Actings Books! What to read?

I would like to purchase 2 or 3 books on acting. When I say acting I mean the craft of acting rather than a book on how to get an audition or break into Holywood. I would like to read the Canonical, the great, the one that everyone should read book on acting. For example I have heard that 'Sanford Meisner on Acting' is a great book. Your thoughts? Recomendations.......

An Actor Prepares by Constantin Stanislavski (but take only what you want from this book, do not rely solely on it) How To Stop Acting by Harold Guskin Being An Actor by Simon Callow If there's any books by Sanford Meisner or Stella Adler, I would also recommend checking them out. You can learn much, much more from a teacher but if books are what you're after, that's my advice. Good luck :)

Michael Checkov "To The Actor' But you can't learn from a book. You need a teacher and when you get into the industry you need a mentor. With Stanislavski there is a good book by David Magarshak which contains commentary as well as translations from his works. I think it's out of print though. Is that all there is? Well if that's all there is my friend, then let's keep dancing. www.tonymoore.id.au

'Empty Space' - Peter Brooks 'The invisible Actor' - Yoshi Oida My two most prized acting books... Based on theories of the theatre and theatrical acting. They really open your eayes up to what is beyond the 'Stanislavski' technique.. and believe me.. there is much more...

Terry Crawford's "Trade Secrets" - he interviews 15 Australian actors of different backgrounds/ages/experience on their ideas of what Acting is all about. Interviews include those with Geoffrey Rush, Joel Edgerton and Billie Brown...a large range...

All In Good Timing by Henri Szeps

By far the most useful book I've ever read on acting was 'True and False: Heresy for the Actor' by David Mamet. It's particularly useful if your other reading is focused more on Stansilavski-inspired techniques. Having said that, whilst Mamet's book is easily the most practical out of any I've encountered, it isn't the whole picture - whilst he is writing in his capacity as an acting teacher rather than his capacity as a famous play-wright/script-writer, he overtly works on the assumption that the actor is performing to a solid script (a fair assumption when you're David **$$%%^ Mamet:-). He's had a substantial influence upon a number of acting schools, with a focus upon performing the script rather than making up a character outside of the script, but he'd be the first to admit that it isn't a lot of help if the script sucks (in fact he does state this somewhere in his book, with the advice not to do badly written work). Frankly its worth reading just for interest if nothing else - Mamet is always a clear and entertaining read. He starts with what at the time was a controversial premise: that the Stanislavski method is a distraction and hindrance to acting, and makes a pretty good fist of arguing it over the rest of the book (even if he does exaggerate the differences between Stanislavski's and his own views). There's copies in the UWA library, and I'd bet that they're also in the other university libraries as well. Actor, martial artist and soon-to-be Philosophy post-grad student. Making myself less employable one step at a time:-)

I have not come across this book but it sounds much like the point to which I have been gradually shifting over the last several years. I will immediately attempt to acquire a copy. Thankyou Is that all there is? Well if that's all there is my friend, then let's keep dancing. www.tonymoore.id.au