Book Description

After skyrocketing to fame with their hit single "Uh Huh," B2K seemed to have it all. But barely two years later the four friends succumbed to a rift so deep that three of them stopped showing up for sold-out shows. Lead singer Omari Grandberry was left with the intimidating prospect of facing their fans alone.

In this intimate memoir, Omarion chronicles his Los Angeles childhood, how B2K came together, the ups and downs of instant brotherhood, the struggles of making it in entertainment, what really happened in the final days of B2K, and what's next for him -- including starring inthe Fat Albert movie, and more. Here is the story of a boy with the gift of song and dance raised in some of L.A.'s toughest neighborhoods, and how he ditched his "underage thug" complex topursue his dream. Along the way, Omarion shares a more personal side, including his deep respect for the women who raised him and the roots of his spiritual foundation.

In O, he once again takes center stage, revealing himself to be a thoughtful, funny, multifaceted artist with the talent and drive to make it on his own. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

CRAPOLA
OMG!

This is the worst piece of crap I have ever read...It's obvious that he had someone write this for him because he's not very intelligent, and it comes off as being too deep which he is not....I am sick of hearing how talented he is....how many instruments does he play??????? Personally I think he is a menace to all teenagers, who, because of him will think they too can become famous without any talent, just have good engineers in the studio to make you sound good.....

He needs to stick to one thing and try to do it as best as hecan....he wouldn't make it the first day on American Idol.

This book should go to all the homeless shelters to be used as toilet paper!

Omarion Is soooooooo Hotttttttttttttt
roses are red Violets are blue this Cd is hot and u need to buy it to

tHiS Cd Is oN FIRE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
ROSES ARE RED VIOLETS ARE BLUE THIS CD IS HOT AND YOU NEED TO BUY IT TO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
IF THEIR WERE MORE STARS TO RATE IT I WOULD PUT 10

Very Good
Reading this book makes you help understand what happened between Omarion and B2K.The book shows the struggles he made through life and the struggles with B2K.It also shows how B2K met, and what his goals were before B2K.The experiences he writes about is real interesting to read about.The book is a must read if you are an Omarion or B2K fan.Also, there are many nice pictures in the book, along with some surveys and questions.

i love omarion
i absolutely love omarion he is my world he wrote this book from the heart and i feel everyone should read it i will continue to support omarion in everything he does.


love omarions1fan ... Read more

Book Description

This stunning visual compendium of Marilyn's life includes hundreds of rare photographs and easy access to all of the information on Marilyn's life and times. With complete information on Marilyn's films, including comprehensive credit listings, cross-referencing, a comprehensive bibliography, and an extensive name index, The Marilyn Encyclopedia surpasses everything that has come before it. ... Read more

Reviews (19)

Comprehensive, Unweidly, unproofed
This huge, bulky book has categories of of information about things I'd never even think of asking about Marilyn but was glad to read. The photos are gorgeous and many are hard to find elsewhere. I had to deduct a star because, for all the effort that went into this book, it obviously was never proofread and is spattered with typos. I can live with the bulk of the book (which makes it hard to read) because it allows for the big, clear photos, but not with all the mistakes. It pulls the work down a notch.

Comprehensive and current
Collates existing information and mythology into an alphabetical format. Balances accepted facts with rumor and speculation. Includes a wide variety of photos, both posed glamour shots of the "Marilyn" persona and more natural, subdued glimpses of the woman behind the image. Refers to the Christie's auction, the Leaming bio, and several other late '90s happenings. (Negatives: Many typos, misspellings, and pointers to Web sites which are likely to vanish tomorrow.) Recommended overall, though dedicated fans will find few surprises. A great book to flip open to a random page and begin reading.

AMAZING!
As a rather new Marilyn fan/collector, this book is invaluable to me as a resource. It is a huge book, alphabetized and cross-referenced, covering everything from movies, music, books, and biographies to gowns, hotels, cars, cities, and family. There are also, of course, hundreds of gorgeous pictures! What I'm enjoying the most is that as I read other Marilyn books, I can fact-check and look up obscurely mentioned items to learn more, or gain perspective. An objective, fact-filled, exhaustive collection of Marilyn trivia.

Updated Marilyn reference work recommended for MM students
The basis I'm using as comparison is with an earlier book, The Unabridged Marilyn-Her Life From A to Z. The Marilyn Encyclopedia's assets is that there is more information, there are splendid colour photographs not present in the earlier book. In fact, it boasts 170 full-clour photos and 205 b&w ones. Some of the colour ones take two pages. As for the entries, they compare favourably with the other book. And each letter, A,B,C,D... et cetera is heralded by a colour photo.

One key difference is that the entry for each movie lists the cast and credits, as well as any Academy Award nominations and wins. She herself wasn't nominated for any. It is also more up to date, 1999 compared to 1987. Much has happened re people. Inbetween those 12 years, Bette Davis, Dean Martin, Joe DiMaggio, and Frank Sinatra among others have died, and this book updates those facts. Yes, the domestic postage stamp that was released in 1995 is included. However, I was surprised Marilyn Manson wasn't included, as his stage name is an amalgam of Marilyn [Monroe], [Charles] Manson.

Yet the one factor that differentiates the two books is this entry: "Internet." As the first paragraph states, "The world's most popular woman has spawned thousands of tribute sites on the World Wide Web. Type in the world "Marilyn Monroe" on any of the major search engines and you get back a bewildering number of matches." And I was also amazed to see how many actresses have portrayed Marilyn-based characters or how many fictional novels have been written on her, so "most popular woman" does have some merit to it.

The Marilyn Encyclopedia easily supplants its earlier predecessor.

THE SILVER SCREEN'S SEXY SIREN FROM A TO Z
Everything you always wanted to know about the silver screen's sexiest star --- from A to Z --- in one expensive, heavy book that belongs (only) on the shelves of die-hard devotees.
Topics include 'babysitting,' 'hair,' 'Arthur Miller' and more quotes about and by Marilyn than you can shake a Demerol at. One of our faves is this bon mot featuring Marilyn on (what else?) sex: 'No sex is wrong if there's love in it. But too often people act like it's gymnasium work, mechanical.' Proof that Marilyn supported the Olympics? ... Read more

Book Description

Outrageous, outspoken, and uninhibited, Tallulah Bankhead was an actress known as much for her vices -- cocaine, alcohol, hysterical tirades, and scandalous affairs with both men and women -- as she was for her winning performances on stage. In 1917, a fifteen-year-old Bankhead boldly left her established Alabama political family and fled to New York City to sate her relentless need for attention and become a star. Five years later, she crossed the Atlantic, immediately taking her place as a fixture in British society and the most popular actress in London's West End. By the time she returned to America in the 1930s, she was infamous for throwing marathon parties, bedding her favorite costars, and neglecting to keep her escapades a secret from the press. At times, her notoriety distracted her audience from her formidable talent and achievements on stage and dampened the critical re-sponse to her work. As Bankhead herself put it, "they like me to 'Tallulah,' you know -- dance and sing and romp and fluff my hair and play reckless parts." Still, her reputation as a wild, witty, over-the-top leading lady persisted until the end of her life at the age of sixty-six.

From her friendships with such entertainment luminaries as Tennessee Williams, Estelle Winwood, Billie Holiday, Noël Coward, and Marlene Dietrich, to the intimate details of her family relationships and her string of doomed romances, Joel Lobenthal has captured the private essence of the most public star during theater's golden age. Larger-than-life as she was, friends saw through Bankhead's veneer of humor and high times to the heart of a woman who often felt second-best in her father's eyes, who longed for the children she was unable to bear, and who forced herself into the spotlight to hide her deep-seated insecurities.

Drawn from scores of exclusive interviews, as well as previously untapped information from Scotland Yard and the FBI, this is the essential biography of Tallulah Bankhead. Having spent twenty-five years researching Bankhead's life, Joel Lobenthal tells her unadulterated story, as told to him by her closest friends, enemies, lovers, and employees. Several have broken decadelong silences; many have given Lobenthal their final interviews. The result is the story of a woman more complex, more shocking, and yet more nuanced than her notorious legend suggests.

Reviews (5)

Enthusiastically recommended for Western film buffs
Enhanced with a foreword by actress Maureen O'Hara, and graced with an informative text by Jane Pattie, John Wayne: There Rode A Legend is a gorgeous, superbly illustrated coffee table book showcasing the life, career, movies, deeds, and memories of the world famous actor John Wayne, best known for his many classic American West movies. Filled with both color photographs and black-and-white television and movie stills from before the firm establishment of color TV, John Wayne: There Rode A Legend is a remarkable tour of and tribute to the actor's life and work, from the 30's to the 60's. Of special note are the highlights that reveal John Wayne's humanitarian legacy, from when he had a gravely ill Navajo girl flown to a hospital 100 miles away on his personal plane to the creation of the John Wayne Cancer Institute years after the great actor's death from stomach cancer. John Wayne: There Rode A Legend is beyond compare and enthusiastically recommended for Western film buffs and the legions of fans of a truly unique actor and his enduring work.

John Wayne...There Rode a Legend
All I can say about this book is that it is the best book out there about our national treasure, John Wayne. He is as popular today as he has ever been and it was a pleasure to find this book through a friend. It's a huge book, with great, rare photographs about Duke's West. I had read some of the other reviews, and I was also not aware that Duke was a cattle rancher in real life. The book is brimming over with great art and photographs. If your looking for a gift for a friend or just to give yourself a treat, this is the book for you. I was impressed as much as the great 'impressiveness' of the book.

A NEAR HIT
BEING AN AVID JOHN WAYNE FAN I AM COMPELLED TO KEEP THIS BOOK IN SPITE OF THE HAPHAZARD PRESENTATION OF HIS CAREER. THE QUALITY OF PAPER,PICTURES,AND PRINTING WERE EXCELLENT. IN MY OPINION THE SEQUENCE OF EVENTS SHOULD HAVE BEEN PRESENTED IN THE ORDER THEY OCCURRED.

YOURS TRULY, ROBERT L. JORDAN

John Wayne...There Rode a Legend
I'm not the review writing type, but this title deserves the merit. This book is not just for John Wayne fans but for those who just enjoy superbly produced books. This title is a knockout and I would highly recommend it. There is so much in it about Duke that I didn't know existed, and I certainly didn't know he owned 83,000 head of cattle. Great book - great buy.

John Wayne's Scrap Book!
My dad loves John Wayne, which is why I picked up this book as a Father's Day gift. He is going to absoutely love it! I expected a simple coffee table book and got a technocolor heirloom. There are a wealth of personal stories and photographs of the Duke and his life as an on-screen Western genre star as well as a real life cowboy (I didn't know he was a rancher and breeder of purebred Hereford cattle!) I laughed out loud at several of the stories and cried after reading how John Wayne saved a small Navajo girl with pneumonia by lending his own airplane to fly the girl to the hospital one hundred miles away. Reading this book was like looking through John Wayne's personal scrap book. I highly recommend it -- it's going to make a great Father's Day gift! ... Read more

Book Description

Hollywood, Interrupted is a sometimes frightening, occasionally sad, and frequently hysterical odyssey into the darkest realms of showbiz pathology, the endless stream of meltdowns and flameouts, and the inexplicable behavior on the part of show business personalities.

Charting celebrities from rehab to retox, to jails, cults, institutions, near-death experiences and the Democratic Party, Hollywood, Interrupted takes readers on a surreal field trip into the amoral belly of the entertainment industry. Each chapter — covering topics including warped Hollywood child-rearing, bad medicine, hypocritical political maneuvering and the complicit media — delivers a meticulously researched, interview-infused, attitude heavy dispatch which analyzes and deconstructs the myths created by the celebrities themselves.

Celebrities somehow believe that it's their god-given right to inflict their pathology on the rest of us. Hollywood, Interrupted illustrates how these dysfunctional dilettantes are mad as hell... And we're not going to take it any more. ... Read more

Reviews (123)

A negative rant, but fun to read
I finally got to this book and had been interested in reading a book about the seedy side of Hollywood.While not perfect, this book does show aspects of Hollywood which they don't want you to see.

Written by Andrew Breitbart & Mark Ebner, two Hollywood gossip journalists, this book represents a diatribe of all that Hollywood does wrong.The first chapters chronicle Hollywood's parenting woes, from their odd concept of family values, unhealthy reliance on nannies, and scandalous behavior at Hollywood High Schools.Later chapters address the predictable flaws of Hollywood: drug addiction, religious fanaticism, the sexualization of our culture, and "left wing dogma" of many celebrities.

I liked this book for several reasons: first, it's really entertaining and fun to read.The book is also able to paint a more complete picture of Hollywood than a couple of tabloid headlines, and one can see some of the horrible trends going on today.Although most reviewers are correct in saying that there's not much new gossip in the book, it is a good compilation of some of what has gone on so far.

A book like this is not without problems:first, it's overwhelmingly negative.The good Hollywood individuals (and there are some out there) are noted only by their absence from the book.The book seems shallow and wordy from time to time as well.More importantly, the book is extremely harsh with regard to Scientology and Hollywood's left-wing bias.I'm no Scientologist, but I can't imagine any follower of Scientology thinking this book delivers anything other than a frontal assault.

Most importantly, this book serves as a wake-up call for the myself and the rest of America--WHY DO WE LISTEN TO THESE PEOPLE?Hollywood tells us what to buy, what to wear, how to have fun, what to value in our life.Yes, there are some good people in Hollywood, but this book provides ample evidence that people need to listen more to their own good judgment rather than Hollywood's.

Right-wingers may love this book the most, but anybody who has recognized some of the problems in Hollywood (and doesn't mind a negative book on the subject) will enjoy this quick and fun read.

mean spirited
Thankfully I got this book from the library. I returned it after about 100 pages. The authors have nothing nice to say about anyone and it becomes tiresome.

Heard it all before
Definitely a well-written book about many of Hollywood's two-faced hypocrites, but if you have any knowledge current Hollywood scandals you've probably heard most of these stories before, plus the book has a not-so-subtle Right Wing-brand "family values" patina to it, thus making the authors' agenda a little suspect. If you read the book as an Op-Ed piece rather than unbiased reporting (even though the stories told are all pretty much true) it'll probably make an easier read.

P.S.Upon reviewing many of the other reviews left for this book, I see more than quite a few other people were also put off by its Right Wing bias and lazy, re-hashed research.

Political Correctness - The New McCarthyism.
This book is not merely a feast for the gossip monger, it is an expose on the PC thuggery of the Hollywood left wing and the hypocrisy therein. To be sure, all Americans, left, right or center, share in some hypocrisy, but regular folk in "fly over country" generally do not have the money or influence to bully others into political submission.The book decrys celebrity dissent as PR motivated and that that is always the primary motivation for the famous, whether they are involved in politics, or getting married and divorced countless times, or having or adopting children. The authors further state that the famous view the vast majority of regular Americans as unenlightened children who need to be schooled by them - the cultural elite of Hollywood.Although the notion of hollywood as a modern day Sodom and Gomora is not new, the book is still provocative and an informative insider's view of the hollywood dysfunctional machine.

A great book on Hollywood.
Hollywood is crazy and it's filled with crazy people. But that doesn't stop us from loving it and reading every single thing on it we can. This book offers up the gossip and delivers. A definite recommend to anyone who likes books on La La Land. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

Words more important than packager
You can get lost in the fact that this is a collection of quotes by Oprah and not thoughts written by Oprah exclusively for this book.
Or you could be smart and glean wisdom from what she has to say.
How she grew up, what she learned from her errors, what she thinks of money and herself in relationship to it, the mental preparation to receive the abundance that she has and how she stays centered.

What I think thsi book is valuable for is insight, and perhaps personal inspiration for how to manage one's self in certain situations. The goal is not to become Oprah, it is to become the best YOU possible.

You take or you leave it, but you integrate it into the lessons and challenges of your own life. The same with John D. Rockefeller, Bill Gates, Jenny Jones (hahhahahaha----kidding).

A chronology of quotations
While this is a very interesting and well researched book on Oprah, keep in mind that it is an unauthorized biography. This book is basically a chronology of Oprah's life, and Adler does a decent job of stringing her quotes into a coherent history. A nice bonus is the section of short quotes on a wide variety of subjects. If you love Oprah, you'll probably love this book!

An unauthorized book of Oprah Winfrey quotes.
Bill Adler has taken past interviews, articles, and speeches of Oprah Winfrey and complied _his list_ of her best quotations. It's an unauthorized book - meaning Oprah didn't write it nor was she involved in the production. Some quotations show the source of information with a date and some don't -- which makes it a bit disappointing not to have the history or context pertaining to the quote. If you have an extensive Oprah collection, you'll want this book just to say you have everything, otherwise there are many other good Oprah biographies available. ... Read more

Book Description

Martin Moran"s family lived in a Denver neighborhood called Virginia Vale. But what seemed most central, most important, was that they belonged to Christ the King—the church and school up the hill. And what Martin learned, as a good Catholic boy, was that the Hereafter was what counted; the here—fickle and unreliable—was the problem.

Martin"s world changed abruptly when, at the age of twelve, a church-camp counselor seduced him. New York Times theater critic Ben Brantley—praising Moran"s one-act play, The Tricky Part, for the quiet victory of "rendering chaos with this kind of clarity"—called his telling of this event "a crystalline accumulation of moments."

In his memoir Moran takes us deeper into the ongoing sexual relationship that followed the seduction, and for the first time he explores its effects upon his adult life. And finally—in a scene of stunning power and restraint—Moran confronts the perpetrator, now an old man in a veteran"s hospital.

In examining the paradoxes of human relationships, Moran manages to uncover divine grace in the most unlikely forms.

"Those of us—and we are legion—whose innocence has not been lost so much as taken, have a choice. We can remain children and insist on a black and white vision of perpetrators and victims, or, like Martin Moran, we can grow up. We can arrive at the understanding that love is only as pure, or as whole, or as beautiful, as the always imperfect beings who offer and demand it. The Tricky Part is a story of sexual abuse and its seemingly endless half life—remarkable, then, that this isn"t a book about blame, but forgiveness."
—Kathryn Harrison, author of The Kiss

"A tender, searingly honest, and heartbreaking account of the legacy of sexual violation. Moran bravely unveils the tricky part: The paradoxical worlds of longing and shame, the erotic and the reviled, the profane and the sacred all living in one act, one man, one life. Gorgeously written, the book is a divine literary and spiritual exorcism. I am better for it."
—Eve Ensler, author of The Vagina Monologues

"The Tricky Part is a beautiful book. Martin Moran is a graceful, witty, perceptive writer, remarkably brave, free of self-pity—his spirit, manifest on every page, is discerning and generous to the point of radiance. He"s a scrupulous and precise rememberer and explorer, and because he refuses simplification for the sake of judgment and yet insists on the necessity of rendering judgment, The Tricky Part is fully human, unsettling and wise."
—Tony Kushner, author of Angels in America and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Drama

"In an age where reality television exploits intimacy, and tell-all autobiographies have become endemic, Martin Moran"s book restores faith in the literary memoir. In documenting his troubling childhood relationship with a much older man, he eschews ready sensationalism and—instead—bravely articulates the complexities that color even the most taboo relationships. And he accomplishes it all with a prose style that is rich, immediate and constantly surprising. His is a book both haunting and profound."
—Doug Wright, author of Quills and winner of the 2004 Pulitzer Prize for Drama for I Am My Own Wife

"Martin Moran has written an account of a childhood at once conventional and nearly unfathomable, allowing us to journey with him into the heart of his own "disturbed regions" of America. A deep, tempered spirit shines through every page, by turns understated and dazzling, wildly comic and gut wrenching. Clear-eyed and compassionate, Moran comes to believe that "what harms us may come to restore us," and this, he convinces us, is "the tricky part.""
—Nick Flynn, author of Another Bullshit Night in Suck City ... Read more

Reviews (2)

"Hungry Prey"
Little Martin lives in Colorado with his family, warm, loving bonds between them.Still there's a hollow at the center of his life.When he meets Bob, a grown man who works as a Catholic youth counselor, his twelve-year old nature reaches out to him and he accepts Bob's sexualy advances without a fight, almost greedily.

He becomes part of Bob's life, a necessary part, or so it seems, but really only an accessory.He meets other boys who are also tangled up sexually with Bob, and perhaps strangest of all, in Wyoming he meets "Karen," the fiancee of Bob, and with Bob's connivance gets to go to bed with her, have sex with them both."It all strikes me as weirdly inventive, that such a configuration could exist.This is something, I think, he's been angling for all along.Attention from all sides, mastermind in the middle.How did he become this being, this thing--like a daddy longlegs weaving a big, sticky web?And how did we get here, tangled in it, like hungry prey, groping in the dark for food, for escape?"

The "hungry prey" bit is exactly right because as the book reveals, the saddest thing of all is the way Bob uses Martin's need for him, his nascent sexuality, his forbidden feelings.Everyone needs to feel loved, and men like Bob are past masters at manipulating this terrifying need to fit their own fashions.As he grows older and stops seeing Bob he finds himself, eerily enough, replicating Bob's behavior patterns--not molesting kids, but developing an addiction to anonymous sex he can't seem to shake despite the love of a dedicated partner.

I haven't seen the play that this book is based on, but the writing here (bar a few little purple patches) is almost always right--streamlined, vivid, responsive, able to bring in both the damage to the soul and the claims of the body.Consciousness is really Martin Moran's subject, the way we learn things and the way knowledge forces itself upon us when we least expect it.You may think you've read this story before, or even that it happened to you, but you haven't really known it embodied till you pick up this wonderful book and enter another's life.

Just as wrenching, amusing & moving as his one man show
I had the wonderful opportunity to see Martin Moran perform his one man show, "The Tricky Part", at a sexual abuse workshop last year.His show seemed to move everyone in attendance.It was an honest performance full of great humor, horror and forgiveness.

This same story, now translated beautifully into book form, is just as engaging, humorous, horrific and touching as the show was.I think anyone abused as a child or young adult, or who knows of someone (and I venture that almost any of us does know someone) will find a great deal to appreciate in this book.For those not touched by abuse, it offers great insight into the long ranging effects (both good and bad) of abuse and tells a very moving and human story.

In addition to addressing his abuse as the complex issue that it is, Moran tells a story of Catholic childhood that is full of humor, honesty and beauty.

The truth and resonance of this memoir for me exists in the way that it addresses the paradoxes in all our lives.Moran refuses to draw his abuse story or the story of his Catholic upbringing in black and white.His story, like most of our lives and experience, is much more nuanced and shaded.No one is wholly good nor bad.Religion can heal as much as it hurts.Good can come from horrific events.

I recommend the book and, if you ever have the opportunity to see Mr. Moran perform his show, I urge you to attend a unique and completely transformative piece of theatre. ... Read more

Book Description

John Bengtson has created a unique visual history of early Hollywood (as well as other parts of Los Angeles, and locations in the Northwest, Southwest, and New York City) as depicted in Buster Keatons classic movies. Combining images from Keatons films with archival photographs, historic maps, and scores of dramatic then and now photos, Silent Echoes reveals dozens of movie locations that lay undiscovered for nearly 80 years. Part time machine, part detective story, Silent Echoes presents a fresh look at the matchless Keaton at work, as well as a captivating glimpse of Hollywoods most romantic era. More than a book for film, comedy or history buffs, Silent Echoes appeals to anyone fascinated with solving puzzles or witnessing the awesome passage of time. ... Read more

Reviews (20)

A unique and engrossing pleasure
Watching silent comedies, particularly those of Keaton, one can be lulled into a feeling that they take place in some parallel world, where it is always 1917-1928, people move faster, and the laws of physics are distorted so that men can jump through walls and cars can teleport. But as John Bengston reminds us in this invaluable book, Keaton's shorts and features were filmed in very real physical locations that still exist, and by searching them out provides not only a window on the past but a barometer of seven or eight decades of change. What Bengston has done here really requires a new name, as it combines the realms of photographer, 'urban archeologist,' archivist, geographer, and of course historian. His eye for architectural detail is acute, enabling him to pinpoint the location of a particular scene by triangulating (so to speak) between various photos and film shots, using one or two surviving details as reference points. The meticulous research that went into the book is daunting to contemplate, all to give the humble Keaton enthusiast a few hours of joy. Obviously, the book will fascinate fans of old Los Angeles as well, but I was particularly interested in the locations that went further afield. The General, for instance, was filmed all the way up in Cottage Grove, Oregon, in the greater Eugene area, while Steamboat Bill, Jr. was filmed in Sacramento, once a popular remote location during the silent era. Nabokov said that God is in the details and that is the reason for any and every Keaton fan to dive headlong into this unique, delightful, detail-obsessed book. Even the august Kevin Brownlow gives Bengston a tip of the hat, admitting in his forward that after scouting locations for his Keaton documentary---"despite all the resources of Thames Television and eager researchers, we did not find out nearly as much as Bengston did on his own." Could there be a better tribute?

Buster would have been proud!
Buster Keaton was a notorious stickler for detail in all of his film work. Buster's ghost was probably nodding his approval over the shoulder of John Bengtson as he painstakingly researched SILENT ECHOES, a tribute to the Keaton ouevre and a forever-lost Los Angeles. Bengtson juxtaposes stills from Keaton films with photos from modern-day L.A., showing in detail where Keaton filmed, virtually following his trail, from the shorts to the features. This book is a must for both film fans and historians.

Wow, what a great film history book
John Bengtson has done something so simple yet so essential to film history. If you live in LA the book will have a greater meaning. If not you can marvel at the almost film-archeological work Bengston has done in finding the exact places the great Buster Keaton filmed some of his best films.

Some Sort of Masterpiece
Depending on your point of view, you might see this as a pointless exercise, or as an astounding accomplishment. I incline toward the latter view. This is a magnificent documentary on Keaton's work as well as a meditation on lovely, fantastic old Los Angeles as it fades into the past. Necessary reading!

A Bible For Hollywood Tourists
The first time I went to Hollywood, I had this then-new book in my camera bag. If it weren't for this book I would have missed so many interesting spots from Buster's silent comedies. As I tooled up Hollywood Blvd, a street sign for "Cosmos" sounded familiar so I took out Bengtson's book and there it was; a picture of the building in front to my left was in the background of a few scenes in "Cops." Any silent film buff worth their weight in silver nitrate needs this book before they tour Hollywood! ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (1)

wonderful
having read all the main 'lives' of marilyn monroe this book is a blast of fresh air. not a biography but a timely study in what has been said and written about her over the years, how we have mythologised and fictionalised her life. a biography of the biographies if you like. the author looks at the many conflicting interpretations of marilyns life (and death) and in doing so has written easily the best book on mm to date. objective and intelligent, i can not recommend this highly enough. ... Read more

Book Description

Reviews (1)

A Romp Through Georgian London
This book is of interest to anyone who cares about 18th century England but it also could work well for someone looking for an introduction to those extraordinary days.The struggle to survive has never been more acutely portrayed than in this remarkable and yet true story of a daughter spurned by a famous but cold hearted father.You will laugh and cry with and about Charlotte but you cannot come away from this book without a deep appreciation for just how easy our lives are today. ... Read more

Reviews (5)

The loveliest Grace book
This is simply the best Grace book I've ever seen. Wonderful and the most complete. Very highly recommended to all!

A great book about a great lady
Lovely pictures and interesting text make this book well worth buying. It showcases Grace's life from early childhood to her untimely death.

A Thoughty Picture Book
Jenny Curtis' "Grace Kelly: A Life in Pictures" is a must for Grace fans. Lovely reproductions of some of Kelly's most enchanting photos fill the book. It is a pleasant addition to any collection, and it is exactly what it is entitled, a life in pictures...nothing more and yet, nothing less.

A gorgeous collection of memories.
I have admired Grace Kelly all my life and this is by far the most beautiful book about her. The pictures are all stunning, and truly depict what a glamourous and classy woman she was. There is not a great deal of information - or pictures - of Grace, and this compilation is simply wonderful to look at. Definately recommended for any fan.

Very good picture book of her life
I thought this was a wonderful detailed account of a beautiful actress' life for a Grace Kelly fan. This book was well put together and I love to just flip through it over and over because I get something new out of it everytime. ... Read more

Book Description

I found myself wondering what would have happened if I had said yes. . . . Would she be alive today? Would we be together? Would we be happy?

This is the story of a small-town kid who moved to the big city, fell in love with a beautiful, mysterious woman, and found himself in competition with the most eligible bachelor in the world, John F. Kennedy Jr.

Now, for the first time, Michael Bergin reveals the truth behind a life lived in the limelight and a relationship shrouded in secrecy. From his early days growing up in a small blue-collar Connecticut town, to his meteoric rise as fashion icon and television star, to the passion he shared with the enigmatic and complex Carolyn Bessette, this is an inside look at the world of beauty, power, and celebrity.

In 1992, Michael and Carolyn met in a bar in New York City. She was unlike any woman he had ever known -- sophisticated, successful, with bewitching charm and grace. An intensely passionate relationship was born. Not long after, Michael landed the coveted Calvin Klein underwear campaign, and his career took off. The future looked bright, and Carolyn and Michael seemed destined for a long and happy life together.

But it was not to be. Four years later Michael was an international fashion icon and Carolyn was Mrs. John F. Kennedy Jr. -- however, the story doesn’t end there. This is the truth about their lives, a tale full of warmth, humor, heartbreak, and tragedy.

.Above all, The Other Man is a testament to the enduring power of love and a story about the painful choices we make with our all-too-human hearts. ... Read more

Reviews (97)

Michael Should Have Listened to his Father!
I watched the A&E interview of Michael Bergin with great interest. He seemed genuine in his need to tell his story. The whole time I watched the interview I kept thinking, why is he putting himself, his family, and Carolyn's family through this? Then I read the book and I felt great empathy for him. His writing style reminds me of a letter that you would receive from a friend. He comes across as rather corny, but sincere. However well meaning his efforts are to clear Carolyn's name in the media after reading the Edward Klein book, he didn't do himself any favors. After it is all said and done, Michael has revealed himself to be Carolyn's "backburner" guy, the one that she is never seen in public with. I guess he didn't realize that Carolyn had an agenda which did not include him in her future. Carolyn chose John Kennedy, Jr. not Michael Bergin. Is there really any more to say?

During the course of the interview, the interviewer said to Michael, "Your father didn't want you to write this book." Michael nodded and acknowledged that indeed his father did not think it was a good idea. Michael, you should have listened to your father. No one is interested in the truth, no matter how well intended it is. This book does nothing to disspell the myth of Camelot and John and Carolyn's place in it.

A tragic story of great love and great loss.
Michael Bergin comes across as very genuine and sincere. He eloquently describes his insatiable desire for Carolyn Bessette and the turbulent relationship they shared. Together, they shared great joy and heartbreaking pain.

One can only conclude that there was definitely a deep love, a strong connection, and an everlasting bond between Carolyn Bessette and Michael Bergin. Definitely worth reading!!

What an idiot!!!!!
Has this guy done ANYTHING since Baywatch??? His writing style is that of a third grader...and how dare he come out with this gossip AFTER she's dead? Who can defend her? If what this brainstem says in the book IS true, he looks like a human bobo doll being used by a very troubled, yet smart as a fox woman.
She was no dummy.
This dude needs to get a life. I'm so ashamed to say I let my human curiosity get the best of me and read this trash.
Sorry John.......Sorry Carolyn.

Leave the Guy Alone!
Unlike many of the other reviews here I did actually read the book and did not dare to comment on it until I had. Michael isn't a literary genius by any stretch of the imagination, but I found his book very entertaining and easy to read. I appreciated his humor a great deal. For all of his good looks and charm the man has a wonderful, genuine modesty. He seems to me someone worth knowing.... Caroline on the other hand may have been a different story.

Do I believe him? I do! I believe that those who have posted negative comments and attacked Michael are those who wanted to keep Caroline on her Camelot pedestal. I always believed that she was overrated and was tired of seeing her face on every magazine and hearing constantly of her beauty. I didn't see it. I found her white, gaunt and hawk like features far from any ideal! C'mon, it is obvious that the media hype is what made her...That, and the hotties she bedded down with and there were several!

In his book Michael reveals quite honestly his heartbreak and pain. Because of his ignorance and naiveté in loving a woman whom most would consider cold, manipulative, sluttish, mentally / emotionally unstable and abusive! Michael didn't see her that way, obviously the man was deeply in love and as he himself admits love is blind. I feel truly sad for Michael that he could confuse her sex and manipulation as evidence of any kind of real and true love. He was young. I hope he learns what real love is.... Michael, it is about respect and honestly, and intimacy, letting someone get to know the real you. Seems that Caroline was too insecure too ever share herself honestly with another human being. She was not mature or sophisticated or classy or any of the things the press built her up to be! Get over it fans! The person you loved as John Jr's wife did not exist! As for Michael, I wish him the best.

Poor Carolyn Had Mental Illness
This book confirms what I have read all along about Carolyn Bessette Kennedy. While she is dead and not able to defend herself, this is coming straight from someone who actually had a relationship with her. She did not want him, but neither was any other woman to have him. Pushing another woman aside in a bar(she could have been charged with assault by both the other woman and Mr. Bergin)is not to me the actions of a "classy, sophisticated woman". No matter how many people want to repeat this little mantra about Carolyn, she was neither.Beautiful is another word that was bandied about in regards to Carolyn. She was a plain Jane with bleached blond hair. Had she been married to anyone but JFK Jr. I dont think she would have fallen into this category. As far as comparing her with Jackie Kennedy, I dont think so...I do not see Jackie O acting in such a raunchy way. Jackie was class, Carolyn crass, there is a difference.As alot of articles stated "you had to know her and you would see why people were drawn to her", that may very well be true.We all know people like that. Unfortunatley though, even good stories do not let you meet the person, and in print she comes off as a selfish, self-absorbed,neurotic, with a bag full of mental problems, who instead of running off to see old boyfriends should have been running to a therapist.She is gone from this realm, and enough print about her and poor JFK jr.has been written to last a lifetime. To many "well meaning friends" have tried to set the record straight and it just ends up making them look bad.(makes the friends look bad too, as I firmly believe TRUE friends would not be writing about them. ... Read more

Reviews (45)

A slice of Southern history
This is one of those rare biographies that transcend its subject. The rise of Elvis is fascinating and true Elvis fans will find a wealth of information in the book, but there is also much more to take from this well researched tome. The discussion of the music of Memphis, the sources that influenced Elvis and the rise of rock and roll make this book a terrific addition to anyone's library who is interested in music or the south.

The relationship between Presley and his many women is discussed here and so is the complex interaction between him and his family. Perhaps his most interesting relationship is with his manager, Colonel Parker. How that relationship shaped his career certainly makes for an interesting read. The author does as fine a job as I have ever seen of documenting his sources and treating his subject with respect, but not awe. This is one of the best bio's I have ever read. I highly recommend this book to students of Elvis, pop music, the south or to anyone looking to be exposed to a world that no longer exists.

Elvis 101
"Last Train to Memphis" and its sequel, "Careless Love", make a deeply engrossing, carefully researched, finely written biography of Elvis Presley.

Author Peter Guralnick took eleven years to exhaustively research sources and interview people who knew Elvis personally and would tell their firsthand experiences. Guralnick's scholarly approach automatically eschews any hint of the fan adoration that can taint celebrity biographies. Guralnick might even have erred on the dry side rather than the juicy or dishy side of the story. This is all to the good, because Elvis' life story, a fantastic, zany, epic arc through American pop culture, is one that needs no embellishment and is served well by a measure of journalistic restraint.

Guralnick made a wise choice with the two-book format, because in Elvis' life there was a distinct "Rise and Fall." "Last Train to Memphis" is the rise: "Careless Love" is the fall. In each volume, Guralnick reveals much not just about Elvis, but about the people who were his family and closest friends and how their actions and relationships to him and to each other shaped Elvis into the man he became.

Accounts of his school days, his early days as a musician, his early girlfriends, and his family life all flesh him out as a human being and penetrate the shell of celebrity to offer a three-dimesional glimpse of the individual and his own ideas and aspirations and insecurities. The first volume ends with the death of Elvis' mother, a loss that sent him into the first tailspin of many, from which he never seemed to recover.

After reading this volume, you will be hooked on the story and will want to immediately begin the second volume, which is much darker and sadder as the King's world starts to unwind, chronicling his spiraling drug habit and his battles both public and personal. The second volume is catalogued and reported as dispassionately as the first, so that the same unblinking honesty that gave "Last Train" such sparkle and joy reveals the true depth of Elvis' isolation without having to resort to hyperbole.

Guralnick said it himself; that the rise to fame and the person were larger than life, and so too was the decline larger than life. It's an ending that leaves you feeling sad that what began so brightly should end so awfully.

I read these books because I knew very little about Elvis and wanted to know his life story, and they are a deeply satisfying and very credible account of the King's life. I can't imagine that there is a better bio out there for anyone who wants to study Elvis 101.

Guralnick Gives Us Back the Music!
Peter Guralnick -- with both love and meticulous scholarship -- has written a supremely ethical work of cultural archaeology.

With meticulous care and fairness -- but with no sugarcoating whatsoever -- he excavates Elvis out of the layers of rumor, innuendo, and mystery that have conspired over the years to make him a caricature and a joke rather than a human being.

Gurlanick gives us back the artist (who first thrilled me on 78s) and exorcizes so much of the snobby and dismissive trashy gossip (Goldman) that has obscured Elvis for almost 40 years.

I don't mean that a saint emerges. No way. But in Guralnick's telling, a brilliant musician and excruciatingly vulnerable human being pushes aside the fat guy in the gold Vegas suit.

The result? The music -- in all its glory and raw excitement -- returns to take its rightful and deserved place.

The best books (with Guralnick's 2nd volume) about rock and roll ever written.

Fascinating History
This is a book for those who love American music, not those looking for lurid scandal. Guralnick's respectful yet honest history of Elvis's rise to fame is endlessly engrossing. Not only do we meet Elvis, Gladys, and Vernon in the years before the myths took over, we meet lesser-known yet facsinating characters as Sam Phillips, the idealistic founder of Sun Records, and Dewey Phillips, the eccentric DJ who first played Elvis on the air. As Guralnick presents Memphis in the 50's, it seems so real one almost feels as though it could be visited today.

You don't have to be an Elvis fan to enjoy this biography.

Outstanding - as if the author and Elvis were Siamese twins
One of the best biographies I have ever read. Detailed, sensitive, written with just the right mix of empathy and detachment a biographer needs. I know two people who are about Elvis' age and grew up with him. Both of them say that the chapters dealing with the King's upbringing in Tupelo and his years at the Lauderdale Courts read like they have been written by someone who grew up with him. If you have only the slightest interest in Elvis, Memphis, Southern history, or American popular culture, buy this book. ... Read more

Book Description

Hero to millions who loved him as Robin Hood and Captain Blood, Errol Flynn lived a life that surpassed any adventure he ever filmed. Many of his exploits were made public for the first time in this autobiography, completed just a few months before his death at age 50.

Surprisingly candid, this book reveals an introspective and enigmatic personality previously hidden behind a hedonistic facade.These brashly written memoirs of his full and consuming life create a self-portrait that is as colorful as it is entertaining. ... Read more

Reviews (12)

Fun, fun, fun.
Boy! Did this guy do it all! This guy lived more life in one lifetime than most people could only possibly do in a thousand lifetimes. The title is most appropriate, and once you start reading it you won't be able to put it down until you're done. One of the most memorable books I've ever read.

A STAR AMONG MORTALS.
This book is the best of the autobiograghies. Flynns magnitude was only matched by a few stars. Although there are a few errors since Flynn was suffering from booze and drugs - this is a true memoir of a man, star who regretted his life and knew he was dying very soon. I personally spoke to the ghost rider Mr. Conrad about his time with Errol. It can be said of Errol Flynn-" He was what every boy prayed to become , but as a man regretted he never achieved".

Noone can put this book down. Its a must read.

Flynn would not approve!
I was THRILLED to learn a hard bound volume was available to replace my ancient paperback.But then I received the book and began rereading it...Half way through, it is falling apart.(I don't abuse books by a long shot.)Be aware that the rather steep price will bring you a shrink-wrapped volume, with no dust cover, that is NOT a properly bound book.The printing, too, is sub-par. ... (Get the new paperback!Great edition of a wonderful story!)

The fame of the reckless father doomed the son.
Errol Flynn's life created a legend which his son Sean struggled to top.Sean Flynn and friend Dana Stone were captured in Cambodia during 1970 and disappeared.Readers of Errol's book will definitely want to read the aptly titled upcoming "Inherited Risk" by Jeffrey Meyers, one of the best father-son stories ever written.

Flynn will always be a timeless legend
l first read this book at 12.l have read it once a year ever since.It just has that way of making you feel alive.Adventure,action,fun and zest.This book is greatly under rated simply because it was written by the legendaryhell-raiser himself.Do yourself a favour,buy this book,read it and feel theexcitement rush from the pages. ... Read more

Book Description

Writing with grace, wit, and remarkable candor, actress Claire Bloom looks back at her crowded life: her accomplishments on stage and screen; her romantic liaisons with some of the great leading men of our era; and at "the most important relationship" of her life--her marriage to author Philip Roth. of photos. ... Read more

Reviews (9)

For Roth junkies only; a guilty pleasure
Ok, I admit and I am embarrassed--I ate this book up like a pint of Haagen-Daz. And afterwards, I felt about the same as I do when I look at the empty ice cream container: a little shamed, vaguely nauseous, highly satisfied. I am a huge Philip Roth fan, a collector of his signed first editions, etc., so you have to take this reveiw with a grain of salt. Ms. Bloom, or whoever ghosted it, is much better writer than I had anticipated and the pages flew by (just one more spoonful...). Charlie Chaplin, Laurence Olivier, Richard Burton, Gore Vidal, Rod Steiger--it was interesting to read what felt like highly redacted versions of who these men were in Ms. Bloom's life. She does seem to reserve a certainy clarity and honesty for her depiction of Roth, for better or worse, than she seems willing to give to these other men. I, frankly, believe most if not all of what she wrote about Roth, and it is tantalizing to watch the threads of her fact with him reverberate in his fiction. (Sylphid, the harp-playing harpy in "I Married A Communist" is very openly Bloom's daughter with Rod Steiger). So if you are a Roth fan and are interested in a painful dissection of his fiction, you should probably put this on your shelf...though don't expect HIM to appreciate it.

Philip Roth gave me a lousy divorce settlement...
I picked up this autobiography not out of any particular interest in Claire Bloom the actress (I'll say Claire Bloom the writer resembles Claire Bloom the actress : competent, well-spoken, attractive but so narcissistic it is difficult to empathize with her), but rather intrigued by her relationship with Philip Roth, an author I admire but find maddeningly misogynistic.

Bloom the writer is no more convincing than Bloom the actress at depicting a depth of feeling. She tells us she loved Roth, Richard Burton, her mother and her daughter. Yet mother and daughter both get short shrift (when Roth didn't want the daughter around, the daughter was out on her ear). First and second husbands get little attention (not famous enough ? there is something of the groupie about Ms. Bloom).

She names her autobiography after « A Doll's House » but is this ironic ? She portrays herself as the original doormat-wife and mistress and then asks her audience to sympathize with her inability to get her husbands to respect her. She moans about unfaithful husbands but delights in telling her readers how she cuckolded Richard Burton's wife. Pot, meet kettle.

The book's main source of interest is its description of Philip Roth's mental breakdown. This is fascinating for Roth readers - however humiliating it must have been for Roth the man to endure (and now to have exhibited in public by his ex-wife).

Waaaah!
Waaaaah! I had an unhappy love affair and now I think I'll make the world feel sorry for me because this has never happened to another single human being in the history of human relations! Waaaaah!

(You don't see Roth trying to exorcise his demons by acting, do you? He knows his strengths, as should Miss Gloom.)

Hysteria in Bloomland
Relationships are sticky things, and people standing outside of a particular one can never completely emphathize and get the full picture. That being said, as a reader of Bloom's memoir, one feels darned ready to pass judgment, and not so much on the men (especially Philip Roth) who have messed up parts of her life. The way in which the book was written, its tone, its texture, leads me to believe that it is Bloom herself that is being unjust and slanted in judgment. For some reason she seems to gravitate toward men who she knows will screw her over. The most significant beau is Roth. Everyone knows he's the bad boy of contemporary American letters, and it's a good thing, too. It feeds his writing in unbelievable ways, ways in which might earn him a Nobel someday (if there's any justice in the world). And perhaps Bloom's wonderful acting ability is fueled by her emotional problems too. Art, like relationships, is indeed an unstable and unpredictable thing, but reading Bloom complain--almost whine--about how she's been wronged as a victim really grates on this reader. If her turmoil does fuel her art, then perhaps that old saying about sausage is true: if you really like it, you don't want to see how it is made.

Ho hum
Hmm. I agree with the other reviewers who say that there is no depth or reflection here. It is quite a catalogue of woes, and there is a sincerity and honesty in the telling. But.... As a piece of writing, it is not at all distinguished, and there is not much nourishment as in something left to reflect on, observations worth mulling over, whether in agreement or disagreement. It is, sadly, like some of the worst celebrity autobiogs on the shelves. Which is a pity, because I think with better editorial direction this could have been a far better book. ... Read more

Book Description

Pays honest tribute to the spiritual search of a generation that transformed the politics-then the heart and soul-of America

In this intelligent memoir, actor Peter Coyote relives his fifteen-year ride through the counterculture-a journey that took him from the quiet rooms of privilege as the son of an East Coast stockbroker to the riotous life of political street theater in San Francisco. Chronicling revolutionary economic theories and chaotic encampments, Coyote offers blunt, affectionate, and often comic portraits of fellow travelers.

In prose that is graphic and unsentimental, Coyote's memoir is his attempt to understand the path he forged, and the distance between the extremes in a spectacular life. ... Read more

Reviews (15)

Pretty good read. No bull. Points for honesty.
I was born in 1968 so I can't comment on whether or not Coyote's take on the 60s jives. I can, however, say that it was pretty interesting to read his views on the S.F. Mime troupe and the Diggers. I admire Coyote for having been involved these groups. His recollections of them are insightful and refreshingly honest. I love the fact that Coyote talks about the ups and downs of 60s life. I like that he complains about people from time to time. This makes for a read that is not too "peace and love". So, I guess I like his honesty most. As for this book seeming too egotistical to some readers goes, I disagree. Peter Coyote is funny, handsome and interesting and I liked reading most of what he had to say. I like Coyote's ego just fine. What bored me was when he would go on and on about Olema ranch and mundane domestic stuff which really isn't that interesting to most people. Overall, I feel spent.

An amazingly rational account of a very irrational time.
"Sleeping Where I Fall" is actor Peter Coyote's personal memoirs of the San Francisco hippie/commune scene of the late 60s and early 70s. I found this to be a very interesting and well written book. It seems Coyote took advantage of being in the right place at the right time and became a cutting edge member of the emerging counterculture. His detailed account recreates the era; from the newness and exuberance of the concept of "free" - to the interminable chaos and outrageousness of trying to live it. I think it would be of great interest to people who are sympathetic to the ideals that blossomed during this era.

Too self-absorbed and showoffy.
If he had written more about the world outside his little group of friends and lovers, Coyote could have had an interesting book. As it is, it's mainly a chronicle of living dirt poor and having as much sex as possible, while being surprised that your gorgeous blonde deer-hide tanning girlfriend somehow always catches you cheating. He makes the common mistake that the rest of us care how many women he slept with and under what circumstances. Memoirists be warned: What was most important to you is not what is most important to your readers. He spends relatively little time on much more interesting events such as the prosecution of the San Francisco mime troupe, and the famous people who came to their aid. In fact, he spends very little time on anyone else at all, except to point out that he knew or met them or somehow locate himself there. Disappointing book.

Wonderful In Spite of It All
I've read other reviewers taking Peter Coyote to task for writing what they seem to think is just a self-congratulatory puff piece to satisfy his own ego. I disagree. Not once in the book did I ever see him claim that the existence he and his friends lived was the 'only' way or the 'best' way, nor did he try to make himself out to be some kind of faultless angel who never made a mistake. He simply told, in as straightforward and unembellished a way as possible, what happened in his own personal experience, good and bad, and described the process that took him from one stage of existence to another. That kind of honesty takes courage few of us can claim to have in any level of our lives.

And anyone who was as heavily into drugs as he was to have survived at all, not to mention completely turning their life around and becoming successful in their own chosen field, should be congratulated. I've known enough people in my own experience who didn't, and I grieve for them to this day.

I, for one, am very glad he wrote this book. In 1964 I was only twelve years old and have always felt a bit cheated that I was just too young to have been a part of what I felt even then to be a special and perhaps irreplaceable time. Reading "Sleeping Where I Fall" has given me a sense of almost having been there myself which I've never gotten from any other work on the era in quite the same way.

Thank you for writing this memoir, Peter. I do sincerely appreciate it.

For Hippies and ex Hippies
Peter Coyote's memoir is a must read for anyone who lived through those crazy and wild times of the 60's. His intimate involvement with so many aspects of the counter culture grass roots movement, his command of the English language,and ability to tell a tale makes this a very enjoyable account.

For me, it was also a sentimental journey. I lived on the Olema farm many years after Peter and his clan had left. His description of the place mirrored many of my own memories. I believe that many new readers will find Peter's account brings back fond and crazy memories. ... Read more

Reviews (19)