Biography: arts and entertainment Books
Yale University Press Fine and Dandy
Book SynopsisKay Swift (1897-1993) was one of the few women composers active on Broadway in the first half of the 20th century. Vicki Ohl describes a remarkable life, which included being the first woman to write a Broadway musical and eloping to Oregon with a rodeo cowboy she met at the 1939 World's Fair.Trade Review"This first full-scale biography of Kay Swift is a comprehensive examination of her life and work in all its phases." Geoffrey Block, author of Richard Rodgers, Yale Broadway Masters"
£47.50
Yale University Press Ibsens Kingdom
Book SynopsisA major biography of one of the most important figures in modern drama, evoked through a biographical reading of his playsTrade Review“Includes an interesting section on how the Norwegian playwright employed syphilis as the central metaphor in his play Ghosts. Venereal disease was rampant in Scandinavia in the 1880s and Sprinchorn charts how the author of Doll’s House was always willing to tackle a taboo subject.”—Martin Chilton, The Independent“Not the story as often told, but that only makes it more valuable. Of the greatest interest not only to Ibsen scholars but to all serious students of modern drama and theater practitioners.”—Michael Goldman, Princeton University“An exhaustive examination of Ibsen's life and work by a major scholar of Scandinavian literature, Ibsen's Kingdom is the fullest analysis of Ibsen as a ‘poet of paradoxes.’”—Joan Templeton, author of Ibsen's Women
£35.62
Yale University Press The Woman in White
Book SynopsisTrade Review“[The Woman in White] argues that Hiffernan was more collaborator than victim, an assessment that strives to write her into history as Whistler’s indispensable partner.”—Gioia Diliberto, Wall Street Journal“[A] lavish volume . . . illuminating . . . Ms. MacDonald’s deep research has corrected some misinformation and unearthed important new facts.” —Gioia Diliberto, Wall Street Journal“The Woman in White examines the relationship between the prickly American painter and the muse-mistress who modeled for his haunting ‘Symphonies in White’ . . . [and] argues that the two formed a symbiotic partnership.”—Michael Dirda, Washington Post (“This Season’s Hidden Gems”)“There are…illuminating chapters retelling Hiffernan’s biography and the story of her relationship with Whistler, alongside fascinating and new discoveries pertaining to the physical makeup of The Woman in White, its materiality, and its legacy, once more emphasising the formalist facets of white on white as a premodernist theme.”—Marte Stinis, British Association of Victorian Studies Newsletter
£38.00
Yale University Press The Industrialist and the Diva
Book Synopsis
£23.75
Yale University Press Patrick Kelly
Book Synopsis“I want my clothes to make you smile!”—Patrick Kelly
£35.62
WW Norton & Co Beethovens Symphonies
Book SynopsisFrom one of the leading scholars of the composer’s works, an exploration of the unswerving artistic vision underlying Beethoven’s symphonies.Trade Review"The bulk of his [Lockwood's] new book introduces each of the composer’s nine symphonies, all individual and different in their magisterial genius, and paints a vivid picture of the creative context of each." -- James Macmillan - Standpoint
£22.79
WW Norton & Co Brandos Smile His Life Thought and Work
Book SynopsisA groundbreaking work that reveals how Marlon Brando shaped his legacy in art and life.Trade Review"Brimming with colorful anecdotes and details... a wonderfully cohesive work about Brando, both as an actor and a man." "[Mizruchi is] the first to have access to Brando's private archives, including his extensive library, film archives and research materials... Fascinating." -- Tom Shone "To understand the complete Brando...any future biographer will now have to take account of Mizruchi's Brando as well-to somehow square the lover and the sensualist with the critical thinker." -- Julia M. Klein "Renowned cultural scholar Susan L. Mizruchi explores the Brando that was not visible to the world in order to better understand the one that was-a Brando that was independent of the public persona and often at odds with it." "The most amazing restoration work on an artist's image that I've ever seen." -- Greg Carpenter
£20.89
WW Norton & Co Bob Marley Spirit Dancer
Book SynopsisA photographic and textual meditation on the life of a legend, reissued in special CD-size format.
£9.99
WW Norton & Co Artie Shaw King of the Clarinet
Book Synopsis"The two sides of Shaw…are at the center of…[this] compulsively readable biography." —Daniel Akst, Wall Street JournalTrade Review"Makes sense of a turbulent life that even Artie Shaw himself had given up on explaining." -- Ted Gioia - San Francisco Chronicle"Tom Nolan proves himself valiantly…It’s not simply the first-hand research, the careful investigation of the facts, the easy, approachable prose style…The portrait is thorough, providing a deep study of a man both complicated and coarse, creating beauty through his clarinet and creating turmoil through his actions." -- Michael Steinman - Jazz Lives"Compelling…scented with understanding and charm." -- Michael D. Langan - Buffalo News"A beautifully measured, unforgiving account…an exemplary work of jazz biography." -- Kirkus Reviews (starred review)"Every great artist deserves a great biography, and Swing Era bandleader and clarinetist Artie Shaw finally has one.…Nolan has crafted a well-written, highly entertaining, and informative biography." -- Peter Thornell - Library Journal"Enthralling…[Artie Shaw] gives the satisfactions of a true rags-to-riches story…and plausibly accounts for Shaw’s huge character faults without obscuring his charm and prodigious talent." -- Ray Olson - Booklist"At last, the lively, continually imaginative life of the most creative clarinetist in jazz history." -- Nat Hentoff, author of At the Jazz Band Ball: Sixty Years at the Jazz Scene
£13.29
WW Norton & Co The Lives of Isaac Stern
Book SynopsisA centennial inventory of the career and legacy of one of the twentieth century's greatest musicians, the first made-in-America violin virtuoso.
£19.94
John Wiley & Sons Inc Hollywood Interrupted Insanity Chic in Babylon
Book SynopsisHollywood, Interrupted is a sometimes frightening, occasionally sad, and frequently hysterical odyssey into the darkest realms of showbiz pathology, the endless stream of meltdowns and flameouts, and the inexplicable behavior on the part of show business personalities.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments. Introduction. PART I: IT’S A FAMILY AFFAIR. 1. Hollywood Family Values: A New Weird Order. Hollywood families exposed for not only not upholding family values but pissing all over middle-class mores. Rethinking the life and death of River Phoenix. Familial implosions exposed. It’s gotten so bad we argue for sterilization of the celebrity class. 2. In Loco Parentis: Hollywood Nannies. Hollywood nannies speak out and tell all—“There is no laughter in this house.” Nannies so stressed they’ve formed a Beverly Hills support group. A nanny gets blacklisted. 3. Hollyweird High. Inside Crossroads School for the Arts & Sciences, where Hollywood elite send their children, and we find, like any other school in the Western world, sex, drugs, and rock-n-roll. Unlike other high schools, we also discover Crossdressing Day, Ménage à Prom, death, and a mandatory pseudo-therapeutic program called “Mysteries.” PART II: FEAR AND LOATHING IN LOS ANGELES. 4. Screwball Tragedy. Hollywood’s strange history with insanity, drugs, and therapy. 5. Doctor Feelgoods. Not feeling so hot? Call the doctor. Top Gun producer overdoses. Winona’s Dr. Feelgood loses his license. Oliver Stone signs a medic. Lily-livered Hollywood “heppers,” including Stripperella, try anything. 6. From Rehab to Retox. Rehab centers to the stars get visits from Matthew Perry, Robert Downey Jr., Ben Affleck, among others. Celeb rehab spas offer a panoply of treatment programs from equine therapy to brain wave analysis. Not on the menu—sex in the bathroom. PART III: THE BELIEVERS. 7. Karma Chameleons. Madonna and friends converge on Kabbalah. Hollywood cults run amok. Established religion is evil. 8. Shilling for Scientology: I Want Your Body—Thetans. Scientology rocks! PART IV: CALIFORNICATION. 9. Sex in This City. The pornification of America. There’s a whorehouse in Beverly Hills. Swing Kids club hop. Hugh Hefner is a porn baron. The Heidi Tapes. 10. “Sexual Perversity” in Los Angeles. Eddie Murphy plays good Samaritan to a Samoan transvestite hooker. Hollywood attorneys employ shady PIs to bend laws. Peter Pan picks a porn producer. INTERMISSION. Heroine. Love Means Never Having to Say You’re Courtney. PART V: THE LEFT WING. 11. Reds. Celebs embrace hate speech. Everyone’s “Friend” Jennifer Aniston calls Bush names and taunts daughter Jenna. Robert Altman and Alex Baldwin threaten to leave the country. We love dictators! Hollywood warmly embraces Castro. 12. Blue Country Haze. Hollywood ground zero for the culture war. Rosie, the lesbian, swoons over the heterosexual Tom Cruise. Oprah dictates politics. The war of the ribbons (can you support PETA and be for AIDS research?). Flacks make celebs pick a cause. 13. The Death of Comedy. Hollywood kills Andrew “Dice” Clay and Sam Kinison. Can’t get no comic relief. “South Park” rails against Rob Reiner. PART VI: LIES, MORE LIES, AND VIDEOTAPE. 14. Hollywood Pan Men. Hollywood A-Team of B-list celebs goes on the road to sell pans of lies for fast cash and cheap thrills. 15. The Lying Game. Fictionalized documentaries. Scripts are stolen. Friends cover up. We expose Hollywood’s own Jayson Blair. PART VII: AMERIKA ONLINE. 16. Hollywood Online. Where the stars go and what they do when they virtually get there. 17. www.americahateshollywood.com. Media Berlin Wall falls. Newfound freedoms expressed in cyberspace. The gigabyte is up. America talks back. Epilogue. Notes. Index.
£16.99
LUP - University of Michigan Press Lee Konitz Conversations on the Improvisers Art
Book SynopsisThe preeminent altoist associated with the ""cool"" school of jazz, Lee Konitz was one of the few saxophonists of his generation to forge a unique sound independent of the influence of Charlie Parker. Based on numerous interviews, this book offers a look at the story of Lee Konitz's life and music.Trade ReviewMeticulously researched, detailed and documented this long awaited overview justly establishes Konitz as one of the most consistently brilliant, adventurous and original improvisers in the jazz tradition - a genius as rare as Bird himself. - John Zorn ""Experiencing the music of Lee Konitz in the flesh and in different settings is a reminder of what a unique musician he is. This is an equally unique book which, by contrast with some as-told-to autobiographies, beneficially lays bare the subject's thought processes, thanks to the skillful interviewing of Andy Hamilton."" - Brian Priestley, author of Chasin' the Bird: The Life and Legacy of Charlie Parker and co-author of The Rough Guide to Jazz
£22.75
The University of Michigan Press Rhythm Is Our Business
Book SynopsisIn the 1930s, swing music reigned, and the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra was the hottest and hippest attraction on the black dance circuits. This book traces the development of the Jimmie Lunceford Orchestra from its infant days as a high school band in Memphis to its record-breaking tours across the United States, Canada, and Europe.
£20.85
LUP - University of Michigan Press Music Is My Life
Book SynopsisTrade Review...Daniel Stein's book is the first to examine Armstrong's autobiographical record carefully to see what it reveals about the man, his life, and his music. The result is a fascinating book that is likely to offer unexpected insights and information to even the best-read Armstrong researcher." — Robert Rawlins, Rowan University, Popular Music and Society"Meticulous citations and helpful appendixes enhance the strength of this important, though complex, work. Highly recommended." — T. E. Buehrer, Choice"The contributions of Stein’s book to the study of Louis Armstrong and his music are manifold. With a rare historical and contextual awareness, Stein illustrates the extent to which Armstrong’s autobiographical self-performances conflicted with and challenged appropriations of Armstrong by such jazz writers and critics as Horace Gerlach, Robert Goffin, Hugues Panassié, and Rudi Blesh, among others." — Mario Dunkel, Jazz Research News"It is really gratifying to find a study of a jazz performer that recognises so comprehensively the deeper historical and cultural framework of a music that has been so often deracinated or romanticised." — Bruce Johnson, Popular Music"Stein gives Armstrong's autobiographical performance a much more thorough, detailed analysis than has heretofore been attempted, and the resulting study shines a bright light not only on Armstrong the person but, more importantly, also on the identity of Louis Armstrong as an iconic public figure." — Ken Prouty, Fontes Artis Musicae
£36.05
LUP - University of Michigan Press Open the Door
Book Synopsis
£15.95
University of Michigan Press Charlie Parker His Music and Life The Michigan American Music
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£22.95
LUP - University of Michigan Press When Romeo Was a Woman
Book Synopsis
£28.45
LUP - University of Michigan Press Lennie Tristano
Book SynopsisLennie Tristano occupies a rare position in jazz history. Emerging from an era when modernism was the guiding principle in jazz, Tristano explored musical avenues that were avant-garde even by modernism's experimental standards. This title sheds light on the important role Tristano played in the jazz world.Trade ReviewIn Lennie Tristano: His Life in Music, Shim has provided a comprehensive biographical and analytical account of one of jazz's most important and most frequently misun-derstood figures. Her insights into Tristano's personality are well nuanced, and the focus on his teaching makes a unique contribution to the history of jazz. This vividly written study is likely to become a standard work. - Brian Priestley, author of Chasin' The Bird: The Life and Legacy of Charlie Parker and co-author of The Rough Guide to Jazz
£40.95
University of California Press Balanchine
Book SynopsisProviding a discussion of Balanchine's life and work, this text also explores the legal, financial and institutional subplots that unfolded after the death of one of the most famous choreographers of the century.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Foreword CHAPTER ONE: Choreographer in His Element CHAPTER TWO: Childhood in Russia CHAPTER THREE: Monkey-A Student CHAPTER FOUR: First Choreography CHAPTER FIVE: Ballet Master to Diaghilev CHAPTER SIX: Apollo and Prodigal Son CHAPTER SEVEN: Rootless Years CHAPTER EIGHT: But First a School CHAPTER NINE: An Ace Job on the Terp Angle CHAPTER TEN : Second Beginnings CHAPTER ELEVEN: God Creates, Woman Inspires, and Man Assembles The Making of Agon-A Photo Essay CHAPTER TWELVE: Come Back, Come Back, Come Back CHAPTER THIRTEEN: The Essential Tradition CHAPTER FOURTEEN: What's the Matter with Now? CHAPTER FIFTEEN: At Seventy CHAPTER SIXTEEN: An Appetite for Renewal CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: The Last Year EPILOGUE: Choreographing the Future Appendix Photo Credits Index
£27.00
University of California Press Without Lying Down
Book SynopsisCombines biography with social and cultural history to examine the lives of Frances Marion and the other women who shaped filmmaking from 1912 through the 1940s. Marion was Hollywood's highest paid screenwriter - male or female - for almost three decades and wrote almost 200 produced films.
£24.30
University of California Press You Are Not I
Book SynopsisA biography of Paul Bowles, the famously enigmatic writer-composer. It questions the biographer's role, the subject's credibility, and the very nature of 'truth' in the telling of a life. It talks of Bowles' difficult childhood and of his grief over his wife's - the author Jane Bowles, who died in 1973 - illness, of exile, dreams, and madness.Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction Part One Part Two Part Three Afterimages Works Cited
£22.50
University of California Press Lillian Gish Her Legend Her Life
Book SynopsisAt the time of her death in 1993, Lillian Gish was universally recognized as a film legend. This title uncovers a life that was cast in the shadow of self-generated myth. It shows how the actress carefully shaped her public identity while keeping much of her life private.Trade Review"To the very end, she did her part in raising awareness about the endangered legacy of silent film. But her insistence on going to any means to guard and sugarcoat Griffith's legacy distorts the reality of the silent film era. The truth, plain and simple, would serve a greater purpose today in bolstering awareness of the great work done by silent film artists. With this book, Affron takes a step in that direction by demystifying the actress and the world in which she worked."-Mary Houlihan, Chicago Sun-Times; "Gish, born in 1893, lived for 99 years. She spent the first quarter of a century becoming a legend and the last three-quarters of it acting as shaper and custodian of that legend.... Though most of Gish's story is known, we've never had it told with such balance and completeness. Affron completes the picture by restoring details Gish resolutely omitted."-Jay Carr, Boston Globe; "Well written, ambitious and intelligent, this biography is an essential addition to the work on Gish and on American film and theater."-Publishers Weekly; "Affron unearths the less edifying facts airbrushed out of his subject's memories yet retains his respect for her pioneering artistry. Gish emerges here as a stronger, savvier woman than we have met in previous accounts."-Wendy Smith, Variety; "[Affron] politely, consistently refutes Gish's line, remaining unfailingly generous to his subject's art and indomitability, all the while fastidiously and expertly devastating the fairy tale in which she wrapped herself. If we are ever to rescue silent film from its status as a dwindling cult's enthusiasm and restore it as a vital part of our cultural heritage, we need more work of this balanced and balancing kind."-Richard Schickel, New York Times Book Review; "[A] deeply honest book.... Granted unprecedented access to Gish's private letters and journals, [Affron] has used his privilege well. Stripping away Gish's own layers of selective memory and self-invention, and eclipsing earlier 'authorized' biographies, he challenges many assumptions.... A balanced and detailed portrait."-Jeanine Basinger, Washington PostTable of ContentsAuthor's Note Introduction: Just to Make a Movie 1 An American Family 2 The Wicked Stage 3 "I Don't Know Why I Ever Left Massillon" 4 The "Flickers" and D. W. Griffith 5 Becoming a Movie Actress 6 The Mothering Heart 7 Dorothy Gish' s Sister 8 A Role for Movie History 9 "Griffith's Girls" 10 Becoming a Movie Star 11 The Movies and the Great War 12 "You Can Photograph Her Upside Down, Because It's All Even" 13 From Melodrama to Tragedy 14 In the Director's Chair 15 "The Most Superlatively Exquisite and Poignantly Enchaining Thing I Have Ever Seen in My Life" 16 Good-bye Mr. Griffith 17 "A Wistful April Moon" 18 Inspiration Pictures 19 Charles Holland Duell Jr. 20 George Jean Nathan 21 Kisses for Mimi 22 The Perils of The Wind 23 The Master of Schloss Leopoldskron 24 Interlude 25 GishSpeaks 26 "The Most Interesting Actress on Our Stage" 27 "Dreadful Man" 28 Sinners, Saints, and Shakespeare 29 America First 30 "Oldtime Cinemactress" 31 "Asking Nothing of the Role for Herself" 32 The Small Screen 33 Acting American 34 "Will Come Running at Any Time" 35 "My Blessed Sister" 36 Oscar 37 Final Close-Ups 38 The Girl and the Rose Notes Selected Bibliography Chronological Record of Lillian Gish's Dramatic Performances Acknowledgments Index
£27.00
University of California Press A Very Dangerous Citizen
Book SynopsisLawyer, educator, novelist, radio and television scriptwriter, film director and screenwriter, wartime intelligence operative, and full-time radical romantic, Abraham Lincoln Polonsky was blacklisted in Hollywood for refusing to be an informer. This biography helps us understand the relationship between art and politics in American culture.Trade Review"Covers enormous ground and effectively reflects the vastness of Polonsky's career and personal life."-Variety "Abe Polonsky was fascinating, brilliant, mercurial, a giant of our time. He held the line against McCarthyism in all its forms and phases all his life. He did it with vigor and the joy of fighting for right. His history is the best of the left. As a man he was charming, amusing, concerned-a great listener and a greater raconteur, and an even better friend. This much needed book is a tribute to him."-Lee Grant, Oscar-winning director/actressTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Introduction 1. Adventures of the Artist as Intellectual 2. The Good War and After 3. The Politics and Mythology of Film Art: Polonsky's Noir Era 4. Polonsky's Fifties 5. Triumph and Retrospect Appendix Notes Bibliographical Note Index
£27.00
University of California Press Weills Musical Theater
Book SynopsisPresents the study of Kurt Weill's complete stage works. This title shows how Weill's experiments with a range of genres - from one-act operas and plays with music to Broadway musicals and film-opera - became an indispensable part of the reforms he promoted during his brief but intense career.Trade Review"Eminently readable, with or without his music playing in the background. Professor Hinton is a fine writer who conveys what he knows and feels in terms insightful, intuitive and nuanced, yet accessible to those of us who are musically marginalized." Washington Ind Rev Of Bks "An in-depth view of the entire oeuvre of Weill's stage compositions... A scholarly and thoroughly researched work... Highly Recommended." -- E. C. Skiles, Lone Star College-Kingwood Choice "This is essential reading not only for Weill scholars but also those interested in twentieth-century opera and the history of the American musical... Its achievement will not soon be surpassed." Journal of the American Musicological Society "A majestic study." Journal of the Society for American MusicTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Preface and Acknowledgments 1. Biographical Notes 2. The Busoni Connection 3. One-Act Operas 4. "Songspiel" 5. Plays with Music 6. Epic Opera 7. Didactic Theater ("Lehrstuck") 8. Stages of Exile 9. Musical Plays 10. Stage vs. Screen 11. American Opera 12. Concept and Commitment Coda Appendix: Weill's Works for Stage or Screen Abbreviations Notes Credits Index
£38.25
University of California Press Sophisticated Giant
Book SynopsisTrade Review"Maxine Gordon astutely frames the fiery daring of Dexter Gordon’s generation of bebop innovators in the context of rising black consciousness and creative agency in midcentury America…“Sophisticated Giant” is a work of considerable sophistication, the first-person testimony of its subject employed with affectionate discipline, smartly contextualized and augmented by material from interviews Maxine Gordon conducted with the tenor saxophone masters Sonny Rollins and Jimmy Heath, the record producers Bruce Lundvall and Michael Cucsuna, and others." -- David Hajdu, * The New York Times *“Dexter Gordon’s deep tone, relaxed delivery—even the frequent witty musical quotations—seemed like extensions of his gravely playful speaking voice. That voice carries over on the page too. You can hear it when you read his written testimony and extracts from letters included in Maxine Gordon’s illuminating biography.” -- Kevin Whitehead, * NPR's Fresh Air *“‘Affectionate, enjoyable and informative, painting a portrait of a handsome, elegant, easygoing person and artist who refused to agonize about his past.” * Wall Street Journal *“A particularly intimate look at . . . career highs in this wonderful biography of the iconic jazzman. . . . Most striking for this reader was how, through her intimate, first-hand knowledge of her husband’s life, Maxine was able to convey how the art of jazz was far more than a career path for Dexter and his colleagues. “ * The Austin Chronicle *"Gordon’s life has previously been chronicled, but not with so much of his own achingly personal, brutally honest voice. Sophisticated Giant is not a critical analysis of his music; instead, Maxine has interwoven Dexter’s own letters and poetry with a broad spectrum of anecdotal accounts, plus her own meticulous scholarship and adoring reflections, to craft a vivid life story. . . . This is a must-read for jazz fans." * Jazz Times *“A work that’s both scrupulously researched history and intimate memoir.” * MOJO *“An intimate, keenly-rendered new biography that will interest jazz enthusiasts and anyone with an interest in American popular culture. . . . It’s a warm, subjective story that trains an astute lens on the social and political circumstances that helped shape a career; and for that, it stand outs as a landmark contribution to the literature of the jazz.” * Seattle Times *"Throughout the book, Maxine provides rich descriptions of people, places, and events, often quoting from Dexter. Through her meticulous research, new information about him emerges. . . While meticulous about details, the author is also a good storyteller, so, aside from its scholarly discipline, the book is intriguing and leads the reader forward like an absorbing detective novel." * All About Jazz *"Blending forensic research with scholarly insight, Sophisticated Giant’s compelling story unfurls like one of Gordon’s sinuous sax solos. Essential reading for jazz fans." * Record Collector *“Dexter Gordon left us almost three decades ago, but his presence in 2018 has virtually brought him back to center stage." * All About Jazz *“When I say that this is essential reading for anyone interested in modern jazz from the late thirties on, you'd better believe it!. . . . Tell your own true love that, this year, you don't want any more partridges in a pear tree, lords a-leaping or even five golden rings. No, what you want for Christmas this year is (apart from him/her) a Sophisticated Giant.” * bebop spoken here *“Easy-to-read, well-written, superbly documented, much-anticipated. . . . One unique thing about the book is that it makes you feel like you are there with her listening to her talk, about her time in the jazz world with some of the best musicians on earth. But just when you get used to her writing like an excited jazz fan, she easily switches to a keen researcher and a solid scholar.” * Jazz Corner *"Exceptional. . . . Maxine Gordon believes that 'the story of Dexter's life is nothing less than a cultural history of creative Black Americans in the interwar and postwar years.' In Sophisticated Giant, she's written a book that reflects this important truth." * New York City Jazz Record *“Sophisticated Giant paints a convincing picture of an extremely charming, intelligent, resilient, and talented man." * Arts Fuse *“[Gordon] displays firsthand knowledge of the political economy of jazz playing and the discrimination and grievances musicians endured...her honesty and passion bleed into her prose to create a lively and valuable look at the jazz giant and his world. Verdict: For jazz lovers first but enjoyable for general readers, too.” * Library Journal *“This is a story that had to be told.” * KUVO/KVJZ *“An informative, well-paced, suite like literary work that chronicles the saxophonist’s family, influences, inspirations, zeniths, and nadirs, and documents his legacy as one of the most influential saxophonists in jazz history.” -- Eugene Holley Jr., * Publishers Weekly *“Maxine’s book shows us not only the world Dexter Gordon lived and breathed, but many other musicians we know, don’t know and should know. We see the reality of the Jazz world, the unthinkable hardships and struggles brought together through the common love of music. The book is incredible. Maxine Gordon is incredible. Her passion to share, explore and discuss the reality of the Jazz world is a true inspiration." * Jazz in Europe *“There’s a major new biography out of saxophonist Dexter Gordon, and it’s worth checking out.” * Stereogum *“Offers a rare vantage point into the life of one of jazz’s most cherished figures.” * Jazziz *“Maxine Gordon's recently released book ‘Sophisticated Giant: The Life and Times of Dexter Gordon’ is no ordinary jazz biography. It is a book that transports you into the reality of a Jazz musicians’ life, the highs and lows, the hardships and the inexplicable power of Jazz – beautifully written by an author whose passion for ensuring Dexter’s story is told honestly, is inspiring. Dexter Gordon was indeed a ‘Sophisticated Giant’ but when you read the book, you can’t help but feel there are actually two sophisticated giants here.” * The Jazz Room @ Style Quarterly Magazine *Table of Contents1. The Saga of Society Red 2. An Uncommon Family 3. Education of an Eastside Altar Boy 4. Leaving Home 5. Pops 6. Blowin’ the Blues Away 7. Business Lessons 8. Mischievous Lady 9. Central Avenue Bop 10. Trapped 11. Resurgence 12. New Life 13. Very Saxily Yours 14. Trouble in Paris 15. The Khalif of Valby 16. Homecoming 17. Bebop at Work 18. Round Midnight
£22.50
Harvard University Press Arnold Schoenbergs Journey
Book SynopsisProposing that Arnold Schoenberg has been more discussed than heard, more tolerated than loved, Allen Shawn puts aside ultimate judgments about Schoenberg's place in music history to explore the composer's fascinating world in a series of linked essayssoundingsthat are both searching and wonderfully suggestive.Trade ReviewA collection of elegant and persuasive essays: analytic discussions of single works and vivid accounts of phases and facets of Schoenberg’s life...Shawn is an engaging writer. -- Anthony Tommasini * New York Times *One of the best things to have happened to the composer in a long time. Allen Shawn, a composer himself, is an admirer of Schoenberg. He gives us the whole man seen from within his cultural environment and from within his music too...Shawn invites us to share with him a spontaneous and warm response to Schoenberg’s music rather than a purely analytical one...Shawn is exceptionally felicitous at finding words for music, which makes him an ideal companion on this journey of discovery. -- George Perle * Wall Street Journal *Nothing in recent years has filled me with an urgent desire to re-engage with [Schoenberg’s music] so much as this sensitive and personal book. -- Bayan Northcott * BBC Music Magazine *Table of ContentsForeword Introduction: Six Little Piano Pieces BRIDGE PASSAGE, 1874-1908 1. First Loves 2. Transfigured Night 3. Dawn: The Gurre-Lieder 4. Berlin Cabaret 5. Coming Apart 6. An Inner Compulsion A NEW FORM OF EXPRESSION, 1909-13 7. Farben 8. Listening to Five Pieces for Orchestra 9. Paths to (and in) Erwartung 10. Wrong Notes 11. Six Little Pieces 12. Theory of Harmony 13. Pierrot 14. Die gluckliche Hand SILENCE, ORDER, AND TERROR, 1914-33 15. Incident at Mattsee 16. Critics and Disciples 17. A Clearing in the Forest: Twelve-Tone Music 18. Satires 19. Catastrophe 20. Moses and Arnold AMERICA, 1933-51 21. Exodus 22. 1940: Stravinsky and Schoenberg 23. Games 24. On Being Short 25. Piano Concerto 26. Death and Rebirth 27. Seventy-fifth Birthday AFTERLIFE 28. Death and Rebirth II 29. Writings about Schoenberg 30. Last Notes: Portrait in Retrograde Suggested Readings Notes Acknowledgments Index
£25.16
Harvard University Press Bach
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£37.36
Harvard University Press Inventing Edward Lear
Book SynopsisEdward Learthe father of nonsensewrote some of the best-loved poems in English. He was also admired as a naturalist, landscape painter, travel writer, and composer. Awkward but funny, absurdly sympathetic, Lear invented himself as a Victorian character. Sara Lodge offers a moving account of one of the era's most influential creative figures.Trade ReviewInventing Edward Lear is an exceptional, valuable, original study, presenting new materials on aspects of Lear’s life and work. -- Jenny Uglow, author of Mr. Lear and The Lunar MenSets the standard for future work. This is criticism that, far from smashing its subject into submission, brings Lear’s poetry, art and music to life, lighting up the imagination and inviting us to revisit the songs and limericks we think we know from childhood. -- Anna Barton * Times Literary Supplement *Deeply knowledgeable and sharply written…Lodge has not written a biography of Lear, though her book is full of biographical information. It is more a study in contexts, returning Lear to the local sources from which his apparently autonomous imaginative world originally gathered its strength…[A] rich and sympathetic book. -- Seamus Perry * Literary Review *This is a dazzling book, certainly the best study of Lear yet written. -- Richard Cronin, University of GlasgowBrilliantly original and deeply researched, Sara Lodge’s account of Lear’s tragicomic life and work will confirm his standing among the greatest of the Victorians. -- Dinah Birch, University of LiverpoolEdward Lear is one of those figures that everyone knows but few know much about. Lodge’s book represents a delightfully crisp and engaging introduction to Lear’s whole artistic career without losing sight of the humour and zest that keep him close to the hearts of adults and children alike. Never did nonsense make so much sense. -- Jon Mee, University of YorkSeeks to capture the multiple facets of Lear’s talent…The great achievement of Lodge’s richly illustrated and carefully researched and referenced work is to convey the reach and rigor of Lear’s ‘concrete and fastidious’ mind alongside his discomfiting combination of dazzling self-confidence and intense self-loathing. -- Ranti Williams * Standpoint *An elegant, well-considered romp. * Providence Journal *Lodge brings to this wide-ranging study of Edward Lear (1812–88) a combination of erudition and enthusiasm. * Choice *
£22.46
Princeton University Press Electric Salome
Book SynopsisRising from a small-time vaudeville career in the States, Loie Fuller attained international celebrity as a dancer, inventor, and one of the first women filmmakers in the world. This book demonstrates that Fuller was an artist of great psychological, emotional, and sexual expressiveness whose work illuminates the centrality of dance to modernism.Trade Review"Garelick's lucid, engrossing study ... unwraps the contradictions that have kept Fuller as veiled from modern audiences as she was from those at the Folies-Bergere."--Andrea Walker, Times Literary Supplement "A most welcome 'finding' of a dancer never lost, Electric Salome offers a remarkably smart reading of Fuller's contribution to dance history, one that makes clear the importance of that contribution to modernism broadly construed."--Catherine Gunther Kodat, Modernism Modernity "In her mesmerizing dances, swirling huge skirts under colored lights of her own design, Fuller paved the way for new visual effects in theater. [I]n Electric Salome Rhonda Garelick attempts to reposition Fuller as a central player in the multiple histories of ballet, modern dance, theater, visual art and postmodern performance. The best part of Electric Salome is how Garelick puts Fuller's story into a context that we can appreciate."--Matthew Hunter Griffin, Time Out Chicago "Rhonda Garelick's Electric Salome...argues for Fuller's relevance beyond her status as modern dance 'pioneer' and traces the way in which her work was modernist in its own right. Garelick's book spirals out, teasing out connections with Fuller to broader movements of colonialism, as well as Romantic Ballet and Modernist Drama. [Electric Salome offers] significant advances to Loie Fuller scholarship [and argues] persuasively for the importance of Fuller's legacy."--Judy Sperling, Dance Films Association Review "This indispensable book benefits from Garelick's lucid prose, superb images, and insightful footnotes."--S.R. Irelan, Choice "Electric Salome is suitable for a wide range of readership... Garelick writes theory with the minimum of jargon; the book is academic and sophisticated, but accessible throughout. It contains almost fifty illustrations, including posters, photographs and patent drawings."--Stephen Herbert, Early Popular Visual Culture "One of the best aspects of Rhonda K. Garelick's book is that it enables a virtual re-enactment of Fuller's performance of modernity: in the end, the initial butterfly/illusion shimmers and stays for good in the reader's mind."--Virginie Pouzet-Duzer, Oscholars "Both Ann Cooper Albright's and Rhonda Garelick's books are important contributions to a female artist, whose place on the agenda of French modernism is now less refutable than ever. Both authors have done much to shed further light on the sometimes counter intuitive complexity of this modernism. While both Traces of Light and Electric Salome deserve to be considered in their own right, they open an even more fascinating kaleidoscopic panorama when read in tandem."--Lucia Ruprecht, H-France "This well-illustrated and probing book is an important contribution to the scholarship on Loie Fuller and, with its contemporary resonances, should prove of interest to practitioners and academics in the fields of live-art and site-specific performance as well as dance."--Libby Worth, Modern Drama "Fuller's work demands that its scholars cover a lot of ground, and I was delighted to learn so much from Garelick's study about a widely ignored pioneer of avant-garde and modernist theatre performance and dance."--Mike Sell, Theatre Research International "[T]he book's greatest appeal may lie in its evocation of Fuller's technical inventiveness, her altogether startling genius for making the space of theater new."--Douglas Mao, Common KnowledgeTable of ContentsList of Illustrations ix Acknowledgments xiii Introduction 1 Chapter One: The Evolution of Fuller's Performance Aesthetic 19 Early Years: Awareness and Unconsciousness 20 The Evolution of a European Modernist 32 Chapter Two: Electric Salome: Loie Fuller at the World's Fair of 1900 63 A Handsome Savage 63 The World's Fair of 1900 68 Queen of the Fair 78 Mutable Geography and Adopted Nationality 86 Salome 90 Fuller's Japanese Costars at the Fair 103 A Yankee Salome on the Rue de Paris 106 The New Colonial Power: The United States at the World's Fair 111 A Vision of America to Come 114 Chapter Three: Fuller and the Romantic Ballet 118 Yankees Don't Do Ballet 118 Romantic Ballet: Sprites, Swans, and Windup Toys 125 Fuller: The Accidental Sylph 130 Technical Developments 134 Fuller, Hoffmann, and the Technologized Body 139 Coppelia and the Romantic Ballet Couple 144 Ambivalent Ballet: Fuller's Figurative and Literal Performance of Disavowal 150 A Balletic Dream of Modernism 153 Chapter Four: Scarring the Air: Loie Fuller's Bodily Moderism 156 Fuller's Invisibility: Modernist Physicality, Sex, and Cultural Legacy 156 Fleur du Sang: Fuller's Violent and Erotic Physicality 162 The Erotic Fuller 166 The Scandalous Ballets Loie Fuller 171 Instinct, Nature, and Versions of Interiority 176 The Mechanics of the Group 179 The Triumph of La Mer 182 Martha Graham's Lamentation 190 Fuller in a New Light 194 The Physical Analogue of the Psychological 196 Chapter Five: Of Veils and Onion Skins: Fuller and Modern European Drama 200 Radical Mechanicity 200 Character and Identity 203 Tristan Tzara's Mouchoir de Nuages 214 Tzara's Hamlet 218 Reading the Clouds: Shakespeare, Freud, and Fuller 220 Afterword Thoughts on Contemporary Traces of Fuller 224 Selected Bibliography 231 Index 241
£28.80
Princeton University Press Richard Wagner and His World
Book SynopsisRichard Wagner (1813-1883) aimed to be more than just a composer. He set out to redefine opera as a total work of art combining the highest aspirations of drama, poetry, the symphony, the visual arts, even religion and philosophy. Equally celebrated and vilified in his own time, Wagner continues to provoke debate today regarding his political legacy as well as his music and aesthetic theories. Wagner and His World examines his works in their intellectual and cultural contexts. Seven original essays investigate such topics as music drama in light of rituals of naming in the composer''s works and the politics of genre; the role of leitmotif in Wagner''s reception; the urge for extinction in Tristan und Isolde as psychology and symbol; Wagner as his own stage director; his conflicted relationship with pianist-composer Franz Liszt; the anti-French satire Eine Kapitulation in the context of the Franco-Prussian War; and responses of Jewish writers and musTrade Review"Offers much stimulating material, presented in kaleidoscopic fashion, that should be required reading for anyone desiring a more profound insight."--Della Couling, Classical Music Magazine "Grey once again has ferreted out themes and original material on the composer which have not been over-exposed in English translation."--Mike Ashman, GramophoneTable of ContentsPreface and Acknowledgments ix Permissions xv PART I: ESSAYS From Page to Stage: Wagner as Regisseur 3 KATHERINE SYER Wagner and Liszt: Elective Affinities 27 KENNETH HAMILTON From Opera to Music Drama: Nominal Loss, Titular Gain 65 LYDIA GOEHR Eine Kapitulation: Aristophanic Operetta as Cultural Warfare 87 in 1870 THOMAS S. GREY A Note on Tristan's Death Wish 123 KAROL BERGER Guides for Wagnerites: Leitmotifs and Wagnerian Listening 133 CHRISTIAN THORAU German Jews and Wagner 151 LEON BOTSTEIN PART II: BIOGRAPHICAL CONTEXTS Wilhelmine Schroder-Devrient and Wagner's Dresden 201 CLAIRE VON GLUMER, HENRY CHORLEY TRANSLATED, INTRODUCED, AND ANNOTATED BY THOMAS S. GREY Catulle Mendes Visits Tribschen 230 CATULLE MENDES TRANSLATED, INTRODUCED, AND ANNOTATED BY THOMAS S. GREY Recollections of Villa Wahnfried from Wagner's American Dentist 237 NEWELL SILL JENKINS INTRODUCED AND ANNOTATED BY THOMAS S. GREY PART III: TOWARD A MUSIC OF THE FUTURE, 1840-1860 The Overture to Tannhauser 251 FRANZ LISZT INTRODUCED, EDITED, AND ANNOTATED BY DAVID TRIPPETT TRANSLATED BY JOHN SULLIVAN DWIGHT Letters to a Young Composer About Wagner 269 JOHANN CHRISTIAN LOBE INTRODUCED, EDITED, AND TRANSLATED BY DAVID TRIPPETT Franz Brendel's Reconciliation Address 311 FRANZ BRENDEL INTRODUCED AND ANNOTATED BY JAMES DEAVILLE TRANSLATED BY JAMES DEAVILLE AND MARY A. CICORA PART IV: WAGNER AND PARIS Wagner Admires Meyerbeer (Les Huguenots) 335 RICHARD WAGNER TRANSLATED, INTRODUCED, AND ANNOTATED BY THOMAS S. GREY Debacle at the Paris Opera: 347 Tannhauser and the French Critics, 1861 OSCAR COMETTANT, PAUL SCUDO TRANSLATED BY THOMAS S. GREY INTRODUCED BY ANNEGRET FAUSER ANNOTATED BY ANNEGRET FAUSER AND THOMAS S. GREY The Revue wagnerienne: Symbolism, Aestheticism, 372 and Germanophilia J. K. HUYSMANS, TEODOR DE WYZEWA, EDOUARD DUJARDIN INTRODUCED BY STEVEN HUEBNER SELECTIONS TRANSLATED BY BRENDAN KING AND CHARLOTTE MANDELL PART V: THE BAYREUTH ERA Press Releases from the Bayreuth Festival, 1876: 391 An Early Attempt at Spin Control J. ZIMMERMANN INTRODUCED, TRANSLATED, AND ANNOTATED BY NICHOLAS VAZSONYI Hanslick contra Wagner: 409 "The Ring Cycle Comes to Vienna" and "Parsifal Literature" EDUARD HANSLICK TRANSLATED, INTRODUCED, AND ANNOTATED BY THOMAS S. GREY Hans von Wolzogen's Parsifal (1887) 426 HANS VON WOLZOGEN TRANSLATED, INTRODUCED, AND EDITED BY MARY A. CICORA Cosima Wagner's Bayreuth 435 RICHARD POHL, ARTHUR SEIDL, EUGEN GURA, ARNOLD SCHERING, HEINRICH CHEVALLEY TRANSLATED BY MARY A. CICORA INTRODUCED AND ANNOTATED BY DAVID BRECKBILL PART VI: THE COMPLETE PROGRAM NOTES OF RICHARD WAGNER Wagner Introduces Wagner (and Beethoven): 479 Program Notes Written for Concert Performances by and of Richard Wagner, 1846-1880 RICHARD WAGNER TRANSLATED, ANNOTATED, AND INTRODUCED BY THOMAS S. GREY Beethoven's Ninth Symphony Beethoven's Eroica Symphony Beethoven's Coriolan Overture Overture to Tannhauser Overture to Der fliegende Hollander Prelude to Lohengrin Tannhauser Lohengrin L. van Beethoven, String Quartet in C-sharp Minor, op. 131 Tristan und Isolde: Prelude to Act 1 Tristan und Isolde: Prelude to Act 1 and Conclusion ("Transfiguration") Die Meistersinger von Nurnberg: Preludes to Acts 1 and 3 Gotterdammerung Die Walkure Parsifal: Prelude to Act 1 Index 523 Notes on the Contributors 539
£28.80
Princeton University Press Watermarks
Book SynopsisTrade Review"A Choice Outstanding Academic Title in Fine Arts""One cannot help admiring how, through her own fertile processes of thought and analogy, Geddes mirrors the astonishing liveliness of Leonardo’s creative imagination."---Francis Ames-Lewis, Burlington Magazine"Compelling. . . . an exciting addition to the new field of the environmental humanities." * Choice *"A timely invitation to a close reading of Leonardo’s drawings, not as a purely artistic medium but also as a versatile means of engaging with nature."---Anatole Tchikine, Renaissance Quarterly
£51.00
Princeton University Press Billy Wilder on Assignment
Book SynopsisTrade Review"A Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year 2021""Longlisted for the Kraszna-Krausz Book Award, Moving Image Category""Longlisted for the National Translation Award, American Literary Translators Association""A revelation, a trove of snappy pieces that give the reader tantalizing glimpses of the mature film satirist."---Marc Weingarten, Washington Post"The brightest moments here let you watch a little more of the human comedy through Billy Wilder’s eyes. Few saw it as clearly he did or had more fun writing it down."---Jeremy McCarter, Wall Street Journal"Readers who come to Billy Wilder on Assignment to find the seeds of the films for which he is famous—nearly all of them, one assumes—will not be disappointed."---Ryan Ruby, Bookforum"A delicious compilation."---Tobias Grey, Financial Times "The most successful story in this collection, ‘Waiter, a Dancer, Please!,’ about being a hoofer for hire at a big hotel, is waspish and (if you allow for the choppy sentences) jazz-era excitable, New Yorker–ish, with a self-deprecating turn and a fairly urbane sense of the perfectly ridiculous."---Andrew O'Hagan, New York Review of Books"Long before he became the celebrated filmmaker of 'Sunset Boulevard,' 'Some Like It Hot' and 'The Apartment,' a young Billy Wilder worked briefly as a dancer for hire in the ballroom of a fashionable Berlin hotel. As he described the endeavor . . . for a German newspaper in 1927, 'This is no easy way to earn your daily bread, nor is it the kind that sentimental, softhearted types can stomach. But others can live from it.' Wilder’s observations on his experience—from one of his many delightfully acerbic pieces of journalism anthologized in Billy Wilder on Assignment . . . get to the heart of our enduring obsessions with show business and the performing arts."---Dave Itzkoff, New York Times"Sharp and witty. . . . Full of glorious turns of phrase, entertaining narratives, and quirky characters. . . . . Thumbing through Wilder’s essays from the 1920s will make you feel as if you are enjoying yourself at a German coffeehouse, catching up on popular culture, and planning your next weekend adventure in the Weimar Republic. Isenberg and Frisch have done a great service for film historians and fans of classic Hollywood."---Chris Yogerst, Los Angeles Review of Books"An irresistible collection of articles, profiles, and reviews from Wilder’s salad-und-bratwurst days in Berlin, where he worked as a roving journalist, critic, and scene-maker between 1926 and 1930. . . . Isenberg is an expert guide to the Berlin-to-Hollywood axis, and Frisch is a veteran translator."---Thomas Doherty, Tablet Magazine"Billy Wilder on Assignment is, as my colleague, TIME Magazine film critic Stephanie Zacharek kvelled to me in an email, ‘the little book you didn’t know you needed.'"---Jordan Hoffman, Times of Israel"A must-read for film buffs and history aficionados alike."---Tobias Carroll, Inside Hook"This new volume takes in the most significant staging posts of Wilder’s early career."---Gavin Plumley, Literary Review"[Wilder] quickly moved on to Berlin and became a prolific writer of occasional pieces for papers such as Der Querschnitt and the Berliner Börsen Courier. Selections of these articles have been published before but are long out of print, and were never translated into English. Now, thankfully, Professor Isenberg of the University of Texas has put this frustrating situation to rights with a lively anthology, translated by Shelley Frisch into a brisk, punchy English which feels as though it must be an accurate reflection of the young Wilder’s original tone."---Jonathan Coe, Spectator"The opportunity to read Wilder’s journalism in English is welcome. . . . What’s particularly impressive, even slightly eerie, is how many times this young film buff and Americanophile wrote about people he would later work with in Hollywood." * Bookforum *"A delightful and illuminating collection."---Sam Wasson, Air Mail"There is no question that Billy Wilder on Assignment is the most historically important recent book exploring the early days of a major filmmaker. It compiles, for the first time, Wilder’s writings as a young freelance reporter in 1920s Berlin and Vienna. The result is an incredible glimpse of Wilder’s mind at a key age."---Christopher Schobert, The Film Stage"Billy Wilder On Assignment . . . explores the roots of one of Hollywood’s most accomplished and acclaimed directors in the fervid journalistic atmosphere of Central Europe between world wars. . . . Shelley Frisch—one of the nimblest and liveliest translators working today—renders Wilder’s journalism into an English that leaps off the page with deadline urgency. . . . Isenberg's collection offers those interested in the Golden Age of Hollywood valuable new insight into one of its most significant personalities. It is also a vivid account of the vanished world that helped shape Billy Wilder." * Wilson Quarterly *"Let it be said that Billy Wilder on Assignment – Dispatches from Weimar Berlin and Interwar Vienna, is an altogether wonderful read. In fact it reads as if a fine, literary, malt-whiskey."---David Marx, David Marx: Book Reviews"The new anthology Billy Wilder on Assignment proves Wilder's verbal and narrative gifts existed long before he set foot in Hollywood during the 1930s."---Dan Lybarger, Northwest Arkansas Democrat Gazette"Readers will have fun picking out elements, traits and incidents in these lively witty texts and attempting to match them with Wilder’s later cinematic masterpieces."---Alexander Adams, Alexander Adams Art"Billy Wilder on Assignment . . . provides a long-overdue translation of Billy Wilder’s early writings in German. . . . The anthology will be of interest to both the academic and general public."---Nora Gortcheva, EuropeNow"Very nice."---Tom Stoppard, Times Literary Supplement"In this first English-language compilation of Wilder’s early journalism . . . we can see the mischievous humour and love of snappy dialogue characteristic of his later movies."---Monica Porter, The Jewish Chronicle"Billy Wilder on Assignment: Dispatches from Weimar Berlin and Interwar Vienna is a revealing collection of his lively reportage from those two cities. . . . [The book] create[s] a portrait of a man who is so much more complex than a mere cynic."---Kevin Lally, Cineaste Magazine"“Billy Wilder on Assignment is a beautifully assembled collection of the early writings of a master storyteller whose body of work has entertained moviemakers and movie watchers for generations."---Leonora Cravotta, American Spectator
£18.00
Princeton University Press Eva Palmer Sikelianos
Book SynopsisTrade Review"One of the Times Literary Supplement's Books of the Year 2019"
£22.50
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Woody Allen
Book SynopsisThis book is the first detailed study of Woody Allen''s life and work, and an original attempt to locate Allen''s work in the great tradition of American popular culture. It explores that inimitable New York Jewish voice in the themes, dreams, hopes and hidden meanings of Allen''s urban humour, with countless examples of Allen''s own hilarious comic lines.Trade Review'McCann's book is incisive, perceptive and adept at examining the Woody Allen persona.' City Limits 'A praiseworthy shot at paying sustained and serious attention to a mainstream film-maker ... a brave foray into uncharted territory.' The Guardian 'McCann has written a critical biography that's a model of concision and acuity ... a rigorous and rewarding read.' Empire '...[a] wide-ranging, highly intelligent, generally smart critique ... [McCann] excels at improvising creative riffs of prose around a theme.' The Times 'Thorough and readable study' Daily TelegraphTable of ContentsAcknowledgements. Introduction. 1. New Yorker. 2. The Bluebird of Anxiety. 3. Love and Death. 4. Celebrity & Integrity. 5. Stardust Memories. 6. Part of the Experience. Bibliography. Index.
£17.09
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Frank Sinatra Polity celebrities series
Book SynopsisFrank Sinatra was only one of a handful of popular entertainers who dominated Western popular culture for six decades.Trade Review'Chris Rojek's study Frank Sinatra is simply brilliant. It is far and away the best study of Sinatra and a U.S. popular singer that I have read. While there are a small row of classics on the great rock singers, pop performers like Sinatra have mainly received celebrity gossip treatment. Rojek's study however, deeply probes Sinatra's celebrity status, including his singing career, his film work, his nightclub and concert tours, his connections with major politicians, and more notoriously, with the Mafia and a series of highly publicized sex scandals.' Doug Kellner, University of California, Los AngelesTable of ContentsPreface. Introduction. 1. Frank's World. 2. Uomo Di Rispetto. 3. Antinomies of Achieved Celebrity. 4. The Rat Pack. 5. Envoi. Notes. References. Index.
£49.50
John Wiley and Sons Ltd Frank Sinatra
Book SynopsisFrank Sinatra was only one of a handful of popular entertainers who dominated Western popular culture for six decades.Trade Review'Chris Rojek's study Frank Sinatra is simply brilliant. It is far and away the best study of Sinatra and a U.S. popular singer that I have read. While there are a small row of classics on the great rock singers, pop performers like Sinatra have mainly received celebrity gossip treatment. Rojek's study however, deeply probes Sinatra's celebrity status, including his singing career, his film work, his nightclub and concert tours, his connections with major politicians, and more notoriously, with the Mafia and a series of highly publicized sex scandals.' Doug Kellner, University of California, Los AngelesTable of ContentsPreface. Introduction. 1. Frank's World. 2. Uomo Di Rispetto. 3. Antinomies of Achieved Celebrity. 4. The Rat Pack. 5. Envoi. Notes. References. Index.
£15.19
John Wiley & Sons Brigh an 210rain A Story in Every Song
a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.
£49.69
Eminem
Book SynopsisBorn Marshall Mathers III, Eminem overcame a difficult childhood to become the most critically acclaimed white rapper of his time. This biography examines the remarkable life of a controversial yet talented artist who pushed creative envelopes and broke racial boundaries to become one of hip-hop's greatest stars.
£24.26
Cornell University Press Reflections on Liszt
Book Synopsis"No one knows more about Franz Liszt than Alan Walker."—Malcolm Bowie, Times Literary Supplement In a series of lively essays that tell us much not only about the phenomenon that was Franz Liszt but also about the musical and cultural life of...Trade ReviewThe collection of essays is a sort of appendix to Alan Walker's three-volume biography of Liszt. That was not a study of the music, though it commented selectively on the music as part of the composer's life, but it was—is—one of the most readable and engrossing biographies of any subject ever written. -- Adrian Jack * BBC Music Magazine *Walker is unashamedly a Lisztian, of course, but his advocacy is never fanatical. Rather, it is mantled in terse, accomplished prose, supported by faultless research, and buttressed by copious musical examples and musicological argument. In this indispensable book, Walker has strengthened his case for a reevaluation of the composer's accomplishments with care, detail, and—the word is not too strong—virtuosity. -- Conor Farrington * Times Literary Supplement *No one knows more about Franz Liszt than Alan Walker. -- Malcolm Bowie * Times Literary Supplement *Table of ContentsPrologue1. Beethoven's Weihekuss Revisited2. Liszt and the Beethoven Symphonies3. Liszt and the Schubert Song Transcriptions4. Schumann, Liszt, and the C Major Fantasie, op. 17: A Study in Declining Relationships5. Liszt and His Pupils: Three Character SketchesCarl Tausig: A Polish Wunderkind — Hans von Bülow: Heir and Successor — Walter Bache: An English Disciple of Liszt6. Liszt’s Sonata in B Minor7. Liszt and the Lied8. Liszt as Editor9. Liszt’s Technical Studies: Some Thoughts and Afterthoughts10. Liszt the Writer: On Music and MusiciansEpilogue: An Open Letter to Franz LisztSourcesIndex
£18.99
University of Toronto Press Madonna
Book SynopsisHow do bad girls get away with it? How did Madonna, subject of public outcry for her controversial performances and her book Sex, become a superstar of pop culture and a role model for teenage girls? Why now, as star of Evita and a new mother, is she becoming a mainstream hero?Karlene Faith says that Madonna signifies the times we live in. We are, in a sense, all responsible for who Madonna is. As fans, moral critics, media journalists, or university scholars, we mediate what she means to our society. And Madonna, as a shrewd career woman, has known how to exploit our attentions with her multiple talents. Her representation of sexual practices and values has not taken place in a political or social vacuum. She has counted on our readiness to witness the smashing of cultural taboos. Feminist reactions to Madonna have been divided. In her early career Madonna was a teenage role model, applauded as a liberated sex crusader. Later, she raised eyebrows by portraying cynicTrade Review'This book will be better at getting Much TV students to successfully learn about academic feminism that the usual dead-dry fare. In her discussion of the meaning of Madonna, Faith pulls in all the big guns of feminist theory and aims them at a living post-modern Bitch, rather than the pale and quite ghosts of writers life Woolf and Austen.' -- Caroline Harvey The Vancouver Sun
£25.19
University of Toronto Press Vittorio De Sica
Book SynopsisRecognized as a master of Italian cinema, Vittorio De Sica is perhaps best known and most respected for his critically acclaimed neorealist films of the period 1946-55. As this anthology reveals, however, his production was remarkably multifaceted. The essays included here - some newly commissioned, some reprinted, and others in translation - look at De Sica's varied career from many perspecives.Structured chronologically, the volume begins by introducing readers to De Sica's early popularity as an actor and singer during the years of Italian Fascism, and to his initial directorial efforts before the end of World War II. It was not until the postwar era, however, that De Sica made his mark in film history. Special attention is given to this critical phase of his career, which encompasses the neorealist films that made him famous: "Shoeshine", "Bicycle Thieves", "Miracle in Milan", and "Umberto D."When the neorealist movement waned after 1955, De Sica returned to his ro
£29.70
University of Toronto Press The Girl from Gods Country
Book SynopsisIn The Girl from God's Country, Kay Armatage reintroduces film studies scholars to Nell Shipman, a pioneer in both Canadian and American film, and one of proportionately numerous women from Hollywood's silent era who wrote, directed, produced, and acted in motion pictures. Born and raised in British Columbia, Shipman became a contract actress for Vitagraph Studios, starring in God's Country and the Woman (1915) and Back to God's Country (1919), among other films. These action-packed adventure melodramas, in which the heroine is called upon to rescue her husband and defeat the villain, were immensely successful. Later, Shipman started up her own production company to make films centred on her screen persona, 'the girl from God’s country.' By the mid 1920s, however, the formation of the large Hollywood studios and vertical integration closed down the independents, Shipman among them. Nevertheless, she continued writing until her death in 1970.Through
£34.20
University of Nebraska Press Alanis Obomsawin The Vision of a Native
Book SynopsisIncorporating history, politics, and film theory into a compelling narrative, this title explores the life and work of a multifaceted woman whose career was flourishing long before Native films such as Smoke Signals reached the screen.Trade Review“Most Americans probably do not know that Canada has an oft-distinguished film industry. . . . Here Lewis goes some way toward redressing this oversight by discussing the career of a documentary filmmaker who is a double rarity: a member of a First Nations tribe (one of the Canadian indigenous peoples) and a woman. . . . Lewis relates the story of this remarkable woman in conventional chronological order, with ample biographical data and a detailed analysis of her oeuvre and its impact on Canadian society. . . . [T]his is a welcome addition to a long-neglected part of cinema literature.” —Library Journal“Lewis’s writing is at all times clear, efficient, and accessible, and his nuanced understanding of Obomsawin’s work is evident throughout. In addition to a masterful and informative narrative, Lewis provides useful filmographies of Obomsawin’s work and of other noteworthy Native American documentaries.”—T. Maxwell-Long, ChoiceTable of Contents1. Abenaki Beginnings; 2. Early Films; 3. A Gendered Gaze?; 4. Documentary on the Middle Ground; 5. Why Documentary?; 6. Cinema of Sovereignty; Conclusion
£16.14
University of Nebraska Press John Wayne
Book SynopsisJohn Wayne remains a constant in American popular culture. Middle America grew up with him in late 1920s and 1930s, went to war with him in 1940s, matured with him in 1950s, and kept the faith with him in the 1960s and 1970s... This is a biography that reveals the changing scene in Hollywood and America from Great Depression through Vietnam War.Trade Review"All students of Hollywood will find [this biography of John Wayne] fascinating and rewarding."—London Times Literary Supplement"Writing in a plain-spoken style that avoids both fanzine and academic cant, the authors nicely retell the story of Wayne’s relationship with John Ford, the director most responsible for setting him apart from the gunslinging crowd."—New York Times Book Review"Recommended for all film collections."—Library Journal
£26.99
Stanford University Press Musica Ficta Figures of Wagner Meridian Crossing
Book SynopsisThis is a pioneering attempt to rearticulate the relationship between music and the problem of mimesis, of presentation and re-presentation. Four "scenes" compose this book, all four of them responses to Wagner: two by French poets (Baudelaire and Mallarmé), two by German philosophers (Heidegger and Adorno).Trade Review"This is a remarkable book. Not since Theodor Adorno has a theoretical work approached music in as broad, incisive and provocative a way as does Lacoue-Labarthe's Musica Ficta. The book opens up an entirely new perspective for reinterpreting the relations between music, theater, literature, and the philosophical-aesthetical tradition that has largely governed our understanding of those media. For the first time, to my knowledge, recent analyses of representation are brought to bear on the function of music, revealing its particular affinities to theatricality. Musica Ficta breaks new ground." -- Samuel Weber * University of California, Los Angeles *"A remarkable book. Not since Theodor Adorno has a theoretical work approached music in as broad, incisive, and provocative a way. The book opens up an entirely new perspective for reinterpreting the relations between music, theater, literature, and the philosophical-aesthet ic tradition that has largely governed our understanding of those media." -- Samuel Weber * University of California, Los Angeles *"Lacoue-Labarthe's work is a thought-provoking book: the reader embarks on an intellectual journey that draws connections between music, theater, aesthetics, philosophy, and history from ancient Greece to the present. . . . Lacoue-Labarthe offers a point of departure for a new aesthetic of art, one appropriate to the philosophical problems of the 20th Century." -- Wagner NotesTable of ContentsContents 1 2 3 4
£84.15
Stanford University Press Musica Ficta Figures of Wagner Meridian Crossing
Book SynopsisThis is a pioneering attempt to rearticulate the relationship between music and the problem of mimesis, of presentation and re-presentation. Four "scenes" compose this book, all four of them responses to Wagner: two by French poets (Baudelaire and Mallarmé), two by German philosophers (Heidegger and Adorno).Trade Review"This is a remarkable book. Not since Theodor Adorno has a theoretical work approached music in as broad, incisive and provocative a way as does Lacoue-Labarthe's Musica Ficta. The book opens up an entirely new perspective for reinterpreting the relations between music, theater, literature, and the philosophical-aesthetical tradition that has largely governed our understanding of those media. For the first time, to my knowledge, recent analyses of representation are brought to bear on the function of music, revealing its particular affinities to theatricality. Musica Ficta breaks new ground." -- Samuel Weber * University of California, Los Angeles *"A remarkable book. Not since Theodor Adorno has a theoretical work approached music in as broad, incisive, and provocative a way. The book opens up an entirely new perspective for reinterpreting the relations between music, theater, literature, and the philosophical-aesthet ic tradition that has largely governed our understanding of those media." -- Samuel Weber * University of California, Los Angeles *"Lacoue-Labarthe's work is a thought-provoking book: the reader embarks on an intellectual journey that draws connections between music, theater, aesthetics, philosophy, and history from ancient Greece to the present. . . . Lacoue-Labarthe offers a point of departure for a new aesthetic of art, one appropriate to the philosophical problems of the 20th Century." -- Wagner NotesTable of ContentsContents 1 2 3 4
£21.59
MP-OKL Uni of Oklahoma Will Rogers at the Ziegfeld Follies
Book SynopsisFeatures the American humourist Will Rogers' writings and observations on society during World War I and the Roaring Twenties. Included in this collection are two of Rogers' most popular books, "The Cowboy Philosopher on the Peace Conference" and "The Cowboy Philosopher on Prohibition".
£19.90
MP-SIL Southern Illinois Uni A Biographical Dictionary of Actors Actresses
Book Synopsis
£52.20
