This is a review sponsored by the Wildstone University! – ¡Esta es una reseña auspiciada por la Universidad de Wildstone!
This review is bilingual.This is a review sponsored by the Wildstone University! – ¡Esta es una reseña auspiciada por la Universidad de Wildstone!
This review is bilingual. You will find first the review in English and after that, you will find the review in Spanish.
Esta crítica es bilingüe. Usted encontrará primero la crítica en Inglés y luego de esta, usted encontrará la crítica en Español.
REVIEW IN ENGLISH
I live in Costa Rica, I met Les Luthiers in 1988 when a high schoolmate from Guatemala lent me a couple of audio cassettes with two taped presentations from this Argentine group. As you can see, it was needed to involve three countries to acomplish that I would be able to discover the ingenious of this humoristic musical group.
The first two presentations that I listened to were “Hacen Muchas Gracias de Nada” and “Mastropiero que Nunca”, therefore many of my favorite sketches are from those two, such as “La Tanda” (without a doubt, my favorite), also such as “La Gallina dijo Eureka”, “Cartas de Color”, “El Rey Enamorado”, “El Asesino Misterioso”, “Bienvenidos a la Universidad de Wildstone” and “Cantata del adelantado Don Rodrigo Díaz de Carreras”.
Eventually, several year later, I was able to watch them on video, besides of the mentioned presentations, I want to highlight “El Grosso Concerto”, “Unen Canto con Humor”, “Lutherapia”, “Los Premios Mastropiero” y “Lutherias”, but certainly all of their presentations on video are always ingenious and a lot of fun.
Les Luthiers has had a membership rotation, therefore I want to mention that my favorite members are: Daniel Rabinovich, Marcos Mundstock, Carlos Núñez Cortés (all these already deceased) and Carlos López Puccio (still alive at 2024).
Les Luthiers is a humoristic musical group from Argentine, funded in 1967 by Gerardo Masana, that it have been totally successful in all Latin America and Spain, they write their own material and even they invent their own musical instruments used in their presentations.
This book details their formation and their trajectory, including biographies of the most iconic members, also a funny biography of their most popular fictional character in their sketches which is the great compositor Johann Sebastian Mastropiero.
For any fan of this group, it’s highly recommended this book that it has had three editiones (I read the second edition, but I know that there is a most recent third edition).
CRITICA EN ESPAÑOL
Yo vivo en Costa Rica, conocí a Les Luthiers en 1988 cuando un compañero del colegio que venía de Guatemala me prestó un par de cassettes de audio con dos presentaciones grabadas de este grupo argentino. Cómo ven, hubo que involucrar a tres países para lograr que yo descubriera la genialidad de este grupo musical humorístico.
Las primeras dos presentaciones que escuché fue “Hacen Muchas Gracias de Nada” y “Mastropiero que Nunca”, por ende muchos de los sketches favoritos míos pertenecen a esos dos, tales como “La Tanda” (sin duda mi favorito), así como “La Gallina dijo Eureka”, “Cartas de Color”, “El Rey Enamorado”, “El Asesino Misterioso”, “Bienvenidos a la Universidad de Wildstone” y “Cantata del adelantado Don Rodrigo Díaz de Carreras”.
Ya luego, varios años después, pude verlos en video, aparte de las presentaciones mencionadas, pude ver el resto de videos, donde destaco “El Grosso Concerto”, “Unen Canto con Humor”, “Lutherapia”, “Los Premios Mastropiero” y “Lutherias”, pero ciertamente todas sus presentaciones en video siempre son geniales y muy divertidas.
Les Luthiers ha tenido una rotación de integrantes, por lo que quiero mencionar que mis integrantes favoritos son: Daniel Rabinovich, Marcos Mundstock, Carlos Núñez Cortés (todos estos ya fallecidos) y Carlos López Puccio (todavía vivo al 2024).
Les Luthiers es un grupo musical humorístico de Argentina, fundado en 1967 por Gerardo Masana, que han tenido un éxito arrollador en toda Latinoamérica y España, ellos escriben su propio material e incluso inventan instrumentos musicales que utilizan en sus presentaciones.
Este libro detalla su formación y su trayectoria, incluyendo biografías de sus integrantes más icónicos, así como una divertida biografía del personaje ficticio más popular de sus sketches que se trata del gran compositor Johann Sebastian Mastropiero.
Para cualquier fan del grupo, es altamente recomendado este libro que ha tenido tres ediciones (yo leí la segunda edición, pero sé que existe una tercera más reciente).
This a biography about Patrick Stewart’s real life
PICARD VS STEWART
I am huge fan of the character of Captain Jean-Luc PicarNot what I expected
This a biography about Patrick Stewart’s real life
PICARD VS STEWART
I am huge fan of the character of Captain Jean-Luc Picard and easily he’s my favorite TV character, I have like seven different action figures (eight if you count a Funko Pop) in my Star Trek collection, and also I like his performance as Professor Charles Xavier on X-Men franchise.
The first thing that I didn’t expect about this book is that the part when he is casted for Star Trek: The Next Generation didn’t appear but until more than half the book has already passed. I know that he wants to talk about his previous life, childhood, early works, etc… but it wasn’t that interesting (no offense) taking in account that it’s obvious that if people wants to read a biography about him, well, it’s thanks that he was Captain Jean-Luc Picard on TV, and I guess that I’d like to engage into the Star Trek part sooner in the book.
But what I didn’t expect at all, not in a million years, it was that he cheated on his two previous wives, first, he cheated on his first wife which he had two kids after a whole life together, and later with a second wife which he was married only like three years, he cheated again. I understand that the actor is one thing and his characters is another, but I never thought that Sir Patrick Stewart could cheat on his two previous wives, he admitted that those are his two biggest regrets on life, and well, that’s something to ponder about, but cheating is something that I don’t like at all. He is currently married with his third wife and I hope he’d learned the lesson already.
The stuff that he told about his phase working on Star Trek: The Next Generation, I already knew it through previous video documentaries that I watched and I didn’t get much further insight about it, even I expected to read something about the struggle in the middle of Third and Fouth seasons where there was a heavy salary negociation and he almost never returned to the TV series, and nothing was mentioned.
I thanked that the biography is so updated that he mentions his ternure on the recent Star Trek: Picard but it was too brief and the few stuff, I already knew it through internet articles.
So, the stuff about his childhood and theater career that I didn’t know, well I didn’t care that much (no offense again) or I didn’t approved (the cheating) and I could prefer doesn’t know (but I do appreciate his honesty about it and acccepting that it was his fault in both occasions) and the cool stuff (Star Trek and X-Men) was info that I already know, therefore I’d wish to rate better the book, but I think that 3-stars is my honest rate due the reading experience with the book.
Still, if you are really interested about Patrick Stewart real life beyond his iconic roles in TV and films, I am sure that this must be the best book in the market that you can buy.
This is a biography about the life of Cassandra Peterson better known as her showbusiness name of Elvira.
CASSANDRA & ELVIRA
It’Funny and smart!
This is a biography about the life of Cassandra Peterson better known as her showbusiness name of Elvira.
CASSANDRA & ELVIRA
It’s hard to separate Cassandra Peterson from her media entertainment identity of Elvira, but in here you can get to know both of them, since indeed she is both at the same time always.
I enjoyed the reading of the book since she did it with smart humor and open honesty, even when some stuff is quite polemic or difficult to deal with.
You can witness how was her youth, even since she was still quite young suffering a severe accident at the kitchen with boiling water and burning a 35% of her body with very little hopes to survive…
…but she indeed overcome that first punch of life to eventually become of the most recognizable media icons in the industry as Elvira, Mistress of the Dark (taking inspiration from Adams Family’s Mortica and the also classic character of Vampira), since she was the host of a Horror B-Movie Presentation Show, along with doing a couple of films, Elvira, Mistress of the Dark and Elvira’s Haunted Hills, but she also made tons of cameos as Elvira in TV shows and movies.
Male people in her life proved to be too testing since she had to deal with her father’s alcoholism, an abusive husband, and at least three rapes (one of them made by a sports personality that I won’t tell here (you can read the book to know about it) (I won’t question that that was also true but I won’t say it) I think that Wikipedia reveal it too).
She has a daughter, product of her first marriage and in the present (and since 19 years ago) she is having a romantic relationship with a woman.
Cassandra Peterson made clear in the book that while she took a lot of time to write it (she had a lot of stuff made but it wasn’t until the pandemia that she had time to sit and finish it), she indeed wrote the book and that it’s not like many other autobiographies that are made by ghost writers. Taking in account (as I already commented) all the smart humor and open honesty developed in the book, I believe that she indeed made this book and I found it quite entertaining and worthy ot read.
This book is part of the collection of real life biographies of paranormal events investigated by Ed and LoFair reading but not so good as others.
This book is part of the collection of real life biographies of paranormal events investigated by Ed and Lorraine Warren.
MANY WEIRD THINGS, NOT MUCH WARRENS
The paranormal case exposed here, you can find the movie A Haunting in Connecticut that it’s film adaptation of what happened there, but you won’t find mention of Ed and Lorraine Warren in the movie, and maybe I already know why is that.
It’s not like nothing happened in the book, since there is a lot of weird phenomena accounted in the book, besides the controversy about if the paranormal really happened or not, maybe my biggest complain and what avoid to enjoy the book as much as I’d think that I would, it was that Ed and Lorraine Warren almost not appear in the story, they came almost at the end of the book, and just to do a basic investigation without much depth in the stuff.
Obviously other book about them like Ghost Hunters and The Demonologist (both with reviews by me) were quite awesome since they were compilations of several different cases, but here the problem wasn’t either that the book was just one long case, since I already read Satan’s Harvest (also with review by me) and it was just one long case, BUT Ed and Lorraine Warren soon enough in the narrative are deeply involved in the case, and it was a very heavy investigation about it, so I enjoyed a lot that book, but here I didn’t find the same kind of involvement about the Warrens that it’s my main reason to read the book.
If you want to read the book because you want to read in more detail beyond what it’s exposed in the movie, go ahead, since the book it’s well written and certainly got deeper in the case, BUT if you want to read it because it was a case investigated by the Warrens, well then, it’s better to read any other of the books that I mentioned, since you will enjoy them better than this one.
This review is bilingual. You will find first the review in English and after that, you will find the The Lady of Romance! – ¡La Dama del Romance!
This review is bilingual. You will find first the review in English and after that, you will find the review in Spanish.
Esta crítica es bilingüe. Usted encontrará primero la crítica en Inglés y luego de esta, usted encontrará la crítica en Español.
REVIEW IN ENGLISH
Since I bought this book on Spanish, I will do the review on bilingual. This biography is part of a line on Spanish of famous women in history, published by a publisher house from Spain.
The book cover all life of Jane Austen and while she died young and she is one of the most famous female authors of all time, it isn’t easy to make a biography of her, since oddly enough, many of her documents and letter were destroyed by some members of her own family, I don’t know if by carelessness, ignorance or jealousy, but the fact is that happened. Luckily, there were still some members of her family that they kept some of her documents and letters and even they published their own personal recollections of Jane Austen’s life.
Jane Austen only published six novels (also a short story) and even two of those novels were published after she passed away, but those six novels are truly pillars of the universal romance genre and inspirations for generations and generations of writers since then.
One of the key elements of Jane Austen’s work was her honesty showing how was the life of women in late 18th century and early 19th century on England, keeping a true testimony of their struggles of surviving a male dominated society where they even weren’t able to inherit properties or money without having to marry a man, therefore marriage was a survival necessity in that society and Jane Austen was able to portrait different scenarios, but where beyond convenience marriages, she always prioritize true love marriages.
Ironically, she never marry, but it wasn’t by choice per se, but destiny just hadn’t that kind of path for her, but instead becoming one of the most influential and relevant romance writers of all time.
CRITICA EN ESPAÑOL
Ya que compré este libro en español, haré la reseña en bilingüe. Esta biografía forma parte de una línea en español de mujeres ilustres de la historia, publicada por una editorial de España.
El libro cubre toda la vida de Jane Austen y si bien murió joven y es una de las autoras más famosas de todos los tiempos, no es fácil hacer una biografía de ella, ya que curiosamente, muchos de sus documentos y cartas fueron destruidas por algunos miembros de su propia familia, no sé si por descuido, ignorancia o celos, pero el caso es que así sucedió. Por suerte, todavía había algunos miembros de su familia que conservaron algunos de sus documentos y cartas e incluso publicaron sus propios recuerdos personales de la vida de Jane Austen.
Jane Austen solo publicó seis novelas (también un cuento corto) e incluso dos de esas novelas se publicaron después de su fallecimiento, pero esas seis novelas son verdaderamente pilares del género romántico universal e inspiraciones para generaciones y generaciones de escritores desde entonces.
Uno de los elementos clave de la obra de Jane Austen fue su honestidad al mostrar cómo era la vida de las mujeres de finales del siglo XVIII y principios del XIX en Inglaterra, manteniendo un fiel testimonio de sus luchas por sobrevivir en una sociedad dominada por los hombres en la que ni siquiera podían heredar propiedades o dinero sin tener que casarse con un hombre, por lo que el matrimonio era una necesidad de supervivencia en esa sociedad y Jane Austen supo retratar diferentes escenarios, pero donde más allá de los matrimonios por conveniencia, siempre priorizaba los matrimonios de amor verdadero.
Irónicamente, ella nunca se casó, pero no fue por elección en sí, sino que el destino no tenía tipo de camino para ella, sino convertirse en una de las escritoras románticas más influyentes y relevantes de todos los tiempos.
I am huge fan of the Warrens since I watched the first film of The Conjuring and I've read already twReally grasping book!
ED & LORRAINE WARREN
I am huge fan of the Warrens since I watched the first film of The Conjuring and I've read already two books about them before this one (you can check it out in my book lists of my GR profile), and I want to read all the possible ones.
Ed & Lorraine Warren, sadly both now are deceased, but when they were alive, they were a married couple dedicated to help people while investigating paranormal events. Ed was a certified exorcist (the only one in USA outside of the Catholic Clergy) and Lorraine was a powerful psychic able to sense things. Both help not only regular people, but also the police and even the army. And while they already been since decades doing that, they were exposed to general awareness when they were involved during the infamous Amityville case.
FOURTEEN CASES
You will find 14 different cases in this book, some of them aren't much developed in detail but you get a clear enough picture of each of those.
If you want to read cases in more detail (but in less quantity of cases) the book The Demonologist is an excelent option. (including cases like Annabelle, Enfield, and a deeply detailed case exposing the three phases of a haunting: infestation, oppression and possession).
If you are looking for quantity, this is your book, told from the point of view of the very Warrens, with 14 interesting and quite different cases...
...several ghosts in the West Point Academy (this case is detailed too in The Demonologist)
...Donna Zorn, a girl who was victim of a murder most violent and Lorraine was instrumental to find the criminals.
...Bigfoot, but not like you may think but a different angle and involving mind psychically manipulated.
...the famous actress Jane Seymour accompanies Lorraine to check out a haunted house.
...Stacy Collins, a teenager girl victim of possession who has to suffer exorcism and even that wasn't sadly enough.
...Barbara Harris, another victim of murder.
...the famous Smurl Haunting case about the Smurl Family, also explored in the book The Haunted that received a TV movie treatment too.
...Joel Dewitt, a disturbed man who commit a truly unspeakable sin and suffered the consequences.
...Denise Summers who read books that nobody should read just for fun, since her life turned into a living hell.
...Elijah Phelps, a religious minister suffering due acts deep in the past of the family's history.
...the infamous Amityville case (exposed too in The Demonologist book).
...the deadly history of Dudleytown, a village that no longer exists but its dark legacy still can be felt.
...Abigail Radley, a policewoman who needed help to understand a ghost too close of her.
...a powerful 48-hours poltergeist explosion in Lindley Street, afecting the Goodin Family and eclipsing the world news during that time.
Highly recommend to any fan of the Ed & Lorraine Warren's work....more
After reading The Demonologist, four years ago, I knew that I want to read the rest of boExtraordinary and spooky book!
BETTER THAN I HOPED FOR
After reading The Demonologist, four years ago, I knew that I want to read the rest of books focused in cases involving the couple of Ed and Lorraine Warren. And finally I was able to read another one.
I expected to be good, but I never imagined that it would that good!
While I am clear that a bio-documentary book about a paranormal event, you can’t expected to be like reading a fiction horror novel, an amusing thing here, it was that the authors, Michael Lasalandra and Mark Merenda, reporters from Boston Herald and New York Times, not only wrote a throughly detailed account of the events, but cleverly they wrote in a novel-like style, therefore, you can experience the facts as you’d be there and living the chilling horror that happened.
It’s impossible to get a better access to the Theriault case in any other place than here, in this very book, since the authors did a complete job, detailing the life of Maurice Theriault, since he was a young kid, passing for his adult life, until reaching the boiling point where Ed and Lorraine Warren got involved along with their support team of volunteers.
During his whole life, Maurice Theriault, suffered of a demonic possession, where some events were so shocking that even of of those unspeakable acts, the authors didn’t dare to fully give us a picture of it, and I prefered in that way.
However, don’t get mistaken, since out of that rare moment, Lasalandra and Merenda, thanks to the cooperation of not only Ed and Lorraine Warren but also the assistance of the very Maurice and Nancy Theriault, they constructed the whole escenario of the paranormal case…
…where there were the already mentioned, but also members of police departments, the Catholic Church and others.
This is an eerie real life story, where you’ll think twice of speaking aloud a curse, along with pondering about that there aren’t not only paranormal demons, but also very human monsters that can make the life of others a real living hell.
It was a shock when the news of Carrie Fisher’s demise came out, especially when her movie career was getting a dExcellent reading!
IN MEMORIAM
It was a shock when the news of Carrie Fisher’s demise came out, especially when her movie career was getting a deserved second air in the new Star Wars trilogy (sequel to the events of the original trilogy).
Carrie Fisher did all her scenes for the incoming Episode VIII, so we’ll be able to see her one last time, and…
…due the advance in special effects, I have no doubt that we’ll have plenty enough of Princess Leia, even in the eventual Episode IX.
It was a bittersweet reading experience to me, with this book, since while I enjoyed it to the fullest, I began to read it after Carrie Fisher’s death, so it was sad too, to read it when she was already dead.
Even sadder, since Carrie Fisher wrote several books (four biographical books (one focused in her mom, three about herself), four fiction novels (using her personal experiences as base for the plots of those novels) along with some movie scripts adaptations and other stuff) and I didn’t read any of them until she passed away.
I enjoyed a lot the reading of this one,…
…since it was written exactly how I was expecting to be done by Carrie Fisher…
…funny, clever,…
…and totally politically INcorrect!
Bold writing from a bold woman.
It was a fresh air in an age where everybody is so scared to tell exactly what they have in mind.
So, I have no doubt that I’ll read other books by Carrie Fisher in the future.
MAY THE DIARIES BE WITH YOU
Carrie Fisher had already wrote two biographical books about her life, so…
…what was different about this one?
What would you find here that it wasn’t already written before?
Well…
This final autobiography by Carrie Fisher was done using various diaries that she wrote during her time while she was doing the first Star Wars movie, revealing details never before told.
She thought that she had lost those journals but happily, she found them and decided to write a new biographical approach about her unusual life.
Carrie Fisher set us in the context of 1976, a long time ago, highlighting the key world events in that year, when she auditioned for certain role as a princess in a galaxy far, far away…
…Recounting her previous small debut role in cinema, her double audition for Star Wars and Carrie, the impact of her role in and out of the screen, her honest impressions about how was her filming of the iconic movie,…
…including a long denied (but that it did happened!) brief romance (since they hadn’t got time for anything else) with certain actor who played a scoundrel space smuggler.
It was a topic that a lot of people asked her about it, and she always denied it, and no wonder since it was a delicate matter (even more if you realize that the other one in the affair was married), but time always make easier to let out certain things off your chest…
…so finally, you’ll be able to read all the details related of this fling, but…
…don’t expect the details at bed, since…
…there are things that a lady, especially a space princess, considerates private (and it should be).
However, all the rest of the hot topic, you’ll be able to know it here!
Well, certainly I didn’t enjoy it as I’d expected.
This book is the first volume (of two) covering the 50 years of “Star Trek”.
OPEN HAILING FREQWell, certainly I didn’t enjoy it as I’d expected.
This book is the first volume (of two) covering the 50 years of “Star Trek”.
OPEN HAILING FREQUENCIES
I was so excited about this book that I didn’t think it twice once I saw it in the shelves of a local bookstore and I bought it.
Maybe I should give it some thought.
I am a Trekker, proudly for 29 years so far. I had watched some of the movies of the classic crew (The Wrath of Khan remains as my favorite movie in the franchise), but the original TV series wasn’t showed here, in my country, at least not during my childhood years (back then, the “big guns” in sci-fi TV, here, were Lost in Space and Space: 1999, along with the original Battlestar Galactica and Buck Rogers in the 25th Century), so it was until The Next Generation that I heard my calling and become a Trekker (also, maybe that’s why that I’ve never being so thrilled of calling myself as “Trekkie”), but don’t get me wrong, once the Star Trek universe got inside my heart, I embraced the Original Series, and also the rest of TV spin-offs and the recent Abramsverse films.
Currently, Star Trek is my number one favorite franchise.
But, I am open minded (as any true Trekker or Trekkie should be… IDIC, remember?) and I am of those rare cases (or maybe not so rare) that I am fan of Star Wars too, its direct competition in popular culture. In any case, I am absurd fan too of The X-Files, Doctor Who, Buffy, the Vampire Slayer, Re-Imagined Battlestar Galactica, etc… etc… etc… well you got the picture, all the usual suspects.
So, you may wonder then, why the heck I didn’t enjoy this book that was supposed to make an account about the history of the Star Trek franchise since its beginning.
I should be happier than Ferengi locked in a vault full of gold-pressed latinum, right? (Mmh… we are still in the Original Series years, I should pick a more adequate analogy, oh well…)
Let me, explain you…
HUBBUB… THE FINAL MADNESS
I read in the title of the book the part of “Oral History”, and well, it was a paper published book, not even an audiobook, so I guessed that it was just a cool way to title it.
Maybe I should guess again.
Since the “Oral History” was quite adecuate to describe this kind of book.
It’s not like you “hear” the book. That’s not logical! Even Spock could tell you that!
However, it’s an “oral” prose, if such think makes any sense.
The book is written using oral testimonies and comments made by hundreds of people that the authors got in previous interviews (even some made specially for this book). So, since they wrote down the spoken interviews of people about Star Trek, so technically it’s indeed an “oral history”.
So…
(Red Alert! Hubbub incoming!)
…you have, then, hundreds and hundreds AND hundreds of people, all of them, “talking” about Star Trek, BUT they are just too much different opinions, each of them with their particular view about the franchise (in this case, focused in the Original Series years, along with the Animated Series and the theatrical movies with the original crew), but they are so many different opinions that it’s common to find a lot of contradictory statements…
So…
…if you haven’t a solid knowledge about the franchise (and trust me, I have a solid knowledge of the franchise and that didn’t help me much) you’ll get very likely lost and totally confused about the topic.
Even, I didn’t like that some people interviewed had negative opinions about the following spin-offs in the franchise. I understand that this book is centered on the Original Series, but if you’re publishing a first volume in a planned project where the second volume will be focused on those spin-offs, well it’s not wise to publish those negative opinions in the first book.
I hadn’t fully embraced since the first moment, each following spin-off, as in anything new in life, there has been an adjustment period, but sooner or later, I ended embracing each following spin-off, since all of them are truly example of what Star Trek means.
Therefore, 50 years later, in a book which is part of the celebration of those 50 years of Star Trek, I consider distasteful to find negative opinions about the spin-offs of the franchise.
Anyway…
…getting back to the overwhelming “noise” made by hundreds of people, where in each chapter of this book, they “tell” you, their own opinions about Star Trek, I can assure you that faster than warp, you get awestruck quite soon, and it’s exhausting trying to make sense out of what all those people is babbling about, to form a coherent history account of the franchise.
I am fan of Back to the Future film trilogy, so it wasn’t hard (at all) to decide to read thiA wonderful way to invest time!
THERE IS A TIME...
I am fan of Back to the Future film trilogy, so it wasn’t hard (at all) to decide to read this book.
It’s a book describing all the behind-the-scenes process implied to present to audience the wonderful trilogy of Back to the Future since even before that the production got a green light to begin.
Caseen Gaines, the author, not only have read several research books about the topic, but also he was able to make direct interviews with many people involved in the film franchise.
Obviously since I am a geek, I knew a lot about the film trilogy but it was refreshing to find out several things that I didn’t know about, and also to “live” again the whole development of the trilogy, step-by-step, all the good and all the mess.
The author gives away both versions of the story when it’s about a polemic issue without taking a stand, he just presents both sides of each incident, and you are the one to decide who was right or wrong, even the chance that nobody is totally right or wrong, and the truth can be found, just in the middle of both versions of how the events happened.
The casting, the visual effects, the locations, the artwork, the music, the impact and the aftermath, you are a first line witness in an engaging narrative, making a true time-travelling trip to the history of one of the most beloved film franchises.
To be continued...
TIME FLIES WHEN...
I remember having read (several years ago) a 3-part article in a Spanish-translated edition of Starlog magazine, published in Spain, where the author of the article made an AMAZING job detailing all the paradoxes created in the trilogy and certainly I had the time of my life reading the 3-parter article. (and yes, I still have those magazines, somewhere in my boxes).
This book at hand isn’t about the implications and paradoxes on the script. This book is a detailed behind-the-scenes access to the whole long process that it was made to make possible the production of the iconic first film and its two sequels, making a timeless trilogy.
Also, you will read about the impact of each movie, how they were received by the audience inside of USA and around the world, in the same way the aftermath involving side-projects, fan clubs and marketing in all its spectrum.
Depending of how much you may know about what happened during the filmation of the trilogy, it’s likely that you will know many of the facts revealed here, but I trust that (like my own case), the book will be able to surprise here and there. Telling you some stuff that you hadn’t the slightest clue, or even if you were kind aware of some stuff, it’s quite possible that the deep exposition will be able to expand your own knowledge of certain incident and/or anecdote or giving you an unknown angle until now.
To be concluded...
NO TIME LIKE...
While I truly think that the book deserves its my personal rating of 5 stars, since I enjoyed each second of the reading experience, I believe that some stuff wasn’t exposed as it was detailed others.
There isn’t anything about the casting process for Christopher Lloyd, maybe the Bobs (Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale) always wanted him for the role of “Doc Brown” but in the book it’s told cases like that (if there’s the case at all) for support characters, so it’s odd not having at least some paragraphs dedicated to the co-star of the trilogy.
During the narrative it’s clear that the author had access to many people, including key persons like Zemeckis, Gale, Lloyd, Lea Thompson, Thomas F. Wilson, etc… but my impression is that he wasn’t able to contact Michael J. Fox, since while the book have a lot about him and his life experience while filming the trilogy, when it’s about Michael it seemed to be something that he was told about by a third party and/or read somewhere, and while it’s my humble feeling about it (I can be wrong) it’s a pity not having first hand comments from the star of the film trilogy.
But don’t take me wrong. The book is a real treat to any fan of Back to the Future and I am sure that if you love the trilogy as much as I do, you’ll love to read this book too.
I am a huge fan of Michael J. Fox and I knew him since Powerful testimony
This a biography about Michael J Fox’s real life
AN ICON IN TV & FILMS
I am a huge fan of Michael J. Fox and I knew him since his TV sitcom Family Ties (which is in my all-time Top5 of sitcoms (Hogan’s Heroes, Laverne & Shirley, Mork & Mindy, Taxi and Family Ties) (and in case you’re wondering, yes, I like Friends, Seinfeld and The Big Bang Theory, but they’re in the next five spots along with Alf and Fawlty Towers)) and soon enough he was on the films Back to the Future and Teen Wolf (yes, I like that movie, obviously since it’s a Michael J Fox’s film but also the final song Shootin’ for the Moon by Amy Holland is on my all-time Top10 favorite songs), therefore in 1985, “Alex P. Keaton”, “Marty McFly” and “Scott Howard” were part of my favorite characters performed by the same actor, almost at the same time.
For those reasons, it was logical to be attentive to any movie that he may do next, and that pay offs soon enough again, since The Secret of my Success is also one of my favorite movies, but thanks too that he co-starred with Helen Slater (whom I love), so it was like the perfect movie couple for me.
Other movies that I like a lot with Michael J. Fox are Doc Hollywood, The Frighteners and Casualties of War. I love The American President and huge fan of Mars Attacks! but his participation there weren’t as lead character, so I don’t think about them as a Michael J. Fox’s product.
While I couldn’t enjoy that much other films like The Hard Way ,Greedy and For Love or Money, I still watch them from times to times since Michael J. Fox’s charisma there, make them still watchable.
I wasn’t able to watch the TV sitcom Spin City as much as I’d wish, but I still was able to catch some episodes here and there, and obviously while he was still in the show were awesome.
PARKINSON’S DISEASE
I couldn’t believe in 1998, when the world knew about Michael J. Fox’s illness and even more shocking that he was diagnosed since 1991 but kept it in secret. I was shocked and sad for him, especially since this disease isn’t normal to have it people so young. While he was able to keep his career for ten more years since he knew about the illness, in 1998, he was already too sick to keep working (while he indeed still did some relevent voice-animation jobs like in Stuart Little and Disney’s Atlantis and some other live action jobs), it wasn’t the same anymore.
IN HIS OWN WORDS
In this biography (that I didn’t realize until I read it, that it was like the first one that he wrote (he did like three more biographies later)) you read about his youth, his family, his wife (Tracy Polland) that he met in his days of Family Ties (curiously enough playing a girlfriend of Alex P. Keaton) and that he had with her, four kids (three of them quite mentioned in the book, the final one not due the publication’s date), giving a heavy treatment of how he was dealing with the shocking news of his Parkinson’s disease, and how he was able to avoid a dangerous alcoholism threat thanks to the support and advice of his wife, along with the creation of the Michael J. Fox Foundation and its goal to help people with Parkinson’s disease and trying to find a cure. Also, how he was almost not sleeping (and without still knowing about his incoming illness) due being double working at the same time in Family Ties and the first Back to the Future, his two most known works that curiously, he wasn’t the first choice in Family Ties (they want Matthew Broderick) and he replaced Eric Stoltz in Back to the Future after three months of shooting (while he was the first choice there but unable due being in contract with Family Ties).
He was awarded several times with Emmys and Golden Globes thanks to his work on Family Ties and Spin City.
Maybe my only regret about the book is that he didn’t get into details about his experiences in his TV shows and films, true, he mentioned them and he commented several things about them, but you didn’t get to know how was his working relationship with Christopher Lloyd or Helen Slater, and while he mentioned how successful were Family Ties and Back to the Future and even admitting the flops in The Hard Way and Greedy, it didn’t dimensioned how successful were The Secret of My Success (it’s mentioned the film a couple of times, and even used as variation for the title of one chapter) but certainly that movie works quite well, and it’s not mentioned much about it.
Still this is a great biography about one of the greatest guys in the entertainment industry....more
Wonderful example of the power of a graphic novel!
This is the “Complete” edition of “Maus: A Survivor’s Tale” collecting both parts: “My Father BlWonderful example of the power of a graphic novel!
This is the “Complete” edition of “Maus: A Survivor’s Tale” collecting both parts: “My Father Bleeds History” and “And Here My Troubles Began”.
OF MAUS AND MEN
But these damn bugs are eating me alive!
While it took long time of finally reading Maus,...
...I knew that it was a graphic novel referring about the Jew Holocaust, but using mice (Jews) and cats (Nazis) as the characters,...
...and even while I was sure that it will be a crude telling, I didn’t expect that the only difference between “reality” and this graphic novel would be the choice of using “animals” as the characters in the story.
I mean, while I agree that Jew Holocaust isn’t a humorous matter, I supposed that it would be some “imaginative” use of places, tools, terms, etc… taking in account that the story was full of mice, cats and even pigs (with some frog or dog, here and there).
Actually, I don’t know why using “animals” as characters if everything else in the story will be keep as it happened. Even there are some odd moments of a “female mouse person” scared due the presence of regular rats.
Again, the Jew Holocaust is not a matter to take in comical way, but then, I think that the graphic novel could plainly use human beings (not necessarily too realistic, some cartoon style could work) and the graphic novel will be the same as good, the same as relevant.
You know, as in the movie Life is Beautiful where the horrors of the Holocaust are there, but still there is space for some humorous moments, that they help as tension relief without meaning any disrespect to the tragic historic event.
However, definitely the graphic format of this story makes possible for readers to be witness from the begining until the end (and even further) of the whole tragic and cruel process of what Jews endured (and not many were able to get out alive from it) during the World War II.
A titanic graphic story constructed during years of artistic effort to show, with detail and authenticity, one of the darkest episodes of human history.
LET MAUS WHO IS WITHOUT SIN...
Friends? Your friends?... If you lock them together in a room with no food for a week… then you could see what it is, friends!
The success of Maus obviously can tied to the reason of being a Jew Holocaust’s story, and almost any suc story receive a wide positive acceptance, but I think that what makes different Maus from many of similar stories is its bold honesty.
Here, you won’t have a partial view of the tragic event or spotless characters.
Obviously Nazis and Polish collaborators/sympathizers are shown doing their evil stuff, BUT also you will watch how Jews behaved with their own, robbing food from their fellow people, not doing any favor unless get paid with something (gold, food, cigarrettes, etc…), true, it was an extreme situation, but usually movies and other books don’t hesitate to show Nazi’s inhuman actions, but you have to realize that those were prisons, and life in prisons is tough and people will lose any humanity from them in the urge to survive.
Also, Art Spiegelman, the author, was bold showing how hard was to live with his father, Vladek Spielgelman (the main character in the Holocaust parts), Vladek wasn’t a saint (and after all, how many of us really is?) with not only crazy habits but even racist thinking against afro-american people. Art Spiegelman is a character in the story too, and while he is a whole better as person than his father, he doesn’t portrait himself as a saint and you can appreciate how even at some moments, he does some kinda unfair actions, since after all, he is human too. His family is as disfunctional as others, being Holocaust’s survivors didn’t turn it magically into “Norman Rockwell paintings”.
Anybody can create perfect heroes, only true writers are able to show the dark moments of his/her own family, in the middle of the storytelling of a book.
In this way, with boldness and courage, Maus exposes us with a harsh truth: Survivors from a war aren’t necessarily good people, saved by their faith or spared due the purity of their souls. No. Survivors from a war (in most cases) is just because plain luck. Even some survivors got such bad luck of dying after the war ended and by non-military personnel.
War is a crazy thing (any war) and if you try to get some logic out of it,...
Yes, I believe in the paranormal stuff and I am not ashamed of that.
NO ONE BELIEVES UNTIL...
And I don't blame anybody who didn't. I won't starYes, I believe in the paranormal stuff and I am not ashamed of that.
NO ONE BELIEVES UNTIL...
And I don't blame anybody who didn't. I won't start a witch hunt! (pun intended)
I think that if you never have met anything paranormal, it's totally understandable if you don't believe in any of this.
So, it's normal that you won't believe in the paranormal until...
...something unexplainable would happen to you.
If you believe in God, then you have to accept the existence of demons. There is no light without darkness. Even the Bible mentions about demons and exorcisms.
PERSONAL EXPERIENCES
My family have a couple of ghost stories (just to name some highlights):
First, my paternal grandfather died when I was a kid and some time later many stuff starting to get lost in my home and reappearing again later. He didn't live with us, and while he was my paternal granddad, it was my mom instead the one who was certain that he was him behind of that. Some night, my dad was out working, I was slept and my mom was the only one awake (my brother hadn't born yet), so she "talks" to the air and she said to my grandpa that she knows that he love us very much but the thing about dissapearing stuff was scaring her too much, so she pleaded him to stop doing that. She didn't tell anyone that she did that for quite some time but right after she did the "talking", the stuff stopped to dissapear in my home.
Second, my mom was really close to my maternal great-grandmother and when my great-grandma was dying, the process took several time. One night, my dad got sudddenly awake and for a split-second he swore that he saw my great-grandma at the door of their room watching my mom. He awaked my mom and advised her to call to my maternal family's house since he thought that my great-grandmother had died. She phoned right away and they told her that indeed my great-grandma had died like half an hour ago and they were still making calls to tell all the family the sad news.
Yep, true stories. I gained nothing making up these.
101 ON THE WARRENS
The book is about the lives of Ed and Lorraine Warren, that they were paranormal investigators since the 1940's and they were quite known by clergymen of several religions, college scholars and even the military but it was until the "Amityville" case that they got publicity enough to be known by general public.
Lorraine Warren is still alive (2014 (when I read this book)) and she has clairvoyance skills. Ed Warren was a demonologist, one of the only seven demonologists recognized (at least on the 1970s) and the only non-priest person allowed by the Catholic Church to make exorcisms. Both dealt with hundreds of paranormal cases on the United States and England since the 1940s until early 1980s.
SOOO, THE BOOK...
The book was quite good and a very entertaining reading, however it didn't cover all the most important and famous cases of them.
While the book mentions here and there the topic of the "Amityville" case, it isn't exposed on detail. About that particular case, I don't know if it was a decision since the polemic status of may be a hoax. However, there are several other cases like the "Snedeker", "Union and Stepney Cemeteries" and "Smurl" cases, even the "Perrons" case, aren't commented in detail here, not matter when the publicity on the cover of the book mentions that that particular case that inspired the film of The Conjuring.
BUT...
While the cases that the book does cover are quite interesting and I didn't know about some of them.
Honestly expected a most complete biography of their cases, especially the most famous ones. I know that their career was quite long, but definitely the book should cover the most known cases.
However, the cases that the book covers, indeed are captivating, so I have no real complains and I enjoyed a lot the reading (and yes, it got real spooky at several moments!).
Besides the info and details about some of their cases, the book also it gives extended explanations about the differences between kinds of spirits, human and inhuman ones, and also the typical signals of the process of a haunting in any house.
Many of those cases with people involved in hauntings, they were guilty for being playing with books with dark rituals and most commonly with ouija boards. Certainly not matter if you believe or not in those things, there isn't any excuse to start playing with dangerous stuff like that.
In some really rare cases, the person affected didn't do anything to deserve it, they say that it's like one every ten years that this may happen.
So, in the most cases, someone in the family must do something to provoke the haunting.
Quite interesting enough, besides civilian families (in most cases), in the book is detailed a paranormal case on the West Point Academy and the military command there, asked for the Warrens to help them. And you can bet that so prestigious institution wouldn't call them if they wouldn't believe that they were dealing with something paranormal.
On the book too, they detailed various cases of hauntings and demonic possessions presenting the transcripts of recordings while talking with the possessed people.
And one of the highlights is that the book indeed cover the famous case of the "Annabelle" doll.
So, while I expected that the book would cover all the major cases of the Warrens, still the book is well written, quite entertained and highly recommended to any interested on the real deal of the paranormal phenomena.
Some fellow reader friends recommended me the book and also I noticed the author in a documentary series "Secrets of the Bible" on HistExcellent book!
Some fellow reader friends recommended me the book and also I noticed the author in a documentary series "Secrets of the Bible" on History Channel since he was one of the people making comments there and identifying him as the writer of this very book. So, I thought that it was destined to read it at some point. Happily I was able to do it sooner that I thought.
This is a research book that Reza Aslan, the author, made a 20-years' investigation about all the possible sources about Jesus' life. The author did a remarkable job merging the scriptures on the Bible with info from Greek and Roman historians, portraiting the political ambiance, religious background, military situation and social affairs of the times were Jesus lived. Not only the years when he was alive but also the key years before his birth and the following events not only the destruction of Jerusalem by the Roman Empire but also the conversion of that reign to Christianity.
I think that's obvious but I want to mention that any reader who decides to read this book or any similar, well, they will find contradictory facts with the ones on the Bible. I mean, I am Catholic, I believe in God, but I don't find anything wrong to read research books since my faith is so strong that knowing that biblical events may happened in a different way won't diminish my believing on a higher power.
Victors are the writers of history. And you have to take in account that the Roman Empire devastated Jerusalem around the year 70, the few remaining Jews there exiled and even the very Roman Empire was converted to Christianity several years later. Well, to put simply, the Christian history was written by Romans. That's not even shocking but logical.
Also, even the books from the Bible, Old and New Testament has been edited, wrongly translated, manipulated, etc... that at this moment, it's very unlikely to know for certain what happened on those ancient times. Of course, to be fair, I found curious, how the Bible is always attacked for not being reliable as a historic source but other books from historians like Josephus and others are taken as fact without any doubt... not a single doubt. I mean, if the Bible has to be taken with doubt, I think that that same questionable doubt should be put upon those other books too. If the Bible lacks of hard evidence, that other books are in the same situation. Having an open mind is not only putting in doubt the Bible but any other book. A sound and reasonable doubt will let you to find the truths in the middle of the writings.
I really enjoyed the narrative style of Reza Aslan. He is able to write in such entertaining way that you really get to know in a simple and logical way how the events may happened on those ancient times. Honestly I think that now I have a clearer scenario on my mind of who, what, where and how, the events that generated the creation of the Christian religion.
And all the manipulation involved isn't a issue for me. Since religions are ruled by imperfect human beings.
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