"Pavarotti Up Close" is an unprecedented and affectionate portrait of the greatest tenor of the 20th century. Magiera, his longtime musical coach and accompanist, discusses Pavarotti's humble beginnings, his early years of study, and his status as a cultural icon recognized around the world.

Pavarotti and Pancakes is a candid, yet genially rendered tale, of the struggles and victories of a young Italian-American, Francesco Granieri. A child of the 1980's, Francesco grows-up amidst the erosion of a warm, embracing family, subject to the chilling grip of a tenacious villain that ultimately claims his mother-mental illness. Throughout this heartwarming memoir, Francesco's loyalty and perseverance prevail as he takes readers on a romantic and riveting ride from the Jersey shore to the hallways of madness.

Luciano Pavarotti’s longtime manager and friend tells all. All. The King and I is the story of the thirty-six-year-old business relationship between Luciano Pavarotti and his manager, Herbert Breslin, during which Breslin guided what he calls, justifiably, “the greatest career in classical music.” During that career, Breslin moved Pavarotti out of the opera house and onto the concert (and the world) stage and into the arms of a huge mass public. How he and Pavarotti changed the landscape of opera is one of the most significant and entertaining stories in the history of classical music, and Herbert Breslin relates the tale in a brash, candid, witty fashion that is often bitingly frank and profane. He also provides a portrait of his friend and client—“a beautiful, simple, lovely guy who turned into a very determined, aggressive, and somewhat unhappy superstar”—that is by turns affectionate and satirical and full of hilarious details and tales out of school, with Pavarotti emerging as something like the ultimate Italian male. The book is also enlivened by the voices of other players in the soap opera drama that was Pavarotti’s career, and they are no less uncensored than Herbert Breslin. The last word, in fact, comes from none other than Luciano Pavarotti himself! The King and I is the ultimate backstage book about the greatest opera star of the past century—and it’s a delight to read as well.

Now Slightly outdated, as the UPCS definitions change on Jan. 1, 2013 - we are keeping this one available until 2013 at a reduced retail of $29.99.

Alain Elkann has mastered the art of the interview. With a background in novels and journalism, and having published over twenty books translated across ten languages, he infuses his interviews with innovation, allowing them to flow freely and organically. Alain Elkann Interviews will provide an unprecedented window into the minds of some of the most well-known and -respected figures of the last twenty-five years.

To Hanako Shimoda, recently divorced, Luciano Pavarotti is a god. To her daughter, Emily, this fixation on Pavarotti is a harmless fantasy, the byproduct of loneliness. Meeting Luciano is the story of what happens when Hanako acts on her fantasy and invites opera star Pavarotti to dinner in their Westchester County home. Emily, with no real career plan, has gone back after college to work at her old summer job - waiting tables at the local Japanese steakhouse. Even worse than wearing a fake kimono and obi is that she's living at home with her mother. At first, her mom seems pretty much her old self - still reliving her Japanese childhood; still affecting the airs of a European sophisticate; still brewing espresso, cooking Italian, and singing arias from Rigoletto while she cleans; still idolizing Luciano Pavarotti. But when Hanako hires Alex, a handsome Greek, to renovate the kitchen, Emily begins to worry. And when Alex, who seems to be getting very cozy with her mother, spills the secret that the renovation is in preparation for a visit from Pavarotti, Emily is thrown into a wonderfully familiar quandary: how to deal with a parent who might be losing it. First-time novelist Anna Esaki-Smith has a wry, understated approach to the themes of assimilation, growing up, striking out on shaky ground, finding yourself - and loving your mother. Like a reflecting pool in a Japanese garden, Meeting Luciano gradually reveals the beauty of its subtle design.

"London s music is as important as its landmarks. It is the city of immigrant music, West End musicals, Ronnie Scott's jazz club, Abbey Road, mod culture, the Kinks, the Who and the Rolling Stones, all of whom transformed the city and were in turn transformed by it. In this fascinating history of the city's popular music, Paul Du Noyer, critically-acclaimed music writer and founding editor of Mojo, explores London's native talent, from No l Coward and David Bowie to the Sex Pistols and Amy Winehouse. He covers too the London visits of international artists such as Bob Dylan and Jimi Hendrix, who also felt the city's influence. From Elizabethan traders and public execution songs, to The Beggar's Opera and East End music halls, right up to modern-day troubadours such as Dizzee Rascal and Lily Allen, he charts the rich musical inheritance of London and the many styles and characters that have helped to define the city's music over the years. This captivating book will appeal to residents, visitors and exiles alike, as well as lovers of popular culture, social history and music. Above all, it is a celebration of the city packed with stories of the people and places that have made L