Kirjahaku

From across the spectrum of the arts—theater to music, painting to poetry, and everything in between—men and women from the creative front lines share their experiences and insights on the often harsh realities of a life in the arts. Artists on the Art of Survival examines the lives of artists as some continue to struggle to find their place, others have managed to carve out a niche for themselves, and still others have, for a variety of reasons, moved on to something else. By exploring each of these paths of development, the book provides valuable, practical, and spiritual lessons in maintaining and surviving as a working artist.

"Examines the evolution of the thriller from the heyday of the Hollywood mogul era in the 1930s when it was primarily bottom-of-the-bill fodder, through its maturity in the World War II years and the noir-breeding 1950s, its commercial and critical ascendancy in the 1960s and 1970s, and finally its subsequent box office dominance"--Provided by publisher.

There are two ages in the history of television: before HBO and after HBO. Before the launch of Home Box Office in 1972, the industry had changed little since the birth of broadcast network television in the late 1940s. The arrival of the premium cable channel began a revolution in the business and programming of TV. For the generation that has grown up with the vast array of viewing choices available today, it is almost inconceivable that our ever-expanding media universe began with a few hours of unimpressive programming on a single cable channel. Written by an insider, this is the story of HBO's reconfiguration of television and the company's continual reinvention of itself in a competitive and dynamic industry.

At his peak, from the late 1960s through the early 1970s, Sam Peckinpah was hailed as one of the new masters of the Western film, while simultaneously becoming one of the most controversial American directors of the era. In a time of great social turmoil, Peckinpah's on-screen orchestration of physical and emotional violence drew adamant praise for what some considered fearless realism and vehement criticism for what others called tasteless gore and brutal misogyny. Debate over the violence and sexual themes of Peckinpah's films often eclipsed aesthetic appreciation of his work. A favorite target of 1970s feminist critics, feminist social debate, combined with the director's own combative persona usually prevented reasoned evaluation of his films. A prevalent auteurist view did not recognize how Peckinpah was subject to the whims and character of an industry in which he rarely navigated successfully. While the passage of time has muted the initial shock value of his filmed violence, no similar reappraisal has ever dealt with those initial misperceptions of misogyny, and looked to reevaluate his on-screen treatment of women. Peckinpah's Women examines the confluence of factors that worked with, and often against, Peckinpah's cinematic voice to divine a recurring positive theme regarding women in those films that form the heart of his body of work: his period Westerns.

A couple of generations ago, the movie industry ran on gut instinct--film schools, audience research departments and seminars on screenwriting were not yet de rigueur. Today the standard is the analytical approach, intended to demystify filmmaking and guarantee success (or at least minimize failure). The trouble with this method is that nobody knows how to do it--they just think they do--and films are made based on models of predictability rather than the merits of the script. This insider's look at the craft and business of screenwriting explodes some of the popular myths, demonstrating how little relevance the rules have to actual filmmaking. With long experience in film and television, the author provides insightful how-not-to analyses, with commentary by such veterans as Josh Sapan (CEO of AMC Networks), bestselling author Adriana Trigiani and Oscar-nominated screenwriter Nicholas Pileggi (Goodfellas).

One of the most controversial films of its time, The Wild Bunch is the epitome of the no-holds-barred filmmaking of the 1960s and 1970s. Since its 1969 release, it has come to be recognized not only as an iconic Western, but as one of the most important films in the American cinematic canon. Over the years a parade of filmmakers have tried to imitate its gut-punch effects but none have equaled it. The Wild Bunch revived the floundering career of volatile, self-destructive director Sam Peckinpah--it also hung on him the label "Bloody Sam." This book tells the complete story of the film's production, reception and legacy.

Big Hug is a beautifully told story for children everywhere. It’s Li’l Fox’s first day of daycare and she is scared. New place. New friends. New worries. After her mom wraps her in a big hug and leaves her to go to work, Li’l Fox seeks comfort from her new classmates through friendly hugs. But after she is rejected on multiple accounts, Li’l Fox must learn that if she wants to make a new friend she must first remember to be brave.

Award-winning novelist, screenwriter and playwright Bill Mesce, Jr. turns, for the first time, to short fiction in a gallery of pieces ranging from the familiar (an encounter at a winter-whipped commuter bus stop in “North”) to the arcane (a lost cavalry patrol in the Civil War-set “Precis”); the sweet (a hopeful tete a tete at Parisian café in “Ad Vivum”) to the bittersweet (a drifter marking time between busses in “Ante Meridiem”); the intimate (an altar boy’s private rebellion in “Crusade”) to the epic (the Vietnam War novella, “Diamond Red”. Mesce's stunning first collection of short fiction grafts sharp images onto a landscape filled with compelling characters, characters who laugh and love and ache. His stories carry and a sense of immediacy, the truth of experience.

A town that, on a regular day, doesn't provide Police Chief Clyde Thomas and his hapless deputy, Patrol Officer Billy Ray Barnes, with a great deal to do. But it is not a regular day when the local preacher decides to go on a very unholy mission...... And that makes it to the front page of the local newspaper, sending the tongues around the town wagging...... And a national newspaper sends a reporter, Rita Scott, who, on learning that the charred remains of a body have been found, decides to hang around and dig a bit deeper...... And the minister's wife hasn't been seen for a while, and an elderly resident of a care home has gone AWOL.... And there's a gang of hell-raising bikers, wreaking havoc on the local highways.Clyde knows something's up with the preacher but is stumped as to what and why. As he tries to put the pieces together, he knows it's a race against time to prevent something terrible from happening...With colorful characters, this not-so-much-a-whodunnit-than-a-whydunnit story offers hilarity and philosophy in equal measure. A page-turner from the first page to the nail-biting ending.

Dante DiMarchese is a well-regarded forensic psychologist and the man responsible for putting the Bailey Beach serial killer behind bars. When a soldier home from a tour in Afghanistan is charged with manslaughter, Dante is immediately called on to help. Dante's focus is tested when he starts receiving threats from the Bailey Beach Killer who is threating to destroy Dante's life and an ex-brother-in-law who pulls Dante into the middle of a family dispute over an inheritance from a still-living father.Set in the heart of New York, can Dante unravel the legacies and lies that others have left behind? Can he contain his own deceptions?

From the first to the last page, Bill Mesce, Jr.'s Tides is compelling, polished, and highly readable. the characters are genuine - real people doing real things: a young white guy whose mother is dating a black man; cops in a squad car out on a dog call and the dogs are starving and fierce; an apostate ghost-writing a paranormal book for the wealthy parents of a young suicide. Tides is a brilliant collection of short fiction and personal essays, but the essays are stories as well, with living characters and natural dialogue and fascinating storylines, even the very short ones. You will regret that it's over; you want to keep on reading. - Thomas E Kennedy, author of Copenhagen Quartet