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Cartoon County: My Father and His Friends in the Golden Age of Make-Believe
by Cullen MurphyA poignant history of the cartoonists and illustrators from the Connecticut SchoolFor a period of about fifty years, right in the middle of the American Century, many of the the nation’s top comic-strip cartoonists, gag cartoonists, and magazine illustrators lived within a stone’s throw of one another in the southwestern corner of Connecticut—a bit of bohemia in the middle of those men in their gray flannel suits. Cullen Murphy’s father, John Cullen Murphy, drew the wildly popular comic strips Prince Valiant and Big Ben Bolt, and was the heart of this artistic milieu. Comic strips and gag cartoons read by hundreds of millions were created in this tight-knit group—Superman, Beetle Bailey, Snuffy Smith, Rip Kirby, Hagar the Horrible, Hi and Lois, Nancy, Sam & Silo, Amy, The Wizard of Id, The Heart of Juliet Jones, Family Circus, Joe Palooka, and The Lockhorns, among others. Cartoonists and their art were a pop-cultural force in a way that few today remember. Anarchic and deeply creative, the cartoonists were independent spirits whose artistic talents had mainly been forged during service in World War II.Illustrated with never-before-seen photographs, cartoons, and drawings, Cartoon County brings the postwar American era alive, told through the relationship of a son to his father, an extraordinarily talented and generous man who had been trained by Norman Rockwell. Cartoon County gives us a glimpse into a very special community—and of an America that used to be.
American Mirror: The Life and Art of Norman Rockwell
by Deborah SolomonA NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR A FINALIST FOR THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE IN BIOGRAPHY AND SHORTLISTED FOR THE PEN/JACQUELINE BOGRAD WELD AWARD FOR BIOGRAPHY"Welcome to Rockwell Land," writes Deborah Solomon in the introduction to this spirited and authoritative biography of the painter who provided twentieth-century America with a defining image of itself. As the star illustrator of The Saturday Evening Post for nearly half a century, Norman Rockwell mingled fact and fiction in paintings that reflected the we-the-people, communitarian ideals of American democracy. Freckled Boy Scouts and their mutts, sprightly grandmothers, a young man standing up to speak at a town hall meeting, a little black girl named Ruby Bridges walking into an all-white school—here was an America whose citizens seemed to believe in equality and gladness for all.Who was this man who served as our unofficial "artist in chief" and bolstered our country's national identity? Behind the folksy, pipe-smoking façade lay a surprisingly complex figure—a lonely painter who suffered from depression and was consumed by a sense of inadequacy. He wound up in treatment with the celebrated psychoanalyst Erik Erikson. In fact, Rockwell moved to Stockbridge, Massachusetts so that he and his wife could be near Austen Riggs, a leading psychiatric hospital. "What's interesting is how Rockwell's personal desire for inclusion and normalcy spoke to the national desire for inclusion and normalcy," writes Solomon. "His work mirrors his own temperament—his sense of humor, his fear of depths—and struck Americans as a truer version of themselves than the sallow, solemn, hard-bitten Puritans they knew from eighteenth-century portraits."Deborah Solomon, a biographer and art critic, draws on a wealth of unpublished letters and documents to explore the relationship between Rockwell's despairing personality and his genius for reflecting America's brightest hopes. "The thrill of his work," she writes, "is that he was able to use a commercial form [that of magazine illustration] to thrash out his private obsessions." In American Mirror, Solomon trains her perceptive eye not only on Rockwell and his art but on the development of visual journalism as it evolved from illustration in the 1920s to photography in the 1930s to television in the 1950s. She offers vivid cameos of the many famous Americans whom Rockwell counted as friends, including President Dwight Eisenhower, the folk artist Grandma Moses, the rock musician Al Kooper, and the generation of now-forgotten painters who ushered in the Golden Age of illustration, especially J. C. Leyendecker, the reclusive legend who created the Arrow Collar Man.Although derided by critics in his lifetime as a mere illustrator whose work could not compete with that of the Abstract Expressionists and other modern art movements, Rockwell has since attracted a passionate following in the art world. His faith in the power of storytelling puts his work in sync with the current art scene. American Mirror brilliantly explains why he deserves to be remembered as an American master of the first rank.
A Change of Heart at the Vintage Dress Shop: A heartwarming and hilarious romantic read (A Vintage Dress Shop Romance)
by Annie DarlingCressida Collins is the queen of makeovers. With a well-placed stitch, button or seam, she can transform any frock in The Vintage Dress Shop and give customers their Cinderella moment.Like her beautifully organised workroom under the eaves, Cress's life away from the shop is just as orderly and mapped out. But when her boyfriend of fifteen years drops a bombshell, it explodes all the carefully laid plans Cress had for her future.It's going to take more than needle and thread to put Cress's own life back together. Will she ever be brave enough to say goodbye to her old dreams and start over?But after designing a dress for a customer and transforming her into the woman she always wanted to be, Cress realises that it can be fun not to follow a pattern. Then there's her blossoming friendship with Miles, a very handsome and very sexy film director...Cress is about to discover that leaving a few loose threads might be the best way to mend her broken heart... A wonderfully uplifting, funny and heartfelt summer romance that will whisk you away to the haven of The Vintage Dress Shop. Perfect for fans of Sarah Morgan, Heidi Swain and Phillipa Ashley.Praise for Annie Darling:'Funny and heartwarming' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Absolutely gorgeous, swoon worthy romance' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Heartwarming and compelling' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'An absolute delight!' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
A Change of Heart at the Vintage Dress Shop: A heartwarming and hilarious romantic read (A Vintage Dress Shop Romance)
by Annie Darling'I loved this!... Fell in love with the characters and loved the camaraderie between the Vintage Dress Shop staff... A lovely, summery read... Highly recommend!' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐Cressida Collins is the queen of makeovers. With a well-placed stitch, button or seam, she can transform any frock in The Vintage Dress Shop and give customers their Cinderella moment. Like her beautifully organised workroom under the eaves, Cress's life away from the shop is just as orderly and mapped out. But when her boyfriend of fifteen years drops a bombshell, it explodes all the carefully laid plans Cress had for her future. It's going to take more than needle and thread to put Cress's own life back together. Will she ever be brave enough to say goodbye to her old dreams and start over? But after designing a dress for a customer and transforming her into the woman she always wanted to be, Cress realises that it can be fun not to follow a pattern. Then there's her blossoming friendship with Miles, a very handsome and very sexy film director... Cress is about to discover that leaving a few loose threads might be the best way to mend her broken heart... A wonderfully uplifting, funny and heartfelt summer romance that will whisk you away to the haven of The Vintage Dress Shop. Perfect for fans of Sarah Morgan, Heidi Swain and Phillipa Ashley. Everyone is falling in love with A Change of Heart at the Vintage Dress Shop: 'A fab book... Absolutely loved it... Great to be back in the vintage clothes shop. There are great characters... The author's love of London is fab... A great read' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'A lovely feel good read. It has beautiful vintage dresses, a coming into self-confidence and the finding of love... A whirlwind adventure... I absolutely love Miles - he is the perfect book boyfriend!' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'Funny with brilliant characters which made it a real page-turner for me. This book is not to be missed' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐'A wonderful romantic novel which is an ideal summer read' Reader review ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Relational Improvisation: Music, Dance and Contemporary Art
by Simon RoseRelational Improvisation explores the creative exchanges that occur between artistic disciplines through the practice of improvisation in performance. Building upon the growing research into improvisation, the book explores contemporary transdisciplinary collaborations between improvised music and other fields including dance and visual arts, offering insights from a wide range of practitioners. Author Simon Rose takes a ground-up approach that places value on lived experience and reflects the value of collaboration. Mirroring improvisation’s relationality, chapters are co-authored by musicians, dancers and visual artists from diverse backgrounds who are engaged in active artistic collaborations with the author.The relational approach allows for the inclusion of improvisation’s scope and many levels. Showcasing a range of different voices, the chapters address topics in artistic improvisation including cybernetics, interspecies work, working with light, phenomenology, sympoiesis and identity, and utilise a range of approaches including autoethnography and philosophical analysis. Considering the relationships of improvisation to emotion, space, embodiment and philosophy, this book shows how improvisation, collaboration and transdisciplinary artistic practices combine to generate new creative possibilities. It provides vital insights for practicing artists, arts researchers, philosophy and pedagogy and all those studying improvisation and collaborative creativity in contemporary music, dance and visual arts.
Planning and Designing the Absent City: Campsites as Temporary Settlements
by Luca TrabattoniThis book concerns the study of open-air accommodation facilities. The market evolutions allow us to look at these structures as temporary settlements characterised by a low-density dwelling and a close connection with natural elements and the landscape.This new and different point of view is sustained by the tendency of outdoor tourism to go in the direction of temporary villages, and this tendency is directly related to "time" and "landscape". The landscape is the reason why the campsite is settled. The time is linked to the holiday season timing. Today, both are greatly influenced by the introduction of the "Maxi-Caravan". This removable living unit can be placed on the empty pitch, occupying the landscape without ruining the soil. By the settlement of Maxi-Caravans, the campsite is transformed from an empty landscape with tents to a temporary settlement, whose timing is divided between the seasonal timing of the campsite and the "timing" of the product, and whose landscape is organised by the relation with the prevalent landscape and the internal one. The book's core defines the outdoor facility structure, using Italy as the main case study. To identify design strategies, the book analyses temporary settlement examples (quick time) and projects from historic outdoor tourism (medium time). Finally, the last chapter reflects on open-air accommodation facilities by showing their applicability in the different contexts of the refugee camps (long time).The aim of this research is to enhance the theme of open-air accommodation facilities, highlighting the need to equalise the study of temporary settlements with that of permanent settlements. It will be of interest to researchers and students of planning, landscape and tourism.
Riley Reynolds Glitterfies the Gala (Riley Reynolds)
by Jay AlbeeMama is throwing a fundraiser gala at the library branch where she works. Nonbinary fourth grader Riley is there, with streamers to hang from every bookshelf, bannister, and door. Riley glitterfies the entire library! But will anyone come? And if they do, will they raise enough money to repair the library’s broken elevator? In a neighborhood like Riley’s, you know this will be a night to remember.
The Art of Image Processing with Java
by Kenny A. HuntThis introductory image processing text is ideal for college students studying computer science or software engineering. With an emphasis on software design, the text builds on an accessible mathematical foundation and on extensive sample Java code to teach students the fundamentals of image processing. The text is accompanied by rich illustrations that demonstrate the results of performing processing on famous art pieces. This approach gives readers real-world examples of ways they may use image processing. Each chapter includes problems for students, and an online supplement offers instructor resources.
Maya Python for Games and Film: A Complete Reference for the Maya Python API
by Adam Mechtley Ryan TrowbridgeThis book is among the first books to provide an in-depth look at how to implement Python with Maya,. It is an ideal resource for technical artists looking to boost productivity and enhance performance and interoperability. With this practical guide written by trusted authorities in the field, experienced technical artists will make the transition from the older MEL scripting language to Python and aspiring artists will save themselves time right from the beginning.
Composite Steel Structures: Recent research and developments
by S L Lee N E ShanmugamProceedings of the International Conference on Steel and Aluminium Strucutres, ICSAS 91, Singapore 22-24 May 1991. The complete proceedings are available in three volumes: steel structures, aluminium structures and composite steel structures.The conference was organised by the Department of Civil Engineering, National University of Singapore sequel to the one held in Cardiff, UK in July 1987. It was co-sponsored by the International Association for Bridge and Structural Engineering, the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Institution of Engineers, Singapore, the Institution of Structural Engineers, the Steel Construction Institute, UK, the Singapore Structural Steel Society and the University of Wales College of Cardiff. The conference provided a forum to discuss recent advances and trends in the analysis, design and construction of all types of metal structures.This volume contains 18 of the papers presented at the conference. Invited Lectures on the state-of-the-art surveys have been provided by well-known experts in their respective fields. The coverage is extensive and topics include Bridges, Building Floor Systems, Concrete Filled Hollow Sections, Aluminium-concrete Systems, Composite Members to Earthquake Loading, etc.
Drawing Essentials: A Complete Guide to Drawing
by Deborah RockmanWith unparalleled clarity, Drawing Essentials: A Complete Guide to Drawing, Fourth Edition, explains in depth the essentials of depicting form and space on a two-dimensional surface, focusing on the cultivation of observational skills, increased sensitivity, critical thinking, technical refinement, and knowledge of materials. This richly illustrated text is appropriate for use in all levels of drawing classes, from introductory to advanced levels, as well as for figure and life drawing classes.
William Peter Blatty on The Exorcist from Novel to Film: From Novel To Screen
by William Peter BlattyIn William Peter Blatty on The Exorcist: From Novel to Film, the New York Times bestselling author reveals the real-life incidents that inspired his famous novel and how it evolved into the groundbreaking Academy Award-winning screenplay of the 1973 groundbreaking William Friedkin film.Featuring the original, controversial ending of the novel, and both the first draft of the screenplay and the shooting script, Blatty presents his behind-the-scenes commentary on the differences between the book and screenplays, detailing the specific reasons why the changes were made for the final cut. This is the true story of the making of The Exorcist, an insider's guide to Hollywood in one of its most creative eras. Includes photographsAt the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years
by Edward Gross Mark A. AltmanThis is the true story behind the making of a television legend. There have been many books written about Star Trek, but never with the unprecedented access, insight and candor of authors Mark A. Altman and Edward Gross. Having covered the franchise for over three decades, they’ve assembled the ultimate guide to a television classic. The Fifty-Year Mission: Volume Two is an incisive, no-holds-barred oral history telling the story of post-Original Series Star Trek, told exclusively by the people who were there, in their own words—sharing the inside scoop they’ve never told before—unveiling the oftentimes shocking true story of the history of Star Trek and chronicling the trials, tribulations—and tribbles—that have remained deeply buried secrets... until now. The Fifty-Year Mission: Volume Two includes the voices of hundreds television and film executives, programmers, writers, creators, and cast, who span from the beloved The Next Generation and subsequent films through its spin-offs: Deep Space Nine, Voyager, and Enterprise, as well J.J. Abrams’ reimagined film series.
Gary Cooper (Great Stars)
by David Thomson"Cooper was heroic, of course, in his own mind as much as in his scripts. He was manly, tall, ruggedly handsome. He was a man for a fight." On screen Gary Cooper was the ultimate all-American hero: lean, laconic, and masculine, a lone sheriff battling his enemies in High Noon, or a tough individualist in The Fountainhead. Off-screen he bedded a host of leading ladies and carefully honed his image, making hundreds of movies and winning two Oscars in the process. The acclaimed film writer David Thomson explores the career and the contradictions of "Coop," the star who lived the dream in the golden age of Hollywood.
Colored Lights: Forty Years of Words and Music, Show Biz, Collaboration, and All That Jazz
by John Kander Fred EbbThe autobiography, in dialogue, of the composer and lyricist of Chicago and Cabaret as well as a wise and witty memoir of forty years of American musicals.Composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb are the longest-running composer-lyricist team in Broadway history, having first joined forces in 1962. The creators of such groundbreaking musicals as Chicago, Cabaret, and Kiss of the Spider Woman, Kander and Ebb have helped to push American musical theater in a more daring direction, both musically and dramatically. Their impact on individual performers has been great as well, starting with the handpicked star of their first musical: an untested nineteen-year-old named Liza Minnelli (who writes of this experience in her introduction).Colored Lights covers the major shows of Kander and Ebb's partnership, from Flora, The Red Menace (starring a then-unknown Liza) to The Visit, due to open on Broadway in 2004. The pages and musicals in between reveal what has made theirs such a long-lived musical partnership--and one so valued by the artists they have worked with. In recounting the genesis and controversies of Cabaret, reflecting on the superstar mentality of such artist as Frank Sinatra and Barbra Streisand, and recalling their work with Bob Fosse on Chicago (as well as their views on the blockbuster 2002 film), John Kander and Fred Ebb provide a history not only of their own lives but also of the American musical theater of the late twentieth century.
The Big Screen: The Story of the Movies
by David ThomsonThe Big Screen tells the enthralling story of the movies: their rise and spread, their remarkable influence over us, and the technology that made the screen—smaller now, but ever more ubiquitous—as important as the images it carries.The Big Screen is not another history of the movies. Rather, it is a wide-ranging narrative about the movies and their signal role in modern life. At first, film was a waking dream, the gift of appearance delivered for a nickel to huddled masses sitting in the dark. But soon, and abruptly, movies began transforming our societies and our perceptions of the world. The celebrated film authority David Thomson takes us around the globe, through time, and across many media—moving from Eadweard Muybridge to Steve Jobs, from Sunrise to I Love Lucy, from John Wayne to George Clooney, from television commercials to streaming video—to tell the complex, gripping, paradoxical story of the movies. He tracks the ways we were initially enchanted by movies as imitations of life—the stories, the stars, the look—and how we allowed them to show us how to live. At the same time, movies, offering a seductive escape from everyday reality and its responsibilities, have made it possible for us to evade life altogether. The entranced audience has become a model for powerless and anxiety-ridden citizens trying to pursue happiness and dodge terror by sitting quietly in a dark room.Does the big screen take us out into the world, or merely mesmerize us? That is Thomson's question in this grand adventure of a book. Books about the movies are often aimed at film buffs, but this passionate and provocative feat of storytelling is vital to anyone trying to make sense of the age of screens—the age that, more than ever, we are living in.
Up Till Now: The Autobiography
by William Shatner David FisherAfter almost sixty years as an actor, William Shatner has become one of the most beloved entertainers in the world. And it seems as if Shatner is everywhere. In Up Till Now, Shatner sits down with readers and offers the remarkable, full story of his life and explains how he got to be, well, everywhere. It was the original Star Trek series, and later its films, that made Shatner instantly recognizable, called by name---or at least by Captain Kirk's name---across the globe. But Shatner neither began nor has ended his career with that role. From the very start, he took his skills as an actor and put them to use wherever he could. He straddled the classic world of the theater and the new world of television, whether stepping in for Christopher Plummer in Shakespeare's Henry V or staring at "something on the wing" in a classic episode of The Twilight Zone. And since then, he's gone on to star in numerous successful shows, such as T.J. Hooker,Rescue 911, and Boston Legal. William Shatner has always been willing to take risks for his art. What other actor would star in history's first---and probably only---all-Esperanto-language film? Who else would share the screen with thousands of tarantulas, release an album called Has Been, or film a racially incendiary film in the Deep South during the height of the civil rights era? And who else would willingly paramotor into a field of waiting fans armed with paintball guns, all waiting for a chance to stun Captain...er, Shatner?In this touching and very funny autobiography, William Shatner's Up Till Now reveals the man behind these unforgettable moments, and how he's become the worldwide star and experienced actor he is today."It is now Bill Shatner's universe---we just live in it."---New York Daily News
Smart Cities: Innovations, Challenges and Future Perspectives (S.M.A.R.T. Environments)
by Leonidas G. Anthopoulos Sushobhan Majumdar Vinay KandpalThis book aims to integrate new technologies and adaptation tools into the process of smart city planning. It also emphasizes the value and importance of modern technologies such as IoT and data science as a smart technology for the formation of a smart city. The authors believe that various technologies in a smart city will reduce all the problems for the sustainable growth and future prospects of the city. The first section of this book discusses the innovation of new technologies (AI, data science, block chain, etc.) that has flourished in recent decades which will make the city smarter. This section also describes that block chain and IoT (Internet of Things) are two transformative technologies that can greatly impact smart cities by enhancing security, improving transparency, and enabling efficient management of resources. The second section of the book explains about the uses of AI tools and smart technologies (like waste management, public safety and security) for the development and management of smart cities. This chapter also describes AI-powered systems that are integrated into smart buildings to optimize energy usage, enhance occupant comfort, and improve building management. These systems can adjust lighting and HVAC settings based on occupancy, learn user preferences, and provide personalized energy efficiency recommendations. The third portion of the book investigates the recent challenges and barriers of smart city that have been faced by the smart cities in the recent decades. This section also describes various challenges and barriers for the implementation of IoT sensor, AI technologies, etc., for the formation of a smart city. The future prospects of a smart city are the main theme of the last chapter. In this section, an attempt has been made about the future vision and outlook of the smart city. This chapter also describes different approaches (like smart grid, societal smart city, smart city model, etc.) for the future planning and management of the city.
Meet the Mertzes: The Life Stories of I Love Lucy's Other Couple
by Rob Edelman Audrey KupferbergMeet the Mertzes is an expansive dual biography chronicling the lives of two of America's most popular situation-comedy actors, William Frawley and Vivian Vance, who portrayed Fred and Ethel Mertz on I Love Lucy. This meticulously researched book contains interviews with Frawley's and Vance's colleagues, friends, and relatives, and explores their personal and professional lives before, during, and after I Love Lucy. With a complete filmography and videography of each, Meet the Mertzes finally sets the record straight on the lives and legacies of these compelling stars who detested one another.You'll learn about:-Vance's successful Broadway career prior to I Love Lucy-Frawley's vaudevillian roots and his passion for baseball-Vance's nervous breakdown after the collapse of her first marriage-Frawley's drinking and carousing-Lucille Ball's caustic relationship with both of her costars-Vance's hatred of being known to the world as Ethel Mertz
What the Eye Hears: A History of Tap Dancing
by Brian SeibertMagisterial, revelatory, and-most suitably-entertaining, What the Eye Hears offers an authoritative account of the great American art of tap dancing. Brian Seibert, a dance critic for The New York Times, begins by exploring tap's origins as a hybrid of the jig and clog dancing from the British Isles and dances brought from Africa by slaves. He tracks tap's transfer to the stage through blackface minstrelsy and charts its growth as a cousin to jazz in the vaudeville circuits and nightclubs of the early twentieth century. Seibert chronicles tap's spread to ubiquity on Broadway and in Hollywood, analyzes its decline after World War II, and celebrates its rediscovery and reinvention by new generations of American and international performers. In the process, we discover how the history of tap dancing is central to any meaningful account of American popular culture. This is a story with a huge cast of characters, from Master Juba (it was probably a performance of his in a Five Points cellar that Charles Dickens described in American Notes for General Circulation) through Bill Robinson and Shirley Temple, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers, and Gene Kelly and Paul Draper to Gregory Hines and Savion Glover. Seibert traces the stylistic development of tap through individual practitioners, vividly depicting dancers both well remembered and now obscure. And he illuminates the cultural exchange between blacks and whites over centuries, the interplay of imitation and theft, as well as the moving story of African-Americans in show business, wielding enormous influence as they grapple with the pain and pride of a complicated legacy.What the Eye Hears teaches us to see and hear the entire history of tap in its every step.
Thomas Hart Benton: A Life
by Justin WolffBorn in Missouri at the end of the nineteenth century, Thomas Hart Benton would become the most notorious and celebrated painter America had ever seen. The first artist to make the cover of Time, he was a true original: an heir to both the rollicking populism of his father's political family and the quiet life of his Appalachian grandfather. In his twenties, he would find his calling in New York, where he was drawn to memories of his small-town youth—and to visions of the American scene.By the mid-1930s, Benton's heroic murals were featured in galleries, statehouses, universities, and museums, and magazines commissioned him to report on the stories of the day. Yet even as the nation learned his name, he was often scorned by critics and political commentators, many of whom found him too nationalistic and his art too regressive. Even Jackson Pollock, his once devoted former student, would turn away from him in dramatic fashion. A boxer in his youth, Benton was quick to fight back, but the widespread backlash had an impact—and foreshadowed many of the artistic debates that would dominate the coming decades.In this definitive biography, Justin Wolff places Benton in the context of his tumultuous historical moment—as well as in the landscapes and cultural circles that inspired him. Thomas Hart Benton—with compelling insights into Benton's art, his philosophy, and his family history—rescues a great American artist from myth and hearsay, and provides an indelibly moving portrait of an influential, controversial, and often misunderstood man.
I Blame Dennis Hopper: And Other Stories From a Life Lived In and Out of the Movies
by Illeana DouglasFrom award-winning actress Illeana Douglas comes a memoir about learning to survive in Hollywood while staying true to her quirky vision of the world.In 1969 Illeana Douglas' parents saw the film Easy Rider and were transformed. Taking Dennis Hopper's words, "That's what it's all about man" to heart, they abandoned their comfortable upper middle class life and gave Illeana a childhood filled with hippies, goats, free spirits, and free love. Illeana writes, "Since it was all out of my control, I began to think of my life as a movie, with a Dennis Hopper-like father at the center of it." I Blame Dennis Hopper is a testament to the power of art and the tenacity of passion. It is a rollicking, funny, at times tender exploration of the way movies can change our lives. With crackling humor and a full heart, Douglas describes how a good Liza Minnelli impression helped her land her first gig and how Rudy Valley taught her the meaning of being a show biz trouper. From her first experience being on set with her grandfather and mentor-two-time Academy Award-winning actor Melvyn Douglas-to the moment she was discovered by Martin Scorsese for her blood-curdling scream and cast in her first film, to starring in movies alongside Robert DeNiro, Nicole Kidman, and Ethan Hawke, to becoming an award winning writer, director and producer in her own right, I Blame Dennis Hopper is an irresistible love letter to movies and filmmaking. Writing from the perspective of the ultimate show business fan, Douglas packs each page with hilarious anecdotes, bizarre coincidences, and fateful meetings that seem, well, right out of a plot of a movie. I Blame Dennis Hopper is the story of one woman's experience in show business, but it is also a genuine reminder of why we all love the movies: for the glitz, the glamor, the sweat, passion, humor, and escape they offer us all.
Speaking Shakespeare
by Patsy RodenburgIn Speaking Shakespeare, Patsy Rodenburg tackles one of the most difficult acting jobs: speaking Shakespeare's words both as they were meant to be spoken and in an understandable and dramatic way. Rodenburg calls this "a simple manual to start the journey into the heart of Shakespeare," and that is what she gives us. With the same insight she displayed in The Actor Speaks, Rodenburg tackles the playing of all Shakespeare's characters. She uses dramatic resonance, breathing, and placement to show how an actor can bring Hamlet, Rosalind, Puck and other characters to life. This is one book every working actor must have.
Latinidad and Film: Queer and Feminist Cinema in the Americas
by Rosana Blanco-Cano Dania Abreu-Torres Rita E. Urquijo-RuizThis book provides an analysis of Latinidad in Latin American and U.S. Latinx films by women and/or LGBTQ directors from 1991 to 2016. Challenging traditional notions of gender roles, family, and national identities, it discusses how film directors are broadening the canon and producing provocative work that challenges the boundaries of identity. Utilizing a feminist and queer lens, this book is intended to demonstrate the dynamic interactions between individual agency, choices, and freedom from the communities represented. The book's organization in three parts reflects a common core of the Latin American and U.S. Latinx experiences, unifying all these films in the hope of creating a better understanding of these geographical regions and their people.
King of Comedy: The Life and Art of Jerry Lewis
by Shawn LevyShawn Levy's fascinating biography King of Comedy - the product of vast research and interviews with contemporaries, admirers, foes, and even, briefly, Lewis himself - traces the story of a man who defines High American Show Biz. At points along the time line of his career, Lewis has been the highest-paid performer in history in film, on television, and (in 1995!) on Broadway. With partner Dean Martin, he was half of the most successful comedy duo of all time. He was the first director who debuted in talkies to direct himself. He was a direct, acknowledged influence on giants from Woody Allen to Lenny Bruce to David Letterman to Jim Carrey. He is a Chevalier of the French Legion of Honor, has raised over $1 billion in charity, and was once nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize. And, since the 1950s, he has been one of the most recognized faces on earth. For almost that long, though, people have argued over what Jerry Lewis means. Is he a talented comedian or a grotesque mimic? A startlingly original director or a pretender to Chaplin's throne? A multifaceted entertainer or a megalomaniacal egoist? A tireless champion of the disabled or a tireless self-promoter who has confused America's charitable impulses with affection for him as a performer?