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- Monumental Lessons in a Tiny Volume
- Wonderful Book!
- Must read BEFORE Christmas
- The power of giving.
- You don't have to be Christian to love this book
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Christmas Jars
Jason F. Wright
Manufacturer: Deseret Book Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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The Wednesday Letters
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Finding Noel: A Novel
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The First Commandment: A Thriller
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The Christmas Candle
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The Choice
ASIN: 1590384814 |
Book Description
Keep some tissues on hand for this holiday story that is sure to be a Christmas classic!
Where had it come from? Whose money was it? Was I to spend it? Save it? Pass it on to the someone more needy? Above all else, why was I chosen? Certainly there were others, countless others more needy than I...Her reporter's intuition insisted that a remarkable story was on the verge of the front page.
Rising newspaper reporter Hope Jensen uncovers the secret behind the "Christmas Jars" - glass jars filled with coins and bills anonymously given to people in need. But Hope discovers much more than she bargained for when some unexpected news sets off a chain reaction of kindness and brings above a Christmas Eve wish come true.
Customer Reviews:
Monumental Lessons in a Tiny Volume.......2007-09-25
This quick read is a great big hug. And who doesn't need a hug? I came across Christmas Jars when I saw The Wednesday Letters on the bestsellers list. That day, I was feeling down and looking for a literary pick me up so I purchased them both. When they arrived last night, I was drawn to Christmas Jars--probably the shiny cover but more likely because I needed the lesson--and didn't put it down until the story was over. In just a couple of hours I emerged from the pages reminded that doing something for someone in need can make all the difference in the world, sometimes guilt unnecessarily hinders a relationship, and forgiveness is possible.
Christmas Jars is a gift.
Wonderful Book!.......2007-09-24
I had heard a lot about this book and was excited to finally get my hands on a copy. I read it in one evening. It had such a good message, and I believe that it will quickly become a Christmas classic that every family will enjoy. I can't wait to start my own Christmas Jar.
Must read BEFORE Christmas.......2007-09-19
Great book, great story. Makes you think about what is important, how you treat and view others, and how you can make a difference in someone's life.
Easy/enjoyable to read, easy to understand, and easy to apply the message. It doesn't make you feel ashamed of your callousness, but inspired to forget about yourself and look for ways to help others. Enjoy.
The power of giving........2007-04-17
What a wonderful tale about giving and receiving. Perfect for Christmas time. It tells of a little baby that was left inside a Chuck's Chicken and is found by a single woman, Louise, who raises her. Hope one day wants to become a journalist for the paper. Just as her dream is about to come true, her mother passes away from cancer. She is robbed, but the night of the robbery someone leaves a jar full of change.
Curious about who did this kind act, Hope sets out to investigate, and write a column for the paper, hoping to make it big with this wonderful story about others giving jars full of change and money to others. What she embarks upon is something different.
You will shed a tear with this one, and it will stay with you forever. What a neat idea!
You don't have to be Christian to love this book.......2007-03-15
This is a fantastic little book with a tremendously moving story. We have bought and distributed at least a dozen copies to friends, family and strangers. The story inspires each reader to perform a specific random act of kindness (remember that term?) in the form of a Christmas Jar. Immediately after everyone in our family had read the book and checked out the true Christmas Jar stories on the Internet (don't do so until you read the book), we set up our first Christmas Jar (Chanukah Jar). Imagine, Christian or Jew, it is still a "CJ." Our CJ will be one of our "Mitzvahs" or good deeds for the 2007 holiday season. Every night when we empty our change into the jar, we contemplate who we might give it to this December. Our book gifts have sprouted other CJs and hopefully when the movie hits the theaters this fall there will be a tremendous response and many more CJs for deserving souls.
Product Description
Share the holiday spirit with a heartwarming gift straight from your kitchen. With this unique book youll have 21 recipes for gift jars filled with the ingredients to make delicious holiday treats, along with gift tags, fabric and raffia to decorate the jars. Here are a few of the delicious recipes youll find: - Luscious Orange Cranberry Scone Mix - Elegant Pecan Brandy Cake - Blissful Chocolate Biscotti - Toasty Rosemary Nut Mix - Yuletide Cheddar Crisps - Mistletoe Kiss Me Cakes Imagine the joy youll spread when you give a beautifully decorated festive jar. Its the perfect gift for the most wonderful time of the year!
Product Description
These quick-and-easy cross stitch jar lids will help you create festive containers for lots of holiday gifts, from candy to tiny toys and other trinkets. These 14-count designs are sized for regular and large-mouth canning jars.
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Holiday Jar Mixes (Christmas at Home)
Wilma Teal , and
Andra Roberts
Manufacturer: Barbour Publishing, Incorporated
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1593108885 |
Book Description
This festive, "wintery" collection of jar mixes features recipe ideas for breads, pastas, soups, cakes, cookies, muffins, and beverages-all perfect for gift giving.
Product Description
Display your holiday candy with a bit of whimsy this year in these cute holiday jar toppers. Made to fit size 2 1/2" diameter lids. Valentine's Day, Easter, Saint Patrick's Day, Independence Day, Halloween and Christmas projects are included. All crocheted in worsted-weight yarn. 12 projects.
Product Description
FULL COLOR HOLIDAY CRAFT BOOK
Product Description
Instructions to knit and crochet 12 different Christmas items: To knit: Santa and Mrs. Claus; to crochet: Santa Jar Cover, Christmas Wreath, Snowman Jar Cover, Panda Bear, Bow, Mr. & Mrs. nowman, Yo-Yo Wreath and Yo-Yo Candy Cane
Product Description
Tales old and new from far and near To bring you special Christmas cheer
Book Description
Which powerful mystery man killed the gay activist for outing him?
After an attempt is made on his life, Queer Nation activist John Rutka asks tough-as-nails gay private detective Don Strachey to provide him with protection. Why does someone want to kill him? The activist's efforts at outing closeted gay homophobes have earned him a multitude of enraged enemies who would just as soon see him dead. After Strachey refuses to help, the man's body is found savagely murdered in apparent retribution for his deeds. Now, because of this, the reluctant Strachey feels obligated to investigate. Third Man Out brings back one of the most popular gay heroes in mystery fiction, Don Strachey, a private investigator as hard-boiled as they come, along with his lover, Tim Callahan, in a topical and very entertaining mystery dealing with the ethical issues of outing.
The Don Strachey mysteries starring Chad Allen are now being filmed for here!, the first gay television network. Third Man Out starring Chad Allen as Don Strachey aired in September 2005.
An excerpt from Third Man Out
I almost asked John Rutka if somebody had shot him in the foot—I knew plenty of people who'd have loved to but before I could, he gave me a look of astonishment and said, "I've been shot. One of them actually shot me."
"Somebody shot you in the foot?"
"One of them tried to kill him," Eddie Sandifer said, "but they only got him in the foot."
Sandifer looked stunned too, and uncharacteristically shaky; ordinarily it was these two who inspired anger and fright, and Sandifer seemed unsure of what to make of this turn of events.
"It must have been somebody I outed," Rutka said, and looked down, appalled, at the bandaged foot. "God, they're even sicker than I thought. I knew some of them were pathetic, but this is something only a psychopath would do."
We all peered down at the foot as if it might add something on its own behalf. I'd walked over to Albany Med from Crow Street to visit yet another dying friend when I ran into Rutka and Sandifer, and we were in the parking lot outside the E.R., standing in vapors rising from the tarmac after an early evening thunderstorm. Everybody looked purple under the arc lamps, spooky in the urban miasma. Ambulances coasted in and out through the mist, the Tuesday night torn and traumatized delivered as swiftly and silently as Fed-Exed envelopes. Somebody was probably working on a way to fax them in.
Rutka's wound was to his right foot, which he lifted from the pavement a few inches, his right arm over Sandifer's shoulder for support, while he described the incident. As I listened, I tried to concentrate on the narrative and not become distracted by Rutka's wandering left eye, which, in his excitement, was now all over the place.
So Don Strachey must sift through Rutka's much sought-after files to root out the one suspect with the most to lose. Third Man Out revisits one of the wittiest, most magnetic private detectives in mystery literature, on a difficult case involving his lover Tim Callahan, murder, scandal, and the ethical issues of one of the more controversial aspects of gay activism.
Customer Reviews:
One More Time.......2007-04-09
Stevenson, Richard. "Third Man Out". The Haworth Pres, 2006.
One More Time
Amos Lassen and Literary Pride
Our gay detective, Donald Strachey, is back ahead in another thrilling detective story by Richard Stevenson," Third Man Out". Again we are kept guessing through a plot full of twists and turns as Stevenson takes a "whodunit" and breathes new life into an old formula by providing social commentary with timely action and lots of wit.
"Third Man Out" takes a look at the radical group, "Queer Nation". An attempt is made on the life of John Rutka, a gay activist and Rutka asks Strachey to give him protection. He does not understand why anyone would want to kill him but it seems that his past actions have earned him a great many enemies. Rutka outed closeted gay homophobes who would like to see him dead. Strachey refused to be his protector and Rutka turned up dead, apparently the cause of murder was retribution for his outings. Strachey felt guilty after the man's death and felt obliged to investigate the death. And we are off on another chase through the gay community to find out who was responsible for Rutka's death.
Of the three Donald Strachey novels I have read thus far, I find "Third Man Out" to be the most powerful and suspenseful. The subtlety of the humor and of the language provides a wonderful read. It is a carefully plotted thriller that like the other Strachey novels keeps you guessing until the last page. The book goes way beyond the edges of the genre of mystery and confronts those issues important to today's gay community. The questions that Strachey deals with are ethical and real and only with the suspense of the novel is a lot of good humor. The book is a winner on all fronts and if you are really into reading a good mystery story here is one you do not want to miss.
The Strachey novels are being filmed for television and will be shown on and produced by Here TV? "Third Man Out" was the first to be filmed and it is spectacular. "Shock to the System" has also been made into a wonderful film.
A Gay Mystery worth reading!.......2000-02-02
I've often looked for a gay murder mystery who done it. Finally I found something worth reading. It's not a dumbed down novel at all. It's full of plots twists and turns with characters who you really get to know. It's nice to see characters interacting with one another who are gay even if they do go for blackmale and the shady side of life sometime...okay most of the time. Very few women mentioned in the book, and I give it four stars because I was able to figure out who did it close to the end of the book and because the ending left me a bit speechless and upset.
"OUT, DAMNED SPOT! OUT, I SAY!".......1997-10-09
In THIRD MAN OUT, the fourth Donald Strachey caper, Stevenson deals with the touchy issue of the forced 'outing' of gays (and their little dogs too) by other gays. Reluctantly, P.I. Strachey agrees to act as body guard to Queer Nation activist John Rutka, who has inspired mucho death threats following a conscienceless campaign of outings. Strachey gets disgusted, quits, and somebody burns Rutka to a crisp.
As usual Stevenson agilely juggles a variety of themes: hypocrisy within the Catholic church, euthanasia, the AIDS crisis, the right to privacy of public figures. These are topics addressed by many gay mystery writers with varying degrees of insight and sensitivity. Stevenson, as ever, manages to be funny and rational at the same time.
The only thing that keeps this entry in the Strachey sweepstakes from being an across the board winner, is my own personal predilection for more pages devoted to the Strachey-Callahan partnership. Don and Timmy remain (for me) the most fascinating couple in gay mysterydom (second only to the enigma of Dave Brandstetter and his long-dead Rod Fleming). They represent (as Strachey himself once facetiously put it) "two healthy, relaxed gay men more or less at peace with themselves and each other, secure in their loving relationship and in the knowledge that its evident riches were a goal nearly all gay men could aspire to and achieve." Anything resulting in unbroken paragraphs of Don and Timmy rates a 10 out of me.
Average customer rating:
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Third Man Out: A Donald Strachey Mystery (Donald Strachey Mysteries)
Richard Stevenson
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
Gay | Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Gay & Lesbian | Subjects | Books
Gay | Mystery & Thrillers | Gay & Lesbian | Subjects | Books
General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0312302142 |
Average customer rating:
- Right time, right skills, right stuff for Barkhimer.
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"Who's Got The Right Time?"
Russ Barkhimer
Manufacturer: Xlibris Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 073885543X |
Book Description
Two people find their lives disrupted when a man from the future abruptly drops into their lives - literally. Before their travels are over, these people along with several others, encounter clone assassins, a megalomaniac and a computer that may or may not be the salvation for the future of mankind.
Customer Reviews:
Right time, right skills, right stuff for Barkhimer........2002-01-19
"Who's Got The Right Time?" is a fantastic read. As a fan of great adventure and witty characters, I must recommend this book. Russ Barkhimer serves it up hot here with a side order of Nostradamus like scenerios. Barkhimer is able to present a large scale multi-time period adventure from the present day, everyday Joe point of view. The reader buys into it immediately, and Barkhimer sells it well.
The uniqueness of "Who's Got The Right Time?" is the question that, if saving the world is a job needing done, who's job is it? What world is it? Should it be saved? You can really dig in deep here, epistemology, axiology, metaphysics, prescription - use as directed. This book really makes the brainwaves crackle.
As if that wasn't enough fresh air in the bookstore, Barkhimer can actually provide some great comic relief within such a context. Humorist, thinker, story teller, can this guy cook too?
The bottom line is that Barkhimer breaks the mold and creates his own genre with "Who's Got The Right Time?". The biggest mistake that could be made with this book is for the bookstore manager to limit it to sci-fi related shelves only. This is the classic action/adventure with craftily interwoven characters, great humor, eye opening insight, and an ending you will never suspect. STOCK IT IN THE FRONT WINDOW!! **** 4 stars all the way!!
Daniel R. Thomas
Johnstown, Pa.
Customer Reviews:
A "Must Have" for women's health.......2007-03-31
This is an excellent book. It tells how to be a healthy woman from a natural foods standpoint. The author is not fanatical and what he says makes sense. My other book is falling apart and I have just ordered another one from Amazon.
Every Woman's Book by Paavo Airola.......2004-01-28
This is a great reference for women of all ages, who are interested in alternative medicine. From pregnancy to menopause and everything in between.
Very, very useful - a must-have for all women........1999-01-24
This book has been a very helpful guide for nutrition and beauty care. Everyone I have lent it to has gone out and bought her own copy. However, I do think that too little attention is paid to the special needs of women of African descent. For example, I would have appreciated something on the effects on the scalp of chemically straightening the hair.
Book Description
The world can never get enough of wonderful Italy and all things Italian. The famed ceramics of Deruta are certainly no exception. The first comprehensive book to celebrate the design and evolution of this extraordinary art form, Deruta is exquisitely illustrated with over 150 colorful photographs of coveted "majolica." The author and photographers, working with Melanie Doherty, who was a designer in Italy for several years, dramatically portray the splendors of this living tradition. We see the finest examples of Deruta tableware and tilework as well as garden decorations, fa?ades, altars, and architectural details. While some pieces are highly collectible, others are inexpensive and perfect for everyday use. Deruta also includes profiles of the artisans' studios and a gallery of their work, as well as evocative black-and-white photos of the hill town they call home. With a history of the craft—an artistic heritage more than six centuries old—this singular volume is a must—have for collectors and for anyone inspired by Deruta ceramics, decorative art pieces that evoke the spirit of the Italian countryside.
Customer Reviews:
Bella Italia!.......2004-06-20
This book provides a look at the history of Italian Majolica. I enjoyed looked at both past and present examples of the beautiful work of so many talented artisans. I would highly recommend this book to both new and current lovers of majolica. I would also rocommend visiting patriziaimports.com..they have a beautiful selection of items!
History of Deruta Pottery.......2002-10-31
I puchased this book for my wife who brought home some pottery when she was in Umbria. I was hoping for a book that had a lot of pictures of the different kinds of Deruta pottery. This book was a history of the pottery from 1200-present. Although it was not what I thought, it was still very informative and enjoyable. I would recommend to anyone who wants to find out the history of this beautiful Italian pottery
Bellisimo!.......2001-03-02
This is a beautiful book! I highly recommend it to anyone enchanted by Italian majolica and interested in it's history. After I read it, I thought I'd leave it on my coffee table for easy reference...but so many people at work have asked to borrow it! Even as I rode the train to work with the book in my lap, people next to me couldn't resist staring at the pictures and commenting on its beauty.
A book that contains not only history but excellent pictures.......1999-09-21
This book is an excellent source of study, for the ones who want to know a little bit of the history of Deruta and its pottery tradition. For artists, it provides some wonderful pictures of many kinds of pottery in bright colours. The publishing quality is also very good.
Customer Reviews:
The book made me want to give up the day job.......2004-03-04
This is craft raised to the level of art; mouthwatering. Sweaters (with added socks etc.) mostly two-coloured, mostly knit circular, but I should give special mention to two aspects. One: many of the designs use the all-in-one construction with real innovation, as if an artist had taken a plain 'toile' and painted it without regard to seams, etc, making best use of three dimensions. Second, the book contains pages and pages of charts - not the automatically symmetrical ones you get with fair isle; big, little, corners, bold - for plundering. All I want to do now is knit them and I can't choose which to opt for first.
Terrific technique section, wonderful charts, pretty designs.......2001-03-29
First, for those who are not familiar with Joyce Williams, let me offer my humble opinion that she is one of the most inventive knitters alive today. Joyce has an amazing ability to solve little nagging problems that have been deemed "unsolvable" by the greater universe of knitters. This book is chock full of these solutions.
The first 30-plus pages of the book concern techniques - including a nice write up Joyce's great two needle circular method (no more double pointed needles when knitting socks!!!) This part of the book is worth the price all by itself.
The bulk of the book are Joyce's designs for a variety of garments, most of which are knit in the fair isle or stranding tradition. These are gorgeous garments. One blessing/caveat -- I was lucky enough to participate in a showing of these garments at Meg Swansen's Knitting Camp and they are very heavy and warm. It's also important to note that Joyce deliberately leaves out needle sizes and yarn amounts for these patterns. Why? Because most of the sizing is accomplished by changing needles and guage. Her instructions on this are clear but the presentation is likely to be disconcerting for knitters who are used to conventional "blind following" of patterns.
The final segment of the book is a terrific collection of charts for stranded or textured knitting. This is where the "Latvian" aspect figures into the art. All of these patterns are based on Latvian weaving patterns. The result is nice group of charts (and resulting knitting) that strongly resembles it's Nordic "cousins" but has its own sort of spice.
Bottom-line: An absolute keeper for the technique and charts alone. Not recommended for novices or beginners who are heavily reliant on patterns. A wonderful addition for thinking knitters who miss Elizabeth Zimmermann's works.
I waited a long time for this book.......2001-02-05
And was not disappointed. Joyce Williams is a real artist and genius. She's adapted Latvian weaving designs to knitting and...so much more. She has the most innovative techniques for using modules of knitting, I-cord and colors. This is one of the most unique books on knitting, and it's very inspirational. It was worth the wait.
A treasure trove of technique and pattern.......2000-11-30
Latvian Dreams contains so much information for the thinking knitter that the reviewer's job is difficult. Should I concentrate on the innovative techniques Joyce Williams has come up with--I-cord variations, built-in hems, buttonholes with facings, and on and on? Or should I focus on the pages and pages of charts she painstakingly created from the Latvian originals? But I cannot leave out the garments themselves--sweaters, jackets, socks, vests--knit in a number of weights and showing the reader many ways to use the charts. This book is filled to overflowing with exciting and empowering techniques and ways of seeing (really seeing) the possibilities of knitting.
For all these reasons I am very impressed with this book. But most importantly, Joyce is one of those authors who inspires knitters to create their own designs. She lets us see how she combined elements to make her vision come alive, and then she gives us the information we need to plunge in ourselves. This is exactly what I look for in a knitting book--the "you can do it too" teacher with spirit, technical know-how, and humor.
Book Description
In this new, expanded edition of Jay Silber's ground-breaking first book, New Decorating with Architectural Trimwork focuses on the aesthetic uses of architectural trimwork. Plenty of books tell the reader how to install trim around windows and doors, but few also explain how architectural trim can enhance a room's aesthetic appeal. Silber shows readers even more ideas on how to choose and use a wide variety of moldings, trim, and design concepts to transform the all-too-common sterile, open floor plan into a warm, inviting, richly textured home. This new edition of Trimwork provides ideas for how to decorate homes with trim and wall panels so that walls, passageways, and stairways can radiate the warmth, character, and beauty of the well-appointed homes of eras gone by.
Customer Reviews:
the new decorating with architectural trimwork.......2007-07-04
very good readingand informative.,but not what i was looking for .my mistake but for people in that business the book has plenty of ideas especially if r in a rut to come up with an idea for a client
Guide book for finishing trim in your home........2007-05-15
I found this book to be quite helpful but not as strong in technical detail as I had hoped.
Not so very new.......2007-03-12
I have enjoyed the original Decorating with Architectural Trimwork by Silber for years. Now in a new home, I was looking for additional ideas. The "New" book was really just an updated edition with the same pictures. It is a great text, but for me a total repeat.
Great for the Do-It-Yourselfer .......2007-03-01
This book will help you totally redesign and redecorate your home using trims like crown and medallions. Types of moldings are explored in detail, with pictures and instructions for installation and the lists of tools you need. We bought this book and it was our sole guide for giving our home a much-needed, expensive-looking facelift for a very modest price. Any novice can select and install trimwork using this book. Beautifully illustrated.
Excellent Addition to the Trim Carpenter's Library.......2005-09-06
The older version of this book was good. This version is much better. The "Elements of Design" chapter is expanded, as is the chapter on crown molding. The most comprehensive chapter for me was Chapter 10: Wainscoting, Pillars and Pilasters. The detail provided on the methods for routing flutes was very helpful.
If you do trim, this is the third book to buy right after "Trim Carpentry Techniques" by Craig Savage, and "Finish Carpentry: Efficient Techniques for Custom Interiors" by Gary Katz.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from The Bookwatch, published by Thomson Gale on September 1, 2005. The length of the article is 414 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Creative Homeowner.(The New Smart Approach to Kids' Rooms)(Southern Inspired Home Designs)(Northeastern Inspired Home Designs)(New Decorating with Architectural Trimwork: Planning, Designing, Installing)(Barns, Sheds and Outbuildings: Plan, Design, Build)(Book Review)
Publication:
The Bookwatch (Magazine/Journal)
Date: September 1, 2005
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Page: NA
Article Type: Book Review
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
A handsome collection of almost 50 of Burne-Jones’ finest drawings executed over a thirty-year period (1865 to 1895) and includes:studies for paintings, murals, room decorations, designs for tapestries and even designs for piano lids. 46 drawings.
Customer Reviews:
Meh.......2007-01-15
The book was cheaply priced which was a bonus but the prints of the drawings were not very good, they were dark. On the cover they took it upon themselves to lighten up the image but when you look at the image inside the book it is much darker.
Not that the book is an overall bust. The drawings of the faces at the end of the book are exquisite, fluid and really show the best of what Burne-Jones has to offer and the large format lets you enjoy the line work and delicate shading.
Not bad but not awesome.
Average customer rating:
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Illustrations: Series 1
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones
Manufacturer: Adamant Media Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
General
| Drawing
| Arts & Photography
| Subjects
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ASIN: 0543966224
Release Date: 2003-06-30 |
Average customer rating:
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Illustrations: Series 2
Sir Edward Coley Burne-Jones
Manufacturer: Adamant Media Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 1402140592
Release Date: 2004-07-08 |
Amazon.com
Conversations with Wilder, an invaluable, photo-intensive volume, is a kind of remake of Truffaut's must-read interview book Hitchcock, with Cameron Crowe in the inquisitive Truffaut role and wily 93-year-old Billy Wilder as the crafty master director. Drawing on his experience interviewing the monsters of rock and his deep, shot-by-shot knowledge of Wilder's work, Crowe gently and cunningly coaxes answers from Wilder--arguably today's most influential living director--on what made his hits tick and his flops suck, along with glimpses of what might have been. Did you know Mae West and Mary Pickford spurned Sunset Boulevard and Wilder spurned Marilyn Monroe for Irma la Douce? That The Apartment was inspired by Brief Encounter and the look of Double Indemnity was based on M? The gossipy insights are great too. Bogart spat when he talked, so Wilder couldn't back-light him in Sabrina, and Audrey Hepburn's wardrobe woman had to towel her off after each take--discreetly! Wilder loathed Raymond Chandler (partly because Chandler disdained James M. Cain when adapting Double Indemnity) but gives him his due as a screenwriter: Chandler could do dialogue and descriptions, but he couldn't construct a scene. "He was a mess, but he could write a beautiful sentence," says Wilder. Agatha Christie was the opposite: "She had structure, but she lacked poetry."
Some critics scoff at Crowe (who cried while directing emotional scenes in Jerry Maguire) for taking on the cynic Wilder. But they're brothers under the skin. Both leaped from popular music journalism to directing. Both incorporate actual events in their films. Wilder keenly regrets not filming this scene in The Spirit of St. Louis, which he claims really happened: the night before his historic flight, Lindbergh's handlers talked a pretty waitress into having sex with him. They claimed he was a virgin, and likely to die on his voyage. In the hero's parade upon his return, she waves at him through the ticker-tape, but he doesn't see her. "Would have been a good scene," mourns Wilder. Without this book, we'd never have known about it. --Tim Appelo
Book Description
In
Conversations with Wilder, Hollywood's legendary and famously elusive director Billy Wilder agrees for the first time to talk extensively about his life and work.
Here, in an extraordinary book with more than 650 black-and-white photographs -- including film posters, stills, grabs, and never-before-seen pictures from Wilder's own collection -- the ninety-three-year-old icon talks to Cameron Crowe, one of today's best-known writer-directors, about thirty years at the very heart of Hollywood, and about screenwriting and camera work, set design and stars, his peers and their movies, the studio system and films today. In his distinct voice we hear Wilder's inside view on his collaborations with such stars as Barbara Stanwyck, Gary Cooper, Marilyn Monroe, Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis, William Holden, Audrey Hepburn, and Greta Garbo (he was a writer at MGM during the making of Ninotchka. Here are Wilder's sharp and funny behind-the-scenes stories about the making of A Foreign Affair, Double Indemnity, Sunset Boulevard, Love in the Afternoon, Some Like It Hot, The Apartment, and Ace in the Hole, among many others. Wilder is ever mysterious, but Crowe gets him to speak candidly on Stanwyck: "She knew the script, everybody's lines, never a fault, never a mistake"; on Cary Grant: "I had Cary Grant in mind for four of my pictures . . . slipped through my net every time"; on the "Lubitsch Touch": "It was the elegant use of the super-joke." Wilder also remembers his early years in Vienna, working as a journalist in Berlin, rooming with Peter Lorre at the Chateau Marmont -- always with the same dry wit, tough-minded romanticism, and elegance that are the hallmarks of Wilder's films. This book is a classic of Hollywood history and lore.
Customer Reviews:
Fun Book.......2007-01-09
Though less clear than Truffaut's book on Hitchcock (mainly because of Wilder's lack of interest in explaining himself) 'Conversations with Wilder' does echo that landmark book. Not as tightly structured as Truffaut/Hitchcock, but also a book about a Directing God, written by an admiring younger director, who wants to go through the whole career of the maestro, hoping to understand some of the magic. A must read for every Wilder fan, something every film maker (and film lover) should be. Wilder (who at first is uninterested to cooperate) seems a bit more humble than the Master of Suspence, so he tells less tricks and other details. He is far more eager to talk about his most succesful films and prefers to leave the films he regards as failures alone. Crowe however tries to come back to them, every now and then, but Wilder is a smart converser. This leads to a fun book, which perhaps shows more of the psyche of Wilder than the film technical (in the broadest sence) side of him. As a film maker you can perhaps learn more directly from Hitchcock's approach, as a film lover this is just as much fun to read. Wilder's honousty is charming and in no way a danger to the grand status of the film maker. Knowing how wonderful his masterpieces are, it is perhaps even more impressive to read how easy it seemed for Wilder to make them. Wilder is never showing off, never full of himself and always entertaining. A true genius who made some of the best films ever.
Outstanding .......2006-11-19
Enthusiastically recommended by Robert Osborne of Turner Classic Movies, the Hollywood Reporter, et.al.
If you want to get on track to one day being a happy, laughing, feisty old man, buy this book. The amazing director Billy Wilder speaks freely and delightfully with Mr. Crowe about all the things that went right, and the many, many other things that went wrong with films from "Some Like It Hot" to "Sabrina" to "The Seven Year Itch," and much more. Hundreds of photos evoke the points of discussion (or is it, thousands of photos?). Close-up discussions of Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Marlene Dietrich, and much more.
You may come to see Mr. Wilder as a blind date who showed up on your doorstep: a funny little German man, and not the suave genius your mother had promised at all. He spends the entire book giving you reasons why he is most certainly not the movies' knight in shining armor, but in the end (despite all his excited, hilarious minor outrages) he only proves that he is that knight, after all.
An outstanding companion to Truffaut's indespensible book on Hitchcock, but very different. Both are "interview" books, and each paints a very lively picture of its subject. But where Hitchcock comes off as a man left at the bus stop, like his cameo in "North By Northwest," with his career somehow fallen from his fingertips too soon, Wilder seems like a grandfather surrounded by delighted children in the twilight of his years. He shows us how to laugh, and roll our eyes at both success and failure, through the international language of film.
great for any future film-maker.......2005-08-12
This book really allows the reader to visualize the type of person Wilder is. His character shines through in his words. Cameron Crowe succeeds in getting that more personal story behind the director by asking tougher questions. It is also very entertaining to read because of the endless stories that Billy Wilder tells about "behind the scenes" of the making of his movies.
Hilarious, touching, thoughtful, well-written.......2005-07-08
With this book, you see what a huge difference great writing makes when it comes to films. Crowe and Wilder are both articulate, thoughtful, and in love with film and words. The care in this book shows. You don't just get a thorough knowledge of Wilder straight from the man himself, but you get a glimpse into Crowe and Wilder's developing relationship. It's an amazing, moving book, and it made me want to go out and rent every Wilder film I could get my hands on.
Part of the bible.......2002-07-26
In the tradition of Hitchcock/Truffaut, a young master of the craft interviews an old one. One difference from the earlier book, Wilder's productive career was over, so covered entirely if not exhaustively by this book. After a slow start, a little too much of how Crow got to do this, the book jumps into an anecdotal, charming and literate discussion of Wilder's movies, Wilder's career and Hollywood movie-making. If you have any interest at all in these areas, this is a must read book.
If you are interested in screenwriting this isn't a must read book, this is part of the bible.
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