5 comments about American Beauty: The Shooting Script (Newmarket Shooting Scripts).

1. I loved reading the screenplay just as much as I enjoyed watching the film. I'm interested in screenwriting myself and bought the screenplay as a guide to my own screenwriting -- what to do and what not to do, and especially how to format shots of a person videotaping as is done throughout this piece. Excellent teaching tool!



2. I loved the film, American Beauty. It is, quite simply, my favorite movie of all time! This screenplay is just as captivating as the movie... Because, in many ways, it is the movie! Alan Ball's script is really what made American Beauty the film that made jaded American moviegoers stand up and say "Thank you!" We can only hope that future filmmakers are taking note... Simply put, it is destined to become a treasured piece of modern Americana. :-)



3. If you have seen the movie, and were deeply touched by it, as seems inevitable, owning this screenplay is definitely worthwhile. Without having to put on the DVD, you can relive particular moments by just leafing through the pages. Alan Ball's script won multiple awards, and rightly so: it is a masterpiece of dramatic writing, merging the comical, the tragic and the spiritual in ways rarely seen in present day (American) film.
   Yet this book isn't all it could, and in my view should, have been. It really offers very little besides the literal text of the final movie version (including some of Annette Bening's and Kevin Spacey's improvisations). Other film scripts I own include in-depth information about genesis, casting, production etc., loads of good still and behind-the-scenes photography, as well as discarded scenes and earlier versions of scenes. None of that here, even though several parts of the film were drastically altered during the filming. There is a 2-page intro by Mendes that adds nothing to the information contained on the DVD, if you own that; and the same goes for the even shorter afterword by Ball (who, on the DVD commentary track, isn't able to get a word in edgewise with Mendes, and so remains something of an enigma). Then there are a few grainy black and white stills that are an insult to the brilliant cinematography of the movie - and that's it. For makers of a film so ostentatiously concerned with the relativity of material things, it does seem like a rather cheap way to squeeze some extra bucks from it...



4. Today is the first day of the rest of your life?

   Yes.The amazing capability that we have to surprise ourselves and the surrounding life makes you to take control of every moment that you live. Live larger.

   Lester has this capability. He never died . He just smiled. before taking a pause.

   AMAZING BEAUTY. That's what I can write about this movie and the writer.




5. If you didn't like the movie as you watched it, then you'll gonna love it after you read this script!

5 comments about How to Stop Acting.

1. Harold Guskin's approach to acting is refreshingly simple, unique and -- I am happily discovering -- effective. I have completed three years of solid acting training in well-known techniques. Each of those techniques has been helpful to me as an actor; however, none of them produced the kind of freedom and excitement I find in applying Guskin's method. Thank you, Mr. Guskin.



2. This is an insightful, simple, and easy way to approach acting in the moment. If you're bogged down with stanislavsky based text work, or even if you're a new actor, this is a fresh, new way to approach your work and make it more dynamic. I found the work especially helpful in film and tv, but it can also be used for the stage. Yes, the author does name drop, but I think he needed to in order to get his own name out there, and who can fault him for that. I found these-celebrity example- selections in the book to be the least informative for me. The real meat and potatoes likes in Harold's unique and valuable technique. A must have for any actor. Harold is also great to work with one on one-if you can afford it!



3. I've read Strasberg, Adler, Meisner, Suzuki, Morris, Mamet, Chekov and several other acting books by lesser-known authors. Without question, Guskin's book is the best, most immediately usable method I have ever encountered. Guskin gives so many useful exercises to undertake his innovative approach along with a great deal of advice for solving a myriad of problems and issues actors face.
   
   When I began reading Guskin's book I was intrigued but skeptical. The approach seemed like it just might be extraordinary, but I had questions as to whether it would work within certain contexts I faced as an actor. For example, what do I do when I'm in the middle of an audition and I freeze and nothing is coming to me? What good is Guskin's approach then? Much to my delight, Guskin addresses this question in a thorough and satisfying way. In fact, Guskin answered all of my practical acting questions and gives simple, usable solutions which all fall within the context of his unique acting approach.
   
   Just like any acting approach, ultimate success comes with undertaking his advice and practicing, practicing, practicing his approach. Do this and you will reap great rewards.
   
   My one slight reservation, which doesn't diminish the power of the book, is that casting directors for film and television often want you to come into an auditon situation with a 'final performance' for the audition. They do not want you to 'play' or 'discover' various versions of your performance during your audition. Casting directors for film and TV want you to give them the character as it is stated in the written character breakdown that they give you. Yes, this 'final performance' too, can be accomplished using Guskin's technique, but one needs to go into such audition situations very well-rehearsed beforehand.
   
   Indeed, Guskin is correct in asserting that this very preconceived notion of character required by film and TV casting directors is far less prevalent in the theater and in theater auditions. This is not a caveat, just some additional info.
   
   Truly the finest, most simple, practical and usable acting book I've ever read.



4. This guy sure does like Chekov. Almost every example of scene study or a monologue suggestion is from a Chekov play. It made me think more about which playwrights people consider to be the gold standard of good theatre than how to improve my own connection to a character. This reads very much like your typical good college acting teacher who name drops like it's going out of style (he's friends with Glenn Close, Kevin Kline, etc.) and throws in little nuggets of wisdom here and there. I still think there is no substitute for actually getting up on stage and doing it (and trying all sorts of things out and improvising to see what works and what doesn't) but this book should tide you over until you get onstage again. My favorite bit of advice he has: it's okay if you don't know how your character is supposed to feel on a given line. Accept that you don't know how your character is supposed to feel. Just let your mind go blank for a bit and then something will come to you. Decent book overall. I have another book by Ivana Chubbuck called "The Power of the Actor" that is a bit more memorable but this is still decent.



5. Harold Guskin's approach is brilliant in its simplicity. He takes you away from "techniques" and back to the reality of being in the moment. When I practice his approach I'm able to truly listen and dialogue with the other actors on a deeper level, and to respond to their words and mine from an internally, gut-motivated, truly living and experiencing in the moment place. From the stage or the audience the result is more exciting, more alive, and much more meaningful. I never have to try to memorize lines when I work from this angle either. The words take on a life of their own and take up residence, flowing freely when the time comes. The result is a fresher and more alive characterization too -- not "overstudied". Mr. Guskin's approach is refreshing. I urge every actor to buy this book, get real, and stop acting.

No comments about The Half: Intimate Photographs of Actors Preparing for the Stage. Simon Annand.

5 comments about On the Track: A Guide to Contemporary Film Scoring, Second Edition.

1. This is the greatest book I ever seen. It' a complete guide for film and tv scorig. It analyses every aspects and tasks of the film music production for a composer. From the spotting to the business... It explains very clearly the concepts, also with a lot of quotations from today's most famous film composers, editors, executives, producers, directors... (more than 100 professionals have contributed with quotations to this 'bible'). There are many many printed score examples. It is very up to date, with modern films examples, and there's also a chapter concerning digital music composition. I've copied the whole contents pages, so you can see this book professionality.
   
   Just don't care about the price, it's really a great investment. I was in doubt to buy it for the price, but when I've opened it I've realized that my money was spent in a great way.
   
   CONTENTS
   of On the Track by Fred Karlin and Rayburn Wright
   
   Foreword by John Williams
   Preface to the First Edition
   Preface to the Second Edition
   Acknowledgments for the First Edition
   Acknowledgments for the Second Edition
   Introduction
   How iv Use This Book
   
   I PRELIMINARIES
   
   1 The Filmmaking Team
   Meeting the Filmmakers. The Director. Communicating with the Director. Support and Guidance. Two-Way Dialogue between Director and Composer. The Producer. The Producer's Power. Communicating with the Producer. The Film Editor. The Music Editor. Music Executives and Supervisors.
   
   2 The Script, Meetings, and Screenings
   The Script. The First Meeting before Screening the Film. The First Screening. First Cut, Fine Cut, and Assembly. The First Discussion after Screening the Film. Composing before the Film Is Finished.
   
   3 Role Models and Temp Tracks
   Specific Film Scores or Cues as Role Models. Specific Film-Scoring Styles Used as Role Models. Specific Classical Pieces or Styles Used as Role Models. The Composer's Use of Role Models. Evoking a Role Model Inadvertently. Role Models and Plagiarism. Temp Tracks. Music Editors and Temp Traclcs--How It's Done. Why Filmmakers Use Temp Tracks. How Composers Work with Temp Tracks.
   
   4 Spotting the Film
   Talking It Over. Making Decisions. When To Use Music. Starting a Cue. Ending a Cue. Short Cues, Transitions, and Long Cues. The Importance of the Acting. The Director Communicates. Spotting Notes and Timing Notes. Changes in the Spotting after Scoring. Score Lengths.
   
   5 Budgets and Schedules
   Cost Factors. Figuring Costs. Working with a Smali Budget. Scoring Union or Nonunion. The Assumption Agreement. Working with the Contractor. Composing Fees. Budget Estimates. Time to Compose. Copying Time.
   
   II CONCEPTUALIZING
   
   6 Developing the Concept
   Characterization. The Central Character. The Singie Dramatic Theme. Two Dramatic Themes. Ethnic/Geographic Considerations. Musical Styles. Combining Two or More Stylistic Elements. The Process of Elimination. Scores for Study.
   
   7 Demonstrating the Score: Mockups and Electronics
   Electronic Mockups. Mockups for Communication. Changes.
   
   III TIMINGS
   8 Timings and Clicks I
   Free Timing. Using Clicks and Clock. Metronome Equivalents. When Timings Don't Sync. Requirements on Extremely Accurate Hits. Ritards, Fermatas, Accelerandos.
   
   9 Timings and Clicks II
   Music Editors. Cut Back Cues and Split Chases. Tempo and Mood Changes within Cues. Meter Changes within Cues. Timings with a Calculator. Using Videorecorders, Digitized Video and SMPTE Time Code. Drop-Frame or Non-Drop-Frame? Avoiding Confusion in Math Problems. Hardware and Software.
   
   IV COMPOSING
   10 Playing the Drama
   Audience Expectations. Don't Tip the Story. Tone. Main Titles. Whose Point of View to Play? Playing the Overview. Playing What the Scene is Really About. Getting Inside the Character's Feelings. Playing the Environment or Location. Playing the Situation. How Intensely to Play the Drama less Is More/Understating the Drama. Avoiding Emotion. De-emphasizing a Scene. The Power of Silence. Playing through the Drama. Phrasing the Drama. Hitting the Action. Highlighting. Red Herrings. Scoring the Film Like a Ballet. Underscoring the Dialogue. Scores for Study.
   11 Genres and Source Music
   Genres. Action. Comedy. Documentaries. Historical and Period. Horror. Source Music. Interweaving Source and Score. Scores for Study.
   
   12 Composing
   Creative Considerations: Work Process. Intuition and the Subconscious. Writer's Block. Preparation. Planning the Score. Organizing the Score. Unity and Variety. Research. Tempo or Pulse. Personal Taste and Style. Beginning the Sketch.
   
   13 UsingMelody
   Motifs. Multiple Motifs. Unaccompanied Melody. Two-Voice Texture. Giving the Melody Character. Adapting a Theme. Hit Records. Scores for Study.
   
   14 Using Harmony
   Harmonic Languages. Harmony Resulting from Linear Writing. Harmonic Pedal Point and Ostinatos. Using Harmony for Characterization. Using Harmony as a Theme. Tension. Scores for Study.
   
   15 Using Rhythm
   Tempo and Pulse. Sketching the Rhythms. The Percussion Section and Electronics. The Orchestra as Rhythm. Rhythm as a Thematic Idea. Rhythmic Ostinatos. Uneven and Changing Meters. Polyrhythms. Scores for Study.
   
   16 Using Orchestration
   Characterizing the Film's Dramatic Theme. Suggesting Locale with Color. Symphonic Orchestration. Fresh Sounds and Interesting Combinations. Change the Color, Change the Emotion. Orchestral Effects. Smail Budgets. To Orchestrate or Not to Orchestrate? Sketches. MIDI Sketches. Transposed or Concert Pitch-Scores? The Art of Orchestration. The Composer/Orchestrator Relationship. Orchestrating from MIDI Sketches. Using Synths and Orchestra Together. Typical Orchestra Setups. Know the Instruments. Short Cuts. Orchestration Schedules. Changes. Other Practicalities. The Business Aspects of Orchestration. Scores for Study.
   
   17 Technical and Practical Considerations
   Technical Considerations. Streamers. Recording. Practical Considerations. Preparing to Record. Save Your Music. Checklists.
   
   V RECORDING
   18 Recording: The Scoring Stage
   The Scoring Stage. Underscoring, Prerecording, and Set Recording. Scoring Primarily or Completely with Electronics. Prerecording Electronic Tracks. Prerecording Acoustic Tracks and Soloists. Planning. The Mixer. Producing the Music. Conducting. Conducting Aids. Film Sound. Recording Format. Headset Mixes. Rehearsal Protocol. Creative Responses. Working with the Director. Changes on the Scoring Stage. Recording. Working with the Mixer. Playbacks. Overdubbing (Layering or Stacking). Prerecording an On-Screen Performance. Time Pressures on the Stage. Recording Away from Home. Timing Corrections while Recording. Postmixes and Sound Processing. Using Samples in Final Mix. Remixing for a Soundtrack Album.
   
   19 Dubbing: The Final Mix
   The Composer on the Dubbing Stage. The Dubbing Stage and the Participants. Preparing the Music for Dubbing. Predubbing. The Music Mixer. Dubbing Stage Sound. First Adjustments during the Mix. Overail Music Levels. Changing/Losing Cues. As the Director Sees It. Dubbing Stage Protocol. Dubbing with Dialogue. Losing a Score. Dubbing Schedules. Previews. Scores for Study. VI ELECTRONIC AND CONTEMPORARY SCORING
   
   20 Using Electronic Music
   Electronic Instruments as Acoustic Re-creations. Electronic Instruments for Unique Sounds. Blending Electronic and Acoustic Instruments. Scoring with Electronics. Recording Electronic Music. Scores for Study.
   
   21 Using Contemporary Music
   Using Contemporary Rhythm Sections. Contemporary Scores. A Closer Look at Three Contemporary Scores. Scoring with a Solo Artist. Scoring with a Group. Contemporary Source Music. Scores for Study.
   
   22 Scoring for Television
   Television Series. Main Titie Themes. Composing. Working with the Producers. Dubbing. Scoring with Orchestra. Scoring Long Form. The Use of Songs. Television!Film Differences.
   
   VII SONGS
   23 Musicals and Prerecording
   Prerecording (Prescoring). Prerecording Grease and Fame. Postrecording (Postscoring). The Classic Musicals and Beyond.
   
   24 Songs
   The Functions of a Song. Content. Songwriting Collaboration. Syncing the Lyric to the Visuals. Rewriting, or Writing Another Song. Demonstrating the Song. The Artist. Hits and Big Business. Footloose: An Origina1 Compilation Song Score. Yentl: An Origina1 Song Score by One Team of Writers.
   VIII THE BUSINESS
   25 The Business
   Getting the Job. Moving from Television to Films. Demos. Being Heard. Agents. Film and Television Deal Points. Commercials. ASCAP and BMI. Music Budgets. Licensing. Soundtrack Albums. Music and Business.
   
   Epilogue. On the Track
   The Interviewees and Authors
   Appendix A. Study Assignments
   Appendix B. Footage/Timing Conversions
   Appendix C. Calculator Methodfor Timings
   Appendix D. Drop-Frame
   Glossary
   End Notes
   Bibliography
   Web Sites
   Music Excerpts
   Index



2. This book is a MUST for everybody who is involved in the film industry (composers, producers, directors, film and music editors, etc...) and wants to know the insides of composing film scores:
   
   It has many examples, references, quotes and the expertise of such a great composer as Karlin is.
   
   Wanna be serious in this business, must get it.
   
   It's worth buying it.



3. Fred Karlin and his orchestration teacher Rayburn Wright both passed away but their spirit comes alive through the pages of this book. Fred's love for film music and to impart fledgling composers to imbibe the intricacies of film music composition is well documented and presented and is current with examples of cues from movies till 2002 in the 2nd edition of the book. Fred's reverence for film composers is both inspirational and exhaustive and reveals what a brilliant human being he was. This world and the music community needs people like this who have taken their chosen art form and has the good heart to share that information which is hard earned to let other men take lead and become CAUSE over their own vistas of expression in film music. Fred is BRILLIANT AND ALIVE. It is inevitable that you can't help but think of him with gratitude and call out to him and say THANK YOU. These are the people who can bring about changes in the field of film music education and the evolution of man in general by helping us create better art. This is the Veda of Film Scoring. Its that good.



4. This book is perfect for people who is interested in filmscoring, discussing every aspect of filmcomposing that you need to know about. It`s the best I`ve read so far.



5. This is a great book to add to your collection and to improve your technique and knowledge of film scoring. it's worth the price!

3 comments about Mamma Mia! How Can I Resist You?: The Inside Story of Mamma Mia! and the Songs of ABBA.

1. After reading the 1994 book "ABBA-The Complete Recording Sessions" by Carl Magnus Palm, I thought I read all I ever would about how ABBA recorded some of their best known songs. However, this coffee table size book delves into greater detail on the origins of the 22 ABBA songs in the worldwide smash musical "Mamma Mia!" as well as great detail on the origins of the musical itself. It also goes into great detail on the foreign language versions of the musical. Any dismissive critics of ABBA (and you know who you are) would have to admit that Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus (the two "B"s of ABBA) really knew what they were doing when they recorded all of those songs, based on all of the comments the 2 former ABBA members made regarding the ABBA recordings in this book. Hopefully it will be updated to include more info on the Russian language version that opened in Moscow in the fall of 2006.
   And yes, the book contains plenty of photos of ABBA and the Mamma Mia! musical!!!
   I also hope they update the book for the summer 2008 release of the film version. Meryl Streep and Pierce Brosnin will star!!!



2. I admit it. I love Mamma Mia! Nothing makes me happier than watching the show. Reading this informative and loving book about the show, its beginings and its ongoing success takes you right back to your seat in a theater where you first saw Mamma Mia! on stage.
   
   The photos are lush, colorful and interesting. The text is easy to read and gives a thorough account of how the show came to be and how it remains a constant night after night success around the globe.
   
   It isn't often that something so dear to me personally gets such a loving treatment in book form. This is one of those rare times and it allows the reader to enjoy the celebration that IS Mamma Mia! over and over at their fingertips.
   
   The large book is very reasonably priced considering its quality and the fine color photos throughout.
   
   If you love Mamma Mia! you'll enjoy reading and owning this wonderfully adoring companion piece.



3. Initially I was excited to find out that a book on the long running musical Mamma Mia would be coming out. After purchasing and reading the book I personally did not find it interesting nor did I feel there were much material to offer the reader.
   
   If one is a collector of theater coffee table books you may want to purchase this just to add to your library.

2 comments about Spectacle.

1. An enlighting experiences into the most miraculous community or urban places bringing places and ideas together. And it is particularly overwhelming to review this issue from the lens of an architect. A must Buy!!!



2. I didn't know what to expect when I opened up this book - but it's fair to say the whole world exploded (in a good way) before my eyes as I literally flew through the pages. Spectacle takes a look at the reasons why people gather together - sometimes in the most unwelcoming circumstances - to celebrate, to mourn, to affect change, to create.
   
   There's a beauty here that goes way beyond the amazing photographs - it's the study of the whys and hows behind the events and how the connective energies are the same regardless of ones attending a NASCAR race or the running of the bulls.
   
   I was tremendously moved by SPECTACLE.

5 comments about The Q Guide to Broadway (Pop Culture Out There Q Guide).

1. Seth is amazingly funny and witty. His writing style is not comparable to anyone.
   He really goes deep in the subject (no pun intented) and is acurate everytime!
   
   love, love, love it!



2. Great little guide to all the hot spots for any Broadway obsessed person - Q or otherwise. If you are a Broadway fiend be sure to read this before your next trip. Also gives great website recommendations for those like me -- too poor to travel. Every time I listen to Seth Rudetsky on Sirius Broadway, I think "I have a friend in the Broadway business."



3. Seth's humor and passion for Broadway are a gift to all who love The Great White Way. Thank you Seth!!!



4. I consider myself a begining Broadway buff, and this book was the perfect book to push me on the path of Broadway knowledge. First of all, it's hilarious; and I mean every page has something to make you laugh. Secondly, all of the inside info and web links made me feel like I was living in New York and was a louse for not having tickets to see the hotest show in town tonight. But this book you will not be sorry. I have a lot of current event/ history books about Broadway and this book was awesome.



5. This is a great little guide to broadway!
   Lots of great basic information for newcomers peppered with insider tidbits to keep it entertaining for those who already speak the language.
   Gay, straight, newbie, long time broadway fan, there's plenty in here for everyone!
   A quick fun read that begs to be read aloud to the people around you (a better idea if you are at your home as opposed to on the subway).

3 comments about The Burial at Thebes: A Version of Sophocles' Antigone.

1. After teaching years of sophomore English, I have finally found a version of Antigone that even 15 and 16-year-olds can understand and appreciate. Still loads of figurative language to teach and what an author to introduce your students to alongside Sophocles!



2. The Antigone of Sophocles exists in a number of English renditions. The Abbey Theatre commissioned Heaney to do yet another for its centenary. In an afterword to this volume he explains the genesis of his version -- why he decided to do it and how. He explained his poetic tactics, as it were, and justified a "middle style" by referring to Yeats, who wrote of a "common" style he and others used -- many years earlier, of course -- in plays for the Abbey.
   
   Hmm. There is no question that the language Heaney uses here is plain. It is possible to see his three-beat lines and his five-beat pentameter and his Beowulf-style 4-beat alliterative lines in the reading. What I don't see is poetry -- I don't actually even see much verse. The language seems neutral rather than charged. Poetry can use common words, but needs to cause shivers -- not in every line, but often enough that the reader keeps alert for more electricity. The various verse lines he uses are rather weakly distinctive: the forms hover around their ideals without touching them enough to keep a listener on track.
   
   I saw the play performed by the Chicago Shakespeare Theater company on September 18, 2005. It played somewhat better than it read (e.g. the initial byplay between Antigone and Ismene, and that between Creon and Haemon). Still, though, having read it, I was listening carefully (hopefully?) for the beat of the verse -- or at least the feel of the verse. In fact, though the actors did a good job and did, as I think, justice to the text, it seemed rather flat.
   
   Perhaps I disagree with the "plain" style. I think Sophocles was a powerful poet whose language rang with hard beauty and allusive power. He must have been. Perhaps, though, all this happened in the songs that the chorus, and sometimes the principals, sang. For another quarrel I have with this version is that it does not give any indications of choral parts -- strophe and antistrophe -- so even in principle it is not singable. What is more, this is a rather loose rendering of Sophocles play (a "version"), which does not really depart from the drama, but makes it more spare of expression. This comes at the expense of some of the specifically Greek elements, such as constant specific references to Zeus. Yet it is still a classical Greek play, just less of one. Moreover, there were no notes on the text, while there were at least a few puzzling parts that should have been noted, as well as the choral parts. But who knows -- maybe the Abbey Theatre made more of it than I can!



3. A few years back, Mr. Heaney (an excellent poet in his own right) caused quite a stir with his stunning translation of Beowulf. My own reactions to that work were mixed. But who would have thought an Old English war epic/elegy would prove so commercially successful?
   
   Now comes an outstanding "translation" of Sophocles's Antigone--"The Burial at Thebes." I first came across this work in excerpted form in Tin House (a literary journal--one of the best actually). This book far exceeds what Mr. Heaney did with Beowulf.
   
   Yet the crickets are chirping.
   
   It is incomprehensible to me as to why this deeply abiding and thoughtful little book has not blown away the sales and notoriety of the Beowulf volume. Whereas Heaney's Beowulf was clearly a labor of deep interest to the translator--a skillfull and intriguing update of the language for the 21st century, The Burial at Thebes is just as clearly a work of love on behalf of the author...I mean translator--a satirical, lyrical, and prophetic work of the highest order that speaks directly to our world today.
   
   I could not put this play--this hymn to all that we are as humans, this song of our identity as individuals--not mere components of a state--down.
   
   Antigone's early question/indictment of her sister's complacency rings out like a bell against the twin idols of false patriotism and corporate globalisation:
   
   "Are we sister, sister, brother
   Or coward, coward, traitor?"
   
   What follows is a heroic tragedy. Not heoric in the way the Iliad or the Odyssey are (weapons, war, dust, funeral pyres and great feasts of blood), but heroic in the greatest sense (to know who you are and what is truly worth dying for).
   
   Homer and much of the rest of the world sing of war. Sophocles, and his interpreter Heaney, sing of another kind of war--the war of being human in the deepest, richest, and often most tragic, yet inspiring way.
   
   I give "The Burial at Thebes" my highest recommendation.
   
   (If you are interested in a great traditional translation to have as a complement to Heaney's, you cannot go wrong with Robert Fagles's translation of the theban plays in the Penguin Classics series).

2 comments about On Method Acting.

1. This book was most informative. I am currently taking acting classes and it follows the formal training I am receiving and gave even more information than my instructor has so far. I am very pleased.
   Dee Luca



2. This book has taught me how to be a method actor. Until I read this book I was strugglling with my acting, I could never really find the charactor. But with this book I was able to analize a charactor successfully. And as a result I have improved my acting skills and gotten larger and better parts in plays. I highly recomend this book if you're struggling with your acting or if you are just staarting to explore the world of acting. It's a great place to start.

5 comments about Dancing with Cats: From the Creators of the International Best Seller Why Cats Paint.

1. This is encouraging for those who have pussens with unusual personalities! Cats dance!!!! It says it all!



2. "Dancing with Cats" has excellent photography, entertaining text and is purrrfectly delightful. I couldn't have found a better gift for my friend. Everyone who comes through her door is shown right to the book. Then chuckles and mimicking abound.



3. When I first saw the cover of this book, I laughed out loud with joy and a sense of wonder about whether this book was for real. Surprisingly, DANCING WITH CATS is not a joke, and is an excellent primer on how to go about having some fun with your cats in a rather unusual way... by dancing with them. Since I don't currently have a cat, I borrowed one to get a feeling for how possible it might be to get a cat to dance. I succeeded in completely astonishing the cat as I began to notice the ways that the cat watched me moving around with movements that showed we were beginning to move together as one. Clearly, some cats enjoy dancing more than others, and this is one activity that may take a while to get fully into the swing of with your feline dancing partners. From the ancient history of cat dancing to modern age tips and techniques, this book provides a wealth of information about a subject most of us know very little about. The photographs are truly stunning, and you just might get some new ideas about what kinds of fun you can have dancing with cats. Highly recommended!



4. This book has appeared in my life several times, always with a mixture of joy and terror. The concept of the book is simple: through engaging one's cat in dance, a certain physical and spiritual equalibrium is achieved. Various people are interviewed and photos are shown of them dancing with their cats. Half of the time, though, it is not clear whether the cat is jumping or has been thrown into the shot by the photographer's assistant. Throughout the book you question yourself if cat dancing is "real"; by the end, it doesn't matter anymore.
   
   Each one of the "cat dancers" is borderline schizophrenic, but the images are so whacky that one can't help from laughing histerically. Some people have actually recruited their children into the cat dancing way, which makes you feel sorry for them. (They will never have a normal existence.) The text that accompanies the images, however, is cause for brief moments of terror: these people actually believe they are making a spiritual connection with air-born cats. One is even concerned about creating too much spiritual energy and collapsing an astral vortex. Regardless, the book is a perfect ice-breaker, a coffee table book for all ages that allows strangers to point and laugh and sigh collectively. To say with a smile: "At least we're not them!"



5. A pristine paperback copy of this extraordinary book. If cats are your thing, then this is a book for your shelf