Harry Cohn willed Columbia Pictures to become a major Hollywood studio, arising Phoenix like out of the muck of "Poverty Row" mediocrity in the Thirties by producing some of the Silver Screen's great triumphs. Columbia films won 52 Academy Awards during King Cohn's reign including Best Picture Oscars for IT HAPPENED ONE NIGHT, YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU, ALL THE KING'S MEN, FROM HERE TO ETERNITY, ON THE WATERFRONT and BRIDGE ON THE RIVER KWAI.

Cohn, a transplanted New Yorker born to immigrant parents, was the quinessential Runyonesque character--crude, commanding, ruthless but possessing a "heart of gold" beneath the tough veneer. He was the inspiration for Willie Stark in ALL THE KING'S MEN and Harry Brock in BORN YESTERDAY. Cohn played the role of mogul as tough guy to the hilt.

Veteran entertainment journalist, biographer and Hollywood observor Bob Thomas recreates the man and his times with a lively anecdotal prose style and an insider's eye that discerns between the real and the hype.

Cohn has long endured a bad rap hung on him by the "creative community" that passed through Columbia's portals and over which he often rode roughshod. Frank Capra, Howard Hawks, Leo McCarey, George Stevens, Barbara Stanwyck, Jean Arthur, Rita Hayworth, Kim Novak, Cary Grant, Jimmy Stewart, Glen Ford and many, many others bemoaned Cohn's crassness, tyrannical interference and bullying ways but did their best work under his "oppressive," "untutored" and "uncouth" dominion.

Columbia, under Cohn's supervision and control, invented the screwball comedy, perhaps the American cinema's most significant contribution during The Great Depression, and remained the pre-eminent producer of this genre until the outbreak of World War II.

Cohn understood and felt a kindredness with his plebian audience that many of his patrician "creative" employees did not. Thomas' excellent biography goes a long way toward rehabilitating the "Ogre of Gower Gulch" with those who believed Cohn to be the undeserving and unappreciative beneficiary of Frank Capra's genius.

This updated version of Bob Thomas's biography of Columbia studio chief Harry Cohn is very enjoyable reading. Since its original publication, anonymous sources have come forward and new facts and anecdotes have been incorporated. The brusque, outspoken Cohn appears to have been only concerned with Columbia's most important productions, and Thomas's text reflects this bias. If you're looking for details about Columbia's bread-and-butter product, including its popular "B" pictures, westerns, short subjects, serials, and cartoons, you won't find anything here, and even some of the studio's "A" pictures receive only passing mention. Thomas keeps the spotlight on the colorful Cohn, with some incredible stories and quotes. A great read for movie buffs.

"I am the king here. Whoever eats my bread sings my song". (Harry Cohn).

"I don't have ulcers - I give them". (Harry Cohn).

"I kiss the feet of talent". (Harry Cohn).

This is a marvellous and outstanding book that everyone with an interest in Hollywood should read. Once started it is hard to put down! Harry Cohn was the notorious head of Columbia Pictures from 1924 until his death in 1958. It is a remarkable story of the former song plugger who became the feared chief executive of Columbia Pictures during the "Golden Years of Hollywood". Harry Cohn was a very reclusive man who seldom gave interviews so Bob Thomas has done an exceptional job in putting together this account of Cohn's life. He put in hours of efficient research for this book and spoke with many people who knew Cohn and the stars and directors who worked for him.

Harry Cohn's brother Jack was the first to go into the film business but Harry soon joined him. Jack was based in New York dealing with the business and financial side and Harry was in charge of film production in Hollywood. There was no love lost between the two brothers and they were constantly arguing with each other. Columbia could not compete on an equal footing with the other major studios such as MGM, Paramount, Warner Bros. and 20th Century Fox and initially made cheap westerns and second features to begin with but Cohn was ambitious and wanted to produce more prestigious films. His luck changed when he had the enormous good fortune to persuade director Frank Capra to join Columbia who made a series of first rate quality films for the studio. The Capra films were box office successes (and Oscar winners) and brought in the much needed dollars to expand the studio and purchase important screenplays, and hire other talented writers and directors etc. The name of Columbia then became recognised and its films obtained a wider audience.

Columbia did not have a large roster of stars under contract like the major studios so they had to discover new talent and develop their own stars. One of Harry Cohn's discoveries was a dancer named Margarita Cansino - he cast her in a few Columbia features and loaned her out to other studios and then the big build up started. Cohn decided her name should be changed so she became Rita Hayworth and went on to become one of Columbia's top stars.

Columbia's biggest box office success in the 40's was the biographical musical "The Jolson Story". This was not an easy film to get off the ground as the New York office were convinced that Jolson was a "has been" whose career was finished and that the American public would not be interested to see a film about his life. Another problem was the casting - James Cagney and Danny Thomas both turned down the leading role and other actors were considered including Jose Ferrer and Richard Conte. Jolson desperately wanted to play himself in the film but in his 60's was obviously too old. The eventual casting of Larry Parks in the role of Jolson was a masterstroke - he was absolutely brilliant - in fact we can't now imagine anyone else doing it as he is so identified with the two Jolson films.

In 1949 Marilyn Monroe was signed to a contract at Columbia for $175 a week. She appeared in a B picture called "Ladies of the Chorus" but when her six months contract was up Harry Cohn ordered her to be dropped - "She can't act", he said. Some of his associates at Columbia never allowed Cohn to forget he had dismissed Marilyn Monroe who as we all know went on to become a major Hollywood star!!

Harry Cohn was responsible for creating another star at Columbia when he signed Kim Novak to a contract. He tried her out in small budget pictures such as "Pushover", "Phffft", and "Five Against the House". Cohn was not initially impressed by her acting but she did well enough in these films for him to agree to cast her in a major production with top stars - "Picnic" - featuring William Holden, Rosalind Russell and Cliff Robertson. "Picnic" established Kim Novak as a star and she went on to make several other successful films.

The 50's brought even more success to Columbia with films such as "Born Yesterday" (1950) which won the Best Actress Oscar for Judy Holliday. Even more popular was "From Here to Eternity" (1953) which won the Best Picture Oscar and seven other awards. ("Eternity" became the biggest money maker in Columbia's history and Harry Cohn was very proud of the film). "Bridge on the River Kwai" (1957) was another Columbia success winning the Best Picture award and six other Oscars.

To sum up "King Cohn" is a marvellous book, full of interesting anecdotes about the stars and "behind the scenes" information what it was like to be in charge of a busy Hollywood studio and with such a fantastic character as Harry Cohn running things there are many wonderful stories to tell. Harry Cohn had the reputation of being something of a monster and tyrant at the studio but this book reveals that he did many kind acts often helping out his employees and stars when they were in financial trouble (sometimes giving them substantial amounts of money) and visiting friends who were in hospital. He enjoyed his image as a tough boss and did not want these stories to be publicised. "King Cohn" is a fascinating read. Buy it - you will enjoy every chapter!

This books, short and to the point of what to do and what not to do with SmallTalk. Simple, and concise, the book covers issues of style that actually can and do apply to anyone who is interested in creating and leaving quality code in place for others to learn from and prosper. Almost a book about Code Karma.

This is a great book, it really is. The only potential for disappointment is if you think this book will teach you smalltalk -- it will not. This book is about good programming convensions in smalltalk -- it's about style and consistency and clarity. All this may sound too trivial to merit a book, but consider the following:

You will not find many people that program in smalltalk and you will not be able to see a lot of code. This means that your coding style will take longer to develop *naturally*, on your own. This is where Smalltalk With Style comes in: It's a small book and makes simple and easy reading. When you're done with it, you'll put it aside and most likely never refer to it again. But it will change the way you write code in smalltalk, and your code will begin to look the way smalltalk code should. The advantage of this book is that it packs invaluable programming experience in a wonderful, but not-so-popular programming language into a very small book. Get it, read it, get over with it, and go on to write code like a natural smalltalker.

This is one of two or three "must have" books that every person interested in or practicing Smalltalk needs to read and keep on a shelf near by. This book will teach you everything you need to know about writing clear and concise Smalltalk code. The author, Ed Klimas, is one of the most well known Smalltalk guru's around.

This is one of my favourite Hardy novels. As some others have noted, it's not one of the "big 5" but certainly worth reading. Hardy's descriptions of the woodlands are beautiful, and I found the ending to be one of his most unpredictable. I wouldn't recommend reading it if you are feeling down, as the ending is sooooo wonderfully tragic (hehe), or if you're not a fan of Hardy's prose style, but otherwise it's a wonderful read. Very personal as well. I got the feeling it was written just for me :)

This novel has received less attention in the U.S. than some of Hardy's other works, such an The Mayor Of Casterbridge, w ith its theme of the individual in tragic conflict with fate. The Woodlanders dwells on the needless sufferings and unhappiness brought on by class privelege. This is a subject always sure to raise suspicions of membership in the Khmer Rouge or the North Korean Secret Police here in the holyland of capitalism. But it is a beautiful work of art. Henry James and Jacques Barzun sneered at it because of its attacks on the upper classes. But that is a mark in its favor. Anything opposed by those two must be on the side of progress and human emancipation.

Unlike some of Hardy's other classic works, such as The Mayor of Casterbridge, with its theme of "the individual" against "fate," The Woodlanders has received little attention in this country. Perhaps that is because it deals so strongly with the themes of class privelege and class conflict, usually associated in this holy land of capitalism with the Khmer Rouge and Stalin. But it is a magnificent and rewarding work of art. Jacques Barzun and Henry James sneered at it because of its hostile treatment of the upper classes, but that is a mark in its favor. Anything opposed by those two must stand for progress and human emancipation.

Includes new Afterward explaining how Lawrence was abducted by desert-savvy aliens!

It is a commonplace to refer to T.E. Lawrence as one of the most enigmatic figures of twentieth century history. One sometimes wonders if it is his enigmatic character that continues to make him interesting, rather than what he achieved in his lifetime.

This is, as far as I know, the first attempt by a psychiatric professional to write a life of Lawrence. So much about Lawrence's personality - his illegitimacy, his craving for anonymity after the war even as he contrarily managed to worm his way into the spotlight so many times, his name change ostensibly in honor of G.B. Shaw, and probably most of all his experience at Deraa, made him an object of general interest, not to say lurid speculation. Lawrence, with his usual flair, manages to give us enough about his interior life in "Seven Pillars" to pique our interest without actually telling us anything.

While I must admit that I enjoyed the book, I must also say that I walked away from it feeling that I did not know any more about Lawrence after finishing it than I did before. The author covers a great deal of terrain, but I think that we're all not any closer to understanding Lawrence. Maybe the definitive biography is still waiting to be written. Maybe it never will be.

John E Mack has written a definitive and masterful biography of T. E. Lawrence, a man of fascinating complexity. The movie, Lawrence of Arabia, portrays a "mighty hero." Lawrence's role in the Arab Revolt are put into the context of his childhood, the Paris Conference, and the RAF years. Mack does not diminish Lawrence's achievements nor does he glorify them. Lawrence's post-war years were spent escaping his fame and what he endured. His psychical scars from the war deaden him to emotion and pleasure and his idealistic romanticism turned to nihilism. Lawrence's post-war penitence and alienation lead me to believe that he suffered from post traumatic stress disorder as a result of his brushes with death and his loss of physical and emotional integrity. He sought to break through his numbness by riding high performance motorcycles at breakneck speeds through the countryside and subjecting himself to scourgings.

If you saw the movie, read this book.

I found this to be an excellent book about the apparitions of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Bosnia-Hercegovina. It gave me a concise history and a good summary of the messages given to the children. I also enjoyed the wonderful pictures and the useful bibliography. I recommend it to anyone devoted to Mary and interested in Marian apparitions.

I thoroughly enjoyed this. John Paul Noel has written an inspiring and uplifting account of his pilgrimages to Medjugorje.He puts across in an unpretentious fashion a very readable reporting of the struggles, the hardships and the eventual joy of his and his family's travels to Medjugorje. There is a very definite sense of spiritual growth.

A worthwhile book for those interested in Marian spirituality, would-be pilgrims, and those who just want to know more about the miraculous events in Medjugorje. Great gift for friends and family. Wonderful photographs. I enjoyed reading the book and highly recommend it.

This book is a must for use of force trainers and academies. In my former role as an Academy Director this would have been the system to implement. The book is based upon a training model that is clear and complete (verbal to deadly). The graphics can be used to establish appropriate use of force for community or court purposes. It is my understanding that there is an instructor development course that will certify the system.

After reviewing the "Police Use of Force" textbook I was totally amazed at the ease with which the authors had taken a complex subject and presented it in a manner, which made it easily defined and understandable by all whom read the text. As a thirty-year police officer, twenty of which were spent as a police administrator, and a police trainer, I was impressed with the authors ability to remove the ambiguity our officers must deal with when they are left no other alternative than the use of force. "That which is necessary to effect the arrest", is one of the most open ended statements, which time and again is interpreted after the fact, and in a sterile setting, making it very difficult to determine the appropriateness of the force used. This model makes that statement obsolete.

The model's ability to define appropriateness of force prior to it's use, the show force/use force component, and guidelines for dealing with deadly assault situations faced by officers are just three of the many concepts that place this use of force continuum in a class by itself. The "Reactive Control Model" should become the standard for all police use of force situations. Our profession and the communities we serve would all benefit from its implementation.

Vincent F. Faggiano Commander (Retired) Rochester, NY Police Department

All too often, officers don't understand their use of force policy until they are under investigation for excessive use of force. This book tells you ahead of time what is an appropriate response to a given threat and even guides you through the all important report writing process to justify the actions you took. This the most complete and logical use of force book I have seen, and I highly recommend it.

the way this book was written is terrible and cant keep my attention for more than 10 seconds, the CD has many many errors on it.

This book definately helped me pass the A+ exams but there were several questions that I found were not covered in the book. I would definately recomend using a second source just to make sure you pass!

I got a lot out of this book. I passed both the hardware and the software portion of the A+ exam the first time.

This book was a great read - sort of the "unified field theory" of growth. In fact, while the focus is on growth companies, the model (Commitment, Strategy, Capability) is really a way to look at any business. The author provides a unique and effective way to define what a company actually does at any given time, how it evolves through time, and what it should be doing in the future.

The book is short, readable, and useful. It's got a good mix of academic research and real-world examples. As with any business book, Doorley runs the risk of his examples falling from grace (like HP may already be doing). The "Valuable Formula" construct in some ways isn't new, but it does make an explicit link between what a customer needs and what a company does - seemingly simple, but many companies don't make that match very well. (If it were that easy, the Dow would be at 20,000.) Unlike many other business books, the "takeaways" and "Ten Essential Practices" aren't just motherhood and apple pie. Finally, the examples in the book are real, tangible, and transferable to other companies. The "Growth-Supporting Foundations" in particular seem like a unique way to benchmark against high-growth companies beyond comparing financials or the typical statistics in benchmark studies.

In short, there's a lot in here, but it is unique and presented in a very crisp, effective way. At the risk of sounding cynical, the book is obviously a teaser to get consulting work for Deloitte. But that's what business books are all about.

The book serves as an excellent guidebook for executives in their quest to generate the most value for stockholders and employees. John Donovan and Thomas Doorley provide the reader with a thorough diagnostic of companies that have reaped substantial benefits by pursuing long term growth strategies. A must read for today's executive.

Did you know that less than 2% of all public companies created 32 percent of all jobs.

Tom Doorley and John Donovan are with Deloitte Consulting. The theme of this book is simple, but the "how-to" is hardly simplistic.

The them is that "high growth companies generate five to ten times the return of slow-growth companies. Such companies churn out new products at twice the "normal" rate. Employee satisfaction soars in high growth companies.

High growth companies are an elite class. These companies are not merely competitive. They are thumping their competition.

The authors provide a conceptual road map for achieving high growth status, based on analysis of a large sample of companies combined with case studies of key companies in North America, Western Europe, and Asia. They show how their ideas are being used in manufacturing, consumer products, financial services, and technology.

This is a small but dense book.

It only covers 163 pages. But there are lots of ideas here, and some are very practical.

For example, the authors found that 60% of fast growth companies have clearly articulated commitments to growth in writing. On the other hand, only 15% of slow growers have such written commitment.

Is your company following the practices of high growth companies?

At the time of this writing, the United States is experiencing a sustained period of rapid expansion. A book that focuses on rapid growth suits these times to perfection. But what do rapid growth companies do during inevitable times of economic downturn?

Doorley and Donovan have done their homework.

Based on a longitudinal analysis plus their own consulting experience, the authors found that those companies that fought hardest to sustain their commitment to growth survived the recessions in best shaped. Some specific action steps included: substitution of relative growth during a period when absolute growth could not be achieved. They targeted growth at greater than market rates or faster than key competitors.

During bad times, high growth companies protected their long term investments in R&D, marketing, and employee development from the budget ax.

Maryanne Peabody & Laurence J. Stybel,Ed.D. STYBEL PEABODY LINCOLNSHIRE Boston, MA

I had heard this book was an outrageously funny masterpiece of black humor, so finally, after many years I tracked it down at the library. While I discovered is a brief satire with a one joke premise that's diverting, but ages quickly. Told in 26 chapters-each of whose first word follows the sequence of the alphabet (Chapter 1, "As"; Chapter 2 "Broaching"; Chapter 3. "Culpritwise" and so on, at least until the final letters, where Sladek's gusto for this very little joke seems have run dry)-the story tells of a sociopathic robot in future America.

Tik-Tok has "asimov circuits" which are supposed to keep him from harming humans, but somehow these aren't working, or as he suggests at one point, never really existed in the first place, but are part of some massive groupthink. The result is that Tik-Tok kills sadistically over the course of the book, all while building himself a corporate empire and manipulating social and political opinion so that robots are allowed to own property and vote. This is all fairly predictable from the beginning, but what I did find unexpectedly interesting are the parallels with Bret Easton Ellis' highly controversial novel American Psycho, which was written eight years later. In both, an outwardly impeccable character engages in nasty sadism, even tells other people what's he's done, only to have them think it's a joke.

Mixed in with Tik-Tok's ascension are his reminisces of past owners, which are mostly played to comic effect, with a running commentary equating robots with slaves. Traditional caretakers of the moral status quo such as priests, judges, military, and aristocracy are repeatedly revealed to be charlatans, sadists, and just plain crazy. On the other end of the spectrum, the civil rights do-gooders of the "Wages For Robots" movement come under equal unsubtle satirical attack, as does the celebrity media industry. Capitalism itself, along with the military-industrial complex is further fodder for Sladek's acid pen. Ultimately, however, none of the satire is as subtle as I would have liked, and much of the book reads like an author riffing on familiar subjects. It's a nice addition to robot literature, but hardly the masterpiece it's made out to be.

The title character is a 'domesticated robot' living in a time when most humans own at least one and sometimes more, using them as slaves; as he awaits jugement for crimes he perpetrated, he writes his memoirs. Sladek uses a lively back-and-forth structure that weaves together two main timelines. Tik-Tok, in platonic terms, is a 'liberated prisoner' among robots: unlike the others, he is aware of what went behind his construction and 'education', but rather than alerting the other robots, he is more interested in making various experiments to see how far he can go with this discovery. His actions speak less of a downright vengeance on his one-time human masters than of curiosity - hence his relative contempt for both humans (because of their lies and contradictions) and robots (for their incapacity to wake up and refuse passive submission). The conscience of his freedom liberates him from what humans have called 'Azimov circuits' (based on the three inhibitory laws formulated by Isaac Asimov), but these, as he remarks, could very well be illusions used to solidify human authority. There's a relentless cynicism, even nihilism running through the entire work, but it is mainly upsetting because it forces the reader to re-evaluate preconceptions about the world. Whether 'Tik-Tok' ultimately convinces us of its conclusions or not, the book is too powerful to ignore.

fist of all 2 who doesnt have d time or d patience 2 further reading THIS NOVEL IS A MUST for all those who like science fiction & for learning how 2 write a story which is a warning sign , cynical , humorous & most important : interesting & fluent . usually when i read a book i can spot d points where d author has been " stacked " (if u know what i'm talking about if no just go 2 another review ). in TIK-TOK i just could'nt find this. it is (my humble opinion) a perfectly fluent story

This is a good book in which Jessica learns how to put away rivalry and vicious competition and to work with a difficult girl competitor in order to win a gymnastic competition fairly,and not because that competitor has been injured.Jess shows great maturity and initiative and is a noble role-model in this book.

I think that this was a good book but there were some major, major flaws n it!!!!! I am a retired elite gymnast so I know 4 a fact that Jessica could not have been that good if she had not done gymnastics b-4. There were some other little flaws 2!!!!!!!!

I think this was a pretty good book, except for the sabotaging. (person from South Africa, you're right: this book is a little silly cuz of the sabotaging). Jessica and Dawn didn't like each other at first, when they saw how good the other was at gymnastics and wanted to ruin their rountine, but when Jessica started going over to Dawn's school and helping her practice gymnastics, Dawn started softening up a little, and they became pretty good friends. Besides the sabotaging, this book was pretty good. I have to say: this is a MUST READ book.