Entertainment Books

Book Synopsis''The book is filled with that most distinctive of all her qualities: her voice'' The TimesHome Work, the second instalment of Julie Andrews'' internationally bestselling memoirs, begins with her arrival in Hollywood to make her screen debut in Walt Disney''s Mary Poppins. It was closely followed by The Sound of Music, and the beginning of a movie career that would make her an icon to millions all over the world.With her trademark charm and candour, Julie reveals behind-the-scenes details and reflections on her impressive body of work - from the incredible highs to the challenging lows. She shares her professional experiences and collaborations with giants of cinema and television, and also unveils her personal story of adjusting to a new and often daunting world. This included dealing with unimaginable public scrutiny, being a new mother, embracing two stepchildren, adopting two more children, and falling in love with the brilliantTrade ReviewHome Work is written with a warm heart and a generous spirit . . . an honest attempt to make sense of an often chaotic life * Sunday Express *With typical candour and a storyteller's skill . . . Julie Andrews is a reliable narrator and an entertaining guide through a second memoir that brings her career from Marry Poppins to Victor/Victoria (1982) -- Donal O'Donoghue * RTE Guide *Andrews's tone is measured but realistic. The book is filled with that most distinctive of all her qualities: her voice. For many, hearing the struggles with domestic despair will be life finding a tender hand in the dark. Her honesty is not self-indulgent. There's a sense that she wants to give comfort to those whose domestic lives are also filled with struggle. As such, Mary Poppins may appear only briefly here, but her spirit is alive and well * The Times *An intimate and heart-warming memoir * Woman & Home *An enjoyable glide through Andrews' stellar career -- Pat Fitzpatrick * Irish Examiner *

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Book Synopsis'It's much more interesting to be a little bit broken and talk about your vulnerabilities.'An intimate, funny and frank account of the moments behind the music, the truth behind the headlines and the fascinatingly complicated man behind the imperious entertainer, Robbie Williams.Bestselling author Chris Heath has been working closely with Robbie for many years to create a personal and raw account of fame, fortune, family and music. This vivid and detailed portrait shows the real highs and lows of Robbie's life as he found his way forward, one that is unprecedented in its intimacy and honesty.Long-awaited by millions, Reveal is the uncensored and compelling portrait of Robbie as you've never seen him before.

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Book SynopsisWhen the world's greatest pop band played their final public concert, in January 1969, there were no tickets or posters printed. When John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr emerged at lunchtime from the headquarters of their own company, Apple, five storeys above London's Savile Row, only a select group of people knew what the hell was happening.The rooftop concert was one of the Beatles' most spontaneous acts. Beatles on the Roof studies the rooftop concert in penetrating detail, uncovering new truths and debunking old myths about the event. Nobody knew it yet - not even the band - but this was the last time they would play live to the public.

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Book SynopsisWinner of 3 Oscars [registered] and the highest grossing film of its time, "Jaws" was a phenomenon. This book focuses on how 26-years-old Steven Spielberg transformed Peter Benchley's best-selling novel into the classic film it became.Trade Review"The Jaws Log is like a little movie director bible. Whenever I'm having a bad day at work, I got back and read a chapter...and thank the Lord I'm not shooting on the ocean." -- -Bryan Singer, Director, The Usual Suspects, X-Men "Carl Gottlieb's work is as entertaining as the movie it is about. In fact, you have not had the full Jaws experience until you have read, make that devoured, this wonderful book." -- -Rod Lurie, Director, The Contender "Like Jonah writing from the belly of the whale, Carl Gottlieb's journal of the process of making Jaws comes from the unique perspective of one of the major players in the collaboration that resulted in Spielberg's classic movie." -- -John Landis, Director, The Blues Brothers

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Book SynopsisCelebrate 25 years of Star Wars: The Phantom Menace with this souvenir tribute to classic movie. This hardcover collector's edition celebrates 25 years of Star Wars: The Phantom Menaceusing vintage material from Star Wars Insider including interviews with George Lucas, Liam Neeson, Ewan McGregor, Natalie Portman, and the cast and crew of the movie.

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Book SynopsisErnest Miller Hemingway was born in Chicago in 1899 as the son of a doctor and the second of six children. After a stint as an ambulance driver at the Italian front, Hemingway came home to America in 1919, only to return to the battlefield this time as a reporter on the Greco-Turkish war in 1922. Resigning from journalism to focus on his writing instead, he moved to Paris where he renewed his earlier friendship with fellow American expatriates such as Ezra Pound and Gertrude Stein. Through the years, Hemingway travelled widely and wrote avidly, becoming an internationally recognized literary master of his craft. He received the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1954, following the publication of The Old Man and the Sea. He died in 1961.Trade ReviewHemingway's style, at its best, is a superb vehicle for revealing tenderness of feeling beneath descriptions of brutality * Guardian *The most readable and the most nearly exhaustive account of the Spanish Bullfight that we haveHemingway's style, at its best, is a superb vehicle for revealing tenderness of feeling beneath descrptions of brutality * Guardian *

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Book SynopsisCelebrate Sithmas in style and good cheer with this sweetly funny holiday gift book from the New York Times bestselling author of Darth Vader and Son. Sithmas time is here, and the Vader family—little Luke, Leia, and the Dark Lord of the Sith—are busy trimming the tree, hanging their stockings, building stormtrooper snowmen, and listening for Santa's tauntauns on the roof. This sweetly funny seasonal celebration sees Vader doing his best to raise his rebellious kids while running the galactic Empire and navigating holiday cheer (including the Imperial gift exchange). Featuring Force-wielding snowball fights, gingerbread Death Stars, sledding with Han Solo, and much more, this charming family album of festivity in Jeffrey Brown's now-classic New York Times bestselling Vader series is the stocking stuffer of the season for fans across the galaxy far, far away. CLASSIC HOLIDAY CHEER WITH A STAR WARS TWIST: Whether it's trimming the tree with Yoda or using the Force for a snowball fight, baking a gingerbread Death Star or sledding with Han Solo, this book is full of the spirit of the season. RETURN OF THE BELOVED SERIES: The next installment in Jeffrey Brown's bestselling series, Darth Vader and Son. Featuring the galaxy's first family and their friends in the delightful style you know and love. FESTIVE FUN FOR THE WHOLE FAMILY: Kids will love this sweet collection of holiday celebrations and adults will laugh along with the trials of running a galactic Empire AND making the season bright for the family. Perfect for: • Star Wars fans of all ages • Families • Anyone looking for a sweet and funny stocking stuffer

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Book SynopsisAndras Schiff is one of the most important pianists of our time. This stimulating account of his life and work, told in two parts, takes readers on an intimate journey from Schiff''s childhood in Hungary through to the present day.In conversationw with Martin Meyer, Schiff discusses a diverse range of topics from his experiences with anti-Semitism and communist rule to his musical training with maestros such as Pál Kadosa and Ferenc Rados, as well as his thoughts on playing techniques and musical interpretation.In a collection of Schiff''s writings we are enthralled by a guided tour of Bach''s ''Goldberg'' Variations, sobered by Schiff''s public defiance against nationalistic and racist attitudes - to the extent that he refused to perform in Haider''s Austria or Orban''s Hungary - and delighted by the playful ''Ten Commandments'' for concertgoers.More than a memoir, this is a seminal compilation of the thoughts and experiences of one of the greatest musiciansTrade ReviewAndras Schiff proves just as articulate, as cultured and as provocative a musical thinker as he is at the piano throughout this highly recommendable book -- Jed Distler * GRAMOPHONE *Schiff proves just as thoughtful and appealing a character on the page as he does on the concert platform . . . Schiff writes with warmth and eloquence . . . a compelling read, offering rich insight into the life and ideas of one of the great musicians of our time * BBC Music Magazine *

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Book SynopsisEvery year, students clamber aboard the Hogwarts Express at platform nine and three-quarters and make their way to Hogwarts for the start of another school year. In the atmospheric castle and its vast grounds, they learn how to brew potions and cast spells, how to tend magical creatures and defend themselves from dark magic. This magical scrapbook takes young readers behind the scenes at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, covering everything from how students arrive at the school and are sorted into houses to the many magical subjects they study while there. From Transfiguration to Divination, and from Herbology to Charms and Quidditch, we are transported into the world of Harry and his friends with detailed profiles of each subject and information about the professors, classrooms and key lessons seen in the films. Gorgeously illustrated with dazzling concept art, behind-the-scenes photographs, and fascinating reflections from the actors and filmmakers, the scrapbook gives readers a spellbinding tour of Hogwarts life. Destined to be a must-have collectable for fans of Harry Potter, Hogwarts: A Movie Scrapbook also comes packed with interactive inserts.

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Book SynopsisIn Reverberation, Keith Blanchard explores how music is a universal human experience that’s been with us since the dawn of time. You’ve listened to music all your life . . . but have you ever wondered why?Foreword by multi–Grammy Award–winner Peter Gabriel It turns out music isn’t just about entertainment—it’s a deeply embedded, subtly powerful means of communication. Songs resonate with your brain wave patterns and drive changes in your brain: creating your moods, consolidating your memories, strengthening your habits (the good ones and the bad ones alike) . . . even making you fall in or out of love. Your music is molding you, at a subconscious level, all day long. And now, for the first time ever, you can take charge. From executive editor Peter Gabriel and the minds behind It’s All in Your Head (the ultimate user’s guide for your brain), Reverberation unlock

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Book SynopsisThe definitive story of the making of 2001: A Space Odyssey, acclaimed today as one of the greatest films ever made, and of director Stanley Kubrick and writer Arthur C. Clarke—“a tremendous explication of a tremendous film….Breathtaking” (The Washington Post).Fifty years ago a strikingly original film had its premiere. Still acclaimed as one of the most remarkable and important motion pictures ever made, 2001: A Space Odyssey depicted the first contacts between humanity and extraterrestrial intelligence. The movie was the product of a singular collaboration between Stanley Kubrick and science fiction visionary Arthur C. Clarke. Fresh off the success of his cold war satire Dr. Strangelove, Kubrick wanted to make the first truly first-rate science fiction film. Drawing from Clarke’s ideas and with one of the author’s short stories as the initial inspiration, their bold vision benefited from pioTrade Review“At last! The dense, intense, detailed, and authoritative saga of the making of the greatest motion picture I’ve ever seen, 2001: A Space Odyssey. I now have reason to see Kubrick’s ‘proverbial “really good” science fiction movie’ another 200 times. Michael Benson has done the Cosmos a great service.” -- Tom Hanks"Over the years, so much has been written about 2001 and its creation that I thought we knew all that there was to know. And then, I received a copy of Michael Benson’s lively, exciting and exhaustively researched book, which further expands our understanding of what is truly one of the greatest films ever made." -- Martin Scorsese“Michael Benson’s Space Odyssey: Stanley Kubrick, Arthur C. Clarke and the Making of a Masterpiece is a masterpiece about a masterpiece—a passionately written, impeccably researched book about a great director’s pushing himself, his cast and crew beyond safety or sanity in a relentless quest for a non-verbal vision of the transcendent future of both space and film itself.” -- Scott Eyman, author of John Wayne: The Life and Legend and Hank and Jim: The Fifty-Year Friendship of Henry Fonda and James Stewart“Despite the attention Benson lavishes on the humans—Kubrick and Clarke—HAL-9000 would have been proud of this smart, fluent, and meticulously researched account of the making of a sci-fi classic.” -- Peter Biskind, author of Easy Riders, Raging Bulls: How the Sex, Drugs, and Rock 'n' Roll Generation Saved Hollywood“A fascinating, detail-rich account of the long slog to make the science-fiction masterpiece 2001: A Space Odyssey. . . . [An] endlessly interesting narrative. Essential for students of film history, to say nothing of Kubrick's most successful movie.” * Kirkus Reviews (starred review) *“If Kubrick’s masterpiece was a remarkable voyage into the future, Michael Benson’s book is a delightful voyage back in time. For those of us inspired by the film, this book provides a delicious peek into landmark collaboration of two creative geniuses and the lasting gift they provided for all of us.” -- Lawrence M. Krauss, Foundation Professor in the School of Earth and Space Exploration, Director of the Origins Project at Arizona State University, and author of The Physics of Star Trek, A Universe from Nothing, and The Greatest Story Ever Told.. So Far“A new and remarkably comprehensive look at the complex relationship between the two men whose collaboration led to one of the greatest films of all time. . . . This story about the making of 2001 is as compelling and eye-opening as the film itself.” * Booklist (starred review) *"[An] engrossing, immersive examination of the long path to Stanley Kubrick and Arthur C. Clarke's masterpiece. . . . The pair's fraught but hugely successful relationship forms the backdrop of this astonishing tale of obsessive genius at work." -- Ben Dickinson * The New York Times Book Review *

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Book SynopsisModern Recording Techniques is the bestselling, authoritative guide to sound and music recording. Whether youâre just starting out or are looking to improve your skills, this book provides an in-depth guide to the art and technologies of music production and is a must-have reference for all audio bookshelves. Using its familiar and accessible writing style, this new edition has been fully updated, presenting the latest production technologies and including detailed coverage of digital audio workstations (DAWs), networked audio, musical instrument digital interface (MIDI), signal processing and much more. Modern Recording Techniques is supported by a host of video tutorials, which provide additional listening and visual examples, making this text essential reading for students, instructors and professionals.This updated tenth edition includes: Newly expanded Art and Technology chapters, providing more tips, tricks and insights for getting the best out of your recording, mixing, monitoring and mastering An expanded MIDI chapter to include MIDI 2.0 More in-depth coverage of digital audio and the digital audio workstation Greater coverage of immersive audio, including Dolby Atmos Production Table of Contents1. Introduction 2. Sound and Hearing 3. Studio Acoustics and Design 4. Microphones: Design and Application 5. The Analog Tape Recorder 6. Digital Audio Technology 7. The Digital Audio Workstation 8. Groove Tools and Techniques 9. MIDI and Electronic Music Technology 10. The iOS in Music Production 11. Multimedia and the Web 12. Synchronization 13. Amplifiers 14. Power- and Ground-Related Issues 15. Signal Processing 16. The Art and Technology of Monitoring 17. The Art and Technology of Recording 18. The Art and Technology of Mixing 19. The Art and Technology of Mastering 20. Immersive Audio 21. Media Distribution and Manufacturing 22. It's all about the Journey

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Book SynopsisThe definitive volume on the essence, experience and energy that is hip-hop and its massive and enduring impact over the last 40 years, now in paperback.Trade Review'DJ Semtex has nailed this' - Goldie'This book is worth bread' - Raekwon'This is an Illmatic book … a hip-hop bible' - Ghostface Killah'Amazing – buying immediately' - Chase & Status'This is a time capsule' - DJ Green Lantern'The pictures tell a thousand words' - Salaam Remi'Big up DJ Semtex' - Rag ’N’ Bone ManTable of ContentsForeword: Chuck D • Preface: Hip-hop Raised Me: Semtex’s story • 1. The Foundation Stones of Hip Hop • 2. The Mis-Education • 3. The Evolution of the Mixtape • 4. The Purple Period • 5. Fuck the Police? • 6. Divided Loyalties • 7. The DJ is Dead, Long Live the DJ • 8. Family First • 9. Before the Deal • 10. Obama Nation • 11. Tragedy to Triumph • 12. Wild Style • 13. The Home Invasion

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Book Synopsis''Mark Lewisohn knows the Fab Four better than they knew themselves'' The GuardianThis extended special edition of Mark Lewisohn''s magisterial book Tune In is a true collector''s item, featuring hundreds of thousands of words of extra material, as well as many extra photographs. It is the complete, uncut and definitive biography of the Beatles'' early years, from their family backgrounds through to the moment they''re on the cusp of their immense breakthrough at the end of 1962.Designed, printed and bound in Great Britain, this high-quality edition consists of two beautifully produced individual hardbacks printed on New Langely Antique Wove woodfree paper, with red-and-white head and tail bands and red ribbon marker. The two books will sit within a specially designed box and lid featuring soft touch and varnish finishes. The whole product comes shrinkwrapped for extra protection. Mark Lewisohn''s biography is the first true and accuTrade ReviewA radical event and a joy to read - Lewisohn tells the tale with such authoritative command of the evidence and so intimate a grasp of the Beatles' daily lives that the reader emerges knowing - with a certainty denied all previous generations - that this is how it really happened.Lewisohn's work stands as a monumental triumph, a challenge not merely to other Beatles biographers but to the discipline of biography itself. If only all important subjects had their Lewisohn * Washington Post *Lewisohn's work stands as a monumental triumph, a challenge not merely to other Beatles biographers but to the discipline of biography itself. If only all important subjects had their Lewisohn * Washington Post *A triumph. Not only an enthralling account of the Beatles' origins, far superior to anything that has gone before, but also an essential piece of social history. Lewisohn has set out to do the Beatles justice and write the definitive history. I think he is succeeding * The Times *Mark Lewisohn raises the biographical bar to stratospheric heights. This first volume suggests he is on the verge of achieving what was heretofore considered impossible: blowing the cobwebs off one of the late 20th century's hoariest cultural myths, scraping away decades' worth of accumulated crud and revealing detail no one previously suspected was there * Literary Review *An epic unprecedented in rock 'n' roll biography, and a great read ... Does far more than enrich with mind-boggling detail, there's a surprise on every page ... The detail is sharp and incisive ... It's the kind of book where want-to-know and need-to-know is wrapped into a narrative that unfolds brilliantly and, for once, justifies that 'real story of the Beatles' billing * Mojo *Positively a page turner, both for excitement and anticipation - Lewisohn has enhanced the story as a beautifully flowing factual tale that reads like a classic novel. Nobody but nobody could begin to match this work of joy and detail; and reassuringly, nobody ever will. This is the best work ever produced on the subject of the Beatles. A five star review is an insult, it merits an unheard of ten -- Colin Larkin * Best Things On Earth *The accomplishments of the Beatles has given rise to a near deification of them as both people and myth. Lewisohn brings that story back down into the world of real people. Tune In clears the air of myth and legend, leaving as much reality as a biography can offer. Every single page brings the Beatles back into focus and moves them away from legend. Common myths fall apart under Mr. Lewisohn's research * New York Journal of Books *Presents the Beatles story in a way it's never been seen before: truthfully and completely. The end result is a herculean effort, a fast-moving page-turner overflowing with warm humor, passion, and (of course) music. Likely to become a principle text in 20th-century studies, a sort of Complete Shakespeare with a much better soundtrack. For anyone who loves music, this book is the genuine ultimate * VH1.com *The saga is clearer and richer here than it's ever been. Lewisohn writes in novelistic detail and with the obvious conviction that none of the previous Beatles biographies have ever been good enough * Entertainment Weekly *This is Torah! Huge on a massive scale, the most altruistic thing anybody's done in the arts since the Beatles, and it needed to be done. God keep Mark Lewisohn alive to finish what he's started -- Howie Edelson * US radio writer/producer *Tune In is brilliant in describing the addictive power of rock and roll when there was no imaginable alternative in a doomed town. Mark Lewisohn's achievement lies with the fact that he never tries to 'explain'. He is not argumentative but turns up the colours in a world that has faded to grey * Herald Scotland *The best book I read all year. I expected data collection. I got data, but also interpretation at a very high level, obsessive reporting and high quality music criticism. Lewisohn's a writer as much or more than an assembler of information. This is a great book, there's nothing like it in music and damned little anywhere else (it makes The Power Broker seem superficial) -- Dave Marsh * Rock & Rap Confidential *Lewisohn amasses and investigates facts without sacrificing an iota of the excitement. In its close focus and historical ambition, the trilogy may be compared to Robert Caro's biography of Lyndon Johnson, or John Richardson's Life of Picasso; it is unlikely to be surpassed * Daily Telegraph *A game-changing study which raises the bar in a genre characterised by pap or pretension. A meticulous piece of work - I can't wait for volume two * Independent *I can think of no greater praise for Tune In than to say that it gives the Beatles the beginnings of the biography they deserve. It is hard to imagine the subsequent volumes, covering more familiar ground, matching the gripping quality of this constantly surprising work * Financial Times *With imagination, energy and a gripping plotline, Lewisohn manages to put flesh and blood on the story as never before * Sunday Times *Packed with revelations and demystifications -- James Woodall * The Economist *A major event in music publishing . . . the definitive account of the Beatles * GQ *I doubt anyone expected to be surprised about the Beatles again, but the story only needed supersizing. I continued reading with bewildered pleasure * Daily Telegraph *Fills in vital details that had been missing from the existing Beatles canon and corrects mistakes that have been reprinted for years. A definitive history of the band * Wall Street Journal *The widest possible angle on an extensive and engrossing group biography built on a well-raked mountain of exacting new research ... expertly controlled and propelling * New York Times *Epic in its scope, forensic in its detail, Tune In is like reading the Beatles' story for the very first time. Lewisohn's art is to tell the story compellingly: his prose has a vibrancy that sustains a remarkable page-turning momentum throughout its entire length. And what a story! Tune In leaves the reader breathless * R2/Rock ’n’ Reel *Lewisohn manages to fill in blanks that no one knew were empty * New Yorker *An epic on an unprecedented scale . . . Lewisohn has no serious rival * Irish Times *This is the story told in Proustian detail . . . The first edited-down volume, is largely a delight, and the story is told so definitively that, after this, that really should be it. Secondary sources are comprehensively mined; letters, public records and business documents have been found in places no one else ever thought to look . . . Lewisohn is a Beatles oracle * Guardian *Lewisohn has done an astonishing job. I can't wait for volume two * Independent *

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Book SynopsisFilm historian and acclaimed New York Times bestselling biographer Scott Eyman has written the definitive, “captivating” (Associated Press) biography of Hollywood legend Cary Grant, one of the most accomplished—and beloved—actors of his generation, who remains as popular as ever today.Born Archibald Leach in 1904, he came to America as a teenaged acrobat to find fame and fortune, but he was always haunted by his past. His father was a feckless alcoholic, and his mother was committed to an asylum when Archie was eleven years old. He believed her to be dead until he was informed she was alive when he was thirty-one years old. Because of this experience, Grant would have difficulty forming close attachments throughout his life. He married five times and had numerous affairs. Despite a remarkable degree of success, Grant remained deeply conflicted about his past, his present, his basic identity, and even the public that worshipped him iTrade Review"The most entertaining and enlightening star biography in years . . . A captivating look at a captivating star." -- Douglass K. Daniel * Associated Press *"[An] estimable and empathetic biography . . . Eyman rightly homes in on [Grant's] inner chiaroscuro, that never-resolving oscillation between dark and light — or, if you like, between Archie Leach and the man he became." -- Louis Bayard * The Washington Post *"That gap between the sublimely charming screen invention and the real man born Archie Leach is at the center of Scott Eyman's new biography, Cary Grant: A Brilliant Disguise, a complex portrait of Hollywood's original leading man." -- Maureen Lee Lenker * Entertainment Weekly *"Replete with meticulous research, perceptive observations, and sharp critiques, this account of the actor’s life consistently engages and illuminates. . . . Top-shelf film history." * Kirkus Reviews (starred review) *"Eyman’s best and most heartfelt book . . . Eyman’s biographical insights show that [Grant's] jauntiness was a mask covering insatiable unease." -- David Thomson * The London Review of Books *“A richly detailed portrait of the man whose greatest performance was the one that fooled moviegoers for decades: the belief that Archie Leach was just like the movie star we knew as Cary Grant." -- Leonard Maltin, film critic and historian“Was there ever a more fabulously charming, witty, stylish and seductive movie star than Cary Grant? Scott Eyman’s biography peers under the hood of Hollywood’s most self-invented persona to explore the anxious, self-pitying, needy and depressed narcissist lurking within. Eyman does so with empathy, critical admiration and a deeply historical perspective that bring to life not just this remarkable performer but the golden age of Hollywood that he dominated.” -- Glenn Frankel, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of The Searchers and High Noon"Riveting . . . In examining Grant's incredible feat of self-invention and the steep price the actor paid for his extraordinary success, Eyman once again demonstrates why he is one of our finest biographers." -- Mark Griffin, author of All That Heaven Allows: A Biography of Rock Hudson

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Book SynopsisDiscover the complete history of Godzilla in this definitive, official guide to the King of the Monsters. Godzilla: The Official Guide to the King of the Monsters celebrates more than 60 years of movie mayhem in an exceptional, fully illustrated book. An official publication in partnership with Toho Co., this must-read guide brings together every incarnation of the world's most famous creature for the first time – including all the Japanese and Western movies, as well as Godzilla's most celebrated appearances in TV, comics and video games.Inside you'll find detailed reviews, spectacular stills and behind-the-scenes images from every Godzilla movie, from 1954's Gojira to 2021's Godzilla vs. Kong, along with countless insights into the making of one of cinema's most enduring, innovative and successful franchises. Packed with essential info, incredible trivia and stunning artwork, this is the ultimate illustrated reference to all things Godzilla.Table of ContentsMovies: Synopses, details and behind-the-scenes images from every Godzilla movie: Gojira, Godzilla Raids Again, King Kong vs. Godzilla, Mothra vs. Godzilla, Ghidorah, the Three-Headed Monster, Invasion of Astro-Monster, Ebirah, Horror of the Deep, Son of Godzilla, Destroy All Monsters, All Monsters Attack, Godzilla vs. Hedorah, Godzilla vs. Gigan, Godzilla vs. Megalon, Godzilla vs. Mechagodzilla, Terror of Mechagodzilla, The Return of Godzilla, Godzilla vs. Biollante, Godzilla vs. King Ghidorah, Godzilla vs. Mothra, Godzilla vs. Mechgodzilla II, Godzilla vs. Spacegodzilla, Godzilla vs. Destroyah, Godzilla 2000: Millennium, Godzilla vs. Megaguirus, Godzilla, Mothra and King Ghidorah: Giant Monsters All-Out Attack, Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla, Godzilla: Tokyo S.O.S., Godzilla: Final Wars, Shin Godzilla, Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters, Godzilla: City on the Edge of Battle, Godzilla: The Planet Eater, Godzilla (1998), Godzilla (2014), Godzilla: King of the Monsters, Godzilla vs. Kong. Other media: An extensive exploration of Godzilla in comics, television and video games.

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Book SynopsisFilled with stunning photographs, this fascinating tribute illustrates and illuminates Hepburn's life. From her early years as an ingénue to her status as an international icon of elegance, it reveals how her unique beauty made her a dream subject for designers and photographers alike. Featuring her collaborations with Givenchy, and stills from the sets of her most famous Hollywood films, The Little Book of Audrey Hepburn takes the reader on a journey through the actress's career and reveals just how powerfully her image resonates across the globe - even so long after her death. Table of ContentsIntroduction • A Star is Born • A Roman Holiday: Italian Style • Funny Face: Beauty and Makeup • Breakfast At Tiffany's: The Making of an Icon • My Fair Lady: The Photographer's Muse • Little Black Dress: The Style Staples • Romance and Marriage • Humanitarian Work • Legacy • Index • Acknowledgements.

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Book Synopsis''A hot-rod joy ride through mid-20th-century American history'' (The New York Times Book Review), this one-of-a-kind narrative masterfully recreates the rivalry between the two men who innovated the electric guitar''s amplified sound''Leo Fender and Les Paul''and their intense competition to convince rock stars like the Beatles, Jimi Hendrix, and Eric Clapton to play the instruments they built.In the years after World War II, music was evolving from big-band jazz into rock ''n'' roll''and these louder styles demanded revolutionary instruments. When Leo Fender''s tiny firm marketed the first solid-body electric guitar, the Esquire, musicians immediately saw its appeal. Not to be out-maneuvered, Gibson, the largest guitar manufacturer, raced to build a competitive product. The company designed an ''axe'' that would make Fender''s Esquire look cheap and convinced Les Paul''whose endorsement Leo Fender had sought''to put his name on it. Thus was born the guitar world''s most heated rivalry: Gibson versus Fender, Les versus Leo. While Fender was a quiet, half-blind, self-taught radio repairman, Paul was a brilliant but headstrong pop star and guitarist who spent years toying with new musical technologies. Their contest turned into an arms race as the most inventive musicians of the 1950s and 1960s''including bluesman Muddy Waters, rocker Buddy Holly, the Beatles, Bob Dylan, and Eric Clapton''adopted one maker''s guitar or another. By 1969 it was clear that these new electric instruments had launched music into a radical new age, empowering artists with a vibrancy and volume never before attainable. In ''an excellent dual portrait'' (The Wall Street Journal), Ian S. Port tells the full story in The Birth of Loud, offering ''spot-on human characterizations, and erotic paeans to the bodies of guitars'' (The Atlantic). ''the story of these instruments is the story of America in the postwar era: loud, cocky, brash, aggressively new'' (The Washington Post).Trade ReviewNew York Times Book Review Editors' Choice “In The Birth of Loud, Ian S. Port has sorted out the facts of the electric guitar’s much-mythologized genesis and cultural conquest. He turns them into a hot-rod joy ride through mid-20th-century American history. With appropriately flashy prose, he dismantles some misconceptions and credits some nearly forgotten but key figures. He also summons, exuberantly and perceptively, the look, sound, and sometimes smell of pivotal scenes and songs. The Birth of Loud rightfully celebrates an earlier time, when wood, steel, copper wire, microphones and loudspeakers could redefine reality. Tracing material choices that echoed through generations, the book captures the quirks of human inventiveness and the power of sound.” —Jon Pareles, New York Times Book Review“Fascinating . . . one of Port’s true strengths [is] his ability to marry an agreeably anecdotal writing style to a musician’s ear. The way a Telecaster snaps and sizzles, the way a Les Paul purrs with liquid, violin-like tones; he just gets it. . . The story of these instruments is the story of America in the postwar era: loud, cocky, brash, aggressively new.” —Washington Post“[An] excellent dual portrait . . . In the second half of the book, Mr. Port, a veteran music journalist, touches on the work of every major guitar player of rock’s golden age, from Muddy Waters to Buddy Holly—whose appearance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” electrified (the pun is unavoidable) Eric Clapton and Paul McCartney and John Lennon—and continuing through Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page and, of course, Bob Dylan, whose notorious switch from acoustic to electric at the 1965 Newport Folk Festival scandalized his fans. Not everyone played a Fender or a Les Paul—the Beatles were Rickenbacker fans, and Gretsch guitars had a significant market share—but, as Mr. Port says, the wildfire popularity of those two guitars fueled a world-changing demand for electric guitars of every type.” —Wall Street Journal“Rich in description . . . full of imagist sound-summonings, spot-on human characterizations, and erotic paeans to the bodies of guitars . . . Port can write lovingly, such as when he describes an early, solid-wood model that belonged to the country twanger Merle Travis. . . And he can write with technical lyricism . . . He even made me like Eric Clapton for a minute. And from the fumbled genesis of the electric guitar to its expressive climax, he draws us a beautiful, educational arc.” —The Atlantic“Ian S. Port’s The Birth of Loud reframes the standard history of rock ’n’ roll around the dual creators of the modern electric guitar. . . . Instead of a parade of frontmen and songwriters dueling it out in the charts, Port presents a ground-up account of an at-times begrudging friendship between two Angelenos who created the sound of what we instinctively understand as ‘rock.’ . . . Port’s research is thorough and his prose is lucid. If the evanescence of the internet and the machine-like qualities of synthpop make you want to put words to that vague cultural hunger for something more tactile, more connected to physical reality, this is your book. . . . The Birth of Loud is a compelling addition to the misremembered history of the time.” —SF Weekly“[Tells] the story of the development of the electric guitar through the lives of its two most famous names….Port deftly toggles between their parallel paths, as if swiveling from one effects pedal to another.” —James Sullivan, San Francisco Chronicle“Ian S. Port knows a thing or two about guitar heroes. . . . [With] lyrical, evocative prose, The Birth of Loud includes vivid scenes of Muddy Waters inventing Chicago blues, the Rolling Stones' sex-drenched appearance on The T.A.M.I. Show, Buddy Holly's TV debut with Ed Sullivan, Bob Dylan going electric at Newport and more. Along the way, Fender and Paul hone their inventions to perfection, vie for endorsements from the hottest players, and engage in that age-old driver of American innovation: cutthroat competition.” —KQED “Arts”“A rip-roaring journey through the early days of rock 'n' roll, told through the lives of the men whose innovative guitars helped usher it into existence . . . A lively, difficult-to-put-down portrait of an important era of American art that enhances readers' appreciation for the music it depicts.” —Kirkus Reviews (Starred Review)“A page-turning look at two central players [Leo Fender and Les Paul] in the sonic evolution of popular music. Port explores their trials and tribulations with an expert hand. This is a long-overdue cultural biography of music innovation. VERDICT: Thoroughly entertaining and deeply informative, this love letter to American creativity and rock and roll belongs in every library and should be read by all rock fans.” —Library Journal (Starred Review)“This smartly written and genuinely exciting book walks us through the bitter rivalry between Fender and Gibson and, since there is no way to tell this story without telling the story of rock ’n’ roll itself, also provides a jaunty if necessarily abbreviated history of rock. For music buffs, this one is special." —Booklist“[The] definitive history of the electric guitar and its two foundational personalities [Leo Fender and Les Paul]. Theirs is a fascinating and compelling story, especially in the hands of a writer as committed to lively narrative . . . Port can spin out evocative, succinct rock ’n’ roll writing with the best of them.” —The New York Journal of Books“Lushly descriptive and detailed…[the book] is richly illustrative in bringing these rock giants and the tools of their trade to life in a squall of beautiful feedback.” —Publishers Weekly“More than an essential, colorful, and gripping history of the electric guitar, The Birth of Loud introduces Ian Port, the best new non-fiction writer of the past twenty years.” —Daniel J. Levitin, author of This Is Your Brain on Music“Ian Port’s found a way to tell the story of the birth of rock ‘n’ roll—for some of us, among the postwar American stories, those that help define who we feel ourselves to be—in beautifully-evoked dual portraits of the men who made the instruments. In doing so, he re-situates this story in its context so neatly it is as if it had never been told before at all.” —Jonathan Lethem, author of Motherless Brooklyn and The Fortress of Solitude"Ian Port has created a perfect blend of popular history, social commentary, and enough guitar details to satisfy the most rabid six-string geek. This is a fascinating book." —Jonathan Kellerman, bestselling novelist and author of With Strings Attached: The Art and Beauty of Vintage Guitars"Guitar players are partly born, partly made, and every one has a story. So, too, are guitars, including the electric guitars that changed the world more than half a century ago. This is their story, and the story of their makers, well-told." —Gary Marcus, author of Guitar Zero“Long before Les Paul and Leo Fender were brand names who revolutionized music and changed culture, they were two guys—obsessively tinkering to recreate sounds in their heads. In The Birth of Loud Ian S. Port vividly captures the compulsion and competition that drove these fascinating oddballs to rock the world.” —Alan Light, former editor-in-chief of Vibe and Spin and author of The Holy or the Broken: Leonard Cohen, Jeff Buckley and the Unlikely Ascent of “Hallelujah” “It’s hard for me to think of an invention more crucial to my interior life than the electric guitar, so in a way The Birth of Loud, Ian Port’s moving, riveting account of the instrument’s development and rise to ubiquity, feels like a sacred text—the story of how I came to be. It’s also a rich and fascinating tale of obsession, ingenuity, and American abandon. Thank heavens for Les Paul, thank heavens for Leo Fender, and thank heavens for Ian Port.” —Amanda Petrusich, author Do Not Sell at Any Price: The Wild, Obsessive Hunt for the World's Rarest 78rpm Records“The Birth of Loud is more than history, journalism or criticism—it’s a killer rock ’n’ roll story, complete with money, egos, star power and, yes, electric guitars.” —Steve Knopper, author of MJ: The Genius of Michael Jackson and Appetite for Self-Destruction: The Spectacular Crash of the Record Industry in the Digital Age“The Birth of Loud channels trickles of intriguing new information into a confluence of big ideas about the history of the electric guitar. This book is essential reading for guitar history maniacs!” —Deke Dickerson, guitar historian, bandleader, and author of The Strat in the Attic

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Book SynopsisPut together for the first time in one book, the artist approved Radiohead: The Electric Guitar Songbook contains over 20 of the greatest guitar songs from Radiohead.Table of Contents2+2=5; Airbag; Anyone Can Play Guitar; Black Star; Bodysnatchers; Creep; How Do You?; I Might Be Wrong; I Will; Just; Knives Out; Little By Little; Lucky; My Iron Lung; No Surprises; Nude; Optimistic; Reckoner; Talk Show Host; There There; These Are My Twisted Words; You And Whose Army

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Book SynopsisAcross five decades and counting, New Zealand-born singer/songwriter and Crowded House founder Neil Finn has become one of the best-loved figures in popular music, crafting enough hits along the way -- Weather With You, Locked Out, I Got You, Fall At Your Feet, It s Only Natural, and of course Don t Dream It s Over -- to forge his very own one-man Great Antipodean Songbook. One fateful day in April 1977, teenage Neil received a transcontinental phone call that would change his life. It was his older brother, Tim, calling from London, England, with a simple question: Do you want to join the band? That band, the art-rock combo Split Enz, would provide the launchpad for a career that has taken in widespread international success with Crowded House, as a solo artist, back with Tim in The Finn Brothers, and as a touring member of Fleetwood Mac. There have been bumps along the road, including repeated clashes with Tim and the tragic death of original Crowded House drummer Paul Hester, but taken as a whole, Finn s story is one of the most inspiring musical sagas of modern times. Australian author and journalist Jeff Apter has observed Neil s career from close quarters since the late 70s, from frantic early Enz gigs to private listening parties to huge reunion shows and numerous points in between, giving him the perfect perspective to write this intimate, even-handed biography.Trade ReviewEssential reading for Finn fans and anyone interested in those golden days. -- Malcolm Knox, author of Bluebird. An engaging portrait of the powerhouse behind Crowded House. -- Sydney Morning Herald

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Book SynopsisDive into the fascinating world of movie make-up effects with this stunning illustrated oral history of the art form. Masters of Make-Up Effects is a celebration of make-up artists and acclaimed make-up effects from the world of film and television. Authors Howard Berger and Marshall Julius have gleaned untold stories from the sets of cult classics (Planet of the Apes, An American Werewolf in London, The Thing), fan-favourite film and TV franchises (Star Trek, Star Wars, Harry Potter and the MCU) and modern blockbusters like Dune to chart the fascinating evolution of an industry.Lavishly illustrated with hundreds of behind-the-scenes photos, many of which have never before been seen in print or on social media, it showcases some of the most iconic make-up effects of all time, while revealing how they came to be in the artists' own words.Featuring a foreword by Guillermo del Toro, an afterword by Seth MacFarlane, and contributions from more than 50 make-up effects legends, as well as iconic actors including Doug Jones, Robert Englund, James McAvoy and Doug Bradley, and directors Mick Garris and John Landis, Masters of Make-Up Effects is the most complete book on movie make-up history ever assembled, and a must read for cinema fans everywhere.Table of ContentsForeword by Guillermo del Toro • Hall of Fame • What Dreams are Made of • Breaking In • The Seed of Invention • The Monster Club • Featured Creatures • The Gore the Merrier • They're Alive! • Making Faces • To Glue or Not to Glue • Teamwork Makes the Dream Work • Let's Do the Time Warp • Reel Lives • War Stories • Lessons Learned • Afterword by Seth MacFarlane.

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Book SynopsisFrom much-loved documentary maker Louis Theroux comes a funny, heartfelt and entertaining account of his life and weird times in TV.The Sunday Times Bestseller.'Honest and soul-searching' - Sunday Express______________In 1994 fledgling journalist Louis Theroux was given a one-off gig on Michael Moore’s TV Nation, presenting a segment on apocalyptic religious sects. Gawky, socially awkward and totally unqualified, his first reaction to this exciting opportunity was panic. But he’d always been drawn to off-beat characters, so maybe his enthusiasm would carry the day. Or, you know, maybe it wouldn’t . . .In Gotta Get Theroux This, Louis takes the reader on a joyous journey from his anxiety-prone childhood to his unexpectedly successful career. Nervously accepting the BBC’s offer of his own series, he went on to create an award-winning documentary style that has seen him immersed in the weird worlds of paranoid US militias and secretive pro-wrestlers, get under the skin of celebrities like Max Clifford and Chris Eubank and tackle gang culture in San Quentin prison, all the time wondering whether the same qualities that make him good at documentaries might also make him bad at life.As Louis woos his beautiful wife Nancy and learns how to be a father, he also dares to take on the powerful Church of Scientology. Just as challenging is the revelation that one of his old subjects, Jimmy Savile, was a secret sexual predator, prompting him to question our understanding of how evil takes place. Filled with wry observation and self-deprecating humour, this is Louis at his most insightful and honest best.______________'Funny, engaging' - Sunday Times'Gripping' - Daily Mail'Absorbing and surprisingly candid' - Telegraph MagazineTrade ReviewAn absorbing and surprisingly candid book . . . * Telegraph Magazine *Gripping * Daily Mail *Engaging, funny * Sunday Times *If you are a fan of Louis Theroux's self-deprecating humour and relaxed broadcasting style, you will enjoy this honest and soul-searching account of his life so far. * Sunday Express *

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Book Synopsis"The new Chris Cornell biography is the book his legacy deserves." —Kerrang!"Reiff unearths plenty of unexpected details and novel anecdotes…but the book is perhaps most valuable for the way it rounds out and humanizes this man who managed to keep so many of his cards close to the vest despite decades in the spotlight." —Variety “Total F*cking Godhead brings Chris Cornell, the voice of a generation, alive on the page. Impressively researched and compulsively readable, Godhead pulls no punches in recounting Cornell’s remarkable life and prolific career. It’s an inspired chronicle of an impassioned soul. Read it!”—Greg Renoff, author of Van Halen Rising With input from those who knew and worked with him—together with his own words—Total F*cking Godhead recounts the rise of Chris Cornell and his immortal band Soundgarden as they emerged from the 1980s post-punk underground to dominate popular culture in the ’90s alongside Pearl Jam, Alice In Chains, and Nirvana. “From his days as a struggling Seattle musician at the forefront of the grunge scene to becoming a global icon, Total F*cking Godhead thoroughly chronicles the life story and prolific output of one of the greatest and most influential singers of all time. You will discover the man and his music all over again.”—David de Sola, author of Alice in Chains: The Untold Story Seattle resident and rock writer Corbin Reiff also examines Cornell’s dynamic solo career as well as his time in Audioslave. He delves into his hard-fought battle with addiction, and the supercharged reunion with the band that made him famous before everything came to a shocking end. “For those of us still trying to sort out the tragedy of Chris Cornell's death comes this loving look back at the man's life and music. I wrote my own book about grunge, and I still learned a lot from this excellent biography." —Mark Yarm, author of Everybody Loves Our Town: An Oral History of Grunge

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Book Synopsis'Honest and moving' Independent on Sunday Freddie Mercury was a rock superstar like no other. Recently the focus of the Academy Award-winning film Bohemian Rhapsody, he generated over £1 billion worth of sales in a career spanning two decades. But for all his riches, Mercury could not buy the thing he sought most: the love of one particular man. Jim Hutton was a modest gentleman’s barber when the two met in 1983. After many fiery false starts, they became lasting lovers. From the moment they lived together, wherever Mercury went, Hutton went too. And whoever Mercury met, Hutton met too – from Phil Collins to Elton John, David Bowie to the other members of Queen. They laughed together, fought together and, in Mercury’s final years, they often cried together. Freddie Mercury was forty-five when he died from AIDS in Hutton’s arms. No one can tell the story of the last few years of Mercury’s private life - the ecstasies and the agonies - more accurately or honestly than Jim Hutton.

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Book SynopsisAudio production is an incredibly rewarding craft. To take the raw, basic tracks of a fledgling idea and shape them into one glorious stereophonic sound wave is an amazing feat. The transformation from analogue to digital dominance has brought many advances in sound quality and new techniques, but producing digital music with only a standard computer and DAW can be problematic, time-consuming and sometimes disappointing without the right approach and skills. In Template Mixing and Mastering, renowned mix engineer Billy Decker tackles the challenges of in-the-box production through his innovative template approach. He shares his passion and knowledge from over twenty years of industry experience, including an introduction to templates and a step-by-step guide to their set-up and a discussion of drum replacement technology. Channel and setting information for each of the drum, instrument and vocal sections of his template is discussed along with the master channel and his methodology of mixing and mastering. Finally, he gives professional advice and best practice. This book features the full template used on sixteen No 1 records!Trade ReviewThis book is a gift of gratitude to anyone that wants to take a step into out-of-this-world sounding songs. -- Rodney Atkins, multi-million selling recording artistThis book is accessible and engaging, with plenty of pithy one-liners that make serious and thought-provoking points. Essential reading for anyone interested in improving their mixing skills, and streamlining their working methods. -- Paul Tingen * Sound on Sound *Some absolute gems of advice to pick up here. The brilliant and clear way everything is presented and the actual (hallelujah!) settings for your template laid out for you, make this essential for any mix engineer, or anyone striving to be one. * Computer Music Review *The book is also an excellent reference for identifying frequencies a pro mixer will often cut or boost on certain instruments; I always nodded my head at Billy’s choices. Throughout the book there are a lot of thoughts and practices that will help a mix engineer keep their focus, searching for “feel” as opposed to “perfection.” There really is a lot of information packed into these 126 pages. -- Larry Crane reviewer Tape Op * Tape Op *

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Book SynopsisDive into the depths of Avatar: The Way of Water with this definitive guide. Created in close collaboration with James Cameron''s Lightstorm Entertainment and written by experts who worked on the film, this authoritative book is packed with stunning exclusive details. This must-have visual guide showcases the characters, creatures, vehicles, weapons, and locations from the latest adventure in Pandora.Meet the next generation of Jake Sully and Neytiri''s family, including the mysterious Kiri and the heroic Neteyam, and their brave new allies among the Metkayina clan. Discover the majestic tulkun, speedy skimwings, and the other fauna and flora of Pandora''s oceans. Examine the latest fearsome RDA vehicles and the specialist recom troops under Colonel Quaritch''s command. Uncover the inner-workings of Bridehead City and the sacred Cove of the Ancestors.With a foreword by Sigourney Weaver, Avatar: The Way of Water: The Visual Dictionary is the perfect gift for Avatar fans of all ages. 2022 20th Century Studios.

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Book SynopsisFirst published in 1948, Structural Functions of Harmony is Schoenberg''s last theoretical work and contains his ultimate thoughts on classical and romantic harmony. The opening chapters are a resume of the basic principles of the early Theory of Harmony; the subsequent chapters demonstrate the concept of ''monotonality'', whereby all modulations to different keys within a movement are analysed not in relation to each other but in terms of the irrelationship to one central tonality (tonic) as the centre of all harmonic change. Schoenberg''s music examples range from the entire development sections of classical symphonies to analyses of the harmonic progressions of Strauss, Debussy, Reger, and his own early music.

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Book SynopsisThe long-awaited, never-before-told, no-holds-barred memoir from the legendary Aerosmith frontman. Finally, all the lurid tales of debauchery, sex, drugs and rock n'' roll are told straight from the horse''s lips as The Demon of Screamin'' describes his unimaginable highs and unbelievable lows as lead singer of the biggest rock band in the world.Prolific frontman, rock icon and sex symbol, Steven Tyler is a living legend. With his raw, sharp-edged vocals, musical versatility and unprecedented song writing skills, Tyler has, as lead singer of Aerosmith, sold millions of records and played sell-out concerts to as many as 450,000 people. Now, at last, he tells his own story, taking us on a wild rollercoaster ride through the bust-ups, binges, orgies and good old American excess in the jaw-droppingly honest, in-your-face way that only Tyler can.Following a fateful meeting with his ''mutant twin'' Joe Perry in the summer of 1970, Aerosmith was formedand the rest, as they say, is rock historTrade Review‘Steven Tyler is one of the greats of American music’ Sir Paul McCartney ‘The book is sticky with sex…and drugs…plus he squeezes maximum mileage from obsessive punning and compulsive wordplay.’ Classic Rock

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Book SynopsisStephen Fry is an award-winning comedian, actor, presenter and director. He rose to fame alongside Hugh Laurie in A Bit of Fry and Laurie (which he co-wrote with Laurie) and Jeeves and Wooster, and was unforgettable as General Melchett in Blackadder. He has hosted over 180 episodes of QI, and has narrated all seven of the Harry Potter novels for the audiobook recordings. He is the bestselling author of four novels - The Stars' Tennis Balls, Making History, The Hippopotamus and The Liar - as well as three volumes of autobiography - Moab is My Washpot, The Fry Chronicles and More Fool Me. Mythos and Heroes, his retelling of the Greek myths, are both Sunday Times bestsellers.Trade ReviewOne of the most poignant, funny, intelligent, frank and horribly addictive books you're likely to read all year * Sunday Telegraph *A remarkable, perhaps even unique, exercise in autobiography ... that aroma of authenticity that is the point of all great autobiographies: of which his, I rather think, is one * Evening Standard *Stephen Fry is one of the great originals ... This autobiography of his first twenty years is a pleasure to read, mixing outrageous acts with sensible opinions in bewildering confusion ... That so much outward charm, self-awareness and intellect should exist alongside behaviour that threatened to ruin the lives of innocent victims, noble parents and Fry himself, gives the book a tragic grandeur and lifts it to classic status * Financial Times *He writes superbly about his family, about his homosexuality, about the agonies of childhood ... some of his bursts of simile take the breath away ... his most satisfying and appealing book so far * Observer *This is one of the most extraordinary and affecting biographies I have read . . . Stephen is . . . painfully honest when trying to grapple with his ever-present demons, and often, as you might expect, very funny * Daily Mail *The writing is rhapsodic, intoxicated and very touching * Mail on Sunday *[A] wonderful, self-lacerating autobiography * Humphrey Carpenter, Sunday Times *He has produced a remarkable autobiography . . . It makes gripping, sometimes unbearably sad, sometimes confusing reading . . . exhilarating, humane, zany, literary * Spectator *No one can make you feel quite like Stephen Fry can . . . Funny and tormentedly frank * Time Out *Hugely enjoyable . . . compulsively readable . . . Fry is excellent on the details of memory, too, and always able to embellish them with effortless erudition . . . this engaging, engrossing read is as honest a portrait of a young liar as one could hope to read * Scotsman *He is bubbly, funny and charming, and he gives his fans plenty of material if they want to speculate on why he is both so gifted and so wayward * The Times *The jokes . . . transcend the complexes of the joker, turning the Stephenesque into a national as well as a family treasure * Guardian *Not so much an autobiography, more a way of life; discursive, funny, sometimes almost unbelievably sad, opinionated, nostalgic and very infectious * Claire Rayner, New Statesman *Fry can be funny about anything * Good Book Guide *So charming and so acute that one cannot help forgiving him * Daily Express *

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewPart of the pleasure of reading this lively, friendly, and truly unique book on academic writing is getting a sense of the pleasure with which the author obviously wrote it. With intelligence, generosity, and dare I say love, Eric Hayot makes us pay attention to that which we tend most to overlook or to give short shrift in scholarly practice-the act of style and its integral relation to critical thought-and moreover shows us how to enjoy the act of reclaiming it. Academic writers at all stages of experience will return to these pages again and again. -- Sianne Ngai, author of Our Aesthetic Categories: Zany, Cute, Interesting My only criticism of The Elements of Academic Style is that it wasn't around thirty years ago, when I needed to learn everything, micro and macro, that this book teaches in its inimitable ways about the nature of scholarly writing. But I need it today just as much for its provocative suggestion that we unlearn what we believe we already know about seminar papers, chapters, dissertations, and books as kinds of writing. Challenging us to rethink what we ask our students to do (and why), Hayot links the demands of academic style to the possibilities of institutional reform. How long are seminar papers, and why do we need them anyway? Thanks to The Elements of Academic Style, we'll be debating these and many other questions for years to come. -- Andrew Parker, Professor of French and Comparative Literature, Rutgers University The Elements of Academic Style is an utter tour de force, a guide to scholarly writing in the humanities that manages to be at once lively, funny, absorbing, rigorous, and immensely insightful. It offers a wealth of advice from the minute and grammatical to the disciplinary and career-changing, even as it probes deeply into the humanities as they are actually practiced, in the nitty gritty of our writing. Intended for graduate students, who will benefit in untold ways from its wisdom, it is a boon for faculty as well, so acute are its observations and so intelligent its maxims. Like its progenitor, Elements of Academic Style has sweep, lucidity, and pitch-perfect style. But what most distinguishes this remarkable book are more unexpected qualities: its intimacy, and especially its generosity. Eric Hayot has given us all a gift. -- Sarah Cole, Professor of English and Comparative Literature, Columbia University For literary critical postgraduates and their teachers this is a useful book. Times Literary Supplement [The Elements of Academic Style] has the potential to transform how we teach and practice academic writing, and it invites the kind of reading and engagement that makes such a transformation possible... A book well worth reading and rereading. -- Carla Nappi New Books Network Seminar A needed contribution to the literature on academic writing, Hayot's book will be invaluable to any writer in the humanities. CHOICE Excellent... The book is a comprehensive, incisive, and staggeringly overdue guide to writing humanistic scholarship... Written in assured, engaging prose, possessed of personality but not overbearing, The Elements should be required reading for everybody-students, faculty, even administrators-in the orbit of a humanities Ph.D. program. -- Louis Bury HyperallergicTable of Contents1. Why Read This Book? Part I. Writing as Practice 2. Unlearning What You (Probably) Know 3. Eight Strategies for Getting Writing Done 4. Institutional Contexts 5. Dissertations and Books 6. A Materialist Theory of Writing 7. How Do Readers Work? Part II. Strategy 8. The Uneven U 9. Structure and Subordination 10. Structural Rhythm 11. Introductions 12. Don't Say It All Early 13. Paragraphing 14. Three Types of Transitions 15. Showing Your Iceberg 16. Metalanguage 17. Ending Well 18. Titles and Subtitles Part III. Tactics 19. Citational Practice 20. Conference Talks 21. Examples 22. Figural Language 23. Footnotes and Endnotes 24. Jargon 25. Parentheticals 26. Pronouns 27. Repetition 28. Rhetorical Questions and Clauses 29. Sentence Rhythm 30. Ventilation 31. Weight Part IV. Becoming 32. Work as Process 33. Becoming a Writer 34. From the Workshop to the World (as Workshop [as World]) 35. Acknowledgments Appendix: A Writer's Workbook Works Cited Bibliography

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Book SynopsisDaily Mail Showbiz Memoir of the Year''A beautiful book'' Chris Evans''Terrifically entertaining'' Mail on Sunday''An arresting photographic voyage through the life and loves of this enigmatic English star'' S magazine''Though not a conventional autobiography, we learn what makes the national treasure tick'' Daily ExpressIn the early days of my career, I didn''t think I stood a hope in hell. Look at me: I''m short, stocky, slightly overweight, deep of voice, passionate, dark haired, olive skinned, hardly your typical Englishman. What chance did I have, going into the world of British theatre?David Suchet has been a stalwart of British stage and screen for fifty years. From Shakespeare to Oscar Wilde, Freud to Poirot, Edward Teller to Doctor Who, Harold Pinter to Terence Rattigan, Questions of Faith to Decline and Fall, right up to 2Trade ReviewTerrifically entertaining . . . Behind the Lens sees the real David Suchet step forward at last -- Cole Moreton * Mail on Sunday *His career is fascinating, with tales of mortifying sex scenes and obsessive perfectionism. This unconventional book still shows us what makes this national treasure tick -- Sharon Wright * Daily Mirror *A clear impression of a man who knows exactly who he is . . . Suchet proves charming company . . . his reflections on life are gentle, good-natured and generous * TLS *Most fascinating is his relationship with the Poirot role. This is a series of intense scenes from an extraordinarycareer. Though not a conventional autobiography, we learn what makes the national treasure tick * Daily Express *A very unique autobiography . . . stunning . . . a beautiful book -- Chris Evans * Virgin Radio *An arresting photographic voyage through the life and loves of this enigmatic English star -- Sharon Wright * S magazine *Bursts with images . . . with which any working photographer would be delighted . . . the book offers more insight into the mind and philosophy of this remarkable man than a more conventional biographical approach could have achieved -- Jack Watkins * Country Life *Beautifully packaged memoir -- Hannah Stephenson * Press Association *A beautiful and engaging read * Woman's Way *Beautiful . . . revealing * Radio Times *A series of autobiographical sketches, written in an amiably informal style . . . generously illustrated * Spectator *David Suchet's book Behind the Lens reveals his considerable talent as a photographer and takes an interesting path, seeking to show us his life and experience through his eyes. The correspondence between his words and his pictures (the book is lavishly illustrated) is never less than interesting and often revealing. He has a seriously good eye for an image, which reflects back on his feeling for character and situation. He takes us through his career and life and world view * Graham Cowley *

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Book Synopsis''For those who like their rock biogs thick with tales of heroic over-indulgence, OPEN UP AND BLEED is hard to beat'' - Irish Evening Herald Iggy Pop''s life has been one of extraordinary highs and terrifying lows. Infamous for his wild ways, he is also a towering figure of the rock scene - hugely influential, charismatic and provocative. Every ''mad, bad, dangerous to know'' rock star owes a debt to him, and the stories of his shocking behaviour are legendary. But Iggy Pop is also, to a large extent, a construct, the alter ego of the quietly spoken and intriguing Jim Osterberg: the kid voted ''Most Likely to Succeed'' by his classmates. So what turned this charming, well-mannered, straight-A student into a poster child for rock ''n'' roll debauchery?Iggy Pop: Open up and Bleed reveals the truth behind the myths. Former MOJO editor Paul Trynka tracked down the star''s friends, family, lovers and fellow musicians, conducting over two hundred and Trade ReviewWith its recurring themes of drug addiction, public masochism and self-sabotage, Iggy's story effectively tells itself, but Trynka captures the essential duality of a man as well-versed in Greek art as he is in panhandling for heroin on Sunset Boulevard ... [an] entertaining and insightful study of one of rock's most enduringly remarkable characters Q IGGY POP has all the rock 'n roll bases covered: drugs, long hair, funny body, formerly straight-A student. Lie back and think of California' TATLER 'Former MOJO editor Paul Trynka has put in impeccable research to tell the story of how the shy, studious Jim Osterberg transformed into the force of nature that is Iggy Pop' IRISH EVENING HERALD 'For those who like their rock biogs thick with tales of heroic over-indulgence, OPEN UP AND BLEED is hard to beat '

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Book SynopsisJohn Wayne died more than thirty years ago, but he remains one of today''s five favorite movie stars. The celebrated Hollywood icon comes fully to life in this complex portrait by noted film historian and master biographer Scott Eyman. Exploring Wayne''s early life with a difficult mother and a feckless father, Eyman gets at the details that the bean-counters and myth-spinners miss…Wayne''s intimates have told things here that they''ve never told anyone else (Los Angeles Times). Eyman makes startling connections to Wayne''s later days as an anti-Communist conservative, his stormy marriages to Latina women, and his notorious-and surprisingly long-lived-passionate affair with Marlene Dietrich. He also draws on the actor''s own business records and, of course, his storied film career. We all think we know John Wayne, in part because he seemed to be playing himself in movie after movie. Yet as Eyman carefully lays out, ''John Wayne'' was an invention, a persona createTrade Review“[An] authoritative and enormously engaging new biography. . . . [Eyman] takes you through Wayne’s life, his death and his legend in a detailed, remarkably knowledgeable yet extremely readable way.” -- Peter Bogdanovich * The New York Times Book Review *“A spirited portrait of John Wayne and the Hollywood he worked in. . . . Traces his transition from the eager, boyish roles he played in early movies to confident leading man.” -- Michiko Kakutani * The New York Times *“No Wayne biography until now has ridden the defile between the reverential and the tendentious with quite the graceful equilibrium of this one. . . . Eyman gets at the details that the bean-counters and myth-spinners miss. . . . Wayne's intimates have told Eyman things here that they've never told anyone else.” -- David Kipen * The Los Angeles Times *“Deeply researched and totally absorbing.” -- Clive Sinclair * The Wall Street Journal *“We all think we know John Wayne, in part because he seemed to be playing himself in movie after movie. Yet as Eyman carefully lays out, ‘John Wayne’ was an invention, a persona created layer by layer by an ambitious young actor.” -- Glenn Frankel * The Washington Post *“Scott Eyman has taken a legend and a statue and given us an odd, decent, muddled but deeply likeable man. That’s what makes this book so readable and so touching.” -- David Thomson, author of The New Biographical Dictionary of Film and Moments That Made the Movies“[An] exemplary biography. . . . Eyman appears to have had broad access to Wayne’s business and family life, and the result is a book with a compelling claim to being definitive.” -- Robert Horton * Film Comment *“In comprehensive detail, this new biography chronicles a great star at work. . . . Like a cinematographer, Mr. Eyman offers readers Wayne from many angles, in his own words and the words of those who worked with him. . . . An engrossing record of how the Duke stayed top dog for so long.“ * The Economist *“One of the greatest movie star biographies ever written.” -- Allen Barra * Salon.com *“A comprehensive and compelling examination of The Duke. . . . Insightful, exhaustive and engrossing—a definitive portrait of the man and the legend.” * Kirkus Reviews *“Drawing deeply on interviews with family and friends, acclaimed biographer Eyman colorfully chronicles Wayne’s life and work. . . . Compulsively readable.” * Publishers Weekly (starred review) *“Eyman’s exhaustively informative biography is, in essence, a tribute. One ends it liking Duke a lot more.” -- John Sutherland * The Times (London) *"Full of historical detail and fan facts, John Wayne tracks shy Marion Robert Morrison's path to the screen hero who got scant credit for his own craft in creating the John Wayne that rallied audiences." -- David D'Arcy * The San Francisco Chronicle *“It would be hard to find a more complete picture of a public figure’s life and legend than Eyman gives us of the Duke.” -- Larry Thornberry * The American Spectator *

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Book SynopsisTrade ReviewAn excellent introduction to the impact and practice of production design in the movies. Rich in examples and engaging in its concepts, this is of interest to both students and cineastes alike. -- Edward Braman, Head of Film and TV, University of York, UKThe points of view in this book have been sorely missing in the industry…This book is destined to become an integral part of my future classes as a required text. -- Kent Homchick, Associate Professor, University of Colorado, Denver, USA…beautifully illustrated with generous inclusions of film stills…a clearly written, practice-oriented, much needed text on production design for film. -- Dr. Elaine Sisson, Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art Design and Technology, IrelandTable of Contents1. Practicalities: The Design Process The Art Department Breaking down the script Developing initial ideas Sketch, draft, model The budget Studio construction Locations Set Decorating and Dressing Spotlight on – Anna Pritchard 2. The Visual Concept Collaboration Concept, contrast and transformation Developing the visual concept Spotlight on – Stuart Craig 3. Space Real and imagined worlds Size and scale Geography of Space Vertical Hierarchy Spotlight on – Alex McDowell 4. In and Out: Boundaries & Transitions In and Out Doorways and windows Movement and Transition Interiors and exteriors Spotlight on - Hugo Wyhowski 5. Light Character and Story Sources Position Colour Painting Spotlight on – Ronald Gow 6. Colour Colour & early cinema Painting & Perception Colour palette & psychology Character & Story The Colour Red Spotlight on – Jim Bissell 7. Set Decoration The Set Decorator Reflecting Character Furniture & Dressing Period & Style Spotlight on – Tatiana Macdonald

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Book SynopsisYou SLUG the guy.You KISS the dame. You TOTAL the car.That''s movies. And I love ''em.Gordy LaSure's passionate about film. He eats film, he drinks film, and sometimes he'll even watch a film. But most of all he loves talking about film, and how they'd be a shit-ton better if only people would pull their asses out of their ears and listen to Gordy LaSure.The voyage of this book can be categorised as an attempt to understand How In Hell Film Works. Why are some films bad, and some films terrible? How come just a handful of films (Titanic, Porky's, Dirty Harry) are any good at all? Gordy'll tell you How and Why, and he'll give you a shot of Wherefore on the side. And he doesn't shoot from the hip; he shoots from the gut.

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Book SynopsisMost guitarists today think of the USA as the land of the guitar. Classical guitars come from Spain but rock, jazz and folk guitars must surely be American? They know the great' names Gibson, Epiphone, Fender, Gretsch, Martin. How many of them know that Christian Friedrich Martin was born in Markneukirchen, Germany, in 1796 and emigrated to the USA at the age of thirty-seven? The Bate Collection is a museum of musical instruments in the University of Oxford and owns a collection of guitars donated by the author. Half of them were made by German-speaking Czech craftsmen expelled from their homeland after the Second World War, resettling in Bavaria; the other half by their former neighbours in Saxony, with whom they had worked closely for three centuries but who now found themselves behind the Iron Curtain. This book offers a summary of the socio-political background and the way it led to the decline and almost the extinction of what was once the most productive centre of stringed-instrument making in the world. Lavishly illustrated with photos of all of the carefully-researched instruments in the collection, plus a unique guide to help the collector to identify the maker of his instrument.

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Book Synopsis'An absolutely masterly work' Stephen FryAlex Ross, renowned author of the international bestseller The Rest Is Noise, reveals how Richard Wagner became the proving ground for modern art and politicsan aesthetic war zone where the Western world wrestled with its capacity for beauty and violence.For better or worse, Wagner is the most widely influential figure in the history of music. Around 1900, the phenomenon known as Wagnerism saturated European and American culture. Such colossal creations as The Ring of the Nibelung, Tristan und Isolde, and Parsifal were models of formal daring, mythmaking, erotic freedom, and mystical speculation. A mighty procession of writers, artists, and thinkers, including Charles Baudelaire, Virginia Woolf, Isadora Duncan, Vasily Kandinsky, and Luis Buñuel, felt his impact. Anarchists, occultists, feminists, and gay-rights pioneers saw him as a kindred spirit. Then Adolf Hitler incorporated Wagner into the soundtrack of Nazi Germany, and the composer came to be defined by his ferocious anti-Semitism. His name is now almost synonymous with artistic evil.Wagnerism restores the magnificent confusion of what it means to be a Wagnerian. A pandemonium of geniuses, madmen, charlatans, and prophets do battle over Wagner's many-sided legacy. The narrative ranges across artistic disciplines, from architecture to the novels of Philip K. Dick, from the Zionist writings of Theodor Herzl to the civil-rights essays of W. E. B. Du Bois, from O Pioneers! to Apocalypse Now. In many ways,Wagnerism tells a tragic tale. An artist who might have rivalled Shakespeare in universal reach is implicated in an ideology of hate. Still, his shadow lingers over twenty-first century culture, his mythic motifs coursing through superhero films and fantasy fiction. Neither apologia nor condemnation, Wagnerism is a work of intellectual passion, urging us toward a more honest idea of how art acts in the world.Trade Review‘Ross does a good and very full job in tracing the obsession of different times and places, and the intellectual flavour each wave took … excellent, and extraordinarily thorough’ Philip Hensher, Spectator ‘An absolutely masterly work … A miraculous synthesis. Ross’s writing is an art that conceals art, propelling the reader on and on’ Stephen Fry “Wagnerism is as magnificently realized as it is monumentally ambitious, a cultural history of the modern world that Richard ‘Wagner and his protean art helped mightily to create … Ross is the ideal guide: lucid, astoundingly erudite, scrupulous, generous, profound, objective and engaged, and enormously entertaining’ Tony Kushner, playwright of Angels in America ‘With rhetorical flourishes and an eye for detail Ross extols the art made by Wagnerians who were able to meet “the Meister” on their own terms’ The Times ‘Wagnerism is a hugely exhilarating read, and a virtuoso feat of scholarship and supple writing: Ross is such a companionable guide, connecting ideas so casually and unspooling stories so fluidly that you can almost lose sight of the ferocious erudition that undergirds every page. I can’t think of a better or more profound work about the long, complicated shadow of cultural influence’ Patrick Radden Keefe, author of Say Nothing ‘Goes far beyond the man himself, using its subject to springboard into a breathlessly entertaining and dizzyingly diverse survey of art, politics and culture over the past century and a half. Ultimately, it’s a book about how humans are inspired by art, and like all of Alex Ross’s writing, it bottles that strange lightning and inspires us in turn’ Rian Johnson, director of The Last Jedi and Knives Out ‘Love him or hate him, Wagner has been unavoidable … By presenting an honest assessment of the problem, Wagnerism supplies, if not answers, then at least the right questions.’ Economist

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Book SynopsisThe enigmatic and elusive filmmaker Stanley Kubrick has not been treated to a full-length biography in over twenty years. Stanley Kubrick: An Odyssey fills that gap. It is based on access to the latest research, especially into his archive at the University of the Arts, London, and other papers as well as new interviews with family members and those who worked with him. It offers comprehensive and in-depth coverage of Kubrick's personal, private, public, and working life. We discuss not only the making of his films, but also about those he wanted but failed to make like Burning Secret, Napoleon, Aryan Papers, and A.I. We discover what he was doing when he was not making films. This biography will puncture a few myths about this allegedly reclusive filmmaker, who created some of the most important works of art of the twentieth century

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Book SynopsisThe official art book for the animated movie The Amazing Maurice, based on the Carnegie Medal-winning Discworld novel by Terry Pratchett Maurice is a streetwise talking tomcat who comes up with a money-making scam by befriending a group of talking rats and finding a dumb-looking kid who plays a pipe. When Maurice and company reach the stricken town of Bad Blintz, they meet a bookworm called Malicia and their scheme soon goes down the drain. The Art of the Film is a coffee table hardback celebration of the creative process of bringing The Amazing Maurice to life, including exclusive concept designs, character sketches, storyboards and production art, alongside insight from the artists, filmmakers and directors.

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