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Out With the Stars: Hollywood Nightlife in the Golden Era
Jim Heimann
Manufacturer: Abbeville Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: 0896595722 |
Customer Reviews:
A Real Treasure!.......2004-06-27
This is one of those books I can't recommend highly enough if you love old Hollywood or the flamboyant architecture and graphic design of Hollywood in the 20's - 50's. I picked it up on a cut-out table in New York about 10 years ago and have come to appreciate it as one of the best books in my library - in fact it's one of those books that is always getting borrowed from friends who are graphic designers or work at ad agencies looking for inspiration.
Jim Heimann deserves much praise for assembling what is obviously a huge labor of love with lots of great photos and illustrations that you will never see anywhere else - everything from cocktail napkins and matchbooks to beautiful interior photography and paparazzi pics of the stars at play.
Also I'd like to disagree with the review - I actually found the writing in the book to be pretty engaging. It's fairly straightforward and to the point., luckily since there is a lot of history to cover.
Anyway it's an amazing book that I would highly recommend.
Book Description
"What is abstract art good for? What's the use--for us as individuals, or for any society--of pictures of nothing, of paintings and sculptures or prints or drawings that do not seem to show anything except themselves?" In this invigorating account of abstract art since Jackson Pollock, eminent art historian Kirk Varnedoe, the former chief curator of painting and sculpture at the Museum of Modern Art, asks these and other questions as he frankly confronts the uncertainties we may have about the nonrepresentational art produced in the last five decades. He makes a compelling argument for its history and value, much as E. H. Gombrich tackled representation fifty years ago in Art and Illusion, another landmark A. W. Mellon Lectures volume. Realizing that these lectures might be his final work, Varnedoe conceived of them as a statement of his faith in modern art and as the culminating example of his lucidly pragmatic and philosophical approach to art history. He delivered the lectures, edited and reproduced here with their illustrations, to overflowing crowds at the National Gallery of Art in Washington in the spring of 2003, just months before his death.
With brilliance, passion, and humor, Varnedoe addresses the skeptical attitudes and misunderstandings that we often bring to our experience of abstract art. Resisting grand generalizations, he makes a deliberate and scholarly case for abstraction--showing us that more than just pure looking is necessary to understand the self-made symbolic language of abstract art. Proceeding decade by decade, he brings alive the history and biography that inform the art while also challenging the received wisdom about distinctions between abstraction and representation, modernism and postmodernism, and minimalism and pop. The result is a fascinating and ultimately moving tour through a half century of abstract art, concluding with an unforgettable description of one of Varnedoe's favorite works.
Customer Reviews:
Pictures of Nothing.......2007-10-13
This is a very good collection of lectures given about abstract art. It gives some valuable clues as to the genealogy of modern art.
overrated and wordy.......2007-09-19
a disappointing book - pretentious and unenlightening - get hilton kramer's "the trium of modernism" instead!
They really need a Zero Star category for books like this one.......2007-07-24
I watched the excellent series on art on DVD called "Power of Art" by Simon Schama. The last episode of the series is on Mark Rothko, an abstract painter. It made me want to learn more about abstract art, so I bought this book. Annnt! Thanks for playing. This book is a dog. It didnt help me understand abstract art one bit . In fact, it goes on and on about pieces of "art," but does not explain them beyond being smears or smudges or works of technique. The basis of abstract art is not explained at all.
BTW, it appears from this book that these guys were often making paintings just as rude jabs at one another's work.
I found the book a total waste.
Review by P Hutchings, Melbourne, Australia.......2007-06-13
Kirk Varnedoe's Pictures of Nothing is a masterpiece of empirical art chronology/criticism. It is gritty and on the ground. This is a relief after Danto's warmed-over Hegel and Clement Greenberg's star-spangled marx with a small M. If one might venture any hypothesis about the artists about whom Varnedoe wrote it would have to face, square on, any counter-instances. No Zeitgeist, just Popperian falsifiablility. Good. It is of course a pity for those of us who were not in New York at the right time. But, that's life.
Patrick Hutchings
Department of Philopsophy
University of Melbourne
Australia
Abstraction clarified.......2007-02-07
A brilliant and thorough explication of contemporary abstract art. The lectures were not intended for
arts professionals but are a literate and enjoyable guide to the visual arts since Jackson Pollock.
Book Description
The only performer to earn 5 stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame--for film, recordings, TV, radio, and live performance--Gene Autry was the singing cowboy king of American entertainment. Now, in Public Cowboy No.1, Holly George-Warren offers the first serious biography of this singular individual, in a fascinating narrative that traces Autry's climb from small-town farm boy to multimillionaire. Here for the first time Autry the legend becomes a flesh-and-blood man--with all the passions, triumphs, and tragedies of a flawed icon. George-Warren recounts stories never before told, including revelations about Autry's impoverished boyhood, his adventures as an up-and-coming singer, and the impact his unbelievable success had on his personal life. She describes Autry's loving but doomed mother, who died on the brink of her son's success, and his ne'er-do-well father, who married five times and wandered the west. Autry battled his own demons but emerges here in a positive light, an immensely personable man, one of America's most charitable benefactors, known for his boundless generosity, and a patriot who enlisted during World War II. The book provides equally colorful details of Autry's lengthy radio and recording career, which included such classics as "Back in the Saddle Again" and "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer"; his movie career, where he breathed new life into the Western genre; and his role in early television, being the first movie star to develop his own TV shows. And along the way, we see how he invested shrewdly in radio, real-estate, and television, becoming the owner of the California Angels and the only entertainer listed among 1990's Fortune 400. Based on exclusive access to Gene Autry's personal papers, as well as interviews with more than 100 relatives, employees, colleagues, and friends, this engaging biography brings to life a major Hollywood star--a man who, more than anyone else, put Western music and style on the American cultural map.
Customer Reviews:
All About Gene.......2007-09-25
This is a big book all about the career of Gene Autry, and not enough about his personal life, which is usually what I like to read. I don't need to know about every record he made and when and every performance, etc., etc., etc. And I don't need to know about all his business dealings. But I like to know about what stars did behind the scenes, etc., and surprisingly this seemed to involve a lot of drinking and womanizing which I didn't think Autry had done. Oh well. There just wasn't enough about him personally for my reading taste, but the guy had no children and had a solid marriage, so I guess there isn't much dirt on him.
Autry Fans - Buy It!.......2007-08-12
Anyone who was a fan of Gene Autry or who liked westerns during their golden years or who just enjoys good biography will find this a very compelling story. It tells the story of a very good, but a very complex man who grew up in poverty, endured a difficult childhood, and displayed very human flaws. This book is endorsed by the Gene Autry Corporation but doesn't coverup or sugarcoat the fact that, despite his image, Gene drank heavily after WW2, maybe to the point of alcholism, and was not always faithful to his wife. Yet he never failed to visit children's hospitals, give supergenerously to those in need, take care of family and non-family alike, and do much good for many people. This includes several generations of children to whom he was always the ideal role model.
Holly George-Warren did an admirable job and deserves to be congratulated. One criticism: I wish Ms George-Warren had gone into greater depth into the extraordinarily complicated relationship between Gene and his wife Ina.
Memories of one of my favorite cowboys.......2007-07-31
This book brought back many great memories of Saturday matinees at our
neighborhood theatre. Gene Autry was one of my favorite western movie
stars. My favorite western movie star was Charles Starrett as the Durango Kid.
Our local movie "show" was a Columbia theatre which showed Columbia
movies including Columbia serials, the Durango Kid and assorted Columbia
"B" movies susitable for the kids' matinees. I enjoyed the Gene Autry 30's
and early '40's westerns more then the later ones he made. This book will
certainly return one to the "days of yesteryear." Excellent book!
Gene Autry, An American Idol.......2007-05-31
Public Cowboy No.1: The Life And Times Of Gene Autry, by Holly George-Warren
A book review by Jerry Rojo, May, 2007
Gene Autry, An American Idol
Holly George-Warrne's biographic tome is a definitive must-read, not only for the worldwide legions of the American cowboy moviegoing public, young and old, but also, anyone interested in a prototypical American dreamer on a lifelong trek, as defined by the arts and entertainment industry's dream factories from Hollywood to Madison Avenue. George-Warren's impeccably researched Gene Autry story, interestingly, is somewhat reminiscent of Doris Kerns-Goodwin's recent Abraham Lincoln book, Team Of Rivals, that chronicles the president's rags-to-riches life in the political arena. Both authors masterfully use the biographic form to convey their respective visions, yet provide the reader scholarly researched stories to ponder any number of themes and ideas about their subject. Like Lincoln, Autry was dirt poor, grassroots, self-made and ambitious; carefully grooming his career with a lifelong, unrelenting, innate ability to charm colleagues, friends and the public at large. Lincoln, too, was a performer. He cherished the spoken/written word, and the theatre, to the chagrin of his aristocratic, snobbish cabinet. Ironically, he was assassinated by a Shakespearean actor. The Autry book, like Lincoln's, defines his respective context/time in America. The political-rodeo arena is a metaphor for our country's so-called "culture", epitomized by the American Idol phenomena, with its demigod-like celebrities from respective realms of, popular entertainment, sports, politics. religion and, now a days, big corporations, all of which defines the current American ethos.
My can't-put-down read of George-Warren was fueled not only by her writing, but by my own childhood spent idolizing Gene Autry while growing up in Illinois, and, my subsequent professional interest in dramatic arts adds to the attraction. A compelling aspect of the book traces Autry's genealogy from the Norman Conquest in 1066 to pre-great depression Texas/Oklahoma, where Autry's story begins. During that period, one is amazed by his personal and professional character development, growing up in a family of six in abject poverty, with an on-and-off absentee, hard-drinking father, and by contrast, a deeply religious and nurturing mother. Everyone knows Autry's interest in the great American pastime, baseball, but a telling tidbit reveals that he was a pretty good sandlot player, and was offered a chance to play for a minor league team, but, declined because he was making more money working on the railroad and needed to support his family. That anecdote helps define this complex man. His devotion and generosity to family, friends and associates throughout his long life was always balanced by his knack for good judgment when it came to decisions about human welfare and the business of life.
It was during the seven odd years in the late 20s early 30s, while in the Chicago/Midwest, that young Autry began his "singing cowboy" career. But there was no overnight success here, instead, an astonishing story of how to succeed in show business--a methodology that paved the way for popular entertainers ever since. With a modicum of musical talent Autry used love of performing, hard work, determination, his WASPish good looks and savvy business acumen to mold a career that would lead to five-star recognition at the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The book documents, in wonderful detail how he shrewdly evolved his signature persona-image, which, once established, never changed. At 91 he died with his boots on.
Before his Chicago days, Autry didn't start out as a cowboy singing around the campfire soothing a restless herd of cattle. He had his sights set on the popular music of the roaring 20s tin pan alley, which featured the likes of Gene Austin and Rudy Vallee (Autry's first name, Orvon, was substituted for Austin's). Ultimately, Gene Autry changed his musical style by literally imitating yodeling Jimmie Rodgers, the father of country/hillbilly music, who's great popularity appealed to blue-collar folks from the South and Midwest. After a brief trip to the Big Apple--before giving up his day job on the railroad--a failed audition with a record company sent Autry home to gain experience singing on local radio stations and other venues. He actually sang with a medicine show, a lesson learned, hawking products. Professional contacts and an established country-folk sound led him back to New York to make records. His recordings caught on, and with astute self-promotion Autry's popularity grew, garnering a spot on Chicago's popular WLS radio station's National Barn Dance program. There, his image was transformed to The Singing Cowboy.
With royalties from a national smash hit record, "That Silver Haired Daddy of Mine" in his hip pocket, a newly minted Martin guitar with his ivory signature on the frets, a new Hollywood-like-Tom Mix cowboy "look" and Buick automobile, he barnstormed the environs of Chicago, Illinois. There, he discovered a key player on the road to success, the highly talented musician, singer, song writer and naturally gifted comedic performer, Smiley Brunette. Autry always had a keen eye for talented associates, musical and otherwise. Back in Chicago on the airwaves, and on tour, they soon developed their signature hero/sidekick routine.
Unlike the multitude of American denizens, then and now, seeking instant success in golden California, Autry didn't go to Hollywood; Hollywood came to Autry. He was already a "star", self-made, and, at a time when the Great Depression was raging world wide. Now, only in his late 20s, part two of his odyssey begins at a B-Western studio factory that Autry would bale-out of near financial ruin, Republic Pictures. Here, Ms George-Warren really delivers the goods with a compendium of data-based facts of tinsel-town fiction that chronicles Autry's American idol success story.
It was 1934, but he didn't have an auspicious start in the movies. After an initial bit part in a Ken Maynard flick, studio executives had reservations--with good reason--about Autry's abilities. It seemed clear, he excelled at nothing cinematic: a marginal singer-guitarist, bad acting, awkward in the saddle and, most of all, he lacked gunslinger machismo, a staple at the time. But, no matter, the audience Autry already established, had a different opinion. He had something!! And it didn't take but a couple of years or so for the Studio and Autry, tinkering with the chemistry, to come up with THE original Gene Autry that would become a one-of-a-kind icon. By 1939 he was in the big leagues with Clark Gable/Gone With The Wind, if you consider audience appeal and box-office numbers. Now, cash-cow-boy Autry played to millions of adoring fans of, so called, sophisticated folks from the East, NYC to Boston, and, Great Britain, where he seduced hundreds of thousands from across the island empire, evidenced by massive turnouts on tour. It was 1942, a turning point in Gene Autry's fame if not fortune. Here again, he makes a watershed career decision. Much to the dismay of Republic Pictures/Hollywood, he joins the military to fight in World War II. George-Warren reveals insightful, detailed stories of the war years that further defines this remarkable man. For example, why, arguably, at the pinnacle of popularity and performance-form does he do it? Is he a consummate patriot, or as he says, protecting his image-based code of cowboy ethics? He survives air force missions, military boredom and keeps in tune doing a stint with the USO at the end of the war, meanwhile at home, movie reruns and other strategies kept him in the public mind's eye. After the war Autry picked up where he left off with his still adoring fans, donning his cowboy persona, producing and performing a mind-boggling schedule of entertainment engagements, including burgeoning TV (he was the first Hollywood star to do so); but, it WAS the beginning of the end and not the end of the beginning, as Churchill coined. Then, in the early to mid 60s the fame-flame goes out, but the fortune doesn't. Now, Gene Autry transitions to the business tycoon still wearing cowboy clothes, occasionally sporting an LA Angels baseball cap. Autry scrupulously designed and protected his public image that, except for in the military, never changed. As entertainer he performed the SELF and when he hung up the guitar in the early 60s he took on the role of CEO, Gene Autry Enterprises, but little else changed.
But what was at the heart of that masked man? It's all there in Holly George-Warren's biography that unearths the Man UNDER the persona, and as she perceives you don't need his purely business-life endgame story. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone, public or private that hated or disrespected Gene Autry, then or now. And he was no pushover while wheeling and dealing in either his business interests or performance career. That's evident by his tough, recalcitrant stance with the tightfisted studio honchos, which, by the way, help lead to Actors's Equity and the independent film makers of today. And yes, the book gets into the nitty-gritty of his postwar performing years of womanizing and binge drinking but that served to make him more human and strengthen his character. A shrink would have a field day, given young Autry's polarized parenting. As a 10y.o. boy I idolized that innovative kind of cowboy-man who was good and strong, and that seemed to portray the best of American values (My grandsons have his 10 Cowboy Commandments, framed.). Singing and playing the guitar as a real-life person his pictures were action-filled musical westerns, portraying the American mantra during that time: talk softly and carry a big stick; he toted a six shooter but never killing the bad guy. My growing up after the war, it was easy to see his weakness as an aging performer and ever more commercializing career strategy, but in the long run, that never led to diminishing the demigod I worshiped circa 1942.
Gene Autry represented as performer and citizen the "God and Country" ideology. The ancient Greek and Romans worshipped a pantheon of Gods who were half-God and half-Human. A recent book, The God Delusion, by Richard Dawkins offers a view on the subject of the human need for God/demigods: it's in the genes, a kind of inner quest for survival. The American mystique seems particularly wedded to the phenomena of super hero, professing a particular moral/ethical/ism standard, albeit augmented by commercialism. Some Heroes are good and others not so, Abraham Lincoln/Adolph Hitler obvious opposites, others, Brittany Spears, Babe Ruth, Jerry Falwell, and Bill Gates fall somewhere in between. Gene Autry was clearly one of the good guys/entertainers, among American's pantheon of God/demigods, further identified in the Epilogue, that points to the multimillions he gave to charity in his lifetime, contributing to schools, hospitals and building a world-class western art museum and institute for western studies. Holly George-Warren's book gives us the arc of this complex quintessential American, who was Gene Autry.
A VERY PUBLIC COWBOY by John Paddy Browne.......2007-05-10
Whatever Holly George-Warren says in her new biography of Gene Autry; however much detail she covers; however many previously unpublished facts she unearths, she is never going to please everyone. Even a monumental biography such as this one, packed to bursting as it is with dates and names and stories, will never record everything that we, the readers, will want to see.
The problem is not Ms George-Warren's. When she says she could have written a book twice this size, I believe her.
No, the problem was created by Autry himself. He lived to a mighty age, and into that great expanse of time he packed enough life experiences to fuel any number of books and magazines and newspaper articles. One glance at George-Warren's footnotes and bibliography shows how the world has been flooded with Autry newsprint throughout a career - no, several careers - that spanned 70 years. And that doesn't take account of his austere childhood (a story in itself that George-Warren tells in remarkable detail), or the vast amount of Autry material that has appeared since his death in 1998: the DVDs, the CDs, the books, the websites - even the belated victory of his Angels team in the World Series. Look at any of the online auction sites any day of the week and you will get an idea of just how much stuff Autry left behind: the supply seems endless, and endlessly varied, and all of this is merely an illusion of the man's actual working life.
Autry was a workaholic, driven, it seems, to be always doing something. When his contemporaries Clark Gable and Spencer Tracy and Tyrone Power finished their day's work at the studio, they went home and put their feet up. Not Autry. As George-Warren records in breathless detail, even while shooting a movie, Autry would be called to the phone to deal with some other business in which he was involved elsewhere: or he would receive commercial partners for discussions on set. There simply weren't enough hours in the day for him.
This handsome biography could never hope to cover everything in such an industrious life, and some of the material that is missing has been judiciously excised for purely logistical, editorial reasons. Quite rightly, the author almost completely eschews Autry's involvement in baseball (a blessed relief for those of us not interested in sports), and instead concentrates a good deal of time to his early radio and recording work. A fascinating account of Autry's notorious shoot-out with Herb Yates at Republic Studios, usng the evidence of surviving documents, brings that painful episode to vivid life. George-Warren skirts around the hackneyed stories, veracious or otherwise, that Autry told so many times that he eventually believed them himself. She neither confirms them or denies them, but puts them into a sort of context from which the reader may draw his or her own conclusions about their probability.
Not that any of this matters, except insofar as how it paints a picture of a man who was as much a media creation as a real-life figure, and possibly more so since he carried the cowboy image into his private life by wearing his Western-styled clothes - his uniform - in public and at home, away from the working environment of the studios. He put on this uniform in the same way that Superman or Santa Claus put on their uniforms, and became a figment of our collective imagination. It was how he made money.
And money is the one constant in Gene Autry's life. Whatever he did, and he did an inordinate number of different things, money was at the heart of it. "Working with figures is what I do best," he allegedly said. "What I do less well is act, sing and play the guitar." There is no hint whatever in the 400-plus pages of Holly George-Warren's book that Autry ever did anything for the love of it. He frequently spoke about how "proud" he was of certain of his achievements, and he had every reason to be proud of them - but that's not the same as "love". No-one ever got him to say that he sang certain songs because he loved them, in the way that, say, folk singers might sing songs for the love of them. Autry sang stuff that would make him money, and that was the criterion for performing and recording it.
His pursuit of money, indeed, seems to have been the one true love-affair of his life - and he has said as much. No-one will begrudge the man becoming one of the richest people in America when he worked so diligently and tirelessly to attain that pleasant state. Nobody gave him his wealth: he went out and worked for it. Ms George-Warren could easily have published a page from any one of Autry's touring schedules (and I've seen them) that would have shown him to be working in a different town or city every single day for months at a stretch. None of your two-days-on and four-days-off for him.
Along the way he gave the illusion of being a happy, carefree cowboy, bestowing a bounty of delight on his fans - fans who would carry their affection for him and loyalty to him into their old age. Autry's trick, if this does not sound too cynical, is that he made them feel that they all mattered to him when, in fact, everything he did, be it hospital visits to chat with sick children, merchandising his name relentlessly, [...] or claiming writing credits for someone else's work - and even his enlistment into the armed forces in World War 2 - all of it had a "money handle" - and he saw it all as a means of furthering his career.
Autry's publicity as high-flying business magnate, which so fascinated the Hollywood press, has done his artistic reputation no favors. Dismissed as "commercial" and superficial by many, it has been an uphill struggle for those of us trying to keep his memory alive, to justify his place at the top of so many lists of achievements in the arts. Indeed, the juxtaposition of the name "Autry" with the word "art" is almost an oxymoron - a contradiction. Yet the trail that Autry left behind him, that so many fledgling artists have followed to their benefit, speaks volumes for the influence he has had on the cultivation and development of the Country and popular music of America and other English-speaking countries. Academically, though, he was never recognised in his lifetime, nor was his work and contribution ever seriously analyzed or documented.
At the end of the day we, his fans, seem not to be troubled by any of this, and even Holly George-Warren's commendably open, impartial and well-written book, with its tales of risque songs, binge drinking, and amorous dalliances with his leading ladies (and some of his female Fan Club members) does nothing to lessen the man's stature. If anything, it reveals him to be more human than the singing cowboy of the screen ever was: the sort of man we are able to relate to: a flawed hero we can identify with.
And if this flies in the face of that famous remark made by the fictional editor of the Shinbone Star: "When the legend becomes fact, print the legend!" what it may do is make the legendary figure of Gene Autry a more approachable figure to a new generation of admirers. And in our hero, the Singing Cowboy, they will find a great deal to admire. Holly George-Warren has seen to that. --JOHN PADDY BROWNE
Book Description
Temple Grandin, Ph.D., is a gifted animal scientist who has designed one third of all the livestock-handling facilities in the United States. She also lectures widely on autism—because Temple Grandin is autistic, a woman who thinks, feels, and experiences the world in ways that are incomprehensible to the rest of us.
In this unprecedented book, Grandin delivers a report from the country of autism. Writing from the dual perspectives of a scientist and an autistic person, she tells us how that country is experienced by its inhabitants and how she managed to breach its boundaries to function in the outside world. What emerges in Thinking in Pictures is the document of an extraordinary human being, one who, in gracefully and lucidly bridging the gulf between her condition and our own, sheds light on the riddle of our common identity.
Customer Reviews:
Temple Grandin is an inspiration.......2007-06-08
Temple Grandin's "Thinking in Pictures", is a must read for anyone who is affected by Autism Spectrum Disorders. Her book is well written and provides a lot of insight into what life is like for a young adult on the spectrum. This has been especially helpful for my husband and I as our first Aspie (we have four) is heading off to college and the "real" world. Definitely worth the money.
Amazing.......2007-05-21
Read this and Autism is more understandable (though still a mystery for those who do not have Autism) It also helps one to know better how to work with and interact with anyone having Autism Spectrum Disorder.
Aside from learning more about Autism, you will enjoy the writing and the stories used by the author.
More Conceptual than She Thinks.......2007-03-29
This book provides fascinating, intelligent, entertaining insights into the autistic mind.
Grandin is actually very conceptual, as the ability to use language requires, but appropriate concepts and contexts are difficult for her to define, seemingly due to a sensory system that leads to focusing on details rather than a broader scope. She and psychologists in general simply think she is largely non-conceptual due to their inadequate understanding of concepts, language, etc.
Actually, we all think in pictures; however, most of us use generalized, essentialized pictures most of the time for efficiency.
A grasp of how concepts are formed and organized, and how they are the essence of language, will help greatly. Best and easy to read for effective general psychology is "The Psychology of Self-Esteem," by Branden. Self-esteem is acquired from experience, not by choosing it. Emotions result from thoughts, not vice versa. The best and easy to read for the nature of concepts and language is "Introduction to Objectivist Epistemology," by Rand, and then for a comparison with other theories and how they go wrong "Evidence of the Senses," by Kelly.
must read.......2007-03-08
gives insight and hope for parents of kids with autism. also realization of what kids with aspergers can accomplish. this woman has a phd!!!
Temple Grandin and Eleanor Roosevelt would have loved each other.......2007-03-06
Dip vat, squeeze machine, restraining chute...Temple Grandin makes poetry of these unlikely words, and out of the whole of the English language. It's a spiritual miracle that we experience the noise and overpowering smells of the stockyards, yet also find in them the triumph of compassion.
Quite simply, Grandin is one of the greatest women of the 20th and 21st centuries. She should be draped with laurels, carried through the streets on our shoulders as we sing our praise-songs; she should be awarded keys to cities, MacArthur Foundation buckets of money, a Nobel Prize, a Presidential Medal of Freedom...and any other accolade we can think of to bestow on her. Did I say she was one of the greatest women? Check that. She is one of the greatest human beings of any century.
In addition, she is delightful company. She humanizes scary conditions, autism and asperger's, evoking in readers compassion and curiosity they might not have known they had. In this regard, Grandin is a superb spiritual guide with abundant personal experience and vast knowledge, which she generously shares via neat, accessible anecdotes and lists.
Reading Grandin, it is easy to imagine being in the same room with her, listening wide-eyed, and never wanting her to leave. Some nights, I confess that I fall asleep thinking of her as a young girl, joyfully flying those kites in the park...
Robert McDowell, author of the forthcoming Poetry In Your Spiritual Practice
Book Description
With nearly thirty movies, countless awards, and an unwavering commitment to UNICEF, Audrey Hepburn's life served as an example of both style and purpose. From her early dance performances for the Dutch resistance during World War II to her London cabaret days and her breakthrough roles in Gigi and Roman Holiday, audiences worldwide have long been enchanted by Audrey's charm and grace.
Now, in this lavishly illustrated biography -- created with the Audrey Hepburn Children's Fund -- Audrey's own words are given center stage to create a unique personal narrative. This special collection also includes approximately 200 black-and-white and color photographs selected by the Hepburn Estate, as well as reproduced mementos from Audrey's life. Thirty-four removable documents include an excerpt from her Breakfast at Tiffany's script with handwritten notes, a letter she sent to husband Mel Ferrer while preparing for The Nun's Story, and a birth certificate announcement marking the arrival of her first son.
A dazzling celebration of an extraordinary human being, The Audrey Hepburn Treasures offers fan an intimate and revealing portrait of the woman they admire and adore.
Customer Reviews:
A Generation's Treasure.......2007-10-12
Having grown up in the 50's/60's I wanted to be Audrey Hepburn. We all loved her...she was perfection in every way. From "War & Peace" to Breakfast At Tiffany's she held you spellbound. This book of treasures is indeed that. I received this as a gift from my husband and have now given a copy to my daughter...another generation enjoying our treasure.
Fabulous Book about a classic lady!.......2007-08-16
My mom loves Audrey Hepburn, and this book is just wonderful. It's like a personal scrapbook all about Audrey and Amazon has it $[...] cheaper than any store. It made for the perfect birthday present!
If your an Audrey Hepburn fan you will love this book.......2007-07-31
I was given this book as a birthday gift. I am a huge Audrey Hepburn fan. I think she is not only beautiful but she is an exceptional actress. She carries herself with a great deal of class. Looking through the book I felt as though I were looking through her own personal scrapbook. She went through so much in life but always came across as caring and graceful. The book is beautifuly written and I love the way it is put together with the snapshots and other wonderful surprises in the pages. This book gives you a wonderful glimpse into what her life was like. This is without a doubt one of the best Audrey Hepburn books I have ever read.
A must-have for Audrey fans!.......2007-04-06
The Audrey Hepbrun Treasures book is a treasure trove indeed, for it contains pictures and mementos from Audrey's amazing life. The book contains a foreword by Audrey's son, Sean Hepburn Ferrer, and is chronologically arranged, starting with Audrey's early childhood, her first role as a dancer, and goes on with her move to the silver screen, her marriages, her work with UNICEF, and finally her legacy. What makes this book truly unique is its format: it is presented in the form of a scrapbook, with reproductions of baby photos, family pictures, a wartime ID card, programs of Audrey's performances, and numerous other personal documents [birth certificate of her son, personal letters etc.]. These help to give us an insightful look into Audrey's amazing life, and help us to better understand this beautiful and graceful lady, who has inspired many by her beauty, her talent, and her convictions.
Love this book!.......2007-03-12
Not only is the book an excellent read about Audrey Hepburn, but the envelopes throughout the book that are filled with keepsakes and memoralbilia are wonderful! Great gift idea, also!
Book Description
In Bambi vs. Godzilla, David Mamet, the award-winning playwright and screenwriter, gives us an exhilaratingly subversive inside look at Hollywood from the perspective of a filmmaker who has always played the game his own way.
Who really reads the scripts at the film studios? How is a screenplay like a personals ad? Whose opinion matters when revising a screenplay? Why are there so many producers listed in movie credits? And what the hell do those producers do, anyway? Refreshingly unafraid to offend, Mamet provides hilarious, surprising, and bracingly forthright answers to these and other questions about virtually every aspect of filmmaking, from concept to script to screen.
He covers topics ranging from “How Scripts Got So Bad” to the oxymoron of “Manners in Hollywood.” He takes us step-by-step through some of his favorite movie stunts and directorial tricks, and demonstrates that it is craft and crew, not stars and producers, that make great films. He tells us who his favorite actors and what his favorite movies are, who he thinks is the most perfect actor to grace the screen, and who he thinks should never have appeared there.
Demigods and sacred cows of the movie business–beware! But for the rest of us, Mamet speaking truth to Hollywood makes for searingly enjoyable reading.
Customer Reviews:
It rambled a little here and there.......2007-10-10
Overall I liked the book. It had some great stories and advice, but at times he would ramble on and on about stuff and then the point would be in one sentence. I guess if he didn't ramble it wouldn't be a long book. The chapters were short so it's an easy read, and if you want to know what the business is like then it's a good read. I will recommend for people who want to get into the business, I don't recommend this book for those who are just movie buffs.
Vintage Mamet with a twist.......2007-09-09
This is vintage Mamet; sharp, insightful, renegade, taking potshots at sacred cows. Unlike earlier collections like 'Writing in Restaurants' there is a new ingredient running through most pieces- a knifetip of something angry and bitter.
That's made more noticeable by a chapter that starts with a genial, witty quote from 'Richard Weisz'... Richard Weisz being one of Mamet's alter egos. The world -and specifically that world- needs all the Mamet it can get.
War Stories A Plenty.......2007-07-29
As the title suggests, this is not a book that glorifies the movie business. Through stories from the trenches Mamet paints a vivid and realistic picture of what it's like trying to negotiate the turbulent rapids of Hollywood. I was a little afraid of this book at first, because I really thought the author, whom I respect very much, was going to trash the business, that I love so very much. But I was pleasantly surprised that he was able to present a balanced picture. Yes, there are some people that he hates (actors be ware), but you can tell that he has a true love for the business. Mamet also uses his humor to offset some of the more acidic anecdotes. All in all, a good book. A quick read. And his insights are very unique.
Disappointed.......2007-07-24
I love David Mamet's plays. He's an excellent writer. So I was enthusiastic about getting the chance to read his personal views of Hollywood. And while I agree with him that the studio machinery is all about profits and very little about art or craft - when was it ever different? - I was ultimately disappointed by his book. There were times when I just didn't know what he was talking about. I think his writing here is often inaccessible. I may not be the most erudite reader, but Mamet left me cold. I just couldn't get into the style of his writing. I felt distanced rather than drawn in. When I read a book like this, I want to devour it, not pick at its little pieces. You may feel differently, that's fine. The book didn't pull me in the way I'd hoped it would.
David Mamet on the movie business? Please?!.......2007-06-01
This book was so wonderful, I took it out from the library, read it, and then had to buy it. I never do that. It's a book you'll want to read over and over, have other people read (at least certain essays) and refer to the filmography repeatedly. Mamet is so amazingly astute about everything, but particularly about things relating to theater and the movie business. If you are a movie buff at all, read this book.
Customer Reviews:
Great Read.......2007-10-15
I have to admit I just got this book a couple of days ago and have not finished. What I have read though is great. His book in not just a how to book. Its entertaining and very inspiring. I really enjoyed reading about Rodriguiz spend 30 days as a medical experiement to make $3000 to help pay for his movie.
Rebel Withou A Crew.......2007-09-28
This book is very good. It is encouraging and helpful to any young film maker like myself. I highly recommend it. It's worth the money.
Great read, inspiring.......2007-09-23
Tells the story of how Rodriguez got to where he is. Everyone's road is very different but this is definitely an inspiring book. Hone your skills!
Excellent!.......2007-08-14
I bought this thinking it would be more of a guide then the journal it ended up being, and I couldnt have been happier. It was an interesting and easy read that I couldnt put down! I would definitely recommend this book to any young filmmakers or anyone interested in the independent process. Rodriguez really does a great job of showing how a lot of hard work, dedication and some luck can jump start a career. I felt inspired to go out and start working on films again, but I'm still reluctant to join any medical experiments to finance it.
Interesting insight into a very talented man.......2007-08-06
A great tale, but not so well written that I could recommend on its literary quality alone. I admire Rodriguez - even more, knowing what he went through to make this film (and I'm a fan El Mariachi more than the overly-produced Once Upon a Time in Mexico). The story-telling reflects his jagged style. At the very least, it should inspire you to make a few sacrifices in favor of pursuing one of your own dreams.
Book Description
Ron Jeremy is the porn industry's "everyman." Blessed with a large member and average looks, he's starred in over 1700 films, directed 250 of them, and over the last 20 years has become porn's biggest ambassador into the mainstream. He has appeared in 60 mainstream films, was a consultant on Boogie Nights and 9 1/2 Weeks, has appeared in 14 music videos, was on the VH1's Surreal Life, starred in the critically acclaimed Pornstar (a movie about his life), and Being Ron Jeremy (a take–off on Being John Malkovich, co–starring Andy Dick). And that's just the tip of the iceberg...
Ron Jeremy is a born storyteller (funny, considering he doesn't do a lot of talking in his films) and lucky for us, he has stories on every major Hollywood celebrity. If you want to know where all the bodies are buried, he's the guy who can not only show you the grave, but can tell you the back–story on the tombstone. Ron Jeremy will be a great and entertaining read, not just on the history of porn, but on its emergence into the mainstream, and the man everyone wanted to know while it was all happening.
Customer Reviews:
A fun and insightful read.......2007-09-20
Its nice to see the other side of porn and hear the behind the scenes stories. Ron is obviously a legend, and a great story teller as well. He has many stories to tell. Like I said, a fun read. A great biography of a great person mislabeled for his role in pornography. I recommend it!
awful.......2007-09-20
Don't waste your money on this book. It is horribly written. he thinks he is funny, when he isn't. It's crude!
Jenna Jameson's book is ten times better
Ron,you are a loser.You will always be a loser........2007-09-09
Let's stop and think about this "man" for a moment.There have actually been Ron Jeremy clauses written in the contracts for porn starlets stating that they would never have to sleep with him.He is that replusive and disgusting.It's one thing to be fat,balding and have a ton of back hair,but it's another thing to look like you do not bathe.Try using shampoo and maybe trimming that nasty stache that still contains yesterday's breakfast in it.
This is one thing that makes a person a loser.
We have heard time and time again that Ronnie has a big donger.Fine.I'm sure elephants also have big wangs too,but I don't know too many women who would want to sleep with one.Side note;the elephant would be more attractive than Ron,it also wouldn't be able to tell stupid jokes.It probabally wouldn't smell as bad either.
This is something else that makes a person a loser.
Ron constantly justifies everything about his life.Never does he stop to question his integrity,or lack there of.You've slept with and used thousands of women.You take money in exchange for degrading these women over and over.Heads up Ron;most women (at least the ones who haven't already been screwed up psychologicaly) don't like taking a blast of DNA in the face.You may have a masters degree,but you have no common sense.
In the book XXX Portraits 30 Stars revealed,he stated the following in his biography."When I die,I know people will say good things about me. They will say,"He never lied to nobody."Right,except for the Extends Male Enhancment Capsules that you endorsed on the 4 a.m. infomercials.
Again,this is a path that is traveled by the loser.
I have corresponded with and have a friendship with a former adult star who sat next to him at the AVN awards.She told me that the only reason he still has a steady career with the industry,is becuase he is with the Italian Mafia.
Makes perfect sense to me,because anyone;be it man or woman,
heterosexual or homosexual,would rather watch Jenna Jameson or any attractive woman having sex with someone like Peter North as opposed to the nasueating Jeremy.
Everybody reading this review,make an "L" with your left hand place it on your forehead and repeat after me:"LOSER!"
Just like Asia Carrera,Ron is a trained pianist and veeerrrry intelligent with his master's degree.There is a famous saying;Acts of greatness take 1% inspiration and 99% perspiration.
In another words;you can have have all the degrees in the world and be a genius.But unless you actually put that into action;then it's completely worthless.I guess they didn't teach that a Hedgehog High.No,they taught "Take the easy way out,keep making excuses for yourself and make money at the expense of others."
You COULD have helped disabled kids.You COULD have been a talented professional musician.You COULD have been a loyal husband and a great father.You COULD have been a valuble and respected member of society.
But you chose not to.You chose a lifetime of meaningless sex with women who resent you and laugh at you behind your back.
Hugh Hefner doesn't get it.Larry Flint doesn't get it.You don't get it either.
That's why you are and always will be a loser.
A true reflection of Ron Jeremy.......2007-08-20
Ron Jeremy's memoir characterizes his life perfectly. Ron Jeremy is an actor, an adult film superstar, a comedian, and an all-around hard working man. He's been in nearly 2000 films and directed well over 100 himself. He travels the country for appearances year-round. He loves adult conventions and he occasionally performs on the comedy circuit. He's always willing to pose with a fan, always willing to mock himself for a good laugh, and likes to enjoy good food and drink.
It's only natural that Jeremy's memoir is a string of laugh-out-loud funny anecdotes, organized into chapters by subject matter and chronology. Jeremy's had a few struggles with the law (and seen friends have much worse ones with vice squads), but overall, he's a jolly man who loves life, and his memoir reflects that. He doesn't get overly introspective or take an academic look at his life and career, and that's exactly what Jeremy's fans should expect from him. This memoir is Ron Jeremy through-and-through: vulgar with charm, rampantly self-promoting, and celebratory of life. Sure, he name drops, but he usually constrains that to footnotes, and boy did I chuckle at some of those footnotes. He includes plenty of pictures with celebrities, and plenty of pictures of himself in absolutely ridiculous costumes and settings.
The behind-the-scenes tales are too numerous to recount. The food buffet at Plato's Retreat is cited as the cause of Jeremy's body health downfall (nevermind the swinging). He reveals the origins of the chicken soup myth, one that started on an early set when someone asked how he could produce so much output. He credited his grandmother's chicken soup, and the legend lives on today on modern sets. He also talks candidly about discovering his autofellatio skills. Every time he did it on camera was sure to be the last, but the right amount of goading and money could convince him to do it again.
Any porn history buff won't want to miss Ron's version of the controversial careers of Linda Lovelace and Traci Lords. He's got some great stories straight from Linda's first husband, and later discusses Linda's own disagreements with the antiporn feminists who cast her as their pet cause.
If you need one more reason to pick this up, I leave you with this: Who wouldn't want to read a book with the photo caption, "Here I am as Mussolini in an XXX World War II parody?"
Very good, if you don't mind a little sex.......2007-06-26
What else would you expect from a Ron Jeremy book? His life story is very good and an interesting read, even if you're not a "fan". He does get into his sexual life (graphically) but if you can stomach that, it's actually a great read and dare I say, heartwarming. Recommended even for soccer moms!
Just for comparison, the Richard Pryor book was WAY dirtier than this one and he was just a comedian!
Average customer rating:
- --Interesting glimpse of old Hollywood--
- Mr. Dunne, I adore you!
- Dominick Dunne is fascinating
- Beautiful collection of photos
- THE WAY WE LIVED THEN
|
The Way We Lived Then : Recollections of a Well-Known Name Dropper
Dominick Dunne
Manufacturer: Crown
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ASIN: 0609603884
Release Date: 1999-09-28 |
Amazon.com
In a previous incarnation, writer Dominick Dunne was the toast of Hollywood--entertaining movie stars and socialites and invited by moguls to clambakes and black-tie dances. Long before he started churning out his romans à clef set in the private recesses of Hollywood and penthouses of New York City and his dispatches from notorious murder trials, he spent his days on movie sets, producing films like Ash Wednesday and working as an executive at various studios. In the off-hours, he and his wife Lenny ate dinner with Vincente Minnelli, Jack Benny, Rock Hudson, and Elizabeth Montgomery. They went to beach parties hosted by Jane Fonda and Roddy McDowall--and threw not a few bashes of their own, attended by, well, everyone and often photographed for Vogue magazine. Dunne seemed to carry his camera with him everywhere and "was always sticking [it] into someone's face." Kirk Douglas biting into an oversized hotdog, a scantily clad Paul Newman perusing a picnic table, Princess Margaret smoking, Mia Farrow dancing, and Natalie Wood hamming. Each weekend he carefully arranged his snapshots along with the week's invitations, telegrams, and news-clippings into a set of scrapbooks.
The Way We Lived Then closely resembles those scrapbooks, filled as it is with images culled from them. Dunne sews the scraps together with a loose memoir that moves from the mundane (how the house was decorated for a certain party, how the subjects of a given photo were feeling about one another at the time) to the grand (meditations on his marriage and his children). All of these famous friends, glittery parties, and cozy evenings did add up to a picture-perfect life for a time. But by the mid '60s, Dunne was drinking hard, insulting acquaintances in public, and being a perfectly terrible husband to the lovely Lenny. He was soon arrested carrying drugs into the country from Mexico, divorced, nearly poverty-stricken, and living in a cabin in Oregon. But he lived to tell about it, and though his story is something of a cautionary tale about the dangers of success and excess, punctuated as it is by his dreamy photos, one can't help but wonder if he'd happily go back to the way he lived then. --Jordana Moskowitz
Book Description
Mesmerizing, revelatory text combines with more than two hundred photographs -- most of them taken by the author -- in a startling illustrated memoir that will both astonish and move you.
When Dominick Dunne lived and worked in Hollywood, he had it all: a beautiful family, a glamorous career, and the friendship of the talented and powerful. He also had a camera and loved to take pictures. These photographs, which Dunne carefully preserved in more than a dozen leatherbound scrapbooks -- along with invitations, telegrams, personal notes, and other memorabilia -- record the parties, the glittering receptions, the society weddings, and scenes from the everyday lives of the Dunnes and those they knew, including Jane Fonda, Frank Sinatra, Paul Newman, Roddy McDowall, Elizabeth Taylor, Natalie Wood, Brooke Hayward, Jennifer Jones, and David Selznick. You'll meet them all in this fascinating book -- captured in snapshots as these celebrities relax at poolside barbecues, gossip at cozy get-togethers and dance at the Dunnes' dazzling black-and-white ball. And you will meet Dominick Dunne's beautiful wife, Lenny, and his children, Griffin, Alex, and Dominique, as they celebrate Christmases, birthdays, and graduations. But, most of all, you will meet Dominick Dunne and learn about the peaks and valleys of his years in Hollywood, the disastrous turn his life took, and the long road back that led to his triumphant career as a writer. With its engaging photographs and candid text,
The Way We Lived Then is a riveting and unvarnished account of a life among the stars and a life almost lost.
Customer Reviews:
--Interesting glimpse of old Hollywood--.......2005-08-18
THE WAY WE LIVED THEN is a look at the lives and personalities of some of the most famous entertainers in the world.
I've been aware of the author, Dominick Dunne for a long time, but until reading this book, I had no idea what kind of background he had or what made him so knowledgeable about so many celebrities. Dunne was a director and producer of various TV shows and apparently was good at his job. People enjoyed working with him and he and his wife gave wonderful parties and were invited everywhere.
The book is as much about Dunne and his family as it is about the people that he socialized with. His story is rather sad because he ended up losing his wife because he became addicted to drugs and the fast Hollywood lifestyle. There are more than a few moving stories in the book. One pitiful entry has Dunne and Peter Lawford sharing drugs at a party. Years before, they had been friends and neighbors, but at this low point in their lives, they were both broke and seemingly without friends.
You can also read about Elizabeth Montgomery, Gig Young, Natalie Wood, George Hamilton, Frank Sinatra, Elizabeth Taylor, Jane Fonda and dozens of other Hollywood "big" names. Dunne took a lot of photographs and I think that I enjoyed the snapshots as much as I did the text of the book.
Mr. Dunne, I adore you!.......2004-02-03
I think I was probably one of the very first people who purchased this book...and I loved every page and every minute of it! Some of the earlier reviewers I read below simply don't seem to "get" this book. It is not meant to be great literature. It is meant to be a great read with one-of-a-kind photos, and it delivers both in spades! Also, I believe it is meant to be somewhat of a love letter, both to the parts of Mr. Dunne's ealier life that were happy and held great promise, AND perhaps to the fans of his books...giving all of us glimpses into what was an incredibly fascinating "Hollywood existence" and giving us a peek at the REAL people that he has thinly veiled, completely disguised, or combined to create the fascinating characters that populate his terrific books. Mr. Dunne, if you read these reviews (I know that I probably would!!), please know that I eagerly await everything you publish, including your monthly "Diarist" articles in Vanity Fair. Your writings are so incredibly enjoyable, fascinating, and provide a much-needed escape for me. You must feel very blessed to have finally found your calling - so many never do.
Dominick Dunne is fascinating.......2002-11-05
It is easy to see why celebrities, criminals and perfect strangers have told Mr. Dunne their secrets. He is so interesting in a gossipy, name-dropping but sweet way. His Hollywood life makes an engrossing tale, much more entertaining than fiction.
Beautiful collection of photos.......2001-10-06
This book is filled with beautiful photographs of almost every star imaginable with personal anecdotes from Mr. Dunne to go with them. There are beautiful photos of Natalie Wood and a young (brunette) Elizabeth Montgomery. Mr. Dunne's life has certainly had its ups and downs, but this is NOT another celebrity pity party...he writes of the bad times he has faced, as well as the good, in a very matter of fact style, which is (thankfully) not at all whiny. But, again, the real treasure here are all the beautiful photographs of beautiful people in beautiful places. Thanks, Mr. Dunne, for sharing them with us.
THE WAY WE LIVED THEN.......2001-06-27
Mr. Dunne can work the room no matter where he is, no matter what social strata. I would have had an anxiety attack had I been face-to-face with Betsy Bloomingdale. Yet, this why I love Mr. Dunne. Reading about Betsy, she retained the warm, kind, classy image that I imagined her to have from various books and magazines. I loved being a fly-on-the-wall when Mr. Dunne was in Washington since I knew so little about politics. It was fun the way he scribed it in the pages. I feel safe reading Dominick's stories - although I feel like I am there, I don't have the real fear!
Book Description
Ideal for Introduction to American Cinema courses, American Film History courses, and Introductory Film Appreciation courses focused on American Film, this text offers a cultural examination of the American movie-making industry, with particular attention paid to the economic and aesthetic institution of Hollywood.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent as a Historical Text Book.......2007-03-24
So, I expected this book to be a bit more fun. Unfortunately, the fun element is missing. However, in fairness, the book serves as a thorough textbook for the history of American Cinema and its techniques and various genres. I did enjoy reading about the early studio system and the vast amount of control this oligopoly held. There were some very good critiques and studies of specific films, and a bit about specific actors and actresses. Even a bit about directors. Though packed with information, the book just lacks an entertainment value that it could and should have pulled off based on the subject matter.
The different genres studied include:
Westerns
War Movies
Silent Films
Film Noire
Screwball Comedies
As well as an overall dissertation on Classical Hollywood Style and its various techniques.
Not very good..........2005-03-05
I got this book for a class on the history of cinema. Unfortunately, as the title implies, it only deals with American Cinema. If this is a book for school, check out the class to see if foreign films and film history will be discussed. This book is, again, as the title implies--one-sided. Most of the movies it discusses, gives away crucial plot-points and endings. Some movies that I've been dying to see were ruined in just one or two sentences. This book is also very puffed-up and biased (I don't know any other way of explaining it). Many times throughout the book, Belton seems like James Lipton of "Inside the Actor's Studio", and goes on and on about the greatness of Hollywood, actors, director's, and films with nothing negative to say. It's not at all critical of anything and the author frequently inserts his own interpretation of films into the general text, which I found a little pompous. The book does offer up some interesting facts about the early history and the birth of cinema, but there's something about the way this book was written that makes it hard to stay interested. I think the chapters about film genres exaggerate the importance of some of them, and neglects other genres completely, ie. Horror, Thriller, Mystery, Sci-fi, Animation, Epics, etc. Again, question the instructor and/or look at the class syllabus before siging up if this is the only book for this class. I don't believe this is a comprehensive and unbiased view of cinema and it's history.
A very useful beginners guide to American film........2003-01-08
Years ago I took an intro-level film class at a community college. This was the text for the class. It was accompanied (at least in my class) by a PBS video series that combined film clips with interviews and historical information. Going into the class I had little more than a passing interest in film and film history. But after taking that class, my passion for film has grown exponentially with each year. But back to the book, I really liked this book and highlighted my way from the front cover to the back cover. There are of course limitations to this book. Firstly, it deals only with American films. Secondly, this book barely breaks the 300-page mark - hardly a comprehensive volume. You aren't going to get any information on John Cassavetes here or anything. Now if you have a chance to use this book in conjunction with the PBS films, I think you'll do much better (in fact I think the vids even give a nod to Cassavetes), but even then please note that this material is for an INTRO-level film class, and won't be much good for someone who already knows a fair amount about American film. But with that in mind, the book still has a lot to offer someone looking to introduce themselves to film history.
The first third of the book starts with the birth of film, moves quickly on to the Hollywood studio system, and walks us through the basics of film style (camerawork, lighting, editing, etc.). The second third covers the basics of film genre; there is a chapter about film noir, one on comedies, one on war films, and one on westerns. This second section was particularly useful to me. I could read each chapter, jot down a list of promising titles, hit my local video store, and I was good to go. The third section covers American film after World War II. In this section things seem a little compressed. 110 pages for 50 years of film? A lot is lost on the cutting room floor. But there's lots to dig into all the same. There's a chapter on Hollywood during the McCarthy years (yikes!), one on film's evolution during the emergence of television, a chapter on 1960s counterculture films, one on the film school directors of the 1970s and 1980s, and finally a pretty weak chapter on film in the 1990s. Oh yeah, and at the end of the book there's a handy glossary (in case you're ever stuck on what point-of-view editing is) and a pretty thorough index.
Again, not a book for someone who already has a good feel for film history. But definitely a great resource for someone new to film studies, or for someone who has trouble finding a movie at Blockbuster on Fridays. It did a great job getting me excited about movies, and I imagine its done the same for others.... A good companion to this text (or possibly an all-out replacement of it) is Scorsese's VHS/DVD, "A Personal Journey With Martin Scorsese Through American Movies."
Movie spoiler.......2002-10-08
This would be a great book to read if you have no intention of watching the films discussed within, or if you've already seen them. On quite a few films, it tells the whole plot, in detail, from opening to end credits.
I also don't like the prose of the author, as he excessively uses sentences "in quotations". The writing structure is very formulaic and boring. The "5 paragraph essay" format is good for high school students learning to write, but imagine an entire book written that way. I can only read it for 15 minutes before losing interest.
The book does, however, provide plenty of examples from a variety of films.
This book is a companion piece to the PBS series by the same name. The series is much more interesting. Don't bother with the book. A much better film text is "Film: An Introduction", by William Phillips, ISBN: 0312258968.
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