Upbeat, practical advice for those seeking sanity and staying power in their lives and careers.
A working actress shares her positive approach to pursuing an acting career in this debut memoir/self-help guide.
Riker, perhaps best known as a TV series regular on Brothers and Get a Life, believes in the power of accentuating the positive. “Your state of mind is the most important tool you have in this town,” she writes, one of many affirming tips put in bright yellow boxes within a running text recounting her successfully sustained acting career. Her advice includes celebrating landing an audition, staying upbeat when asked how things are going (“Great! Luckily, I’ve been keeping real busy”), and cultivating an “en-cour-age” network of friends and steering clear of “soul eaters,” including energy-draining unhappy and/or competitive actors. Riker recommends being nice to everyone on the set after scoring a role and trusting your instincts. She shares her own experiences regarding the latter, including leaving a top but less-than-supportive talent agency (which led to better representation and a TV series gig), moving to New York to focus on theater work when she was stuck in her career (earning her awards and new connections), and taking advantage of new media (she’s done motion-capture video work for video games). “You’ll feel better about yourself in the long run,” Riker writes, “if you do what your heart tells you is right.” Riker’s positive spirit is infectious, making this book an enjoyable and motivating read. She offers a charming, humorous insider’s insight into what she affectionately terms “Hollyweird.” Her narrative is also entertaining for its behind-the scenes details, including its celebrity mentions of David Letterman and Charlie Sheen. While a promoter of positivity, Riker is not an annoying Pollyanna; she also delivers down-to-earth details about managing finances and admits to her own moments of despair and envy. As Riker herself notes, her book also has its limits; it’s not about acting or “how-to-break-into showbiz.” Still, her guiding philosophy remains inspiring and one that readers would do well to adopt.
Upbeat, practical advice for those seeking sanity and staying power in their lives and careers.Pub Date: Sept. 11, 2013
ISBN: 978-0-9888156-0-5
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Callipygian Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 7, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2016
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.
Pub Date: Feb. 23, 1955
ISBN: 0670717797
Page Count: -
Publisher: Viking
Review Posted Online: Oct. 25, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 1955
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