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Playing with Stories: Story-crafting for storytellers, writers, teachers and other imaginative thinkers
by Kevin D. CordiAn educator's manual for teachers, leaders and students of oral storytelling arts developed by a Ph.D. professor who has worked extensively with all ages.
The B Side
by Ben YagodaFrom an acclaimed cultural critic, a narrative and social history of the Great American Songwriting era. Everybody knows and loves the American Songbook. But it's a bit less widely understood that in about 1950, this stream of great songs more or less dried up. All of a sudden, what came over the radio wasn't Gershwin, Porter, and Berlin, but "Come on-a My House" and "How Much Is That Doggie in the Window?" Elvis and rock and roll arrived a few years later, and at that point the game was truly up. What happened, and why? In The B Side, acclaimed cultural historian Ben Yagoda answers those questions in a fascinating piece of detective work. Drawing on previously untapped archival sources and on scores of interviews--the voices include Randy Newman, Jimmy Webb, Linda Ronstadt, and Herb Alpert--the book illuminates broad musical trends through a series of intertwined stories. Among them are the battle between ASCAP and Broadcast Music, Inc.; the revolution in jazz after World War II; the impact of radio and then television; and the bitter, decades-long feud between Mitch Miller and Frank Sinatra. The B Side is about taste, and the particular economics and culture of songwriting, and the potential of popular art for greatness and beauty. It's destined to become a classic of American musical history.
The Decline of the Hollywood Empire
by Hervé FischerThe Hollywood empire was built over the course of a century through hard-nosed business practices such as block booking, dumping and buying up the competition, turning the silver screen into a goldmine in the process. The business logic that has driven the industry since its beginnings has gone into hyperdrive in recent years, with astronomical sums invested in productions and promotion. Ironically that massive outlay has gone toward churning out a flat, made-in-Hollywood universalism that can be exported planet-wide, but which is simultaneously losing audiences, primarily to the digital world, at an accelerating pace. The apparently insurmountable barriers of finance and distribution to entry into the world of entertainment have served, so far, to keep smaller players out of the frame and, Fischer contends, have destroyed the industry's creative potential. It turns out too much money can kill cinema just as certainly as not enough. In The Decline of the Hollywood Empire, artist and philosopher Hervé Fischer heralds an inevitable move from 35 mm to digital distribution, which will take what has until now existed only on the margins of the "entertainment industry"--independent film, amateur film, documentary and other genres--from bit players to starring roles: how the Trojan horse of digital technology and distribution, in the hands of independent producers, could well toll the bell for Hollywood's hegemony in the business of film.
Louise Brooks
by Barry ParisLouise Brooks left Wichita, Kansas, for New York City at age fifteen and lived the kind of life of which legends are made. From her beginnings as a dancer to her years in Hollywood, Berlin, and beyond, she was hailed and reviled as a new type of woman: independent, intellectually daring, and sexually free. In this widely acclaimed, first and only comprehensive biography, Barry Paris traces Brooks's trajectory from her childhood through her fall into obscurity and subsequent "resurrection" as a brilliant writer and enduring film icon.
Performing Brazil
by Severino J. Albuquerque Kathryn Bishop-SanchezA field-shaping anthology by top cultural critics and practitioners representing a wide range of disciplines and art forms, Performing Brazil is the first book to bring together studies of the many and varied manifestations of Brazilian performance in and beyond their country of origin. Arguing that diverse forms of performance are best understood when presented in tandem, it offers new takes on better-known forms, such as carnival and capoeira, as well as those studied less often, including gender acts, curatorial practice, political protest, and the performance of Brazil in the United States. The contributors to the volume are Maria José Somerlate Barbosa, Eric A. Galm, Annie McNeill Gibson, Ana Paula Höfling, Benjamin Legg, Bryan McCann, Simone Osthoff, Fernando de Sousa Rocha, Cristina F. Rosa, Alessandra Santos, and Lidia Santos.
Follies of God
by James GrissomAn extraordinary book; one that almost magically makes clear how Tennessee Williams wrote; how he came to his visions of Amanda Wingfield, his Blanche DuBois, Stella Kowalski, Alma Winemiller, Lady Torrance, and the other characters of his plays that transformed the American theater of the mid-twentieth century; a book that does, from the inside, the almost impossible--revealing the heart and soul of artistic inspiration and the unwitting collaboration between playwright and actress, playwright and director.At a moment in the life of Tennessee Williams when he felt he had been relegated to a "lower artery of the theatrical heart," when critics were proclaiming that his work had been overrated, he summoned to New Orleans a hopeful twenty-year-old writer, James Grissom, who had written an unsolicited letter to the great playwright asking for advice. After a long, intense conversation, Williams sent Grissom on a journey on the playwright's behalf to find out if he, Tennessee Williams, or his work, had mattered to those who had so deeply mattered to him, those who had led him to what he called the blank page, "the pale judgment." Among the more than seventy giants of American theater and film Grissom sought out, chief among them the women who came to Williams out of the fog: Lillian Gish, tiny and alabaster white, with enormous, lovely, empty eyes ("When I first imagined a woman at the center of my fantasia, I . . . saw the pure and buoyant face of Lillian Gish. . . . [She] was the escort who brought me to Blanche") . . . Maureen Stapleton, his Serafina of The Rose Tattoo, a shy, fat little girl from Troy, New York, who grew up with abandoned women and sad hopes and whose job it was to cheer everyone up, goad them into going to the movies, urge them to bake a cake and have a party. ("Tennessee and I truly loved each other," said Stapleton, "we were bound by our love of the theater and movies and movie stars and comedy. And we were bound to each other particularly by our mothers: the way they raised us; the things they could never say . . . The dreaming nature, most of all") . . . Jessica Tandy ("The moment I read [Portrait of a Madonna]," said Tandy, "my life began. I was, for the first time . . . unafraid to be ruthless in order to get something I wanted") . . . Kim Stanley . . . Bette Davis . . . Katharine Hepburn . . . Jo Van Fleet . . . Rosemary Harris . . . Eva Le Gallienne ("She was a stone against which I could rub my talent and feel that it became sharper") . . . Julie Harris . . . Geraldine Page ("A titanic talent") . . . And the men who mattered and helped with his creations, including Elia Kazan, José Quintero, Marlon Brando, John Gielgud . . . James Grissom's Follies of God is a revelation, a book that moves and inspires and uncannily catches that illusive "dreaming nature."From the Hardcover edition.
The 50 Funniest American Writers
by Andy BorowitzEver wondered who makes a very funny person laugh? Wonder no more. Brought together in this Library of America collection are America's fifty funniest writers--according to acclaimed writer and comedian Andy Borowitz. Reaching back to Mark Twain and forward to contemporary masters such as David Sedaris, Nora Ephron, Roy Blount Jr., Ian Frazier, Bernie Mac, Wanda Sykes, and George Saunders, The 50 Funniest American Writers* is an exclusive Who's Who of the very best American comic writing. Here are Thurber and Perelman, Lenny Bruce and Bruce Jay Friedman, Garrison Keillor, Dave Barry, and Veronica Geng, plus hilarious lesser-known pieces from The New Yorker, Esquire, The Atlantic, National Lampoon, and The Onion. Who does "one of the funniest people in America" (CBS Sunday Morning) read when he needs a laugh?
The 10 Cent Chocolate Tub
by Mike Mcgann10 Cent Chocolate Tub will take you back to the 1950's and 1960s when life was uncomplicated. There were three channels to watch on a black and white television set showing Sid Caesar, Bishop Fulton J. Sheen, Howdy Doody, Milton Berle, fifteen minutes of Nat King Cole, The Lone Ranger and The Toast of The Town. Radio stations were AM only and played Elvis Presley, Doo-Wop music, Frank Sinatra, Doris Day, Patti Page, Chubby Checker and The Four Seasons, long before The Beatles came to America. The small things in life were exciting to a city boy who grew up to be a broadcaster, a Vietnam veteran, a minor performer and a dad! Everyone has family stories, crazy relatives, funny incidents, memories of how good things were back then and dreams of how they should be. The 10 Cent Chocolate Tub gets it's name from a huge chocolate ice cream cone sold by Bard's Dairy in the 1950s in Pittsburgh at a time when a young boy, who wore rummage sale clothes and ate surplus cheese, was only allowed a nickel vanilla ice cream now and then. This is about the quest for life's finer things like ice cream anytime you want it, playing the radio loudly, crying at a sad movie, falling in love, heartbreaks, kissing your children goodnight and loving every minute of it.
Ball Cap Nation
by James LillieforsAs the country grows increasingly diverse and complicated, Americans seek, and occasionally find, a common thread to unite them. And, as Jim Lilliefors reveals in his new book, that common thread is what the baseball cap is made of - indeed, what has transformed it into America's National Hat. As fads go, it's no longer even a fad, but a part of the national identity that, for better or worse, is a symbol of America. It feeds an illusion that Americans cherish - that despite their differences, and no matter what position they play - when wearing a baseball cap, they're all part of the same team. Exploring every aspect of caps and their culture - including the history, manufacturing, and evolution of baseball caps; collecting and caring for caps; cap etiquette; and even cap urban legends - and packed with photos throughout, Ball Cap Nation is a delightful look at a uniquely American phenomenon.
Ordeal
by Lovelace Linda Mcgrady MikeGood Girl. Obedient Wife. Porn Slave. Deep Throat Was Only The Beginning. . . Linda Boreman was just twenty-one when she met Chuck Traynor, the man who would change her life. Less than two years later, the girl who wouldn't let her high school dates get past first base was catapulted to fame she could never have imagined in her wildest dreams--or worst nightmares. Linda Boreman of Yonkers, New York, had become Linda Lovelace, international adult film superstar. The unprecedented success of Deep Throat made porn popular with the mainstream and made Lovelace a household name. But nobody, from the A-list celebrities who touted the movie to the audiences that lined up to see it, knew the truth about what went on behind the scenes. Enslaved by the man who would eventually force her into marriage so that he could control her completely, Linda was beaten savagely with regularity, hypnotized, and raped. She was threatened with disfigurement and death. She was terrorized into prostitution at gun and knifepoint. She was forced to perform unspeakable perversions on film. She made Deep Throat under unimaginable duress. Years later, Linda would come out of hiding to relate her side of the story--a modern horror tale of humiliation, betrayal, and violence that would rock the porn industry and put its teller in fear for her life. . . OrdealLinda Lovelace became a household name in 1972, when Deep Throat became the first pornographic movie ever to cross over into the mainstream. Due to the success of Deep Throat, she appeared in Playboy, Bachelor, and even Esquire between 1973 and 1974. Soon after, Lovelace joined in with anti-pornography feminists led by Andrea Dworkin and Catharine MacKinnon, and she testified before Attorney General Meese's Commission on Pornography in 1986. She died in Denver on April 22, 2002, due to severe injuries in a car accident. Journalist and former syndicated columnist Mike McGrady (Newsday, Los Angeles Times) has written many books, and he was the chief catalyst for the bestselling novel Naked Came the Stranger.
Foolproof Filmmaking
by Andrew StevensIn Foolproof Filmmaking: Make a Movie That Makes a Profit, Stevens provides real-world examples and his own proven techniques for success that can turn passion into profit. He reveals and explains industry secrets no other book or film school does. The principles outlined in this book aren't just theory, but practical application that filmmakers of all levels can use to succeed in today's ever-changing marketplace. You will learn how to develop, negotiate, sell, finance, produce, distribute, cast and market a film that can make a profit, not a mistake. Stevens gets right to the point and cuts out all the filler. He details his proven TAPTM system of success (Trend + Analysis = Profit). This book contains numerous examples from Stevens' previous films, including budget, schedule and pertinent contracts. Learn from a professional, not just a professor. This is the definitive book every filmmaker must have.
Beyond The Music
by Joe BielPunk is notorious for its loud music, aggressive attitude, and safety-pinned style. Less well known is the radical value system that has emerged hand in hand with the sound and aesthetic. Since the 1970s, punks have built their music, fashion, and lifestyles around core values of social justice, creative freedom, community integrity, fiercely democratic politics and do-it-yourself ingenuity. From journalism to psychology, graphic design to alternative fuel, bodybuilding to the Occupy movement, these interviews show just some of the ways that punk values continue to shape mainstream American life.
Steely Dan: Reelin' in the Years
by Brian Sweet[from the back cover] "Reelin' In The Years is the acclaimed biography of Steely Dan, now updated to include details of Walter Becker and Donald Fagen's work during the Nineties and beyond, including the latest Steely Dan masterpiece 'Everything Must Go'. The only book ever to have been published on Steely Dan, it tells the strange tale of how Becker and Fagen, a couple of cynical New York jazz fans, wormed their way into a record contract and astonished critics with their superb debut, 'Can't Buy A Thrill', in 1973. Seven albums later, after 'Aja' had topped charts everywhere, they were among the biggest selling acts in the world. Then they quit, only to reform in 1993 more popular than ever. But Steely Dan were different from the rest of rock's super-sellers. They rarely gave interviews. After some early bad experiences on the road, they refused to tour. They didn't have their photographs taken. Few people even knew what they looked like. Steely Dan weren't even a proper group; it was two musicians and their producer, yet every top notch player in the world lined up to appear on their albums. They were perfectionists. They were enigmatic. They were very rich. Their music was the coolest around. In Reelin' In The Years, Brian Sweet, editor and publisher of Metal Leg, the UK based Steely Dan fanzine, draws back the veil of secrecy that has surrounded Becker and Fagen. Here at last is the true story of how they made their music and lived their lives. Includes many photographs and a complete discography."
I Hate Myselfie
by Shane DawsonThe book that more than 12 million YouTube subscribers have been waiting for! Shane Dawson's memoir features twenty original essays--uncensored yet surprisingly sweet. Shane Dawson has always been an open book. From his first YouTube vlog back in 2008, to his feature film debut "Not Cool," to a cover story in Variety magazine, Shane has documented his life pre-tty thoroughly. We've seen awkward and adorable Q&As with his mom, weight loss center drama, love life details, and the all-important haircut reveal. We've seen his hilarious spoofs of Miley Cyrus, Paris Hilton, and Sarah Palin. His music videos are awesome. But in I Hate Myselfie!, fans will finally get a chance to see the real Shane through personal stories that are at once humorous and heartwarming, self-deprecating and totally inspiring. Highlighting key moments of his childhood and adolescence, through his phenomenal success on YouTube, and continuing on to his more recent experiences as an actor and director, Shane's memoir will feature the silliness and satire his fans already enjoy, but it will be even more in depth, more real, and more portable (it's a book).
Art in the Cinematic Imagination
by Susan FellemanBringing an art historical perspective to the realm of American and European film, "Art in the Cinematic Imagination" examines the ways in which films have used works of art and artists themselves as cinematic and narrative motifs.
Now You See Her
by Jacquelyn MitchardFor Hope Shay the entire world is a stage. Really.Acting has been her dream for as long as she can remember. She will do anything, anything, to get a leading role. Okay, maybe faking her own abduction was extreme. But a true actress suffers for her art. And Hope is a born actress if ever there was one.
Caillou: My First Play
by Marilyn Pleau-Murissi Eric SévignyThere's a special event at Caillou's day care. Leo, Clementine and Caillou are getting ready to be in a play. They enjoy dressing up and rehearsing but they appreciate it even more when their parents come to see the show.
I'm Not a Terrorist, But I've Played One On TV
by Maz JobraniA hilarious and moving memoir of growing up Iranian in America, and the quest to make it in Hollywood without having to wear a turban, tote a bomb, or get kicked in the face by Chuck Norris.When he first started out in show business, Maz Jobrani endured suggestions that he spice up his stand-up act by wearing "the outfit," fielded questions about rising gas prices, and got called an F'in Eye-ranian for being involved in the Iran hostage crisis even though he was only eight years old at the time--in fact, these things happened so often that he began to wonder: Could I be a terrorist without even knowing it? Having emigrated with his family to the US during the Iranian Revolution, Maz spent most of his youth desperately trying to fit in with his adopted culture--whether that meant learning to play baseball or religiously watching Dallas with his female relatives. But none of his attempts at assimilation made a difference to casting directors, who only auditioned him for the role of kebab-eating, bomb-toting, extremist psychopath. In this laugh-out-loud memoir, Maz shares his struggle to build an acting career in post-9/11 Hollywood--from playing a terrorist on 24 to playing a terrorist opposite Chuck Norris to his mother asking, "Vhy you alvays terrorist?!" (Followed by, "Vhy you couldn't be doctor?!") But finally, through patience, determination, and only the occasional unequivocal compromising of his principles, he found a path to stardom. And he also learned the proper way to die like a bad guy on TV.
Moses Was a Basket Case: Hilarious True Stories to Encourage and Inspire
by James A. JasperHilarious true stories to encourage and inspire A number of very funny and inspiring stories from a DJ, standup comedian, and inspirational speaker. James "J.J." Jasper is a Christian radio DJ who thoroughly enjoys telling the stories of his life.
Harmonic
by Erica O'RourkeDel's older sister can also walk between worlds, but her loyalties are uniquely tested in this original enovella set in the inventive world of Dissonance.Addison Sullivan, Del's older sister, has always been considered a model Walker--but her reputation within the Consort has been tainted by her grandfather's betrayal and her sister's recklessness. She is desperate to regain her position within the Consort and equally desperate to keep Del from spiraling out of control after losing the boy she loves. The Consort offers Addie a chance to redeem herself: if she can track down the Free Walkers her grandfather knew twenty years ago, they'll fast-track her apprenticeship and put her in charge of her own team. Addie asks a former classmate and crush, Laurel, a Consort historian, for help. As they work together, Addie's feelings for Laurel resurface, but she's too afraid to act. Same-sex relationships aren't expressly forbidden by the Consort, but she fears that a relationship with Laurel would be viewed as yet another mark against her. While she is fighting her feelings for Laurel, troubling details start emerging during their investigation...details that paint Addie's family in a sinister light. Will she reveal what she's learned to the Consort, or try to protect her family? This enovella is set in the time between Dissonance and Resonance.
Fox Forever
by Mary E. PearsonLocke Jenkins has some catching up to do. After spending 260 years as a disembodied mind in a little black box, he has a perfect new body. But before he can move on with his unexpected new life, he'll have to return the Favor he accepted from the shadowy resistance group known as the Network. Locke must infiltrate the home of a government official by gaining the trust of his daughter, seventeen-year-old Raine, and he soon finds himself pulled deep into the world of the resistance--and into Raine's life. InFox Forever, Mary E. Pearson brings the story she began inThe Adoration of Jenna Fox and continued inThe Fox Inheritance to a breathtaking conclusion as Locke discovers that being truly human requires much more than flesh and blood.
If You Can't Be Free, Be A Mystery
by Farah J. Griffin Farah GriffinSinger, composer, actress, lover, wife, writer, pleasure seeker, drug addict, icon, commodity, myth and mystery: Billie Holiday is still one of the most famous jazz vocalists of all time. But Holiday's image -- the gifted torch singer with insatiable appetites for food, sex, alcohol and drugs -- is not the full story. Farah Jasmine Griffin's enchanting investigation of Holiday, her world and how she is remembered, at last fully liberates Lady Day from the tragic songstress myth. Griffin argues that the stereotype of a black woman who can always take center stage to command an audience because of her incredible ability to feel, but not to think, continues to hide the real Holiday from public view. Instead of a mindless "natural" with incredible talent but no discipline, Griffin's Holiday is a jazz virtuoso whose passion and technique made every song she sang forever hers. Instead of being helpless against the racism, sexism and poverty that dominated her life, Holiday is an artist, willing to pay a tremendous price to change the sound of jazz forever. And far from being a victim of overwhelming obstacles, Lady Day is an independent spirit whose greatest legacy is that all hurdles can be overcome, whatever the odds. Holiday's voice has permeated American music from Frank Sinatra to Macy Gray. But, until now, Holiday's influence has never been reconciled with her image. Farah Jasmine Griffin unravels the threads that make up the Holiday mystique and weaves together a new, true Lady Day that jazz fans will both love and respect.
You Have to Stand for Something, Or You'll Fall for Anything
by Star JonesSmart, funny, provocative--she writes it like she talks it on The View!Strongly held beliefs, a wicked sense of humor, and take-no-prisoners opinions--her many fans have come to expect all this and more from Star Jones, co-host of ABC-TV's hit show The View.In this remarkable book, the former New York City prosecutor shows why she has become one of the most quoted and respected media personalities of our time. Here she touches fearlessly on subjects both conventional and controversial, such as the importance of family and friendship, the law, racism, abortion, television, politics, and her relationship with God. And she does it all with a unique and refreshing viewpoint that will make you think twice about everything you thought you knew.Here, too, is her powerful and intensely personal story, told with warmth, humor, and sometimes painful candor. This is an empowering memoir by a remarkable woman who not only walks the walk and talks the talk but challenges you to do the same.
I Must Say
by Martin ShortIn this engagingly witty, wise, and heartfelt memoir, Martin Short tells the tale of how a showbiz obsessed kid from Canada transformed himself into one of Hollywood's favorite funnymen, known to his famous peers as the "comedian's comedian."Short takes the reader on a rich, hilarious, and occasionally heartbreaking ride through his life and times, from his early years in Toronto as a member of the fabled improvisational troupe Second City to the all-American comic big time of Saturday Night Live, and from memorable roles in such movies as ¡Three Amigos! and Father of the Bride to Broadway stardom in Fame Becomes Me and the Tony-winning Little Me.He reveals how he created his most indelible comedic characters, among them the manic man-child Ed Grimley, the slimy corporate lawyer Nathan Thurm, and the bizarrely insensitive interviewer Jiminy Glick. Throughout, Short freely shares the spotlight with friends, colleagues, and collaborators, among them Steve Martin, Tom Hanks, Gilda Radner, Mel Brooks, Nora Ephron, Eugene Levy, Catherine O'Hara, Paul Shaffer, and David Letterman.But there is another side to Short's life that he has long kept private. He lost his eldest brother and both parents by the time he turned twenty, and, more recently, he lost his wife of thirty years to cancer. In I Must Say, Short talks for the first time about the pain that these losses inflicted and the upbeat life philosophy that has kept him resilient and carried him through.In the grand tradition of comedy legends, Martin Short offers a show-business memoir densely populated with boldface names and rife with retellable tales: a hugely entertaining yet surprisingly moving self-portrait that will keep you laughing--and crying--from the first page to the last.
Studying the British Crime Film
by Paul ElliottEver since its inception, British cinema has been obsessed with crime and the criminal. One of the first narrative films to be produced in Britain, the Hepworth's 1905 short Rescued by Rover, was a fast-paced, quick-edited tale of abduction and kidnap, and the first British sound film, Alfred Hitchcock's Blackmail (1930), centered on murder and criminal guilt. For a genre seemingly so important to the British cinematic character, there is little direct theoretical or historical work focused on it. The Britain of British cinema is often written about in terms of national history, ethnic diversity, or cultural tradition, yet very rarely in terms of its criminal tendencies and dark underbelly. This volume assumes that, to know how British cinema truly works, it is necessary to pull back the veneer of the costume piece, the historical drama, and the rom-com and glimpse at what is underneath. For every Brief Encounter (1945) there is a Brighton Rock (2010), for every Notting Hill (1999) there is a Long Good Friday (1980).