Castle Keep is an excellent story set during the Battle of the Bulge in World War II. A detachment of American soldiers is sent to guard a Belgian castle that is owned by a count and his young wife. Led by Major Falconer, a one-eyed Navajo Indian, the men live a life separate from the war as they occupy the castle. The rest of the men include a musician, an art historian, a writer, a baker, an ex-reverend, a cowboy, another Indian, and just a regular old sergeant. There are truly funny scenes in the book that have you laughing out loud, most noticably during the incident with Lt Amberjack and Sergeant Rossi as they try to destroy a Volkswagen. The period of rest the soldiers have is broken by the German attack in the Ardennes. While much of the book is very humorous, the battle scenes are very stirring and emotional.

This book might not be for everyone, but many people will enjoy this kind of off the wall humor. Sometimes it seems that Eastlake just tried to make the oddest thing imaginable work in his story. Also check out the movie of the same name starring Burt Lancaster and Peter Falk. The movie stays very true to the novel and is well worth a watch. Check out Castle Keep for a very enjoyable World War II comedy/adventure!

Story about a group of American soldiers charged with the responsibility of guarding a castle overlooking an important crossroad. Must read for people who appreciate the Catch22 type humour.

If Jim Jarmusch ever decides to do a war film, this is what he should base it on. This is a wonderfully odd, comic and moving account of war as pure absurdity. The writing is tons better than Heller in Catch-22, the most obvious comparison. Set in Belgium, a group of American soldiers are given the assignment of holding a castle against the on-coming German front. Their leader is a one-eyed American Indian who is boffing the niece/daughter/wife of the castle's duke. The rest of the soldiers make-up a classic American cultural cross-section: another Indian, a black, a cowboy, a baker, and an art historian. The story is told in chapters from the POVs of the various characters, like Faulkner's As I Lay Dying. Lot's of hilarious dialogue. Thank god Dalkey Archive re-issued this work in their American Literature Series.

The story of William Castle and his discovery of the cause of pernicious anemia. The author captures the character and work ethic of this esteemed physican and educator. It describes the atmosphere of academic excellence at the Boston City Hospital. The author clearly understands that the virtues of the clinician investigator are timeless.

The story of William Bosworth Castle is a story of medical pioneers - men and women who were committed to helping patients at any costs - often at the price of their own personal resources. It's a story of a man - and his colleagues - for who monetary reward was a non-existent consideration - and who were willing to sacrifice even their own health to make medical progress. It's about a time when Physicians were willing to work long hours in primitive conditions - to produce an ethic and academic tradition that resulted in a program that trained a cadre of physicians who had a lasting effect on academic medicine that persists to the present day.

William Castle represents the type of "role model" who's influence far transcends his time and place. I had the honor of training in Castle's tradition. I'm grateful for that.

In this era when the TV series ER has come to symbolize what medicine is, this extraordinary story of the life and scientific pursuit of one clinician is not just enthralling and inspiring, but is also a reminder that medicine is so much more than the sort of drama celebrated on TV. There is a quieter drama, that of a life lived in pursuit of a goal and following certain beliefs. The book HOUSE OF GOD was written as a satire, but it is amazing how many medical students have come to see it as gospel, taken it seriously (check out the readers' comments for that book and you will see what I mean). INTRINSIC FACTORS is really the book that medical students, and preferably pre-med students should read to grasp the romance and passion of medicine, a love affair that is greater than HMOs and financial pressures and goverment regulations. Karnad tells this story beautifully.

For any 1950s - 1960s horror fan, this cult classic filmmaker writes about his experiences within the crazy & zany Hollywood system of the past in the most entertaining fashion of storytelling. Wonderful tales about how Castle created some of his horror film gimmicks & publicity stunts, to his producing experiences with Roman Polanski on 'Rosemary's Baby.' It is an honest auto-biography in which boths side of Castle are revealed (from the Hollywood filmmaker to the family man he was). If you find this book, get it! It is a collector's item!!!!

This was a great book. It's perfect for anyone who loves movies. William H. Castle was a genious. By the way, this is JOHN WATERS' favorite book.

I found this book to be one of the best autobiographies I have ever read. William Castle made every bit of his life a thorough joy to read.. It was a book that I could not put down. I took it everywhere, just to see what crazy gimmick he would come up with next. A must read. I don't want to give you any details because it would just spoil the book. This book and the two below give a true sense of what it was like to make "quality" B-movies in the 50's and 60's

Check out - Roger Corman's: How I Made A Hundred Movies In Hollywood and Never Lost A Dime. and Samuel Z. Arkoff's: Flying Through Hollywood By The Seat of My Pants.

This is a book about love, violence, the outsider against society: the forbidden love of Tristan and Isolde, the problem violence in Boiardo's Orlando in Love, Ariosto's analysis of women and society, Spenser in Ireland, and Shakespeare's use of the old romance trope of the custom of the castle.

This book gives an intimate look at one of "America's Castles" from inside and out. The history of the building site is covered, as is the design and construction of the buildings. The life and times of W.R. Hearst and his friends and loved ones are presented in such a way as to flesh out the character of the house.

I just finished reading this book, and I'm tempted to pick it up and start all over again. This is one that I'll reread often.

The layout of the book is interesting and eye-catching, but the tints used on the pages sometimes make the text difficult to read. Make sure you sit down with this book in a very well-lit room -- not only will light make it that much easier to read, you'll be able to enjoy the wonderful pictures more easily.

A first rate account of the building of "La Cuesta Encantada" with new information I have not found in other Hearst Castle books or by taking the castle tours many, many times since I was a little girl. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Can't wait to visit the castle again with this new knowledge.

I do not know about you? But I do not notice things in front of my face unless someone points them out to me. When I go to museums I need to go twice once with someone to point things out and again for my own exploration. I used this book for the point out phase. It is more intricate than a biography film.

There are several color pictures (259 illustrations) that point out items of interest, many more with maps and history (157 plates in full color). There is an expansive preface, forward, introduction, and prologue. There are twelve chapters that carry you on a historical tour of the castle.

I am not going to go through the book, as that is why you are purchasing the book and not the review. However on a personal note after looking at the book I went to the castle. I stayed overnight on the San Simeon coast to complete the tours in two days. As with all pictures the pale compared the real thing. However you now can use the book for memories. I did bring a camera. However you are not allowed to use a flash. And I have to admit that Victoria Garagliano is a better photographer. I think the cover shows the most impressive part of the castle. The Roman pool is located inside and under the tennis court. Just like the picture it is cool quiet and reflective. I did want to jump in just for the fun of it.

Now I leave the book on the coffee table so some unsuspecting person (and they are rare) will ask me about it.

This is a fabulous collection representing the beginning of Gothic fiction. Otronto is the very first such work, and is a perfect illustration of the basic themes and plotlines predominant in Gothic. Although not the most polished work of fiction, it's often so bad it's funny, and definitely worth reading. The other stories are much more professional, albeit a bit drier reading. I'm especially fond of Vathek, as it more clearly represents fear fiction as it was to become. Dr. Polidori's piece is particularly intersting as he was a physician and present at the famous ghost-story-telling session(s) of Byron and the Shelley couple.

On the whole, this collection is the ideal glimpse into the genre at its rudimentary level.

This volume is an excellent introduction to four
works of the Gothic mindset, which hit England at
the end of the 1700s and lasted on into the early
Romantic period, all the way up to the late decadence
of the 1890s, winding up in Robert Louis Stevenson's
THE STRANGE CASE OF DR. JEKYLL AND MR. HYDE (1886),
Oscar Wilde's THE PICTURE OF DORIAN GRAY (1891), and
Bram Stoker's DRACULA (1897).
These are four of the earliest of this Gothic genre.
The volume includes Horace Walpole's THE CASTLE OF
OTRANTO (Christmas Eve, 1764); William Beckford's
VATHEK (1786); John Polidori's VAMPYRE (1819); and
a Vampire Fragment by Lord Byron (1819), "which was
published at the end of MAZEPPA in 1819."
The list of Gothic NOVELS (rather than stories)
in chronological order which make the grade are:
Horace Walpole's CASTLE OF OTRANTO (1764), Clara
Reeve's THE CHAMPION OF VIRTUE (1777), William
Beckford's VATHEK (1786), Ann Radcliffe's THE
MYSTERIES OF UDOLPHO (1794), Matthew Gregory Lewis's
THE MONK (1795), Mary Shelley's FRANKENSTEIN (1818),
John Polidori's VAMPYRE (1819), Charles R. Maturin's
MELMOTH THE WANDERER (1820).
There are excellent introductions to each of the
writers and their works at the beginning of the book.
In speaking of THE CASTLE OF OTRANTO, Bleiler says:
"This novel has been called one of the half-dozen
historically most important novels in English. The
founder of a school of fiction, the so-called Gothic
novel, it served as the direct model for an enormous
quantity of novels written up through the first
quarter of the 19th century.... It was probably
the most important source for enthusiasm for the
Middle Ages that suddenly swept Europe in the later
18th century, and many of the trappings of the early
19th century Romantic movement have been traced to
it. It embodied the spirit of an age."
There is included a series of impressive "Notes"
to the novel VATHEK: An Arabian Tale. The novel
begins in an interesting fashion: "Vathek, ninth
caliph of the race of the Abassides, was the son
of Motassem, and the grandson of Haroun al Raschid.
From an early accession to the throne, and the talents
he possessed to adorn it, his subjects were induced to
expect that his reign would be long and happy. His
figure was pleasing and majestic: but when he was
angry, one of his eyes became so terrible, that no
person could bear to behold it; and the wretch upon
whom it was fixed instantly fell backward, and
sometimes expired. For fear, however, of depopulating
his dominions and making his palace desolate, he but
rarely gave way to his anger."
And here is a sample bite from John Polidori's
VAMPYRE: "There was no colour upon her cheek, not
even upon her lip; yet there was a stillness about
her face that seemed almost as attaching as the life
that once dwelt there: --upon her neck and breast
was blood, and upon her throat were the marks of teeth
having opened the vein: -- to this the men pointed,
crying, simultaneously struck with horror, "A
Vampyre! a Vampyre!"

William R. Hearst and his entourage spent only a grand total of four months at St. Donat's Castle in Glamorganshire, Wales, but they left a lasting impression on the historic castle and the local people. This book provides a brief look at the period in the 20's and 30's when the Hollywood set of Hearst and Marion Davies descended on a great Welsh home. Also detailed are the many changes Hearst ordered done to the Castle (some of which were questionable from a historic preservation standpoint). There are a number of photo's from the Hearst period. The book left me yearning to know more about the rest of St. Donat's colorful past.

This book has unusual insights into the life and times of William Randolph Hearst. The details are remarkable and the content is absorbing. So much has been written on Hearst's California Castle (San Simeon), that it is interesting to find information on St. Donat's of Wales. It is equally as interesting to find what became of Hearst's romantic interest Marion Davies. Rare photos of the individuals and contents of the castle. Very well written and researched.

William Makepeace Thackeray subtitled "Vanity Fair", his masterful comic novel, "A Novel Without a Hero". But while this big, baggy eight-hundred page monstrosity of comic characters and situations may lack a hero, it has two of the most memorable characters in English literature: Amelia Sedley and Becky Sharp. The contrapuntal, shifting fortunes of these two women drive the narrative of this big book, painting, along the way, a brilliant satirical portrait of English and European society at the time of the Napoleonic wars. We first meet Amelia and Becky in the opening pages of the novel, leaving Miss Pinkerton's School for the wider world of fortune, love and marriage. Amelia Sedley, the naive, sheltered daughter of a rich London merchant whose fortunes will dramatically change over the course of her life, "was a dear little creature; and a great mercy it is, both in life and in novels, which (the latter especially) abound in villains of the most sombre sort, that we are to have for a constant companion so guileless and good-natured a person." In contrast, Becky Sharp, the impoverished orphan of an artist and a French opera singer of dubious repute, was a calculating, amoral social climber. "Miss Rebecca was not, then, in the least kind or placable . . . but she had the dismal precocity of poverty." From the opening pages, Thackeray captures the reader's interest in these two characters and carries the reader through marriages, births, deaths, poverty, misfortune, social climbing . . . even the Battle of Waterloo! While Amelia and Becky wind like a long, contrasting thread from the beginning to the end of this story, there are also plots and subplots, intrigues and authorial asides, and one character after another, all of this literary invention keeping the reader incessantly preoccupied and enthralled. Reading "Vanity Fair" is the furthest thing from "killing time" (as the dusty, misguided literary critic F. R. Leavis once said); it is, rather, the epitome of the nineteenth century English comic novel, a masterpiece in every sense of the word.

William Makepeace Thackeray subtitled "Vanity Fair", his masterful comic novel, "A Novel Without a Hero". But while this big, baggy eight-hundred page monstrosity of comic characters and situations may lack a hero, it has two of the most memorable characters in English literature: Amelia Sedley and Becky Sharp. The contrapuntal, shifting fortunes of these two women drive the narrative of this big book, painting, along the way, a brilliant satirical portrait of English and European society at the time of the Napoleonic wars.

We first meet Amelia and Becky in the opening pages of the novel, leaving Miss Pinkerton's School for the wider world of fortune, love and marriage. Amelia Sedley, the naive, sheltered daughter of a rich London merchant whose fortunes will dramatically change over the course of her life, "was a dear little creature; and a great mercy it is, both in life and in novels, which (the latter especially) abound in villains of the most sombre sort, that we are to have for a constant companion so guileless and good-natured a person." In contrast, Becky Sharp, the impoverished orphan of an artist and a French opera singer of dubious repute, was a calculating, amoral social climber. "Miss Rebecca was not, then, in the least kind or placable . . . but she had the dismal precocity of poverty."

From the opening pages, Thackeray captures the reader's interest in these two characters and carries the reader through marriages, births, deaths, poverty, misfortune, social climbing . . . even the Battle of Waterloo! While Amelia and Becky wind like a long, contrasting thread from the beginning to the end of this story, there are also plots and subplots, intrigues and authorial asides, and one character after another, all of this literary invention keeping the reader incessantly preoccupied and enthralled. Reading "Vanity Fair" is the furthest thing from "killing time" (as the dusty, misguided literary critic F. R. Leavis once said); it is, rather, the epitome of the nineteenth century English comic novel, a masterpiece in every sense of the word.

"Vanity Fair" is Thackeray's masterpiece and on a par with the best of Dickens' work. Alternating deftly between tragedy and comedy, it is a story rich in character development and historical accuracy. The famous pre-Waterloo ball given by the Duchess of Richmond is described in detail and is one of the highlights of the book. Becky Sharp is certainly a model for all the other treacherous femme fatales that follow her in literature, particularly Scarlett O'Hara. "Vanity Fair" is undoubtedly one of the great works of the 1900's and it has surely stood the test of time. It may be "A Novel Without a Hero" but its characters are real flesh and blood human beings.

This gives a brief history of the house and of the people who lived there from Victoria to the present royals. Clearly a much loved place.The book's strong point are the black and white photos, and many portraits of individuals who are known to history photographed there.The author gives the reader the sense that this was an important house historically and personally to the few favored to live and visit there.

I picked up "Scare Tactic" after finishing William Castle's very engaging memoirs, "Step Right Up! I'm Gonna Scare the Pants off America." There is very little original material in John Law's book... most of it is just a rehash of Castle's memoirs, in which Law re-tells Castle's anecdotes, sometimes refuting them. (Mostly on minor details like dates.) Law offers a few terse observations and insights of the man's life, but not really until the very last 10 pages of the book. The most glaring and offensive thing about this book is how poorly it is edited: simple mistakes (like spelling "Ursula" "Ursual" or "their" instead of "there") dot almost every single page, making this book seem even more amateurish. I suggest picking up Castle's memoirs instead... they're much more entertaining and better written.

The author's obvious love of Castle's horror work comes through. While the book doesnt offer great detail of Castle's other works, his horror classics are well detailed. There is some overlap with Castle's own autobiography, but there's some great touches with some of the lousy film reviews the director got which Castle himself rarely admitted to and some item Castle never discussed in his own book, like the fact that Joan Crawford was not the original star of Strait-Jacket. The book also has some rare photos and is a great option since Castle's own autobiography hasnt been in print for years. In fact, this is actually the only biography ever done on Castle.

While certainly not the complete word on William Castle, there's so little written about the filmmaker that this book is a welcome addition. Castle's own book is filled with stories that are half-true, so it's nice to have another look. Book offers details behind many of his classic B-horrors and is a pretty easy read. It even offers some new and unusual bits of info and photos that were seriously lacking from the republished version of Castle's autobiography. There's still room for a really good biography on William Castle, but until it's done this is worth a read for any Castle fan.