Biography
Captivated by Marilyn – A Brief Biography of Gary Vitacco-Robles
#sexsymbol #marilynmonroe #fifties #cinema This is the third in a series about Gary Vitacco-Robles, the author of the monumental biography ICON:The Life, Times and Films of Marilyn Monroe, Volumes I and II. I have reviewed both volumes and published two segments of my interview with Vitacco-Robles. In this installment, I asked him to share something…
Read MoreMarilyn Monroe – A Definitive New Biography by Vitacco-Robles
#MarilynMonroe #Movies #Hollywood Marilyn Monroe is an enigmatic figure in the history of the entertainment industry. Half a century has passed since her death, yet she is remembered today as if she were yet alive. Her story has evolved into legend. Breathtakingly beautiful, talented and charismatic, she begins her career in the heyday advent of…
Read MoreThe Honeymoon – A biographical novel of the life of George Eliot
#georgeeliot #marianevans #engishlit George Eliot’s Silas Marner was required reading in English lit when I was a sophomore in high school in the 1055. Written in the previous century, there was no way we guys would admit to liking the book. It was so old. Nothing in the days of George Eliot had any bearing…
Read MorePoet Robert Lax – Michael N. McGregor’s Powerful Biography
Pure Act: The Uncommon Life of Robert Lax by Michael N. McGregor is a powerful biography of a poet who only recently has been recognized for his contributions to the evolution of contemporary poetry. The book succeeds on several levels. Lax was born to immigrant parents in Olean, New York in 1915. The middle class…
Read MorePaperbacks Reshape American Culture
Ah, the lowly paperback. It has had a powerful impact on American culture. Author Paul Rabinowitz delineates the role it has played since first appearing for sale on American newsstands, drugstores, and coffee shops in the 1930’s. Her book, American Pulp: How Paperbacks Brought Modernism to Main Street, examines the often overlooked influence that the…
Read MoreMarilyn Monroe — Icon: The Life, Times and Movies of Marilyn Monroe
Marilyn Monroe died on August 5, 1962, yet she has remained alive in the minds and hearts of people throughout the world ever since. While 600 books have been published about the actress, Gary Vitacco-Robles’ biography, Icon: The Life, Times and Films of Marilyn Monroe, is a prodigious achievement that easily relegates the efforts of…
Read MoreThomas Jefferson’s Enlightenment by James C. Thompson – A Review
Thomas Jefferson’s Enlightenment James C. Thompson is published by Commonwealth Book Publishers of Virginia which was founded by the author in 2009. According to their press announcement Commonwealth “publishes three-dimensional stories about ideas—where history, philosophy and art meet.” The book succeeds on all on all three counts, but the achievement is virtually negated because of…
Read MoreDuryea: The Movies — An Exquisitely Presented Book from BearManor Media
Duryea: The Movies, by Joseph Fusco, is another beautifully produced book by BearManor Media. The publisher presents books that are thoroughly researched and brimming with documentation including news articles, vintage photos and advertizing. Like so many other volumes from BearManor, Duryea: The Movies not only makes for an engaging first read but will…
Read MoreFredric March: A Consummate Actor by Charles Tranberg — Reviewed by John J. Hohn
#fredricmarch #cinema #thebestyearsofourlives Charles Tranberg’s biography, Fredric March: A Consummate Actor, belongs in the library of every fan of theater and film in America. Tranberg’s masterful work follows March’s career from his Wisconsin boyhood through to his final triumphant appearance as Harry Hope in The Iceman Cometh released by 20th Century Fox in October, 1973.…
Read MoreQuizmaster: The Life and Times and Fun and Games of Bill Cullen, by Adam Nedeff — Reviewed
#billcullen #beattheclock #what’smyline #quizshow #gameshows Media legend Bill Cullen never had a bad day in his life. It’s true that he was afflicted with polio in his youth – a disease that left him with a pronounced limp. It’s true that his first marriage – to a woman his mother chose for him – failed…
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