Book excerpt: Charles Long thrilled opera audiences for more than two decades, performing on some of America's and the world's most famous stages and singing alongside some of the medium's greatest stars. Now retired, Long vividly recounts many of those experiences in this insightful, frank, and humorous memoir. Sparing no one, especially himself, from his acerbic wit and keen observations, he sheds a bright light into a world many of us respect and admire but few of us have ever encountered in such intimate detail. In the process he illustrates why the word opera, which means work in Italian, truly is a labor of love for so many who have given their all to their art.