The king's kitchy side almost consumed him when he got to Hollywood, but I still love the tunes and the the constantly silly scenes that the movies are thick with. This is the funnest Elvis movie book that I have seen. All the movies are covered with official stills, movie set shots, and posters. The CD that's included has the best songs from the movies and the text lets you know that there are many more where those came from. There are also behind the scenes comments from co-stars, directors and producers that offer interesting and amusing insights into a under appreciated side of Elvis.

Photographer Peter Milne went on the road with Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, who allowed him to take pictures of the tour.

These wonderful black and white shots are most candid, many catching band members unaware, or, at best, unwilling, making for some amazing images.

A bonus is the forward written by Nick Cave, who expresses his feelings about the photographer in his own interminable way, making this alone worth purchase.

Brilliant!

Set in the 1930's in the south of France. An obnoxious, conventional, and relatively wealthy, young Englishman encounters a group of unconventional cosmopolitan artists and bohemians. He disapproves of them at first and then becomes seduced by their life-style. They take his his money and leave him. He degenerates into alcoholism.
It's a mildly entertaining amateurish attempt to imitate early Aldous Huxley, Evelyn Waugh and Norman Douglas. The shadow of Hitler looms. Some of the writing is so clumsy that I wondered if my copy (a Persea 1981 reprint) had proofreader's (really non-proofreader's) errors. For example: "The principle of polite society, that unknown here; people appeared to grudge one of causing pleasure and avoiding pain, seemed second's agreeable intercourse and atone for it with unremitting rudeness." Does that make any sense? I wondered about "mentula moechia." Is there such a Latin word as "mentula?"
The strange thing is that the author was regarded as one of the great literary figures of the century. Why? This was his only novel. His other books were a book telling people how to write books and a book of literary criticism.
Another puzzle is that Cyril Connolly claimed it was rejected for publication because it was considered obscene. People go to bed with people they're not married to, but no details are given of what they do. There isn't a single naughty word. It's implied that some characters are homosexual.
I'm not saying I didn't enjoy it. It has some interesting insights and well-written parts, but why is Connolly considered so great?

Though its contents cater mainly to U.K. readers, this is an excellent reference book that all Queen admirers should seek out. Emphasis is on timelines, glossary of people affiliated with Queen, precise dates, comprehensive discography up to the late 1990s, and a few rare photos.

If you want the tried-and-true Queen and/or Freddie Mercury biographical twix, there are plently of books available already; but this is a chronicle with insightful information that those who've heard "the Queen story" before need to pick up.

Murphy's Peter is not the perfect first pope of legend, but a man driven by the shame of denying Christ. He is afflicted by jealosy of John and an all too active sex drive. Still, he perserveres to lead the early church as he hopes Christ would want. Many Biblical and historic figures play a part in this painstakingly detailed piece of historical fiction. A darn good read!

Peter Brown gave an insider view of The Beatles' life, but he dedicate most of the book to John and Brian lives, leaving the other Beatles as fillers in the story. Even more, John and Brian always seems to be the heroes while Paul is almost always the bad guy. It is interesting to read as you get to know unkown details of their lives, but at the same, what we care the most, their music legacy, is rarely discussed in the book.

I first read this book in 1986 and found it very engrossing and a well written insider's account of what Beatlemania was really about behind closed doors. However, that's the problem. Today I look at the book as a "tell all" that makes the Beatles nothing more than greedy sex/drug addicts that created music on the side.

If you read the book, then you know he is not too flattering about Paul's escapades. In a 1984 interview with Playboy, Paul & Linda disowned the book and felt betrayed by Brown, whom they had once considered a good friend. The interview also says that Brown tricked them into spilling the beans, claiming he was writing a book on the 1960s music scene, and not The Beatles specifically. If you read the intro to the book, Brown claims he had "full" cooperation of the surviving Beatles and Yoko Ono, and that they willing let the cat out of the bag for the information that makes up most of the juicy details of the book. As a result of this book, you hardly see Peter Brown mentioned by any of the Beatles these days, much less anyone else. For someone who was also close to the band, you wonder why it's full of factual errors and such. And Brown tries to make it appear he was there 24/7 with all the Beatles. A lot of the material seemed to have been lifted off various articles and interviews done around the time the book was written, and re-written into narrative form as if he were there.

Brown also clumsily ends the book with that poem John wrote Stu Sutcliffe in 1961 ("I can't remember anything without a sadness..."). However, that is taken out of context, since it only contains the first verse. If you read the actual full poem, it becomes full of Lennon's trademark "color metaphors" (if you will) that hardly fits his epitaph, since the book concludes with his assassination.

Stick with Nicholas Schaffner's "The Beatles Forever."

I've just finished reading this book for the fourth time in 20 years. It is an excellent, thorough, accurate, and sometimes painful look at the rising star and setting sun that was the Beatles. Brown and Gaines cover it all, including the pathos and pain that were woven into the Beatles' lives and, inevitably, the lives of those closest to them. This book is a biography, not a detailed account of the music they made together. For that I would suggest "A Day In The Life" by Hertsgaard, which is a meticulously documented discography of their music.

The Love You Make may not make you happy in the end, but it will give you an insider's view that, up until its release, was unheard of for die-hard fans like me. Only now, with the advent of the volumnious "Anthology" do we have the Beatles' perspective. And that is not truly complete without John Lennon, is it? I highly recommend Brown and Gaines' book.

Darnell is going to be in the newspaper just to impress a girl. He is saying this is sort of fun. Later he becomes the most popular kid in the newspaper. I did not like this book but you might. I thought it was cool how Darnell did things how he wanted to do them.
Another book I read like this was Crash. They were similar because they both were trying to pick up girls.

Darnell is an African American that goes to Oakdall Middle School and he finds that he gets into a lot of trouble. He gets low grades and visits the principal often. The principal comes up with a suggestion for Darnell to join a school club, which he does. He begins to help the school newspaper with hesitation until he befriends a homeless man. By talking to the homeless man, Darnell gets a different outlook on life.
I liked and disliked this book. I disliked this book because the story moved slowly. I did like this story because I believed that Darnell was not a loser. He finally finds a homeless person who he helps by writing an article to help the others think beyond their own world.

The reason I think Darnell Rock Reporting is a fantastic fiction book for young readers. Darnell Rock is a cool kid who didn't get into many activities at school. That was until he got into the school newspaper. At first he didn't like it that much, but it turned out to be a great success. So you see, this is why I Darnell Rock Reporting. Why do oyu like it?

What Peter Freestone has done here is dispel and/or correct the many rumours and myths surrounding the life of Freddie Mercury. It is not a straightforward biography, but an intensely personal account of the last twelve years of Mercury's life, during which time Peter Freestone was his personal assistant and close friend. Freestone still remains fiercely loyal and wants us to understand the sort of devotion that those close to Mercury gave to him. He describes not just a rock star and a legend, but a fascinating man who was, by all accounts, one of a kind. Readers hoping to hear about Mercury's early life will be disappointed, but those wanting a behind-the-scenes, what-he-was-really-like account will love this book, as I did.

This is a good book to read if you want to know the detailed day to day life of Mr. Mercury. Phoebe is trying to show us what life was like with Freddie. The first part of the book is more of the touring scene, the second half is all about Freddie's day to day life. The end of the book is done very tastefully(eventhough, I still shed a few tears). This is not the book to read if you want to find out about the band as a whole, or if you want a detailed format of Queen's concerts. The Rumors in the book are put to rest or corrected. It's hard to say wheather I believe them or not, I wasn't there. Some readers will have to take them with a grain of salt. I have read this book 3 times so far, and every time I still get emotional. I thank Phoebe for giving us a glimpse into the life of the greatest singer/songwriter on this planet.

I truely enjoyed reading this book. I have, for many years been a Freddie Mercury fan and great admirer of his music. I was very apprehensive about buying this book, as most often books as such are rarely kind to the individual whom they are written about. But I felt that this book characterized Freddie Mercury more as a "person" rather than this huge "rock star" (which he was) and gave some delightful and colorfull insight into his daily life. The book is filled with many stories and incidents that depict his life style more in terms of his love of music, the band, his friends, his home and his cats. There are stories demonstrating his sensitive character, as well as his over all kindness and generousity. The fact that he was gay is secondary in this book, but it was not ignored either. If you are a Freddie Mercury fan I know you will enjoy this book very much. The photo section in the book is good...but for Freddie Mercury fans there are never enough pictures.

I myself have reread my book several times and enjoy it just as much each time, sometimes reading something I missed before. Peter Freestone remembered his friend kindly.

First of all, the book had some really great pictures. That's the good thing about this book. The ONLY good thing. The bad thing is that most of the information is wrong, wrong, wrong! There are many errors in this book, and it'll get Monkees fans really really confused (it happened to me!) Now, I just like to look at the pictures in the book. Steer clear, don't read!

This is by far the most informative literary piece I have read on the Monkees. I have read numerous magazine articles and interviews but only one other book-"Hey, Hey, We're the Monkees" by Harold Bronson (which I really enjoyed). This book however was packed with pictures, information and incredibly detailed stories about the Monkees individually and as a group that I hadn't seen or heard before. I couldn't put it down. The only thing that bothers me about the validity of the information provided is that twice, the author states Peter's longtime girlfriend Reine Stewart as being the daughter of famous actor James Stewart. I am also a Jimmy Stewart fan and know this is absolutely not true (I know all four of his children and Reine is not one of them). This makes me question what other tidbits of information are not true. Otherwise, I loved the book and would recommend it to anyone (Monkees fan or not).

This is a very fascinating book to have around and read. It's very interesting and again it's very informative. It has everything you want to know about all four monkees. It has nice interesting pictures as well. And also a very collectble book.

I thought that this would be a great book. I was wrong... i went to see what he said about my favorite groups, Toad the Wet Sprocket and Gin Blossoms. He practically destroyed their images. Only someone who just hears the lyrics of groups he has never heard to would write the things he did...And by the way, why is there no review about IRON MAIDEN??? At least they escaped your words...

This book is a very good resource for parents of children who are immersed in the secular rock culture, and for people who have friends that are. There is a good background on many of the dangers and mindset of those in the secular rock culture, as well as a list of Christian alternatives. There is also a fairly comprehensive list of individual artists with explanations of their worldviews based on their lyrics. Some Christian artists are included, but their descriptions, though good, are not very specific and become repetitive.

If you and your family are into Christian music and are safe from the dangers listed therein, this book may be an interesting read, but not necessary reading. You may feel the need to, in the authors words, "purify your hearts" against what you have read. The book does not contain four letter words spelled out, but the descriptions are adequate enough.

YOUR BOOK IS SO AWESOME! I LOVE IT! IT HAS HELPED ME SEE AND REALIZE THAT WHAT I WAS LISTENING TO WAS EFFECTING MY CHRISTIAN WALK. I WISH I COULD JUST FORCE SOME OF MY CHRISTIAN FRIENDS TO READ IT (THE ONES THAT ARE LISTENING TO LIKE KORN AND METALLICA) I JUST WANT TO SAY I LOVE YOUR BOOK! I GOT IT AS A CHRISTMAS PRESENT AND I THINK IT IS ONE OF THE BEST PRESENTS ANYONE COULD GET. THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR HAVING SUCH A HEART AND DEVOTION TO GOD THAT YOU COULD WRITE THIS BOOK IT HAS REALLY HELPED ME GOD BLESS!