No comments about From Fright to Might: Overcoming the Fear of Public Speaking.

No comments about A.Hepburn.

5 comments about After the Fall: How I Picked Myself Up, Dusted Myself Off, and Started All Over Again.

1. Although I am not a huge reader of books, I have to admit going through depression before I moved last summer. I picked up this book in the library and enjoyed every word. Suzanne Somers survived the hard times of her early career and rose to fame. This is a great book to read. I was fortunate to locate a copy on Amazon and happy to say I now own my copy. I enjoy watching her movies,and also her sitcoms Three's Company and Step By Step. Pick up your copy you will not be disappointed and enjoy. The title just fits of how my life went over the years , and how I got myself together to survive.



2. Even if you were a little kid when Three's Company was popular, you will still enjoy this biography. Suzane Somers always kind of annoyed me, but I liked her more after reading this, even though I am sure other people have another side of the story. I liked her first book as well. They are both very detailed, right down to what outfits she was wearing. A good book, I would recommend.



3. Enjoyed the taped version of AFTER THE FALL, written and read
   by Suzanne Somers . . . it is her third book . . . this one accounts
   how she picked herself up, dusted herself off and started all over again
   after being dropped from THREE'S COMPANY in its fifth season

   It gave me a better appreciation for Somers who had difficulty finding
   work for nearly ten years after she dared ask for pay equal to that
   of male TV stars of that era . . . she refused to give up, however,
   and instead became involved in a hit Las Vegas show, along with
   an informational and several books . . . when she resurfaces in 1991
   to become one of the stars of another TV show, STEP BY STEP, I
   almost cheered.




4. The book AFTER THE FALL is a very interesting autobiography by a charming and talented performer. It describes how Suzanne Somers became one of the the most famous TV performers in the 70s only to become one of the most unsuccessful TV performers of the 80s. She deserved better than what she got on THREE'S COMPANY. It was especially interesting to read about how Suzanne reacted when she met the actress who replaced her on THREE'S COMPANY. The book is also about how Suzanne and her husband blended their families together. Suzanne's husband was very resentful of her son and it was sad to read about the way Bruce was treated for many years. But in the end everything works out for the best. And I can only hope that one day there will be a THREE'S COMPANY reunion?



5. This book spoke to my heart and I thought it was wonderful and to the point. It showed how you have to take responsibility for what you are and the decisions you make. And also it showed how you can pick yourself up and move on and not have to be stuck in a rut. I encourage any and everyone to read, you'll learn things you never knew.

3 comments about Hollywood Irish: In Their Own Words : Illustrated Interviews With Gabriel Byrne, Liam Neeson, Pierce Brosnan, Stephen Rea, Aidan Quinn and Patrick Bergin.

1. _Hollywood Irish_ is a fantastic collection of interviews and photographs of six handsome and talented actors: Gabriel Byrne, Liam Neeson, Stephen Rea, Pierce Brosnan, Aidan Quinn and Patrick Bergin. The simple introduction provided by Áine O'Connor sets the mood for the rest of the book well. As she mentions, the interviews do reveal insightful, private information: "Liam Neeson reveals how he considered leaving acting and how he found the confidence to continue; Pierce Brosnan, simply and openly, shares the painful story of his wife Cassie's death; Stephen Rea discusses the relationship between acting and politics; Aidan Quinn talks about the Irish identity and its many paradoxes; Patrick Bergin reveals the temptations of an actor's life and the difficulties of doing love scenes; Gabriel Byrne tells us about the risks and illusions that surround fame." In a nutshell, that's the book. Each actor discusses his beginnings, both in life and as an actor. Each discusses, in some capacity, how being Irish has impacted him. Each actor's profile comes with several b/w photos from childhood, movies and family collections. At the end, one can find each actor's filmography. The only complaint I would have regarding the book is that the material is dated (only current to 1997) and I wish an updated version could be compiled. That criticism aside, though, this is certainly a title worth owning.



2. Aine O'Conner manage to capture the cadences of the various actors very well. While reading the text, I could almost hear the men speaking their words. I suspect that she didn't edit the tapes very much, save for verbal pauses (the usual "uhs" and "you knows") and for length. Ms. O'Conner also included several photographs (many were candid) that were sprinkled throughout the various sections.

   While Ms. O'Conner asked many insightful questions, she didn't follow through on many. Indeed, at times I was a little disappointed that she failed to follow up on specific points; however, that point is trivial compared to the overall effort of the book.

   If you are a fan of any or all of the actors listed, or simply are curious to see how contemporary Irish actors are dealing with the joys and disappointments of Hollywood, then you should enjoy this book.




3. This book provides a facinating, indepth journey into the lives of six very capable and successful actors. Many humourous and sometimes tradgic tales of life in Ireland and struggles to make a name for themselves there and in America. Each actor tells of personal hardships that they have battled throughout their lives and how they have created such prominent status in today's Hollywood scene. Each story is spoken first hand which adds to the richness of these beautiful retold memories. This book provides a greater sense of who these men are by recalling tales from childhood, adolecence and adulthood which explain their journeys to becoming the great actors they are.

No comments about The Year of Dancing Dangerously: A Woman's Journey from Beginner to National Leader in 365 Days.

5 comments about The Official Dick Van Dyke Show Book.

1. A great book about the genesis and history of what I believe is the funniest sitcom ever. When you love something as much as I do like the Dick Van Dyke Show, the little nuances and details are fascinating! Vince Waldron goes into great detail without boring the reader in the meantime. It is too bad that this early sitcom has not gotten it's due as a groundbreaking show-- showing where the male lead works and his co-wokers, the reality of married life, a married couple in bed (albeit twin beds) and, of course, Mary Tyler Moore in Capri pants (scandalous)! All kidding aside, if you are a fan of the background scenes of TV or movies, this book is fun to read and reveals how the cast came together, the family atmosphere that resulted, the awards won, the demise of the series and the eventual post-series cast successes. You will find this book refreshing and hard to put down and won't be disappointed in purchasing it. The only thing I was disappointed in was that some of the episode descriptions were sparse. Buy the book, read it, enjoy....then, go buy the DVD series sets or set of all five seasons!



2. The other reviewers have pretty well covered it. This show was as good as it gets, and it never seems to date with time.

   This book is an invaluable guide to the greatest show/series of all time, and represents oustanding value. The pairing of Dick and Mary was a stroke of genius, and the chemistry between them lifted this brilliantly conceived and well-written series onto another level. Remember the 'Nuts' episode?

   Even the cutesy touches, such as the way Dick randomly tripped over or side-stepped the ottoman just added to the seemingly endless magic that was the Dick Van Dyke Show.

   I had been itching to get my paws on this guide ever since I read Mary's autobiography After All, in which she rightly sings the show's praises - they both won Emmys of course - and this Definitive History illustrates just why it was out there on its own.

   A wonderful book, and absolutely essential for the serious fan of this unique and unforgettable series.




3. This book features an amazing amount of insight into one of the very best television programs to ever grace the airwaves, "The Dick Van Dyke Show".

   If you're an avid fan of this 1961-1966 CBS-TV program, trust me, you will NOT be able to stop turning pages until you've read the whole thing!

   In each chapter, we learn new tidbits of behind-the-scenes information. There's info (including some brief biographical data) about every single member of the show's stellar cast.

   For example: Did You Know .... that the audience laughter went on so long when Greg Morris & his on-screen spouse entered the Petrie home at the end of the episode "That's My Boy??" that the editor actually had to cut out some of the audience hysterics in order to fit the episode into the allowable timeframe? (Too bad, too. I'd love to have heard the WHOLE thing. A great episode indeed.)

   The book also reveals the fact that Mary Tyler Moore stormed off the set in a huff one time, while doing the ultimately-classic episode, "Never Bathe On Saturday". She was upset because she was off-camera and talking through a door for most of the show. But, after seeing how funny the show worked as written, MTM felt bad about her tirade.

   "Never Bathe On Saturday" features Dick's great line, after finding that the hotel bathroom door is locked: "Don't toy with me, you saucy wench." :) LOL!!!!

   Plus there's a complete episode guide, with still more tidbits written within most of the episode descriptions.

   I cannot imagine a more thorough and detailed Dick Van Dyke Show volume than this one. This book is a MUST for any fan of this highly-intelligent and magnificently-written TV program.




4. This book is super awesome, it's just the best episode guide book ever written and I'm kind of partial since The Dick Van Dyke Show is my favorite classic TV show, I especially like the episode guide part which explained in a wonderful well written detail about each different episode, when they were made when they were originally shown on TV what they were about, who the guest actors were etc. I very strongly recommend this amazing book to any major Dick Van Dyke Show fan!



5. I really enjoyed this book, and would highly recommend it to any fan of "The Dick Van Dyke Show." It was very entertaining to read and informative as well. It was also very well written. I would give it more stars if I could.

2 comments about Working Actor's Guide: To Los Angeles (Working Actor's Guide, L a).

1. As a working actor for most of my life, I can attest to the fact that of all the "how to" books on the market this book is truly a must have, especially if you are new to the LA market. Here you will find the best/cheapest/chicest etc place to (fill in the blank) get your nails done, get your photos copied, find a computer etc. It won't make you a better actor but it can help you survive in a tough city so that you can spend your energies improving your craft. I offer this advice as someone who recurred on 11 series including Seinfeld and Home Improvement and what is very nice now is that this book used to cost upwards of 125 new (I never owned a new copy but always one two years out of date! ) and now is just the price of a regular book. Combine this book with Judy Kerr's Acting is Everything and you are ready to begin to ask the eternal question "How do I get an agent"?
   
   Patrick Cronin, AEA, SAG, AFTRA
   Chair Department of Theatre
   East Tennessee State University



2. The Working Actor's Guide is, by far, the most comprehensive guide to acting in Los Angeles ever created. Nothing comes close to this directory. It has useful blurbs, detailed contact information, and various other handy resources that any actor (whether newcomer or well established) could use. As a young acting student myself and having purchased this guide for the past six years, I highly recommend it.

5 comments about Endless Highway.

1. Well I took my time with this one after plowing through David's most recent book (The Kill Bill Diary). It was worth the trip, but it is a long and winding one, and one could argue on the negative side that it is a little repetitive. At 647 pages, it's probably 200 too long, and while you would never expect an autobiography to be objective, the editor probably should have been. While over-long the only section that could have been completely dispensed with is the last 50 pages which is sort of a journal about the writing of the book and his attempts to get sober and repair his sometimes strained relationship with his daughter. It's somewhat confusing, lacking in style, and certainly takes you out of the story you've been following (the entire tone seems off) and the real ending of the book occurs at Part 4 where he sums up his "journey" quite well.
   
   One word of note to anyone looking for interesting stories of Kung Fu. Look somewhere else. This book is about his "life" which, of course the TV show occupied only a small part. If you are fascinated by children of movie stars this book is very interesting as David does not get his first TV job until Chapter 42 / Page 268! Kung Fu doesn't really get mentioned until page 344 in a chapter entitled "Grasshopper."
   
   What's amazing to me is the level of detail in the stories of his life. Some of the mundane stuff (first girlfriends and petty squabbles and drunken episodes) are rendered with an amazing amount of detail. I wondered if he had always kept a journal? Did people help his memory with stories about the incidents? This isn't explained, but the details make for a fascinating portrait that I don't think is normally found in a memoir (perhaps an in-depth bio, but not a memoir, which can often be self-serving). He doesn't seem to be glossing over much. He looks like a fool, or a selfish genius quite often. I came away thinking that it might not have been easy to be his friend, but it would have never been boring.
   
   There are fascinating things here about famous names: his father and brothers, of course, Barbara Hershey, Ingmar Bergman, Martin Scorsese, the Barrymore's and many others. His wives (and loves) are all fascinating people and rarely are they portrayed one dimensionally (like many of us would portray are ex's). His hopes and dreams, successes and failures, his obsessions and his family, his poverty as well as his success are all here in one long, fascinating journey.
   
   I don't think this book will please everyone and it's unwieldy size probably has kept it from being reprinted, but perhaps he can give us another book (this one ends prior to 1995) for certainly his journey is not over (even it is currently spent making cheesy commercials for Yellow Book - hey, a guy's gotta make a living!)
   
   More than anything by the end of the story, I felt like I had spent time with a fascinating friend, a talented and flawed genius.



2. Let's see. David Carradine constantly faced bankruptcy, yet he claims to be continually working making films that very few of us have ever heard about, and earning $25,000 a day. How can this be? Could it be because he was an abuser of drugs and alcohol, that he was repeatedly finding a new love, leaving his former wife and remarrying, that he was buying and remodelling home after home, that he purchased high tech sports cars only to run them into the ground, that he owned dozens of expensive guitars, that he continually chose to live beyond his means, that his life was forever spinning wildly out of control? According to this book, the answer is no. It is always somebody else's fault. For example, he was married to the lovely Barbara Hershey and very much in love. But the marriage dissolved. It was John Barrymore, Jr.'s fault. How can that be? Because Barrymore introduced him to another woman knowing that David couldn't resist the temptation. That's David's excuse. Carradine claims to be a follower of the Shaolin philosophy, an important background of his TV persona Kwai Chang Caine. I admit I don't know much about the philosophy, but I imagine it preaches being responsible for your own actions. Carradine hasn't matured to the point where he can accept this responsibility. But then again, the apple hasn't fallen far from the tree. His dad, the wonderful character actor John, is another terrific example of being irresponsible. Although the father worked steadily, he was constantly broke, often married, and shipped his son out to all types of foster home situations, most of them unpleasant. The Carradines represent one of the great theatrical families of all time, so I found it amazing to read how illequipped they were to live life in an accountable fashion. I purchased this book, because I am a fan of the old man. Unfortunately, there is not much flattering information about him here. Actually, I became tired of reading the same mistakes being made over and over again by father and son, mistakes that were spreading into the next generation as well. A better title would have been "Endless Cloverleaf," because that's what I felt I was trapped on. Speaking of "Endless," Carradine peppers the text with lyrics of songs he has written. This is pretty mundane stuff. When will aspiring authors learn that lyrics are only half of a song, and sometimes the lesser half. We can't appreciate what's created without hearing it put to music. Without the music, it's not worth the ink. Also, there's an "Endless" section duplicating his daily journal at the end of the book that ads nothing but pages. This is a depressing and boring book. Kind of like the young Carradine's acting abilities.



3. This is a fascinating and intelligent read. I couldn't put it down so read more than half the first day. Last quarter of the book dragged a bit for me and yet was still interesting. It might not have dragged had I not read it all so fast.

   This should definitely be read on tape by the author. It's that entertaining and the author is so obviously talented. It does remind me a bit of the way I feel when I read books about the Fitzgeralds. By the end I'm somewhat alcohol soaked, as I experience the author's fast-paced and raucus existence.

   I learned of the book when I heard Quentin Tarantino highly praising it on TV. He not only loved the book but while he was reading it he realized he'd found the actor to play Bill in his movie, "Kill Bill."




4. this book is one of the rare books I have read more than once, and everytime I read it, there is always something new to learn about him. it's worth getting even if you have to go throught your pulbic libary to get it!



5. It took me a week to read,and enjoyed every minute of it.I like it when he said he's a writer now.I am a unknown writer so I understand.His nickname Pokey as a child was great.His writing was real,you went away from the book with the feeling you know him.Better than the people you really know because they don't write their life story.

5 comments about Everything Imus: All You Ever Wanted to Know About Don Imus.

1. You'll find this book somewhat amusing. It's everything you need to know about this "happy-headed Joe"* named John Donald "Don" Imus. Riverside,California-born Imus' radio career began back in the sixties somewhere in his native California. He wound up fired from one station for mentioning the word "hell" on the air. Now,how controversial can that be? That was a "picnic" compared to the offensive and upsetting comment he made on April 4. Secondarily,Imus was once a stand-up comedian recording a few albums. From 1971 to April of this year,Imus broadcast from New York-based WFAN 660 AM(originally WNBC) on and off. Throughout his career,he sparked some controversy several times,delivering slurs to various races. A quarter-century ago,Imus met his new fellow WNBC employee,Howard Stern who had just come from DC 101 in Washington,D.C. Prior to the events of April 4,not many people labeled Imus a "shock jock" as much as Stern. Also,a quarter-century ago,Imus was New York's(and probably America's) #1 disc jockey. Stern would later surpass Imus in the Arbitron ratings. Every disc jockey has his/her own fortes,Imus' being politics and country music and Stern's being supermodels,adult film actresses,heavy metal music and dysfunctional individuals. Although they later became friends,Imus refused to meet Stern when he arrived at WNBC in August 1982. Stern was instead given a "F--- OFF!" by Imus(you can see this in the 1997 Paramount film PRIVATE PARTS starring Stern and based on his autobiography of the same title). Imus remained at WNBC in September 1985 when Stern got the boot(the same happened to Stern at some of his previous stations). The call letters were changed to WFAN on October 8,1988 and the station became round-the-clock sports discussion. Subsequently,Imus married his current wife Deidre in 1994 and they had son named Wyatt. Imus and his brother Fred wrote a short large-print book and both marketed a line of edibles. Now for the April 4 events:Imus was talking about on his long running program "Imus In The Morning",the basketball game between two college teams,New Brunswick,New Jersey-based Rutgers University Scarlet Knights and the other,Tennessee-based. Imus watched the game on television when it aired the previous evening. It was okay to label the all-female players as "cute" and say they have tattoos. Unfortunately,one RUSK player,who is black,heard the comment Imus made and it offended her. Another player,who is also black,even sued Imus. So the offended players got a hold of WFAN and the station took action along with Reverends Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson. Imus and his producer Bernard McGuirk,who himself made an offensive comment as well,got the boot from WFAN. Imus delivered an on-air apology before his firing and also on Jackson's radio show. Despite the apology,Imus was not forgiven by the offended. This,I believe,will not be the end of 67-year-old Imus' career. If he hasn't yet done so,Imus will have to tame his schtick in order to return to the public airwaves. He should re-join Stern on Sirius(pay) radio and if that happens,there will be no censorship at all. Stern left New York-based WXRK(K-Rock) 92.1 FM in 2005 after 20 years with the station because of higher salary offers and he let his contract with Infinity,the company that owns K-Rock,run out. You can check out some sample telecasts of IITM,which made its television debut in 1995 on the cable channel MSNBC,on youtube.com. The TV broadcasts went along with Imus' firing in April. My father and my late maternal grandfather loved listening to Imus' radio program. May Imus continue his career for many more years. *The need-not-be-mentioned comment rhymes with this quote.



2. OK so it's not a pulitzer prize winner, but so what? Mr. Reed's book is written for the true Imus fan without the fancy words and long-winded accounts that make some books boring. If you like the Don Imus show, this book is a must. It takes you behind the scenes, introduces the cast of characters, as well as revisits Don's past. It's well researched and an enjoyable read.



3. Being an Imus fan I was looking for something a little more substatnial than this. If you're interested in the book, go to the library and check it out. Don't bother buying it,



4. In my humble opinon this book does not even touch the mean streak and obnoxiousness that was Don Imus during the 60's and 70's as a former intern at WNBC there are many things that the author of this book either did not know about the real Don Imus or did know but did not publish it.



5. Sure, I'm an I-fan. Okay, maybe there are some tidbits of trivia in this book that are of some interest. However, this has to be one of the worst-written books ever to see the light of day. As intriguing as the subject matter might be, Jim Reed has done no favors for Don Imus by producing this terribly written book. Don't waste your time or money. Just listen to WFAN and get it from the horse's mouth (or other part of the anatomy).

1 comments about Six Degas Ballet Dancers Cards (Small-Format Card Books).

1. I absolutely love these cards because the selected artworks are beautiful. These cards are so wonderful, you'll want to keep them all to yourself! If you love ballet or appreciate great art, I would recommend these to you.