musician, he was a terrible husband to several women and an absentee father, often leaving his families for months at a time on wandering cross-country trips. He drank too much, was unpredictable and often a pain in the side of some of his closest friends. Only later in his life, when he was diagnosed with Huntington's disease, the genetic nervous disorder that killed his mother, did it seem like there may have been an explanation beyond selfishness for Woody's unpredictable behavior.

Joe Klein tells Woody's story with the kind of craft and poetry that such a story deserves. He paints a vivid portrait of Woody that jumps off the page with life, all quirky and charming and lovable and maddening and irresponsible and admirable and stupefying and brilliant. But WOODY GUTHRIE: A LIFE is more than the story of one man's life-it is the story of America in the last century, of its changing social climate, of its musical maturation, of its dreams and realities. All of these themes can be found in the songs of Woody Guthrie, and the only thing he ever sang about was what he saw in his lifetime.

....and I'd recommend this book even to those not especially interested in Woody Guthrie. The writing is superb, and Klein's reporting skills are without peer. The book also stands as a fine social history of Depression Era America.

This biography is stunningly and painfully intimate. Joe Klein did a fantastic job. This is a great read.

Guthrie is a tremendous American icon who not enough of us actually know about or perhaps have even heard of. He was a thousand contradictions. In his art and in his life, in his outrageous, childlike, precocious, brooding, energetic, and endlessly subversive behavior... he was just utterly himself, he embodied a particular American brand of freedom in life, outlook, and sense of possibility.

Even if you haven't got time to read this book, make sure the kids around you know all the verses to "This Land Is Your Land". You may not agree with the politics but it's worth knowing what the man actually said, it makes you think.

Every Christmas, I buy multiple copies of this book and give it away to friends and family. Every spring/summer, I receive multiple messages of enthusiastic thanks and gratitude. No one who reads it comes away unaffected.

Basically, I will just say this is the most riveting biography I've ever read, and I've read it many times (am rereading it now actually).

There are two primary reasons why this book is so far above all other biographies:

1.) Joe Klein's writing is fantastic. His research is thorough, but his ability to communicate to an audience complex historical, socio-political, medical, and psychological concepts is virtually without peer.

2.) Woody Guthrie's life simply is one of the most fascinating lives I've ever read about. From his birth (even before his birth) straight through to his death, his life never gets boring. There is no plateau, where a great artist achieves his best work and then self destructs or mellows, etc etc.....every single period of Woody's life is equally fascinating. He was an incredible human being, a very complex artist and man-and he happened to straddle many periods of history. You will be constantly surprised. Sometimes you want to strangle him and then he turns around and does something so unbelievabely heroic, that you can hardly believe it actually happened. There is NO ONE like Woody Guthrie today....nor was there ever another in any other time period, the guy was truly a one and only.

I couldn't recommend this book enough. It's so good that not until 2004 was another biography attempted on Woody, and I can't imagine it could be any better than this.

This is a good group of interviews and conversations done with Al Pacino. It isn't a biography, although it has bigraphical information. What it does is give the reader a small glimpse of a man who normally stays well hidden. If you like Al Pacino it is a good read, and gives insight into the behind the curtain reasons for some of his "quirks". The Kindle editon is formatted without problems. The only complaint is the pictures are small, but that is a kindle limitation. The words carry the book. So this isn't an issue for me. I have looked for the print edition and it was out a few days, sold out in book stores, and I haven't seen it since. It may be available on Amazon, I was checking when I found this edition. And didn't continue to look, the pictures aren't that important to me - I know what Pacino looks like.

Mr. Grobel's relationship with Al Pacino grows throughout this book. The book consists of numerous interviews by the author as well as magazine articles. Pacino talks about his many successful films, actors he admires, the Godfather III disaster, and his obsession with Richard III. This was a great read and allowed me to see inside the mind of one of my favorite actors.

Lawrence Grobel is a master interviewer and get some original and surprising answers of Al Pacino. There is no flattery for the celebrity here and if there's some is only in small doses. Pacino reveals himself as a down to earth guy who cares
a lot about his craft and about doing his job well(no more,no less) and shows an amazing sense of humour at times.This is the portrait of a true artist who loves his art.
Lawrence Grobel many times insist in questions that Mr. Pacino does not want to answer and many times out of insistence get an answer from the actor.
I truly find this book entertaining ,didactic and intelligent.

This is a great book for several reasons:

1. Pacino gives insight on many of his movies, discussing why he feels they were hit or miss.

2. Pacino talks about off-the-camera stuff, such as his childhood, his struggles in trying to become an accomplished actor and much more.

3. Pacino elaborates on his true passion and where he returns when his career is in a slump.

The introduction is very strong and interesting because it summarizes his career work. If you like Al Pacino, you gotta have this book.

Excellent book in interview form which delves deep into the fascinating and complex psyche of one of the most accomplished and gifted actors in cinema history. Reknown journalist and writer Lawrence Grobel goes to where no other interviewer/reporter has gone before:deep into the mind and thought process of legendary film and stage actor extraordinaire Al Pacino. This fantastic and thorough book explains in great depth the complex and brilliant acting career of Al Pacino. If you love Pacino's work like I do you will love this book. Highly recommended and entertaining. Al is widely known not only for his remarkable work on film and in the theater but for his passion for his craft. He is passionate about acting and is a very serious actor but who would of thought that this dark and intense actor would have a sense of humor. Some of the answers that he gives to Lawrence Grobel are actually quite funny. He can be serious when he needs to be and quite amusing when he feels the need. Get this book and you will not be disappointed. He discusses in great detail his entire career from his humble beginnings when he was a homeless struggling actor to his defining status as an icon of American cinema.

I have to rate this book highly, due to one thing in particular; a load of photos NEW to someone who's been buying all things Marx since the 1970's. Some of the candid, on-set shots; some of the very rare shots of Zeppo; and some shots from scenes that were later cut...these are the stuff of dreams. Crazy dreams, but dreams, nonetheless.

It just misses five stars for two reasons: a nice crop of pictures we've all seen a thousand times and, worse, a number of well-known, yet misquoted, lines.

Did someone proof this? There's not much writing, so it couldn't have taken long...and, after all, Arthur's an author in good standing.

You'd think he could take some of the money he's made off his pop over the past forty years and buy a complete set of Marx CD's. Then he could nab the quotes directly. No excuse for this.

Yet I, for one, still recommend it for the visual treasure it is. A great "coffee table book" - and on a hilarious subject that makes you long to crack it open and take it all in, as opposed to some of those paper paperweights you've typically seen gathering dust in living rooms various and sundry.

The best Groucho book to come around in years. I loved it!

I've owned this book for several weeks now and it continues to have this strange affect on me: every time I pick it up, my mouth opens wide in awe and then twists into a grin that runs from ear to ear!! I just can't stop smiling! This is not your average picture book on the Marx Brothers.

Make no mistake....this book is first and foremost about the pictures and all have been STUNNINGLY reproduced. There is a richness and depth to the photos that you find in, say, coffee table photography books (Ansel Adams comes to mind). Some of the photos have been published before, but the majority of them are being seen here for the first time in book form. But even if you've seen some of the photos before, you've never seen them like this! This truly must've been a labor of love.

Accompanying the photos is a casual running commentary supplied by Arthur Marx which is at once charming, engaging, revealing and entertaining. You can almost imagine yourself thumbing through a Marx family photo album with Arthur stopping here and there to share the memories he associates with each picture.

This book satisfies on so many levels, but don't expect it to be a primer on the life and times of Julius H. Marx. For that find a copy of Hector Arce's GROUCHO (if you can!) but keep a copy of this book nearby because it wonderfully illustrates yet another facet of the man we know as Groucho.

I give this 5 stars (and 4 hard-boiled eggs!)!!!

Initially the quality of the photos is striking. Then you look at the subject - a man who brings joy through his art of comedy - and some of the most emotionally moving images of Groucho emerge. And some gorgeous photos of the rest of the brothers also.

What fans of a dead artist always encounter is the lack of anything "new" out there. This fills a gap. I have been a Marx fan since my youth and have found the expenditure on this book, and the wait, worth it. The best picture book on the Marx brothers to date.

This book allows you to be in the Marx Family and experience what it must have been like to have a Father who was none other than the "One and Only, GROUCHO!!!"

I have nothing but the utmost respect for Arthur and thank him for sharing his memories and ALL of his fantastic photo's of his Father and Family.

If a picture is worth a million words then this book is worth at least two million ("or three for a dollar").

Finally someone came up with a basic music theory book that's actually understandable and readable. Mr. Harnum explains complicated concepts in a way that even someone like me without any music background can easily understand them. I am looking forward to playing an instrument thanks to his help. This is by far the best music theory book I have ever read!

I took band in junior high and am now rediscovering my instrument in college on my own. I forgot a lot of stuff since junior high and got this book as a present. Its great! Funny and simple, even when it explains tough ideas, like key signatures. The tricks he uses to get information across are great and have helped me a lot. This is a great book for anyone from junior high to adult!

As someone who studied an instrument through high school but had no formal training in music theory, this book didn't tell me much that I didn't already know. It's for people with no performance OR theory background. It doesn't cover anything that you'd expect to learn in a college level class. But, it would be a great for someone who's never learned an instrument or for a kid at the elementary or middle school level. It's very clearly written and easy to understand.

The author of this book obviously had those of us who are scared of the complexity of music theory in mind when he wrote this book. Basic Music Theory is a down to earth book that moves gently through the landscape of music theory from the layout of the staff to chords and their inversions. The author also has interludes on practicing and conducting among others. I highly recommend this book if you want to understand music theory whether to compose music or to play it better.

A music teacher friend recommended this book for my son, and before wrapping it I checked it out. I don't know music, but this book seems like a great way to learn. I've bought most other theory books out there and this one seems the friendliest and easiest to understand.

As another reviewer already said, this book is obviously a labor of love. The author went to a tremendous of amount of effort to get interviews from dozens of the surviving Burlesque trooper, whose histories and stories are engagingly told in this book.

I happened to see the book in a used bookstore, and picked it up just for fun. I didn't know anything about the subject, and was surprised at how much there was to know. For example, one of the women points out that back in those days, they didn't have the elaborate production numbers that they do now, and so just simple talent had to carry the brunt of the show, and she's generous (unfortunately I don't recall her name) in saying that the whole cast was just packed with talent and everyone in the show was usually very talented, so that usually wasn't a problem.

I was so naive about the subject that I didn't even know that women were appearing on stage in such skimpy costumes back then. :-) I thought it only happened in photos taken in shady back rooms for rags that were circulated to a small but discrete clientele. Until Playboy came along in the 50s, you didn't this kind of nudity anywhere in print, at least in a widely circulated publication. But the women here are easily the the peers of those from the famed silkscreen magazine era.

But even more than the visual titillation aspect of the book is that the stories of these women, who were true pioneers and unappreciated until now in many ways, are being told for posterity. Also, some of the men who were important to the period are profiled too. Overall, it's a fine book on what was a bygone and almost lost age of the stage and theater that finally seems to be getting some of the credit it deserves.

And as for the reviewer who gave the book a low rating because he works on Broadway and thought the book should have mentioned the new Burlesque revival, and that the book was just the author gushing about shows she'd never actually seen hersellf, well, stop whining. The book is about the old Burlesque, not the new stuff. And as for not having seen it, that's pretty much the nature of history, since most of it wasn't seen firsthand, anyway. And if you want a book on the new revival, then go write it yourself. Some day someone will be saying the same thing about you.

Just noticed that there are some copies around for used prices on this insanely well-done hardbound. I paid a lot more and if you're looking for some vintage burlesque history of real performers, begin here. Briggeman clearly states how and why she undertook this search; this isn't a working author, she approached it as a fan, a researcher and hit a bull's eye. And if you can scarf one up for a good price, grab it for a fascinating read.

No Virginia, this isn't neo burlesque: here are the roots of the original bump & grinders who paved the way for today's performers who now cross into new media, post-feminist stuff and are more rock stars than many rock stars: today's performers owe a major bow to the subjects in "Burlesque: Legendary Stars of the Stage" and as a labor of love, this proves that a well sought-out and researched project like this can transcend its original goal. "Burlesque" humanizes the performers behind the glitter and, sometimes, grime of a lost era. for the Bettie Page fans and Brown and Bigelow pin up fans along Elvgren's alley, a tip o' the Hatlo hat to a book well done. could it have been heavier in one way or another? Sure: any subject like this is a jump into the deep end of the pool. There's a lot more to cover, but that's not the point: finding real, breathing people and hearing their stories was and is the point. Great vintage photos make it a time trip. And like so many art forms that were reviled by upper class, burlesque, baseball, comic books and rock and roll are spawned by commonality and drew from their working-class roots to become the color in a grey society. This books rocks: what an homage and how well it is done! Kudos!!!

I'm glad to have it in my library; I envy the author in her numerous encounters with the real, working performers who, in their own stories, are now legends. True stories; real people. Bless Briggeman; bless her subjects.

This book is full of wonderful memorabilia, but it's a little weird that the author doesn't mention, or never has heard of, the neo-burlesque movement that has sweeped America and parts of the World. Rhapsodizing about performances she has never seen seems to be her way of romanticizing the past. There's no denying the book has wonderful photos, and the author's collection is full of amazing items. Even if she doesn't like the current burlesque scene, it's something she should comment on. Even the NY Times has written about the current burlesque revival! Nowhere does she mention Teasorama, the NY Burlesque Fiestival, or Exotic World, though she talks about the Museum. It's a flaw in an otherwise entertaining book.
Caveat: I am very much a part of the NY scene, stage managing and helping in a variety of shows, so perhaps I'm prejudiced.

I just heard this book, "BURLESQUE: Legendary Stars of the Stage," won the 2005 IPPY Award in the Performing Arts catagory. From what I've read, over 2200 books were submitted by over 1500 Independent Publishers...and this book was judged to be the best in its catagory. That's all I need to know; it tells me this is a good book--perhaps considered a collectible due to all the photos it contains. The book also preserves at least a small piece of burlesque history; written by someone who has gotten to know many of these old-time performers in their later years. It's a book worth owning!

Slipping behind the scene, author and founder of the Burlesque Historical Society, Jane Briggeman,draws the reader into the dressing rooms and personal lives of the woman and men of burlesque.

Peppered troughout the book are beautiful photographs that show lots of curves, georgious gowns and costumes that bring the art of the dance into the readers mind.
Jane Briggeman covers all the ground from men performing baggy pants comedy to the burlesque stars and big production shows.

The author writes about burlesque's high popularity as well as its low periods when threatened by repressive times. Her impressive collection of burlesque memorabilia would be a welcome addition to any writers research library. Briggeman reveals heart and soul in "Burlesque". The size of the book and the attractive high gloss red cover makes this a very classy coffee table conversation piece. Go out, buy the book and have some fun, it's a very exciting read.

An amazing look into Borderline Personality Disorder, recovered memories, and the impact of those memories on the patient, family, and physician. Highly recommended.

Stephanie Moulton Sarkis PhD NCC LMHC
Author and Psychotherapist

Dr. Moskovitz presents a great case study, and a great analysis of a malpractice case. He also gives an excellent presentation of a psychotherapy case. Dr. Moskovitz sets the stage carefully and then the blook takes off and goes flying. I particularly enjoyed the vivid descriptions of Boston. Dr. Moskovitz's book brings about intriguing speculation about repressed memories. I highly recommend this book.

This engrossing book is for anyone who is addicted to the court-room, Law and Order-type suspense genre. As the drama unfolds, the author provides a sometimes disturbing window into the minds and hearts of each of the characters with even-handed, reportial detail.

As a psychiatrist, I found Dr. Moskovitz's novel, "Carousel Music" both entertaining and believable. His treatment of the controversial repressed memories and confidentiality issues is sensitive and insightful. They are addressed in the context of a mystery story complete with a surprising twist at the end. The development of the intricate characters and their interactions is very realistic, and I found the most interesting dialogue occurring during the courtroom scenes.

The reader is challenged to predict the outcome not only of the trial, but also of the novel itself. This is a well-researched page-turner, which clearly shows the complex thought processes of a psychiatric patient, her relatives, the treating physician, and the attorneys who become involved. I look forward to Dr. Moskovitz's next book.

Fred Miley, M. D.
Immediate Past President, Florida Psychiatric Society

The author's easy writing style takes the reader through the trauma and drama of the abuse, the courtroom, and the anguish of mental illness. I read this novel from cover to cover in just one night which is no small feat considering my busy lifestyle, but I just had to know how it all turned out.

Richard Moskovitz develops his characters well and brings them to life with compassion, intelligence and skill. Having worked closely with victims of abuse I can say that this novel is right on the mark. Therapists and suvivors should read Carousel Music.