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Customer Reviews (1)

A Cracking Read
Reversing Over Liberace is a laugh out loud story about Willow Cayton searching for the right man while trying to work out the meaning of her grandfather's inheritance: a nose in a matchbox.It's a light and entertaining tale that's full of surprises and wonderful characters.

I found it gripping throughout, in places genuinely moving and I won't spoil the ending but it includes a naked man tied to a bed.

This book is a must read! ... Read more

Product Description
“Excuse me as I slip into something more spectacular.”

Never underestimate a man in hot pants. Liberace, the globally-renowned pianist, swings his closet door open in order to coach you on the fine art of extraordinary dressing for ordinary occasions! Need something to wear to your sister’s wedding? Packing for your next Mediterranean cruise? Shopping for a new car? Rest assured, Liberace has the perfect gold lamé number or full-length cape to suit all of your needs.

Not only can you enjoy dazzling photographs of Liberace in the most outrageous of outfits, but you can also punch these photos out to play with twelve paper dolls in hilarious poses!The perfect novelty gift, Liberace: Your Personal Fashion Consultant celebrates and salutes the new “King of Bling.” ... Read more

Customer Reviews (9)

The first of a totally entertaining series
This is the first of a wonderful 4 book series that includes Elvis, Star Wars, and Marilyn Monroe as well. In this book, as in the others, you get 12 die-cut cardstock full-body images, many seen here in color for the first time-all of which punch-out and stand up with little included stands. Great for your desktop, dashboard, or anywhere you want a little Liberace-including as hanging decorations on your Christmas tree! Well-reviewed all over the web-makes a great gift for lovers of kitsch, glam, and fun.

Liberace:Your Personal Fashion Consultant
I bought this for my daughter (30 years old) for Christmas and she absolutely loves it.Took it to work and all her pals there love it, too!It is so funny and beautiful at the same time.A nice tribute to the man who was the first one to go "way over the top"...at least in my lifetime.

Liberace's fashion sense
I saw the review for this book in my local paper. I had no idea what I was really getting. What fun! I had ordered two to send to a friend. I probably won't cut out anything but it's a fun look see.

Kitschy-cool!
I have given this book as a gift for Birthdays, Hanukah, Christmas, Get Well and Thank You occasions. Everyone always loves it and gets a good laught from it!

Very cute, but I wanted more
The costumes? Fantastic! The blurb? It works...

but I just didn't feel like I was getting enough bang for my buck.I wanted more costumes, more blurb, must more generally.

For a greeting card disguised as a book it is more than adequate.But as a book, I would have liked it to be a bit longer, more pithy, more fun. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (8)

A terrific biography
Well researched, objective, accurate. Pyron has done a fantastic job of highlighting the most significant moments in Lee's life.

A Thousand Words in Search of an Editor
One of the more incoherent biographies of recent times, this tract begins with the flaw of wanting to be metaphorical. Wally Liberace was an enjoyable high-camp entertainer, who appeared at a time when you could cause controversy wearing white tails in a classical recital. The author takes a wildly discursive journey through post-war America, trying to draw curious parallels with the entertainer's career (and hookum Cluade Bristol philosophy, which extolled mind mastery to overcome every problem including physical disability), and America's own story of upward mobility and unlimited opportunity for anyone with a dream. A writer with better judgement would have not over reached but simply told this as the story of an ambitious entertainer who made it big by offering class to people with little taste during a time of post-war austerity, then parlayed this into visual controversy ("topping himself" with ever greater extravagance) after the initial novelty wore off. The prose is choked with philosophical discursion and rhetorical questions, none of which are developed or answered, which belong in an undergraduate tutorial on identity theory. At one point, the narrative stops as the author conducts a tail chasing exposition on sexual identity that goes on for several pages. What a competent prose stylist could have said in a brief chapter goes on for dozens of pages. Like his subject, the wordsmith seems more intent on putting on a show than providing a coherent narrative. This book won't shed much light on the club career before the television series, how the performer created the act and the personae, and is silent about the attempt by management to turn him into a bandleader at one stage.
To the unwary, this big, imposing book might look like it offers a substantial, even definitive account. Don't be fooled.

Liberace Unveiled
Unquestionably there are few authors in the historical profession who write biography as impeccably as Darden Asbury Pyron.Pyron once orated in class "In order to write biography you must eat, sleep, and breath the person's life."Pyron's biography of Liberace is a masterpiece.Some critics find his style dry and lacking in substance.Those readers themselves achieved only a superficial understanding of the pianist and of the author's prose.Pyron offers a balanced perspective of the artist and manages to allow readers not to judge Liberace, but to understand his life, circumstances, and the atmosphere in which he existed under duress and pressure for so long a time.It is a wonder that Liberace remained free from the ill-health effects usually suffered by those under immense personal and societal pressure.Only his contraction of HIV and brief scare from potential renal failure significantly derailed the artist.This biography reveals the tragedy of the pianist's life and piecemeal assembles the development of a real entertainer, a genuine American "hero" or sorts.Liberace was not a sexual hero as so much of his identity seemed suspended in air and never definitively revealed, but he was a man of integrity and someone of true character. Pyron magnificently illuminates the many shades of Liberace, the different gradations of his soul, and allows readers to take the journey of Liberace's life and times with him.

The DEFINITIVE Liberace Biography
Carefully researched and well written, this extensive volume details the life of Liberace, peeling away the layers and layers of half-truths, deceptions, and publicity machine myths. A well-loved and talented entertainer, Liberace lived a double life protecting his public image with a fierceness that caused much private agony. Liberace could not even tell the truth in his own biography, lest he be labeled as a liar and countersued by publications he had sued when they reported he was gay. This book details his relationships with friends, family and lovers. Pyron also gives wonderful detail on how Liberace got his start, tracing his career from his start in sleezy Wisconsin dives to his lavish Las Vegas productions. Liberace was smart enough to know his limitations and to exploit his strengths. This books gives a balanced view of the man and the entertainer; in addition, the author gives a detailed historical/sociological background about the lives of gay men in general, which provides an informative backdrop and better understanding of how and why Liberace functioned the way he did. The book may seem rather monotous and dry at times, but that is the author's style; this is a serious, intelligent book, not some gossipy tell-all. Unlike many biographers who write about celebrities, Pyron has great regard and respect for his subject. A must for all Liberace fans and for those interested in the lives of famous gay entertainers.

An Uninspiring Read
Darden Asbury Pyron has a rather dry style which made this a rather boring and long-winded read for me. He has done little but assemble historical facts, comments and reports from the time, package them up in his own rather uninspiring style - rather reminiscent of school history textbooks - and add a few of his own little presumptions/subtly snide remarks about Liberace's ambitions, achievements and lifestyle. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Liberace:The True Story
This book is a Great Read! It starts right from the beginning and goes right until his final days. He really was a great entertainer! Nobody could play the piano like Liberace!

An excellent book about Liberace
This book is a must read for all Liberace fans. A chronological look at his life and times and accomplishments as Mr. Showbusiness. I read this book followed by Scott Thorson's "Behind the Candleabra" and found that they complement each other quite well. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

The real story of Liberace!
Easy read.Will keep you reading to find out what happened next!I believe about 90% of this book.He's the first to say anything about the "true Liberace!"Great book!

A GREAT LOOK INSIDE THE LEGENDARY LIFE''
Liberace's books have always been a source of joy-as he invited you into his life and work as one of the most loving and greatest showmen in the industry. I've always loved reading about the entertainment world and Lees books were a wonderful source of joy. His great enthusiasm for life and his showbiz world were a delight to read about as well as the great joy Lee gave to his audiences during his performances which I have been fortunate to attend. His story about recovering from illness early in his career and his continued rise in the entertainment world is a great read. Scott Thornson opens up this world through his book. Scott tells his story both candidly and with great feeling. His love and respect come through. It was a fascinating look 'behind the candelabra'...and I enjoyed reading the book immensely. I felt the book was written in a most professional and human way...and I read his story with an open mind. What Lee, or Scott for that matter, did is now in the past and doesnt take away from the great legacy Lee left. I very much enjoyed reading Scotts book for a peak into a world where 'too much of a good thing..is wonderful'' As Scott says in the final pages...there is a lesson here to learn...and Scott tells how he learned some serious lessons himself. Yes, Lee should have never ended on such a 'sour note'...not for one as giving as he....not for one with such a zest for life and a great talent to give....and Scott shared those few years with us telling us both the good, bad and sometimes shocking elements.

The good, the bad, and the downright scandalous
I bought this book (used) via this website, following a brief research of the man and his music. It was one of those books that was hard to put down once I started reading it. It gives you everything you'd want to know - and then some. It is better than the best of the juicy, scandalous of stories filled with illicit drugs, sex, and prostitution; the "National Enquirer" at its' scandalous best.

One of the things I found the most ludicrous about the book and its author is the fact that Thorson, who spared no detail in providing us with the most detailed account of his sexual escapades with Liberace - the only detail spared were the actual measurements of Liberace's 'manhood'. Yet, in stark contrast, just a mere 13 years following the release of this book, Thorson appeared on Larry King Live and told how he, not surprisingly, has "found God" - as though God were a child lost in the woods in need of rescue.

One cannot help but to feel somewhat sorry for the book's author. After all, at the young and impressionable age of 18, he was lured into the lair through an expanse expression of fame, wealth, and power. One cannot help but to come away from reading this book and feel (aside from the great overwhelming sense that you need to take a shower after reading something so downright dirty) that Liberace was nothing short of a pedophile in disguise. His insatiable desire for sex with men who were scores of decades younger than he is proof enough for me that he'd have gotten it on with a very young boy if it were legal to do so.

Definitely not the book you'd want to choose for your 'family reading library', nor is it a book that you should read if you're offended by graphic details of sordid homosexual sex and accompanying affairs.

Conclusion: It sheds the truest light possible on one of the most prominent figures in entertainment history - but is one that I wished that I'd let slip by.

Thank you for reading my take on the book. Pardon me now whilst I go take a shower and delouse from the experience of which I just described.

Most Interesting Book
I don't know how much of the information in this book is true or just seen from Scott Thorson's point of view, but it was a very interesting read.I was always a Liberace fan and true or not, it was interesting reading about Liberace's lifestyle, etc.

It was very interesting Behind the Candleabra
I found Scott Thorson's book very interesting and realistic. Well worth the time for the read. He appears to have cared greatly for Mr. Liberace and his account of his time with him is heartfelt while Thorson readily admits and offers up his own "defects of character". I recommend the book to all Liberace-philes. There is sage advice to all written between the lines. It's hard to believe so many years have passed since Liberace's death. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

Liberace Lover's Must Have!
After visiting the Liberace Museum in Las Vegas with my mom I originally bought this book as a gift for her but I couldn't resist reading it myself before passing it along.It is an amazing book!It is so nice to hear about Liberace's life directly from him.He was a fascinating, talented and generous man and this book is great for any Liberace fan and for the curious as well.

A faux legacy
Liberace was from my hometown, Milwaukee. When I was a kid all the old ladies used to like to watch him on TV and say what a nice guy he was.They truly believed he was a bachelor who hadn't met the right girl yet, he took such good care of his mother and he had such a nice personality.Well, Liberace was sick with AIDS when this book was published less than a year before he died.He never admitted being sick -- in fact he referenced the rumors and dismissed them. He told stories of his seduction by women (only), and he showcased his horrendously over-the-top material boy life.He was writing a book about how he wanted to be remembered, with a tremendous amount of spin.It was just the way the old ladies in Milwaukee would have wanted to remember him. Even at the end of his life he was Mr. Showmanship. This book is very amusing and kitschy but it is especially valuable to demonstrate the way the mid-1980s world could deny the realities of AIDS and homosexuality. ... Read more

Product Description
Joy of Liberace is filled with retro recipes that are So Very Liberace. It is a step-by-step guide to Bling Cooking, complete with the personal recipes of the glitziest pianist that ever tickled the ivories. These are the culinary classics that rocked Las Vegas and swayed every palm tree in Palm Springs. With the Riviera Hotel and Casino culinary staff executing the recipies in the most visual way imaginable, we see-for the first time-Liberace's personal entertaining style come to life. Filled with fantastic photos of food, and of Liberace (and his home and table), this is the retro cookbook of the century. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (7)

What a joy!
I smiled as I turned the pages of this book - What fun! Liberace was such an original and creative guy...
I will definitely be buying some more of these for Mothers Day gifts this year!

A must-have for every stylin' kitchen
This cookbook is a great blend of fun photos, bio, and recipes. Well laid-out and easy to read. Substantive. A GREAT special occasion gift!

The Joy of the Joy of Liberace
The Joy of Liberace makes everyday a holiday.Every home should have one.There is no better recipe for joy.

More than just a cook book
The Joy of Liberace already has me planning my next party.Can you imagine the feast for friends, with bling all over and Liberace playing in the background.This is not only a cook book, but a look into a icon we have heard very little about for 20 years.I recomend this book to anyone who wants to have fun and can appreciate the over the top life of Liberace

perfeect for mothers day
This book is total fun. Every mother should have opne. It creates a complete Liberace atmosphere- with authentic recipes from the time.Visually,it is terrific-totally enjoyable. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Piano book.
Glad to have this practice aid.... Great price, fast delivery.
Tito N,Y.

Great way to advance quickly to playing songs not just notes
I, too, used this book as a 10-12 year old to get past the plunking and actually start playing songs.The "big note" method allows you to read songs quickly and add the chords to match the melody line.With more practice and a decent ear, you can learn to vary the application of the chords and the notes in the cords to wind up playing some very decent sounding piano music.I highly recommend it.

Believe it or not... it is a great way to learn
I was 10 years old when my mom bought me this book.I thought Liberace was goofy but this book is a great way to learn piano from the chord theory method.The book teaches you chords and allows you to start playing immediately much like guitar chords do.

I'm a musician now and have been playing in bands and groups for over thirty years.Some of my stuff can be found at [...]

Very nice.Old book but worth the money for young and old aspiring piano players. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

good book
Book was interesting, but difficult to get into at first. His writing style was tough.

In depth reveal of the life of Liberace
A look at the life and times of Liverace from childhood to where his life was at the time he wrote the book. ... Read more

Product Description
Helps blow the cover off the gilded cage. It opens the closet door for a look at, and conversation with, ten gay men of the silver screen. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (21)

Let's be real
I think some reviewers here are having a tough time coming to terms with alternative sexual orientations.I bought this book for my son and he loved it.While he questioned the credibility of the author at times, he still enjoyed reading the background on some of Hollywood's notorious flamers.

Laughable, but not in a good way.
WOW. This guy should be ashamed to present this as even being remotely journalistic. No sources, no tapes and such outlandish, unbelievable dialogue that you are embarrassed for the writer. Cary Grant at 80 came on to this guy? Its so ridiculous its funny. Just one of the many obvious personal sexual fantasies the author shares with the reader. I'm sure many of these people he supposedly interviewed were gay or bi-sexual, but it's not proven in this book. If anything it's disproven by the mere fact that the author has such little to back him up that he has to resort to faking interviews and offering anonymous sources.

The most obvious example is the Cary Grant interview, but the rest are just as blatant. There is no way a private person like Grant would speak to a known liar like Boze, let alone discuss his homoosexuality with him, when he had sued Chevy Chase around the time of the interview for calling him a fag.

The book is a waste of money and time. There are great biographies out there that contain substantiated facts rather than gossip and lies.

More garbage from Boze
As a journalist myself, I can testify that Cary Grant never gave interviews, even for articles about him.When he HAD to give an interview, he managed never to say anything. So you can write off the Grant interview right away.No conceivable way would he EVER EVER have spoken to Boze Hadleigh.In fact, I can't see how anyone would.

Someone mentioned their curiosity as to why Hadleigh's interview subjects are always dead.Uh, libel laws.He doesn't want to be sued.As he surely would have been - just look at what Cary Grant did when Chevy Chase called him "queer."And here's Cary, talking to good old Boze and coming onto him.Right.

Boze joins Hector Arce and Charles Higham in that wonderful world of - hey, they're dead, let's say anything we want - even fake an interview.And don't ever forget their liberal use of anonymous sources.

We know in many cases that the men allegedly spoken to by Hadleigh were indeed gay.Some we suspected.Now, did these people speak to Hadleigh - knowing full well what he's about?Perhaps some did and just as perhaps, some didn't.

Why we can't love and admire these people for what they brought to us with their work, I don't know.Instead, people like Boze try desperately to out actors like Tyrone Power (I bring this up because Hadleigh works Romero mercilessly on the subject) and manage to overlook first person accounts of affairs with him, such as Mai Zetterling's "All Those Tomorrows," Lana Turner's "The Lady, The Legend, the Truth," Linda Christian's "Linda: My Own Story," and Gene Tierney's autobiography. But why listen to those liars when we have BOZE??? Before Boze, there was Whisper magazine, a Confidential ripoff, and they outed Ty -as fooling around with Anita Ekberg while he was married to Linda Christian.Strange, isn't it - Confidential would have outed Rock Hudson if his studio hadn't traded another story.Odd they never felt compelled to do that to Ty...hmm...Again, Power may have been bisexual, and I do think in Hollywood, there was a lot of that going around.But why tell Boze about it.

Consistently entertaining and revealing
The lengths people will go to to "defend" their favorite deceased stars from accusations about their private lives is laughable. All of the men profiled and interviewed in this book were long rumored or known to be gay -- it was the Hollywood studios, with their desire to keep their stars bankable, that cringed and worried the most about the truth getting out...along with the actors themselves wanting to maintain their livelihoods, of course.

How accurately Mr. Hadleigh was able to recreate/reconstruct the actual interviews (especially since notes and recordings were not always permitted, understandably) is open to debate.... but one CAN "hear" the subjects' voices speaking.They do NOT all sound the same, as one previous overheated reviewer stated. As for whether or not Cary Grant hit on the author, who's to say what type of man Mr. Grant was attracted to, especially at the age of 80?Anything is possible in this world!

I recommend this book as a great piece of entertainment, and a glimpse into the private thoughts of some openly gay and closeted icons.

Who knows?
I agree that it is hard to know whether to trust this book's veracity (I found the moment when Cary Grant hits on the author particularly hard to take).

But I'm more bothered by all the vitriol in these reviews, as though saying someone is gay is the worst thing in the world!There is a lot of evidence outside of this book that these actors were gay or bisexual, so it's not absurd to think they were.And certainly not an insult.

The book is a fun read, whether it's based on actual interviews or not."Hollywood Lesbians" seemed somewhat more believable. ... Read more

Product Description
Recounts the life and career of the pianist and entertainer, who lived an all-but-openly gay life, but believed it was necessary publicly to deny his homosexuality. ... Read more

Product Description
Born in Wisconsin in 1919, Wladziu Valentino Liberace became one of the most popular and controversial entertainers of the 1950s and 1960s. With the advent of television, his career skyrocketed; and during the early 1950s, The Liberace Show was watched by more than 35 million people each week. His television exposure led to one of the most lucrative concert, nightclub, and recording careers in history. This book summarizes his life and provides detailed information about his performances. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

I'll Be Seeing You
Watch Video Here: http://www.amazon.com/review/R370JOMECNI3QG This 1937 sheet music is a complete arrangement for voice with piano accompaniment, chords for ukulele and banjo and symbols for guitar, in the key of E-Flat. Cover features Freddy Martin. (Covers may vary).

Circa 1920-1940Beautiful sheet music compositions and arrangements for voice and piano:
Sheet Music compositions by Sammy Fain:
I'll Be Seeing You
Let a Smile be Your Umbrella on a Rainy Day
Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing

Composer Oley Speaks:
The Prayer Perfect: Poem By James Whitcomb Riley Set to Music
Star-Eyes
On The Road To Mandalay
At Starlight-Time (Low Voice In E-Flat)
April Ecstasy
Sylvia

Independently published sheet music:
My Bluebird Was Caught in the Rain ... Read more

Product Description
Chapters: People From West Allis, Wisconsin, Liberace, Billy Mitchell, Harvey Kuenn, Dave Cieslewicz, Dan Jansen, Jessie Ward, Chris Witty, Alexander Mitchell, Michael Gableman, Tighe Dombrowski, Wisconsin State Fair, Neil Dombrowski, West Allis - West Milwaukee School District, Tony Willman, West Allis Speedskating Club. Source: Wikipedia. Pages: 79. Not illustrated. Free updates online. Purchase includes a free trial membership in the publisher's book club where you can select from more than a million books without charge. Excerpt: Wladziu Valentino Liberace (May 16, 1919 February 4, 1987), better known by only his last name Liberace (pronounced ), was a famous American entertainer and pianist. During the 1950s1970s he was the highest paid entertainer in the world. Liberace studied at the Wisconsin Conservatory of Music. Liberace, known as "Lee" to his friends and "Walter" to family, was born in West Allis, Wisconsin, a Milwaukee suburb, to Frances Zuchowska (August 31, 1892 November 1, 1980), a Pole, and Salvatore ("Sam") Liberace (December 9, 1885 April 1, 1977), an immigrant from Formia, Italy. He had a twin who died at birth and he was born with a caul, which in his family, as in many societies, was taken as a sign of genius and an exceptional future. Liberace's father was a musician who played the French horn in bands and movie theaters but sometimes had to work as a factory worker or laborer. While his father encouraged music in the family, his mother was not musical and thought music lessons and a record player to be luxuries they couldn't afford, causing angry family disputes. Liberace later stated, "My dad's love and respect for music created in him a deep determination to give as his legacy to the world, a family of musicians dedicated to the advancement of the art". Liberace began playing the piano at four and while his father took them to concerts to further expose the children to music, he was also a taskmaste...More: http://booksllc.net/?id=179572 ... Read more