Book Description
Based on his own experience and the teachings of his celebrated but distant father, Lee, John Strasberg defines the talent of becoming real in a role. He surveys the traditional partition between life and theatre, and urges actors to make it a dynamic living membrane through which vital elements may pass. John Strasberg has written his own intensely personal story about his father's work and the Strasberg dynasty. It is a painful odyssey during which he relives the often demanding role he played as son to a man who was the central father figure to a generation of American actors.
Book Description
Jacob Adler, with his performances in the Yiddish King Lear, Uriel Acosta and Shylock in The Merchant of Venice, became first a megastar of the exploding Yiddish theatre, and then all of Broadway. His memoirs, originally written and published in Yiddish and now translated (by his granddaughter) into English provides not only a compelling portrait of one of America's greatest actors but a fascinating social history of his time.
Customer Reviews:
A compelling and highly recommended social history.......2001-11-13
Translated with commentary by Lulla Rosenfeld, and enhanced with an informative introduction by Stella Adler, A Life On The Stage: A Memoir is esteemed Yiddish actor Jacob Adler (1855-1926) self-written autobiography. Acclaimed during his own lifetime as one of the great actors of his day, a time now more than seven decades gone. This candid and engaging memoir was originally composed and published in Yiddish and provides the reader with a kind of "window in time" to discover what life was like in the Yiddish theater and on Broadway. From his years with a troupe of Yiddish folk singers and theatrical productions in Odessa, to his journey to America and performances at the Union Theater on Lower Broadway, we are treated to a memoir that is as much a tribute to the development of the Yiddish theater in Russia, England, and America, as it is a compelling and highly recommended social history as lived through by a most remarkable and memorable man.
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Center Stage: Helen Gahagan Douglas, A Life
Ingrid Winther Scobie
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
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ASIN: 0195068963 |
Book Description
Best remembered today as the victim of Richard Nixon's smear campaign in their 1950 senatorial race in California, Helen Gahagan Douglas had a truly remarkable double career, in entertainment and in politics. A tall, stunning woman, dignified and fashionable, Douglas dropped out of Barnard
College in her sophomore year to star in Dreams for Sale, a Broadway play written by Owen Davis, who would win a Pulitzer Prize that year. With nothing more than sheer talent and little training, she was soon the peer of Helen Hayes and Katherine Cornell--Heywood Broun called her "ten of the twelve
most beautiful women in the world"--and she played the lead in a string of hits. Then she changed course, and after two years of intensive training in a tiny Manhattan apartment, she debuted in Europe as an opera singer, and sang there for several seasons. And in the late '30s and early '40s, as she
and her husband (actor Melvyn Douglas) became deeply involved in FDR's Democratic Party, she once again rose rapidly to the top, serving as a Democratic National Committeewoman after only five months in politics, and winning a seat in Congress in 1944, 1946, and 1948.
In Center Stage, Ingrid Winther Scobie presents a sweeping biography of an unusual and talented woman, set against the background of the Great White Way in the 1920s, Hollywood in the 1930s, and California and national politics in the 1940s. We see young Helen Gahagan growing up in posh,
turn-of-the-century Park Slope ("really the Park Avenue area of Brooklyn," as she described it), developing an intense passion for acting. We witness her first meeting with Melvyn Douglas, in famed producer David Belasco's office (Belasco asked Helen for her opinion of Melvyn as a possible leading
man and she answered simply, "he will do"). And we follow their life together, moving from coast to coast, trying to raise a family and maintain two careers, and gradually becoming more involved in politics--Helen especially with the plight of California's migrant workers. Scobie describes Douglas's
long, close friendship with Eleanor Roosevelt, traces her political rise as one of the most outspoken liberals in Washington, examines in detail her three terms in Congress, and sheds considerable light on the most notorious event in Douglas's political career: her defeat in the 1950 senatorial race
at the hands of Richard Nixon, long considered the quintessential red-smear campaign. Indeed, this is the first book to examine the 1950 campaign from Douglas's side, and its conclusions are revelatory.
Based on extensive archival research, on exclusive access to Douglas's private papers including letters to and from Melvyn spanning fifty years, and on interviews with Douglas's colleagues, friends, and family, this absorbing biography skillfully interweaves the private and public life of a
woman who was both a glamorous celebrity and a charismatic political figure.
Customer Reviews:
Political Performer.......2003-06-09
Two-and-a-half stars
Ingrid Winther Scobie is a history professor at Texas Women's University. For her biography of the woman whom Richard M. Nixon is supposed to have dubbed "the pink lady," Scobie got the cooperation of Douglas before the latter's death.
Helen Gahagan Douglas (1900-1980) was a successful stage performer and less successful film actress who married her leading man, Melvyn Douglas (1899-1981). The Douglases were politically engaged lefties in 1930s and '40s Hollywood. When films fizzled for Helen Gahagan Douglas, she had a successful career as one of America's first congresswomen (1944-1950). Her electoral career was abruptly ended by "tricky Dick," her opponent in California's 1950 U.S. Senate race.
I was raised to think of "Nixon's" sobriquet as Scobie does -- as merely a smear. The facts are, however, that Douglas WAS pretty darn "pink." Indeed, members of her own party (as opposed to her Republican opponents) considered her "red," and said so publicly.
Apparently, neither Library Journal reviewer J. Sara Paulk nor the anonymous writer of the book description above carefully read the book, or they'd know that it was not Nixon, but Douglas' Democratic opponent, Ralph Manchester Boddy, who coined the phrase "the pink lady." If they weren't such hardcore, leftist Democrats, they'd know that Nixon never smeared Douglas. It was Boddy who strongly suggested that Douglas was not a "liberal" or even a socialist, but a "traitorous" communist ("red hot") with a "blueprint of subversive dictatorship."
Even forty years later, neither Scobie nor the reviewers can accept that Nixon, who was a moderate Republican, was the much brighter, more capable candidate, and that California voters -- including Democrats, and indeed, much of the Democratic Party -- had soured on socialism. Hence, they must cling to the myth of the Nixon "smear."
As historian Irwin F. Gellman writes, "The U.S Senate contest in California during 1950 has become the stuff where legend has replaced fact. `Tricky Dicky' smeared Helen Gahagan Douglas, the `Pink Lady,' thus relying on the anti-Communist hysteria to propel the dirty trickster into the upper house...."
But in point of fact, Gellman continues, "[Douglas'] painfully inept stewardship - not Nixon - guaranteed her demise."
And so, the real smear was the one invented by leftwing Democrats as revenge against Nixon, which they and their successors in politics, academia, and the media have repeated ever since - even after Nixon's death.
Douglas' story fills Scobie's personal need to narrate the life of a strong mother/career woman role model. (She often refers, inappropriately, to her subject as "Helen," as if Douglas were her personal friend, rather than her subject.) Although my role model is gone, I'm not in the market for a new one. Besides, while writing about heroes is a worthy purpose for historians (although feminists heap contempt on that project, if the heroes are white, heterosexual males), the writing must be in service of the truth. But the truth is not Scobie's priority. She considers herself a "feminist biographer," for whom providing a usable past trumps the search for truth.
When it originally appeared, Center Stage had value for me as a chronicle of the postwar swing, in California, away from FDR's left/center, New Deal coalition, and to a center/right (though Scobie sees it as merely right-wing), Republican politics. But with the 1999 publication of Irwin F. Gellman's painstakingly researched, much more honest biography of Nixon's early career, The Contender: Richard Nixon: The Congress Years, 1946-1952, the already limited value of Scobie's highly partisan work fell even more. Read Scobie, read Gellman, and then tell me what you think.
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Footlights And Spotlights: Recollections of My Life on the Stage
Otis Skinner
Manufacturer: Kessinger Publishing
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ASIN: 1417923784 |
Book Description
1923. Skinner recalls his long and varied career on the American stage. He achieved lasting fame with his performance in Kismet. His daughter, Cornelia Otis Skinner, American monologuist, actress, and author also appeared in her father's company. Contents: From a Gallery Seat; Youthful Episodes and Efforts; Ninety-Two Characters; The Procession of Stars; A Dark Hour and Mr. Booth; Juvenile Leads and the Road; Lawrence Barrett; The Emotion of Acting; Augustin Daly and London; At Home and Abroad; Edwin Booth; Romeo in London; Madame Modjeska; Manager and Star; Earning a Reputation; The Next Seven Years; Charles Frohman Presents; Some Hoosiers and Some Others; Kismet-The Play and the Picture; The Passion Play; The Bull Fight and Christian Science; Mister Antonio and the War; Let the World Slip: and We Shall Ne'er Be Younger.
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My Actor Husband: A True Story of American Stage Life
Anonymous
Manufacturer: Kessinger Publishing, LLC
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ASIN: 1417996021 |
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Stages: Of Life in Theatre, Film, and Television
Norman Lloyd
Manufacturer: Limelight Editions
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ASIN: 0879101660 |
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"Reading like a who's who of Broadway and Hollywood...[this] is a valuable piece of theatrical history...Lloyd is a self-effacing, articulate actor-director-producer whose stories are as insightful as they are warm and often humorous." -Choice
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William Archer: A Life
Peter Whitebrook
Manufacturer: Methuen
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ASIN: 0413655202 |
Customer Reviews:
An enjoyable glimpse--yet only a glimpse--into a fascinating life.......2006-09-19
Angela Lansbury is, without doubt, a national treasure as an actress and has become something of an icon to many. While her television work has made her a durable popular favorite, recognition of her formidable talent and skill as a serious film and stage actress is less widespread, as this biography highlights.
The book is something of a valentine to Ms Lansbury, and while it
does include interesting tidbits of information about her life and work, manages to touch on the main events of her personal and professional life and has a decent offering of quotes from colleagues, friends and Ms Lansbury herself, it is by no means an
in-depth biography of this fascinating, multi-facted woman.
One is keenly aware that much has been left out or unexplored;
it may be that Ms Lansbury's own preference for privacy and the
power and status she possesses have made it difficult for a truly
definitive biography to be created. This is a disappointment.
In the right hands of a gifted biographer with deep access, the richness of Angela Lansbury's background, history, character, accomplishments and life would yield a magnificent theatrical biography.
She is deserving of no less.
An excellent biography of one of my favorite actresses.......1998-09-28
This is a thoughtful, three-dimensional portrait of one of my favorite actresses. It is well-researched, and full of anecdotes about Lansbury's life and thoughtful opinions of her film and television work. I learned much about Lansbury, and would highly recommend this book to anyone interested in her life and career.
A FACT FILLED ,HEART WARMING JOURNEY.......1998-04-30
THIS BOOK WAS A WONDERFUL INSIGHT INTO THE LIFE OF A GREAT LADY WHOS LIFE WAS AS INTERESTING AS THE MANY ROLES SHE HAS PLAYED THROUGH THE YEARS . MOVIES,STAGE,AND TV AND SONG SHE HAS DONE THEM ALL WITH STYLE AND ELEGANCE
Customer Reviews:
Ignore the title, but by all means study the book.......2007-01-21
As another reviewer mentioned, the point count idea in and of itself is silly; chess is not bridge, and evaluation methods are subjective rather than objective. There is no mechanical means of evaluating a chess position that eliminates the need for developed skill and judgment.
However, this book is exactly the right vehicle to bring you the positional skill and judgment you need. If you like, think "facets" instead of "points" --- the book describes and illustrates several dozen positive and negative positional features and more importantly the type of play plans that might evolve from these features. The illustrations and examples are copious and detailed, and there are some excellent full-length games.
The book is very chatty, something I particularly like. It makes the examples easy to follow and understand. The book also has many diagrams and photos, which are very helpfully placed.
The book was published in 1960 and yet it remains one of the best chess strategy/positional analysis books in my (large) chess library. It is not nearly as well known or appreciated as it should be, perhaps because of the silly and ultimately unnecessary point-count theme.
The book will increase your positional knowledge, and your ability to make plans from positional considerations, by leaps and bounds. Availability at a reasonable price on the used market comes and goes, but if you can get a copy in the $20-$30 price range, it will be money very well spent. This book has pushed aside half a dozen others to take pride of place as my "main" positional/strategic study book.
Amazingly instructive chess book.......2006-04-19
An interesting aspect of this classic book is the silliness of the concept: using a bridge-like counting system to evaluate positions. The authors attempt to add and subtract points in positional evaluation based on the presence or absence of factors like backward pawns, open files, etc. But while constructing a numerical scale as such is an inherently weak concept for a chess book, the authors' use of that concept evidently caused them to produce one of the all-time most instructive chess books I have read. Let me just say that this book belongs on your shelf right next to Silman's Amateur's Mind and How to Reassess Your Chess. All of the items for which points are awarded are what Silman calls "imbalances", and in their effort to stick to their numbering system, the authors show you how to evaluate positions for all of their particularities, or Silman's imbalances. Each main factor is backed up by tremendously enriching examples. But beyond this, the authors present a great many examples in pairs; that is, they will show you second a slightly different position from the first example, and will explain why the small differences require you to evaluate the position differently. The resultant differences lead to a different plan, and really show you how to derive a plan, in a way that is better and more detailed than the Silman-esque method. "Point Count Chess" is a phenomenally instructive chess book, and you should snap up any copy of this you can find. I have always liked Horowitz, but often his books seem aimed at beginners. This book, by contrast, is aimed right between the eyes of intermediate players. I had about 700 chess books in my collection and had never even heard of this book. Last December I stumbled upon it in a used Chicago bookstore, and I took at chance at five bucks. It was as good a five as I have ever spent. It is a precious, really special chess book. I have come to appreciate this type of instructive work more and more over time. It seems to me that many chess books are a waste of time for the intermediate player. How many opening and endings books have sat un-used on my shelves for years? It is the instructive books that I am after. The Amateur's Mind, Stean's Simple Chess, Purdy's books, Romanovsky's Middlegame Planning, The Road to Chess Mastery and Chess Master vs. Chess Amateur by Euwe, Chernve's Most Instructive Games, Best Lessons of a Chess Coach; these types of things are the ones of real value to me. This book belongs right there with them, and it will stay there on my shelf....
A Systematic Study of Strategical Concepts.......2005-12-27
This book was first published forty-five years ago by Simon and Schuster. The authors are I. A. Horowitz, the then editor of the now defunct "Chess Review" magazine, and Geoffrey Mott-Smith, a noted bridge expert. The premise of their book is that "... at any stage of the game, there is implicit in every move a plus and minus quality." Borrowing from the game of bridge, the authors use a point count system that "... will see you safely through the normal vicissitudes of a game of chess." Their Positional Point Count Table includes 20 positional advantages for which "plus points" can be given. These positional advantages include such things as control of the center, pawn on fourth v. pawn on third, mobile pawn wing, and so forth. "Minus points" are given under two headings: weak pawns and weak squares. Under the former heading are listed such weaknesses as backward pawn, doubled pawn, isolated pawn, etc.; under the latter heading are listed such weaknesses as weak-square complex, holes, compromised king-side, etc. The authors list a total of 12 positional disadvantages.
How do we apply the point count system? According to Horowitz and Mott-Smith, "To apply the system, examine the positions of your forces and your opponent's forces. Credit yourself with one point for every item due you on the plus list and deduct one for every due liability on the minus list. Do the same for your opponent's position. Then compare his net score with yours. The difference measures the strategic superiority, if any, that one of you enjoys." Of course, this system is to be used "when strategic considerations are uppermost. It cannot be expected to give a true picture when tactical urgencies supervene...." One cannot overestimate the importance of strategy, as the authors point out: "tactical problems often solve themselves if you keep in mind at all times your strategical objectives."
Should one take the point count system seriously? No! Chess cannot be reduced to such a simplistic device, but this does not negate the importance of this book. "Point Count Chess" is probably the finest introduction to chess strategy ever written. Following the first chapter on the point count method, Horowitz and Mott-Smith go into an elaborate discussion of chess strategy. For example, chapter 2 is a discussion of "Pawn Formations"; the topics covered in this chapter include: criteria of pawn moves (how "[t]he move of a pawn differs in an important way from the move of a piece...."), center control by pawns, what center control is not, center liquidation, pawn on fourth v. pawn on third, etc. Chapter 3 deals with advanced chains and salients (this chapter, like the previous one, is broken down into a number of sub-topics: the French Defense chain, attacking an advanced chain, etc.), chapter 4 is on "The Advanced Pawn," chapter 5 on "Delayed Central Pawn Advances," Chapter 6 on "The Mobile Pawn Wing," and so forth. These detailed discussions of strategical topics continues for another eighteen chapters. It is difficult, in a brief review, to do this book justice. "Point Count Chess" does for strategy what Chernev and Reinfeld's "Winning Chess" did for tactics. I cannot think of a better endorsement. [For more information on this book, see note 1.]
Recommended follow-up: Chess strategy is a fascinating subject. For further study, I would recommend Ludek Pachman's "Modern Chess Strategy" (this is an abridgement of his "Complete Chess Strategy" (three volumes)). If you prefer algebraic notation, then I would suggest Euwe and Kramer's "The Middlegame" (two volumes). Finally, Hans Kmoch's classic text, "Pawn Power in Chess," is a seminal work. These books were written by exponents of the "Neo-classical" school of chess. For an analysis of more recent trends in chess theory, you should read Mihai Suba's "Dynamic Chess Strategy" and John Watson's two complementary works: "Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy" and "Chess Strategy in Action." Chess has changed a great deal since the advent of the personal computer, and this is reflected most strikingly in the aforementioned works by Watson. In the past chess players relied, to a great extent, on general principles: now more and more weight is given to concrete analysis. According to Andrew Soltis, "Modern grandmasters emphasize the exceptions over rules and say the ultimate truth depends on calculation." ("Rethinking the Chess Pieces," page 130.) [For an overview of the development of modern chess theory, see note 2.]
Conclusion: I found the application of the point count system to be too time-consuming, too cumbersome, and too artificial to be of practical use; nevertheless, this book is an excellent introduction to chess strategy and I highly recommend it.
Note 1: The forward to this book is by Samuel Reshevsky, although anyone familiar with Horowitz's writing style will have no doubt as to who actually wrote this forward. The four page "table-of-contents" is very detailed: each chapter is broken down into sub-topics. There are over 300 diagrams and eighteen illustrations. The illustrations are photos of a chessboard and pieces that are used in place of a diagram. [See footnote 1.] Of course, Horowitz and Mott-Smith are cognizant of the limitations of the point count system. Chapters 23 and 24 address some of their concerns. Chapter 25 contains twelve annotated games in descriptive notation. This chapter is followed by an eight page "glossary." The book ends with a brief biographical note on each of the authors. Horowitz and Mott-Smith cover so much material that 340-pages seems hardly adequate.
Note 2: In his book, "New Ideas in Chess" [1958], Larry Evans opined that "[w]hat set the masters apart was their grasp of 'general principles'." For example, the "Romantics," after carefully studying Morphy's games, expanded the theory of the "open game." They were followed by Wilhelm Steinitz and the "Classicists" who further developed the "closed game." Then came the "Hypermoderns": Nimzowitsch, Reti, and Breyer. They explored the importance of the "flank game." The "Neo-Classical School" was an outgrowth of the Classical and Hypermodern movements. Fine, Pachman, and Euwe espoused the ideas of this movement in their monumental and influential opening and middlegame treatises. But, it was the Soviet School of Chess that was most instrumental in developing what later became known as "Dynamic Chess." As Anthony Saidy observed, "The Soviet school grew up with the spirit of struggle, study of openings for new tactical surprises, and especially active counterattack." (Reference R. N. Coles's "Dynamic Chess" [1956], Kotov and Yudovich's "The Soviet School of Chess" [1958], and Anthony Saidy's "The Battle of Chess Ideas" [1972]; for an appreciation of Morphy's contributions, see Macon Shibut's "Paul Morphy and the Evolution of Chess Theory" [1993]; for additional information, see footnotes 2, 3 & 4.)
Footnote 1: The chess set used in these illustrations was the popular Japanese Craftsman set sold by "Chess Review." This set was made of a finished wood called Tsuge that, unfortunately, was very brittle; otherwise, this was a very beautiful and affordable chess set. If you are in the market for a finely crafted wooden chess set, then visit the House of Staunton website.
Footnote 2: "The discovery and study of various chess principles led inevitably to the thought of embracing them in a general theory, with a view to answering that hallowed question: how to find the best move in any position by following well-defined rules. The opening of the game, of course, was what people were chiefly talking about." ("Creative Chess Opening Preparation" by Viacheslav Eingorn [2006].) This last point should be kept in mind when reading "Note 2."
Footnote 3: According to Evans: "If one word could summarize the present renaissance of Soviet chess, it would be 'dynamism'." He then refers to this movement as the "eclectic school" and its practitioners as "eclectics." This terminology, as far as I can ascertain, has not caught on.
Footnote 4: If Steinitz was the founder of the classical school, then Siegbert Tarrasch was its great expositor. His "The Game of Chess" and "Three Hundred Chess Games" were to the classical school what Nimzowitsch's "My System" and "Chess Praxis" were to the hypermodern school. Nimzowitsch's animosity toward Tarrash was legendary. He once stated that Tarrasch was his "born enemy." Fortunately, not all chess players who disagreed with the teachings of the classical school were as confrontational as Nimzowitsch. One such group was the "Neo-Romantics." In criticizing this movement, Evans made the following comment: "The twentieth-century neo-romantics, notably Tchigorin, Marshall and Spielmann, carried Morphy's lessons of the open game to the point of absurdity...."
Some Final Recommendations: If you would like to learn more about Paul Morphy, might I suggest the following: David Lawson's "Paul Morphy: The Pride and Sorrow of Chess" and Frances Parkinson Keyes's "The Chess Players." Keyes's novel is a fictionalized account of Morphy's life. If you would like to learn more about the hypermoderns, then be sure to read Richard Reti's "Modern Ideas in Chess." According to Harry Golombek, "Reti had created at once the manifesto of what was then a revolutionary chess movement...." In his later book, "Masters of the Chess Board," Reti "derived the general principles and the theory" that would make his name synonymous with the hypermodern movement. And, of course, no chess library would be complete without a copy of Raymond Keene's "Aron Nimzowitsch: A Reappraisal."
Do you have an interest in the endgame? If so, please see my review of I. A. Horowitz's "How to Win in the Chess Endings."
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The Mercifully Brief, Real World Guide to... Raising More Money With Newsletters Than You Ever Thought Possible
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ASIN: 1889102075 |
Book Description
There's a sleeping giant in your midst. One with enormous fundraising potential. And unless your newsletter is bringing in thousands, if not tens of thousands of dollars every year, it's time to shake it from its slumber. Today, countless organizations are raising more money with their newsletter than with traditional mail appeals. And after reading Tom Ahern's riveting book, Raising More Money with Newsletters than You Ever Thought Possible, it's easy to understand why. Great newsletters, as distinguished from the mundane ones many of us receive, have so much more going for them. For starters, they deliver real news (not tired features such as "From the Director's Desk'' and "Introducing Our New Staff"). They make the donor feel important. They use emotional triggers to spur action. They're designed in a way to attract both browsers and readers. And they don't depend on dry statistics to make the organization's case. Ahern knows newsletters inside and out. Not only has he written his fair share, but he's analyzed scores of them for other organizations. Moreover, his workshop, "How to Write Great Donor Newsletters," is consistently over-subscribed. So when he speaks - as he does in engaging and eloquent prose- you hang onto his every word. The essence of Raising More Money with Newsletters than You Ever Thought Possible centers around seven fatal flaws, as Ahern calls them. "Almost every donor newsletter I see suffers from at least one of the flaws," he says early in the book. "You would be shocked by how many newsletters suffer from all seven." Along the way to discussing - and dissecting - these fatal flaws, the reader is treated to such chapters as: o Making news out of thin air o What a front page is for o Lower the grade level of your writing o Anecdotes versus stats o How should it look? A proven formula And those are only five of the 45! succinct chapters in this book. Chances are you already have a newsletter, that's the good news. You have the vehicle in place. The even better news is that transforming your newsletter into a substantial money raiser isn't all that difficult. As Ahern himself says, "You don't need a degree in journalism to publish a newsletter that will keep your donors inspired (and generous). You just need a few skills and insights." Read this book. Pick up those skills. And be assured that the ratio of time spent versus gains realized might well be the most cost-effective of your entire career.
Customer Reviews:
The Mercifully Brief, Real World Guide to... Raising More Money With Newsletters Than You Ever Thought Possible.......2006-08-23
Concisely and sharply written with easy to use advice. Affirmed things that I "knew" but had forgotten about. Used the advice and our newest newsletter has much more "pop" to it. I'll be interested to see if there will be an uptick in donations following its release in a week or so.
Terrific.......2006-07-22
Hi Tom,
Your book Raising More Money With Newsletters Than You Ever Thought Possible is terrific!
I started reading it just after completing a quarterly newsletter. I can't seem to finish your book because I keep running to the computer to "fix up" the thing I had thought was a newsletter. I am reading this on a stay-at-home-day-for-reading and when I'm not at the keyboard I am phoning colleagues with new ideas. They may never let me read again.
I heard you speak at the AFP Congress in Toronto and knew this would be a good book. Thanks for making it even better than that.
Are you changing the world? Maybe not. But you are certain to change newsletter writing!
Julie Kinkaid
Save the Newsletters!.......2006-06-29
This book will save you money and time. It's a quick, fun read, and there are great tips on every page. Moreover, it is research-based, with practical ways of implementing all the ideas. No BS, no wild hairs, just sound, practical advice. It will be "immediately usable," to steal the perfect caption of another reviewer.
This book turned up while I was mulling over creating two different newsletters for two different organizations. My earlier involvements with newsletters were a bit frustrating. Tons and tons of work went into them, but their impact was disappointing, despite some really good content.
Reading this book, I finally understand why my earlier attempts were, well, stinkers. I was using bad models and repeating bad habits so commonl in this industry. Now, I feel that I have the tools to make much more effective marketing pieces. One of my upcoming newsletters is actually going to be a rescue job of a lackluster publication, and this book has helped me to see exactly how to fix it--and to make putting it together a much easier task.
And to steal another idea from an earlier reviewer, I too am going to give this to some people I know, who really need this excellent advice.
The proof is in the pudding, here. Ahern follows his own advice, and his book is totally engaging, convincing, and if he was a non-profit organization rather than an author, I'd send him a check. "Save the Newsletters!" How much is a membership?
Really, get it. It will help all of your writing, not just newsletters. I hope the author writes more, on similar topics, maybe a general book on writing marketing copy. We need more smart, fun, practical, and mercifully brief resources like this one.
Quick, easy read that is full of helpful advice.......2006-06-27
I love this book and have already implemented several recommendations. It is easily worth the purchase price.
Immediately Usable!.......2006-03-18
I couldn't put the book down! I really enjoyed the straightforward approach combined with psychology behind getting your message across! I made notes and gave to our committee!
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