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Can You Top This?
by Senator Ed Ford Harry Hirschfield Joe Laurie Jr.You know this trio of gagsters. They’re heard twice weekly, over the NBC national hookup on Fridays, and over station WOR every Wednesday night.Here, sifted from thousands of their best, is the very cream of their jets. Most of these stories broke the Laughmeter as studio audiences howled with delight. Even if you’ve heard some of them before, you’ll love the new twist these experts have given them.Just to add to the general hilarity of the book, thumbnose sketches of each other have been written by those versatile gentlemen, and a further attraction, they have thrown in cartoons too.One word of warning before you open CAN YOU TOP THIS? Don’t blame us if you laugh yourself sick.
“Soapy”: An Authorized Biography of Earnest O. (Soapy) Gillam
by C. A. Sellers Earnest O. GillamFirst published in 1958, this book is a biography of Fort Worth businessman Earnest O. (Soapy) Gillam, who rose from humble beginnings to become America’s best known independent soap manufacturer.“‘Every generation or so, someone should sit down and sum up the history of a family so it can be passed down to future generations.’“The man who spoke these words early in 1957 was Earnest О. Gillam, the subject of this book. His words are the reason for this book, written at his request to “sum up” his life and times and to put into permanent record all that is known of his ancestors“There was a note of urgency in Gillam’s decision to publish this book He is the last of his family likely to bear the name of Gillam. His sisters gave birth to boys, but he and his brothers have no male lineage to perpetuate the Gillam name. So his branch of the Gillam family will end with his death. At least, the part of family bearing the name of Gillam will end.“The remarkable history of the Gillams in general, and E. O. Gillam in particular, made this publication a must—a must for a permanent history of this remarkable family, and a must to emphasize once again that Horatio Alger-type men are still to be found in our land. For Gillam started life during the hardest times imaginable—on the frontier of Kansas—and by tireless” efforts of body and mind, managed to accumulate a fortune.“He spent years gathering information for this book, a lifetime in fact….”—C. A. Sellers
Courtroom: The Story of Samuel S. Leibowitz (Select Bibliographies Reprint Ser.)
by Quentin ReynoldsThe thrilling story of Judge Samuel S. Leibowitz and the front page criminal cases that highlighted his career as the nation’s most famous trial lawyer.“Dramatic and exciting as they come…. All of the famous trials of the last quarter century are brought to life in this exciting book penned by a master writer. It is a raw and violent work and certainly tops in interest.”—LOS ANGELES Herald Express“Exciting reading is this record of a great lawyer. The stories recorded here, now within the framework of law and time, are even more fascinating than when they rated banner headlines in the daily press.”—CHICAGO Sun“This book is far more exciting than any detective story you are likely to encounter, for it is the real thing.”—CLEVELAND Press“COURTROOM is a book which will have many absorbed readers, and a book which should do much to correct any popular impression that may exist as to the probity of lawyers who practice at the criminal bar…breezy, fast moving, and frankly written.”—SAN FRANCISCO Chronicle
Cézanne: A Study of His Development
by Roger FryThe late Roger Fry was an art critic of unequalled perception and influence. One of his missions was to work for a better understanding of the Impressionist school and, above all, to claim for Cézanne (1839-1906) the great place that was rightfully his. In CÉZANNE Fry wrote a critical analysis which in many aspects has never been surpassed. He achieved with conspicuous success a two-fold aim: to show the essential development of the painter’s genius and to approach his work as it really is; as Fry himself words it, to detect the profound difference between Cézanne’s message and what we have made of it.”The result is a book, couched in Fry’s most lucid, penetrating manner, which is of great technical value to the painter and student, and which offers to the layman an illuminating demonstration of the essential nature of Cézanne’s art.
Days With Ulanova: An Intimate Portrait of the Legendary Russian Ballerina (Dance Ser.)
by Albert KahnIn the great world of dance, Galina Ulanova is considered by many to be as great, if not greater, than Pavlova. Onstage, the miracle of her performances has enraptured vast audiences. But offstage, to the millions of her devotees, she remains an enigma. This exceptional biography—one of a kind—explores the world of Ulanova, and offers a unique look at the woman behind the legend.As a result of his friendship with Ulanova, writer-photographer Albert E. Kahn had the singular opportunity to study Ulanova as dancer, teacher, performer, warm friend, and a shy, modest woman seeking solitude among her beloved birch groves in the Russian countryside. Kahn has captured it all in words and pictures—from the magnificent performances to the intimate glimpses of her day-to-day life.“Days with Ulanova is the most exciting ballet book I have ever seen.”—Anatole Chujoy, Editor of The Dance Encyclopedia“All lovers of the dance, as well as libraries, museums and schools, will welcome this treasure of a book.”—Arthur Todd, New York Times“Mr. Kahn’s work is without precedent in the theatre world. His photographs of Ulanova are undoubtedly the finest imaginary job of visual commentary on any dancer.”—Genevieve Oswald, Curator Dance Collection, Library & Museum of Performing Arts, Lincoln Center“The particular treasure of her life has been lovingly and sensitively apprehended. Mr. Kahn has made us all a wonderfully valuable gift.”—Dance Magazine“This book must rank among the half-dozen most beautiful books on ballet ever published…a monument and a memorial.”—P. W. Manchester, Dance News
Dear Mr. G.: The Biography of Clark Gable
by Jean Garceau Inez CockeClark Gable (1901-1960) was an American film actor who is often referred to as “The King of Hollywood”. He began his career as an extra in Hollywood silent films between 1924-1926, and progressed to supporting roles with a few films for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1930. He landed his first leading role in 1931, and was a leading man in more than 60 motion pictures over the following three decades. He became best known for his performance in Gone with the Wind (1939), for which he gained a Best Actor Oscar nomination.Dear Mr. G., which was first published in 1961, is an engaging account by Clark Gable and Carole Lombard’s personal secretary and business manager, Jean Garceau.Here is the story of a kind, generous man—a man with a sense of humor and who, despite the fame and adulation, still had the humility to say, when it was suggested that he direct films, “Direct? I haven’t learned how to act yet!”This is the true story, in words and pictures, of Clark Gable’s life, chronicled by the one woman who knew him longest—Jean Garceau.
Molly and Me: The Memoirs of Gertrude Berg
by Gertrude Berg Cherney BergIn these warm, happy memoirs of one of America’s most beloved radio, television, and stage stars, a woman who has delighted millions of people tells her own wonderful story, from the arrival of her grandfather in this country to her triumph in the Broadway hit A Majority of One.Her story really begins with Grandpa Mordecai Edelstein, who came to America, as she proudly explained to the grandchildren, before the Statue of Liberty.Young “Tillie,” as Gertrude Berg was called, grew up in a most engagingly alive family of brothers, sisters, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins in Manhattan’s upper East Side. “Home,” she says, “was an apartment on the fourth floor of a house you called an apartment house if you wanted to be fancy, and a tenement if you wanted to be depressing.”One day, her highly unpredictable father bought a hotel in the Catskills, a million-dollar mansion, for $500 and his word of honor, which was worth the difference. What with cocky bellboys, temperamental headwaiters, lovesick cooks, hungry musicians—and the guests, and the rain—every member of the family was busy. It became Gertrude’s job to entertain the fretful guests whenever storm clouds gathered, and as a result, she began to read palms. But she soon started writing playlets with parts for as many guests as possible. She remembers “with particular pride such masterpieces as ‘Snow White and the Twenty-eight Dwarfs’ and ‘Thirty-three Blind Mice.’”After such an education, radio was a natural step for her. Her own family (protesting loudly) became models for the famous radio family, The Goldbergs, which has captivated audiences for thirty years. Her experiences in the early days of radio, the transformation of The Goldbergs from radio to television, and her wonderful friendship with Sir Cedric Hardwicke, co-starring on Broadways with her, are all recalled with gusto, excitement, and pride.
Miracle in the Evening: An Autobiography
by Norman Bel GeddesMIRACLE IN THE EVENING is the autobiography of one of the most brilliant stage and industrial designers of our time. Norman Bel Geddes’ story is the drama of a young man who, having worked his way through school, climaxed a brilliant career with ideas that gave birth to some of the most spectacular theatrical productions of the last half century.Through Norman Bel Geddes’ story, as through the theater itself, pass the many colorful personalities of our age, lending brilliance and scope, good humor and compelling human interest.The life story of this ingenuous man is filled with names of the glittering and the great, such as Frank Lloyd Wright, Madame Schumann-Heink (his first portrait-sketch was of this famous contralto), Will Rogers, Charlie Chaplin, David Belasco, Horace Liveright, J. Walter Thompson, Walter Chrysler, Harold Ross, and many others—a fascinating story of a man who has more than once created for audiences a MIRACLE IN THE EVENING.
Hollywood Undressed: Observations Of Sylvia As Noted By Her Secretary
by SylviaIn 1932, Sylvia exposed the foibles of the Hollywood system and her illustrious clientele in the book Hollywood Undressed: Observations of Sylvia as Noted by Her Secretary (1931).It is a playful book, full of gossip and contemporary vernacular, and reveals intimate details of Sylvia’s famous Hollywood clientele, which included Jean Harlow, Marie Dressler, Mae Murray, Alice White, Bebe Daniels, Mary Duncan, Ramón Novarro, Ruth Chatterton, Ann Harding, Norma Talmadge, Grace Moore, Constance Bennett, Gloria Swanson, Nella Webb, F.W. Murnau, Elsie Janis, Ernest Torrence, Lawrence Tibbett, Laura Hope Crews, Ronald Colman, Constance Cummings, Ina Claire, John Gilbert, Carmel Myers, Helen Twelvetrees, Carole Lombard, Ilka Chase, Dorothy Mackaill, Pepi Lederer, Marion Davies, Neil Hamilton, Alan Hale Sr and Vivienne Segal.
Family Vista: The Memoirs of Margaret Chanler Aldrich
by Margaret Chanler AldrichFirst published in 1958, these are the memoirs of Margaret Chanler Aldrich, a descendant of the prominent Astor family. A nurse for the American Red Cross during the Spanish-American War, and later the Philippine-American War, Aldrich joined the woman’s suffrage movement and became notable as one of Carrie Chapman Catt’s capable officials in the campaign for suffrage in New York State.A fascinating autobiography!
My Life East and West
by William HartMEMOIR OF A FILM STAR IN THE TIME OF PASSING OF THE AMERICAN FRONTIER CULTUREThis is the autobiography of William Surrey Hart (1864-1946), an early twentieth century silent film actor, screenwriter, director, and producer. A unique personage in the film industry—Hart’s boyhood years, besides affording tutoring in frontier values and the life of cowboys, also allowed him intimate contact with life and culture of Sioux Indians—Hart went on to become one of the first Western motion picture stars. A successful Shakespearian actor on Broadway, he appeared in Sidney Olcott’s 1907 production of Ben Hur and, in 1914, he starred in his first feature, The Bargain. Hart was interested in making realistic Westerns and was noted for the authenticity of costumes and props in his films. Fascinated by the Old West, he acquired Billy the Kid’s six-shooter and was a friend of both Wyatt Earp and Bat Masterson. From 1914 until 1926, Hart was the leading western actor for silent films. In 1925, he starred in his last film, “Tumbleweeds.”
My Time is Your Time: The Story of Rudy Vallee
by Rudy Vallee Gil McKeanDo you remember the Maine-Stein Song, that is? And did you ever own a racoon coat or wish you did? Or ride in a rumble seat, or date Betty Co-ed, or listen to a tenor saxophone tell you sweetly and tinnily on an old record that MY TIME IS YOUR TIME?If you remember—and who doesn’t—then you remember Rude Vallee. And if you know what’s new and big on Broadway this season, then you know that Rudy Vallee is still a hit. Vallee tells all in this charming warm-hearted and nostalgic memoir of his long and happy life. Born in a small town in Vermont, he travelled far and is one of the men who truly made a substantial contribution to cultural history of his own era.That era is not ended. The beloved idol of the 20’s is still very much in the limelight, still winning hearts with his music.MY TIME IS YOUR TIME tells of good and bad times; the hazards and heartbreaks of being a popular band leader; and of the hard road at the top.This is personal experience that we all shared, made intimate and valuable by the recreation of the past we had together, the present we’re enjoying, and the future we hope for. Rudy Vallee’s story of his life is courageous, humorous, and often surprising in its insights into the times that were ours.
Problems of the Actor: With an Introd by Clayton Hamilton
by Louis CalvertI HAVE been on the stage for more than forty years. My profession and its problems have been the principal interest in my life. It is natural that such an extended association with the theater should yield certain technical theories on my art; and, since I am nearing sixty, it is natural that I should want to talk about them. I do not regard any opinion I hold on the subject of acting as infallible; I learn something new about my profession every day; but there is one claim I make for the opinions I state in this book: they are not hasty. They have been two score years in taking shape.I have watched many young people start their careers on the stage; I have seen some of them rise to success, and others sink to oblivion. It has seemed to me that the difficulties each met, and the mistakes each was likely to make were, in a general way, always of the same character. They were the difficulties and mistakes which all actors encounter.There is no lack of books dealing with the lives of those in the actor’s profession. But few of them shed any light on the technique by which the admired actors of the past rose to high place. They are mostly pleasant, chatty reminiscences of their personal lives, whereas it is their professional lives that are significant.However, in this little study, I have not attempted an autobiographical account of my early struggles in the profession, nor a story of my experiences on the stage; I have rather tried to derive from my experiences some truths which might be of service to the beginning actor, to state as concretely as possible some of the simple principles which bitter experience has made me believe are sound.—Louis Calvert
Oscar of the Waldorf
by Karl SchriftgiesserThe present volume is the biography of Oscar Tschirky (1866-1943), known throughout the world as Oscar of the Waldorf, who worked as maître d’hôtel of the Waldorf Astoria Hotel in New York City from 1893 to 1943. The book contains many recollections devoted to the Waldorf Astoria Hotel and its founder, George C. Boldt, and his wife, Louise Kehrer Boldt.Richly illustrated throughout with black and white photographs.
The Gold of their Bodies: A Novel about Gaugain
by Charles GorhamGold of Their Bodies, first published in 1955, is a fascinating biography of Paul Gauguin (1848-1903), the French post-impressionist artist, most famous for his colorful paintings of life in Tahiti and the South Pacific. Although fictionalized by the addition of dialogue, Gold of Their Bodies draws from Gauguin’s own writings and accurately portrays the adult life of Gauguin—his struggles to make a living from his art, his friendships with Van Gogh, Cezanne, Pissaro, and other contemporaries, his travels and life with the native peoples of the South Pacific, his relationships with Polynesian women, and his run-ins with French colonial authorities. Gauguin, prolific in his output (in large part due to the small price he received for his works), and troubled by poor health in his later life, died at the relatively young age of 54 in the Marquesas Islands of French Polynesia. It was not until after his death that his works were recognized as masterpieces, and, in February 2015, one of his Tahitian paintings sold for the staggering price of $300 million dollars.
Hands-On GUI Application Development in Go: Build Responsive, Cross-platform, Graphical Applications With The Go Programming Language
by Andrew WilliamsGo Developers who want to build beautiful GUI applications in Go
Fame Amid the Ruins: Italian Film Stardom in the Age of Neorealism
by Stephen GundleItalian cinema gave rise to a number of the best-known films of the postwar years, from Rome Open City to Bicycle Thieves. Although some neorealist film-makers would have preferred to abolish stars altogether, the public adored them and producers needed their help in relaunching the national film industry. This book explores the many conflicts that arose in Italy between 1945 and 1953 over stars and stardom, offering intimate studies of the careers of both well-known and less familiar figures, shedding new light on the close relationship forged between cinema and society during a time of political transition and shifting national identities.
Artifak: Cultural Revival, Tourism, and the Recrafting of History in Vanuatu
by Hugo DeBlockIn Vanuatu, commoditization and revitalization of culture and the arts do not necessarily work against each other; both revolve around value formation and the authentication of things. This book investigates the meaning and value of (art) objects as commodities in differing states of transit and transition: in the local place, on the market, in the museum. It provides an ethnographic account of commoditization in a context of revitalization of culture and the arts in Vanuatu, and the issues this generates, such as authentication of actions and things, indigenized copyright, and kastom disputes over ownership and the nature of kastom itself.
The Man Who Invented Aztec Crystal Skulls: The Adventures of Eugène Boban
by Jane MacLaren Walsh Brett ToppingEugène Boban began life in humble circumstances in Paris, traveled to the California Gold Rush, and later became a recognized authority on pre-Columbian cultures. He also invented an entire category of archaeological artifact: the Aztec crystal skull. By his own admission, he successfully “palmed off” a number of these crystal skulls on the curators of Europe’s leading museums. How could that happen, and who was this man? Detailed are the travels, self-education, and archaeological explorations of Eugène Boban; this book also explores the circumstances that allowed him to sell fakes to museums that would remain undetected for over a century.
From Storeroom to Stage: Romanian Attire and the Politics of Folklore (Material Mediations: People and Things in a World of Movement #10)
by Alexandra UrdeaDeparting from an ethnographic collection in London, From Storeroom to Stage traces the journey of its artefacts back to the Romanian villages where they were made 70 years ago, and to other places where similar objects are still in use. The book explores the role that material culture plays in the production of value and meaning by examining how folk objects are mobilized in national ideologies, transmissions of personal and family memory, museological discourses, and artistic acts.
Being Bedouin Around Petra: Life at a World Heritage Site in the Twenty-First Century
by Mikkel BillePetra, Jordan became a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1985, and the semi-nomadic Bedouin inhabiting the area were resettled as a consequence. The Bedouin themselves paradoxically became UNESCO Masterpieces of Oral and Intangible Heritage in 2005 for the way in which their oral traditions and everyday lives relate to the landscape they no longer live in. Being Bedouin Around Petra asks: How could this happen? And what does it mean to be Bedouin when tourism, heritage protection, national discourse, an Islamic Revival and even New Age spiritualism lay competing claims to the past in the present?
Extinct Monsters to Deep Time: Conflict, Compromise, and the Making of Smithsonian's Fossil Halls (Museums and Collections #11)
by Diana E. MarshExtinct Monsters to Deep Time is an ethnography that documents the growing friction between the research and outreach functions of the museum in the 21st century. Marsh describes participant observation and historical research at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History as it prepared for its largest-ever exhibit renovation, Deep Time. As a museum ethnography, the book provides a grounded perspective on the inner-workings of the world’s largest natural history museum and the social processes of communicating science to the public.
Views of Violence: Representing the Second World War in German and European Museums and Memorials (Spektrum: Publications of the German Studies Association #19)
by Jörg Echternkamp Stephan JaegerTwenty-first-century views of historical violence have been immeasurably influenced by cultural representations of the Second World War. Within Europe, one of the key sites for such representation has been the vast array of museums and memorials that reflect contemporary ideas of war, the roles of soldiers and civilians, and the self-perception of those who remember. This volume takes a historical perspective on museums covering the Second World War and explores how these institutions came to define political contexts and cultures of public memory in Germany, across Europe, and throughout the world.
Shakespeare and Commemoration: Commemoration And Cultural Memory (Shakespeare & #2)
by Clara Calvo Ton HoenselaarsMemory and commemoration play a vital role not only in the work of Shakespeare, but also in the process that has made him a world author. As the contributors of this collection demonstrate, the phenomenon of commemoration has no single approach, as it occurs on many levels, has a long history, and is highly unpredictable in its manifestations. With an international focus and a comparative scope that explores the afterlives also of other artists, this volume shows the diverse modes of commemorative practices involving Shakespeare. Delving into these “cultures of commemoration,” it presents keen insights into the dynamics of authorship, literary fame, and afterlives in its broader socio-historical contexts.
Shakespeare and the Ethics of War (Shakespeare & #5)
by Patrick GrayHow does Shakespeare represent war? This volume reviews scholarship to date on the question and introduces new perspectives, looking at contemporary conflict through the lens of the past. Through his haunting depiction of historical bloodshed, including the Trojan War, the fall of the Roman Republic, and the Wars of the Roses, Shakespeare illuminates more recent political violence, ranging from the British occupation of Ireland to the Spanish Civil War, the Balkans War, and the past several decades of U. S. military engagement in Iraq and Afghanistan. Can a war be just? What is the relation between the ruler and the ruled? What motivates ethnic violence? Shakespeare’s plays serve as the frame for careful explorations of perennial problems of human co-existence: the politics of honor, the ethics of diplomacy, the responsibility of non-combatants, and the tension between idealism and Realpolitik.