Kirjahaku

Living in Los Angeles, a few million strangers have one thing in common: they want to make it in the entertainment business. From actors to indie film types, from rock & rollers to models -- they can all be found in L.A. pursuing their dreams, working their day jobs and rallying behind the cry of "I deserve to be famous, dammit "With equal parts humor and empathy, Neal A. Yeager tells the story of four of these souls: Sarah is a fantastic actress who, after 37 Hollywood auditions, hasn't landed even a small role. While absolutely killing it in those auditions and in acting classes, Sarah can't help but wonder if -- here in the land of glitter and beautiful people -- what is really holding her back from winning the acting jobs is the fact that she doesn't look like a model.Icon is a shy but brilliant independent filmmaker with a vision. She does the film school thing during the day, works on her own independent film projects in her free time and habitually pops antacids while wrestling the doubts and insecurities of a highly intelligent creative person.Terrance has, for all of his life, been told that he looks like a movie star. He always thought that he knew how to become an actor and by all accounts he has what it takes to be the Next Big Thing. Through years of struggling with odd jobs and family members both supportive and skeptical, he looks to land that role that will make him the movie star that everyone says he should be.And Sean? Well, Sean is a musician who knows that it's all in who you know...A novel for the fans of the underdog, non-Hollywood takes the reader through the life of those struggling on the outside and on the fringes of show business.Those who appreciate the humorous and bittersweet work of Nick Hornby should definitely enjoy what non-Hollywood has to offer.

Can music save the world? Probably not. But that doesn't stop this group of protest songwriters from trying Kim, an intelligent and introspective young musician and songwriter, feels increasingly alone and frustrated in her small, conservative Midwestern hometown. So she makes the move to a place she hopes will be a more liberating locale... a college town.There she hopes to find kindred souls: like-minded thinkers and fellow musicians who might join her in writing socially conscious songs for our divisive times. And find a few she does, though not exactly the folks that she had expected...First there's Jenny, a brash, outspoken young punk guitarist with a fondness for confrontation and the F word, who has great beginnings to several potentially great songs (she just has trouble finishing them). Then there's Nathaniel, a waiter at a vegetarian restaurant and a writer of beautiful poetry who has never actually written a song before.This trio forms the heart of this Political Music Club, but others come trickling in later as their tiny movement begins to grow (and also begins to attract the attention of some folks who are definitely not of the same mindset).Using a unique blend of song lyrics, political debate and humor, the novel Political Music Club tells the story of 3 individual voices trying to make a change in a very big world.And amidst all the noise and distraction in the runup to a very divisive election, this book of will be music to your ears

What is the path to enlightenment? Biblical characters used to roam the desert for 40 days and 40 nights. Nietzsche's Zarathustra lived in a cave. Buddha shed all of his possessions. But how in the world could this be achieved now, in a time when deserts have sprouted into cities, caves are all in national parks and any child who can walk carries a cell phone?In The 33rd Year, Neal A. Yeager paints a picture of one man's difficult and unique philosophical quest--its rewards and its costs. This is a book about the search for... something.