Florida isn't merely a drab slab of limestone; instead, it is a surprisingly complex and interesting geological lab. For example, most of what we now call Florida was once a part of Africa! In this book, the many chapter authors (edited by Randazzo and Jones) cover the evolution of the Florida platform from the origin of its crystalline basement in paleo-Africa, through its docking with the North American plate, innumerable sea level changes, and the reef building, barrier island migration and mining impacts of the past few thousand years. This text is stuffed with information! The Keys even merit their own chapter -- a wise choice.

This is a university level text; and as such, it contains some of the typically academic dryness of writing and technical terminology which probably wouldn't appeal to the mildly curious reader. But for anyone who is seriously interested in either Florida geology or in carbonate platforms in general, there can probably be no better resource. Because of its thorough coverage of the processes which have built Florida, and its rich scientific bibliography, geology students and librarians will find this book to be a solid reference.

The trivia begins with the MGM Musicals of "The Wizard of Oz" and "Singin' in the Rain" and covers the spectrum from "My Fair Lady" to "Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory," to "Hello, Dolly!" and even to the animated "Beauty and the Beast." Each of the ten musicals has questions divided into three categories. The easiest questions are about the story and the characters, followed by the medium, not so easy questions, concerning actors, artists, and others. Finally, the hard category, with no easy stuff, Kurtti appropriately labels the minutia and obscuria. While the book is set up to be read as simple Q and A, the fun comes with Jeff's researched follow-up stories after the answer. The questions are used as springboards to delicious little secrets about stars, sets, Munchkins, and mistakes. An example of a brief but interesting medium rated question and answer for "The Wizard of Oz," reads as follows:

Q: Who was originally cast as the Wicked Witch? A: An early casting memo shows both Edna Mae Oliver and Fanny Brice as potential "witches" (their ethical orientation is not discussed, wicked or otherwise, but it's not hard to guess the casting). Finally, on August 20, 1938, Gale Sondergaard was announced for the role-a beautiful villain in the style of the evil queen in Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" (q.v.) She did tests for the picture during the last weeks of September 1938, but left by mutual agreement with the producers in early October,! when it was decided that the beautiful witch was not acceptable and attempts to hide Sondergaard's beauty in "ugly" make-up seemed ridiculous. The next year she would have the part of Tylette the Cat in "The Blue Bird."

The stories range from brief paragraphs to full pages of bizarre information that Kurtti has uncovered through years of curious collecting and inside information at major studios. The book ignores all the obvious and targets the truly tasty fresh facts one can't resist. Juice combined with Jeff's witty personal commentary, make the book a great summer dessert sprinkled with photographs. This becomes the only drawback of the book, beginning with the colorful candy cover, it grabs you and you can't quit nibbling.

This movie musical trivia book has a delightful introduction by Shirley Jones, who sums up the book nicely: "If you're a fan of the celluloid musical, got ready you are about to have one terrific time.' -- William Christopher

Each chapter opens with brief paragraphs about the featured film, followed by three difficulty levels of questions and answers. Kurtti deserves credit for not making the first level, "The Easy Stuff," either condescending or too easy, such as the "Mary Poppins" question, "Who 'gets stuck with the children with no nanny in the 'ouse!'," The answer (no, I'm not going to tell) includes a career rundown of the performer who played the character that made the statement in the film, imparting information beyond just answering the question. "Not So Easy" and "No Easy Stuff" questions test the reader's knowledge, such as who was the associate producer of "Hello, Dolly!" and who is the famous father of the animator of The Beast. These too lead into mini-essays, providing interesting facts with which trivia buffs will be able to astound their friends. Each chapter includes an assortment of photos related to the film covered, and concludes with its screen credits. Highly entertaining, the book may well provide new information even for those who think they already know all the answers.