I agree with everything in the previous review, especially the Russell versus Midler versions of the movie. This is a wonderful show, and I am the lucky woman who gets to play Rose in my local theatre's production. I bought this book because Tams-Witmark sends out "sides" for each role -- a small book that includes only the character's lines with just a few words of the cue before. Having the full script is a great help, but be aware that this book is slightly different from the version used by Tams-Witmark. I'm marking the changes in my full script and using it, though, because it's much more convenient.

Do get the memoir Gypsy by Gypsy Rose Lee. It's amazing to see how much of this show was taken directly from the pages of her autobiography. Rose and Herbie were somewhat romanticized in the show, as was Tessie the stripper and many other aspects of the story -- hey this is Broadway! There can't be *too* much misery! But the cow really did come to Rose in a dream and really did get them on the Orpheum Circuit. They really did bleach a gaggle of girls' hair blonde. Both books are great reads.

I am a student in Chicago's New Tuners Workshop, an organization devoted to the writing of new works of musical theatre. In our first year, we are required to read GYPSY. Our artistic director, John Sparks, considers GYPSY to be one of the finest book musicals ever written.

The lead part of the Mama Rose is often considered the musical theatre equivalent of Lady MacBeth or Hedda Gabler. Lucky is the woman who gets to play her. Three women have played her on Broadway: Ethel Merman (in the original production), Angela Lansbury (in a 1970's revival) and Tyne Daly (in a 1990's revival). Lansbury and Daly both won Tony awards for their perfomances. Merman lost in 1960 to Mary Martin in "The Sound Music." She was robbed!

Musical highlights of the show include the character defining "Some People," the desperate "Ev'rything's Coming up Roses" and the tour-de-force finale, "Mama's Turn." A majority of the songs are Mama Rose's, the result, apparently, of Ethel Merman's ego. Nevertheless, it works brilliantly.

If you are looking for a version of this show on video, AVOID the Rosalind Russell version from the early sixties, in favor of the recent Bette Middler version. Not only is the Middler version more faithful to the original play, Bette does her own singing (Lisa Kirk sang for Russell) and her performance rivals Merman's.

If you love musicals, you will love this book. Read it yesterday!

Although not as well known as many of other Verne's novels, this one ranks as one of the best. It is the story of a group of people torn from the Earth by a passing comet, and their story of survival on the comet as it makes one orbit of the sun.

Hector Servadac is an one of the most interesting of Verne's major works. Written in 1877, it is so well done that something scientifically impossible seems quite plausible. French captain Hector Servadac and Russian count Wassili Timascheff have arranged to fight a duel on New Year's Eve at a spot in Algeria. Overnight, the Captain, along with his orderly Ben Zoof, are suddenly hurled to the ground in their home. The following day, they notice the sun is rising in the west and is moving through the sky in the space of a 12-hour day. Gravity has lessened, and a mysterious sea appears, replacing the nearby Chelif River. They also find that the Count has failed to show for the challenge with the Captain. Hector makes an exploration, surveying the new domain, and they find that they are now on an island. Ben Zoof, meanwhile, watches in vain for a ship to pick them up off the island. The Earth is also approaching the sun, for the temperature has risen. Venus, in perilous proximity, nearly managed to smash the earth into bits. The Count now meets up with Servadac, and hostilities are suspended. Captain Hector tours the Mediterranean (the Orderly left to tend to matters on the island) with the Count and his sidekick, Lieutenant Procopius, and six other sailors. On the way, they find some discoveries: St. Louis's Tomb (in Tunis), a fragment of Gibraltar (Spain) after the Captain and Count were sailing east, the residuum of Provence (France), and a speck of Maddelena Island (Italy). They pick up a young girl at Maddelena who is named Nina. They also find 13 English soldiers at Gibraltar who want nothing to do with everyone else. In addition, they recover two cases from the sea talking about the existence of a new asteroid that was presumably blown off the earth and is now called Gallia. Sadly, they found no astronomer to go with the notices. Getting back to the last bit of Algeria, it is discovered a secret of Ben Zoof's: there are now a population of 11 Spaniards and one German Jewish trader, Isaac Hakhabut. (Nobody likes Dutch Isaac much, so there is a hint of anti-Semitism here). The weather is now cold, but the people find a volcano in full eruption and live there. The place is called Terre Chaude (Hot Land), and the winter quarters are called Nina's Hive, in honor of the pretty Italian. At Terre Chaude, they get one last hint of Gallia from the mysterious astronomer, and the Captain and the Lieutenant rush to the astronomer's aid at Formentera (Balearic Archipelago, Spain). The man,99% dead, is taken to Terre Chaude and nursed back to health. To Servadac's surprise, the astronomer, the thirty-sixth and most important Gallian, is none other than Professor Palmyrin Rosette, the Captain's college professor. They never liked each other much. The Professor explains to them that the Earth was grazed by a comet on New Year's Day, and he discovered it,named it Gallia, and they are riding on the back of that very Comet! Much more comes of this, such as the weighing of the Comet, the eruption stopping, the Professor's miscalculations, the Comet exploding, and the Comet's contact with Earth after two years.

Undoubtedly this is one of Verne's greatest works, if not the greatest, and definitely deserves to be read much more. But, you can form your opinions too---if you read the book.

Don't read this book execting all of the "good guys" to survive. It's too realistic for that, but it was great. It had a pleasing ending and the "bad guys" got their dues. If you like modern-day stories, don't read this. If you like classic adventures, you'll like it. Also, it made me feel what the main character was feeling.

Beware: I will give away some of the plot

The modern action novel has its English antecedents in the books of Robert Louis Stevenson, and, it turns out, its French antecedents in those of Jules Verne. This short and exciting novel could be described as Die Hard with pirates. On an Island on the southernmost tip of South America a lighthouse is built and three men are left behind to tend it. The island is also inhabited by pirates, who capture a damaged schooner, bring it into the port with the lighthouse, and immediately kill two of the lighthouse keepers. The third escapes and must survive on his wits and attempt to stop the pirates from leaving the island until a group of soldiers come to relieve him. Pretty gripping stuff.

I highly recommend this for those interested in seeing the roots of the modern action novel (who would have thought that the literary path to Alistair MacLean and Robert Ludlum would have passed through Jules Verne), as well as anyone interested in lighthouses (the descriptions of the island and the function of the lighthouse are great) and, of course, Jules Verne. It is also great to compare this to Robert Louis Stevenson's seafaring novels, especially Treasure Island, Ebb-Tide and The Wrecker.

The writing in this translation is a bit simple. I suspect that this is due to the translator, who was not an artist but a mechanic. Based on a brief comparison with a French text of the novel, however, the translation seems accurate, and it is definitely readable.

I read a Polish translation of this book when I was 9 years old, re-reading and re-re-reading it many times. Many years later, having migrated with my parents to Australia, thanks to that book I was very familliar with Australia's early history, seeing me well into high school. As well as that I became very familliar with new Zealands history of white settlement, as well as some history and geography of South America. This book is Verne at his best.

THIS IS A WONDERFUL BOOK, MY FAVORITE OF JULES VERN'S. EVEN THOUGH IT ISN'T VERY WELL-KNOWN, I WAS LUCKY ENOUGH TO READ IT WHEN I WAS ABOUT TWELVE. IT HAS BEEN MY FAVORITE EVER SINCE. EVEYBODY WHO LOVES ADVANTURE WILL LIKE THIS BOOK! ENJOY!

If you have to read a book and are entering the 12th grade or beyond this is the one to read, it has suspense on every page and it's interesting, If i can read the whole thing anyone can, time passes by quickly when you read a good book and this is a great one trust me

A small, quiet French village dominated by a sense of social status is well described in this novel by Georges Simenon. The book has an amazing sense of atmosphere, of believable characters and situations, of the dark world in the pouring rain in which the three victims die... The moral of the book is concerned with the social statuses of the characters, of how the normal people despise the aristocracy, how the aristocracy despise the aristocracy and the citizens. The book is, like all Simenon, well-written and believable, even in the most fantastic situations, dragging the reader onwards and onwards, unable to put the book down.

When Maigret meets a serial killer, it's a dramatic face to face and, as usually, Maigret can understand why the killer acts in such an horrible way. Maigret don't excuse the killer but can understand. Like said Simenon : "Understand but not judge".

This is one of my very favorite Simenon novels; superbly paced and brilliant characterizations.

Another great Maigret's novel.

Splendid evocation of week-ends along the river (Seine) in the thirties. The atmosphere is close to the impressionism.

You have to read this novel !

One of the very finest novels among the phenomenon that is Maigret. As usual, Inspector Maigret solves a murder through empathy, by understanding the lives of the people involved in the case, but this time, the linchpin is an enigmatic Englishman, a man Maigret both likes and loathes, and, next to the great detective, one of the most fascinating inventions of Simenon. A superb and satisfying book for the fan or the first time Maigret reader.

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Provides an overview of the remarkable Point Reyes National Seashore Park with a thorough discussion of geologic processes, weather, oceanic cycles, birds and other flora and fauna. Maps, drawings, and bibliography complement the text. Complete species lists provided in Appendix.

I found Resistance to be a rather compelling book. It was very informative. I enjoyed the book not only because Archer based it on a wide background of historical events but also because of the intensity. It was not one of those tedious government books instead it kept me reading. He wrote about everything from the Russian revolution to the Vietnamese war. There was specific detil and evidence to back up his every statement. I do recommend this book to everyone.

Resistance by Jules Archer is a very good book. It explains many political things that have happend in the world, many things that you might not even know. He acts as though he was there during all the political overturns in modern history. He definatly is a great writer on this subject

The rough guides dc is great because it contains a lot of sophisticated information and stories. It has a couple lists and tours, I believe, as well as stories. The book includes material on museum collections. This is great because instead of carrying around and wasting so many maps fliers, etc. You have one book with all you need (including maps) in an intelligent format. This book contains hostels, and hotels...Right up my alley.

After (physically) examining a dozen or so different guides to D.C., this is the one we chose. As with all Rough Guides, it's light on photos and fluff and heavy on information. It told us what we needed to know to get to the monuments and other famous sights, but also steered us into some of the local neighborhoods for great, affordable food. This Rough Guide contained more history than most of their city guides -- great for the international visitor or the American who wants to know the stories behind the city. One caveat to families: there's not much "what to do with the kids" information.