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Philip Caputo, author of the classic Vietnam memoir A Rumor of War, returns to the turbulent era of the late 1960s with 13 Seconds: A Look Back at the Kent State Shootings. Caputo carefully sets the stage for the tragedy--the gunning-down of students on the Kent State, Ohio, campus--as he shows the pressures slowly building: Richard Nixon's decision to invade Cambodia, the militaristic missives of the ultra-leftist Weathermen, and statements such as high-profile California governor Ronald Reagan's declaration about student protests, given three weeks before the shootings ("If it takes a bloodbath, let's get it over with").

While important events surge and roil throughout the book like massive currents, Caputo focuses primarily on the smaller stories of the students injured and killed by National Guard bullets. Caputo, a journalist then writing for the Chicago Tribune (and who went on to win the Pulitzer Prize in 1972), was on the scene soon after the shootings took place. He writes with immediacy, clearly drawn back to the moment even after 35 years have passed. Some of the students who died that day were active in campus politics, while others were caught purely by misfortune, but all paid an incredible price. By allowing readers to understand more about the students and the circumstances that surrounded May 4, 1970, Caputo turns the story of Kent State into a kind of tragic novel. The book itself is short: under 200 pages, including summaries of court testimonies that make up the bulk of the index. But the poignancy of what America lost that day comes through clearly in Caputo's dense, no-nonsense writing.--Jennifer BuckendorffBook Description
Thirteen seconds passed. Sixty-seven shots were fired. One nation watched . . .

On May 4, 1970, Ohio's Kent State University was in chaos following President Richard Nixon's announcement that the U.S. bombing of Cambodia would continue, with student protesters on one side and the National Guard on the other. That day, young Chicago Tribune reporter Philip Caputo had been sent to the campus to cover what looked like just another student uprising. But by the time he arrived, things had erupted into one of the watershed moments of the antiwar movement, with four students dead and nine wounded in a hail of bullets fired by panicked guardsmen. Now, thirty-five years later, the author of A Rumor of War looks back on that terrible day, discussing his own emotions, the nature of political discourse and civil disobedience, and what happened to those who were there and how they still live with the pain and anger every day. It was a time when America turned upon itself and our nation's innocence was lost. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (10)

Moving us away from hagiography and conspiracy theories
It has been close to 37 years since the May 4, 1970 shootings at Kent State University shocked the nation. Now that passions have cooled and the participants have the benefit of maturity and hindsight, the time is ripe to look at the tragedy with fresh eyes and new insights. Philip Caputo's book provides the opportunity to rethink the making of the tragedy.

The book is part personal memoir, part reflection and part history. Caputo provides a high-level description -- not a comprehensive analysis, as some would hope -- of the activities of the students, National Guardsmen, campus officials and government leaders during the days of protest and violence that led to the shootings. He contrasts the shootings to the 1770 "Boston Massacre," drawing a few parallels, but significant differences. He ends the book with 75 pages (!) of appendices, including a lengthy timeline of the shooting and its litigious aftermath, and excerpts from the findings of various commissions that looked into the shootings and at campus unrest in general. A companion DVD produced by The Learning Channel provides graphic evidence of the string of events that culminated in the deaths of 4 students and the wounding of 9 others.

"13 Seconds" is not intended to be a detailed analysis of who shot whom and who died when. There isn't even a map of the scene, which would have been helpful. The book does provide a challenge to those who wish to view the event in polarized terms -- that the Guardsmen were illegitimate military occupiers (or pitiable victims of a vengeful mob); that the students were peaceful protestors (or profanity-spewing, stone-wielding barbarians). Caputo lays blame all around for the missteps, miscommunications, heated rhetoric and lack of discipline that caused the conflict to escalate into tragedy. Though rightly placing the majority of the blame on those who fired weapons against distant students, Caputo sees other threads contributing to the tapestry of death. These include paranoid reactions by students and city officials as well as comments by Yippie leader Abbie Hoffman's counsel that kids kill their parents, and by Gov. Ronald Reagan inviting of a "bloodbath" to bring campus conflicts to resolution.

Caputo's conclusion - that peaceful ways need to be found to express unpopular thoughts and to control their violent excesses - is not exactly new. But sadly, his conclusion that the shootings accomplished relatively little probably is true, much to the chagrin of those who wish to elevate May 4, 1970 to the level of a sanctioned government massacre of guilless innocents.

The DVD that accompanies the book is a very valuable, even-handed, if sketchy, portrayal of the events of that awful weekend. It's valuable to see hear former student victims speaking emotionally about the shooting. It's instructive to hear from the former Guardsmen attempt to describe their actions on Blanket Hill. It's perplexing and heartbreaking to hear former Sergeant Larry Schaefer (the only Guardsman who admits to shooting a student) both regret his actions and wonder why he did it. Still, it's amazing (and a bit maddening) that after all these years, he still does not know why he acted as he did.

The value of "13 Seconds" is less in its retelling of the details of the shootings at Kent State, than for the honest musings of a respected journalist eager to parse out specific details from their larger social context. After years of unabated rhetoric, paranoia and conspiracy theories (the unfortunate hallmarks of the 1960s) it is a sort of progress to see the shootings depicted as an unfortunate and unplanned spasm of violence from a band of frightened, ill-disciplined, ill-trained and ill-led soldiers against fundamentally unarmed students.

DON'T BUY - EVEN FOR YOUR WORST ENEMY
I confess I bought this book and WASTED MY MONEY. The books contains major factual errors. The author has minimal text - most of the book is simply a rehash and list of everything we already knew.

I have read many books on the Kent State Murders and this is the only one which claims "the soliders knelt down on the practice field, fired, and killed students."This guy may have got this baloney past his editors at a newspaper but - it appears he was not there and did not perform the required research.

He also chose a title for his book that was close to being borrowed from a book titled: "Thirteen seconds: Confrontation at Kent State" byJoe Eszterhas and was published in 1970.

Seach for the book byJoe Eszterha - it is worth the money.
=================
Search finds:

Thirteen seconds;: Confrontation at Kent State (Unknown Binding)
by Joe Eszterhas

Availability: Available from these sellers.


15 used & new available from $9.98

A Different Approach to the Topic
An earlier post was probably correct, it appears that Philip Caputo's "13 Seconds-A Look Back at the Kent State Shootings" was written mostly to provide a book to accompany DVD Documentary "Kent State: The Day The War Came Home".The DVD is included inside the book and provides a good overview of what happened on May 4, 1970.

While Caputo's book could use some minor fact checking I don't see any need to be suspicious of any major facts.There are not major distortions or significant errors, just confused details from someone who obviously did little (if any )primary research and rushed the book to print.

About half the book is a detailed chronology of the events and the text from "The Report of The President's Commission on Campus Unrest" (Sept-1970).

Which leaves only 122 pages of Caputo's writing and this is not exactly in small print.Yet besides the DVD I recommend this book without reservation. Its contribution is not in the retelling of what has been told before but in Caputo's focus on both a historical context and his use of this perspective to help the reader make strides toward healing 35 years later.

Caputo begins with a simple description: "Suddenly, a line of guardsmen wheeled, and making no distinction among active demonstrators, bystanders, and students merely walking to class, knelt and fired, killing four, wounding nine".He then cites the Boston Massacre of 1770; pointing out the similarity between the atmosphere in the early 1770's and the late 1960's-early 1970's, and the military occupation of Boston and of the Kent State campus.Then he contrasts the two events, particularly the much closer proximity of the colonists to the British troops and the much more satisfactory disciplining of the troops involved in that incident.

Caputo is pretty objective in handing out blame for Kent State but ultimately finds it cannot be shared equally.He cites "Henry V":"The king himself hath a heavy reckoning to make....".

The healing comes from an assessment of the enduring historical impact as Caputo dismisses most of what is usually cited, pointing instead to lessons from Kent State applicable now that we are fighting another morally dubious war. That (even a democracy) when not led by wise and temperate leaders, and when those leaders are given reason to perceive that they are executing the popular will, will resort to virtually any means to silence those who disagree too vigorously with its policies.That in 1970 the Ohio governor was acting as an agent of the people's will; that a true democracy must tolerate opposing points of view or it is just a dictatorship of the majority.Finally, that a citizen who believes his or her government to be in the wrong has the right to protest through peaceful civil disobedience, when other means of redress have been exhausted.

Perhaps even more appropriate is the following from another source:"Anger and resentment can stop you in your tracks. That's what I know now. It needs nothing to burn but the air and the life that it swallows and smothers. It's real though, the fury, even when it isn't. It can change you, turn you, mold you and shape you into something you're not. The only upside of anger then, is the person you become, hopefully someone that wakes up one day and realizes they're not afraid of its journey. Someone that knows that the truth is, at best, a partially told story. That anger, like growth, comes in spurts and fits and in its wake leaves a new chance of acceptance and the promise of calm".

Then again, what do I know?I'm only a child.

Buy it for the DVD not the book
s someone who has researched the Kent State shootings for thirty some years, I bought this to keep current with the literature on the topic. Having spent hundreds and hundreds of hours in archives and with the FBI files, I don't expect many new Kent State insights from popular literature. But, with almost all the books I really like on Kent State out of print, I was hoping for a book I could recommend to others. Being a great fan of "Rumor of War," I expected Caputo to use his excellent story-telling skills to bring people closer to the horrors of that day.

Unfortunately, on page 15, I discovered what would become a pattern with this book: sloppy research and/or a careless disregard for basic facts. On page 15, Caputo is discussing the Weatherman when he mentions "Bill Flanagan." Bill Flanagan? Caputo must mean the Weatherman Brian Flanagan, not Bill Flanagan. Maybe just one little error.

But on p. 32, Caputo tells us that the "Porter County coroner had opened an inquiry into the four deaths." Porter County? Where's Porter County? What Caputo meant was PORTAGE County.

On p. 68, Caputo tells us that Jeff Miller transferred to Kent State in January 1970 from the University of Michigan. But he didn't. Jeff transferred from Michigan State University. And don't tell any MSU grad that it's the same as U of M. (Or vice versa.)

Because of silly errors like the above, it's impossible to trust the information that Caputo presents. On p. 48, he says that "a couple of students suffered minor bayonet wounds" on Saturday night. If this is true, it is big news. But Caputo has given me no reason to believe it's true. Instead, I believe he's referencing the students who were bayoneted on Sunday, not Saturday, night. And that is not news at all.

Needless to say, I am very disappointed in this book. It appears to have been done quickly and haphazardly, solely to provide a book to accompany the "Kent State: The Day The War Came Home" DVD. This excellent DVD will give anyone interested in the shootings a good overview and understanding of what happened on May 4, 1970. I give the book two stars because the price of the book and DVD, combined, is more than reasonable for the DVD alone. But, if you read the book, be suspicious of facts contained therein. Until you have verified them with other sources, I would discourage you from citing them as truth.

Lastly, while I have not yet studied the chronology (which takes up about half the book), I expect it to be helpful in pinpointing dates of certain events. But my needs regarding Kent State materials differ dramatically from what most individuals will want. Anyone seriously interested in Kent State would have benefited from an index but, alas, Caputo has not provided one.

13 Seconds at Kent State University on May 4, 1970.
Caputo does a great job of showing the divisiveness in U.S. society during the sixties and early seventies.At a peaceful Midwest campus in Ohio, a series of actions results in an escalation that leads to the murder of four students and the injury of nine others by Ohio National Guardsmen.

First off, Caputo shows the trashing of the town of Kent on May 1, and the subsequent firebombing of the ROTC building at Kent State escalated peaceful protests to a new level and resulted in the call out of the Ohio National Guard.The blame for this goes to those students who performed these tasks.The students also assaulted firemen attempting to extinguish the ROTC building blaze.

When the Ohio National Guard was called onto campus, the students were surprised.Well if you trash a town ($15,000 worth of windows broken) and burn down a building, you shouldn't be surprised if the government responds in kind.When the Guardsmen attempt to stop a protest meeting on May 4, 1970, rocks are thrown at them and they are verbally abused.These actions are a slap in the face to the guardsmen.They are the ones with loaded weapons.One has to wonder what these students were thinking.Ultimately, the eight Ohio guardsmen were responsible for killing four and wounding nine.These men committed murder, but the students were responsible for causing the situation to develop.

This short book has a good summary of the actions that led to the killings.The DVD enclosed with the book is excellent.Both the DVD and book give an overall picture of what happened on May 4, 1970. ... Read more

Book Description
From writer/director Tamara Jenkins (The Slums of Beverly Hills) and starring Laura Linney, Philip Seymour Hoffman, and Philip Bosco, the official screenplay book tie-in to the movie from Fox Searchlight Pictures that takes an irreverent look at family, love, and mortality.

The last thing the two Savage siblings ever wanted to do was look back at their difficult family history. Having wriggled their way out from beneath their father's domineering thumb, they are now firmly cocooned in their own complicated lives. Wendy (Academy Award® nominee Laura Linney) is a struggling East Village playwright, aka a temp who spends her days applying for grants, stealing office supplies, and dating her very married neighbor. Jon (Academy Award® winner Philip Seymour Hoffman) is a neurotic college professor writing books on obscure subjects in Buffalo. Then comes the call that informs them that the father they have long feared and avoided, Lenny Savage (Tony Award® winner Philip Bosco), is slowly being consumed by dementia and they are the only ones who can help.

Now, as they put their already arrested lives on hold, Wendy and Jon are forced to live together under one roof for the first time since childhood, rediscovering the eccentricities that drove each other crazy. Faced with complete upheaval and battling over how to handle their father's final days, they are confronted with what adulthood, family, and, most surprisingly, each other are really about.

In addition to the complete script, this Newmarket Shooting Script® book includes an exclusive introduction by Tamara Jenkins, a color photo section, and the complete cast and crew credits. ... Read more

Book Description
From Academy Award®-nominated writer/director Noah Baumbach (The Squid and the Whale, Kicking and Screaming), the official screenplay book tie-in to the critically acclaimed movie from Paramount Vantage, starring Nicole Kidman, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Jack Black, and John Turturro.

Noah Baumbach's follow-up to his Academy Award®-nominated The Squid and the Whale is a daringly funny and bracingly honest exploration of the tender, absurd, and sometimes excruciating relationship between siblings and the fallout for those in their wake: children, husbands, lovers.

Margot Zeller (Academy Award® winner Nicole Kidman), a savagely bright, razor-tongued short-story writer who creates chaos wherever she goes, sets off on a surprise journey to the wedding of her estranged and free-spirited, unassuming sister Pauline (Golden Globe® nominee Jennifer Jason Leigh). Margot, with her all-too-rapidly maturing son Claude (newcomer Zane Pais) in tow, arrives with the gale force of a hurricane. From the minute she meets Pauline's fiancé—the unemployed artist Malcolm (Jack Black)—Margot starts to plant seeds of doubt about the union.

As the wedding approaches, one complication crashes into the next: vengeful neighbors, a beloved tree in the backyard, and Margot's own marital turmoil. The two sisters find themselves at the precipice of an unexpected transformation ultimately revealing that even when your family is about to implode...the one thing you can cling to for solace and comfort is your imploding family.

In addition to the complete script, this Newmarket Shooting Script® book includes an exclusive introduction by biographer Patricia Bosworth, an exclusive Q&A with Baumbach, a color photo section, and the complete cast and crew credits. ... Read more

Book Description
Once again, on April 16, 2007, we were shocked by the magnitude of violence displayed in the Virginia Tech massacre. But was it really a surprise? Since the terrifying incident at Columbine in 1999, senseless shootings at schools have claimed over four hundred student and faculty lives worldwide. In March and April of 2006, 16 deadly Columbine-style plots were hatched by over 25 students arrested across the U.S.A. from the heartland up to North Pole, Alaska. As the fall semester began, more deadly shootings in Montreal, Colorado, Wisconsin and even a tiny Amish school in Pennsylvania. That alone should have been a warning sign that April - around the anniversary of Columbine - would be a deadly month. As we've seen, the violence and plans for mayhem have continued unabated. Until this book, however, no one has really answered the question, "Why do they do it?" The Shooting Game is both an overview of the entire 30-year school shooting phenomenon and a harrowing, detailed examination of the only shooting incident in which a young man first murdered his parents - both of them teachers - before carrying out a deadly attack on his school. Joseph Lieberman gives heart to the statistics and lays bare the soul of these tragedies by revealing the synchronous nature and common roots of school shooting, workplace rampage and suicidal terrorist acts. The Shooting Game is a book that no parent, educator, administrator, law official or counselor can afford not to read. "When an angry, vengeful 15-year-old dropout showed up on our campus with two stolen, loaded handguns and extra ammunition in September, we knew what to do. I had read Lieberman's book *The Shooting Game* twice, once for the big picture, once for the details. We had a plan in place based upon the book and my past experience, we had police on the scene and a lock-down, and the boy was captured without harming anyone." - Oregon high school Assistant Principal Mike Johnson ... Read more

Customer Reviews (17)

Understanding the unthinkable.
Mr. Lieberman's book helps to understand the unthinkable - the reasons why the disturbed teen's behavior was overlooked and signs of impending violence were missed.My husband was a victim of a school shooter on September 29, 2006.This book hits the nail on the head - that school shooters are master manipulators and are able to convince counselors, school staff and adminstrators and even law enforcement that they are not a threat.The making of a school shooter begins at home WITH THE PARENTS.Eric Hainstock (who murdered my husband) was referred time and time again by several different schools he attended for counseling, but his father would not allow it. He was afraid the County would remove him from the "home" and there would go his meal ticket.He would no longer receive County support for Eric. Therefore the abuse continues and the teen becomes more and more out of touch with reality.Eric Hainstock never gave a thought to murdering his own worthless, abusive father, but instead shot my husband who was the very person trying the hardest to help him. Mr. Lieberman's book points out again and again how the shooters manipulate people to believe there is nothing wrong. I don't know how we will ever be able to prevent school shootings in the future when the parents and their disturbed child are so intent on hiding the fact that there is a problem. These kids and their abusive parents should not be able to refuse counseling.

Shooting game gets it right
Joseph Lieberman's book, The Shooting Game, focuses primarily on Kip Kinkel who, in 1998, killed his parents and rampaged his school in Springfield, Oregon, killing two students and wounding 25 others.In attempting to understand this inexplicable killing, Lieberman takes his readers on a tour of other rampage shootings, the psychology of rampage shooters, America's culture of violence, issues of access to guns, media culpability, and masculinity.He also provides insight into the family and the community in which this happened.

We may never understand what motivated Kip Kinkel to kill his family and rampage his school.What is important about this book is that it gives us insight into rampage shooters: their motivations, their mentality, their social locations, and contributing community factors.This book is both personal, because Lieberman lived in the affected community, and sociological, because he puts the shootings into a socio-cultural context.His analyses are sensitive, nuanced, and well thought out. To his credit, he does not seek easy answers to a very complex problem.Anybody who wants to gain understanding into rampage shootings in America's schools needs to read this book.
Comprehending Columbine

Kip Kinkel is an anomoly
The problem I see with this book is that it makes a sweeping generalization of all school shooters based on one case, Kip Kinkel, who suffers from mental illness.In contrast, other school shootings appear to be the result of bullying and a sense of helplessness by kids that before being bullied appeared to have been fairly normal children.What is pushing these children over the edge that results in the heartbreaking decision to seek retribution by violence?What is happening in our society and what do we do about it?

tripe
Mr. Lieberman is a dangerous man. Obviously well-educated (he can write), he is clever enough to fool the reader with his ability to present personal, small-minded, poorly informed opinions as facts.As a mental health professional who works with juvenile offenders, I can firmly state that Mr.Lieberman's "facts" are wrong,wrong, wrong. But in these sorry days of poor treatment for the mentally ill, it comes as no surprise that a self-proclaimed "expert" doesn't know the difference between a bonafide mental disorder and a personal choice. True recovery for those who are caught in the tangled web of the justice system and the mental health community will be harder to realize as long as books like this are foisted on the public. I ought to know - I'm on the front line.

Amazing Amount of Research
I highly recommend this book for anyone attempting to get to the bottom of why there continues to be so many school shootings! The author has obviously spent a tremendous amount of time not only researching this subject and talking to anyone and everyone who had anything to do with it, but also thinking about the many underlying causes and from different angles, and then researching those too!So many facts (and possibilites) are brought to light in this very educational book. It's not just a book about "Kip".It digs deep, and compares a large variety of shootings. I actuallylive by Thurston, and have children that attend there now, (as well as kids that previously attended and more that will attend), and although this type of tragedy can happen anywhere on earth (as the author points out that it has), it does hit a bit closer to home for me. This is not a short book, and I couldn't put it down for 3 days until I finished it! And then I wanted to re-read it! This was a very thought-provoking book, packed with many issues I never took into account. Being a parent, it made me really look at how children are raised, things to be aware of, and things that can make a huge impact on a child that I had never taken into consideration. I can't say enough positive things about this book, on a such a negative topic with such a negative impact on our society today. ... Read more

Book Description
The Shooting Party wraps a story of concealed love and fatal jealousy into a classic murder mystery. When a young woman dies during a shooting party at the country estate of a dissolute count, a magistrate is called to investigate. But suspicion descends upon virtually everyone, for, as we soon learn, the victim was at the center of a tangled web of relationships—with her elderly husband, with the lecherous count, and with the magistrate himself. One of Anton Chekhov’s earliest experiments in fiction, this short, riveting novel prefigures the mature style he would develop in his magnificent stories and plays. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

FROM HIS SECOND DRAWER
Chekhov's "The Shooting Party" (1884/5), his only long novel, is a work of hisimmaturity, following the early stories for pulp magazines that launched his writing career but were later derided by him as juvenile, and four years before his novella "The Steppe," rightly considered his entry into serious literature. It is a colorful, zippy detective story, yet surprisingly crude and squalid, more Dostoyevsky than Turgenev. The murderer's identity was easy to guess early on, and no plot twist surprised. Read it, just for pleasure, after you have taken the full measure of mature Chekhov in all his acuity and delicacy. The Penguin translation worked well, except for those relentless Britishisms we get so often from English translators. Russians do not call each other "chap" and their peasants don't speak Cockney with dropped h's.

Impressive debut novel from Chekhov
That Chekhov wrote this remarkable novel at the age of 24 is almost as impressive as Thomas Mann's writing of "Buddenbrooks" at the age of 26. "The Shooting Party" has a greater sense of feverish, almost Dostoyevskian intensity compared with Chekhov's later work, perhaps attributable to his youth. But it also has the same deep human understanding and descriptive ability - in Chekhov's almost minimalist style - as the later stories and plays.

The structure of the story-within-a-story and the metamorphosis from provincial novel of manners to an account of sexual misconduct and moral turpitude (in 19th century terms) to detective story, all within the space of a 200 pages, may seem a little clumsy to a modern reader (and the identity of the murderer may also be a little more obvious now than it was to a contemporary reader), but achieving all of this in such a short novel takes a great deal of talent, and Chekov's great talent is apparent even at this early stage of his career. It is also a fascinating and compelling novel, both for its account of provincial Russian life, as well as the psychological portrayals of the characters and the "whodunnit" element.

The previous review appears to refer to the 1926 translation (by Constance Garnett?), which no longer appears to be in print. This review relates to the new Ronald Wilks translation, which is adequate, though not outstanding. Constance Garnett's translations of Chekhov (which are still widely available) tend to be very readable and idiomatic (in English), if not always faithful to the original. Like many modern translations of Russian, this translation is occasionally a little wooden, and uses expressions or words that would generally not be used in English, reinforcing the fact that it is a translation. Not being fluent in Russian, I can't comment on its literal accuracy. However, despite these flaws, the translation conveys the story and the meaning of the text perfectly well.

One area for criticism - as is often the case in Penguin classics - is that the notes are often intrusive (and occasionally unnecessary, although not nearly so bad as in other books), and I personally object to the appearance of footnotes within the text. I also object to the introduction - which gives far too much of the plot away - appearing at the beginning of the book, especially as so many readers insist on reading the introduction first. Personally, I would prefer to see critical comments appearing after the text of the novel.

Chekhov's Second Novel (or Only Novel? )
Chekhov gained fame as the master of dozens of short stories and plays. Most of his works are set in small Russian towns and in the countryside. There is some debate on whether his two longer stories - this being one - are novels.

The present novel is written in the same style as some of his short stories. For example, see "The Complete Short Stories" from Vintage Classics. The present storyreminds the reader of "The Duel" and "The Story of an Unknown Man." Many consider it to be his second novel, or his only full novel. Compared to many well know novels by other authors it is short - just over 200 pages with the notes. It was written a few years after the time of his graduation from medical school in 1884. It was one of his first efforts in fiction and contains some elements of a mystery story with an element of comedy or farse.

Chekhov is a little more subtle and human than his contemporary Dostoevsky and he did not write a 500 page novel. But one must admire both writers. In terms of setting and plot, the present work is closest to his other famous work the short story "The Duel" in flavour and setting. "The Shooting Party" has more drama than that short story, and it seems very informal almost slightly crazy; the characters drink a lot of vodka; it is a flamboyant story that takes place in rural Russia; and, the protagonist is a country detective or what they call investigating magistrate. In short, it is a bit of a wild tale. He uses the technique of placing a story within a story, and the two converge at the end.

The Shooting Party, was translated into English in 1926 and Agatha Christie used parts in her mystery novel: "The Murder of Roger Ackroyd." ... Read more

Book Description
Day and night, through rain and snow, his canary yellow taxi rolls on through the energy filled city that never sleeps: New York City.Through the eye of his camera Bradford observes people from all corners of the world living their lives in the shadow of skyscrapers that rise up like mountains.The rain blurred lights of Broadway, the lofy grandeur of the Empire State Building floating by, the Avenues teeming with life.Drive-By Shootings presents a black & yellow look at the stories and artistic aspects behind an obsessive hunt for images. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (14)

Drive By Shootings
Excellent book, I saw this guy on a news program and had to have the book. He is one with the city for sure.

One of the greatest photography books on New York
As you can see from the other reviews, David Bradford is a one of a kind, true artist who deserves all the respect he gets. I had the pleasure of boarding his cab back in 1997 which led me to make a short film on him for my NYU film school project. David has access to some of the most incredible scenes of New York as he drives through the city year round and at all hours with his camera. His photographs catch the subtle changes in light, weather, and emotion of the city.And he sees it from the street level behind the steering wheel. I am honored to be his friend and this book to me is as exciting as the work Andreas Feininger did of New York city during the 30's and 40's.

one of the best photo books i've ever bought!
a book of photographs (and some prose) done by a NY taxi cab driver. all the photos were shot with a point and shoot camera, while he was driving his cab.

a great example of how a body of work is equal to more than the sum of the parts. in other words, the individual images are not necessarily masterpieces, but when you put them all together, the body of work could definitely be exhibited in a gallery. goes to show you that to be a successful artist, a concise body of work is more important then successful individual images alone.

also, this book is a great example of taking one's circumstances and surroundings and creating something artistic from them. there's room for creativity everywhere, especially for photographic creativity.

and in it, the author transcends what might be an ordinary job into something extraordinary. like a bumble-bee buzzing throughout the city, Braford in his cab with camera in hand shows us that in the wake of the events of 9/11/2001 (in fact, the World Trade Center buildings are in many of his shots), NYC is a city full of vitality, life, and soul.

as a published photographer myself, and someone who has not yet spent much time in New York, i really appreciate this book. it's one man's view of the city, yes. but he has such a great vantage point as part of the livelyhood of it.

Bradford takes you there...
I have never been to the Big Apple, though for as long as I remember, I have always wanted to go there. David Bradford (a taxi-cab driver) captured NYC from his cab window so well that it really "took me there". I got a feel of NYC while I flipped through the pages of his book. His idea to do this is not only inspirational, but brilliant as well. This book makes a perfect coffee table book- highly recommended to anyone who loves New York!

Great Book
I was so excited to get this book when they showed the story on 60 Minutes. The photographs were all taken with a Yashica T4 point and shoot camera, (the point and shoot of choice for most pro photographers)! The pictures are all in black and white too. The pictures are the pulse of New York City from the viewpoint of a New York Cabbie. I love this concept. I love that this man has used a wonderful point and shoot camera (now discontinued...shame on you, Yashica!), and how he photographs the city while driving. He also photographs the passengers (great idea!!). The text is fantastic. It lets you really understand where he is coming from when he took the pictures. What makes this book winderful is this combination of text and photography, and that it is a new struggling artist who makes his living by driving a cab in New York City, a very rough job indeed. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Practical Shooting - PHENOMENAL
This book is initially difficult to read; I enjoy challenges. Especially mental ones and Brian will challenge you to challenge Self. NO book approaches shooting in a more cerebral way. Well, that's not true because he'll move you beyond Thinking about what it is you wish to do and simply Doing it without the Mind "thinking" away and slowing you down.

I cannot possibly over sell this book (just like Surgical Speed Shooting) and I push the book to all shooters who fancy themselves as "serious" about competition or life skills with a pistol.

I find the book difficult to put down now and reading it is "a breeze" once you get to the point that you've internalized his definitions. I rather enjoy studying the Mind so it took a day or two before all fell into place and I breezed through it after that. In fact, I breeze through it twice a year. It's one part of my "shooting bible" which must be studied dutifully.

If you decide you don't like his book I'll buy it from you and cover the shipping. It's that good. I don't think you'll find a better endorsement than that. I'll add it to the other three copies - two of which are worn out...

Without a doubt, the best book on competitive shooting.
I've shot with Mr. Enos (hell I even beat him once, with a ton of luck), and I kinda grew up with him as a shooting guide.This book should be called "Practical Shooting: The Bible."It covers the fundamentals early on, and no not the fundamentals such as how to grip the gun or how to draw, but how to *think* and *view* shooting through your awareness and thought processes. This is the major difference between Enos and all the other greats, even TGO himself.Enos knows how to *think* shooting, and this book helps you get there too. I would recommend it to the D class shooter just getting started, the C class working on moving on up, or the M looking to perfect the art.

I'm picking it up just to refresh my skills, it's one you can read every few years and still learn something from it.

The Best Book on Shooting
I bought a bunch of books on shooting recently.None of them came close to this one.Thanks to Brian's suggestions, I improved so rapidly it was scary.GET THIS BOOK and you'll see what I mean!

will change the way you think about shooting...
I am fairly experienced with firearms and have trained with some of the best instructors in the country.I have read many of the better books written on the subject and will say that this is easily the best book written on shooting the handgun.Whether you are a competitive shooter, law enforcement or interested in personal defense, this book will change the way you think about shooting.The sections on shooting technique are worth the price of the book but where Enos goes above and beyond is in how he addresses the mental aspects of shooting.His treatment of mindset could be applied to any other sport or just everyday living.This book belongs on the shelf of any serious shooter.I've only finished my copy for the first time but it is already filled with highlighted passages and notes in the margins.Cannot recommend highly enough.

Top of the line for the thinking shooter!
Rather IPSC and Steel Challenge-oriented, this book is not necessarily an easy read for those unfamiliar to IPSC/steel-shooting. But it is immensely rewarding for those who bother to think seriously about what they are trying to achieve on the shooting range, whether for fun or under match-conditions. So, you read the book once, then re-read the chapters one by one, make your notes, and then repeat the process during the following year until the book itself is a complete rag and you need to order another! Using the book on the range, you'll find yourself sitting on a bench reading one chapter, then picking out 2 or 3 specific details that you'll want to work on that specific day. Then you'll go home and ponder a little for yourself as the next practice-session comes up. Then, slowly but surely, you'll begin to transform yourself into a true shooter. Not easily digested, but once on the road with this book you'll never stop improving. And $19.94 is just absolutely hilarious! It's simply the best steal you'll ever do as a pistol-shooter in your life... ... Read more

Book Description

"We only speak two languages here, English and profanity."
- Pittsburgh Penguins coach on the many languages of his team

"I never had major knee surgery on any other part of my body."
- Saku Koivu

"I'm not dirty, just aggressive. Fighter pilots have machine guns, I only have my mask and stick."
- Gerry Cheevers, Boston Goaltender

This book is a collection of 300 of the best wisecracks and pithy quotes from hockey players and coaches Covering fifty years of hockey, the speakers are identified by their team at the time the lines were spoken with colorful graphics and dramatic photographs of featured players and personalities.

Shooting from the Lip is organized into a wide range of topics including:

• Attitude
• Blow outs
• Coaching and fans
• Hockey hair
• Injuries and feuds
• Penalties and goons
• Taking shots
• Veterans
• Winning and losing.

Whether consumed in random nibbles or devoured in one sitting, Shooting from the Lip will entertain hockey fans of all ages.

Customer Reviews (1)

Great Quotes and fun to read
This book was a lot of fun to read. I found that some of the qoutes in the book are useful for your own friends. It's not a serious book in anyway. It's just a good time and will make you laugh. ... Read more

Book Description
In the Newmarket Shooting Script® format, the new movie directed by Ron Howard (Ransom, Apollo 13) starring Russell Crowe about the life of Nobel Prize winner John Forbes Nash Jr., a mathematical genius diagnosed with paranoid-schizophrenia—a Universal and DreamWorks co-production, coming in December 2001. From the heights of notoriety to the depths of depravity, John Forbes Nash, Jr. (Russell Crowe) experienced it all. A mathematical genius, he made an astonishing discovery early in his career and stood on the brink of international acclaim. But the handsome and arrogant Nash soon found himself on a painful and harrowing journey of self-discovery. After many years of struggle, he eventually triumphed over this tragedy, and late in life received the Nobel Prize for his work in game theory. The film is based in part on the biography by Sylvia Nasar. The Newmarket book includes the complete shooting script, an introduction by Ron Howard especially for this edition, 10 b/w stills, production notes, and the complete credits. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

ABeautiful Mind - Shooting Script
I use this script to teach screen writing. It is a small size and easy for students to carry.

My Heart is Still Bleeding
It was very painful for me too keep reading this document until the very end. Someone who I love with all my soul apprised the moral value of the end movie and I had to see it for myself. The fact of the matter is this is a true story. Here we have a man who has a dream and who is so persistent to see it realized that he fails to see the many great blessings God has brought to him. You see, God is more persistent. Whether Nash realizes it or not no one is excluded from imperfection and it still doesn't matter because God loves us all the same and he gave us that capability as well. The great lesson I see is love yourself and those around you and you'll want to see tomorrow. Oh, and, don't forget to count your blessings.

Goldsman's Work
I tend to admire the work that goes into forging a screen adaptation from a book. In this case Goldsman has created a truly compelling script which, as we all know, won the academy award. Worth reading? (in addition to seeing the movie?) Yes. Because you will see so much more. The movie is the product; this is the raw material that gets worked. You'll gather what was specified and what was originated by the actors, how much the scenes were designed and envisioned beyond just the words. In a way it is thrilling to read a screenplay, enabling you to go behind the polished fantasy of film, back to ideas and possibilities.Another discovery is the screenplay's direct or economical way of conveying such complex emotions as those of Nash and Alicia in very few words, and with these words the actors generate their own filmic magic. It is a treat to have the script in hand like this. ... Read more

Book Description
From the director and writer of Being John Malkovich—a film by Spike Jonze, starring Nicolas Cage and Meryl Streep, from a screenplay by Charlie and Donald Kaufman about the adaptation of the bestselling book The Orchid Thief—an exciting new filmbook in the Newmarket Shooting Script® series.

This latest head trip from director Spike Jonze (Being John Malkovich) concerns an orchid collector (Chris Cooper), a journalist (Meryl Streep as author Susan Orlean), and the screenwriter (Charlie Kaufman, played by Nicolas Cage) who, in adapting Susan Orlean's book The Orchid Thief, writes himself into the movie.

The Orchid Thief tells the story of a Florida man who schemes to clone the "ghost orchid" and sell it to people all over the world who are struck with orchidelirium, the obsession with collecting rare orchids at any price. Adaptation: The Shooting Script® includes the complete screenplay, a selection of 20 black-and-white movie stills, as well as an introduction by Charlie Kaufman. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

Beautifully done
I have not yet read 'The Orchid Theif', and as such am in a good position to comment on the greatness of this movie in stand-alone form.

Charlie Kaufman is a brilliant screenwriter - and Adaptation is a masterpiece. The point he has tried to make in adapting 'The Orchid Theif' to screenplay is that if he were to adapt the book in it's original form, it would not 'make it' in the movie industry without any cliched Hollywood moments (scandal, sex, murder etc..). A movie built solely on 'flowers' would not grab the audience's attention and keep them interested.

This point is further reinforced by the fact that Charlie's twin, Donald produces his first screenplay using the exact cliches Charlie has been trying to avoid - but his script is deemed a masterpiece!

In Charlie's script, he pieces together parts of 'The Orchid Theif' (presented in the most beautiful way - Merryl Streep is superb in this role!), with pieces of his own tormented life.

The end result, is a movie about making a movie about adapting a book to a movie. Confused? Watch it with no expectations, and you will be pleasantly suprised at how much you enjoy Adaptation.

It's About The Process!
First and foremost, I would have to say that this is one of my favorite movies. Charlie Kaufman really knows how to write such a compelling and remarkable movie. Second, many people have this misconception that ther movie was supposed to be based on the novel "The Orchid Thief". What people fail to realize is that once a screenwriter is hired to adapt a novel, it is their job to write the screenplay in dramatic screen form. In ther movie, if people paid closer attention, Kaufman was clearly trying to illustrate the problems of adapting such a beautiful novel without risking authenticity because of pressures from mainstream Hollywood.

Although the film turns out to be a bit autobiographical, Kaufman still manages to remain close to the general theme of the novel which is how we are all trying to adapt to our surroundings(hence the title-"Adaptation"), Either way, Kaufman still manages to show the intricate nature of the orchids, and how they serve as a symbol to the characters that embody the movie. Not to be too analytical, the script/movie is still great. Don't take my word for it, just watch it for youself.

This is about a screenplay.. not a book.
Adaptation by Charlie Kaufman (film dir. by Spike Jonze) is like the name might imply, about adaptation.Many critics of this script complain that it is a failure of Suzanne Orlean's novel "The Orchid Thief" but I disagree.The first point to make I've already said: it's about adapting a book.Now, there are plenty of references to the orchid thief, and this script is inexticably linked with the book, but the novel, as Kaufman says in the movie "is a beautiful book about flowers... I just want to make a movie about flowers" (not an actual quote, but it's kinda' close to what he says throughout).The script constantly praises the novel, but the movie is really about what it takes to write a screenplay, and is therefore almost more of a creative work than an actual adaptation.As such, the screenplay is excellent.It is witty, careful, and through many twists and turns, becomes the very item that it claims, maybe even strives, to not be: a product of hollywood.What makes this movie more than a car-chase-sex-scene-drugs-love-insert-archetypical-theme-here kinda' movie is the fact that Kaufman's writing is brilliant.He tastefully inserts every single hollywood cliche from theme song to personal struggle into the film in a way that won't make you puke.Instead of being a lame rehash, adaptation leaves the viewer wondering what it really was that just took place.The story is well-paced, characters are stongly developed, and plot twists don't feel thrown in at the last moment: you feel that this could honestly happen, at least most of the time.While it strays significantly from the orchid thief, the script stands well on its own two legs, slinking through the plot in a way that will have you before you even realize it, then turns you on your head.Both the book and script are great literary works, but, even with their strong kinship, it's best to view them separately than attack the latter for it's liberal use of the former.

An abomination
Susan Orlean's book The Orchid Thief is a true gem - wonderfully written and highly entertaining. I don't know what Charlie Kaufman was thinking but this is no "adaptation" of The Orchid Thief. It's really a shame that such a fine book is associated with this screenplay. Surely, Kaufman could have come up with a more creative way to adapt The Orchid Thief for the screen. This screenplay is little more than a rant on the film industry. It doesn't do justice to Orlean's work.

Want your taste & intelligence insulted? Read this book!
This self-aggrandizing autobiographical screenplay has virtually nothing to do with Susan Orlean's fascinating book "The Orchid Thief", which is about legal inequality at the Federal level. Instead, Kaufman insults his employers character and our taste & intelligence by insisting that no one will see any film that doesn't have drugs, sleazy sex and high speed chases - none of which appear in Orlean's fine book, but are substituted by Kaufman for the entire premise of the original work.Some of Kaufman's past work was novel and entertaining. This screenplay is, at best, depressing. Read Orlean's book instead. ... Read more

Book Description
From the writer/director of the dazzling surprise hit Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels that grossed over $100 million and won the Edgar for Best Movie (1999) from the Mystery Writers of America—from Screen Gems (Sony Pictures). A diamond heist gone helter-skelter, the rough and tumble world of bare-knuckle boxing, an unpredictable Irish gypsy and...a dog. Writer-director Guy Ritchie's highly anticipated comedy takes the gangster genre into another dimension—hilarity. The colorful ensemble cast features Benicio Del Toro, Dennis Farina, Jason Flemyng, Vinnie Jones, Brad Pitt and Jason Statham. Double-crossing, double-bluffing and double-dealing abound as various parties pursue personal agendas—all of them illegal, some of them farcical and most of them involving an 86-carat diamond. As plans go haywire and tempers fray, dogs, diamonds, mobile homes, boxers and assorted weaponry get swept up into a chaotic free-for-all. Who will emerge with the stone? Snatch premiered in England in September 2000 to rave reviews and huge box office! This Newmarket Shooting Script® edition of the book includes the complete shooting script, an introduction by Ritchie, stills and credits. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Read it in one sitting!
Movie script writing is one of the most lucrative ways of writing these days... and yet screenplays are so difficult to get hold of. This is a great script of a great film. If you're just a fan of the movie or an aspiring scriptwriter, this is for you. Some of the classic "one liners" in this movie get an extra shine when you read them from the page while the scene plays in your mind. Well worth it!

Great film, great script --- snatch
This is a great script! I've seen the film quite a few times, and it was still very interesting to read this script. It's very fun-reading, has some pictures from the film to accompany some scenes and contains original English slang, which makes it a great value! :-)

Liked the movie? Love the screenplay
If you loved Guy Ritchie's first major movie, Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, you're sure to love his second movie, Snatch. Like the movie, the shooting script is fast-paced, sharp and amusing. From the introduction to the original script, filled with black and white photos of certain scenes, much like the movie, you can't stop until you're finished.
However, if you were expecting the same humor and nonserious nature of Lock, Stock... you may be in for a surprise. Snatch is a bit more serious at times and works with very different scenery.
Guy Ritchie wins this fight. ... Read more

Book Description
"Relive the pain and humiliation of high school" in the only companion books to the acclaimed, Emmy® award-winning TV show, just released on DVD for the first time in response to extraordinary fan demand.

Though only airing for 18 episodes, the Dreamworks Television comedy/drama Freaks and Geeks (NBC, 1999-2000) earned extraordinary critical acclaim, and developed a devoted fan base that fought valiantly to keep it on the air. Eventually fan demand (an online petition of over 35,000 names) convinced the studio to release the series on DVD.

Created by Paul Feig and executive produced by Judd Apatow (The Larry Sanders Show), Freaks and Geeks followed the Weir siblings—former math whiz Lindsay (Linda Cardellini of the Scooby-Doo feature films and ER) and her younger brother Sam (John Francis Daley)—as they navigated the perils and pleasures of a Michigan high school circa 1980. Lauded for its brutal honesty and very human characters, Freaks and Geeks combined smart dialogue and winning performances, and its plotlines rarely offered pat solutions to the characters' conflicts.

These unique script books allow longtime fans and first-timers alike to enjoy the writing behind one of television's most poignant and funny programs about high school, with introductions and additional material by the series' creators. 15 b/w photos.

This volume, volume 1, includes episodes 1-9 of the series. Volume 2, sold separately, includes episodes 10-18. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Finally!, The Scripts we've been waiting for.
First the show was cancelled. Depression. Then the DVD's were released. Elation! Now the scripts are finally published. Exaltation!!!A great television show first starts with a great script, and Freaks and Geeks was (is) a GREAT televison show and it all started with the great scripts contained in this collection. Starting off with Paul Feig's perfect script for the "pilot" episode, this collection shows why Freaks and Geeks has become the golden example of just how good a cancelled television show can be. The scripts contained in this collection, all display the sense of humor, agnst, emotional ups and down , truthfulness and most importantly, heart, that carried through every episode of the finshed, televised program.
These scripts are a must read for fans as well as any budding scriptwriter. Hell, these scripts should be mandatory reading
for all aspiring writers as well as any writer currently working in television, (unless you currently write for the Simpsons or Arrested Development..) ... Read more

Book Description
Loaded with extras, the official screenplay book tie-in to the uproarious American hit comedy from Fox Searchlight—a family on the verge of a breakdown.

In 2000, screenwriter Michael Arndt had no credits, no agents, no publishing history when he took a year off to write "a salable script" that got him an agent and a deal fourteen months later, and, five years after that, one of the big hits of 2006. Exclusive to this book are the complete shooting script, Arndt's introduction and scene notes about his filmmaking experience, and a humorous essay "How to Write a Sundance Hit in Nine Easy Steps." Also included are the full credits and a 12-page color photo section.

Brazenly satirical yet deeply human, Little Miss Sunshine introduces the Hoovers, whose trip from Albuquerque to Redondo Beach, California, to a pre-pubescent beauty pageant results not only in comic mayhem but in death, transformation, and a moving look at the surprising rewards of being losers in a winning-crazed culture. A runaway hit at the Sundance Film Festival, where it played to standing ovations, the film strikes a nerve with everyone who's ever been awestruck by how their muddled families seem to make it after all.

The Hoover family members are played by Greg Kinnear, Toni Collette, Steve Carell, Abigail Breslin, Paul Dano, and Alan Arkin. When they pile into their rusted-out VW bus and head west on a three-day tragicomic journey to the Little Miss Sunshine beauty pageant, the entire misfit family will change in ways they could never imagine. 12-page color photo insert. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

The Little Script that Could
This is a marvelous script by Michael Arndt. The story is small and it reaches so many. The characters are very well developed. It's just a joy to read such a great script!

Delightful

This is a delightful script. The shared goal of all the characters provides the reader with a warmth and investment in the characters individual journeys. It's so funny and touching. I also appreciated the scripts editing processthat Arndt provides for us at the end of the screenplay. It is a valuable learning tool for those who are interested in writing screenplays.

Review of Little Miss Sunshine
Entertaining and heartwarming.A nice, sweet movie with many important insights into human values of self-worth, self-esteem, and family solidarity. ... Read more

Book Description
For the first time in the acclaimed Newmarket Shooting Script® series format, the screenplay for one of the most successful films in history. A surprise box-office hit when it opened in theaters in the spring of 1999, The Matrix has proven to be nothing short of a phenomenon, setting records for DVD sales, winning four Oscars®—Best Visual Effects, Best Film Editing, Best Sound, Best Sound Effects Editing—and spawning two sequels for release in 2002 and 2003. The extraordinary vision of writers/directors Larry and Andy Wachowski is captured in its purest form with the film's shooting script. The tale of Thomas Anderson, aka Neo (Keanu Reeves), a computer hacker forced to confront his special destiny in the salvation of mankind, challenges our perceptions of reality and expands our expectations of what a movie can be. The 122 pages of the script are presented in facsimile form. Also included are scene notes about the script written by Phil Oosterhouse, assistant to the Wachowskis throughout the making of the film; 20 b/w film still photos; and full credits. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Trimmed down from THE ART OF THE MATRIX
A word for anyone tempted to buy anything/everything related to THE MATRIX: the complete contents of THE MATRIX: THE SHOOTING SCRIPT (including the scene notes) can be found in THE ART OF THE MATRIX, which contains additional material, both written and pictorial. I enjoy the material in THE SHOOTING SCRIPT version, but prefer the more detailed treatment in the bigger book.

Even the text of William Gibson's introduction appears in THE ART OF THE MATRIX, as an afterword. The author of NEUROMANCER and JOHNNY MNEMONIC was slow to see THE MATRIX when it first came out, knowing that it was in his own genre - although he'd been exposed to the screenplay, he hadn't anticipated how well the story would translate to film. Not only did he enjoy it when first persuaded to see it in theatrical release, he promptly turned around and dragged others out to see it. :)

The scene notes following the body of the script aren't written by the Wachowski brothers, but by their assistant Phil Oosterhouse - the brothers being busy at the time with making the sequels. The notes accompanying THE SHOOTING SCRIPT omit discussion of some deleted scenes, but otherwise tally with the more complete version in THE ART OF THE MATRIX.

Essentially, this book is for anyone who's interested only in the no-frills text of the script, without the storyboards that were essential to the Wachowskis' campaign to persuade Warner Brothers to actually make the film, and without any extra discussion of scenes that were cut before the movie was actually shot. As far as it goes, it's fine.

AN EXCELLENT REFERENCE GUIDE
I highly recommend the Matrix Shooting script.It not only covers the scenes that were in the movie, but also bits that had to be excluded.

The Forward is written by none other than Willaim Gibson [how's that for a seal of approval].He says that 'Keanu's Neo is my favourite-ever science fiction hero, absolutely!'.You can't ask for anything more.

I also love the commentary by Phil Oosterhouse, who was Assistant Director on the movie.He gives wonderful insights into little nuances of the scenes and the commitment of the actors and directors to produce the very best movie they could.

The book also has stills from the movie in cool black and white.It's a book any true Matrix fan should be without.

Enjoy! ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

Great book for IPSC
Having read a few books on IPSC shooting like Brian Enos and Saul Kirsch I saw this book and decided to have a read, I was skeptical at first as it was written a in the early 90s and I though it might be a little dated. I'm happy to say my fears were unfounded this is a great book for IPSC along with the books by the authors mentioned above. This book also has chapters on the rifle and shotgun which is something not often found in these books so I found it doubly helpful as a 3 Gun enthusiast.

Excellent resource
Do not pay these outrageous prices - Brownells still list this publication in stock around $20. I would also recommend Surgical Speed Shooting by Stanford - do not let "gunfight" in the subtitle put you off.

Less Expensive Source
J. Michael Plaxco's book can be found at www.brownells.com for $20 plus shipping.Tad cheaper than almost $200 offered on the Amazon's site.

Superb book on practical pistol shooting.
Author J. Michael Plaxco is an accomplished IPSC style shooter, a discipline which ostensibly focuses on more "practical" concerns than more static and purely accuracy oriented target disciplines.IPSCfocuses on both speed and accuracy in a variety of situations.

Keepingthat background in mind, Plaxco offers an excellent book that will give thereader both practical ways of improving their performance and a broad basedtheoretical approach to sports psychology and general performanceenhancement.Reading and applying the many lessons in this book willdramatically enhance the skills of a tactical, military, law enforcement,or competitive shooter.

The book is written in an accessible and readablestyle, all the photographs are exceptional, and the layout is sensible. While I do not recommend this book for a beginner, it is an excellentsource for someone who has had some basic defensive training skills. Police officers who are serious about developing their skills beyond thepathetic level learned in academy will profit more from this book than anyother I can think of... IF THEY APPLY THE PRACTICE ROUTINES.

With thatbeing said, this is not merely a book you read once.This is a book youread, you experiment with, you read again, experiment with, highlight,underline, and read some more.This is a guidebook to the self developmentand enhancement of motorskills.It's not just a bunch of random pointers,tricks, and insights. ... Read more

Amazon.com
Jim Carrey is getting smarter and smarter. The crude, rich clown took far less than the $20 million he could have gotten in order to star in Peter Weir's film The Truman Show, which made the covers of Time and Entertainment Weekly as "The Year's Best Movie." Carrey plays Truman Burbank, a man whose entire life has beena hit TV docudrama without his knowledge. This screenplay (by Gattaca author Andrew Niccol) is requiredreading, and the 35 good-quality color stills from the film in the photoalbum at the center of the book are nicely laid out with helpful,intelligent captions.

But The Truman Show: The Shooting Script also offers something not found in theaters: the back-story to the script, written by director Weir, who has never been weirder. It was so important to the creation of the movie that Weir actually hired Harry Shearer to help create a "mockumentary"--a documentary on the making of the movie. The mockumentary was scrapped, though a few scenes wound up in the finished film; what Weir gives you here is the whole prequel, "A Short History of The Truman Show." It tells how Christof (played by Ed Harris in the film), a promising, idealistic, Oscar-winning documentarian concerned with homeless people, conspired with shady ex-NASA operatives and the terrifying Omnicam Corp. to create a fake town full of actors and imprison the unsuspecting child Truman Burbank in it by messing with his head. For instance, they made Truman afraid of water so that he wouldn't swim away from his "home." It's a trip--and it just might provide a peek into certain dark crannies of the mind of Oscar-winning director Peter Weir. Just because you've seen The Truman Show, you don't know everything in this book. --Tim AppeloBook Description
The only book tie-in to "the movie of the decade." --Esquire Magazine. Includes the complete 107-page facsimile script, an exclusive 24-page color photo album with extensive captions written by Niccol, and "A Short History of The Truman Show" written by director, Peter Weir.

The Newmarket Shooting Script(tm) Series features an attractive 7 x 9 1/4 inch format that includes a facsimile of the film's shooting script, as chosen by the writer and/or director, exclusive notes on the film's production and history, stills, and credits. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (25)

Masterpiece!
This film is a Masterpiece of history of the contemporary cinema,wonderful book and wonderful screenplay. Andrew Niccol is a genius..!

Fake Reality Show
The Truman Show is about Truman Burbank, the main character, and his fake life. He lives in Seahaven an artificial world that has only built for him. When he finds out that he is part of a reality show he wants to escape. Everybody betrayed him even his wife Meryl and his best friend Marlon who are actors like everybody in his world Seahaven.
The author wants to warn people of the danger of the modern media
culture and high technology.
We must be mor critical of the invented world of the television and think about its effect on us.
I like the book because it includes everything: lovestory, friendship, tension... It is dramatic but from time to time also funny.

TS
The Truman Show is a drama with a lot of funny aspects. It deals with a young man whose whole life is documented in a reality show. The reviewers can watch him all day in the whole world.
The duration of the show was for 29 years without bigger problems but one day, Truman, the main character, seems to find out the truth about his life. He notices that everything is artificial and that his whole world is made fake only for him. Christof, the director of the show loses the control over Truman when the latter tries to escape. Christof does everything to stop him and keep him in the town where the Truman Show takes place- Seehaven. The message of the Truman Show is that our society is losing control more and more and that we let ourselves be influenced by the media and TV. We think the book is good, because it shows the problems of our society and what the manipulation of the media could result in. It is represented in a very funny way.

Reviw of "The Truman Show"
The book "The Truman Show" by Andrew Niccol was written in the 20th century. The story is about a 29 year old man who has been televised every moment of every day. The book is mostly dramatic but sometimes funny. Truman Burbank lives in a small artificall town named "Seaheaven". This world was created by Chrsitof, the director of the reality-show. In this show everyone of his frinds is an actor. The only genuine person is Lauren. He has fallen in love with her.

Imagine you find out that nothing in your life is genuine, you are controlled by others and everythin is filmed by cammeras so that millions can watch you. This is the message of the book. And it should make you think about how the media control our lives.