The Power of Movies: How Screen and Mind Interact


Colin McGinn - 2005
    Colin McGinn–“an ingenious philosopher who thinks like a laser and writes like a dream,” according to Steven Pinker–enhances our understanding of both movies and ourselves in this book of rare and refreshing insight.

Platinum Girl: The Life and Legends of Jean Harlow


Eve Golden - 1991
    Born into the pleasant middle-class world of Kansas City, Missouri, in 1911, Harlow (nee Harlean Carpenter) was the daughter of a solid, if dull, dentist, whose wife had unfulfilled aspirations to a career in films. The family was hardly prepared for what came next. Jean became a bride at sixteen, was separated at eighteen, a film goddess at twenty, a wife again at twenty-one, and a widow within a few months of the wedding. Her husband, top MGM executive Paul Bern, committed suicide (it was widely and mistakenly believed) out of despair over impotence.Bern's suicide threatened to plunge Jean Harlow into a scandal that might have ended her career. But, driven by her irresistible sparkle, glamour, and sensuality, the young star's fortunes continued to skyrocket in unforgettable films like Red Dust, Dinner at Eight, Bombshell, Reckless, China Seas, and Libeled Lady as she appeared with the likes of Clark Gable, John and Lionel Barrymore, Mary Astor, Marie Dressler, Wallace Beery, Rosalind Russell, Spencer Tracy, and William Powell.She married a third time in 1933, was divorced a year later, only to become engaged to her sometime costar William Powell. Noting that the extremely well-paid Blonde Bombshell was perpetually on the ragged edge of bankruptcy, Powell hired a private detective to investigate Harlow's stepfather, Marino Bello, who - it turned out - had long been defrauding her. Despite this and the on-again, off-again engagement to Powell, Harlow seemed unstoppable. Then, in the midst of filming Saratoga in 1937, the twenty-six-year-old Platinum Girl succumbed to kidney failure.In this, the first biography of Harlow since Irving Shulman's sensationalistic and often inaccurate 1964 book, Eve Golden explores the woman behind the legends and the scandals. The world evoked here is at once glamorous, nostalgic, poignant, and tragic. Yet, in its way, the brief life of Jean Harlow is a story of success, of a triumphal struggle with Hollywood and the consequences of rapid fame. Golden's deeply researched narrative is lavishly illustrated with rare film stills, posters, and exclusive photographs from family archives. Harlow emerges not as an oversexed mannequin, but as a vulnerable, hard-working, and tremendously likable woman who molded herself into a remarkable actress. This is an important book about one of Hollywood's most extraordinary personalities.

A Fortunate Life


Robert Vaughn - 2008
    His family worked in the theater for generations, and he knew from the very start that he would join them.  In his fifty-year career, Vaughn has made his mark in roles on stage, in film, and on television the world over. In A Fortunate Life, he describes some of the one-of-a-kind experiences he’s enjoyed in his celebrated career.             A Fortunate Life reveals the details of his early years in Hollywood, when he found himself appearing as often in the gossip magazines as on screen, and he recounts insider stories about such legendary figures as Judy Garland, Bette Davis, Charlton Heston, Oliver Reed, Jason Robards, Richard Harris, Yul Brynner, Elizabeth Taylor, and many more. Vaughn’s work in The Young Philadelphians, The Magnificent Seven, Superman III, and many other films won kudos from critics and peers alike. Worldwide recognition came when he starred in the smash hit series The Man from U.N.C.L.E., and he vividly describes the extraordinary experience of becoming, quite suddenly, one of the world’s brightest stars.             Vaughn warmly recalls his romances with stars like Natalie Wood and his adventures with friends like Steve McQueen and James Coburn, but equally important was his involvement in the politics of the 1960s. The first actor to publicly speak out against the war in Vietnam, he served as national chairman of Dissenting Democrats, the largest antiwar organization in the U.S. He gave hundreds of speeches denouncing the war, debated William F. Buckley on national TV, and helped persuade his friend Robert F. Kennedy to run for president in 1968---only to see the race end in tragedy.           With a wealth of moving, wonderfully entertaining and often jaw-dropping stories from the worlds of acting and politics, A Fortunate Life is a must-read for fans of Robert Vaughn and anyone who wants a glimpse behind the scenes of classic Hollywood.

Shepperton Babylon


Matthew Sweet - 2006
    Here you'll meet, among many others, the 20s film idols snorting cocaine from an illuminated glass dance floor on the bank of the Thames, the model who escaped Soho's gangsters to become the queen of the nudie flicks and the genteel Scottish comedienne who, at the age of fifty-five, reinvented herself as a star of exploitation cinema, and fondly remembers 'the one where I drilled in people's heads and ate their brains'. Welcome to the lost worlds of British cinema.

Scarlett O'Hara's Younger Sister


Evelyn Keyes - 1977
    She left her 1st husband and he committed suicide and she never left another man. She made them leave her. Men and women love this story she knew how to walk the walk and talk the talk.

Seduced by Mrs. Robinson: How "The Graduate" Became the Touchstone of a Generation


Beverly Gray - 2017
    . . The book as a whole offers a fascinating look at how this movie tells a timeless story.” —The Washington PostMrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me. Aren’t you? When The Graduate premiered in December 1967, its filmmakers had only modest expectations for what seemed to be a small, sexy art-house comedy adapted from an obscure first novel by an eccentric twenty-four-year-old. There was little indication that this offbeat story—a young man just out of college has an affair with one of his parents’ friends and then runs off with her daughter—would turn out to be a monster hit, with an extended run in theaters and seven Academy Award nominations. The film catapulted an unknown actor, Dustin Hoffman, to stardom with a role that is now permanently engraved in our collective memory. While turning the word plastics into shorthand for soulless work and a corporate, consumer culture, The Graduate sparked a national debate about what was starting to be called “the generation gap.” Now, in time for this iconic film’s fiftieth birthday, author Beverly Gray offers up a smart close reading of the film itself as well as vivid, never-before-revealed details from behind the scenes of the production—including all the drama and decision-making of the cast and crew. For movie buffs and pop culture fanatics, Seduced by Mrs. Robinson brings to light The Graduate’s huge influence on the future of filmmaking. And it explores how this unconventional movie rocked the late-sixties world, both reflecting and changing the era’s views of sex, work, and marriage.

I Love Lucy Book


Bart Andrews - 1985
    In answer to countless requests from I Love Lucy fans around the world, Bart Andrews has revised, updated, and expanded his classic book on TV's most beloved series.B & W photographs throughout.

Born to Be Hurt: The Untold Story of Imitation of Life


Sam Staggs - 2009
    In a passionate and witty behind-the-scenes expose, the author of 'All About All About Eve' takes on the classic 1959 Douglas Sirk film, Born To Be Hurt, starring Lana Turner.

Operation Maya: The future of warfare is here (New Technologies - Good, Bad or Ugly ? Book 1)


Girish V. - 2019
    Find answers to &nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp* Why superpowers like India would not use nuclear weapons (and what WOULD they use) ?&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp* What are Psyber weapons (Psyber is not a spelling mistake. It's very different from Cyber) ?&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp* How can deep mistrust be created between a nation's government and its citizens ?&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp* How easily can we be manipulated by people with a sinister motive ?&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp* How social media can be used as a very powerful weapon against you ?&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp* How can humans be turned against humans by using elements of mass psychology ?&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp&nbsp* How do we protect ourselves as a nation ?Who or what are psychological-cyber warriors ? Are they the difference between a victory and a defeat ? The stunning fiction thriller is an attempt to highlight the chilling possibilities and eventualities of war in the modern, super-connected and technology driven world.The dawn of a terrifying age of Psyber (Psychological-Cyber) warfare where our own devices and institutions could be turned against us. A serial entrepreneur, hacker and AI researcher, Girish, presents a remarkable new-age warfare strategy in the form of a thrilling science fiction novel. The science presented in this book is backed by hard facts that were uncovered during his long years of research. The weapons described in the book exist today. It is just a question of "When" and not "How" the war would be fought with these extremely dangerous weapons. Operation Maya is a BESTSELLER now on Amazon. Grab your copy now before the SPECIAL PROMO PRICE ends.Enjoy a super-thrilling ride by clicking the BUY NOW button at the top of this page! This book is part of a science fiction series showing the good and bad aspects of today's technology.The next book in this series is a heartwarming story about a little girl and the positive side of technology. You can see a sneak preview at https://www.amazon.in/dp/B081Z2ZGSY. Please don't forget to give your review on Amazon. Your thoughts matter to me a lot. Visit my page at facebook.com/girishauthor/ and follow it for sneak previews of the upcoming books. Let's enjoy the journey together :-)

Woody Allen: A Biography


John Baxter - 1998
    It also explores the real Woody Allen, the critically acclaimed filmmaker from the Upper East Side, and his amusing movie persona of a neurotic and lovable loser.Shrewdly and effectively deconstructing Woody, John Baxter's biography illuminates Allen's preoccupation with sex and mortality, his personal quirks and obsessions, his manipulation of celebrity, and his cinematic achievement as chronicler and court jester of Manhattan's intellectual elite."A splendidly written, exhaustive account and a major achievement" - The Observer"Astute and highly entertaining biography" - Daily Telegraph"A bracing corrective to the usual po-faced, sycophantic studies of the cult of Woody" - Mail on Sunday"Full of interesting information for cinema enthusiasts" - The Spectator"The saga [of Woody and Mia] makes compulsive reading" - The Guardian

I'll Cry Tomorrow


Lillian Roth - 1954
    

The Whole Truth and Nothing But


Hedda Hopper - 1962
    Although she made her name as a star of the silent screen, she found her calling as a gossip columnist, where she had the ear of the most powerful force in show business: the public. With a readership of 20,000,000 people, Hopper turned nobodies into stars, and brought stars to their knees. And in this sensational memoir, she tells all. In her career, Hopper crossed some of Hollywood’s biggest bold-faced names, from Joan Crawford and Bette Davis to Charlie Chaplin and Katherine Hepburn, and her feud with rival gossip columnist Louella Parsons became the stuff of legend. In The Whole Truth and Nothing But, we get Hedda’s side of the story—and what a story it is. Hedda Hopper is portrayed by Judy Davis in the Ryan Murphy TV series Feud.

James Dean: The Biography


Val Holley - 1995
    Author Val Holley delves into Dean's early life and training on stage and in television using research that is astounding in its detail and frequently lets his sources speak in their own voices.

A Home on the Rolling Main: A Naval Memoir 1940-1946


Tony Ditcham - 2013
    

Operation Dragon Strike: An Asian Covert Ops Spy Thriller (Armaan Ahmed Book 2)


Rahul Badami - 2019
    I was on my toes towards the final chapters." - Mrutyunjaya J"Puts you on the edge of your seat with mind blowing action sequences" - Ruchika M"Just thought to read a chapter. Honestly I didn't leave a single word until it was finished. In fact every chapter has a new suspense waiting to be unfolded." - Dipesh B"Finished reading it at 4 a.m." - Deepak A"Wow.. what a book. Thrilling from the beginning till the end." - Amazon Customer ___________________________________When the Aadhaar database containing the biometric and financial details of 1.2 Billion Indians is hacked in a ransomware attack, everyone is stunned by the audacity of the crime.Who could have done this? Why? And how?The cyber-terrorists soon send a message. They demand One Billion dollars to unlock the encrypted database. If the demands are not met, the database will be wiped out in seventy-two hours.With the ransom deadline ticking down, the Prime Minister sends a Covert Ops team to China to trace the culprits. But when the team reaches China, they find something shocking.From the rugged mountains of Iran to the teeming crowds of Istanbul to an underwater cat-and-mouse chase below the Straits of Malacca, Operation Dragon Strike is a gripping, breakneck adventure that will leave action thriller fans gasping for breath.Please scroll up and grab your copy now or continue reading below.Armaan slammed on the brakes. The jeep screeched to a stop in front the truck. Nitin leapt out on the move. Armaan flung the jeep door open and flipped off the safety switch of his Glock 17 handgun. The cold steel felt good in his palm. His trigger finger stroked familiar metal. He had been itching for revenge since the moment the terrorists had shot him. Nitin raced to the now stationary truck cockpit. He took in one glance and turned to Armaan."The driver's dead."Armaan swore. These terrorists were goners. He ignored the throbbing in his wounded shoulder and crouched behind the chassis of the truck. The terrorists would be going after the rest of the trucks. He had to stop them. The sound of the terrorists' van increased as it came alongside the truck.Now!Armaan rose out of his hiding place as the van came into view. He kept his hand outstretched and pointed his Glock square at the terrorist driving the van and squeezed the trigger twice. He watched the van driver jerk back as he got hit in the chest, and then slumped down the seat, dead.The van rolled past the truck and came to a stop twenty metres ahead. He had stopped the terrorists from attacking the convoy. But now he faced a serious threat.Armaan watched the masked terrorists barge out of the van, their machine guns glinting under the hot sun. He had just made his day worse. With the van stopping ahead of his position, the truck no longer offered him protection. He was completely exposed. There were six of them, all getting their AK-47s ready to pump him full of lead.Armaan was a split-second away from death...Please scroll up and grab your copy now.