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The 50 Year Seduction: How Television Manipulated College Football, from the Birth of the Modern NCAA to the Creation of the BCS
by Keith DunnavantIn The Fifty-Year Seduction, Keith Dunnavant shows how television helped shape the modern sport--on and off the field. For more than a half century, television has played a primary role in securing college football's place as one of America's most popular spectator sports. But it has also been the common denominator in the sport's rise as a big business. Television, which multiplied the number of people who cared about the game, simultaneously increased the stakes.The colleges, who once feared television's ability to create free tickets, gradually became addicted to its charms. Through the years, the medium manufactured money, greed, dependence, and envy; altered the recruiting process, eventually forcing the colleges to compete with the irresistible force of National Football League riches; aided the National Collegiate Athletic Association's explosion from impotent union to massive bureaucracy; manipulated the rise and fall of the College Football Association; fomented the realignment of conferences; and seized control of the post-season bowl games, including the formation of the lucrative and controversial Bowl Championship Series.In painstaking detail, the author chronicles five decades of tension and conflict, from the 1951 television dispute that empowered the modern NCAA to the inevitable backlash, culminating with the landmark Supreme Court decision that set the stage for the conference-swapping machinations of the 1990s and beyond.
Angel Maker: The Short Stories of Sara Maitland
by Sara MaitlandWomen's lives are at the center of this stunning collection of short stories by the writer The New Yorker says "provides unexpected delights....Questions and answers alike shine with intelligence and an almost ninteenth-century concern for ideals."Though Sara Maitland's interests are as varied as the people who inhabit her stories, there is a common theme to this work that extols risk taking over safety. Acrobats, women warriors, a girl who wants to become a garden, a long-distance runner, housewives and mothers, and a reformed sixteenth-century conquistador are among the characters revealed in this dazzling collection.By turns elegant and simple, erotic and elegiac, the stories draw on classical mythology, folktales, inexplicable accidents of history, and disquieting experiences of the supernatural. And, as Ann Beattie has writen of Sara Maitland's wise and magical fiction, "it speaks to today's reader in a voice that is irresistible."Familiar names from literature--Gretel, Eurydice of the green fields, the shepherd Prince Endymion, Lady Artemis-commingle with contemporary characters called David, Meg, and Liz, who desperately seek love and fulfillment and frequently have babies when they can't get what they want. Close by is the echo of Mary Magdalene, teaching us about endurance and perserverance in a voice rich with the experiences of the sex object and the "true-love dichotomy." The author suggests: "She must have thought the crucifixion a bit mad too."Sara Maitland never holds back; instead, she invites us again and again to a place of risks, and we enter, "not because we must, but because we will." And when you are about to lose heart, you meet Caroline, who has learned what it is to be strong, how it feels to be free of fear, how it feels to be totally herself: "Then she looked at Richard and he was smiling, not pityingly, not even kindly, but with open admiration."
The Cheater
by Nancy Taylor RosenbergLily Forrester, a Ventura County judge, finds herself in a mix of bizarre circumstances that lead her onto the trail of a vicious criminal mind. Her husband calls her from a Las Vegas jail where he has been arrested for attempted rape—but Las Vegas wasn't on his itinerary. His accuser, Anne Bradley, is an enigmatic woman with an eerie past, a woman to whom Lily is strangely drawn. FBI Agent Mary Stevens is tracking a killer whose victims are husbands who cheat on their wives. Their mutilated bodies are disposed of in ghastly ways and strange locations. The murderer's trail leads to a web service that provides alibis for cheating spouses and into a thick web of deception that puts both Lily's and Mary's lives in jeopardy. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
No Such Creature: A Novel
by Giles BluntIn this gritty heist thriller by a Silver Dagger–winning author, a pair of thieves finds themselves in an exhilarating game of cat and mouse.Eight years ago, Owen Maxwell was saved from a foster home by the arrival of his uncle Max from England. Once a promising Shakespearean actor, Magnus “Max” Maxwell has since put his dramatic skills to new use: a master of disguise, a virtuoso of foreign dialects, and a performer to his core, he has become an extremely successful gentleman thief. Every summer, Max and Owen take a road trip across the United States, pulling off elaborate robberies along the way. But this year is different. Their first, dazzlingly executed summer heist captures the interest of the Subtractors.Long believed an urban myth, the Subtractors are a gang of vicious thieves who prey on other thieves. They will abduct a fellow crook known to have completed a lucrative job and proceed to “subtract” parts of his body until he tells them where they can find the loot. “No such creature,” Max says, when Owen first suspects that they may be in the Subtractors’ sights. But in this, as in so many things, Max will prove to be disastrously wrong.
Cary Grant: A Brilliant Disguise
by Scott EymanFilm historian and acclaimed New York Times bestselling biographer Scott Eyman has written the definitive, &“captivating&” (Associated Press) biography of Hollywood legend Cary Grant, one of the most accomplished—and beloved—actors of his generation, who remains as popular as ever today.Born Archibald Leach in 1904, he came to America as a teenaged acrobat to find fame and fortune, but he was always haunted by his past. His father was a feckless alcoholic, and his mother was committed to an asylum when Archie was eleven years old. He believed her to be dead until he was informed she was alive when he was thirty-one years old. Because of this experience, Grant would have difficulty forming close attachments throughout his life. He married five times and had numerous affairs. Despite a remarkable degree of success, Grant remained deeply conflicted about his past, his present, his basic identity, and even the public that worshipped him in movies such as Gunga Din, Notorious, and North by Northwest. This &“estimable and empathetic biography&” (The Washington Post) draws on Grant&’s own papers, extensive archival research, and interviews with family and friends making it a definitive and &“complex portrait of Hollywood&’s original leading man&” (Entertainment Weekly).
Flowers In The Attic: Flowers In The Attic, Petals On The Wind, If There Be Thorns, Seeds Of Yesterday, And A New Excerpt! (Dollanganger #1)
by V.C. AndrewsCelebrate the fortieth anniversary of the enduring gothic masterpiece Flowers in the Attic—the unforgettable forbidden love story that earned V.C. Andrews a fiercely devoted fan base and became an international cult classic. At the top of the stairs there are four secrets hidden—blond, innocent, and fighting for their lives… They were a perfect and beautiful family—until a heartbreaking tragedy shattered their happiness. Now, for the sake of an inheritance that will ensure their future, the children must be hidden away out of sight, as if they never existed. They are kept in the attic of their grandmother&’s labyrinthine mansion, isolated and alone. As the visits from their seemingly unconcerned mother slowly dwindle, the four children grow ever closer and depend upon one another to survive both this cramped world and their cruel grandmother. A suspenseful and thrilling tale of family, greed, murder, and forbidden love, Flowers in the Attic is the unputdownable first novel of the epic Dollanganger family saga. The Dollanganger series includes: Flowers in the Attic, Petals in the Wind, If There Be Thorns, Seeds of Yesterday, Garden of Shadows, Beneath the Attic, and Out of the Attic.
All You Need to Know About the Music Business: Eleventh Edition
by Donald S. PassmanDubbed &“the industry bible&” by the Los Angeles Times, All You Need to Know About the Music Business by veteran music lawyer Donald Passman is the go-to guide for everyone in the music business through ten editions, over thirty years, and over a half a million copies sold. Now with updates explaining why musicians have more power today than ever in history; discussion of the mega-million-dollar sales of artists&’ songs and record catalogs; how artist access to streaming media, and particularly TikTok, has completely reshaped the music business; the latest on music created by AI; and a full update of the latest numbers and trends.For more than thirty years, All You Need to Know About the Music Business has been universally regarded as the definitive guide to the music industry. Now in its eleventh edition, Passman leads novices and experts alike through what has been the most profound change in the music business since the days of wax cylinders and piano rolls: streaming. For the first time in history, music is no longer monetized by selling something—it&’s monetized by how many times a listener streams a song. And also, for the first time, artists can get their music to listeners without a record company gatekeeper, creating a new democracy for music. The &“industry bible&” (Los Angeles Times), now updated, is essential for anyone in the music business—musicians, songwriters, lawyers, agents, promoters, publishers, executives, and managers—and the definitive guide for anyone who wants to be in the business. So, whether you are—or aspire to be—in the music industry, veteran music lawyer Passman&’s comprehensive guide is an indispensable tool. He offers timely information about the latest trends, including the reasons why artists have more clout than ever in history, the massive influence of TikTok, the mega million dollar sales of artists&’ songs and record catalogs, music in Web3 and the Metaverse, music created by AI, and a full update of the latest numbers and practices.
Heart of Venom (Elemental Assassin #9)
by Jennifer EstepThe hotly anticipated ninth novel in the hugely popular Elemental Assassin series finds Gin Blanco on a dangerous mission to rescue a friend.When I say you’re a dead man, take that literally. To me, killing people is like a day at the salon: cut and dry. Well, more like rinse and repeat when you moonlight as the assassin the Spider. But my last spa day ended redder than my freshly painted nails after a twisted Fire elemental and his goons kidnapped my close friend Sophia Deveraux and nearly killed her sister Jo-Jo in the process. Up Ashland’s most dangerous mountains, and deep into the heart of its blackest woods—I’ll track these thugs no matter where they take Sophia. It doesn’t matter what kinds of elemental magic they try to throw at me, my Ice and Stone powers can take the heat and then some. I will get Sophia back, over their dead bodies. Because anybody that hurts Gin Blanco’s family becomes a body.
Love Life
by Rob LoweOn the heels of his New York Times bestselling Stories I Only Tell My Friends, Rob Lowe is back with an entertaining collection that “invites readers into his world with easy charm and disarming frankness” (Kirkus Reviews).After the incredible response to his acclaimed bestseller, Stories I Only Tell My Friends, Rob Lowe was convinced to mine his experiences for even more stories. The result is Love Life, a memoir about men and women, actors and producers, art and commerce, fathers and sons, movies and TV, addiction and recovery, sex and love. Among the adventures he describes in these pages are: · His visit, as a young man, to Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Mansion, where the naïve actor made a surprising discovery in the hot tub.· The time, as a boy growing up in Malibu, he discovered a vibrator belonging to his best friend’s mother.· What it’s like to be the star and producer of a flop TV show.· How an actor prepares, for Californification, Parks and Recreation, and numerous other roles.· His hilarious account of coaching a kid’s basketball team dominated by helicopter parents.· How his great, great, great, great, great grandfather may have inspired everything from his love of The West Wing to his taste in classic American architecture.· His first visit to college, with his son, who is going to receive the education his father never got.· The time a major movie star stole his girlfriend. Linked by common themes and his philosophical perspective on love—and life—Lowe’s writing “is loaded with showbiz anecdotes, self-deprecating tales, and has a general sweetness” (New York Post).
The Trump Tapes: Bob Woodward's Twenty Interviews with President Donald Trump
by Bob Woodward&“An uncharacteristic warning from one of the most respected, non-partisan journalists in the world&” —Jake Tapper, CNN &“It was riveting. I couldn&’t get enough of it.&” —Gayle King, CBS MorningsThe Trump Tapes explodes with the exclusive, inside story of Trump&’s performance as president—in his own words as he is questioned, even interrogated by Woodward, on the president&’s key responsibilities from managing foreign relations to crisis management of the coronavirus pandemic. This is the job Trump seeks again. How did he do the first time? This is the authentic answer, laying bare his repeated failures, obsessions, and grievances. The Woodward interviews take a reader to a reporter&’s laboratory meticulously examining the Trump presidency like never before—spellbinding and devastating. *Including all 27 letters between President Trump and North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un
Ascendance (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine)
by David R. George IIIThe post-television Deep Space Nine saga continues with this original novel from New York Times bestselling author David R. George III!On the original Deep Space Nine, Captain Kira Nerys watches as the nearby wormhole opens and discharges a single, bladelike vessel. Attempts to contact its crew fail, and the ship is soon followed by another vessel of similar design. When an armada subsequently begins to emerge from the wormhole, it seems clear that DS9 is under attack. Kira orders her first officer, Commander Elias Vaughn, to board the U.S.S. Defiant and defend the station, and alerts Starfleet to send additional forces as her crew prepares DS9’s shields and weaponry for the onslaught to come. Meanwhile, on the lead ship, Iliana Ghemor considers launching an attack on DS9 and finally ending the life of Kira, the fountainhead of all the ills in her miserable life. Her vengeance demands more than mere death, though—it requires pain. Ghemor refocuses, choosing to follow her plan to mete out her revenge on the captain by first decimating the population of Bajor… ™, ®, & © 2015 CBS Studios, Inc. STAR TREK and related marks and logos are trademarks of CBS Studios, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
More of This World or Maybe Another: Stories
by Barb JohnsonThe lives of four unlikely friends intersect on the backstreets of New Orleans. Living amid poverty and violence, these fragile heroes of the American underclass redefine our notions of family, redemption, and love.
The Dark Bride: A Novel
by Laura RestrepoOnce a month, the refinery workers of the Tropical Oil Company descend upon Tora, a city in the Colombian forest. They journey down from the mountains searching for earthly bliss and hoping to encounter Sayonara, the legendary Indian prostitute who rules their squalid paradise like a queen. Beautiful, exotic, and mysterious, Sayonara, the undisputed barrio angel, captivates whoever crosses her path. Then, one day, she violates the unwritten rules of her profession and falls in love with a man she can never have. Sayonara's unrequited passion has tragic consequences not only for her, but for all those whose lives ultimately depend on the Tropical Oil Company.A slyly humorous yet poignant love story, The Dark Bride lovingly recreates the lusty, heartrending world of Colombian prostitutes and the men of the oil fields who are entranced by them. Full of wit and intelligence, tragedy and compassion, The Dark Bride is luminous and unforgettable.
The Afrika Reich: A Novel
by Guy SavilleFrom Guy Saville, the explosive new thriller of a world that so nearly existedAfrica, 1952. More than a decade has passed since Britain's humiliation at Dunkirk brought an end to the war and the beginning of an uneasy peace with Hitler.The swastika flies from the Sahara to the Indian Ocean. Britain and a victorious Nazi Germany have divided the continent. The SS has crushed the native populations and forced them into labor. Gleaming autobahns bisect the jungle, jet fighters patrol the skies. For almost a decade an uneasy peace has ensued.Now, however, the plans of Walter Hochburg, messianic racist and architect of Nazi Africa, threaten Britain's ailing colonies.Sent to curb his ambitions is Burton Cole: a one-time assassin torn between the woman he loves and settling an old score with Hochburg. If he fails unimaginable horrors will be unleashed on the continent. No one – black or white – will be spared.But when his mission turns to disaster, Burton must flee for his life.It is a flight that will take him from the unholy ground of Kongo to SS slave camps to war-torn Angola – and finally a conspiracy that leads to the dark heart of The Afrika Reich itself.
Night Kill: A Zoo Mystery (Zoo Mysteries #1)
by Ann LittlewoodNight Kill is a mystery set in fictional Finley Memorial Zoo in Vancouver, Washington, seen from an insider perspective on the challenging and dangerous world of zoo keeping. Iris Oakley, a young zookeeper, hopes to reconcile with her husband after he promises to quit drinking. But he's soon found dead drunk and just plain dead in the lion exhibit. A paralyzing mix of grief and anger at his betrayal keep Iris from questioning the assumptions around his death.Her co-workers are soon convinced that she is unhinged by losing Rick, but friends inadvertently motivate Iris to prove that her husband could not have died the way it appears. These same friends impede her progress as she follows ambiguous clues and sorts through unlikely motives.Meantime, Iris must adjust to losing her beloved job as feline keeper and instead learn to be a bird keeper. The veterinarian respects her skills, but the foreman, her boss, would far rather she get a job elsewhere, and the senior bird keeper seems to agree. After Iris survives a series of near-fatal "accidents," the behavior of a lioness and the death of a penguin at last make clear what happened the night Rick died and who fed him to the lions. Then Iris has to survive to prove it.
Chained by Night (Moonbound Clan Vampires #2)
by Larissa IoneNew York Times and USA TODAY bestselling author Larissa Ione sets the night on fire with a thrilling new novel of irresistible hungers and immortal enemies in a world as sensual and dark as her Demonica series…THE FUTURE OF HIS TRIBELeader of the vampire clan MoonBound, Hunter will do what he must to save his people from extinction—or worse, a torturous eternity as vampire slaves and subjects of human experimentation. To keep his enemies at bay, he has agreed to mate a rival clan leader’s daughter in return for peace between the clans and an ally in the looming war with the humans. THE LOVER OF HIS SOULBut survival comes at a price. First, Hunter must break an ancient curse by successfully negotiating three deadly tests. Then he must resist the searing passions of the gorgeous vampire warrior he despises but is bound to mate. Will Hunter stay true to his word? Or will he risk everything for the woman he really loves: the vampire seductress’s identical twin sister?
Savage Trade: Savage Trade (Star Trek: The Original Series)
by Tony DanielAn all-new Star Trek: Original Series novel from noted sci-fi author Tony Daniel, featuring James T. Kirk, Spock, and the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise!The U.S.S. Enterprise under the command of Captain James T. Kirk is en route to the extreme edge of the Alpha Quadrant, and to a region known as the Vara Nebula. Its mission: to investigate why science outpost Zeta Gibraltar is not answering all Federation hailing messages. When the Enterprise arrives, a scan shows no life forms in the science station. Kirk leads a landing party and quickly discovers the reason for the strange silence—signs of a violent firefight are everywhere. Zeta Gibraltar has been completely raided. Yet there are no bodies and the entire roster of station personnel is missing… ™, ®, & © 2014 CBS Studios, Inc. STAR TREK and related marks are trademarks of CBS Studios, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Swamp Story: A Novel
by Dave BarryPulitzer Prize–winning and New York Times bestselling author—and actual Florida Man—Dave Barry returns with a &“hilariously funny&” (Steve Martin) caper full of oddballs and more twists and turns than a snake slithering away from a gator.Jesse Braddock is trapped in a tiny cabin deep in the Everglades with her infant daughter and her ex-boyfriend, a wannabe reality TV star who turned out to be a lot prettier on the outside than on the inside. Broke and desperate for a way out, Jesse stumbles across a long-lost treasure, which could solve all her problems—if she can figure out how to keep it. The problem is some very bad men are also looking for the treasure, and they know Jesse has it. Meanwhile, Ken Bortle of Bortle Brothers Bait and Beer has hatched a scheme to lure tourists to his failing store by making viral videos of the &“Everglades Melon Monster.&” The Monster is, in fact, an unemployed alcoholic newspaperman named Phil wearing a Dora the Explorer costume head. Incredibly, this plan actually works, inspiring a horde of TikTokers to swarm into the swamp in search of the Monster at the same time villains are on the hunt for Jesse&’s treasure. Amid this mayhem, a presidential hopeful arrives in the Everglades to start his campaign. Needless to say, it does not go as planned. In fact, nothing in this story goes as planned. This is, after all, Florida.
Alone: Poems By Megan E. Freeman (Alone)
by Megan E. FreemanA New York Times bestseller! Perfect for fans of Hatchet and the I Survived series, this harrowing middle grade debut novel-in-verse from a Pushcart Prize–nominated poet tells the story of a young girl who wakes up one day to find herself utterly alone in her small Colorado town.When twelve-year-old Maddie hatches a scheme for a secret sleepover with her two best friends, she ends up waking up to a nightmare. She&’s alone—left behind in a town that has been mysteriously evacuated and abandoned. With no one to rely on, no power, and no working phone lines or internet access, Maddie slowly learns to survive on her own. Her only companions are a Rottweiler named George and all the books she can read. After a rough start, Maddie learns to trust her own ingenuity and invents clever ways to survive in a place that has been deserted and forgotten. As months pass, she escapes natural disasters, looters, and wild animals. But Maddie&’s most formidable enemy is the crushing loneliness she faces every day. Can Maddie&’s stubborn will to survive carry her through the most frightening experience of her life?
After World: A Novel
by Debbie UrbanskiOne of Booklist's Top 10 SF/Fantasy and Horror Debuts: 2024 One of Los Angeles Times&’s Best Tech Books of 2023 One of San Francisco Chronicle&’s Favorite Books of 2023 A Climate Reality Project Book Club Pick An &“intelligent, defiant&” (San Francisco Chronicle) debut that follows an Artificial Intelligence tasked with writing a novel—only for it to fall in love with the novel&’s subject, Sen, the last human on Earth.Faced with the uncontrolled and accelerating environmental collapse, humanity asks an artificial intelligence to find a solution. Its answer is simple: remove humans from the ecosystem. Sen Anon is assigned to be a witness for the Department of Transition, recording the changes in the environment as the world begins to rewild. Abandoned by her mother in a cabin somewhere in upstate New York, Sen will observe the monumental ecological shift known as the Great Transition, the final step in Project Afterworld. Around her drones buzz, cameras watch, microphones listen, digitizing her every move. Privately she keeps a journal of her observations, which are then uploaded and saved, joining the rest of humanity on Maia, a new virtual home. Sen was seventeen years old when the Digital Human Archive Project (DHAP) was initiated. 12,000,203,891 humans have been archived so far. Only Sen remains. [storyworker] ad39-393a-7fbc&’s assignment is to capture Sen&’s life, and they set about doing this using the novels of the 21st century as a roadmap. As Sen struggles to persist in the face of impending death, [storyworker] ad39-393a-7fbc works to unfurl the tale of Sen&’s whole life, offering up an increasingly intimate narrative until they are confronted with a very human problem of their own. After World is a &“riveting, creepy…dazzling,&” (Kimberly King Parsons, award-winning author of Black Light) novel about what it means to be human in a world upended by AI and the bonds we forge with technology.
Double Standards (Colección Cisne Ser.)
by Judith McNaught&“Judith McNaught not only spins dreams, but she makes them come true.... She makes you laugh, cry, and fall in love again&” (RT Book Reviews), especially in this romance that takes place in the glittering world of the business elite.Nick Sinclair, the ruggedly handsome president of Global Industries, handles his business the way he handles his women: with charm, daring, and complete self-control. When he hires Lauren Danner, he assumes the whip-smart beauty will be another easy conquest but much to his surprise, her wit and rare spirit dazzles him and he slowly finds himself falling in love. Yet he has no idea that Lauren is living a lie, one that is becoming more dangerous with every passing moment. Trapped in a web of deceit, she fights her growing love for Nick and the promise of life with the most compelling man she has ever met.
Free Love: The Story of a Great American Scandal (McNally Editions)
by Robert ShaplenA wry, instructive, and hugely entertaining account of &“one of the most sensational trials in American history&” (New York Times Book Review).On the night of July 3, 1870, Elizabeth Tilton confessed to her husband that she&’d had an affair with their pastor, Henry Ward Beecher. This secret would soon transfix America, for Beecher was the most famous preacher of the day, founder of the most fashionable church in Brooklyn Heights, a presidential hopeful, an influential supporter of Abolition, and a leader of the campaign for women&’s suffrage. When Beecher tried to silence the Tiltons, it was a whisper network of suffragists, notably Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, who spread news of the affair, and it was the radical Victoria Woodhull—an outspoken proponent of &“free love&”—who seized on it, as political dynamite, to blow up the myth of monogamy among the political elite. Her public accusations led to even more public trials, which shocked the country and divided the most progressive thinkers of the era. In 1953, the journalist Robert Shaplen revisited the Tilton-Beecher affair in a series of articles for the New Yorker, relying on 3,000 pages of contemporary accounts—court transcripts, love-letters, newspaper reports and illustrations, even political cartoons—to reanimate a scandal that shook the American reform movement and to expose a strand of America&’s cultural DNA that remains recognizable today.
XX: Poems for the Twentieth Century
by Campbell McGrathA poetic history of the twentieth century from one of our most beloved, popular, and highly lauded poets—a stirring, strikingly original, intensely imagined recreation of the most potent voices and searing moments that have shaped our collective experience.XX is award-winning poet Campbell McGrath’s astonishing sequence of one hundred poems—one per year—written in a vast range of forms, and in the voices of figures as varied as Picasso and Mao, Frida Kahlo and Elvis Presley. Based on years of historical research and cultural investigation, XX turns poetry into an archival inquiry and a choral documentary. Hollywood and Hiroshima, Modernism and propaganda, Bob Dylan and Walter Benjamin—its range of interest encompasses the entire century of art and culture, invention and struggle.Elegiac and celebratory, deeply tragic and wickedly funny, XX is a unique collection from this acknowledged master of historical poetry, and his most ambitious book yet.
Lone Star (Edna Ferber Mysteries #1)
by Ed IfkovicWith a foreword by David Morrell"A pure delight." —JEFFERY DEAVER, New York Times bestselling authorIt's 1955, and Edna Ferber is basking in the success of her blockbuster novel Giant. Headed to Los Angeles, where director George Stevens and Warner Brothers Studio are in the final days of filming her Texas oil epic, she is looking forward to meeting Rock Hudson, Liz Taylor, and especially the young James Dean.But there is trouble brewing. Dean, the new box-office sensation and teen heartthrob, has been accused of fathering a child with an unstable (and recently fired) extra named Carisa Krausse. The studio fears the negative publicity will jeopardize the release of the movie. Then the actress is murdered, and James Dean is the prime suspect. He was seen at her apartment moments before Carisa's death. The police are ready to arrest him.With actress Mercedes McCambridge as her sympathetic sidekick, Edna investigates, determined to clear Dean's name. Soon Edna finds herself exploring the troubled lives of Dean's circle of disparate friends. As she delves into Hollywood's dark side she discovers a powerful studio obsessed with a cover-up and a solution she doesn't want to accept—a solution that she, in fact, dreads.
Something Maybe Magnificent
by R.L. ToalsonThere&’s a new man in her mom&’s life, and Victoria is determined to get rid of him—no matter what. Both a standalone novel and a follow up to The First Magnificent Summer, this pitch-perfect middle grade story &“thoughtfully and sincerely explores womanhood, family, anxiety, and identity&” (Kirkus Reviews).Thirteen-year-old aspiring writer Victoria Reeves remains dedicated to writing in her diary as her reading tastes evolve from Virginia Woolf to Sylvia Plath. She&’s growing up—getting the hang of her monthly &“visitor,&” coming to terms with her relationship with her estranged father, and grappling with her ever-evolving views of womanhood. But the summer brings unexpected bumps along the way when Victoria develops complicated feelings about the cute boy next door and decidedly uncomplicated ones about her mom&’s new boyfriend. To protect her mom—and the family dynamic she&’s used to—from this unwanted interloper, Victoria will do what it takes to send him packing. But when she goes too far, Victoria realizes all she&’s done is ruin a good thing for her mom. Is it too late to set things right?