Angels on Sunset Boulevard

Book Description

Pay to get in,
Pray to get out.

Johnny Silver is the world's soon-to-be biggest rock star, but on the eve of his debut concert in Los Angeles, he mysteriously disappears, causing global pandemonium. His friend Taj tries to discover the truth about his disappearance, which leads her to TAP.com and its shadowy founder, Sutton Werner, who throws the wildest parties in Bel-Air.

TAP started out innocently enough, as a website that dishes the dirt on the kids of Sunset Boulevard and beyond. But it has become something more. Membership is a privilege with responsibilities and consequences.

At Sutton's parties, anything goes, especially in the legendary backroom rituals nicknamed The Angels Practice. Rumors abound of a special drink handed out at the parties that tap into otherworldly sensations.

One night Taj meets Nick, a Westside preppie who doesn't buy into the TAP mayhem, especially since his kid sister never came home from attending one of its blow-out bashes. Slowly the two of them are drawn to TAP and to each other. But Taj just might know more than she's letting on....

Are you ready for the darker side of Tinsel-town's brightest lights?

Customer Reviews:

Courtesy of Teens Read Too.......2007-02-24

TAP, The Angels of Practice, is all everyone can talk about. This website/drink/drug is intoxicating and no one can get enough of it. No one can explain what TAP really is, since it is all around them and they are so dependent on it. The company that owns it holds the most exclusive parties, grants everyone's material wishes, provides all the gossip and promotes the biggest rock star that everyone loves, Johnny Silver.

But then strange things begin to happen. Kids all over Sunset Boulevard are beginning to disappear, including Johnny Silver. No one knows why this is happening, and others are too busy with TAP to worry about what is going on. Everyone except for Nick and Taj, who are the only ones that don't buy into the whole TAP industry.

Before they know it, Taj and Nick find themselves together, trying to solve the mystery of what is happening and even developing a strong relationship with each other. Unfortunately, it may be too late for them to actually do anything about it.

Told through Nick and Taj's points of view, Melissa de la Cruz takes us into a world that is far from The Au Pairs. ANGELS ON SUNSET BOULEVARD captures the reader from the very first page with its unusual uniqueness. Each character brings a certain atmosphere that captivates the audience into wanting more. The reader becomes so involved in the story that they will soon become disappointed when the book has to end.

Now the only thing left to do is wait for the next novel, which may be a long wait (well, for me that is).

Reviewed by: Randstostipher "tallnlankyrn" Nguyen

Average customer rating:

An excellent book for auditions

Sunset Boulevard

Manufacturer: Hal Leonard Corporation
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Songbooks | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Entertainment Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 079353691X

Book Description

Prepare for your closeup by practicing with this folio of 12 vocal selections from the Broadway musical. Includes: As If We Never Said Goodbye * Girl Meets Boy * The Greatest Star of All * The Perfect Year * Sunset Boulevard * This Time Next Year * With One Look * and more.

Customer Reviews:

An excellent book for auditions.......1999-04-21

I used this book to audition for a certain show (which can not be named) but i got the lead. I think any broadway lover will enjoy the contence of this book. I enjoy to sing out of this book the most. And who can beat this faboulous price. This is the only place I could find this book. I looked every where. Where did it end up at none other than amazon.com.

Average customer rating:

The Magician of Sunset Boulevard
Frederick Kohner
Manufacturer: Palos Verdes Book Company
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0894300040

Close-up on Sunset Boulevard: Billy Wilder, Norma Desmond, and the Dark Hollywood Dream

Average customer rating:

Inside Sunset Boulevard
Classic film but let's not get carried away Ms. Desmond!
With one book, all of N D's secrets revealed....
A Little Dishy, But I'll Take It
Sunset Blvd deserves better

Close-up on Sunset Boulevard: Billy Wilder, Norma Desmond, and the Dark Hollywood Dream
Sam Staggs
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Griffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Direction & Production | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books

General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 0312302541

Book Description

Billy Wilder's Sunset Boulevard, a classic film noir and a damning dissection of the Hollywood dream factory, is also one long in-joke about the movie industry and those who made it great-and who were, in turn, destroyed by it. Close-up on Sunset Boulevard tells the story of this extravagant work, from the writing, casting, and filming to the disastrous previews that made Paramount consider shelving it. It's about the writing team of Billy Wilder and Charles Brackett and their raucous professional relationship. It's about the art direction and sets, the lights and cameras. Most of all, it's about the personalities-from Gloria Swanson and her queenly comeback as Norma Desmond to the handsome but henpecked William Holden, from the cheerful ingenue Nancy Olson to the once-famous but now-forgotten 'Waxworks.'

Customer Reviews:

Inside Sunset Boulevard.......2005-09-21

I thoroughly enjoyed Mr. Staggs other venture in to "All About Eve," All About "All About Eve," so I knew I wouldn't be disappointed with this book. The way he dissects the entire movie without the result being so cut & dry that you feel like you've spent the whole day reading a phone book. I knew that Mae West was once considered for the role of Norma Desmond, but never knew that version was slated to be a comedy, how right on target they were with that thought!

Classic film but let's not get carried away Ms. Desmond!.......2004-09-15

When this author talks about the making of the film and the interviews with people who worked on it this is fascinating. However halfway through the book he sabotages it by writing as if Sunset Boulevard was the greatest thing ever put on film (it's not) or the best piece or literature ever created. (again..not) He actually gives sunset boulevard credit for inspiring ever other film, play or book ever written. Waaaaayyy too carried away.

Yes it's true that the lines of dialogue and Norma Desmond imagary has had a big impact on our popular culture. He could have just explained this but listing quotes or examples for a few pages was excruciatingly boring.

I wanted to stop reading it at that point. Fortunately the part about the musical (and all that drama) was next so it was worth getting through.

This author obviously loves film and certainly "Sunset Boulevard" and "All About Eve" are classics that are unequaled especially for their writing. However someone should have told this author when reverence becomes obsession. Couldn't they convince him to edit this????

I hope his next novel isn't "The Poseidon Adventure: More important than the Bible" or something!

With one book, all of N D's secrets revealed...........2004-07-08

Although I've never even watched Sunset Boulevard, Billy Wilder's dark and biting satire/tragedy about the dark side of Hollywood, I have enjoyed reading Sam Staggs' riveting look at the making of -- and cultural impact of -- a bizarre-sounding film about a Hollywood has-been, a dead monkey, and a gigolo who ends up face down in a swimming pool.

Close Up On Sunset Boulevard: Billy Wilder, Norma Desmond, and the Dark Hollywood Dream covers not only the nitty-gritty of the making of the 1949 film, but delves into the long partnership of writer-director Wilder with screenwriter Charles Brackett, the personalities of the stars (Gloria Swanson, Erich von Stronheim, William Holden, Nancy Olson), and even bizarre facts about the supporting cast (who'd have thought Jack Webb, Dragnet's straight-laced Sgt. Joe Friday, was into bondage?).

Staggs also tells the long journey of Sunset Boulevard from the screen to the stage, starting with Gloria Swanson's long and eventually failed crusade to buy the rights from Paramount Pictures and concluding with the almost Byzantine tale of how Sir Andrew Lloyd Webber finally adapted the story of Norma Desmond, Joe Gillis, Betty Schaeffer, Max, and yes, the dead monkey into a musical.

Staggs, who also wrote All About All About Eve, clearly knows his film history and it shows, but his prose is not without its flaws. He blasts Wilder's Stalag 17 as being a "misbegotten" World War II satire/concentration camp comedy. While he is entitled to his opinion about the quality of his movie, he is confusing his terminology, since a Stalag was a military-run prisoner-of-war camp subject to the Geneva Convention, while a concentration camp was under the jurisdiction of the SS Death's Head organization.

However, while I'm still not sure whether I'd ever watch either the film or musical, I did enjoy reading this 2001 expose of one of the landmark films of Hollywood's Golden Age.

A Little Dishy, But I'll Take It.......2003-02-10

Stagg is a very good writer with a very worthy subject. The research is meticulous and the information he presents on the film and the people who made it make this book a winner- just like his companion study of "All About Eve". Some of the complaints here, though, are the same as with that very worthy book. Stagg gives at least equal weight to the film's afterlife, particularly the lightly-regarded Broadway version, as to the mega-classic 1950 Wilder film. And once again, the tiresome emphasis on certain obsessions- camp, divas, catfights, and cross-dressing- not that there's anything wrong with that- do tend to distract from the work as straightforward film history, at least for those of us less titillated by those aspects of the film's following. And finally, Staggs attacks Billy Wilder- the greatest filmmaker of all, in my opinion- with a preposterous theory that Wilder's work after ending his collaboration with Charles Brackett (including "Stalag 17", "Sabrina", "Witness For the Prosecution", "Some Like It Hot", and "The Apartment") doesn't hold up!

What makes this book a must-own anyway is the great information about the film itself- the art-directors, musicians, actors and actresses, designers, and shooting locations, as well as the behind-the-scenes look at Paramount in its heyday. The interview with Nancy Olson is a particular highlight. And if you're into camp, divas, and catfights, change that rating to five stars.

Sunset Blvd deserves better.......2003-02-05

Sunset Blvd is my favorite movie, and I came away from the book terribly disappointed. Despite having access to Nancy Olsen and (the author claims, although I saw no evidence of it) Billy Wilder, as well as many others who knew those involved in the movie, there are few or no details about the making of the movie that haven't been revealed elsewhere, particularly in Ed Sikov's excellent Wilder biography. And a lot is omitted -- for example, though Staggs mentions Gloria Swanson's youthful appearance (as well as a pointless & tactless rumor about it), he doesn't mention why she looked so young -- because Swanson avoided going out into the sun.

The structure of the novel is likewise confused. The first part bounces back and forth between analysis of the movie and the making of it. The analysis is thin and uninteresting. Of the many questions that a serious discussion of the movie would include, one of the few that is asked is: why does Joe Gillis push away Betty at the end? Staggs' answer: because of the production code. Please. The last part of the book is dominated by an extended, boring discussion of the musical made from the movie.

There's a theme to the book, and it isn't subtle: that Wilder's best work needed Charles Brackett. This leads to some strange passages. Staggs has some faint praise for Some Like It Hot but his criticism of Stalag 17 is bizarre (a "misbegotten" mix of comedy and drama?), to say the least, and the comments on The Apartment are worse. Staggs calls The Apartment "dated" (wrong, of course) then goes on to gush about what is possibly the most dated of Wilder's movies, The Lost Weekend. And while there are legitimate criticisms of The Apartment, of all the criticisms, valid and invalid, I've ever heard, "threadbare" surely qualifies as the most inane. Needless to say, in pursuing this theory, Staggs doesn't try to explain Double Indemnity, also made without Brackett. As far as I'm concerned, and I don't think I'm alone, Double Indemnity, Stalag 17, Some Like It Hot, and The Apartment are all better than any of the Brackett & Wilder works except Sunset Blvd.

There's decent discussion of movies that followed Sunset Blvd that imitated it, but the glaring omission of Network, with its many parallels to Sunset Blvd, is inexplicable.

All in all, the book just isn't worth the time and effort it takes to read it, let alone the money needed to buy it.

Average customer rating:

Compelling Bio of a Hollywood Great

Good Could Have Been Better

Very Good, but Nobody's Perfect

A compelling bio of one of Hollywood's most fascinating men

The Best Book on the Late & Great BILLY WILDER

On Sunset Boulevard: The Life and Times of Billy Wilder
Ed Sikov
Manufacturer: Hyperion
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Entertainers | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Movie Directors | Arts & Literature | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
Direction & Production | Movies | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books
General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
Similar Items:

Nobody's Perfect: Billy Wilder: A Personal Biography

Conversations with Wilder

Howard Hawks: The Grey Fox of Hollywood

Billy Wilder in Hollywood

King Cohn: The Life and Times of Harry Cohn (Revised and Updated)

ASIN: 0786885033

Book Description

From the early years of anti-Semitism and frustration in Austria to the glory of Hollywood and six Academy Awards, Billy Wilders life is as fascinating as his movies. Now, drawing on new interviews, current research, and previously inaccessible archives, Ed Sikov offers endlessly entertaining portrait of one of this centurys most influential directors and screenwriters.

Customer Reviews:

Compelling Bio of a Hollywood Great.......2007-07-17

Superb. Exhaustive and well-written. This book provides a view into one of the greats. I had seen a number of Billy Wilder movies before reading the book, but now I have much more appreciation of the man and his accomplishments. After finishing this biography, I have resolved to watch as many of his movies as I can.

If you want to learn about how one individual can go from a rural outpost of a decaying empire to a preeminent position in the center of the world's image maker, read this book. A compelling story of a compelling life.

Good Could Have Been Better.......2002-10-13

I decided to read this, because I just read the New York Times Rewview of Ed Sikov's new book about Peter Sellers.
The part of the book I enjoyed the most was from the beginning to World War II. The later in his life it got, the denser and more academic it became. Mr. Sikov teaches film and it got more like a textbook.
The end of the book, I have to agree with the reviewer from Vienna. It was more a book for film students. The beginning in Europe was a great look through a certain person into another time. Make Billy Wilder fictional and you have a great historical fiction piece.

Very Good, but Nobody's Perfect.......2002-10-09

This is a very good biography of Billy Wilder. It revealed a lot about him and his career I didn't know. I disagreed with Sikov on his evaluations of a few films (I like "Love in the Afternoon" much better than he, but Sikov really seems to hate Gary Cooper) but we agreed on a lot. (Heck, we even liked the same scenes in "Fedora.")

I gave the book five stars, but I have a few reservations. My problems came when Sikov went beyond Wilder's career -- or didn't. His descriptions of politics in Interwar Europe struck me as okay, but superficial. Okay, this book will be nobody's first choice to learn about such matters, but a little more polish here would have helped. Then, toward the end of the book, Sikov keeps mentioning that Wilder was out of step with Hollywood. However, there is really nothing about what the rest of Hollywood was doing, namely how Wilder stacked up against Mel Brooks or Woody Allen in this era. I would have liked to have seen that issue addressed.

However, as a "life" of Wilder and not a study of his "times", this is a great book. Fans of Wilder's films will greatly enjoy it.

A compelling bio of one of Hollywood's most fascinating men.......2002-07-17

This bio of Billy Wilder is a totally fascinating one, filled with both world and cinematic history. Billy Wilder, a Polish Jew, proves to be a man of unique intuition and fast thinking as he rises from the ranks of stringer journalist to screenwriter in pre-World War II Europe, escapes the Nazis, gets a U.S. resident visa and, without speaking English, is hired to write for the movies. The author beautifully captures the ambiance of pre-war Europe and a Hollywood filled with emigres. Ultimately, the book left me sad, as Wilder ages, his friends die one by one, and he is unable to keep up with the times in terms of the types of properties to which he's attracted, how Hollywood works, and what the public wants. However, there is no denying his fantastic track record, his six Oscars, and the amazing legacy of brilliance he left behind. The rollercoaster ride of Wilder's life is well chronicled in this very satisfying, thought-provoking book.

The Best Book on the Late & Great BILLY WILDER.......2002-04-02

Last week marked the passing of a true Hollywood heavyweight, a man who excelled as a writer, director, and producer, who left his mark in just about every film genre, except the Western - the one and only Billy Wilder.

Wilder's death at the age of 95 will no doubt bring renewed interest in his long and varied career. It is an irony that would have brought a wry smile to Wilder, and undoubtedly one of his biting remarks. Nevertheless, if you are looking for a comprehensive study of the life and art of Billy Wilder, you should look no further than Ed Sikov's brilliant "On Sunset Boulevard."

Sure, if you're looking for an extended interview with Billy Wilder himself, there's that other book ... but like the more famous, or rather infamous Hitchcock/Truffaut sessions that inspired it ... it can only be one sided.

Ed Sikov doesn't merely tell you to take Billy Wilder at his word. He conducted original interviews with scores of Wilder's colleagues and friends, dug through production archives, scripts, notes, and film footage to assemble not only a fascinating study of a filmmaking genius, but the conclusive portrait of the man behind that genius.

Customer Reviews:

Visual feast and rich tales about a fascinating thoroughfare.......2002-07-17

Sunset Boulevard lives large in legend and lore (did I say that?), and this book presents myriad facets of the long and meandering street, one of the most famed in America. From interesting anecdotes (including the story of how an entire school was buried beneath what is now Dodger Stadium) to hundreds of elucidating and entertaining photos and illustrations, some historical and many contemporary, the book is a compelling and engaging treatise. While some of the subject matter isn't of inherent interest to me, the author's writing pulled me in to many a tale, and rewarded my attention handsomely. The maps and address/phone information are useful for touring the boulevard and its many neighborhoods, as listings present to the visitor and native alike lots of places to eat, drink and otherwise acculturate. Sunset Boulevard itself is, of course, but one stretch of asphalt, but there's a wealth of history -- and plenty of current interest -- that lies along its 23-mile length.

An astonishing story and a captivating read.......2002-07-12

From start to finish, this remarkable book captures the essence of the legends that have shaped both the lore and the reality of Los Angeles. Sunset Boulevard literally crosses the heart of Los Angeles, touching along its route to the Pacific Ocean many neighborhoods that define the city's diversity and drama both past and present. This book culls stories of the past and ties them to the present, explaining every step of the way how Sunset Boulevard helped make Los Angeles what it is today. The maps of each neighborhood show both present-day landmarks as well as those gone-but-not-forgotten. Each chapter is devoted to a specific neighborhood along the 23-mile route and contains lists (including, happily, addresses and phone numbers!!) of restaurants, museums, nightclubs and hot shopping sites worth visiting. All in all, this is a book for both tourists and locals alike.

Average customer rating:

El libro mas grande de todos

Sunset Boulevard: The Musical
Don Black , and Christopher Hampton
Manufacturer: Faber & Faber
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Drama | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0571172148

Customer Reviews:

El libro mas grande de todos.......2001-06-22

Uno de los mejores musicales que se han hecho(para mi es el mejor,necesita de un buen libro. Y este es el libro. Para quienes son admiradores de la obra y para los que no lo son tanto(después de leerlo seguro lo serán) será un verdadero festival de emociones.

Consejo:leerlo escuchando a Glen Close cantando As If Never say goodbye

Customer Reviews:

Found it!.......1999-07-01

This is a great book for any "Sunset Blvd." fan. Although it's out of print, I was able to find numerous copies (on sale) at most Waldenbooks stores.

STUNNING.......1998-10-25

This book is the most sensational bit of reading and viewing avalible today, the pictures are stunning and the book will capture your heart and bring back so many wonderful memories of one of the best musicals of all time - ANDREW LLOYD WEBBER, I HOPE YOUR READING THIS! YOUR FANTASTIC!

Average customer rating:

A Good Read on a Rainy Night - or any other night
A Good Read on a Rainy Night

Murder on Sunset Boulevard

Manufacturer: Top Publications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books

Anthologies | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

General | Mystery & Thrillers | Subjects | Books

Look Inside Mystery & Thriller Books | Trip | Specialty Stores | Books
Similar Items:

ASIN: 1929976194

Customer Reviews:

A Good Read on a Rainy Night - or any other night.......2002-12-02

A fun - if one can say that about murder - selection of stories set along or near the famous Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. As the book progresses through the various stories, we head from Sunset's origins at Union Station in downtown L.A. toward its terminus at the Pacific Ocean. Especially notable are Dale Furutani's "Extreme Prejudice," about more than one kind of "extreme" prejudice in Los Angeles' Silverlake district, "Three Killings and a Favor," by Joan Wates, about a hitman with a heart and a favor to spare, and Paul D. Marks' "L.A. Late @ Night," a story that uses Sunset Boulevard itself as a major character in a tale about a defense attorney's regret and redemption. The other stories vary in quality and in their use of Sunset, some hardly mentioning it, others giving it more time and space. But all in all a good collection for mystery lovers.

A Good Read on a Rainy Night.......2002-12-02

A fun - if one can say that about murder - selection of stories set along or near the famous Sunset Boulevard in Los Angeles. As the book progresses, we head from Sunset's origins at Union Station in downtown L.A. toward its terminus at the Pacific Ocean. Especially notable are Dale Furutani's "Extreme Prejudice," about more than one kind of "extreme" prejudice in Los Angeles' Silverlake district, "Three Killings and a Favor," by Joan Wates, about a hitman with a heart and a favor to spare, and Paul D. Marks' "L.A. Late @ Night," a story that uses Sunset Boulevard itself as a major character in a tale about a defense attorney's regret and redemption. The other stories vary in quality and in their use of Sunset, some hardly mentioning it, others giving it more time and space. But all in all a good collection for mystery lovers.

Ganzl's Book of the Broadway Musical: 75 Favorite Shows, from H.M.S. Pinafore to Sunset Boulevard

Average customer rating:

Great resource
good reference
A lazy hack job

Ganzl's Book of the Broadway Musical: 75 Favorite Shows, from H.M.S. Pinafore to Sunset Boulevard
Kurt Ganzl
Manufacturer: Schirmer Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Music | Entertainment | Subjects | Books

General | Performing Arts | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0028708326

Customer Reviews:

Great resource.......2005-11-08

This is one of those books that can sit on your shelf for months or a year without any use. Then, all of the sudden, it becomes an invaluable resource. As a veteran of two Broadway shows, one of which is in the book, I have used the book to quickly get up to speed on a show. If you are looking for an in-depth analysis and documentary of the productions, this is not the book for you. If you want to get a quick glimpse at the plot and where the characters and songs fit into it--then this book is one that your should own.

good reference.......2001-02-14

I found the book very helpful. I am a voice teacher and need this types of information quickly at my fingertips. Musical name, plot, characters, story line, songs, are all there in a very complete, concise manner, no extras. Very short factual information on each musical.

A lazy hack job.......1999-06-02

This book is a total rip-off. First, each show gets just one photo. Two or three photos follow that are merely close-ups taken from the main photo. This design is so rigid that one of the close-up photos for one show depicts only a string of lights in the background. The captions are haphazard. Sometimes they tell you the names of the characters or actors in the photo, sometimes they don't. The entries on each show are merely plot summaries with no additional information, backstage tales, historical perspective, critique or anything. I have no idea why someone would want to know the summary of a musical without any information about the songs. If you've seen the musical, then you know plot (which often is not the strong point of a musical). If you haven't seen the musical, why would want to know the plot? Also, each entry contains a list of characters' names. Not the original cast, not anything about the characters or how they relate to each other. Just names. Again, if you've seen it, you know the names. If you haven't, it might as well be a random list of names. This is a truly bizarre, overpriced book.

Books:

Books Index

Books Home

Recommended Books