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Pop CultureArts & Culture

Review

Review by bookpagedev

Give ’til it hurts You’ve made big travel plans for the summer, and then you receive the call: Aunt Agnes, Cousin Curtis, and the rest of the family have rented a big house near the beach, and everyone is expected to be there for the month of July. Sigh . . . Guess where you’ll be spending your summer vacation? You need a little pick-me-up gift for yourself, under the circumstances. What gift doesn’t require a security deposit, seven-day advance purchase, or a Saturday night stay? Why, books, of course! Photographer Jeffrey Kraft’s exquisite photographs of Parisian cubbyholes and artifacts are not intended to entice one to visit the city; rather, his Literary Paris (Watson-Guptill, $18.95, 0823028305) is meant for those who have already been. The images are meant to inspire a memory from a time that has passed; this is not a fancy collection of tourists’ snapshots. Kraft has arranged his remembrances alongside excerpts from literary works by authors who stayed in Paris for extended periods of time. Kraft has captured the glimpse, the detail, the moment, rather than structures and sites. He offers an idea of what remains in the mind and heart, even years after the visit itself has ended. A wonderful gift for the Francophile in your life.

Ben Jonson said, He was not of an age, but for all time. He was, of course, speaking of his friend William Shakespeare. Children’s book author Aliki has written and illustrated William Shakespeare and the Globe (HarperCollins, $15.95, 006027820X), which describes not only Shakespeare’s life, work, and times, but even acknowledges visionary Sam Wannamaker, who spent years resurrecting the Globe. The book is designed much like a script, with acts and scenes and characters. An interesting add-on is the list of words and expressions, complete with illustrations, credited to Shakespeare; for example, sweets to the sweet and hush were apparently invented by the Bard himself. Seems we’ve been quoting Shakespeare without realizing it! Cities like Paris and London must make use of every tidbit of soil that can be found; as acreage diminishes in our growing world, green thumbs everywhere are striving to be more and more creative with their craft. Artisan has published Window Boxes: Indoors and Out ($27.50, 1579651240) with this in mind. Authors James Cramer and Dean Johnson offer fragrant, beautiful, and useful options for the, uh, land-challenged. Cramer and Johnson offer optional locations (who says a window-box is limited to being wooden, square, and outside?) and year-round planting options (a thriving garden in January?) With this book, the decision is no longer how to create a miniature garden, but rather how many miniature gardens you can create. Soil sold separately! Of course, if we’re talking land for land’s sake, Antarctica has land to spare. It’s been 85 years since Ernest Shackleton and the 27-member crew of the Endurance set out to cross the Antarctic on foot. Less than 100 miles from its destination, the Endurance was caught in an ice pack and was badly damaged. For over 20 months, the crew (along with 69 sled dogs) was marooned, but no lives were lost. Two books commemorate this remarkable true story of adventure and perseverance. First, there’s Knopf’s The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition ($29.95, 0375404031), a sophisticated account of the expedition. There’s also Ice Story: Shackleton’s Lost Expedition (Clarion, $18, 0395915244), which may be better-suited to younger explorers. Both books feature expedition photographer Frank Hurley’s photographs and offer a chronological summary of this death-defying journey. Hurley started the expedition with professional equipment, but his final shots were taken with a pocket camera. Endurance author Caroline Alexander, in association with the American Museum of Natural History, carefully researched this volume, complete with some of Hurley’s photographs that had not been published previously. Ice Story author Elizabeth Cody Kimmel presents the journey in storybook format, but the information is accurate and anecdotal. Both books would make great gifts for anyone who has a taste for adventure and hopeful endings.

Agnes and Curtis decide that the grown-ups need to take the children to the waterpark which happens to be 50 miles away for the day. Fifty miles can seem like 500 without Fun on the Run: Travel Games and Songs (Morrow Junior Books, $17, 0688146600). Brimming with silly stories, limericks, brain teasers, and songs, this book helps to fill travel time without batteries or messy cleanup. Familiar songs and games such as The Ants Go Marching and Hangman are included, but Fun on the Run contains nearly 125 pages of other games and songs that can be a part of any trip. If you still confuse Darth Vader with Darth Maul, fear not; Dorling Kindersley has published two books that will help you keep the prequel and the original trilogy straight: Star Wars Episode I: the Visual Dictionary and Star Wars Episode I: Incredible Cross Sections ($19.95, 078943962X). Like their predecessors (or would it be their descendants?), these books are designed to keep facts, characters, and plots straight. Archaeologist David West Reynolds, an obvious choice for the author, approaches this much like he did his previous Star Wars works. One feels as if he is on an archaeological dig or scientific study of another world. May the source be with you!

Give 'til it hurts You've made big travel plans for the summer, and then you receive the call: Aunt Agnes, Cousin Curtis, and the rest of the family have rented a big house near the beach, and everyone is expected to be there for the…

Pop CultureArts & Culture

Review

Review by bookpagedev

Give ’til it hurts You’ve made big travel plans for the summer, and then you receive the call: Aunt Agnes, Cousin Curtis, and the rest of the family have rented a big house near the beach, and everyone is expected to be there for the month of July. Sigh . . . Guess where you’ll be spending your summer vacation? You need a little pick-me-up gift for yourself, under the circumstances. What gift doesn’t require a security deposit, seven-day advance purchase, or a Saturday night stay? Why, books, of course! Photographer Jeffrey Kraft’s exquisite photographs of Parisian cubbyholes and artifacts are not intended to entice one to visit the city; rather, his Literary Paris (Watson-Guptill, $18.95, 0823028305) is meant for those who have already been. The images are meant to inspire a memory from a time that has passed; this is not a fancy collection of tourists’ snapshots. Kraft has arranged his remembrances alongside excerpts from literary works by authors who stayed in Paris for extended periods of time. Kraft has captured the glimpse, the detail, the moment, rather than structures and sites. He offers an idea of what remains in the mind and heart, even years after the visit itself has ended. A wonderful gift for the Francophile in your life.

Ben Jonson said, He was not of an age, but for all time. He was, of course, speaking of his friend William Shakespeare. Children’s book author Aliki has written and illustrated William Shakespeare and the Globe (HarperCollins, $15.95, 006027820X), which describes not only Shakespeare’s life, work, and times, but even acknowledges visionary Sam Wannamaker, who spent years resurrecting the Globe. The book is designed much like a script, with acts and scenes and characters. An interesting add-on is the list of words and expressions, complete with illustrations, credited to Shakespeare; for example, sweets to the sweet and hush were apparently invented by the Bard himself. Seems we’ve been quoting Shakespeare without realizing it! Cities like Paris and London must make use of every tidbit of soil that can be found; as acreage diminishes in our growing world, green thumbs everywhere are striving to be more and more creative with their craft. Artisan has published Window Boxes: Indoors and Out ($27.50, 1579651240) with this in mind. Authors James Cramer and Dean Johnson offer fragrant, beautiful, and useful options for the, uh, land-challenged. Cramer and Johnson offer optional locations (who says a window-box is limited to being wooden, square, and outside?) and year-round planting options (a thriving garden in January?) With this book, the decision is no longer how to create a miniature garden, but rather how many miniature gardens you can create. Soil sold separately! Of course, if we’re talking land for land’s sake, Antarctica has land to spare. It’s been 85 years since Ernest Shackleton and the 27-member crew of the Endurance set out to cross the Antarctic on foot. Less than 100 miles from its destination, the Endurance was caught in an ice pack and was badly damaged. For over 20 months, the crew (along with 69 sled dogs) was marooned, but no lives were lost. Two books commemorate this remarkable true story of adventure and perseverance. First, there’s Knopf’s The Endurance: Shackleton’s Legendary Antarctic Expedition ($29.95, 0375404031), a sophisticated account of the expedition. There’s also Ice Story: Shackleton’s Lost Expedition (Clarion, $18, 0395915244), which may be better-suited to younger explorers. Both books feature expedition photographer Frank Hurley’s photographs and offer a chronological summary of this death-defying journey. Hurley started the expedition with professional equipment, but his final shots were taken with a pocket camera. Endurance author Caroline Alexander, in association with the American Museum of Natural History, carefully researched this volume, complete with some of Hurley’s photographs that had not been published previously. Ice Story author Elizabeth Cody Kimmel presents the journey in storybook format, but the information is accurate and anecdotal. Both books would make great gifts for anyone who has a taste for adventure and hopeful endings.

Agnes and Curtis decide that the grown-ups need to take the children to the waterpark which happens to be 50 miles away for the day. Fifty miles can seem like 500 without Fun on the Run: Travel Games and Songs (Morrow Junior Books, $17, 0688146600). Brimming with silly stories, limericks, brain teasers, and songs, this book helps to fill travel time without batteries or messy cleanup. Familiar songs and games such as The Ants Go Marching and Hangman are included, but Fun on the Run contains nearly 125 pages of other games and songs that can be a part of any trip. If you still confuse Darth Vader with Darth Maul, fear not; Dorling Kindersley has published two books that will help you keep the prequel and the original trilogy straight: Star Wars Episode I: the Visual Dictionary ($19.95, 0789447010) and Star Wars Episode I: Incredible Cross Sections. Like their predecessors (or would it be their descendants?), these books are designed to keep facts, characters, and plots straight. Archaeologist David West Reynolds, an obvious choice for the author, approaches this much like he did his previous Star Wars works. One feels as if he is on an archaeological dig or scientific study of another world. May the source be with you!

Give 'til it hurts You've made big travel plans for the summer, and then you receive the call: Aunt Agnes, Cousin Curtis, and the rest of the family have rented a big house near the beach, and everyone is expected to be there for the…
LiteratureArts & Culture

Review

Review by bookpagedev

I first came across Joe Eszterhas in the early 1970s when the Baltimore Sun asked me to review his debut book, Charlie Simpson’s Apocalypse. It was a spellbinding book and I gave it a terrific review. Shortly after that, Eszterhas dropped off the literary landscape (except for a book about the Kent State killings and a novel) and surfaced in Hollywood where he began a career as a screenwriter. In the nearly 30 years since, he has written 17 original screenplays (and doctored countless others), including the blockbuster psychological thriller Basic Instinct, which made actress Sharon Stone an overnight star.

Just when I had given up hope of ever seeing another book from Eszterhas (why should he spend his time on a 400-page book for dubious financial reward when he can easily collect a million dollars-plus for a 100-page movie script?), along comes a 415-page monster of a book titled American Rhapsody.

I won’t keep you in suspense: It is the best book I have read in 10 years, maybe even longer. Using the research skills he learned as a writer for Rolling Stone magazine, the ear for dialogue and dramatic structure he learned writing movie scripts, and the sense of right and wrong he developed during the head-busting 1960s, he has written an epic analysis of the past decade (the Bill Clinton years, for those of you who have been out of the universe) that is every bit as perverse as it is brilliant.

Writing in the tradition of Norman Mailer and Tom Wolfe, who sometimes blend fact with fiction and personal observation, Eszterhas has given us a look at the decade we thought we knew, but didn’t, if the truth be told. To his credit, he lets us know, by the use of bold typeface, whenever he delves into fiction and that is almost always to give voice to the “Twisted Little Man” who dwells deep inside his writer’s psyche.

Eszterhas’s irreverent take on the Clinton/ Monica scandal is shocking, mind-numbing and filled with explicit details that will make you squirm, as will his psychosexual explanation of Clinton’s behavior while in office. No one of importance from the past decade escapes scrutiny, and that includes James Carville, Hillary Clinton, Larry Flynt, and Sharon Stone, to name a few. Richard Nixon even makes a cameo appearance, along with his “Monica.” America has been lucky in that each decade has produced a writer who has been able to put his finger on the nation’s pulse. This time it is Joe Eszterhas.

James L. Dickerson is the author of numerous books, including Goin’ Back to Memphis and That’s Alright, Elvis, both recently re-issued in paperback.

I first came across Joe Eszterhas in the early 1970s when the Baltimore Sun asked me to review his debut book, Charlie Simpson's Apocalypse. It was a spellbinding book and I gave it a terrific review. Shortly after that, Eszterhas dropped off the literary landscape…

Arts & Culture

Review

Review by bookpagedev

Lifestyles of the artistic and famous Lives of the Great 20th Century Artists by Edward Lucie-Smith is at least three books in one: It is a comprehensive study of the vast expanse of 20th-century art, a presentation of the great movements in this century’s art, and the fascinating life stories of major artists. The book’s greatest strength is the masterful way in which it weaves the life stories of artists into the story of their art. We come away understanding not only what makes these artists work, but also having a good grasp of the significance behind what they did. The life stories are arranged chronologically by movement, from Cubism to American Pop Art. Each subchapter contains a picture of the artist accompanied by at least one well-selected color plate of his or her work. All the familiar names are covered, such as Picasso, Chagall, and Pollock, but also less familiar ones such as David Alfaro Siquieros (who botched an assassination of Trotsky) with life stories equally as riveting.

Lifestyles of the artistic and famous Lives of the Great 20th Century Artists by Edward Lucie-Smith is at least three books in one: It is a comprehensive study of the vast expanse of 20th-century art, a presentation of the great movements in this century's art,…

Arts & Culture

Review

Review by bookpagedev

I can’t remember a time when so many writers have been preoccupied with the media while turning their intellectual flashlights on every nook and cranny of the inchoate and sometimes weird forces from which we get information and entertainment.

Few can size up these forces better, and wittier, than George Trow, a founding member of the National Lampoon and a New Yorker staff writer for almost 30 years. His new book, My Pilgrim’s Progress, takes 1950 as his point of departure. World War II was over and that fact, he says, changed our cultural relationship with the rest of the world. If Britain had been the factual victor, we would have BBCed our way into the media age; if Hitler had won something else. They didn’t; we did and so we have New York-televisioned our way into the media age. Trow writes in an almost stream-of-conscious manner in picturing the vastly different worlds of 1950 and 1997. It is true that the 1950s were a less complicated time; television was still growing and echoing the simplicity of the times. Walter Cronkite was the most watched news figure on the tube. TV listings of the early ’50s were anything but interesting, except for Howdy Doody.

The ’50s had Dwight Eisenhower, Walter Winchell, Dorothy Kilgallen, and Westbrook Pegler on the commentary scene. None of them makes a powerful impression on Trow except for Ike, who Trow believed embodied the right stuff as general and as President.

There are a good many things to smile about, such as the charge that Madonna simply wants to be Elvis; that televised golf tournaments are likened to porn for the privileged and home shopping networks to cocaine addiction.

There are, however, chain-lightning points to Trow’s prose; he is quite good in dealing with the printed press, perhaps because he is closer to it and understands its inner workings. With television, he seems to be a detached bystander.

It’s too bad Trow’s progress ended in 1997; it would be interesting to see his take on President Clinton’s woes. Perhaps we’ll see it in the next volume of My Pilgrim’s Progress. It would be a doozy.

Lloyd Armour is a retired newspaper editor.

I can't remember a time when so many writers have been preoccupied with the media while turning their intellectual flashlights on every nook and cranny of the inchoate and sometimes weird forces from which we get information and entertainment.

Few can size up…
PhotographyArts & Culture

Review

Review by bookpagedev

Once there were heroes who rode on flame-roaring rockets to another world. Full Moon celebrates the 30th anniversary of the first human flight to the Moon.

Artist/photographer Michael Light spent five years sorting through some 32,000 photographs taken by the astronauts themselves most of them never published and has selected 129 images that depict our journeys to the magnificent desolation of the Moon.

And they are our journeys, not merely the missions undertaken by 21 astronauts, not merely the program in which nearly half a million men and women worked for almost ten years. All of us participated in the Apollo missions, all of us were thrilled by the sights and sounds of men from Earth exploring a world that is a quarter million miles away.

The book is a treasure, the photographs a monument to humankind’s ability to dream vast dreams and then make them come true. And, as Andrew Chaikin’s thoughtful essay points out, once we began to see the Earth from the distant shores of the barren and alien Moon, none of us could ever think of our home world as anything but a beautiful, fragile, precious island of life set in a cold and utterly indifferent infinity. By reaching the Moon, we finally began to appreciate our own Earth. The Apollo astronauts’ photographs of the big blue marble were an enormous stimulus to the environmental movement.

Two of the photographs from the Moon hit me especially hard. Both come from the final lunar mission, Apollo 17. The first shows the lunar landing module on the ground near the base of a mountain system called the North Massif. Taken from two miles’ distance, the image captures the loneliness, the distance, the realization that the Moon is totally different from any place where humans have planted their footprints before. The second shows astronaut Gene Cernan, tired and grimy with lunar dust, after a long hard day of exploring on the Moon.

They were heroes, sent to the Moon by politicians who have not seen fit to carry on the brave endeavor they began. But there are other heroes waiting here on Earth, in schools, in cradles, even unborn as yet. They will return to the Moon and begin a new chapter of human exploration and adventure. Full Moon will help to inspire them to heroic futures. ¦ Ben Bova’s latest novel is Return to Mars, the long-awaited sequel to his 1992 best-selling Mars.

Once there were heroes who rode on flame-roaring rockets to another world. Full Moon celebrates the 30th anniversary of the first human flight to the Moon.

Artist/photographer Michael Light spent five years sorting through some 32,000 photographs taken by the astronauts themselves…

NonfictionArts & CultureArt

Women in the Picture

Review by Deborah Mason

As art historian Catherine McCormack points out in Women in the Picture: What Culture Does With Female Bodies, galleries and museums are full of paintings and statues of women in various guises and genres. Indeed, there are so many that we rarely take time to consider the implications of how they are depicted. We see a Madonna, and we think, “That’s a Madonna.” Few question how the Madonna is depicted, or even why the Madonna is depicted.

McCormack wants us to ask these questions, but she also wants us to consider by whom and for whom an artwork was created. She examines four archetypes of women in Western European art—Venus, the Madonna, the damsel in distress and the monstrous woman—to examine their impact on not only how we look at art but also how we view women in general.

Because so much of this art was created by male artists for male clients, McCormack argues, we have become accustomed to viewing these images through male eyes. As a result, when we see Titian’s “Rape of Europa,” we see a technically brilliant, erotically charged depiction of a myth, not the terror and brutality of the rape that is about to take place. When we see a Madonna, we see an idealized vision of motherhood, not how that mother is trapped by her hearth and home. Sphinxes, witches and gorgons, McCormack believes, are not existential threats to male heroes but the projection of misogynistic fears of powerful women.

McCormack’s purpose is twofold. First, rather than ditching Western European art, she wants us to engage with it critically, deliberately and honestly so that we can begin to recognize the impact of the male artist’s perspective and reinterpret his art with fresh eyes. Second, she wants to encourage women artists to take these subjects and represent them in ways that expose their realities to future generations. As a result, Women in the Picture is a thought-provoking call to action for artists and viewers alike.

Catherine McCormack looks closely at four archetypes of women in art to examine not only how we look at art but also how we view women in general.
FilmArts & Culture

Review

Review by bookpagedev

If Jorge Luis Borges had equipped one of his realer-than-real alternate universes with a 16-screen megaplex cinema, the marquee would doubtless look something like the index of Chris Gore’s The 50 Greatest Movies Never Made. To read Gore’s litany of failed movie projects is to enter a Bizarro World of film history, in which Orson Welles is as prolific as Spielberg, and Disney and Dali are comrades in cartoons.

Ever since the Medved brothers compiled their Golden Turkey books in the 1980s, an entire subgenre has evolved on the subject of bad and bizarre movies that actually got made. Gore’s book is the flipside: movie ideas that were shelved before or during production. Some are legendary, like the aborted Marilyn Monroe vehicle Something’s Gotta Give. Others may have been canned for good reason for instance, Swirlee, about a mob boss with an ice-cream cone for a head. All are tantalizing glimpses of a movie heritage that never was.

Most tantalizing are the unrealized projects of cinema giants. On hand are such celluloid phantoms as Josef von Sternberg’s unfinished Roman epic I, Claudius, in which Charles Laughton reputedly gave the performance of his career; and Sergei Eisenstein’s adaptation of An American Tragedy. From these early follies Gore progresses to amazing what-ifs such as the Alfred Hitchcock-James Stewart thriller The Blind Man, an Ingmar Bergman Merry Widow, and a Stanley Kubrick Napoleon that would’ve starred you guessed it Jack Nicholson.

Not that all the projects the book cites are so lofty. If you’ve ever longed for a cinematic death match between the acid-blooded Alien and the armor-plated Predator, you can read Gore’s book and dream. Comic-book yarns, movie parodies, a Roger Rabbit sequel set in wartime the author greets each with enthusiasm and a movie nut’s righteous indignation that he’ll never get to see them.

The founder of Film Threat magazine and a burr in Hollywood’s side for the better part of a decade, Gore uses his premise as a platform for diatribes against tight-fisted moneymen, studio philistines, and a cookie-cutter production process that crushes creativity. In some cases say, a senior citizens’ Animal House directed by Jerry Lewis it’s hard not to side with the suits. And one project Gore describes, a movie about Orson Welles’s famed pro-union stage production The Cradle Will Rock, has indeed been filmed by director Tim Robbins for release this year by a major studio, at that. If a similar fate were to befall every wildcat project listed in The 50 Greatest Movies Never Made, film history would be a lot more interesting.

Jim Ridley writes about movies for the Nashville Scene.

If Jorge Luis Borges had equipped one of his realer-than-real alternate universes with a 16-screen megaplex cinema, the marquee would doubtless look something like the index of Chris Gore's The 50 Greatest Movies Never Made. To read Gore's litany of failed movie projects is to…

Arts & CultureArt

Review

Review by bookpagedev

ÊPerhaps one day the bodies of Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky will be the objects of scrutiny for cultural historians rooting for manifestations of genius and grace in late 20th-century life. For it is the physical actions of these present-day superheroes around which images of greatness are currently fashioned. Pioneering historian Simon Schama has taken such a unique approach to the understanding of the Old Masters in Rembrandt’s Eyes. Schama breaks down all the stifling conventions of art and cultural histories in this micro/macroscopic journey through the life and works of Rembrandt van Rijn. A comprehensive visual treatise on the great painter, Rembrandt’s Eyes is both an innovative unearthing of the master’s optical training and a panoramic probing of the many eyes looking back at the viewer from the artist’s oeuvre. Schama subtly confesses the genesis of his innovative approach to this book by discussing the shame befalling historians accused of a vulgar glorification of Rembrandt in the latter half of this century. He writes, . . . allergy to genius talk has virtually become a professional obligation. We can only be thankful that the writer refused to allow this code of conduct to impede his impassioned approach to the subject. Rembrandt’s Eyes begins with a lively, near-fictional rendering of various historical events coalescing into two important themes of the painter’s life: the motivations driving Rembrandt’s first important patron and Rembrandt’s meeting the parents of Peter Paul Rubens, his foremost artistic influence. These two threads magically intertwine to heighten the importance of Rubens’s work on the younger Rembrandt. The brilliance of Schama’s method exists in his ability to dote on not one, but two of the greatest painters who ever lived, casting Rembrandt’s work in the shadow of Rubens. Curious and unexpected section headings like Honeysuckle, Making Faces, and The Sufficiency of Grace alert the reader from page one that 12 cups of coffee and an unabridged dictionary will not be required to make it through. You will find yourself only wanting to make more complete your enjoyment of a subject which, through the eyes of a less- skilled author, could easily put you to sleep in the blink of an eye. Chris Wyrick is a painter and teacher in Athens, Georgia, currently finishing his master’s degree at UGA.

ÊPerhaps one day the bodies of Michael Jordan and Wayne Gretzky will be the objects of scrutiny for cultural historians rooting for manifestations of genius and grace in late 20th-century life. For it is the physical actions of these present-day superheroes around which images of…
FilmArts & Culture

Review

Review by bookpagedev

Not since Francois Truffaut took on Alfred Hitchcock in the 1960s has there been such an illuminating exchange in print between a director and a critical fan. In Kazan: The Master Director Discusses His Films, filmmaker and writer Jeff Young interviews the renowned and controversial director Elia Kazan over an extended period, beginning the interviews in 1971 as the director neared the end of his career. The publication of Kazan’s autobiography contributed to the delays this book encountered in seeing print.

Kazan’s career as a movie director began with A Tree Grows in Brooklyn in 1945 and ended with The Last Tycoon in 1976. His total output of 19 films include the classics East of Eden, which introduced James Dean to the world, and On the Waterfront, which similarly introduced Marlon Brando. Kazan was also a prolific novelist and theater director. Unfortunately, his achievements as a director are often eclipsed by the controversy over his naming names testimony before the House Un-American Activities Committee during the McCarthy days of the 1950s. Many of Hollywood’s liberal members, such as actor Nick Nolte, sat on their hands in protest during the applause for Kazan as he received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 1999 Academy Awards. Young is unabashed in his admiration for Kazan’s work. His films moved me more than anyone else’s, he writes. I was transported, taken into the worlds they depicted, made privy to the inner tensions, conflicts, and feelings of Kazan’s characters, in whom I’d always found some part of myself. . . . Kazan’s films both forced and enabled me to think about my life and to view the world around me as I never had before. This was artistry of a very high order. In an age in which artistry seems replaced by gimmickry, and in which computer-generated worlds replace the landscapes of the human soul, an artist like Kazan stands as a reminder of what great cinema is all about. Kazan’s greatest strength as a director understanding acting and how to bring out the best in actors is increasingly becoming a lost art. Reading this book is inspirational, because it transports the reader back into a value system that needs to be rediscovered by the next generation of filmmakers. This book is not merely an homage by an admiring fan. Instead it is an exchange between two filmmakers on the art of filmmaking, which forces the director into a searching examination of his work, blemishes and all. With a chapter on each of Kazan’s films, the interviewer pushes the director to provide reasons for doing what he did, even when they are in disagreement. As I said, all of my sentiments are diametrically opposed to yours. Nothing you’ve said changes that, Young interjects during a discussion of Kazan’s incriminating Congressional testimony. At another point, when Kazan tries to defend his direction of Gentleman’s Agreement, admittedly one of his weaker works, Young challenges Kazan by saying, “I disagree. I think the details were not done well at all. The party scene at Celeste Holm’s apartment is full of cliches and stereotypes. When Kazan tries to defend his direction of Gentleman’s Agreement, admittedly one of his weaker works, Young challenges Kazan by saying, I disagree. I think the details were not done well at all. The party scene at Celeste Holm’s apartment is full of cliches and stereotypes. With this frank, sometimes confrontational, but always admiring style, Young brings out the best thoughts from the fertile mind of this great filmmaker. It is invaluable for filmmakers wanting an inside look into the reasoning that goes behind the thousands of decisions made in the creative filmmaking process. After you’ve read the book, you’ll want to rent the movies.

David Hinton is the dean of Watkins Institute College of Art and Design.

Not since Francois Truffaut took on Alfred Hitchcock in the 1960s has there been such an illuminating exchange in print between a director and a critical fan. In Kazan: The Master Director Discusses His Films, filmmaker and writer Jeff Young interviews the renowned and controversial…

Pop CultureArts & Culture

Review

Review by bookpagedev

George Lucas’s galaxy-spanning vision, Star Wars, has never flagged in popularity since it premiered in 1977. Star Wars video games, tapes, action figures, and books are considered staples of the Christmas season for young and old alike. This Christmas will be no exception, and with the new Star Wars movie due for release in 1999, there are some exciting new offerings available.

DK Publishing, world famous for their illustrated books on everything from aircraft to zoology, has published two Star Wars reference books. Star Wars: The Visual Dictionary ($19.95, 0789434814) and Star Wars: Incredible Cross-Sections ($19.95, 0789434806), both by David West Reynolds, treat the galaxy far, far away as a very real place.

Chronicle Books offers Star Wars Masterpiece Edition: Anakin Skywalker: The Story of Darth Vader ($75, 0811821587) by Stephen J. Sansweet with Daniel Wallace and Josh Ling. This eye-popping package includes a book and a 13 1/2-inch collector figure of Anakin Skywalker in the robes of a Jedi Knight. The book itself is a detailed look at the creation and evolution of one of cinema’s most enigmatic villains.

All three are must-haves for any Star Wars fan.

George Lucas's galaxy-spanning vision, Star Wars, has never flagged in popularity since it premiered in 1977. Star Wars video games, tapes, action figures, and books are considered staples of the Christmas season for young and old alike. This Christmas will be no exception, and with…

NonfictionHistoryArts & Culture

Best Nonfiction of 2021

Feature by the editors of BookPage

Nonfiction is the broadest publishing category, with books that delve into the past, present and future of every aspect of our world. There are books that rifle through our innermost emotions and books that search the outer universe. Books that strike while the iron is hot and books that are cool and classic. You’ll find a little bit of everything on our list of our most highly recommended nonfiction books of 2021—from timeless instant classics to breathlessly of-the-moment reports.

20. Cultish by Amanda Montell

In her incredibly timely book, Amanda Montell’s expertise as a linguist melds with her research into the psychological underpinnings of cults.

19. Cuba by Ada Ferrer

With interesting characters, new historical insights and dramatic yet accessible writing, Ada Ferrer’s epic history of Cuba will grab and hold your attention.

18. Fuzz by Mary Roach

Mary Roach’s enthusiasm and sense of humor are contagious in her around-the-world survey of human-wildlife relations.

17. Dear Senthuran by Akwaeke Emezi

Akwaeke Emezi generously shares both their wounds and their wisdom, offering aspiring artists fresh inspiration for creating new forms of being.

16. American Republics by Alan Taylor

Pulitzer Prize winner Alan Taylor’s latest American history, covering the United States’ expansion from 1783 to 1850, is sweeping, beautifully written, prodigiously researched and myth-busting.

15. My Broken Language by Quiara Alegría Hudes

Joyful, righteous, indignant, self-assured, exuberant: All of these words describe Quiara Alegría Hudes’ memoir.

14. Blow Your House Down by Gina Frangello

Frangello’s raw, eloquent memoir is singed with rage and tinged with optimism about the power to recover one’s life from the depth of suffering.

13. Unbound by Tarana Burke

Unbound is Tarana Burke’s unflinching, beautifully told account of founding the #MeToo movement and becoming one of the most consequential activists in America.

12. The Code Breaker by Walter Isaacson

For readers seeking to understand the twists, turns and amazing potential of gene-editing CRISPR technology, there’s no better place to turn than The Code Breaker.

11. 1000 Years of Joys and Sorrows by Ai Weiwei

This heart-rending yet exhilarating memoir by a world-famous artist gives a rare look into how war and revolution affect innocent bystanders who are just trying to live.

10. The Secret to Superhuman Strength by Alison Bechdel

Alison Bechdel’s unique combination of personal narrative, a search for higher meaning and comic ingenuity will leave you pumped up and smiling.

9. Four Hundred Souls edited by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain

This epic, transformative book covers 400 years of Black history with the help of a choir of exceptional poets, critics, essayists, novelists and scholars.

8. A Most Remarkable Creature by Jonathan Meiburg

Gorgeously written and sophisticated, Jonathan Meiburg’s book about a wickedly clever falcon will move readers to protect this truly remarkable creature.

7. Chasing Me to My Grave by Winfred Rembert

From surviving a lynching to discovering the transformative power of art while imprisoned in a chain gang, Winfred Rembert recounts his life story in his distinct and unforgettable voice.

6. Facing the Mountain by Daniel James Brown

Most of the Japanese American patriots who formed the 442nd Infantry Regiment are gone, but their stories live on in this empathetic tribute to their courage.

5. A Swim in a Pond in the Rain by George Saunders

Beloved author George Saunders shares invaluable insights into classic Russian short stories, unlocking their magic for bibliophiles everywhere.

4. How the Word Is Passed by Clint Smith

Clint Smith’s gifts as both a poet and a scholar make this a richly provocative read about the ways America does (and doesn’t) acknowledge its history of slavery.

3. Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe

In jaw-dropping detail, Patrick Radden Keefe recounts the greed and corruption at the heart of the Sackler family’s quest for wealth and social status.

2. Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner

In her debut memoir, Michelle Zauner perfectly distills the palpable ache for her late mother, wrapping her grief in an aromatic conjuring of her mother’s presence.

1. A Little Devil in America by Hanif Abdurraqib

Hanif Abdurraqib’s brilliant commentary shuffles forward, steps sideways, leaps diagonally and waltzes gracefully throughout this survey of Black creative performance in America.

See all of our Best Books of 2021 lists.

You’ll find a little bit of everything on our list of our most highly recommended nonfiction books of 2021—from timeless instant classics to breathlessly of-the-moment reports.
Pop CultureArts & Culture

Review

Review by bookpagedev

All dolled up From her origin as the near-clone of a German sex toy for men to her position as the reigning queen of dolls, Barbie has long been the world’s favorite foot-tall cultural icon. Next year she’ll reach the big four-o, and everywhere you turn there’s another party. One of the most entertaining is a new book from that trusty art publisher, Abrams Barbie: Four Decades of Fashion, Fantasy, and Fun by Marco Tosa. More than merely a catalog of Barbie, friends, and accessories, Tosa’s book is a beautifully illustrated history of a cultural phenomenon. It follows the changes in American social life over the last 40 years, as reflected in the lifestyle and accoutrements of the most popular doll in the world.

All dolled up From her origin as the near-clone of a German sex toy for men to her position as the reigning queen of dolls, Barbie has long been the world's favorite foot-tall cultural icon. Next year she'll reach the big four-o, and everywhere…

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