Note: I read the following eight books (and 2/3 of Tom Sawyer) while on vacation, on my sister's Kindle. It made things so easy. I like the feel of a real book in my hand as much as anyone, but there's no question the portability and long-battery life of the Kindle made it a new traveling essential. My carry-on had so much more room for snacks without the heavy weight of these books!
#18 - Writing Movie for Fun & Profit: How We Made a Billion Dollars at the Box Office and You Can, Too! Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon
This was fun and diverting. For someone who rips through industry books like I do, there was little new concepts in it, but the personal anecdotes were very fun and interesting. The stories about writing "Herbie: Fully Loaded" were especially funny, considering the seriousness the producers had with issues like "make the car smile".
The writers, choosing to focus on the readership of screenwriting books that think you can break through just by being a good writer, gloss over their time making their bones on the State and writing their own comedy - which led directly to opportunities like writing for Ben Stiller movies. This would have been the core of the book if I'd had my druthers.
Reminded me of the Steve Martin joke about how to be a millionaire and never pay taxes: first off, get a million dollars...
#19 - Where's My F*cking Latte (And Other Stories About Being as Assistant in Hollywood) - Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff
A sometimes funny, sometimes sick (over-the-top revenge) and sometimes poignant collection of real life horror stories. Came recommended through Amazon when I bought the above book for the Kindle. Fun read, but lacked a central emotion that tied things together. Even in a collection, a through-line is necessary and I was sometimes caught off-guard by a cold, dark sick tale of an extreme Hollywood producer or agent torturing their employees, coming off of a more laid-back "can you believe this shit?" story.
#20 - Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us About Being Human - Grant Morrison
I've been reading Grant Morrison comics since I got into comics. His run on JLA in the late 1990s is what sucked me in and led to my love of DC comics and discovering other great creators like Mark Waid, Alex Ross, and eventually Alan Moore and Frank Miller.
The wordy title didn't prepare me for the big portion of the book that is devoted to a historical chronicle of the evolution of the super-hero comic as a genre and a cultural idea from the birth of the era with Superman, to the post-modern ultra-violent trends that the author speculates (and I hope) have already passed us by in favor of a new, aware optimism.
In typical Morrison fashion, he gets conceptual and psychological later in the book, especially in regards to his own life. I found it fascinating that he could tie the concept of the super-hero into "remaking" his own life - and not based on his profession. Moreso, he made changes based on the ideals that the genre of super-heroes has cultivated.
Highly recommended for comic fans. And philosophy fans.
#21 - Just Kids - Patti Smith
An honest and touching memoir from Patti Smith about her earliest days in New York City and her first and most important love, Robert Mapplethorpe. While paced along the development of their relationship, from lost strangers to soulmates, Smith also chronicles the changing scene of Warhol's New York into the punk era. Somehow, after all the heat of the emotions and cool of the art scene was absorbed, I realized I'd also read the personal and cultural origin of a distinct American artist. The author has a subtle hand and demonstrates that a storyteller can adapt to any medium; she a visual artist, poet and musician and now, too, author.
#22 - 24 - The Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Cotton candy action fare with really sub-par writing, in my opinion. Both the dialogue and narration from the main character are all heavy handed. Plot twists are telegraphed pages, and sometimes even books, ahead. However, the plot is engaging and I wanted to see how this new telling of the same story of "the one" wrapped up. Also, after Harry Potter, I wanted to experiment with reading a series before the movie, and tried to avoid all knowledge of the adaptation as I read the books. I did know that Jennifer Lawrence was cast as the main character though, and try as I might, I couldn't help but picture her battling it out for survival. Not that that's a bad thing.
#25 - The Jungle Book - Rudyard Kipling
One of the many free classics available on Amazon for the Kindle. I'd never read it before and only have vague memories of ever reading Kipling before; Gunga Din specifically. Also, aside from culturally osmosing "Bear Necessities" and loving "Tale Spin" as a wee lad, I've not seen much of the animated or live-action adaptations. I was pleased to find that this was not just about Mowgli in the jungle, but that there were also stories of seals looking for a safety from humans, army-trained animals resisting their masters and other, shorter stories. I wonder why Disney didn't continue adapting the stories to animation...? Anyway, Kipling lends the creatures epic, royal attitudes and dialogue - Shakespeare for the zoological set. Loved it.
Also, still chipping away at Keith Richard's autobiography (didn't bring it to Greece because the dang hardcover is huge and heavy) and my annual reading of Tom Sawyer, which never ceases to amaze me.
<3
#18 - Writing Movie for Fun & Profit: How We Made a Billion Dollars at the Box Office and You Can, Too! Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon
This was fun and diverting. For someone who rips through industry books like I do, there was little new concepts in it, but the personal anecdotes were very fun and interesting. The stories about writing "Herbie: Fully Loaded" were especially funny, considering the seriousness the producers had with issues like "make the car smile".
The writers, choosing to focus on the readership of screenwriting books that think you can break through just by being a good writer, gloss over their time making their bones on the State and writing their own comedy - which led directly to opportunities like writing for Ben Stiller movies. This would have been the core of the book if I'd had my druthers.
Reminded me of the Steve Martin joke about how to be a millionaire and never pay taxes: first off, get a million dollars...
#19 - Where's My F*cking Latte (And Other Stories About Being as Assistant in Hollywood) - Mark Yoshimoto Nemcoff
A sometimes funny, sometimes sick (over-the-top revenge) and sometimes poignant collection of real life horror stories. Came recommended through Amazon when I bought the above book for the Kindle. Fun read, but lacked a central emotion that tied things together. Even in a collection, a through-line is necessary and I was sometimes caught off-guard by a cold, dark sick tale of an extreme Hollywood producer or agent torturing their employees, coming off of a more laid-back "can you believe this shit?" story.
#20 - Supergods: What Masked Vigilantes, Miraculous Mutants and a Sun God from Smallville Can Teach Us About Being Human - Grant Morrison
I've been reading Grant Morrison comics since I got into comics. His run on JLA in the late 1990s is what sucked me in and led to my love of DC comics and discovering other great creators like Mark Waid, Alex Ross, and eventually Alan Moore and Frank Miller.
The wordy title didn't prepare me for the big portion of the book that is devoted to a historical chronicle of the evolution of the super-hero comic as a genre and a cultural idea from the birth of the era with Superman, to the post-modern ultra-violent trends that the author speculates (and I hope) have already passed us by in favor of a new, aware optimism.
In typical Morrison fashion, he gets conceptual and psychological later in the book, especially in regards to his own life. I found it fascinating that he could tie the concept of the super-hero into "remaking" his own life - and not based on his profession. Moreso, he made changes based on the ideals that the genre of super-heroes has cultivated.
Highly recommended for comic fans. And philosophy fans.
#21 - Just Kids - Patti Smith
An honest and touching memoir from Patti Smith about her earliest days in New York City and her first and most important love, Robert Mapplethorpe. While paced along the development of their relationship, from lost strangers to soulmates, Smith also chronicles the changing scene of Warhol's New York into the punk era. Somehow, after all the heat of the emotions and cool of the art scene was absorbed, I realized I'd also read the personal and cultural origin of a distinct American artist. The author has a subtle hand and demonstrates that a storyteller can adapt to any medium; she a visual artist, poet and musician and now, too, author.
#22 - 24 - The Hunger Games Trilogy - Suzanne Collins
Cotton candy action fare with really sub-par writing, in my opinion. Both the dialogue and narration from the main character are all heavy handed. Plot twists are telegraphed pages, and sometimes even books, ahead. However, the plot is engaging and I wanted to see how this new telling of the same story of "the one" wrapped up. Also, after Harry Potter, I wanted to experiment with reading a series before the movie, and tried to avoid all knowledge of the adaptation as I read the books. I did know that Jennifer Lawrence was cast as the main character though, and try as I might, I couldn't help but picture her battling it out for survival. Not that that's a bad thing.
#25 - The Jungle Book - Rudyard Kipling
One of the many free classics available on Amazon for the Kindle. I'd never read it before and only have vague memories of ever reading Kipling before; Gunga Din specifically. Also, aside from culturally osmosing "Bear Necessities" and loving "Tale Spin" as a wee lad, I've not seen much of the animated or live-action adaptations. I was pleased to find that this was not just about Mowgli in the jungle, but that there were also stories of seals looking for a safety from humans, army-trained animals resisting their masters and other, shorter stories. I wonder why Disney didn't continue adapting the stories to animation...? Anyway, Kipling lends the creatures epic, royal attitudes and dialogue - Shakespeare for the zoological set. Loved it.
Also, still chipping away at Keith Richard's autobiography (didn't bring it to Greece because the dang hardcover is huge and heavy) and my annual reading of Tom Sawyer, which never ceases to amaze me.
<3
