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September 2nd, 2007
Without You by Anthony Rapp
I just finished reading Without You, a memoir of love, loss, and the musical Rent, by Anthony Rapp. If you don't know who Anthony is, he was the star of Rent and originated the character of Mark, which he played as in the workshop version, the off-Broadway version and the Broadway version. He later reprised that role in the Chicago and London productions, as well as in the film. This book is Anthony's auto-biography. If you think it is all about Rent and how it came to be, you'd be wrong. True, it takes up a portion of the book but it is so much more. You experience the rage, the anger, the angst, and all emotions in between as Anthony comes to terms with his mother dying, his hectic love-life, how his family will deal with his bisexuality and of course, his role in the movie Rent. I wasn't expecting the book to be as good as it was. Anthony is just an amazing writer with a great eye to detail and his moving passages filled with great visuals will give you a feel of how Anthony was feeling at any given point in his life. I thought this book would be only for Rent fans but I was wrong. Anyone would be touched by Anthony's story, and Rent was basically just a part of the story, not the main focus. It is just a moving, somewhat inspirational story that does deal with love, loss and Rent. I give this book ***1/2 and I eagerly await anything else Mr. Rapp has to write.
September 4th, 2007
Brian Griffin's Guide to Booze, Broads and the Lost Art of Being a Man
This is a mini-book review of Brian Griffin's Guide to Booze, Broads and the Lost Art of Being a Man. I was wholly underwhelmed by the last book I read (Stewie's guide to domination) and this one came out before Lois' Village Idiot book, which I enjoyed, so I didn't know what quite to expect from this. I have to say, this was by far the best one I have read. The reason why it was so good? The writing, obviously. Andrew Goldberg really captures the jaded, cynical view of Brian perfectly and the jokes fly off the page. I ran through this book in just hours, that's how good a read it was. The book starts with the usual, here are the cast members and my thoughts on them, but then veers completely into Brian's point of view on topics concerning women, booze, style, politics, jobs, entertainment and a dog's life. There are references to many episodes in here but it isn't overwhelming where casual fans without an encyclopedic knowledge of the episodes would be lost. The only time the book really lags is during the guest essays (by Peter and Stewie), but those are only a page so it isn't that much of a drag. Overall, this is just a great, funny, entertaining book and the author captures the essence of Brian to really make this a winner.
September 9th, 2007
Ghost Rider Extended Edition
I finished this review a couple of days ago, actually last week I think but didn't have time on Friday or Saturday to post it. I thought it was a decent movie but check it all out my review found here. I'm working on Heroes now, and I only have 19 more days until it premieres! Luckily I have been blowing through it (on episode 18 right now) and should finish all the episodes by its premiere. I still have to watch all the commentaries and extras so the review may a while forthcoming. Check out TPL for some CBCU and on Tuesday for the latest edition. Enjoy the rest of the weekend!
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