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Rebel on Pointe: A Memoir of Ballet and Broadway
by Lee WilsonShort, plump, pigeon-toed, and never good enough for mom, Lee Wilson dared to dream she could grow up to be a star. In this uplifting memoir, Wilson describes how she grand jetéd from the stifling suburbia of the 1950s, a world of rigid gender roles, to the only domain where women and men were equally paid and equally respected—in grand, historic dance theaters and under the bright lights of the Broadway stage.At the age of sixteen, Wilson made her classical ballet debut in Monte Carlo. Eight months later, she thrilled to the sound of her first bravos—and she never looked back. After touring Europe and dancing with the Metropolitan Opera Ballet in New York, she set her sights on Broadway, where she danced in many Broadway shows, including Hello Dolly! and the record-breaking performance of A Chorus Line.Rebel on Pointe immerses the reader in a remarkable and visionary world. It lifts the veil of myth surrounding legendary dance icons like George Balanchine to reveal the real men and women who have made American dance and dancers an international phenomenon.Wilson expertly depicts how her profession—at times considered so rigid and exacting—was a leading force in the liberation of women from the prison of post-war society. The hard-won gains and the maddening setbacks of the gender revolution are seen here through the eyes of a young dancer searching for freedom one “pas” at a time.
Where Am I Now?: True Stories of Girlhood and Accidental Fame
by Mara Wilson"Growing up, I wanted to be Mara Wilson. Where Am I Now? is a delight." --Ilana Glazer, cocreator and star of Broad City"Genuine and authentic, funny and heartbreaking." --Jenny Lawson, author of Let's Pretend This Never Happened and Furiously HappyNamed a best book of the month by GoodReads and Entertainment WeeklyA former child actor best known for her starring roles in Matilda and Mrs. Doubtfire, Mara Wilson has always felt a little young and out of place: as the only kid on a film set full of adults, the first daughter in a house full of boys, a Valley girl in New York and a neurotic in California, and a grown-up the world still remembers as a little girl. Tackling everything from what she learned about sex on the set of Melrose Place, to discovering in adolescence that she was no longer "cute" enough for Hollywood, these essays chart her journey from accidental fame to relative (but happy) obscurity. They also illuminate universal struggles, like navigating love and loss, and figuring out who you are and where you belong. Candid, insightful, moving, and hilarious, Where Am I Now? introduces Mara Wilson as a brilliant new chronicler of the experience that is growing up female.From the Trade Paperback edition.
My First Hundred Years in Show Business: A Memoir
by Mary Louise WilsonThe unabashedly funny and forthright memoir by the Tony Award winner for Grey Gardens, detailing the singular life and career of one of our most admired and acclaimed stage actors Mary Louise Wilson became a star at age sixty with her smash one-woman play Full Gallop portraying legendary Vogue editor Diana Vreeland. But before and since, her life and her career—including the Tony Award for her portrayal of Big Edie in Grey Gardens—have been enviably celebrated and varied. Raised in New Orleans with a social climbing, alcoholic mother, Mary Louise moved to New York City in the late 1950s; lived with her gay brother in the Village; entered the nightclub scene in a legendary review; and rubbed shoulders with every famous person of that era and since. My First Hundred Years in Show Business gets it all down. Yet as delicious as the anecdotes are, the heart of this book is in its unblinkingly honest depiction of the life of a working actor. In her inimitable voice—wry, admirably unsentimental, mordantly funny—Mary Louise Wilson has crafted a work that is at once a teeming social history of the New York theatre scene and a thoroughly revealing, superbly entertaining memoir of the life of an extraordinary woman and actor.
The Bassoon King: My Life in Art, Faith, and Idiocy
by Rainn WilsonRainn Wilson's memoir about growing up geeky and finally finding his place in comedy, faith, and life. For nine seasons Rainn Wilson played Dwight Schrute, everyone's favorite work nemesis and beet farmer. Viewers of The Office fell in love with the character and grew to love the actor who played him even more. Rainn founded a website and media company, SoulPancake, that eventually became a bestselling book of the same name. He also started a hilarious Twitter feed (sample tweet: "I'm not on Facebook" is the new "I don't even own a TV") that now has more than four million followers. Now, he's ready to tell his own story and explain how he came up with his incredibly unique sense of humor and perspective on life. He explains how he grew up "bone-numbingly nerdy before there was even a modicum of cool attached to the word." The Bassoon King chronicles his journey from nerd to drama geek ("the highest rung on the vast, pimply ladder of high school losers"), his years of mild debauchery and struggles as a young actor in New York, his many adventures and insights about The Office, and finally, Wilson's achievement of success and satisfaction, both in his career and spiritually, reconnecting with the artistic and creative values of the Bahá'í faith he grew up in.From the Hardcover edition.
Soul Boom: Why We Need a Spiritual Revolution
by Rainn WilsonIn this New York Times bestseller, comedic actor, producer, and writer Rainn Wilson explores the problem-solving benefits that spirituality gives us to create solutions for an increasingly challenging world. The trauma that our struggling species has experienced in recent years—because of both the pandemic and societal tensions that threaten to overwhelm us—is not going away anytime soon. Existing political and economic systems are not enough to bring the change that the world needs. In this book, Rainn Wilson explores the possibility and hope for a spiritual revolution, a &“Soul Boom,&” to find a healing transformation on both a personal and global level For Wilson, this is a serious and essential pursuit, but he brings great humor and his own unique perspective to the conversation. He feels that, culturally, we&’ve discounted spirituality—faith and the sacred—and we need profound healing and a unifying understanding of the world that the great spiritual traditions provide. Wilson&’s approach to spirituality—the non-physical, eternal aspects of ourselves—is relatable and applies to people of all beliefs, even the skeptics. Filled with genuine insight—not to mention enlightening Kung Fu and Star Trek references—Soul Boom delves into ancient wisdom to seek out practical, transformative answers to life&’s biggest questions.
Rebel Rising: A Memoir
by Rebel WilsonFrom the scene-stealing star of Pitch Perfect and Bridesmaids comes a refreshingly candid, hilarious, and inspiring book about her unconventional journey to Hollywood success and loving herself.For decades, Rebel Wilson had single-mindedly focused on her career, making a name for herself through her iconic roles in Pitch Perfect, Bridesmaids, and Isn&’t It Romantic. Now, she&’s ready to chronicle the emotional and physical lessons she learned, as well as her most embarrassing experiences. A malaria-induced hallucination? An all-style martial arts fighting tournament? Junior handling at dog shows? And this was all BEFORE she moved to Hollywood! Rebel Rising follows Rebel Wilson&’s incredible journey of &“making it,&” constantly questioning, &“Am I good enough? Will I ever find love? Will I ever change and become healthy?&” Rebel writes for the first time about the most personal and important moments in her life—from fertility issues, weight gain and loss, sexuality, overcoming shyness, rejections, and, well...okay there&’s at least one story thrown in about Brad Pitt! It&’s all here. This memoir shows us how to love ourselves while making us laugh uncontrollably.
Barnum: An American Life
by Robert WilsonThe first major biography of P.T. Barnum in a generation, a vivid account of the forefather of American entertainment.P. T. Barnum was the greatest showman the world has ever seen: the cocreator of the Barnum & Bailey Circus and the man who made worldwide sensations of Jumbo the Elephant, General Tom Thumb, and the “Swedish Nightingale,” Jenny Lind. He was the champion of wonder, joy, trickery, and “humbug.” He was, as Barnum argues, one of the most important Americans of the nineteenth century. Nearly 125 years after his death, the name P. T. Barnum still inspires wonder. Robert Wilson’s vivid new biography captures the full genius, infamy, and allure of the ebullient showman. From birth to death, Phineas Taylor Barnum repeatedly reinvented himself. He learned as a young man how to wow crowds, and built a fortune that placed him among the first millionaires in the United States. He also suffered tragedy, bankruptcy, and fires that destroyed his life’s work, yet willed himself to rebuild and succeed again. As an entertainer, Barnum courted controversy time and again throughout his life—yet he was also a man of strong convictions, guided in his work not by a desire to deceive but an eagerness to thrill and bring joy to his audiences. He almost certainly never uttered the infamous line, “There's a sucker born every minute,” instead taking pride in giving crowds their money’s worth and more. Robert Wilson, editor of The American Scholar, tells a gripping story in Barnum, one that’s imbued with the same buoyant spirit as the man himself. Wilson adeptly makes the case for P. T. Barnum’s place among the icons of American history, as a figure who represented, and indeed created, a distinctly American sense of optimism, industriousness, humor, and relentless energy.
The Gangster Film: Fatal Success in American Cinema (Short Cuts)
by Ron WilsonThis volume examines the gangster film in its historical context with an emphasis on the ways the image of the gangster has adapted and changed as a result of socio-cultural circumstances. From its origins in Progressive-era reforms to its use as an indictment of corporate greed, the gangster film has often provided a template for critiquing American ideas and values concerning individualism, success, and business acumen. The gangster genre has also been useful in critically examining race and ethnicity in American culture in terms of "otherness." Films studied include Musketeers of Pig Alley (1912), The Racket (1928), The Captive City (1952), The Godfather, Part Two (1974), Goodfellas (1990), and Killing Them Softly (2012).
The Gangster Film: Fatal Success in American Cinema
by Ron WilsonExamines the gangster film in its historical context with an emphasis on the ways the image of the gangster has adapted and changed
The Gangster Film
by Ron WilsonExamines the gangster film in its historical context with an emphasis on the ways the image of the gangster has adapted and changed
Charting Scottish Tourism and the Early Scenic Film: Access, Identity and Landscape
by Samantha WilsonWhat impact did walking tours and scenic films have on leisure activities? In what ways did working class travel disrupt normative narratives concerning nature and identity? The appreciation of nature and leisure travel have a complex and interrelated history in Scotland. In Charting Scottish Tourism, Wilson looks at how scenic filmmaking altered the construction of the tourist map and spatial identities at the turn of the 20th Century. Scenic film, the author argues, played a key role in the expansion of regional travel and national tourism during the period. In addition, scenic film provides the modern researcher with an unrivalled source of documentary evidence relating to the manner in which Scottish working and middle class communities explored and reclaimed the natural spaces around them. The author examines the central role of the Scottish scenic within leisure performances and the way in which these films promoted and challenged normative spatial narratives. These discursive shifts, she argues, had a wide-reaching impact on popular assumptions concerning space, nature and identity both home and away. Charting Scottish Tourism provides a fascinating case study and numerous methodological insights for students and researchers interested in documentary film as well as the construction of identity and the natural world.
The Day We Danced in Underpants
by Sarah Wilson Catherine StockAn invitation to picnic with the King of France sends a young boy, his papa, two big dogs, and three wild aunts dancing their way across the French countryside. When the time comes to dine with the royals, Papa's energetic dance moves catch up with him and his worn pants burst at the seams. The stage is set for a wild party that finds even the stuffiest nobles getting down in their unmentionables. Sarah Wilson's uproarious text makes for a boisterous read-aloud, but it's Catherine Stock's hilarious portrayals of cavorting courtiers and gallant guests that will have kids begging for more of this raucous summertime romp. Great spring read-aloud. Reviews"This lesson in kindness and grace in ameliorating an embarrassing situation is one that frown-ups will appreciate, while the joie de vivre of the characters, rhyme, and art will have children-who are always game for an underwear adventure-dancing to the rhythm."-School Library Journal "Kids will enjoy seeing grown-ups embarrassed and acting wacky in spirited and lushly detailed watercolor-and-ink illustrations."-San Francisco Chronicle"...a colorful summertime beat-the-heat story-and what child can resist a story about skivvies."-Kirkus ReviewsJuly/August 2008 summer reading recommendation-Nick Jr. Magazine
Art Labor, Sex Politics
by Siona WilsonContrary to critics who have called it the "undecade," the 1970s were a time of risky, innovative art--and nowhere more so than in Britain, where the forces of feminism and labor politics merged in a radical new aesthetic. In Art Labor, Sex Politics Siona Wilson investigates the charged relationship of sex and labor politics as it played out in the making of feminist art in 1970s Britain. Her sustained exploration of works of experimental film, installation, performance, and photography maps the intersection of feminist and leftist projects in the artistic practices of this heady period.Collective practice, grassroots activism, and iconoclastic challenges to society's sexual norms are all fundamental elements of this theoretically informed history. The book provides fresh assessments of key feminist figures and introduces readers to less widely known artists such as Jo Spence and controversial groups like COUM Transmissions. Wilson's interpretations of two of the best-known (and infamous) exhibitions of feminist art--Mary Kelly's Post-Partum Document and COUM Transmissions' Prostitution--supply a historical context that reveals these works anew. Together these analyses demonstrate that feminist attention to sexual difference, sex, and psychic formation reconfigures received categories of labor and politics.How--and how much--do sexual politics transform our approach to aesthetic debates? What effect do the tropes of sexual difference and labor have on the very conception of the political within cultural practice? These are the questions that animate Art Labor, Sex Politics as it illuminates an intense and influential decade of intellectual and artistic experimentation.
Woodstock, Baby!: A Far-Out Counting Book
by Spencer WilsonA far-out counting board book celebrating the peace and love of Woodstock!Little rockers will love counting everything from peace signs and guitars to bell-bottoms and rock bands in this out-of-sight board book with simple rhyming words and groovy illustrations. It's the perfect gift for every little flower child and music fan.
Six Flags Great America (Images of Modern America)
by Steven W. WilsonMarriott’s Great America first opened in Gurnee, Illinois, on May 29, 1976. Located midway between Chicago and Milwaukee, it was the second of two Marriott Corporation theme parks. Great America was created to be a place where families could have fun together while gaining an appreciation for United States history. The park’s five authentically themed areas based on America’s past included the best in family and thrill rides, restaurants, specialty shops, artisans, and games. First-rate live entertainment included Broadway-style musicals, bands, parades, a circus, and the Warner Bros. characters featuring BUGS BUNNY. In 1984, the park became Six Flags Great America when it joined the Six Flags family of theme parks. Since then, the park has continued to innovate and expand. Today, including its 20-acre Hurricane Harbor water park, Six Flags Great America is one of the country’s finest theme parks. Since 1976, the park has entertained more than 100 million guests.
Toast of the Town: The Life and Times of Sunnie Wilson (Great Lakes Books Series)
by Sunnie Wilson John Cohassey
A Life of Barbara Stanwyck
by Victoria WilsonFifteen years in the making, the first volume of the full-scale astonishing life of one of our greatest screen actresses whose career in pictures spanned four decades beginning with the coming of sound--the first to delve deeply into Stanwyck's rich, complex life and to explore her extraordinary range of eighty-eight motion pictures, many of them iconic; her work, her world, her Hollywood through an American century.Frank Capra called her, "The greatest emotional actress the screen has yet known." Yet she was one of its most natural, timeless, and underrated stars. Now Victoria Wilson, gives us the most complete portrait we have yet had, or will have, of this magnificent actresses, seen as the quintessential Brooklyn girl whose family was in fact of old New England stock...her years in New York as dancer and Broadway star...her fraught marriage to Frank Fay, Broadway genius, who influenced a generation of actors and comedians (among them, Jack Benny and Stanwyck herself)...the adoption of a son, embattled from the outset; her partnership with the "unfunny" Marx brother, Zeppo, together creating one of the finest horse breeding farms in the west; her fairytale romance and marriage to the younger Robert Taylor, America's most sought-after male star...Here is the shaping of her career working with many of Hollywood's most important directors: among them, Capra, King Vidor, Cecil B. Demille, Preston Sturges, all set against the times--the Depression, the rise of the unions, the coming of World War II and a fast-evolving coming-of-age motion picture industry. At the heart of the book, Stanwyck herself--her strengths, her fears, her desires--how she made use of the darkness in her soul, keeping it at bay in her private life, transforming herself from shunned outsider into one of Hollywood's--and America's--most revered screen actresses. Written with full access to Stanwyck's family, friends, colleagues, and never-before-seen letters, journals and photographs.
A Life of Barbara Stanwyck
by Victoria WilsonFrank Capra called her "The greatest emotional actress the screen has yet known." She was one of its most natural, timeless, and underrated stars. Now, Victoria Wilson gives us the first full-scale life of Barbara Stanwyck, whose astonishing career in movies (eighty-eight in all) spanned four decades beginning with the coming of sound, and lasted in television from its infancy in the 1950s through the 1980s--a book that delves deeply into her rich, complex life and explores her extraordinary range of motion pictures, many of them iconic. Here is her work, her world, her Hollywood. We see the quintessential Brooklyn girl whose family was in fact of old New England stock . . . her years in New York as a dancer and Broadway star . . . her fraught marriage to Frank Fay, Broadway genius, who influenced a generation of actors and comedians (among them, Jack Benny and Stanwyck herself ) . . . the adoption of a son, embattled from the outset; her partnership with the "unfunny" Marx brother, Zeppo, crucial in shaping the direction of her work, and who, together with his wife, formed a trio that created one of the finest horse-breeding farms in the west; her fairy-tale romance and marriage to the younger Robert Taylor, America's most sought-after-- and beautiful--male star. Here is the shaping of her career with many of Hollywood's most important directors: among them, Frank Capra, "Wild Bill" William Wellman ("When you get beauty and brains together," he said, "there's no stopping the lucky girl who possesses them. The best example I can think of is Barbara"), King Vidor, Cecil B. De Mille, and Preston Sturges, all set against the times--the Depression, the New Deal, the rise of the unions, the advent of World War II--and a fast-changing, coming-of-age motion picture industry. And here is Stanwyck's evolution as an actress in the pictures she made from 1929 through the summer of 1940, where Volume One ends--from her first starring movie, The Locked Door ("An all-time low," she said. "By then I was certain that Hollywood and I had nothing in common"); and Ladies of Leisure, the first of her six-picture collaboration with Frank Capra ("He sensed things that you were trying to keep hidden from people. He knew. He just knew"), to the scorching Baby Face, and the height of her screen perfection, beginning with Stella Dallas ("I was scared to death all the time we were making the picture"), from Clifford Odets's Golden Boy and the epic Union Pacific to the first of her collaborations with Preston Sturges, who wrote Remember the Night, in which she starred. And at the heart of the book, Stanwyck herself--her strengths, her fears, her frailties, her losses and desires; how she made use of the darkness in her soul in her work and kept it at bay in her private life, and finally, her transformation from shunned outsider to one of Hollywood's--and America's--most revered screen actresses. Writing with the full cooperation of Stanwyck's family and friends, and drawing on more than two hundred interviews with actors, directors, cameramen, screenwriters, costume designers, et al., as well as making use of letters, journals, and private papers, Victoria Wilson has brought this complex artist brilliantly alive. Her book is a revelation of the actor's life and work.
Drink Small: The Life & Music of South Carolina's Blues Doctor (Music Ser.)
by Gail Wilson-GiarratanoFor fans of the blues, Drink Small is synonymous with South Carolina. Drink rose from the cotton fields of Bishopville to become a music legend in the Palmetto State and beyond. The self-taught guitarist has written hundreds of songs and recorded dozens of albums spanning the genres of country, blues, folk, gospel and shag. The success of that music allowed him countless honors, such as playing the stages of the Apollo and Howard Theaters, touring with legendary R&B singer Sam Cooke and playing the best blues festivals in the world. He even developed his own philosophy: Drinkism. Author Gail Wilson-Giarratano details the dream, the music and the life that created the Blues Doctor.
Carolina Bluegrass: A High Lonesome History
by Gail Wilson-Giarratano Larry Klein Pat AhrensIn the Carolinas, bluegrass is more than music--it's a way of life. The origins of the genre date back to the earliest frontier settlements, and banjo music appeared at dances in Greenville, South Carolina, as early as 1780. The genre was essential to socialization in the textile mills of both states. Old-time music of the Blue Ridge Mountains heavily influenced the sound. Bill Monroe, considered by many to be the father of bluegrass, began his recording career in Charlotte in 1936. Many of the most popular bands, such as the Hired Hands and Briarhoppers, regularly performed live on local television stations in Columbia, Spartanburg and Charlotte. Today, bluegrass festivals fill local calendars across the region. Author Gail Wilson-Giarratano uses interviews and the historic record to tell this unique and compelling story.
Born for This: My Story in Music
by BeBe WinansBeBe Winans, six-time Grammy Award-winning singer and member of Gospel music's royal family, shares the candid and close-up journey of pursuing his dreams while holding on to his faith. Benjamin "BeBe" Winans always knew he was born to be a Gospel singer. Growing up watching his four older brothers perform fueled his dream to be on stage, and as teenagers, he and his younger sister CeCe were offered the opportunity to move from Detroit to North Carolina and join the Praise the Lord Singers for The PTL Club, hosted by the eccentric Jim and Tammy Faye Bakker.Under the Bakkers' wings, BeBe and CeCe became the most popular televangical stars in America and soon found themselves choosing between their family values and the temptations of fame and fortune.Like a conversation with a lifelong friend, BeBe invites readers and loyal fans alike to share in never-before-revealed details about life in the crossfires between church, Gospel music, and the mainstream recording industry. He shares personal stories about his mentor Andraé Crouch and close friend Whitney Houston, who both had a major impact on his life.As he reflects on the obstacles, the disappointments, the victories, the surprises, the racism, and the love he has encountered, he realizes that when we understand our value before God, we can participate in a daily glory and peace for which we were all born.
Television Series as Literature
by Reto Winckler Víctor Huertas-MartínThis book explores how television series can be understood as a form of literature, bridging the gap between literary and television studies. It goes beyond existing adaptation studies and narratological approaches to television series in both its scope and depth. The respective chapters address literary works, themes, tropes, techniques, values, genres, and movements in relation to a broad variety of television series, while drawing on the theoretical work of a host of scholars from Simone de Beauvoir and Yuri Lotman to Ted Nannicelli and Jason Mittel, and on critical approaches ranging from narratology and semiotics to empirical sociology and phenomenology. The book fosters new ways of understanding television series and literature and lays the groundwork for future scholarship in a number of fields. By questioning the alleged divide between television series and works of literature, it contributes not only to a better understanding of television series and literary texts themselves, but also to the development of interdisciplinary scholarship in the humanities.
DK Readers L2: Star Wars: Journey Through Space (DK Readers Level 2)
by Ryder WindhamIn DK's Level 2 Reader, Star Wars: Journey Through Space, readers are taken on an imaginary journey through the Star Wars galaxy, touching down on lots of wonderful planets from Revenge of the Sith and meeting some unusual characters along the way. With additional genre spreads added throughout, Star Wars: Journey Through Space introduces beginner readers to the Star Wars universe in a galaxy far, far away….
DK Readers L2: Star Wars: Journey Through Space (DK Readers Level 2)
by Ryder WindhamIn DK's Level 2 Reader, Star Wars: Journey Through Space, readers are taken on an imaginary journey through the Star Wars galaxy, touching down on lots of wonderful planets from Revenge of the Sith and meeting some unusual characters along the way. With additional genre spreads added throughout, Star Wars: Journey Through Space introduces beginner readers to the Star Wars universe in a galaxy far, far away….
DK Readers L3: What Does It Take to Join the Jedi Order? (DK Readers Level 3)
by Ryder Windham Simon BeecroftStar Wars DK Readers help kids learn to read while enjoying the stories and characters from the Star Wars universe. In I Want to Be a Jedi, find out what it takes to join the ranks of the Jedi - learn where the Jedi Academy is located, what the Jedi Code is, and how the Jedi fight with lightsabers.Level 3 Star Wars DK Readers are for children able to read on their own. Focusing on developing the child's own desire to read, the text is faster and the stories exciting and captivating. The Star Wars stories feature more text and more complex sentence structure, with information boxes to help develop the reader's general knowledge. The choice of subject widens to match the broadening of children's experiences and interests.Packed with full-color photographs and engaging, age-appropriate stories, Star Wars DK Reader ebooks introduce young children to a life-long love of reading. These amazing stories of the Star Wars universe are guaranteed to capture children's interest while developing their reading skills. Star Wars DK Readers are also perfect for reading together!© 2013 Lucasfilm Ltd. & TM