Editorial Review

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Reviews (58)

Relatable Disfunctional Perfection
Ok, so not everyone comes from a family written out of an extended family's fortune because of deviant scheming.But that didn't leave me out of feeling a strong connection to the characters in this book.In every hero, villain, or combination, there was something that reminded me of someone I knew, and I laughed out loud.Plus, I was a big fan of "Tough Jews" and "Lake Effect".But it seems as though Mr. Cohen has found a voice he was reaching for earlier.He is concise and witty.And, although it's a personal story, I wasn't able to put the book down, and gleaned the love (and forgiveness) he has for his family.This book is delicious.

family business dynamics
Are you interested in how family dynamics effect business?How family business effects families?How individual lives become infected with the family business dynamics?Rich Cohen has written a stunning account of his family's quite well known business, the Cumberland Packing Company which makes Sweet n Low, Sugar in the Raw, NuSalts and Butter Buds.
Tasty vacation reading
Thoroughly entertaining story of a family and the company it built.It doesn't matter that Mr. Cohen never even wonders if his mother bears any responsibility for the family drama he relates--the book is just fun. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography & Autobiography    2. Biography / Autobiography    3. Biography And Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Business    6. Business History    7. Corporate & Business History - General    8. Eisenstadt family    9. Eisenstadt, Benjamin    10. Family    11. Literary    12. Personal Memoirs    13. Sweet 'N Low (Trademark)    14. Biography & Autobiography / Literary   

Reviews (49)

A Million Little Fantasias?
I just heard on the news that the book defamed her and had exaggerations or something like that.And her dad was suing the publishers of the book for $10 Million dollars.I really don't like ridiculous lawsuits like that.They're just out for the money.He's not the one who suffered, and I don't know if Fantastia did or she would be the one suing the company she chose to write a book for her.Or she could've wrote her own.I can't wait till people go back to suing Dunkin Donuts for making them obese.

Strong Women Pull Through
I think this book has alot of truth inside it.Fantasia's a stromg person who was raped, but she managed to tell the truth.She may be a single mother, but she does a good job o it.Keep it up, Fantasia!I know you can do it.

I am Proud of You
I am proud of Fantasia for telling her story.The good, bad and the ugly.I have so much in common with this young lady.It was as if I were reading my own story.Execellent Job! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1984-    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Blacks In Performing Arts    7. Composers & Musicians - Pop    8. Fantasia,    9. General    10. Genres & Styles - Pop Vocal    11. People of Color    12. Popular Music    13. Singers    14. United States    15. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Reviews (6)

AN ACTOR REVIEWS AN ACTOR/DIRECTOR
HURRAH FOR CALLOW!A long and rewarding read with actor/author Callow in fine form as he reviews Welles from within the man himself, while weighing every scene and line-reading of Welles's works from The Magnificent Ambersons to Macbeth. This includes a close survey of all of Welles' radio and theatre works as well, which are weighed from within the art of acting. This is a book Welles himself would enjoy though it often takes him vastly to task. If the book has a problem it's that Callow spent ten years writing it and, now at age 78, I fear I may not be around to read the concluding volume(s)--and I'm sure two volumes will emerge from Callow's fine sifting of research materials at the Lilly Library's Welles Collection at Indiana University. As an aside, while reading this bio, I happened upon Callow's brief but inspired appearance in Howard's End as the pompous lecturer on Music & Meaning at the picture's opening where Boham Carter "steals" an umbrella, and caught him bouncing about bareassed at a country swimming hole in A Room with a View. Finally, Callow's work on stage and film sets (and his fine earlier biography of Charles Laughton) gives him special insight into each of the Welles works he studies: lighting, editing, makeup and so forth. Hey, he writes well too, no academese. Now if only Criterion would bring out Chimes at Midnight.

The singer not the song
Appropriately for a book on Welles, there is some nifty sleight-of-hand here. Simon Callow's excellent writing and meticulous marshaling of facts distract us from seeing what should become plainer and plainer with each chapter: Welles is really not worth this kind of extended treatment. One great film, a handful of interesting clips thereafter, and a personal life not especially to be differentiated from that of many a spoiled, "infante terrible" hardly justifies 1200 pages...and counting.With ten years between volumes, the pushing-60 Mr.Callow will readily be exonerated if he abandons the project, and taxes his finite resources no further therein.

Really Good Follow-Up To A Great Biography
Well, I just finished reading HELLO AMERICANS, Callow's second volume in his Orson Welles bio series, and I have to say, it's a good read.
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Subjects:  1. Actors    2. Artists, Architects, Photographers    3. Biography    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Entertainment & Performing Arts - General    8. Entertainment & Performing Arts - Movie Directors    9. Film & Video - Direction & Production    10. General    11. Individual Directors And Producers    12. Motion picture producers and directors    13. United States    14. Biography & Autobiography / Entertainment & Performing Arts   

Subjects:  1. African American Novel And Short Story    2. African American poor families    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Fiction    5. Literary    6. Pittsburgh (Pa.)    7. Short Stories (single author)    8. Social life and customs    9. Women    10. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Editorial Review

It’s best to know this from the start: Augusten Burroughs is mean. Augusten Burroughs is also outrageously X-rated. If you can get past those two things, Burroughs might just be the most refreshing voice in American books today, and his collection of acerbic essays will have you laughing out loud even while cringing in your seat. Whether he is stepping on the fingers of little children or giving you the blow-by-blow on a very unholy act, Burroughs manages to do it in a way that fills conflicted fans with both horror and glee. Read more

Reviews (31)

I Love This Guy!!
Augusten Burroughs is hilarious. He says the things I am thinking and have thought about in the past. His pop culture references are dead-on. I would recommend this book to most 30-somethings and up who will really relate to his comments about Donny and Marie, Tony Olando, and Flair pens. His writing is not for the faint of heart, however, and I wouldn't suggest this book to my parents, or any of their friends for that matter. But for open-minded, not easily offended adults there is no one today who can beat Burroughs at his genre. Check this book out, you'll be hooked!!

More More More
I just finished reading this book and I didn't want it to end. It was truly hilarious. True, Augusten Burroughs doesn't appear apologetic or like he "learned a lesson" from his experiences but that's exactly what I like about him. Lessons are overrated. Humor is underrated. I laughed out loud while reading this on the eliptical machine at the gym and almost lost my footing which helped me learn a lesson; next time I'm exercising better stick to Newsweek.

Goes back and forth between pathetic and funny. Too much of the former.
I don't for a second believe that Burroughs is telling the truth about his life -- but I gobbled up his other books anyway.He's funny and there's something endearing about the way he writes -- yes he's gay, and yes that necessarily "colors" his worldview -- but talking about a job you hate, a family you loathe, and a partner who amazingly tolerates you are necessarily universal.
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Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography And Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Burroughs, Augusten    8. General    9. Literary    10. Novelists, American    11. Personal Memoirs    12. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Editorial Review

At the age of 5, Malika Oufkir, eldest daughter of General Oufkir, was adopted by King Muhammad V of Morocco and sent to live in the palace as part of the royal court. There she led a life of unimaginable privilege and luxury alongside the king's own daughter. King Hassan II ascended the throne following Muhammad V's death, and in 1972 General Oufkir was found guilty of treason after staging a coup against the new regime, and was summarily executed. Immediately afterward, Malika, her mother, and her five siblings were arrested and imprisoned, despite having no prior knowledge of the coup attempt.Read more

Reviews (226)

Absorbing and real
I found the book exciting and moving. Of course any book can not describe all events in great detail . But what it chooses to describe, it does well in a straightforward approach. The narration is simple and to the point, which is what I like.

A GREAT STORY BUT POORLY WRITTEN AND POORLY EDITED...
This is a book that on its face held a lot of promise. Any story in which a mother and her children, as well as faithful family retainers, are unjustly imprisoned in squalid conditions for twenty years for an ostensible crime comitted by the familial patriarch would certainly be of interest. Wrong! This is a tepid and disappointing book, poorly written and, most certainly, poorly edited. It is so filled with contraditions and inconsistencies, as to create somewhat of a credibility gap for the reader.
Engrossing story worthy of notice--but horribly written
I honestly didn't finish this book.
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Subjects:  1. 1953-    2. Africa - General    3. Biography    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Literary    8. Morocco    9. Oufkir, Malika,    10. Personal Memoirs    11. Women    12. Women political prisoners    13. Biography & Autobiography / General   

Reviews (12)

Totally brill, and he makes you laugh, too
Not really sure how Simon Doonan managed to fail the Eleven Plus; he's (among other geniuses) a Comic Genius.Confessions of a Window Dresser has (surprisingly!) turned out to be an excellent read-aloud.
Pluses & Minuses
This book is a ride for sure, an artistic roller-coaster with a nice beginning, no ending and a meandering middle.I think it would be appropriate to call this book self-absorbed and it is up to you to decide if that is what you want to read.Some of the problems I encountered:First, I really should have bought the hardcover; the [paperback] book literally fell apart in my hands.By page six, the cover was off and soon after that I was picking little bits of glue off my lap.About one third the way through the book, I gave up and tried to stay ahead of the mess by picking the glue off the binding myself.I have read hundreds of books, many of them paperbacks, and I have probably never seen a book so poorly bound; by the end of the book it started to look and feel like a newspaper!Additionally, for what is mostly a color-picture book the quality of paper used is also astonishingly low; the total lack of quality of this book is depressing.Perhaps this is what you get when you manufacture in China and don't have someone watching who speaks Chinese.
Wise advices by Doonan himself...
Fashion Marketing is everywhere, especially in Fashion Windows where's the retailer's most economical form of advertising; bring glamour, fun, theatre and art to the streets, while visibly expressing the store's image. Of his approach to visual merchandising, Simon Doonan brings a wealth of personal experince and insight to these window displays. The ones who are interested in Fashion Windows, Fashion Marketing and Fashion Advertising, must have this book. (P.S. I bought this book from Amazon and received it at the right time and with no harm. Thanks Amazon.com ) ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1952-    2. Art    3. Artists, Architects, Photographers    4. Biography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Design - Decorative    7. Display Advertising    8. Doonan, Simon,    9. Fashion    10. Great Britain    11. Show windows    12. Window dressers   

Subjects:  1. 1859-1934    2. Architecture    3. Artists, Architects, Photographers    4. Criticism and interpretation    5. Gilbert, Cass,    6. Individual Architect    7. Individual Architects Of The 20th Century    8. Public Buildings Architecture    9. Public architecture    10. United States   

Subjects:  1. Art    2. Art & Art Instruction    3. Collections, Catalogs, Exhibitions - General    4. European    5. History - Contemporary (1945- )    6. Individual Artist    7. Individual designers   

Reviews (15)

My own thoughts/reflections on America...
This book tells the story of Allos (or Carlos) Bulosan - from his early days as a peasant child in the Phillipines to his days as an itinerant laborer and reformer for the Filipinos in America.This autobiography reflects the hard life of a persecuted nationality.With no rights to own agricultural land and the risks of being beaten for even conversing with a white women, Filipinos were despised along the West Coast and treated as criminals and monkeys.With no legal recourse or organizations, Filipino workers were often exploited by the contractors and the Chinese and Japanese who owned the gambling houses and whorehouses.This exploitation led many to drinking and violence, only to aggravate the hatred of their kind.Bulosan tells of the brutalities endured by Filipinos at the hands of the white community and of the terrors of disease and unemployment.How many times did Bulosan have to hear "You're fired!" after trying to stand up for himself and his people.
The subaltern has spoken.
Writing a review of Carlos Bulosan's AMERICA IS IN THE HEART is a deceptively difficult thing to do. What gives? It is an easy read, very straightforward, and well articulated.On the surface, the ARCHIVE (in the Foucault sense) point to a death by a broken heart. However, closer examination points to a death brought on by the collective affliction, deprivation, and maltreatment since his arrival in the early 30s - not to mention the bouts of excessive drinking and violence. The book, moreover, leans toward a united effort to combat global fascism; but this poignant autobiography is really a testimony to those years of struggle against racism and violence. A Tragic Attempt at Tragedy
Those looking for an uplifting read need to look elsewhere; Bulosan's "America..." reads like a laundry list of suffering and hopelessness. Bulosan writes powerfully, compellingly and beatifully, but he would have been better off sticking to his own story instead of trying to create a composite.Read more

Subjects:  1. 20th century    2. Authors, Filipino    3. Biography    4. Biography & Autobiography    5. Biography / Autobiography    6. Biography/Autobiography    7. Bulosan, Carlos    8. Filipino American migrant agricultural laborers    9. Filipino Americans    10. Literary    11. Migrant workers    12. Personal narratives    13. Philippines    14. American history: postwar, from c 1945 -    15. Biography: general    16. USA   

Reviews (11)

All actors can use this information
I recently re-entered the entertainment industry, Hollywood, to be specific, and I thought of buying this book. I had gotten an e-mail for it about one year earlier and I had wanted to buy it then. Upon reading this book, I began to understand things I had always wanted to have an inside scoop on when I was in the industry before. Tony Martinez may not give ALL the inside information on agents and their dealings, but he gives enough of a "bigger" picture to give an actor a leg up on what an agent wants and how the two can best work together. I think that Mr. Martinez genuinely cares for actors and that it shows in the way he has written the book - concisely, the content of the book - broad-ranging and specific examples, and how he delivers his truth as an agent - straight. I thank him for having the foresight to do it and though he may be short-sighted in some of his stories about his clients and who needs who most, I think that he delivers what he says he will on the back cover.

Must Have for Actors!
I m an actor in L.A. and without a doubt this is the best material available on the actor/agent relationship available.Everything you could ever care to know is in this book and its all told in a funny highly readable manner.Its an absolute must have and one of the true jewels I have in all my books on the business of acting.Most of em are the same, and much of those are garbage, but this one simply cant be missed.

Great insider info!
Many actors are in the dark when it comes to what an agent expects of them as a client.Well, not if they've read this book!Tony Martinez tells it like it is.Especially helpful is his chapter on what to do when you get that "all important meeting" with a potential agent.This book will definitely help you be ready when the phone rings. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Acting    2. Acting & Auditioning    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. Business Aspects    6. Entertainment & Performing Arts - General    7. Performing Arts    8. Performing Arts / Acting & Auditioning    9. Performing Arts / Television / Reference    10. Theatrical agents    11. Vocational guidance    12. Motion Picture Industry    13. Motion picture acting    14. Movie    15. Television - Reference    16. Television acting   

Editorial Review

Georgia O'Keeffe, who was born in 1887 and lived nearly 99 years, was a prolific, successful artist whose work was exhibited continually throughout her adult life. To give an impression of the scope of this two-volume boxed set, here is a sentence from the preface by Barbara Buhler Lynes: "The catalogue reproduces and describes 2,045 objects, made by O'Keeffe between 1901 [when she was 14] and 1984." And for an idea of the care Lynes brought to her task, here is the next: "Of these, 2,029 were located and examined between June 1992 and December 1998: 821 on canvas or board; 1,137 on paper...."Read more

Reviews (6)

for a gift
I bought this item for a gift, so I can not say anything about this item. But he was satisfied.
a whole view of her life's work
Well produced and comprehensive, as a whole it adds up to a devastatingly beautiful record of the life's work of the artist with accompanying text on her key influences and relationships.

stunning
Like a museum in a box, quite frankly. You can find it for $99 (yes, the entire set, full size, etc.) at The Met museum's online shop- a great bargain ~ metmuseum.org ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 1887-1986    2. Art    3. Artists, Architects, Photographers    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Catalogues raisonnes    6. Catalogues raisonnâes    7. History - General    8. Individual Painters - 20th Century    9. O'Keeffe, Georgia,    10. 20th century    11. Biography & Autobiography / Artists, Architects, Photographers    12. Catalogues raisonnés    13. History of art & design styles: from c 1900 -    14. O'Keeffe, Georgia    15. Painting & paintings    16. USA   

Reviews (18)

Impressionism form another point of view
This is a highly readable, almost a page turner, account of the ten years or so surrounding the rise of Manet's fame (really infamy in the beginning), albeit not his fortune as the French academic school personified by Meissonier is about to disappear, though neither he nor anybody else realizes it until it has already happened

Great Read!
I loved this book! Well executed and informative. A definite must read for lovers of art history. More of a secular history book rather than an art history discussion, however, it gives great background and understanding into how politics and the evolution of the world influenced and changed art in late nineteenth century France.

Superb
King showcases a slice of time in French art by introducing readers to the personal lives of those who shaped it while juxtaposing developments in French Art with major shifts in the history, politics, economics of the day.One of the few history writers who, as one reviewer mentioned, "keeps me turning the page."Well done! ... Read more

Subjects:  1. 19th Century Art    2. 19th century    3. Art    4. Art and society    5. Artists, Architects, Photographers    6. Biography / Autobiography    7. European    8. France    9. General    10. Historical - General    11. History    12. History - Impressionism    13. History - Modern (Late 19th Century to 1945)    14. Impressionism    15. Impressionism (Art)    16. Painting, French    17. Paris    18. History / General   

Reviews (27)

Against All Odds: My Story
If you have an interest in Chuck Norris or the Martial Arts this is definitely an inspiring read. Chuck Norris went from being poor to being famous--a true rags to riches case. However, it wasn't just handed to him. He worked hard to get where he is today and has never forgotten his roots. He really is an inspiration to humanity.
Still Waters Running Deep...

Fantastic Read With Many Ups and Downs
I believe that I speak for everyone when I say that Chuck Norris is the greatest man to have ever been born. Actually, Chuck Norris went back in time and impregnated his own mother, so technically he's the greatest man to have ever been created. This story is an inspiration for everyone. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Actors    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Entertainment & Performing Arts - Actors & Actresses    7. Entertainment & Performing Arts - General    8. Martial artists    9. Religious    10. United States   

Reviews (16)

Boring - no rock star insight
I bought this book thinking I'd get some candid behind-the-scenes insight into what it would be like to hang out with the rock stars of the 60's and 70's. No luck. Just Pamela obsessing about finding the next band member to lay and wondering why she wasn't a star. I'd recommend Zep's "Hammer Of The Gods" or Aerosmith's "Walk This Way".

Fun, fast read.
This book was fun, even if I got the feeling Miss Pamela down played some of her antics. Good book.

This dish I definitely enjoyed!
I usually don't care for tabloid dish on others but this book was so enchanting she doesn't really have a bad word to say about her rockers that she followed as a groupie.She kind of sounded like "Penny Lane" in the movie "Almost Famous".She was a comfortable groupie that all the bands liked having around and she spoke about them with nothing but love.I liked that part of it.Most of them ridicule their lifestyle and dish the bad dirt.Even though she didn't slash their reputations, it is a page turning read that you won't be able to put down.Her second book was a bore though, get this one instead, I highly recommend it to all of you kids and baby boomers that want the behind the scenes blow by blow of 60's and 70's rock stars and concerts and bedroom dish galore with drug and alcohol chasers to boot. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography / Autobiography    2. Entertainment & Performing Arts - General    3. Genres & Styles - Rock    4. Music    5. Personal Memoirs    6. Rock Music    7. Specific Groups - General    8. Women    9. Biography: film, television & music    10. Music / Rock    11. Rock & pop   

Reviews (91)

RAIN OF GOLD IS GOLD
One of the best non-fiction reads ever! I met the author a few months ago and am sorry I did not read this book years ago. It is a classic true story of his two grandmothers and their families plights in coming to America from Mexico. Get it!

This book is worthless trash, except is you want to exhalt .....
Senior Villasenor's criminal family background. This is the type of book that gets awards from liberal hispanics and the politically correct establishment.
Wonderful tale of passion and family
Once you got into the heart of this book you start to feel like you know the characters and you start to believe as if they are family.A lot of the stories and tales are similar to what have been passed down and shared in my family.I couldn't stop reading the book and finished it within a week.If you enjoyed this book you will enjoy learning more about Villasenor's family in some of his other great books. ... Read more

Subjects:  1. Biography    2. Biography & Autobiography    3. Biography / Autobiography    4. Biography/Autobiography    5. California    6. Ethnic Cultures - General    7. Family    8. Latin America - Mexico    9. Literary    10. Mexican Americans    11. Minority Studies - General    12. Villaseänor family    13. Villaseänor, Victor    14. History / Mexico   

Reviews (2)

Outstanding Cultural History (And It's Funny, Too)
The title "A Futile and Stupid Gesture" is, of course a quote from "National Lampoon's Animal House", one of the most beloved, successful, and influential films of the past 30 years.Doug Kenney helped write that movie and played the role of "Stork", as well as writing the almost-as-adored "Caddyshack", along with being one of the first and most powerful editors of the legendary magazine "National Lampoon".Josh Karp's book is both a biography of Kenney and a history of the whole "Lampoon" scene, which because of the sway of the quasi-spinoff "Saturday Night Live", becomes a social history of American comedy during the 1970's.And that decade was to comedy like the 1960's was to rock--a time which transformed show business and culture not just in the U.S. but in the whole Western world.The irony is that, as a woman who worked with the almost all-male writers of that scene said of them, "they were the most miserable bunch of guys I've ever known."
excellent biography of a man and a magazine
Ever since Esquire published their cover story on Doug Kenney, "Life and Death of a Comic Genius," many years ago, I've been hoping for a book like this to appear. Mention the name Doug Kenney to your co-workers and see what sort of reaction you get until you start talking about National Lampoon and Animal House.
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Subjects:  1. American wit and humor    2. Biography    3. Biography & Autobiography    4. Biography / Autobiography    5. Biography/Autobiography    6. Comedians    7. Comedy    8. Comedy (Performing Arts)    9. Editors, Journalists, Publishers    10. Entertainment & Performing Arts - General    11. History and criticism    12. Periodical editors    13. Publishing Industry And Trade    14. United States    15. Biography & Autobiography / Entertainment & Performing Arts    16. Biography: film, television & music    17. Performing Arts   

Reviews (16)

Opinions, Everybody's Got One
I'll have to remember from now on that MGM never gave any diet pills or sleeping pills to Judy Garland, a liar and drug addict who brought all her problems on her own shoulders and whom MGM only tried to help.Even firing her from ANNIE GET YOUR GUN was them helping her.This is one of literally hundreds of revisionist lessons that Scott Eyman reveals in his new biography of studio mogul Louis B. Mayer, in LION OF HOLLYWOOD (2005).
Compelling and Knowledgeable Look into an Industry and a Man
What distinguishes this book about Louis B. Mayer, the fearsome and legendary Hollywood mogul of the classic MGM era, is that it's far more than a biography. I was tempted into reading not by a fascination with Mayer (though I came to be fascinated once I began reading) but by the author's, Scott Eyman, previous books about Hollywood and the studio system. His knowledge and understanding of movie-making back in the Golden Age of Hollywood are outstanding, nuanced and multi-faceted. "Lion of Hollywood" is so much more than just an insightful biography of a complicated man -- Eyman's expansive book is also about the ins-and-outs MGM, from the business practices to the personalities, and how Mayer forged American cinema because he was the head of the greatest movie studio in Hollywood, therefore the greatest movie studio in the world.