Biography: arts and entertainment Books

Book SynopsisSOMEWHERE FOR ME: A BIOGRAPHY OF RICHARD RODGERS

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Book Synopsis"Mesmerizing." —The New York Times Book Review Welcome to Hollywood, circa 1950, the end of the Golden Age. A remarkably handsome young boy, still a teenager, gets "discovered" by a big-time movie agent. Because when he takes his shirt off young hearts beat faster, because he is the picture of innocence and trust and need, he will become a star. It seems almost preordained. The open smile says, "You will love me," and soon the whole world does. The young boy's name was Tab Hunter—a made-up name, of course, a Hollywood name—and it was his time. Stardom didn't come overnight, although it seemed that way. In fact, the fame came first, when his face adorned hundreds of magazine covers; the movies, the studio contract, the name in lights—all that came later. For Tab Hunter was a true product of Hollywood, a movie star created from a stable boy, a shy kid made even more so by the way his schoolmates—both girls and boys—reacted to his beauty, by a mother who provided for him in every way except emotionally, and by a secret that both tormented him and propelled him forward. In Tab Hunter Confidential: The Making of a Movie Star, Hunter speaks out for the first time about what it was like to be a movie star at the end of the big studio era, to be treated like a commodity, to be told what to do, how to behave, whom to be seen with, what to wear. He speaks also about what it was like to be gay, at first confused by his own fears and misgivings, then as an actor trapped by an image of boy-next-door innocence. And when he dared to be difficult, to complain to the studio about the string of mostly mediocre movies that were assigned to him, he learned that just like any manufactured product, he was disposable—disposable and replaceable. Hunter's career as a bona fide movie star lasted a decade. But he persevered as an actor, working continuously at a profession he had come to love, seeking—and earning—the respect of his peers, and of the Hollywood community. And so, Tab Hunter Confidential is at heart a story of survival—of the giddy highs of stardom, and the soul-destroying lows when phone calls begin to go unreturned; of the need to be loved, and the fear of being consumed; of the hope of an innocent boy, and the rueful summation of a man who did it all, and who lived to tell it all.

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Book SynopsisJEAN LANGLAIS THE MAN AND HIS MUSIC

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Book SynopsisASTOR PIAZZOLLA A MEMOIR

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Book SynopsisPierre Monteux became famous at the age of 38 for conducting the riotous world premiere of Igor Stravinsky's ÊRite of SpringÊ in Paris on May 29 1913. The composer fearing bodily harm escaped through a backstage window while the imperturbable conductor persisted forever to be identified with the event. He would also conduct the first concert performance and one of the first two recordings of Stravinsky's masterpiece the other one conducted by Stravinsky himself. Though French by birth the distinctively portly man with the walrus mustache resisted being typecast as a French conductor. He could have been a European maestro: he played for Brahms worked with Grieg presided over the world premieres of major works by Ravel Stravinsky and many others was Diaghilev's conductor of choice. But it was Monteux's American audiences especially in San Francisco and Boston who would love him the most over the course of a long career. He conducted many American premieres works of Debussy Falla Ravel and among the more than a dozen Boston premieres those of ÊThe Rite of SpringÊ and of Mahler's ÊFirst SymphonyÊ. Canarina a conductor and teacher of conducting himself studied with Monteux for seven summers and brings great personal warmth and understanding to this wise admiring and honest book the first full-length biography of the man whom so many knew and loved as Maitre.

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Book SynopsisBing Crosby's innovations as recording artist, actor, businessman, and radio and television performer. A multidisciplinary exploration, plus personal testimony from family members and colleagues. Going My Way: Bing Crosby and American Culture is the first serious study of the singer/actor's art and of his centrality to the history of twentieth-century popular music, film, and the entertainment industry. The volume uses a wide range of scholarly and cultural perspectives to explore Crosby's unique and lasting achievements. It also includes tributes and reminiscences from Bing's widow Kathryn, his grandson Steve, his record producer Ken Barnes, and one of his most popular successors, Michael Feinstein. Other contributors include Gary Giddins, the author of a widely acclaimed recent biography of the singer, and Will Friedwald, the acknowledged expert on the developmentof the "great American songbook." In addition to studying Bing Crosby's innovations and remarkable achievements as a recording artist, Going My Way explores his accomplishments as an actor, businessman, and radio and television performer. Going My Way makes an impressive case not only for Crosby's considerable talent and inimitable style, but also for his raising the quality of popular singing to the level of art. Contributors: Ken Barnes, Samuel L. Chell, Kathryn Crosby, Steven C. Crosby, John Mark Dempsey, Bernard F. Dick, Deborah Dolan, Michael Feinstein, Will Friedwald, Jeanne Fuchs, Gary Giddins, Peter Hammar, M. Thomas Inge, Malcolm MacFarlane, Eric Michael Mazur, Martin McQuade, Elaine Anderson Phillips, Ruth Prigozy, Walter Raubicheck, Linda A. Robinson, Stephen C. Shafer, David White, F.W. Wiggins Ruth Prigozy is Professor of English at Hofstra University. Walter Raubicheck is Professor of English and Chair of the English Department at Pace University.Trade ReviewThese essays focus on the legendary performer in various media during [the years 1931-57]. . . This wide-ranging collection makes it clear that Crosby's importance is not and should never be forgotten. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. * CHOICE *The splendid essays in Going My Way form an intricate collage that captures Crosby at the intersection of so many aspects of American culture. From jazz to film, Catholicism to cartoons, rock 'n' roll to the revolutionary taping of broadcasts, Crosby emerges as a more complex and fascinating figure than any single biographer or historian could render. -- Philip Furia, Professor of Creative Writing, University of North Carolina, Wilmington * . *This is a fine book about one of the great entertainers in America. It tells of our culture and of one of the biggest stars America ever had, one I was privileged to know and work with. Not only was Bing Crosby the best singer I ever heard but he was also a great actor, and he brought humor and honesty to anything he did. Going My Way captures the essence of Bing. -- Margaret WhitingTable of ContentsIntroduction: Bing Crosby -- Nothing Is What It Seems - Gary Giddins Analogies of Ignorance in Going My Way - David E. White Going My Way?: Crosby and Catholicism on the Road to America - Eric Michael Mazur Saint Bing: Apatheia, Masculine Desire, and the Films of Bing Crosby - Elaine Anderson Phillips Bing on a Binge: Casting-Against-Type in The Country Girl - Linda A. Robinson Bing Crosby: Rock 'n' Roll Godfather - John Mark Dempsey American Archetypes: How Crosby and Hope Became Hollywood's Greatest Comedy Team - Walter Raubicheck Crosby at Paramount: From Crooner to Actor - Bernard F. Dick Bing Crosby, Walt Disney, and Ichabod Crane - M. Thomas Inge A Couple of Song and Dance Men: Bing Crosby and Fred Astaire - Jeanne Fuchs Rivalries: The Mutual Mentoring of Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra - Samuel J. Chell From Crooner to American Icon: Caricatures of Bing Crosby in American Cartoons from the 1930s to the 1950s - Stephen C. Shafer Not Just "The Crooner": Bing Crosby's Research and Business Endeavors in World War II - Deborah Dolan Bing's Entertainment and War Bond Sales Activities During World War II - Malcolm Macfarlane Bing Crosby's Magnetic Tape Revolution - Peter Hammar and Martin McQuade The Bing Crosby Fan Clubs - F. B. (Wig) Wiggins Conclusion: Bing Crosby -- Architect of Twentieth-Century Style - Will Friedwald Sing, Bing, Sing - Kathryn Crosby Thoughts on Relationships: Father, Son, Grandson - Steven Crosby The Real Bing Crosby - Ken Barnes

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Book SynopsisThe first biography of Yo La Tengo, the massively influential band who all but defined indie music. Yo La Tengo has lit up the indie scene for three decades, part of an underground revolution that defied corporate music conglomerates, eschewed pop radio, and found a third way. Going behind the scenes of one of the most remarkable eras in American music history, Big Day Coming traces the patient rise of husband-and-wife team Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley, who—over three decades—helped forge a spandex-and-hairspray-free path to the global stage, selling millions of records along the way and influencing countless bands.Using the continuously vital Yo La Tengo as a springboard, Big Day Coming uncovers the history of the legendary clubs, bands, zines, labels, record stores, college radio stations, fans, and pivotal figures that built the infrastructure of the now-prevalent indie rock world. Journalist and freeform radio DJ Jesse Jarnow draws on all-access interviews and archives for mesmerizing trip through contemporary music history told through one of its most creative and singular acts.

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