Book Description
Sir John Gielgud's acting career was among the most distinguished of his generation. In a lifetime that lasted nearly a century, he appeared in hundreds of theatrical productions and films, receiving virtually every acting honor given, including an Academy Award for his performance as Hobson the butler in the film Arthur. Now, in this insightful authorized biography, written with unprecedented access to Gielgud's diaries and personal letters, author Sheridan Morley traces not only the actor's career, but gives a refreshingly frank look into Gielgud the man, and how his professional success as an actor often came at the expense of his personal happiness.
Customer Reviews:
Solid yet slightly lacking.......2003-05-26
Sir John Gielgud was one of the great Shakespearean thespians of the twentieth century, although I unfortunately never saw him on stage where he was apparently at his best. Morley's biography is well-written and informative, but somehow lacks a certain spark.
It follows Gielgud from his childhood (from a family with several respected actors) to his early acting career, ascending from a skinny-legged boy to a much-respected actor, and then a knight and universally revered thespian. His arrest for soliciting a plainclothes policeman resulted in a reworking of laws on homosexuality. And he left behind an astonishing body of work, from a quiet man whose life essentially revolved around his work.
One of the unusual aspects of "John Gielgud: The Authorized Biography" is the respect that Morley has for Gielgud. He keeps his tone constantly respectful but not fannish. His handling of potentially sordid situations (the soliciting case) is always careful and respectful, a rarity in most biographies. His handling of Gielgud's homosexuality and its place in 1940s and 1950s England is particularly good. The attitude there and then was quite different from now. Some of the best actors today -- Ian McKellen being the most prominent -- are able to be openly gay, but then it was actually illegal. Morley does a good job describing the social and legal atmosphere at that time, through conversations, letters to the editors, the press's response, and the changes in the law. One slightly frustrating aspect of the book is the lack of presence of the Gielgud family -- when one of them popped back into the narrative, I found myself wondering, "Who is that again?"
Morley also offers insights into British theater and actors, including Gielgud's connections with Vivien Leigh, Lawrence Olivier, Ralph Richardson and Noel Coward. We get to hear the good and bad reviews, some from Gielgud himself, such as his disgust with his shoeless "Romeo" costume (though the picture of him in that play isn't bad). And (wow, another rarity) Morley lets us see some examples of Gielgud's undeniable wit. Though he seems to have put his foot in his mouth frequently, he had some great zingers: at one point he complained about a flatulent crew member by saying that he didn't mind dying, but must it be in a gas chamber?
What is lacking? Perhaps it's a greater sense of knowledge about what made Gielgud tick. Morley knew him, but he fails overall to really let the readers really know what he was like. I got bits and pieces of his personality -- his shyness, his wit, his intense love of acting -- but not a picture of the whole. Some of the dates and situations seem unreliable or debatable. That, and I found the pictures a little unsatisfying. I like it when professional and personal photos are balanced out; this book had almost entirely professional pics.
Gielgud was part of a golden generation of great actors, and had a certain quality that filled whatever stage or screen he was on. While "John Gielgud: The Authorized Biography" can't be called the best, it's certainly worth a look.
Dueling Gielguds.......2002-04-21
It is difficult not to compare Morely's work to Jonathan Croall's altogether superior "John Gielgud: A Theatrical Life 1904-2000," which came out shortly before. "John Gielgud: The Authorized Biography" is decidedly inferior to the Croall book, although a interesting effort on its own merit. It does not have the depth of analysis of Croall's book (essentially skipping over Gielgud's relationship to his family, which Croall goes into in significant detail), as well as making numerous mistakes (saying, for instance, that Gielgud didn't play his first Shaw until doing the Preminger film of "Saint Joan" - forgetting that he played in both "Arms and the Man" and "Androcles & The Lion" at the Old Vic almost twenty years previously; or saying that Gielgud's 1974 Prospero was "his first full-length Shakespeare since 1958," forgetting that he played Othello in 1961. Another puzzling inconsistency was when Morely wrote that Donald Wolfit's hatred of Gielgud started when they did "Richard of Bordeaux" together in 1933, even though he'd already written that Wolfit was furious at Gielgud for allegedly having his Claudius cut down for the West End transfer of "Hamlet" in 1930. Morely also insisted that Gielgud won two Tony Awards for directing "Big Fish, Little Fish" and "Five Finger Excercise" (Gielgud was awarded for the former, but was even nominated for the latter; although Gielgud did win "Best Foreign Production" for "The Importance of Being Earnest" in 1947 and a special Tony for "The Ages of Man" in 1959.)
There are some surprising omissions as well, ignoring completely Gielgud's rivalry with Giles Isham when they were at the Old Vic in 1929/30, when at the offset it was assumed that Isham instead of Gielgud would play Hamlet.
Still, it's an interesting book that probably would have seemed better if I hadn't read Croall's first. He's very matter-of-fact about Gielgud's homosexuality, and uses his 1953 arrest as a focal point (as Croall does). Olivier comes off poorly in both books, although I would say that Morely has more patience with him than Croall seems to (in Croall's book, Olivier is depicted as a kind of antagonist, which I think gives his book more drama). I also think that Morely has a tendency to accept a lot of the Gielgud history at face value, whereas Croall thinks it through and considers the logic of a lot of it. The best example of this is the legendary story of Gielgud and Olivier swapping of roles of Romeo and Mercutio in 1936: Morely accepts that this gimmick was intended from the get-go, whereas Croall ponders (quite logically) that Gielgud and producer Binkie Beaumont were hedging their bets against Olivier's inexperience in Shakespeare at the time, and the role-swapping was agreed upon in case Olivier's reviews as Romeo were so disastrous that they would switch parts to keep the production from suffering. In view of the state of Olivier's career at the time (he had yet to even attempt a leading Shakespearean role on the professional stage), this makes infinitely more sense. Another example is the famous story that Gielgud went to Olivier after the latter opened in Hamlet and said "it's one of the most brilliant performances I've ever seen, but it's still my part." Morely reports it as though
he witnessed it, but Croall points out that not only did neither actor mention it in his autobiography and that Gielgud was actually in America when the comment was allegedly made, but such boasting was very out of character for Gielgud.
This is not to say that Morely's book is a wash. He does a fine job of talking about Gielgud's finances, and brings up the point that Ralph Richardson and Gielgud maintained a friendship despite the fact that Richardson was homophobic and openly uncomfortable with Gielgud's private life (a topic Croall doesn't mention, and indeed even Morely doesn't do much more than mention in passsing). Morely does blow it a lot, though - such as the famous anecdote where Gielgud goes to meet Richard Burton in the latter's dressing room after a performance of "Hamlet," and drops the brick "Why don't you come along when you're better...I mean ready?" Every time I've heard that story related (including Croall's book), it took place in 1953 when Burton played the part at the Old Vic, but Morely maintains that the exchange took place during the 1964 Broadway production. I think he booted it, and I think he does that a disconcertingly large amount of the time. He also has a tendency to bring himself into the narrative (a paragraph might begin with "John approached me about writing this book..."), which I find disconcerting.
"John Gielgud: The Authorized Biography" is a must-read for serious students of Gielgud's career, but Croall's book is the definitive study and should definitely be read first.
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The Authorized Biography of John Gielgud
Sheridan Morley
Manufacturer: Hodder & Stoughton
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0340368039 |
Amazon.com
Have you heard the one about the new computer owner who mistook the CD-ROM player for a cup holder? Or the woman who thought her brains were oozing out of a gunshot wound, when the "truth" was that when her Pillsbury Poppin' Fresh can exploded, striking her on the head with the lid, the goo she felt was biscuit dough? Jan Harold Brunvand, professor emeritus at the University of Utah and author of numerous urban-legend collections, including The Vanishing Hitchhiker, The Choking Doberman, Curses! Broiled Again, and American Folklore: An Encyclopedia, has been studying urban legends for some 20 years, and his new book, Too Good to Be True, relates more than 200 of these indestructible tales.
There are relatively recent stories based on modern technology, such as the classic microwaved pet, and yarns that have been making the urban-legend circuit for decades, such as the solid-cement-Cadillac story, which can be traced back to the 1940s, at least, involving a cement-truck driver who spies a new Cadillac convertible in his driveway and his wife talking to some strange man. He dumps his load of concrete on the Cadillac, but later discovers the stranger was a car dealer and the car was to be a gift from his wife, one she'd spent years saving her pennies for.
The stories are grouped by subject, including "Dog Tales" and "Just Desserts," "Sexcapades" and "Losing Face." There are baby stories and work stories, criminal tales and college anecdotes, plus stories of mistaken identity, human nature, and technology. Brunvand achieves more, however, than a mere compendium of highly entertaining stories. He discusses the nature of urban legends--those almost believable, addictively retellable tales that always happened to a friend of a friend (FOAF, in folklorist parlance)--and for each individual story, Brunvand includes as much of its history as he has been able to trace, including newspaper accounts, alternative versions, and the story's natural cycle, that is, how many years, typically, between resurfacings. The result is an exceptionally engaging book and a great resource for debunking that next story, as heard from a friend by that unnamed acquaintance of unassailable honesty, that sounds just a little too perfect to swallow whole. --Stephanie Gold
Book Description
A fabulously entertaining book from the ultimate authority on those almost believable tales that always happen to a "friend of a friend." Alligators in the sewers? A pet in the microwave? A tragic misunderstanding of the function of cruise control? No, it didn't really happen to your friend's sister's neighbor: it's an urban legend. And no matter how savvy you think you are, you are sure to find in this collection of over 200 tales at least one story you would have sworn was true. Jan Harold Brunvand has been collecting and studying this modern folklore for over twenty years. In Too Good to Be True he captures the best stories in their best retellings, along with their latest variations and examples of how the stories have changed as they move from person to person and place to place. To help you find your favorite, Brunvand has arranged the tales thematically. "Bringing Up Baby" is full of episodes of child-rearing gone wrong, including the grisly tale of the drugged out baby-sitter who mistakes the kid for a turkey. "Funny Business" showcases stories of infamous lapses in customer service, such as the story of the shockingly expensive chocolate chip cookie recipe. And "The Criminal Mind" features both brilliant --if they were real --scams, as well as the purported antics of the less mentally gifted. Whether you want to become an expert debunker or just have plenty of laughs, this book will surprise and entertain you. Illustrated throughout. 70 b/w illustrations.
Customer Reviews:
Portable Snopes rehashes same old stories........2004-11-01
Brunvand has been profiting from everyone's love of urban legends for far too long. His books are a waste of trees since he insists on reprinting the same tired stories over and over. This volume is no exception; its only virtue is that it can be read in the bathroom or while lying in bed.
Yaawn. I recommend www.snopes.com, the Urban Legends Reference Page, for far more entertainment in the form of fresh, tasty urban legends and no dead trees. Visiting the Snopes site is not without risks -- the endless theorizing about the role urban legends play in controlling social behavior is quite boring, and Barbara Mikkelson's (Mrs. Snopes) passion for cutsey "internyms"[i.e., Joe "I Wrote It" Smith] is seriously annoying. Be warned, though -- take the "disturbing image" labels seriously, or you may see some pictures that will stick in your mind far longer than you'd like.
Fun and interesting read.......2004-04-15
Mr. Brunvand's book is a delight to read simply as a collection of Urban Legends - the stories play on our love of fun, irony, mischief, coincidence or even morbid twists of fate. But anyone could compile a bunch of urban legends. The real meat of the book is in Mr. Brunvand's analysis of each legend, or group of legends. It is pretty amazing to see him trace the origins of each legend and pick apart the contents. Several of the legends actually have their root in real events, but most are pure fancy. Why do I give it only a four star rating? I save the fifth for truly outstanding books. This one is fun, but not a must-read.
Format of the book: The author divides the book into chapters based on the theme of the legends. Each chapter has many legends (from his "files"), interspersed with his analysis. In his analysis, he may talk about the feasibility of a legend, the origin, other occurrances of the same or similar legends in history, or sociological aspects of the legend.
"Parental advisory": A few of the legends have some somewhat twisted sexual content.
So bottom line: Fun book - it will keep you entertained and give you the upper hand next time someone tries to tell you one of these legends.
Colossal Book of Urban Legends.......2002-09-09
For those who don't know, Jan Harold Brunvand has a column out in Salt Lake City, but has acquired a following all across the country, or rather the world. He is the leading scholar on the subject of urban legends, those sometimes funny and often terrifying stories you first heard on the playground or by the watercooler, which are always supposed to be true but can't be proved because they happened to a friend of a friend of a friend . . . This book, the "Colossal Book of Urban Legends" is really an updated combination of most of Brunvand's previous books, such as "The Vanishing Hitchhiker", "The Choking Doberman" and "The Baby Train". In other words, if you are going to buy this book, I doubt think you'll want to buy all the previous ones, though there might be a few stories in those not included here.
Just tell us the legends please.......2002-04-10
Well, this thick tome is basically a collection of urban legends, which is, unless you have been hiding under a rock, are stories which people tell each other is true but has no real basis in facts. Who haven't heard of alligators in the sewers, the woman who cooked her cat in the microwave, the hooked killer, and so on. Usually, after the story are told, there is a little caption that suggest how the legend may have started
As fascinating as these stories are, the book itself leaves something to be desired. Because it seems all too often, the author is either constantly doubting that this is a true story (duh!) or that he cannot believe in the gullibility of people (there is quite a liberal amount of self righteous sarcasm).
Okay, we got the message! Just tell us the stories and give us the facts. The book would otherwise woudl have worked more effectively in giving me the creeps. But it didn't. Maybe it wasn't suppose to.
Still, I can't help but think that the author insulted my intelligence.
Four stars, but only in the Bathroom Reader category.......2001-11-11
Urban legends are anecdotal yarns, sworn to be factually based, which become embellished to the point of being "too good to be true" as they percolate through society. Today's urban legends will become the future's fairy tales.
TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE is an assemblage of over 200 such stories gathered by Jan Brunvand, who is an expert, perhaps obsessively so, on the subject. They cover a wide range of source topics: pets, criminals, cars, sex, accidents, babies, work, technology, human nature, mistaken ID, academia, food, the supernatural, wild animals, and more. They inspire laughter, horror, disbelief, or just plain "Oh, yuck!" Each story is followed by a paragraph, sometimes lengthy, on the times and places the anecdote, or some variant of it, has appeared. Some go back to the 19th century. After the first twenty-five or so, I decided to leave this last bit to the truly compulsive.
My favorite was the one about the American couple staying at the Moscow hotel during the bad old Soviet era. Obsessed with the possible presence of listening devices, the couple searched the room for "bugs". Finding only a metal plate under the carpet, they removed the screws from it. The next morning on checkout, the desk manager asked if they'd spent a pleasant night. He was concerned since the couple in the room below our intrepid travelers had the chandelier fall on them. My wife said she's never seen me laugh so hard.
The trouble with these stories is that they have no developing plot, no hero to love, and no villain to hate. Like eating popcorn, the experience, however delightful, ends with the last kernel/paragraph. Nobody ever exclaims, "Wow, I had a great bag of popcorn last week!" Similarly, I doubt this book will stay memorable for more than a minute. As a bathroom diversion for those contemplative moments, it stands out. Otherwise, it's light reading with a capital "L".
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El fabuloso libro de las leyendas urbanas/ The Colossal Book of the Urban Legends: Demasiado Bueno Para Ser Cierto/ Too Good to Be True
Jan Harold Brunvand
Manufacturer: Alba
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 8484281418 |
Book Description
The Sicilian Kan is one of the most flexible and easy-to-play variations of the entire Sicilian complex. In contrast to opening monsters such as the infamous Dragon and Najdorf Variations, Black players are not forced to memorize massive chunks of opening theory. Success in the Sicilian Kan is more dependent on understanding certain principles and a system of development. Another point in its favor is that even more experienced White players are often flummoxed by Black¿s elastic approach. Recently the Kan has received a seal of approval from the highest places, with both Kasparov and Kramnik employing it in the last couple of years.
In this book, Grandmaster John Emms considers both the popular main lines and the tricky sidelines of the Sicilian Kan. Using illustrative games, Emms guides the reader through the positional and tactical intricacies of this modern opening.
*Written by a leading openings expert
*Includes games from world class grandmasters
*An ideal weapon at all levels
Customer Reviews:
Good way to learn an opening.......2007-02-05
Pros: A collection of games very well annotated on this particular sicilian variation. It's worth reading it if you play the Kan.
Cons: Sidelines are not fully covered, though. If you are not a master this is a common problem as your contenders will play sidelines very often and there are few games and few commentaries about those lines in this book (example: 5.Nc3 Qe7 6.Be2). Everyman Chess (publisher) could add a diskette with the games (as does New in Chess with some of their books), that would turn the study easier (and faster) if you read it using a chess database program.
A nice guide for white, but lacking in the black side.......2004-05-18
I am disappointed by this book. A few months ago I got very excited about the Sicilian Kan openning and was dying to try it in competition, and was looking for a good book to guide me through the learning curve. With this book, I expected a lot considering the 5 stars that it has received in the previous two reviewers. However, from black's point of view, I believe John Emms book is severely lacking in content. It appears to me that the author is clearly more biased for the white pieces rather than the black's point of view, which is seen by the substantial analysis given from white's perspective. I am going to buy the Ali Mortazavi book on the Kan, hopefully it will give me a more balanced view on this new and dynamic openning. If you want to learn on how to beat the Kan openning, buy this book, but if you want to win with it, better save your money on something else.
A thorough look at a flexible opening.......2003-05-03
I enjoy playing small center Sicilian positions like the Scheveningen, but want to avoid the Keres Attack. Unlike Kasparov, however, I am unwilling to devote my life to keeping current on the Najdorf theory that changes by the hour. The Kan (also known as the Paulsen variation) can easily transpose into the Scheveningen in many lines while avoiding the Keres variation. The Kan is strategic in nature and flexible. Many lines have a Hedgehog flavor to them.
If you like strategic opening variations that can be played according to general setups rather than meticulously crafted move orders, the Kan is for you. This book does an exceptional job of explaining the types of positions you are likely to encounter, and how to handle them.
I agree that the lack of an index is unforgivable, but it doesn't take away from the quality of the writing.
Book Description
This is the most useable, hard-hitting field manual on managing and leading people available. It is broken down into short, direct, applicable sections filled with strategies like these:
-Seven Steps To Recruiting & Hiring A Team Of Eagles
-How To Leverage The Power Of Momentum
-Are You More Manager Than Leader?
-Eleven Steps For Leading Change
-A Fish Rots At The Head
-Five Causes & Cures For Corporate Cancer
-You Might Be a Micromanager If...
-How To Stay Off The Endangered Species List
-Your People Need A Coach. Not A Cop
-Vision: A Leader's First Responsibility
-Drop The Excuses For Not Training
-Weeding Out "Loyal" Non-Performers
-Six Steps To Power Motivating
-Five Steps To Holding Powerful One-On-Ones
-Turning Poor Performers Around
-How To Make The Tough Calls And Dozens More!
Customer Reviews:
Leadership tips written for everyone.......2001-12-20
What I found unique about No-Nonsense Leadership is how easy Dave's principles are to apply.
Forget all the hype and headlining many leadership trainers are promoting. Dave Anderson is right on the money because he has worked in the trenches --he's suffered your worst nightmares! Best of all, he gives you dozens of techniques you can go out and apply right away in your job.
If your 2002 book budget is tight, buy this book and read it every single day of the year! Your career will take off...
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- Lessons for Dylan: From Father to Son
- Little Comic Shop of Horrors (Give Yourself Goosebumps, Book 17)
- Lucio Fulci: Beyond the Gates
- Marilyn & Me: Sisters, Rivals, Friends
- Maya 4.5 for Windows & Macintosh (Visual QuickStart Guide)
- Mouse Morality: The Rhetoric of Disney Animated Film
- Movies Were Always Magical: Interviews with 19 Actors, Directors and Producers from the Hollywood of the 1930s through the 1950s
- Narration in Light: Studies in Cinematic Point of View
- New Punk Cinema (Traditions in World Cinema)
- New York Times Film Reviews, l983-l984
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Gielgud: A Theatrical Life 1904-2000
Shakespeare and Co.: Christopher Marlowe, Thomas Dekker, Ben Jonson, Thomas Middleton, John Fletcher and the Other Players in His Story
Olivier
