At the age of 76; Diana Melly took up ballroom dancingShe was suffering from bereavement; having recently lost her husband George to dementia; and was told that dancing might help. It has done much more than that; opening up a whole new chapter in her life.In this disarmingly funny and moving book; Melly takes us on a whirlwind tour of modern Ballroom: from wardrobe mishaps and tea dance etiquette to the perils of Argentine tango and how to stay upright in rough seas on the QE2. We meet her new circle of friends; including her dance teacher; Dino - Ill teach you; darling; it would be a pleasure.Strictly Ballroom is a memoir unstinting in its honesty and glowing with humour and spirit. It will have you reaching for your dancing shoes . . .
#2674209 in eBooks 2015-04-20 2015-04-20File Name: B00XZPQM1S
Review
7 of 7 people found the following review helpful. Cool Beatle Collection; but NOT a John book.By Daniel ManteyHi; Actually this is a very nice; VERY handsome; BEAUTIFULY designed book; but ends up being really a survey of collectable Beatles items (includes recent prices; and sale dates; etc.!!! Wow!) and is not really a John book after all. He is there of course; and maybe a few more of his pictures than of the others; but really this is a Beatles book; more than a John book. And I think the author shares the generally too positive feelings about John and his later life; and does not seem to be aware enough of the damage that John suffered as a child; his poor decision making abilities (with no parnetal guidence) and the tole that his extreme over-use (MIS-USE!!!) of LSD had on his mind; and subsequent actions. As the book relies too much on Beatles items; the happier; more sane and exciting period of his life (with Cynthia and young Julian) is too casaully passed over; in favor of the earlier and final; very crazy years of his life. Only two photos with Cynthia; only one with Julian; and WAY too many with Y.O. And the chronology of the book is VERY jumbled up!!! Things are all out of order. I just opened the book randomly and jotted down the dates from 9 photos in a row over 4 pages: 1968; 94; 84; 68; 69; 68; 67; and 64. I get dizzy when I page through! And no text really. The text is just odd bits here and there amidst the photos; and rather scattered; and has no real flow or focus; and intersperced with odd quotes for all sorts of people; often John; or another Beatle; but often poeple who I have no idea who they are (though they are mentioned in short below each quote). And the text; when it does show up; is not so well written. Again; a random sample; ...released their next new music that just does not sound right to me? The same sentence ends with when this single dropped. Dropped? How does; or did a single drop? And George Harrisons Inner Light (same paragraph) is called gently spiritual. Listen to that if you have it around; the opening and all the instrumental parts are rather jarring; with that Indian bowed instrument (cant remember its name). Georges singing is more boring rather than gentle; and the rest is neither gentle nor very spirtual to my ears; maybe the words are; didnt listen to those. John was my favorite Beatle; I love his Beatles music very much; am still in shock from the news of the evening of December 8th 1980; and miss and weep for him often. The book is a fine; rather beautiful (VERY colorful!) though slightly too choatic and biased (too Post-Beatle) Beatles book. But it is not senative or focused enough for me to be called John Lennon... anything. Best; D0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy BarbaraGreat book Happy!0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. John LennonBy Terry CarverThis was purchased as a gift. After paging through it; I have decided to purchase one for myself. Anyone one interested in John Lennon would certainly find this a nice addition to there collection!
