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De salon van artiesten in ballingschap in Californië: Salka Viertel ving acteurs, intellectuelen en anonieme op die op de vlucht waren voor het nazisme
by Núria AñóSalka Viertel ving acteurs, prominente intellectuelen en anonieme mensen in ballingschap op die op de vlucht waren voor het nazisme. Een biografie over Salka Viertel, een Joodse actrice die naar Hollywood emigreerde en in de volksmond bekend werd als de scenarioschrijfster van de Zweedse actrice Greta Garbo. Bovendien had zij een salon in Santa Monica, Californië, die werd bezocht door veel van de Europese intelligentsia in ballingschap. Salka was een zeer moderne en interessante vrouw voor haar tijd, die bekendheid verdient. In het boek komen onderwerpen aan de orde als de vermeende biseksualiteit van Salka Viertel en het aantal bekende vrienden dat zij had, om er maar een paar te noemen: Albert Einstein, Charles Chaplin, Sergei Eisenstein, F.W. Murnau, Max Reinhardt, Arnold Schönberg, Thomas Mann, Bertolt Brecht, Greta Garbo, Montgomery Clift... Ook had zij, net als Gertrude Stein en andere notoire vrouwen, haar eigen literaire salon die bezocht werd door schrijvers als Truman Capote, Christopher Isherwood, Gore Vidal en een lange enzovoort. Andere thema's zijn Berlijn in de jaren 1920; de overgang van stomme films naar de geluidsfilms, gezien vanuit het Mekka van Hollywood. Dan is er de opkomst van Hitler en wat dat betekende voor de Joden; de ballingschap van die intellectuelen die niet naar hun land konden terugkeren vanwege de Tweede Wereldoorlog. Later, de Koude Oorlog en de heksenjacht tegen het communisme. Het is duidelijk dat het leven van Salka Viertel en haar vriendenkring zich afspeelt tegen de achtergrond van de grote gebeurtenissen van de 20e eeuw. Met dit project verkreeg de auteur de beurzen van het Shanghai Writing Program (China, 2016) en het Baltic Centre (Zweden, 2017). "Een zeer interessant verhaal en ik denk zelfs in deze tijd zeer actueel, want in mijn ogen hebben we niet veel vooruitgang geboekt op het punt van de acceptatie van "intermenselijke gevoelens" in het algemeen. Een geweldig en zeer interessant boek over Hollywoo
De Soto: Hernando De Soto Explores the Southeast (Exploring the World)
by Ann HeinrichsA biography of the sixteenth-century Spaniard who explored Florida and other southern states, and became the first white man to cross the Mississippi River.
De su puño y letra
by Carlos Pizarro"En estas cartas entregaré al hombre que sobrepasó mil veces misexpectativas, por ser tan solo eso, un hombre, pero uno perseverante enla construcción de sus sueños, un hombre que, enamorado de la libertad,se le rebeló a la misma rebeldía y fue capaz de romper sus propiosesquemas. Ese es el padre que descubrí. #en estas cartas él está vivo ypresente, quien habla es Carlos Pizarro, conocido y recordado por muchosdesde la distancia de los tiempos, quien a pesar de despertar odios osimpatías, pocas personas conocen. Aquí podrán encontrarlo luchando ensu empeño por darle un nuevo sentido a su país, intentando cambiarle elrumbo, enfrentando sus fantasmas y demonios, tratando de interpretar alser humano, de retornarle dignidad al humilde, al desposeído y, en suoficio, mitigar las desdichas del prójimo, sufriendo por losperseguidos, para convertirse finalmente en uno de ellos". María JoséPizarro
De su puño y letra
by Carlos PizarroLas conmovedoras y hermosas cartas que Carlos Pizarro envió a su esposay a su hija "En estas cartas entregaré al hombre que sobrepasó mil veces misexpectativas, por ser tan solo eso, un hombre, pero uno perseverante enla construcción de sus sueños, un hombre que, enamorado de la libertad,se le rebeló a la misma rebeldía y fue capaz de romper sus propiosesquemas. Ese es el padre que descubrí. #en estas cartas él está vivo ypresente, quien habla es Carlos Pizarro, conocido y recordado por muchosdesde la distancia de los tiempos, quien a pesar de despertar odios osimpatías, pocas personas conocen. Aquí podrán encontrarlo luchando ensu empeño por darle un nuevo sentido a su país, intentando cambiarle elrumbo, enfrentando sus fantasmas y demonios, tratando de interpretar alser humano, de retornarle dignidad al humilde, al desposeído y, en suoficio, mitigar las desdichas del prójimo, sufriendo por losperseguidos, para convertirse finalmente en uno de ellos". María JoséPizarro
De Traidor a Herói: O falsificador de Vermeer que enganou a Holanda e os nazis
by Lázaro DroznesA incrível história de Han van Meegeren, o pintor holandês que criou falsos Vermeers, enganou os seus pares holandeses, vendeu um quadro a Herman Goering e, finalmente, acabou por confessar as suas falsificações para escapar à pena de morte, quando foi acusado de alta traição. Após o julgamento, tornou-se um herói nacional por ter defraudado os nazis. Han van Meegeren era um ointor holandês que, durante a Segunda Guerra Mundial, pintou Vermeers melhores que os originais, enganando toda a comunidade das artes e até Herman Goering, acabando, no final, por confessar ser um falsificador para se livrar da acusação de alta traição, por ter tido negócios com o inimigo da nação. Esta ficção dramatizada baseia-se na história impresssionante de Han van Meegeren, durante os anos 1930s e a Segunda Guerra Mundial, quando conseguiu criar e vender seis falsos quadros de Vermeer e dois de Franz Hals por cerca de 100 milhões de dólares em valores atualizados. Um dos Vermeers foi comprado por Herman Goering, a nsegunda pesssoa mais importante na hierarquia do Terceiro Reich. No final da Segunda Guerra Mundial, van Meegeren foi acusado de traição ao seu país e viu-se obrigado a confessar as falsificações para salvar a sua própria vida. Esta confissão abalou a comunidade da pintura holandesa e mundial como um terramoto, já que os quadros falsificados tinham sido aceites unanimemente. Um deles, "Cristo em Emaús", era até considerado a melhor obra pintada por Vermeer. Esta ficção, baseada em eventos reais, conduz-nos a uma reflexão sobre o conceito da autenticidade na arte e a validade dos conceitos tradicionais de verdade e de beleza: um quadro deixa de ser belo qua
Dead Aim
by Lee EcholsFirst published in 1951, this book recounts the nostalgic antics of hell-raising pistol shooters of the 1930’s.It is complete and unexpurgated and is the hot blasts of mirth from the shaky guns of Lee Echols, who fired for many years before World War II with the U.S. Treasury Department Pistol Team.Lee Echols’ stock-in-trade was the business of making a pistol go whangety-bang with a fair degree of accuracy. However, this always had to take a back seat to his hell-raising antics and inspired tom-foolery, which had him known as the Clown Prince of pistoleers on every range in the Western Hemisphere.
The Dead Are Arising: The Life Of Malcolm X
by Les Payne Tamara PayneAn epic, award-winning biography of Malcolm X that draws on hundreds of hours of personal interviews and rewrites much of the known narrative. Les Payne, the renowned Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative journalist, embarked in 1990 on a nearly thirty-year-long quest to create an unprecedented portrait of Malcolm X, one that would separate fact from fiction. The result is this historic, National Book Award–winning biography, which interweaves previously unknown details of Malcolm X’s life—from harrowing Depression-era vignettes to a moment-by-moment retelling of the 1965 assassination—into an extraordinary account that contextualizes Malcolm X’s life against the wider currents of American history. Bookended by essays from Tamara Payne, Payne’s daughter and primary researcher, who heroically completed the biography after her father’s death in 2018, The Dead Are Arising affirms the centrality of Malcolm X to the African American freedom struggle.
The Dead are Gods
by Eirinie CarsonAn Oprah Daily Spring 2023 Reading List Pick "...striking a deeply resonant chord for anyone who has experienced the obsessive self-searching that often accompanies a sudden loss." -- Oprah Daily "Carson captures the pervasive nature of grief with a poetic voice that beautifully resonates." -- Shondaland "This is raw, heartfelt, beautiful, soul-opening and real." -- Zibby Owens for Good Morning America From an exciting new literary voice: a memoir that explores grief, Blackness, and recovery after the death of a dear friend. After an unexpected phone call on an early morning in 2018, writer and model Eirinie Carson learned of her best friend Larissa&’s death. In the wake of her shock, Eirinie attempts to make sense of the events leading up to Larissa&’s death and uncovers startling secrets about her life in the process. THE DEAD ARE GODS is Eirinie&’s striking, intimate, and profoundly moving depiction of life after a sudden loss. Amid navigating moments of intense grief, Eirinie is overwhelmed by her love for Larissa. She finds power in pulling moments of joy from the depths of her emotion. Eirinie&’s portrayal of what love feels like after death bursts from the page alongside a timely, honest, and personal exploration of Black love and Black life. Perhaps, Eirinie proposes, &“The only way out is through.&”
The Dead Celebrity Cookbook: A Resurrection of Recipes by More Than 145 Stars of Stage and Screen
by Frank DeCaroIf you've ever fantasized about feasting on Frank Sinatra's Barbecued Lamb, lunching on Lucille Ball's "Chinese-y Thing," diving ever-so-neatly into Joan Crawford's Poached Salmon, or wrapping your lips around Rock Hudson's cannoli – and really, who hasn't? – hold on to your oven mitts! In The Dead Celebrity Cookbook: A Resurrection of Recipes by 150 Stars of Stage and Screen, Frank DeCaro—the flamboyantly funny Sirius XM radio personality best known for his six-and-a-half-year stint as the movie critic on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart—collects hundreds of recipes passed on from legendary stars of stage and screen, proving that before there were celebrity chefs, there were celebrities who fancied themselves chefs. Their all-but-forgotten recipes—rescued from out-of-print cookbooks, musty biographies, vintage magazines, and dusty pamphlets—suggest a style of home entertaining ripe for reexamination if not revival, while reminding intrepid gourmands that, for better or worse, Hollywood doesn't make celebrities (or cooks) like it used to.StarringFarrah Fawcett's Sausage and PeppersLiberace's Sticky Buns Bette Davis's Red Flannel Hash Bea Arthur's Good Morning Mushroom Tomato Toast Dudley Moore's Crème BrûléeGypsy Rose Lee's Portuguese Fish ChowderJohn Ritter's Famous Fudge Andy Warhol's Ghoulish Goulash Vincent Price's Pepper SteakJohnny Cash's Old Iron Pot Family-Style Chili Vivian Vance's Chicken Kiev Sebastian Cabot's Avocado Surprise Lawrence Welk's Vegetable Croquettes Ann Miller's Cheese SouffléJerry Orbach's TrifleTotie Fields's Fruit MellowIrene Ryan's Tipsy Basingstoke Klaus Nomi's Key Lime TartRichard Deacon's Bitter and BoozeAnd many other meals from breakfast to dessert.
The Dead Celebrity Cookbook Presents Christmas in Tinseltown: Celebrity Recipes and Hollywood Memories from Six Feet Under the Mistletoe
by Frank DeCaroThe toast of Christmas past is back and not a moment too soon! In The Dead Celebrity Christmas Cookbook, Frank DeCaro serves up culinary delights from Edmund Gwenn's Christmas Cup to Bing Crosby's Sugar Cookies and celebrates the best of the season's movies, TV specials, and music. Recipes from such late luminaries as Natalie Wood, Judy Garland, Burl Ives, Dinah Shore, and even Boris Karloff are featured in chapters saluting fabulous amusements like Miracle on 34th Street, Meet Me in St. Louis, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer, Pee-wee's Playhouse Christmas Special, and How the Grinch Stole Christmas. Plus recipes from singers like Eartha Kitt ("Santa Baby"), Elvis Presley ("Blue Christmas"), and John Lennon ("Happy Xmas (War is Over)") celebrate the best holiday platters.
Dead Center: Behind the Scenes at the World's Largest Medical Examiner's Office
by Shiya Ribowsky Tom ShachtmanThis insider’s account of the NYC medical examiner’s office takes readers from an average day in the autopsy room to the tragic aftermath of 9/11.For fifteen years, Shiya Ribowsky worked as a medicolegal investigator in New York City’s medical examiner’s office—the largest, most sophisticated organization of its kind in the world. Ribowsky led the investigations of more than eight thousand individual deaths, becoming a key figure in some of New York’s most bizarre death cases. He also took charge of the largest forensic investigation ever attempted: identifying the dead in the aftermath of September 11th.Now Ribowsky pulls back the curtain on the New York City’s medical examiner’s office, giving a never-before-seen glimpse into death and the city. From vermin-infested Bowery flophouses to posh Upper East Side apartments of the city’s dead, Ribowsky explores the skeletons that hang in the Big Apple’s closets. Combing through the autopsy room, he also exposes the grim secrets that only a scalpel can reveal, and explains how forensic investigation not only solve crimes—but also saves lives.
Dead Certain: The Presidency of George W. Bush
by Robert DraperIn this ambitious work of political narrative, Robert Draper takes us inside the Bush White House and delivers an intimate portrait of a tumultuous decade and a beleaguered administration. Virtually every page of this book crackles with scenes, anecdotes, and dialogue that will surprise even long- time observers of George W. Bush. With unprecedented access to all the key figures of this administration -- from six one-on-one sessions with the president, to Laura Bush, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Condoleeza Rice, Karl Rove, and perhaps 200 other players, some well-known, some not -- Draper has achieved what no other journalist or contemporary historian has done thus far: he has told the story of the Bush White House from the inside, with a special emphasis on how the very personality of this strong-willed president has affected the outcome of events. Bush loyalists and the growing number of Bush detractors will all find much to savor in this riveting political page-turner. We begin with a revealing lunch at the White House where a testy, hot dog-chomping president finally unburdens himself to the inquisitive reporter, a fellow Texan who well understands the manly argot that courses through this administration. We revisit the primaries of election-year 2000, in which the character of the candidate and indeed the future of the Republican Party were forged in the scalding South Carolina battle with Senator John McCain. We proceed forward to witness intimately the confusion and the eloquence that followed the September 11 attacks, then the feckless attempts to provide electricity to a darkened Baghdad, the high- and lowlights of the 2004 re-election bid, the startling and fruitless attempt to "spend capital" by overhauling the Social Security system, the inept response to Katrina, the downward spiraling and increasingly divisive war in Iraq. Though the headlines may be familiar, the details, the utterly inside account of how events transpired will come as fresh reportage to even the most devoted followers of mainstream media coverage. In this most press- wary of administrations, Robert Draper has accomplished a small miracle: He has knocked on all on the right doors, and thus become the first author to tell a personality-driven history of the Bush years. In so doing, he allows us to witness in complete granularity the personal force of a president determined to achieve big things, who remained an optimist in the face of a sometimes harsh unpopularity, who confronted the history of his time with what can surely be described as dead certainty.
Dead Certainties: Unwarranted Speculations
by Simon SchamaDead Certainties goes beyond more conventional histories to address the deeper enigmas that confront a student of the past. In order to do so, Schama reconstructs -- and at times reinvents -- two ambiguous deaths, that of General James Wolfe in 1759 and George Parkman in 1849.
Dead Companies Walking: How a Hedge Fund Manager Finds Opportunity in Unexpected Places
by Scott Fearon Jesse PowellA hedge fund manager reveals how to spot a business on the verge of collapse—and how to profit from it—in this “surprisingly entertaining” guide (Publishers Weekly).Unlike most investors, who live in fear of failure, Scott Fearon actively seeks it out. He has earned millions of dollars for his hedge fund by shorting the stocks of businesses he believed were on their way to bankruptcy. In Dead Companies Walking, Fearon describes his methods for spotting these doomed businesses, and how they can be extremely profitable investments.In his experience, corporate managers routinely commit six common mistakes that can derail even the most promising companies: they learn from only the recent past; they rely too heavily on a formula for success; they misunderstand their target customers; they fall victim to the magical storytelling of a mania; they fail to adapt to tectonic shifts in their industry; and they are physically or emotionally removed from their companies’ operations.Fearon has interviewed thousands of executives across America, many of whom, unknowingly, were headed toward bankruptcy—from the Texas oil barons of the 80s to the tech wunderkinds of the late 90s to the flush real estate developers of the mid-2000s. Here, he explores recent examples like JC Penney, Herbalife, and Blockbuster Entertainment to help investors better predict the next booms and busts—and come out on top.
The Dead Don't Need Reminding: In Search of Fugitives, Mississippi, and Black TV Nerd Shit
by Julian RandallThis brilliant, adult nonfiction debut from the acclaimed MG author and poet weaves two personal narratives of recovery and reclamation, spliced with a dazzle of pop-cultureThe Dead Don&’t Need Reminding is a braided story of Julian Randall&’s return from the cliff edge of a harrowing depression and his determination to retrace the hustle of a white-passing grandfather to the Mississippi town from which he was driven amid threats of tar and feather. Alternatively wry, lyrical, and heartfelt, Randall transforms pop culture moments into deeply personal explorations of grief, family, and the American way. He envisions his fight to stay alive through a striking medley of media ranging from Into the Spiderverse and Jordan Peele movies to BoJack Horseman and the music of Odd Future. Pulsing with life, sharp, and wickedly funny, The Dead Don&’t Need Reminding is Randall&’s journey to get his ghost story back.
Dead Doubles: The Extraordinary Worldwide Hunt for One of the Cold War's Most Notorious Spy Rings
by Trevor BarnesTHE PORTLAND SPY RING was one of the most infamous espionage cases from the Cold War. People the world over were shocked when its exposure revealed the shadowy world of deep cover KGB 'illegals' - spies operating under false identities stolen from the dead.The CIA's revelation to MI5 in 1960 that a KGB agent was stealing crucial secrets from the world-leading submarine research base at Portland in Dorset looked initially like a dangerous but contained lapse of security by a British man and his mistress. But the couple were tailed by MI5 'watchers' to a covert meeting with a Canadian businessman, Gordon Lonsdale. The unsuspecting Lonsdale in turn led MI5's spycatchers to an innocent-looking couple in suburban Ruislip called the Krogers.But within weeks the CIA rang the alarm - their critical source of intelligence was to defect within hours - and MI5 was forced to act immediately. The Krogers were exposed as two of the most important Russian 'illegals' ever, whom the Americans had been hunting for years. And Lonsdale was no Canadian, but a senior KGB controller.This astonishing but true story of MI5's spyhunt is straight from the world of John le Carré and is told here for the first time using hitherto secret MI5 and FBI files, private family archives and original interviews. Its tentacles stretch around the world - from America, to the USSR, Canada, New Zealand, Europe and the UK. DEAD DOUBLES is a gripping episode of Cold War history, and a case that fully justified the West's paranoia about infiltration and treachery.
Dead Doubles: The Extraordinary Worldwide Hunt for One of the Cold War's Most Notorious Spy Rings
by Trevor BarnesTHE PORTLAND SPY RING was one of the most infamous espionage cases from the Cold War. People the world over were shocked when its exposure revealed the shadowy world of deep cover KGB 'illegals' - spies operating under false identities stolen from the dead.The CIA's revelation to MI5 in 1960 that a KGB agent was stealing crucial secrets from the world-leading submarine research base at Portland in Dorset looked initially like a dangerous but contained lapse of security by a British man and his mistress. But the couple were tailed by MI5 'watchers' to a covert meeting with a Canadian businessman, Gordon Lonsdale. The unsuspecting Lonsdale in turn led MI5's spycatchers to an innocent-looking couple in suburban Ruislip called the Krogers.But within weeks the CIA rang the alarm - their critical source of intelligence was to defect within hours - and MI5 was forced to act immediately. The Krogers were exposed as two of the most important Russian 'illegals' ever, whom the Americans had been hunting for years. And Lonsdale was no Canadian, but a senior KGB controller.This astonishing but true story of MI5's spyhunt is straight from the world of John le Carré and is told here for the first time using hitherto secret MI5 and FBI files, private family archives and original interviews. Its tentacles stretch around the world - from America, to the USSR, Canada, New Zealand, Europe and the UK. DEAD DOUBLES is a gripping episode of Cold War history, and a case that fully justified the West's paranoia about infiltration and treachery.
Dead End Gene Pool
by Wendy BurdenIn the tradition of Sean Wilsey's Oh the Glory of It All and Augusten Burroughs's Running with Scissors, the great-great-great-granddaughter of Cornelius Vanderbilt gives audiences a grand tour of the world of wealth and WASPish peculiarity, in her irreverent and darkly humorous memoir.
Dead Ends: The Pursuit, Conviction, and Execution of Serial Killer Aileen Wuornos
by Joseph Michael ReynoldsThe chilling true story of female serial killer Aileen Wuornos, whose violent crimes shocked the nation--and inspired the Academy Award-winning film Monster. When police in Florida's Volusia County were called to investigate the murder of Richard Mallory, whose gunshot-ridden body had been found in the woods just north of Daytona Beach in December 1989, their search led them to a string of dead ends before the trail went cold six months later. During the spring and summer of 1990, the bodies of six more middle-aged white men were discovered--all in secluded areas near their abandoned vehicles, all but one shot dead with a .22 caliber pistol--and all without any suspects, motives, or leads. The police speculated that the murders were connected, but they never anticipated what they'd soon discover: The killings were the work of a single culprit, Aileen Wuornos, one of the first women to ever fit the profile of a serial killer. With the cooperation of her former lover and accomplice, Tyria Moore, the police were able to solicit a confession from Wuornos about her months-long killing spree along Florida's interstate highways. The nation was quickly swept up in the drama of her trial and the media dubbed her the "Damsel of Death" as horrifying details of her past as a prostitute and drifter emerged. Written by the Reuters reporter who initially broke the story, Dead Ends is a thrilling firsthand account of Wuornos's capture, trial, and ultimate sentencing to death by lethal injection, that goes beyond the media frenzy to reveal the even more disturbing truth.
The Dead Eye and the Deep Blue Sea: A Graphic Memoir of Modern Slavery
by Vannak Anan PrumToo poor to pay his pregnant wife's hospital bill, Vannak Anan Prum left his village in Cambodia to seek work in Thailand. Men who appeared to be employers on a fishing vessel promised to return him home after a few months at sea, but instead Vannak was hostaged on the vessel for four years of hard labor. Amid violence and cruelty, including frequent beheadings, Vannak survived in large part by honing his ability to tattoo his shipmates--a skill he possessed despite never having been trained in art or having had access to art supplies while growing up. As a means of escape, Vannak and a friend jumped into the water and, hugging empty fish-sauce containers because they could not swim, reached Malaysia in the dark of night. At the harbor, they were taken into a police station . . . then sold by their rescuers to work on a plantation. Vannak was kept as a laborer for over a year before an NGO could secure his return to Cambodia. After five years away, Vannak was finally reunited with his family. Vannak documented his ordeal in raw, colorful, detailed illustrations, first created because he believed that without them no one would believe his story. Indeed, very little is known about what happens to the men and boys who end up working on fishing boats in Asia, and these images are some of the first records. In regional Cambodia, many families still wait for men who have disappeared across the Thai border, and out to sea. The Dead Eye and the Deep Blue Sea is a testament to the lives of these many fishermen who are trapped on boats in the Indian Ocean.
Dead Famous: An Unexpected History of Celebrity from Bronze Age to Silver Screen
by Greg JennerDuring these extraordinary times Greg Jenner is able to sign you a personalised bookplate for your hardback. Please email info@gregjenner.com with the name you would like the book dedicated to and the postal address. 'Fizzes with clever vignettes and juicy tidbits... [a] joyous romp of a book.' Guardian'A magical mystery tour through the history of celebrity - eye opening, provocative, triumphant.' Kate Williams, bestselling author and historian'A fascinating, rollicking book in search of why, where and how fame strikes. Sit back and enjoy the ride.' Peter FrankopanCelebrity, with its neon glow and selfie pout, strikes us as hypermodern. But the famous and infamous have been thrilling, titillating, and outraging us for much longer than we might realise. Whether it was the scandalous Lord Byron, whose poetry sent female fans into an erotic frenzy; or the cheetah-owning, coffin-sleeping, one-legged French actress Sarah Bernhardt, who launched a violent feud with her former best friend; or Edmund Kean, the dazzling Shakespearean actor whose monstrous ego and terrible alcoholism saw him nearly murdered by his own audience - the list of stars whose careers burned bright before the Age of Television is extensive and thrillingly varied. Celebrities could be heroes or villains; warriors or murderers; brilliant talents, or fraudsters with a flair for fibbing; trendsetters, wilful provocateurs, or tragic victims marketed as freaks of nature. Some craved fame while others had it forced upon them. A few found fame as small children, some had to wait decades to get their break. But uniting them all is the shared origin point: since the early 1700s, celebrity has been one of the most emphatic driving forces in popular culture; it is a lurid cousin to Ancient Greek ideas of glorious and notorious reputation, and its emergence helped to shape public attitudes to ethics, national identity, religious faith, wealth, sexuality, and gender roles. In this ambitious history, that spans the Bronze Age to the coming of Hollywood's Golden Age, Greg Jenner assembles a vibrant cast of over 125 actors, singers, dancers, sportspeople, freaks, demigods, ruffians, and more, in search of celebrity's historical roots. He reveals why celebrity burst into life in the early eighteenth century, how it differs to ancient ideas of fame, the techniques through which it was acquired, how it was maintained, the effect it had on public tastes, and the psychological burden stardom could place on those in the glaring limelight. DEAD FAMOUS is a surprising, funny, and fascinating exploration of both a bygone age and how we came to inhabit our modern, fame obsessed society.
Dead Famous: An Unexpected History of Celebrity from Bronze Age to Silver Screen
by Greg Jenner'Fizzes with clever vignettes and juicy tidbits... [a] joyous romp of a book.' Guardian'A magical mystery tour through the history of celebrity - eye opening, provocative, triumphant.' Kate Williams, bestselling author and historian'A fascinating, rollicking book in search of why, where and how fame strikes. Sit back and enjoy the ride.' Peter FrankopanCelebrity, with its neon glow and selfie pout, strikes us as hypermodern. But the famous and infamous have been thrilling, titillating, and outraging us for much longer than we might realise. Whether it was the scandalous Lord Byron, whose poetry sent female fans into an erotic frenzy; or the cheetah-owning, coffin-sleeping, one-legged French actress Sarah Bernhardt, who launched a violent feud with her former best friend; or Edmund Kean, the dazzling Shakespearean actor whose monstrous ego and terrible alcoholism saw him nearly murdered by his own audience - the list of stars whose careers burned bright before the Age of Television is extensive and thrillingly varied. Celebrities could be heroes or villains; warriors or murderers; brilliant talents, or fraudsters with a flair for fibbing; trendsetters, wilful provocateurs, or tragic victims marketed as freaks of nature. Some craved fame while others had it forced upon them. A few found fame as small children, some had to wait decades to get their break. But uniting them all is the shared origin point: since the early 1700s, celebrity has been one of the most emphatic driving forces in popular culture; it is a lurid cousin to Ancient Greek ideas of glorious and notorious reputation, and its emergence helped to shape public attitudes to ethics, national identity, religious faith, wealth, sexuality, and gender roles. In this ambitious history, that spans the Bronze Age to the coming of Hollywood's Golden Age, Greg Jenner assembles a vibrant cast of over 125 actors, singers, dancers, sportspeople, freaks, demigods, ruffians, and more, in search of celebrity's historical roots. He reveals why celebrity burst into life in the early eighteenth century, how it differs to ancient ideas of fame, the techniques through which it was acquired, how it was maintained, the effect it had on public tastes, and the psychological burden stardom could place on those in the glaring limelight. DEAD FAMOUS is a surprising, funny, and fascinating exploration of both a bygone age and how we came to inhabit our modern, fame obsessed society.
Dead Famous: An Unexpected History of Celebrity from Bronze Age to Silver Screen
by Greg Jenner'Fizzes with clever vignettes and juicy tidbits... [a] joyous romp of a book.' Guardian'A fascinating, rollicking book in search of why, where and how fame strikes. Sit back and enjoy the ride.' Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads'[An] engaging and well-researched book... Jenner brings his material to vivid life' ObserverCelebrity, with its neon glow and selfie pout, strikes us as hypermodern. But the famous and infamous have been thrilling, titillating, and outraging us for much longer than we might realise. Whether it was the scandalous Lord Byron, whose poetry sent female fans into an erotic frenzy; or the cheetah-owning, coffin-sleeping, one-legged French actress Sarah Bernhardt, who launched a violent feud with her former best friend; or Edmund Kean, the dazzling Shakespearean actor whose monstrous ego and terrible alcoholism saw him nearly murdered by his own audience - the list of stars whose careers burned bright before the Age of Television is extensive and thrillingly varied. In this ambitious history, that spans the Bronze Age to the coming of Hollywood's Golden Age, Greg Jenner assembles a vibrant cast of over 125 actors, singers, dancers, sportspeople, freaks, demigods, ruffians, and more, in search of celebrity's historical roots. He reveals why celebrity burst into life in the early eighteenth century, how it differs to ancient ideas of fame, the techniques through which it was acquired, how it was maintained, the effect it had on public tastes, and the psychological burden stardom could place on those in the glaring limelight. DEAD FAMOUS is a surprising, funny, and fascinating exploration of both a bygone age and how we came to inhabit our modern, fame obsessed society.
Dead Girls: Essays on Surviving an American Obsession
by Alice BolinA NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF 2018An Edgar Award nominee for best critical / biographicalBest of 2018 according to Kirkus, The Boston Globe,The New York Times, The Portland Mercury, Bustle, Thrillist, and Electric LitA New York Times Editor's Choice, a best of summer 2018 according to Bitch Magazine, Harpers Bazaar, The Millions, Esquire, Refinery29, Nylon, PopSugar, The Chicago Tribune, Book Riot, and CrimeReadsIn this poignant collection, Alice Bolin examines iconic American works from the essays of Joan Didion and James Baldwin to Twin Peaks, Britney Spears, and Serial, illuminating the widespread obsession with women who are abused, killed, and disenfranchised, and whose bodies (dead and alive) are used as props to bolster men’s stories. Smart and accessible, thoughtful and heartfelt, Bolin investigates the implications of our cultural fixations, and her own role as a consumer and creator. Bolin chronicles her life in Los Angeles, dissects the Noir, revisits her own coming of age, and analyzes stories of witches and werewolves, both appreciating and challenging the narratives we construct and absorb every day. Dead Girls begins by exploring the trope of dead women in fiction, and ends by interrogating the more complex dilemma of living women – both the persistent injustices they suffer and the oppression that white women help perpetrate. Reminiscent of the piercing insight of Rebecca Solnit and the critical skill of Hilton Als, Bolin constructs a sharp, perceptive, and revelatory dialogue on the portrayal of women in media and their roles in our culture.
Dead Gods: The 27 Club
by Chris SalewiczRobert Johnson. Brian Jones. Jimi Hendrix. Janis Joplin. Jim Morrison. Kurt Cobain. Amy Winehouse. They were inspirational, controversial, talismanic and innovative. They lead lives full of myth, scandal, sex, drugs and some of the most glorious music that has ever heard. Though each of their lives were cut tragically short at the age of 27, they would all leave the world having changed it irrevocably. Chris Salewicz tells, in intimate detail, the stories behind these compelling figures. From Robert Johnson and his legendary deal with the devil, to Jimi Hendrix appearing like a psychedelic comet on the London scene, through to Amy Winehouse's blazing talent and her savage appetite for self-destruction.