Written with what-a-schmuck-I-am wit, this is passable entertainment, a kind of communiqué from the Writers’ Room.
The creator/executive producer of TV’s popular Everybody Loves Raymond tells how he became the guy in command of a winning sitcom.
Forget childhood hopes of a career as cowboy, fireman or lion-tamer. Young Rosenthal wanted to be on television—that’s where the laughs were. Out of the Bronx and into TV came our hero, if not on-screen, then as show-runner. In the ’90s, he moved to California, where he eventually began to thrive in situation comedy. Here, he discusses the Raymond pitch and the pilot, the casting and testing, the crew and suits and table readings, as well as the process of directing, editing and writing. Indeed, this could be an essay on the art of writing comedy for television. Like Raymond, he’s a family guy. He loves his wife (actress Monica Horan, who played Amy on the show), his kids and everyone connected with the project that, after nine successful seasons, shut down last year. But remember, there’s still life in syndication. Fans seeking deep insight into star Ray Romano won’t find it here. A little more is revealed about Rosenthal’s fellow writers who, as may be expected, are a bit nuts. Scripts, he says, start with situations derived from their lives.
Written with what-a-schmuck-I-am wit, this is passable entertainment, a kind of communiqué from the Writers’ Room.Pub Date: Oct. 23, 2006
ISBN: 0-670-03799-0
Page Count: 256
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2006
BOOK REVIEW
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s...
Music journalist and musician Wald (Talking 'Bout Your Mama: The Dozens, Snaps, and the Deep Roots of Rap, 2014, etc.) focuses on one evening in music history to explain the evolution of contemporary music, especially folk, blues, and rock.
The date of that evening is July 25, 1965, at the Newport Folk Festival, where there was an unbelievably unexpected occurrence: singer/songwriter Bob Dylan, already a living legend in his early 20s, overriding the acoustic music that made him famous in favor of electronically based music, causing reactions ranging from adoration to intense resentment among other musicians, DJs, and record buyers. Dylan has told his own stories (those stories vary because that’s Dylan’s character), and plenty of other music journalists have explored the Dylan phenomenon. What sets Wald's book apart is his laser focus on that one date. The detailed recounting of what did and did not occur on stage and in the audience that night contains contradictory evidence sorted skillfully by the author. He offers a wealth of context; in fact, his account of Dylan's stage appearance does not arrive until 250 pages in. The author cites dozens of sources, well-known and otherwise, but the key storylines, other than Dylan, involve acoustic folk music guru Pete Seeger and the rich history of the Newport festival, a history that had created expectations smashed by Dylan. Furthermore, the appearances on the pages by other musicians—e.g., Joan Baez, the Weaver, Peter, Paul, and Mary, Dave Van Ronk, and Gordon Lightfoot—give the book enough of an expansive feel. Wald's personal knowledge seems encyclopedic, and his endnotes show how he ranged far beyond personal knowledge to produce the book.
An enjoyable slice of 20th-century music journalism almost certain to provide something for most readers, no matter one’s personal feelings about Dylan's music or persona.Pub Date: July 25, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-06-236668-9
Page Count: 368
Publisher: Dey Street/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: May 15, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
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