Arts and Entertainment Books

i like the book very much. It had alot of things in it that I didn't know about him. if i could i would read it again

For those of us who can't write the tabs ourselves after listening several to the same song, this book is for you - all the tabs from all the songs in Blaze of Glory - one of the best Bon Jovi Albums. Songs include: Blaze of Glory, Never Say Die Blood Money, Miracle, Santa Fe, Billy Get Your Guns, Justice in a Barrel, You Really Got Me Now, Bang A Drum, Dyin' Ain't Much Of A Livin', and Guano City. Excellent songs, fun to play. The solos are done by the powerful allmighty Jeff Beck...

I really enjoyed this book, as a fan for over 25 years I was delighted to read this biography! I recommend :)

For any fan, the biography of their idol is usually found wanting. As a U2 fan and Bono enthusiast, it's difficult for me to give a good review on a biography of Bono simply because it's irrelevant for me to own a biography on Bono. For the obsessive fan, there's rarely any new information that i haven't already heard; also, biography's on living people are already hard to judge simply because they're obsolete the day they're released.

All of that aside, this book was a great addition to my U2 collection. Jackson presents a well-rounded look at the rock star's life, focussing mostly on his social work. Of course, if i had written this book it would have been gushing with admiration and fan-boy emulation. the fact that it's not proves that it's a superior, well-written account written for anybody on the reader spectrum, long-time fans and non-fans alike.

My only complaint is the lack of focus on Bono's spiritual side. This book almost gives the impression that Bono's endeavors are purely socially and politically motivated, almost without any transcendent consideration. Of course, enough has been written and discusssed about Bono's spirituality, so perhaps a fresh take on his life story thus far is something fans can use. However, for a social and spiritual balance, i recommend reading Walk On: The Spiritual Journey of U2, although that succumbs to several of the inherent problems with fan biographies.

Of all the books on American actor Brad Pitt, this is THE book for movie fans! It includes fantastic pictures of his ever-changing styles, as well as great articles on him and a detailed chronology of his films. Even die-hards who think they know all there is to know about Brad Pitt will be surprised to learn even more about him in this fantastic book. Highly recommended.

this film is the most fantasic film i have ever seen.Brad pitt is so hucky and gorgious i would love to kiss him.

Karu Daniels did a fabulous job researching and writing this book--you can really tell that he is friends with the diva and not just another writing doing a hack job! Great pix too! If you want the inside scoop on "Moesha" and her music, this is the book to get. Loved it!

I love this book. This is the quintessential Brandy book. Her pal, Karu Daniels, really did a good job in delivering the goods on one of my most favorite celebrities. This book is packed with photos, nice color ones. The title says it all, it's really intimate. The book has it all: her early beginnings in McComb, Mississippi, a very revealing chapter of her mother (who we hear is not so nice), a chapter on her fine little brother Ray-J (He's so cute), a chapter about Moesha, and tons of useful facts about her music, movies and fun facts.

This is best interview book ever done on silent cinema. Mr. Ankerich should be commended for a fabulous job well done. It is well worth the effort to track down a copy at the used bookstores. I'd pay up to $65 for it.

This is best interview book ever done on silent cinema. Mr. Ankerich should be commended for a fabulous job well done. It is well worth the effort to track down a copy at the used bookstores. I'd pay up to $65 for it.

Great book for anyone who loves the old west, scores of high quality photographs of the best, I repeat the BEST of the old west artifacts, from Colts, to CDV, and cabinet cards, saddles, hats, clothing, etc. Many photos never seen before..accompanied by a strong text, highest recommendations!

I was looking for a gift for a true western history buff. Many of the books out there sugarcoat the story of the West. This one is the best book I have seen on an amazing man. The details of the adventures along with the non-colorized photos are just excellent. For anyone interested in this section of American history, this book should be on your bookshelf. It's also a very good coffee table book. Highly recommended.

Even though he died almost 2 decades ago, Graham Chapman's comic genious continues to awe and inspire in this wonderful volume of letters, essays and skits. Chapman was always the most Pythonic of the team, a wild man who was the re-incarnated spirit of Oscar Wilde. Both were touched with erratic brilliance and a lust for living and in this book we get to see the inner workings of Chapman's "wild(e)" side at work and at play. Not everyhting in here is hilarious, some things might raise only a smile, but taken as a whole this book is an amazing collection of items that fans of Python will want to treasure--and laugh at--for years to come. "Calcium" is a welcome addition to the Python legacy and a wonderful way to spend a few more minutes with
Chapman.

Of all the Pythons, Graham Chapman was the most anarchic in his comedy. He excelled at stream-of-consciousness humor and non sequitirs, and made a permanent mark on the comedy landscape with a stature rivaling anyone in the last fifty years. This book can be viewed as a companion to Graham's earlier work, "A Liar's Autobiography," as it contains a lot of material that didn't make it into that book, as well as many diverse pieces such as screenplays and correspondence, most of which appear here for the first time.

Graham was a complex person, and this book gives an outstanding view into the workings of his mind. His struggles are well detailed here, yet he always made the most of any situation, especially if wild parties with the likes of Keith Moon and Ringo Starr were involved. I was pleased that the bulk of this book dealt with Graham's life outside of Python, as that has been very well documented elsewhere.

The book itself has the feel of a mixed-media contemporary art piece as it is from so many diverse sources. I must admit that the title drew me in: it is taken from a piece on page 88 in the essays section. The essay does, in fact, make calcium much more interesting than in any chemistry class I have had, to wit: "Calcium...occurs naturally as the carbonate CaCO3 in limestone, chalk, marble, and in brothels...." Graham's medical training (he was a doctor, after all) comes through in other places as well, as on page 189 where he discusses disorders of the trachea and bronchial tree in a musical adaptation called "The Ciliary-Mucus-Escalator Dance." Of course, the weirdness doesn't stop with scientific and medical humor, but dwells in both the mundane (a pompous man who brags about his "fleet of atomic-powered Silko-Glyde lawn mowers - each with a sauna bath, a cocktail lounge with three adjoining cinemas, and a discotheque", page 235) and the surreal (an insurance salesman selling a man a "special Being Nibbled To Death by Okapia Policy," with correspondingly odd terms on page 245.)

My two favorite parts of the book are the monologues and the personal letters. My favorite monologue concerns riding down a black diamond ski slope in a "wretched wooden gondola" with the Dangerous Sports Club, a piece that opens and sets the tone for the book. (I recommend the DVD, "Looks Like a Brown Trouser Job" which recalls this among other strange occurrences.) The letters are all fairly deranged, but my favorites are the letter reproduced in the dedication, which is an apology to a pub owner ("Words alone will have to express my profoundly abject apology for my behavior in your pub last night. I will have the shelf repaired, and I have already bought a half pound fillet steak for Dennis's eye...") and the condensed letters of E.P. Snibbet, Esq., which conclude the book.

Graham was a genius and a loony, and I miss him. This is a brilliant book and is not to be missed by anyone fond of insane humor; I recommend it highly.

Much time and research went into this work. Listing almost everyone associated with the film industry who are interred in Los Angeles' cemeteries was an incredible feat. In addition, how the author got the grave sites of celebrities buried in Forest Lawn (Hollywood) and (Glendale) is beyond me! Workers there won't even give out names of those interred. I highly recommend this book.

Having read most of the books published re: celeb grave hunting, I can easily say this is the very best. Mr. Ellenberger has managed to consolidate all the positives contained in the books that have preceded this one, added additional information and new entries, and has come up with the ultimate grave hunting guide for the Los Angeles area. He has clearly researched and verified his information and relied on additional information supplied by various knowledgeable contributors. Information includes dates and locations of birth and death, grave location (cemetery, section and plot numbers), cause of death, and identifiable screen role(s). The only possible shortcomings are lack of cemetery maps and pictures of the deceased, and these are probably due to the high publishing costs associated with these features. The one thing that I really liked was the addition of many fine actors who never attained star status such as Harry Davenport and Sara Allgood. This is absolutely great for all diehard movie fans out there.

Wow. This book is stunningly great. Antonia Quirke's writing -- her voice, her control, her sheer prowess -- is blazingly magnificent. This book is a treasure, a discovery, a triumph of publishing. Pick up the book, read the first paragraph, and get carried away.

I had read Antonia Quirke's book on JAWS that she wrote for the uneven BFI series on notable films, but I must re-read it now that I know so much more about its author, sort of a real life Bridget Jones who proves that sometimes, you can get too much into the movies and they prevent you from having satisfying experiences in your real life romantic life. What guy in real life can compare to the rush of sexuality young Antonia got while watching STREETCAR on TV as a young girl? And that's just the beginning of an amazing read, in which she lays bare the dynamism of literally hundreds of male screen idols, while a few dozen earthly Englishmen fail to capture her attention for more than a few dates apiece.

Her book is very funny in parts, and in other parts she seems to recoil from the path she's leading, so the clash of the two genres, comedy and a tragic self-destruction, produces sparks but also gives the book a rueful texture. Makes you feel complicit even for reading it. Now and then one just wants her to find the right bloke, but most of the time one longs for her to meet another loser in life while drooling over another he-man in the cinema. She makes you appreciate the erotic perfection of even unlikely idols, such as Kevin Costner. She knows he's dopey, dull, superpatriotic, and probably conservative, but he's got something going on and she details it all. Remember Madonna pretending to gag after Costner told her that her show was "neat"? Hark Antonia Quirke: "That hollow cacophonous bird made of beaten tin painted gold (and failed actress) who sticks a finger down her throat after meeeting Costner [is] blind to the non-synthetic idiosyncrasies that unspun blandness might contain." He has a "beautiful veim of sadness running through everything he does, like when the light begins to strain at the end of a summer's day." You think David Thomson has it bad for Nicole Kidman? Wait till you hear Quirke on Depardieu!! Or Keanu Reeves, the male Marilyn Monroe: "Like Marilyn, Keanu introduces an electric tension into everything he does because of the combination of uncontrollable charisma and technical incompetence."

Most controversial will be her discussion on 228-9 of which star has, like her boyfriend Jonathan, the "perfect arse." She names James Dean, Dennis Quaid, Richard Gere, Gael Garcia Bernal--the usual suspects, reaching out to Terence Stamp in (POOR COW) and David Hemmings--she's as patriotic as Kevin Costner. She dismisses Clint Eastwood and Sam Shepard. But stop the presses, why is Dustin Hoffman on the list of "great arses"? The thought of it makes my gorge rise. And Jim Carrey? Yeah, his is great--for talking through! She names the four compass points that the perfect arse must balance itself among-- "a Gene Kelly gluteal muscle and a Keith Richards scrawn, a slovenly acre of sexless John Wayne flesh and a priapic preening Antonio Banderas baboon backside." I'm squinting but in the center of all those I am utterly failing to locate Dustin Hoffman!

I thought it was an even-handed look into someone who was truly in it for the music and the art of playing well. In fact, he played (and plays) magnificently.

Finally someone has taken the time to truly uncover the mystique behind the greatest guitarist in modern times. Without this man, there would be much missing in myriad categories of Guitar based Music, from Punk to Rockabilly, Rock & Roll to Modern Jazz.
This book is truly well written by a qualified author that "gets" Spedding. I strongly recommend this work to anyone that listens to guitar music of any sort, as the object of this biography's work spans the spectrum.