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Showing 141 - 160 of 16697 items
By Tom Smith. 2015
The book introduces us to Sinatra's life and art seen from an unconventional point of view: Ol' Blue Eyes' prodigious…
appetite for alcohol. Drinking was an integral part of his character, his lifestyle and (by extension) his creative output. This book also functions as a practical cocktail manual, containing more than 30 detailed recipes for preparing and presenting fancy drinks he was known to enjoy himself; as well as providing information on some of Sinatra's own personal drinking lore and some of the traditions he followed or inspired. There are also accounts of some of his favorite watering holes (from legendary saloons such as Toots Shor's and Jilly's to Villa Capri or Monte's Venetian Room), profiles of famous drinking buddies (such as Humphrey Bogart or Mike Romanoff) and a selection of drinking stories. The book begins with an essay looking at the role drink played throughout his life and ends with a consideration of his most enduring persona--The Last Saloon Singer. In between there are chapters on Classic Bourbon drinks, the Martini, Exotic Booze, Hangover Remedies and The Rat Pack.By Michelle Morgan. 2012
Following a number of sensationalist biographies of Marilyn Monroe in recent years, this comprehensive, meticulously researched volume brings an important…
fresh perspective on the many controversies in her life. It is essential reading for anyone interested in Marilyn Monroe and the Golden Age of Hollywood. This new edition of Marilyn Monroe: Private and Undisclosed has been thoroughly revised and expanded to include an additional 60,000 words. It reveals a very different Marilyn from the celluloid invention. For the first volume, Michelle Morgan interviewed approximately 100 people who knew or were related to Marilyn in some way, including key figures in her life - family and friends, as well as work colleagues, and more casual acquaintances. This new edition includes information gleaned from many more interviews, as well as additional family background and many new stories. Marilyn Monroe: Private and Undisclosed is the most comprehensive Monroe biography yet. It covers her trip to England in great detail and gives the true story behind the making of The Prince and the Showgirl.Praise for the 2007 hardback illustrated edition of Marilyn Monroe, Private and Undisclosed:'A gorgeous collection offering a fascinating insight into Monroe's personal life.' Woman & Home'A touching portrayal of the star in her more private moments.' Empire'This candid and often surprising study of the screen legend provides another view of her.' RedBy Anton Chekhov. 1993
First performed at the Moscow Art Theatre in 1901, The Three Sisters probes the lives and dreams of Olga, Masha,…
and Irina, former Muscovites now living in a provincial town from which they long to escape. Their hopes for a life more suited to their cultivated tastes and sensibilities provide a touching counterpoint to the relentless flow of compromising events in the real world.In this powerful play, a landmark of modern drama, Chekhov masterfully interweaves character and theme in subtle ways that make the work's climax seem as inevitable as it is deeply moving. It is reprinted here from a standard text with updated transliteration of character names and additional explanatory footnotes.By the end of 1968 The Beatles were far too busy squabbling with each other, while The Stones had simply…
stopped making music; English Rock was coming to an end. All the Mad Men tells the story of six stars that travelled to edge of sanity in the years following the summer of love: Pete Townshend, Ray Davies, Peter Green, Syd Barrett, Nick Drake, and David Bowie. The book charts how they made some of the most seminal rock music ever recorded: Pink Moon; Ziggy Stardust; Quadrophenia; Dark Side of the Moon; Muswell Hillbillies - and how some of them could not make it back from the brink. The extraordinary story of how English Rock went mad and found itselfBy Molière, Henri Van Laun. 2004
The greatest writer of French classic comedy, the 17th-century playwright Molière was one of the most brilliant satirists in the…
history of literature. His keen observations and barbed wit deflated the pretensions of society in his day and focused a brilliant light on the universal frailties of humanity.The Imaginary Invalid, one of Molière's funniest and most incisive satires, is also among the most performed worldwide and perennially studied in world literature courses. In this entertaining gem, a hypochondriac, victimized by two pompous doctors, tests his daughter's loyalty and discovers the greed and contempt of his scheming wife.By Robert Shapiro. 2011
The absorbing, comprehensive story of an absolutely unique experiment in classical music, involving many key figures of the Dada and…
Surrealist movements Les Six were a group of talented composers who came together in a unique collaboration that has never been matched in classical music, and here their remarkable story is told for the first time. A musical experiment originally conceived by Erik Satie and then built upon by Jean Cocteau, Les Six were also born out of the shock of the German invasion of France in 1914--an avant-garde riposte to German romanticism and Wagnerism. Les Six were all--and still are--respected in music circles, but under the aegis of Cocteau, they found themselves moving among a whole new milieu: the likes of Picasso, René Clair, Blaise Cendrars, and Maurice Chevalier all appear in the story. But the story of Les Six goes on long after the heyday of Bohemian Paris--the group never officially disbanded and it was only in the last 20 years that the last member died; moreover, their spouses, descendents, and associates are still active, ensuring that the remarkable legacy of this unique group survives.By Anthony Seeger. 2007
From one of the most lauded scholars in ethnomusicology comes this enlightening and highly personal narrative on the evolution…
and current state of the field of ethnomusicology. Surveying the field he helped establish, Bruno Nettl investigates how concepts such as evolution, geography, and history serve as catalysts for advancing ethnomusicological methods and perspectives. This entertaining collection covers Nettl's scholarly interests ranging from Native American to Mediterranean to Middle Eastern contexts while laying out the pivotal moments of the field and conversations with the giants of its past. Nettl moves from reflections on the history of ethnomusicology to evaluations of the principal organizations in the field, interspersing those broader discussions with shorter essays focusing on neglected literature and personal experiences.By Marie Helvin. 2007
One of the original supermodels and international fashion icons, Marie Helvin has been an iconic image in every decade since…
the 1970s. She was a Hawaiian hippie child in the 60s, a magazine cover star in the 70s, a society supermodel in the 80s, a pioneer detox guru in the 90s and a reluctant reality TV contestant in 2006.In each decade she found herself in the company of the brightest and the best. Still at the forefront of the fashion industry, she is as much in demand as ever, most recently modelling for her seventh British Vogue cover.Marie's autobiography candidly tells the story of friendships with the rich and famous. She reveals the dark side of her own personality as she explains how, gradually, she came to believe in her own beauty and found fulfilment as an independent woman.Illustrated with photographs from many of the greats, including Bailey, Helmut Newton and Nick Knight, Marie Helvin's memoir is a remarkable story of our times.By Pedro Calderón de la Barca. 2002
Considered one of the outstanding Spanish dramas of all time, this 17th-century allegory explores the mysteries of human destiny, the…
illusory nature of existence, and the struggle between predestination and free will. On the basic plot structure of king's suspicions of his son's role in an impending revolution, the playwright builds a dramatic edifice of theatricality, rich in symbolism and metaphor, expressed in magnificent poetry. This edition presents an excellent new English translation, with an informative introduction and footnotes.By John Miller. 2004
The first full biography of Britain's leading actress of her time.Whether it is her sunny temperament, her gift of laughter,…
her wide-ranging abilities, or all three, Judi Dench is without doubt a star. Shortlisted for a 1998 Oscar for her performance as Queen Victoria in MRS BROWN, she then won one for her role as Queen Elizabeth in SHAKESPEARE IN LOVE. Judi Dench is widely loved, and not only among the theatrical profession. Her long-running appearance opposite Geoffrey Palmer in the TV situation comedy AS TIME GOES BY has run to four series and gained her a TV TIMES readers' award as ¿the actress we most wish see more often on television¿. She juggles the National Theatre (a sell-out season in Sondheim's A LITTLE NIGHT MUSIC and David Hare's AMY'S VIEW) with TV and films (she is now established as 'M' in the latest James Bond series).Since the paperback edition was published, John Miller has written a new chapter, bringing what is fast becoming a classic biography completely up-to-date.Third play of a trilogy (the other two are lost) about the doomed family of Laius and Oedipus and his…
sons. After the city of Thebes has banished Oedipus, the former ruler's sons vie for the crown. The victor, Eteocles, expels his brother, Polyneices, who then recruits 7 champions to lead an assault on Thebes, with a tragic results.By William Shakespeare. 2003
A highly political play, Coriolanus concerns a military hero of ancient Rome who attempts to shift from his career as…
a general to become a candidate for public office -- a disastrous move that leads to his collaborating with the enemy and heading an attack on Rome. Despite his battlefield confidence and accomplishments, Coriolanus proves psychologically ill-suited as a candidate for the office of consul and makes an easy scapegoat for the restless citizenry and his political opponents. The last of Shakespeare's tragedies, Coriolanus was written in approximately 1608 and derived from Plutarch's Lives of the Noble Grecians and Romans. A timeless tale of pride, revenge, and political chicanery, it remains ever-relevant for modern readers and audiences.By William Congreve. 1993
One of the greatest of all Restoration comedies, this knowing comedy of manners depicts the scheming of a nest of…
shallow, deceitful aristocrats to prevent two lovers from marrying. The play abounds with felicitous phrasing, delicious verbal battles of the sexes and a depth of feeling and sensitivity.By John Coldstream. 2004
'Biographies only tend to be definitive until the next one comes along, but there's no danger of Coldstream's erudite, moving…
analysis ever being superseded' INDEPENDENT ON SUNDAY. As an actor Dirk Bogarde was a Rank contract artist and matinee idol who became a giant of the intellectual cinema, working on films such as Death in Venice, The Servant and Providence. Fiercely protective of his privacy, and that of his partner of 40 years, he left England in the 1960s to live abroad, where he carved a second career for himself as a bestselling author. Although Bogarde destroyed many of his papers, John Coldstream has had unique access to his personal archives and to friends and family who knew him well. The result is a fascinating biography of a complex and intriguing personality.By John Boydell, Josiah Boydell. 2004
This impressive collection of engravings illustrating the dramatic works of Shakespeare takes a new look at the long-neglected area of…
romantic early-19th-century art. Nearly 100 illustrations depict dramatic scenes from AMidsummer Night's Dream, The Merry Wives of Windsor, Tempest, Two Gentlemen of Verona, Measure for Measure, Macbeth, Julius Caesar, Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, and King Lear, and 26 other plays. A monumental effort begun in 1787, the engravings speak as passionately to the viewer today as they did more than 200 years ago.By Sander Hicks, Joe Biel, Joyce Brabner. 2016
In 1996, everything about Joe Biel's life seemed like a mistake. He was 18, he lived in Cleveland, he got…
drunk every day, and he had mystery health problems and weird social tics. All his friends' lives were as bad or worse. To escape a nihilistic, apocalyptic worldview and to bring reading and documentation into a communal punk scene, he started assembling zines and bringing them in milk crates to underground punk shows. Eventually this became Microcosm Publishing. But Biel's head for math was stronger than his ability to relate to people, and it wasn't until he was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome that it all began to fall into place. This is the story of how, over 20 years, one person turned a litany of continuing mistakes and seeming wrong turns into a happy, fulfilled life and a thriving publishing business that defies all odds.By Barbara Dickson. 2009
From singing to the postman when she was two years old to her annual sell-out tours in the 2000s, Barbara…
Dickson has been captivating her fans for the best part of sixty years. In her autobiography she describes the joys of growing up in Fife with her talented brother and loving parents, of moving to Edinburgh to find her place in the world and the stresses and strains of trying to make a living on the Scottish folk scene. Not content to have just a successful singing career, she turned to another: acting. A regular on prime-time television, Barbara also took to musicals and was the original lead role in Spend, Spend, Spend. Her hugely successful time onstage earned her many acting accolades but her pursuit of perfection led to complete exhaustion from which she fought hard to recover. Barbara writes beautifully about the close relationships she cultivated over these years with people such as Willy Russell, Elaine Paige and Billy Connolly. The result is a warm, fascinating story encompassing the best of British music, stage and television.By Friedrich Perzynski, Stanley Appelbaum. 2005
Combining elements of dance, drama, music and poetry, the performances of Japanese No theater are a highly stylized form of…
entertainment. Accompanying the sumptuous costumes worn during performances are elaborately carved No and Kyogen wooden masks--major works of art in their own right. This book, based on a classic two-volume German study, presents a wealth of illustrations and information relating to these magnificent theatrical devices.A new, informative introduction and extensive captions derived from the original text and newly translated, accompany the heart of the book--more than 120 full-page plates depicting museum-quality masks worn by actors playing gods, warriors, demons, and monsters, beautiful women, feudal lords, mad characters, and supernatural beings. All 303 illustrations from the original two-volume work are included.A unique introduction to classic Japanese theater for Western theatergoers, this volume will also serve as an excellent reference for students, scholars, and enthusiasts of No drama.By Bruno Tonioli. 2013
Meet Bruno Tonioli - Strictly Come Dancing judge, wildcat choreographer and stardust magnet. With his irrepressible personality and Italian exuberance,…
Bruno has become a TV sensation, settling the fate of Britain's ballroom hopefuls during the nation's favourite Saturday night show. Bruno's journey is mind-blowing. He fled from home at eighteen to join the dance company La Grande Eugene and travelled around Europe; he later coached the actress Goldie Hawn as a dance instructor, and orchestrated lavish productions for TV, film and pop videos, where he worked alongside The Rolling Stones, Freddie Mercury, Duran Duran and Tina Turner. Along the way Bruno has Tangoed with high fashion, performed the Cha Cha Cha with untameable pop vixens Bananarama and danced an emotional Waltz with bereavement and breakdown before settling in the perfect location - a seat on the judging panel of Strictly Come Dancing, where he wowed the nation at home and in Hollywood with his passion for dance and an excitable turn of phrase. My Story tears away the glittery wrapping of this most exuberant and loveable of TV stars. Strap yourselves in for a wild and sexy ride with more frills than Versailles.By Tulisa Contostavlos. 2012
Tulisa Contostavlos is one of the most talented and high-profile recording artists working in the UK today. She has three…
platinum N-Dubz albums, four MOBO awards, a groundbreaking drama series, two documentaries, a MIND award and an X Factor judge's win under her belt. Not bad for a girl who's not yet twenty-four. But this is not just a tale of glittering success. Tulisa grew up on a tough London estate and left school with no qualifications as she struggled to cope with deep-seated emotional problems while caring for her mother alone. She has seen first hand what drugs, alcohol, gang culture and violent relationships can do to young people, but she has come through it all to become the confident, inspiring artist she is today. After taking her little muffins Little Mix to the winning spot of the X Factor at the end of 2011, and with her long-awaited solo album being released later this year, the future is bright for Tulisa. Told in her own words, this is her story.