Lloyds-of-London

I ran across this book accidentally. Having worked in both theater administration and as a theater artist, I was curious. The author, Todd London, is currently the Artistic Director at New Dramatist in New York City. There is and introduction by Lloyd Richard, former Artistic Director of the O'neill Conference and well know Director, and a forward by Peter Zeisler.

Basically, this is a book that covers everything discussed in a series of meetings with the Nation's Artistic Directors in 1987. This is an important read if you are a theater artist and have never worked running a theater, or if you wish to pursue a carrer in theater. I gave it five stars not because it is a fun read, and it's not about new directions in theater art. Theaters from all over the country are represented in this book. This is a serious glimps into the questions theaters constantly struggle with in terms of artists, adressing audience, and operating a theater. It's good to understand while artists ar busy being accepted and rejected, theaters are constantly trying to forge some kind of a direction where they can nurture a portion of artists, and create an audince for them, and survive themselves. This book lets you know what theaters are trying to do. It shows the best side of theaters, but I think the information in this book will help artists know when a theater is not aiding thier growth while working with one.

If you work for a theater, then you probably have addressed some or many of the issues and questions here in some form, but there are a lot of ideas here, and that's what theater has been build with.

I think I'm in the minority when I say that I didn't enjoy this book as well as the other reviewers. This book does not compare to "Bridget Jones's Diary" in any way, only that it takes place in Britain which seems to be the latest trend in novels.

This book is written in a he said/she said point of view by Jack and Amy. They tell their thoughts to the reader in each chapter about how they feel relationships are and how they seem to be going. I kept thinking that each character had a lack of communication between each other, but great communication to the reader.

Once I got into the middle of the book, I couldn't put it down. To start the book, it took a bit to "get into it" and then towards the end, I had trouble trying to finish it. I found other "british" novels more interesting and fun to read than this one. Reading this one was like performing a chore.

The book had a great concept with the he said/she said alternate chapters. The problem to me was the way the chapters flowed. I found myself getting a bit lost at times (for example: with Jack's former girlfriends or people he worked with and had to go back and find out when the person was first mentioned.) I've seen authors of fan fiction write alternate chapters that flowed better than this novel.

'Come Together' is simply GREAT. Perfect easy reading for summer holidays. Clever monologue idea that allows you to easily relate to each sexes perspective. Can't add much more than the other 60-odd reviews to date other than "Buy it, read it, enjoy!". I recently re-read this first book - and enjoyed it every bit as much as last time - before reading the sequel 'Come Again'. In comparison this unfortunately pales into insignificance; same monologue idea, similar story line and even a lot of the same characters but it didn't work for me. Jack and Amy are replaced by their respective best fiends Matt and Helen but it just doesn't have the same appeal.

I loved this book. I started reading it on a plane on my way to board a cruise. I didn't put it down until I was done (about 1/2 way through the cruise). I loved the alternating chapters of 'he said, she said'. I thought it was very creative and unlike any book I've read in the past. The chapter set-up didn't confuse me at all.
I highly recommend this book to anyone who loves the 'Chick Lit' genre.
There is a sequel to this book, 'Come Again'. It is about the friends of the two main characters in 'Come Together' preparing for their special day. I didn't get past the 1st chapter...didn't like it.

One star is not because the Jack London stories in this book are not wonderful. It is because this book is not South Sea Tales by Jack London, which I first got from my grandfather's bookshelf and was one of the most memorable reads from my youth. It is a collection of sea stories, including four from South Sea Tales, but I have found a copy of the original stories at Barnes and Noble. One might guess that some of the stories were dropped because, like Huck Finn, they use dialogue and espouse attitudes that we now know better than to live. The stories are still great and do not deserve to become un-stories. This collection is misnamed and misleading.

Eight good stories by Jack London, about the people and places of the south Pacific in 1908. Also a good long introduction by A. Grove Day which should (like all too many "introductions") only be read *after* reading the stories.

Most of the people in these stories are, of course, either victims or perpetrators (or both) of one of those long painful Western exploitations of a less civilized ("less civilized") part of the world. London knows that that's what's going on, and he writes with sympathy for all concerned, and without the more self-conscious bemoaning that would be expected of a XXIst century writer. To the modern reader, then, he can sometimes seem cold-blooded, but seldom disturbingly so.

The prose is fine and spare most of the time, and never gets in the way of the tale. The places and the tales are memorable. There is not a great variety of character and setting; the eight stories together could almost be a single novel. His voyage on the Snark (which inspired these stories) clearly left him with a strong and single impression of this place and these people, and he conveys that impression skillfully along to us.

Definitely worth reading.

I have not yet read the book, 5 years after it was published. It predicts the doom of Lloyd's of London, which still has not occurred. They've been able to sort out their problems.

There is an important misconception in the reviews and sinopsys on this website: Lloyd's is not an insurance company; it is an insurance market formed by syndicates providing insurance and reinsurance coverage. Some of these syndicates have been very profitable, others have not.

Excellent introduction to Lloyds, the incestuous relationship among the insiders, and how the insiders used their superior knowledge coupled with the myths surrounding historic Lloyds to dupe individuals into becomming Names. If you're in the business, this book has a lot of dirt about a lot of folks. A good read