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Defining Style

Emphasizing personal style, Joan Barzilay Freund’s Defining Style is a freeing, inspiring and extremely innovative look at interior design.
Emphasizing personal style, Joan Barzilay Freund’s Defining Style is a freeing, inspiring and extremely innovative look at interior design.
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Wild things

Review by Deanna Larson

Animal Life is the ultimate armchair expedition for wildlife enthusiasts. Compiled in association with the American Museum of Natural History and captured by some of the world's best wildlife photographers, this coffee – table safari is full of action – packed close encounters with some of the world's most exotic and familiar species. Broken into three massive sections – the Animal Kingdom, Animal Anatomy and Animal Behavior – the book uses the most distinctive or spectacular examples to illustrate every aspect of life in the wild, from birth and development, sexual rivalry and raising young, play and learning, and society and intelligence to predation, scavenging, hunting, camouflage and deception. Unforgettable pictures include a brown trout leaping out of a stream, mouth gaping, to eat a damselfly, a flock of oxpeckers sucking blood from the back and ears of an African buffalo, giraffe in combat and a short account of how the Marsh Warbler learns its song. But nature can be harsh as well, graphically illustrated by a mother cheetah bringing back small or injured prey for her babies to practice the kill, and a grey heron stepping on the head of a flock mate before dining on its flesh.

For the birds

A mouse-devouring predator with an injured wing makes a strange but fascinating soul mate in Wesley the Owl: The Remarkable Love Story of an Owl and His Girl. When Caltech biologist Stacey O'Brien is asked to adopt a four – day – old barn owlet by her research department, she is wary of raising an unreleasable wild animal in her living space. But the chance to observe bird behavior outside the lab intrigues the ethologist. "After all, theoretical scientists do not require a lab," she writes, "only a piece of paper, a pencil, and a fantastic brain." Quickly, O'Brien is killing the many live mice the bird needs to grow into a striking 18 – inch predator that flutters into her heart, her researcher's brain and every corner of her life. Wesley imprints on the scientist as he sleeps next to her in a box on a pillow, and matures to swoop with his talons and pounce on prey (O'Brien lifts one tiny foot to find a smashed spider). He fills her bathroom cupboards with strips of old magazines, calling her to them with a nesting cry. O'Brien has this remarkable feathered creature as her companion for nearly 20 years, through illness and other challenges, bonding girl and bird in a true love story that crossed species and confounded expectations. "He was my teacher," she writes, "my companion, my child, my playmate, my reminder of God."

Any bird lover who has refilled a feeder on a cold December morning, or gone out to the backyard to try to find the owl hooting at midnight and wondered, who else is as crazy as me, will find good company in The Wisdom of Birds: An Illustrated History of Ornithology. Prize – winning writer/ornithologist Tim Birkhead turns the long and disjointed history of birds into an accessible, engaging look at the beauty, songs, behavior and balletic ability of this ancient species. Inspired by the work of 17th – century British biologist John Ray, Birkhead takes a fresh look at bird behavior and ecology with entertaining stories based on the observations and discoveries of scientists, biologists and bird lovers throughout history. Footnotes, a glossary, index and bibliography will appeal to the amateur ornithologist, but the tales and illustrations will thrill any birdwatcher curious about those who gather the information they use to learn about the lives of their feathered friends.

Counting sheep

Beautiful Sheep: Portraits of Champion Breeds is a shepherd's Playboy, filled with gorgeous specimens swathed in every type of wool coat, perched on delicate, downy legs. Farm veterinarian and professor Kathryn Dun, who descends from a family of Scottish sheep breeders (she helped deliver Dolly, the cloned sheep), presents rams and ewes from the ancient herding cultures of the world, evolved to match the landscape: cotton – cloud Oxford Down soft as the Cotswold hills, the long lustrous ringlets of the English Wensleydale, the shaggy black Hebridean of rugged Scotland, with its ribbed horns. The origin and distribution of each breed, as well as its distinguishing features and uses, is included. While sections on sheep history and the show scene in the British Isles would most likely interest only sheep breeders, herding dog fanciers and agrarians, the photos of sheep posing against a canvas backdrop by Paul Farnham are like stunning Dutch still lifes, with the sheep's glassy stare reminding viewers of the time when hardy, healthy livestock were the lifeblood of any village or community.

Pet projects

Happy Dog, Happy You: Quick Tips for Building a Bond with Your Furry Friend and Happy Cat, Happy You: Quick Tips for Building a Bond with Your Feline Friend feature an adorable retro design packed with genius shortcuts to bring out the "doggone best" and "feline finest" in a pet relationship. Arden Moore (The Dog Behavior Answer Book, The Cat Behavior Answer Book) concentrates on simple essentials for a quality life with tips on raising, training, housing and feeding a dog or cat, along with healthful recipes. Happy Dog also includes excellent tips on canine sports and exercising and traveling with a dog; Happy Cat tackles multi – cat households as well as cat – proofing a house and caring for feline senior citizens.

Grandma always said homemade is better, and that goes for pets as well. Jessica and Eric Talley, founders of Bubba Rose Biscuit Company, have created delicious recipes that a canine bubbe can make or bake in The Organic Dog Biscuit Cookbook. This gorgeous compact hardback features 100 illustrated recipes for organic treats and entrees including Teenie Weenie Banana Barkinis, "Asnackadopoulis" (feta cheese, oats and spinach), Honey Mutts (honey and oat biscuits), Energy Barks, Muddy Paws (carob treats), and Pupeyes (spinach biscuits). Some low – fat and meat – , grain – and gluten – free recipes are included along with helpful sidebars on super foods for dogs and nutritional no – no's. While the book's super – simple recipes repeat many of the same ingredients, your pooch will never tire of these wholesome foods.

Read it for the LOLs

Does "I Can Has Cheezburger?" sound like the Queen's English to you? O hai, welcum LOLcat fan! Visitors to the website icanhascheezburger.com add funny "capshuns" to snapshots of cats in a wacky feline pidgin language. The site has become a worldwide sensation and social networking hub with millions of visitors, and LOLspeak now extends to wedding vows and even a Bible translation. I Can Has Cheezburger? A LOLcat Colleckshun collects 200 classic pairings from the site – Do Not Want and Oh Noes! are here – plus gigglesome new "kittehs." These constructs land squarely in the category of "you had to be there," but picture this: a ginger cat hides in an empty aquarium, and says: K … i redy. u may add fishies nao. If such LOLcat mischief strikes you as hilarious, this is a colleckshun you won't want to miss.

Animal Life is the ultimate armchair expedition for wildlife enthusiasts. Compiled in association with the American Museum of Natural History and captured by some of the world's best wildlife photographers, this coffee - table safari is full of action - packed close encounters with some…

SportsPop CultureGraphic Novels & ComicsComicsArts & Culture

For your favorite bro’s library

Review by Martin Brady

Outta the park

The baseball books lead off with Harvey Frommer's timely Remembering Yankee Stadium: An Oral and Narrative History of the House That Ruth Built. Frommer provides a nostalgic, factually keen description of the formidable ball yard through its many baseball seasons, 1923 through 2008 (set to be replaced in 2009 by a new facility). He also interpolates hundreds of quotable quotes from dozens of ballplayers and managers (Yankees and otherwise), front – office executives, broadcasters, newspaper writers, team employees and even garden – variety fans, all of whom share their unique perspectives on the great games they witnessed and the specialness of the Yankee Stadium baseball experience. The photographs are even more gratifying: black – and – white and color stills stirringly evoke the Yankee legacy, from Ruth and Gehrig through Rodriguez and Rivera. The foreword is by longtime stadium PA announcer Bob Sheppard, a legend in his own right, who observed the Bronx Bombers firsthand for some 50 years, through good times and bad.

In a similar vein, but loaded with fan – friendly extras, comes Babe Ruth: Remembering the Bambino in Stories, Photos & Memorabilia. Co – authored by Julia Ruth Stevens (Ruth's adopted daughter) and versatile journalist Bill Gilbert, this volume basically avoids the Bambino's legendary excesses, instead focusing on his humble Baltimore youth, his meteoric rise as home – run king, his iconic Yankee status, his role as baseball ombudsman, his life as a family man, and his eventual decline and widely mourned death. The archival photos, some rarely seen, are fabulous, dramatically capturing Ruth the ballplayer at various career stages but just as often portraying his lovable self with loved ones, friends and fans (especially the kids). The book includes captivating reproductions of Ruth memorabilia, including his birth certificate, player contracts, game tickets and programs, and a signed team photo of the famed 1927 Yankees ballclub.

When World War II broke out, FDR made it a point to keep major league baseball going for morale purposes, never mind the hostilities' eventual impact on the game's talent pool. When Baseball Went to War, edited by Bill Nowlin and Todd Anton, serves as a tribute to those who traded the playing fields of America's pastime for the killing fields of Europe and Asia. The text primarily pulls together individual player profiles – Yogi Berra, Ted Williams, Bob Feller, Warren Spahn, etc. – detailing their war service and pre – and postwar careers. Even more interesting are the stories of lesser – known individuals such as Lou Brissie, who rebounded from war – related injuries to make the grade as a pro. Ancillary essays focus on the home front during wartime, including Merrie A. Fidler's piece on the All – American Girls Base Ball League, which sheds some factual light on an era immortalized in the film A League of Their Own. The book concludes with lists of major –

Pass the ball

Two seasons ago, Tom Callahan's excellent biography Johnny U included an exciting blow – by – blow account of the historic 1958 NFL sudden – death title game between the Baltimore Colts and New York Giants. In The Glory Game: How the 1958 NFL Championship Changed Football Forever, Hall of Famer and former sportscaster Frank Gifford, with an assist from Peter Richmond, attempts the same idea but with an elaborate twist. Gifford, a Giants receiver and running back and member of the '58 squad, uses the game itself more as a jumping – off point to interview surviving members of the two teams and to reminisce about his own career and those of players who have passed on. The narrative toggles between personal reflections and game specifics, and Gifford brings in the memories of reporters, wives and other onlookers to help create a detailed and contextual overview of the contest itself. Recommended for "old school" football fans.

With the advent of the Web has come outr

Pop culture heroes

Devotees of the TV show "How I Met Your Mother" may best appreciate the humor of The Bro Code, compiled by sitcom screenwriter Matt Kuhn under the guise of the character Barney Stinson (as portrayed by actor Neil Patrick Harris). Yet it's definitely funny stuff, with Kuhn laying out all the do's and don'ts of contemporary brotherhood – with much of it having to do with the opposite sex. For example: "A Bro will drop whatever he's doing and rush to help his Bro dump a chick." Or, "A Bro shall never rack jack his wingman." (Translation: Steal a buddy's girl.) Much of this – etiquette on grooming, clothes, sports, channel – surfing, pizza – ordering, drinking and so on – will read like common sense to most regular stand – up guys, but it's codified here with hip style and features some humorous graphics. Bottom line? It's all about supporting one another, however best and most realistically possible. Article #1: "Bros before ho's."

Finally, for that guy who just may not want to grow up, there's The DC Vault: A Museum-in-a-Book Featuring Rare Collectibles from the DC Universe. Author Martin Pasko has fashioned an interesting, nuanced history of the comic – book giant, founded during the Great Depression and the eventual purveyor of beloved American superheroes – Superman, Batman, Wonder Woman, etc. – as well as a long string of Westerns, Army adventures ("Sgt. Rock"), sci – fi tales and pop – culture – inspired ephemera. The main draw in this sturdy, ring – bound showcase are the marvelous photos – of cover art, story pages, early pencil sketches, company correspondence, internal memos, etc. – plus production stills from spinoff movies and TV shows. Hardcore fans will particularly relish the plastic – wrapped inserts containing reproduced memorabilia from the company's long history, including public service comics, promotional items, greetings cards, posters, bookmarks, stickers, etc. Pasko's final chapter tells of DC's corporate repositioning in 1989 as a part of the Warner Bros. movie studio, with a discussion of the marketing and new – media development that has gone on since. Paul Levitz, DC's current president and publisher, provides the foreword.

 

Outta the park

The baseball books lead off with Harvey Frommer's timely Remembering Yankee Stadium: An Oral and Narrative History of the House That Ruth Built. Frommer provides a nostalgic, factually keen description of the formidable ball yard through its many baseball seasons, 1923 through 2008…

Self-HelpFamily & Relationships

Past and present

Review by bookpagedev

Wisdom is now so cheap and abundant that it floods over us from calendar pages, tea bags, bottle caps, and mass e-mail messages asserts social psychologist Jonathan Haidt in The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom. Does access to endless streams of information really help with man’s search for life meaning and purpose? Haidt takes a rational approach to too much wisdom by identifying 10 Great Ideas, insights about man, purpose and happiness celebrated through the ages by ancient civilizations. He weaves a story of opposites, of what causes humans to thrive or to wither by exploring ancient wisdom and contrasting it with modern-day psychological research.

Haidt is a fine guide on this journey between past and present, discussing the current complexities of psychological theory with clarity and humor ( The mind is . . . like the rider on the back of an elephant, he writes). He explains how our minds work and how we socialize, grow and develop, while explicating ancient religious, literary and philosophical texts on human happiness, citing authors from Plato, Jesus Christ and the Buddha, to Benjamin Franklin, Proust and Kant. Haidt’s is an open-minded, robust look at philosophy, psychological fact and spiritual mystery, of scientific rationalism and the unknowable ephemeral an honest inquiry that concludes that the best life is, perhaps, one lived in the balance of opposites.

Wisdom is now so cheap and abundant that it floods over us from calendar pages, tea bags, bottle caps, and mass e-mail messages asserts social psychologist Jonathan Haidt in The Happiness Hypothesis: Finding Modern Truth in Ancient Wisdom. Does access to endless streams of…
Self-HelpLifestyles

Who am I?

Review by bookpagedev

Our identity if we’re not verifying it, we’re worried about someone stealing it. But what is this mysterious and elusive It ? The Identity Code: The 8 Essential Questions for Finding Your Purpose and Place in the World is a guide to discovering the core self, written by a man who’s very sure of his own identity: I am Larry Ackerman and I am driven by the need to help people to see. Ackerman, an identity management consultant, believes that identity is beautiful and it is powerful. Decipher its secret code, which is embedded in us from birth along with our biological constructs, and we will understand the why of our lives. His introductory essay debunks a currently popular identity theory: The myth of personal freedom the idea that you are at liberty to pick whatever path in life you want is the unspoken agony of the modern person. This myth, Ackerman argues, ignores an inherent order already present in life, a complex system of natural law wherein lie the seeds of identity.

Ackerman clearly presents his finely distilled Laws of Identity and their eight corresponding questions, which lead, like a well-signed path, toward self-knowledge and personal responsibility. First tackling basic queries such as, Who am I, and what makes me special? The Identity Code then turns to questions about life patterns, directions, gifts, relationships and abundance. With instructions on using an Identity Mapping Process, case studies and exercises, this commonsense workbook shines with Ackerman’s compassionate desire for each individual to discover his or her precious jewel of identity and be at peace with yourself.

Our identity if we're not verifying it, we're worried about someone stealing it. But what is this mysterious and elusive It ? The Identity Code: The 8 Essential Questions for Finding Your Purpose and Place in the World is a guide to discovering the…
Memoir

Ice Storm author Rick Moody weathers his own depression

Review by bookpagedev

Author Rick Moody’s first work of nonfiction lifts the veil on some of his own worst experiences from struggling with substance abuse and depression to surviving a destructive relationship with an ex-girlfriend. A sensitively written narrative in which he bares all about the discouraging times in his life, The Black Veil: A Memoir with Digressions is a departure for the 40-year-old author, who has carved out a successful career as a fiction writer. His first book, Garden State, won the Pushcart Press Editor’s Choice Award, and his novel The Ice Storm was made into an acclaimed film by noted director Ang Lee.

Moody’s stay in a New York psychiatric hospital as a result of his severe depression makes up the prime matter of this memoir with digressions, but it also serves as a jumping-off point for his meditations on topics such as fathers and sons, his New England family lineage and the pain of modern-day adolescence. Moody also touches on the very personal difficulty of dealing with his sister’s sudden death.

Catharsis can have abject terror connected with it, Moody said in a recent interview. In this case, I wanted to write about things I’ll never need to write about again. As any essentially introverted person might, Moody has his phobias. He’s not keen about talking on the telephone, and he expresses anxiety about his upcoming book tour. I love bookstore appearances, but the media aspect can be demanding, admits the author, who lives on Fishers Island (off Long Island) and in Brooklyn.

What he’s not phobic about, however, is engaging as a writer with emotionally demanding material. In The Black Veil, his alcohol abuse, his explosive, codependent relationship with an ex-girlfriend (called Jen in the book) and the psychic dark hole that resulted in his hospitalization in Hollis, Queens, is prefaced by incidents from his superficially comfortable upbringing in Darien, Connecticut. But these topics are informed and balanced by an investigation into whether his depression might be hereditary, which Moody probes through family diaries and field trips to the Maine of his forebears. In chapters that alternate with Moody’s personal story, we are offered a scholarly deconstruction of Nathaniel Hawthorne’s short story The Minister’s Black Veil, from the famed author’s collection Twice-Told Tales. Hawthorne’s lead character, the Reverend Mr. Hooper, is based on the Reverend Joseph ( Handkerchief ) Moody of Maine, who accidentally shot to death a childhood friend and lived out the remainder of his life veiled in a spiritual darkness. Sifting through the evidence of his ancestry proves time-consuming and revelatory for author Moody. He discovers that his clan, while related to Handkerchief Moody, actually descends from the other side of the Moody lineage.

I had thought, Moody writes, since I believed that I was related to Handkerchief Moody, that there was a genetic inclination that had been preserved across the centuries, a vulnerability, an insight, a recoiling, a burden, a Moody style. . . . But it was becoming apparent that the more likely and reliable assumption was that the simulated tendencies of families were bits of mythology by which a family constituted itself. Families were, in this view, nothing in nature, and everything in recitation. What else did learning about the Moody ancestry teach him? That maybe some of my disarming markers are much more prevalent in my family, he says. It made me feel more human and less eccentric. When I get a notion to learn about a thing, I’m lucky to be able to make it into something that is interesting. That’s my job. In this case, my research took me personal places. In light of Handkerchief Moody’s grave childhood sin, Moody was also led to consider the social phenomenon of Columbine and similar horrific incidents. All through that rash of schoolboy killings, he says, I felt like, if I was in high school then, they would have had a 24-hour watch on me. I definitely would have fit into the category of socially awkward.’ Then there are some things that hit home even more directly, as when Moody’s sister died six years ago without warning, the victim of a cardiac seizure. Yeah . . . that’s a lifer, he says somberly. She was fine one day, then gone the next. But beyond the sadness and the depression and the emotional challenges, Moody’s volume functions best when it charts the interesting journey through the mind of a man trying to deal with who he is and achieve wellness at the same time. When I was at my worst emotionally, he says, it was as if I didn’t want to get better. I figured neurosis and eccentricity were part of my creativity. My issues are always gonna be there, but I know how to handle them better. I also feel I’m more compassionate than ever about other people’s pain. Writing such an intensely personal book can often have real-life consequences, especially where real people are concerned. In Moody’s case, the reception was surprisingly positive.

Everyone important in the book had read it in manuscript. They were all fine about it. My father and my ex-girlfriend were extremely supportive. In fact, Jen’ wanted me to use her real name in the book. She wanted it to be the truth. My dad was very positively struck by the book, which was a relief to me. I’ve found that most people are not taking it as a kiss-and-tell memoir. It’s more an anatomy of what makes me tick. As for the ghosts of bad behavior, Moody says: They’re still there. The historical legacy and genetic tendencies are there. But I know how to act today. And I’m not a drinker anymore. I’ve been clean for 15 years. And with that, Rick Moody’s own black veil has for now anyway been lifted. I’ve found that most people are not taking it as a kiss-and-tell memoir. It’s more an anatomy of what makes me tick. Martin Brady writes from Nashville.

Author Rick Moody's first work of nonfiction lifts the veil on some of his own worst experiences from struggling with substance abuse and depression to surviving a destructive relationship with an ex-girlfriend. A sensitively written narrative in which he bares all about the discouraging times…
PhotographyFilmArts & Culture

Names in lights

Review by Pat H. Broeske

Leading men tell all

There are similarities to the careers and lives of Robert Wagner and Tony Curtis. Both were contract players who went on to 1950s – era stardom and a cool '60s ride. Each reaped the rewards of fame by paling with starry names – and enjoying women galore. After wedding famous actresses, both were in "storybook" marriages breathlessly covered by fan magazines.

That's where the similarities end, as detailed in Wagner's Pieces of My Heart, written with Scott Eyman. This holiday tell-all delivers the goods. Wagner grew up privileged, just off the Bel – Air Country Club golf course, where he caddied for the likes of Clark Gable and Fred Astaire. Just 22 when he began a four – year affair with the much older Barbara Stanwyck (she was 45) he later famously married and divorced and remarried Natalie Wood. Her 1981 death in the waters off Catalina Island continues to haunt him. Yet Wagner, who went on to find fame as a TV stalwart and is now married to Jill St. John, knows he's had an amazing ride.

A star is born

Tony Curtis enjoyed all the amenities a life in the Hollywood spotlight can bring – but you wouldn't know it to read his story, told in American Prince: A Memoir, written with Peter Golenbock. But then, the former Bernie Schwartz had a hardscrabble New York childhood: he's always been quick to use his fists. Curtis came to Hollywood by way of acting school, following a Navy stint. His pretty boy looks were his calling card-and date bait. Opening with a tryst with young Marilyn Monroe, his book does considerable bed – hopping. It was an affair with a 17 -year-old leading lady that put an end to his marriage to popular actress Janet Leigh. (Curtis says Leigh's treatment of him had left him "emotionally vulnerable.") The ugly split may have turned some of Hollywood's powerful figures against Curtis. Or so he believes. He had a string of marriages and saw his career spiral downward, despite starring in bona fide classics, including Some Like It Hot and Sweet Smell of Success.

He left Hollywood when the phone stopped ringing. Now living in Las Vegas, he's been happily married for 10 years (wife Jill has a horse ranch). For the record, he's not on the greatest terms with daughter Jamie Lee Curtis. But he's working on it.

Inside a curious mind

Alfred Hitchcock didn't go for happy endings, but he sure liked blondes. But what was behind the master of suspense's obsession with actresses including Grace Kelly, Ingrid Bergman, Kim Novak, Doris Day, Janet Leigh and Tippi Hedren? In Spellbound by Beauty: Alfred Hitchcock and His Leading Ladies, Donald Spoto offers a compelling psychological examination. As the author of two other Hitchcock tomes, Spoto has the credentials and sources to explore how Hitchcock's psyche impacted his films and their casting. Self – loathing and friendless with unresolved issues toward women, Hitchcock could be a cruel taskmaster. What he did to Hedren (mother of actress Melanie Griffith) during the making of The Birds and especially Marnie, was nothing short of sexual harassment – even physical abuse. (Class act that she is, Hedren eventually made her peace with Hitchcock.) The plot of Vertigo (in which James Stewart "remakes" Kim Novak into his dream woman) played to his habit of making actresses "to his dream ideal of blonde perfection." Of course, those blondes often wound up in nightmarish situations in Hitchcock's iconic films.

The Hollywood lifestyle

In the world of show business, some of the hottest properties aren't on the screen but, rather, in the rarefied worlds of Beverly Hills, Bel-Air and Holmby Hills. Leading Beverly Hills real estate broker Jeffrey Hyland knows that terrain better than anyone, as revealed in the massive, lushly illustrated The Legendary Estates of Beverly Hills. This amazingly researched and illustrated history of nearly 50 incredible estates, from the ground up (as they were built), includes a who's who of notables involved, as well as an authoritative look at the convergence of architectural styles (and audacity) that are as integral to Southern California as palm trees – and it comes in a carrying case with attached handle. For looky – loos, this may be the ultimate home tour.

A studio revealed

If you saw and enjoyed PBS's five-hour documentary about Warner Bros. Studios that aired in September, you only skimmed the surface. You Must Remember This: The Warner Bros. Story by Richard Schickel and George Perry, gives the complete saga, with a wealth of images from the archives of the 85 – year – old studio. Founded by four brothers, Warner Bros. famously popularized sound with 1927's The Jazz Singer. Its first big star was Rin Tin Tin. The studio also claimed the esteemed John Barrymore (grandfather of Drew Barrymore). But its key performers were as gritty as the movies that became the studio signatures. James Cagney, Edward G. Robinson and Humphrey Bogart were among those who made their mark here. Moving decade by decade (the '70s were as exciting as the '30s), the book takes us right up to The Dark Knight and Sweeney Todd, and charts the evolution of modern legends, including Clint Eastwood, who penned the foreword.

Eastwood's own metamorphosis is captured in Clint Eastwood: A Life in Pictures. Edited by Pierre – Henri Verlhac, with a foreword by Peter Bogdanovich, it follows his journey from hubba – hubba beefcake model to his status as a revered filmmaker – actor, accepting accolades and statuettes at Cannes and the Oscars. Now there's a Hollywood ending.

Beyond the best

The B-List: The National Society of Film Critics on the Low-Budget Beauties, Genre – Bending Mavericks, and Cult Classics We Love is edited by David Sterritt and John Anderson. The National Society of Film Critics is known for highbrow taste (in 2002 they turned out The A-List: 100 Essential Films). But in this entry, the members fess up about the guilty pleasures on their DVD shelves. A chapter on "Provocation and Perversity" goes bonkers for Nic Cage's loony tunes performance in Vampire's Kiss. Another on "Dark and Disturbing Dreams" salutes The Rage: Carrie 2. Here and there, a title's inclusion gives pause; Platoon a B-movie? But the bulk of the lineup reminds us why it's OK to love movies that have never made a "10 best" list.

Some of the B-titles are included in David Thomson's "Have You Seen… ?": A Personal Introduction to 1,000 Films. It's a welcome companion to his authoritative Biographical Dictionary of Film. Arranged alphabetically, titles from 1895 to 2007 are examined on varying levels (audacious themes, forgotten performances, the tenor of the day, etc.). The erudite Thomson isn't without a sense of humor. Of Liz Taylor in Cleopatra, he notes, "Her eyelashes needed cranes!"

Leading men tell all

There are similarities to the careers and lives of Robert Wagner and Tony Curtis. Both were contract players who went on to 1950s - era stardom and a cool '60s ride. Each reaped the rewards of fame by paling with starry names…

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