Schulz has been cartooning for an astonishing 50 years (the "Peanuts" strip itself debuted October 2, 1950, but he drew an earlier incarnation called "Li'l Folks" before that). Peanuts: A Golden Celebration is a remarkable collection of strips spanning that time period. Readers get to see the first appearance of Linus, Marcy, Pigpen, and Woodstock, and even the momentous first time Lucy holds a football for Charlie Brown to kick. Schulz comments on the cartoons and his inspirations via notes in the margin, ranging from boyhood stories about his father (a barber, just like Charlie Brown's) to an account of the time the narcolepsy experts at Stanford University expressed concerns over Peppermint Patty's constant sleeping in class. One of the most interesting inclusions is that of several letters of complaint, ranging from readers whose religious sensibilities have been offended to a 1969 missive from Schulz's own syndicate asking him not to depict Franklin in the same school as the white students anymore. Naturally, the much-loved "Peanuts" holiday specials are covered, as is the musical adaptation You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown, but it's the strips that really make the book. Readers can follow the evolution of Schulz's drawing style--deliberately less realistic as the years went on--and even check out a few panels drawn by Schulz's own cartooning heroes. This is a terrific compilation that serves well both as a chronicle of popular culture and as just a really funny collection of comic strips. Don't wait for the Great Pumpkin to bring you one. --Ali Davis

    It's recognition factor rivals, in its own perverse way, the familiarity of Santa Claus. Most of us can recite without prompting the salient characteristics of the vampire: sleeping by day in its coffin, rising at dusk to feed on the blood of the living; the ability to shapeshift into a bat, wolf, or mist; a mortal vulnerability to a wooden stake through the heart or a shaft of sunlight. In this critically acclaimed excursion through the life of a cultural icon, David Skal maps out the archetypal vampire's relentless trajectory from Victorian literary oddity to movie idol to cultural commidity, digging through the populist veneer to reveal what the prince of darkness says about us all.

    Bela Lugosi and Boris Karloff starred in dozens of black-and-white horror films, and over the years managed to collaborate on and co-star in eight movies. Through dozens of interviews and extensive archival research, this greatly expanded new edition examines the Golden Age of Hollywood, the era in which both stars worked, recreates the shooting of Lugosi and Karloff's mutual films, examines their odd and moving personal relationship and analyzes their ongoing legacies. Features include a fully detailed filmography of the eight Karloff and Lugosi films, full summaries of both men's careers and more than 250 photographs, some in color.

    A stylebook of fashions complete with all accessories. 2006 values.

    This splendid volume gives the inside account of Bugs' creation, through his early stages of development, and into his prime. The saga of his life is shown via stop-action scenes, brilliant cels, and film-frame art. 400 illustrations, most in full color.

    Here are the actual dictation tapes of FBI Agent Cooper, Chief Investigator of the Laura Palmer murder, plus never-before-heard tapes.

    One good story leads to another until someone says, Somebody ought to wrie these down! With Jazz Anecdotes, somebody finally has. Drawing on a rich verbal tradition, bassist and jazz writer Bill Crow has culled stories from a wide variety of sources, including interviews, biographies and a remarkable oral history collection, which resides at the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University, to paint fascinating and very human portraits of jazz musicians. Organized around general topics--teaching and learning, life on the road, prejudice and discrimination, and the importance of a good nickname--Jazz Anecdotes shows the jazz world as it really is. In this fully updated edition, which contains over 150 new anecdotes and new topics like Hiring and Firing, Crow regales us with new stories of such jazz greats as Benny Goodman, Chet Baker, Ravi Coltrane, Buddy Rich and Paul Desmond. He offers extended sections on old favorites--Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Coleman Hawkins and Lester Young, and the fabulous Eddie Condon, who seems to have lived his entire life with the anecdotist in mind. With its unique blend of sparkling dialogue and historical and social insight, Jazz Anecdotes will delight anyone who loves a good story. It offers a fresh perspective on the joys and hardships of a musician's life as well as a rare glimpse of the personalities who created America's most distinctive music.

    Alphabetically arranged, this humorous compilation of bad taste and mediocrity covers topics as diverse as fashion, music, people, places, food, furniture, automobiles, and more.

    Gleason Music Book Award, explores with precision and sensitivity Berlin's long, prolific career; his self-doubt and late-blooming misanthropy; and the tyrannical control he exerted over his legacy of song. From his immigrant beginnings through Tin Pan Alley, Broadway, and Hollywood to his reclusive and bitter final years, this definitive biography reveals the man who wrote 1500 songs but could never quash the fear that, for all his success, he wasn't quite good enough.

    While examining Warhol's personality, struggles, and achievements, this book presents its subject with a clarity that is both unsparing and compassionate, disillusioned and inspired. Holy Terror invites readers to revisit the sex, drugs, parties, discos, and New York art scene that dominated the 1970s and 1980s. Colacello's memoir is an acutely perceived portrait of the artist who radicalized the ways in which society views art.

    The Encyclopedia of Monsters is a complete guide to more than 1,000 beasts, specters, werewolves, and other monsters that have chilled the popular imagination -- from the Bible's Leviathan to Hollywood's Alien.

    Used his Notoriety to become the host of "Drive-In Theatre" on The Movie Channel, one of the highest rated shows on cable TV. Been kicked out of the "Babtist" Church for the general overall condition of his soul. Preached the drive-in gospel in theaters coast-to-coast, including the Berea, Ohio, High School Auditorium. Increased the price of this book by two dollars over what he charged for the original "Joe Bob Goes to the Drive-In" (four ex-wives).

    This fascinating reference includes 425 explanations.

    Sid Avery's beautifully composed black-and-white photographs, taken during his shooting sessions for the Saturday Evening Post, together with an engrossing text, provide a unique behind-the-scenes look at Hollywood of the '50s and '60s. There are photos taken at celebrity homes capturing relaxed moments with friends and family; on the set during shooting breaks; and during leisurely pastimes. All reveal another side to such Hollywood legends as Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Rock Hudson, Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Dean Martin, Marlon Brando, Elizabeth Taylor, Red Skelton, James Dean, Steve McQueen, Audrey Hepburn, Debbie Reynolds, and many others. A real treasure for film and photography lovers. 10" x 11 1/4".

    McCammon, Dean R. Koontz and many others.

    Over 100 entries have been added to this revised edition of the book that chronicles the fate of artists with just a single Billboard Top 40 hit to their credit.