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Book SynopsisTitles in Dictionaries for the Modern Musician series offer both the novice and the advanced artist key information designed to convey the field of study and performance for a major instrument or instrument class, as well as the workings of musicians in areas from conducting to composing. Unlike other encyclopedic works, contributions to this series focus primarily on the knowledge required by the contemporary musical student or performer. Each dictionary covers topics from instrument parts to playing technique and major works to key figures. A must-have for any musician's personal library!Trumpeters today perform a vast repertoire of musical material spanning 500 years, much of it in a variety of styles and even on a number of related instruments. In A Dictionary for the Modern Trumpet Player, scholar and performer, Elisa Koehler has created a key reference work that addresses all of the instruments in the high brass family, providing ready answers to issues that trumpeters, conductorTrade ReviewThe latest title in Rowman & Littlefield's Dictionaries for the Modern Musician series is aimed at students, teachers, and performers, and all are well served by its comprehensive treatment of the subject. A thoroughly cross-indexed dictionary of terms forms the major part of this work, but its appendixes and bibliography are far from minor. These include a time line of trumpet history, a gallery of valve diagrams, and a list of excerpts suitable for orchestra and opera auditions. The bibliography is extensive and includes biographies and autobiographies, historic sources, websites, and more. This very specialized source should be added to the repertoire of academic library collections serving music students as well as public library collections serving amateur and professional musicians. * Booklist *Professional trumpeter Koehler offers loving fanfare about her chosen instrument, with entries on its key role in military matters (as in reveille) and various permutations (as bugle, cornet, etc.), as well as developmental milestones, most prominent/notable players (Louis Armstrong, et al), and more. Appendixes include illustrations of various valve mechanisms. VERDICT A terrific read for musicians and fans alike. * Library Journal *This latest volume in the publisher's ‘Dictionaries for the Modern Musician’ series is a most welcome addition to the trumpet player's shelf. Aimed at the contemporary performer, the dictionary contains a wealth of historical information, covering biographies of important performers, composers, teachers, and makers; technical aspects of playing the trumpet (e.g., multiple tonguing); musical issues and markings, including foreign terms; and mechanical aspects of trumpet construction. Koehler treats her topic broadly, covering such closely related topics as the cornet, historical precursor instruments from centuries past, and composers only tangentially associated with trumpet literature. The illustrations—all original for this book—are quite useful, particularly those in the second appendix, which illustrate the various kinds of valve blocks that have been used over the centuries. . . .[T]he documentation is quite good. Summing Up: Recommended. All academic levels; general readers; professional musicians and music teachers. * CHOICE *Elisa Koehler new book demonstrates her wonderful ability to convey and explain a wide range of information, some of it rather complex, to both informed and novice readerships. As the book is a dictionary, each of the hundreds of entries is limited in size, but Koehler has nevertheless managed to assemble a wide range of trumpet-related topics including famous players, composers, instruments, organological issues, performance practice, compositions, as well as key concepts and historical events. Drawing on the famous line, 'poetry is what poets write,' Elisa Koehler has constructed her dictionary to embrace the totality of the trumpet family as anything that the modern trumpet player plays. Rather than restricting the topic, as some taxonomic endeavors do, she has broadened it. * Historic Brass Society Journal *One strength of this volume is the introduction of historical subjects such as performance practice, baroque versus natural trumpets and the use of vent holes without going into unnecessary and frequently confusing levels of detail. The inclusion of performers and composers from the former Soviet Union, many of whom are relatively unknown in the West, is also an asset. . . .A Dictionary for the Modern Trumpet Player will prove useful to undergraduate students who will encounter a host of unfamiliar terms during their studies. * s *The many line drawings are very clear and accurate, nicely augmenting the text. Cross-references in bold type add much to the usefulness of definitions and historical accounts. The author’s depth of knowledge and experience with historical trumpet performance contribute to this volume. . . .The ‘Introduction’ is short, but packs in enough information for the novice reader to gain a good understanding of the history of the trumpet for more than the last 200 years. Students should read the introduction before using this dictionary to learn about certain terms. . . .I can conclude that this dictionary is a valuable tool to have on hand for the trumpet student or anyone else with interest. * American Musical Instrument Society *This dictionary is an excellent blend of first-rate scholarship and readability. The history of the trumpet extends back centuries, and trumpet-like instruments are found in almost every culture and made from almost any material. Many of these instruments (e.g., the shofar, the abe.n) are given some notice, often with a very useful line drawing. Indeed, the text is liberally sprinkled with more than sixty line drawings (rather than photographs, which perhaps would have increased the cost) and music examples that helpfully illustrate terms or instruments discussed in the text, all rendered especially for this book…. Koehler’s text is a good indicator of the breadth of knowledge required to be a successful musician today…. Koehler’s Dictionary is a very welcome addition to the bookshelves of all trumpet players. * Notes: Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association *Table of ContentsIntroduction List of Illustrations The Dictionary Appendix 1: Timeline of Trumpet History Appendix 2: Gallery of Valve Diagrams Appendix 3: Mute Classifications Appendix 4: Orchestra and Opera Audition Excerpts For Further Reading

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Book SynopsisWith a career in music and film that has spanned over forty years, Kristofferson began as a singer-songwriter. In this book, Mary G. Hurd surveys the life and works of this highly respected American songwriter, exploring the uncommon depth and lyricism of his work.Trade ReviewSinger-songwriter Kris Kristofferson first became known in 1970, when he was awarded the Country Music Award for his song 'Sunday Mornin’ Comin’ Down,' as sung by Johnny Cash. Hurd provides the first detailed look at the 'arc of Kristofferson’s creative output', starting with his first LP in 1970, which featured his classic 'Me and Bobby McGee'; through his best songs combining country and folk-rock in the 1970s, such as 'Loving Her Was Easier' and 'Why Me'; to his work with Cash and Willie Nelson in the country supergroup the Highwaymen; and finally to his critically acclaimed 2006 album 'This Old Road,' recorded at the age of 70. Hurd is excellent at showing how all of Kristofferson’s work and life—including refusing to follow his family’s long tradition of serving in the military, and his stint in England as a Rhodes Scholar—are connected by one theme: 'His mandate to live an artist’s life as he thought it should be lived hinged on the concept of personal freedom.' This solid overview makes it clear just how important Kristofferson’s work has been to the history of country and rock music. * Publishers Weekly *Kris Kristofferson: Country Highwayman succeeds in contextualizing the career of an unlikely country music icon: an educated liberal whose imperfect voice, organic songwriting, sophisticated lyricism, and introverted nature emerged during Nashville’s slick and commercially oriented countrypolitan period. . . . Hurd, a retired professor of English, accomplishes the difficult task of using songs to summarize Kristofferson’s turbulent forty-year-plus career. . . . Characteristically adept is her examination of Kristofferson’s award-winning song, 'Sunday Morning Coming Down' (1970). She peers beneath the surface depiction of a miserable hangover: 'Aching with loneliness and alienation, the speaker renders a powerful evocation of alcoholism and the loss of traditional values (family, home, and faith)—not unlike Kristofferson’s own situation—and the burden of freedom that follows that loss' (p. 35). . . . [T]he book might inspire casual readers to listen more intently—or perhaps for the first time—to Kristofferson’s songs. What this book does best is illustrate the intimate link between songwriter and song, and the complex layers such a link can entail. * Thinking On Music *Hurd’s study of one of our greatest singer-songwriters offers biographical information, but more essentially, a detailed study of his work. . . .Now’s the time to fully examine and appreciate an astonishing body of work by a timeless artist. Fans of Kristofferson or anyone who admires the art of songwriting will find the book fascinating fare. * Pop Culture Classics *Table of ContentsIntroduction Chapter 1: Beginnings and Influences: “Pick up that guitar, Go break a heart” Chapter 2: “Freedom’s just another word for nothing left to lose”: 1965-1970 Chapter 3: “Had to try to tame a thirst he couldn’t name”: 1971-1975 Chapter 4: “The going up was worth the coming down”: 1977-1984 Chapter 5: Rebels, Outlaws, Highwaymen, 1985-1995 Chapter 6: “I don’t believe that no one wants to know,” 1985-1991 Chapter 7: “Ain’t you come a long way down this old road”: 1995-2014 Chapter 8 Conclusion Further Reading Further Listening Further Watching About the Author

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewMontagu focuses here on horns' and trumpets' histories, construction and design, and performance issues. Drawing from his extensive experience as a performer and as a curator of Oxford's Bate Collection of Musical Instruments, he incorporates the works of numerous other performers, historians, and organologists of the past hundred years or so. This narrative functions at once as a catalog of horns and trumpets in Montagu's collection, a documentary on the purposes and functions of these instruments, and a personal account of the author's experiences in collecting and playing instruments. Montagu defines the differences and similarities between trumpets and horns in their diverse guises throughout the world. Arranging this volume historically and by materials used for constructing the instruments, Montagu covers the instruments' broad spectrum in a very personal, practical, and colloquial style. Multiple black-and-white photographs and illustrations support descriptions of the instruments and other items from the author's collection. . . .Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates and above. * CHOICE *Many books cover the instruments of the band and orchestra, but few cover the globe as Montagu does. He explains the overtone or harmonic series briefly, with an example in musical notation. Before the prelude is an important chapter on the 'Protocol of Measurements' (pp. xix-xx), which includes abbreviations, symbols, measurements (in millimeters, with the pitch standards employed). The author explains the structure and construction of brass instruments, and their derivation from various source materials, such as bark, cane, gourd, and metals—particularly brass. Usages of each instrument vary, both in musical and ritualistic terms. He presents over 150 detailed illustrations. Many of these are from Montagu’s personal collection, developed over a six-decade time span. He entered these into a ledger catalog, using Roman numerals for the volume, and Arabic numerals for the page. . . . . Montagu presents a very useful narrative that describes visually and in clear text, trumpets, horns, trombones, and world music instruments (e.g., didgeridoo, shell trumpets, side blown horns). * American Reference Books Annual *Fellow Jeremy Montagu, former curator of the Bate Collection of Musical Instruments and President of the Galpin Society, has written several books already on the histories, origins and development of musical instruments, but this book was written with the particular affection and insight that comes from the fact that Jeremy is a brass player himself, having studied French horn at London’s Guildhall School of Music. . . .The text is also packed with fascinating insights into the ways that composers have used these instruments to lend vibrant colour to their work. * SALON Online Newsletter *On the surface, Horns and Trumpets of the World is a detailed catalogue of Montagu's own extensive and important collection of musical instruments. It is that, but it is also much more. While Western musical instruments are represented, non-Western instruments are prominent in this study and it is that focus that makes this book so valuable. . . .Montagu traces the history of many of the instruments and instrument types and often includes fascinating descriptions of how these instruments are woven into the social and cultural fabric of the people who use them . . .In addition to the valuable information in this book, an added bonus is the author's charming conversational tone, manifested in the form of wonderful anecdotes about the acquisition of particular instruments in his collection. He offers insight into the thrill of amassing a large and important instrument collection as well as a detailed social and organological study of the instruments. * Historic Brass Society Journal *When such an expert invites one to take what is essentially a guided tour around his own extensive personal collection of horns and trumpets, one is not surprised to read an erudite but surprisingly readable account of a huge range of instruments (the title says it all!), including many that the average musician would never have heard of…. Throughout the book, there’s a wealth of technical detail; it goes without saying that protocols of scientific measurements and musical pitches appear at the outset. Physical descriptions and performance techniques receive equal attention throughout the text. The book is generously illustrated, again with a detailed list in the prefatory pages, and is equipped with all the usual bibliographic and other appendices: indices of instruments, of makers, of people and places and a general index to conclude the work…. [T]here is much to interest the more general music scholar and the opening chapters will be of considerable interest to ethnomusicologists, while detailed historical accounts of brass instrument manufacturers and retailers could be relevant to a very wide range of scholars concerned with the music trade or particular groups of performers. * s *Informed by a lifetime's experience playing and analyzing musical instruments, Jeremy Montagu's richly illustrated guide to horns and trumpets provides a panoramic survey of types from all over the world, drawn mostly from his own encyclopedic collection. Dozens of photographs help readers identify exotic examples and view familiar "brasses" afresh, while Montagu's insights to their construction and usage, couched in non-technical language, provide essential context for the instruments' physical descriptions, including measurements. Of special interest are personal anecdotes about how Montagu acquired and researched his holdings. An extensive bibliography and detailed indexes add to the book's usefulness. Horns and Trumpets of the World will be immediately valuable to collectors, curators, musicians and music-lovers, and everyone fascinated by this ancient, still evolving family of instruments. -- Laurence Libin, Editor in Chief, Grove Dictionary of Musical InstrumentsTable of ContentsList of Illustrations Acknowledgments Protocol of Measurements and Abbreviations Prelude Chapter 1: Seaweed, Bark, Cane, and Gourd, Chapter 2: Side-blown Horns Chapter 3: Shell Trumpets Chapter 4: Shorter End-blown Horns Chapter 5: Longer end-blown Trumpets Chapter 6: ‘Orchestral’ Trumpets and Slide Trombones Chapter 7: Orchestral Natural Horns Chapter 8: Valved Horns, Trumpets, and Trombones Chapter 9: Bugles and Cornets Chapter 10: Fingerhole Horns Chapter 11: Accessories Chapter 12: Playing Chapter 13: Bibliography Instrument Index Manufacturer Index Catalogue Numbers General Index

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Book SynopsisIn SÃmi Musical Performance and the Politics of Indigeneity in Northern Europe, ethnomusicologist Thomas Hilder offers the first book-length study of this diverse and dynamic music scene and its intersection with the politics of indigeneity.Trade ReviewThomas R. Hidler provides a critical analysis of the political, cultural, and social transformations in the non-Western, Nordic, Sámi indigenous community. . . .This book is well-written and organized cohesively, as one chapter leads seamlessly into another. It will be a valuable addition to the fields of European studies, ethnomusicology, and identity studies. * Journal of Folklore Research *This fundamental book, rich in information, insight, and interpretation, is long overdue. . . .This study is written with respect: it is based on long-term engagement with Sámi musicians and music events, learning appropriate languages, and listening carefully to contemporary Sámi concerns. Hilder’s book is a must for those studying the Sámi. It is also insightful reading for those interested in the politics of indigeneity and music. * Yearbook for Traditional Music *Table of ContentsAcknowledgments Chapter 1: Sámi Musical Performance: An Introduction Chapter 2: Performing Sápmi Chapter 3: Reconceptualizing Time Chapter 4: Voicing Nature Chapter 5: Transmitting Culture Chapter 6: Aspiring Cosmopolitanism Epilogue Glossary Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisSearch the Internet for the 100 best songs or best albums. Dozens of lists will appear from aficionados to major music personalities. But what if you not only love listening to the blues or country music or jazz or rock, you love reading about it, too. How do you separate what matters from what doesn't among the hundredssometimes thousandsof books on the music you so love? In the Best Music Books series, readers finally have a quick-and-ready list of the most important works published on modern major music genres by leading experts. In 100 Books Every Blues Fan Should Own, Edward Komara, former Blues Archivist of the University of Mississippi, and his successor Greg Johnson select those histories, biographies, surveys, transcriptions and studies from the many hundreds of works that have been published about this vital American musical genre. Komara and Johnson provide a short description of the contents and the achievement of each title selected for their Blues 100. Entries includeTrade ReviewThis readable and informative book's premise is simple: coauthors Komara (Crane Librarian of Music, State Univ. of New York, Potsdam; former blues archivist, Univ. of Mississippi) and Johnson (blues curator, Univ. of Mississippi), both very knowledgeable blues fans, have assembled 100 titles that they feel could and should be read by those who want to know more about the scope of blues history in the United States. The examples range from scholarly works to popular, more readable books. The aim was to include titles still readily available through libraries or popular booksellers. The first entry covers Lawrence Cohn's Nothing But the Blues: The Music and the Musicians, a great place for anyone to start. Each entry lists price, availability, and layout and provides a description of the subjects covered. Most people will probably not read the book cover to cover, but it is quite browsable. The table of contents lists the subject matter and titles, so neophytes and experts alike can easily find a suitable book for further investigation. This is the sort of work that all libraries with blues collections should own. Highly recommended. * Library Journal *Written by the former (Komara) and current (Johnson) blues archivist of the University of Mississippi, this book provides a highly selective list of significant books covering the history of blues music. The authors provide the criteria for selecting the 100 books including the importance of a readable style. . . .All of the books are written in English (most foreign-language publications have been periodicals and most international writers have written in English) and treat African American blues and its associated culture, not white British and American blues. Books providing overviews are listed first then the ordering follows a historical timeline working from 1890 up through the early twenty-first century. . . .There is a 'playlist' at the end of the volume recommending a recording illustrative or pertaining to each book. There is also a list of reference works used to help select and compile the bibliography. The volume concludes with an index listing the artists, authors, and books titles listed throughout. Unique in its selectivity, anyone interested in exploring the blues through the printed word will find this source a pleasure to consult. * American Reference Books Annual *With an engaging text, Komara and Johnson have assembled a very utilitarian bibliography, and present estimated costs for the out-of-print books, various editions and publishers, hardcover or paperback. The authors compare several non-Blues 100 books as well. One also learns many of the names associated with the blues, and who is linked to whom. These qualities make 100 Books Every Blues Fan Should Own a valued purchase for serious blues lovers and librarians alike. * Notes: Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Association *It is a good read with a nice way of getting the facts across. * The Bristol Press *This is the 101st book every blues fan should own. * Blues Beat News *Komara and Johnson have combined their considerable experience and expertise to curate a list of books they deem essential to a thorough understanding of African American blues music and cultures. . . .The authors adopt a readable style for their entries: each is given a short title that summarizes the particular book's thesis, and they outline its contents in clear prose as well as provide critiques and context, bibliographic information, and purchasing advice. . . .100 Books Every Blues Fan Should Own is a worthy resource for all admirers of the genre. * Living Blues *The authors acknowledge...their ambition “to make 100 Books That Every Blues Fan Should Own the 101st that every blues fan should own." In this, the authors have succeeded. Their informative book is a welcome primer for any serious blues fan seeking to engage the scholarly literature of this musical genre. It would also be an invaluable resource for any instructor building a course about the blues. * Music Reference Services Quarterly *The re-discovery and ultimate academic invention of the blues occurred during the latter part of the larger American folk music revival (roughly between 1940 and '60). The authors note that prior to 1959 and the publication of The Country Blues (Reinhart/Da Capo) that blues discourse was largely an oral (and aural) tradition. Since 1959, this oral tradition has been canonically codified in books and periodicals devoted to the blues and blues scholarship in measures large enough to repave Highway 61 from Chicago to Clarkdale. The story of the blues is one that warrants the attention of all the writers who have contributed to its vast bibliography and of all the old and new readers wanting to discover her depth and beauty. But where to start? 100 Books Every Blues Fan Should Own offers a grand place to start. The two authors present a book, first with a brief (and often colorful) descriptor followed by a complete bibliographic citation and book prices for the editions in print. The citations are followed by critical essays about the book: why it is important, what are its strengths and shortcomings. Both authors' works is well balanced and fair minded and above all, informative. * All About Jazz *The Blues are all about the stories, and there are many stories out there about the women and men who create this music. Edward Komara, former Blues archivist of the University of Mississippi, and his successor Greg Johnson pulled together perhaps the definitive bibliography of books about the blues in their new release 100 Books Every Blues Fan Should Own. -- Steve Chavis, co-host of First Take with Lando & Chavis, KUVO (Denver)Table of ContentsFinding the Blues 100 Introduction Acknowledgments The Blues 100 The Playlist Appendix: The Books behind the Blues 100

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewMorricone is a distinguished Italian film composer with more than 400 scores to his credit, including The Untouchables, Fistful of Dollars, and Ripley's Game. Miceli is a musicologist. Their book–a series of insightful/inspiring lectures on the uses/aesthetics of cinema scores–constitutes a short course in the rigors of film music composition. The authors mix examples and caveats to young composers, saying that a course cannot teach film composition. Attention to synesthesia--partnering of sounds and colors–is a necessity, and irrational choices should be eschewed ('the most inadmissible thing is to resort to asynchronism or incoherent juxtapositions'). Discussion of the process–consultations, directors, viewings, style, and premix/final mix–are intercut with 'seminars' about solving specific problems; the authors use experimental film edits to stimulate youthful composers' imaginations. Morricone argues for strict attention to the psychological dimensions of the film's characters; he provides examples from Hitchcock (Morricone's metacinematician), Ridley Scott, and the Traviani brothers. Morricone's observations include the ideas that mediated scenes (in which music carries character reactions) are essential and that 'tone color is one of a film composer's most important means of expression.' Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through faculty/professionals. * CHOICE *

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Book SynopsisThree delightful one-act plays set in and around New York, in which sophisticated characters confound one another in ways only Woody Allen could imagineWoody Allen’s first dramatic writing published in years, “Riverside Drive,” “Old Saybrook,” and “Central Park West” are humorous, insightful, and unusually readable plays about infidelity. The characters, archetypal New Yorkers all, start out talking innocently enough, but soon the most unexpected things arise—and the reader enjoys every minute of it (though not all the characters do). These plays (successfully produced on the New York stage and in regional theaters on the East Coast) dramatize Allen’s continuing preoccupation with people who rationalize their actions, hide what they’re doing, and inevitably slip into sexual deception—all of it revealed in Allen’s quintessentially pell-mell dialogue.

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Book SynopsisIn To a Young Jazz Musician, the renowned jazz musician and Pulitzer Prize—winning composer Wynton Marsalis gives us an invaluable guide to making good music-and to leading a good life.Writing from the road “between the bus ride, the sound check, and the gig,” Marsalis passes on wisdom gained from experience, addressed to a young musician coming up-and to any of us at any stage of life. He writes that having humility is a way to continue to grow, to listen, and to learn; that patience is necessary for developing both technical proficiency and your own art rather than an imitation of someone else’s; and that rules are indispensable because “freedom lives in structure.” He offers lessons learned from his years as a performer and from his great forebears Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, and others; he explores the art of swing; he discusses why it is important to run toward your issues, not away; and he talks about what to do w

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Book SynopsisPULITZER PRIZE FINALIST • “A fascinating read about a true genius and his unrelenting thirst for beauty in art and in life.”—MIKHAIL BARYSHNIKOV Winner of the Plutarch Award for Best Biography and the Marfield Prize for Arts Writing • Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, the PEN/Jacqueline Bograd Weld Award, the Kirkus Prize, and the Baillie Gifford PrizeBased on a decade of unprecedented research, the first major biography of George Balanchine, a broad-canvas portrait set against the backdrop of the tumultuous century that shaped the man The New York Times called “the Shakespeare of dancing”—from the bestselling author of Apollo’s AngelsNew York Times Editors’ Choice • ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New York Times Book Review, The New Yorker, Vanity

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Book SynopsisNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A beautifully written, witty memoir that is also an immersive exploration of classical music—its power, its meanings, and what it can teach us about ourselves—from the MacArthur “Genius” Grant–winning pianistLONGLISTED FOR THE ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL • “Jeremy Denk has written a love letter to the music, and especially to the music teachers, in his life.”—Conrad Tao, pianist and composerONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR: The New YorkerIn Every Good Boy Does Fine, renowned pianist Jeremy Denk traces an implausible journey. His life is already a little tough as a precocious, temperamental six-year-old piano prodigy in New Jersey, and then a family meltdown forces a move to New Mexico. There, Denk must please a new taskmaster, an embittered but devoted professor, while navigating junior high school. At sixteen he escapes to col

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Book SynopsisBefore his name became synonymous with a new style of comedy; before he had written, directed, or produced his first movie or TV show; before he and his roommate Adam Sandler were performing stand up at dive bars in LA; before all that, Judd Apatow was a kid in Syosset, Long Island who was utterly obsessed with comedy. At 16, he started hosting a radio show for his local high school station, and he would call up the biggest comics of the day - comics like Jerry Seinfeld, Jay Leno, Steve Allen, Sandra Bernhard; none of whom, by the way, had any idea they were talking to a kid in his parents'' garage -- and talk to them about what got them into comedy, and what made them stay in. Thirty years later, Apatow is still that comedy nerd, and still interviewing comics about what drives them and why they do what they do. That obsession has made him one of the most recognizable and influential comedic filmmakers working today. This book is a collection of 30 years worth of conversations -- always funny, often poignant, and incredibly intimate -- that not only span Apatow''s career, but his adult life. Featuring interviews with luminaries like Mel Brooks and Chris Rock and modern icons like Louis CK and Amy Schumer, this is a book for fans of comedy, from the nerdiest fan of all--

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Book SynopsisA compilation of interviews with Martha Graham's ""family"" of dancers, teachers, choreographers and actors, which also includes biographical material about her life and influence as the creator of classic modern dance. The book features a syllabus of Graham's work.Trade ReviewA much-needed update to Horosko's earlier book on Graham, offering an insightful look into the world of Martha Graham from those who worked very closely with her throughout the years. - Elizabeth Bergmann, dance director, Harvard University

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Book SynopsisWhen World War II was over, a young bomber pilot with an itch for movement and action hung up his cap and learned another way to fly. Onstage with Martha Graham is the story of Stuart Hodes, a versatile and influential dancer who got his start with Martha Graham, an icon of modern dance.Table of Contents Foreword Preface 1. Airborne 2. Moves 3. Dance Lessons 4. The Green Tours 5. TKO'd in Paris and London 6. Drink the Sky 7. With Watchers 8. The Grand Tour 9. Asia 10. A Dancing Fool 11. Post-Martha Syndrome Afterword Acknowledgments Index

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Book SynopsisInspiring, revealing, and deeply relatable, Being a Ballerina is a firsthand look at the realities of life as a professional ballet dancer. Gavin Larsen describes the forces that drive a person to study dance; the balance that dancers navigate between hardship and joy; and the dancer's continual quest to discover who they are.Trade Review“A luminous new memoir. . . . Poignant . . . Both a personal account and a universal take on the life of a professional ballet dancer.”—New York Times“"There is power and perfection in this captivating memoir - the power of personal experience and the perfection of writing that carefully captures the life of a dancer … In this memoir Larsen is writing full out, and we are the lucky audience of her performance. Balletomanes, dance students, and aspiring dancers will applaud this absorbing account."—Library Journal“A personal chronicle of a professional dancing life that is as accessible as it is engaging.”—Christian Science Monitor“Being a Ballerina floats along like a lovely adagio solo; we both feel a dancer’s constant pain and share the magical soar of a perfect lift. Reading it is a reminder that words can dance too.”—Seattle Times

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a huge range and FREE tracked UK delivery on ALL orders.

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Book SynopsisJournalists James Bawden and Ron Miller spent their careers interviewing the greatest stars of Hollywood's golden age. In You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet, Bawden and Miller return with a new collection of rare interviews with iconic film stars including Henry Fonda, Esther Williams, Buster Keaton, Maureen O'Sullivan, Walter Pidgeon, and many more.Trade ReviewThese interviews break through the silver screen and pull the reader into a privileged world. Bawden and Miller showcase the art of the interview."" - Robert Crane, coauthor of Crane: Sex, Celebrity, and My Father's Unsolved Murder"" You Ain't Heard Nothin' Yet presents stimulating, informative interviews with a fascinating assortment of stars and leading character players from Hollywood's Golden Age."" - James Robert Parish, author of Hollywood Divas

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsBringing in the Sheaves Half Genius, Half Irish Himself The Noble Outlaw Men and Women at War Ireland Rebels What Really Happened The Last Place on Earth Addendum Filmography Bibliography Acknowledgments

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Book SynopsisTable of ContentsForeword Preface A Brown Boy Brown Goes to War...and Returns to Tourneur Striking Out Early Years at Universal Brown and the Universal Women Brown at United Artists Brown Meets Garbo On the Trail of '98 An "Uplifting" Film The Master's Apprentice Transition to Sound A Year with Garbo Starmaker Devotion and Deceit Service and Passion Back with Crawford Reunited Going Home Back to the Formual Conquest A Little Piece of Humanity Foreign Affairs Inventions and Conventions Representing the War Front at Home and Away Velvet and Pie A Year with The Yearling Songs and the South The Twilight of a Career Slow Fade-out Acknowledgments Notes Index

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Book SynopsisThis volume includes a detailed transcription of the 1948 film, notes appended to the film's continuity script, a letter by Ophuls written during the film's editing, a biogaphical sketch of Ophuls, the text of Stefan Zweig's novella and a cross-section of memoirs and criticism of the film.Table of ContentsIntroduction Letter from an Unknown Woman Contexts Reviews and Commentaries Filmography and Bibliography

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Book SynopsisKrystyn R. Moon explores the contributions of writers, performers, producers, and consumers in order to demonstrate how popular music and performance has played an important role in constructing Chinese and Chinese American stereotypes. The book brings to life the rich musical period of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.Trade Review"Yellowface details the theatrical and musical history of Chinese and Chinese American performance at a time when 'Asian American' identity was unheard of. It should be a welcome addition to Asian American studies and American cultural history, as well as theater and music history." -- Josephine Lee * author of Performing Asian America: Race and Ethnicity on the Contemporary Stage *"Krystyn Moon has produced a finely detailed and nuanced study of China and Chinese Americans on the nineteenth-century American musical stage. Yellowface is an important work for anyone interested in the history of American popular culture and race." -- Robert G. Lee * author of Orientals: Asian Americans in Popular Culture *"Yellowface details the theatrical and musical history of Chinese and Chinese American performance at a time when 'Asian American' identity was unheard of. It should be a welcome addition to Asian American studies and American cultural history, as well as theater and music history." -- Josephine Lee * author of Performing Asian America: Race and Ethnicity on the Contemporary Stage *"Krystyn Moon has produced a finely detailed and nuanced study of China and Chinese Americans on the nineteenth-century American musical stage. Yellowface is an important work for anyone interested in the history of American popular culture and race." -- Robert G. Lee * author of Orientals: Asian Americans in Popular Culture *

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Book SynopsisIncludes essays that examine the big-budget blockbusters and critically acclaimed independent films that defined 1990s.Trade Review“There is nothing like this series. Screen Decades firmly situates American cinema in the realms of material culture, popular culture, cultural narrative, reception analysis, and industrial history.” * American Quarterly *“There is nothing like this series. Screen Decades firmly situates American cinema in the realms of material culture, popular culture, cultural narrative, reception analysis, and industrial history.” * American Quarterly *Table of ContentsMovies and the off-white gangster / Linda Mizejewski Movies and wayward images / Sharon Willis Movies and the politics of authorship / Amy Villarejo Movies and the new economics of blockbusters and indies / Chuck Kleinhans Movies and partisan politics / Diane Waldman Movies, teens, tots, and tech / Tim Shary Movies and homeland insecurity / Debra White-Stanley and Caryl Flinn Movies and the usable past / José B. Capino Movies, dying fathers, and a few survivors / Krin Gabbard Movies and millennial masculinity / Chris Holmlund

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Book SynopsisThis volume (first of two), maps the historical and cultural contexts of film practices in Latin America. It explores the formation of the New Latin American cinema movement, its national and continental implications (diasporic/exilic experience), and the writings of pioneer film-makers.

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Book SynopsisA study of one of Stanley Cavell's greatest yet most neglected books. The authors address the philosopher's readers who have neither understood why he has given film so much attention, nor grasped the place of ""The World Viewed"" within the totality of his writings about film.Table of ContentsReading ""The World Viewed"". Part I Preface: A Metaphysical Memoir. Part II Chapters 1-5: What Is Film? Part III Chapters 6-9: Film's Origins and History. Part IV Chapters 10-11: The End of the Myths. Part V Chapters 12-13: The World as a Whole. Part VI Chapters 14-15: Automatism. Part VII Chapters 16-18: Film and Theatricality. Part VIII Chapter 19: The Acknowledgement of Scilence. Appendix: Cavell's Philosophical Procedures and ""Must We Mean What We Say?"".

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Book SynopsisIn examining the construction of girlhood from many angles, this collection of essays attempts to capture the richness of meaning behind ""girl films"", but also explores the recent resurgence of youth-orientated cinema and the relationship of young female viewers to that medium.

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Book SynopsisIn eleven essays, Toles combines aesthetic inquiry with a psychology of spectatorship to illuminate the dialogue between sentiment and irony that unfolds in every good movie. Each essay ponders the nature and implications of a film experience and examines the ironies of spectatorship.Table of ContentsIntroduction - a House Made of Light. Part 1 Sentiments of War and Peace: Being Well-Lost in Film; No Bigger Than Zuzu's Petals -Dreaming the Real in ""It's a Wonderful Life""; Thinking About Movie Sentiment - Toward a Reading of ""Random Harvest""; On a Train to the Kingdom of Earth - Watching De Sica's Children. Part 2 Three Faces of Hitchcock: ""If Thine Eyes Offend Thee"" - ""Psycho"" and the Art of Infection; ""Rear Window"" as Critical Allegory; Mother Calls the Shots - Hitchcock's Female Gaze. Part 3 Cruel Pleasures and the Limits of Irony: This May Hurt a Little - the Art of Humiliation in Film; Obvious Mysteries in ""Fargo""; Drowning for Love - Jean-Claude Lauzon's ""Leolo""; From Archangel to Mandragora in Your Own Backyard - Colaborating with Guy Maddin.

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Book SynopsisJoanne Bernardi offers a study of Japanese cinema's ""pure film movement"" era, recovering a body of lost film and establishing its significance in the development of Japanese cinema. Building on a wealth of original-language sources she examines how the movement challenged the industry.Trade ReviewIt is surely one of the greatest tragedies in the history of world cinema that virtually no Japanese films from the pre-World War I period survive and that almost nothing from the 1920s exists in anything like its original form. Laboring under this unfillable gap. Joanne Bernardi has done as much as anyone can to bring to life this crucial and fascinating era of Japanese cinema. Relying on a wealth of primary and secondary original-language sources in a manner unprecedented in the published literature on early Japanese cinema in English, she has impressively exhausted the written record to re-create these tragically lost films and what they meant for the development of the Japanese cinema. With this impressively and thoroughly researched volume, Bernardi instantly joins the ranks of Joseph L. Anderson and Hiroshi Komatsu as the foremost scholars of the Japanese silent cinema.

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