Product Description
Este es el primer libro de la Trilogía sucia de La Habana, que ha ubicado a su autor en primera fila de la ultima narrativa latinoamericana. Pedro Juan, el protagonista, es un alter ego del autor. El libro esta escrito a golpe de ron, música y sexo, como un testimonio implacable que revela a un escritor de raza.
Customer Reviews:
A depiction of Cuba through the eyes of the author.......2004-07-02
Anclado en tierra de nadie is the first book of the series of revelations and trilogies of the protagonist Pedro Juan Gutierrez who is a lost soul in his own land due to the Cuba's poor economic state. You may want to read this book first although I did not (I wish I did) in order to get a feel for Pedro Juan's style of narration which is quite bold, frank and at the same is a very unique form of prose that so far is unchallenged when I compare his literature to other contemporary Latinamerican authors that I have read. Pedro Juan G reveals his struggles and experiences post the fall of communism in the Soviet Union which had a direct impact on Cuba. Chapter by chapter each not correlating to one another Pedro's experiences are a reflection of his frustration. No job, no stable home, lack of food, lack of freedom, rum, endless encounters with women and desperation. Pedro Juan is a vagabond who aspires to be a writer, a journalist, a painter and many other professions but can't achieve either long term in a land where drinking, music, unlimited and uncommitted relationships with women is the order of the day. Many might be reluctant to accept this perception of Cuba but the streets of Havana have a lot of destitute people and Pedro Juan's life is just a microcosm of human suffering. I recommend reading this book and others in the series that relate specifically to his desperate situation and loss of self worth. They are Nada que hacer, Sabor a mi and Trilogia sucia de la Habana. This is a good book, easy to read but there is a notable slow down towards the end.
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Mensaje, published by Residencia San Roberto Bellarmino on June 1, 2003. The length of the article is 496 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: Gutiérrez, Pedro Juan: Anclado en tierra de nadie.(Reseña de libro)
Author: José Miguel de la Cruz
Publication:
Mensaje (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 1, 2003
Publisher: Residencia San Roberto Bellarmino
Volume: 52
Issue: 519
Page: 53(1)
Article Type: Reseña de libro
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Customer Reviews:
Wicked.......2007-04-12
Well it seemed to me that the plot building up over the last 7 books has finally started to bare fruit. *sighs with releif* it seems a long time ago that we left constantinople to get to this point. A point where, in this book, blows up and hits you in the face. Trust the Brujah to get things done! and with style! the brujah character in this book his very likeable showing the reader that as a Clan they used to be nobel and a clan of high standing in Cainite society. My my look how far they have fallen as they have slowing decended into chaos. I liked this aspect rather than the writer just going to a combat oritentated style book. This book is full to the brim with political intridges and manuverings and its totally gripping. I'm very happy as Brujah is one of my faverate clans. Brilliant. And an interesting addition to the list of characters for Tremere antitribu fans.
Death Is The Mirror Of Life.......2005-06-10
That we've made it all the way from Constantinople to the outskirts of Paris is no small wonder. Vampires travel poorly in the light and require good support systems if they are not to alarm the countryside. White Wolf's vampire series tend to ignore the human world that is not in service to the dark, but it is out there, and the wonderful world of light tight hearses and high speed trains is 700 years away. But the pilgrims have made it, Anatole has exposed the heretics, and for now the focus shifts to the world within the gates. There, Alexander rules as prince of the city, the devious Lady Saviarre is his consort, and baroque plots and power plays are the rule of the day.
Prince Alexander may be 1000 years old, but his grip on the city has weakened. Not far from Paris the Queens of Love plot revenge for an old wrong, sending both the Brujah Veronique and the Toreador Rosamund on separate diplomatic missions. This is a deep game played by true ancients and the outcome will shake the night in Paris. Veronique and Rosamund are both pawns in this game aimed at creatng weak points at which others can strike. Veronique is the hardened manipulator who avoids the limelight, and Rosamund fills the part of ingénue, aimed at Alexander's heart.
And below the city in the vaults of the Nosferatu, Mnemach queen of the disfigured and unnerving undead begins to work her own revenge. Veronique treads carefully, but her blood runs with political intrigue. Unlike others of her clan, she has learned to be subtle as well as deadly as she plays for final advantage in the nights of Paris to come.
As this series has moved north, it has become less a vampire story and more a tale of times that were, indeed, a nightmare of political power struggles - human or vampire. In the backdrop living rulers drive crusades in a search for wealth and the Church declares it's own pogrom against the Cathars. Other similar conflicts dot the European landscape, and if vampires didn't have unusual feeding requirements the characters of this story would be indistinguishable from the nobility they imitate.
That is really my sole criticism of this volume and several others in the series. I sometimes get the feeling that the players of the game are trying to turn it into a history game instead of a narrative that is founded on a deep layer of gothic terror. these vampires are too much like there human counterparts. I would like more spookiness, more occult, and just a bit more graphic violence. That said, Myranda Kalis writes well and the ending of the book is almost everything one could ask. My curiosity about the long term goal of the series is aroused as well.
Undead Power Games in the Middle Ages ..........2003-12-21
This book is excellent. You could remove the vampires and it would be the same. Excellent plot with equally well-written characters. The vampire element adds flavour! And the medieval setting is wonderful, because it cloaks everything in a sense of history.
I truly admire the way relationships are illustrated between vampiric characters ( siblings in the blood / vampiric allies ) and vampiric characters and their mortal retinues. Especially the sense of protectorship that the Brujah protagonist harbours for her mortal servants/ghouls. The machinations of various clandestine powermongers and political players is engaging and makes for a substantive read from start to finish.
Like I said earlier ~ the plot could be taken straight from a more mundane story set with exclusively mortal characters within the same time frame and it would be just as compelling. It's truly a well-done piece of storytelling. Bravo!
This novel is yet another in a series of well-written stories in the Dark Ages line. I look forward to Toreador with barely contained anticipation.
Average customer rating:
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Dark Ages Clan Novel Series: Nosferatu, Assamite, Cappadocian, Setite, Lasombra, Ravnos, Malkavian, Brujah, Toreador, Gangrel, Tremure, Ventrue and Tzimisce (set of 13 books)
Janet Trautvetter ,
Andrew Bates ,
Stefan Petrucha ,
David Niall Wilson ,
Sarah Roark ,
Kathleen Ryan ,
Gherbod Fleming ,
Ellen Porter Kiley ,
Myranda Kalis , and
Tim Waggoner and Matthew McFarland
Manufacturer: White Wolf
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
ASIN: B000OIYKN6 |
Product Description
The complete series of 13 novels, sold as a set.
Book Description
On an urgent mission of mercy to a dying colony, the U.S.S. EnterpriseTM is diverted from its course by Enowil, an unpredictable exile in charge of a world gone mad. With a Klingon and a Romulan warship already under his control, Enowil puts Kirk and his crew through an agonizing, dangerous test of wits while the colonists of Epsilon Delta 4 await evacuation--or certain death....
CAPTAIN'S LOG, STARDATE 6191.8
I am faced with one of the most difficult decisions of my career. Three days ago, the Enterprise was ordered to proceed at maximum warp to Epsilon Delta 4, where 700 colonists are slowly dying of radiation poisoning. Our journey there was interrupted when Enowil, an eccentric being of unbelievable power, seized control of the ship, as well as one Klingon and one Romulan star cruiser. Offering anything in his power to give as a reward, he has asked all of us for help in solving what he refers to as a "private matter." I've seen evidence of his power: it's incredible. If I decline, if I take the ship and leave, both the Romulans and the Klingons have a chance to obtain what could be an unstoppable weapon...and change the galactic balance of power. But if I stay, I am surely condemning the 700 colonists on Epsilon Delta 4 to a slow and painful death....
Customer Reviews:
Trek to Madworld.......2002-12-29
The Enterprise takes Kostas Spyroukis and his daughter back to his new home planet. Spyroukis is an explorer and renowned colonizer of worlds, and has decided to settle on his final world. On the way home he collapses, and dies. Dr. McCoy discovers that the cause is a combination of argon in the planet's atmosphere, and zeton radiation emitted by the sun. Alone, neither of these things is harmful, but together they make up a slow poison. Captain Kirk sends the ship off on a mission to remove the colonists from the deadly planet, but on the way they are intercepted by a powerful being calling himself Enowil, who identifies himself as an Organian split with his fellows, and living in an uncharted region of space. He has brought the Enterprise, as well as a Klingon and Romulan ship to his home to help him answer the question of what he is missing. The first to discover will be given anything they desire. Kirk determines that he must participate, lest one of the others discover the answer and wish for an unbeatable superweapon.
The writing here is rather pedestrian, not what you would expect from a seasoned s-f writer such as Goldin. Too often I found myself saying, "Why don't they just.....?" The usual answer is, because then the problem would be solved and the book would be even shorter than it is (179 pages). Couldn't Kirk ask Enowil to intervene on the colony world, and set that problem aside? Eliminating the argon from the world's atmosphere would seem to be an effective method.
This book also suffers from a malady common to the Bantam paperbacks, which all seem to have a title with some variation of "world" in it. It involves an extremely powerful machine or being, which Kirk and crew must outwit, or persuade to their side, or some such. This was also a frequent problem on the TV series, and is a symptom of lazy plotting. With a nearly omnipotent agent, virtually anything can be accomplished, and any plot holes the writer puts him/herself in can be dodged. However, it also leads to many "why don't they" questions.
I can't recommend this book, unless you are a real ST novel completist. It's not bad, really, but there's not much to get excited about.
Only slightly entertaining..........2001-06-15
This book was written in the 1970s - and it's very...primitive. The Klingons are power-hungry bullies out for blood at any cost - this was really annoying. And Romulans with a strict code of honor? The two species seemed somewhat reversed. And the "guessing game" got real old, real fast. Also, there were many unnecessary, confusing scenes. For early Trek, it's okay, but it doesn't live up to current expectations.
not good.......2000-10-30
i would not recommend it for reading, trust me.
Floppy.......2000-04-18
This book is totally terrible. Confusing. It doesn't make sense. It is full of inaccuracies.
For example, if Romulans in Goldin's pathetic excuse for a story are honorable, then why did the Romulan try to shoot a defenseless woman? Second thing is this book is racist stuff. If Goldin cited all Klinons are treacherous, then he must be implying all Germans are nazis, Irish are alcoholics and terrorists, etc. I would not say those words. I don't even imply them.
Major conscience decision for Kirk........1999-12-27
This is one of the pre Pocket Books Star Trek novels. Published in the late 70's as part of the ramp up for a second series, this is a new adventure molded in the shape of the TOS series.
Book Description
A complete guide to emergency preparedness for our uncertain times. Virtually an encyclopedia of food storage and personal preparedness, it covers topics from exactly how to design a food storage program tailored for your particular family to growing and preserving food, storing fuel, alternate energy, emergency evacuation kits, medical and dental, surviving biological, chemical and nuclear terrorism, communications, selection of firearms and other survival tools, and preparing for earthquakes.
Dozens of detailed, expert checklists and tables with photographs and index. Extensive book and resource lists with regular and Internet addresses. An absolute must for those serious about preparing for and surviving during our dangerous times.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent resource for preparedness.......2007-10-01
I found this book to be extremeley helpful in its content and uses. It was the most informative book out there and was very detailed. There were many ideas presented that I hadn't even thought of, and I found that it was easily readable. I am so much more prepared in my home for any emergency and I am so much safer after reading this book. This book presents a step by step guide that saves you from hours of research and headache. I wish I had found this book sooner.
Interesting book, but unconvincing and poorly written.......2007-09-27
I hate to be too critical of this book, because I did enjoy reading it and I think it is well worth the money, but I hope Spigarelli reads the customer reviews and hires a good editor before turning out his second edition. There are many, many careless errors in the book that make me believe that some of the instructions may be just as careless. For instance, "approximate" and "proximate" are not interchangeable. The information regarding food storage, particularly the sources of information (e.g., researchers at BYU) reveal the Mormon origins of much of the information. The medical information seems to me (as a layman) to be just plain absurd. For instance, he recommends storing 200 Phenergan tablets (that's a lot of nausea), but only 100 tablets of "acetamine" (??), a couple vials of Pitocin (I suppose we'll be inducing labor at home) and 50 Valium tablets (including two vials of the stuff for injection). I could imagine going to my doctor and asking for a prescription for all those little goodies. My guess is that he'd prescribe something else for me (i.e., a good anti-psychotic). Of course, there's also a recommended arsenal of various types of guns and thousands of rounds of ammo (probably for guarding all the prescription drugs...). Nope, maybe I should be giving it two stars instead.
Great Book.......2007-09-25
I thought the book gave a lot of excellent information. I am an old Boy Scout so there is a lot of information in there. I have supplimented the book with a Survival training book that talks about plants, shelters, general survival type of information.
I liked the book.
Disorganized and unrealistic.......2007-09-01
I bought this book on the strenght of other reviews, and that was a mistake. It is disorganized and unrealistic.
Realistically speaking, we should all aim to prepare for a Katrina-type disaster: one that affects a wide region, with the severe effects of total lack of services lasting 2-4 weeks. This book wants me to prepare a year's worth of stored food. To fulfill this plan, I'd have to move to a farm so I could grow food, raise animals, and have enough room to store the amount he reccomends. It sure isn't going to work in my one-bedroom aparment.
The overall organization of the book is awful - no planning involved in the order of chapters. The first 2/3 of the book are food storage and preparation. If you really want to learn how to grow crops, raise animals, grind your own flour, make your own leather, can/pickle/smoke/preserve your own food - you're better off buying books on those specific subjects. This one goes over them in enough detail (and bad writing) to be boring, but not enough to actually teach you how. Even more ridiculous, he details so many preparations that require electricity. If we have roads and electricity and whatnto, probably I'm not living off my stored foods anyway - and how many of us can set up our own solar power grid sufficient to run the freezer, household appliances, water heater, well pump, whatever?
And then the final 1/3 glosses over preparations for a 2-4 week disaster when it should be focusing on them. If we have a Katrina-type problem, I need to be able to take care of myself until services are reasonably restored enough to either live reasonably, or get out of the area. And if the disaster affects the whole country and there is nowhere to go.... Aside from buying your own farm/ranch in the wilds, living off solar power, etc, you're out of luck.
So, long story short, if you're like me - if you want to be prepared for an act of terrorism, a flood, a fire, a hurricane or tornado, that sort of thing, buy the books below instead.
Organize for Disaster: Prepare Your Family and Your Home for Any Natural Or Unnatural Disaster
PREPAREDNESS NOW!: An Emergency Survival Guide for Civilians and Their Families
Overall Good: Beware the Dietary Advise!.......2007-08-02
Spigarelli has put together a great how-to book and I recommend it highly. Where he falls short is supporting an out-dated food pyramid. A healthy diet becomes even more important after a catastrophe.
As a master's degree candidate in nutrition, I found glaringly inaccurate statements regarding animal proteins (meat and dairy) as they relate to a "proper diet". The book has been updated since its original date of publish, but the chapters on food choices seem to have been left untouched. I recommend tweaking his recommendations away from the large amounts of animal proteins and plus up the grains/legumes/vegetables and enhance the supplementation to boost B12 and D. The Standard American Diet (SAD) is leading us to death/disease/discomfort/ailments at very young ages so why continue that diet after a crisis when you may very well have no access to medical assistance? That simply does not compute.
I shared the dietary chapters with doctors, teachers and colleagues and they reacted just as I did. "What year was THAT written?" was said quite a bit. One of the many roads that have brought us to the precipice of crisis is the misuse of land and water toward keeping animals and the pollution derived therefrom, not to mention the negative effect of animal proteins to the human body. Even after a crisis, I cannot imagine the giving of precious land and water over to livestock when crops will sustain us.
Again, this is a very good book and Spigarelli should be commended on a job well done. I would just like to stress the fact that you should inspect the food recommendations more closely as the "conventional wisdom" regarding the food pyramid over the years is off base.
Average customer rating:
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MOSTLY VEGETABLES (next reprint)
Susan Costner
Manufacturer: Bantam
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0553096753
Release Date: 1996-06-01 |
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The Mostly Vegetable Menu Cookbook
Nancy B. Katz
Manufacturer: Grosset & Dunlap
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0448123312 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Quick Frozen Foods International, published by Thomson Gale on April 1, 2006. The length of the article is 3083 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: Business up at North American PRWs, with more offering added services: turnover and inventories both up, with new construction limited mostly to the coldest (-29[degrees]C) warehouses. RFID technology making rapid gains, and websites are almost universal.(QFFI--IARW Annual Survey)(Industry overview)
Author: J.J. Pierce
Publication:
Quick Frozen Foods International (Magazine/Journal)
Date: April 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 47
Issue: 4
Page: 100(5)
Article Type: Industry overview
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Quick Frozen Foods International, published by E.W. Williams Publications, Inc. on January 1, 2002. The length of the article is 1414 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: Infant Russian frozen food industry offers enormous potential for growth: consumer market today is mostly in Moscow and St. Petersburg, and mostly for imported goods. But growing infrastructure of refrigerated storage and transportation could save produce now left to spoil, and offer raw material for domestic products. (Focus on Russia).
Publication:
Quick Frozen Foods International (Magazine/Journal)
Date: January 1, 2002
Publisher: E.W. Williams Publications, Inc.
Volume: 43
Issue: 3
Page: 13(2)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Quick Frozen Foods International, published by E.W. Williams Publications, Inc. on October 1, 1999. The length of the article is 1713 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: Japanese Frozen Food Volume Up, But Mostly on Account Imports.
Publication:
Quick Frozen Foods International (Magazine/Journal)
Date: October 1, 1999
Publisher: E.W. Williams Publications, Inc.
Volume: 41
Issue: 2
Page: 146
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Quick Frozen Foods International, published by E.W. Williams Publications, Inc. on October 1, 2004. The length of the article is 1094 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: Microwave ovens aren't magic wands, so products for them better be good: two thirds of German households have microwaves, but they're used mostly to heat up leftovers. Processors now improving microwaveable products with technologies like steam bags.(Ready Meals Market Trends)
Author: Ted Shoemaker
Publication:
Quick Frozen Foods International (Magazine/Journal)
Date: October 1, 2004
Publisher: E.W. Williams Publications, Inc.
Volume: 46
Issue: 2
Page: 34(4)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
#NAME?
Average customer rating:
- Black Knights
- Gettin Medieval
- best book ever
- best book ever
|
True Citizens: Violence, Memory, and Identity in the Medieval Community of Perpignan, 1162-1397 (Medieval Mediterranean)
Philip Daileader
Manufacturer: Brill Academic Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 9004115714 |
Customer Reviews:
Black Knights.......2003-02-20
This book was truly stunning in its comprehensiveness and ease of reading. I was amazed and could not put it down until I had read it cover to cover. Unlike many books in its field, it focuses on important information, not convoluted thoughts like the use of bear paws. I recommend this book to everyone.
Gettin Medieval.......2003-02-20
Having taken several courses on Medieval History, I find Daileader's book to be very insightful. It is amazing how similar his insights and conclusions are to those of my professors. I believe this work is truly a great addition to the field.
best book ever.......2003-02-20
This is by far the most difinitive book on the subject of medieval history i have yet encountered. Easy to read and highly enjoyable, I recommend it to everyone in the entire world, whether or not they have any knowledge at all of medieval history. Without this book the discipline would be stuck in an intellectual dark age, as it had been for centuries up until this publication.
best book ever.......2003-02-20
This is by far the most difinitive and best work I have ever seen on the subject of medieval history. Without it, the entire discipline would suffer, as it has for centuries up until the publication of this book. It makes books like Ermengaard of Narbonne pale and hide behind their little awards. Easy to read and highly enjoyable, I recommend everyone buy this book.
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Watermarks, Mainly Of The 17th And 18th Centuries
Edward Heawood
Manufacturer: Martino Pub
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ASIN: 1578984424 |
Amazon.com
American comedian Andy Kaufman (1949-1984) was a performer like no other--a rule-breaking iconoclast who blurred the line between performance art and comedy, at times between life and art itself. Misunderstood by the public at large during his lifetime, and embraced by a cult of fans that has consistently grown since his premature death from cancer, Kaufman is the perfect counter-cultural martyr, ripe for a Gap khakis ad. Like Lenny Bruce before him, Kaufman chafed at the reigns of comedy; he didn't always want to make people laugh, in fact he wished to make them uncomfortable. One might consider those notorious French bad-boy playwrights Alfred Jarry and Antonin Artaud (who pushed the envelope of good taste and thoroughly enjoyed confusing their audiences) to be Kaufman's spiritual predecessors, though this might be taking things too seriously. His most well-known routines--the inept stand-up comedian "foreign man," the basis for the character Latka Gravas on the hit sitcom "Taxi"; the grizzled, professional lounge lizard Tony Clifton; and the reigning world champion of inter-gender wrestling--all hinged on making the crowd squirm. Life was a show for Kaufman, who began staging elaborate shows for friends and family at the age of 7; everything was a put-on and yet totally, dead-on serious.
Judging by Bob Zmuda's book (released in anticipation of a biographical movie starring Jim Carrey), Kaufman wasn't the easiest guy to be a best friend to. But, as Zmuda tells things, he rose to the challenge--letting Kaufman confide that he had a daughter he'd never seen, keeping his mouth shut at the appropriate times, and otherwise fulfilling best-friend duties with aplomb. Andy Kaufman got the friend he deserved in his lifetime, but this is not the biography he deserves; it is written in a well-meaning though hackneyed and hard-to-digest style. Simple points are made again and again, as if the two(!) authors were attempting to fuse a poorly-written college essay with a USA Today article. And Mr. Zmuda makes the mistake of assuming that his own history will be of much interest to the reader, who is ostensibly reading a tell-all about Kaufman, not his best friend. There are tremendous anecdotes here; about half the book is filled with glorious tales of artful mischief, hijinks, pranks, and funny stuff that Zmuda and Kaufman pulled on friends, crowds, and strangers. Fans will undoubtedly want to pick this one up, while those with a more casual interest are cautioned to perhaps look elsewhere for a less clumsily written tome. --Mike McGonigal
Book Description
Best known for his sweet-natured character Latka on Taxi, Andy Kaufman was the most influential comic of the generation that produced David Letterman, John Belushi, and Robin Williams. A regular on the early days of Saturday Night Live (where he regularly disrupted planned skits), Kaufman quickly became known for his idiosyncratic roles and for performances that crossed the boundaries of comedy, challenging expectations and shocking audiences. Kaufmans death from lung cancer at age 35 (hed never smoked) stunned his fans and the comic community that had come to look to him as its lightning rod and standard bearer. Bob Zmuda, Kaufmans closest friend, producer, writer, and straight man, breaks his twenty-year silence about Kaufman and unmasks the man he knew better than anyone. He chronicles Kaufmans meteoric rise, the development of his extraordinary personas, the private man behind the driven actor and comedian, and answers the question most often asked: Did Andy Kaufman fake his own death? A movie about Kaufman starring Jim Carrey, directed by Milos Forman, and co-executive produced by author Bob Zmuda and Danny DeVitos Jersey Films, is scheduled for national release in fall 1999.
Download Description
Kaufman's closest friend breaks his 20-year silence about the star and unmasks the man whom he knew better than anyone, chronicling Kaufman's meteoric rise, the development of his extraordinary personas, and the private man behind the driven comedian.
Customer Reviews:
I agree: Mr. X himself is worth your time.......2005-09-30
If "Man on the Moon," which depicted the trite TV reruns of Kaufman's wrestling shows bored you, you should read this book. Milos Foreman probably believed that Zmuda's insights were unappealing to mass movie audiences... which is why his film failed.
...and I must write that I have read biographies about Napoleon Bonaparte, Benjamin Franklin, Friedrich Nietzsche, etc... but no one fascinates me quite as much as "Mr. X." When I read Zmuda's descriptions about him, I laughed so hard that I almost literally could not breathe. Zmuda did not diagnose him, but allow me: a paranoid schizophrenic who has a seemingly bottomless war chest. He is "carpe diem" gone absolutely insane.... and a part of me hopes he is alive.
A Must-Read!.......2005-09-02
Andy Kaufman was a fascinating man who proved to be more complex than any of his maddening performances. Now, Andy's best friend and confidant ever, has given us a first-hand account of what Andy was really like and how he pulled off his greatest skits. Zmuda traces out Andy's career, from when he first started playing local comedy clubs, up to the appearance of Tony Clifton a year after Andy's death, and provides plenty of laughs as he describes how fearlessly Andy toyed with his audiences.
If you are searching for information on Andy's home and family life, you won't find it here (and if that is what you want, I suggest Bill Zehme's "Lost In The Funhouse"). Zmuda focuses primarily on the experiences that the two shared. But the stories he shares are pure gold and you learn much about how they wound up in the entertainment world and how they turned it completely upside down. Andy didn't just put on a show, he yanked his viewers into his own reality where he was both puppet master and behavioral scientist. This book really captures that spirit.
Unsung Hero.......2003-11-04
I first learned of Andy Kaufman after seeing Man on the Moon, featuring Jim Carrey starring as the late "song and dance man." I use the term song and dance man, because Kaufman never thought of himself as a comedian, he was only a song and dance man - an entertainer. This book provides an in-depth look into the mind of Andy Kaufman through his best friend and producer, Bob Zmuda. I never thought I would be so inspired by this book. The way that Andy saw the world was so different that he influenced many comics that perform today. He thought of audience entertaining him, and himself being their audience. It is really hard to explain how amazing this book is without actually reading it. If you saw Man on the Moon and liked it, you will no doubt love this book, because it takes the movie to a whole new level. I only wish Andy were around today to keep influencing others and changing comedy as we know it.
Then again, maybe he is still alive. I guess we'll never know...
Revisionist History.......2003-10-01
While this book is certainly a must read for diehard Kaufman fans (myself included), as it offers a few tidbits on Andy not found elsewhere, it serves mostly as a vehicle for Zmuda to attempt to overcome his feeling slighted at not receiving enough credit for Kaufman's work. Apparently, Zmuda was the brainchild behind most of Kaufman's schemes. I don't doubt that Zmuda was an important person in Andy's life and collaborated with Andy, yet Zmuda makes it known that Andy wouldn't be anything without him--an idea I find ludicrous.
A better book is Bill Zehme's biography of Kaufman, Lost in the Funhouse, which seems more even handed in its treatment of Zmuda's and Kaufman's collaboration.
So, read Zmuda if you must, but know that Zmuda's book is of firstmost importance to Zmuda himself.
A rebuttal to the review by Mike McGonigal.......2003-09-30
I read this book twice so far, and it is one of the most inspiring and informative pieces of work on Andy Kaufman. He is an idol of mine for reasons beyond his "comedic" ways. But instead of me raving about Kaufman, I would like to comment on some things written by Mike McGonigal in his review. He states that Bob Zmuda made a bad decision to inform readers of his friendship with Kaufman; and also personal happenings and whatnot. Basically, he's saying Zmuda shouldn't have included stories of his own history. Mike McGonignal also states that the reader "is ostensibly reading a tell-all about Kaufman, not his best friend". Perhaps true for some, but I don't appreciate being told why I read a book. And perhaps I'm overreacting, but my point is, I prefer to hear Zmuda's history and any other personal bits of information he decides to tell about. This is also a good writing tactic because it's a way of showing credentials for their history and friendship. McGonignal also stated that "Simple points are made again and again, as if the two(!) authors were attempting to fuse a poorly-written college essay with a USA Today article". I may not be a so-called professional writer as of yet, but I've been writing for a while and study closely to styles of writing and comedic ways. With that, Zmuda's biography about his best friend was meant to be more of an informative and personal piece of literature; opposed to a masterfully written piece that McGonignal was maybe making an excursion for. The way it was written, I felt like Zmuda and I were just chilling out in a room and he was telling me stories of what went on, and how they planned and organized certain "bits", if at all. Zmuda took a personal journey into his past, his mind, and into his best friends unexpected short life. He uncovered secrets that were kept for many years by Kaufman and Zmuda's most trusted family and friends; only to be told when the time was right. Unfortunately the right time followed Kaufman's death. If readers only wanted facts and stories about Kaufman and his many antics, or only had a "casual interest", then they could simply tune in to the television and catch an Andy Kaufman special which document those such things and tend to dwell on the Foreign Man character or his dead-on Elvis "empression". Readers that want to find out the roots of these characters, hijinks, pranks, bordello-outings, inter-gender wrestling, and so on should read this book; and will appreciate it.
Books:
- Anubis: A Desert Novel
- Artrage
- As Cool As I Am: A Novel
- Benjamin, My Son
- Bless Ewe: More Stories for All Seasons
- Blue Mist on the Danube (Sagas of a Kindred Heart)
- Blues Dancing: A Novel
- Blues Lessons: A Novel
- Brazil Red
- Buddha Wept: A Novel of Terror and Transcendence
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