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The Château - Forever Home: The instant Sunday Times Bestseller, as seen on the hit Channel 4 series Escape to the Château
By Dick Strawbridge, Angel Strawbridge. 2023
Take a journey to Château-de-la-Motte Husson in the spellbinding memoir from Sunday Times bestselling authors, Dick and Angel Strawbridge.Dick and…
Angel recount the newest and biggest challenges they faced on the journey to transforming their once derelict and abandoned château in France's Pays de la Loire into a thriving family home and sustainable business.When the Covid-19 pandemic engulfs the world, the château faces a new challenge and the Strawbridges must find ways to adapt in order to keep their dream life in France alive. From the cancellation of the wedding season to finding new ways to complete renovations, living in an isolated bubble whilst continuing to film their TV series through to life after the pandemic, this is Dick and Angel at their most honest and heartfelt, revealing many details never seen on TV.As entertaining, warm and irresistible as ever, Join Dick and Angel on their remarkable journey to find their family's forever home.
The story of the Bee Gees: children of the world
By Bob Stanley. 2024
A renowned pop music scholar presents a dazzling biography of the Bee Gees--Barry, Maurice and Robin Gibb, which is an…
extraordinary human story of career highs and lows that shows, even in the Gibbs' darkest times, their music was rarely out of the charts
Gays on Broadway
By Ethan Mordden. 2023

Broadcasting the Ozarks: Si Siman and country music at the crossroads (Ozarks studies)
By Kathryn Ledbetter. 2024

Reginald Rose and the Journey of 12 Angry Men
By Phil Rosenzweig. 2021
Finalist, 2021 Wall Award (Formerly the Theatre Library Association Award)The untold story behind one of America’s greatest dramasIn early 1957,…
a low-budget black-and-white movie opened across the United States. Consisting of little more than a dozen men arguing in a dingy room, it was a failure at the box office and soon faded from view.Today, 12 Angry Men is acclaimed as a movie classic, revered by the critics, beloved by the public, and widely performed as a stage play, touching audiences around the world. It is also a favorite of the legal profession for its portrayal of ordinary citizens reaching a just verdict and widely taught for its depiction of group dynamics and human relations. Few twentieth-century American dramatic works have had the acclaim and impact of 12 Angry Men.Reginald Rose and the Journey of “12 Angry Men” tells two stories: the life of a great writer and the journey of his most famous work, one that ultimately outshined its author. More than any writer in the Golden Age of Television, Reginald Rose took up vital social issues of the day—from racial prejudice to juvenile delinquency to civil liberties—and made them accessible to a wide audience. His 1960s series, The Defenders, was the finest drama of its age and set the standard for legal dramas. This book brings Reginald Rose’s long and successful career, its origins and accomplishments, into view at long last.By placing 12 Angry Men in its historical and social context—the rise of television, the blacklist, and the struggle for civil rights—author Phil Rosenzweig traces the story of this brilliant courtroom drama, beginning with the chance experience that inspired Rose, to its performance on CBS’s Westinghouse Studio One in 1954, to the feature film with Henry Fonda. The book describes Sidney Lumet’s casting, the sudden death of one actor, and the contribution of cinematographer Boris Kaufman. It explores the various drafts of the drama, with characters modified and scenes added and deleted, with Rose settling on the shattering climax only days before filming began.Drawing on extensive research and brimming with insight, this book casts new light on one of America’s great dramas—and about its author, a man of immense talent and courage.Author royalties will be donated equally to the Feerick Center for Social Justice at Fordham Law School and the Justice John Paul Stevens Jury Center at Chicago-Kent College of Law.
Desi Arnaz: The Man Who Invented Television
By Todd S Purdum. 1953
An illuminating biography of Desi Arnaz, the visionary, trailblazing Cuban American who revolutionized television and brought laughter to millions as…
Lucille Ball&’s beloved husband on I Love Lucy, leaving a remarkable legacy that continues to influence American culture today.Desi Arnaz is a name that resonates with fans of classic television, but few understand the depth of his contributions to the entertainment industry. In Desi Arnaz, Todd S. Purdum offers a captivating biography that dives into the groundbreaking Latino artist and businessman known to millions as Ricky Ricardo from I Love Lucy. Beyond his iconic role, Arnaz was a pioneering entrepreneur who fundamentally transformed the television landscape. His journey from Cuban aristocracy to world-class entertainer is remarkable. After losing everything during the 1933 Cuban revolution, Arnaz reinvented himself in pre-World War II Miami, tapping into the rising demand for Latin music. By twenty, he had formed his own band and sparked the conga dance craze in America. Behind the scenes, he revolutionized television production by filming I Love Lucy before a live studio audience with synchronized cameras, a model that remains a sitcom gold standard today. Despite being underestimated due to his accent and origins, Arnaz&’s legacy is monumental. Purdum&’s biography, enriched with unpublished materials and interviews, reveals the man behind the legend and highlights his enduring contributions to pop culture and television. This book is a must-read biography about innovation, resilience and the relentless drive of a man who changed TV forever.
Fahrenheit-182: A Memoir
By Dan Ozzi, Mark Hoppus. 2025
***The Instant #1 New York Times Bestseller!***A smart, funny, and refreshing memoir from Mark Hoppus, the vocalist, bassist, and founding…
member of pop-punk band blink-182.This is the story of an angst-filled kid from the desert, navigating the chaos of his parents' bitter divorce and searching for his place in the world. Each move across the country was a chance to reinvent himself, switching identities from dork to goth to skate punk, and eventually meeting his best friend who just so happens to be his musical soulmate. With sharp humor and raw honesty, Fahrenheit-182 takes readers through Mark's formative years as a latchkey kid in the 1980s, hooked on punk rock, skateboards, and MTV. Along the way, Mark reflects on his lifelong battle with anxiety, his celebrated career with blink-182, and his public fight with cancer, in a voice that’s both relatable and unmistakably his own.Threaded with sharp humor and heartfelt grit, Fahrenheit-182 is more than just a memoir for blink-182 fans. It’s a funny, smart, and deeply human story for anyone who’s struggled, reinvented themselves, wanted to quit but kept going.
I Talk about It All the Time
By Camara Lundestad Joof. 2024
In this biting, lyrical memoir, Camara Lundestad Joof, born in Bodø to Norwegian and Gambian parents, shares her experiences as…
a queer Black Norwegian woman. Joof’s daily encounters belie the myth of a colorblind contemporary Scandinavia. She wrestles with the fickle palimpsest of memory, demanding communion with her readers even as she recognizes her own exhaustion in the face of constantly being asked to educate others. “I regularly decide to quit talking to white people about racism,” writes Joof. Such discussions often feel unproductive, the occasional spark of hope coming at enormous personal cost. But not talking about it is impossible, a betrayal of self. The book is a self-examination as well as societal indictment. It is an open challenge to readers, to hear her as she talks about it, all the time.
"Earl Hamner was the creator and producer of the television series, The Waltons, about a family living in the Blue…
Ridge Mountains of Virginia. The series was essentially about Hamner's own family, and, in this book, he tells that story. He begins with his childhood and about his desire from a very early age to be a writer. The success of his first novel, Spencer's Mountain, which was built on his family's experiences in the Depression, confirmed his calling as a writer. Eventually, his story developed into the production of the much-loved television series. The book contains many photos, a guide to resources about the Waltons, including fan clubs and internet sites. In addition, there are personal stories and remembrances from many who were connected to the show." -- OCLC
Hello darlin': tall (and absolutely true) tales about my life
By Larry Hagman. 2001
The television star reveals his life, from his childhood as the son of legendary stage and screen star Mary Martin,…
to his troubles with drugs and alcohol. Adult. Some violence. Strong language
"An award-winning author presents the history and impact of both the theatrical and cinematic versions of Who's Afraid of Virginia…
Woolf? and how it forced audiences to confront deeply-held concepts about relationships, sex, and family"--OCLC
Ballerina: sex, scandal, and suffering behind the symbol of perfection
By Deirdre Kelly. 2012
A behind-the-scenes history of the ballerina, from the court of Louis XIV to the present day. It lifts the curtain…
on the earthy reality behind the ethereality, everything from institutionalized prostitution in the 18th and 19th centuries when the Paris Opera ballet company was known as the brothel of France to institutionalized starvation in the 20th century as a result of the choreographer George Balanchine. Adult. Unrated
De Niro: A Life
By Shawn Levy. 2014
REMARKABLE BIOGRAPHY OF AN ICON There's little debate that Robert De Niro is one of the greatest, if not the…
greatest, screen actors of his generation, perhaps of all time. His work, particularly in the first 20 years of his career, is unparalleled. Mean Streets, the Godfather Part II, Taxi Driver, the Deer Hunter, and Raging Bull all dazzled moviegoers and critics alike, displaying a talent the likes of which had rarely--if ever--been seen. De Niro become known for his deep involvement in his characters, assuming that role completely into his own life, resulting in extraordinary, chameleonic performances. Yet little is known about the off-screen De Niro--he is an intensely private man, whose rare public appearances are often marked by inarticulateness and palpable awkwardness. It can be almost painful to watch at times, in powerful contrast to his confident movie personae. In this elegant and compelling biography, bestselling writer Shawn Levy writes of these many De Niros--the characters and the man--seeking to understand the evolution of an actor who once dove deeply into his roles as if to hide his inner nature, and who now seemingly avoids acting challenges, taking roles which make few apparent demands on his overwhelming talent. Following De Niro's roots as the child of artists (his father, the abstract painter Robert De Niro Sr., was widely celebrated) who encouraged him from an early age to be independent of vision and spirit, to his intense schooling as an actor, the rise of his career, his marriages, his life as a father, restauranteur, and businessman, and, of course, his current movie career, Levy has written a biography that reads like a novel about a character whose inner turmoil takes him to heights of artistry. His many friendships with the likes of Martin Scorsese, Meryl Streep, Harvey Keitel, Shelley Winters, Francis Ford Coppola, among many others, are woven into this extraordinary portrait of DeNiro the man and the artist, also adding a depth of understanding not before seen. Levy has had unprecedented access to De Niro's personal research and production materials, creating a new impression of the effort that went into the actor's legendary performances. The insights gained from DeNiro&’s intense working habits shed new perspective on DeNiro&’s thinking and portrayals and are wonderful to read. Levy also spoke to De Niro's collaborators and friends to depict De Niro's transition from an ambitious young man to a transfixing and enigmatic artist and cultural figure. Shawn Levy has written a truly engaging, insightful, and entertaining portrait of one of the most wonderful film artists of our time, a book that is worthy of such a great talent.
Paul Newman: A Life
By Shawn Levy. 2009
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • &“[This] absorbing, affectionate portrait manages to bring [Newman] back to us. . . . Paul…
Newman leaves readers with a surprisingly cheering message. If the rest of us can&’t aspire to having Newman&’s life, we can at least take inspiration from the way he lived his.&”—The Washington Post &“A graceful tribute to a one-of-a-kind man.&”—The Seattle Times&“Newman&’s life was never dull, and Levy re-creates it in vivid detail.&”—ParadePaul Newman, the Oscar-winning actor with the legendary blue eyes, achieved superstar status by playing charismatic renegades, broken heroes, and winsome antiheroes in such revered films as The Hustler, Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid, The Verdict, The Color of Money, and Nobody&’s Fool. But Newman was also an oddity in Hollywood: the rare box-office titan who cared about the craft of acting, the sexy leading man known for the staying power of his marriage, and the humble celebrity who made philanthropy his calling card long before it was cool. Unlike his father, a successful entrepreneur, Newman bypassed the family sporting goods business to pursue an acting career. After struggling as a theater and television actor, Newman landed the lead role of boxer Rocky Graziano in Somebody Up There Likes Me when, in a tragic twist of fate, James Dean was killed in a car accident. Part of the original Actors Studio generation, Newman demanded a high level of rigor and clarity from every project. The artistic battles that nearly derailed his early movie career would pay off handsomely at the box office and earn him critical acclaim.He applied that tenacity to every endeavor both on and off the set. The outspoken Newman used his celebrity to call attention to political causes dear to his heart, including civil rights and nuclear proliferation. Taking up auto racing in midlife, Newman became the oldest driver to ever win a major professional auto race. A food enthusiast who would dress his own salads in restaurants, he launched the Newman&’s Own brand dedicated to fresh ingredients, a nonprofit juggernaut that has generated more than $250 million for charity.In Paul Newman: A Life, Shawn Levy gives readers the ultimate behind-the-scenes examination of the actor&’s life, from his merry pranks on the set to his lasting romance with Joanne Woodward to the devastating impact of his son&’s death from a drug overdose. This expansive biography is a portrait of an extraordinarily gifted man who gave back as much as he got out of life—and just happened to be one of the most celebrated movie stars of the twentieth century.
For the first time, the full story of what happened when Frank brought his best pals to party in a…
land called VegasJanuary 1960. Las Vegas is at its smooth, cool peak. The Strip is a jet-age theme park, and the greatest singer in the history of American popular music summons a group of friends there to make a movie. One is an insouciant singer of Italian songs, ex-partner to the most popular film comedian of the day. One is a short, black, Jewish, one-eyed, singing, dancing wonder. One is an upper-crust British pretty boy turned degenerate B-movie star actor, brother-in-law to an ascendant politician. And one is a stiff-shouldered comic with the quintessential Borscht Belt emcee&’s knack for needling one-liners. The architectonically sleek marquee of the Sands Hotel announces their presence simply by listing their names: FRANK SINATRA. DEAN MARTIN. SAMMY DAVIS, JR. PETER LAWFORD. JOEY BISHOP. Around them an entire cast gathers: actors, comics, singers, songwriters, gangsters, politicians, and women, as well as thousands of starstruck everyday folks who fork over pocketfuls of money for the privilege of basking in their presence. They call themselves The Clan. But to an awed world, they are known as The Rat Pack.They had it all. Fame. Gorgeous women. A fabulouse playground of a city and all the money in the world. The backing of fearsome crime lords and the blessing of the President of the United States. But the dark side–over the thin line between pleasure and debauchery, between swinging self-confidence and brutal arrogance–took its toll. In four years, their great ride was over, and showbiz was never the same. Acclaimed Jerry Lewis biographer Shawn Levy has written a dazzling portrait of a time when neon brightness cast sordid shadows. It was Frank&’s World, and we just lived in it.
Broadway, Balanchine, and Beyond: A Memoir
By Bettijane Sills. 2019
In this memoir of a roller-coaster career on the New York stage, former actor and dancer Bettijane Sills offers a…
highly personal look at the art and practice of George Balanchine, one of ballet’s greatest choreographers, and the inner workings of his world-renowned company during its golden years. Sills recounts her years as a child actor in television and on Broadway, a career choice largely driven by her mother, and describes her transition into pursuing her true passion: dance. She was a student in Balanchine’s School of American Ballet throughout her childhood and teen years, until her dream was achieved. She was invited to join New York City Ballet in 1961 as a member of the corps de ballet and worked her way up to the level of soloist. Winningly honest and intimate, Sills lets readers peek behind the curtains to see a world that most people have never experienced firsthand. She tells stories of taking classes with Balanchine, dancing in the original casts of some of his most iconic productions, working with a number of the company’s most famous dancers, and participating in the company’s first Soviet Union tour during the Cold War and Cuban Missile Crisis. She walks us through her years in New York City Ballet first as a member of the corps de ballet, then a soloist dancing some principal roles, finally as one of the “older” dancers teaching her roles to newcomers while being encouraged to retire. She reveals the unglamorous parts of tour life, jealousy among company members, and Balanchine’s complex relationships with women. She talks about Balanchine’s insistence on thinness in his dancers and her own struggles with dieting. Her fluctuations in weight influenced her roles and Balanchine’s support for her—a cycle that contributed to the end of her dancing career. Now a professor of dance who has educated hundreds of students on Balanchine’s style and legacy, Sills reflects on the highs and lows of a career indelibly influenced by fear of failure and fear of success—by the bright lights of theater and the man who shaped American ballet.
Hollywood Vampires: Johnny Depp, Amber Heard, and the Celebrity Exploitation Machine
By Kelly Loudenberg, Makiko Wholey. 2025
An explosive new book on the infamous trial Depp v. Heard, Hollywood Vampires paints an intimate picture of what was really going…
on behind the viral headlines between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard, with never-before-told stories from their inner circle.Celebrity romances have always captured the public’s imagination, playing out like soap operas seized upon by fans and tabloids alike. By the same token, high-profile trials can take over the mainstream media cycle, with both news pundits and the public picking over every detail to predict outcomes and cast their own judgements. Enter the union, dissolution, and hostile legal battle between Johnny Depp and Amber Heard—where these dual obsessions collided, creating a chaotic moment of true cultural fixation.Hollywood Vampires offers an inside account of one of the most controversial and consequential celebrity scandals of the internet era. Fueled by viral clips, reaction videos, and endless online debates, the trial became more than a legal battle. It became a public spectacle, dividing audiences worldwide.Kelly Loudenberg and Makiko Wholey were journalists on the ground for the Depp v Heard trial. Having closely followed Johnny, Amber, and their camps, they spent the years leading up to and following the trial interviewing the couple’s closest allies as well as their managers, lawyers, agents, business associates, publicists, assistants, and personal staff. The result is a page-turning Hollywood epic full of revealing details that tell a wider tale about the celebrity-industrial complex, modern fandom, inflammatory culture wars, and contemporary feminism. Turning the lens around, Hollywood Vampires questions how the celebrity exploitation machine, strengthened by the forces of social media and legacy media alike, blurs the lines between fact and fiction, comedy and horror. It forces us to ask ourselves why we take celebrity culture so seriously in the first place—and who wins and who loses when Hollywood becomes the vehicle for our own personal and political causes.
Burning Down the House: Talking Heads and the New York Scene That Transformed Rock
By Jonathan Gould. 1976
"Definitive...Not just for Talking Heads fans—it’s a masterful dive into downtown New York in the 70s, and the changing face…
of rock music.”—Town & Country"Riveting"—New York Post"A masterful achievement." —Booklist (starred review)On the 50th anniversary of Talking Heads, acclaimed music biographer Jonathan Gould presents the long-overdue, definitive story of this singular band, capturing the gritty energy of 1970s New York City and showing how a group of art students brought fringe culture to rock’s mainstream, forever changing the look and sound of popular music. “Psycho Killer.” “Take Me to the River.” “Road to Nowhere.” Few musical artists have had the lasting impact and relevance of Talking Heads. One of the foundational bands of New York’s downtown 1970s music scene, Talking Heads have endured as a musical and cultural force for decades. Their unique brand of transcendent, experimental rock remains a lingering influence on popular music—despite their having disbanded over thirty years ago.Now New Yorker contributor Jonathan Gould offers an authoritative, deeply researched account of a band whose sound, fame, and legacy forever connected rock music to the cultural avant-garde. From their art school origins to the enigmatic charisma of David Byrne and the internal tensions that ultimately broke them apart, Gould tells the story of a group that emerged when rock music was still young and went on to redefine the prevailing expectations of how a band could sound, look, and act. At a time when guitar solos, lead-singer swagger, and sweaty stadium tours reigned supreme, Talking Heads were precocious, awkward, quirky, and utterly distinctive when they first appeared on the ragged stages of the East Village. Yet they would soon mature into one of the most accomplished and uncompromising recording and performing acts of their era.More than just a biography of a band, Gould masterfully captures the singular time and place that incubated and nurtured this original music: downtown New York in the 1970s, that much romanticized, little understood milieu where art, music, and commerce collided in the urban dystopia of Lower Manhattan. What emerges is an expansive portrait of a unique cultural moment and an iconoclastic band that shifted the paradigm of popular music by burning down the house of mainstream rock.
Comedy Samurai: Forty Years of Blood, Guts, and Laughter
By Larry Charles. 2025
From Peabody, Golden Globe, and Emmy Award-winning writer and director Larry Charles, a rollicking journey through modern American comedy, as…
he shares behind-the-scenes stories from his life's work. To tell Larry Charles's life story is to tell the story of modern American comedy. Over the last 40 years, few comedians have been a part of so many iconic, beloved projects. Larry was one of the original writers and producers on the first five seasons of Seinfeld, executive produced both Curb Your Enthusiasm and Entourage while directing 18 episodes of Curb, and served as the showrunner for Mad About You. His film directing credits include Borat, Bruno, and The Dictator, the comic documentory Religulous starring Bill Maher, and Masked andAnonymous, which he co-wrote with Bob Dylan who stars. In Comedy Samurai, Charles pulls back the curtain on the making of his successful projects, offering sharp, never-before-told anecdotes about Jerry Seinfeld, Sacha Baron Cohen, Bill Maher, Bob Dylan, Nic Cage, Mel Brooks, Julia Louis-Dreyfuss, and Larry David, among many others. Perfect for fans of Seinfeldia and lovers of comedy in general, Larry promises to offer new insights about many of the most beloved shows, films, and actors of all time.
My life story
By Boxcar Willie. 2011