referencebooks

The Actor's Survival Handbook

By Patrick Tucker and Christine Ozanne

Published by Routledge, 2005

This is a 5.5" by 8.5" clothbound book running to 330 pages, with no index, plus 26 pages of preferatory material. It is a well-manufactured book whose pages are printed with smallish margins.

Routledge is primarily an academic publisher. This book is unusual for them in that it is designed for use not by scholars but by actors who want to improve their acting and professionalism and advance their careers.

The book has 134 brief articles arranged alphabetically. Though the book lacks an index, a "family tree" classification of the entries is a help to finding relevant information where the article titles don't do it by themselves. Here is a list of the entries in the F, G, H, and I sequences:

• Fellow Actors
  
• Film versus Television
  
• Forgetting Lines
  
• Further Training
  
• Gear Changes
  
• Getting Work
  
• Good and Bad Taste
  
• Hierarchy
  
• Homework
  
• Illness
  
• Improvisation
  
• Instinct versus Intellect
  
• Interviews
  
• It's Not What It Used To Be
  

Opening the book at random, I'm looking at a single article running just over a page. The right-hand facing page is blank following the end of this article. The article is titled "Opposites" and is subtitled, "Always a useful device." It begins, "Acting opposites is a vital technique for producing the element of surprise for the audience." The article explains the usefulness and some technical issues involved in acting opposite emotions using clearly described hypothetical examples.

The book is fun and easy to read. It's clearly very useful for actors and a book that an actor would love to own. We have it in our reference section because it really works as a reference book, though it is not primarily about scholarship. For non-actors who are curious about acting it is an interesting read that provides a lot of insights.

Careers for Environmental Types & Others Who Respect the Earth

By Jane Kinney and Michael Fasulo

Published by VGM Career Horizons, a division of NTC Publishing Group, 1993.

Like the others in this extensive career guidance series, this is a small paperback, measuring 5.5" by 8.5". This one runs to 152 pages including the appendices, plus a brief foreword.

The chapter headings are:

1. Career Opportunities for the Ecologically Minded
   
2. Environmental Education
   
3. The Greening of Corporate America
   
4. Jobs in the Government: Federal, State, and Local
   
5. Environmental Entrepreneurs
   
6. Career Opportunities in the Nonprofit Sector
   
7. Green Communication
   

The first chapter is really an introduction. The second is about ways of gaining an education suitable for environmental careers and issues to consider, with additional resources listed. The rest of the chapters are about types of jobs, specific organizations where one can work in the field, and issues related to getting a career started.

Opening the book at random, I'm on page 101, in the chapter titled "Career Opportunities in the Nonprofit Sector," looking at the heading, "Direct Action Organizations." Under this heading are Earth First!, The Sea Shepherd Conservancy, and The Rainforest Action Network. Each of these organizations gets a paragraph-long description, including the kind of work a person might find there, and contact information. Greenpeace isn't listed under this heading, but appears earlier in the chapter under the heading "National Environmental Organizations," though they have certainly done a lot of direct action over the years and as far as I know still do. I'm rather impressed that direct action organizations are included in the book; leaving them out would be a real omission but an unsurprising one.

This is a very helpful little book.

Career Opportunities in Politics, Government, and Activism

By Joan Axelrod-Contrada.

Published by Ferguson, an imprint of Facts On File, 2003.

This is an 8.5" by 11" hardback book running to 274 pages including the appendices and index, plus 14 pages of preferatory material.

The front matter includes a preface by John Kerry, a discussion of the "industry outlook," an acknowledgements section and an introduction called "How to use this book," which begins, "Welcome to a world of possibilities. Whether you dream of running for political office, planning cities, monitoring legislation, fighting for a cause, or joining the Peace Corps, this book should help you get started."

The book is organized into three major categories, and talks about job opportunities in each. The categories are Politics, Government, and Activism. The Politics section has subsections for Political Campaigns (including such careers as Pollster, Political Consultant, and Political Party Staffer) and Political Office (including things like School Board member, City Councilor, Mayor, Governor and President of the United States). The Government section has subsections on Local/State -- General Positions (including such things as Management Analyst and Public Information Officer); Local Government (including things like Recreation Supervisor, Urban and Regional Planner, Municipal Clerk and Election Official); Local/State Specialists (including Environmental Specialist, Victim Advocate, Auditor, Ethics Investigator, and Antidiscrimination Worker); State/Federal Legislative Staff (including things like Congressional Page, Legislative Assistant, and Research Analyst); Other State/Federal Positions (like Paralegal, Policy Analyst, and Speechwriter); and International Affairs (like Foreign Service Officer and Intelligence Operative). The Activism section has jobs that are not within government but nevertheless interact with government in some way. The sections are Nonprofit Advocacy and Administration (including such jobs as Program Director, Fundraiser and Director of Volunteers); Public Interest (including Canvasser, Environmental Activist, Consumer Activist, Government Reform Activist, and Public Interest Lawyer); Community, Social and International Issues (including Community Organizer, Women's Rights Activist, Peace Worker, and Conflict Resolution Specialist); Lobbies, Unions and Associations (including things like Lobbyist, Labor Union Organizer, and Association Membership Director); and Service Programs (including Peace Corps and Americorps Volunteer).

There are ten Appendices, and many of those have several parts. These cover pay scales, organizational charts of government agencies, graduate school programs, advocacy groups of different types, trade publications, a guide to running for political office, and other useful information.

Each job profile begins with a chart showing the main duties, alternate titles, salary ranges, employment prospects, and educational requirements. A "career ladder" diagram shows a typical career path from the entry level to the top. This is followed by a factual description of the position that talks about a typical day on the job, the types of projects handled, and a bulleted list of typical responsibilities. Relevant professional associations and unions are also listed. The job entries finish with a section of tips for gaining employment in that job.

This is an extremely practical and useful book for someone wanting to start a career in government or advocacy.

It is an interesting strength of the book that advocacy work is presented as part of the overal world of government and politics and not as something that belongs in a different reference work.