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Rating: 
Summary: Disappointing because it could have been much better!
Review: As a great fan of Ms. Andrews I find this book a major disappointment. Despite finding several fans' names acknowledeged(including my own!)in the book I can't help but wonder if the author sought enough help from any of us or asked our advice. I'm sure we could have assisted in correcting mistakes and adding much more valuable information on Julie's career! The book was overpriced when it was printed nearly 10 years ago and remains even more so! A brochure from Greenwood Press states that the book is "a complete, all-in-one resource, the volume represents a comprehensive and accurate profile.." The book is certainly an ATTEMPT as an all-in-one resource. As far as being complete, comprehensive and accurate it most certainly is NOT! The concept of the book seems fine. Dividing Julie's career into 4 major areas(Films, Stage, Television and Recordings) would make sense to most fans as she has had major achievements in each field. A short biography, chronology, bibliography, several appendixes, and index thrown in for good measure would on the surface suggest a well organized book. However the small selection of black and white photos included is disappointing. Only beautiful color shots of one of the most attractive and photogenic actresses of our time would have done Julie justice! At the very least a generous selection of candid shots of Julie at work or relaxing would have been much better than what was chosen. I'm amazed that the publishers (Greenwood Press) can't afford to give us a nice dustcover for the book (no dustcover is included). Apparently only Elvis and Ol'Blue Eyes deserve dust covers in Greenwood's series of biographies.Everyone else in this series deserves nothing which I think is a slap in the face to Julie and many other great entertainers. Aside from bad window dressing let's pick out a section of the book - Discography. The discography is far and away the most disappointing section of the book. When the book was published in l989 we were very much into the world of ! Compact Discs. Julie had several CDs issued at that time. The book mentions NONE. To repeat, the book mentions no compact discs at all! Most of the listing is composed of tired old LPs that very few people collect anymore. That wouldn't be so bad, but the author lists several LPs with no tracks at all! This is unforgiveable. How difficult would it have been for the author to call some fans and ask what the tracks were on every LP issued on Julie? I maintain that it would not have been hard at all. Mr. Spindle(the author) owes all of us an apology for this oversight as well as numerous errors and omissions. Greenwood Press owes all of us an apology as well for not proofing the book in an accurate manner. I will mention several errors that I have picked out at random. The album "Love, Julie" is listed as being released in January, l988. That is strange because I bought my copy in the summer of l987! The LP "An Evening With Julie Andrews" is listed as only being released in Japan. I have an Australian pressing in my collection! The author omits a cassette only recording of Julie's reading of her own children's book: "Mandy" as well as 2 other cassette only releases with Julie's voice. The TV listing in the book omits tons of interviews that Julie did on Entertainment Tonight and other shows. A Japan TV concert appearance is not listed from the late l970's, a PBS Special with co-host Bill Bixby entitled The Puzzle Children is omitted as well.An appearance that is listed (David Frost show of l970) mentions Julie with"future husband Blake Edwards". Julie and Blake were already married at that time! A TV special with Rudolph Nureyev (Invitation to the Dance)was not broadcast from New York but the Merriweather Post Pavillion in Columbia, Maryland! The only saving grace of this book is the detailed listings it gives us of each episode of the "Julie Andrews Hour" broadcast in the early l970's. If only the rest of the book could have been so meticulous as this! section I would not have a problem with it! Please note that the errors and omissions that I have mentioned were easily found by my perusing the book. I have never sat down and examined each section thoroughly and tried to find just how many mistakes there are in this volume. I will leave that chore to any serious Julie fan who wants to take on this daunting task! The book does contain some interesting facts but one is left with the feeling that the author must have had a deadline and in order to meet it he sacrificed a lot of accuracy. I truly hope that not too many editions of this book have graced library shelves. Since the book has not been reprinted in nearly a decade hopefully not too many copies have been sold. I would still tell most Julie fans that if they must collect everything by all means buy this book. But to the average fan or someone merely interested in Ms. Andrews life and career please don't regard the book as a serious reference work! In my humble opinion the only book that has come close to being a great all around reference book on Julie is the Arntz and Wilson book which is now sadly out of print. It is certainly the best book on Julie ever published. The Les Spindle book which I have just reviewed will remain a great disappointment to most fans of Julie. I think it is up to the fans to demand that an accurate bio-bibliography on Julie does indeed appear! Julie certainly deserves one as do her fans!Review by Richard Pearson
Rating: 
Summary: ONE OF THE BEST-WRITTEN BOOKS ON JULIE ANDREWS!
Review: As a loyal fan of Julie Andrews, I have followed her life & career over the past twenty or so years with much interest. In my humble opinion, Mr. Spindle's book is a major and welcome addition to the short list of Julie biographies. This is the first book to truly cover Julie's ENTIRE career, spanning the Broadway stage, film, television, concert tours and her writing career. It is exceptionally well-organized, divided into 4 major areas - Films, Stage, Television & Recordings - and the author has invested much time and research in this major compendium. Mr. Spindle truly deserves some kind of award for this major undertaking, for discussing Ms. Andrews's career can be a daunting task. Most of the fans I know (after running a Julie fan club for five years) have stated they enjoyed the book, and found it an accurate and well-crafted work. As well as the four main sections just mentioned, the book also contains a short outline biography, a chronology, lengthy bibliography and index. The photo section is very impressive, with some great shots from "The Julie Andrews Hour" (ABC) not seen in previous books on Julie, as well as other photos. The shot from "Duet For One" with Julie holding the violin, is simply lovely. The author (or editor) did a good job in the photo selections. I must mention that the book was part of a series of "Bio-Bibliographies in the Performing Arts" published by Greenwood Press in the 1980s. Other volumes discussed such stars as Patty Duke, Elvis and Sinatra. Worthy company for our Julie! I must mention that there are several errors in the book, most noticable in the Bibliography and Discography sections. Several entries for books and magazines contain factual & grammatical errors. The blame for this should probably go to the editor or proofreader & NOT to the author, as one malicious "fan" deemed. The Discography is extremely well-organzied, containing Julie's early recordings done in England when she was a child performer - the FIRST Andrews biography to include these recordings, I might add. This section should serve as a model for standard discography listings in future biographies; with full details such as record label, year and catalog number. Mr. Spindle unfortunately appears not to have been aware of several audiotapes narrated by Julie in the mid-eighties for Dove Audio - an abridged version of her own book, MANDY, as well as lending her voice to one story on THE SUMMER FRIEND, and narrating yet another audiotape, the classic tale of knomes in THE LITTLE GREY MEN (one of Julie's favourites when she was a child). The author also makes a few minor errors in the TV section as well, such as stating in the entry for "The David Frost Show" (1970) that she appears "with future husband Blake Edwards" while the fact is they were married in 1969. A major accomplishment is the author's detailed listing of every episode for Julie's variety show, "The Julie Andrews Hour" (1972-73). This section alone shows how much time and work the author put into this project. The book has some interesting sections, such as the listing of film roles Julie either turned down or was considered for, among them the comedy "Forty Carats" (which starred Liv Ullman), "International Velvet," a sequel to "National Velvet;" and "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" which won an Academy Award for Maggie Smith. Julie would have given a superb performance as the lonely middle-aged schoolteacher who deals with life as best she can. A pity that Julie turned down the role. In summing up, I consider this book one of THE BEST volumes ever written on Julie Andrews; and it is a major achievement in which the author discusses every aspect of her glorious career. Throw in a delightful photo section, as well as outline biography & very lengthy bibliography, and I think any Julie Andrews fan who reads this book will find it just as compelling & well-crafted as I have. Take a bow, Mr. Spindle. You have done an excellent job with this exceptional book!
Rating:
Summary: ONE OF THE BEST-WRITTEN BOOKS ON JULIE ANDREWS!
Review: As a loyal fan of Julie Andrews, I have followed her life & career over the past twenty or so years with much interest. In my humble opinion, Mr. Spindle's book is a major and welcome addition to the short list of Julie biographies. This is the first book to truly cover Julie's ENTIRE career, spanning the Broadway stage, film, television, concert tours and her writing career. It is exceptionally well-organized, divided into 4 major areas - Films, Stage, Television & Recordings - and the author has invested much time and research in this major compendium. Mr. Spindle truly deserves some kind of award for this major undertaking, for discussing Ms. Andrews's career can be a daunting task. Most of the fans I know (after running a Julie fan club for five years) have stated they enjoyed the book, and found it an accurate and well-crafted work. As well as the four main sections just mentioned, the book also contains a short outline biography, a chronology, lengthy bibliography and index. The photo section is very impressive, with some great shots from "The Julie Andrews Hour" (ABC) not seen in previous books on Julie, as well as other photos. The shot from "Duet For One" with Julie holding the violin, is simply lovely. The author (or editor) did a good job in the photo selections. I must mention that the book was part of a series of "Bio-Bibliographies in the Performing Arts" published by Greenwood Press in the 1980s. Other volumes discussed such stars as Patty Duke, Elvis and Sinatra. Worthy company for our Julie! I must mention that there are several errors in the book, most noticable in the Bibliography and Discography sections. Several entries for books and magazines contain factual & grammatical errors. The blame for this should probably go to the editor or proofreader & NOT to the author, as one malicious "fan" deemed. The Discography is extremely well-organzied, containing Julie's early recordings done in England when she was a child performer - the FIRST Andrews biography to include these recordings, I might add. This section should serve as a model for standard discography listings in future biographies; with full details such as record label, year and catalog number. Mr. Spindle unfortunately appears not to have been aware of several audiotapes narrated by Julie in the mid-eighties for Dove Audio - an abridged version of her own book, MANDY, as well as lending her voice to one story on THE SUMMER FRIEND, and narrating yet another audiotape, the classic tale of knomes in THE LITTLE GREY MEN (one of Julie's favourites when she was a child). The author also makes a few minor errors in the TV section as well, such as stating in the entry for "The David Frost Show" (1970) that she appears "with future husband Blake Edwards" while the fact is they were married in 1969. A major accomplishment is the author's detailed listing of every episode for Julie's variety show, "The Julie Andrews Hour" (1972-73). This section alone shows how much time and work the author put into this project. The book has some interesting sections, such as the listing of film roles Julie either turned down or was considered for, among them the comedy "Forty Carats" (which starred Liv Ullman), "International Velvet," a sequel to "National Velvet;" and "The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie" which won an Academy Award for Maggie Smith. Julie would have given a superb performance as the lonely middle-aged schoolteacher who deals with life as best she can. A pity that Julie turned down the role. In summing up, I consider this book one of THE BEST volumes ever written on Julie Andrews; and it is a major achievement in which the author discusses every aspect of her glorious career. Throw in a delightful photo section, as well as outline biography & very lengthy bibliography, and I think any Julie Andrews fan who reads this book will find it just as compelling & well-crafted as I have. Take a bow, Mr. Spindle. You have done an excellent job with this exceptional book!
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