Big-producer

I read Greg Kihn's "Big Rock Beat," a few weeks after completing "Mojo Hand," and I got to say I really enjoy his style of writing. The story keeps calling you back to the book to see what the hell is going to happen next. His depictions of the hippie scene during the Haight-Ashbury days are dead-on accurate. He documents the use of drugs at this point of time without advocating their exercise. I loved the characters and developed an interest in their development over the course of the story. I found the "James Dean's Death Car," angle clever. But . . .

(...) I'm a stickler for detail. The story was going along pretty good until I got to the part where Landis Woodley acquires what will be Beau Young's new guitar, a 1958 Gibson Flying V. This guitar plays a vital role in the book and I won't divulge any of the details. What concerned me is that the story takes place in 1967, and when reading a period story you expect to be in the moment of that time. So anything that happens that isn't of that era is suspect. Catch my drift? Although I'm sure it's not a steadfast rule, you just can't drop something that is today into a story that takes place over thirty years ago.

I'm referring to the amount paid for the 58 Gibson Flying V itself. I realize today an original Flying V is worth a whole bunch of cash, but in 1967 it was still only a nine year old guitar. The price of $10,000 the Japanese collector claims to have paid for it is staggering. I've talked to a friend who is in the business of buying and selling vintage guitars and equipment and he informs me a guitar like this would probably have cost about a couple of hundred bucks at the time. A far cry from the amount paid in this story. Vintage guitars just wasn't appreciated yet . . .they were just old guitars. Hell, I remember paying less than $300.00 for an old ES 335 at a pawn shop in 1974. Try to buy one for that price today.

So what's the big deal? I love being taken on a 'wild and imaginative romp' as much as the next guy, but you just can't start messing with facts in the course of the story. Unless of course that's the point, but I don't think Greg was making any point. I think he just assumed those of us reading would actually believe that an nine year old guitar could be worth an enormous amount of money in 1967, simply because it is now. Greg Kihn is a musician first and an author second. Whatever reason he had for trying to slip in such a glaring inaccuracy is beyond me. I could think of several scenarios for Beau to get his beloved Flying V, that would fit into the time frame perfectly.

Still, this is a great story and well worth the time spent reading it. I hope Greg has some more stories about the music scene that he'll share with us.

This is Greg's 3rd book. I've been reading them back-to-back, and he simply keeps getting better with every one of them!

After a completely different cast in his second book, he returns to the characters from "Horrow Show" and transports them from 1957 to 1967, from the Golden Era of horror schlock to the Summer of Love. Rock and Roll is the flavor of the day, and horror fimmaker Landis Woodley continues to ply his trade while trying to jump on the bandwagon.

The result is, once again, a delightful mix of misfits. This book does best when drawing characters in a way that is comical, over-the-top, hip and plain weird. The plot focuses, once again, mostly on drawing exciting scenarios without any great message or moral to the story. Rather than a symphony, we get delightful little riffs--and that's what fluffy entertainment is all about. I loved it!

I ACTUALLY EXPECTED NOT TO BE AS HAPPY WITH THIS ONE AS I LOVED 'HORROR SHOW'. MR. KIHN DID NOT DISAPPOINT ME! THIS ONE IS GREAT TOO! CAN'T WAIT TO FIND OUT WHAT LANDIS IS DOING IN THE 70'S!!!

The Big Lebowski is my all-time favorite movie; I bought this book hoping to read lengthy interviews with the cast, see behind-the-scenes photos and stills from the film, etc. Instead, this book deals with the technicalities of the Coen brothers' film making in general, with The Big Lebowski only serving as the most-often referenced case-in-point. So I'd say read this if you're interested in the Coens' film making technique, but if you're interested in The Big Lebowski specifically you won't really find much here.

Got to love the Coens, and thheir style of filmmaking. Read it.

This book was co-written by William Preston Robertson who is someone, if you've studied the end credits of the Coens' early film, who has worked on their films in various capacities. He's often provided voiceovers where needed and even offered a place for them to crash when they developed writer's block while working on the screenplay for Miller's Crossing.

So, he writes this book with an insider's perspective. At every opportunity he makes fun of them (as only a close friend can) and spends the first part of the book tracing their career up to The Big Lebowski. The rest of the book plays out as a quasi-Making Of that is quite an entertaining read. For example, he places their film in the grand tradition of bowling noir, a very rarified subgenre of the film noir. Robertson is quite funny as he pontificates about this subgenre at some length.

If I had one complaint about the book is the amount of detail that is gone into about the storyboarding process which I could have done without. But this is a minor quibble at best.

Robertson's style of writing is very casual and easy to read--it won't take you long to get through this book. If you are a hardcore fan of the Coens, then you will definitely enjoy this book and all the little, inside jokes. It will certainly deepen your appreciation for the film and acts as a great companion-piece.

Okay, so our lifestyle is quite colorful. I'm insulted that people are so negative. I am in the industry and know that things in her book are quite as they are. She has chosen to market in an area that people generally find an opinion out of ignorance and have know idea what the hell they are talking about. Live and let Live!

Oh come on and lighten up! This was a fun read.Yes, the business has a sordid reputation and Chi Chi does not really hold much back. Yes, he has a very good opinion of himself but why not? I think it was a nice companion to all that I have read about the industry. I've seen Chi Chi perform as well, and if you get a chance to catch her act on the road you won't be disappointed. Buy the book and you won't be disappointed either! I have friends in the industry and they seem to back up that this book is pretty acurate of what it is like to work for Chi Chi. It's a great book! Completely fun for fans and even people who don't particularly like porn (though I doubt you would even be on this page or reading this comment if you were not into porn!).

Follow Chi Chi and find out the inside information: In porn films, what's the best way to shoot an orgy scene? How does big new talent get discovered? Which actors consistently deliver the best "money shots"? What really goes on behind the scenes during a movie shoot? And just exactly how did a full-figure drag queen become one of the most well-known directors in the business? Making It Big tells the classic American rags-to-riches story - with a twist. Larry Paciotti, a young lad from Minnesota traveled to California to become a part of the world he loved with all his heart: gay porn. In record time he made it big, transforming the industry with his polished, steamy movies and transforming himself into the irresistible Chi Chi LaRue. Now, for the first time, he's dishing the dirt, telling true stories that no one will want to fast-forward through. When he makes it big, there's no stopping the irresistible Chi Chi LaRue.

As a professional costume designer, I was appalled at the misinformation in this book. It cited wrong time periods for plays, along with bad advice for the non-professional theater person. I returned it after a brief perusal, so that I would not be contaminated by it's inaneness.

This book really does a much better job of giving you the plot of the many plays it touches on rather than what the costumes should look like. The actual costume information could be contained in 10 pages. Some of the information regarding what the characters should wear is questionable. No substance.

This book is horrible, they tell you thing that you know. Basic things! They talk about how they tell you table different musicals and such, but they DON'T! They just kinda suggest, with horrible drawings. i am very upset about this book. I am glad I was able to sell it on Ebay.

THERE ARE NO HELP ON CONSTRUCTION, DESIGN, BUILDING COSTUMES what so ever! NOTHING!

The pictures look like they went thru grandma's closet and they played dress up!

I am sorry this is so mean, but I was very upset with this book!