Book Description
The fun and easy way to understand his work, his methods, and his mind
Thanks to the phenomenal success of the bestselling The Da Vinci Code, interest in this famed Renaissance artist has never been higher. This friendly guide provides an easy-to-follow introduction to da Vinci's life and works, including the story behind celebrated paintings such as the Mona Lisa and The Last Supper, the lowdown on his inventions, which include the helicopter and bicycle, and plain-English explanations of his groundbreaking scientific work in anatomy, zoology, botany, geology, optics, aerodynamics, and hydrodynamics.
The book also discusses his famed notebooks, his relationship to the Catholic Church, and the factual basis of The Da Vinci Code.
Jessica Teisch, PhD (Berkeley, CA) is Managing Editor of Bookmarks magazine and has written hundreds of profiles and book reviews for this award-winning publication. She has also written books and articles on subjects ranging from literature to technological, environmental, intellectual, and cultural history.
Customer Reviews:
surprisingly good.......2006-04-29
I looked forward to getting this book because I wanted to know more about Leonardo--the man. I had read the book, The Da Vinci Code, and that piqued my interest about him. But Dan Brown's book didn't explore the depth of Leonardo's contributions beyond his art. Da Vinci for Dummies was perfect for me because it explored a wide range of his interests such as dissecting human bodies and designing his flying machines. As is typical of the dummies series, the table of contents is very helpful if you want to jump around between chapters to focus on specific aspects of his life. There is also great effort to describe the times during which he lived and what/who were his influences. At first glance, you may consider these dummies books frivolous. But I found this book to be a useful, comprehensive, and fascinating biography of an amazing man.
A Must Read.......2005-04-26
For those of you who don't know Leonardo's fascinating story, this book is for you! It reads like a novel, weaving the intricacies of Leonardo's life together in a well-written, suspenseful and integrated novel. A definite read for art aficionados, scientists and humanists alike.
Beautifully Researched, Easy to Read and FUNNY !!.......2005-04-06
It's rare that a writer/editor has the depth of knowledge and confidence in her research to venture to have a little bit of fun with a historical/scientific figure of Leonardo's significance. Fortunately for readers, Jessica Teisch completely pulls it off. She writes this extremely easy to read and entertaining volume as if Leonardo was the next door neighbor she grew up with - In fact, at times, I was so entertained that it escaped my realization that I was actually picking up dozens of facts (i.e.; Leonardo was a lefty, a conplete non-conformist and that he actually didnt enjoy performing his exquisite anatomic dissections). All in all, this is a beautifully researched book that doesnt just educate you about Leonardo, but actually takes you all the way back to the Greeks and gives you a lovely tour up through the Rennaisance to boot. Where was this book when I was trying to impress historians and artists alike? Never mind - it's here now.
Finally - A Book on Da Vinci that I Can and Want to Read.......2005-04-01
I've always wondered who Leonardo Da Vinci really was. Sure, I slept though most of my Renaissance and Art History classes - but when the subject would turn to Da Vinci, I would always perk up. Did he really invent all of those wacky things? Was he the founder of modern medicine and anatomy? Was he a heretic? Was he the really the consummate Renaissance man? Now, after recently reading the Da Vinci Code - many of those old curiosities have resurfaced.
Da Vinci for Dummies tackles the complex subject of Da Vinci in the time-honored fashion I've come to expect from the Dummies series. If only this book had been around when I was studying Da Vinci in high school! It is written with a deep sense of respect, if not admiration, for its subject. As with other books in this series, Da Vinci for Dummies is both very fun and extremely easy to read, and it is organized in a format that makes finding answers to specific questions a breeze without having to search through the entire book. But, don't be deceived by its outward appearance and ease of use. I found this book to be as scholarly researched as it is easy to read. So, I would highly recommend it to anyone who is studying Da Vinci or preparing a report on the subject. (Shhhh - don't tell your teachers I said this!) However - I would also recommend it to anyone who has the slightest interest in this curious and profoundly important individual. If you've read the Da Vinci code, as I have, and wanted to know more - consider this book a quick and easy, yet surprisingly scholarly refresher, in the subject!
Great Guide to Leonardo.......2005-03-31
This is a fascinating work for those of you who want an overview of Leondardo, but don't have a desire to read an esoteric biography. My favorite part involved a discussion of Leondardo's flying machines. Who knew? I had no idea that he invented the precursor to the helicopter. A must for those who are fascinated by Leondardo!
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Leonardo Da Vinci Fur Dummies
Jessica Teisch
Manufacturer: Wiley-VCH
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 3527702466 |
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START NOW IN OIL
TOM ROBB
Manufacturer: Unknown
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000S5V3AS |
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Start Now in Oil (Start Now)
Tom Robb
Manufacturer: Aurum Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Board book
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ASIN: 1854102826 |
Book Description
This digital document is an article from WWP-Report on Mining, Metal Making and Conversion, published by Worldwide Projects, Inc. on February 20, 2003. The length of the article is 1970 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: ARGENTINA/CHILE: Construction start-up on long stalled $1,200,000,000 gold/silver mine development project is now tentatively scheduled to begin some time around July 2003, BARRICK GOLD CORP. [Canada] - Order #: 023503.
Publication:
WWP-Report on Mining, Metal Making and Conversion (Magazine/Journal)
Date: February 20, 2003
Publisher: Worldwide Projects, Inc.
Volume: 12
Issue: 02
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from WWP-Report on Mining, Metal Making and Conversion, published by Worldwide Projects, Inc. on June 1, 1999. The length of the article is 1065 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: CHILE: CONSTRUCTION START-UP ON LONG-STALLED SX-EW COPPER PLANT IS NOW TENTATIVELY SCHEDULED TO BEGIN IN AUGUST 1999, ANTOFAGASTA HOLDINGS [CHILE/UK] - Order #: 064699.
Publication:
WWP-Report on Mining, Metal Making and Conversion (Magazine/Journal)
Date: June 1, 1999
Publisher: Worldwide Projects, Inc.
Volume: 8
Issue: 6
Page: NA
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from WWP- Report on Oil Gas & Petrochemicals in the Developing World, published by Worldwide Projects, Inc. on July 1, 1999. The length of the article is 1169 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: EGYPT: CONSTRUCTION START-UP ON PLANNED, LONG-STALLED, $70,000,000 TO $75,000,000 POLYPROPYLENE (PP) PLANT IS NOW SAID TO BE IMMINENT, TOYO ENGINEERING CORP. (TEC) [JAPAN] - Order #: 070999.
Publication:
WWP- Report on Oil Gas & Petrochemicals in the Developing World (Magazine/Journal)
Date: July 1, 1999
Publisher: Worldwide Projects, Inc.
Volume: 8
Issue: 7
Page: NA
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from Modern Applications News, published by Nelson Publishing on December 1, 2004. The length of the article is 1314 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: Garage start-up now globally competitive: a garage start-up selects a supplier and invests in the latest technology survives, grows, and expands its markets throughout the most difficult business climate.(MACHINING
Publication:
Modern Applications News (Magazine/Journal)
Date: December 1, 2004
Publisher: Nelson Publishing
Volume: 38
Issue: 12
Page: 34(2)
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from WWP-Report on Mining, Metal Making and Conversion, published by Thomson Gale on October 1, 2006. The length of the article is 634 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: INDIA: Construction start-up on long-stalled $12,000,000,000 integrated steel complex is now scheduled to begin in April 2007, POHANG IRON & STEEL CO. LTD. (POSCO) [South Korea] Order #: 108106.
Author: Gale Reference Team
Publication:
WWP-Report on Mining, Metal Making and Conversion (Magazine/Journal)
Date: October 1, 2006
Publisher: Thomson Gale
Volume: 15
Issue: 10
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from WWP- Report on Oil Gas & Petrochemicals in the Developing World, published by Worldwide Projects, Inc. on April 1, 1999. The length of the article is 1421 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: INDIA: JOINT VENTURE CONSTRUCTION START-UP ON LONG-STALLED $2,000,000,000 REFINERY IS NOW EXPECTED TO BE APPROVED WITHIN 3 MONTHS, BHARAT PETROLEUM CORP. (BPCL) [INDIA] & OMAN OIL CO. (OOC) [OMAN] - Order #: 046699.
Publication:
WWP- Report on Oil Gas & Petrochemicals in the Developing World (Magazine/Journal)
Date: April 1, 1999
Publisher: Worldwide Projects, Inc.
Volume: 8
Issue: 4
Page: NA
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from WWP- Report on Oil Gas & Petrochemicals in the Developing World, published by Worldwide Projects, Inc. on February 1, 2005. The length of the article is 994 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: INDONESIA: Construction start-up on long-stalled $1,900,000,000 gas pipeline is now tentatively scheduled to begin some time during the 3rd quarter of 2005, PERUSHAAN GAS NEGARA (PGN) [Indonesia] - Order #: 025705.
Publication:
WWP- Report on Oil Gas & Petrochemicals in the Developing World (Magazine/Journal)
Date: February 1, 2005
Publisher: Worldwide Projects, Inc.
Volume: 14
Issue: 02
Distributed by Thomson Gale
Book Description
This digital document is an article from WWP- Report on Oil Gas & Petrochemicals in the Developing World, published by Worldwide Projects, Inc. on February 1, 2003. The length of the article is 1585 words. The page length shown above is based on a typical 300-word page. The article is delivered in HTML format and is available in your Amazon.com Digital Locker immediately after purchase. You can view it with any web browser.
Citation Details
Title: OMAN: Joint venture construction start-up on previously announced tentative $539,000,000 liquefied natural gas LNG) train is now scheduled to begin in March 2003, FOSTER WHEELER ENERGY LTD. (FWEL) [UK/USA] & CHIYODA CORP. [Japan] - Order #: 028003.
Publication:
WWP- Report on Oil Gas & Petrochemicals in the Developing World (Magazine/Journal)
Date: February 1, 2003
Publisher: Worldwide Projects, Inc.
Volume: 12
Issue: 02
Distributed by Thomson Gale
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Retratos, 1960-1992 (Coleccion del sol)
Sara Facio
Manufacturer: Azotea
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Binding: Paperback
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ASIN: 9509536148 |
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Maria Elena Walsh: Retrato(s) de una Artista Libre (Serie Antropologica)
Sara Facio , and
Maria Elena Walsh
Manufacturer: La Azotea
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ASIN: 9509536210 |
Customer Reviews:
You don't have to be over the hill to enjoy this book!.......1999-04-08
Selma has wit that will knock you off of your feet laughing, and the charm to help you get back up again. I read the book from cover to cover in one sitting because I could NOT put this book down. She tells great stories about Louisville, Kentucky at the turn of the century. She also provides advise that will change your outlook on life.
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Once You're over the Hill: You Begin to Pick Up Speed (Peanuts Wisdom)
Charles M. Schulz
Manufacturer: HarperCollins Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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Peanuts
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ASIN: 0067574505 |
Book Description
Birthdays seem to come more quickly the older we get. As another year passes, we add another candle to the sweet cake of life. Once You're Over the Hill, You Begin to Pick up Speed presents a charming collection of comic strips that will make the aging process funnier and a bit easier, too.
Amazon.com
Writing for the screen is quirky business. A writer must labor meticulously over his or her prose, yet very little of that prose is ever heard by filmgoers. The few words that do reach the audience, in the form of the characters' dialogue, are, according to Robert McKee, best left to last in the writing process. ("As Alfred Hitchcock once remarked, 'When the screenplay has been written and the dialogue has been added, we're ready to shoot.' ") In Story, McKee puts into book form what he has been teaching screenwriters for years in his seminar on story structure, which is considered by many to be a prerequisite to the film biz. (The long list of film and television projects that McKee's students have written, directed, or produced includes Air Force One, The Deer Hunter, E.R., A Fish Called Wanda, Forrest Gump, NYPD Blue, and Sleepless in Seattle.) Legions of writers flock to Hollywood in search of easy money, calculating the best way to get rich quick. This book is not for them. McKee is passionate about the art of screenwriting. "No one needs yet another recipe book on how to reheat Hollywood leftovers," he writes. "We need a rediscovery of the underlying tenets of our art, the guiding principles that liberate talent." Story is a true path to just such a rediscovery. In it, McKee offers so much sound advice, drawing from sources as wide ranging as Aristotle and Casablanca, Stanislavski and Chinatown, that it is impossible not to come away feeling immeasurably better equipped to write a screenplay and infinitely more inspired to write a brilliant one.--Jane Steinberg
Book Description
Robert McKee's screenwriting workshops have earned him an international reputation for inspiring novices, refining works in progress and putting major screenwriting careers back on track. Quincy Jones, Diane Keaton, Gloria Steinem, Julia Roberts, John Cleese and David Bowie are just a few of his celebrity alumni. Writers, producers, development executives and agents all flock to his lecture series, praising it as a mesmerizing and intense learning experience.
In Story, McKee expands on the concepts he teaches in his $450 seminars (considered a must by industry insiders), providing readers with the most comprehensive, integrated explanation of the craft of writing for the screen. No one better understands how all the elements of a screenplay fit together, and no one is better qualified to explain the "magic" of story construction and the relationship between structure and character than Robert McKee.
Customer Reviews:
Recommended by son, to mom and now you.......2007-09-23
Transforming a lifetime of short stories to screenplays has become my focus. Struggling with story, my son told me he had a teacher in film school suggest this book. It helped him. Now its helping me. Hopefully, you'll be next. Screenplays are perplexing if you've always written in short story or book form. McKee assists in making the necessary thought revisions you must in order to succeed.
A must read book.......2007-08-02
I bought this book three years ago, I keep referring to it whenever I am stuck in a script problem.I like the scene structure part very much, it is very focused, easy and helpful.
This is not a kind of book that you would read in the bus station or in one session.It is a lifetime friend once you decided to be a screenwriter.I am strongly convinced that "Story"is most useful for film and TV writers and not for any other writing genre.
Buy it, read it, re-read it and start writing knowing that it is a long journey.
There is only one way and that is McKee's way because he says so.......2007-07-30
If you can look past the contradictions, McKee's enormous ego, and writing as coherent and clear as that in Dianetics, you will occasionally find a helpful insight in this book.
Write the truth..........2007-06-26
In my experience books tested and proven before being written tend to be the best. A prime example - Angela's Ashes, won the Pulitzer Prize, fine tuned by the author McCourt doing a one man show talking about his wicked cruel childhood, growing up in Limerick, Ireland.
In the same way, Story evolved out of McKee giving lectures, and now, he continues to spread the word.
McKee is definitely an antagonist as opposed to a protagonist, and in person a funny and engaging fellow, and an excellent teacher. As you might expect, he does know how to tell a funny story, and he had a little fun at the expense of some of the sacred cows in the industry. I particularly liked his rant about Roger Ebert, who took his name in vain once but never again.
Anyway, the book shines a bright light on the elements of story. Conflict is to story what sound is to music. Story trumps dialogue in importance. Setups, payoffs, turning points, structure, inciting incident, protagonist vs antagonist, resonating and contrasting subplot, negation of the negation. Emotional value of scenes. Arc of the character. Act structure, rhythm and pacing. Text and subtext, beats, exposition. Character, dimension, step outline. All this and so much more.
Perhaps the most important single thing I learned from McKee is..treatment. The character treatment may be twice as long as the screenplay. This is the key difference between aspiring screenwriters, and successful ones.
I open my book, and look at his personal inscription to me, which I am sure he has written to many others... "Write the truth." I will, Mr McKee, I will.
If you were to find this review helpful, please click yes.
THE book for understanding story.......2007-06-24
If one were to read Joseph Campbell's, A Hero With a Thousand Faces, and Story, you would have the foundations (not formula) for understanding why story telling is such a powerful medium for communicating eternal truths. McKee says all people have an insatiable appetite for story. We can't get enough of them.
Average customer rating:
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El Guion/ Story: Sustancia, Escritura, Estilo Y Principios De La Escritura De Guiones/ Substance, Structure, Style and the Principles of Screenwriting
Robert McKee
Manufacturer: Alba
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Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 848428168X |
Book Description
Laurence Juber, the former lead guitarist for Paul McCartney and Wings, is the premier solo acoustic guitarist of our generation. This new anthology contains 16 of LJ's most popular solo guitar pieces, in DADGAD, CGDGAD, and standard tuning. All are transcribed by LJ himself, including his classic arrangements of Eric Clapton's "Layla." Also included is a masterclass-style CD, in which LJ walks through the key aspects and techniques for each arrangement. Songs include: Dancing on Streams * Different Times * Leaning Post * Gate 43 * Liquid Amber * Along the Way * Love at First Sight * Buffalo Nickel * Cannery Row * Catch! * The Green Kitchen * The 5:55 * Breaking Point * Eye of the Storm * I Saw Her Standing There * Little Wing.
Customer Reviews:
Great for the Intermediate to Advanced Guitarist.......2006-12-29
This book presents a very challenging set of material geared towards the intermediate to advanced fingerstyle guitarist. The LJ-written transcriptions are flawless and the accompanying CD contains hints and instructions for most of the songs. Most of the songs are original compositions that are quite fun to learn and play, but the arrangements of Layla, Little Wing, and I Saw Her Standing There are worth the purchase price of the book by themselves.
The CD does not contain recordings of Little Wing or I Saw Her Standing There (I guess from copyright concerns,) so I would recommend having access to a copy of LJ's recordings of those songs, although the familiar melodies lend themselves to sight reading better than the rest of the songs would. Also, because most of the songs are played in pieces mixed with spoken instructions, having access to the recorded versions would also be helpful in some cases to hear the complete finished product.
The majority of the songs transcribed are either DADGAD or CGDGAD, so this is best suited to the acoustic guitarist who is comfortable leaving standard tuning.
excellent transacription.......2005-04-09
This book is an excellent transcription of LJ's tunes. If you wish to play LJ's tunes, the book is a must have. The package includes a teaching CD, where LJ breaks down the songs into parts, slow down faster sections and includes explanations. All of the songs are shown in tablature. You won't be able to get a better book on LJ's song, mainly because LJ wrote the book!
Misleading product information.......2005-03-23
The Amazon Editorial Review is incorrect and misleading. The included CD does not offer guidance on two of the sixteen arrangements. No instruction on either "I Saw Her Standing There" or "Little Wing" is given. Since I bought the book for tips on how to play I Saw Her Standing There, I am very disappointed.
Book Description
The educational and cultural determinants of the tempo and direction of transformation of the democratic and the normative order in post-totalitarian society are analysed. The author's analyses presented in this book attempt to answer the following question: How does one pass from normative order to normative integration? Which properties of the new systemic educational identity are conductive to the active creation of social normative order in Poland? What is the religious adaptation to the new state formation? Is it possible in a short time to build in Poland a new pragmatic and progressive educational system based on the unified school which is democratic with unified education and the freedom of choice?
Book Description
Sheila Hancock's moving memoir of her life with husband John Thaw, star of the Inspector Morse series.
In this unique double biography, Sheila Hancock chronicles her life and the life of her husband John Thaw, one of the finest actors of his generation, who was beloved as Inspector Morse in the long-running TV series and who later starred later in life in A Year in Provence. The Two of Us is an utterly compelling portrait of their lives-personal and professional, together and apart-against the rich backdrop of the film and theater worlds of the late twentieth century.
When John Thaw arrived at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art on scholarship, he felt like an outsider. In fact, his timing was perfect: it was the sixties and the arena of television was just opening up. Fame came quickly, but it was John's role as Morse that made him an icon around the world. In 1974 John married Sheila Hancock, with whom he shared a working-class background and a RADA education. Sheila was already a television star herself and went on to become the first female artistic director at the Royal Shakespeare Company. Theirs was a sometimes turbulent, always passionate relationship, and Sheila describes their lives together, weathering overwork and the pressures of celebrity, drink and cancer, with honesty and piercing intelligence.
The Two of Us is a remarkable book-a biography of a born actor and a tender, often heartbreaking memoir of a marriage. Full of insight and vivid memories, it evokes two lives lived to the utmost.
Customer Reviews:
Lovely but oh, so bittersweet.......2007-02-12
For anyone who is a devoted John Thaw fan,(he was the BEST as far as I'm concerned), this is a book that you MUST read. Not only is it a tribute to his talent but it is a love letter from the love of his life. I brushed away many a tear while reading this wonderful but heartbreaking book.
Not only is this an intelligently written book by his wife, an accomplished actress herself, but she shares many photos of John's personal and professional life.
It was wonderful.
A Great Love.......2006-12-16
I bought this book because I and my wife so admired John Thaw the actor,
Morse, Cavanagh, Mr. Tom, A Year in Province etc. This not your typical
biography of a great actor it's much more. This is a moving story of a
women's deep love of a very flawed and troubled man. Her fears of losing him and her eventual loss of him hits home to anyone who has lost someone
that was the love of their life. She has written a deeply personel story,
and given words to thoughts we all have at the loss of one we so loved.
This book touched me deeply, it's what we all will face eventually as
the one who is dying or the one left behind. There is no gloss here
She portrays their life as it was and who they were. John Thaw was a
wonderful actor, but a greater man for beating his demons and over
comming all the blocks to happiness in his life.He could not have done it without her love and patience. He was a "Lucky Man",read it and weep.
Vomit And Love.......2005-10-19
An entertaining tell-all by Sheila Hancock, an actress of whom I had never heard before picking up this book on a whim. As it happens I like the title.
She has many great stories about growing up in some shabby corners of England, and becoming an actress of some repute, as well as a sex symbol on English TV. It sounds as though she's had some limited success in movies, but mostly, I suppose, if you don't watch a lot of British TV from the 70s and 80s, you might not have heard of her.
I never heard of her husband either, but he was also a British TV star who played a cop in two long running series, one based on the Inspector Morse novels by Colin Dexter. His name was John Thaw and most of Hancock's book centers on him, her feelings for him, the complicated romantic relationships of the pair, and mostly about the alcoholism that, left unchecked, turned him into a human monster. Hancock relates some stories about Thaw's working class background that indicate he had vast reservoirs of resentment that fueled his masterful stage appearances. But he wasn't an easy husband, nor a good father; not until the end when, under the light of a guiding star called Udi Eichler, he learned to stop drinking and to sober up. Even though I never heard of any of the characters, I found myself intensely interested in Sheila Hancock's story. I wanted her to be happy, and I wanted John to come to his senses and stop throwing away the good things he had. And yes, all these things came to pass. Alas! Just when he was getting it together (personally speaking), he was diagnosed with late-stage cancer, and so he had only a short time to enjoy this late-blooming springtime of sobriety.
She uses her own diaries and those of her late husband, to good effect. What could be more wrenching than the dream journal of alcoholic John? "Came upstairs. Sheila came out of study. Looks me up and down. I look down. See there is vomit over my jacket and trousers." She might have been a termagant to the poor guy, but believe me, she had every right to be. In some ways she was an enabler, but as we see, she has a heart as big as Blackpool, and a more loveable show biz memoir you won't read for eons. There are, incidentally, a plethora of anecdotes about the famous friends and acquaintances of the couple, including some priceless stories about Peter O'Toole, no acting slouch himself, a man who idolized John Thaw.
One of the Better Auto-/Bios in a Long, Long Time.......2005-10-03
I knew of Sheila Hancock's work long before the introduction of "Morse" on American television. She is a fine stage and film actress whose talent won my respect in a piece of camp called "The Anniversary!" That she is also a remarkably fine writer came as a pleasant surprise. Her presentation, side-by-side time lines as well as contemporary "diary entries" for chapter headings is a very creative technique--and, for the most part, quite successful. One does get a measure of the man that WAS John Thaw; but, I came away with a greater sense of the woman who IS Sheila Hancock. The concluding pages are truly gut-wrenching! (My only complaint: the font used for the U.S. edition is hard on the eyes!)
The Man behind Morse and Kavanagh.......2005-09-02
A famous and rightly very popular British actor, John Thaw. We know him so well as Inspector Morse and Kavanagh QC, but how much do we know about the man himself? Thanks to Sheila Hancock's dual biography and autobiography "The Two of Us" we now know a great deal. Thankfully this book is utterly frank and there can be few secrets of their lives that have been hidden. I'm not sure I even knew that Sheila Hancock and John Thaw were husband and wife until reading this book. Sheila was born in 1933, a pre-war child, and John 9 years later during the war. John was born into a very poor family and the defining moment, which was to influence the rest of his life, was when his mother walked out on him and his brother when he was just 7 years old.
Sheila preceded John through the same London drama school (RADA) but it wasn't until about 10 years later that they met when cast together in a play. Sheila was about to lose her first husband to cancer. John and Sheila marry with each bringing a daughter to the union from their earlier marriages. Of course, as is often the way, they produce another daughter to give them a happy trio.
The story progresses through more than the average couple's share of real life dramas, from alcoholism, depression and cancer to separation. Sheila's love, inner strength, determination and courage is essentially what gets them through these troubled times to a happy reconciliation and final few years together before John's untimely death in 2002.
Between and within the biographical chapters are constant references to current affairs, political events, elections, wars, acts of terrorism and other bookmarks in time. Sheila does not hide her left wing opinions but tells little of John's political views.
The book ends with Sheila living on in desperate sorrow after John's death. She does try to find about more about John's late mother - whose funeral he did not attend - and what might have driven her to abandon her sons and leave such a mark on her beloved husband.
Whilst I loved this book I was frustrated by the large number of bit part players, maybe one every couple of pages, who came and went without really adding to the thread. Occasionally it was assumed that the reader would recall an earlier reference to one of these characters from many chapters earlier. In my case it was just too difficult. All in all this is a very interesting, open and readable biography of one of TV's most recognizable and well-loved contemporary characters
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- Front Cover: Great Book Jackets and Cover Design
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