Entertainment Books

Unlike most books on the psychology of color, this one focuses on film and relies heavily on the author's personal experience teaching the subject. Useful for film students--and others.

As a student first looking into the true meaning behind film, I enjoyed "If It's Purple Someone's Gonna Die". In order to recognize the cultural significance of a film, its necessary to notice and understand the emotions that the director wishes to display which cannot always be conveyed through dialogue. Through references to films that have greatly impacted American society, Bellantoni does an excellent job of helping the reader see the crucial role color plays in film.
One of the things I enjoyed most about this work was the stress placed on the feelings and reactions of the audience when certain colors take over the screen. For example, purple, seen as a color that represents royalty from an intellectual perspective actually has associations with the noncorporal in the context of human emotion. However, I did feel that Bellantoni did not provide evidence to support many of her claims. For example, when discussing the color green, Bellantoni states that people hesitate to consume green foods or drinks because of its correlation with evil. Though this may be true, her statements sometimes seemed subjective. Statistical evidence may have made these points more effective.
Lastly, I thought that Bellantoni's work is an overall success in expressing the role color plays in film because of the connections made to the reader. Whether or not one is a film student, Bellantoni cites groundbreaking films that have had an effect on all of our lives. Many can recall the girl in the red coat in Schindler's List and our implied connection to her or the progression through the primary colors representing an emotional and intellectual journey in Malcolm X. These examples presented in the text make it possible for the reader to refer back to a film whose use of color affects them physically and emotionally. By relating to her audience, and providing memorable, relevant examples, Bellantoni makes it possible for the reader to understand the visceral effects of color in film.

As a student in a university level film-studies class, I found this text to be not only intriguingly insightful but also truly helpful in regards to one's ability to intelligently dissect a film. The only minor drawback to If It's Purple, Somebody's Going to Die is Bellantoni's steadfast determination to reference anecdotal factoids without backing them up. While her insightful commentaries on how colors make one feel and what they indicate are impressively well researched, I found her off hand references to red cars getting pulled over more than others etc. to be a bit unfounded.

In addition to the aforementioned fact dropping, it appears Bellantoni starts every chapter by calling the color in question a dual-purpose, contradictory, or multi-use color. While she does always clarify how/why these colors have the ability to produce opposite reactions from the reader, the nitty-gritty of these explanations becomes tedious (95% white yellow, 50% white yellow, 100% pure yellow etc.).

Overall, once you accept the fact that Bellantoni truly knows all there is to know about color in film, and believe me, you will after you see enough people wearing purple die, then this text becomes an invaluable resource. I'm giving it four stars as an indication of how easy it is to ignore the few downsides mentioned above. Definitely an excellent resource.

This book is definitely on the beginners side of the spectrum. (no pun intended) You're not going to learn to be a production designer just from reading it, but it's a great start to becoming more aware of the use of color in film (or comics, video games or any other visual media) to influence underlying mood of the story. And once you're aware of color's presence, you can start making educated choices on how to use color in your own work.

Although a few more pictures would've been nice, the author does a good job of taking each of the six primary & secondary colors and defining its role in general and then giving numerous specific examples of the different visual and emotional tones each color can take.

If nothing else, this book added about 8 movies to my Netflix queue.

As an instructor of film-studies, I needed a text that tackled color-theory but used terms that first-year college-students could understand (i.e. a jargon-free examination of color in film). Bellantoni's work easily fulfills this need.

Foremost, Bellantoni logically divides her chapters by color (How refreshing to find a technical-work which travels a simple path!!) Within these chapters, are references to both well-known films (ex. "The Godfather," "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," "Saving Private Ryan," "American Beauty," "Eyes Wide Shut," "Rosemary's Baby" and "Malcolm X") as well as lesser-watched films (ex. "Mi Familia," "Eve's Bayou, and "The Caveman's Valentine"). The tremendous range of examples ensures that every reader will find a film-favorite for each color entry. (No need to worry about this being another text brimming with obscure/out-of-print works!!)

Now, let me be clear about Bellantoni's work. She emphasizes that there are both "intellectual" and "visceral" responses to color. Her text focuses almost entirely on the "visceral" (which she repeatedly states). Some detractors of the Bellentoni's find fault with her "failure" to explore the "intellectual." Nonsense. Frankly, I prefer this focused approach to a broader (potentially sloppy) work. The richness of this text would have suffered if Belllantoni felt compelled to address every possible interpretation.

While I enjoyed Bellantoni's personal anecdotes, I was occasionally frustrated by her neglecting to cite sources for a variety of evidence. For instance, when she asserts that "red cars get more speeding tickets than cars of any other color," I would have appreciated a footnote citing her source (or even providing the data)(2). Nonetheless, these were minor irritations in an overall informative work. What compensates for this "problem" is her interviews with cinematographers. These frequent "blurbs" lend credence to Bellantoni's work ... if ever you doubted the importance of color, just read a few of these inserts and you will become a "believer."

In my class we read one chapter a week ... by the last week, my students were color-masters!! The assigned films had become exercises in color-exploration ... to the point where I had to stop my class and say "Let's look at other elements also!" What this tells me is that Bellantoni's work is easily accessible to every student and genuinely exciting!! While my class has completed readings on most film elements, they inevitably want to return to Bellantoni's work on color and camp there! That kind of enthusiasm ... well, that's rare!

Thank you, Professor Bellantoni for inspiring excitement in my students! What a gift you have given to professors and students alike!!

as a fan of lou costello all my life i never really new much about the real lou till i read this book by his daughter chris.This is a must read for any of lou"s fans as it will make you feel all his highs and lows.

Like every kid in America, afternoons after school meant watching television and who better to watch than Abbott and Costello?

This book took me by surprise. For years I heard stories about the tragic events that happened in Lou Costello's personal life but somehow images of him in HOLD THAT GHOST or bothering the Andrews Sisters didn't jive with those images.

Lou's daughter, Chris, wrote a loving tribute to her father that is accurate, on point but never gets syrupy sweet. Nor is it a "Daddy Dearest" where she portrays anyone as a monster.

Although she was not born at the time, Chris traces her father's roots from New Jersey all the way through vaudeveille and finally Hollywood. In a sesntive way, she recounts the tragic loss of Lou's son, Butch and with just as much delicacy she handles the problems of her mother's drinking.

Although I would have liked to have had a better insight into what went on as the team created some memorable movie scenes, Chris concentrates solely on the man. You put down the book and wonder how Lou Costello - plaqued with IRS problems as well as health issues - could be so funny and so giving all the time.

Even if you are not an A&C fan, this book will show you the side of a professional comedian who gave the gift of laughter to others despite his own problems.

I found out from a local bookstore that this particular edition of Lou Costello's life was out of print and that their supplier unable to procure. The bookstore reminded me to check with Amazon and there it was. You had one copy which I quickly scooped up. Delivery was even a day earlier than stated. Very pleased as always with Amazon website, products and delivery

Starts with his early years.
The beginning of Abbott & Costello.
21 years later , the break-up of Abbott & Costello.
They were two opposites.
One didn't drink, one drank heavily.
Offstage: one loud jokster, one quiet & reserved.
Both gambled heavily.
Lou's long illness.
Death of Lou's son. Plus More.

It seems as though a lot of bios written by the children of famous parents run to the two extremes of villifying the parent or sugarcoating the parent. This book does neither, and fits nicely in between. Though Ms. Costello was only eleven years old when her dad passed on, and therefore didn't know or remember him in the same way as if he had passed on when she was an adult, she does still manage to be both loving and honest in her treatment of him. The Lou Costello who comes to life in these pages is largely a really nice generous guy, who was absolutely devoted to his parents, children, siblings, wife (even if he didn't show much physical affection around others, since that wasn't part of his upbringing), and friends, and who was also very generous and kind to the other performers he worked with, particularly the ones who were just getting started in the business and needed someone to look out for them and show them the ropes. And while it is true that some people really are so uniformly good, Ms. Costello does not paint her father as an utter saint either. There's not a lot of dirt to dig up, but not everything about him was perfect. Among the character/personal flaws she discusses are his habit of stealing stuff from Universal's movie sets, how he was quite the McCarthyist, and his bad gambling habits.

The book seems like much more of a personal bio than a career bio. It focuses on Lou and his family and friends, instead of rehashing a lot of stories most fans have heard already. Most of his movies aren't discussed in any detail at all, many of them just mentioned in passing, and while this might frustrate people who are looking for more in-depth information on that rather important side of his life, you can always find more thorough discussions of the movies in another book. This book is to tell the personal side of his life, as remembered and researched through the eyes of a daughter who loved him. I really enjoyed reading about things such as his early family life, the beautiful lavish mansion he had in Sherman Oaks, his family's life on the ranch they moved to after his problems with the IRS, his relationship with his parents, siblings, wife, and children, and his solo acting at the end of his career. With obvious notable exceptions such as the tragic loss of his only son days before his first birthday, the start of his movie career, and the version of "Who's on First" that he and Bud Abbott used on their debut radio performance of it, most of the stories and anecdotes in this book aren't to be found anywhere else. It goes beyond and doesn't dwell on oft-repeated statements such as "He was never the same after the loss of his son" and "He and Bud Abbott didn't get along off-camera." The truth is so much more interesting. Overall, it's the complete and personal picture of a very talented, funny, giving, sweet man, delving beyond simplistic stereotypes and myths.

i receintly have fallen in love with silent movies and the 20's.when i first took a serious intrest in silent movies i got on the internet and found a website called silent ladies and gents.as i scrowled threw the numerous pictures one caught my eye.it was a picture of clara bow (not even her best picture).from there i became more intrested about her.after reading a little about her on the internet i looked for a biography.i found this book.when i read it the first time i accepted it as absolute truth,though after reading it again there are too many inconsistcies.and as i read it i got the feeling that none of it was true.since the first time i read the book i found something so odd about the man she married, rex bell.becouse of my life i know men like him.the kind everyone thinks is so great....but look a little further and you'll find that it just isn't so.after all he got everything he ever wanted.the ranch(which clara paid for),and the perfect little family picture.all of this went with his ambitions to become the perfect conservitive figure.and in the later years when he basicly put her away he was able to say it was just her "family history" or that "fame had gotten to her".also the way the author tirelesly thanks people like daisy devoe is sickenig.defending her as if clara was the bad guy.budd schulberg,another glorified person in this book refers to clara as "an easy winner of the dumbbell award...she was simply an adorable,in fact irresistable,little know nothing.it was as if father had picked her out a well made collie puppy and trained her to become lassie."but still mr.schulberg is betrayed as just another person who put up with clara.something else i find odd is how the author seems to stress louise brook's admiration for clara yet brook's, on several occasions said that clara was stupid and seemed to resent her for making more money(and having more talent).out of all the people in clara's life a select few seemed to geniunly care about clara.those being gary cooper,roland gilbirt,and artie jacobson.even though artie did seem to care sometimes even that seemed odd.and at times some stories seemed fabricated.and perhaps the other two men seemed to care only because in the book there's not a whole lot of mention of them.one of the other reviewers brought up the intresting point that it seemed that most of the book is fabricated to maintain the reputation that the people in her life wanted to maintian for themselves and by extention her.i also find it alarming how the author even shows some sort of sympathy for her father who rapped her.i just get the feeling that there's more to the story.i've recintly bought another biography about her (it's out of print).and can't wait to read it.i think it may reveal more of the story.clara deserved so much better.she was an amazing actress so much better than todays actresses.and her personality intresting and beautiful.how people used her is sooo terrible.she was an incridible woman.the fact that so often she is forgotten amongst louise brooks (who in fact did little acting and what little she did wasn't very good)colleen moore(who was boring,hateful and talent less) and greta garbo (who can hardly keep her eyes open most of the time)is a real shame.she was not some crazy(as she seems to be portrayed in this book).i believe that rex bell destroyed her and took advantage of her.the people around her all took from her.they all wanted something.she was no puppet of b.p schulberg.she was simply amazing and full of life!!! she was beautiful and was 100% her.she was so talented.i really hope that the other biography
(The "It" Girl: The Incredible Story of Clara Bow) will be a more truthful biography that is about her life and not the glorification of people that treated her poorly.

Clara Bow was an amazing actress and woman. She overcame poverty and abuse to become of the great sirens of the 20's. She was very beautiful, and though she did have her faults, she left her mark on movie history. I've watched her silent movies since I've read this book, and "It" is my favorite. This biography is well done and I'll read it again.

This book is probably one of the best books written on the subject of CLARA BOW (**). I just finished reading this book and loved it.

The author goes in great detail regarding the life of Clara,-- from the time she was born, to the time of her death.

Clara was such a misunderstood person. I think that the author has attempted to give us all a better understanding of Clara (the "It" girl).

I also loved the photos of Clara in this book.(She sure was a pretty actress!)

(**)= The only thing that I question is how the "professionals" came to the conclusion that Clara was (probably) Schitzophrenic?... In my opinion, rather than schitzophrenic, I think Clara probably suffered from Manic Depression. That is not to say that her mother was not schitzophrenic though.... From the sounds of it, Clara's Mom was probably schitzophrenic,that I agree with the author and "professionals" (eg: the instances when Clara's Mom tried to kill her with a butcher knife,while Clara was sleeping!).

However, from all the descriptions of Clara's tortured life, to me, it sounded like Clara was more Bi-Polar than anything else. But Schitzophrenic (?)---probably not.

Clara, by all accounts,was never a violent person. She did not "hear voices". Clara had intense "ups and downs" (as described by her children and husband). Clara loved sex, and the attention it brought her. She was an insecure person, who was searching for love and approval her whole life.

This is the only really researched biography ever written of Clara Bow, a poignant and evocative look at an unforgettable woman who conquered a magical period in our history and blasted apart the Victorian prudishness of western society which was one of the catalysts for birthing modern culture.

The Brooklyn Bonfire, The "It" Girl, the Royal Canadian Mounted Policewoman of sex (she always got her man!), the twenties version of Marilyn and Madonna, Clara was the very first modern, studio-packaged sex symbol. The image the studios fashioned for her, that of a carefree, man-hungry flapper, became an icon for the Jazz Age. But Bow is criminally underappreciated today---this young girl had more influence on modern Hollywood than anyone gives her credit for---and this book will show you exactly why. Here is the original tragic Hollywood sex symbol, the one all others are modeled on. Softly beautiful, powerfully sensual, and an incredibly expressive actress, she had a shocking amount of raw talent, which was exploited, and then ignored, and then sacrificed by the studio system that had grown wealthy off of her.

Stenn lays bare the reasons for her unrelenting self-destruction, revealing an unloved and bewildered young girl who fought desperately to escape from her childhood prison but was wholly unprepared for life on the outside. An authoritative biography of a complex and fascinating woman, highly recommended.

David Stenn's biographical account of Clara Bow is a history of a woman victimized by family, friends, and the movie industry. Clara Bow was given the title of "It" girl by Elinor Glyn and it became her signiture. Born in 1905, Clara Bow suffered abuse and neglect at the hands of both her mother and father.

She achieved stardom at a very young age when she won the Fame and Fortune contest. Her prize was a part in the movie "Beyond The Rainbow", but she was later edited out of the final cut. Nevertheless, Clara's talent was spotted because she had something different. She was a natural born actress with a freshness that brought life to the scenes she appeared in.

Uneducated and naive, Clara was a money making vehicle for Paramount to exploit and use. She was an untreated schizophrenic for most of her life and suffered from insomnia. Clara's career began to decline when Daisy De Voe, hair stylist turned Bow's financial manager testified in a criminal trial about Clara's drinking, gambling, and promiscuous lifestyle. Most of which would not raise eyebrow these days, but was scandalous in the mid 1900s.

Clara died in 1965 with a modest fortune. She was survived by 2 sons from her marriage to George Beldam. This book attempts to present an honest account of a woman vilified by the press. I couldn't shake off the impression that David Stenn was more of a fan than a biographer. I like Stenn's writing style. It is clean and often moving. The author certainly did his research.

In essence, the story of Bow's life is quite complicated. Stenn tells us of Bow's illness only at the end of the book. He also reveals the dark secrets from her youth. I think it detracted from the story and gave the reader a filtered view of Clara. Had he told the reader early in the book, so much of Bow's self destructive behavior would have been explained.

I'm learning Italian for a trip in November, during which I'll be getting married and going on a honeymoon. I've tried several books, books with casette tapes, and interactive CD products, and so far this one is the best.

I got it ...after seeing some reviews for the abridged version. Amazon.com seems to have a hard time keeping it in stock, so if you come across it, I'd highly recommend picking it up on the spot.

I'm about 1/2 way through the first CD, which is providing me with a very good, if limited, vocabulary, and I'm having an easy time picking it up. Again, though, I've poked around with some books, and have at least a *little* experience with grammar, so it's a valuable vocabulary tool for me. It looks like it might be useful for someone learning fresh as well, though. I might have my fiance try it and see how she does.

I haven't yet tried the other 3 CDs (the dictionary, the "intermediate" level Italian course, and the Tour of Italy). I was also interested in the "Tour of Italy" CD, as I want to do some research on sites we'll visit, and this should help. From what I've seen in other reviews, though, the second CD is quite a leap up from the first, and the Tour of Italy CD basically requires you to be fluent, so there might be some frustration issues there.

Overall it's well worth the money. Very well put together, with high production values, and you WILL start learning some vocabulary and useful phrases, at the very least. It's clear this company puts time into doing quality software, rather than just slapping a quick semi-interactive VisualBasic or Flash application together and shipping it. (For that, you'd need to go see Street Smart Italian, which I got ...and was not pleased.)

The book was purchased for a grandchild to help her learn the language of her hertitage and is being used and enjoyed.

This is great especially on the long commute to work I love to put in a cd and actually do something progressive. These are easy to repeat and follow along.

This was the required text for a four week (8 hour) course to learn key Italian phrases. We went to Italy recently and found the results of this class very useful.

I guess I just expected so much more after reading the other reviews. Guess I'm just the odd man out but I don't like what I've listened to thus far. Hopefully the last half of the CDs will be better. Here's what I don't like: 1) TOO SLOW - ridiculously slow 2) I don't like having the Italian first because as I learn more of the vocab I like to translate the English before the speaker. Helps me to know if "I've got it." 3) Arranged randomly. I feel like the vocabulary that it's giving is in a very random order. Perhaps it isn't - may be based on sounds and such but nonetheless, I find it very odd. 4) It's silly of me but the English speaking narrator has a wierd accent. She says "Eeee-tell-yun" for Italian. I don't know what to say but that it annoys me - a lot. 5) Here's another silly thing but what can I say? I find it distracting: The speakers have "sticky mouth" syndrome - the recording equipment seems to pick up their mouth noises. Yes, I know. PICKY but it's annoying.

I have another Italian program and I prefer it - "Learn in Your Car - Italian." I am going to continue to listen to the last half of the CDs and hope they get better.

There are things that I didn't expect, that surprised me a little bit about his character, but if anything, seeing Anthony come through all of these situations only upped my respect for him as an actor, as a writer, and as a person.

This book really moved me with Rapp's emotional honesty, and I echo the praises from previous reviewers. I rate it as 4 stars because, like a previous reviewer suggested, I feel it tended to drag a bit at the end and could have ended a chapter earlier. I strongly suggest the audio recording, especially for fans of Rent and of Anthony. Hearing him read the story himself (particularly for the small and poignant personal moments, like the frequent "Hi, Mama"--"Hi, Tonio" exchanges with his mother--it broke my heart every time) was an intimate and powerful experience, and when I finished I felt I had just had a long and passionate conversation with a friend--which i was very sorry to end.

Anthony Rapp tells an emotional story about personal life, love, and loss as he describes the years surrounding the phenomenon that is Rent. This is a book no Renthead should be without. Afer reading this book, I feel like I have gotten to know Anthony as a person, and gotten a rare glimpse through Anthony's eyes of the man that was Jonathan Larson.

Anthony Rapp was in on the creation of the masterpiece which became the Broadway sensation "Rent," almost from the beginning. He has written his memoir of that experience with great sensitivity and insight.

This book is a riveting tale about the creative process, how a play goes through its evolution to get to Broadway, and how every once in awhile a theatrical miracle can happen which changes everyone's lives. "Rent" is such a miracle. I just saw the play once again on Broadway this past weekend. I took my teenaged daughters to see it. After eleven years, it is finally closing down some time this year. If you cannot get to New York to see the play, rent the movie. It's not as good, but almost.

I loved this book, and recommend it to anyone who has ever overcome adversity to pursue a dream.

This book is amazing. It's a great read, easy to follow and really hits at your heart. I would reccommend it to everyone.

some of these reviews with one or two stars attached are perfectly accurate. they express far better than i can just how bad this book is. the author is so smug and full of himself as to be laughable. the author becomes a parody of himself, if thats possible, maybe better said- he is everything he claims to hate. i felt pangs of embarrassment for him. awful.

This book is almost completely unreadable, a puff piece, really, navel-gazing by yet another grown child, raised in wealth and privilege, who turned his back on his family in order to drop out of society during the turbulence of the late 1960's.

Peter Coyote's personal life story is nauseatingly boring, a life without any particular real angst or pain, a life in which one must import and manufacture angst and pain. One is reminded of Candice Bergen's autobiography Knock Wood, in which she admits that as a very young actress, a director tried to elicit some kind of sense memory within her, one of grief and loss, and she had nothing in her past upon which to draw upon the needed emotions. Coyote's life and self-realization in Standing Where I Fall just isn't very interesting, and beyond being some kind of catharsis for him as the author, there isn't much here to interest any reader.

I've read several books on this era, books I consider definitive. Specifically, The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, Ringolevio and Hell's Angels, by Hunter Thompson. This may be a late addition but it actually points out a quite amazing fact, my claim of which I'm certain will be looked upon as utterly outrageous. But I've read this book and I know psychology. And I've read between the lines. The fact is this. If it weren't for Peter Coyote, the sixties would NEVER have happened. Not anywhere remotely resembling what happened. It would have been a rather disjointed affair and wouldn't have gone anywhere but Peter Coyote's involvement in the Diggers was what changed the world. And I'm not talking about any butterfly effect. I'm talking about an entirely NEW WORLD that was the inevitable result of Peter Coyote's having done what he did, all those years ago. HE himself never made such a claim. He simply states, in no nonsense terms, the specific things that he was involved in, things that were done BECAUSE HE MADE THEM HAPPEN - things that snowballed into an entire counter culture. The movie Forrest Gump was about a retard who caused world events to unfold. Peter Coyote was NEVER a retard but he has had more effect on the world than ANY HUMAN BEING ALIVE TODAY and more effect on the world than any human being in the last century save for Nicola Tesla. And I mean any politician, doctor, scientist, entertainer, what have you, Peter Coyote stands head and shoulders above anyone you can name as having some kind of effect on the world.

I lived through the '60's, but on a different, more acceptable level....married to a student. I did, however, live in Vancouver's "hippie district", and had a half-hearted admiration for those who thumbed their noses at society's norms. This book gives me a better insight to the ideals and the guts to live those ideals the hippie culture evoked. Peter Coyote's book was honest, insightful and informative. He creates a feeling in the reader of having been in San Francisco and in the communes. I couldn't help but being impressed by his knowledge, abilities and his joy at being what he had been.

Peter Coyote, was that incredibly cool "older brother", born just in time "to do" the sixties in all its guts and glory, that later generations would look back on with envy. Tall, dark, handsome and talented Coyote (are you really surprised that's not his real name) from out east lands smack dab in the heart of San Francisco just at the moment when the town is experiencing the labor pains that will soon give birth to hippiedom. We begin the journey of the sixties when Coyote was a twenty-something grad student sharing digs with the daughter of legendary Americana painter, Thomas Hart Benton, and continue to watch in fascination as he becomes an active participant in street theater, the Diggers (a band of revolutionary artists), the drug scene of Haight-Ashbury, radical politics, commune life and a lover to many lovely young women. Coyote and his friends drifted outside their urban existence when they took to the road like modern day gypsies in a beat up school bus carrying their caravan into the wilderness. It is there that they attempted to build a walden pond utopia in northern California; shooting and growing their own food, making their own clothes and birthing & raising the next generation, on a rustic farm. In his tell-it-like-it-was warts and all style, Coyote depicts how the unhygenic conditions they lived in lead to a bout with hepatitis and his baby daughter getting sick from eating dirt from the ground. Despite that rough road of youth, Coyote came out alive, and with his political & social beliefs mostly intact. Unlike many who never made the journey back from their drug addled and counter-culture adventures, Coyote, has made hay with the 2nd half of his life as an actor, political activist and can stake a claim to one of the most recognized voices in commercial television, audio and documentary narrations. Oh yes, and he can write.

I bought this book because of the chapter O'Riley had on its site (Flocking) and the general experience I have had with O"Riley in the past. While there is plenty to learn from this text, its not for the faint of heart or new programer. There is a lot that needs to be done to get set up for this.

My first issue is that some of the code seems just a little too complex for a beginner. While I respect the features hes trying to put in, it can clutter up the main point of what is happening, and makes learning the basic principles harder.

It seem the writter assumes you read his other book 'Physics for game programer' since he refers to it several times.Download the sample code for the book and you will see what I mean.

Then there is no discussion of the graphic package being used. I tried to do the stuff with GDI+ and ended up switching to DirectX because the flickering was so bad. Some discussion on setting up a test and development enviroment to run these projects on would have been helpful.

Oh and it was written in C+. Okay, no big deal, but a warning would have been nice. I can handle C+, but I do my work now in C#. Since it was written in an OO language, a little back ground on system design would have been helpful too.

Asking too much? While the info there is good, there are a lot of obstacles for a 'beginner' to handle. I'm motivated though, and bought his phyiscs book just to see if it helps out any.

This book gives people that are new to AI in game programming a quick start in that area. If you are interested in looking at the broad fields of AI with direct application to game programming, this will show you a bit of everything. The text is clear and doesn't require any higher understanding of mathematics than some basic trigonometry. I think that the problem most people have with this book is that none of the chapters covers its subject in depth. Thus, people looking to learn AI from this book that ignor the "Game" part of the title will be disappointed. Full C++ sample programs are available on the books web site-the book is all in C++, and you should have no problems understanding the code with moderate C skills. Bresenham's line algorithm, line-of-sight-chasing and intercepting are all explained in a pretty simple way. My biggest complaint is that, even within the construct of game programming, the presentation of Bayesian systems and probability was too short for my taste. The following is a description of the book from the context of the table of contents:

Chapter 1, Introduction to Game AI - Defines game AI and discusses the current state of the art as well as the future of this technology.

Chapter 2, Chasing and Evading - Covers basic techniques for chasing and evading as well as more advanced techniques for intercepting. It also cover techniques applicable to both tile-based and continuous game environments.

Chapter 3, Pattern Movement - Pattern movement techniques are common to many video games and developers have been using them since the early days of gaming. You can use these techniques to preprogram certain behaviors such as the patrolling of a guard or the swooping in of a spacecraft.

Chapter 4, Flocking - The flocking method examined in this chapter is an example of an A-life algorithm. In addition to creating genuine looking flocking behavior, A-life algorithms form the basis of more advanced group movement.

Chapter 5, Potential Function Based Movement - Potential-based movement is relatively new in game AI applications. It can handle chasing, evading, swarming, and collision avoidance simultaneously.

Chapter 6, Basic Pathfinding and Waypoints - Game developers use many techniques to find paths in and around game environments. This chapter covers several of these methods, including waypoints.

Chapter 7, A* Pathfinding - No treatment of pathfinding is complete without addressing the workhorse algorithm of pathfinding; therefore, this whole chapter is devoted to the A* algorithm.

Chapter 8, Scripted AI and Scripting Engines - Programmers today often write scripting engines and hand off the tools to level designers who are responsible for creating the content and defining the AI. In this chapter, you'll explore some of the techniques developers use to apply a scripting system in their games.

Chapter 9, Finite State Machines - Finite state machines are the nuts and bolts of game AI. This chapter discusses the fundamentals of finite state machines and how to implement them.

Chapter 10, Fuzzy Logic - Developers use fuzzy logic in conjunction with or as a replacement for finite state machines. In this chapter, you'll learn the advantages fuzzy techniques offer over traditional logic techniques.

Chapter 11, Rule-Based AI - Technically, fuzzy logic and finite state machines fall under the general heading of rules-based methods. This chapter covers these methods as well as other variants.

Chapter 12, Basic Probability - Game developers commonly use basic probability to make their games less predictable. Such cheap unpredictability enables developers to maintain substantial control over their games. Here, basic probability is covered for this purpose as well as lay the groundwork for more advanced methods.

Chapter 13, Decisions Under Uncertainty--Bayesian Techniques - Bayesian techniques are probabilistic techniques, and in this chapter you learn how you can use them for decision making and for adaptation in games.

Chapter 14, Neural Networks - Game developers use neural networks for learning and adaptation in games for anything from making decisions to predicting the behavior of players.The most widely used neural network architecture is covered here.

Chapter 15, Genetic Algorithms - Genetic algorithms offer opportunities for evolving game AI. Although developers don't often use genetic algorithms in games, their potential for specific applications is promising, particularly if they are combined with other methods.

Appendix, Vector Operations - How to implement a C++ class that captures all of the vector operations that you'll need when writing 2D or 3D simulations.

All the chapters in this book are fairly independent of each other. Therefore, you generally can read the chapters in any order you want, without worrying about missing material in earlier chapters. The only exception to this rule is Chapter 12, on basic probability. If you don't have a background in probability, you should read this chapter before reading Chapter 13, on Bayesian methods. I would recommend this book if you are looking to implement AI into a game without wanting a complete explanation of the theory. If a complete explanation of the concepts is what you require, you will be disappointed.

AI for Game Developers is a book aimed at beginner game programmers that want to apply AI techniques in their games. The range of topics covered is vast, chasing, flocking, pathfinding, state machines, bayesian networks, neutal networks, genetic algorithms, fuzzy logic and more.

The authors spend time to explain these AI concepts from the ground up, with numerous code samples and accompanied by full programs including GUIs & simulations, downloadable form the book's website.

So far all good, but not really so if you look a little closer. For a programmer with more experience than the complete novice, many problems become apparent quickly:

The code listings ("examples", as the authors uncommonly call them) are lacking in many aspects. The code is of low quality. C++-- some call it, and it's an appropriate name for the code of this book (take a big program with a bunch of globals and void foo(void) operating on them, wrap it all (public) in a class, and call it Object Oriented). The principal author is a scientific programmer, which shows well since the code looks sometimes like a port from Fortran. The code is also poorly typeset, in a font almost identical to the text, which makes samples hard to spot and follow. The authors also paste huge amounts of code in the book that sometimes fill whole pages, without any apparent reason. Another little deficiency is the typesetting / overall formatting quality of the book - some diagrams are simply missing, fonts are uncomfortable (especially the mix of code & text)...

It seems that most of this book's problems are about the code, though. On the conceptual level, the book is not bad. As far as I can judge, the explanations are clear and even novices should have no trouble understanding how the algorithms work. Just look away from the code, please !!

Is good book to initiate within world of AI, brings very good examples on fuzzy logic and genetic algorithms, in my opinion would have to bring CD-ROM with more examples but even so I recommend them for people that is initiating within development of video games, have a simple way to explains concepts that in other books can that are abstract and until moments very confused, explain it of direct and very simple way, are a book not very extensive you will be able to read it in a pair of days, and thus to begin to apply it within any application or game, the code comes very simple manageable and easy to use, it comes in c++, I hope enjoy so much as I.

Terrible and useless even for a book on AI for budding game developers. The theory and explanations in this book are sometimes decent but more often than not quite lacking. (es: in one of the first chapter the author uses Bresenham algorithm without taking the time to explain it). The use of tile based examples introduce unnecessary overhead, and the continuos attempts to introduce physics related code and references to the author's other book on game physics are just plain annoying. The range of subjects covered is very broad (chasing and evading, pathfinding, emergent behaviours, rule based reasoning, bayesian networks, neural networks, fuzzy logic, finite state machines, genetic algorithms), definitely too broad to treat each of these subject in decent depth and with clarity. Example code is of low quality and just superficially object-oriented. If you are looking for a decent introduction to game AI I recommend Matt Buckland "Programming Game AI by Example" and "AI Techniques for Game Programming".

This book was not an easy read, but for a good reason. Author Palm is meticulous in his detailing of the lives of all four band members and their manager Stig Anderson. Perhaps there is a bit too much detail in this book for casual readers, but the writing style is so engaging that I felt compelled to complete it.

I see there is a planned updated 600-page edition to be released in September. This book has 554 pages, and ends circa 2002. For $5.00 more, you can read 46 pages that will presumably take ABBA thru 2008. I'll read those last pages in a cushy chair in the bookstore.

I read this book 2 times and i stll enjoy it. Was written with the utmost information about rhe ups and downs of ABBA

An authoritive, definitive thorough bio from ABBA historian, C.M.Palm.
Palm covers the entire careers of the four members of ABBA.
Palm discusses all the major issues of their careers, and sheds light on some unfamiliar territory such as the story of Frida's father, and B&B's rift with former manager Stig Anderson. Palm is a dry, but highly factual writer. Because of his association with Universal Music, Palm tends not to dwell on the negative aspects of the four members of ABBA, but neither does he whitewash the ABBA story.
I did find myself disagreeing with some of Palm's assesments of ABBA music. Palm tends to give only fair to bad reviews of much of ABBA's group & solo work. The word is out that a revised version of this biography will be made available perhaps in 2008.

Swedish author Carl Magnus Palm wrote an in-depth multiple biography of ABBA. It goes beyond the more superficial, sketchy books which appeared earlier. It took a Swede to penetrate ABBA this way. British and American authors could not do it. I talked to Palm on the phone when I was in Stockholm in 1994.

Carl Magnus Palm lets us know right away that behind the glitter of ABBA there were four troubled individuals. He attributes much of it to Sweden's geography. Nordic latitudes and prolonged darkness create a natural pessimism in Sweden. Even ABBA succumbed to it. Their photos are all smiles. Their lyrics reveal an anxiety behind the image.

Palm calls Bjorn the backbone of ABBA. Bjorn was studious from the outset. He was sharp, good with languages. His music helped him get girls. We learn that Bjorn lost his virginity in his early teens.

ABBA's future manager, Stig Anderson, guided Bjorn and The Hootenanny Singers through a string of albums in the 1960s. Bjorn differed from his band mates in that he wanted to write songs like The Beatles.

Palm goes into detail about the relationship between Frida's mother and her German soldier, Alfred Hasse, during World War II. "They threw off their clothes and went swimming. Afterwards, they made love for the first time on the beach." Frida was one of thousands of children born to German soldiers and Norwegian girls. Young Frida lived for music. Her first husband was a trombonist turned carpet dealer who got her pregnant.

Frida was reunited with her father in 1977 and kept in touch for five years. Ultimately, she came to believe that he had known of her mother's pregnancy when he left Norway.

I wondered how Benny had the ability to write such music as that in Kristina fran Duvemala. He got it from his grandfather. His grandfather taught him the accordion and to play Swedish folk music. The pop world of ABBA was almost a diversion. Benny knocked up his girl friend and became a father at 16. She got custody of their two kids. Benny joined the Hep Stars, a band known for its wild stage act. Like Bjorn, Benny felt the tug of The Beatles and began writing songs although he admitted his lyrics were bad.

This book creates a wider context in which to understand ABBA. We get a sense of the four moving toward each other in space and time. Palm holds Agnetha's story back, as if to save the best for last. She arrives in chapter 8 on page 112.

Agnetha was shy, and there was a daddy to contend with. The songs she wrote for Bernt Enghardt were filled with self-pity. Agnetha came off as so innocent and self-conscious as to be helpless. Bjorn and Agnetha became a couple in 1969. Palm informs us that it was not going to be a smooth relationship.

Benny and Frida became engaged. "Engaged" was a euphemism for having sex without being married. Frida was jealous from the start, not believing that Benny could really love her. Her low self-esteem continued to be a problem. Benny and Frida took refuge in each other partially because both had abandoned their families.

As Bjorn emerged from The Hootenanny Singers and his collaboration with Benny continued, Stig began to think that the duo could write an international hit.

Benny, Bjorn, Agnetha and Frida began toying with the idea of singing as a group in 1970. By then, they were close friends. The did the cabaret act as Festfolk, a show so embarrassing that Bjorn was relieved that it was not taped. The couples had doubts about working together and living together too. That is a lot of togetherness. Agnetha went on the pill at age 16. She and Bjorn married in July, 1971.

By 1972, Michael Tretow and Gorel Hanser were on board. The group recorded People Need Love, the first real ABBA song. The decision was made to do only what they wanted to do. 1973 saw ABBA enter the Eurovision Song Contest with Ring Ring. Agnetha was pregnant. Frida's depression began to let up. They were going international.

The Eurovision stood between ABBA and their breakthrough. They had to win it. This happened in Brighton, England, in April, 1974, with Waterloo. Winning the Eurovision changed everything. Offers poured in. It was a double-edged sword. As Eurovision winners, ABBA would never be taken seriously in certain circles. It did not matter. The song contest was the only means of breaking out. Stig cut a deal with Atlantic Records, and Waterloo was released in America. Reluctant to tour, ABBA began making promo clips, later called videos. They were inexpensive and stressed the group's image.

ABBA continued to make videos. From their self-titled album, clips were made for SOS, Mamma Mia!, Bang-A-Boomerang and I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do, I Do. Director Lasse Hallstrom made the most of what he had, zooming in on the girls' faces, showing two members with one face in profile. He achieved eye-to-eye contact with the viewers. The clips had an enormous impact in Australia, where Mamma Mia! was number one for ten weeks. The demand for ABBA in Australia was so great that the four went in March, 1976, with the promise of a TV special. There was a kind of ABBAmania down under with hysterical teenagers congregating at airports. Palm observes that ABBA occupied a parallel universe to the rest of the pop/rock world. Meanwhile, Fernando became a massive hit with Dancing Queen waiting in the wings. The Arrival album was the peak of their early years. Bjorn talked about Knowing Me, Knowing You. He envisioned a man walking through an empty house. He had never been through a divorce, however, given the differences between him and Agnetha and their tendency to argue, the song is a premonition.

ABBA found that television specials were their keys to the world. They taped ABBA-DABBA-DOO! They responded to their popularity in Poland by flying down for a special. With this kind of success, Bjorn and Agnetha found themselves drifting apart. They had a second child, thinking it would hold them together.

Europe was the first part of the 1977 tour. ABBA had major fame by this time. In cities like Berlin and Copenhagen, adoring fans were a nuisance. The group was confined to hotel rooms. Palm points to the growing tension between the couples while the press exaggerated the differences between Agnetha and Frida. There was a natural competition between the women for the best songs and for attention while on stage, but apart from that, there was no antipathy. The women realized that their success was the result of combined efforts just as Benny and Bjorn did.

For the tour, Benny and Bjorn put together a mini-musical called The Girl With The Golden Hair. It embodied songs like Thank You For The Music, I Wonder (Departure) and I'm A Marionette. This was a clue to the path Benny and Bjorn would ultimately take with their Chess and Kristina musicals.

ABBA headed for Australia with the plan of making a movie centered around their concerts. Their two weeks in Australia were pandemonium. Palm's frenzied account makes good reading. Hallstrom directed the movie, much of which was improvised on the spot.

Back in Stockholm, ABBA-The Album was completed. Palm singles out One Man, One Woman. He sees it as Bjorn's confession of what it was like living with Agnetha. Agnetha is anything but likable in this and other books about ABBA. She whines and complains. She is sensitive and scared to the point of paranoia and often sick. She is self-centered, fine as long as she gets her way but unbearable when called upon to make concessions.

There is a feeling of never being satisfied, disappointment with a lack of success on one hand and frustration with the conditions success generates on the other. The lights are too bright, and the shadows are too dark. ABBA wanted to be famous and have their privacy at the same time.

They built their own studio in 1978. The first song recorded there was SummerNight City. Despite Benny and Bjorn not being happy with it, SummerNight City is a pounding disco number which reflects its era.

The incompatibility of Bjorn and Agnetha came to a head. She took the kids and moved out on Christmas day, 1978. Their marriage was ending, but at least there would be less friction in the studio. ABBA continued. It took Bjorn only one week to meet his next wife.

Palm regards the Voulez-Vous album as one of ABBA's best. It was disco. The picture on the album cover was taken at the Alexandra discotheque. Palm used a photo from the shoot as the cover of his book, "ABBA: The Complete Recording Sessions."

ABBA finally toured America in September, 1979. It was too little, too late. But the tour was a moderate success thanks to meticulous planning. Agnetha felt isolated and homesick although she and Bjorn got along and worked together well. Lena joined Bjorn in Los Angeles, seemingly the inspiration for the lyrics of Super Trouper.

ABBA took their show to Japan in March, 1980, for eleven sell-out performances, six of which were in Tokyo. This was the final tour.

The Super Trouper album contains some masterpieces. Our Last Summer, Lay All Your Love On Me, The Way Old Friends Do and The Piper approach great art. Palm calls The Winner Takes It All Agnetha's "best ever performance on record." She assumes the "abandoned woman" role.

As Benny and Frida divorced, Frida did the vocal for When All Is Said And Done, a song describing the breakdown of her and Benny's relationship. ABBA's lyrics had become blatantly personal. Their concert with Dick Cavett is one of my favorites despite a lack of enthusiasm among fans. Palm notes the cold desolation of The Visitors album. The end was near. Agnetha recorded The Day Before You Came, ABBA's last song, in August, 1982.

As Agnetha began work on her first solo album, Benny and Bjorn teamed up with Tim Rice to write the musical they had long dreamed about. Chess was based on the Bobby Fischer/Boris Spassky chess matches in Reykjavik, Iceland. The song One Night In Bangkok became a worldwide hit. I recall Karen and I seeing the video on TV. I thought it was stupid, and Karen facetiously asked me if I were going to buy it. I did not know what it was or even that Benny and Bjorn were behind it. I had discarded my ABBA records by that time and was trying to live the same kind of life my parents and Karen's parents had. Alas, it was not meant to be.

For all its problems, Chess refuses to die. Benny and Bjorn's complaint is that the story is weak. For their second musical, they adapted the classic novels of Swedish author Vilhelm Moberg. They tell the story of the first Swedish emigrants to come to the United States in the 1850s. Benny and Bjorn are still trying to get an English version to Broadway.

ABBA music resurfaced in the 1990s. The ABBA Gold and More ABBA Gold CDs sold millions. ABBA shows flooded into the U.S. on video cassettes and DVDs. Tribute bands sprang up. And from the revival rose Mamma Mia!, the stage musical using ABBA songs. Mamma Mia! became the biggest show in the world and will be a movie in 2008.

Judy Craymer, a friend of Benny and Bjorn's who worked on Chess, originally conceived the idea of doing a show involving ABBA songs. Catherine Johnson wrote the story. Phyllida Lloyd was chosen as the director. All women for a story about a mother and daughter.

Bright Lights, Dark Shadows fleshes out the ABBA story. We anticipate a lot of Palm's revelations, but he is the one who took the trouble to commit them to paper. It reads like a novel. But it is not fiction. It all happened.

I almost laughed when the read the parts about the melancholy nature of Swedes but as I'm in the process of reading a Garbo biography, maybe the author's point is correct - blast me if you want and call me un-PC, etc. but maybe it's the Swedish way. It was a joy to read this book and learn some of how they song crafted, and the trials and tribulations they went through in the throes of stardom - the opening chapters on each member were a delight, too, and I'm glad Palm didn't skimp on their formulative era either - I was especially surprised to read about the scorn and negativity ABBA felt from their own country, as if the whole nation had decided collectively that they weren't "cool," taking their cues from the country's music press. A must for ABBA fans or even anyone who has a mild interest in them.