Negative

This is an interesting book and well worth a read as who should know Curtis better than his wife? Unfortunately it seems she didn't really know him very well and it's clear from the numberous band quotes that they didn't understand him either. He was a different person with different people and had his relationship quite compartmentalised, it seems.<br /><br />What is also interesting is how negative she is about him. Obviosuly she is entitled to feel bitter - suicide is a horribly selfish act, especially in her home, where only she coukd be the one to find him. however, given that the book is dedicated to his daughter it seems starnge she should dwell so much on his faults: mysogeny, selfishness, even cruelty and not discuss his apparent virtues: kindness, a desire not to be a burden, a love of animals, just for example. That said she doesnt doubt his sheer ability as a lyricist.<br /><br />Finally its distinctly odd to see how oblivious the band seemed to be to his deep emotional turmoil - as if the lyrics weren't enough!

Stunning photography if a little sparse

I adore Dita, I'd love to kidnap her and keep her under my bed but alas it is not to be.<br />I loved that this book came in two parts, the front has dita in softer, artistic glamour poses, and the back more fetish and burlesque glamour. The book is a little basic, with bullet points which does give off a little"dummies guide" kind of feel...but over all its worth the money.<br />

Fascinating, valuble resource for musicians of all standards

This is a fascinating concept which looks at the way your brain interacts as you play, and uses the idea that your natural instinct is as valuble as any technique. It has things in it that will make even the most advanced musician think, and yet is well within reach of the novice musician. Even the most sinical will find this a fascinating read, and for many, may change the way you go about practicing and performing forever. At this price it is a resource that no musician should be without.

'His boys are hangin' out all over the place'

I'm a huge fan of Larry David and Curb Your Enthusiasm, it wasn't until last Summer that I decided to purchase Season 1 on DVD, since then I was hooked.<br /><br />I decided to check out this book, I must say, it's totally, utterly awesome. It's cramp packed with super info, episode guides, cast and crew interviews, exclusive images and maps of Santa Monica and the set locations, scripts and all!<br /><br />If you enjoy the show, pick up this booked. Larry David really has some hilarious stories to tell. This is one purchase I am real proud of!

Memorable McQueen

If you are a fan of Steve McQueen I would recommend this book of photographs, many which I have not seen some delightful photo's of Steve with his family - it leaves you with happy memories of a superb actor and his films!

How did you do that?

I was dumbfounding people while I was barely a quarter of the way through the book. Techniques get more difficult as the book progresses, but with practice, a beginner can look quite slick in a short space of time.

Music Theory in Practise - Grade 2

This grade 2 theory book is good practise for those eager to progress in music studies. It continues on from Music Theory in Practise Grade 1, with more and harder exercises. This book extends some of the topics already covered in Grade 1 and also introduces some more complex theory. It contains exercises in:
· Ledger lines
· Time Signatures
· The Major Keys of A, B flat and E flat
· Triplets
· The minor keys of A, E and D
· Grouping of notes and rests
· Intervals
· Composing simple four-bar rhythms
There is also a list of performance directions required for the Grade 2 Music Theory exam, and some exercises, which are good revision of everything covered in the book. Most sections contain brief instructions. For a full understanding The AB Guide to Music Theory should be bought. There are references throughout the Grade 2 Music Theory Book to the AB Guide. The Grade 2 book covers everything required for the Grade 2 Exam. I would definitely recommend this book.

"...in that small most greatly lived this star of England."

How does one review Shakespeare? Well, I shall try... A history buff (more specifically, a medieval history buff) I am probably the only person who enjoys Shakespeare's history plays above all others (except "Macbeth"--always excepting"Macbeth"). After that intriguing (and sly!) introduction, the action of the play dies down for a bit, until Harry arrives in France and takes it by storm. THEN the play unfurls itself into what turns out to be Shakespeare's greatest tribute to England and literature and history's greatest tribute to"that star of England," Henry V, surely one of England's greatest monarchs. The star of three plays, Harry also stands out as one of Shakespeare's most interesting and fully-realized characters. If you are familiar with the Henry IV plays, it is fascinating to discover how Harry's past adventures (and misadventures) have contributed to make him the man he proves himself to be in"Henry V." This is truly one of Shakespeare's best plays, and Harry's"Saint Crispin's Day Speech" is one of the most inspirational and well-crafted speeches in literature, I think. (Hamlet's speeches were always so convoluted!)

Best read since Jonathan Lvingstone Seagul

I've been a moderate 'Chilis' fan since 'By the Way' and this book has made me listen to much more of their earleir stuff now.<br /><br />I bought this book at an airport as all my usual escapism authors have been a bit quiet.<br /><br />Some books take you by surprise and this one certainly did. It gripped me from the first sentence and never let go. Despite the fact that Keidis has lived a life that the vast majority will hardly be able to comprehend, the themes that he has to deal with are still those that we all have to face - albeit to a lesser intensity.<br /><br />This is a superb, honest and totally absorbing read for anyone old enough to grasp the issues. Ironically Keidis himself had to face these from 10 years old. How is this guy still with us?? <br /><br />

Really boring

This book is incredibly boring.<br /><br />This Shakespeare guy is way over-rated.<br /><br />it is written in old English so you need an other book to simply translate it's text. In this day and age you would be insane to read this for fun. Rent a blu-ray disc or go to the cinema or something.<br /><br />On the other hand if you are doing it for school then I guess you have to buy it.

A lovely book-well worth a read!!

This book is exceptionally well written.Liz Smith tells the tale of her life by weaving us through her story, and what an interesting and packed life she has led.As we meander with her on the trip down memory lane,she paints a vivid picture for us the reader and we are left with a feeling of enormous satisfaction upon finishing the book.There are no scandalous revelations here,no fuss or pomposity-just a life laid down on paper.And that's the appeal.It's not a hefty tome by any stretch of the imagination-most people will read this in a few hours.Highly recommended.

Who's afraid of Edward Albee?

Albee's most renowned, and perhaps greatest play,"Who's afraid of Virginia Woolf?", is a work of seminal genius. Set in a single room over the course of one night, alcoholics, George and Martha, play host to young couple Nick and Honey. In due course, each character becomes increasingly intoxicated, and drop hints and information about their lives.

Written in a colloquial manner, imitating authentic speech, Albee creates a beautifuly paced and written satire on American society. Originally rejected by many critics of the time as"vulgar", the play now stands as one of literay's finest works. This really is an essential read.

Frankly, Albee has constructed a masterpiece, capable of deep meaning and satitre, yet at the same time criticing American society with sardonic bitterness.

FANTASIC

This book is packed with information and definetly worth the price. A must-have for only £14.99!!! You can get it for £3.99 delivered...somewhere...

It will definitely come tomorrow

I have always been tempted to write the sequel,"The arrival of Godot"<br />However like Fermat's last theorem I fear the world is unlikely ever to see this masterpiece. Godot is a very naughty boy who refuses to come in on time. And at his age (at least 53) he should know better.<br /><br />Get ready for the telling off of all time when he does turn up!<br /><br />This is a great play, mostly for what it does not say, rather than what it does.<br />

Good God!

Thin, obnoxious book by a fat obnoxious man. This bloated mess seems to only have a lust for attention and money, and will do anything to get it. Whoever published this tripe should hang their heads in shame, that they would pay someone for the rights to print this. I mean, he confesses himself he put no thought or effort into 'writing' (should read, narrating to someone else), so why should be spend our time and money reading this. <br /><br />Truly, reading really should be educational, or entertaining, or artistic. This is none of those three, and should never have seen the light of day. It pains me to think of genuine authors, who cannot be published because the market is saturated with this junk.<br /><br />And it is you, reader, who is responsible, for actually buying this! I can only imagine this sort of guff will appeal to those of 'below average intelligence', like the man himself.

Excellent guide. 2008 promises to be one of the best Prom seasons ever

Here is the guide to the 2008 Proms concert season running from July 18th to the `Last Night' on September 13th.<br /><br />This year's Proms season promises to be one of the best ever. <br /><br />There are five featured composers. Ralph Vaughan Williams - on the 50th anniversary of his death. Messiaen on the 100th anniversary of his birth. Stockhausen, who died last year but would have been 80 this year. Rachmaninov - no anniversary - but he is being featured. Elliot Carter - the 100 year old American composer who is still composing!<br /><br />There is still plenty of room for a wide selection of other music from the middle ages to today. As well as the standard concerts there are special events like a Folk Music Day and a Dr Who Prom including 40 minutes of music from the series.<br /><br />The Guide has all the details and articles introducing the featured composers. It is well worth getting whether you will be going to the Albert Hall to hear the concerts, listening on Radio 3 , or listening on the web (all concerts can be listened to for 7 days after live broadcast).<br /><br />The book version of the guide is attractively presented on good paper in colour. It is a lot nicer to navigate around than the Proms website. Get your copy and start planning your summer listening now.<br />

Intriguing, thought provoking and worth your time

This could be a ground-breaking book.<br /><br />Usually in a book with a subject like this the reader would expect one of two things - either predominantly fawning and uncritical adulation peppered with the occasional swipe at safe targets ala the tomes of Telos that cover the recent seasons of the returned Dr Who - or wholesale emasculation of the works considered and their dissection for comedic purposes, the sort of thing the Medved brothers made their name doing.<br /><br />Vern does neither, and instead finds an intriguing way of reflecting on a genre that actually, surprisingly, may have much to reveal both about the way cinema and celebrity function in the modern age. Writers to come could learn much from this manner of study, one that is respectful of the film-makers' intentions and the audiences responses - or non-responses - to these and we might learn a few things along the way. It helps that Vern can also write extremely well, has an eye for a decent joke or two and an understanding of the modern age that allows him to draw conclusions that surprise, delight and inform.<br /><br />What do we learn from this book ? <br /><br />Well, that there is more to Seagal than just another dumb action movie star. Vern makes a pitch in his opening for ascribing auteur status to the man, an assertion that initially strikes one as either tongue-in-cheek to the point of incomprehension, taking the mickey out of the reader or misplaced adulation. Yet in his quiet, analytical way Vern demonstrates that he has a point - like many an auteur Seagal has themes and memes that carry through from one film to the next, and where they haven't been present has gone to some lengths as writer, director or actor to introduce them. Moreover Seagal appears to have come to the screen already fully formed, no working his way up for him but immediately launched in a vehicle for his talents - Nico -Above the Law - that's suggests that someone, somewhere, must have felt the man had something to say worth hearing. Subsequent success suggests that in the late 80s and early 90s, people wanted to hear it.<br /><br />We are used to the idea of the action heroes as ubermenschen - arrogant, opinionated, always in, and politically on, the right. Seagal, Vern shows, is that rare thing - a left-wing action star. Repeated themes he finds in the films are the corruption and incompetence of intelligence agencies, the dangers of turning a blind eye to the environment, violence as a tool that when utilized should be deployed quickly, efficiently and without undue flash or adulation and never as a solution in and of itself, and a quiet asceticism that makes his hero something of a Renaissance man. This latter is a particularly strange thought, but Vern shows us the evidence, presents his own conclusions and also allows that we have the intelligence to draw our own. Seagal deliberately set out to impart his philosophies to his audiences - and that is what auteurs do, surely ?<br /><br />This is no dry, academic tome however. It is also very funny, warm, enlightening and entertaining. It's a book to carry onto the plane - for who knows what the in-flight movie may be ? - or to read in the bath or you'll annoy close friends and relatives by reading the best bits aloud. It is that good. <br /><br />So come to mock by all means - but stay to learn and enjoy. And since that's the essence of Steven Seagal's own philosophy of cinema, from what I gather here, this is a book that does the man proud. <br />

I expected more from this but it still gets 5 stars.

Even though I gave this 5 stars, I found it still wanting. I am a BIG Crue fan ever since I bought the Too Fast Love Album back in the early 80's. I have met Nikki on 3 occassions, one of them for about half and hour at a bar in West Hollywood, and he is by far my favourite member of the Crue. Any hardcore Crue fans will know or have heard about the majority of antics/situations that arise within the pages. This book had been on the verge of being published since forever, and I really wish it had been, especially before 'the Dirt'was released. The reason for this is due to the dirt being a hands down no holds barred kick ass book and Nikki's book does not make the same sort of impact. Don't get me wrong, the heroin diaries is a great book which certainly shows an insight of a freebasing drugs user and it is stil a must buy book. Being the die hard Crue fan that I am, it saddens me to having anything negative to say.