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Pre-Code Essentials: Must-See Cinema from Hollywood's Untamed Era, 1930-1934
by Kim Luperi Danny ReidFrom Turner Classic Movies and the creators of @precodedotcom, this is the essential film-by-film guide to must-see cinema from the pre-Code era—a wild and wonderful time in Hollywood history before strict enforcement of a censorship code that ruled moviemaking for decades. With unparalleled freedom in the Golden Age of Hollywood, movies produced during the &“pre-Code&” era between 1930 and 1934 boldly confronted a wide range of provocative subjects, including sexual freedom, the glorification of outlaws, racial taboos, and class consciousness. Films of the period include beloved classics like Grand Hotel(1932) and King Kong(1933) but also lesser-known gems like I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang(1932) and Ann Vickers (1933). These films, produced at the height of the Great Depression, pushed the limits of contemporary social norms at a time when Hollywood studios were desperate to attract audiences—by any means necessary. Pre-Code Essentials invites modern readers to engage with that history while diving deep into movies that remain, as they were then, adventurous and uncompromising. In their incisive text, film historians Kim Luperi and Danny Reid cover fifty films that take readers through the pre-Code era&’s evolution. Perfect for both pre-Code novices and film aficionados alike, the book is packed with detailed production and censorship histories, recommendations, and trivia. Famous names like Barbara Stanwyck, Jean Harlow, Clark Gable, and Ernst Lubitsch get their due, while sidebars spotlight treasures of the period like Ann Dvorak, Joan Blondell, Paul Robeson, Nina Mae McKinney, Dorothy Arzner, Warren William, and Dolores De Rio. Post-Epilogue features discuss availability of the listed films and include the text of the 1930 Production Code. Illustrated by more than 200 photos, Production Code Administration records detailing correspondence between studios and censors, and more, Pre-Code Essentials is both a gorgeous guide and an indispensable resource of Hollywood history. Among the films profiled: The Divorcee, All Quiet on the Western Front, Safe in Hell, Frankenstein, Shanghai Express, Freaks, Merrily We Go to Hell, Downstairs, Love Me Tonight, Trouble in Paradise, Three on a Match, The Sign of the Cross, Gabriel Over the White House, The Story of Temple Drake, The Emperor Jones, The Sin of Nora Moran, I Am Suzanne!, The Black Cat, Smarty, Murder at the Vanities, and many more
Precarious Times: Temporality and History in Modern German Culture (Signale: Modern German Letters, Cultures, and Thought)
by Anne FuchsIn Precarious Times, Anne Fuchs explores how works of German literature, film, and photography reflect on the profound temporal anxieties precipitated by contemporary experiences of atomization, displacement, and fragmentation that bring about a loss of history and of time itself and that is peculiar to our current moment.The digital age places premiums on just-in-time deliveries, continual innovation, instantaneous connectivity, and around-the-clock availability. While some celebrate this 24/7 culture, others see it as profoundly destructive to the natural rhythm of day and night—and to human happiness. Have we entered an era of a perpetual present that depletes the future and erodes our grasp of the past?Beginning its examination around 1900, when rapid modernization was accompanied by comparably intense reflection on changing temporal experience, Precarious Times provides historical depth and perspective to current debates on the "digital now." Expanding the modern discourse on time and speed, Fuchs deploys such concepts as attention, slowness and lateness to emphasize the uneven quality of time around the world.
Precarity in Western European Cinema (Film Culture in Transition)
by Temenuga TrifonovaThis book explores the new European cinema of precarity, with a particular focus on Western European films, by revisiting some of its most important precursors, including 1930s Popular Front films and 1990s French New Realism, Italian neorealism, and the British New Wave. It identifies dominant themes and motifs in contemporary films and their precursors, as well as important continuities and discontinuities between earlier and later representations of work, class, class struggle, solidarity, precarity, the moral economy of capitalism and neoliberalism and their affective pathologies. Trifonova examines the ways in which the cinema of precarity mediates economic and social capital in the age of neoliberalism and considers whether these films lend validity to Guy Standing’s idea of the precariat as “the new dangerous class.”
Precious Metal: Decibel Presents the Stories Behind 25 Extreme Metal Masterpieces
by Albert MudrianThe making of the 25 greatest extreme metal albums of all time, as told via exclusive band-member interviews, drawn and expanded from "Decibel"'s OC Hall of FameOCO"
Precocious Charms
by Gaylyn StudlarIn Precocious Charms, Gaylyn Studlar examines how Hollywood presented female stars as young girls or girls on the verge of becoming women. Child stars are part of this study but so too are adult actresses who created motion picture masquerades of youthfulness. Studlar details how Mary Pickford, Shirley Temple, Deanna Durbin, Elizabeth Taylor, Jennifer Jones, and Audrey Hepburn performed girlhood in their films. She charts the multifaceted processes that linked their juvenated star personas to a wide variety of cultural influences, ranging from Victorian sentimental art to New Look fashion, from nineteenth-century children's literature to post-World War II sexology, and from grand opera to 1930s radio comedy. By moving beyond the general category of "woman," Precocious Charms leads to a new understanding of the complex pleasures Hollywood created for its audience during the half century when film stars were a major influence on America's cultural imagination. how classic Hollywood cinema constructed gender and sexuality beyond the general category of "woman," leading to a new understanding of how Hollywood spoke to and created pleasures for its audiences from the 1910s into the 1960s.
Predator: A Memoir, a Movie, an Obsession
by Ander MonsonA searching memoir of a life lived in the flicker of an action film, by the author of I Will Take the Answer In his first memoir, Ander Monson guides readers through a scene-by-scene exploration of the 1987 film Predator, which he has watched 146 times. Some fighters might not have time to bleed, but Monson has the patience to consider their adventure, one frame at a time. He turns his obsession into a lens through which he poignantly examines his own life, formed by mainstream, white, male American culture. Between scenes, Monson delves deeply into his adolescence in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and Riyadh, his role as a father and the loss of his own mother, and his friendships with men bound by the troubled camaraderie depicted in action and sci-fi blockbusters. Along with excursions into the conflicted pleasures of cosplay and first-person shooters, he imagines himself beside the poet and memoirist Paul Monette, who wrote the novelization of the movie while his partner was dying of AIDS.A sincere and playful book that lovingly dissects the film, Predator also offers questions and critiques of masculinity, fandom, and their interrelation with acts of mass violence. In a stirring reversal, one chapter exposes Monson through the Predator’s heat-seeking vision, asking him, “What do you know about the workings of the hidden world?” As Monson brings us into the brilliant depths of the film and its universe, the hunt begins.
Predicting Movie Success at the Box Office
by Barrie GunterThis book explores the different factors that can influence a new movie’s prospects at the box office. Looking at factors such as the production budget, distribution model, genre, stars and audience reactions of films, Gunter asks how such aspects may reduce the uncertainties of success so common in the movie industry. The reader is taken on a journey through filmmaking factors that, research suggests, impact box office performance. While box office revenues represent only part of a movie’s earning potential, Gunter highlights how theatrical performances remain central to what the movie business is about. The chapters illustrate how ticket sales are largely influenced by the production budget but also cultural differences and new movie platforms.
Prepare for Saints: Gertrude Stein, Virgil Thomson, and the Mainstreaming of American Modernism
by Steven WatsonPerhaps the oddest and most influential collaboration in the history of American modernism was hatched in 1926, when a young Virgil Thomson knocked on Gertrude Stein's door in Paris. Eight years later, their opera Four Saints in Three Acts became a sensation--the longest-running opera in Broadway history to date and the most widely reported cultural event of its time. Four Saints was proclaimed the birth of a new art form, a cellophane fantasy, "cubism on stage." It swept the public imagination, inspiring new art and new language, and defied every convention of what an opera should be. Everything about it was revolution-ary: Stein's abstract text and Thomson's homespun music, the all-black cast, the costumes, and the com-bustible sets. Moving from the Wadsworth Atheneum to Broadway, Four Saints was the first popular modernist production. It brought modernism, with all its flamboyant outrage against convention, into the mainstream. This is the story of how that opera came to be. It involves artists, writers, musicians, salon hostesses, and an underwear manufacturer with an appetite for publicity. The opera's success depended on a handful of Harvard-trained men who shaped America's first museums of modern art. The elaborately intertwined lives of the collaborators provide a window onto the pioneering generation that defined modern taste in America in the 1920s and 1930s. A brilliant cultural historian with a talent for bringing the past to life, Steven Watson spent ten years researching and writing this book, interviewing many of the collaborators and performers. Prepare for Saints is the first book to describe this pivotal moment in American cultural history. It does so with a spirit and irreverence worthy of its subject.NOTE: This edition does not include photographs.
Preparing For Takeoff: Preproduction for the Independent Filmmaker
by Arthur VincieYou have the camera, time, money (or credit card), so why don't you just start shooting? Preparing for Takeoff will give you the tools you need to fully prepare for your independent film. This book features: Vital preproduction tips on scheduling, previsualization, script analysis, location scouting, budgeting, hiring vendors, and clearing permits A detailed analysis of the role both producers and directors play in the preproduction process Crucial advice on how to prepare for postproduction and distribution while still in the early stages of making a film Lessons from the field in how to avoid mid-shoot changes, unhappy actors, fostering a resentful crew, wasted days and dwindling finances An accompanying website that includes sample script analyses, storyboards, beat sheets, editable budget forms, and more
Preparing for Rehearsal: Approaching the Dramatic Text – One Step at a Time
by Chris PicklesA resource for actors, directors, and writers (both professional and in training), this is a step-by-step, practical guidebook to the pre-rehearsal analysis of a script. Its aim is to de-mystify and organise the questions necessary to ask in order to prepare for a creative, imaginative and fruitful exploration of a dramatic text in the journey towards rehearsal.The language is unselfconsciously engaging and accessible, uncluttered by alienating academic vocabulary. It holds out a helping hand throughout the important and sometimes rather lonely time of preparation for rehearsal, a time of exploration usually spent without the reassuring guidance of a director or dramaturg. The volume takes the reader on a journey, chapter by chapter, from first reading of a script to arrival in the rehearsal room or film studio for the first readthrough or day of shooting. The book maps out six investigations for the actor or director, and most importantly, the order in which those explorations should be tackled. This book also forms the basis of any core text analysis module for students studying on professional acting, theatre arts, scriptwriting, media, and film or directing degrees at a university, college, or conservatoire level.A professional director, actor and writer, this guide is also a result of Chris Pickles’ many years of experience not only in running workshops for theatre professionals, but also teaching text analysis to actors and directors in training.
Prepping and Shooting Your Student Short Film: A Brief Guide to Film Production
by Rory KellyFocusing on the practical tools required to making your first student film, this book is a concise and accessible guide to film production. Demystifying the process of taking a film from concept through to production, author Rory Kelly covers all the key bases including: organizing your script, when and how to shoot, production budgeting, finding actors and locations, and roadmapping postproduction. Featuring common problems and challenges producers and directors face throughout the production process and providing practical solutions, the book illustrates how to effectively create a film that can be successfully shot in a classroom or micro-budget environment. Filmmakers will be empowered to prioritize realistic goals, balance practical and creative demands, manage a budget, and schedule time to ensure concept translates to reality. Kelly brings together the creative process and practicalities of producing a student film. A concise and accessible guide written with the specific constraints of a student production in mind, this book will equip any filmmaker with the tools to produce an impactful short film. Ideal for undergraduate and graduate students of filmmaking, amateur filmmakers, as well as students in high school, community-based, for-profit and summer filmmaking programs. Additional downloadable online resources include a look-book with images and video clips, as well as printable budget templates, shooting schedule templates, block breakdown sheets, a digital workflow worksheet, timed shot-list forms and templates for location agreements, appearance releases, crew deal memos and call sheets.
Presenting Oprah Winfrey, Her Films, and African American Literature
by Tara T. GreenOprah Winfrey has long promoted black issues by being involved as a producer or actor in the adaptation of works by African American writers for film. This volume evaluates Winfrey's involvement in the visual interpretation of African American literary texts using film, music, black masculinity, black feminist, and cultural theory.
Preserving and Exhibiting Media Art: Challenges and Perspectives (Framing Film)
by Vinzenz Hediger Julia Noordegraaf Cosetta G. Saba Barbara Le MaîtreThis important and first-of-its-kind collection addresses the emerging challenges in the field of media art preservation and exhibition, providing an outline for the training of professionals in this field. Since the emergence of time-based media such as film, video and digital technology, artists have used them to experiment with their potential. The resulting artworks, with their basis in rapidly developing technologies that cross over into other domains such as broadcasting and social media, have challenged the traditional infrastructures for the collection, preservation and exhibition of art. Addressing these challenges, the authors provide a historical and theoretical survey of the field, and introduce students to the challenges and difficulties of preserving and exhibiting media art through a series of first-hand case studies. Situated at the threshold between archival practices and film and media theory, it also makes a strong contribution to the growing literature on archive theory and archival practices.|“A companion to media art” provides the first full-fledged introduction to the emerging new field of the preservation and presentation of media art from a truly international perspective. Bringing together contributions from authors from all over Europe and the United States and combining the rich insights of scholars, curators and artists the book addresses the history, theory and technical aspects of creating and curating media art. |“A companion to media art” is the first textbook for students in advanced degree programs that lead to careers in the field of preserving and curating media art in media archives and museum collections. For the general reader the book provides an introduction to this fascinating new field. |The combination of incisive scholarly articles and cases studies provides for a comprehensive view of the field that will interest scholars, artists, archivists and curators alike.
President Me: The America That's in My Head
by Adam CarollaMy fellow Americans,President John F. Kennedy once famously said, "Hey, is that blond intern eighteen yet?" He also said, "Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country."We've changed a lot since JFK asked us all to pitch in. We've become a nation of narcissistic, yoga-mat-toting, service-dog-having, absentee dads and gluten-free, hand-wringing, hypochondriac moms of overcaffeinated (yet somehow still lazy) twerking tweens. And our government is an inept bureaucracy incapable of doing anything except getting in our wallets and in our way. We've got to get it together, America.That is why I, Adam Carolla, hereby declare myself Candidate Carolla. The tome you hold in your hands is a statement of my intent to whip our country back into fighting shape, to eliminate the "what are you going to do for me?" mentality that has invaded our country.President Me is my manifesto, my vision for a better place . . . free of Big Government, barefoot fliers, lazy hipsters who'd rather "Occupy" than work, and the other things that are bringing our country down. With my cabinet appointees, my list of worthy and necessary presidential ManDates, and tons of great ideas for fixing our health care, education, energy, and even national parks systems . . . behold an America we can be proud of. The America I see in my head.You're welcome in advance.Your future leader,Adam
Presidents in the Movies
by Iwan W. MorganCinematic depictions of real U. S. presidents from Abraham Lincoln to George W. Bush explore how Hollywood movies represent American history and politics on screen. Morgan and his contributors show how films blend myth and reality to present a positive message about presidents as the epitome of America's values and idealism until unpopular foreign wars in Vietnam and Iraq led to a darker portrayal of the imperial presidency, operated by Richard Nixon and Bush 43. This exciting new collection further considers how Hollywood has continually reinterpreted historically significant presidents, notably Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, and Franklin D. Roosevelt, to fit the times in which movies about them were made.
Press Play
by Eric DevineBooklist Top 10 Sports Books for Youth: 2015 Pound by sweaty pound, Greg Dunsmore’s plan is working. Greg is steadily losing weight while gaining the material he needs to make the documentary that will get him into film school and away from the constant jeers of "Dun the Tun. ” But when Greg captures footage of brutal and bloody hazing by his town’s championship-winning lacrosse team, he knows he has evidence that could damage as much as it could save. And if the harm is to himself and his future, is revealing the truth worth the cost?
Press Reset: Ruin and Recovery in the Video Game Industry
by Jason SchreierFrom the bestselling author of Blood, Sweat, and Pixels comes the next definitive, behind-the-scenes account of the video game industry: how some of the past decade's most renowned studios fell apart—and the stories, both triumphant and tragic, of what happened next.Jason Schreier's groundbreaking reporting has earned him a place among the preeminent investigative journalists covering the world of video games. In his eagerly anticipated, deeply researched new book, Schreier trains his investigative eye on the volatility of the video game industry and the resilience of the people who work in it.The business of videogames is both a prestige industry and an opaque one. Based on dozens of first-hand interviews that cover the development of landmark games—Bioshock Infinite, Epic Mickey, Dead Space, and more—on to the shocking closures of the studios that made them, Press Reset tells the stories of how real people are affected by game studio shutdowns, and how they recover, move on, or escape the industry entirely.Schreier's insider interviews cover hostile takeovers, abusive bosses, corporate drama, bounced checks, and that one time the Boston Red Sox's Curt Schilling decided he was going to lead a game studio that would take out World of Warcraft. Along the way, he asks pressing questions about why, when the video game industry is more successful than ever, it's become so hard to make a stable living making video games—and whether the business of making games can change before it's too late.
Press Start: The Complete History of Video Gaming From Mario to Minecraft
by Erwan CarioFULLY ILLUSTRATED AND UPDATED - THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO VIDEO GAMING HISTORY Pac-Man, Mario, Tomb Raider, The Sims, GTA, Minecraft, Fortnite... Video games are now one of the pillars of popular culture. This comprehensive, visually rich book chronicles the history of video games from their earliest roots in 1958 up to the present day, from simple pixels to the stunningly realistic visuals of modern blockbusters.Explore the evolution of the industry through the iconic artworks, stories, and characters that have defined gaming across generations. Rediscover the classics titles from Nintendo Switch's Animal Crossing and Zelda: Breath of the Wild, to Elden Ring and God of War on the Sony PlayStation 5, as well as a multitude of independent gems and record-breaking franchises.This newly updated edition highlights the standout games and key milestones over more than 50 years, diving into the creative and technological lore that have made video games what they are today. Filled with nostalgia, insights, and rich artwork, this book is a must-have for any video game fan, offering a captivating journey through the vibrant history of gaming and the titles that have captivated millions worldwide.
Press Start: The Complete History of Video Gaming From Mario to Minecraft
by Erwan CarioFULLY ILLUSTRATED AND UPDATED - THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO VIDEO GAMING HISTORY Pac-Man, Mario, Tomb Raider, The Sims, GTA, Minecraft, Fortnite... Video games are now one of the pillars of popular culture. This comprehensive, visually rich book chronicles the history of video games from their earliest roots in 1958 up to the present day, from simple pixels to the stunningly realistic visuals of modern blockbusters.Explore the evolution of the industry through the iconic artworks, stories, and characters that have defined gaming across generations. Rediscover the classics titles from Nintendo Switch's Animal Crossing and Zelda: Breath of the Wild, to Elden Ring and God of War on the Sony PlayStation 5, as well as a multitude of independent gems and record-breaking franchises.This newly updated edition highlights the standout games and key milestones over more than 50 years, diving into the creative and technological lore that have made video games what they are today. Filled with nostalgia, insights, and rich artwork, this book is a must-have for any video game fan, offering a captivating journey through the vibrant history of gaming and the titles that have captivated millions worldwide.
Prestige Television: Cultural and Artistic Value in Twenty-First-Century America
by Murray Leeder Javier Ramirez Seth Friedman Catherine Martin David R. Coon Amanda Keeler Justin O. Rawlins Andrew J. Bottomley Wyatt D. Phillips Josie Torres BarthPrestige Television explores how a growing array of 21st century US programming is produced and received in ways that elevate select series above the competition in a saturated market. Contributing authors demonstrate that these shows are positioned and understood as comprising an increasingly recognizable genre characterized by familiar markers of distinction. In contrast to most accounts of elite categorizations of contemporary US television programming that center on HBO and its primary streaming rivals, these essays examine how efforts to imbue series with prestigious or elevated status now permeate the rest of the medium, including network as well as basic and undervalued premium cable channels. Case study chapters focusing on diverse series, ranging from widely recognized examples such as The Americans (2013-2018) and The Knick (2014-15) to contested examples like Queen of the South (2016-2021) and How I Met Your Mother (2005-2014), highlight how contributing authors extend conceptions of the genre beyond expected parameters.
Presto!: How I Made Over 100 Pounds Disappear and Other Magical Tales
by Penn JillettePenn Jillette’s New York Times bestselling account of his “extremely funny and somewhat profane journey to discovering a healthy lifestyle…that will motivate others to seek weight-loss solutions” (The Washington Post).More than three hundred and thirty pounds and saddled with a systolic blood pressure reading at dangerous heights, legendary magician Penn Jillette found himself at a crossroads. He needed a drastic lifestyle change if wanted to see his small children grow up. Enter Crazy Ray. A former NASA scientist and unconventional, passionate innovator, Ray Cronise changed Penn Jillette’s life with his wild “potato diet.” In Presto, Jillette takes us along on his journey from skepticism to the inspiring, life-changing momentum that transformed the magician’s body and mind. He describes the process in hilarious detail, as he performs his Las Vegas show, takes meetings with Hollywood executives, hangs out with his celebrity friends and fellow eccentric performers, all while remaining a dedicated husband and father. Throughout, he weaves in his views on sex, religion, and pop culture, making his story a refreshing, genre-busting account. Outspoken, frank, and bitingly clever, Presto is an incisive, rollicking read. In the end, it is “undeniably inspiring” (Booklist).
Pretending To Be Me: Philip Larkin, A Portrait
by Tom CourtenayPRETENDING TO BE ME is an intimate, acerbic and occasionally scurrilous show about the poet, jazz aficionado and Hull University librarian, Philip Larkin.Larkin ('the magnificent Eeyore of British verse' - Daily Telegraph) has moved home; surrounded by packing cases, playing selections from his favourite jazz LPs, and making himself cups of tea - and later whiskies - he reflects wryly on writing and life.Hilarious and moving, the narrative shifts seamlessly between Larkin's outrageous wit and the poems, which Courtenay reads with powerful directness and simplicity.PHILIP LARKIN, one of the foremost figures in 20th-Century English poetry, feared his epitaph would be: 'They fuck you up, your mum and dad'. This, and other familiar poems, 'An Arundel Tomb', 'The Whitsun Weddings' and 'High Windows' are included in PRETENDING TO BE ME.
Pretty Boys Are Poisonous: Poems: A Collection of F**ked Up Fairy Tales
by Megan FoxA debut poetry collection by Megan Fox.Megan Fox showcases her wicked humor throughout a heartbreaking and dark collection of poetry. Over the course of more than 80 poems, Fox chronicles all the ways in which we fit ourselves into the shape of the ones we love, even if it means losing ourselves in the process."These poems were written in an attempt to excise the illness that had taken root in me because of my silence. I've spent my entire life keeping the secrets of men, my body aches from carrying the weight of their sins. My freedom lives in these pages, and I hope that my words can inspire others to take back their happiness and their identity by using their voice to illuminate what's been buried, but not forgotten, in the darkness," says Fox.Pretty Boys Are Poisonous marks the powerful debut from one of the most well-known women of our time. Press play, bite the apple, and sink your teeth into the most deliciously compelling and addictive audiobooks you'll listen to all year.(P)2023 Headline Publishing Group Ltd
Pretty Boys Are Poisonous: Poems: A Collection of F**ked Up Fairy Tales
by Megan Fox'A glimpse to the person behind the glamour and drama . . . you get a real sense of the beating soul of Megan Fox' - GlamourMegan Fox showcases her wicked humor throughout a heartbreaking and dark collection of poetry. Over the course of more than 80 poems, Fox chronicles all the ways in which we fit ourselves into the shape of the ones we love, even if it means losing ourselves in the process."These poems were written in an attempt to excise the illness that had taken root in me because of my silence. I've spent my entire life keeping the secrets of men, my body aches from carrying the weight of their sins. My freedom lives in these pages, and I hope that my words can inspire others to take back their happiness and their identity by using their voice to illuminate what's been buried, but not forgotten, in the darkness," says Fox.Pretty Boys Are Poisonous marks the powerful debut from one of the most well-known women of our time. Turn the page, bite the apple, and sink your teeth into the most deliciously compelling and addictive book you'll read all year.
Pretty Mess
by Erika Jayne<P>Without her alter-ego Erika Jayne, Erika Girardi says she’d just be “another rich bitch with a plane”—so get ready for the dishy, tell-all memoir from show-stopping performer, model, singer, and beloved star of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills, Erika Jayne. <P>Erika Jayne didn’t make it this far by holding back. Now, in her first-ever memoir, the fan favorite star of Bravo’s The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills bares her heart, mind, and soul. In Pretty Mess, Erika spills on every aspect of her life: from her rise to fame as a daring and fiery pop/dance performer and singer; to her decision to accept a role on reality television; to the ups and downs of family life (including her marriage to famed lawyer Tom Girardi, thirty-three years her senior). There’s much more to Erika Jayne than fans see on The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills. <P>Pretty Mess is her opportunity to dig deep and tell her many-layered, unique, and inspiring life story. As fun and fearless as its author, this fascinating memoir proves once and for all why Erika Jayne is so beloved: she’s strong, confident, genuine, and here to tell all! <P><b>A New York Times Bestseller</b>