Category Archives: Book Spotlight

Book reviews.

Review: Permanently New Yorkers by Patricia Brooks

25 Sunday Oct 2009

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This past Summer I purchased the book “Permanently New Yorkers: Final Digs of The Notable & Notorious” by Patricia Brooks from the Amazon website.

To begin the book has 309 pages including the appendix, and index. The retail price for the book is $14.95. However if you buy the book from Amazon.com you will only have to pay $8.92 which covers the one hell of a bargain price of $4.93 which Amazon is offering the book at plus shipping. Shipping costs may vary depending on how soon you want the book in your hands.

The format of the book is pretty much the same to the authors other two grave hunting related books (Laid To Rest In California, and Where The Bodies Are). The thing that is comparable to the other titles by the same author is that she includes these widget boxes spread throughout the book entitled “Lunch Break”, “House Call”, etc. When you see these boxes in the book they mention local restaurants to check out, or places to visit significant to the personages on the particular page.

One of the interesting things about this book being that it’s geared towards cemeteries in the state of New York. Is that it features a whole spectrum of notables who had something or the other to do with literature, music in the form of musicians from the Jazz age, and other eras. While at the same time covering celebrities who were involved with the movie industry, military figures, wealthy people from the state, along with gangsters.

The thing which I enjoyed about the book was that it included somewhat detailed biographical info on various people I didn’t know about, along with the black & white photos of the grave sites.

The only thing I didn’t like about the book was that on the gangsters mentioned. There wasn’t much in the form of detailed biographical info about them. Just a few blurbs here and there at the beginning of each part when listing the brief overview of who was buried in the cemetery. I also got kinda bored reading about the Jazz age musicians. But if that’s your taste in music more power to you.

Overall its a great book with lots of photos, great information, with intricately placed wording on the biographies. If you’ve never been to New York like my self and wish to learn more about the people buried there. Or if your interested in reading about people from the world of literature, or Jazz themed music, or notables who had something to do with New York I highly recommend this book.

Book Review: Laid To Rest In California: A Guide To The Cemeteries & Grave Sites Of The Rich & Famous

31 Friday Jul 2009

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About two years ago while visiting my sweetheart who resides outside of Sacramento.  I was browsing around the local Borders Books retail store near where she lives. Being that I was in California at the time and trying to figure out the perfect book to pick up while I was there. I purchased the Book “Laid To Rest In California: A Guide To The Cemeteries & Grave Sites Of The Rich & Famous” by Patricia & Jonathan Brooks.  Being that I’m an avid grave hunter I knew I had to have this book after all I was in the great state of California where grave hunting is a very popular hobby and pass time.

The book retails for 15.95 and has 340 pages including 9 chapters covering cities in Southern California  such as Hollywood, Los Angeles, Glendale, Culver City, among others. And geographic areas in Northern California which include the Sacramento and San Francisco regions.

There is a full cast of luminaries listed throughout the book with brief biographical information listed for most of the personages along with grave site locations, and photos of various grave sites on most of the pages.

One of the neat things I thought was a nice complement to go along with the book were various boxes on the pages entitled “Lunch Break”, “Film Vault”,  and “House Call”. The Lunch Break boxes would include local eateries to stop in to have lunch while you were grave hunting with addresses and phone numbers mentioned for the establishments listed.  The Film Vault boxes listed a particular motion picture a celebrity took part in. These would be on the page with a particular biography. And finally the House Call boxes would list the phone numbers and addresses of local museums where someone in the book had artwork, or other forms of artifacts, and in some cases the real house they lived in.

All in all this book was very enjoyable to read. I liked the fact that there were cemeteries in Northern part of the state mentioned not just in the Southern part.

Josh

Grave Hunting With Steve: A Journey Beneath Los Angeles

10 Friday Jul 2009

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Recently I obtained a copy of the grave hunting documentary DVD “Grave Hunting With Steve:  A Journey Beneath Los Angeles” which is a film by Ken Goldstein and is hosted by well known celebrity grave hunter and a friend of mine Steve Goldstein.

In the video Steve takes you to three Los Angeles area cemeteries (Holy Cross, Hollywood Forever, & Hillside Memorial Park) While not covering every famous person in those cemeteries he shows you the grave sites of various historic figures from the golden age of film and other historical aspects of LA history. While at the same time discussing interesting stories about the stars in the documentary, and personal recollections of being a grave hunter.  There is a full cast of stars mentioned in the documentary including such luminaries as Cecil B. DeMille, Rudolph Valentino, John Huston, Moe Howard and a wide range of characters who would no doubt fill the roster of any A list film from back in the day.

The documentary is 23 minutes long and includes various scenery shots inside the cemetery.  On a lighter note Steve has mentioned to me that the film will be shown on the big screen in Anaheim this August at the Indie Film Festival. That in its self will be a great opportunity for the documentary to get out there for people just like you to see.

Also worth noting this DVD is a companion supplement to Steve’s recently published book LA’s Graveside Companion: Where The V.I.P’s R.I.P. 2009 Schiffer Publishing. You can order this book online via Amazon,  your favorite book retail site, locally in LA at most bookstores, or from the publisher.

On a final note this documentary is a very well put together project. It should make a nice edition to your death hag/grave hunting DVD library.  Also if your interested in obtaining your very own copy of this facinating film you can find it on Amazon or directly from the publisher by clicking Here. The DVD is for sale at the outrageously discounted price of $9.95+shipping.

Josh

Book Review: LA's Graveside Companion Where The V.I.P's R.I.P.

06 Saturday Jun 2009

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Well its been a while since I’ve written anything on the blog. I thought it would be fitting to write a review on a splendid grave hunting book I just finished reading. About two months ago I ordered the book “LA’s Graveside Companion: Where the V.I.P’s  R.I.P.” by Steve Goldstein who is a grave hunting buddy of mine.

LA’s Graveside Companion was published in March of this year (2009). There are 191 pages on high quality glossy paper. The suggested retail price is $19.99. Each page includes several photos with 270 photos spread throughout the book. There are 17 chapters on various cemeteries with 400 celebrities resting in eternal bliss mentioned on the pages of each chapter. The cemeteries mentioned include but are not limited to Hollywood Forever, Westwood Memorial Park, Forest Lawn Hollywood Hills, San Fernando Mission, & Mount Sinai. There are a few other chapters on such topics as grave hunting in general, interviews with grave hunters (I thought this chapter was interesting), just plain dead which include your typical run of the mill grave sites with a humorous twist.

The thing I enjoyed about LA’s Graveside Companion is that Steve takes you on your own personal tour. Discussing the celebrities in the book as if he is walking along next to you, mentioning various things about that person’s life, the films they were in, and other interesting tidbits. One of the nice things about the book is that he gives you detailed instructions on how to find the celebrities grave sites via walking.

The only thing I didn’t like about LA’s Graveside Companion is the shape of the book with it being in some what of a rectangle shape. Other than that its a well researched enjoyable read. Not to mention full of nicely detailed photos, great information, a down to earth way of explaining things. If you happen to live in the LA area you can find Steve signing copies of his new book “LA’s Graveside Companion Where The V.I.P’s R.I.P.” at various local bookstores, and libraries, just check the dates and times he is available. Or if your like me and live 2000+ miles away from LA on the other side of the United States you can send him your book to sign for you.

Review: Resting Places: The Burial Sites of Over 10,000 Famous Persons, 2d ed.

08 Wednesday Apr 2009

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Recently I ordered the book “Resting Places: The Burial Sites of Over 10,000 Famous Persons” by Scott Wilson. To summarize this book is an excellent reference with 10,113 notations of practically anyone who had something to do with hollywood, crime, politics, business, royalty, military, history etc. It lists brief biographical information about the personages in the book listing various things about their life while also including birth and death dates, exact locations in the cemetery where their final home can be found, it also mentions if the notable is cremated and lists the locations of the cremaines.

The book comes in two volumes. It includes a very extensive bibliography, listing each book used in the research for this new edition. The index by the way is organized by city with each cemetery in the city mentioned with the personages organized by a numbered notation of where the personages can be found in the book which is a very nice feature I might add. There are many people who I never would have imagined listed in the book.

The only thing that I do not like about the book is the Publishers Suggested Retail Price which the asking price for this title is $95.00 dollars. So I would imagine that the price alone would be a discouragement for most people interested in this hobby of ours who wish to get their own copy.

I would also like to mention that I firmly believe there will be more updated editions to this book. The first book written by Mr. Wilson which has the same title but instead of 10,000 notables it lists 7,000. This new edition includes just over 3,000 new listings including the 7,000 from the earlier edition. So with that said I’m pretty sure there will be more to come from the author. I just wish the publisher’s price for the two volumes wasn’t so expensive. But then again its well worth it and if you really want the book you should buy it even if it will break the bank.