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Stolen into Slavery: The True Story of Solomon Northup, Free Black Man
by Dennis Brindel Frandin Judith Bloom FradinSolomon Northup awoke in the middle of the night with his body trembling. Slowly, he realized that he was handcuffed in a dark room and his feet were chained to the floor. He managed to slip his hand into his pocket to look for his free papers that proved he was one of 400,000 free blacks in a nation where 2.5 million other African Americans were slaves. They were gone. This remarkable story follows Northup through his 12 years of bondage as a man kidnapped into slavery, enduring the hardships of slave life in Louisiana. But the tale also has a remarkable ending. Northup is rescued from his master's cotton plantation in the deep South by friends in New York. This is a compelling tale that looks into a little known slice of history, sure to rivet young readers and adults alike.From the Hardcover edition.
Stolen Images
by Bertrand Tavernier Catherine Temerson Raoul PeckAmong today's leading filmmakers, none brings to the screen such a deep awareness of how power is channeled from First to Third World societies, or exhibits such great human sensitivity, as Raoul Peck. Collected here for the first time are Peck's three early feature and documentary screenplays as well as his seminal film Lumumba. In this collection of screenplays are Raoul Peck's award-winning pair of films that cemented the director's place in the internationalist cinema canon--the documentary Lumumba: Death of Prophet and the 2000 feature film Lumumba--about the life and assassination of Republic of Congo Prime Minister Patrice Lumumba. Also included are Raoul Peck's first feature, Haitian Corner--set during the last, violent breaths of Haiti's Duvalier regime--which asserted a Haitian Creole identity in Brooklyn in the 1980s, and The Man by the Shore, the first Haitian film ever to be screened in theaters in the United States and the first Caribbean film ever entered into competition at the Cannes Film Festival. Each film presented includes introductions by the author, production stills, storyboards, and poster art.
Stolen Glimpses, Captive Shadows: Writing on Film, 2002-2012
by Geoffrey O'Brien"We watch what is moving fast from a platform that is also moving fast," writes Geoffrey O'Brien in the beginning of Stolen Glimpses, Captive Shadows. This collection-gathering the best of a decade's worth of writing on film by one of our most bracing and imaginative critics-ranges freely over the past, present, and future of the movies, from the primal visual poetry of the silent era to the dizzying permutations of the merging digital age.Here are 38 searching essays on contemporary blockbusters like Spider-Man and Minority Report; recent innovative triumphs like The Tree of Life and Beasts of the Southern Wild; and the intricacies of genre mythmaking from Chinese martial arts films to the horror classics of Val Lewton. O'Brien probes the visionary art of classic filmmakers-von Sternberg, Fod, Cocteau, Kurosawa, Godard-and the implications of such diverse recent work as Farenheit 9/11, The Passion of Christ, and The Sopranos. Each of these pieces is alert to the always-surprising intersections between screen life and real life, and the way that film from the beginning has shaped our sense of memory and history.
Stitches
by Glen HuserTravis has been waiting to get to junior high. When that time finally comes, things are both better, and worse, than he had hoped. On the plus side are two great new teachers. On the minus side there's Shon Docker, Travis's old tormenter from elementary school. Travis lives in a trailer park outside a small prairie town. His mother, a country-and-western singer, is on the road a lot; his father is long gone. When things get crazy at his house, he can always visit his best friend, Chantelle, a smart disabled girl with several wild biker brothers. Travis knows he's different. He loves to sew and play with puppets. He wants to become a professional puppeteer. It all makes him a target for Shon and his friends. As Travis and his friends happily prepare a puppet production of A Midsummer Night's Dream for the school graduation festivities, Shon's anger and prejudice erupt in violence.
Stirring the Pot
by Jenny MccarthyThe View host and New York Times bestselling author Jenny McCarthy is like your favorite friend: honest, open, and oh-so-funny. She also speaks her mind and says what the rest of us are thinking, a characteristic that has won her millions of fans no matter how much she "stirs the pot." Combining the secrets of her hard-won wisdom, witty observations, revealing notes to herself (including ridiculously wishful wish lists), and tales of both her best and most embarrassing moments, Stirring the Pot is McCarthy's recipe for getting what you want out of life. From her wacky experiences in show business to her screwball forays into healing "therapies," from her frontline reporting of single motherhood in midlife to a goofy attempt to reclaim her last name from Joe McCarthy, here are outrageous musings from the roller coaster life of everyone's favorite professional blonde. With a winning mix of storytelling, sisterly advice, sex appeal, and self-deprecation, Stirring the Pot shows us how a pinch of conviction (aka hardheadedness), a dollop of flexibility (being okay with Plan B or even C), and endless faith (in yourself, in your wildest fantasies, and in the general goodness of others) can mix to create the life of your dreams.
Still Standing: The Savage Years
by Paul O'GradyTHE SUNDAY TIMES BESTSELLER'Funny, forthright and sharp as a knife . . . O'Grady writes just as he speaks.' Daily MirrorLilian Maeve Veronica Savage, international sex kitten, was born on the steps of The Legs of Man public house, Lime Street, Liverpool on a policeman's overcoat. Her mother, the lady wrestler Hell Cat Savage, had no such luxuries as gas and air. She just bit down on the policeman's torch and recovered afterwards at the bar with a large pale ale...Paul O'Grady shot to fame via his brilliant comic creation, the blonde bombsite Lily Savage. In the first two parts of his bestselling and critically acclaimed autobiography, Paul took us through his childhood in Birkenhead to his first, teetering steps on stage. Now, in Still Standing, for the first time, he brings us the no-holds-barred true story of Lily and the rocky road to stardom...Paul pulls no punches in this tale of bar room brawls, drunken escapades and liaisons dangereuses. And that's just backstage at the Panto... Along the way, we stop off at some extremely dodgy pubs and clubs, and meet a collection of exotic characters who made the world a louder, brighter and more hilarious place. From the chaos of the Toxteth riots and the Vauxhall Tavern police raid, to the mystery of who shot Skippy and the great chip pan fire of Victoria Mansions, Paul emerges shaken but not stirred.Still Standing will make you laugh and make you cry. Some of the stories might even make your hair curl. But it stands as a glorious tribute to absent friends and to a world which has now all but vanished.Readers love Still Standing:'Paul makes you feel like he's chatting to you as a friend. The stories are bold, honest, sometimes hilarious, sometimes very sad.' *****'This had my crying, nervous and laughing out loud. I would expect nothing less from the fabulously honest Paul O'Grady.' *****'He writes as he speaks, entirely from the heart . . . with his usual warmth, care, concern and honesty, a brilliant read.' *****
Still Reigning: Thoughts of a Queen
by The Queen [of Twitter @queen_uk]“The Queen’s fake tweets perfectly sum up British humour . . . on a rather glorious spoof twitter account” (Culture Trip). She may not know firsthand the challenges of sitting atop the British throne for more than sixty years, but @Queen_UK has learned that ruling the Twitterverse is not for the faint of heart—or wit. Despite it all, she’s still in charge, still iconic, and still keeping the gin industry in business. Still reigning. In this uproarious collection of musings from a matriarch, the Queen [of Twitter] shares some unvarnished opinions about her subjects and the rest of the civilized world. Of her adoring public across the pond in America, she notes, “One thinks of them as a mother thinks of a teenage boy: with a mixture of pride and exasperation.” Witty and insightful, Still Reigning is a glimpse inside the mind of Britain’s pop monarch. Praise for The Queen [of Twitter]’s Gin O’Clock “Easily one of the funniest fictional Twitter accounts.” —Style & Then Some “It’s the sort of book to leave beside the loo, a jokey compilation you can dip in and out of—though I will be reading it from cover to cover, grinning from ear to ear because of its sharp, quick-witted and always apt sending-up of people with a public life.” —Foodepedia “Our favourite tweeter is publishing her diary. Here’s The Queen [of Twitter]’s guide to festive etiquette.” —Marie Claire “Witty and irreverent peeks at the innermost thoughts of the Royal Family.” —Choice
Still Open All Hours: The Story of a Classic Comedy
by Graham McCannFrom its first episode in 1973, Open All Hours was an instant hit. Audiences around Britain loved its familiar setting, good natured humour, and the hilarious partnership of Ronnie Barker and David Jason. Whilst it only ran for 26 episodes, it firmly cemented itself as a British comedy classic.To celebrate the 40th anniversary of the show in 2014, the BBC revived it for a one-off Christmas Special. Still Open All Hours was swamped by a tsunami of audience affection and the BBC promptly commissioned a full series. The first episode of the fifth series is expected to air in late 2014.With recollections from David Jason, his fellow cast members, and from the scriptwriter Roy Clarke, plus never before seen BBC archive material, acclaimed popular TV historian Graham McCann tells the inside story of this very British sitcom, with wit, insight and affection.
Still Moving: Between Cinema and Photography
by Karen Beckman Jean Ma eds.In Still Moving noted artists, filmmakers, art historians, and film scholars explore the boundary between cinema and photography. The interconnectedness of the two media has emerged as a critical concern for scholars in the field of cinema studies responding to new media technologies, and for those in the field of art history confronting the ubiquity of film, video, and the projected image in contemporary art practice. Engaging still, moving, and ambiguous images from a wide range of geographical spaces and historical moments, the contributors to this volume address issues of indexicality, medium specificity, and hybridity as they examine how cinema and photography have developed and defined themselves through and against one another. Foregrounding the productive tension between stasis and motion, two terms inherent to cinema and to photography, the contributors trace the shifting contours of the encounter between still and moving images across the realms of narrative and avant-garde film, photography, and installation art. Still Moving suggests that art historians and film scholars must rethink their disciplinary objects and boundaries, and that the question of medium specificity is a necessarily interdisciplinary question. From a variety of perspectives, the contributors take up that challenge, offering new ways to think about what contemporary visual practice is and what it will become. Contributors: George Baker, Rebecca Baron, Karen Beckman, Raymond Bellour, Zoe Beloff,Timothy Corrigan, Nancy Davenport, Atom Egoyan, Rita Gonzalez, Tom Gunning, Louis Kaplan, Jean Ma, Janet Sarbanes, Juan A. Surez
Still Life in Real Time: Theory After Television
by Richard DienstTelevision can be imagined in a number of ways: as a profuse flow of images, as a machine that produces new social relationships, as the last lingering gasp of Western metaphysical thinking, as a stuttering relay system of almost anonymous messages, as a fantastic construction of time. Richard Dienst engages each of these possibilities as he explores the challenge television has posed for contemporary theories of culture, technology, and media.Five theoretical projects provide Still Life in Real Time with its framework: the cultural studies tradition of Raymond Williams; Marxist political economy; Heideggerian existentialism; Derridean deconstruction; and a Deleuzian anatomy of images. Drawing lessons from television programs like Twin Peaks and Crime Story, television events like the Gulf War, and television personalities like Madonna, Dienst produces a remarkable range of insights on the character of the medium and on the theories that have been affected by it.From the earliest theorists who viewed television as a new metaphor for a global whole, a liberal technology empty of ideological or any other content, through those who saw it as a tool for consumption, making time a commodity, to those who sense television's threat to being and its intimate relation to power, Dienst exposes the rich pattern of television's influence on philosophy, and hence on the deepest levels of contemporary experience.A book of theory, Still Life in Real Time will compel the attention of all those with an interest in the nature of the ever present, ever shifting medium and its role in the thinking that marks our time.
Still Just a Geek: An Annotated Memoir
by Wil WheatonA New York Times bestseller!Celebrated actor, personality, and all-around nerd, Wil Wheaton updates his memoir of collected blog posts with all new material and annotations as he reexamines one of the most interesting lives in Hollywood and fandom--and now for the first time in audio, narrated by Wil himself!From starring in Stand by Me to playing Wesley Crusher on Star Trek: The Next Generation to playing himself, in his second (third?) iconic role of Evil Wil Wheaton in The Big Bang Theory, to becoming a social media supernova, Wil Wheaton has charted a career course unlike anyone else, and has emerged as one of the most popular and well respected names in science fiction, fantasy and pop culture.Back in 2001, Wil began blogging on wilwheaton.net. Believing himself to have fallen victim to the curse of the child actor, Wil felt relegated to the convention circuit, and didn’t expect many would want to read about his random experiences and personal philosophies.Yet, much to his surprise, people were reading. He still blogs, and now has an enormous following on social media with well over 3 million followers.In Still Just a Geek, Wil revisits his 2004 collection of blog posts, Just a Geek, filled with insightful and often laugh-out-loud annotated comments, additional later writings, and all new material written for this publication. The result is an incredibly raw and honest memoir, in which Wil opens up about his life, about falling in love, about coming to grips with his past work, choices, and family, and finding fulfillment in the new phases of his career. From his times on the Enterprise to his struggles with depression to his starting a family and finding his passion--writing--Wil Wheaton is someone whose life is both a cautionary tale and a story of finding one’s true purpose that should resonate with fans and aspiring artists alike.
Still Inside: The Tony Rice Story
by Tim Stafford Caroline WrightWelcome to the world of guitarist Tony Rice and his music. Some of you are devoted acoustic music lovers who have waited years for this biography. Some of you are casual fans who are curious about Tony Rice. Still others will be completely unfamiliar with our subject and his music. We hope our presentation of Tony's story provides an informative, inspirational and entertaining experience for all.
Still in Love with You: A Daughter’s True Story (20th Anniversary Edition)
by Lycrecia Williams Hoover Dale M. VinicurThe only personal and true biography of Hank and Audrey Williams. Drawn from the memories of their closest family members and friends. Written by daughter Lycrecia Williams Hoover with co-author Dale Vinicur.
Still Here: The Madcap, Nervy, Singular Life of Elaine Stritch
by Alexandra JacobsOne of The New Yorker's favorite nonfiction book of 2019 | A New York Times Book Review Editors' ChoiceNamed one of Vogue's "17 Books We Can't Wait to Read This Fall""Compulsively readable . . . ravenously consuming . . . manna from heaven . . . If ever someone knew how to put a genuinely irresistible book together, it's Jacobs in Still Here." —Jeff Simon, The Buffalo NewsStill Here is the first full telling of Elaine Stritch’s life. Rollicking but intimate, it tracks one of Broadway’s great personalities from her upbringing in Detroit during the Great Depression to her fateful move to New York City, where she studied alongside Marlon Brando, Bea Arthur, and Harry Belafonte. We accompany Elaine through her jagged rise to fame, to Hollywood and London, and across her later years, when she enjoyed a stunning renaissance, punctuated by a turn on the popular television show 30 Rock. We explore the influential—and often fraught—collaborations she developed with Noël Coward, Tennessee Williams, and above all Stephen Sondheim, as well as her courageous yet flawed attempts to control a serious drinking problem. And we see the entertainer triumphing over personal turmoil with the development of her Tony Award–winning one-woman show, Elaine Stritch at Liberty, which established her as an emblem of spiky independence and Manhattan life for an entirely new generation of admirers.In Still Here, Alexandra Jacobs conveys the full force of Stritch’s sardonic wit and brassy charm while acknowledging her many dark complexities. Following years of meticulous research and interviews, this is a portrait of a powerful, vulnerable, honest, and humorous figure who continues to reverberate in the public consciousness.
Still Grazing: The Musical Journey of Hugh Masekela
by Hugh Masekela D. Michael CheersHugh Masekela, a prodigiously talented giant of jazz and world music and one of today's few living world-class artists narrates a magical journey around the world in this epic, music-soaked tale of love, excess, exile, and home. Unfolding against the backbeat of the most revolutionary musical movements of the last forty years and one of the most inspiring political transformations of the twentieth century, this is the utterly engrossing and deeply effecting chronicle of a remarkable, one-of-a-kind life.
Still Friends: 25 Years of the TV Show That Defined an Era
by Saul AusterlitzTwenty-five years on from when it first aired, Still Friends is an entertaining, fascinating and deeply researched behind-the-scenes look at the success of the hit show, Friends, featuring exclusive interviews with the show's creators, cast members and industry insiders. In September 1994, six friends sat down in their favourite coffee shop and began bantering. A quarter of a century later, new fans are still finding their way into the lives of Rachel, Ross, Joey, Chandler, Monica and Phoebe, and thanks to a combination of talented creators, its intimate understanding of its youthful audience, and its reign during network television's last moment of dominance, Friends has become the most influential and beloved show of its era. Noted pop culture historian Saul Austerlitz is here to tell us how it happened. Utilizing exclusive interviews with creators David Crane and Marta Kauffman, executive producer Kevin Bright, director James Burrows, and many other producers, writers, and cast members, Still Friends tells the story of Friends' creation, its remarkable decade-long run, and its astonishing Netflix-fuelled afterlife. Readers will learn how the show was developed and cast, written and filmed. They'll be reminded of episodes like the one about the trivia contest, the prom video, and the London trip. And, of course, the saga of Ross and Rachel. They'll also discover surprising details: that Monica and Joey were the show's original romantic couple, how Danielle Steel probably saved Jennifer Aniston's career, and why Friends is still so popular today. On the 25th anniversary of this truly groundbreaking show, it's clear that Friends has a legacy that has endured beyond wildest expectations. And in this hilarious, informative, and entertaining book, readers will now understand why.As published in the US as Generation Friends.
Still Foolin' 'Em: Where I've Been, Where I'm Going, and Where the Hell Are My Keys?
by Billy Crystal<P>Hilarious and heartfelt observations on aging from one of America's favorite comedians as he turns 65, and a look back at a remarkable career in this New York Times bestseller. <P>Billy Crystal is turning 65, and he's not happy about it. With his trademark wit and heart, he outlines the absurdities and challenges that come with growing old, from insomnia to memory loss to leaving dinners with half your meal on your shirt. In humorous chapters like "Buying the Plot" and "Nodding Off," Crystal not only catalogues his physical gripes, but offers a road map to his 77 million fellow baby boomers who are arriving at this milestone age with him. He also looks back at the most powerful and memorable moments of his long and storied life, from entertaining his relatives as a kid in Long Beach, Long Island, his years doing stand-up in the Village, up through his legendary stint at Saturday Night Live, When Harry Met Sally, and his long run as host of the Academy Awards. Readers get a front-row seat to his one-day career with the New York Yankees (he was the first player to ever "test positive for Maalox"), his love affair with Sophia Loren, and his enduring friendships with several of his idols, including Mickey Mantle and Muhammad Ali. He lends a light touch to more serious topics like religion ("the aging friends I know have turned to the Holy Trinity: Advil, bourbon, and Prozac"), grandparenting, and, of course, dentistry. As wise and poignant as they are funny, Crystal's reflections are an unforgettable look at an extraordinary life well lived.
Still Foolin' 'em: Where I've Been, Where I'm Going, And Where The Hell Are My Keys?
by Billy CrystalHilarious and heartfelt observations on aging from one of America's favorite comedians as he turns 65, and a look back at a remarkable career Billy Crystal is turning 65, and he's not happy about it. With his trademark wit and heart, he outlines the absurdities and challenges that come with growing old, from insomnia to memory loss to leaving dinners with half your meal on your shirt. In humorous chapters like "Buying the Plot" and "Nodding Off," Crystal not only catalogues his physical gripes, but offers a road map to his 77 million fellow baby boomers who are arriving at this milestone age with him. He also looks back at the most powerful and memorable moments of his long and storied life, from entertaining his relatives as a kid in Long Beach, Long Island, his years doing stand-up in the Village, up through his legendary stint at Saturday Night Live, When Harry Met Sally, and his long run as host of the Academy Awards. Readers get a front-row seat to his one-day career with the New York Yankees (he was the first player to ever "test positive for Maalox"), his love affair with Sophia Loren, and his enduring friendships with several of his idols, including Mickey Mantle and Muhammad Ali. He lends a light touch to more serious topics like religion ("the aging friends I know have turned to the Holy Trinity: Advil, bourbon, and Prozac"), grandparenting, and, of course, dentistry. As wise and poignant as they are funny, Crystal's reflections are an unforgettable look at an extraordinary life well lived.
Still Alive: A Wild Life of Rediscovery
by Forrest GalanteThrilling adventures in wildlife conservation from &“the Indiana Jones of Biology&” (Entrepreneur)Very few individuals can truthfully say that their work impacts every person on earth. Forrest Galante is one of them. As a wildlife biologist and conservationist, Galante devotes his life to studying, rediscovering, and protecting our planet&’s amazing lifeforms. Part memoir, part biological adventure, Still Alive celebrates the beauty and determined resiliency of our world, as well as the brave conservationists fighting to save it. In his debut book, Galante takes readers on an exhilarating journey to the most remote and dangerous corners of the world. He recounts miraculous rediscoveries of species that were thought to be extinct and invites readers into his wild life: from his upbringing amidst civil unrest in Zimbabwe to his many globetrotting adventures, including suspenseful run-ins with drug cartels, witch doctors, and vengeful government officials. He shares all of the life-threatening bites, fights, falls, and jungle illnesses. He also investigates the connection between wildlife mistreatment and human safety, particularly in relation to COVID-19. Still Alive is much more than just a can&’t-put-down adventure story bursting with man-eating crocodiles, long-forgotten species rediscovered, and near-death experiences. It is an impassioned, informative, and undeniably inspiring examination of the importance of wildlife conservation today and how every individual can make a difference.
Still a Bit of Snap in the Celery: or K.B.O. *Keep Buggering On
by Marcus BerkmannFrom the bestselling author of A Shed of One's Own, a very funny memoir about being 60.Marcus Berkmann's funny, instantly recognisable description of middle-age in A Shed of One's Own struck a chord and turned it into a bestseller. Now he realises he has entered a new age category: the Young-Old.Well, the body continues to provide challenges (every group meeting seems to begin the dreaded 'organ recital'), and the bank balance may not be doing too well either - but it's certainly not all doom and gloom. You have come to terms with your deficiencies and eccentricities (although your partner may not); your Fear of Missing Out has become Joy at Staying In; you have embraced the notion of the Power Nap - and though you're not going to embark on a course of 'mindfulness' you nevertheless recognise if living in the moment also includes walking to the local for a pint with an old friend then you'll sign up for it after all...You could call it 'beerfulness'.'Berkmann is a fine observer of decline. He says what other men would rather not think about, let alone discuss. Another ten years pottering around in his shed and he'll have cracked it' Sunday Times
Still a Bit of Snap in the Celery: or K.B.O. *Keep Buggering On
by Marcus BerkmannFrom the bestselling author of A Shed of One's Own, a very funny memoir about being 60.Marcus Berkmann's funny, instantly recognisable description of middle-age in A Shed of One's Own struck a chord and turned it into a bestseller. Now he realises he has entered a new age category: the Young-Old.Well, the body continues to provide challenges (every group meeting seems to begin the dreaded 'organ recital'), and the bank balance may not be doing too well either - but it's certainly not all doom and gloom. You have come to terms with your deficiencies and eccentricities (although your partner may not); your Fear of Missing Out has become Joy at Staying In; you have embraced the notion of the Power Nap - and though you're not going to embark on a course of 'mindfulness' you nevertheless recognise if living in the moment also includes walking to the local for a pint with an old friend then you'll sign up for it after all...You could call it 'beerfulness'.'Berkmann is a fine observer of decline. He says what other men would rather not think about, let alone discuss. Another ten years pottering around in his shed and he'll have cracked it' Sunday Times
Still: American Silent Motion Picture Photography
by David S. ShieldsThe success of movies like "The Artist" and "Hugo" recreated the wonder and magic of silent film for modern audiences, many of whom might never have experienced a movie without sound. But while the American silent movie was one of the most significant popular art forms of the modern age, it is also one that is largely lost to us, as more than eighty percent of silent films have disappeared, the victims of age, disaster, and neglect. We now know about many of these cinematic masterpieces only from the collections of still portraits and production photographs that were originally created for publicity and reference. Capturing the beauty, horror, and moodiness of silent motion pictures, these images are remarkable pieces of art in their own right. In the first history of still camera work generated by the American silent motion picture industry, David S. Shields chronicles the evolution of silent film aesthetics, glamour, and publicity, and provides unparalleled insight into this influential body of popular imagery. Exploring the work of over sixty camera artists, " Still "recovers the stories of the photographers who descended on early Hollywood and the stars and starlets who sat for them between 1908 and 1928. Focusing on the most culturally influential types of photographs the performer portrait and the scene still Shields follows photographers such as Albert Witzel and W. F. Seely as they devised the poses that newspapers and magazines would bring to Americans, who mimicked the sultry stares and dangerous glances of silent stars. He uncovers scene shots of unprecedented splendor visions that would ignite the popular imagination. And he details how still photographs changed the film industry, whose growing preoccupation with artistry in imagery caused directors and stars to hire celebrated stage photographers and transformed cameramen into bankable names. Reproducing over one hundred and fifty of these gorgeous black-and-white photographs, "Still" brings to life an entire long-lost visual culture that a century later still has the power to enchant. "
Still: American Silent Motion Picture Photography
by David S. ShieldsThe success of movies like The Artist and Hugo recreated the wonder and magic of silent film for modern audiences, many of whom might never have experienced a movie without sound. But while the American silent movie was one of the most significant popular art forms of the modern age, it is also one that is largely lost to us, as more than eighty percent of silent films have disappeared, the victims of age, disaster, and neglect. We now know about many of these cinematic masterpieces only from the collections of still portraits and production photographs that were originally created for publicity and reference. Capturing the beauty, horror, and moodiness of silent motion pictures, these images are remarkable pieces of art in their own right. In the first history of still camera work generated by the American silent motion picture industry, David S. Shields chronicles the evolution of silent film aesthetics, glamour, and publicity, and provides unparalleled insight into this influential body of popular imagery. Exploring the work of over sixty camera artists, Still recovers the stories of the photographers who descended on early Hollywood and the stars and starlets who sat for them between 1908 and 1928. Focusing on the most culturally influential types of photographs—the performer portrait and the scene still—Shields follows photographers such as Albert Witzel and W. F. Seely as they devised the poses that newspapers and magazines would bring to Americans, who mimicked the sultry stares and dangerous glances of silent stars. He uncovers scene shots of unprecedented splendor—visions that would ignite the popular imagination. And he details how still photographs changed the film industry, whose growing preoccupation with artistry in imagery caused directors and stars to hire celebrated stage photographers and transformed cameramen into bankable names. Reproducing over one hundred and fifty of these gorgeous black-and-white photographs, Still brings to life an entire long-lost visual culture that a century later still has the power to enchant.
Stieg Larsson's Millennium Trilogy
by Steven PeacockUniquely placed to explore the worldwide phenomenon of Stieg Larsson's Millennium trilogy beginning with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the book offers the first full-length study of Larsson's work in both its written and filmed forms.