The Turk, Chess Automation Book

Review originally published on Amazon.com. You can read more of my reviews on my blog, The Bookwyrm's Hoard.

Everyone has a favorite film or television version of Dickens beloved A Christmas Carol. But few of us have any idea how very many adaptations there have been. Mr. Guida's wonderful book examines first the written Carol, then goes on to detail some of the hundreds of adaptations and variations, from the early stage versions and magic lantern slides to modern made-for-television Carols. Mr. Guida discusses the major Carols with wit and humor as well as rare discernment: his love for his subject is evident. Minor Carols and variations are also covered, albeit more briefly. If you cannot find your favorite version in the text, you are sure to find it in the superb and very thorough filmography. The filmography is worth browsing in and of itself; did you know that there have been Western, country-western, rock-and-roll, and even science-fiction variations on A Christmas Carol? Or that actors as disparate as Cicely Tyson, Basil Rathbone, and Mr. Magoo have all played Scrooge? If you love A Christmas Carol or simply dote on film trivia, I promise you will enjoy this book.


Full disclosure: I was privileged to create the index for this book. I don't normally review books I've indexed (in order to avoid conflict of interest), but I wrote this review for Amazon (with Mr. Guida's consent, though without his input) well before I became a book blogger -- in 1999, as a matter of fact. The honest truth is that I would have enjoyed reading and browsing the book even if I hadn't worked on the index.