The Kill Bill Diary: The Making of a Tarantino Classic as Seen Through the Eyes of a Screen Legend

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Carradine is king!

A minor gem underneath the autograph

It's not bad, it's just very light...

kill bill diary

Diary of a Film Masterpiece

The Kill Bill Diary: The Making of a Tarantino Classic as Seen Through the Eyes of a Screen Legend
David Carradine
Manufacturer: Harper Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Quintessential Tarantino

ASIN: 0060823461
Release Date: 2006-10-31

Book Description

David Carradine is Bill—the complex, charismatic master assassin from the critically acclaimed, monstrously successful Kill Bill films. Throughout the filming of Quentin Tarantino's brilliant, violent epic, Carradine kept a daily diary—capturing all the action, the genius, the madness, and the magic that combined to make a masterpiece. More than simply an insider's close-up look at the filmmaking process and the astonishing cast and crew—director Tarantino, star Uma Thurman, and all the other artists whose extraordinary skills helped create something glorious—The Kill Bill Diary illuminates the fine points of the serious actor's craft, as a truly unique talent takes us along with him on a quirky, breathtaking, no-holds-barred, and altogether miraculous journey. It is a must-own volume for anyone who loves the movies.

Customer Reviews:

Carradine is king!.......2007-07-19

A must have for tarantino fans. More insight into making of Kill Bill. Magnificent reading!

A minor gem underneath the autograph.......2007-05-21

Before Tarantino, David Carradine was--and I'm quoting here, so don't think I'm dissing--a "cult actor who couldn't get work". As I imagine this sums up many opinions, the reader can forgive much from Carradine's production diary. And there's much to forgive, but it's always fun. Carradine's an engaging writer: parts puffy testosterone and lowly gratitude, arrogance and wide-eyed observer. He's everything you'd think (or fear), but never, ever pompous. And the star of the book--the superhero who comes off looking like a mutant crusader for film--is the ever-enthusiastic Tarantino. No wonder the cover quotes Quentin as saying--or yelling--, "I LOVED it!"

Carradine raps on everything--Thurman and Hannah's beauty, the weirdness of China, even Einstein: "Someone once asked Einstein if the universe was infinite. And he said, 'No. But it's ALMOST infinite.' Albert was one of the greatest stand-up comics of all time; I mean, look at his hair. He had to know that was funny. And I think the mustache was camouflage, to hide the secret smile."

Carradine takes the reader to production meetings, through fabulous sets, and out of snaffus that boggle the organized mind. Tarantino chucks out whole scenes, changes plot mid-stream, and coaxes grand performances out of everyone with a winning smile and hyperactive energy. I'd dearly like to know him, and now feel that I do.

Sure this book is mostly fluff, but underneath the glitz, we glimpse the sobering life of an aging minor (if cultic) star, and the gratitude with which he receives a second career. I actually held my breath at Carradine's bravery--one whole chapter is dedicated to a nightmare variation to the naked in class-taking the test you forgot in the course you never attended--dream, but on the set, his elusive script forever out of reach. The anxiety expressed here, the fear that something could go wrong with his comeback, is a universal fear anyone past the age of 30 can relate to, and I thought it was human of him to express it. Well, after all, it is a diary of sorts!

I found this book enjoyable, and a lot more thought-provoking--and fun--than I feared it would be. I hope he writes more.

It's not bad, it's just very light..........2007-04-19

The Kill Bill Diary is sort of a hard book to review. I ended up giving it four stars because it's well written and engaging, but unfortunately very light. Carradine has done a wonderful job of chronicling his time spent working on the film, as well as shedding some light on both his process as an actor and what it's like as an actor to deal with studios such as Miramax (now the Weinstein Company), but the book tends to be a little off balance if only because it's so guarded. Carradine's prose is very interesting and comfortable, and the book reads very quickly, though in a very nice conversational way.

There is something to be desired in its Diary approach as the book struggles in this style choice, shifting between some all too expedited daily synopses to some almost uncomfortably personal correspondences (in particular a couple of gushing letters to Tarantino) with not much middle ground in between. Though at times Carradine's voice borders on arrogance (and with his lengthy body of work and his iconic rock star status after Kung Fu, who can blame him), he can just as easily come across as the most humble man on earth, so overall the POV of his experiences on the film come off almost pretty well balanced. At the end of the day though it's not as personal as one would think a "diary" would be, and because it tends towards skirting details it feels like he's holding back. Don't get me wrong, I think the book is very honest, and Carradine has a very positive outlook (I'm not expecting him to dish dirt or anything), but because he tends to hold back a little (either guardedly leaving out names or not really getting into detail) it reads a little flat or more like a blog instead of a book.

My biggest gripe with the book though is in its marketing. The back cover blurb makes the book out to be a "making-of" on the Kill Bill film when honestly it's really only about Carradine's time on the set which amounts to about a fourth of the film.

If you're looking for some light, behind the scenes reading on the film industry, this book is great, but if you are looking for "...an insider's close-up look at the film-making process and the astonishing cast and crew, ...the fine points of the actor's craft, ...[and a] breathtaking, no-holds-barred ... miraculous journey" (taken from the back cover) then you might be a little disappointed.

kill bill diary.......2007-03-10

i found the book very interesting . i would have to add that i am a huge Tarantino fan who loved kill Bill so im probally pretty biased on this one .

Diary of a Film Masterpiece.......2007-02-23

I finally finished this and I'm sad it's over. I can't call it 5-star worthy, because there are obvious flaws, but anyone who would take the time to read this, probably won't care about it. (If you hated the film why on earth would you read the book, right?).

This is actually NOT Carradine's first book (see Endless Highway, which is unfortunately out of print) and since I just started reading it, I can't say which I prefer, but Carradine's friendly narrative is what draws you in and keeps you reading even when the story flags. Like any journal there are some bits that maybe we could have lived without (much to much family stuff, but hey they sound great, so why not go on and on about them?) and of course his experience on Kill Bill was limited to the time he was involved.

This is certainly NOT a complete Making of Kill Bill. It's budget prohibited David being on the set except when he was needed so there are definite gaps in the "movie" story. This is more than made up for with Carradine's letters to Tarantino, dozens of "insider" details about his time on the set, his hope that this will revitalize his career and much more. Carradine is a fascianting dude. This more than comes across in the story!

The one thing I kept thinking throughout the story and even more so now as I see a cheesy tv commercial featuring Carradine, is that unlike John Travolta, Kill Bill did NOT revitalize Carradine's career in the same way. He has been in very little of note since he made Kill Bill. I'm glad he's working, but what happen to the "Tarantino Revitalization"?

This is a somewhat sad footnote to the story that leaves me curious. Bill "was" a career making performance and role. Perhaps it is a continuation of the industry's slight of the film (no Oscar nominations, mixed reviews, no respect, darn it). Very little was made of Uma Thurman's brilliant performance (even more of an Oscar slight in years when very few female performances were Oscar-worthy). Is the industry jealous of Tarantino? Was this there chance to exact a little revenge on the bad boy outsider?

But I'll get off my tangent for now (it was afterall inspired by Carradine's optimism). To sum up: Read It! It's fun. It's gossipy. It's insightful. It's never boring! Some great color photos round out the text. Let's hope that Carradine is still acting and writing for some time. Thanks to Tarantino for making it all possible. And how about reprinting "Endless Highway" someone, anyone?

Book Description

Each entry in this New Grove series of composers and their operas is based on articles in The New Grove Dictionary of Opera, that feature information on the lives of individual composers, their works, their librettists and interpreters, and the places where they performed. These unique books compile the meticulously researched articles into organized narratives, designed to make finding information as easy as possible without sacrificing readability. Each volume is completely up-to-date, and includes a suggested listening guide and an eight-page glossy insert containing relevant illustrations. Each volume is a must-own for lovers of opera and classical music. Giuseppe Verdi is the most famous Italian composer of opera. While he was sometimes criticized for writing music considered too "simple," his works have endured, and are still performed throughout the world today. This concise volume is a handy guide to the Verdi's life and operas, revising the original New Grove articles and adding a new introduction, a new section on modern Verdi productions, and an updated bibliography.

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Enjoyable

Vivaldi's Venice
Patrick Barbier
Manufacturer: Souvenir Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0285636707

Book Description

Vivaldi, born in 1678, was one of the most influential composers and violinists of his age. This book evokes the Venice of Vivaldi's time, an essentially musical city that lived for hedonism. In Venice all the social classes mingled in their love of music-artistocrats, gondoliers, and workers would meet at all sorts of musical and theatrical entertainments and the city's carnivals went on for months at a time. Erudite and entertaining, Vivaldi's Venice is a biography of the city that was the muse of the mysterious young composer.

Customer Reviews:

Enjoyable.......2004-05-31

I should just say in defence of this book by the above reviewer that the error of Vivaldi's date of birth (quoted as 1762) is likely to be a simple typo, as the date (which should read 1962!) refers to when Vivaldi's true date of birth was REDISCOVERED in the 20th Century, as stated earlier in the book.

Book Description

The author treats each of Rossini's 39 operas, Donizetti's 66, and Bellini's 10, discussing the libretto and the circumstances of each opera's first performance, outlining the plot, and ending with an analysis of the music.

Customer Reviews:

Somewhat useful Lists.......2000-06-06

This work contains a complete listing of the operas of Rossini, Donizetti and Bellini. They are presented in chronological order by composer, unnumbered to make reference to the discography more difficult. The latter is fairly useless. In most cases, only one version is listed, often one no longer available, with absolutely no discussion of the merits of the recording, either in absolute terms or relative to others. The text is very long on trivia connected with the first production with no analysis of what effect any of this had on the composition, and virtually no discussion of subsequent revisions and changes. In the case of the more obsure opera, there may be some trivia about performances in the twentieth century as well. Analysis where it occurs at all is usually superficial. One gets no idea of the composer's development, or the development of bel canto writing. Most of the few connections drawn among the various composers comes through rather snide comments that one piece or another reminds the author of someone else.

Comprehensive but superficial.......2000-04-26

In this book, Osborne covers the entire operatic oeuvres of Rossini, Donizetti, and Bellini -- both the well-known standards and the rarely performed works. For each opera, the author provides a brief history of its composition, a bare-bones plot summary, and a very short (usually just a paragraph) critical evaluation. The entries are somewhat longer for the standard repertory pieces. For the rarities, Osborne also lists significant performances through 1992. There's a recommended discography, helpful though by now somewhat dated.

Book Description

This work constitutes the largest and most comprehensive research guide ever published about Verdi. Entries survey 1,000 of the most significant published materials relating to the composer, including bibliographies, catalogs, letters and documents, conference reports, biographies, and studies of Verdi's music dealing with topics such as genesis and compositional process, analysis, performance practice, reception, and historical position. The guide also includes selected materials on people associated with Verdi, such as Giuseppina Strepponi, his librettists, and his publishers, and on the composer's political, social, cultural, and musical milieu. The volume contains author and subject indexes and features extensive cross-referencing. Index

His Master's Voice/La Voce Del Padrone: The Italian Catalogue; A Complete Numerical Catalogue of Italian Gramophone Recordings Made from 1898 to 1929 in ... the Gramophone Company Ltd (Discographies)

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Recommended

His Master's Voice/La Voce Del Padrone: The Italian Catalogue; A Complete Numerical Catalogue of Italian Gramophone Recordings Made from 1898 to 1929 in ... the Gramophone Company Ltd (Discographies)

Manufacturer: Greenwood Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0313264988

Book Description

This discography provides, for perhaps the first time, a complete numerical catalogue of Italian gramophone recordings made by the Gramophone Company Ltd. Kelly has effectively used the archives and registers of EMI Limited (The Gramophone Company) to offer a richly detailed picture of recording activity during the years 1898 to 1929. The Gramophone Company was established in London in 1898 and by 1899 six branches had been set up in Europe, among them Milan, Italy. In each branch, matrixes were numbered serially and coded to indicate recorder, making it possible to identify not only the first Gramophone record to be made in Italy--Bice Adami singing Voi lo sapete with piano accompaniment--but to follow the course of the company's activities. The main catalogue is divided into three sections: recordings issued on the Gramophone label; recordings issued on the Zonophone label, including the Trento-Trieste Supplement; and recordings issued on the Gramophone Green label. Most entries include the following information: the original catalogue number; the matrix (serial) number of the recording in its correct form; the date of recording; the name of the artist(s) involved in making the recording, including the accompaniast where known; the title of the piece; and alternate issue numbers. Kelly's introduction gives an overview of the company's history and cataloging practices. Kelly not only examines the history of the Italian Gramophone Company, but added to the discographical record of the Victor Talking Machine Company, of which Gramophone was the European, Asian, and African partner. His discography will be welcomed by anyone interested in the international history of recorded music. Record collectors will also find it a valuable resource.

Customer Reviews:

Recommended.......2006-11-10

I've bought this book because I'm an acoustic record collector.
It's a "must" for serious collectors.

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The music guide to Italy
Elaine Brody
Manufacturer: Dodd, Mead
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

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ASIN: 0396074367

PUCCINI: COMPACT COMPANIONS: A LISTENER'S GUIDE TO THE CLASSICS (Compact Companions)

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PUCCINI: COMPACT COMPANIONS: A LISTENER'S GUIDE TO THE CLASSICS (Compact Companions)
Jonathon Brown
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0684813602

Book Description

It's hip to be square! Now, young crossword fans have a collection of puzzles they can call their own. These cool new crosswords are sure to be a hit:

• 50 hip puzzles aimed at the x- and y-generations
• First time in book form: these puzzles are from the pages of America's favorite alternative weeklies, including Creative Loafing, the SF Weekly, and the Philadelphia City Paper
• Pop culture, political commentary, and sharp social references

Amazon.com

Something strange happened to the Enron Corporation in the early 1990s: It went from a company that traded in tangible goods to one that dealt in pure abstractions, with shoddy accounting practices, astonishing compensation packages, and smoke and mirrors to obfuscate this new reality.

Company auditors, Sherron Watkins among them, warned top Enron execs from CEO Kenneth Lay on down that the company's increasing reliance on cooked books and phony reports "will implode in a wave of accounting scandals." As anyone who played the stock market or watched Enron suits do the perp walk on the evening news a couple of years ago will remember, that's exactly what happened. Texas Monthly editor Swarz and Watkins team up to offer this account, rich in anecdote and numbers alike, of what went wrong and who made it so. Though even-handed throughout, they serve up plenty of righteous scorn for the corporate leaders who enriched themselves as the company disintegrated, and for the name-brand politicians who abetted them.

Though Osama bin Laden's pawns barely dented the U.S. economy, observes Alex Berenson in The Number, Lay and his lieutenants brought it to its knees. Swartz's and Watkins's eye-opening account will rekindle new indignation over unpunished crimes and well-rewarded hubris, and it ought to be required reading in business schools henceforth. --Gregory McNamee

Book Description

“They’re still trying to hide the weenie,” thought Sherron Watkins as she read a newspaper clipping about Enron two weeks before Christmas, 2001. . . It quoted [CFO] Jeff McMahon addressing the company’s creditors and cautioning them against a rash judgment. “Don’t assume that there is a smoking gun.”
Sherron knew Enron well enough to know that the company was in extreme spin mode…

Power Failure is the electrifying behind-the-scenes story of the collapse of Enron, the high-flying gas and energy company touted as the poster child of the New Economy that, in its hubris, had aspired to be “The World’s Leading Company,” and had briefly been the seventh largest corporation in America.

Written by prizewinning journalist Mimi Swartz, and substantially based on the never-before-published revelations of former Enron vice-president Sherron Watkins, as well as hundreds of other interviews, Power Failure shows the human face beyond the greed, arrogance, and raw ambition that fueled the company’s meteoric rise in the late 1990s. At the dawn of the new century, Ken Lay’s and Jeff Skilling's faces graced the covers of business magazines, and Enron’s money oiled the political machinery behind George W. Bush’s election campaign. But as Wall Street analysts sang Enron’s praises, and its stock spiraled dizzyingly into the stratosphere, the company’s leaders were madly scrambling to manufacture illusory profits, hide its ballooning debt, and bully Wall Street into buying its fictional accounting and off-balance-sheet investment vehicles. The story of Enron’s fall is a morality tale writ large, performed on a stage with an unforgettable array of props and side plots, from parking lots overflowing with Boxsters and BMWs to hot-house office affairs and executive tantrums.

Among the cast of characters Mimi Swartz and Sherron Watkins observe with shrewd Texas eyes and an insider’s perspective are: CEO Ken Lay, Enron’s “outside face,” who was more interested in playing diplomat and paving the road to a political career than in managing Enron’s high-testosterone, anything-goes culture; Jeff Skilling, the mastermind behind Enron’s mercenary trading culture, who transformed himself from a nerdy executive into the personification of millennial cool; Rebecca Mark, the savvy and seductive head of Enron’s international division, who was Skilling’s sole rival to take over the company; and Andy Fastow, whose childish pranks early in his career gave way to something far more destructive. Desperate to be a player in Enron’s deal-making, trader-oriented culture, Fastow transformed Enron’s finance department into a “profit center,” creating a honeycomb of financial entities to bolster Enron’s “profits,” while diverting tens of millions of dollars into his own pockets

An unprecedented chronicle of Enron’s shocking collapse, Power Failure should take its place alongside the classics of previous decades – Barbarians at the Gate and Liar’s Poker – as one of the cautionary tales of our times.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Enron......Sad in a way.......2007-03-29

This book is a great account of what happened. When Enron collapsed, I was in my young teens so I really didn't pay much attention to it. However now seeing I'm in college as a business major I think it is an essential book that should be read by all business majors. It teaches what can go wrong when the wrong moves are put in place. Enron I think did everything possible to cripple itself with out seeing it until it was too late. The book takes off as rocket that a company is about to make it big. It takes from the early stages a company to a giant that falls to shambles.
The company employees the wrong people to the wrong positions. Andy Fastow I feel is the biggest crook outside of Skilling. Ken lay I feel was a good man who truly wanted to see the company prevail but with his blindness did not see the fore coming danger. Fastow reported to Skilling and Skilling just signed off on deals with out looking at them. If he would have seen what Fastow was doing with money from the company, chances are these deals would have never made it. However, with the wavering of the ethic code was just wrong. No company should ever break their code of ethics. If they do get out ASAP. Chances are it will lead to bigger breaks and will cause bigger problems and respect will go down the tubes.
This book is worth the cost and it will teach you what Enron did wrong. They should have just stayed in the Nat gas business and slowly dabble in other businesses instead of jumping into businesses without expertise. Go out and buy the book you should be pleased the way it is put together.

A Stockbrokers perspective.......2007-02-26

This book offered an unseen perspective into details about ENRON's dealings and people which should illuminate both old and new views about corporate governance, accounting policies, regulatory climate and unseen involvement by parties which contributed to the collaspe of ENRON.

Exceptional Story of the Enron Tragedy.......2006-11-10

With the recent sentencing of Jeffery Skilling, Mimi Swartz's work takes a complicated story of deciet and betrayal and explains the details in a concise and succint manner. A must read for all business leaders. A great read.

The most important reason for this book is to make the layman aware of just what a travesty the Enron scandal was............2006-10-18

The greatest reason to read this book is to get an appreciation for the scale of the collapse that was Enron. Also, you will get a description of what life was like at Enron on a personal level from an insider's view, as well as their view on what it had to do with the Company's downfall. Yes - this is one person's account, but there's enough factual information to back them up on the important points.

There are many books that are more technically oriented and probably less biased. Unfortunately, for this layman, they don't make very good bedtime reading.

Chaser for "The Smartest Guys in the Room" - kind of Enron lite.......2006-08-09

I recommend reading these 2 books together because TSGITR gets really dense in places, making for draining reading, but since the story is too incredible to put down, Power Failure takes it to a lighter level. I do think Power Failure hones in more on Andy Fastow, as co-writer Sherron Watkins worked directly with him, and the photograph of his little art project is downright chilling (you'll see what I'm referring to). Power Failure still has some great meat to chew on however; the proximity that Sherron Watkins had to the main players, particularly Lay and Fastow, lends itself to the amazing characterizations of these guys on paper. The two books follow a similar chronology and highlights, so it is interesting to compare the slight variations of the same episodes. Even though Sherron Watkins makes the most of her edge, being a primary player in the saga, the tip of my hat goes to TSGITR's writers for their downright nasty investigative reporting.

Power Failure - The Inside Story of the Collapse of Enron

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Power Failure - The Inside Story of the Collapse of Enron

Manufacturer: Books On Tape
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Cassette
ASIN: B000BYCGTI

Product Description

Recorded on 12 1 1/2 hour cassettes. Comes in clamshell case.

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Power Failure: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Enron
Mimi Swartz
Manufacturer: Diane Pub Co
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1422350525

Enron end run: whistleblower Sherron Watkins's tell-all doesn't quite add up.(Book Review) (book review): An article from: Washington Monthly

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Enron end run: whistleblower Sherron Watkins's tell-all doesn't quite add up.(Book Review) (book review): An article from: Washington Monthly
Marianne Lavelle
Manufacturer: Washington Monthly Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Digital

General | Politics | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Book Description

This digital document is an article from Washington Monthly, published by Washington Monthly Company on May 1, 2003. The length of the article is 1104 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: Enron end run: whistleblower Sherron Watkins's tell-all doesn't quite add up.(Book Review) (book review)
Author: Marianne Lavelle
Publication: Washington Monthly (Magazine/Journal)
Date: May 1, 2003
Publisher: Washington Monthly Company
Volume: 35 Issue: 5 Page: 50(2)

Article Type: Book Review

Distributed by Thomson Gale

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Power Failure: The Inside Story of the Collapse of Enron
Watkins, Mimi, Sherron Swartz
Manufacturer: audible.com
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Audio Download
ASIN: B000092PU4

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Power Failure the Inside Story of the Collapse of Enron
Mimi With Watkins, Sherron Swartz
Manufacturer: Doubleday
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000NBF46Q

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