Stephen Hoover

This makes a great introduction to film noir for anyone. The explanations at the beginning are very easy to understand but if you're familiar with the genre it's nothing new. The fact that there are some great movies reviewed such as Taxi Driver, Reservoir Dogs, Hitchcock's The Wrong Man and many more makes the book even better and they're analyzed from this genre's point of view (starting from lightning to the main character and, of course, the plot). Thank you Amazon Kindle for free ebooks hehe.… (mehr)

I write in a few different genres, and comedy is the absolute hardest. But it’s the most rewarding, too. Making someone laugh is a gift beyond all others. I love the approach and execution of this book. Hoover weaves together comprehensive guide of how to write comedic material including an in-depth summary of the evolution of comedy writing. By thinking about how humor has and has not changed, about what is universal about comedy and timing, and about what it truly informed by the tastes of the times, I was able to learn a lot about the choices and opportunities I have to improve my writing. He also delves into the theories of what makes good comedy, as well as how to deploy different comedic forms from jokes, to sketches, to TV sitcoms, and to feature films.

This is a well-written and smartly conceived guide to be be read cover-to-cover and then to save so you can refer back to it again and again as a useful resource. Highly recommend if you are interested in the whys and hows of comedy.… (mehr)