I thought that this was a great book. Some stuff was really stuff that you would already probably know if you were serious about acting but I guess it's an ok book for beginners. It did help me a little.

This book is pretty good. Some of the chapters were a little off the subject, but for the most part this is a must-have.

This book takes you step by step, through the whole process. It tells you how to present your resume, what type of photo's you should have made of yourself, and how much it will cost to be a working actor.

The second chapter, "BASIC TOOLS OF THE ACTOR" tells how you can use your body as your tools. The book lists warm up exercises that you can do to prepare yourself for an audition or play. There are vocal exercises and more.

In the tenth chapter it tells how some agents and casting directors like to scam amuater actors. It tells how to avoid them and how to get out of a situation like that. It says to trust your feelings when you feel uncomfortable about something. You should get this book if you want to know how to begin acting.

Helpful but basic

If your looking for a little more humor and an easy to follow proactive guide with sound information try picking up a copy of Twelve Step Plan to Becoming an Actor in LA. It has been the top pick in NY this winter.

Sandy Lopez
NY

The title of this book caught my eye at the bookstore, and after leafing through it for a few minutes I bought it, thinking it would help prevent me making more of the "foolish choices" as an actor I had in the past. Upon reading it, the author gives a few anecdotes of the masochistic nature of being an actor (such as standing out in the cold all night in period dress to audition as an extra for a movie.) However, I found very little solid advice as to what mistakes to watch out for and more importantly, what to do to avoid being a foolish actor. Instead the author makes general comments of enjoying what you're doing, not to be masochistic, which is basic advice actors should learn by themselves after taking a few hard knocks. I read the book from cover to cover, and can't remember a single piece of advice that was specific to help me avoid the pitfalls of acting. The chapters ramble aimlessly and appear to have almost no organization.

The title is great, but the interior is disappointing. I am at a loss as to why it got such a high rating from the other reviewers. My advice is to search for this at the bookstore, sit down with a good cup of coffee and really look through it. If you buy it sight unread, you deserve the title of "foolish actor."

One of the most important things you can do for yourself as an actor is take care of yourself emotionally. This book has some good stories and some interesting tid bits, but it is lacking in real how to's. I recently bought a book called Twelve Step Plan To Becoming an Actor in LA and found it not only fun to read but extremely helpful. The author is also a therapist so she really arms you, to go to battle, with daily and monthly excercises to keep you grounded even when the going gets tuff. Do yourself a favor and carry this book with yo ,no matter what city you live in.

Mark Carl
Seattle

Judy Garland could have used Katherine Mayfield's book. She,like so many unique,talented and sensitive actors allowed the business of acting to define them, with tragic consequences. Smart Actors, Foolish Choices is not an artificial feel-good book;it is an honest book about the necessity of knowing and accepting yourself so that you can deal with the business of acting in which actors are product. The interviews with actors are excellent in bringing, in 12 unique personal stories, this reality to light. As one interviewee observed, Who you are as a person, how good you are as an artist, and how well you do in the business seem to be completely unrelated." (Johnny Kline) Katherine Mayfield's extensive experience with acting herself makes this a credible and insightful guide for actors. I would also recommend this book to non-actors in its ability to make you appreciate the human being behind each actor and the courage it takes to choose acting as a profession. The paricularly mean-spirited review she recieved from the actor in California discloses the depth at which an honest critique of the business is offensive to those needing a feel good fix. I highly recommend this book for its unflinching look at the realities of choosing acting as a career.