Arts and Entertainment Books

along with bob dylan's "chronicles volume one," this is one of the two best music books i have ever read. mr lankford writes about his experiences on the road as a white drummer in an otherwise black blues band with great skill and wonderful narrative sense. this is a completely enjoyable book that i would recommend you best read soon.

I can only echo the sentiments of other reviewers when I beg Mike Lankford to write some more.

Even if you have no interest in the subject matter, Lankford's fluid style will thrill you to the end. We start with his love affair with rock music & drumming, the numerous bands he was in as a youth and conclude with a series of anecdotes regarding his time in a small touring every-band with a couple of ageing yet highly-talented black guys who needed a drummer. Brilliant!

I've loaned this book to several of my fellow musicians (most of whom have seen a little time on the road) and most of them have since bought copies for themselves. I've also recommended the book to my son, who has visions of a life in a rock band (and whom I feel hypocritical in trying to dissuade since it was my young adult dream, too). Mike's book speaks directly and honestly about the life of the journeyman musician and the danger and boredom that it entails. But at the same time, he conveys the wonder of a young teenager discovering the magic of the music. This book makes great reading for those who've been there and for those who could have been contenders.

Mike Lankford creates such a vivid picture of life on the road that I actually feel myself being tossed about in the back of that van he writes about. My only confusion: Why haven't we gotten another book from this guy?!

This is a musician's biography that soars above its genre. The writing is so good that truth loses importance. Life meets art. If another book is not forthcoming from Mike Lankford soon, he should be incarcerated for squandering a national treasure.

Schechter has done for Judy and Liza what Koeschel has done for Wolfgang. It's all here: the mood, the method, the magnificence, in two encyclopedic texts that detail the lives and good works of two of the most fascinating and talented women of our time and all the ages--the Fantastic Garland and her equally incredible Daughter Liza Minnelli. Schechter has not only written two great books, he has done the world a terrific service in collecting some of their TV appearances on DVDs that have given a permanent showcase to material that otherwise might have been gone and forgotten forever, to the great loss of all of us. Colorful, informative, and fascinating, these two books on Judy and Liza, as well as the DVDs that constitute exhibits A-Z, should provide fans and would be admirers alike with endless pleasure and information, as they make an incalculably important and significant archival contribution to our heritage. Not to be missed. Martin Kantor, MD. Author of My Guy: A Gay Man's Guide to a Lasting Relationship and Together Forever: The Gay Man's Guide to Lifelong Love

If you are a fan of one of the greatest performers we have had, this book is for you. It includes many rare photos and a chronicle of her professional life over the last 40 (!) years. Schector, a long-time fan, has finally done the professional tribute to this star that needed to be done. You won't find what's in this book anywhere else!

and I would call that thing "a burning, selfless love." No, not the love you'd find between a man and a woman or a confused grad student... but the love and respect you might find between two bitter rivals who look at each other with a knowing nod and hint of a smile.

Liza's never been hotter than she is now and this scrapbook is just the thing you'll want to read to get you caught up on her deepest desires and secrets.

I know Liza is trying to put that awful David G. (I refuse to write the name "Gest") episode behind her and possible find love with someone who's less into getting bad plastic surgery and looking creepy.

I once met David Gest at a Rest Stop on the Jersey Turnpike. He was hitting the vending machine because his Fiery Habanero Doritos corn chips were stuck between the glass and that little spinny thing.

I was nice enough to help him out. I bought another bag of the corn chips and his dropped down. Unfortunately, my bag became lodged the same way his had. He didn't even say thank you. He just grabbed his chips and walked out. And I was the one the security guard yelled at! Can you believe it?

The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook is the most loving and complete biography available today. Mr. Schechter succeeds in revealing the TRUE Liza, an incredibly talented, charismatic legend in her own right.

Thanks to the Liza fans for all the kindness and support of the book.

Here are some of the professional reviews the book has gotten to date :



From Booksoup.com :

Liza Minnelli has mesmerized her audiences with her remarkable talent and pure joy of entertaining for decades. Her appeal is universal and timeless. For those us who have had the pleasure of closely following her career, no other performing artist can compare. "The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook" is a comprehensive pictorial history. Schechter has done an amazing job of chronicling Liza's career accompanying his research with pictures both familiar and new to the avid Liza fan. For longtime Liza fans like myself, the book is treasure of Liza remembrances and certainly the ultimate Liza "reference" book.

****

From NYTheatre.com

http://www.nytheatre.com/nytheatre/bookshop.htm


The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook
by Scott Schechter

Perfect for any fan, The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook is just that - a scrapbook of an almost five-decade career. With a fond foreword by Billy Stricth, this book chronicles Liza's life by decade. There are brief overviews of each ten-year span, and then details and at least a brief synopsis on every movie, television show, Broadway show, and recording Liza has ever done. Furthermore, as if that was not enough, there are billions of pictures - pictures with other celebrity friends, cameos from various television and movie stints, covers of playbills and recordings, etc. The book is so indubitably complete in its coverage of Liza's career that there is even a picture of Liza with Kermit the Frog from her episode on "The Muppet Show!" This is an incredible, cohesive, and all-inclusive record of Ms. Minnelli and is a must have for any fan because of its comprehensive coverage and plethora of pictures.
- Seth Bisen-Hersh

http://www.nytheatre.com/nytheatre/bookshop.htm

****
From GENRE magazine, January-February 2005 issue, "The Feed" Column : "audio / film / PAGES," Editor (and reviews by) Michael Liebermann :

"The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook" Scott Schechter, Kensington, Biography, 242 pages, $22

"If you're looking for objective criticism of Liza Minnelli's storied career in music, film and theater, or an expose of her latest missteps in love, then keep on browsing. But if you fancy a stroll down gay memory lane -- from growing up Garland through 'Cabaret'to the oft-forgotten 1980 TV spectacular 'Goldie and Liza : Together' -- you can't do much better than this true fan's scrapbook."

****

From OUT magazine, January 2004 issue; "OutFront" Reviews : "What's New and Hot" : "ETC" (Page 27) :

"A must-have for Liza fans, Scott Schechter brings us 'The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook' (Citadel, $21.95), a vibrant volume about her career, with over 200 rare and never-before-seen photographs."

****


Featured on November CNN "American Morning" Show

****

GREAT write-up on the InSightOUT Book Club's webpage :

CLUB REVIEW

From Cabaret to her recent stint on "Arrested Development," Liza Minnelli has never let the scandal that seems to run in her family's blood taint her dazzling career. And her life in showbiz, which spans five decades, is celebrated with this scrapbook of photos, facts, and diva pride!

"The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook" takes you back to the beginning of the dynamic performer's life as the daughter of Judy Garland-and her first public appearance at age 2 1/2! From there, she launched a career that garnered her Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Awards, and it's all covered here! Along with page after page of fantastic photos, the scrapbook looks at Liza's illustrious career: New York, New York, Flora the Red Menace, Liza at the Wintergarden, and The Act. There are essays about every major performance she's ever given, including her sold out appearance in Victor/Victoria. Plus, you get all the trivia and facts you could desire-and need! Everything Liza, including discography, videography, lists of awards and much more. Photos throughout. 242 pages, 8 1/2" x 11", softcover.


THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER -- Tuesday, November 16th, 2004

Reuters via Yahoo! News, Mon, 15 Nov 2004 4:13 PM PST

'SCRAPBOOK' DELIVERS THE GOODS (Headline)

By Robert Osborne NEW YORK

Liza Minnelli has certainly had her share of publicized woes of late, but something's on the horizon that should cheer her considerably.

Scott Schechter has compiled a magnificent book on the one aspect of L. M. that always seems to get short shrift or is altogether ignored these days, i. e.,her years of delivering the goods in front of cameras and on stages throughout the world. That work has won her, to date, an Oscar (1972), three Tonys (1965, '74, '78), an Emmy (1973), a Grammy (1989), two Golden Globes (1973, '86) and an ever-loyal fan base, something Schechter covers in monumental detail in "The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook," in bookstores this month via Citadel Press, with a foreword by Billy Stritch.

No stone is left unturned in looking at the career of Minnelli and, for a refreshing change, no stone is hurled at her, either; here, it's strictly Liza's professional life and accomplishments that the author is emphasizing. And nothing goes unrecorded, be it a TV "Match Game" appearance on NBC in 1967, a 1987 concert in Stockholm, Sweden, or, this year, singing "Oscar" and "God Bless the Child" at a private party at the Ars Nova Theatre in New York. Besides being a dandy reference guide for anyone hunting for a Minnelli fact,"Scrapbook" also includes plenty of interesting info on
Minnelli projects that came close to happening but didn't. She was announced, for instance, in 1975, and again in '77 and '79, to star in the film version of "Chicago," playing Velma to Goldie Hawn s Roxie Hart (with, at one point, Allan Carr producing, Frank Sinatra playing the lawyer, Nancy
Walker as the prison matron and Carol Channing and Ann Miller as competing newspaper reporters); later, in 1992, it was rescheduled but with a
difference: Lewis Gilbert was to direct, with Liza switched to the role of Roxie and Goldie as Velma.

We all know how that turned out. In 1982, Liza tested for what was to be an "Evita" directed by Ken Russell; she sang "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina," causing Russell to publicly comment, "We had found our Evita"; the entire venture, however, was KO'd until it was finally made 14 years later with a different leading lady. Schechter also lists dozens of other projects that
almost happened ("Sunset Boulevard," "The Carmen Miranda Story") and, carrying out the "scrapbook" motif, there are miscellaneous color photographs, candids and reproductions of Playbill and album covers and Liza-related ads. One thing comes through loud and clear: The lady may like
to play, but she has also worked.

****

The NY POST -- "PAGE SIX" -- Sunday, November 14th, 2004 :

HITS THE SPOT :

IT'S not all bad news about Liza Minnelli, who was just hit with a lawsuit by her former chauffeur. At the book party for Scott Schechter's "Liza Minnelli Scrapbook" tribute tome, the author announced Minnelli's first theatrical movie since "Stepping Out" in 1991. Liza will play an offbeat self-help seminar leader who helps Parker Posey on her quest to find her G-spot, in "The Oh in Ohio." It co-stars Danny DeVito and Mischa Barton.

****

The SECOND Review of "The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook" this one by Phill Hall of Boston's EDGE and also to appear in the NY RESIDENT paper in a few weeks :

"The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook" by Scott Schechter
Grade: A+
by Phil Hall
EDGE Literature Critic
Monday Nov 1, 2004

Just from the title alone, "The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook" seems predestined to find a place on the coffee table of many gay homes. But forget the stereotypical gay worship of this show biz icon and zoom in on the rich contents. Scott Schechter's extraordinary tribute to Liza with a "Z" is brilliantly researched, lavishly illustrated and endlessly entertaining. It is impossible to come away from this book without possessing a deeper love and respect for Minnelli.

Schechter breaks down Minnelli's career in a neat manner: a decade-by-decade career-based mini-biography (all scandals are removed from print), followed by a chronological appreciation of Minnelli's theater, film, television, recording and concert careers. Schechter uncovers a wealth of long-forgotten facts and photographs which will delight Minnelli's fans: Minnelli dancing on stage with then-unknown Elliott Gould in a touring company of "The Fantasticks," her simultaneous Time and Newsweek covers for "Cabaret" (and you thought Bruce Springsteen was the only entertainer to accomplish that?)

The book is also rich with Minnelli trivia, including unlikely appearances such as a concert for the inmates of a Chicago jail (two months after she won the "Cabaret" Oscar). There is also an unexpectedly large amount of little-known data on projects which Minnelli either turned down (including the role of Daisy in "The Great Gatsby" opposite Robert Redford) or which fell apart before production began (including the film version of "Evita" under Ken Russell's direction).

Schechter is uncommonly generous to Minnelli, to the point of presenting the most glamorous and flattering photographs available; later-life tabloid photographs which show Minnelli's problems with weight control are conspicuously absent. Yes, "The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook" is a love letter to the great star. And honestly, what's wrong with a love letter to someone who truly earned the love of her fans?

Citadel Press, $21.95, 228 pages

****

The FIRST REVIEW for "The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook"

LIZ SMITH : NY Post -- Friday, November 5th, 2004

"DEDICATED TO Liza Minnelli's artistry." That's what it says on page one of Scott Schechter's "The Liza Minnelli Scrapbook" (Citadel Press). This is a glossy valentine to the great star, concentrating on her long, award-laden stage, screen and recording career. The sensation of her "private" life is not emphasized. Tons of previously unseen photos and plenty of Minnelli minutiae. (Her first reviews, even as an awkward teen, are a thrill to read; she had style from the start!) Flip through this and be reminded that Liza is an artist, one whose commitment to her audience never wavers.

****

this book has it all!! rumors, facts, bio of leo, well the whole is like a bio with all this other stuff mixed in with it, its just soooooooooo well written,i have all of leos books, cause i'm his #1 fan!!! always and forever. but yes its a great book, and you have to read it! =)

this book had facts that i never knew about Leo befor

This is a wonderful book!!! I recemend this book to anyone who LOVES-juicy facts,Titanic,Leo,and more!!! It's filled with great colored pictures and fun facts!!! Get this book right away!!!!!!!!!

It to hot to touch. I just get a felling when I read it. My heart sank after i read it. HE IS CUTE.

I wish there were more charming MEN out there that Know how to treat a lady .

Lots of good pictures and stories behind the filming of the show. If you are a fan of Andy Griffith, you can't go wrong with this book.

I've never seen such a great Mayberry book before!! It has many wonderful pictures, and tons of great history. I read this straight for around 3-4 hours, and it has great memories or the actors reminiscing... Ah, well, it's worth buying for the price, this book is worth it!! Very high quality.

I recently bought this book for my grandparents. It was such a joy to sit and watch them remember back on all the episodes they had watched. If you were a fan of the Andy Grifith show this is a must buy for you

This a very unique book on a unique show. It is not the usual Ken Beck and Jim Clark quote book with quotes taken directly from the show or text describing the characters or episodes. The text briefly describes each season and the rest of the book is filled with photos and quotes from the actors (many bit players), writers, producers, etc. The quotes range from talking about certain actors or scenes to behind-the-scenes tidbits and general feelings about The Andy Griffith Show. It reads like a scrapbook. Many of the photos I have not seen in any other TAGS book. There are a lot of behind-the-scenes photos. Some of my favorites show the cameramen, lights, and equipment as scenes were being filmed. There is also a cool aerial shot of the set of the Forty Acres lot in Culver City that was used for downtown Mayberry (p. 44). I also like the photos of TAGS memorabilia (TV Guide and comic book covers). The photos start with early publicity and scene shots from the pilot episode on The Danny Thomas Show and go on through all 8 seasons of TAGS, ending with photos and quotes on the spin-offs Gomer Pyle USMC, Mayberry RFD, and the 1986 reunion Return to Mayberry. Many people are quoted, but some of them include producer Sheldon Leonard, assistant producer Ronald Jacobs, music director Earl Hagen, Rance Howard, writer Jack Elinson, producer Aaron Ruben, Elinor Donahue, Margaret Kerry-Wilcox (played Bess Muggins and Helen Scobey), Joy Ellison (played Mary Wiggins, Opie's choice for Miss Mayberry), members of The Country Boys, Kit McNear (Howard McNear's son), James Best, Renee Aubry (choir member), Don Knotts, Julie Adams and Sue Ane Langdon (both nurse Mary Simpson), writer Harvey Bullock, Keith Thibodeaux (Johnny Paul), Jim Nabors, Jack Prince (Rafe Hollister), members of The Dillards (The Darlings) Mitch Jayne, Dean Webb, Rodney Dillard, Doug Dillard, their on-screen sister Maggie Peterson (Charlene), Bernard Fox (Malcolm Merriweather), Howard Morris (director as well as Ernest T Bass), director Earl Bellamy, Ron Howard, Clint Howard (Leon), Mary Grace Canfield (Mary Grace Gossage), George Lindsey, Betty Lynn, Hal Smith (on riding a cow), George Spence who was Frank the boyfriend in "Guest in the House" (there is an entire page on his memories of the show), Dennis Rush (played one of Opies pals, Howie Pruitt/Williams), Ruta Lee, Jack Dodson, Ken Berry, Paul Hartman's grandson Bill (one of my favorite quotes. He talks about how fans sent his grandfather Emmett radios and toasters to fix), Jack Dodson's widow Mary, associate producer Richard O. Linke, Arlene Gonlonka (Millie). Not an exhaustive list, but you get the idea. The quotes are all very positive. No bitterness in Mayberry.

My only qualm about the book is the lack of coverage of one of my favorite, and greatly unappreciated, characters Warren Ferguson. No Jack Burns quotes, I guess that is understandable. But beneath one of only three photos of him is the sarcastic caption: "Andy hires Floyd's nephew Warren Ferguson as Mayberry's new deputy, `know what I mean, huh-huh-huh?' (Please don't get him or us started)." Not keeping with the Mayberry spirit, in my opinion. Oh well, you can't have it all, I guess. The book ends with a very useful episode guide that includes a synopsis of each episode (some even include some extra tidbits or trivia) and guest characters with cast credits. It is an excellent addition to any TAGS fan's collection.

An excellent book and well put together. You will find amazing photographs of all the characters in the cast...and then some. One of the most interesting photos, in this book, is one of an ariel view of the Mayberry Town near Culver City, California. An actual town within a town.

I have read other books and also found them interesting with regard to the Andy Griffith show, but it was great to see all the pictures and read the personal comments of the stars and the people behind the scenes.

I believe that anyone , like myself, who really loved the show will enjoy this a great deal. Well done. This was one of my all time favorites shows and this book shows a lot of the people who made it such a great series.

Who would have ever thought that the birth, evolution and eventual demise of comedy teams would present an insight into America's changing psyche? Author Lawrence Epstein did and we have him to thank for this interesting, insightful book on some of the most famous names in American entertainment including Weber & Fields, Burns & Allen, the Marx Brothers, the Three Stooges, Abbott & Costello and Martin & Lewis.

Epstein's book is sub-titled 'America's love affair with comedy teams,' an appropriate heading since the American audience embraced each of the various comedy teams in turn, loving them for what they brought to the public and then moving on to the next, new funnymen. Most people probably never bothered to rationalize WHY they enjoyed a particular comedy team; they just enjoyed the laughter of the moment. Luckily for us Epstein's probing insights help reveal much about why, for instance, Abbott and Costello was just what America needed during World War II. It's fascinating stuff but you also get to laugh along the way as Epstein includes some of the classic comedy lines and routines from the teams.

A good read!

Though the subtitle suggests that great comedy teams lasted at least into the 70s-80s and the cover's inclusion of a couple characters from Friends would suggest they lasted in the 90s-00s, the reality is that they were pretty much through by the end of the 50s, but what a run they had. Though the heyday of the teams came in vaudeville, Golden Age movies, and early television, those of us in the Baby Boom generation -- especially those of us born later on, who grew up with television -- were probably more thoroughly exposed than any other demographic group and seem most likely to love this book. We got to watch The Little Rascals, Three Stooges, I Love Lucy, The Honeymooners, and even Amos 'n Andy in syndication every afternoon when we got home from school. Abbot and Costello was a Sunday morning staple and Laurel and Hardy, the Marx Brothers, and Hope and Crosby's Road movies made perfect cheap filler for non-network broadcast stations. There were enough variety shows still going that older teams and solo comedians would still show up from time to time. We may not have gotten all the jokes, but we spent an awful lot of time laughing at their varied antics. In Mixed Nuts Lawrence J. Epstein treats us not just to a history of these acts but a sociological dissertation on American humor. The anecdote and joke-filled history, though brisk and though it extends several decades too far, is informative and fun, but it's the context he adds that makes the book fascinating.



No one will agree with all his analyses, and sometimes he's obviously reaching in order to give comedy acts a significance they just don't warrant, but the text is so rich in ideas and so thought-provoking that the few misfires are easily forgiven. Consider, for example, this discussion of George Burns and Gracie Allen:
[C]omic timing was a crucial part of their professional craft. In comedy, the straight man's "timing" refers to his ability to wait to speak until the laughter has peaked, receded, and finally stopped so that audiences can hear the next line, but not wait for so long after it has stopped that audiences might get confused or bored. The comic's timing refers to the response after the straight man has finished a line. The term "beat" is used to measure the pause between lines, and it and the "pace," or speed of the delivery, had to be perfect. The comic in the team needed an appropriate appearance and funny lines. Both the straight man and the comic needed rhythm.



Burns and Allen were experts at all of this. They knew which words to emphasize. They learned to control their voices. The staccato rhythm of their delivery was perfect. Other performers would have spoken too slowly or too fast or fallen out of the rhythm, which had to be maintained with each line and each silence. They even used pauses well. Gracie would giggle, an infectious sound and a prompt for even further audience laughter. George's repetition of much of the material was also crucial to the pacing, allowing the audience to grasp the premise precisely and be set up by George for the line to follow. It was impossible for Burns to be a comedian in such a structure. Any joke he interjected would break the patented Burns and Allen patter.
Note how deftly he establishes the general concepts he'll need throughout the book, but illustrates with a specific team, describing what made them masters of the form.



Likewise, here he discusses an irony that I've always found especially delicious, that two of the most conservative men in Hollywood politically were also the great innovators of post-modernism, years before academics and intellectuals imagined they were inventing a new phenomena:
Beyond creating an alternative to classic teams, Hope and Crosby signaled the decline of the traditional comedy team in two ways. First, they helped erase the line between the two worlds created by classic comedy teams. They developed the fourth and final model of the relationship between reality and the comic world created by teams, which negated the three previous models developed by Burns and Allen, Laurel and Hardy, and Abbott and Costello. In this new model, there was no necessity for one member of a team to have a tenuous hold on reality while another character brought the team back to the real world, or for the team to create a fantasy world in which the team members banded together to overcome a strange, hostile reality represented by an outside straight man, or a team in which a straight man represented a tricky world seeking to con us.



Hope and Crosby developed a realistic humor that mocked the illusory world their movie producers had arranged for them. [...]



[I]f you didn't take the real world too seriously there was no great need to create a fantasy comic world. Such an approach required a lack of sentimentality, an ability to avoid so strong an attachment to any person or place that you couldn't face the inevitable disappointments inherent in those people and places.
The earlier portion of that is bang on, but by the end seems quite wrong. Rather it is precisely because we are realistic about the inevitability of being disappointed by people and places that we can find the disappointments comic when they come, rather than tragic. Therein lies the secret to the notion that all comedy is conservative.



Let's end with one more, a look at Ralph Kramden that let's us see The Honeymooners in an almost religious context:
The character goes through a transformation in each show -- but then returns to his old form for the next show, only to be transformed again. Audiences wanted to see that transformation -- that change from the angry loser, the guy with a thousand get-rich ideas that all fail, that yells at his wife and his neighbor, that never seems to get ahead -- to the Chaplin-like, sad and sympathetic soul who is touched by love and, in Gleason's view, by grace and somehow finds the means to express it. As an episode was about to close, he often gazed lovingly at his wife and said, "Alice, you're the greatest."



Audiences saw in Ralph's transformation hopes for redemption in their own marriages and lives.
That's good stuff. Even if you disagree you're forced to grapple with what you think is wrong about it, an edifying exercise in itself. I suspect though that as you read you'll find more you agree with than disagree, and while it would have been better to end the story before we get to the point of considering Rowan and Martin and Cheech and Chong to be peers of the greats, all of it worthwhile.

Mixed Nuts: America's Love Affair With Comedy Teams From Burns And Allen to Belushi and Aykroyd isn't the typical biography of a single comedy act but an all-embracing set of memoirs of America's love affair with comedy teams as a whole, from Belushi and Aykroyd to Burns and Allen. Analyses include portraits of rises and falls in popularity, departures from traditional comedy team norms, the changing world of comedy as it moved from stage to the big screen, and more. Author Lawrence Epstein is an English professor who frequently lectures on popular culture, with Mixed Nuts bringing a scholarly, yet accessible, atmosphere to a fine history of American comedy interests.

If you're a Baby Boomer like I am you have been exposed to just about all of it. When we were growing up in the 1950's and 1960's the George Burns and Gracie Allen Show, Abbott and Costello, Laurel and Hardy and of course The Three Stooges were all staples on TV. In the early 1970's, the antics of Groucho, Harpo and Chico enjoyed a remarkable revival and at colleges and universities all over America Marx Brothers film festivals were all the rage. We enjoyed the antics of Lucille Ball and Vivian Vance and lived through the controversary surrounding the Smothers Brothers. And we howled at the comic genius of John Belushi and Dan Ackroyd. That is why I was so excited when I came across "Mixed Nuts".
Lawrence Epstein has succeeded in chronicling the history of comedy teams in his exciting new book. I enjoyed it from cover to cover. Epstein tells the remarkable story of comedy teams from their earliest days in vaudeville. He introduces us to names we probably never heard of but who were nonethless influential in the history of team comedy. He cleverly intersperses bits of some of the classic routines into his narrative. And he attempts to explain the political, social and cultural reasons why certain acts were wildly popular while most others fell by the wayside. It is quite obvious that Epstein is a big fan of comedy teams. And in the end, he offers reasons why they have all but disappeared from the American scene. Whatever your age, you are sure to enjoy this informative and extremely well written book. Highly recommended.

The Smother Brothers were one of the most important influences on me in my formative years. By the time I was in the sixth grade I had all of their albums and the last television show I watched before we flew to Japan to live there for several years was "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour." I went to school proudly wearing my "Mom always like you best" button and still have my autographed photographs of Tom and Dick. Not only did I learn all of their routines and to sing both parts of their arrangements, but from the Brothers Smothers I got my love of satire, parody, political humor, folk song, and two-part harmony. I even got to tell this to Tommy Smothers once upon a time when I ran into him in a Minneapolis hotel and was able to inform him of his personal responsibility in making me the person I am today.

Of all of the comedy teams discussed in "Mixed Nuts: America's Love Affair and Comedy Teams from Bruns and Allen to Belushi and Aykroyd," the Smothers Brothers are the only ones still performing. I saw them perform just this summer and their opening number is entitled "We're Still Here." In this book Lawrence J. Epstein looks at the great American comedy teams of the 20th century. Epstein started off his research for this book in order to explore why the classic comedy teams disappeared and ended up advancing the idea that the importance of these comedians was in how they helped American survive the trying times in which they lived. The author of "The Haunted Smile: The Story of Jewish Comedians in America," Epstein obviously takes comedy seriously.

The focus here is primarily on the great comedians of the movies, with chapters being devoted to Laurel and Hardy, the Marx Brothers, Abbott and Costello, Hope and Crosby, the Three Stooges, and Martin and Lewis. However, the volume begins with Burns and Allen playing the Palace for the first time and by the time television replaces the movies in the 1950s and 1960s, Burns and Allen are on television. In between a lot of things have changed, and there are chapters devoted to particular mediums (e.g., radio) and decades (e.g., 1930). With television forcing comedians to be funny every single week we have a move towards ensemble comedy. At the heart of "I Love Lucy" and "The Honeymooners" you will find Lucy & Ethel and Ralph & Norton, but Ball and Gleason do routines with other cast members and guest stars as well. Eventually we get to the ensemble casts of classic situation comedies from "The Dick Van Dyke Show" and "All in the Family" to "M*A*S*H" and "Friends."

However, you need to be forewarned that just like the real things, "Mixed Nuts" is going to leave you wanting more. You cannot toss in "The Password" routine from "Horse Feathers" and not immediately thinking about other choice verbal duels between Groucho and Chico Marx. Fortunately Epstein includes the entire "Who's on First" routine as performed in "The Naughty Nineties" or I would have had to take the book and throw it against the wall. But while Epstein does revisit several of the best-loved comedy routines from the previous century, that is only part of his purpose here. He also wants to look at the personal stories on how these groups came together, and how each team was shaped and were shaped by their respective eras. So be prepared to be tantalized by those snippets of favorite routines and wish for there to be much, much more. For the Smothers Brothers we get their short little "Moron" routine, but nothing about their masterpieces, like the way they took "I Talk to the Trees" over the years to the point where they got laughs when Tommy did not come in or the way they they can milk Dick's glare for multiple laughs in "Cuando Caliente el Sol."

In the end the key thing is that Epstein makes the case for his thesis. Weaving in lesser known comedy teams, from Gallagher & Sheen and Amos & Andy to Nicholas & May and Rowan & Martin, is more important than providing a comprehensive look at any given team. Epstein wants to define the uniqueness of each group and establish their place in the era they helped to define. Besides, there are plenty of books out there about the Marx Brothers and the cast of "Saturday Night Live," and if Epstein wants to leave the door open for somebody else to write a definitive history about the lives and comedy of the Smothers Brothers, I am certainly not going to be complaining on that score. Epstein is justified in keeping "Mixed Nuts" lean, because that way his thesis is not lost in the laughter. Now, you have to excuse me because I suddenly need to watch "A Night at the Opera" again.

Wow! What an amazing book filled with the most beautiful pics ever! Also has a few inspiring quotes. All NKOTB fans should own this one.

This book is filled cover to cover with beautiful photographs of the fabulous five on stage, off stage, awake and asleep. This book is filled with seriousness and silliness. Lynn Goldsmith has managed to capture the very essence of these men. It's more than a documentary. She's managed to illustrate where they come from, where they're going and who they are. Even if you're not a NKOTB fan you can appreicate the beauty of these photographs.

This is one of the most exciting books ever published on the New kids! The pictures really share the most intament experiances the boys went threw! Pictures are the most wonderful part of the book!

A must have book for any New Kids Fan. This book contains some of the most incredible pictures I have ever seen. Lynn Goldsmith captures the guys in there own way. Their Real Selves!

A+

I am an adult and I am still and always will be an NKOTB fan! This book is great! The pictures are the best one's I have seen! This book is a must for any NKOTB fan new or old! Iam very proud to own this book!

It's a long title, to be sure, it is so terribly important that more people know who the great Hecky Krasnow is, and what he has made possible, that even those who read the title can get the idea.

He should be a household name, considering that, if not for him, we would never have heard the songs "Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer," "I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus," Frosty the Snowman," "Here Comes Peter Cottontail" or one of my favorites, "Suzy Snowflake." He believed in these songs when others did not. He bucked the Columbia brass when they and every other label had no use for Johnny Marks' "Rudolph" song. Even Gene Autry was reluctant. The song made added millions to Autry's bank account, as well as those at Columbia who first rejected it. The only one who did not become rich was Krasnow, who was, like many of us, a corporate worker bee with a wife and children to support.

But as this book makes abundantly clear, Hecky Krasnow was rich in the ways that really count. In an exhaustively detailed account of growing up in a suburban household where Dad often took the kids to work, where the likes of Gene Kelly, Rosemary Clooney, Art Carney, Bob Keeshan, Paul Tripp or Jackie Robinson was doing a children's recording, Judy Gail Krasnow deftly shares her storytelling gifts by providing as many sensory details as possible. You really feel like you're having dinner at the Krasnow's, right down to the tasty roast beef with pan drippings.

The anecdotes run the gamut to the absurdly funny (a party at "Tubby the Tuba" composer George Kleinsinger's Manhattan penthouse, which is a living jungle of wild animals, bugs and shrubberies) to the frightening (personal accounts of racism and a kid's-eye-view of McCarthyism). Either Judy has one astonishing memory or she kept a very copious diary.

When rock & roll and the youth market began to change the face of mass entertainment, the "golden age" of children's records as Krasnow experienced it (with kid discs like "Little Red Monkey" hitting the charts and crossing over into mainstream pop) were fading. (And yes, the success of Disney's venture into recording also crowded out most of the competition -- what can I say?)

Fortunately, Judy Gail Krasnow has created this loving tribute to her father so we can all appreciate his contributions to our lives. It's also reassuring to learn that this man was such a kind and decent human being. It would have been so disillusioning to find out that the person behind these records really cared about what he was doing and who was listening.

His work may not have made him rich, but we are all the richer for it.

This book was a wonderfully written biography of a father, extremely talented, and a period of time - the 40's and 50's - and its music - how it came to be acknowledged and published. Hecky Krasnow, father, husband and friend was a remarkably talented man. I am so glad to have been able to share in his life and the music business at that time, through the excellent storytelling of his daughter Judy. It was a joy to read!!!

I have just finished reading "Rudolph, Frosty, and Captain Kangaroo", Judy Krasnow's loving memoir of her father, Hecky Krasnow. His career in the children's music recording industry of the 1940s and 50s as a writer, producer, and all-around cheer-leader is described in such colorful and interesting detail, that I came away from the book wishing that I could have been Judy's best friend, or even better, a brother or cousin, growing up with her and sharing all of the wonderful adventures that she had being involved with her Dad as a pre-teen in the recording sessions, parties, etc. This book brought to life the very large collection of vintage kiddie records which I own, including just about all of the records produced by Hecky. Prior to reading this superb book, the records on my shelves had an inanimate quality to them. That reality has been radically altered as a result of Judy's sharing of her personal account of the stories behind the records that Hecky produced for Columbia records. But the book goes way beyond just the discussions of the records themselves. It is a great look into an era of "innocence" in our nation's history as seen through the eyes of a kid growing up after World War II in the New York City area. It has been my distinct pleasure to know you, Judy. Thanks!

I met Judy Gail Krasnow as a fellow author in the South Florida Writer's Association. When she began to describe the book she was planning to write about her father, I knew the story would speak to me and I couldn't wait for her to complete the project. This book was worth waiting for. As others have noted, it brings back an era in vivid detail. I found that I was enjoying the book so much that I forestalled finishing it as long as I could because I didn't want it to end. The book gives us an inside peak at a very important time in children's music and it also permits us to appreciate the stories behind the stories of Hecky Krasnow's personal and public worlds and Judy's experiences being a part of it all. Judy is, of course, a master storyteller and she brings us into her story most magnificently. I told my seven year old grandson that I knew the daughter of the man who discovered Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. His eyes widened in awe and the two of us strode up Broadway singing the song. You will sing when you read this book. At times you will laugh out loud; at others you will cry. It is a terrific read. I bought it for everyone on my holiday list.

Here is a unique contribution to the bookshelf of behind-the-scenes memoirs
about the recording industry. Though millions of children grew up listening
to "kidisks" in the decade following World War II, Judy Krasnow is one of
the few kids who actually witnessed them being recorded, and the only one to
write about it. Her narrative is told with childlike enthusiasm, and her
memories are enhanced by several scrapbooks-worth of primary documents.

Judy relates many anecdotes of growing up in the recording studio alongside
her father Hecky Krasnow, a Juilliard-trained musician who headed the
children's record division of Columbia Records from 1949 to 1956, and whose
biggest claim to fame is having produced Gene Autry's megahit recording of
"Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer." He was also the music man behind Captain
Kangaroo, and dozens of popular children's records in between.

There is something in these pages to satisfy almost anyone with an interest
in American popular culture. In addition to the great singing cowboy, we get
a few famous crooners, a very important baseball player, the haunting
specter of McCarthyism, a psychologist and his healing machine, a gig on a
really really big TV variety show, bookburning, payola, Chef Ed Norton, a
totally bizarre party at a composer's penthouse atop the Chelsea Hotel, a
guitar lesson from a Frosty folksinger, and quite a lot more.

We come away with a loving portrait of a very decent, talented man, who,
unlike many of his peers in the record biz, didn't get filthy rich. He did
better than that.

Biographies of entertainers are usually pretty shallow, just part of the marketing effort. This one is a little unusual because it was written by a scholar who put a lot of effort into making it both as complete and interesting as possible. The author, Dr. Charles Townsend, also became, to a small extent, part of the story. On Bob Wills final recording with his Texas Playboys, For the Last Time, Dr. Townsend kicks off the music as the announcer, saying "The Texas Playboys Are on the Air!"

My Dad loved this book! It was a great gift for him

I was a little dubious at first because the book seemed kind of thick and was written by a professor. However, the more I got into it the more I loved it. Thick with detail, yes, but the story constantly moves along and we get a rich, complete picture of the man and his music, his triuimphs and his foibles. I could just picture being in a ballroom back in the day listening to Bob Wills and his Playboys as I read through. Truly a labor of love, this book. I picked it up because I'd just recently purchased a four-CD boxed set of Wills' music -- far more than I thought I wanted to hear, but I was wrong, and after reading this book I just want to hear more and more. Truly an American musical hero, and this is one of the best musical biogs I've ever read.

Charles Townsend has captured the real Bob Wills. A fine job, a detailed account on the life and music of the one of the greatest Texas stars to have evolved on the American western scene. Well written and exhaustively researched. Worth buying and reading.

OK. I'm a little biased. My grandfather J.W. Shafer, otherwise known as "Bub Shafer" (don't ask me why...nobody knows why), was a second cousin to Bob Wills. In this book, there's a photo of Bob standing in a cotton field near Turkey, Texas and he's got his arm around a young boy that looks about 13-years-old at the oldest. The young boy was my grandfather, and the caption beneath the photo states that Bob is posing with a relative in the cotton fields near Turkey, TX.

I didn't read this book until a few years ago, and I read it cover-to-cover. It details EVERYTHING, including a consistent barrage of extensive notes and details about the writing and progression of almost every song from concept-to-recording, and all the events surrounding anything that Bob Wills and his Texas Playboys must have done. In fact, you almost feel as though you are reading a virtual daily journal as if the author walked side-by-side and recorded the details as time progressed over many decades of Bob Wills' life. It's all documented perfectly, as most of the documentation came from bandmembers or friends or relatives...and 99% of each person's accounts were cross-checked against other sources for authenticity. Mr. Townsend definitely wanted to get the real Bob Wills rather than a comic book version pieced together by wild tales and drifting imaginations.

My favorite parts of the book deal with the intertwined perfection and imperfection of Bob and his life. Here's a guy who was born into poverty, ran away from home as a young teenager to escape poverty, almost became a preacher when he was found by a Godly family after running away, went back home to help out the family on the farm, almost got thrown into prison had it not been that for the local policeman recognizing who he was and letting him go after a failed robbery of a tire at a closed gas station, and then you've got repeated failures in almost every line of work you can imagine. And all along the way, through all of the misery and the rejection, he always had his fiddle (known as a "violin" for people north of the Mason-Dixon line) that bailed him out of trouble.

Bob didn't WANT to use his fiddle for gain, but it always saved his rear when he was in a real pickle. He finally travels to the Dallas-Fort Worth area during the depression, which wasn't a good place to be, to tell you the truth. He gathered up a couple of guys to audition for a spot on the Light Crust Flour radio spot--Back in those days, companies hired musicians and various entertainers to perform on the radio and at live concerts. Usually, the name of the band was surprisingly enough the name of the product being pitched. In this case, whomever played for the Light Crust Flour company was named "The Light Crust Doughboys." Funny-sounding, yes, but back in the day it was a sure-fire way to make a connection with the blue-collar families that listened to the music on the radio while also being spoon-fed a healthy dose of advertising.

To make along story short, Bob and his boys were a hit. Contract disputes; however, with the head honcho of the Light Crust organization led Bob to lure his bandmates away to Tulsa, OK, where they set up shop and were known as "The Texas Playboys." Huge fame came to Bob and his band. He had the largest band in the world, and had many people laughing at the sight of anywhere from 20-30 bandmembers lining up on stage at one time on any given night. His band rivaled, and probably even surpassed, Benny Goodman and any other mainstream Big Band-style band. Almost like our nation's standing army, if you were approved by Bob Wills to be good enough to be in his band, you were "on call" and could travel and make good money whenever the opportunities presented themselves. Bob was driven, and was a definite Type-A personality who had everything done his way. I can't remember the real number, but he made sure his entire band knew BY MEMORY hundreds of songs, if not thousands. He wanted to be able to play a dance anywhere in Texas, or any other state for that matter, and he wanted to strike up his band in an instant if a spectator from the crowd hollared at Bob to play a certain song.

This brand of customer service made Bob Wills a legend. Every band member knew his role. Every band member knew he'd be cut from the team like a washed up NFL player if he didn't measure up. They practiced all day long, almost every day of the week. They would sometimes travel way out of the way on the way back home from a tour to go and play a funeral for someone, and then REFUSE to be paid for the performance and even for expenses of traveling out of the way. Bob would slip a down-and-out person a few bucks so they could buy their child some food or some shoes...and he'd make sure it stayed a secret as long as it could. In the book, there are countless witnesses who say they knew Bob was so generous because he knew what it was like to go days without a meal and have nothing but what he had on his body at the time. Bob was never consistently financially wealthy because he gave most of it away over the years.

Sadly, Bob had severe faults that often outweighed his good deeds. He was a drunk, sometimes missing performances and thus placing a huge burden upon his band to let the crowd know that "Bob has the flu and can't come out of the tour bus to play." People must have prayed for Bob a lot, wondering how one man could contract the flu as often as Bob did. He had a knack for anger and foul language, and he could "let you have it" (as we say in Texas) at a moment's notice. He couldn't stay married for longer than a day or two, though a couple of marriages were longer than the other three dozen that had failed miserably, and it was mostly due to his overly possessive handling of his wives. His wives were made to stay in the home all the time, especially when Bob was away on a tour. He feared his wife going out and potentially striking up a relationship with another man while Bob was away. The same thing happened every time: The wife couldn't stand Bob's suspicious nature and lack of trust, and who could blame them? If a bandmember stepped out of line on the tour...he'd find himself with a one-way ticket home and he might not ever be asked to go on future tours ever again.

Lastly, the attack at Pearl Harbor paralyzed his career. Almost all of his bandmembers signed up to join the military in the days after the attack. The good 'ole days were over for good. He drifted away. And then as time went on, several country-western artists (Merle Haggard) paid tribute to Bob and recorded a reunion CD with some of Bob's surviving bandmates. At this time, Bob was crippled from a severe stroke and sat in a wheelchair in the recording studio. "Bob Wills and The Texas Playboys, For The Last Time" has Merle Haggard at the helm for many songs, and he does a great job. During one song, "When You Leave Amarillo, Turn Out The Lights..." Bob breaks his paralytical silence and moans audibly on the CD at different points throughout the song. It's a sad sound, and I think it's due to the fact that Bob's memory was not as plagued as the body was at the time...Amarillo held a special place in his heart because his one "true love" lived there when he was a young man. He had lost track of her, but found her in Amarillo and went to her house with flowers for what he knew would be a great reunion of two kindred spirits. The father greeted Bob and told him she was just engaged and the soon-to-be-groom was on his way at that very moment to see her! It crushed Bob something fierce, and he stayed until the young man got to her house. Bob stood right up in the man's face and let him know that he better treat her well. He assured Bob he would, and then Bob wallked out of the door and back into the cold Amarillo winter...crushed, heart-broken, and without anything to really live for. To me, this incident was the beginning of a dark and terrible time for Bob. He went a long time before clawing his way back to the top, and I seriously doubt he ever forgot that cold Amarillo evening. Listen to the song, and hear Bob's groaning when the lyrics say, "...when you leave Amarillo, turn out the lights..." There's something there that says Bob might as well have died in Amarillo than continue on with the thought that he missed marrying his true love by only a few days or months. I am married six years now, and thank the Lord I will never know what that feels like. It must be awful.

Bob represents all of us: We want to do good for other people, even when we have nothing to give or everything to lose. But we also do bad when we know we shouldn't. And through the good and the bad, what's really important is that we never give up trying to do what's right in the face of wanting to do what's easy and convenient for that part of us that desires to do bad. Bob was so eerily conflicted inside: "Do I use my fiddle like some bargaining chip, as a cheap trick to dodge the bullet? Or am I really playing the fiddle because I love it and I want to spread joy to people who love this music?" I think he loved his fiddle, and he loved the music he made--it shows in the quality and in the passion of his music. It was that hint of suspicion that he had of himself, the part of him that said, "Bob, you're using the fiddle as some sort of tool to get what you want, and it's wrong for you to betray the true nature of music to do so" that tore Bob apart all his life. I don't think he ever found peace with himself. He was his harshest critic, and that's a sad thing. When you see older folks from his era get all misty-eyed when they hear his music or when you ask them about Bob Wills and what he meant to them when they were younger in Bob's era...you know he was way too hard on himself. But he couldn't enjoy it to its fullest potential. Born a victim, died a victim. Born to physical poverty, died with emotional poverty. And it was Bob who robbed himself and made himself poor in the end.

The music? It lives on. In dance halls across Texas. On classic country radio stations. In the books. On the CDs. In the hearts of people who know a good fiddle lick when they hear it. As Waylon Jennings sang one time to the enormous cheering of some dance hall's patrons who were listening and dancing to Jennings' live performance, "...In Texas, Bob Wills is still the King." For that, Bob should be proud had he lived a little longer. He would have been a richer man for it.

You would do well to get this book, and read it. It'll teach you a lot of life lessons. Some day, when I have the money...I'm going to make a movie out of it. And what a masterpiece it will be. "The Texas Playboys are on the air!"

-- Pecos Shafer of Amarillo, TX.

I have never seen a collection of Shirley photographs and memorabilia as extensive as this one.

The pages are chock full of photos I've never seen before, and I've been a devoted fan since the 50's! If you adore Shirley, this book is something you must have. I absolutely love it.

This book couldn't be better! The pictures of Shirley Temple are absolutely gorgeous and they are all throughout the book in both color and black and white from the time she was a baby until her later teen years. If you want pictures of the best child star ever, this is the book to have.

An EXCELLENT book about Shirley Temple full of FANTASTIC photos and history of the greatest child star! Kudos to Rita for a fantastic job!

This book is a must for anyone who is a Shirley Temple fan. Those not familiar with her work might find it interesting as well. Rita Dubas has done a wonderful job here. The layout is beautiful, showcasing many photos of Shirley (some of which I'd never seen before!) along with oodles of photos of Shirley Temple memorabilia from all over the world.

It's a fascinating glimpse into the world of yesteryear, when a sweet little girl was the most popular star in Hollywood.

Representing all the children of the world, Shirley Temple gave us the Silver Screen View of the Divine Child, the closest thing to Heaven. She spoke for us who became aware of her as children, felt our child like feelings and made us feel that no matter the circumstance, Love would conquer all. And we loved her for it. How could anything be wrong when you looked at that Angelic face, with her sparkling eyes and precious dimples. How can you not smile at all those bouncing joyous curls.

She was not just a face on the screen but our friend, our secret playmate. Besides that Shirley grew into a beautiful woman, skipping anything wild or rebellious, always full of grace. She opened her heart to the welfare and humanity of all peoples. Her whole entire life has been about enriching this wonderful world we live in. The ideal child became the ideal role model. However rare that is, her light still shines through, warming every heart, young or old, benefiting every new generation.

This book honors Shirley like no other. Adorable photo after photo, exquisitely designed and written. Rita Dubas treats us with her vast knowledge and love of this tiny star. Rita shares rare collections of past memorabilia, not usually seen in the typical collector books. She displays them, so that your eyes dance over them and you feel lost in a wonderland, not unsimular to the way Shirley makes you feel when watching her movies. All your troubles dissapear for the moments paging though this book . . . . . this tribute. Bravo Rita! Bravo Shirley!

Connie Marshall, Artist

Judy Collins somehow made it through the worst time of her life and she shares it with us, plus a CD included to boot. Who can ask for anything more?

Judy Collins shares her life lessons, pain, and joy with her millions of faithful fans. This book is very emotional, spiritual and inspiring. The CD songs are just beautiful! Buy it now for the CD insert is only for a limited time only. :)

While listening to the current recordings of this remarkable performer, humanitarian, and personality, one is immediately struck by the warmth of her voice and its enduring stamina and honesty, the same can be said about, "Singing Lessons, A Memoir of Love, Loss, Hope, and Healing. If anyone wonders if it is possible to survive unbearable tragedy, and thrive, they only have to read this book. If anyone wonders about physical, spiritual, and emmotional vibrancy, beyond the age of 40, they have only to read this book! It has been said that to survive any great tragedy, you have to go through it and experience it honestly. For those of us who have gone through far less than the loss of an only child, this book is a triumphant road-map on how to grow and survive any of lifes unfathomable, unexpected, and unreal experiences. Judy Collins is a shinning example, not only for those trying to cope with an enormous tragedy, but many of the new comers in todays music and entertainment industry who could well learn a "lesson" from her tremendous example on how to be a "good" star, someone who is truly grateful for the position they have achieved, and seeks to give back to the world, a true sense of caring, a steady sense of responsibility, and most of all, an enduring sense of the "real" kind of love, that makes this book "sing," and the journey possible and worth the effort to continue.

Read SINGING LESSONS by Judy Collins . . . this is a very
touching memoir of her life, her son's suicide and companion's
serious illness, and how she managed to survive these
events.

Judy Collins has always been one of my favorite performers . . . I also enjoyed reading about how her career evolved, as well as how she played with such other favorites of mine as Tom Paxton, Leonard Cohen, Joni, Mitchell, and Peter, Paul and Mary.

Best of all, the book came with a four-song CD (much to my
surprise) . . . what a treat to be reading her words at the
same time I was listening to her sing!

There were many memorable passages; ...P>[Andrew Weil confirms what I have learned through trial and
error about depression.] "The best single treatment (for
depression) is vigorous, regular aerobic exercise, at least
thirty minutes a day, five days a week." Most of the time, after I spend a half hour or more exercising, any cloud of depression lifts so completely that I feel a small miracle has been accomplished.

The writting style is stunnigly beautiful and impressive,just as authour's music always had a certain healing power.Many singers/actors are not capable to remember anything more than their LP's and awards - celebrities memoirs are too often simply boasting about their career - but Collins have a perfect ballanced view on her past and she writtes about her inner life much more than her career,which is mentioned basically briefly. Portraits of her father and mentor Anthonia are described with affection and of course the book never stops reflecting on her son.This is a clear picture of Judy Collins life from her point of view - no celebrity gossip,no recording dates,what really matters here are feelings and precious memories she shares with reader.At times I thought her story about son sounds a bit obsessive - until it made me realise that I think about my mother every day and she died 12 years ago,so I guess we never really let go.Not only that second half of the book brings very helpful observations how to cope with depression,Collins also have sharp witt and she saved certain original sense of humour which must be life-saving quality (on her knees in the bathroom of the White House,she laughs at herself),the whole book is a warm,affectionate celebration of spirit still shining bright after tragedy and life downfalls.